I have never bought a tv before. My last tv was my parents old 25 inch Sony console. And then I was homeless. Well, for a (long) while I lived in an extended stay hotel, watching their flat screen, and then… then, I was homeless.
And now, I’m not. As I announced in my last diary, with the help of section 8 I am now in a pretty nifty 1 bedroom apartment. I am waiting for help furnishing it… more on that in a minute. As I moved in I purchased a new Queen sized bed — well, the mattress and foundation and frame. Those and the sheets and pillows and comforters — the important bits. I bought a couple of lamps, access to the internet, and a 55 inch RCA tv on clearance.
Then come the big questions about where to put that darned tv. Above the fireplace seemed logical until someone made me realize there wouldn’t be studs for wall mounting that behemoth. Damn. Some smart people here suggested bookcases or other furniture: In front of the ugly fireplace I’d all ready mentioned I hate.
Some geniuses even mentioned Marketplace at Facebook. Well, that’s where my friend Cindy (also homeless, but now full time employed, in part thanks to me) found 2 beautiful pieces of furniture. One was STUNNING, but not really tall enough and a foot too wide. And then there was the (name dropping) Ethan Allen unit shown at the top of the diary.
One hundred dollars.
Hee hee hee hee hee — it still fills me with joy. Perfect size, one hundred dollars, fifty to deliver and put it together and put the feet on the tv and set the tv on the unit.
Isn’t it pretty?
It was being delivered while 3 ladies from a group called Home2Home were here, talking to me and measuring my apartment rooms. Next Tuesday they are coming back with furniture from their warehouse (all donations), a bunch more friends — and I am going out while they set up my apartment. Then I get to come back for a reveal. How reality tv is THAT?!
They said that their organization would not have taken the entertainment center — it’s too big for them, but perfect for what I wanted. And, they would not have covered the fireplace, they probably would have “played it up.” They told me not to buy any more furniture before next Tuesday, but good job on what I have gotten, so far.
I’ll tell you about how it looks next week.
In the meantime — the tv. I finally have it plugged in, and hooked up to my internet, and I’m watching …
You guys are going to laugh. But maybe there are a couple of people out there like me.
I hated politics. Well, no. I felt complete apathy toward politics. Bill Clinton got into office as I was joining a club called Toastmasters — and to introduce me at a meeting, the Toastmaster that month asked me, “What would you say to our incoming president?” I said, “You are the first person I’ve voted for who got into office. Don’t mess it up.”
I then spent 8 years not worrying about being bombed by the USSR or Iran or Grenada or whoever we were pissing off that month. And toward the end of those years, a show came on tv — about politics. Gag.
I was too busy watching an AMAZING show — one of the best written shows I’ve ever seen — called Sports Night/ It was written by Alan Sorkin. The same guy who created the political show (gag) called The West Wing. Let me say it again. Gag.
And then Bush2 was elected, and damn, damn, damn, damn… I learned you CAN’T ignore politics, because when you do, complete sock-puppet morons get elected. So no f-ing way did I want to watch a political show. Gag.
Life went on, more than 10 years passed, I was homeless, spending time between writing job applications watching tv shows on Amazon Prime and Netflix.
President Josiah Bartlet and Chief of Staff Leo McGarry
The night I wrote my diary about no longer being homeless, someone else wrote one sharing a letter from Bradley Whitford, who played Josh Lyman on that political show. Ga… ok, it doesn’t work anymore.
I have to admit it. I wish he « was my president. Josiah Bartlet. Martin Sheen. Either. Both. I’ve watched the shows over and over. I fell in love with John Spencer (Leo McGarry, sitting next to President Bartlet, to the left) — and I cried when… Oh, yeah. Maybe there are others like me who haven’t seen the show.
WATCH IT. Get Netflix and watch it there, or purchase it (totally worth it) from Amazon Prime. It’s just amazing. Now, those of you who did watch it when it came out, and who watched it again when released on Netflix can make fun of me. But watch it again, first.
You’ll be really glad that you did.
3 gallon aquarium
To the right here is one other thing I’ve purchased. It took me a long time to get everything opened, rinsed off, put together and then filled with water… But as of last night, water was running through the filter at the top of this small aquarium. It needs a couple of fake plants. The goofy house thing is the shape of Squidward’s home from Sponge Bob Squarepants.
In a couple of days, there’s going to be a single inhabitant in this aquarium.
Her name will be Gail.
So, for those of you who did watch The West Wing before… Am I crazy enough to be considered a West Wing fan — even if I made it late to the party?
“What’s next?”
