We'll wait here while Jim...

For some reason last night, while out for pints with Rick, i remembered that my favorite childhood TV program was Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom.

Oh, the naivete of youth!

Marlin Perkins was everything i hoped to grow up to be; and even at a young age, i already appreciated his deadpan narrative humor from the sidelines as his co-host, Jim, attempted to approach the dangerous beast of the week.

the perfect day

i'm always bumping into hidden corners in my mind.

i've just recently reconnected with Matt Abell (see Jan 8: "The Buddha Rules") through Facebook.
it's been 19 years since i've seen him.

as it turns out, i had "edited" my memories of my first man-friend and best comrade, leaving out a large portion (all) of the horribly selfish things i did to him.

in my mind, Matt and i will always be sitting on a grassy knoll at sunset in September, covered in charcoal with newsprint pads propped on our knees as we draw the trees and Matt teaches me the lyrics to an entire album of Violent Femmes songs.

this is my perfect day.

mark your calendars!

there was a french question on Jeopardy last night (something about what does the ballet position "en cloche" resemble).

i got it RIGHT & Lou got it WRONG!

he said "clock", but i knew it was "bell".

i will always remember this day!

revenge is a dish best served...

... already eaten.

this isn't from the distant past, but i can't let myself forgot the meanest thing i've done so far this year (it's still early).

i brought in 2 dozen cupcakes to share yesterday.
after dropping them off in the staff lounge and sending out an e-mail to everyone, Paul came into my office and asked me to return a china plate to Annette (the micro-management monster woman) for him.
i wasn't very excited about the idea. it's my general practice to avoid her if at all possible, which is easier now that i don't work for her and have my office in a different building.

so when Nilsa came to get cupcakes for everyone in the other building and didn't have a way to carry them, i happily offered her Annette's plate.
i stacked it full of cupcakes (making sure to get some crumbs on it) and told her to be sure to return the plate to Annette- empty.

if you don't think this was mean, then you have no idea how much Annette likes cupcakes.

Dear Diary: 03-09-08

... a short scene from the forthcoming made-for-TV-movie of my life story:

Roll the clip...

(Two men inside a small car as it pulls out of a major mall parking lot)
FREDD: Did you like the movie?
(long pause)
LOU: Yeah.
(long pause while the car veers around a sharp curve)
FREDD: I'm still not sure why Juno reminded Siobhan of me.
LOU: Huh.
FREDD: And a couple of other people have said that same thing.
LOU: I guess they are trying to tell you that you are a bitch.
FREDD: What? Juno wasn't a bitch. I liked her.
LOU: Exactly.
(very long pause)
FREDD: It must be because her scarf is like mine.
LOU: Yeah, I'm sure that's it.
(fade out as car goes around a sharp curve and disappears from view, errant seagulls caw in the background)

Intro. to Architecture:

first year of college, first class of the day.
there are a bunch of "wacky" things that stick in my head from this class (mostly the weird singing/chanting from "Atlantean"- or at least Steve's comedic impression of it), but there was one lesson in particular i tried to incorporate into my life as a habit.
Never leaving the same way you came?
Never take the same route twice?
i'm sure Patrick Quinn had a more eloquent way of phrasing it, but you get the general idea.

i put this lesson into practice for years, keeping my senses "stimulated" in my daily patterns, forcing myself to re-experience the "familiar" as "new", when viewed from a different angle.

this habit changed when i decided to "go green" and not own a car (for safety and financial reasons more than environmental ones). it just faded away (rather quickly) as the daily routine of walking to and from work became just that: routine.

it's been 8 years (2 at my current job).
i walk the exact same route every day.
i know when to step over buckles in the sidewalk and where puddles will appear in rainstorms.
i can tell whether i'm running early or late by the traffic patterns at key intersections.

my pedestrian commute has become everything Prof. Quinn warned against.
my brain focuses inward rather than outward.
while walking to/from work, i am almost completely unaware of my external environment.
instead i'm planning my day, thinking deep thoughts and giving my neuroses some structured time of their own.

as a result, my insomnia has disappeared and, in reasonable weather, I get in about an extra hour of reading a day.