Ok....I just stepped outside and realized that there is an overturned couch sitting in the lawn right outside my door. Now earlier today someone was flinging blinds and cushions over the balcony onto the same area. Where the fuck am I living?????

Oh my god...I totally had a great time tonight. I soooo needed the time off and to hang out with friends and just have fun. I love the new arrivals in the department.

This week has been nothing short of exhausting. I generally like my students and they are very eager to learn. I have met most of the new TAs and they seem very nice and eager to be there. The senior TAs on our list are working up quite an argument storm. And I have decided that I can;t afford ot move and that something evil and nasty needs to be done about Rotunda and her bitch boy. I even bought 30 decibel ear plugs....and they did not work. Needless to say, the management is violating their own policies. And do they care? nooooooooooooooooooo

I am soooooooooooooooooooooo exhausted. First day of classes. It was a freakin zoo. I saw so many of my former students, including one from my first semester of teaching. It was kinda cool. My classes were interesting. So young and scared. I enjoy putina little fear in them. It promises to be a good semester. I can;t write anymore, I need to sleep...that is...if Rotunda would roll over and die.

Wow...I was looking forward to watching Madonna's Drowned World Tour on HBO....and...it sucks...like really bad. On another topic, I am making split pea soup. Don;t know why. Never had it. Was sittin around. Smells good. We'll see...

Well I have discovered the identity of Rotunda. It is a newly married couple consistinng of a white man and a Hispanic woman with their little chihuahua....how apropos. Last night I managed to sleep at 11 but was awakened at 1 am and then 3 am and then I could not get back to sleep until 6:30 a.m. I am thinking of now dubbing them The Bitch and te Fucker. I wrote a long letter to the management, not that it will do any good. The one good thing that came out of my behemoth-induced insomnia was watching The Mexican. I wish I had seen it in the theatres. It is a GREAT movie. Never seen Brad Pitt like this. It is definitely one I need to own.

ROTUNDA MUST DIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is amazing how completely oblivious, rude, obnoxious, and ignorant some people can be. The bitch is going down, and not in the good way.

Women snipers and Asian snipers???? In a Russian army??? In the early 1940's???????? No no no.....i must check up on my history, but that is way off.

Ok, I REALLY need to stop eating or drinking when I watch war movies. I should have learned my lesson when I saw Saving Private Ryan. The first 15 minutes were just horrifying. And now I am watching Enemy at the Gates. Yikes! But now here is the ryb...

We have a movie about the Russian line during WWII. Jude Law of course is good. The movie seems very interested. BUT, how and why in the hell can Russian soldiers have British accents? And why do some speak a la Russian, and others not. What kind of freaking actind/directing choice is that???? Not only that, but since when were women allowed in the Russian army? ESPECIALLY then during Stalin-ism. There is only so much you can push the willin suspension of disbelief in the media, especially in the case of real-life events. It REALLY bugs me.

Well, at 9:30 this morning I was awakened by the familiar footsteps of Rotunda. She has returned. May God have mercy on my soul.

Cd Player fiasco. Static from the radio. Could be the antenna, could be the cd player. To be on the safe side I exchanged my player for another brand (one WITH a pause button, God I am so anal). Wed, I go back to the service shop AGAIN to check on the wire. What a bitch. Off I go!

Cate Blanchett....another amazing actress. See The Gift and Elizabeth. Wow!

The frogs have returned! And I am not speaking of some kind of French invasion. They actually returned last night, but I was so exhausted that I just tuned them out. But tonight, they are back in full force. I have determined that they only start their tweetering and croaking on days when it rains and after 10:30 p.m. That is how psychotically obsessed I am with the damn little fuckers. On another note of what could be something disastrous, new neigbors have moved in to the left of me. On the other side of my bedroom wall. I wish I had enough money to live in a house or in an exclusive apartment place. I knwo I am picky about my surroundings, but dammit, I like SILENCE. You shoud see me in movie theatres. I can;t even stand the rustling of those damn popcorn bags.

So I am knee deep in getting ready for school. I need to finish these sites and my teaching stuff. And of course, I need to take my car back to Sears to see what the heck is going on with with my cd player. It;s a sign I tell you.

Just have to say that Jude Law is an amazing actor. Watching ...Ripley, and the man is just good. Another good mark for the English and living in England!

Well...I have reached the bottom pit of depression. Being saddled with the final vestige of adult responsibility is sucking me dry. Don;t get me wrong, I am not trying to evade, nor do I want to evade, any responsibility that is solely mine, but man, being a student and getting piss-poor wages for teaching BECAUSE I am a student is no good. Having to drop down 200 bucks for a car alarm, 330 bucks for negative equity because my mom was wrong about what she owed on the trade-in, realizing that the car was not gotten for as low as I thought because the trade-in was not paid off, wondering why I even got the damn thing, wondering how I am going to pay for it, dropping down ANOTHER 200 bucks for a cd player (I'll admit, I didn;t NEED that, but my portable won't work in the car, and what is the use of buying another portable), and wishing to God I could just fucking graduate and get a real fucking job, pay off my debts, and get the hell out of dodge. Whew....

I just want a freaking break. I know that what does not kill you makes you stronger, and that everything happens for a reason, but just once I would like a lucky break. It must be a genetic family curse. No one on my side of the family seems to be lucky in anything. It's times like this when my morbidity kicks in and I wonder what the hell I am even doing here. Not really worth it if you ask me.

Oh, and it looks like my dance company is not going to happen. The sponsor quit his job, so we basically lost the funding and the facilities....and all before I even had the auditions. I am worried about Side Show interfering with taking my comps. And hope to God I do and don't get cast in Little Shop. I have nothing witty to say tonight besides, "Blow Me, World!"

I have found a whole new level of respect and awe for my mother. She is quite possibly the shrewdest and sharpest bargainer I have ever met. I had not planeed on buying a car AT ALL, let along any time soon; just some light browsing. After doing all my homework, I decided to call the local Kia dealer and ask them about the car and whatr they had available. To my surprise, they had ONE used Sportage...however it was 3 thousand more than the used one (the bad year one). I figured, what the hell. So my mom shows up with "the man" and we head on over. What started as simply a test drive and asking questions ended in buying the freakin car. So I am now an owner of a red (not crazy about the color) 200 Sportage with 6800 miles on it. The way my mothered handled herself, we managed to save about 5 thousand on the car. We got a 1200 discount from the credit union I went through because I am a student, we got 3000 for the trade in, we got some stuff thrown in there for free, and even managed ot get some low payments and interest rate. All that stuff matter little in light of the miracles my mom worked. Being an ex-actress does have its benefits. Those salespeople thought they were dealing with three foreigners and ended up with three sharks :) The porr guy even had to call reinforcements. This is one of those times when my mom;s knack for tiring people and wearing them down came in handy. I thought I was going to do all the talking, but no go, she handled it all. So there you go. It;s taking a little getting used, but I like it a lot. This is it...no more cars for a looooooong time. Althought, after the deal was through and we were driving home, we both looked at each other and were like, "What did we just do?" Seems kind of sily to get a new car when I plan on leaving in a couple of years anyway. Needless to say, she is looking forward to taking the car. The bad part to all this is I had to drop 200 bucks for a new car alarm because my mom wanted mine! Jeez. I am the one who lives in Compton.

Well, no sign of Rotunda yet. Been sooooooooooooooooooo nice without her rampaging all over the place. School starts next week and I have to finish my schedule and syllabus, build two websites, and get my shit together. My comps are in November, my show starts Sept. 23, my dance company auditions will be in a couple of weeks. ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TOO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!

But seriously....I'm fine :) he....he....hehehehehehehjkhlk;ha;dslgj;lkjb;lnpibmn' pom

Yay! My flowers are in bloom...and overnight to boot. No, that is not a euphamism for anything. I am surprised they settled so quickly, but yay me!

I'll be going car shopping today, hopefully for the last freaking time in a long time. I REALLY want a Kia Sportage but keep reading all these awful things about the version/year that I want. Eep!

Well, there is nothing like rummaging through soil and plants to make you feel good. There is something so fulfilling and primal about planting and getting your hands dirty I thoroughly enjoyed it and will now sit back and enjoy the fruits of my labor. Well...wasn;t that just fucking ethereally deep?

Ok, saw the oddest thing on the way home from Home Depot. Saw what I thought were a guy and girl smoking a cigarette. Except it wasn;t a cig but pot. Out there in broad daylight. What in God';s name is going on with the world?

It has been so peaceful with Rotunda being gone. Not a peep. No noise. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.....

I am wondering is Miss Thang upstairs is a hooker. Everytime I see her coming in or out, it is always on the arm of a different guy. I thought I was going to lose my mind over the last 24 hours. I was up until 2:30 again in what could only be called the Armgeddon of Foot Stomping. She decided to start gardening and poting plants. I fell asleep from pure exhaustion....not coz the noise stopped. THEN, I was awakened at 6:30 this morning by some more foot stomping and dropping of heavy shit. The noise has JUST stopped and it is only because I saw her and yet another guy walking out with suitcases. This could mean vacation....which is good news for me. I wish I was mroe vindictive and nasty enough to do something while she/they are gone. I swear, I am not above moving to another unit, but why should I have to???? In any case, maybe I can have a few days of rest. I think I'll go plant shopping today.

It's amazing how much people take their freedom for granted. As you can tell, the meeting with the lawyer did not go well this morning. First of all, it was a chore trying to navigate around downtown Tampa and the multitude of parking garages. Here is the gist of what I was told, try to follow as it does get confusing:

*I WAS chosen for the DVS lottery with no guarantee I would get a green card. My case number is 6693 which is a good number considering they picked over 100,000 people for 55,000 visas (they always choose over the amount because over half the applicants don;t meet the standards or neglect to apply) Now here is where it gets fucked.

*The lottery allocation is broken down into like 6 area-specific categories with the elgible countries (or states). I charged my lottery through my country of birth, Kuwait, which is under the Asia category which has 30 "states" in it.

*Each category is alloteed a percentage of the visas, and each state is allow up to 7% of the viasa (3500 people). The highest amounts always go the lower-economic countries...Kuwait not being one of them, however, they always have a LOW number of people apply. So chances are good.

*HOWEVER, for the first round, the number only went up to 1180 fore the Asia category. Which means my number has not come up. It may go up higher the next month or not at all. Since my number is so high for that certain category, a lot of those people have ot fail the criteria or fail to apply which will help my case.

*Now here's the rub, by Sept. 2002, you have to have a green card already in your hand in order to meet the DVS rules. It takes six months to process an application. This means that March is my last month. Which means that that 1180 number needs to get to 6692 or higher by then so I can apply. I can;t petition. Can't ask for forgiveness. It;s a lottery plain and simple.

*Now, what is even more screwy is that if the lower-economic countries are running out of visas, they will move quotas from the other countries to the lower ones, thereby reducing the number and chances even more for other countries to get the visas.

*This is truly going to be a game of chance for me to win. and I REALLY hope I do. I just have to hope that the number jump from Oc.t to Nov. is high enough to guarantee that the 6000 mark will be hit before March. Of course, that is assuming that more than 6700 visas were issued to the Asia category, keping in mind that poorer countries get the most visas.

So there you are...more slipshod red tape schemes at work. Sometimes I wonder what is better and what is worse. JUST GIMME A FREAKIN GREEN CARD!

The whole car situation with my mother is a nightmare. She doesn;t seem to understand some common sense things such as you can;t wait to buy a car that you find hoping that no one else will. I am actually not into this to get a new car and drive around in it (altho it will be used). I am trying ot make the payments lower for both of us, and if I have that chance now, then...hello???????

I am pretty much assuming that I did not get cast in Little Shop, did not hear anything yet. Altho, I ma happy that they loved my audition. They were really into it. Well, my goal is to be seen this year, not necc. to be cast, so we shall see. The childrens; theatre that I had to turn down told me that I can highly recommended from several people. This was shocking of course because not many, if any, people on that level of theatre know me. I need all this.

Alright, I am going to wallow in my Pier 1 import buys and feel sorry for myself.

Ok, so, here my afternoon. A couple of days ago, My friend Jason Tucker calls and tells me that Gorilla Theatre (where I got cast in my first prof. show) was doing like a gala type of thing to drum up business for their next seaosn and were showcasing stuff from all the shows and they wanted me to come sing one of the songs from Side Show. I was completely surprised because they don;t even know me. Of course, the fact that they can;t pay me has nothing to do with it I am sure....riiiiiiiiight. Anyway, so I say yes and we first agonize over what song to sing that is up enough and a solo for that matter. But we do. Then...i come to find out that we have to perform this every hour for three times. Right. Well then, I show up, dressed in Theatre Black mind you, and it is like 100 degrees outside. Thank God for A/C. Right. No. THere was no air in the theatre. So, needless to say I was shvitzing to the point where my thing were chafing. Don;t me wrong. I would do anything for Jason no matter the inconvenience, and I am sure the exposure will help me in the future, but that was just ridiculous. Talk about making actors feel like chattle. Thank God I had someone there to talk with.

Ok, tomm. I meet with an immigration lawyer about the visa lottery thing. If all goes as planned as he told me on the phone, I can file on Oct. 1st. Get my working papers in 90 days, and have my green card in six months. March. My birthday. Everyone cross your cyber fingers. My freedom is near.

Ok, this is just too good. So, after weeks of seeing crappy ass movies, I finally get to see something really good. The Others. A definite must-see. Especially if you liked The Sixth Sense. Now, what was funny was not just the reactions of the morons in the theatre: "Ah hell no!" "Man...this movie is confusing" (said at the point when the plot was made clear) "Man, this is deep." Ghetto movie-commentary....a show in itself. Now, the movie was great, the ending amazing, and of course, it lead to anoher great car discussion in which the following was said by Sara in reference to Donnie Wahlberg in The Sixth Sense:

Fadi: ...and of course, it had the New Kids on the Block's Donnie Wahlberg in the opening scene.

Sara : You mean that emancipated looking guy?

Fadi: [did she just say? ah hell no....Should I let it go?] Emancipated? You mean EMACIATED!!!

{and cue loud racuous laughter causing temporary blindess and side-aches for Sara}

Understand that this is fucking hysterical since we are both master's students in the ENGLISH department.

In any case, go see this movie. It can be slow at times, but it all necessary. I just love being able to think in movies. Nothing against movies that don't because I love those every once in a while too.

They;re baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack......

Ok, hearing some noise, not sure if it is the Bovine Duo upstairs or thunder in the distance.

Well I am confused by the H3 situation. I was pushed to my limit this afternoon when the female of the species started dumping this dingy nasty water over the rail, therefore landing all over my plants (they may be dead but that is not the point) and all over my stoop. At first I thought she was watering her plants, but no....not with that water. SO I called the management office and asked them what I needed to do to break my lease. Needless to say that sparked their interest and I let loose with the entire story to which the manager replied "That is ridiculous. We do not want you to leave." In reference to them. She said she would look into it and call me back. Now....the problem is that is she tells them people have been complaining, they are going ot know it was me. ONe of two things could happen, they will shut up, or they will double their obnoxious behavior..which WILL prompt me to get the hell out of Compton. But in the last six hours I have heard nary a sound from upstairs. I am not sure if that means they got the message or they just have not been home all day. This could be a good thing, it may have worked. I am not worried. If it continues or gets worse, I am outta here. I am not going to deal with this come fall when I have an 8 am class to teach. Hell no.

I have seen the face of evil and darkness, and it is the face of the H3. I finally saw them today. Granted, only the back of them, but I now know them. Earlier otday they were doing some serious grazing and stampeding upstairs. I heard the tell-tale sign of high heels coming down the stairs and ran to the window to sneak a peek...and Good lord! What I saw was: a srawny white man with glasses wearing what could only be described as clothes that not even the Salvation Army would take, and a heavy black woman dragging him by the arm and walking on every part of her foot that could make noise.

They'll be home soon. I know.

I must hide.

Must find peace and quiet.

Oh god.....

The madness.....

Possible H3 spotting early this afternoon. I was awakened by their gargantuan lumbering at 8 a.m. (after being up till 2 a.m. listening to them) and heard their front door close and I ran to the window to see them. I missed the male of the species but caught a glimpse of a hat and a plaid shirt. The female of the species, rather sqaut and blond, emerged and ran back apparently in fear of the sun's rays. I heard the front door open and close and she ran into a corner of the room. However, later this afternnon I viewed a possible related species carrying chairs up to the apartment. Things have quieted down somewhat, but NOT by a lot.

On another note, I am itching ot build another website NOW!!!!! But I don;t know what to make it about. ARGH!!!!

Ok, watching Sarah Brightman's La Luna concert. What a whackjob she is. Does she think anyone is going to take her seriously when she sings like that and her lips move like that. That has to be the worst lip synching job I have ever seen.

Must run and hide now, I hear the lumberings beginning again.

Well I knew it was too good to be true....The H3's (Hungry, Hungry, Hippos) are baaaaaaaaaaack. And the insanity begins again.

Well, I must say I am pleasantly surprised by the fact that in the last four hours I have not heard so much as a peep from the people upstairs. Of course, they could be out of the house, but I will take whatever i can.

Ok....my limits are being tested severely with the Jenny Craig rejects upstairs. If I wanted to live in a dorm, I would. Although I am sure dorm living is worse, I didn;t move into a "quiet" neighborhood to have to listen to footsteps into all hours of the morning and the occasional loud banging. I am ready to lose my mind.

Ok, so I joined the Columbia House DVD club....odd since I don't have a DVD player, and I get the DVD's in the mail today. NOt having any money I had no clue what I was going to do. Luckily, a friend of mine bought my computer (I am finally rid of the damn thing) and I had some cash, so I went and bought a DVD player. YAY ME!! It is freakin awesome and I am totally glued ot my TV. I can only imagine what this would be like with a sooped up sound system....no, I am not going to go THAT far...unless Sara uses her evil influence on me. I walked into Circuit City and bought the first thing I saw...VERY rare for me since I am a mad comparison shopper. Needless to say I am going ot shop around tomm, but for now, I am going ot enjoy bein gone more foot into the 21st century and watch The Mummy....seeeeyaaaaaaaaaaa......

When Last We Left The Camel...


Ok, so sue me, it has been a while since last I blogged (well now...doesn't that just smack of shakespeare). But for funsies...here you go from current to oldest:

They're Hungry Hungry Hippos


It is VERY obvious that some people do not grasp the concept of living in an apt. The thought of noise from walking around filtering through to apartements belwo seems like common sense, right? Wrong! I guess some new people moved in above me. I was up until 2 A.m. listening to them walk around and drop heavy shit. I finally feel asleep from pure exhaustion and was awakened at 8:30 by the same bullshit. It got so bad today that the popcorn paint pieces from my ceiling fell of and my closet door popped off its hinge. I am convince that the zoo is in town or they are Jenny Craig rejects. Sounds mean, I know, but for the love of God...tread lightly.

Simians 'R Us


Saw Planet of the Apes last night. Really enjoyed it. The lead apes were amazing, of course -- God I love Helena Bonham Carter. Mark Whalberg, was the same. He's just eye candy. Naturally, I went with Sara and naturally we discussed the movie afterwards in the car. The ending was so shocking and jarring that I have no idea how they are going ot make a sequel. I know they have plans to make one and Marky Mark is contracted for one, but I think the movie ending the way it did leaves such a strong message. That's another thing, the multi-metaphorical layers of the movie. We can go biblical, Roman, Slavery, or paradoxial societal degradation through advancement. Anyway, go see this movie. I need to rent the old movies and check them out.

Anyone for an Audition?


So I never thought my West Coast Theatre Alliance auditions would go over as well as they did. I have hadseven invites based on that one audition. I auditioned for The Laramie Project (rooted in the Mathew Shepard incident) two nights ago. I wasn;t nervous or anything. I went in, they gave me two monologues, the director remembered me and chatted up a storm with me, went in at 7:15, did my first monologue....didn;t go back in until 9:45. What threw me off was that they laughed at my renditions. Not in the bad way, but I SO did not expect that reaction for a play that is so serious. But I guess reading it and hearing it are two different things. I just played them for their realness and I guess that is what I needed. Unfortunatey, since I don't look like I come from Laramie, Wyoming, I didn;t stand much of a chance. My firend who is asst. directing said they were considering me for one of the male parts whose character load (8 actors play 80 some odd roles) included one of the killers. But they found other people who fit the types. I am totally cool with that. I knew going into the professional level that looks and types really do count, especially in cases on reality-based shows. This is all one big learning experience for me, but it was nice to know that I didn;t get cast because I did something wrong.


On a lighter note, I go a call yesterday for the Performing Arts Center was invited ot audition for Little Shop of Horrors for their Broadway Series season. I have done the show twice before playing Mushnik and Audrey II. I will absolutely DIE if I get the chance to do it again and in that center. Talk about a great experience! So my audition is next Thursday. We'll see what happens. This one, I know I really want. Altho , the production dates read Jan. to April. That is a LONG ass run!

Boy Bands


Ok, so I actually shelled out money for *NSync's Celebrity. I lliked their last two albums and didn't feel like waiting for file sharing so I went and bought it. INitially I did not like it. "Pop" was the only good song, but the more I listened to it the more I realized that it is a damn good album. People may knock boy bands, and this one has its share of problems (what with the now-father Joey, the crazy-eyed Lance, and the ambiguously gay Justin -- I don;t buy that dating Britney crap) but they do make good music. And they are smart in aligning themselves in the style of Madonna...meaning they reinvent themselves and stay with current trends. This album deinitely does not sound the same as their last two. So anyway..it;s good, I dig it. Did I just say, "I dig it"? Lord help me.