All Hallow's Eve

Sometimes, even on holidays, my plans fall apart on me.  This morning I was invited to go have cocktails with some friends, including Ruth.  Because some other friends and I were talking about going to see Rocky Horror, I declined.  And when those plans with the latter didn't happen, I was sad I didn't say something to Ruth.  Not that I am fond of cocktails, but I do enjoy the occassional drink, and I was thinking an amaretto sour was in order for tonight. 
So, planless tonight on All Hallow's Eve, I've decided to enjoy myself anyway.  The hell if I'm going to be completely without fun. 
But as all my other friends were already out, I found myself struggling for what exactly to do.  I don't like drinking alone and I don't like going out to drink alone as I suspect that is asking for attention I don't want.  But what?
Scary movies.  It's Hallow's Eve, yeah?
I don't ususally think of myself as a horror fan, but recently I was thinking of what I watch, and I realize that I do watch a lot of horror stuff.  I think I got into it because I like science fiction and there's a fair amount of crossover.  And, in general, I like genre stuff. 
Tonight's playlist:

1. "The Five People You Meet in Hell" from The Night Stalker. 
Tony Curran totally sells this episode playing a blind cult leader with mind control powers.  (His makeup, especially the eyes, helps too.)  Stuart Townsend and Gabrielle Union are their adorable selves. 
2. "Lonliest Number" from The Inside.
So many good actors on this show (Adam Baldwin, Katie Finneran, Neslan Ellis, Peter Coyote) makes this short-lived series a good idea just in general.  This particular episode is all about suicide, and Danny to be a little more sensative and not just a badass. 
3. Possession
A creepy little film about a guy who may or may not have switched bodies with his brother and then is trying to mend things with his wife or sister-in-law.  I still haven't decided what was the real story here or not, which I guess is a sign that it does a good job at arguing either answer.
I have a whole night of enjoying myself and being creeped out. 

Ruth's Stories

Sometimes I accidentally have long conversations with people.  Usually they're with people I love who make me laugh.  Last night it was Ruth.
Ruth and I have only recently become friends, but we're apparently those friends who meet and then a few weeks later are best friends.  (Last year, I did the same thing with Mark.  He asks me about something in a class and three weeks later we're having two and a half hour conversations with lots of giggles.  By this past April, we would run into each other in the street and ten friends would pass by, each wondering why we were having such enthusiastic conversations that last three hours when they're supposed to be ten.) 
Ruth has got all sorts of fun stories.  She used to work in a MP's office.  She said that it was an awful job, just because the MP was a complete disappointment and because she had to deal with strange situations. 
"We had to scan everything that came in and out of the office for records, which was fine, except the scanner was in one room and the computer that would actually make the scanner scan was in another room.  You'd have to walk back and forth scanning in four hundred pages.  At one point I suggested two people do it, one to flip the paper and the other to press the button, and they thought it was brilliant, but no one ever helped me."
Apparently a lot of people would call asking for asylum, which was fine, except no one could write anything down about anyone, so usually Ruth would have no contact information for them. 
"The phone number they had wouldn't work and the ten different emails they had would just come back as one of those failed to send notices, so I started guessing what the email address probably was.  Changing certain numbers, adding an s here, that sort of thing.  Finally I got one of those emails to work." 
Ugh.  Incompetent people are able to have jobs all the time and they make so much extra unnecessary work. 
The final straw was the schizophrenic who would call in.  She apparently believed that the government, elements of the police and a few lawyers were conspiring against her, and she would call the MP's office over it.  Ruth would apparently listen to her on the phone, with her head down, because she would call several times a day.  Which was apparently better than her emailing six times a day.
"Usually, if it was mildly diverting, I would listen to her for twenty minutes, or if she was really upset, I'd give her forty."
I don't even give some of my friends forty minutes on the phone.  And I'd love to talk to Dan like that, but he's always rushing to get off. 
I suggested maybe this woman get some help, since it sounds like the government was far too incompetent to possibly be conspiring against her.  On the other hand, Ruth's making my job, with minimal human contact, lots of books and research, and fellow employees I actually like, sound awesome.  I already was pleased as punch with this work, but you know, it's good to be reminded of how bad it could be. 

Research Work

Work today was mostly uneventful.  Jocelyn had left me an email with the directions to print out two copies of a file for her, which I did.  I noticed after I did it that it had been sent to print four pages onto one page, which made everything small, but since that was the way the file was set, I didn't mess with it.  And then I left it on her desk.
Then I continued on my research of a particular project.  After a while, Jocelyn came in and said she wanted them to be one page on one page, so I changed the files settings and printed out another two copies.  The file was at least 200 pages, so this was a massive print job.  I was half expecting the printer to run out of paper, or if I was really unlucky, ink.  I feel a little bad about it because I hate wasting paper on anything, and I managed to do that unintentionally. 
Then I sat down and worked through more research.  And that was my entire day. 
This job is nice, but sometimes really isolating.  Also, I need to get busy because people are going to ask what the heck I'm doing all the time.  (At this point it looks like not much, but this is one of those things where it looks like nothing right near the end.) 
The boss wasn't in today at all, which is too bad, because I like talking to her. 
Also, everyone else left early today, so I just let myself out fifteen minutes early.  People here are pretty loose on schedules and you know when people are leaving because it's customary to say goodbye. 

Scary Stuff

You know when some mistake happens, and you start panicking?  That was what my evening was like. 
It doesn't appear to have been my fault, but basically, there was a screw up involving housing, and for about a half hour I thought I was getting evicted.  I'm not, thankfully, but as I waited for the landlord to call me I was trying desperately hard not to have a meltdown.  I tried doing some writing, I tried distracting myself in my infinite quest for good blogs.  But I kept thinking about the crisis at hand.  According to the notice I got, I would have to move on Halloween day, and I can think of little else that would make me want to throw up.  Not only would I have to give up my beloved Halloween plans (I would never forgive myself) I would also have no where to go. 
When she called and told me there had been an error, I was so relieved.  I can still enjoy the holiday and everything. 
Just so everyone knows, this counts as my Halloween scare.  No need to make me freak out more. 

Some Thoughts on Halloween

Today has been one of those days where I find myself running a lot of errands.  I first walked over to a Halloween shop to pick up a couple of things for my Halloween costume this year.  I still don't have it done, but I'm thinking it'll be ready soon.  I've decided to do something relatively simple this year, just because I've been so busy.
A lot of my female friends talk about how Halloween is sort of an opportunity to dress slutty without anyone saying anything about it.  (At least not to their face.  As much as I hear people talk about dressing slutty, I hear just as many complaints about the slutty dressing.)  Although I have problems with the whole concept of slutty, I decided years ago that Halloween would be another opportunity for me to be a feminist and express myself through fantasy. 
You know what my fantasy is?  To be admired and noticed, but not for being slutty, or even sexy, but for being strong and powerful.  Usually that's what my costumes are all about.  Strength and power.  I am demanding your gaze and I'm also demanding your respect.
This year, I decided to go for something more utilitarian, because I'm expecting to move around a great deal, so comfortable shoes, something I can potentially run in, but still have fun.  It's going to probably end up being more cute than about strength and power, but I'm okay with that because of my limited time this week and because of my circumstantial constraints. 
I digress.  I was in a Halloween shop, and of course I want to buy everything.  I love spooky things, I love black, I love all the Gothic stuff, I love a cute pumpkin.  I went in and looked around a little.  They had cups that said "Zombie Potion" and candelabras.  They had this giant spider with hair covering it, and it looked so adorable I just wanted to give it a hug.
I wish that Halloween was a longer holiday.  As much as I enjoy giving gifts to friends, I wish we'd switch it so that Halloween was a long holiday and Christmas was short.  I want to have a whole week to wear costumes. 
I also wish I had money now to just splurge on lots of things for all year.  I like clothes as a way to express oneself artistically, and I was thinking that maybe I should consider costumes.  Costumes are usually made of cheap material, but in wearing something meant to be a costume I redefine what clothes means, making all clothes seem like ultimately some kind of costume.  Which could be cool.
I'm thinking of investing in wigs.  Apparently dying one's hair changes it forever and the color isn't as rich anymore.  I don't want to dye my hair, but I do want to change it occasionally, and I was thinking maybe I should buy the occasional wig.  Something fun, something I could wear to a club even. 
I finally stopped daydreaming about Halloween and bought what I needed, then I hightailed it over to the post office.  (Got stuff to send.)  And then went over to do some shopping for things for my place.  (Don't rely on roommates to get stuff.) 

Cabin Fever

Even I get sick of studying.  This weekend, I've been doing almost nothing else, and frankly, I wanted a break.  So I attempted to set up camp outside to do more homework.  I figured this would be the best of both worlds, because then I would be outside but still getting stuff done.
But I couldn't seem to hold on to internet connection long enough.  So I had to give up.  I'm very disappointed. 
I'm going to try to study this as much as possible, and then go outside to do my reading.  If I get time. 

Manuscript Reading

Tony over at London Calling has this great post discussing how the Bodleian Library is going to be posting Jane Austen's manuscripts online.
The only possible sour thing about this is, of course, reading Austen's handwriting.  It may be perfectly legible, but anyone who is a historian of a non-modern era knows that manuscript reading can be a chore if the writer was sloppy.  I've never seen Austen's manuscripts before, so I have no idea what it's going to look like, but hopefully it doesn't make me think of 17th century Jesuits.  That stuff will give you a headache three words in.  Hopefully Austen is as purposeful in her handwriting as she is in her prose.