Dust

I woke up on Ash Wednesday at 7:30am by to a text message from my landlord saying :

"Some guys may be coming by tomorrow to do some measurements to install some insulation. Is that ok with you?"

Of course, I say "Sure. Thanks for the head's up" for 2 reasons:

1)I don't speak contractor speak and don't fully understand what's about to go down. My landlord has made it sound like it's a piece of cake, rather than the nightmare that is about to unfold.
2)My contractor boyfriend had left and gone to the coffee shop and was not there to tell me that I should tell this guy to go fuck himself.

The next text message I receive says:

"Well, they may come by today and get started if they can."

A half hour later my landlord shows up with 8 construction workers and unleashes them on my house with no for warning or time for me to prepare. For 5 days, I couldn't stay in my house, ALL of my things had been rearranged and moved outside in the side alleyway for them to be able to do their work, and EVERYTHING I own is covered in a layer of sheetrock dust. The shit doesn't ever go away. It's awful. I am also missing a bag of costumes (I think someone is dancing around in my very expensive Spanish Harlet dress and wearing my thigh highs. And it's probably a dude) and a litter box. WTF, over.

It was more stress than I had anticipated but, as usual, I am always looking for the upside of things and the good news is that I can move out. I never did like this apartment and the rent is too high. My lease is for a year but since my landlord was such a douche about this whole situation, he doesn't know it yet, but I will be moving out. I figure it's a great time to just go ahead and get an apartment down in the neighborhood where I want to buy the building and start getting the lay of the land, getting to know the neighbors and neighborhood, and just start getting a presence down there. It's been a little harder for me to find a place than I thought it would be. There's still some real dodgy areas down there and I'm not totally familiar with everything so I am being really careful not to end up living next to some run down crack house buildings that were projects at one time. That would be great.

Slowly but surely, I'm spoonfeeding the city of New Orleans exactly what I want The New Orleans School of Burlesque to encompass. I just had Jo Boobs and Jonny Porkpie (www.schoolofburlesque.com) in town from New York. I set up some workshops for them and they did their show as well. It was a great turnout. I am really, really trying to set a precedent here and make New Orleans a place where burlesque performers from other places can come and WANT to come. I got an email from Bunny Love (www.bunnyloveburlesque.com), who is originally from New Orleans, and she will be coming here for Jazz Fest. It was very exciting to hear from her and that she deemed me as a "go to" person for getting gigs, networking, and setting up a workshop for her to teach. This is what I am going for...and it's all happening. Making these performers available to us down here and making this a destination performance spot just like NYC, St. Louis, LA, and all the other major players in the burlesque world.

I'm happy. I'm working harder than I've ever worked in my life. And I've got so much to do...and I intend on doing it.