A Working Weekend

And an exhausting one. I accepted a cos pro gig for three consecutive weekends--this past and the next two, 12-4 Saturday and Sunday, at the JC Penney's at Queens Center in Elmhurst, extolling the joys of Celine Dion fragrances (along with assorted other Coty perfumes). I hate this shit but hey, it's work, which means MONEY. I must say, this gig hasn't been NEARLY as awful as the two I did in August, extolling the joys of Maybelline for 85 year old Jewish men who talk my ear off for 45 minutes, and rubbery, transgender-seeming men who awkwardly try to hit on me. Basically, I'm standing in the fragrance department of Penney's, offering freshly-spritzed blotters to passersby, and talking up Celine Dion (along with some other lines like Adidas and Esprit). The other women in the department are very nice--the manager is very cool. She and I talked for a bit--I told her how I knew the hell of retail at Xmas (I used to work for Talbot's when I'd just graduated from college) and she was saying how she had to cook Xmas Day because her brother had died in the World Trade Center and her mother hasn't been the same ever since. Whoah. That's a perspective check. Remember too that a retail manager would almost certainly be working right up through Xmas Eve (especially in Fragrance--that's a big last-minute item) and Dec. 26 as well. And then she has to cook.

Anyway, the people are nice, the customers are okay and I'm standing on the carpet so it's better than last time. But the weekend has been way overbooked--had an audition yesterday morning, then ran out to the cos pro gig, then had to do some shopping (I had to buy some shoes for the catering gig coming up), then came home to find my radiator had gone NUTS and my ceiling was dripping water. I was already late for drinks with a friend, and my apartment was a mess. I was able to clean up most of it, but there is still some sliminess out there. YUCK.

Tonight Doug and I went out to Long Island to have dinner with my brother Bart, his boyfriend, and BF's two daughters. I love that my brother appreciates a well-made cocktail as much as I do. We are such WASPs.