Self-Indulgent Ramblings

A friend sent me this link today.

It makes me happy.

See? Happiness on a shirt. Though I couldn’t find a picture of the T-Shirt version. I’m not a big sweatshirt person.

Oh well. I do have a sticker on my car that says “Grammar Police” and a button on my desk that says “bad grammar makes me [sic].” So I guess you can’t have everything.

I usually make it a point not to watch speeches by Dubya. Even if I put politics aside, his offhanded slaughter of the English language makes me cringe. But I’m here in DC, and I’m spending yesterday and today with a client who I know will want to talk about the speech all day. So I watched. And it was the same old crap. I managed to not even get too angry or worked up about anything. But there were a few moments that made the whole thing worth my time.

• What was Dikembe Mutombo doing there? He looked so strange standing next to Laura Bush… he may well be double her height. Weird.

• They featured this guy who pulled a While You were Sleeping in New York, leaping onto the subway tracks to save a man. That was all well and good. But watching him on the morning talk shows sort of took the shine off it. Bush sold him as some humble hero, but now he has a PR person and, while the interviewer tried to get him to reveal some loftier goals about good things for his life… all he would talk about was upcoming appearances on Oprah and Montel. At least that’s genuine though. I think I might have been a little more skeptical if he’d been all scripted and altruistic.

• I don’t know if this was visible on all stations, but MSNBC kept cutting to sleeping audience members. One of the guys I didn’t recognize… and he kinda woke up while the camera was on him. But the best was John McCain. Presidential hopeful. And he was fast asleep. I mean out like a light. Chin down on chest, eyes shut tight. It was worth the price of admission for me.

And, of course, to top everything off (but to switch to a completely different topic), I’m sick AGAIN… and on the road. It pisses me off. I’m tired of phlegm as an integral part of my day.

You know those mortgage ads that pop up on every damn website out there? And they have some built-in repetitive animation that’s moving way too fast… and may possibly trigger some sort of seizure. Or at the very least, it inspires me to hit refresh so that something less intrusive takes its place. Because, as long as it’s there, you know your peripheral vision is going to go after that little bit of frantic movement like a moth to a flame. Does it make me want to click on it? Does the little dancing man make me believe that this company has solved all of my mortgage woes? No. It just makes me want to crush something.

Last night I stopped by my {gulp} boyfriend’s house and his {gulp} eight-year-old daughter was doing her homework. It was history, and it was all about the Battle of Cowpens… which I’m sure has some deep Civil War significance. And it occurred to me. All that Southern history they spend their time on down here, all the indoctrination. It’s interesting. We don’t have such a focus on state or regional history in Colorado. And what little history we did study was pretty innocuous - “There’s gold in them thar hills!” “Look! A buffalo!” With the occasional highlights of Alferd Packer, it was pretty blah. No “The Prospectors will rise again!” sort of stuff. And of course we studied the Civil War, but I’m pretty sure we didn’t do it in 3rd grade. And I’m pretty sure we didn’t do it every year. It’s just such a weird regional proclivity to relive - what? Is it the ‘glory days?’ Is it preparing for the inevitable second wave of Civil War when Appalachia rises up and seizes control? Or is it just hopelessly reliving the failures of the past, hoping that if they study it enough, it’ll somehow change what happened?

Like most of the company, we in South Carolina have had a bit of a cold snap. Nothing serious (like Portland… yeesh!), but still, it’s chilly. So people bundle up. Particularly people who work outside. So this morning, we were coming back from Starbucks (yes, slave to nearby corporate coffee goodness), and there was a guy in a black face mask operating a cherry picker… and he was blocking our path. The funny thing about those face masks is that they kind of make everyone look like a ninja. Well, in my head they do. Anyway, I decided that a ninja with a cherry picker is probably close to unstoppable.

And… this guy had another guy looking out for him on the ground… and he told us to “make it snappy” as we walked by.

This team could conquer the world!

*My completely random thought for the day*

**Right… as if I have only one random thought a day**

Interesting. On my January 5th post, I got a comment (I think it might be my first comment on this blog, by the way)… and it amused me. It’s the guy in the Kodak video. If you look back, you’ll notice that I listed two different things. The video… and a link that I hoped was real. Well… the guy in the Kodak video (who is apparently named Steve) seems to think that I was speculating as to the veracity of the Kodak video, so he commented to make sure I knew it was real.

Uh… thank you.

Seriously, I do love that the internet made it possible for that guy to find my random little blog. And I appreciate his desire to help clarify the mystery for me.

But… THIS LINK RIGHT HERE THAT IS UNDERLINED is what I was wondering about. I so want it to be real!

So, Steve, thank you for your comment! It makes me feel like a web presence!

And now, will someone tell me if the damn banana is real?!?!

It’s been an interesting couple of days here in Washington DC. Two days in a suit (Yes, I own two suits… but that’s it). Two days spending HOURS listening to internal labor union leadership… kicking off what is likely to be MONTHS in the throes of the labor movement. One private tour of the Capitol building led by one Representative from South Carolina. And here’s something interesting - the tour was strangely moving. It’s fair to say that I don’t necessarily agree with (or often care about) most of what goes on in the Capitol… or most of the big marble buildings littering the Mall… but it was still pretty damn cool. There were moments when I felt almost choked up. Sitting in the Congressional Chamber, walking through these gigantic rooms, staring up at all these sculptures, hearing all the weird insider stories. It was cool. Of course, it was also cool to walk by Nancy Pelosi’s office - not that I agree with her at all turns either… but it was neat.

Then, tonight, I got to have dinner with my cousin who is about 360 days younger than me. It was great fun. We haven’t seen each other in 3 years - we’ve been in loose contact, but this was so much fun. And it struck me - I have some really great friends who have been very supportive of me through some of my recent issues, but I don’t really have any friends who are at the same place in their life as I am. Most of my friends are older, more settled, less up in the air. Or they’re guys. It was so refreshing to talk to Claire who is an intelligent, independent, driven young woman dealing with a lot of the same questions that I am. We always manage to fall right back into conversation, it’s never awkward. We’re just able to interact and share and laugh… it was very good for me.

And now, I’m ready to go home. Travel is EXHAUSTING. I’ll miss my flourescent green mini bar… and I’ll REALLY miss my leopard bathrobe. But it’s time to go home.

Today, I’m wearing a suit. I always feel weird putting on a suit. I never know exactly how it’s supposed to look… since I’m not exactly a suit person, and I don’t exactly work in a suit place. It’s just that occasionally, I have to interact with suit people. Hence the black pinstripe that I bought six years ago. I hope it’s still in style. Or at least, not dusty.

Of course, on top of the suit, I have to describe the uber funky hotel where I’m staying while in Washington, DC. It’s called Hotel Helix, and it’s part of the Kimpton Hotels family… a whole bunch of themed, boutique-y type hotels. This one just seems to be funky themed. There’s a big black and white picture of a surfer over my bed (which has a big furry throw at the foot of it), there are vaguely creepy images of old Barbie dolls on one wall, and the flourescent green mini bar sports items like a Sylvester Pez dispenser and wax lips. OH! And the complimentary bathrobes… are leopard print.

Between where I woke up and what I’m wearing, I’m not entirely certain who I am.

This is frickin’ hysterical. Totally tasteless. But frickin’ hysterical.

SNL - A Box for that Special Someone on DHADM

1) I love Kodak!

2) I don’t know if this is real, but I SOOOOO want it to be!