So I'm temping. I've been here for over 7 hours today. I also temped here for a day about a week ago.

And I've just found out what the absent receptionist's Most Important Duty is: Keeping the mint bowl filled.

It is 45 minutes 'til close on a Friday before a holiday weekend. Someone passing by the desk to grab a mint, noted that the mint bowl was empty. Now, a lesser person might have decided this wasn't that big of a deal. Not this valiant lady, oh no. She stopped, got my attention, and insisted that I dig through all of the drawers to find where the mints are kept.

Then she thanked me, and meant it. What the? Are they all drinking in their offices here?

Drinking the whole beer before eating any pizza is a good idea.

Thanks to my focus-span being very short lived these days, you've thus far been spared a rant against the 9/11 armchair terrorist expert angst. Let's all hope it lasts.

Ooh, look, shiny!

Tonight at rehearsal, after being treated to an overlong explanation of why someone wasn't late (ie, because they were, or rather weren't, getting food), I refrained from asking the obvious "So, why are you late, then?"

I also avoided the even more tempting "Oh? Why were you over half an hour late this time?" Ditto for "Not to worry, we're getting used to it."

I'm still trying to decide whether I'm proud of or disappointed in my self-control.

wow, my computer must be tired too

there's a friend's (or perhaps acquaintance, i'm not quite sure) blog which i read every other day or so.

usually, when my old computer tries to load it, a grey pop up screen informs me there is an error reading the script. when i click it, it goes away.

when the computer's innards are sufficiently junked with my day's websurfing, this happens many times.

just now, it didn't happen at all. do i miss it?

Forgiveness

After lots and lots and lots o' griping, to the tune of "Freakin' Now and Again is out in a DVD box set, what about The West Wing?, dammit!, stupid Bravo," my heart is filled with happy forgiveness.

I am replete with cooing forgiving vibes because Bravo is showing The West Wing three times a day, four days a week, and replays all 4 episodes on Sunday afternoon.

Urge to kill fading...

Also, the box set is finally being released here in time for the Misc. Holiday Glut Fest of Your Choice.

....faaaaaaaaaadiiiingggggggg.

Well, this has been a mixed day.

I found out an old college hang-out of mine just burned down.

Then I found out that one of my good college friends is getting married.

and it's not so bad, not so baaaaad

Yesterday, i got one of those lovely moments of undeserved relief which come into the life of every hard-core procrastinator.

I was in a car accident about a year ago...well, several, really, but the one to which I'm referring happened during a tech week, and actually involved my going to the emergency room with a touch of the whiplash.

Anyhoo, the car repairs and reimbursment and all that got handled pretty quickly, but it was many moons later that I received a hospital bill. Which was a surprise, since my health insurance was supposed to cover it, or so I thought.

Anticipating hassling from either of the insurance companies involved, I did what any mature, responsible procrastinator would do: I ignored it. I moved halfway across the country. I ignored it some more.

Finally, having reached Event Avoidance Horizon I made calls, expecting Mom-like lecturing or outright refusals of service. Instead I got, "Sure. Fine. No problem." and was off the phone in time to catch The West Wing.

It's like a snow day when you haven't studied for the econ final. Aaaahhhhhhh.

solo soap bubble
at crowded intersection
lonely, so you popped

Rosie the Redundanter
(i was going to whine about how boring and stupid my current temp job is, but instead i wrote this poem)

I know she's not my Doppelganger
Sitting there in front of me
No evil twin or dead ringer
Just the Soul of Redundancy
She steals tasks what are mine to do
"I'll do my job, and her work too!"

I feel I'm being punished here
For overuse of catchphrase pert
I curse the times I've uttered clear
"To be redundant couldn't hurt!"
Communiques are what I meant
I was unclear, now I repent

The cosmos heard my hubric claim
And laid a karmic smackdown on
So I sit bored and ask in shame
"For this I Rose at crack of dawn?"
And so the bloom is off the flower
"Earning" my 13 per hour

how stupid can YOU be, boys and girls?

Once upon a time, about 3 hours ago, a stupid actress left her rehearsal and got into her stupid car named Nemesis.
She journeyed stupidly far, all the way from the Village of University to the Fjords of Ballard.
Quite abruptly, she realized her stupid stomach was quite empty because she had stupidly neglected to eat anything before her rehearsal.
She had her trusty and stupid Nemesis take her to SafeWay, where she bought herself a Wonderous Frozen 'Zza.

Oh, did I forget to leave out the part that makes this all so stupid? Stupid me: Her rehearsal was taking place in a QFC.

in other news...
One of my best friends is in Paris right now, after visiting Geneva and before going to Brussels.

sigh. Bastard.

Today, or yesterday now, I guess, is/was my dad's birthday. It's a day I usually avoid noticing, but for some reason this year it has been very much on my mind. I'm not sure why, but am definitely disturbed.

He would have been 60. And I wonder if maybe that doesn't have some shred of an explanation. My mom turned 50, and we threw her a surprise party, and if dad were alive, it would likewise be a milestone birthday for him.

Of the many sad things about the fact that he is dead the saddest by far to me is this: I can't find it in me to wish he were still here and celebrating birthdays; we're much better off for his absense and we know it.

It's one thing to reach adulthood and be able to assess that your father was a not very good person and know most of what he said can be utterly discounted. It's quite another to be the person who lived through being raised be him.

I expect everyone is left with sorrow that twists around something dark and unpalatable after a parent dies, so I needn't conclude that my particular flavour is as singular as it feels. I'm just extra aware of it tonight, that's all.

So apparently my body has pretty much given up on the whole sleeping at night thing. I'm not sure why, but trying to go to sleep when it is dark is lately always a struggle.

During the day, on the other hand, the sleeping is no problem. I sleep like a cat. By which I mean curled up in odd positions, for nap-lengthed time spans, and anytime I please.

In other news, I'm exploring the world of Having Given Up Cola. It is a world without stomach pain, which means it has a lot going for it. Fortunately tea seems to be allowed here. Otherwise it would also be the land of Serious Headaches and Eternal Drowsyness.

Aha!
The lying liar is, in fact a liar.

... but what I really wanted was a musical about vikings!
Hear ye, hear ye, my saviour is a liar
His nose is holy longer than telephone wire
He's up on the cross and his pants are on fire
You kneel to a crucifix, I have a pyre.

2:03am Status

So drunk that I don't realize I should keep track of how many pizza rolls I have eaten.

Not drunk enough to try and scam more.

Not really that drunk, really; just hungry and sleeeeeeepyyyyyy.

Dear People Having Loud Relationship Drama in the Extremely Hot Sound-Zone Between the Apartment Buildings While Listening to Lust For Life at 5 in the Evening:

Um, don't. Ok? Just...don't.