on the correct usage of office supplies.

The hem on the right leg of my pants (trousers, need I specify ?) came undone mid-morning.

I have stapled it back in place.

I'm quite sure that is the not right thing to do, but don't have a sewing kit on me (not that I can sew, anyway) and don't want to to trip over it. Double-faced Scotch tape would be better as it wouldn't leave holes in the fabric, but there is none available here.

and... exhale...

After flipping and flopping and stressing and generally being in a tizz for the past 5 days, (should I stay or should I go now ? is the grass really greener or will it be a case of out of the frying pan and into the fire ? and why do I have to work for a living at all ? I'd make a great heiress, really. Why Paris Hilton and not me, huh ? My dress sense is way better, not to mention my taste in men - but I digress...) I did it today - signed the contract with New Employer and handed in my notice to Current Employer.

Phew.

I'm relieved and happy and have managed to say the right things to Direct Boss and Bigger Boss and not antagonize anyone - which is good. I may need these people for a reference or, who knows, another job some months or years down the line.

hyperventilating

I've been offered the job !

My post below was very "meh" - I'll admit that the idea of staying in the same exact business was not really a strong selling point prior to the interview as the whole point of changing jobs for me is, well, change.

But the people seem nice, and that's crucial to enjoying any job - the most exciting career in the world would still suck if you were surrounded by assholes all day. They actually had photos and decorations on their desks, and personalized surroundings. Current office is as sterile and cold as anything, no one leaves anything personal on their desks, and I think that's a highly symbolic difference.

When I was introduced around to the team they stopped working and had time for a chat and didn't look over their shoulders fearfully whenever a manager walked past. At current office, candidates are not introduced to anyone other than the execs who carry out the actual interview process, until their first day on the job. No chance for a casual talk about what it's like to work here, and no one asks the admin staff's opinion on potential new recruits. No sirree.

So yes, it's the same business, but I think things will be different. In a good way.

Now all I have to do is resign and negotiate my notice period.

Will the shit hit the fan ?

Will my boss, who is a nice enough guy personally but a killer professionally, be decent and understanding or will he take my departure as a betrayal of the Firm, or even worse, Himself ?

Stay tuned... answers next Monday.

another interview

in a little over an hour.

Same business (direct competitor in fact). Same job. Same salary.

Pros: familiar environment - easy.
Cons: probably not a big enough change from my current job - boring.

To be continued...

I want I want I want

• a digital camera.
• an Ipod Nano. (I actually never listen to music on the go, but they're just so damn cute).
• a Balenciaga motorcycle bag, the medium sized one, black. (Yes, they are sooooooo 2004, dahling, and fashionistas have since moved on to the Fendi Spy or Chloe Paddingon, but I don't care - the Motorcycle is a little bit slouchy, a little bit rock'n'roll, and I love it).
• a full day at a fancy spa - manicure, pedicure, facial, massage, the works.
• a personal shopper and a decent budget, perhaps at Printemps, my favorite department store. Nothing lavish, nothing fancy - am not paparazzi fodder on the red carpet at Cannes after all, but my office wardrobe is in need of an update - a couple classic suits, maybe a cashmere twin-set.
• another room in my appartment - see, not a townhouse or a duplex with a rooftop garden - just one more room - a home office for S that would serve as a guest bedroom so I can say, "oh please, you don't need a hotel recommendation, you're welcome to stay with us !" and really mean it. The pull-out couch in the living room serves its purpose when necessary but we're all grown ups now and like our privacy and comfort, right ?

Bruuuuuuuuuuuuce

was fabulous as always. Have seen him 3 times now (which is not very often considering that I have loved him longer than anyone I know apart from family members, but I digress...) and every time I am afraid it won't be nearly as good as I am expecting, but it's better. Yes, I am a love-sick fan.

Anyway the real point I wanted to make was, back in the olden days of concert going, people used to hold up lighters during certain songs - tonight looking across the dark crowd, the only pinpricks of light came from the glowing digital displays of cell phones being held up.

S could very well dump me...

...any minute now.

I am sitting at the 'puter, in sweatpants, drinking beer and eating leftover carrot salad (garlicky!) straight out a plastic tub (which previously contained ice cream, not a fancy Tupperware).

I might even burp soon...

Am I too comfortable in this relationship ? Is that a bad thing ?

(am not seriously worried - just amused at what my "standards" used to be and how relaxed I am now...)

I take the weather personally.

Yes, I realize that is completely irrational and self-centered, but I do.

When at the end of April, beginning of May, it is cold and rainy and miserable and November-like, I feel like a mischievous meteorological deity is sticking its tongue out and thumbing its nose at me.

I want warmth and sunshine and I want it here for good, damnit, not for a couple of days, just long enough to get my hopes up before disappearing again, leaving my winter coats to work overtime and my sunglasses and sandals feeling neglected and useless.

Paris au Cinéma

Interesting article in the NY Times about the Paris au Cinéma exhibition at Hôtel de Ville which I mentioned briefly in my other blog (the neglected one).

and still haven't got around to seeing, by the way. perhaps tomorrow...

so I had an interview...

...last Friday for a position that's a step up from what I do now, small firm that hopes to expand quickly, only just founded in January, so really a chance to create my own job within a certain framework, and grow along with the company. They wanted someone autonomous who can take initiative, really contribute to the team, all that jazz... Met 3 out of the 7 people currently with the firm. Liked them and could really picture myself working with them.

Got a call from the recruiter today - the interviews went really well, they liked me, BUT decided to hire someone else.

Waaaaaaaa...

Never mind. Something else will come up.

At least they gave me the courtesy of a reply, unlike a certain venerable and highly esteemed fashion house I interviewed with back in January (at their request might I add!) who never gave me any feedback or answer at all.

Why ? I can understand not replying to all the unsollicited CVs they must receive, but THEY contacted ME and I spent an hour and a half with an HR guy and pffft, that's it, never heard from them again.

It's as if they had disappeared off the face of the earth, except that I read Elle religiously every week and there is no way that could have happened without my being aware of it.

(And yes, I did contact them to follow up after the interview). Is that rude or what ?

Envy

I suffer from :

• Retirement envy. Having spent some time this past week with 2 different retired couples I have come to the conclusion that what I really want to be when I grow up is not an astrophysicist or a neurosurgeon or a movie star, but retired. Pity I still have to work for at least 30 odd years before that can happen, at best. And even then I doubt that my retirement would be nearly as comfortable.
• Knowing what to do with long hair envy. I've always had gamine, pixie-ish short hair and even though I've been letting it grow for the past 3 years or so and it's now below shoulder length, I still think of myself as a short-haired person. Yesterday I spent 30 minutes with a very patient salesperson at the hair accessories stand of a major department store trying on various hair thingies and feeling inadequate. All the long haired women I know can casually twist their hair up in a bun, stick a pencil in it, and look great. I tried that with assorted fancy thingies and my hair is so fine and straight the damn things wouldn't stay in place. It's enough to make me want to cut it all off again.

no sooner have I...

... grown to like the jeans tucked in to boots look*, than a new trend appears.

Skinny jeans, tapered tightly around the ankles, really long, i.e. bunched up to look almost like legwarmers, and worn with ballet flats. Now no doubt I'm just too far behind the cutting edge to adopt new looks right away and need time to grow used to it, but my first reaction is "huh?" Does this actually look good on anyone ?

*on other people, mind you, not for myself - I can zip up (most) boots over my calves without too much straining and pulling, but trying to add jeans to the mix would simply be asking for trouble.

Looking forward to:

May 10th - Bruce Springsteen & band (not the E Streeters), Seeger Sessions tour

and

June 12th - Emmylou Harris & Mark Knopfler, All the roadrunning tour.

Honorary man status

Or a man in a woman’s body.

Last night I met an internet acquaintance (yes, one of those people!) and her boyfriend for drinks. They were nice, interesting, easy to talk to and we got along well so I invited them over for dinner tonight, thinking it would be fun and that S would like them as much as I did. All fine and good, right ?

Except that in my enthusiasm it completely slipped my mind that today is our 2nd anniversary and that S and I had previously talked about going out to dinner.

Ooooops.

Bad girlfriend. Bad, bad girlfriend.

Luckily S didn’t mind at all, but I still feel guilty. Let’s face it, if the roles had been reversed, I can’t guarantee that I wouldn’t be at least a tiny bit peeved, and think something along the lines of “harrumph, typical male blablabla…”

So there you have it. I’m an honorary man. Next thing you know I’ll be leaving the toilet seat up.

A big thank you

To the man who sang the Girl from Ipanema (in Portuguese) and another classic Joao Gilberto song, the name of which I can’t recall, and played the saxophone on line 13 this morning.

The Metro ride into work is usually my least favorite part of the day, but thanks to him, I spent my brief commute humming along and smiling like an idiot at no one in particular. Not bad at all as far as Monday mornings go...

Me, sort of, but not.

A photo of moi in which I look nothing like myself. (I think - but that's sort of like listening to a recording of one's voice. You never sound the way you think you do.) But it's me all the same.

courtesy of the Lush forum

2 down, 2 to go

It finally happened this morning. S had 2 of his wisdom teeth out and will get the other 2 sorted in 2 or 3 weeks or so. He ended up going to a (competent and friendly enough) dentist in a medical centre rather than to the (no doubt competent and friendly enough, with a private practice in a posh and expensive part of town) dentist who was initally recommended, so the procedure cost 105 € instead of 280 €, and most of it will be reimbursed by a combination of national health and private insurances.

Really, when you're having your teeth pulled, is it worth paying an extra 175 € for a well decorated waiting room with a good selection of magazines ? I think not.

In other news, the internet connection at home has just been re-established after having been down for 3 days, because of a "technical intervention" (uh-huh...) by the internet service provider on our phone line. It took 4 phone calls to the technical assistance hotline, and a lot of frustration on my part, before I finally spoke to someone who knew exactly what the problem was and sorted it out in a few minutes.

The other guys I spoke to were very polite and friendly and charming but had no clue. They kept asking me to plug and unplug and try this and try that as if it were my installation that was at fault. Dudes - everything worked fine until YOUR company did something to my phone line - sort it out, people. Grrrr. (One person actually told me to turn the computer off, try again the next day, and call them back if it still didn't work - the IT equivalent of "take 2 aspirin and call me in the morning")

All the more annoying given the fact that every minute spent on the hotline costs an exhorbitant amount of money. At that price I'll take curtness and efficiency, thank you very much.

in the what ?

Friday night, helped out at my friends' restaurant as they were short-staffed. Finished later than expected, so a little after midnight S called my cell phone to make sure I was OK and wouldn't miss the last metro home.

- Where are you ?
- I'm almost home, I'm in the staircase. (quietly, as voices carry in this old building)
- You're where ?
- In the staircase.
- You're what ?
- I'm here, in the staircase !
- puzzled silence. What ?
- Open the door, I'm right here !

The door opens. Laughter.

He thought I had said "I'm in the suitcase."

It's a good thing he's learning French. We'll now be able to miscommunicate in 2 languages instead of just one.

BSOJC

The Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash sounded exactly as you would expect them to with such a great name. Foot stomping, yee haw yelling, cigarette in one hand and beer in the other fabulousness.

And while they sang mostly their own songs, they did do covers of Folsom Prison Blues and Ring of Fire.

My ex, F, used to be in an amateur band and whenever they did a gig, if I was there, they would play Ring of Fire for me. Not as a romantic, aw, it's our song gesture, no, as a piss take because my fondness for country music was a source of much ridicule and hilarity - so they would generally play one verse, collapse with laughter, and play something else. Having long ago given up any pretence of trying to like the right music in order to fit in, I would laugh as well, maybe roll my eyes a little and shrug. They were - still are ! - nice guys and if the reccuring joke grew old in the end I can't really blame them for poking fun at me. This was, after all, several years before Joaquin Phoenix made it socially acceptable for a Parisian woman to like Johnny Cash...

But last night, the Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash played Ring of Fire with all their hearts, without a trace of irony, and I was happy.