High Desert Jezebel

Time flies when you’re working your ass off! The situation has changed a lot since the last post. Instead of banging my head up against a wall because I’m unemployed and broke, I’m now banging my head up against a wall because I’m employed and broke. I got hired on at a taco shop part time, but the night shift worker walked out two days before the manager’s vacation started and guess who got to fill in for the eleven hour shifts? It came right after I found out the I was being billed as an out-of-state student at UNM and had to drop out for the semester, so it was actually welcome news. Still, it was exhausting, and downtown Albuquerque at 2:30AM is nuts, but it’s over now and I’m back to my normal part-time schedule (hey, for punk rock former travellers, that’s about as strong a work commitment as you can hope for!). We got our new apartment (moved in on the second) which is what put the pressure on when I realized I wasn’t getting student loans. Jessie, our gracious hippie...

I just dropped off the physical copy of my transcript that I had to go pick up at CNM after the one the sent electronically couldn't be found by UNM and received the wonderful news that it will take two weeks to process. That's another two weeks before I can enroll in classes and another two weeks before I'll be able to get any sort of financial aid. I did drop off some more applications but the general consensus seems to be that "we'll need some people after the fall term starts up again next month." Okay, I get it. I'm taking a vacation. I just have to decide if I want to head west for beaches or north to visit friends in Denver that I was supposed to see in April or May. I may be able to catch a ride with friends in one direction or the other to jump start the trip. I just can't imagine staying in Albuquerque another month with no way to make money; I'm so broke I can't even wash my clothes! I had to wash panties in the bathtub just to h...

Happy day before the 4th-of-July! I'm just relieved that the art fair is in the past. For as half-assed as it was in many ways, I have to say that I think it was a success. Everyone sold something and no one seemed to mind the ninety-nine degree heat. Vick showed up in cut-off swim trunks, exposing dozens of fresh homemade tattoos and my old favorite down his leg that reads "Victory In The Sense Of Failure." He waved down traffic in his shorty-shorts which was perfect for Pride day and once Erica was done with the parade stuff she joined him (I think her fuschia-covered chest actually got us less traffic because the drivers were too distracted staring at her boobs to read the sign!). Johnny seemed to be having a really good time just talking to people and drinking cold beers in the hot shade from the car port. It was byob and that lent things a fun, party-like aspect so the crowd of friends grew throughout the afternoon, which attracted passers-by to both the art and into...

Another day, another three or four hours spent sitting at Satellite Coffee. We've pretty much resigned ourselves to the idea that we live here again. I rewrote my resume yesterday and am planning to go around looking for a job as soon as I can get copies printed and pull some work clothes together. We need to go up to the SSI office and transfer Johnny's information here before Ohio cuts him off. I'm planning to enroll in UNM for either a creative writing or fine arts degree (maybe both), I'm just waiting because I don't have money to pay the application fee. Honestly, I look forward to being back in school and I've been having a lot of fun making art and seeing all the people I missed while I was in Ohio, I just need to get a little more on the ball with making money and art and writing; sleeping until two in the afternoon is a great way to waste your life. With less than five days until the art fair I've been scrambling to get things together. I've t...

Wow, it's been awhile since I posted anything here, hasn't it? The past two years were strange. I was so intent on moving to Ohio and disappointed that Johnny was so unhappy there; there were so many good qualities there but not the right good qualities: friends, a community, kindness. And being near my family, the original reason for moving up there, turned out to be just stressful for me when I couldn't help them (you can't fix people's lives!). So after much talk and planning we left on a cross-country motorcycle trip, had an awesome time for about two weeks, then broke down here in New Mexico. Back in Albuquerque! I suppose it's the best place it could have happened. It's such a relief to have friends who know us and really care for us, to have the understanding art community, and even just to be out of that midwestern buggy humidity. The desert is more home now than my hometown (though I do get sly joy from rocking the Gummo shirt for a sort of pervers...

How has it been three months already since I last posted?! (Answer: I am a procrastinator!). Well, the trip to Ohio went off okay; we had a three AM, middle-of-nowhere flat tire, but an awesome tow truck guy in Rolla got us not a spare but an actual tire and wheel for, like, twenty bucks. SOOO cool. Visited parents, friends, went to the Cincinati Zoo (perhaps a poor choice for the middle of a hot, humid August day, especially coming from Albuquerque), and rescued a friend and her kids from her crazy mother on by dropping them off in Denver on the way home. School started and I realized that picking some of the most homework/study-heavy courses at CNM and then cramming four of them together back-to-back was probably not the best idea I've ever had. Especially when I was planning a wedding in the middle of the term. I might have to drop one of the classes so I don't screw up my GPA. Johnny and I got married three days ago (yay! and FINALLY!), which was fun. I picked a ran...

I'm going on the road in a week and it cannot come one moment too soon. I've spent most of my days this summer lying around inside avoiding the sun and the heat (mostly the sun) when I don't have to go to work. I didn't go to school 'cause I wanted time to myself; I should have realized that when I have a comfortable place to procrastinate I'll never get anything done. I just reread old books, watch Netflix, and dye my hair. I guess I've gotten some good paintings done and we've sold some artwork this summer, so that's something. Still, I do miss green trees and water and beaches and towns that aren't fifty miles apart. I'll be glad to see my family and the friends from home who haven't left yet; as I've gotten older I've realized that I had it a lot better as a kid than most of the people I'm close to did. Maybe we'll check out some local punk shows while we're in Ohio. It's been a long time since I've lived...