Saturday August 9th, 2008
(7 Days Until Move)
Fighting Isolation
I'm moving to Birmingham, AL in 7 days with my wonderful boyfriend of almost two years. He got into Samford McWhorter School of Pharmacy and will have his Ph.D in 4 years. I'm really excited for him and happy that he is going to be living his dream. I know that he has wanted to be a pharmacist for years. I am so proud of him.
Oh the other hand, I'm moving away from everyone I know. I've done that before (when I moved from KY to FL) and I know how hard it is to just be together and not have any outside friends. I have posted an ad on CraigsList that's just seeking new friends & hopefully I'll make a lot of friends that way. I don't have to worry about him. He'll make plenty of friends thru school, and he already knows one person who is going to start at the school the same time as him.
She even lives in the same apartment complex that we'll be moving into. I'm not sure how I feel about this. I am glad he knows someone already so that he'll have someone other than me to talk to and hang out with. And someone to study with. At the same time, I'm kind of worried about it. I trust him. I mean, it doesn't bother me that he has a MySpace, Facebook, and a few email addresses and talks to people on them without me knowing the password for them.
It's just that I have been cheated on before. I was married to the guy and he had an affair with my best friend. With Eric, we have been together almost two years and he's never given me any reason not to trust him. I'm just afraid that she'll end up falling for him. He's such a great man and I feel like if anyone gets too close to him and really gets to know him, they will fall for him. I guess it's just my own insecurities that are making me feel like this, and I'm trying to not let them show, but it's getting harder the closer we get to the move. Hopefully, it will subside once we move in and I meet her.
As for me, I've lived in several places, away from family, before and I know I'll be okay as long as I find some good people to go out with on occasion. I've started talking to two people online that live in Birmingham and so far, they seem like decent people. The girl I'm talking to is even trying to get me a job where she works. It's only part time, but I can work from home if I want. It's a recruiting job for an insurance agency. I'll be going thru resumes for new insurance agents and calling them to schedule appointments for interviews. She said she can pretty much guarantee me the job as long as I don't have a criminal record, which I don't.
I'll be writing on here as much as I can. Once we get moved, it might take me a few days to update. It all depends on when our Internet is set up there. If nothing else, I can go to the clubhouse and use my laptop to update.
Sunday August 10th, 2008
(6 days until move)
Remembering George
When I heard that George Carlin had died, my first response was, "No way!" Eric was the one who told me and I was in the car at the time. I knew he wouldn't joke about something like that, George Carlin was my favorite comedian. But part of me just hoped that he had heard it from someone who had heard it from someone who had read it somewhere. As soon as I got home, I looked it up online and, sure enough, it was true.
I don't know why his death seemed to impact me more than any other celebrity death ever has. I guess it's because I have this 6 hour recording of different Carlin stand-ups and I used to watch that tape every night of the week until I finally made it through all 6 hours. Then, I would restart it again a few days later. That tape is really wearing out! I haven't watched it in a long time, but I can still remember, word for word, most of the tape.
My 21st birthday was July 27th, a little over a month after his death. When Eric asked me what I wanted, I really didn't know. But, then we went to Books-A-Million and I saw it. An Orgy of George. It was all three of his books (Brain Droppings, Napalm & Silly Putty, and When Will Jesus Bring The Pork Chops) all in one. I started reading it even before we got home.
One of the things that has always intrigued me about Carlin is that I truly agree with a lot of what he said. If I don't agree, I can at least see why he would have felt the way he did about a lot of things. Like he said, "I think it's the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately." He did this in several ways.
First, with his "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television", which got him arrested and eventually went to the U.S. Supreme Court. Another way in which he pushed (and sometimes 'crossed') the line of "decency" with his comedy was by expressing his views on religion:
"Religion has actually convinced people that there's an invisible man living in the sky who watches everything you do, every minute of every day. And the inivisible man has a special list of then things he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these then things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever 'til the end of time!
"But he loves you!"
If you didn't like him and his views, he didn't really care. That's what I liked about him. He realized that he would be better off telling the truth and pushing people's views and comfort zones than he would have been with traditional comedy.
"I believe you can joke about anything"... "I can prove to you rape is funny. Picture Porky Pig raping Elmer Fudd."
One of my favorite Carlin quotes has to be the one about prostitution, because he did have a point (as he did with most of his views).
"I don't understand why prostitution is illegal. Selling is legal, fucking is legal. So why isn't it legal to sell fucking? Why should it be illegal to sell something that's legal to give away? I can't follow the logic. Of all the things you can do to a person, giving them an orgasm is hardly the worst. In the army, they give you a medal for killing people; in civilian life you go to jail for giving them orgasms. Am I missing something?"
The only thing left to say is...
Rest in peace, crazy ass... Thanks for all the laughs!
