Water motif.

(August 16, 2007)

I used to live here.

Remember my Sunnyside apartment -- my old friend? Let's take a moment to reminisce about the first apartment I occupied without a roommate.

Notable features:

1. surrounded by undergrads on all sides
2. the "Penetration Station" sign
3. slumlord Kathy
4. negligent pet owner neighbors upstairs (threw pet shit out window onto shared sidewalk)
5. abusive misogynist neighbors next door (occasional yelling, hitting sounds)
6. keg pinata with bullet holes
7. conveniently located near Stabby Avenue
8. proximity to crack-smoking physicists
9. temperamental heat, water, and electricity
10. weird caterpillar infestation
11. peeling lead-based paint
12. mold

I didn't have a lot of company, which is a shame because I never got to share the experience of my aquatic kitchen. I lost count of how many times the shit-throwers upstairs let their toilet run for hours, leaving me to come home at the end of the day to find my kitchen flooded. The only bright side to that situation was that I'd have to call Kenny, the maintenence guy (he was a West Virginia version of Groundskeeper Willie -- all red hair and anger), who would have to key into the shit-throwers' apartment and stop their toilet from running. Then he'd come downstairs to my apartment and help me mop, and/or replace parts of my ceiling. We grew close.

Given all of the other unfortunate disadvantages of my Sunnyside apartment, I naively assumed the water motif was just a Sunnyside thing. But, now I'm starting to think it's me. Tonight my roommates and I discovered our washer drains into the sink next to it. We realized this because the washcloth in the sink nestled over the drain, which caused a massive flood in the basement. I'm ok with that, though, because I haven't seen any caterpillars yet.