IAM:
newish to the West coast.
bitchin' in the kitchen'.
queer.
a knitting knerd
a hair design student.
tough-love dog mom.
a gym rat.
partnered.
not a vegetarian.
lover of comfortable shoes.
a lean, mean dancing machine.
getting older, but so are you.
healthy.

"Practising any art is a way to make your soul grow."
-Kurt Vonnegut

11,308 sloppy kisses.
C'mon, you can do better than that...


What am I listening to today?

Getting burnt. Looking forward to the trip home and that time off, and trying to keep anxieties associated with that at bay.

I'm looking forward to an unexpected visit with a Guelph friend later today. He always has a way of making me feel at peace.

Things at school are great and when I'm there I'm in the zone. But I'm home so litte now that when things here are unkept and I'm already feeling overwhelmed, I get into a spitting rage in an instant.

Breathe, Denise.

Off to wrap my first perm. It's oddly meditative.

The house is friggin' chilly. My hands, my feet are freezing - hell, even my ass is cold. I'm wearing fleece pants, fuzzy socks, a heavy thermal underwear shirt AND a hoody and I'm STILL cold. Gah.

The housemate is starting to get on our nerves. It's mostly all good here but the little things are starting to add up. It certainly didn't help that he and his lady were fucking loudly in the shower while Jen was trying to get some sleep before her early shift. Thank god he'll be away for a couple of weeks, then we'll be away for a week. Time for a little distance. I'm thinking more and more about living somewhere else, either in Vancouver or back home, but moving with the dog seems problematic no matter how I swing it. It's way premature...I should just drop it for now and deal with the cold house and the flakiness and the boot marks on the clean floor and the pubes in the tub and the extra loud cell phone calls late at night.

School today was decent. A men's cut, a colour and women's cut, and a wet-to-dry flatiron style. Yep. Tomorrow's theory class should be right uncomfortable because the boss is gonna address the missing cash from the till and we're all pretty sure who did it, but we're not positive. Maybe we're all being catty bitches. Who knows. But it's hard not to finger the sketchiest person there, the one who's constantly asking people for money. The one who shows up to work high on something, steals food from her classmates, falls asleep standing up, and has the worst attitude ever. I wonder how this is gonna turn out.

I had a facial today. My face hurts but I'm hopeful.

I really need to get more Christmas shopping done. The 8th will be here like that. *snap*

I come home some days and feel like I could just eat and eat and eat. I want starch. And chocolate. Cheese. Crackers. Lentil stew. Two Bite Brownies. Tea. And them some. I'm not even PMSing. Christ.

The lesbian hot tub party last night was okay, but this morn would have been better without last night's three to four shots of whisky on ice and that goblet of white wine. Which, um, also kinda led to a wee sob over the two Guelph men who cause me ongoing anxiety.

Oh well. I guess I should expect this shit to come out every so often...

School today was so so. Had the worst client I've had yet.

Oh ya, so just for chuckles the new refurbished laptop, the one we got less than a month ago, stopped working. Turns out it was a software issue so, again, they were able to save our stuff but the software had to go. And I found out why iTunes wouldn't let me back up on DVD: this computer doesn't have a DVD burner. Duh. So silly, so stupid. I'm no good with this shit.

The mid-week day off was sweetass. I should do this more often.

Wishlisted a bunch of nifty things from bodyartforms. I'm hoping for anchor and/or turquoise and/or coconut plugs, plus a stainless segment ring for the schnoz.

Plus, the Christmas shopping has officially begun.

I'm really starting to look forward to this visit home, to use the week to see all my favourite people and dance it up at my favourite venues.

I do believe I'm doing highlights this morn. I scored a $20 tip following my first set. Yip! I know it's not the norm but it certainly set a nice tone.

Chips. Are. Evil.

I don't buy them, but Jenny does.

Curses to the man who just tore my friend's heart out. Who breaks up with their partner by email?? Dear Dennis: If I was in Richmond, I'd kick your slimy, nerdy ass. I didn't like you when I met you, and you never deserved her anyway. How dare you.

Sunday: Sleep. Omelette. MSN. Dogwalk. Knitting. Gym. Sweat. Yes.

Oh, To The Young Woman At The Gym: It's rude to cut in at the circuit. See those numbers on the machines? That means you're supposed to do them in order. K, fine, do them out of sequence but it's shitty to delay the people who want to do the circuit properly. And, it's ettiquette to clean your machine when you're done with it. It's flu season, you twit.

About to get my plane ticket home. In just a few days the price has gone from $350 to about $480 round-trip with taxes. Christ. I can't bring myself to fib on my EI report so I emailed my caseworker about taking an authorized break from my training program... I'm hoping all's good. Worst case, I don't get my EI for that week away, which would be bollox but I'd rather know upfront than get dinged for it later. It's looking like we'll be going from Dec 8-15, which is fine by me. I look forward to having a BC Christmas with my girl. I'll get to avoid the big family stuff right around the 25th, which I think would be just too much for me, but I'll have time to catch up with the people I want to see. Not really sure how I'm gonna handle my Dad and how many days I'll be staying at the 'rents' house... it's probably best to pretend that everything's fine (despite the fact I haven't talked to him in months and he's made it clear that J isn't welcome).

I'm also not sure if I should contact the ex to let him know I'll be in town. I never seem to do the right thing when it comes to him (according to him, anyway). I'm not even sure if he reads this anymore. I suspect not, but who knows. Whatever. We both need to move on.

I was seriously debating the Accutane thing because my skin is driving me bonkers, but after learning more from a friend who took it, and finding out that I'll HAVE to take the pill (queer or not) and have several tests and referrals done first and throughout treatment to make sure the stuff isn't damaging my liver too badly, it seems like too huge of a deal with too many potentially serious side effects to go through with it. I've had stretches of fairly clear skin here and there so I know it's possible without crazy-harsh medications that could really fuck me up. Sigh. I suspect glycolic acids are the ticket.

I do believe I'm doing my first highlight job tomorrow. The client only wants a few so placement is key, so I actually suspect that the instructors will "help" me place them, which means I'll end up passing them foils while they do it themselves. Oh well. I'll be the one doing the style at the end and getting the tip.

I thought I was going to have to deal with more asshole and/or awkward clients but so far, I've really enjoyed my time with the people I've worked on - just confirmation of my belief that more people than not are genuinely nice.

On that note, yay for new (iam) friends!