Sunday, January 23, 2005 06:20 p.m.

It's motherfucking freezing here. It's so cold outside that it hurts to breathe. I wish I was exaggerating, but I'm not. We got our first utilities bill on Friday: over $300 for ONE MONTH of gas/electric. We reluctantly lowered the thermostat yesterday afternoon and have been shivering ever since. The sad thing is, we're probably only shaving a few dollars off the bill. Today I blew all of the fuses in the apartment when I made the crazy decision to use two space heaters at the same time (in separate rooms, no less). Of course, the circuit breaker is located in the basement, which is only accessible from outside the building. So much for spending the day indoors. While I was out there, I decided to clear off my car and shovel it free from the huge snowbank where it was lodged... a chilly and time-consuming endeavor. After I finished, I took a shower, ate some hot soup and began reading the news online, which is when I discovered that Albany has declared a snow emergency beginning at 8 PM tonight. Basically what this means is all residents who normally park on the street (yes, T and I fall into that category) will need to move their cars to designated lots so that the plows and bulldozers can come through and remove all of the snow that is obstructing many of the spaces. Unfortunately, the closest lot to our home is several miles away... and it is currently 3º and getting colder by the minute... and I am not too psyched at the thought of climbing back into my snowy, wet clothes, putting my car in a lot and then walking home. What a thin-skinned wimp I have become!

There is an upside to this weather, though: it's beautiful. I love to sit in the window box when the snow is falling and watch the cars skid all over the road and the people slip down the sidewalk. And I had forgotten what a cool phenomenon frost is. This is what our windows look like every morning:

Rockin' my world today: eMusic . They have a large, unusual selection of tunes. and their rates are reasonable. Actually, they are currently offering a generous free trial: 50 free tunes, no obligation. Take advantage of this, my music loving friends!

Tuesday, January 18, 2005 08:37 p.m.

It's a sad evening in the Doolen/Graetzer household - we uncorked our last bottle of Two Buck Chuck a little while ago. Alas, we'll need to pay up with the rest of the world now in order to maintain our silly wine habit.

My suspicions about my downstairs neighbor (or ex-neighbor, to be more accurate) being a drug adict were confirmed this afternoon during a conversation with my landlord. I never offically met the guy, but I think I'm glad he's gone.

Yay Willie! Boo MOJO, for putting Sid Vicious on your cover this month. I'm sorry, but I refuse to believe that the MOJO-reading hipsters of 2005 give a fuck about Sid Vicious. There are plenty of other heroin-addled loser musicians to profile who (a) possess a modicum of talent and (b) are still alive and have something (anything!) to say for themselves. Enough with the Sex Pistols already!

Got a call back this afternoon re: a potential job. I don't want to say anything more at this point for fear of jinxing the whole thing, but I've got a good feeling about it. I should know more in a day or two.

Monday, January 17, 2005 08:59 p.m.

The past few days have been all about nature. Rain, snow, freezing cold air, icy lakes, miles and miles of beautiful trees... I forgot how much I missed all of this stuff.

Sunset behind my mother's house:

T and I shivering at Lake George:

View from our toasty warm living room:

Friday, January 14, 2005 10:46 a.m.

It's snowing today - huge, white, sticky flakes. I was originally planning to run some errands and drop off a few resumés... but now I'm thinking I'll hang out on the couch with my cat, watch the weather, read my new e.e. cummings book and enjoy my last guilt-free weekday of unemployment.

Tuesday, January 11, 2005 10:12 p.m.

My days as of late have either been very full or incredibly slow.

The weekend was busy. When T got home from work on Friday, we went out and sampled 4 different bars in our new neighborhood. There are a handful of worthy establishments within a short walking distance. Susie's is my favorite so far. Needless to say, it was a rather tipsy evening. On Saturday, I woke up at the crack of dawn and drove 2 hours South to my mother's house. Spent the morning playing with my adorable nieces, then met up with my ex-boyfriend Jeff for coffee in Nyack, where I used to hang out a lot before I moved to CA in 2000. On Saturday night, I went to see my friend Burr play at The Turning Point in Piermont, another cool riverside town. The band sounded amazing and I had a great time at the gig, which lasted until the wee hours of the morning. On Sunday, I had brunch with my father, stepmother and sister in New Jersey and hooked up my old computer in their apartment, which turned out to be more time consuming and complicated than I had planned. Drove back up to Albany Sunday evening.

Yesterday and today have been really lazy by comparison. Yesterday, I'm somewhat embarassed to report, I did little more than lug a few bags of garbage down to the curb, unpack one box and cook dinner for T. Today was slightly more interesting. I checked out the local YMCA (which I plan to join once I start working again and can afford the monthly dues) and took a long walk past the Empire State Plaza to Corning Riverfront Park, from whence one can pick up the Mohawk-Hudson Bikeway - 60 miles of trails which will be perfect for rollerblading once it warms up.

Tonight I went to an orientation meeting at the Honest Weight Food Coop, which I intend to join ASAP. I think it will be a good way to meet some cool folks. I also learned an important lesson re: surviving the winter months in Albany: don't leave home without gloves... EVER. It may be relatively warm and clear when you depart, but there's no telling when a blizzard will happen and you'll need to dig your car out of a snowbank with your hands.

Friday, January 7, 2005 05:52 p.m.

The downstairs neighbor noises are happening again. I'm leaning towards drug addict.

Thursday, January 6, 2005 05:45 p.m.

Hello snowy urban life!

I woke up at 8 AM this morning to find freezing rain falling from the sky. It's 5:45 PM now, and the "wintery mix" is still coming down. I've chiseled thick layers of ice off my car twice today so far (thanks again, Santa, for the jumbo ice scraper!). It's the kind of mess that makes driving scary - I had more than my fair share of hit-the-brakes-and-get-no-response-as-the-car-careens-out-of-control-down-the-street-and-my heart-leaps-into-my-mouth moments this afternoon. I have become such a wimp about inclement weather after a mere 5 years on the West Coast. I need to readjust to this kind of thing right quick!

I'm still trying to figure out what the etiquette is re: shoveling the steep flight of steps leading up to our building. I almost broke my neck earlier as I descended with my laundry basket (my brother-in-law Kevin is graciously allowing me to use his washer/dryer while he is away at a conference this week... beats the coin-op machines in our basement); when I returned, everything had been cleared off and salted - I'm guessing by one of the other tenants. Should I offer to do it next? Probably... although I'll be truthful: I really don't want to!

Wednesday, January 5, 2005 10:01 a.m.

At approximately 3:30 AM this morning, T and I were awakened by strange noises coming from the apartment below ours... noises that could only be made by someone who is either mentally challenged or seriously tweaked out on crystal meth. We lay awake for the good part of an hour, listening to two men (I have yet to meet either of them) make loud, nonsensical exclamations to one another and crash around noisily, knocking things over and occasionally falling down. I am annoyed, although not as annoyed as T must be since he had to get up for work this morning. More than that, however, I am intrigued. Are my downstairs neighbors drug addicts, or are they retarded? I must find out!

Tuesday, January 4, 2005 08:05 p.m.

I am finally coming up for air after a whirlwind month of packing, traveling, celebrating and suffering (I caught a BAD case of the flu soon after arriving in Albany and spent several unpleasant days of downtime flat on my ass in bed). Now that I have been in New York for 2 weeks, it is finally beginning to dawn on me that I no longer live in Los Angeles. That probably sounds stupid... but I feel like have been one step ahead of myself for months, and I am just now starting to catch up and realize what the fuck is going on.

Our Madison Ave. apartment is beginning to take shape, but it's slow going. This place is much smaller than The Compound, and we have been struggling to find space for the most basic of our belongings, nevermind all of the shiny new wedding gifts we received in October. Our building doesn't have it's own dumpster, which means that we have to stock-pile our trash on the fire escape until 7 PM each Monday, when it is safe to transfer it down 2 flights to the curb. Recycling isn't very popular in this city (read: extremely limited curbside pick-up service). We haven't been able to unpack/hang up our clothes yet because our closet is full of broken-down cardboard boxes, which we will take to a nearby recycling facility once we are able to fully empty T's truck of its current contents. The old move-shit-to-make-space-for-more-shit game. It's somewhat uncomfortable and more than a bit humbling... but I'm loving it just the same. I was spoiled rotten in California, with my big Yahoo! salary and incredibly cushy living situation. It's good to get a dose of reality.

T started his new job yesterday - so far, so good - and I plan to spend the entirety of this week (and quite possibly next week as well) being the opposite of a breadwinner: putting stuff away, chilling out, exploring my new surroundings and getting my head right. This morning, I took a lovely excursion to Saratoga Springs... a beautiful town with an interesting history and lots of cool places to hang out. This afternoon, I checked out Albany's record store offerings (all of them weak, unfortunately) and strolled through my new neighborhood, which manages to be picturesque even on the most ordinary and cloudy of Tuesdays:

I am looking forward to this weekend, when I will travel South to spend time with family, see my ex-boyfriend Jeff and catch my friend Burr's gig at The Turning Point in Piermont, my old stomping grounds.