bitterfig

I hadn’t mentioned it before because it shows how psychosomatic/lazy I am but I was so worked up about my impending court case on Wednesday that I ended up calling in sick to work on Tuesday.  Since this is my third absence in less than 90 days it means I’m going to get a counseling statement and that if I call in again between now and October 12 (when the 90 days since my first absence ends) I’ll get an unsatisfactory work warning so I really need to stay semi-healthy for a while.  Though I have to admit, when I went into work yesterday after three days (I was legitimately scheduled not to work on Wednesday and Thursday) I felt much better than I have in a long time.  No nausea or dizzy spells, my legs didn’t ache the way they have been and I wasn’t nearly as tired or irritable as I have been so I do think the extra time off did me good. 

 

Wednesday of course I had court which turned out to be no big deal.  I waited around for about half an hour while some other cases were heard and while some lawyers argued about whether or not a case should be heard in traffic court of “on the fourth floor” whatever that means.  Then my case was called.  No one showed up from Chicago Transit Authority so the ticket was dismissed and I got my license back.  It took a grand total of two minutes.  I didn’t even get yelled at or called irresponsible or asked if I’d learned my lesson any of the things of that nature I was expecting.  Also I didn’t have to plead guilty, which is good for my insurance case (which I have a bunch of paperwork I need to do for and a couple of phone calls which I can’t make until Monday when the offices are open). 

 

After court I walked around downtown Chicago a bit.  I looked at an exhibit of Contemporary Art from India at the Cultural Center then walked around Millennium Park.  There were some ballet dancers rehearsing in Pritzer Pavilion who I watched for quite a while.  As someone who has absolutely no coordination I am always amazes by what real dancers are capable of.  Then of course I went to my favorite Borders at Randolph and State where I browsed for an ungodly amount of time and looked at all the pretty books I’d buy if I have a couple hundred dollars to spare.  They have a nice big selection of manga.  I noticed that the sixth volume of Loveless is out and I’ll probably pick that up at some point because I’ve sort of made the commitment to see the series through even though I have some serious problems with both the content and the manner of storytelling.  What I was really tempted to get was the first volume of a series called Venus Versus Virus, which is a science fiction story about gothic Lolita lesbians that I would very much like to read. 

 

Thursday I worked at Biff’s office and afterwards met Sunqist, a livejournal friend who lives in Chicago, at a coffee shop by the Damen Blue Line stop.  It’s the first time I’ve met one of my on-lines friends in real life and I had a really good time.  Unfortunately a very severe thunderstorm hit while we were talking and I got to ride my bike home amidst pouring rain, lightening and strong winds.  There was a big tree down at the end of my street and when I got back to my apartment, I discovered that the screen had blown off my front window and all sorts of leaves and twigs had gotten in.  Also one of my CD towers and a lamp had blown over and a couple pictures knocked off the wall.  Riding to work the next morning, there were trees and branches down all over the place.

 

Pa-daddy arrived in town yesterday morning, so after I finished work I went over to my sister’s to see him.  He had a good trip (he takes Amtrack and on Amtrack any time the train is not five hours late you consider it a good trip) and was playing with the kids and seemed pretty happy.  I don’t have work till 3:45 p.m. today so at about noon I’m going to meet everyone at the Bucktown Arts Fest.  Tomorrow I have a mid-shift so I probably won’t get to see much of Pa but I have Monday off so I’ll be able to spend the day with him then. 

Court went well yesterday, the case was dismissed and I was given my license back so that’s taken care of. Now all I have to worry about is sorting out the medical bills and insurance.

I celebrated my exoneration by going to see Stardust, which I thoroughly enjoyed. It was bit of a stretch at first to see Angela from My So Called Life as a fairy princess and even more a stretch to see Robert De Niro prancing about in ladies under-garments but over all it was lovely. Neil Gaiman is one of the few writers who can be witty, romantic, frightening and sexy all at one time and weave familiar things fresh stories. I found myself quite taken by Septimus (Mark Strong) a murderous black clad prince who’s a bit of a Snape figure (and has a truly lovely death).

As if going to the movies wasn’t enough I also treated myself to an omnibus three volumes in one edition of the Clamp manga XXXHolic and the first and third issue of Mystic Arcana, a new Marvel comic book title that focuses on occult themed characters. The first issue is devoted to Magick (Illyana Rasputain) the demon sorceress who was a member of the New Mutants. The third issue is about Scarlet Witch. Both of these are favorite characters of mine and the forth volume of the series focuses is Nico or Sister Grimm from Runaways. Issue two is about a character called the Black Knight but I don’t know anything about him.  Since I was a kid I’ve always been more interested in  female comic book characters than male. Maybe its because I don’t draw men very well.

Today is my day of reckoning.  This afternoon I will appear in court to be judged for my failure to yield the right of way to the 76 Westbound Diversey bus last month.  I’m hoping that no one from Chicago Transit Authority will show up as the complainant and it’ll just be a matter of having my name called and getting my license back like the nice officer promised when he gave me the ticket in the emergency room. 

 

I’m a little nervous.  Despite my forays into shoplifting as a teenager and the anarchist aspirations of my college years I’m generally a good little girl, well behaved to a fault and I’ve never been to court in my life. 

 

I’m hoping it won’t be too bad.  The court is at Daley Plaza which is easy to get to via the blue line El so I’m not too anxious about finding it.  Maybe afterwards I’ll take a turn around Millennium Park and stop by the Chicago Cultural Center to look at the art exhibits.  It’s been a while since I’ve been downtown so I may as well make the most of it. 

 

I called the admissions office at Columbia College Chicago yesterday.  The semester doesn’t start till the 4^th of September so there is still a chance there will be a last minute opening.  They can’t tell me what number I am on the waiting list because apparently there isn’t an order to it; apparently they base it on some sort of esoteric criteria like who would best fit.  Maybe it’s a sort of understudy system and there’s a crazy girl who writes about dolls and witches who did get into the program but if she drops out, I’m in.

 

If I don’t get into Columbia I need to decide what to do next.  I can’t go on working in the market forever.  I simply don’t make enough money and the random schedule is hard on me.  I’ll need to either find a better job or reevaluate going back to school.  My sister thinks I should look into graphic design because unlike creative writing I could probably earn money as a graphic designer.  I would love to be able to create computer graphics, put together websites, things like that.  My main worry is that I wouldn’t be able to do it.  It’s so technical.  I’m not unfamiliar with computers, but I realize I operate at a fairly low level, customizing programs that already exist, using basic programs designed for basic users.  I’m crafty (as in arts and crafts) but not smart.  I have to think about it. 

 

My father will be visiting on Friday.  He wants to see Minya (my nephew, his grandson) before he starts kindergarten.  I don’t know if I’ll be able to see too much of him as I’m scheduled to work over the weekend and I think they’ve got me doing the dreaded mid-shifts which are from 10 or 11 a.m. to 7 or 8 p.m. and don’t leave a whole lot of room for doing anything on either side.  Of course I did get to see Pa-daddy a couple of weeks ago when I went to New York so it won’t be so bad.  Still, I like to be able to participate in family stuff.  That would be an advantage of finding a job where I actually got weekends off….