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To: Crazy Bay Area environmental lobbyist on the phone
To: Secretary in the elevator
To: Tourists visiting the Capitol todayI know you're not here all the time. I know you don't understand that this is the busiest of days for us, that literally hundreds of things are happening at once, and that while, yes, absolutely, this is your building, it's also our office.
We're glad you're here. We hope you see how hard we work, how much we care about what we're doing, how intensely committed we are to a better state, better education, better roads and air and even better football stadiums. And -- the fact that you're here on today of all days is really a good thing.
But please -- PLEASE. If you see someone in serious office wear, her arms full of binders and folders and clutching a BlackBerry and several pens, literally running in high heels -- could you just step aside a little to let her pass? Please? You're on vacation or at least a Friday off work. Will that 15 seconds really mean as much to you as it does to her as she's trying to get to the floor or committee or Leg Counsel or where ever? And, one more thing -- if you could manage not to roll your eyes and/or say something crappy about politicians/Democrats/how we're all thieves or crooks, that would be the icing on the cake.
Have a pleasant stay.
When I stopped straightening my hair and embraced its curl, I still had some work cut out for me. Product is critical, and I'm lucky my stylist pointed me in the right direction there. A good cut is also really important -- my hair's fine, but there's lots of it, so I need some layers to avoid looking like the triangle-haired woman in "Dilbert" and also let the curl lose a little weight and be a bit springier.
Bills are not so much "legislation" as they are "zombies."
The answer to everything is "Sure!" followed by a slightly hysterical giggle.
You don't know what day it is. Because it doesn't matter.
You accidentally use lotion in in place of hair gel in the morning and your hair looks the same.
A matching outfit is one in which everything you wear is clean.
Lots of crying. Lots of yelling. Lots of door slamming.
You are an expert on an issue 15 minutes after you hear about it for the first time in your life.
Caucus caucus caucus.
So I was driving home after work yesterday, minding my own business, exceeding the posted speed limit by a... smidge. It had been a hairy day, so the stereo was turned up pretty high, and it was pretty warm too, so the A/C was cranking. My mind was a dozen places, trying to wind down, thinking ahead to a night of chores and a hopefully early bedtime.
Interspersed with the food was screaming laughter, a cranky panhandler with a story of woe whose logic was pretty obviously flawed, and several quite drunk young men who told us the name "Mallory" means "unlucky" (?) but wanted to know if we'd still name our daughters that (um, no), wanted fist bumps (um, no) and I think also, potentially, dates. Their ardor was undeterred by the presence of a three-month-old baby, a woman who plainly said one of the young women at the table was her daughter, and the fact that none of us appeared the slightest bit interested.
Alarm. *hit snooze* Alarm. *hit snooze* Alarm. *)^$%$
Anyone who knows me for more than about 15 minutes knows I love bacon. Perhaps to an unhealthy degree. To date I have had two birthday celebrations where bacon was a featured ingredient, I put bacon in my grilled cheese sandwiches (which I also make with Velveeta slices) (don't hate -- I'm from Texas and it's fabulous), Lynnie gave me a bacon cookbook one time that included desserts with bacon in them. In short: bacon, bacon, bacon. As often as possible, as much as possible -- bacon.
She watched for probably 15 minutes straight, without looking away. I think she was mesmerized by Tom Cruise's performance. Boo doesn't share her affection; he slept through the whole thing.
Felonious dogfighting entrepreneur and former quarterback Michael Vick was conditionally reinstated in the NFL yesterday by the league's commissioner. I'll be taking my viewing time elsewhere this fall. From espn.com:Vick, free after serving 18 months in prison for running a dogfighting ring, was reinstated with conditions by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on Monday.
Vick can immediately take part in preseason practices, workouts and meetings and can play in the final two preseason games -- if he can find a team that will sign him. A number of teams have already said they would not.
Sal Paolantonio says the wording for Michael Vick's return gives the commissioner a lot of latitude on when to fully reinstate him. How many teams are interested?
Once the season begins, Vick may participate in all team activities except games, and Goodell said he would consider Vick for full reinstatement by Week 6 (Oct. 18-19) at the latest.
According to ESPN's Sal Paolantonio, a source close to Vick expressed "shock" over the severity of Vick's punishment and said Vick will reapply for full reinstatement as early as Week 1.
Goodell suspended Vick indefinitely in August 2007 after the former Atlanta Falcons quarterback admitted bankrolling a dogfighting operation on his property in Virginia. At the time, Goodell said Vick must show remorse before he would consider reinstating him.
"I accept that you are sincere when you say that you want to, and will, turn your life around, and that you intend to be a positive role model for others," Goodell said in his letter to Vick. "I am prepared to offer you that opportunity. Whether you succeed is entirely in your hands.
"Needless to say, your margin for error is extremely limited," the letter said. "I urge you to take full advantage of the resources available to support you and to dedicate yourself to rebuilding your life and your career. If you do this, the NFL will support you."
Goodell said he spoke to numerous current and former players and coaches as he weighed his decision and that the responses were "very mixed."
Note Boo's tail wrapped protectively around Daisy's bottom. Just too much.
Nora: May I tell you something? At the risk of oversharing?
Nora: So, I was wondering if I could leave a little early today.
N: Well, honey, I think I'm going to head home.
Over the past couple of days, I've been the grateful recipient of some attention. Phone calls, emails, personal visits at work. "Is everything OK? You all right?" Some of have noticed my considerable blogular absence. Others, that I've missed a few Sundays of church and still others that I just haven't sounded good when they've talked to me.
*ring, ring*
The new neighbors' name
The swine flu (or whatever) abates
I own all the books. I even follow it on Twitter.
Such an interesting social experiment. Honesty and pain and fear and humor -- the human condition -- both constrained and liberated by what can fit on a postcard and be mailed.
Every week, I alternatingly laugh, get teary eyed, fear for the human race even more than usual, and rejoice in anonymous fellow humans' experiences, truths and victories large and small.
Every week, I see myself at least once. Every week, I have new people to pray for and hope with.
This weekend, my dear friend Shu! will walk in Rutgers' graduation ceremony. He technically received a degree in economics in December, but ceremonies are reserved for the spring.
I started Operation Junkless Trunk at the end of January. My mission: to quit eating crap, to start moving and perhaps, if the shin splints cooperated, rehab and train to the point of regularly running. I did pretty well at it for quite a while: up to the point I left Capitol Ministries, I'd lost 10 pounds or so. And I could really see and feel the difference -- my clothes fit differently, better, and I sure felt better. But then I got the Cold of Doom, leaving me coughing and breathless, which set me back pretty considerably. I never really found my footing again, workout wise, in terms of consistency, but the 10 pounds stayed off.
It's a store in downtown! Was the sticker placement part of a viral marketing campaign? Overeager employees? Random vandalism? Not sure, but I'm really glad the mystery is solved.
The boss took us out to an early lunch, basically saving our lives by way of ceviche and burritos. We heard the bomb squad's detonation of the suspicious bag from the relative safety of Vallejo's.Bomb experts from the California Highway Patrol detonated a mysterious package on the north side of the state Capitol shortly after noon Thursday, after the presence of two mysterious packages disrupted an Assembly floor session and caused the evacuation of about 100 people from the building.
CHP Officer Jarrod Lassila said no explosives were in the bag that was detonated. Offices on the north side of the Capitol were reopened about 12:30 p.m.
The detonation, which could be heard for several blocks surrounding the Capitol and filled the air with the smell of smoke, occurred after CHP officers used a robot to move one of the packages, a leather satchel with a piece of metal protruding from it, about 30 yards away from the L Street side of the building, to the base of a large redwood tree in Capitol Park. The satchel had been hanging from a statue about 20 feet from the entrance, according to CHP spokeswoman Jaime Coffee. A passer-by reported the packages to Capitol security shortly after 9 a.m.
Coffee said the other package had been determined to be just a plastic bag full of clothes. Tony Beard, chief sergeant at arms for the state Senate, said the plastic bag raised suspicions because it was found at the base of a monument to Gilbert Murray, a forester who was killed in 1995 by a bomb planted by Theodore Kaczynski, the notorious Unabomber.
Ron Pane, chief sergeant at arms for the Assembly, said offices on the north side of the building were evacuated as a precautionary measure. The Assembly chamber was also ordered closed. Pane said that in addition to the Assembly members, who were meeting at the time, about 100 people, mostly employees in the Department of Finance, were moved out.
"It's better to have folks move and be safe," Pane said.
Yesterday was one of those days when I wanted to chuck my BlackBerry into the toilet. And then hold it under water to make sure it was truly dead. It was relentless, with its buzzing and chirping, as I ran from meeting to committee to briefing to my office to where ever the heck. Just when I would start to concentrate on something -- anything -- I'd hear the BlackBerry's familiar, cheerful little *chirp* and think, more or less, "&^$#%$#."
Scene: The office is just crazed -- phones ringing, fax machine screaming, staff literally running to where ever. And I'm clearly on the phone -- like, talking, and with my desk covered in papers and binders, and writing and answering email all the while. There is no way I look like someone who is available to talk. 
