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Thursday, July 24, 2003 ( 10:01 AM ) Melody Homage Having lunch today with my former boss from Prima. I love Kim. It was so wonderful to have a manager like her early in my career. She cared about me and where I was going. She helped me identify my goals and made sure that I never sold myself short. She's why I went from Associate Project Editor to full-fledged Acquisitions Editor in two years. Of course, that probably doesn't mean anything to you if you're not in publishing, but it doesn't happen that way for many people. Kim also loaned Belinda and me the courage to buy our house by offering to spot us $2000 for the down payment. We never took her up on it, but knowing that we could have gave us the motivation to figure out how we could do it ourselves. Kim is just good for me. I don't get to see her nearly often enough now. Prima was purchased by Random House (and then was sold and bought and sold and bought again). Having been through one rifting at another company, I grabbed my running shoes and followed my cheese over to John Wiley & Sons, and Kim followed hers back to Pearson, so we're kind of cross-town rivals now. # Wednesday, July 23, 2003 ( 1:00 PM ) Melody Flash back to Sesame Street Ladies and possibly also the gay men who stop by Incredible Shrinking Woman, I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume that I am not the only one of us who recalls the simple uninhibited pleasure of flipping my long blond hair from side to side in my first ponytail; yeah, basically the little girl's version of "if you've got it, flaunt it." Unfortunately, as you get older, you realize what a pain in the ass keeping your hair long is. It gets in your face. The wind whips it around, and it gets stringy and unkempt-looking. The natural white blond hair I had as a child has darkened with age and stress and now has to be highlighted. Fly-aways aren't cute anymore. They have to be forced into submission by an army of products. Ponytails are not as well-received in a business environment. I walk around with tight-ass boring hair like everyone else. Not Kit, though. Kit is a software specialist at work. He's in a rock band, wears mostly baggy corduroys and brown, black, or army green concert Ts, and a long chain that goes from his belt into his pocket. Incongruously, he's one of the smilingest people I've met. He hums to himself in the hall. He bounces on his toes. He flips his shiny, shoulder-length brown hair from one side to the other with every step he takes. Seriously- I don't know how he gets to the bathroom without giving himself whiplash. He's not self-conscious. He's completely happy. It's a beautiful thing. He looks like he could start turning cartwheels down the hall pretty much any moment. # Monday, July 21, 2003 ( 9:58 AM ) Melody It's getting hot in here Went to my friend Amy's this Saturday and hung out chatting and tanning with drunk lesbians in the baby pool in her backyard. After sobering up with a fabulous dinner of fried bluegill recently caught by Amy's parents, Laurie and I went to her house to grab some games. On our drive back just before dusk, Amy called Laurie's cell to tell us that one of the previously mentioned drunk lesbians had decided to get naked and go back to the baby pool, much to the consternation of Amy's very straight, very conservative neighbors. She was still naked, singing to herself and waving her margharita from the pool when we arrived, and the guy on his deck next door was hurriedly finishing up his barbeque and carrying his family picnic indoors. Yeah, it was kind of embarrassing. Somebody always has to take it too far. I saw way more of Carol than I ever cared to see. This is freaking Indianapolis, people-- the Bible belt! And nobody NOBODY needs to see that shit. # |
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