She's Lucky I Didn't Turn Super Flame on Her

My weekend started out with a bang. Friday, I was taking Daisy out for her evening bathroom ritual as a car stopped in front of me. The young lady inside rolls down her window and asks, "Are you Dustin?" I answer yes, and she questions, "Why did you tell John Doe I was rude to you? I've always been nice to you." Then it hits me-- this is the rude woman from the apartment leasing office. I tell her I'll be more than happy to discuss the matter with her in the leasing office during business hours. She quips, "Well, I don't work here any more NOW." I take a moment to inform her that she has been rude to me on a few occasions and that when she claims she's nice, it is obviously fake. I can't even remember what she said next because I was so irrate, but she threated me or my stuff-- when you're broke your property is just as valuable as yourself. Then I had a childish moment and called her a fat cow; however, I am proud to report that I resisted all urges to jump on the hood of her car or pull her out her window.

I filed a complaint with the courtesy office that night. Then the next morning I marched to the leasing office to complain-- I probably looked like Sofia (played by the overated Oprah) when she marched to confront Celie about the bad advice Celie gave Harpo. The reps in the leasing office were quick to assist me. They ushered me in a back room since there were potential residents talking to leasing reps. I requested my locks be changed since the evil lady used to work for the complex. The manager agreed to take care that day.

Well, the locks weren't changed. I cancelled my activities for the day so I could be home for the locks to be changed. I had to march to the office-- this time I am sure I looked angrier than Sofia. The manager tried to blame it on miscommunication, which didn't fly with me. I told the manager with the severity of this incident she should have conducted a follow-up to ensure my locks were indeed changed. Then I requested her boss's number and left a complaint on the VP's VM on way back to my apartment. I've yet to receive the return call that I requested-- it's only been 3 business days.

Yes, the issue is resolved now; however, I can't recommend the apartment I live in to anyone else. I thought service would improve with new management, but it hasn't. Maintenance requests are lost-- I had water back up in my sink for almost a week. Most recently, there was a sink issue that went unaddressed; Paul bought a plunger and fixed the issue.

The moral of the story: Do NOT rent from Broadstone at Dunwoody. Tell all of your friends! Share this information with anyone and everyone you know who is looking for a place to live in the Metro Atlanta area. I can't wait to move when my lease is up.

Cecilia Woloch Shares Advice

A week or so ago, there was a meme circulating around the blogosphere; bloggers who were tagged had to post advice for new writers. This meme caught my interest, so I thought I would ask a couple of established poets to share advice for new writers and let me share it via my blog. The wonderful and sexy Cecilia Woloch was kind enough to share.

After reading Cecilia's advice you will find her biographical information (which was taken from Cecilia's website). Please, please, take a few minutes to view Cecilia's website. Make a point to read the poems on her website. Her brilliant poem "Burning the Doll," which happens to be one of my top ten favorite poems, is on her webpage!

1). Read voraciously -- the best contemporary poetry, but also reach back
into poetry's traditions (all the way to Sappho, at least!) and read poetry in
translation from other cultures and traditions.

2). Don't be in a rush to publish. You may only end up publishing things
you'll later regret having published, or the (almost inevitable) rejections may
interfere with your relationship to your work. Give the work time to
develop, and learn to think of the work as its own reward, and not to worry too
much about "validation" from the world.

3). Do find a supportive community of poets, a workshop or just a few
friends whose opinions and goodwill you trust, people who will challenge and
stimulate you as a poet. But don't let the judgements of others quash what may
be most original in your work -- a danger of workshops.

4). Lead an interesting life, care deeply, don't be afraid.

BIO:

CECILIA WOLOCH was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and grew up there and in rural Kentucky, one of seven children of a homemaker and an airplane mechanic. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University L.A. in 1999.

Her books of poems are Sacrifice (Cahuenga Press, 1997), a BookSense 76 selection in 2001; Tsigan: The Gypsy Poem (Cahuenga Press, 2002); and Late (BOA Editions, 2003) for which she was named Georgia Author of the Year in Poetry in 2004. A chapbook manuscript, "Narcissus," was chosen winner of the Tupelo Press Snowbound Competition and will be published in 2007.

She is the founding director of Summer Poetry in Idyllwild and of The Paris Poetry Workshop, and is currently a lecturer in the creative writing program at the University of Southern California as well as a member of the core faculty of the low-residency MFA Program in Professional Writing at Western Connecticut State University.