"Hi, Bob!" Edition

Today’s London bombings sounded a lot like a “copycat” type crime. Looking at the pictures on the news, it seemed like the Brits were going on about their daily business as normal, while it was all the news folks who were foaming up into a froth over the incident. This is why I hate watching TV news, because they make so much out of everything, and after a while, no one will really bat an eyelash about stuff, because we will have been bombarded with frights for so long.

Things are looking up for my friend . . . she may be able to secure a loan for the first semester, during which she will work on saving more money for the Spring. It is not a done deal, and it could still fall through, but she sounded like she had a lot of hope in her voice and that makes me cautious, but happy.

Watched the PBS American Masters’ show last night on Bob Newhart. (I missed a huge chunk because I was on the phone with my friend . . . lousy timing!) I’ve always loved his work, especially since it is more subtle and not as in your face as other comedians . . . plus I can kind of relate to his personality. If you do catch the show, be sure to read the Post’s Live Online session about it (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2005/07/20/DI2005072001819.html ) . . . Very well done.

Mood’s a bit better today . . . maybe because I’m going to be out of the office tomorrow? Well I still have a ton to do by Monday, but I may spread it out over the weekend.

I got my new Day Timer refills in the mail yesterday. Yay! I am an old fashioned, pen and paper type-of girl. I can’t handle electronic reminders, I always forget to put things in them and hate the tiny keys and weird alphabet. With a paper based organizer I can stick things in it and put flags all over it, and scrawl little notes really easily. Plus, the pages come in pretty colors. I also bring the organizer on trips with my because I can keep the tickets and all of the receipts tucked in there and just go through them when I get home.

This is an actual e-mail that was sent to all the staff today: “A Monet print is missing from a staffer's office as of Monday of this week. If you just happened to have admired it to the point of taking it, please return it to me today?” . . . That is pretty sad, don’t you think? Well, at least it’s an art-loving thief . . .

Also on the workplace front, our vending machines are now gobbling cash and not giving anything back in return. I went to the kitchen to get some napkins (because I spilled caffeine free Diet Dr. Pepper all over my office floor – don’t ask!) and there are sticky notes stuck all over our snack machines saying “lost $.60 on M&Ms,” “Lost $.55 on Fritos.” I myself have lost a couple of dollars worth of change in those things . . . I just figure that it is a sign that I’m not supposed to be eating a Snickers that afternoon . . .

Has anyone else been getting spam that says things like “Free Laptop – Send confirmation” and “Try a free IPod.”? Those things so annoy me . . . I wonder who falls for that sort of thing . . .

I think that I am suffering from caffeine withdrawal . . . I am slowly trying to stop drinking a lot of caffeinated beverages again. I had stopped for a good 7 months, but then I hit a very stressful time which caused a lot of killer headaches, and the only thing that makes me happy is the full caffeine Dr. Pepper, which along with two Excedrin tablets, makes the pain go away. I have a low level headache now, but I will persevere. If it reaches migraine pain status, though, all bets are off.

I may or may not post tomorrow since I will be out dallying with my sister. I leave you with today’s poem, which rather struck me.


A Glimmer
Marin Sorescu
Translated by
Adam J. Sorkin and Lidia Vianu

Every now and then I still summon up
A glimmer of interest in what's around me.

Sometimes I find myself
Watching in wonder
The tops of the birch trees
Clustered in the hospital yard.
I admire their whiteness,
And I like to ask myself
Where their whitewash comes from.

In a marvel of equilibrium
Little birds perch
On twigs so thin
They tremble like strings.

Above, in the blue-violet sky,
Clouds scurry past
Chasing each other aimlessly:
I stare, eyes transfixed
By these strange waves.

In just this way, inside my being,
Clouds of poison circulate,
Scudding toward every azimuth –
For an instant the sky goes blank

As if through magic little windows
I have a brief moment
Of miraculous communication with the world.