brief lull in the day ... a few days ago

Originally posted on Jan. 27th, 2008 at 11:00 PM

And here it is!! Go me!


WOO!!

Here's the deal: over the holidays our last full time man got accepted last minute to law school. Kick ass for him, for reals! Also, kick ass for me, in the very literal sense of the phrase. I am getting my butt whooped! Did I mention we have no part time staff? Cause we kinda don't. In other words, in addition to my job (which has been spectacularly busy booking & organizing over 11 events in the past 2 1/2 weeks!), I'm suddenly doing a second full time job in the same office AND going over resumes & conducting interviews with potential new employees. If I've learned anything from the latter, it is this: when applying for a position - any position, whether it be at a job, school, anything - do whatever you have to do to avoid asserting that you are the "ideal candidate" for said position. There's no way anyone could know such a thing! I'd like to say I've begun discarding the cover letters the include this phrase, BUT THEY ALL DO!!!

To be fair though, it really isn't an offensive suggestion, & applying for a job is nerve-wracking. It doesn't really annoy me nearly as much as all that, I just find it terribly amusing that's it's use is so ubiquitous (how ya like that action McNulty!*). I also realized as I was writing that I sound somewhat bitter at having become so busy as of late. I'm totally not! Sure I'd like to have a bit more time to read, or watch movies, or watch The Daily Show online, or play with my camera, or run (even though I'm always looking for excuses not to), or clean my room, but that'll come at some point. Plus I get all those things in every now & then.

As for my peace of mind & sanity, oh yeah, totally got that covered in all sorts of creative ways. For example, this morning I got up as usual, took a slightly hurried shower, & while getting dressed you know what I did? I played on my computer "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!" No better way to put a permagrin on your face for the day, guaranteed! Oh Peanuts. How can anything be so wonderfully simple & beautiful? Answer: it can't. The end.

*Not in the original text

let's stop being serious

Originally posted on Jan. 16th, 2008 at 3:27 PM

Wanna hear a joke? Yeah ya do, cause it’s good. It goes like this:

I’m holy crap tired from the tremendous lack of sleep I’ve been getting as of late. It’s kinda ridiculous. Stress? Stress and I are so close we’re practically having an affair (which is possible even without a wife or girlfriend; I looked it up). I won’t go into any details, cause that’s not the kind of guy I am, but I will say I’ve been having her pretty much non-stop since that whole shift in the year happened. It’s been hot. I’ve said too much. The weather here suddenly seems to have gotten the notion that it’d be a good idea to do everything it can to mimic its uncle in Russia … meaning it’s cold. Really cold. On top of all this, I’ve become aware of this strange phenomenon currently present in my life. It’s this odd deal where as I’m being given by those in complete power less and less reason to invest myself personally in my job, the amount of work required of me increases more and more. Kinda awkward. Still trying to determine whether there’s direct causation in play here or if it’s just a coincidental correlation. More on that as it develops.

And the punch line? Get ready for this; you may need to sit down, it’s pretty outta control. All I want to do tonight is go home and run 4-5 miles. ME. RUN. FURTHER THAN THE KITCHEN. Is that not ludicrous?? I’ve detested running all my life, and now not only do I want to run (in excess), I’m seeking refuge and comfort in it. If that doesn’t make you laugh out loud you may want to consider a line of work other than orthodox economics.

Plus, I’m pretty sure I’m happy. I like being happy. So bonus there.

The ½ marathon in Phoenix was, in a word, completelyridiculouslyfun. It rocked. My only goal (and a flimsy one at that) was to run faster than 10-minute miles, which I killed. By killed of course I mean I came in JUST under at 2 hours, 9 minutes and 13 seconds, which amounted to a pace of 9:52-minute miles. It hurt, but I’m thinking it was probably worth it. So much so in fact, that I kinda really want to sign up for the ½ in St Louis on April 6th. I haven’t yet, but to be honest that’s only because I spent way way more in Phoenix than I intended (those cabs are pricey!). HOWEVER, Friday is payday. Nuff said about that. (I’m gonna sign up on Friday!!) And in the spirit of pushing myself to the limit, I think I want to run it alone. Thing is, I know the only way I was able to train consistently for this last one was because there were friends involved, and this time around I want to know I can do it on my own by my own volition, with no one else to push me along. Probably a dumb idea I realize, but I’m kind of a dumb guy in many ways. In all other ways I’m a genius though. Just wanna be real clear about that.

wine after a run is good for you, i swear

I REMEMBERED!!!

I brought up all that silliness because work is finally beginning to become completely ridiculous, and I wanted to explain why that's ok! Seriously though, work is becoming truly ridiculous. Tax fraud here, boss having my staff pick up stamps for his wife's Christmas cards there, then getting completely betrayed by the one person I thought was supporting me, which of course led to the boss calling me 7 times before I got to my phone to call him back, only to have him once again insult, belittle, and threaten me. All while claiming he's completely clean. Yeah. Honest people do that. Really.

But enough of that. I remembered while on my fanTAStic run! Hot damn I love running when it's like this! Total blizzard, horizontal snow, high winds, not a single person out ... except me. :) I'll admit, running through 4 inches of snow on top of solid ice isn't easy, and I was hurtin', but it's always oh so worth it! Then I came back (looking like a snowman since all the snow stuck to all of me), stretched for awhile (I can touch the tip of my right toe for the first time in my life!!!!), mapped my run out at mapmyrun.com while icing my knees, and now I'm raving. RAVING!

But I'm quickly mellowing out. I've opened a brand spankin new bottle of wine, I'm feelin pretty good, and I'm highly considering curling up under a blanket on the front porch, putting some mellow music on, and getting friendly with that hookah while cuddling with a pillow. Is my life sad? I'm gonna go ahead and say no