Tomorrow morning at 7:55 AM I’ll be departing non-stop for New York.
This weekend has been a whirl of goodbyes. I’ll look forward to
returning in early October.

I’ve been so stressed with starting school at NYU and moving to New York that I’ve developed some sort of chronic, almost paralyzing pain in my back and shoulders. This has been on-going since the end of July, really kicked into gear at the beginning of August and lessened somewhat recently. But it’s been enough of a preoccupation that I’ve been unable to workout or do Pilates for three weeks, and that’s adding enormously to my stress level.

Last night I sat looking at three bottles of pills I’m taking to relieve pain and help me sleep, Vicodin, Flexeril and Ambien. I started wondering if at age 35 I’m finally starting to feel the effects of age along with old injuries from gymnastics, and as my shoulder ached and my jaw muscles worked I wondered if I was going to be one of those sad people I’ve always scorned who talk about their “chronic” pain. Well, now I know what that’s like, if “chronic” can be defined as lasting longer than one month. The chiropractor has helped somewhat and I’m hoping that once I get to New York, have my apartment furnished and school has started it will ease. I’m praying this is the case.

I’m also starting to doubt my abilities to manage the staff at my house in San Francisco. I’ve got a maid that despite working for us for two years still washes all our clothes in scalding hot water and continually gets bleach on my pants and shirts. She also doesn’t tell me when she’s double-paid because both my boyfriend and I will leave checks for her without communicating to one another that we’ve done so. In addition she breaks stuff and doesn’t tell me and she isn’t working as much as I’m paying her to work. But she’s Salvadorean and has a baby so I feel guilty.

Then we have a gardener who NEVER finished projects on time. I wanted the garden in the front of the house done by August 5th. Instead he cut down everything that day and in the process broke the water pipe into our house and set off the security system so the police came. I accepted his apologies and gave him an extension until this weekend. Then last week he dug up all the rock in front and now it looks like a fucking moonscape and then yesterday he calls and tells me he can’t get it done this week, he won’t be able to get it done until October, TWO FUCKING MONTHS AFTER I ASKED HIM TO FINISH!

I’ll give it one more month for both. If I come back here in October and things are still the same I’m going to fire them both and sort it out later. What’s the point of having staff when they’re causing you more stress than if you did the work yourself? This shit plus the moving shit is turning me into an invalid, it’s pathetic.

But I did buy a pair of Dolce and Gabbana suede trousers today that were 80% off the regular price of $1255, so I paid $230. Fucking awesome. That’s bargain shopping for you, and it makes me feel an incremental amount better.

Today I ordered:

1. A bed
2. Two leather chairs
3. Two end tables
4. One floor lamp
5. Two table lamps
6. Assorted other items
7. Desk
8. Desk chair
9. Media center

I’ll order a couch and a mattress when I get to New York, or shortly before.

Scandal! The girl who lives in my apartment was supposed to be gone last week but evidently she’s decided to stay until the 31st. In addition she’s started marking my mail “return to sender” and putting it in the outgoing mailbox. This nearly resulted in my liability and renter’s insurance being cancelled, luckily the insurance agency called me and told me what was happening and I had them send it to Soho House temporarily.

The apartment owner, her broker, my broker and the building’s superintendent are freaking out. The apartment has to be painted and the appliances replaced and they need the place empty to do that. Originally the current occupant said she’d be out by the 22nd so everything was planned around that. Now that she’s determined to live out all of her remaining rent no one knows what to do.

I called the Super and told him to tell the current occupant NOT to return any of my mail, to give it to him. And then I called my broker and casually mentioned not sending the last check for the rent (due tomorrow.) I knew what reaction I’d get - with panic in his voice he yelled “don’t DO that!” He then told me they’d compensate me for the fact that I couldn’t move into the apartment on the 1st, either fiscally or some other way.

Either way it’s not a big deal for me. I’ve already made reservations at Soho House until the 4th, knowing that the apartment probably wasn’t going to be ready when they said it was anyway. So I have a place to stay until then. It looks like it’s going to be a crazy introduction to Manhattan.

What we have right now on the Lebanon-Israel border isn’t a ceasefire, it’s a cool war. And soon it’s going to turn into a hot one.

This writer has it correct. Next time carry the war to Damascus. Bring Jewish fire raining down on the heads of Syria’s terrorist-supporting ruling class. In the 1973 war Israel could have captured and destroyed Damascus had it wished to do so. This time it should.

I sold my car today. Bye, bye Jetta

The enemies of Israel are many and our friends few. Amongst the many nations that refuse diplomatic recognition to the Jewish state are Malaysia and Indonesia, and those two nations are two of the three top contributors to the UN “peacekeeping” force in Southern Lebanon. Israel has said it refuses to accept a “peacekeeping” force which counts as its members soldiers from states which refuse Israel recognition. For this Israel is being branded an “obstacle” to peace.

Bullshit. Can anyone imagine the United States accepting as peacekeepers on its southern border soldiers from North Korea or from Cuba? It wouldn’t and it would be justified in doing so because both of those states are sworn enemies of the US. Malaysia is a frequent critic of Israel in international forums like the Islamic Conference. Malaysia’s last prime minister gave a speech in which he quoted from The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a notorious anti-Semitic forgery. Indonesia is also a Muslim nation and a frequent critic of Israel. Both of these nations are unsuitable contributors to an armed force which is required to be neutral.

The more I look at what is going on around Israel the more it starts to look like a noose, a ploy by Muslim states to quietly encircle Israel and then strike when Israel’s guard is down. Syria is muttering about “liberating” the Golan Heights, Hezbollah is being rearmed by both Iran and Syria, the evidence is all there. I hope we don’t return to war but unless we see a major change in the way the ceasefire is being carried out Israel may have no choice but to strike first and strike hard. This time let’s try and “liberate” Syrian dictator Bashar Assad of his life.

There are so many slimy scuzballs on the Internet, it’s amazing.

I’m selling my car and one of many places it’s listed is Craig’s List. You wouldn’t believe how many people try and get me to send them the keys and signed title in exchange for a promise that they’ll wire money to my bank account. Of all the e-mails I’ve received off Craig’s List I’d say 80% of them are shady.

They’re almost always foreign and I can’t help thinking that if these scammy Nigerians and Russians spent as much time trying to improve their countries as they do cooking up schemes then maybe Nigeria and Russia wouldn’t be the steamy, corrupt crocks of shit they are today.

The scams usually begin like this: “Hi I need car to commute to job I offer you $6500 tomorrow you send me title and key thank you very much.” I laugh because it’s absurd but obviously people are taken in by this crap because there are warnings all over Craig’s List about these criminals.

Also, can’t these fools at least get someone to write a proper English letter soliciting money on their behalf? I’ve even had a Chinese scammer write “preeeze write back” like they’re writing in a Chinese accent, it’s hilarious.

I just want to sell the car and have it off my plate. Hell, I’d even sell it to a Nigerian if they offered to show up at my house with a sack full of cash.

I choose where I go to college based on many factors but the annual US News and World Report rankings is not one of them.

Still, I’m proud of the fact that my alma mater, the University of Washington, is ranked #42 out of 124 on the US News Top National Universities chart. Even more exciting is NYU’s ranking, #34 in the same category!

Going to an excellent school is a great advantage and a privilege. I’m happy and gratified that both of my choices are echoed in the rankings of excellence provided by US News and World Report.

Do we really need to hear more taped phone calls from doomed 9/11 victims? The craving for these macabre bits of the past is disturbing and gross. Why does anyone want to hear or read this shit? I lived through that day and the less I think about it the better I am, especially considering my upcoming move to Manhattan.

And worse, why do we need to see more interviews with the relatives of those on the calls, crying and sobbing on camera while they listen to their dead loved ones? I hate having my emotions manipulated, I prefer to try and manipulate the emotions of others.

Here are some snippets, just so you can, you know, feel BAD today:
“I’m going to die, aren’t I?”
“Everything is collapsed, baby.”
“Oh God.”
“Oh, my lord,”
“You’re not dying. You’re in a bad situation, ma’am.”