Word of the Day: Slugabed

slugabed \SLUHG-uh-bed\, noun:
One who stays in bed until a late hour; a sluggard.

I know at least five people who slept in this weekend until an unreasonably late hour, including myself, due to the feeling of freedom that accompanies a long weekend. I basked in the glory that is President's Day by staying up until 2am and getting up sometime around noon each day. And oh how glorious it was.

But then came Tuesday morning. The obnoxious BLARING of my alarm clock awoke me at an unreasonably EARLY hour, to which I rolled over, sniveling "What day is it? Where am I? Aw crap. I have to go to work." I spent the better part of Monday hanging out at Murky Coffee in Clarendon writing my book and couldn't help but muse that it would be so wonderful to do my own thing everyday, hang out in coffee shops where I recognize the people, and drink yummy soy chai lattes. And yet here I am, at this desk surrounded by a dump truck full of tea to keep me awake and more bacteria on my desk than in the ice cubes at McDonalds.

A friend of mine said to me today "Isn't it weird that you have probably met your husband already....random thought...(are you going to discuss this random thought in your blog??)...." This is a male friend, by the way. Not a typical thing for a male friend to point out. So I did some research. The odds were actually pretty good that he's correct.

Sixty-three percent of married couples meet through a network of friends.

In Washington, D.C., a whopping 70 percent of the population is single

There are 86 unmarried men for every 100 unmarried women, although in some regions the gender ratio favors women, especially out west. Paradise, Nevada, a suburb 10 miles from Las Vegas, has 118 unmarried men for every 100 unmarried women. Other cities where gals got it good include Austin, Texas; Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Tempe, Arizona; and Sunnyvale and Santa Ana, California. A coincidental bonus for women thinking of relocating: All of these cities are sunny and warm. (I guess moving to Tucson is a good idea after all.)

Only 9 percent of women and 2 percent of men say they've found a relationship at a bar or club. You're better off hitting on cuties at Starbucks.

Word of the Day: Melange

mé·lange also me·lange:
A mixture

Let me just say that Seafarers of Catan is the best game ever made. The usual cast of characters assembled for a rowdy game on Friday night. Fitting, or rather, stuffing, six people into such a small space as my condo is definitely a challenge but at the least it was cozy and conducive to trading. ("Corner of the market on the yellow card!")

Friday we took a field trip to the White House for a tour (thank you Lindsey!). Not exactly what I expected. I once waited in line at 6am outside the White House on a visit to DC before sadly being turned away. That was prior to 9/11. And now they only let in school groups. So under cover of La Cruz High School, Michelle, Timoni and I disappointed ourselves with a tour. There's nothing to see there folks. It's just a bunch of old furniture. Seriously, Mt. Vernon was enough. The best part was when a teenage boy asked who a painting was of in the Great Room and the guard replied with a straight face, "That's our 16th President, Abraham Lincoln."

And... that brings us to Saturday. The frigid temperature didn't keep us away from Chief Ike's where my favorite band TRIP LIZARD was playing. Thanks to Trip Lizard, my car now smells like yogurt sauce and onions. What we think happened was that Tofu Todd did something to make Kim squeeze her falafel and the contents were forced to seek asylum on the floor. At any rate, the health inspector would never approve my car as a safe place to eat or breathe.

Thank God for Holidays.

My Attempt to See the World...

My nephew asked for a list of the countries I've been to so he could find them on a map, so I made the list and felt very proud of myself for being fairly successful in my attempt to see the world. I've been to 18 countries. But then today I found this cool program that puts all your visited countries on a bloggable map in red, and now I'm not so proud. 18 countries is only 8% of the world. It looks like I've been just sitting around my whole life, not traveling obviously so this map wouldn't be mostly white. So who wants to go to Tanzania with me?


create your own visited countries map

However, my attempt to visit all the states is going rather well. I've visited 36 states, a whoping 70% of the United States. Now THAT is an accomplishment. Notice where I haven't bothered to go yet. Maine and Vermont are next on the list. It's just so freaking far up there. That's like a 4-day drive.


create your own visited states map

You've Been Tagged: The Game

You've Been Tagged is a game I got off my friend Steve's blog. I'm taking it to a whole new level. I'm planning (though I may give up halfway) to find a tag for every single answer I give. All of my answers will be linked back to a reference to that particular thing on one of my friend's blogs.

4 Jobs I’ve Had
Hot Pocket cheese straightener (ask me about that one)
Fire Department data entry clerk
National shopping writer/editor
Economics/U.S. policy web editor

4 Movies I Can Watch Over & Over
River Runs Through It
Shakespeare in Love
Jerry MaGuire
Dave

4 TV Shows I Love To Watch
The Office
Lost
The Amazing Race
The Mole (when it was on)

4 Places I’ve Been On Vacation
Israel (check this link too)
Germany
Las Vegas
Deep Creek Lake

4 Favorite Dishes
Sushi
Enchiladas
Five Guys!!!
Pad Thai

4 Websites I Visit Daily
30 Boxes
USINFO
Gmail
AOL

4 Places I’d Rather Be
At home
Scrapbooking with friends
At a concert
Skydiving

4 Bloggers I’m Tagging
Timoni Grone
Steve Fisher
Kimmy Zuckell
Diverse Hats

Word of the Day: Nonpareil

Laura and Kim and the bear of hate
Originally uploaded by timoni.

nonpareil \non-puh-REL\:

Having no equal; peerless. Something of unequaled excellence

Certainly nothing tops a David Shelby party. It is in-and-of-itself nonpareil. At no other party could 6 well-meaning government employees, 4 contractors and one extra from the Census Bureau finish off almost two full bottles of Rum and half a bottle of Tequila and Bourbon on a Tuesday evening and yet ALL manage to make it into the office the next day (except for the extra from the Census Bureau who I hear worked from home).

Just before getting on the metro headed in the wrong direction, as Todd was lying in the middle of the street and Timoni was hysterically laughing that he tripped over his own feet (which he hadn't -- he did it because I dared him to), I spent a moment being thankful for my friends. I do, somewhat, compartmentalize my friends, though not on purpose -- there's my bible study (some of the best friends I've ever had) and my church friends and then there's the ATM. What can one say about the ATM that is at once non-sentimental and bitterly honest? There's only one word: Nonpareil.

To quote from the Official ATM Playbill of The King & I:

King: You will say no more!
Anna: I will say no more, because there's no more to say!

Happy Anti-Valentine's Day!!

Anna: This girl hurt your vanity... she didn't hurt your heart! You have no heart! You've never loved anyone and you never will.

Word of the Day: Egregious

e·gre·gious
Conspicuously bad or offensive.



Happy Valentines Day

Word of the Day: Milieu

milieu \meel-YUH; meel-YOO\, noun;
plural milieus or milieux \-(z)\:
Environment; setting.

Why do I take the red-eye? Everytime I book a ticket somewhere I get lured in by the prospect of spending a whole extra day there and inevitable fall victim to the red-eye. Every time I plan to head straight to work upon arrival, and every time I land at 8:30am after three full minutes of sleep I reprimand myself for being so foolish. This trip, I decided to self-medicate so I would sleep for the full three hour flight to Chicago. I popped two tylenol pm (also necessary to ease the pain in the pair of 80-year-old legs I seem to have grown into) and got on the plane. Little did I know, this would be the one flight in all my 9000 flights that the person next to me would want to have a lengthy discussion about Iraq. Yes, apparently our government is not funding the war in Iraq and that is why everything is going awry. Do you know that if we would stop funding programs that give aid to hurricane Katrina victims there would be more than enough money to win this war? Those people in Louisiana want the government to give them housing for FREE. Jobs for FREE. I am sorry, folks, but this is not charity. You have to work for things here. Now let's take that money we're throwing away down there and send it to the troops!* For forty whole minutes of my precious tylenol-enhanced sleeping time, she rattled on about the war and Saddam Hussein's horrible trial demeanor. Here is a short snippet of what I recall from the speech:

"We marched into Fallujah with plenty of men and armor. We had surrounded the city for weeks, so of course we were prepared to blow the city to hell when we finally did. But the one mistake we made was that we left behind huge caches of guns along the way to the city, and you know what... they used those weapons against us!"

Is that right? So you yourself marched through Fallujah? Wow. Incredible. I didn't know they allowed 60-year-old ladies into the Army.

When I got off the plane I was in a bit of a delirium. Those pills don't wear off when you need them too. No, it hung on well into the flight to DC and if I'd been driving home from Dulles instead of the bus driver, we'd all be dead right now. Powerful little devils.

I was away this weekend while all that snow was blanketing the DC area. Eight inches here in the area. It's 20 degrees today. Brr. Meanwhile, I was basking in the sunshine and 65 degree weather all weekend. Not a bad trade-off. And just what did I do all weekend? Well I was by myself for most of the day Saturday so I took the opportunity to do some geocaching (if you don't know what it is, look it up). I wandered along aimlessly not knowing where to find any of these things and found myself conveniently located in the exact spot where there was a webcam. That's me in the pink shirt at the top of the center set of stairs.



* The views and opinions of crazy woman on plane do not necessarily reflect my own

Word of the Day: Brilliant

bril·liant

Glorious; magnificent; superb; wonderful
Marked by unusual and impressive intellectual acuteness: a brilliant mind; a brilliant solution to the problem.

Timoni has found the most brilliant internet application ever designed and she shared the little secret with me this morning. It's called 30 Boxes. It's amazing how 30 little boxes could revolutionize the way we interact, the way we schedule, the way we socialize. This program allows you to do everything you need to do in one convenient location. I can keep my calendar online, view everyone else's calendars, check new RSS blog feeds, syncronize the calendar with my brand new Palm TX (which arrived today!), post snippets of my calendar on my BLOG (aren't you excited??), plus I can view all of Timoni's flickr photos RIGHT ON THE PAGE!! It's absolutely brilliant. I can't think of anything that could have made me more happy today than finding out about 30 Boxes. You should join. And if you do, be sure to add me as a buddy!!

Word of the Day: Panacea

panacea \pan-uh-SEE-uh\, noun:
A remedy for all diseases, problems, or evils; a universal medicine; a cure-all.

I am happy to report that I have found a panacea for the disorganizational mess I sometimes refer to as my life. It's called a PDA, better known as the Palm TX. I have been scouring websites, reading reviews and asking friends for recommendations for approximately 4 months now, in search of the perfect PDA, one that would not only organize my exceptionally busy schedule, but would also act as a second brain -- one with a larger memory chip, a speedier processor and more hard drive space than the original. But I also needed something that would indicate, with no extra effort on my part, that something of importance was about to occur so I could quickly recall what that something was and still make it there on time. I believe I have found just the right one. If it crashes or refuses to turn on one day I'll know I expected too much.

I'm also in the market for a heating device of some sort - preferably in the form of a male - that will make sleeping (seriously just sleeping) a more enjoyable activity. If you haven't noticed, the &@#^$ groundhog was right and we're in for more cold weather. 30 degrees outside means I wake up every hour every night freezing to death, despite the socks and sweatpants I am already forced to wear, and in spite of the three blankets that are heaped on my bed. I realize that a husband would work best in this role, but since finding one of those is a feat second in complexity only to standing in a pit of fire without bursting into flames, I'll settle for any man who has an internal heater set to a temperature far exceeding my own. And it would help if he was also insanely attractive, but I don't want to ask too much.

Word of the Day: Gadabout

gadabout \GAD-uh-bout\, noun:
Someone who roams about in search of amusement or social activity.

Last night was the most incredible party ever held in the entire history of Frontline. We put on a Super Bowl party of epic proportions and everyone stayed until the very end, which was awesome, considering over 800 people showed up. EIGHT Hundred! We planned for 300. Despite the increase in numbers, we put on the best party of the year and I am very proud.

Not secondarily, Kim won $200 yesterday on the game. I was so convinced she would win that I went ahead and booked a trip to Las Vegas so I could personally see to the collection and safe return of her money. Yay for Vegas!! Yay for the Steelers winning the Super Bowl. Yay for Monday and happy hour.

Today is just a good day.

Word of the Day: Ostentatious

ostentatious
adj 1: intended to attract notice and impress others

What makes people say things that they know will annoy others? For instance, why would someone, when referring to the piece of art known as an "ad", use the word "creative" instead? Creative -- as a NOUN.

I can see if you're part of the advertising world -- you work at Google, for instance -- you would want to assimilate by using industry buzz words. In the government, we throw out acronyms like nothing else. We don't, however, refer to ads as creative. So if you work here, please stop doing that!

Saw Damn Yankees at Arena Stage last night with Todd. We were both convinced that Karen Hughes was in that play. She must moonlight. And those poor boys. Since when was it acceptable for grown men to dance around like ballarinas on the stage? The play was fantastic, the costumes perfect, as usual, but I'm sorry, the male choreograghy was downright embarrassing.

Following my very busy week, I am fully prepared to camp out on the couch tonight with popcorn and a season of The Office. Glorious.

Word of the Day: Groundhog

It's GROUNDHOG Day!!

Phil's official forecast as read 2/2/06 at sunrise at Gobbler's Knob:
It's my shadow I see. Six more weeks of mild winter there will be.

groundhog
n : reddish brown North American marmot

Okay, but what the heck is a marmot?

Any of various stocky, coarse-furred, burrowing rodents of the genus Marmota, having short legs and ears and short bushy tails and found throughout the Northern Hemisphere.

Here are some facts about Punxsutawny Phil that you've always wanted to know:

On February 2, he speaks to the Groundhog Club president in "Groundhogese"(a language only understood by the current president of the Inner Circle). His proclamation is then translated for the world.

Punxsutawney Phil gets his longevity from drinking "groundhog punch," a secret recipe. Phil takes one sip every summer at the Groundhog Picnic and it magically gives him seven more years of life.

Word of the Day: Comity

comity (not to be confused with comedy):
1. A state of mutual harmony, friendship, and respect, especially between or among people; civility.

I survived Sunday by some feat of dedication and conviction previously unknown to man. As a result, the world is more benevolent than it was on Saturday, when I spent four hours wandering around Alexandria while my tire was being patched. Someone sabotaged me with a nail. Consequently, I was considering what the worst act of insolence would be that a person could committ against someone they don't know. Quite possibly it would be to place a nail near their tire.

Yesterday was happy hour. Monday only has one purpose, which is to hang out with my beloved coworkers at RFD discussing our coolness. I sent out a somewhat entertaining invitation to an ATM Anti-Valentine's Day party we're having and was subsequently promoted from social coordinator to Empress based solely on my poetic genius. We toasted to my advancement on a ladder completely devoid of meaning, drank some beer, and then I ran off to the 930 club to meet Michelle for a Lifehouse concert, from which I now have a permanant blue stamp on the back of my hand. What am I, 14?

Then comes the most bizarre ride home I've ever encountered. Instead of waiting 25 minutes for a bus I knew would take me directly home by 12:10am, I chose to get on a bus I had once seen driving down King Street, thinking it must go past my house at some point. An hour passes and I still cannot identify a single street name or landmark (it was pitch black out anyway). Finally, at 12:25am, the glorious sound of "King Street and 35th Road" echoes through the long-since empty bus. I shouted inordinately loud for the bus driver to stop and escaped a nightmare that sent me winding through the maze called Shirlington. You know you can drive down 35th Road, making turn after turn, and NEVER leave 35th?

On the docket for tonight: State of the Union Address.

Word of the Day: Bagatelle

bagatelle \bag-uh-TEL\, noun:
1. A trifle; a thing of little or no importance.
2. A short, light literary piece.

I was on my way to pick up Kim and Timoni for a night out at 9:12pm when a frantic Lindsey called in a panic that their cab had not arrived and she was about to be late to her own sister's surprise party. Rushing to the rescue, I screached up to Kim's building, and she, Lindsey, Chris and a small bushel of helium balloons piled into my very compact sports car.

We're going to have to come back for Timoni, there's no where for her to fit. I buzzed off toward the bar. Halfway there something seemed slightly off balance. What's that noise? I don't think I've ever had this much weight in my car. Something's not right. But there's no way we're stopping! Lindsey is practically in tears. We whiz past Timoni's, pull up outside like a chariot, everyone piles out. And then the bad news. "You've got a flat," Chris says.

Me to Timoni on cell: I can't come get you. I have a flat.
Timoni: No problem, I'll run 20 blocks in my tall boots in the 30 degree weather and I'll be there in 10 minutes. If you need help with the tire, I had four flats in a year with my last car."

This is one of those times when a boyfriend comes in handy. But seeing that I don't have one, I'd have to borrow Chris. Now Chris is not a small guy. There are rumors that he can bench three of me. But we still pulled, pried, pushed, yanked, sweared at and cursed the five tiny lugnuts that held onto that tire like a mother.



An hour later, fingers and toes sufficiently numb, I admitted defeat and called Roadside Assistance. Then we tried one last time. Of course, now the lugnuts are popping off right and left. But still we can't we get the last lugnut off the damn car. We must have looked desperate because a stranger approached and asked if we'd tried stomping on it. Well actually...no. Will that work? Two seconds later the lugnut was off.

Me to Timoni: I thought we'd never get the lugnuts off.
Timoni: Did you try stomping on it?
Me: Where were you and this brilliant idea an hour ago?

Word of the Day: Circumvention

Michelle just informed me that I added 55 new appointments to our shared calendar in the past few weeks. Ashley thought it was funny that I'd parcelled out my Sunday into hour increments and only had 1.5 hours left to devote to the scrapbooking activity we planned months ago. Yesterday I forgot what month it was.

I call this technique circumvention.

cir·cum·vent
To go around; bypass.
To avoid or get around by artful maneuvering.

It certainly is "artful maneuvering". You think I've lost control -- that I've overbooked, double-booked, and rebooked until I just completely lost it. But oh, you're so wrong. You try to come up with 19 things to do on a Sunday with enough left over to give away every week day opening you have between now and March 4. (Note: nothing of importance is happening on March 4, that's just how far out my calendar stretches at this point. Note 2: I'm apparently free in April if you want to get together for tea or something.) I didn't lose it. I did it on purpose.

So what am I circumventing? My life, of course. I am on a mission to make myself so busy that I don't have to admit that I have no life. Yes, I see the irony in that. Is it possible to be so busy that you effectively circumvent your actual life? I'm currently writing a thesis on that very subject. It might not be possible, but I'm going to give it a go. I guarantee that nothing of true significance (that would signify the existence of an actual life) will happen to me by this time next year. If there is a significant event, I will write a retraction and burn my calendar.

January 24: Part Two

It's 10:24pm. This is the best possible moment I could find to add an update on the most depressing day of the year. Yeah, I'm gonna have to go with yesterday. Today the sun was out most of the day and we are having unseasonable warm weather for which we have these incredible lightening and thunder storms to thank. I don't remember a time when there was serious electrical storms in the middle of January. Clearly something is off-balance up there.

Anyway, I think we'll have to modify the socialogical findings of this most depressing day. Monday is always worse than Tuesday. Rain is worse than sun. Cold is worse than warm. Debt is worse than money. Boredom is worse than busyness. And lonliness is worse than companionship. We all know these things. Let's apply them to our lives and report back, say, May 18, reportedly the happiest day of the year.

Word of the Day: January 24th

Today is January 24, the “most depressing day of the year,” according to a U.K. psychologist. Do you feel it? Judging by the fact that the sun is out today, it's a little bit warmer than yesterday and it's not raining, I think this year's most depressing day was yesterday. Plus it was Monday and that always adds to the misery of waking up to a full five-day week. But today is Tuesday and there are still four full days of work left before we get a weekend.

According to Health magazine, here are the reasons today sucks so bad:

Credit-card bills from the holidays are due, New Year's resolutions likely have been broken, and low light levels create seasonal affective disorder, which causes people to feel as if a shadow is over them.

I think we're doomed today. Everyone in the world knows it's the worst day of the year. So why did we even arrive at work today? The way I see it, none of us should have even bothered getting out of bed this morning. Well, we'll see how it progresses and make a determination this evening based on events that happen today. I still think yesterday is going to take the prize for worst day of the year. Just tell me you weren't in a bad mood yesterday for no apparent reason. I dare you.

Word of the Day: Pirates??

pi·rate
One who robs at sea or plunders the land from the sea without commission from a sovereign nation.

Pirates still exist? This weekend the U.S. Navy chased down a pirate ship near Somalia in the Indian Ocean.

This reminds me of my days as a kid playing the computer game called Pirates, which I played for hours on my dad's Commodore 64. If I could find that game now, and a working Commodore, I believe I would still be addicted to it.

This pirate attack happened this year on my birthday. I've never stopped to consider all of the other things that are happening on specific days when I'm completely self-absorbed. I just imagine that the whole world has ceased activity in observance of my birthday. But, alas, the pirates of Somalia are still hard at work attacking ships with their cannons and having sword fights and stuff.

One of the boldest recent attacks was on Nov. 5, when two boats full of pirates approached a cruise ship carrying Western tourists, about 100 miles off Somalia and fired rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles.

Word of the Day: System 32

You're asking "What is System 32?" I'm here to tell you that System 32 is everything that is wrong in the world. Here's how:

Upon booting up my computer every day (or however rarely I actually turn the evil thing off and have to boot it cold) the System 32 folder opens automatically, displaying a group of random files I have no intention of ever needing. Despite my resentment of the automatic opening of the folder, and the totally convoluted solutions I've tried, fruitlessly, in order to get rid of it, my friend System 32 holds on. Somedays I deal with the nuisance peacefully. I just close the folder and go about my business. Other days I get so frustrated by the existence of the folder that I spend literally hours trying to eradicate it, hide it, rename it, banish it from my sight, anything!

Today I learned that the mere presence of the folder suggests I may have contracted a virus of such proportions that I may never get rid of the folder, forever being plagued by its uselessness.

Clearly, this parallels all unexplainable, exasperating and undeniably evil components of an otherwise organized and fulfilling life. No matter how put together you think things are, how organized you have your schedule or how great you think your friends are, there will always be that one folder that keeps opening and spilling out havoc on everything else around it. A virus so annoying, it promises to nag at your until the end of time, or that moment when you finally break down and buy a new computer.

Word of the Day: Ubiquitous

I chose today's word because Kim has us all contemplating it's true meaning lately and I think it applies to my state of mind today, which is unstable, at best. Who knew misery could be so all-encompassing?

u·biq·ui·tous
adj.
Being or seeming to be everywhere at the same time; constantly encountered

Now that I'm over my near-fatal bout with pneumonia, I feel more capable of going back to my normal tasks of updating the blog, although I can't quite sum up into words the state of my current condition quite as well as Gene Weingarten can, so I will defer to his wisdom and authority today...

Listen, people. This is not a tranquilizing chat. We do not soothe and pacify. We do not placate. We do not pander by confirming your most comforting assumptions. We explore eternal verities here, and life, to quote Thomas Hobbes, is nasty, brutish and short. if you do not wish to be emotionally disturbed, I highly recommend Ms. O’Donnel’s chat, where you can get excellent advice on the appropriate uses of tarragon in the preparation of veal. The only likely mention of veal in this chat would be to note that the baby cow died alone and in fear, as do we all. Okay?

Why did this poll bother people so much? Because it has confirmed what we all know but seldom face – that our relationships, especially the strongest and most passionate relationships, are more fragile than we like to think. We. Are. More. Alone. Than. We. Want. To. Be.

Word of the Day: SAD

seasonal affective disorder • \SEE-zun-ul-a-FEK-tiv-dis-OR-der\ • noun
: depression that tends to recur as the days grow shorter during the fall and winter

Back on the mainland now. Back to work. Back to small group. Back to life as I knew it prior to pretending to be a nomad. Who am I fooling? I'm a DC'er. It's practically built into my DNA at this point. I have reprimanded myself and after a period of probation I will be released back into the functioning public (perhaps after the rest of the jetlag wears off).

Read an article today about how Seattle is about to break a record set 40 years ago for number of consecutive days of heavy rainfall. Back in 99 when I lived there, we had 87 days of straight rain, but it was not classified as "heavy" rainfall. I bet they are all suffering from (S)easonal (A)ffective (D)isorder (SAD). I, however, am suffering from something more like (S)orry excuse for (A) decent winter (D)epression. If it's going to be cold, it better be darn cold. If it's not going to snow or cause delays and closings of the government, then just send in Spring already because this halfway stuff is wasting my time.

Lots of things going on. Yesterday Michelle, Dida and I (aka WE) went to Restaurant Week at Zengo in Chinatown. Amazing Latin/Asian fusion cuisine. On the way, Michelle and I were stopped by a very assertive, yet misunderstood guy perhaps my age, dressed in all black. By stopped I mean, he stood in front of us, basically blocking our passage with not so much as a reason for such rude behavior. We tried to push past him. He stepped in front of us. "What the hell?" we said to each other. Then we looked to our left and saw two black suburbans and felt like complete idiots as we watched Donald Rumsfeld walk past us into Clyde's. My very first genuine DC sighting. Apparently Cheney was dining there as well. Yes, I feel special.

Today I read an interesting article about how the number of people who eat at their desks has risen dramatically. At least 75% of workers eat lunch at their desks 2-3 times a week.

The typical desk has 100 times as much bacteria as the typical kitchen table.

The article also says that "what's at risk personally may be more profound -- the chance to connect with colleagues and staff." And how true is that? Just ask Michelle and Timoni, whom I lunch with every single day in a deserted room of the 6th floor. Lunch together is like lunch itself. We need it to refuel, not from food, but from our daily dose of catching up (even though we sit 2 feet away from each other all day, everyday -- it's not the same. Okay I know, we're pathetic.)

This weekend the ATM is taking an extended trip (our first as a league) to the Poconos to go skiing. I'm not actually skiing, but that's not the point. Any trip of the Anti-temperance League promises to be a good one.

Oh, Thank Goodness

Laura should be home tonight. Which means she will be in the office tomorrow. And my life will be infinitely better.

Sorry I sucked at updating Laura's blog. But hey, it's hard to do my job, Laura's job (don't believe her when she says she doesn't do anything), keep up on my oh-so-popular social life (um, yeah, I stayed home on a Friday night to watch Annie on purpose...) and update a blog!

Thank goodness Laura's back.

Word of the Day: Deutschland

Ein neues Jahr! I can't believe it's 2006!

Guten Abend aus Deutschland. I've been traveling around the countryside for 7 days now and head home in a few days, despite my reluctance to return to real life. Wouldn't it be glorious to just travel around the world every day of your life, enjoying what you want to, not having to do the things you despite and loving every minute of it? Chris makes the case that a routine has some merit and that going too long without one leads to some amount of frustration and anxiety. I suppose that's true, but I hate to admit it because then my one day dream that still loftily exists in my imagination would be crushed into tiny pieces. While stuck at work, one must have something they can think of that would be so much better than what they're currently doing. For me, that is the thought of traveling endlessly to exotic locales, tasting the food, speaking the language (or butchering it, as it may be) and learning new things. At this point, I can hardly imagine it's possible to grow tired of the world of intrigue that is spread before us. For now I'm happy just to have satisfied my wanderlust, for now, with a 9-day stay in Deutschland.

Aufweidersehen.

Just Because

I don't want Laura to take away my blogging privileges just because I haven't posted anything interesting. So here, while I'm off doing work (yes, I am doing work at 9:15 p.m.) you can keep yourself entertained with this:

Check out the video link "Dave and Bill O'Reilly" on this page

It's worth the watch. Hopefully Laura won't mind that I'm bringing (all be it comical) political debate onto her blog. But hey, this is the stuff that interests me.

Happy New Year!

Well, since Laura isn't around, I figure I should wish everyone a happy new year on her behalf. So... happy 2006! Got any new year's resolutions?

My resolution is to do a half-assed job at work. I figure that if I'm only a mediocre employee, after a while people will stop giving me work to do, which means a. i can have more time to work on Laura's blog and b. maybe i can get a day off.

2006 is going to be known as the Year of Change. I say that cause I sense that big things are in store for me, and Laura, and everyone we know. And by the way, I'm psychic... my track record of predicting snow days and young musicians untimely deaths are near perfect, so if I say change is in store, I ain't lying.