Odds are good I don't like you right now

I am unsettled. I feel icky and disappointed. I'm going to write about it in an effort to get over myself.

1) My art director is not pulling her weight. OK, she never has. She's always been very good tactically -- she's mastered Powerpoint, InDesign, Photoshop, and Quark -- but I don't think she's ever come up with an idea. She executes. Late last year she convinced our new boss to give her parity with me in terms of title. It isn't fair and it isn't reflective. It also shouldn't matter. This is my last job. It's not like this is going to have an impact on my "career." And she's battled breast cancer for the last year! So what kind of monstrous person am I that I am upset with her today? Well, I'm tired. 

Yesterday we got a high-profile assignment from our boss. I couldn't start on it until today because I had to finish my five (count 'em, 5!) blog posts for my automotive client. This morning I asked her what she'd done while waiting for me and the answer was ... well ... nothing substantive. She set up a template to flow my ideas into. Looked for some stock photos. "This project will be fun," she said. Maybe for her.

We will give our boss eight concepts. All eight were my ideas. I don't know how good these concepts are. When I'm tired I don't have much objectivity. It would be nice if I had a partner with business acumen who could -- if not contribute ideas of her own -- at least make my concepts sharper and better.

I will also do all the talking when we present these because she has no idea how the concepts tie back to the strategy brief.

We now have the same job title. It's not fair. It also doesn't matter. Get over yourself, Gal.

2) I no longer enjoy movie group. Joanna doesn't attend anymore. Neither does Stefanie. Or Elaine. Or Al. It's mostly new people. We don't discuss anymore. People just want to talk. Example: While discussing the movie Man Hunt, Janice complained that the actor who played Hitler didn't look very much like Hitler and she didn't know why the producers were so lazy and cheap. It was pointed out that it wasn't an actor, it was actual news footage of Hitler. "Oh," she said, not missing a beat, and continued with her list of complaints about the film. I'm not sure she even heard she was wrong.

I used to look forward to movie group. Now I get why Joanna, Stefanie and Elaine dropped away. (Al has schedule conflicts.)  

I resent the noisy new people who have come in and lecture me about films I love. But is it worth being this annoyed? Not really. Get over yourself, Gal.

Photo by karlyukav - www.freepik.com

WWW.WEDNESDAY

WWW. WEDNESDAY asks three questions to prompt you to speak bookishly. To participate, and to see how other book lovers responded, click here.  

1. What are you currently reading? Someone We Know by Shari Lapena. 16-year-old Raleigh is an average suburban high schooler with a penchant for computers and a bad habit: he breaks into neighbor's homes, and their laptops. Not to steal! Just for kicks and to make a little mischief. When one of the neighbors goes missing, the fun goes out of Raleigh's "game."

When I was a kid, there was a horror movie called, I Saw What You Did. It was about teen girls who amuse themselves by making prank calls to random strangers, saying, "I know who you are and I saw what you did." It stops being fun when they call a psycho who happened to have murdered his wife.

This seems like a new millennium update of that old story. Which is fine. It scared me then, and it's scaring me now.

2. What did you recently finish reading?  Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann. You should know, if you're considering picking up this book, that it's stupid. I think I may have lost brain cells by reading it.

 

Which is not to say that I didn't find it compulsively readable. 

I can't tell you why. Neely is a monster. Anne is dull. Jennifer is a transactional slut. The writing is sophomoric. And yet I was into it. 

Oh well, as Ms. Susann herself might say, reading it was like having hot sex with a man you don't really like. I'm not sorry I did it but I'm not sorry it's over and I won't do it again.

BTW, I couldn't help envisioning the movie's actresses as I read and came away with a new appreciation for Sharon Tate. It's not like the screenplay's Jennifer was exponentially more likeable, and yet on film she seems sympathetic. I think it's because Sharon Tate imbued her with humanity. It makes me wonder what Ms. Tate could have done with an actual, well-written character.

 

3. What will read next? I don't know.