Insert Original Title Here

Sometimes I think if I could graphically see how much time I spend playing on the Internet, I could figure out where all my time goes. As opposed to being confused as to why it's already almost 11:30. I mean, this night just started! Oh well, at least I feel a sense of accomplishment in finishing my profile on my MySpace page. And it has already resulted (okay, not the finished profile, but my being a member on MySpace in general) in a reconnection with a long-lost friend from college. Quick shout out to Miss Limer-lick... if you don't know the rest, I'm not gonna say it! So... what's up, losers who aren't on MySpace (says the girl who just found out about it recently... I know, and I call myself a pop culture junkie)? I need more friends there (and on Friendster and Facebook, for that matter). So, hop online, spend the time to set yourself up, and come join my sandbox.

Speaking of graphing things, I wish I knew more about Excel's graphing functionality. Then, I could make really sweet charts with my ultra-complicated spreadsheets I create for work every single day. Oh well... at least I know PivotTables up one side and down the other. AND I can pretty much figure out the stuff I need to use... thus, I CAN create a simple line graph. My perfect opportunity to work on this skill (and create an interesting graph of something meaningful... well, to me... at the moment): my renewed (okay, it's been forever, but there was a window of time in State College - short as it may be - when I was running a little bit... yes, a VERY little bit) commitment to exercising by running. I don't really measure my progress by miles run, but miles run is a side effect to the real goal - running for longer periods of time (before the sweat on my iPod earbuds irritates me to the point that I have to stop & walk for a while to give myself time to pat them dry... well, that, and the fact that I think my lungs are gonna burst if I don't stop for a sec... okay, I like to exaggerate, but you know I'm LAZY... why can't you just be proud of me for running at all?!!?). Anyway... yes, running for longer... and thereby upping the average mph... and thereby raising the total miles run:

Okay, so by no means stellar... but I'm pretty proud... especially of the continuous curve (minus the one day back after 3 days off) showing improvement. Yay me!

All right... one more quote from All the King's Men and then I'm off to bed. Oh, hush... you know you love it. Well, even if you don't, your brain is being stimulated (assuming you're trying to understand it).

By the time we understand the pattern we are in, the definition we are making
for ourselves, it is too late to break out of the box. We can only live in terms
of the definition, like the prisoner in the cage in which he cannot lie or stand
or sit, hung up in justice to be viewed by the populace. Yet the definition we
have made of ourselves is ourselves. To break out of it, we must make a new
self. But how can the self make a new self when the selfness which it is, is the
only substance from which the new self can be made?

Even though I wait and wait to be picked to play the game, when my name is called, I usually turn and run away. Goal for tomorrow: break out of the box, convince the self to make a new self, start by running again.

Have a great Friday! And because I actually say it out loud (well, write it on the blog... same difference), it probably won't happen, but Go Patriots and Lady Heels!!!

His Sponginess

Perhaps you noticed that I called Coop spongy in my last post. (Perhaps you didn't, but that won't stop me from talking about it. If you want, you can go back and re-read. Believe me, I have... on numerous occassions. What is it with me and re-reading things? I'm addicted, can't help it. Yes, I go back and re-read my posts the next day. Don't be surprised if a misspelling or grammar error gets corrected if you ever read something twice - assuming that you noticed the first time!) Anyway... the special one-word adjective ("spongy") has actually become a regular utterance around our house... for the boy, in particular. Allow me to explain...

So, you remember when Haley was here, right? We made headboards, broke up fights between Sydders and the pups, ate at Sonic & Zaxby's (oh, right, that's not a helpful reminder since I write about Sonic every other day... had it for lunch today, btw... but I've added running on the treadmill as a supplement to my steady diet of fast food... so I'm pretty proud of myself and any of you who think it unhealthy to eat Sonic twice a day every day: well, who asked you anyway).

Where was I? Oh yes, Haley was here. This was her first extended stay with Coop & Kona (since they've had substantially more developed personalities). Her nickname for Cooper quickly became "Love Sponge"... basically because he just can't get enough. Much of his awake-time is spent basically begging for affection. He wants to be held, kissed, nuzzled, belly-rubbed; anything you'll give him, he'll take... especially when he's just waking up from a nap. That boy... he just soaks up the love... just like a little sponge.

And the word stuck... like crazy glue. Now, he is Love Sponge, Spongy, Spongeboy, Love Sponge Square Pants... just about anything you can think of (with the root word "sponge", of course). And when he's spongy, ahhhhh... you just have to fall in love with him.

A Little Gloating and a Latta Silliness - With Some Larkins Mixed in for Good Measure

Okay, so I'm as excited as anyone about David Noel competing in the dunk contest (see the www.insidecarolina.com front page); but who else among us is REALLY bothered by the fact that the Lady Heels aren't featured prominently on this page?!?! It's been a few hours since the win, and they don't even have a pic of Ivory's smiling mug to put up for us? Now, www.tarheelblue.com gets the gold star for the evening... they caught the "Lebron flex". So funny. You just have to love Ivory.

In the Times (NYT) today, there was an amusing article about bracket challenges entitled "Oops. A Few End Up Afloat in the Pool." Does anyone else think the headline alone warrants a little giggle? Just me? Okay, anyway... so the point of the article: of the 3 million bracket submissions on ESPN.com, there were only 4 who picked the Final Four correctly (and the one guy they featured made a mistake having George Mason there - he thought he was picking George Washington... who finds these people?!?!?); of the 2 million brackets submitted on Sportsline, NONE have the correct Final Four; of more than 1 million submitted on Yahoo! Sports, only one has the correct Final Four. Anyway, this one guy (Russell Pleasant) that the Times decided to interview is annoying. He got lucky last year & decides he's good at filling out his bracket. But this year, he decides he should pay attention to b-ball to know who to pick:

Pleasant said he had never entered a pool until last year, when his wife,
Valerie, persuaded him to join one at work. After picking the eventual national
champion, North Carolina, and nearly winning it all, Pleasant could not wait for
this year. He said he began to pay closer attention to the games, and he kept
some favorites in mind.
"I knew I needed a Cinderella, a good Cinderella," he said. "And I needed a good mixture."

Anyway... basically, I just said all that to have the opportunity to say that in a "league" of quite knowledgeable college b-ball fans, I won. Yes, I WON. Told ya I was gonna! And, no, it doesn't matter to me at all that I only had 2 of the Elite Eight and NONE of the Final Four. Doesn't matter... b/c right now, when I go sort the He's Not standings by Best Score, no one else can beat me. Is it wrong that that makes me want to gloat endlessly?

Oh well, whatever... I'm a bad winner. But I'm a good loser... so that alone should make all of y'all happy for me this time!!! :-)

Playing the Old Skool, fo sho

If you have an old Nintendo, you really should break it out to play Contra. Doesn't everyone have two old original NES's hanging around the house? No? Dang... so you don't have the box of, like, 40 games? Or the Duck Hunt gun? You're so missing out. Contra is the bomb. Or maybe we would've said it was "wicked". Oh wait, no, that was just Callie & her Wild, Wild West. Why do I always associate the word "wicked" with the Escape Club hit from the 90's? Anyway, I'm off topic... and it's late. Just know that Contra kicks a**. Although, I suck at it. And I can't seem to get better... even with practice.

While doing "research" for this ultra-sophisticated post, I ran across the very sophisticated (ha!) back-story for Contra at http://www.nesplayer.com/contra/. And I must say, I hardly ever see any of those screen shots they show on that page. Gosh... I'm that bad. Oh well... one of these days, Bill & Lance & I are gonna defeat the Red Falcon.

Okay, for those of you who've been commenting that the blog is lacking something without the pics of the pups, shut it. Geez... so pushy. These are all from the too-long-ago visit we had with Starla & Amy... Kona's & Coop's former family (and still extended family!).




Although they were nervous at first, Coop eventually got comfortable enough to plop (which is something he does really well!) on the sofa for a snooze. Look at that little pot belly... such a spongy boy.






It wasn't peaceful enough for snoozing at the beginning of the evening, though (or basically anytime Savannah was around). Savannah is a half-sister, 100% Jack (as opposed to Coop & Kona's 100% Jackimo), and definitely the dominant sibling. Honestly, I really believe Coop & Kona need a regular dose of Savannah. They get aggressive with one another sometimes... okay, every night... and Savannah sure as heck knows how to put 'em in their place. Look at the boy cowering on my lap. Geez, Coop, where's your chutzpah now?












Who knew that dogs could have just as much of a problem keeping their eyes open for photos? Kona proves that blinking in photos is not just a human oopsie.















And then the silly girl (posing with Starla... hope it's okay that I posted a pic of you here!) gave Amy (the photographer) her best crazy girl grin. How funny is this?!?!?









So, will you be watching the Heels with me tomorrow night?

Thankfully, a habit Kona hasn't picked up from Jazzy

Overheard in NYC:
Chick: I have to run in here and get more ChapStick.
Guy: You just bought chapstick yesterday.
Chick: My dog steals them and eats them.
Guy: That must be why his lips are so soft.

--Columbus between 89th & 90th

Dreaming to wake up

I am a dreamer but when I wake,

You can't break my spirit - it's my dreams you take.
And as you move on, remember me,

Remember us and all we used to be.

Seriously random musings written at a 9th grade level

Having been back home for a few days now, I'm finally settling back in... to the time, to my routine, to everything... including quoting from All the King's Men: "He learned that the world is like an enormous spider web and if you touch it, however lightly, at any point, the vibration ripples to the remotest perimeter and the drowsy spider feels the tingle and is drowsy no more but springs out to fling the gossamer coils about you who have touched the web and then inject the black, numbing poison under your hide. It does not matter whether or not you meant to brush the web of things. Your happy foot or your gay wing may have brushed it ever so lightly, but what happens always happens and there is the spider, bearded black and with his great faceted eyes glittering like mirrors in the sun, or like God's eye, and the fangs dripping." I can appreciate that whole quote... although I almost took out the dark parts of it. I hate spiders, especially drowsy ones who spring to life when you brush up against their invisible, all-up-in-the-way web. The whole thing is, to me, kind of an ugly approach to the idea of a butterfly effect. Everything we do touches something else... somewhere, sometime, somehow. It's all just ripples in the puddles on the floor of the rain forest in Cambodia. Gosh, I hope something I do at some point in my life touches someone in a positive way. I really don't want to be the brush against the web that awakens the spider.

Anyway... just shake your head violently (not too violently!) to clear that whole silly paragraph away...

So, I was assigned a surprise project this morning. Mary (the boss) apologized later for "hijacking [my] am and pm"... which she totally did! I told her, of course, that it wasn't a problem... some of these little projects are fun and some, not so much. This one, not so much. Hopefully, tomorrow can be filled with tasks that are much more fun... or is it funner? We were watching a TV show earlier when one of the characters said that it was "time to do something funner". Seriously? Funner? Okay, I was interested... so I googled it. What seemed like a reliable [British viewpoint] web site (www.worldwidewords.org) says: "Fun is a good example of a word that has moved away from being just a noun to being equally comfortable in an adjectival role. The move to adjective has gone so far in the USA that its comparative and superlative are not infrequently found in informal writing: funner for ‘more fun’ and funnest for ‘most fun’. A scan of newspapers in the NEXIS database from 1998 found over a thousand examples of the latter form. Some of these are no doubt intended to be humorous, and some are probably mistakes, but surely not all of them are." And according to a Random House page (http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd), a 1755 dictionary described the word "fun" (even when used as a noun) as "a low cant word" anyway... which just makes me wonder what in the world the word "cant" means. Ah... language evolution. All at once interesting... and not so much. But, rest assured, you can find anything on the Internet.

Speaking of Google... the Times this morning contained a story about a new financial page to rival that of MSN and Yahoo! from none other than everyone's favorite search engine (except for those of you who are resisting it... but you will not be able to, for long, resist the funnest search engine of them all). Anyway, in keeping with the theme of random sites visited to uncover weird things... when I checked out the beta version of http://finance.google.com, I was pleasantly surprised. I loved the mouseovers for the pics & bios of the execs. (Although the CCBL info is a little out-of-date (of course, I can't blame them... what with the change-on-a-whim mentality we seem to have at the COR anyway), how fun is it to see my boss & her peers pop up on the page? Yes, I know I could see those pics anytime by visiting the company web site; but that would ruin the fun. And yes, I know I've used the word "fun" more times in this post than in my entire life. Yeah, right!). The info presented is definitely a little easier to navigate/sort through than all those other finance pages out there. And I love the section listing "Blog Posts". But at the same time, I'm definitely a little nervous that Google may someday run across my quiet little corner of the interweb and consider posting my random musings about nothing on the CCBL results page. Especially since I just used CCBL twice in that paragraph. Oh crap... that's three. I better stop before they find me. Especially now that Google and the government are in cahoots. Today, child porn... tomorrow, people who blog (almost-never but happened to mention it once, or three times, in one post) about their work. Can we call Google Big Sister now? But, I really do love Google. For real.

Okay, last random topic, then I'm off to bed. Brad S's away message says he has a "REALLY early flight" tomorrow. (Well, it did... and then he promptly logged off.) Anyway, I found myself wondering how early is REALLY early... and also why I feel the need to incessantly check away messages. But don't we all do it? C'mon, admit it... you've peeked at more than the occasional away message. And if you haven't, what the heck is wrong with you? Ever wonder if maybe, just maybe, that away message was intended for you? Ahhh... and here we are back to the world revolving around me. It always comes back around. Just like I like it.

So, do you wonder how much time you just wasted reading all that nonsense? If it gives you an idea, it took me about an hour to compose, it is almost 2 pages (single-spaced), 978 words, approx. 5,000 characters (without spaces), about 17 words per sentence (I know, but long sentences are so fun!), and written at about an 8.7 grade level (according to Flesch-Kincaid and the MS Word readability statistics). HA! This last paragraph just pushed me up to a 9.0 grade level. I'm so proud. And bored, I guess. Did you know that your everyday newspaper aims for about a grade 6 readability level? In my J-School classes, the profs sometimes called mainstream newspaper readers "Joe Six-pack"... at a 6th grade reading level. Disturbing... still... even now, when I KNOW how one-standard-deviation-below-competent the majority of the population is. Wow! Am I all over the place or what?!?! Holy cow... maybe I should just go to bed already. Yes, I realize I just said "holy cow"... but I like cows. Shut up, Heidi; just shut up. Oh, but one more thing... I really am sorry if I just made you late for work. :-)

I heart Adam Lucas (and so does Jon)

http://tarheelblue.collegesports.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/031906aab.html

All Good Things

Well, the time has come... I'm slated to be on the 8:10 am (Pacific time, for those of you who need the hint) outbound from PDX tomorrow morning. If everything goes according to schedule, I get back into Savannah at 5:56 pm (Eastern time, again... for those of you who need the hint)... well in time for the 9:30 projected tip. In fact, it leaves a little extra time for retrieving the suitcase from baggage, remembering where I parked "the hot car", possibly a quick stop in Savannah (if there's anything we need... doubt I'll want to take that extra time, though), dinner, and lots of get reacquainted time with Kona & Coop before the Heels are on.

Today was a loooooong day... filled with work. I actually just finished the project I was working on about 45 minutes ago; and I've got more to do on this stuff over the weekend. I can't believe I'm going to be on a plane all day tomorrow... completely unplugged from it all. Actually, I can believe it... and I'm a little bit happy about it. Maybe I did a fabulous job and nothing will go wrong. Or maybe I screwed up a few things and everyone will realize just how much they need me! Either way, I'm just glad it's done... even if I do have to land in Savannah with multiple e-mails yelling at me for mistakes/issues. Anyway... I hate these last-minute, fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants set ups. And we do it EVERY time. Just ask my good friend Jeff... I think his words were even a little harsher. Anyway, that's boring & I don't want to talk about it.

So, I'm going to have to get up early, early, early (even before I had been getting up to make the hour-long trek across the city!) to get to the airport tomorrow. (Of course, I'll probably hurry up to wait; but that's how it goes when you're flying the friendly skies.) I should get on to bed, but I'm just giving my iPod time to charge and update for the trip. Sorry to subject you to these thoughts about nothing while we wait. (Insert Jeopardy theme)

Oh yeah... and for those of you in the big He's Not pool... check out who's in first place after Day #1. Didn't I tell you I was gonna beat y'all? No worries, though... I always do well on the first day and horribly on the second. Let's just hope I stick in the top 50 after tomorrow! What a bummer that the plane won't have Mega March Madness coverage. I'll just have to be surprised when I get the opportunity to check in, I guess.

Praying for safe & fun travels... Much luv!

Quickie

Just a quick hello from the West Coast tonight. It's already getting late, and although I still have hours of work to do, I'm packing it in for the night. It will still be there tomorrow saying "Hello like before"! Unfortunately, it has to get done tomorrow. It will be a long day... I'm sure. Just like today. Especially since it's slated to start extra-early with an East Coast-based morning meeting. Please remember to be considerate of people who may be sitting in another time zone when you set up a meeting. It's just not nice to schedule things for 6 am.

Goodbye, my Wednesday.

Yet another fresh start

For the clock-watchers among you, I believe this post is two minutes into my fresh start for Wednesday. Well... technically, it's only 9:00 pm where I am. But I haven't switched the clock on my computer; so it thinks it's midnight. Come to think of it, I don't think I've switched my watch to Pacific time either. How am I keeping up with the time? Luckily, my trusty cell phone automatically resets; and everyone I talk to from the East Coast keeps asking me what time it is here (so I've had lots of practice doing the 3-hour math). (Are y'all just being lazy or are you dumbing yourself down especially for me?)

Anyway... of course, my next topic is... the weather! Today's weather was pretty nice. Typical Oregon... it was sunny, then it rained, then someone threw some styrofoam off the roof, then it was overcast, then it was sunny again. Such shifts in the weather always make for beautiful skies, though. As I was driving across my favorite bridge (the 405) this afternoon, I was noticing the awesome blues and purples in the northern skies. I love the views on my daily route out here: my favorite would be Mt. Hood on the 205 bridge (if Mt. Hood would ever come out this time of year!), but I also enjoy viewing the West Hills on my morning commute, snow-covered pines as I came through the tunnel at the zoo last week, and the bridges themselves (is that weird?) as I come into view of the city from either direction. Sometimes, I find myself wanting to just drive around in circles to view it all over again! It sure is a beautiful town you guys have here, Mary & Norm.

Switching gears completely... CNN's Headline Prime is doing a little story on pet peeves right now. Their previous story was about Northwest Airlines' newest decision to start charging passengers a fee to select a decent (or if you're Northwest, you say "choice") seat upon check-in (especially on the Internet, where you can check in up to 24 hours before the flight). They asked for Airline Pet Peeves to be sent in to an e-mail address, and that full story is coming up on Friday. I'm sure there will be some great ones (of course, in addition to Northwest making the SILLY decision to charge a "modest" $15 per leg to allow those of us intelligent enough to check in online & skip the counter lines to select a coveted exit or aisle seat)... b/c those darn airlines... they sure do have some odd ways of appreciating their customers. Anyway, tonight's pet peeve story is about workplace annoyances. The CNN survey lists the following top five: condescending tones, public reprimands, micromanaging, loud talkers, and ringing cell phones. Can I just add "having to do others' jobs for them" to that list? That's my numero uno... definitely. I work with some intelligent people. I do. And several of them continually impress me. But some... oh geez, there are some... who are just amazingly infuriating. In fact, over lunch today (as I was browsing Office Furniture Unlimited looking for new more-ergonomical office digs), I was drawn to (and actually purchased) a little metal mantra for myself. It's going to have to sit on the desk or bookshelf in the office... because I'm really not the type of person who needs it in any other aspect of my life. It says "chill" in about a 1,000 point font.

Okay, well, I'm off to an early bedtime so I can put in another more-than-full day tomorrow. Before I do, though, I'll take a quick moment to reset my mindframe (or follow my new metal mantra) by recounting a few things that make me smile (as opposed to all those pet peeves CNN is trying to make me ponder): puppies who learn to swim, cuddle buddies, doing/finishing your taxes (depending on your level of weird-ness), CNN anchors saying "t'ed off" (instead of ticked off), and ultra-respectful Courtyard commercials wishing you a restful evening. I like this exercise... I think I'll continue it on my way to bed: comfortable pjs ...... stuffed animals to wrap your arms around ....... overhearing someone compliment you ....... not being able to stop smiling during a conversation (i.e., with lil' Nona) ....... much luv and x's & o's ....... me attempting to sing Dolly's part in Brad Paisley's "When I Get Where I'm Going" ....... playing the piano barefoot (and playing it well, of course) ....... Carolina victories (when cross the field our foe has fled) ....... late-night CMT music videos (what is it with me & country music lately?) ....... technology that makes it possible to say hi from any corner of the globe ....... puppy heads that smell like cotton candy ....... listening to your iPod and realizing you're singing out loud to your favorite playlist ....... making lists of things that make you smile .......

Giving it another shot

A couple of fun little quotes from tonight's very-odd movie with Campbell Scott (what a terrible actor he is!!!), Steve Martin, Felicity Huffman, etc.

• Always do business as if your boss is trying to screw you... because they probably are... and if they're not, be pleasantly surprised
• They will begin to act cruelly toward you ... to suppress their guilt.
• You get in trouble, just say the word 'happiness'. Say it. Happiness.
• Oldest con in the world... The Spanish Prisoner

64m 48s

Just wanted to share a few little things I ran across today:

1) On http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/:
Goth guy: I am really weird. Like you know how like when people's conscience is talking to them how there is the angel over oneshoulder and then the devil over the other? Well for me it is penguins. The one on the left is good and like he has a name tag that says "good"...And the one on the right is a gothic penguin with fangs and one wing. Well, not really one wing; it's more like one wing and a stump.
--25th & Lexington

2) Another blogthings quiz:

I am 7-Up

Understated and subtle, people warm up to you slowly. But once they're hooked, they can't imagine going back to anyone else! Your best soda match: Diet Coke Stay away from: Mountain Dew

What Kind of Soda Are You?

3) My sweetie-pie:

It spins off its axis

Girl #1: Everything's not about you.
Girl #2: Everything's relevant to me.
-- Overheard at Fordham University, Lincoln Center, NYC ... or at Heidi's house

So, I was just sitting around watching some CMT music videos. Did you guys know that Kenny Rogers has a new song out? I didn't really like watching him sing it... when did Kenny get so - well - mature? But the song... I Can't Unlove You. So sweet. Also, does anyone else just want to turn off every other sound in the world just to listen completely to Brad Paisley and (specifically) Dolly in "When I Get Where I'm Going". I'm a sucker for harmony anyway... and when it's Dolly, well then it might as well be angels.

Okay, after yet another conversation about "The 40 Year Old Virgin", I'm going to bed. Why does that stupid movie follow me around so much?! Well... I will give it one thing... the "Kelly Clarkson!" line is pretty funny.

Tomorrow... I'm singing "Finally Friday" on the way to work. Anyone with me?

Now, if only 7:00 pm didn't have to be in the middle of my freakin' work day. Well, it's close enough to quitting time... but with the commute, there's just no way I can make it back to a TV in time. DANG IT! I completely disagree with you about later start times for games, Jon. EVERY time I'm on the West Coast on a business trip, there's a game I wanna watch that's OVER by the time I get to a TV after work! It's just not right. I think the East Coasters should just suck it up & stay up a little later. Stupid early-to-bed-goers.

Can't help but love the baby. Keep your spirit, little one.

The outline that I trace around the one that I call mine

Perhaps I should take a sec to address my sweet lil' sister's comment... Haley, I don't hate ALL morning talk radio. Bob & Sherry are good friends of mine when I'm waking up at... eh... 7:45 or 8:00 in Statesboro. I gladly invite them into my room every morning & always enjoy their "chat room". But the talk radio I've been subjected to each morning so far in Portland is poorly inadequate. Yes, I enjoyed a little Yanni & Britney news, but I could do without the rest of the crap they send out over the airwaves. Perhaps someone out here should buy themselves some Bob & Sherry.

Now, let me take one more sec to address my own comment on your blog, sweet lil' sister. POST SOMETHING OF DECENT LENGTH ON YOUR BLOG RIGHT NOW. I'm freakin' tired of seeing that oh-so-embarassing caricature of myself (do you think we could convince people that those pics really are caricatures and NOT how we actually look)? Anyway... if you could please post something, anything really, that would move those pics on down the page... I would be your best friend. Well, one of the top two... promise.

So, did I tell y'all that I actually finished All the King's Men? It's probably been a week or two since I re-read the last page. I really ended up liking it (obviously, since I quote it for you all the time... and sorry, you haven't seen the last of those quotes... I just left it at home, so the quoting will resume when we return from these messages). Actually, it's pretty interesting (to me, at least) that I was reading it. I took a Journalism History class at Penn State, and the prof had us read The Earl of Louisiana for class. Does anyone else know where I'm going with this? Okay, okay, I'll get to the point. All the King's Men was the somewhat-fictionalized story of Huey Long, governor of Louisiana. Earl of Louisiana was a more accurate (journalistic, even!) recount of the life of Huey's brother, Earl, who was also (after his brother's murder) governor of the great stet (state [of Louisiana]... for those of you who couldn't figure it out!). Anyway... what I was actually going to write when I started this long-winded paragraph... Is anyone familiar with both of these books and/or the stories of Huey & Earl? In particular, I'm wondering who Tiny Duffy was in All the King's Men. Was he actually Earl or was Tiny someone completely different? And... of course... by the time any of you will have read this, I'll probably have looked it up for myself. But Camille, Mom... you guys are the most likely to know... so feel free to let me know if you do.

Oh, and speaking of journalism... did you see that Carolina actually hired a replacement for Dean Cole? Although I'm sure Tom has been doing a great job as Interim Dean of the J-School, I am glad to see someone fill the post "permanently" (or as permanently as any job can be). And I was thrilled to read that the new head of the school is a woman. You go, Jean! It will be interesting to see where she can take the school. Even though I only added JOMC as an afterthought and in the last year I was at Carolina, I've always been extremely proud to be a J-School grad. And I believe ALL the accolades the Review, "Out of the Blue", and any other Carolina-friendly publication print about it!

Well, obviously (from my blah-blah-blah'ing), it's time to go to bed, and I'm just putting it off. I really kind of dislike Wednesday nights... too many days until Saturday, Sunday, even Monday. I should just remind myself that nothing ever lasts. Interesting how that's both comforting... and not... at the same time. Ah, but luckily,the times we've had together will always be with me. It's all about making memories, right Mom? I so need to just shut up now. I think that's what I'll do. Happy Wednesday night (okay, Thursday morning... stupid technicalities).

Peace, Love, and Carolina... Go Heels!

Sleeping it off

Good evening from Portland... well, Vancouver, but who's checking? The trip out was looooong. I get so tired on those extended plane rides. This one may have actually been okay if we would have left on time from Atlanta. What is it with my travel troubles lately? This time, the captain gets up in front of the whole gate full of waiting passengers and says "my co-pilot and I are smelling an overheating odor in the cockpit... and it's something we've never smelled before in all our years flying the plane... so we don't want to fly it... we're making them get another plane for us." Lovely, huh? So, once we finally got a "normal"-smelling plane, we were on our way... 2 hours late. When I finally got to their house, my sweet in-laws had Wendy's for me. So, we ate spicy chicken sandwiches (with extra tomatoes) and frosties. Mmmmm.

Then this morning was a long journey across the city to Beaverton for work. But the day went really well. I'm filling in this week & next for my colleague & best bud who's out on a leave of absence. I miss having her around while I'm in town, but I'm very glad I could be here to help cover (plus I got to chat with her on the phone for a while). It was interesting being in an office again today. Always feels funny to have to dress for work & actually drive somewhere.

So, did you hear that Yanni got arrested for a domestic dispute? And how about Shar Jackson recording Britney's "Toxic"? Yeah... did I mention it's a long drive to Beaverton from Vancouver? And how about that I think morning radio really stinks. Where are the good tunes in the AM? I guess I'll just have to get me some satellite radio to have some actualy tunage options.

Well, I thought I'd just check in with you guys. Now, I'm going to bed early so I can get up early again for the rush-hour drive. Again, no pics to share from the work machine. Sorry... but really, I'm not. Sorry for making you think I really was (again, no). But is there someplace far away, someplace where all is clear?

Where does the time go?

Does my last post really say Tuesday? And here it is Friday already? What's up with that? This week has been... interesting... not necessarily too busy to post, but not really with a lot of extra time available to write an intriguing blog post. But, again, as I said during my last drought, that is not a valid excuse. Actually, I've turned to e-mail and IM for more of my communicating this week... my apologies to those of you not on the receiving end of said e-mails and IMs. In truth, perhaps you are not missing out by not being on the other end of them... especially since I can't seem to stop fighting with colleagues (read: negative, never-want-to-help-out-or-improve-anything IT guys) via these media. Yesterday especially, you wouldn't have wanted to hear from me (sorry for those of you who did!). Between about 11:00 am and 6:00 pm (when my last IT contact left for the day), I spent hours trying to get something accomplished with them... but instead spent much time venting to my boss, my mom & dad, Jon, etc. about the sheer frustration I was feeling. Nothing like beating your head up against the wall and then telling everybody about it, huh? Like I said... my apologies to you guys. I hate spending precious phone/chat time talking about things such as this.

Okay, I'm so OVER that subject and ready to move on to something brighter. Let's see... brighter... think, think, think. Well, there's the sun that just came out again. The weather here has been really nice recently (2 days ago, 75 and sunny all day; yesterday, fairly warm but windy as heck and overcast; today, promises to be warm again & the sun's already beating down on us). There's also the Heels (how about that UVA win - which, of course, wasn't on in Statesboro... but I did get to listen to the Woody/Eric broadcast, so that was fun... especially since they included the post-game "senior speeches" in their broadcast... David Noel is one funny guy). And, of course, there are the pups (Coop & Kona have been pretty good lately... we're still fighting a little bit of pee-in-the-house that remains in Cooper and manipulative b*#@% in Kona, but for the most part, they've been great... it's been a while, so you should probably expect a puppy-centric post coming up soon).

Well, I should probably get to work. It is getting to be that time. And since I'll be taking about 3 hours off today to taxi Jon to work & to Savannah (he flies out to NYC at 12-something), I should get something done early. Hope y'all have (or had, depending on when you're reading my ramblings) a great, productive, enjoyable, and even boss-free Friday! :-)