Goodbye Upper East Side, Where the Dogs of Society Howl, You Cant Plant Me In Your Penthouse, Im goin' Back to My Plough...

This month tested my mettle with regard to commitment and and confrontation.
As you probably know, your favorite beautician's little routine is undergoing some serious changes. A couple weeks ago, first thing in the morning, Ben was accosted by my horrible and mentally ill albanian landlord, Osman. He then called me and ranted and raved that I was not allowed to have anyone spend the night, that i had to call him if I was going to have guests, that all my neighbors were watching me and would tell him what they saw, that i was running up his water bill, that when he came to fix Amy's light fixture that the house smelled so bad that he would have to wear a gas mask if he came in again, that we need to get a housekeeper and that he would call the police on me if he saw ben coming and going again. Now let me remind you that this is the same "man" who, when informed by Mahdis that the cabinets were separating from the wall in the kitchen, accused her and her then roomate of playing hide and seek and climbing up on the cabinets to HIDE!!! Also when flying ants were crawling out from the cracks around the radiator, he told her that they got in because she left the window open, it was december. So, he is truly out of his mind. But that doesnt make it any easier for me to call him up and say hey, Os! I know you just ripped me a new asshole about your water bill and people staying at the house, but guess what!!! My sister is moving in! In two weeks! Whaddya say!!?? Luckily Mahdis gave me two excellent tips on dealing with him that led me to have a perfectly lovely conversation with him! 1. Put the phone down when he starts raving 2. LIE LIE LIE!!! Apparantly he has a memory like a goldfish and once he gets all this madness off his chest he will totally forget about it. So if you put the phone down to avoid hearing him malign your character and then tell him whatever he wants to hear when you pick it back up, he'll be satisfied and go on his way! She told him that she refinished the banister and he complemented her on her refinishing skills. HA! So, I did just that, then told him that I had hired a housekeeper and (on another Mahdis hot tip: hes really just upset about the possiblity of premarital sex happening in his apartment, I knew she was right when he started telling me about how his son has only talked to his fiancee a few times and always in groups...) that Ben and I were engaged and my sister was coming to live with us to keep the apartment in order. Ta da. He said we could put Ariel on the lease and hed charge us 200 more. Not so bad. Doable. Phew.

Ariel is here now, and its SO much fun having her here. She moved in last monday, and its perfect. I moved all my CDs into CD books (what an amazing space saver!!) and reorganized all my hair crap. I think itll be a great energy for me and Amy having her here, there was this empty no mans land room in the middle of our apartment that is now full of little ariel energy:)

Then, I had to gather my courage again this week to tell Chaim and Judah that Feb 10th was going to be my last day at the salon. I told them that I was going to Senegal to dance for a month and when i get back, Ill be looking for a job somewhere that has an advanced training program for its assistants. It was hard, cause ive put in a lot of work and time, and come a long way at that place, but I dont want to get set in my ways as a stylist before i get a lot better than I am now. Ive come as far as Im going to by just watching them, I need somewhere that will actually offer classes. If Im going to work for peanuts, sweep hair and do laundry I really need to be getting something in return!! Chaim was nice and said that if I need a recommendation they would be glad to say lots of good things about me, Judah was hurt and curt "great, good luck! have fun!" Whatever, I know its the right thing. Change is never easy. Im going to miss all of our hilarious and great clients, not to mention the other stylists, crazy as they are. It does feel FANTASTIC to be able to think "eight more days..." That place is really hard to take, as is the two hours on the subway everyday. The time has come.