No Christina for me

So, I work for this magazine... crap salary, no freebies, I left my family and friends back in NY for it, no perks ever come my way--directly, but occasionally there is the celebrity photo shoot. Now this is the first magazine job, as the art director, where I was not expected to be at every photo shoot espeically the ones where they appear on the cover and involve A List actors, singers or bumble fucks that got lucky. This time around, it's Christina Aguilera. She'll be on our cover in six weeks. Now I'm not crazy to meet her. I actually sat next to her at a bar in Chelsea about four years ago. Didn't speak a word to her, but she was within an inch of my butt, so that was cool. But this would have been that chance to say Hey, and be backed by my professional association with the magazine to do so.
But, yesterday I had jury duty. I was excused after the day. Back at work, while I was out, all editors and my new freelance assistant were... I don't know, sitting on their hands! Today I come in and check the work, all three pages of it. Two of which had to be redone for one reason or another.
So today, there's nooooo way I'm leaving for anything other than getting the last pages out on the last day of shipping. One after the other, the editors and shiny-faced ferret boy Neal go over to the photo shoot. All I could imagine is how everyone is now going to talk about it during Monday morning's meeting. I feel I'm the one all the work is dumped on, and the one that makes it all look good, package it just so. But I get not even a single pat on the back or token of my appreciation.
I'm not alone, I know. There are many of us out there. But I travelled 3000 miles to be here. Left sooo much behind. And I learned to enjoy the life in LA, even though without a car, I'm not really getting to know any of it outside of the central Hollywood area.
I hate, hate, hate, being so bitter and negative, but it's so hard to accept this as a choice I've made and yet still be so miserable all the time living it. Uggg.
Tomorrow will be a new day and I can go to the gym and work it all out. I hope.