Sunday, March 18, 2007

Arthur: Just renting

In other circumstances, I might enjoy St. Patrick's Day in Boston. After all, remember how excited I was about covering a beer festival last August? I'm almost afraid to think what "Ashlyn" did last night. It's not as though she has trouble getting a free drink most nights, but a red-headed Irish-American lass in Boston on Saint Patty's Day? And that's if she doesn't feel like working it.

Heh. I might never have another beer, once I get my life back.

Although, when you think about it, getting my life back is going to be strange. I meant to mention it in my last post, but I sort of got sidelined into self-pity, but Jeremy has gotten a job since we last talked. He mentioned that money was getting tight when I talked to him on the day we made reservations, so he started looking for work that he could do and could also get with my résumé. He wound up landing at the Oakland Raiders, doing public relations work. The job involves a lot of writing press releases, but it doesn't take an English degree to do that. A lot of the job is going to be lining up personal appearances, serving as a liaison with the local press, keeping the players and team in the public eye.

I admit, I've looked at jobs like that before. The life of a freelancer is uncertain, and I had my mom to look after. The trouble is, I needed flexibility, too, so I basically took any job that came my way so that I always had two things going at once. It sounds like a fun job, but I don't know if I want to go back to punching a clock after eight months of doing it at the movie theater. I know Jeremy made a commitment, but...

He probably didn't say that "Arthur" would only be there temporarily, because who'd hire him then? But I figure I'll find some way of exiting gracefully, and if not... Well, then not. I guess at some point, you have to cut bait.

It reminds me of something I was thinking about in the bookstore the other day. There's a few pretty nice bookstores in Boston and Cambridge, and Harvard Square is a nice area for it, although Ray says he misses Wordsworth's. There's still children's, travel, and even poetry bookstores there. There's the Harvard Co-op and the Harvard Book Store, which is not officially associated with the University but has a pretty fantastic selection of remainders and used books. I can spend hours down there, during the day when Ray's working and I'm not.

I got up to the counter with an armful of books on Friday. I was standing in line when I realized that I might not have time to read them all in the next couple months. I suppose I could bring them to Old Orchard with me, but my mind kept concocting scenarios where Ray was reading them or, something. I get the same feeling in Best Buy, too - that even though I've been the one working all week and earning the paycheck, anything I pay for... I'll be leaving it behind. Just a two month rental, no matter how much I pay for it.

-Art

1 comment:

A.M. said...

Buy them, and the say they're gifts for a friend :)