Friday, March 30, 2007

Coincidentally...

Last night was a coincidence-filled night.

Last night I went to a party at Fuse. Right when we got upstairs, I saw a guy across the room I recognized. It took me a second to figure out from where.

On Tuesday, my friend Aaron and I went to happy hour at Kona Grill. The patio was packed and there were no tables. A couple of guys in the corner seemed to be finishing up, so I went over, smiled, and asked if they would mind giving me a heads up when they were about to leave. One of them said, “Go ahead and sit down. We’re just waiting for our check.” So I sat with them and we made slightly awkward small talk and then they left and we got the table.

The guy across the room at the party was one of those two random guys from Kona. The guy standing next to him was the other guy. Turns out they both work in advertising – and one of their old co-workers just started working at my company a couple of weeks ago. Also – Guy #2 and I were pretty much wearing matching shirts.

A few minutes later, an editor we know walked in with his girlfriend.

Then I met a guy who is starting work at my agency on Monday.

Then a friend of mine ran into a friend of her ex-boyfriend.

Then we ran into the roommate of the ex-boyfriend of a girl we work with. (If that makes any sense at all.)

Then I met a guy who interviewed at my agency a few days ago.

Then we went to Trece and had $11 guacamole and $20+ entrees and $10 frozen blueberry mojitos. Which is not a coincidence at all. I just felt like mentioning it because the frozen blueberry mojitos were dangerously delicious.

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Grackling

Last night I had the local news on because there was supposed to be a story on an American Idol fan going to some great lengths to get Sanjaya kicked off (hey, I get my real news online, okay?). And, though I managed to miss the one story I wanted to see (my hat’s off to that fan, btw), I did get to see the story on grackles driving customers away from a local business. Because of the proliferation of their “business.”

Here’s what got me: Underneath each person they interviewed who was frustrated by the grackles was their name and then “Dislikes Grackles.”

Several people in a row.

Mary Smith. Dislikes Grackles.

Bob Jones. Dislikes Grackles.

Sally Thompson. Dislikes Grackles.

Which begs the question: Is there anyone out there who does like grackles? Are there grackle fans living amongst us? People who walk beneath the grackles’ incessant, shockingly loud squawking and like it? And, more importantly, who walk both underneath and over Grackle Business and like it?

This very business is exactly why I leave all of my shoes outside my back door.

I may just watch the local news again tonight, not in the hopes that they’ll have a Sanjaya update (though they’re bound to have that – fingers crossed the story is he was axed), but in the hopes that one of these grackle lovers has come forward in protest of last night’s story.

Sanjaya Malakar. Likes Grackles.

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Well...

I'm pretty sure I spoke too soon. Perhaps things will turn back around after the presentation. At least then I can begin drinking heavily and maybe I'll become a nice person again because I definitely have not been one today.

:D

Good Bad Bad Good Morning

Usually you can tell when a day isn’t going to go so great. But yesterday I was fooled. My day started out amazing. I woke up only twenty minutes late – a huge improvement over my normal hour. I was happy with the first thing I put on. (Another abnormality.) I made it to my friend’s house to feed her bunnies that I am bunny-sitting. I got to Starbucks and barely had to wait to get my venti non-fat no-whip 140-degree sugar free Cinnamon Dolce Latte. And I got to work twenty minutes before my every Monday 830 meeting.

Then I realized I’d forgotten my computer at home. I had to wait until after the meeting, then drive home, get the computer, and drive back. A good hour+ wasted.

From there – all downhill.

An overall extremely bad and stressful day at work, the details of which are unimportant.

I had plans after work to go to the gym to work out with my trainer, then rush home, get ready again, and go out for drinks with friends. So I went to the gym because a) I would have had to pay him whether I showed up or not, and b) otherwise I might have started killing people. Then I rushed home and got ready again not to go out for drinks but to come back to work until 1145.

I went home and made the not-so-wise decision to open a bottle of wine, sit on my couch, eat cheese & crackers, and watch What About Brian. But it was the nicest part of my day (well, aside from punching the hell out of the heavy bag at the gym), made even a little nicer by the fact that a friend of mine had three songs in the show.

At 1am, it was time to iron my clothes for today as I have a huge presentation this afternoon. Then I got ready for bed. Then I lay awake most of the night, falling soundly asleep only after my alarm went off. Then I was running late. Then I got stuck in a school zone all the way to the bunnies’ house. Then the line at Starbucks was long and slow. Then I was late to work.

And then everything for my presentation slowly started falling into place and, for the first time in three weeks, I actually think we might pull it off.

So maybe good morning = bad day and bad morning = good day.

Or perhaps it’s all just coincidence. Either way, I’m glad it’s today.

Monday, March 19, 2007

this can't be good.

it's only 11:12 and i'm already ready for the day to be over.

Monday, March 12, 2007

Found Time


So this weekend we lost an hour. This makes mornings miserably dark but evenings happily light. Still. A precious hour stolen. Yet somehow I found some time.

This morning, as with all mornings, I overslept. I needed to leave my house by 745 in order to get to Sbux and get to work on time for our weekly Monday morning 830 meeting. Instead, I didn’t get out of bed until 10 after 7. I knew what this meant – I had to skip fixing the hair. Wash and go curly.

I don’t mind my hair curly, even though it’s not my favorite. The problem is it takes a good two hours before it looks decent because I have to let it air dry. I have a little routine for curly-hair days: wash, don’t comb, spray with anti-frizz stuff, spray with curl stuff, leave alone for half an hour, twist into what I like to call my A#1 hair clip, leave up for a good hour. Take down, hair is still wet, let dry. Wait an hour. Then – maybe – it looks decent. Even though I do the exact same thing every time, it manages to look different every time, and I have no way of knowing if that different will be good or bad.

So today I knew it was a wash and go curly day. But I really didn’t want to. I took a chance and dried and straightened. I managed to straighten my hair in less than 5 minutes. It usually takes closer to 8 or 9. I worried about how long it would take to get dressed because I usually change at least 4 times.

I was happy with the first thing I grabbed.

Fed the cat, got my breakfast together, and somehow, miraculously, I left the house at one minute until 8 with my hair done.

As I drove, I prayed for the Sbux line to be short as I knew I should actually be going straight to work now. Sbux line was long. I pulled in anyway because I didn’t want to have to walk to the one near work after the meeting given that the weather is cloudy and humid and rainy. This would turn my hair curly and defeat my speedy hair work.

I kept thinking I should get out of line. I stayed in line and hoped.

Hope paid off. The Sbux line moved uncharacteristically fast.

Traffic cooperated. And, at 820, I pulled into the parking lot. Ten minutes early. Amazing.

Daylight Savings Time might have taken an hour away from me, but I got back a good twenty minutes. It might be a good day.

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

The Way Coelho Sees It


Check out what my Starbucks cup had to say today:

“Remember your dreams and fight for them. You must know what you want from life. There is just one thing that makes your dream become impossible: the fear of failure. Never forget your Personal Legend. Never forget your dreams. Your silent heart will guide you. Be silent now. It is the possibility of a dream that makes life interesting. You can choose between being a victim of destiny or an adventurer who is fighting for something important.”
- Paulo Coelho

Maybe it's trying to tell me something...

See, I knew there was a reason to spend 5 bucks on coffee at least once a day!

Friday, March 02, 2007

I saw Santa eating Chick-fil-a

Today I went to lunch at the very exciting food court in the underground of the Bank of America building. Right as we emerged from a dark tunnel into the bright and sunny food court, I saw him. Santa.

He was sitting at a small table having lunch with a woman (who was definitely not, by the way, Mrs. Claus). He had flowing white hair that merged into a flowing white beard that reached down to the middle of his chest, settling just above his round belly. His long-sleeved shirt was bright red. All as it should be.

I interrupted my friend in the middle of his sentence to say, "Quick. To your left. Santa."

He was speechless. I was speechless. We both forgot all about his story of Thomas Jefferson and two dollar bills. After all, who can talk about things of historical significance when you're in the presence of Santa Claus, St. Nick, Father Christmas himself? In a food court, no less. Santa.

Today may be Texas Independence Day, but March 2nd will go down in my history book as the day I saw Santa eating Chick-fil-a.

Thursday, March 01, 2007

Funner is more fun.

If you know me, you know I love grammar, but I have to say, I really think "funner" should be a word.