Yesterday I saw a woman “walking” her dog by driving after it in her car. The dog was not on a leash, so this involved driving down little side streets as it wandered about the neighborhood. And you have to wonder, at what point does being lazy end up involving more work than just getting off your duff? Because I believe this woman had passed that point.
I’m not sure why, but ever since I got these new glasses I’ve had this wicked urge to start my own company. It could be, in part, due to the fact that it is promotion time at the office, which includes a heinous process of justifying why I should be promoted over others (which, perhaps due to my naivete, I think my boss should be doing). I could also be fed up with the fact that if I’m going to have to do everything by myself I may as well be doing everything for myself. In the end, it probably just comes down to needing to be employed somewhere that has a work environment more amenable to my personality. Although being my own boss would be nice, and I would like to think it is the kind of thing I could do if I thought of a marketable product and could secure funding from somewhere. For some reason these glasses are good at instilling that idea in my head.
I think it is appropriate that my first post of the new year involves the first person I saw when I woke up on January 1st. It being my birthday in a few short days, I am expecting a few packages from varied parts of the country. But I never expected a gift so completely awesome as the one I found waiting for me in my living room today. It is, as the sender so affectionately dubbed it, a birthday-in-a-box, containing “all the necessities for a rockin’ birthday.” And indeed it does, with the fixin’s for funfetti cupcakes with funfetti frosting (cupcake cups included), Roman numeral candles (I’m past the point of individual candles), and a little music box that plays the birthday song. Oh, and a cute little card that makes me smile. It really is a neat idea, and I feel fortunate to have people in my life who are so awesomely wonderful. Muchas gracias, Catalina.
I just gotta say, it feels weird voting in a church. In previous elections I’ve always done it in a school, and I can accept that since it’s a government facility. And it isn’t as if I was jumped by a pastor when I walked through the door. But my strong belief in the separation of church and state chafes at the idea of voting in a place of worship. In previous eras churches were the place where the community gathered, and were often the largest buildings in small towns. But this is a different era. I passed by a number of schools today that were closed but not serving as polling places, and I don’t see why they couldn’t have served as mine. Hell, I would have felt more comfortable voting in the bowling alley across the street from the church where I voted. I guess tradition dies hard. I’m still really excited about having voted today, and intend to watch the results as they come in this evening. Go democracy!
I have been musing for a while now about possible costumes for Halloween. Not that I’ll be trick-or-treating (I’m a little old for that), but my office is planning on having a luncheon that day. Originally I was thinking of being the Conductor of the Credit Train (a work related inside joke), but I’m not sure how keen I am on buying a conductor’s outfit for a single use. Then it struck me, something that wasn’t anime related (and by definition overly complex), but still related to a cartoon series I really like: the Wireless Wizard of Homestar Runner fame. And if even that seems too challenging, perhaps sci-fi greg (but not d n’ d greg). Now the true test will be to see if I’m motivated enough to do something simple… The last time I “dressed up” for Halloween I had crafted a stovepipe hat out of construction paper with the intent of being Lincoln, so it might be nice to do something a bit more substantial. Stay tuned…
I know that the autumnal equivalent of “Spring has sprung” should be “Fall has fallen”, but for some reason I keep wanting to say “Fall has frung”. And, indeed, Fall has frung here in the great state of Maryland. The mornings are cool and crisp, the light is starting to soften, and the trees, well, they haven’t really done anything yet. But they will, damnit! Even if I have to paint the leaves…
I’m not sure how I was able to condense all my worldly belongings from a one bedroom apartment to one bedroom, but I seem to have managed fairly well…
If you spend enough time in Howard County, you are bound to notice the green bumper stickers which implore you to “Choose Civility”. And who could object? Civil driving should make life easier for everyone, even those who don’t drive (trust me on this one), right? And wouldn’t it be better to give someone a tip of the hat because they let you in, as opposed to being flipped off by someone who just cut you off as they crossed twain lanes of traffic to reach an off ramp? Surely, even in this hat averse day, the former is preferred behavior? And yet, the bumper stickers mask the ugly reality. I was recently cut off by someone sporting one of these green bumper stickers who was quite in a hurry to get to a nearby filling station (which, in a fit of karma, was out of gas). Now, in a way, one might expect this behavior, for you see, the subtext of the bumper sticker reads “In Howard County”. That is to say, the choice of civility extends only to the Howard County line, over which anything is fair game. But the aforementioned incident, so cruel to my gentle soul, happened within the county, at least a mile if not more! Oh, how my county view has been shattered! Never can I drive these wild streets expecting even a modicum of civility! The only law of the Howard County roads, apparently, is the law of nature, cut off or be cut off!
you’re at your local Panera in the middle of suburbia (admittedly convenient to the Baltimore-Washington Parkway) and you run across a European couple on vacation. I’m assuming (and hoping) they were just driving between the major metropolises in the region, but I could be wrong. Laurel, Maryland may have one hell of a PR department. But it was pretty cool. I rarely notice tourists, but then I don’t really live or work near the tourist hotspots. The real kicker is that they took pictures of themselves in front of the restaurant. It was kinda… weird… But, I shouldn’t be too quick to judge, since I think the next time I’m in Japan I’ll get my picture taken in front of a McDonalds. They’re that good there.
This week is shaping up to be a good one. I get a new Avatar episode every night at 8 PM, finishing up with the series finale on Saturday. The new Batman movie, looking oh so very bad ass, opens on Friday. And Saturday I get to play Rock Band with my work peeps. There’s only that “work” thing I have to get through… Plus I made a boat load of chili (literally, you could fill a boat with it) tonight, so I have plenty o’ leftovers. What more could a bearded twenty-something ask for?