i still get to call it home for a couple of weeks

I’m on another flight. This might not even be the last for a while. But this one is taking me back to Austin, so I don’t mind it too much. I have my own aisle, which I always love. I’m tired. Stee’s cat alternated between loving me and feeling convinced that I had chopped him up and stuffed him in a closet.

I’m very happy to not be living in someone else’s home this evening. I miss my own bed. I miss Eric so much. I miss the big green chair in the living room. I miss my shower. My towels. I’m tired of living out of a very tiny suitcase, bringing work to other people’s houses, hoping I don’t break their VCRs.

Basically I’m now entering a game of wait and see. I’ll know probably by Wednesday if I’m going to get any of the apartments I applied for. If I don’t get them, we’re going to move in with Ray. I didn’t get a chance to see the apartment while I was in LA, as Ray is in Austin right now for the film festival, and his roommate (I’ve never met her) seems to be busy. The overwhelming opinion from all of my friends that have been there is that it’s a great place and I should take it even if other apartments are available. So, the point is, we’re not going to be homeless.

It actually makes more sense to move in with Ray. We’ve been talking about it for months now. Ray plays it low-key, but the day he called me to let me know he just found out that he lives down the street from Johnny Depp’s house, I knew he was lobbying pretty hard to have Eric and me live there. Part of me knows it’s just that Ray loves Cal.

But it’s smarter to move in with Ray first. All of the utilities are already turned on. There’s an internet connection and cable. The deposit is paid for. Ray knows his way around the neighborhood. Our friends know how to get there. It’s in a pretty “exciting” location, so at least for the first couple of months that we live in LA we can pretend we’re rockstars.

Man, though, having a roommate after only living with Eric for three years? That’s not going to be easy. Not that there’s anything wrong with Ray. It’s just that I know sometimes we don’t even enjoy people staying for an entire weekend. This is life with another person that has every right to the television that you have and you can’t just offer kisses and cuddles as payment for getting to watch what you want.

This entire year has been a gigantic learning experience. I already feel like a different person than I was back in January. I feel stronger, braver, tougher. I hope it’s all been changes for the best.

My flight is about to land. I sit in the airport for about an hour until stee shows up. Yeah, we went from him driving me around his town to me driving him around mine. It’s strange the circles your life goes in. My LA friends are in Austin two weeks before I move there. My friend Laura, who just had to move to San Francisco for a few months, who moved to LA a year ago, will be in Austin next weekend (don’t miss her at the Bad Dog Comedy Theater). This will be like, three days after I might be traveling to San Francisco myself. But that’s just a story for another day. I’m just saying it’s strange how big this world is, but I’m just meeting up with people all over the place these days. Five states in one week. It sounds glamourous, but you should see the toll it’s taken on my face. My lips are chapped, my skin is dry and a spider bit my cheek.

Hello, Texas. I missed you.

I think I’m going to have to throw a gigantic garage sale. They make apartments much bigger in Texas than LA. And they don’t seem to believe in closets over there. I will have to get rid of all of my clothes. And books. Just me and a cat and a computer.

This is why people are so thin in LA. There’s no room to keep food in the kitchen.

And I’ve never seen such attractive weathermen before. The weather person is supposed to be chubby and awkward and make corny jokes. He’s not supposed to make me drool as he discusses cold fronts.

I’m gonna get some Tex-Mex while I still can.