4/24 Recap:

Lauren and I were good today and went to the gym in the morning. Later, Brian and I went to lunch at Coral Tree Cafe in Brentwood; I highly recommend the chicken panini. I've discovered the problem with Brentwood (other than the innocent celebrities who kill their ex-wives). There are too many Type A personalities and too few parking spaces. When I was looking to buy a condo, I checked out a lot of places in Brentwood and my #1 complaint was the parking situation. I figured, no one would ever visit me because they wouldn't be able to find a place to park.

I went home and napped for the rest of the day. Seriously. Work stress is killing me. But here's the thing. I went into my supervisor's office yesterday and more or less asked for less work and more money. And he agreed, though he's going to have to take it up with the owner. But my mom has called me every other day for the past three weeks, ever since I told her that our building has an asbestos situation, begging me to leave the job. So if they come back and give me less work and more money, do I still tell them that I won't work there unless they move the company to a less hazardous building? Originally, I had wanted to leave but give them the option of keeping me on as a marketing consultant so I can work from home. I have no idea what to do. I just know that I've been getting sick a lot more since I started working there, and I've had a two week headache lately so I'm definitely heading towards burnout. I can't imagine how associates at the big law firms do it. Most of my friends who are lawyers do the 80 hrs a week for a couple of years out of law school but then move on, but I swear those two years take about 15 off their lifespans.

I went with Roxie, Penny and Lizzy to an art event at Imee's artist's space downtown. There was a lot of interesting art...but my favorite thing was a bookshelf in the bathroom where Imee stored her books. There was a copy of "Anal Pleasure and Health" next to Dr. Seuss's "Green Eggs and Ham." Completely unintentional but hilarious. I should have taken a picture.

I got a little bit bored after the first hour so I walked around the block. There was a 98 Cent store across the street and that cracked me up. Not 99 Cent, but 98 Cent. It reminded me of that hitchhiker in There's Something About Mary (not 8 minute abs, but 7 minute abs). It's an even BETTER bargain. On a wall in this little alley, someone had tagged his or her name in blood. I stood there staring at it, trying to imagine the magnitude of anger this person must have.