The worst of our physical office move is complete, if you don't count unpacking massive numbers of boxes whose contents are unknown and the space for which simply no longer exists. At least we all have desks, but we don't have internet connectivity and we don't have phone service. I hope those come early tomorrow.
I'm physically and mentally tired and all I want to do this morning is drink my coffee, avoid mental challenges, and get the challenges of tomorrow off my mind.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Thursday, August 21, 2008
They Want to See Your Bag
Two days in a row. There's nothing in my head that's aching to make it down to the keyboard. Like yesterday, I'm more inclined to want to be a storm-chaser today than a paper-chaser. Today. Right. That means "in this lifetime."
Oh, maybe you'd be interested in my dream. I had just arrived in a U.S. airport, very, very, very late one night, from an overseas flight from I-don't-know-where. Three people were waiting for me at baggage claim, inside customs. Hundreds of bags came out, but not mine. When I reported it missing, I was asked to describe it but couldn't remember what it looked like. They asked me to draw a picture. I did, but I couldn't get the handles drawn right; they looked like whisps of paper. The attendant got angry with me and asked whether I had checked the other airlines. "No, I said, I flew in on American." Her face twisted into a scowl and she said, "It doesn't matter! It could have come in on any airline!" I wanted to get my bag, but the people who had come to get me insisted on leaving to attend a party that should have been over hours earlier. "They'll keep it open," my greeters insisted. "They want to see your bag!"
Oh, maybe you'd be interested in my dream. I had just arrived in a U.S. airport, very, very, very late one night, from an overseas flight from I-don't-know-where. Three people were waiting for me at baggage claim, inside customs. Hundreds of bags came out, but not mine. When I reported it missing, I was asked to describe it but couldn't remember what it looked like. They asked me to draw a picture. I did, but I couldn't get the handles drawn right; they looked like whisps of paper. The attendant got angry with me and asked whether I had checked the other airlines. "No, I said, I flew in on American." Her face twisted into a scowl and she said, "It doesn't matter! It could have come in on any airline!" I wanted to get my bag, but the people who had come to get me insisted on leaving to attend a party that should have been over hours earlier. "They'll keep it open," my greeters insisted. "They want to see your bag!"
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Storms
There's nothing here today. Everything I've tried to write has finally been put away into my private folder. It's not fit to share, nor do I feel a need to share it.
I'm thinking of violent storms, with thunderous explosions of sound and flashes of light bursting from low, dark, sinister, murderous clouds that twist and turn and erupt into fiendish, shrieking winds.
I want to see such a storm tonight. I want to feel its fury as its cracks of thunder shake the earth.
I'm thinking of violent storms, with thunderous explosions of sound and flashes of light bursting from low, dark, sinister, murderous clouds that twist and turn and erupt into fiendish, shrieking winds.
I want to see such a storm tonight. I want to feel its fury as its cracks of thunder shake the earth.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Fingers in Their Cases
Today, my staff got serious about packing for our impending office move. They were in overdrive, packing boxes, gathering old magazines and other innocuous paper for the recyclng center, questioning "why do we have to keep this?" at every turn. They worked hard for their pay today, a physical effort that we rarely have to exert.
As for me, I had a completely unexpected and utterly unwelcome flare-up of the long-since-gone pain of my Crohn's disease. Fortunately, it wasn't serious and the most serious pain only lasted a few hours, but it was an unhappy reminder that the damn disease is still there. I had a minor flare earlier this year. I hope this isn't a signal that it's getting its sea-legs again.
Tomorrow, I'm to be interviewed for a national television news show that virtually everyone would know if I mentioned it, but I won't because I don't want my clients nosing around on this blog. It's going to be a phone interview, which is a good thing because I don't like television interviews in the least (and I've been told I have a face for radio, anyway). The topic has gotten so old that I wish it would just disappear, but at least it keeps my client in the spotlights of the media, which for them is a good thing.
All the prospective new business that is descending on me is still not close to becoming a paying client, but I can't help but think some of them will take the plunge before long. Our new office space probably won't accommodate any more clients, nor any more staff, but I'd like to have to deal with those impossibilities before I decide I wouldn't appreciate them.
I'm putting my fingers back in their cases tonight. Enough bloggery.
As for me, I had a completely unexpected and utterly unwelcome flare-up of the long-since-gone pain of my Crohn's disease. Fortunately, it wasn't serious and the most serious pain only lasted a few hours, but it was an unhappy reminder that the damn disease is still there. I had a minor flare earlier this year. I hope this isn't a signal that it's getting its sea-legs again.
Tomorrow, I'm to be interviewed for a national television news show that virtually everyone would know if I mentioned it, but I won't because I don't want my clients nosing around on this blog. It's going to be a phone interview, which is a good thing because I don't like television interviews in the least (and I've been told I have a face for radio, anyway). The topic has gotten so old that I wish it would just disappear, but at least it keeps my client in the spotlights of the media, which for them is a good thing.
All the prospective new business that is descending on me is still not close to becoming a paying client, but I can't help but think some of them will take the plunge before long. Our new office space probably won't accommodate any more clients, nor any more staff, but I'd like to have to deal with those impossibilities before I decide I wouldn't appreciate them.
I'm putting my fingers back in their cases tonight. Enough bloggery.
Monday, August 18, 2008
L. Cohen: Joan of Arc
How could someone NOT find this exceptionally compelling poetry and music? OK, maybe you don't find it as compelling as I do, but I just don't understand why not.
Time to See Leonard Cohen in Concert
I've never seen/heard Leonard Cohen in concert. I've wanted to for at least 30 years, but have never had the chance (he doesn't get to Texas...can't imagine why, as I'm sure both his fans here would go to see him).
I just came across what is said is his current tour schedule. I can't do Bucharest in September, though I have a friend who's invited me to come with her (and her husband) to Romania to help her create a theatre school for high-school age kids. That wold be good, if it could work, because I'd have a place to stay and people I know. But the date won't work. Ditto Vienna and Prague (dates not working...I know no one I could count on for a place to stay in either place). I'd LOVE to go back to Helsinki, though, even without a place to stay, other than a swank hotel. That would be fantastic! And I'd happily follow him to Stockholm, taking the same cruise ship I took last trip from Stockholm to Helsinki and back. I wonder if I could get tickets?
09/21 Bucharest, Romania - Arcul de Trumpf
09/24 Vienna, Austria - Koncerthaus
09/27 Prague, Czech Republic - HC Sparta
09/29 Wroclaw, Poland - Hala Orbita
10/01 Warsaw, Poland - Torwar
10/04 Berlin, Germany - O2
10/07 Munich, Germany - Olympiahalle
10/10 Helsinki, Finland - Ice Hall
10/12 Gothenburg, Sweden - Falconer
10/15 Stockholm, Sweden - Golben
10/17 Copenhagen, Denmark - Forum
10/20 Brussels, Belgium - Forest National
10/23 Milan, Italy - Teatro Degli Arcimboldi
10/25 Zurich, Switzerland - Hallenstadion
10/27 Geneva, Switzerland - TBA
10/29 Frankfurt, Germany - Festhalle
10/31 Hamburg, Germany - Colorline Arena
11/02 Oberhausen, Germany - Oberhausen Arena
11/03 Rottendam, Netherlands - Ahoy
11/05 Glasgow, Scotland - Clyde
11/08 Cardiff, Wales - International Arena
11/11 Bournemouth, England - International Centre
11/13 London, England - O2 Arena
11/22 Birmingham, England - NEC
11/24 Paris, France - Olympia
11/25 Paris, France - Olympia
11/28 Brighton, England - Brighton Centre
12/01 Dublin, Ireland - The Point
I just came across what is said is his current tour schedule. I can't do Bucharest in September, though I have a friend who's invited me to come with her (and her husband) to Romania to help her create a theatre school for high-school age kids. That wold be good, if it could work, because I'd have a place to stay and people I know. But the date won't work. Ditto Vienna and Prague (dates not working...I know no one I could count on for a place to stay in either place). I'd LOVE to go back to Helsinki, though, even without a place to stay, other than a swank hotel. That would be fantastic! And I'd happily follow him to Stockholm, taking the same cruise ship I took last trip from Stockholm to Helsinki and back. I wonder if I could get tickets?
09/21 Bucharest, Romania - Arcul de Trumpf
09/24 Vienna, Austria - Koncerthaus
09/27 Prague, Czech Republic - HC Sparta
09/29 Wroclaw, Poland - Hala Orbita
10/01 Warsaw, Poland - Torwar
10/04 Berlin, Germany - O2
10/07 Munich, Germany - Olympiahalle
10/10 Helsinki, Finland - Ice Hall
10/12 Gothenburg, Sweden - Falconer
10/15 Stockholm, Sweden - Golben
10/17 Copenhagen, Denmark - Forum
10/20 Brussels, Belgium - Forest National
10/23 Milan, Italy - Teatro Degli Arcimboldi
10/25 Zurich, Switzerland - Hallenstadion
10/27 Geneva, Switzerland - TBA
10/29 Frankfurt, Germany - Festhalle
10/31 Hamburg, Germany - Colorline Arena
11/02 Oberhausen, Germany - Oberhausen Arena
11/03 Rottendam, Netherlands - Ahoy
11/05 Glasgow, Scotland - Clyde
11/08 Cardiff, Wales - International Arena
11/11 Bournemouth, England - International Centre
11/13 London, England - O2 Arena
11/22 Birmingham, England - NEC
11/24 Paris, France - Olympia
11/25 Paris, France - Olympia
11/28 Brighton, England - Brighton Centre
12/01 Dublin, Ireland - The Point
A Glimpse of Humanity
I'm in one of those moods tonight in which I realize that even Republicans can be decent human beings. I know. It's hard for, me, too, but I really believe it.
If you try to put yourself in the position of someone with whom you vehemently disagree about virtually everything, you can get a different perspective on their positions. It's especially useful to force yourself to argue his or her position forcefully and rationally.
Nothing in particular brought me to this "insight" (which I experience fairly frequently, just not often enough to let it change my inate skepticism about the value of humankind); it just happens sometimes.
If you try to put yourself in the position of someone with whom you vehemently disagree about virtually everything, you can get a different perspective on their positions. It's especially useful to force yourself to argue his or her position forcefully and rationally.
Nothing in particular brought me to this "insight" (which I experience fairly frequently, just not often enough to let it change my inate skepticism about the value of humankind); it just happens sometimes.