Very, very strange coincidence. I don't remember how we got on the topic, but yesterday Krishni and I were discussing Paul McCartney, and how we wished he would tour again. Then this morning, I turned on VH1 and there was a headline saying that, in fact, he was set to tour this spring. I'm pumped. He's only stated so far that he'll perform in New York, but he better come to D.C. Because that would rock beyond all comprehension. Here's a story on it.
So tonight I'm going to see a play with this group that Brent pointed my attention do: dcplay. I'm looking forward to it, but am also a bit nervous. It should be interesting, even if it is causing me to miss the conclusion of Rose Red.
When I woke up this morning, the radio was playing a commercial for some company that apparently makes houses, and is called Washington Homes. They have an actor playing George Washington and he's like, "Blah blah buy my houses blah blah." Two things about this commercial really annoyed me. First, in the background, they were playing "Battle Cry of Freedom," which is a song from the Civil War. Which was, you know, 60 years after Washington died. And they ended the commercial with "Washington" saying, "So stop visiting my house and buy a Washington home" or something to that effect. I'm like, "No! Don't tell people to stop going to Mount Vernon!" I'm hoping that the people who run Mount Vernon sue this company. Just because. Plus, now I have that song in my head.
We're having an all-staff party next month and the theme is "Presidents." And apparently they're going to have a quiz on presidential trivia. The prize is tickets to a show at Ford's Theatre. I'm pumped. I'm so going to kick that quiz's ass. Those tickets are mine.
Current song in my head:
"Battle Cry of Freedom"
I think I need to move to a place that has temperatures in the 70s all year. Because these past few days have been *great*. And once again, I can eat outside during lunch. Woo hoo!
I'm getting frustrated by my home computer's inability to find the Internet. Nobody else is having a problem. Silly home computer. It's just trying to make my life harder, I think.
So I went to the gym on Monday, and am going again today. The elliptical kicked my ass, but overall it was good. The gym seems to get crowded around 6, so the key is to go right after work. Tonight I might be daring and try the rowing machine, because I really want to build upper body strength. Because I have none.
It's hard to believe it's the end of January already. Though Christmas does seem like it was a very long time ago. I don't know. Time passing always messes with my mind. I try not to think about it too much. I'm just looking forward to sleeping in and the Super Bowl party. Though I may be subbing for someone at the Smithsonian, so sleeping in on Saturday may not be in the works. But that just means I can sleep in on the 24th. So heh. And I still want to see A Beautiful Mind. Meghan saw it and really liked it.
Current song in my head:
"All For You" by Janet Jackson
So I just had this excellent lunch. Well, I mean things that happened during my lunch hour, not my lunch. Though lunch itself was also good. I mean, New England Clam Chowder, baby. Mmm. But anyway. So I go over to the building where the gym is. I walk into the building, not sure where exactly the gym is, and I'm told it's on the second floor. I get into the elevator (I would've taken the stairs but there weren't any around, which really bothers me, because I hate it when people take the elevator to go one flight of stairs), and a guy gets into the elevator with me. Young, fairly attractive. And he's immediately like, "Hey," and I say "hey" back and we chat about the weather and I get off and was all psyched because he was flirting with me. Woo! It takes so little to boost my self-esteem. I give a lot of credit to my kick ass leather jacket.
Then I went and managed to find the gym (it was hiding, I swear) and I got the tour and joined. It looks like a nice place, only costs me $25 a month (go AOTA with the arrangement with the gym!) and everyone seemed friendly. It wasn't crowded and it wasn't full of all these thin, in-shape people. Plus, the locker room was really nice. Like, very well maintained. Impressive.
And I even had time to read a little. But now, back to the old grind. For three hours. Then, home and the weekend! YAY!
Current song in my head:
"Get This Party Started" (or whatever that song is called)
So I had another dream last night (it must be the praline and caramel ice cream I've been eating). It was outside. There were fireworks, then I went to an outdoor concert. I don't remember anything of it except the end. A girl was on stage singing "You'll Never Walk Alone" from Carousel. I was sitting at the front, and all the other performers were sitting directly in front of me. And I realized that one of them was Michael Ball. So I tried to gather up my courage to go up to him when my alarm went off. So I hit snooze. The same dream started-the fireworks, the concert. The girl was singing the song, then Michael went up to take over for her. And this time I really was going to approach him, but my alarm went off. Again. Dammit. Weird, though. I guess it's because I have Michael singing that song on mp3, but still. Ah, Michael. My one true love. Particularly since Ioan got a girlfriend.
I was reading the newspaper this morning when what do I see but an ad for fares to London. They're $114 one-way (based on a round-trip flight on weekdays). Travel in February or March. From Dulles. On Virgin Atlantic. Bastards. I wish I had money. Particularly since I just discovered that Michael will be in a show that has previews starting March 19. Argh. And the sad thing is, I'm like, "I could charge it. I can afford that." London for $250 (I'm including tax, there)? Add another $100 or so for lodging. No. No! Damn. Please, can I go?
Current song in my head:
"On the Right Track" from Pippin
I wish I was young enough to still throw temper tantrums. I'm not talking sulk, which God knows 23-year olds can still do. I'm talking full-out, fists flailing, kicking and screaming tantrums. Of course, I still stomp my foot when some of the knots in my hair get particularly annoying, but I want to be able to whine and cry like a baby when I get annoyed by things at work. Like when I keep getting messages from Suzanne that start, "When you get a chance, could you blah blah blah." No. I don't have time. Sorry about your sprained ankle and limited mobility, but I don't have time. Period. Which, you know, is why I'm writing this. Oh well.
Clearly the way to get back into work mode after a three-day weekend is to have a ton of work to do. I came in and was immediately confronted with having to edit something, do a line-by-line comparison read of two documents, prepare a packet to send out to 25 authors, send out said packet, prepare and send out a contract, proofread something else, and copy and send out a consumer guide. It's 11:30 and time is flying. And that's just all the urgent stuff.
Of course, my first thought this morning was, "I can sleep in on Saturday." Maybe that was the result of the strange dreams I had. One was a nightmare. I don't remember anything about it, except that I woke up at 2:06 and was very upset. The other involved going to a very nice gym and use a bike there. And the place was empty, which was nice. Which had gotten me motivated to look into gyms. Because I came out of that dream with a very positive feeling.
Okay, back to work. Gack. Being busy is good, but geez, I'm suddenly feeling unmotivated. Only 50 minutes until lunch…
Current song in my head:
"It's Still Rock 'n' Roll To Me" by Billy Joel
I don't really have a favorite season, but I love it when it snows. Particularly at night. It's the middle of the night, but there's a glow all around. You go outside and it's so peaceful...and you feel like you could be alone in the world. Just you, and whoever you're with. And that can be a great feeling. Snow may be annoying to drive in, but when you take that moment and look around...it's beautiful.
Current song in my head:
"Down to the River to Pray" from O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Well, that messed up.
I tried to post the cool results I got from an online M*A*S*H game, but couldn't make it work. Anyway, looks like I'll be marrying James Bond (woo hoo!). Go here to get your results.
My recommendation to you all: If you get stitches, don't put a Band-Aid over the cut once the stitches are removed. Because when you pull off the Band-Aid, you'll open up the wound a bit, and it totally looks gross and means that you have to miss more work to go back to the doctor's office, fork over another $5 co-pay and get some sort of skin-holding-together tape. My appointment's at 1:10. I'm looking forward to that. Well, I am, because it means that hopefully my skin will decide to bond together again. Stupid.
Anyway, yay, Friday. And a three-day weekend. Woo woo! Tonight: Polly Esther's. Tomorrow (if it doesn't snow or anything): Williamsburg. Sunday and Monday: sleep. Mmm. And maybe some movies. I'd like to see A Beautiful Mind, Amelie, and Black Hawk Down. At least I can cross Gosford Park off the list; we saw that last night. Very confusing at the beginning (well, really, throughout), but enjoyable.
Current song in my head:
"Standing Still" by Jewel
So I just got my 2001 W-2 and Earnings Summary. There are certain parts I understand (e.g., "Social Security Number" and "Marital Status"), but most of it is just random numbers and letters. I notice that the number under "Wages, tips, other comp" is not what I was supposed to have earned last year. Namely, that it's lower than my starting salary here. And what's up with the random letters? There's a "C" marked in a box for "Nonqualified Plans." Huh? Confusion reigns. Oh! Wait! I now see a better number for my wages under "Gross Pay." It was hiding before. Seriously. I am so not looking forward to doing my taxes. Well, it has to be better than last year's filling out of the 2000 forms, when I worked in Pennsylvania and Maryland, was a resident of Virginia and Maryland, and one of my jobs was technically classified as "self-employed." Thank God my dad dealt with that.
And oh. My. God. Could Suzanne be any dumber? I just got this email from her:
"Barb,
Hello. How are you?
Could you please let me know if the cost code for OT Manager, 4th ed is 1520-7053? Also, do you know what the ISBN is? Do you have an estimate of the number of manuscript pages?
Thanks for answering my questions.
Suzanne"
OT Manager is a book we're currently working on. Admittedly, the ISBN is something I'm in charge of, so that's a totally valid question. The cost code? I've told her. She should know. She's in charge of this project and theoretically has been putting hours into it. The manuscript pages? How the hell should I know? SHE'S THE PROJECT MANAGER! SHE SHOULD KNOW! I, meanwhile, am the Editorial Assistant. If she wanted to know who had turned in contracts, I could tell her. The manuscript pages? THE MANUSCRIPT PAGES?!?!?! We can't know this, we only have chapter outlines from the authors! They probably haven't even started writing their chapters yet! ARGH! ARGH!
*deep breath* Okay, I needed to get that off my chest, and since Steve is in a meeting, I had to vent somewhere.
Current song in my head:
"Mysterious Ways" by U2
So I'm having a flashback to when I was taking that writing course last fall. I have to go through the same routine-eat dinner, move my car, grab the Metro and head downtown. I have more training for the Smithsonian tonight, so I'll know more than three experiments. It was pretty sad on Sunday; there were two of us there who only knew one of the experiments set up each. And it was the same experiment.
Anyway, the Billy Joel/Elton John concert on Sunday totally rocked! That was like the best concert ever. They played for 3˝ hours and it was just so amazing. I particularly liked it when Billy Joel grabbed a guitar and sort of posed with it as he did an Elvis impression (and a very good one, at that). He sang, "Don't Be Cruel." Anyway, I had a great time and it was totally worth the money I shelled out for the tickets.
My thumb is okay. The stitches come out Thursday. That's happy. Plus, whee, I'll just take the afternoon off! Sounds like massive amounts of fun to me. Particularly with the long weekend coming up. Mmm, long weekend.
Things to do over long weekend: Buy a calendar. Go to Kohl's. Clean my room (dammit, it's filthy!). Sleep. Make an effort to go to church. Go out someplace fun and exciting. Sleep.
I think all of us in the house aren't feeling 100% well. I know Lucy's sick, and I think the rest of us are heading down that path. Fight the sickness!
And ooh, check me out, blogging on a Tuesday! I guess it's to make up for not blogging yesterday.
Current song in my head:
"I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues" by Elton John
Two general rules of thumb (insert your own "Barb got stitches on her thumb" joke here) for D.C. drivers are that traffic on Friday is lighter than it is the rest of the week, and that people freak out whenever there's any sort of moisture on the road. So on Fridays I usually allow myself to leave a little later than normal. However, this morning it was raining, which effectively canceled out the light Friday traffic. Only every time it's a Friday and raining, I forget that the rain cancels out the light traffic, so I continue to leave late. Silly me. However, I did get in on time this morning, and it didn't even really matter, because Krishni is telecommuting today. I just can't wait until the extraordinarily light summer traffic. Isn't school out yet?
Current song in my head:
"I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow" from O Brother, Where Art Thou?
The fascinating story of last night:
The dishes were piling up in the sink (per usual) and I decided that after The West Wing I would do the dishes, then go to bed. So I watched TWW (and man, I really liked that episode), then went in to do the dishes. I put some music on. I pulled out a new, non-gross sponge. I set to work. I wash one glass. I pick up another, and while washing it, it breaks. I look down, and see blood coming from my left hand--specifically, my thumb. So I grab a paper towel and immediately apply pressure. Then I pause, and uncover the wound. And notice that dang, that's a pretty big cut. And dang, that's a lot of blood. So I grab another paper towel, and stand around, indecisively.
Finally I decide, after glancing at my thumb a few more times, that yeah, that's a bad bad cut. But I want a second opinion, so I go to Jody's room. After sort of sputtering for a minute, I show her the cut. Immediately she's like, "We're going to the emergency room. Now." We're all running around, trying to figure out where the nearest hospital is, I'm trying to call my insurance company. I finally put on some jeans (I couldn't going to the ER in my pajama bottoms), and Jody and I speed off. In the car, I start talking to a RN from the insurance company. He's asking me details about the cut to make sure that I do have to go to the ER. Stuff like, how long is it, does it look like chicken fat in the cut? I'm like, "The cut is closed.
We pull into Suburban Hospital and go to the emergency room. Which is very, very quiet. I get registered, where I realize that I have no idea what my parents' address or phone number are. Then I have to sign a form. With my bloody left hand, which has started to throb by this point (when I cut it, there was no pain). So I get my blood pressure taken and then they bring me back, where I sit in #6, on a fun bed. I wait around for a while, and a nurse comes over and looks at my wound ("Wow! You did quite a number on this!"), wanders away, comes back with a tray full of equipment. She wanders away again. A doctor comes up, introduces himself, then goes away. Finally he comes back, numbs my thumb and gets to work stitching me up. He gives me seven stitches. Then he wanders away again, saying he'll be back to put on the "final dressing."
So I sit there. And wait. A very long time. The woman with the nice husband across from me goes off for an ultrasound. A crazy woman nearby keeps calling out things like, "Hello? Hello? HELLO?" "Help me!" "Jerry? Pat?" "Why are you doing this to me?" and "Someone get me a drink!" The man next to me has abdominal pain. He slept for a while, but a doctor wakes him up for an exam. The pain is localized to one area. It's hurt for about a week. The doctor asks, "Have ever had any surgery on your stomach? Appendix out? Gall bladder?" The guy answers no. "Ever been stabbed in the stomach?" "No . . . I been stabbed. But in the back." And God, I had to stop myself from bursting out laughing.
So finally a nurse comes over to apply the "final dressing," which consists of…a Band-Aid. She gives me a sheet of instructions, tells me to keep the Band-Aid on for 2 days, and says that I need to get the stitches out in 7-10 days. Then I'm free to go. It's a little after midnight by this point. So I go to the waiting room, and there's Jody (thank you Jody!) and we head home.
And here I am. I went to bed around 1:45 (gah) so I'm pretty tired. And my thumb hurts a bit, but it's good as long as I don't bend it or put pressure on it. That was the first time I've ever had to go to a hospital. Intriguing. And dang, this is the longest blog ever. Oh well.
So I kept trying to blog yesterday, but Blogger is having some problems. Namely, too many users, so they're alternating who can blog, so it's this huge pain trying to get through to publish. I mean, I wrote a blog on Monday, and it's now Wednesday, and hopefully if people are reading this, then people can read that one, which hasn't been able to publish until now! Argh. Whatever. I guess the fates were just against me blogging against my Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule.
I can't really think of much to say. Work is excessively quiet. I have a few little things to do, but nothing major and nothing to take up much of my time. I guess I could do my own filing day. Woo. Hoo. Hmm, I think I'll go to Barnes & Noble at lunch and use my gift cards. I thought of a book to get: the second part of Blanche Wiesen Cook's biography of Eleanor Roosevelt. I'm thinking, though, that I might want to get something fictional as well. I read fiction a lot quicker, and have a tendency to re-read them more, which to me justifies buying them.
Current song in my head:
"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" by U2
A report has crossed my desk that is the epitome of all that I dislike about the office environment. Now, in general I like my job and I like my office and the people I work with. I think that's because I don't have to deal with our idiot Board of Directors, which is constantly handing down directives that will lose the Association money.
First of all, this report is just begging to be proofread. It's full of acronyms without mentioning anywhere what the acronym stands for (BOD = Board of Directors; NO = National Office, etc.). It needs a good scattering of "the"s throughout (I guess they were eliminated in hopes of keeping the report succinct).
However, any hope of succinctness was eliminated by the need for stupid corporate phrases. People, the word "liaison" is NOT a verb! Ever! You can liaise with someone, but you cannot liaison with them. You can have a liaison with them, or be a liaison to them. You can't use liaison as a verb! Sheesh.
Of course, the whole subject of the report lends itself to stupid corporate phrases. The meeting that this report is a result of was about multiculturalism. Now, I am all in favor of multiculturalism. I don't think people should be discriminated against because of their age, sex, religion, race, or whatever. I believe that most people agree with me on that point. Which makes my mind reel when I see goals like: "Develop a mechanism for the membership of the Association to recognize and support the importance and necessity of multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion practices across all organizational arenas including National Office, committees, subcommittees, task forces and all other functional levels of the Association;" and "All association leaders should make both oral and written commitment to the Board of Directors as well as to the membership to overtly and purposefully support multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion in all activities of the Association."
They want someone hired to spend half of their time on multicultural, diversity and inclusion issues. What would that person do? Honestly? I just don't understand. And God only knows what information these people were working from, because they seem to believe that the publications we've released in other languages do well. Not even a little. They've all crashed and burned, so whoever suggested that we should release MORE publications in other languages needs to be shot. Because we've gone through enough crap this year dealing with getting our book approval process to a point where it appears that we might actually start doing books that (gasp) would make money. The books program has enough problems to deal with without having to worry about the Board (or whomever) deciding that we need to do money-draining books. That's a good part of what got us into this hole in the first place.
Okay, I can't cope with this anymore. My rant is done. It just drives me insane sometimes.
I am just far too easily amused. I am positively giddy about the latest recap on MightyBigTV--apparently a bunch of posters on The Amazing Race forum met in New York City to watch the finale. The recapper showed up, and then the next night, she got to go have dinner with all the contestants (who also showed up at the gathering to watch the finale). I'm just sitting here at work, giggling at Miss Ali describes meeting the contestants. It's just awesome that they read the recaps and the forums. Maybe I'm just reliving this summer, when I spent an awful lot of time on MBTV forums discussing and getting updated on the Big Brother happenings. How cool would it be to meet Will? He's still my funny evil boyfriend.
Anyway, very quiet weekend. But good. Of course, of my list the only things I managed to do were pay my electric bill, balance (well, technically the numbers didn't work out, but whatever) my checkbook, and shower. Oh well. At least there was much sleep involved. Mmm, sleep.
Current song in my head:
"Sunday Bloody Sunday" by U2
Things to do:
* Dust room (not dusted since moving in in October)
* Vacuum rug (ditto)
* Buy a calendar (love Mom, but no longer confident of her choice in calendars)
* Pay electric bill
* Balance checkbook (also make sure savings statement is correct--what is that called?)
* Label photos (damn, 2 rolls now piling up)
* Update photo album (last photos in album are from, I believe, graduation)
* Go to Kohl's and spend gift card
* Go to Barnes & Noble and spend gift cards
* Read the dozen or so unread books that are now piled in my room (naturally, this means I'm re-reading old books)
* See A Beautiful Mind
* See Gosford Park (less guilt about not doing this--is only playing in two theaters in area)
* Watch Memento and The Matrix (have until Wednesday at noon to do this)
* Shower
Motivation to do anything but re-read Bill Bryson's Notes From a Small Island:
[None]
What is it with me and the Monday-Wednesday-Friday blogging? Though it looks like Sunday has been a popular blogging day as well. I'm not going to question it. I'm just happy that it's Friday, and that Krishni's in late today, and that I have no plans for the weekend and can just sleep in. I don't have much to do, really-well, nothing that's pressing or motivating. I have a number of small things to do, and Krishni designated this afternoon as filing time. At least that'll be organized and I'll get a sense of accomplishment from it. The office has been warm for the past few days, which is a nice change of pace. It's usually much colder than the other parts of the building. However, it makes me sleepy.
I still find it out that it's a new year. Has anything changed? Did anything change last year? Well, yes, a lot of things did, I suppose, both in my own life and obviously in the world. And yet…Yet I feel that everything has stayed the same since September of 2000, when I started here. I may now be living with friends instead of alone…and my parents are across the county…I don't know. I'm at a point where everything seems static. Is that good or bad? I'm not looking for change. I like my job and don't want to leave it. I think I just want something to bring excitement to my life. I want someone to bring love to my life. At 23 years of age, I find myself surrounded by friends I love and care about, friends who love and care about me…but there's something missing. Perhaps 2002 will be the year I find that. Even if it's temporary.
See, Becca, this is what happens when you get all deep in your blogs. It's contagious. Though if it makes you feel better, I think my sore throat was a temporary rebellion against lack of sleep. I'm feeling much better now.
Current song in my head:
"Smooth" by Santana (for the love of God, stop playing this song on the radio!)
Every now and then someone restores your faith in humanity. On Monday I was driving up to New Jersey, and I had to go through a tunnel in Baltimore. So I get through the tunnel and was up at the toll booth, ready to fork over my $1. I was actually holding my hand out and the toll booth collector said, "It's been paid for." I give her a blank look. "The person in front of you paid for you." I just looked at her for a second, then drove away, a very large smile on my face. It was lovely. I mean, sure, it was only a dollar, but still.
Anyway, so now I'm back at work. Blech. I like my job, but have no desire to be here. Krishni is also not pleased with having the come back to work. I want to have a few days at home, to sleep in and relax. It was a nice break, but I'd like some quiet home time. Well, at least it's only a three day week and I have no plans for the weekend. That's good. I'm just hoping to avoid death--I think I'm getting a sore throat.
Current song in my head:
"Peaceful World" by John Mellencamp