28 October 2006

It isn't natural

Early people and late people should not hang out together. It isn't natural. Someone always gets hurt.

I am supposed to meet my friends across town for the big Day of the Dead decorating session at 7 p.m. They have to unlock the building.

They are late people. I am an early person. I am sitting here at 6:56 with my stomach clenched trying to figure out just how late they will be. I don't want to be too late but I don't want to sit in the parking lot in the dark for an hour, either.

Is 7:30 too early for the late people?

The funny part is, that to my family, I am the late person. Because they are always half an hour early.

I grew up with my dad sitting out in the driveway with the car running as the rest of us scrambled around to find our missing socks, rushing so we could arrive somewhere an hour before it opened.

When I drop the dog off in the morning at my folks' house, if I am 2 minutes past my usual time, I ALWAYS hear about it. ALWAYS.

I know if I don't leave my house within a four-minute window of time, it will be commented on, either "You're early!" or "You better get going! You're late!"

So it's built into me to be neurotic about time. And I can't understand how anyone could ever be relaxed about being late. But late people can't understand what all the fuss is about.

The two trying to get along never works - it's like cats and dogs, living together...just not natural.

27 October 2006

Friday night fun

There is some drama going on in blogland. I'm not going to be too specific because I don't want to fuel the fires too much more.

Apparently there is/are some f***ed-up blog(s) posting photos of bloggers' children that have rude modifications or comments, and this has upset the bloggers involved. Well, yeah, of course.

I just want to imagine what goes on with the person doing the posting. Either they are a) severely mentally ill, which is a big possibility, or b) have so incredibly little power in their lives that all they can do to get some kind of life energy is to stir up negativity in other people. They can't feel or receive real love, they don't feel effective or talented in any way, so they turn their limited life skills to this stupid passtime.

Pathetic. So very pathetic.

*****

Following my post the other day about doing good, four people signed up with Women for Women International. My goal is 10, but in my mind I have til Dec. 31 to achieve it.

I just wanted to thank Average Jane, Jess of Drowning in Kids,Meno of Meno's Blog, and The Orthotic Contessa of Kvetch Blog for sponsoring women. That makes four more families who will have enough to eat and who will have the opportunity to get education and to start their own business. Yay, women. I am proud of you.

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Mr Stapler has a new blog, Mind Yer Arse, which is mostly about his first love, music. Go pay him a visit and tell him how wonderful I am while you are there.

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This weekend's big deal is a Day of the Dead celebration at church. I have to get busy making decorations!!

26 October 2006

Barbarity

I'm not cut out for life in the cube farm. I don't know if anyone is. It seems a cruel and awful set-up, one slice above a sweatshop or assembly line and some days it just beats the shit out of you so you never want to go back.

Today, obviously, was one of those days.

I sat there as my co-worker phoned her mom to say that the medical appointment on her lunch hour had not gone well, that her husband's biopsies showed cancer, that the CT scans showed large masses in both lungs and in his intestines and it didn't look good.

I sat there overhearing every word and wondering at the cruelty of this situation - because she had to get back to work - where she has to have this conversation knowing everyone can probably hear her and I have to listen to one of the most horrible, intimate moments of her life.

Meanwhile people in the next cubes over continued gossiping and joking. I don't know if they heard or not. My guess is they didn't, but I still wanted to scream "Shut up!! Don't you know that her world is ending?"

But of course I could not, because in cube farm etiquette, I had to pretend I wasn't hearing what I was hearing. That is part of the insanity - to stay sane, you act a little insanely.

And then there was the deepest sick part of me that was feeling so glad it wasn't my life that was being wrecked, and the guilty part on top of that, that was feeling guilty for being glad, feeling glad I got to go out to Thai food after work and be lucky that, for me, today was not the worst day of my life.

25 October 2006

Mish Mash

I have a brutal headache so just a few notes before I collapse...

A bunch of new linkies are up at Linkateria. Don't skip the "How to prank a telemarketer" one.

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I can track the precise moment my PMS hits me by when onion rings start to sound like a reasonable idea.

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Today at lunch we were talking about the new Jonestown movie. My young co-worker Rachel had never heard of Jonestown. Too young. Ouch. She said "Oh! THAT's where 'don't drink the Kool-aid' comes from."

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Everyone at work is sick. Bless their germy little selves for being so dedicated to continue working, so they hack and sneeze and infect the rest of us prisoners in the cube farm.

I stopped by my favorite aromatherapist, Bambi's office (does that sound SOOOO California to you, too?) to pick up some of her famous antibiotic germ-b-gone spray. Her place smells so insanely wonderful and is full of all kinds of weird victorian furnishings.

I hope her miracle juice works. I believe, I believe.

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Why does my friend Gael NOT have a blog? It's crazy, I tell you.

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Crap. I am sadly quitting my favorite volunteer gig, WriteGirl. It is the most fabulous organization (and could use donations, in case you win the Lotto or something) but it is a 70 mile drive through LA traffic, so my part in it was limited. I think the Boys and Girls club down the street may be my next calling.

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Any movie suggestions? No horror, no fantasy. Everything out looks kinda sucky. But when Borat comes out, you KNOW I'll be there to see it again (I was a sneak previewer - I have never laughed so hard. Yes, it is offensive and silly. And perfect.)

23 October 2006

Things can change

More Suebobian action over at Linkateria.

The other day I wrote about lying awake at 3 a.m. in despair over my government and how they are behaving.

The next day I heard Hugh Masekela talking about South Africa.

Suddenly, it hit me. We won that one. Despite all odds, justice and mercy and goodness prevailed over evil.

I was no Steve Biko, but I wrote dozens of letters about apartheid. I protested, I boycotted - and many of the college students I knew did the same.

Our part may have been a teeny tiny drop, but in the end, people all over the world filled that bucket to overflowing and apartheid, which seemed as if it would last forever, disappeared from the face of the earth. Hallelujah.

If we can end apartheid, what else can we do if we get together? Imagine. That's the first step.

And while you're doing that, I am going to ask for help with one of my favorite projects. Women for Women International is a sponsorship organization that started in Bosnia and spread to other war-torn areas of the world.

For $27 a month, you get matched with a woman somewhere in the world who needs help. You support her and send her letters while she goes through a structured program to get back on her feet. If you are lucky, you may get letters back. The organization provides the translation services.

My goal is to convince 10 women to become sponsors before the end of the year. Naturally, I had to start with my cyberfriends, because you can't humiliate me by turning me down face to face.

Please let me know if you decide to sponsor. Even if you can't afford to do that, please consider a link over here to help me and these women out.

I have been doing this for over 5 years. With some women I have gotten letters. With others, nothing. It just makes me feel good to know for the price of a pair of cheap shoes, I can change a woman's life and make it so that she can feed and educate her children. My teeny tiny drop. Please consider filling the bucket with me.

Update: 3 pledges TODAY. Only 7 more to go!! Woo hoo! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

22 October 2006

The smell of victory

So do you know who just you are dealing with here?

Yes, yes, people, after much preparation, sweat and hours of hard cooking, I am victorious.

I won the first annual church parking lot chili cook-off, reigning over 11 other fine chilis, including one made by *snicker* Mr Stapler, who put up a mighty fight but could not prevail. Which pissed him off because he is the most competitive person on earth. Too bad he's not the best cook on earth. I am! HA!

My prize? $55, which is slightly more than the cost of the ingredients because I was a lazy bad cook and used canned beans.

The recipe? A slightly modified version of this Epicurious recipe. I left out the chicken, used about 1 tsp instead of 1 Tbsp of hot sauce, added 2 tsp smoked Spanish paprika (my favorite ingredient) and my super-secret ingredient, 1/2 a dark chocolate bar (about 2 oz).

Sounds weird, huh? It didn't taste like chocolate. I just took a hint from the Mole Negro of Oaxaca, knowing how chocolate adds a deep, mysterious flavor to that legendary sauce.

Even though I roasted my own chiles, I think it is a waste of time and suggest the canned Ortegas. Blasphemy? I don't think anyone would ever know the diff.

Even though it was vegetarian, the full cup of sour cream renders it high-fat, so it isn't for the diet-conscious. But that's why it won, dear readers. No low fat recipe ever won anything that was judged by a popular vote.

Finally, new links are up at Linkateria. Enjoy.
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