2002-02-09
Master Class, posted at 12:57 p.m.
Epiphany in Baltimore has moved to epiphanyinbaltimore.blogspot.com It's Saturday morning. I'm finding I'm having a huge urge to write in here on Saturdays lately, which I guess it's a good sign because that means stuff is happening for me on Friday nights.Last night, we went to the Terrance McNally play Master Class. It is 90% a one-woman show, and that one woman is a 50-something teacher in my department. She was absolutely amazing in the play. I am in awe of her right now, being able to memorize 90% of the lines in a 2-hour play and yet still teach. And teach well - she is someone I really look up to at school. The play was funny at times and very emotional at others, and I really enjoyed it.
About seven of us went from school - the 40-something couple I have befriended (she's from Boston and I teach with her, he's a droll guy from London), the loud redhead across the hall from me, the pregnant woman down the hall, and Michelle and Kristin. The latter two just started teaching at our school last week, and Michelle came to my Super Bowl Party after meeting me only once. She's from Ohio, and is pretty cool. I met Kristin for the first time at the play, and she's pretty cool as well.
After the play, which was performed in the Fell's Point area, we decided to go out and find Nick, who we knew was hanging out with grad school friends that night somewhere in the area - we had said we'd look for each other. We really didn't expect to find him, but did find him in the first bar we walked into. He was pretty drunk, and funny, but the place was dark and noisy and he was with a different group of friends, so we really didn't hang out. I got to know Michelle and Kristin a bit, though. Michelle is 24 and Kristin is a few years older. I'm finding Michelle pretty interesting. Although I feel no spark between us in terms of anything more than friendship, I think I have found another friend. The weirdest moment was when she was talking about going to a concert in Annapolis on Wednesday, and I asked who it was. "Oh, some guy named Todd Snider who I like." She assumed I would not know who it was. Ha! Of course, I knew who he was, and owned three CDs of his. That was pretty exciting. She let out this big whoop and said, "Get out of here! That is so random!". Little does she know that I've filled my brain with so much random musical information that there's scant room for anything else. I may go with them to the concert; I've never seen him live and don't know his music well (I've picked up his CDs for really cheap in used CD bins, and have enjoyed them but not studied them much), and apparently his live shows are a lot of fun.
Another goofy thing that happened is that Michelle, when she came to my party last week, brought a couple of grocery bags full of snacks and stuff. I took them from her and set the stuff out, when suddenly I noticed there was a box of tampons in one of them. Now, remember that I'd never met her before, and I didn't know how to deal with it without embarassing her. I put the back down on the ground, and hoped she would see it and we'd never have to speak of it again. Well, she didn't see it, apparently, because last night she asks me with a huge grin on her face: "So, did I leave anything slightly embarassing at your place on Sunday?" It was pretty funny.
Nick and I have made plans today to head to a batting cage somewhere in the area - we're both coaching baseball starting on March 1, and we're pretty excited about it. Then, I think the two of us, Teri, Michelle, Kristin, and Jeremy will head out to Howl at the Moon!, which is a dueling piano bar downtown that I've never been to. Hopefully I won't end up being the DD - it's happened to me for now five straight times, after last night. Part of it is that I'm still in show-off-the-new-car mode, and volunteer readily. Then, I regret it later. Last night, I had to drive Kristin and Michelle back to their place, and had thought of rejoining with Nick afterwards and drinking a lot and then calling a roommate to come pick me up, but thought I'd save myself for tonight. It was late, and it seemed like a stupid thing to do.
I had a great two-hour workout this morning when I woke up, and plan on having a great day. I'm rereading Annie John so I can be prepared to teach it in about a week, and am writing a fairly easy true/false/multiple choice test to ensure that the kids read it like they were supposed to (it was summer reading). The week was damn good in the classroom; right now, I really feel like I'm kicking ass as a teacher. That's a great feeling, and all too rare during the first semester.
In other news, the Pennsylvania roommates are royally pissing both Jeremy and I off right now. On Sunday, Josh will celebrate one month living with us, with no signs or hints that he will ever help out with rent or utilities. Our utility bill was $300 this month for some insane reason that they had to come out and check our meter, so it's not like our utilities are cheap. Upon hearing how much it was, Mike tells Josh that he doesn't think he should have to pay as much as Jeremy and I because he's never there and he doesn't have the TV on all the time. Whatever. First of all, $260 of the $300 bill is for gas, not electricity, and Mike is back every night and needs the place heated just as much as us. Secondly, that's just a bunch of horseshit to begin with - Mike also never cleans. (ever. not once.) Josh then came to Jeremy and told him that Mike didn't feel like he needed to pay the stuff and that he agreed. Then, he said, "I guess I shouldn't talk, though, since I'm not paying anything."
I like Josh, but get him together with Mike and he turns into an asshole. First of all, there's the whole living-arrangement thing. He's been with us a month, without a dime to be seen. He's getting far too comfortable. His stuff is everywhere, and he's a slob. I'm all about helping people out, and in fact received a considerable bit of help in my move down here when I stayed with Bart and Lashonia for almost two weeks. But the right thing to do in that case is to give something back. Clean the house. Cook dinner. Or at least keep yoru fucking stuff in one area and not spread it everywhere. He just does stuff that I find intolerable. For example, Gale got me these really nice bowls for Christmas a while ago. They're so nice, I don't want to use them and use them only when company comes. Well, Josh used one, then he puts it outside on the back porch for Holden to lick out. I guess that's not horrible. But then he leaves it out there for three days! I waited for a bit to see if he'd bring it in, but got tired of Holden dragging it around with his chain. I finally had to get it. Is that weird or what? Is it just me? Why the hell would anyone do that?
Also, Jeremy told me last night that he was sitting alone in his room, cleaning, and that Josh and Mike of them went to the movies without asking him. I have no concept of how that could be construed as okay. Is it a Pennsylvania thing? How could you go to the movies and see your roommate sitting alone at home on a Friday night and not ask him if he wants to join you? I don't like Mike and like him less and less the more I live with him, yet I still have invited him to the dueling piano bar tonight. It just seems like the right, civil thing to do. Mike's just missing a lot of basic decency, I think. I have to ask him four times every time I write a bill for his portion of it. He turns me (and Jeremy, when it's him) into the bad guy. I wrote checks totalling $150 for water and cable on Friday, told him about it that day and have reminded him three times since then, and he just paid me last night. All it would have taken was getting up, going to his room and writing the check, but he puts it off and acts like it's a huge burden to pay. And he's never ever offered to pay a bill himself and have us pay him.
Last Sunday at the Super Bowl party, Mike brought his fiance. She's a beautiful girl - Indian, with funky glasses - and is very nice. Really, she and Mike seem like they have absolutely nothing in common. But at the party, she turns to me and says with a smirk on her face, "You better be careful with Mike - he tortures his dogs at home." What kind of a girl gets married to a guy who tortures his dog? That's why Holden cowers under a chair when he walks by. I don't know what the hell he does to him when I'm not around, but it certainly pisses me off. Apparently, Mike shaved the face of his dog at home, has painted him blue, and crap like that.
What a catch he is.
Okay, I'm done. Tonight will be fun. I can't wait for Nick to call to head out to a batting cage.