I AM a rock star. Fuckin-A, I�ve been so stressed about this morning, getting totals for billings that weren�t prepared ready for my boss-lady, who is attending a settlement conference for these clients as I type right this very minute. I did it, it�s done, I came in early, 2 shots of espresso in my caf�, sipped intermittently as I ran about the office, pulling files, banging on the calculator, and callin� the boss-lady. Yay! Now, for the other MILLION things I have to get done, one at a time, babe, I gotsa remembah. One at a time, and anything is possible. For now, my update!

There are a few things, and a few people, that had me upset and seething over the weekend, but before I vent, let me tell you how wonderful the majority of my glorious weekend was (and if we have time later, I�ll vent appropriately). Friday night, gallery opening, a wonderful woman�s birthday party, what a great crowd to hang out with for an evening. Tasty, intoxicating, and colorful cocktails, smiles, ridiculously delectable and savory morsels for consumption, whiskers on kittens, and brown paper packages tied up with strings, came together to create an all-around fabulous affair.

Saturday, up early, off to Los Angeles for a Learning Annex writing class given by the wonderful Ms. Lamott . My favorite quote, of the many, many wonderful notes I took, was �Any family with a writer born into it is utterly doomed.� How true that is. She spoke about libel, and the propriety, legally and ethically, of writing about others. If something happened to you, you HAVE it, you OWN it, it is yours to share. However, names, certain details, to protect the identity of others, should be changed when things go public. More on that later, though I will say that when I shared that quote with MY family, the response was a unanimous �no shit, Barb, we knew that one already.�

So, the class was GREAT. After the class, we went to Lizard�s, had some wine, took some showers, caught up and chilled. Bluetech met us there, and then we all drove, LA style (three cars for Christ�s sake) to Marina Del Rey, to meet up with mah boyeez (I don�t have time to tell you about the car that hit me on the way, but that�s a good little story for another time). Oh, those boys!!! How I love them, and how wonderful it was to see them! Arriving at the Beach House, literally 20 paces from sand, I was happy to find the Stanton Residents inside the LA Boys� house. And two worlds collide to make it wonderfully easy for me to hang out with my favorite people from two different cities, all under one roof. Very nice.

After an evening of laughter, I crashed in Actor�s bomb-shelter-like bedroom, quiet and separate from both sides of the large, connected house, and I slept like a baby. In the morning, I had to deal with unnecessary drama. In a nutshell, here�s the situation � I am someone�s ride back to San Diego. This someone gets his/her way over to Pasadena, which is an hour away, in the OPPOSITE direction of San Diego. It was assumed that because I had mentioned wanting to stop by our friend�s place in Pasadena at some point, that I would be fine with driving out there before heading home. Not the case. I saw my friend from Pasadena the night before, and though I genuinely WANTED to see his place, and visit more, as I wanted to visit with many other LA friends that I couldn�t squeeze into one night and a morning, it was just not going to work out logistically.

In the morning, ready to go, two other people with me who I was bringing back, I was informed that Someone was unable to get back to where his/her ride was (that would be me), and suddenly, it was my responsibility to drive two-hours (an hour there and back) to collect him/her, and then the additional 2 � hours back to San Diego. No one else could be asked to bring this person back, and I got the sick feeling that it was because no one else was willing to be inconvenienced, aside from me. No, �I can meet you half way,� no willingness at all to consider any other option aside from me driving out there and getting this person. Not very fair, if you ask me.

They tried to guilt me, I heard, �but I thought you WANTED to visit here�� stuff like that. I DID want to. But it wasn�t going to work for me. In the end, I drove out there, and here I must mention � I got on the road at 11:00 a.m. I didn�t arrive to my mother�s in San Diego until after 4:00 p.m. So the point is, though I �wanted� to visit with my friend in Pasadena, I wasn�t excited about driving 5 fucking hours in one day in order to make it happen. But, because Someone else made that plan without consulting me, I was stuck doing it, as the other option, which I actually considered, was leaving him/her up there to figure it out for him/herself.

Wait, there�s more. I had a wonderful time with my family in the afternoon, and wish I could have spent more time with them, but I was tired and worn, and anger and frustration take a lot out of me. I was enervated. I laughed with my nephew, and headed home, finally. Then, into the evening, someone shared something with me. She revealed a lie she told, and now I am burdened with this knowledge and the need to right the wrong, because I KNOW she wants to do the right thing, I KNOW she wants to make things okay, she just doesn�t know how. So, this morning, I crept into the other room, as she was sleeping over. I went into her bag, something I�d never do under most other circumstances, and I took the thing she said she did not have, the thing that belongs to someone else, to whom she said she did not have it, and I put it in my purse.

I called my mom, said, �the funniest thing happened, we thought she didn�t have it, and then, at the end of the night, we found it at the bottom of her bag! She feels horrible, and I�m going to bring it to you today,� and she was fine with it. I don�t want my sister to feel bad about this. It�s a simple mistake. She may be angry that I involved myself. But that�s why I didn�t want to know. Telling me, involves me. Remember that. And once I am involved, according to the wonderful Ms. Lamott, I own a part of it. And that is MINE to do with as I choose in this life, as are the consequences that come with whatever it is I end up choosing to do.

Okay, back to work, this was 20 minutes-worth of typing (which I deserve, for coming in early)� So much more to say� I�ll be back.

-Barbarella

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