Of all the things I don’t do well, this is my favorite.

Archive for February, 2007

Can’t . . . Look . . . Away . . . From . . . the HD

Monday, February 26th, 2007

So I was just watching a show in Discovery Channel HD about righting a “capsized logging boat in the Pacific Northwest.” “Why” you may ask? I honestly don’t know. It’s just that it’s in HD and it’s so awesome. I was turning on the TV to relax with an episode of The Simpsons that I’m sure I’ve seen a hundred times, but the the TV was on Discovery HD and as the picture came up I saw this barge tipping, tipping, tipping, and all these red logs sliding off the deck and suddenly the craft was upside down. And then . . . they righted it! Fascinating.

Ten Year Olds Are Brilliant

Tuesday, February 20th, 2007

I am so excited for Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader? The commercials make it look like it’s going to provide so many priceless moments. It looks certain to prove both (1) that most people really do forget more than they remember on balance and (2) that a lot of the things you learn are lovely but have absolutely no application in your adult life and shouldn’t clog up your brain space. Although none of the questions I’ve seen in the commercials seem that hard - how many sides does a trapezoid have? what’s a diameter? what’s a pronoun? So I suppose maybe I shouldn’t find this so funny - I mean 45% of these people vote, right?

So Maybe I Was Working Too Hard

Sunday, February 18th, 2007

All last week I was in a state of mild panic and sadness. The cause? My precious black Pumas that I wear to work every day (that I got for a song at Nordstrom Rack) had gone missing. They’re great because they’re black so they don’t stand out too much, especially when I’m riding up the elevator with someone important who has some impact on my future and with whom I would like to maintain the impression that I am not a slob. I wear them instead of pretty shoes - kept under the desk - because I often have to walk a mile or so of hills on the way either to or from work, depending on how Muni’s feeling. Once home, I usually dump my shoes in front of the coat closet, but last week there was an old dishwasher my usual spot (long story) and I had left other shoes there already. But I was still convinced that’s where I left them as I vaguely recalled plopping them down there on Friday, February 2. But they simply weren’t there. So I relied on my cute, but glaringly obvious, white with blue accents Adidas running shoes all last week, and every night engaged in a game of “maybe I left them ____,” looking in, e.g., the dining room, the garage, and being both disappointed and thoroughly perplexed that I could have lost shoes in my own house.

On several hours of sleep, I finally found my shoes last night. In the living room. Right under the coffee table. Fully visible from my regular location. Now, to be fair, I’d been too busy to watch TV most of the week, but I had been in the living room and in that seat at least two days of the week for some brief period of time and my brain never registered the presence of the shoes I so desperately missed. Thankfully, I get this weekend to sleep and sleep and not work and I have my precious shoes back.