Skipping past Writober and Nanoblomo . . ? Shit, I dunno. I'm as bored as you are.
Thursday, June 29, 2006
From Birthdays to Bombers
Today was the first day this week I’ve spent my lunch break in front of the computer; I’m actually lamenting that fact. And due to a combination of really advanced planning and my obsessive need to know RIGHT NOW, I spent my lunch hour (or so) doing a cost-comparison of ways to celebrate Mia’s birthday. Specifically, ways to celebrate that involve a theme park and/or a water park. Maybe even a birthday “party” tacked on at the end. It’ll be a long weekend, to say the least. But, hey, you only turn four once, right? (Okay, maybe not if you’re CW . . . always striving for adolescence.)
I’ve been spending more time around my coworkers than I’d ideally like, and it’s really a shame I can’t write about them more. Because my office is quite the collection of interesting characters. Like our business/bookingkeeping/office manager/whatever-the-fuck who was a cheerleader at this high school; there is, likely quite literally, no subject that is sacred to her.
In the world beyond the walls of my office, we’re gearing up to celebrate our independence from a nation that, quite frankly, is probably glad to be rid of us. I’m actually gonna kick off the weekend by watching our former rulers whoop some Portuguese ass at the World Cup (or, else, I’ll be out five bucks).
Friday, June 23, 2006
Kamikaze Lunchbreak Book Review: The Historian
So, I just finished reading Elizabeth Kostova’s 600-some-odd-page tome, The Historian. Interesting story: This woman won an award for best novel-in-progress and then got a $2 million advance (after a bidding war) for her completed book.
The book itself is an interesting vampire tale. It had a very Da Vinci Code feel for me, but the writing is much better, pace a bit slower, characters easier to sympathize with, violence more there (not quite as much as Anne Rice, though), and actual touching. It’s a little hard to follow at times because it’s jumping around between at least three distinct time periods (really, more like five).
Here’s a somewhat-brutal (but well-argued) review.
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
I Actually Had a Dream Wherein I Played Soccer Recently
I hadn’t meant to not post anything for more than a week. I’ve even been telling myself, “Post more, not less, post more, not less . . .” It’s not working, apparently.
Besides my regular job, keeping up with the World Cup for my secondary job (as a bookie), working on my freelance job, celebrating fatherhood (and winning some money at poker while doing it), and trying to figure out exactly what the Christ is going on over in Deadwood . . . I, perhaps understandably, haven’t had time for much else. Not that I want to whine about it.
But allow me to further isolate whatever readership I still have by whining about the World Cup. Am I the only one who isn’t happy about the U.S. team tying the Italian team? Sure, we were screwed over by the ref, and maybe we were lucky to avoid allowing another goal (and, yet, lucky to get the goal we did [thanks, Italian defender-dude]), but we scored a (disallowed) goal with nine men. Why did we back off and spend the last 15 minutes of the match in our own half? Why did Bruce Arena sit on the final substitution that he could’ve used to insert Eddie Johnson into the game?
Because we’re happy with a tie, that’s why.* We’re happy needing to win and then STILL needing help from another team, just to advance (and face Brazil).
How about if we had won that game and then went on to beat Ghana, we’d control our own destiny . . . and possibly win the group altogether (and, thus, avoid having to play Brazil right away).
I love the can-do spirit of Americans in international competition, don’t you? What happened to “playing to win?”
In other news, this prison is very close to our house and I drive by it on my way to work. To think, had I left 15 or 20 minutes early and gone the normal route to work, I could’ve seen a SHOOTOUT!
There's more to drink (click for it) »
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Rock You like a Hurr-- . . . Nevermind
As I type this, I’m at work and the center of Tropical Storm Alberto (not Albert-o, but AlBAIRto) is passing over Cedar Key, Florida. Almost every county surrounding ours closed the schools for the day, but not ours. Which works out nicely as Michelle and I both have to work as long as there’s power in our offices and the Governor hasn’t declared a mandatory evacuation. Which won’t happen when you’re 60 feet above sea level and 20 miles inland. So, yeah, we’ve been getting quite a bit of rain. And some gentle, you’re-forgetting-it’s-summer-aren’t-you?-type breezes. Breezes that occasionally gust up to near gale force. But, y’know, whatever.
Friday, June 09, 2006
Bring Yo Dick-Suckin’ Friends*
I’ve been very busy at work, as I think I’ve mentioned. And, almost like a real editor, I have my first-ever freelance job. So, I bet it’s not too hard to guess how I spent my lunch hour. That’s right, I went out and got a slice of pizza as big as my motherfuckin’ head and then I typed a shitload of people’s picks into my World Cup pool spreadsheet.
There's more to drink (click for it) »
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Tuesday, June 06, 2006
What I’ve Been Doing for the Past Week (Or, a Really Long Post About Nothing)
I really hadn’t meant to be gone for so very long. And by “gone,” of course I mean not being an Internet slave / attention-whore. I really was busy, I promise. Still am quite busy, actually. What, you don’t believe me? Rock on:
- Things have been less-than-relaxing at work lately. At least my boss can look at my timesheet, see that I’m only marginally above my billable goal, and know that I haven’t been blogging my days away. It’s cool, though, because I get to say stuff like this to my coworkers: “Well, I think the professional CD is next, and then dolphin. As for reports, I’ve started working on college and Cleveland. College is actually ready to go out, now. Is that ISRP still on hold?"* Wouldn’t that make YOUR day? I thought so.
- I’ll confess that a lot of that non-billable time may or may not be related to the World Cup. Which, in my unofficial role as bookie, I’m organizing a pool for. I’d been talking to one of my coworkers and a couple friends about doing some small “pool,” but when I emailed some other coworkers about their interest, it blew right. the fuck. UP. Seriously, I had no idea these guys were soccer fans. Or played on soccer teams. And they, in turn, had no idea I knew what soccer was. This speaks volumes about my relationship with most of my coworkers. Even still, I think people would really be sad if I got fired, or left the company suddenly. For that reason, I think I should add “Bookie” as part of my official title on my resume. If I ever get around to updating that motherfucker.**
- In the final, decisive round over at (Double) Reverse Survivor, we were asked to write a 1,000-word (max) story about a feud. I was thinking a lot about it and resolved that I wouldn’t write anything else until I finished that. I thought about it for a week and a half and then wrote most of the story in 20 minutes. I think the final product was around 600 words. And many of those words are “naughty” and the plotline may or may not drift over several social boundaries.
- I’ve been watching Big Love pretty much alone this season, but I did corral Michelle into watching the finale with me. You know that part where Chloe Sevigny let her hair down and put on the stylish non-prairie-type dress? I knew exactly how Estella/Erin was gonna react to that.
- So, today, my mom and My Dad’s Second Wife went out for a late breakfast / brunch / lunch at Cracker (’s only) Barrel. Mom called to “report in” that she’d had an “interesting” time. And that MDSW wants to kick my dad to the curb (mostly deserved). And that she broke her treadmill, so working her way down to NFL-linebacker weight will be delayed until I can assist her in getting a new one.