Dec 7, 2008

The diary of Sadie Alvarez: Page 2


‘From all the boys the one I take home is music.’’
-CSS

And because that I’m writing about this, I feel that I’m some how obligated to introduce myself. Well, my name is Sadie Alvarez. Sadie isn’t short for anything, it is what it is, and I’ve learned to accept that. My mothers Scottish-Irish and quite stylish; my father is Portuguese and not really a part of my life. (First man to ever leave me, but that’s a whole other story).
I graduated from university with a degree in journalism, as well as disgust for it. I never wanted to be a reporter, and over the course of three years I had been groomed for it.
They took my writing style and they stripped it down, and in order to duck for cover from the strong attack of ‘hard news’ that was constantly coming my way, I joined forces with ‘entertainment journalism.’
Frank Zappa once said that ‘Rock journalism is people who can't write interviewing people who can't talk for people who can't read.’ It’s funny- and was probably true back then- but it isn’t necessarily true now. I have read some amazing features. I’ve also written some myself.
I covered rock concerts, stand-up comedians, fashion shows and theatre for the campus paper. I used that part industry to provide me with an outlet where personal style is embraced. I refused to surrender it.
That landed me a promotional writing job at a P.R firm that works with many artists- big and small- in Canada… and a few in the States. But who’s counting. I soon worked my way up to the lower echelon of the publicity department. That’s my nine-to-always-past-5.
Between concerts, fundraisers, awards shows and the always-interesting music festivals, it’s hard to maintain a reliable internal clock. But that’s my life. Music is my boyfriend.
I’m brutally honest, which I get from my wonderfully frank mother, and I am not shy. I’m not the type of person who beats around the bush. I generally don’t talk about people behind their backs, with the two exceptions being A. I don’t know them, but I find them amusing at the time and B. I’m talking to someone else retelling the very statement that I just said to the persons face.
Despite these attributes I am not quick to anger, in fact I’m very laid back. But if I do get angry, look out! I blame that on being a Cancer.
I have a lot of male friends, a handful of close female friends and a couple of gay friends.
They are great mixture of and culture and lifestyle, all of them very unique in how they think and react to the curveballs that life throws at us. And they all ask me the same question. “Why are you still single?”
I KNOW that other girls out there have that exact same question asked to them all the time, by ALL of their friends. It’s infuriating isn’t it? If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me that question I’d have a house instead of a two-bedroom apartment bordering on the wrong side of the tracks. Its disgusting really, and completely unnecessary.
So why write about dating? Am I just another angry single woman, looking to profit from my heartache and following some sort of unrealistic Sex and the City fairytale where a small time writer makes it big by broadcasting her sex life to the city and beyond?
I can tell you that I’m not, for many reasons. For one thing, I’m not in my thirties. No disrespect. I’m just not looking to get married anytime soon, or have kids. I’m just coasting.
Also, I’m not exactly upper class. I’m not poor mind you; I have everything I need. I’m not struggling, but I’m not shopping at designer boutiques. Most of my shoes cost less that thirty dollars. I don’t drink colourful cocktails out of frosted martini glasses at the hottest clubs and fuck millionaires. I drink beer. Oh Canada! I drink cheap beer at rock club and apparently I only fuck losers.
But the most important reason why I’m not just another angry single girl is because I’m not angry. THAT I’ve learned to let go of… for the most part. I just feel that the more honest information out there about men and dating the better. As a writer, this is the best way for me to get the things I’ve learned out there.
Regardless of what mainstream media tells us about a single woman in the city, and how her life pans out- over six seasons and a summer blockbuster- the single life isn’t as glamorous as it leads you to believe. But it’s often just as humorous.

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