I apologize that I haven't been updating this regularly. I don't have lots of time, but more importantly I don't have internet access in my apartment. Where I've been living the last 3 months was supposed to be VERY temporary. It's called an "English Basement", which means there's a door directly to outside. But it's still a basement. And I don't have any of my furniture, a real kitchen and so forth.People I know (including me) call my apartment "the dungeon." It's not bad compared to the apartments my 23 year old classmates live in. Compared to my house, though, it's not a good scene. I keep singing the "Everybody spread the word . . . I live in my sister's basement!" line from The Wedding Singer. :-)
Anyway, the dungeon is next door to a bed and breakfast. My building and the b&b are owned by a cute couple, Bill and Bertie. They're about 80 and 71, respectively. There's a nice courtyard that connects the 2 houses as well as a carriage house. Upstairs from me, there's a professional woman in her 30's who's very cool. In the carriage house is a doctor from St. Louis who teaches in Richmond a few weeks per month. It's funny knowing the neighbors. In a way it's a quaint setup. Still, I want an actual apartment that can fit my stuff, and that feels fitting for me.
There are lots of funny things about the dungeon. The floor is painted mint green. The bathroom is tiny. I have to be careful not to bump my elbows in the shower and the water pressure sucks. There is weird, tacky fabric on the ceiling. The artwork on the walls is a conglomerate of bad photos, paintings and drawings. Before I broke down and bought some glasses at CVS, 2 of the 3 drinking glasses in my kitchenette said "Bud Light" on them. There are pipes overhead, so no cartwheels for me at home. I have to do those outside or at the Adcenter. I dry my laundry by hanging clothes (on hangers) from the pipes. The list goes on.
There are a bunch of random books in the dungeon. I used some as props in a recent commercial we shot for the Brady Campaign Against Gun Violence. I found titles like, "The Confederate in the Attic" and "The History of Reloading." One night I decided to read, which I almost never do for pleasure. The first 2 Harry Potter books were on one bookshelf. In a week, I read them both.
I know I am way behind the times, but reading them now is good since I don't have to wait a year to read another one. Rebecca lent me 3 and 4. It's really wonderful how the Harry Potter books have gotten all these kids into reading. More impressively, it's a miracle that they got me to read two books in a week.
