Shut Down

You know what I find pretty amazing? It takes me a minimum of thirty minutes to get things up and running at the beginning of the day, what with the checking of email, blogs and news. But it takes me about a minute to shut things down and prepare to bolt out the door at the end of the day.

I am off to Pineland. Just in case this is the last post before then, Merry Christmas Blogosphere!

Sleeper Cell

Sleeper Cell, the latest Showtime series, is absolutely fantastic. It is extremely enlightening and shows a side of the Islamic faith of which many people are completely unaware. For those that don't know, the show is about a sleeper cell, obviously, in L.A. Michael Ealy plays Darwyn Al-Hakim, an African American Muslim FBI agent embedded in the 5 man LA cell run by Faris Al-Farik (Oded Fehr from The Mummy fame). For those Felicity fans, David (the professor's son) is also on the show as a soulful Bosnian man who saw his entire family murdered by Serbs. Seriously, he pretty much breaks my heart with every one of his sad gazes. My favorite part of the show is the naughty Frenchman/Muslim/former White Supremacist/snarky playboy, Christian. When he is on screen, I am salivating. How can a man look so sexy in a hoodie?

Sleeper Cell is extremely well written and leaves me dying to know what happens next. Will they destroy the United States? Will they be stopped? On the one hand, you know these men are for all intents and purposes evil, but at the same time, as you grow to know them, you understand why they are doing what they are doing and how they came to be this way. And Farik plays such a fabulous asshole that you kind of find yourself rooting for him then realizing that is probably a bad thing.

I love how hard the show works at portraying the Muslim faith in a positive light. They could have glossed over the good parts and the people that work so hard to live an honorable Muslim life. But they bring that front and center. They also raise awareness that immediate prejudice against someone because of their appearance is not only wrong, but also pointless. Sleeper Cell shows that the next terrorist attack will not carried out by men in beards and long robes, but by blonde haired blue eyed guys from Berkeley, by clean cut professors, by well dressed executives, by soccer coaches, by hot guys in hoodies.

Showtime is supposed to be showing all of the episodes from the start beginning on January 10th. Also, I think that Comcast is doing a freeview of it. Check your OnDemand. Seriously, it is a great show and something I think everyone needs to watch. Anyone who doesn't have access to it is more than welcomed to come over and watch. Was I wrong about Weeds?

Smorgasborg

I have worked in a variety of office situations. Some where we were all very close, some where we barely tolerated each other and a variety in between. Never have I worked in an office that liked the holiday treats quite as much. Check out the Holiday Fare...

December 5: Post party left overs including queso, yummy biscuits, cookies, sopapilla cheesecake
December 8: Brownies, pumpkin bars, chocolate/coconut bars
December 12: Sugar cookies
December 16: Red velvet cupcakes
December 19: Sugar cookies, sugar cookies with peanut butter cups in the middle, chocolate covered pretzels, chocolate covered pretzels with more chocolate and an M&M, rum cake that is so strong that I am possibly already drunk.

I am sure that there has been more that I am forgetting. It's insanity! AND, I haven't baked ANY of it. I considered making something but decided not to. Glad I didn't now. There would no room on the table today.

Numa Numa

I was just sent a link to possibly the funniest thing I have seen in a long time...

http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/numa.php

Beware. You will giggle and snicker. My not be suitable for your reputation as a no-nonsense, badass at work.

Hershey Bar

Dear Santa,

I would like a Hershey bar bigger than my face.

















Thanks,
MAV

Jarring

I was watching a little Buffy this morning. It was the funeral episode where Dawn raises Joice from the dead. That series of episodes is hard enough to watch, but is it necessary to have the usual credits music? You are watching the sisters holding each other as they cry over the loss of their mother. Then the episodes ends and the perky credits music starts. It is just jarring. Wouldn't silent credits be better? Of course, I am watching this on FX, so there is the chance that even if there were silent credits the following commercial could have been for King of the Hill. But I still stand by my opinion that official credits music is not always the best choice.

Also, watching 5th Season Buffy makes me miss this show (in that form...not the UPN forms) so much.

A Punch In The Stomach

I have been working on some training for National Hotel Chain Typically Located Near Denny's for the past few weeks. I was really excited about being assigned this project because it uses a program that no one else in the office knows very well, and, well, it wasn't training for Major Air Conditioning Company or Major Electronics And Gadget Store. I have been diligently working on the NHCTLD project, coming in on weekends, working from home, etc. I drove people nuts pestering them for content, voiceovers, interface design, etc. I was DETERMINED not to scramble to complete this project at the last minute like we normally do. I wanted a leisurely QC. I wanted a panic-free submission. It was my Christmas dream. And, I was doing well. I was ahead of schedule. Getting this all done by noon on Friday was going to be easy peasy. Around 3 yesterday, my PM was like, is it possible to get these changes ready for the meeting at 9 on Thursday.

What!

9:00 am!

Thursday!

What!

My stomach contracted, my throat tightened and the veins in my head began to throb. 27 hour less than I thought I had???? What! I briefly went into a catatonic state and considered tears as you do when you realized you have a day less than you thought you did on a major project. I saw my career flash before my eyes. As my lunch threatened to abandon ship, I remembered that I was over half a day ahead of schedule. This would be doable. Intense, but doable.

I just submitted the project. I must say, it looks pretty good for only being about half done yesterday. I even came in early to put some extra sparkle and shine on it. But seriously, I think I might have had a mild heart attack yesterday. Really. 27 less hours.

Really Sad or Really Awesome

So, as I was getting gas this weekend, I noticed a “gentleman’s club” by the name of Chicas Bonitas was next door. Chica Bonitas had valet parking. At 11 in the morning. On a Saturday. So, I am trying to decide, is this really sad or really awesome?

A Christmas Story

Why might I ask is it necessary to have 24 hours of "A Christmas Story" every year? Is there anyone left in this country that can even bear to watch this movie anymore? Seriously, hasn't TBS hit Christmas Story saturation point yet? How much more must we endure?

How about a new movie? Just for a year? Just for a couple of hours? Mix it up. Show a classic like "It's A Wonderful Life" or maybe "Miracle on 34th Street." Maybe go with something a little darker like "Scrooged" or "Bad Santa." Although, I, personally, could really go for my favorite Christmas movie of all time: "A Charlie Brown Christmas." Poor sad tree.

So, what is your favorite Christmas movie?

The Clumsy Girl On Ice

To say that I don't do very well with ice will not be surprising in any way to my loyal readers (see here, here, here, here, here, here). But this morning the need for warm beverages was quite intense, resulting in my trekking to the gas station in my boots of great traction. As I was slipping and sliding in the icy shadows on the sidewalk, I was reminded of another great ice storm.

It was our freshman year at Baylor. One morning, we awoke to find everything covered in a blanket of thick ice. The entire campus was like a skating rink. The Bears rejoiced. After many mugs of hot cocoa and as stir craziness associated with teensy dorm rooms with no cable set in, I convinced YayCoffee and Special T to accompany me to turn in a paper that was ABSOLUTELY, NO EXCEPTIONS ALL, due that day. We slid down the streets, over the sidewalks, past the frozen fountain to Carroll Science (the English Department, oddly enough). When we got there, the doors were bolted shut. Apparently, my professor had not shared that little "neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night shall postpone the due date" speech with the man with the keys.

That story was a little boring. I am embarrassed I wrote it.

Winter Storm Friedrick

Overall, I give Winter Storm 2005 (which I named Friedrick) a 7. Overall, it has been good. Well done, but with some problems and set backs.

Good - Got off work at 11:30 yesterday
Bad - Realized I had no liquor in the house
Good - Lines at liquor store practically nonexistant
Bad - Began to sleet again on my way back from the liquor store
Good - Chose to wear my warmest sweater, a very good choice
Bad - Was out of regular underwear so had to wear itty, bitty, no warmth providing thong
Good - Had good hair day, especially with my moose tobaggan.
Bad - Out of milk
Good - Tomato soup
Bad - No bread for grilled cheese sandwich to go with soup.
Good - Had popcorn with soup
Bad - Used olive oil instead of vegetable oil in popcorn. Not great.
Good - Alarm did not go off at 5 am
Bad - The Elephant upstairs apparently fell out of bed, dented the floor and woke me up at 6:45
Good - Found my favorite sweatshirt and was able to snuggle in it this morning.
Bad - Out of socks
Good - As I was not going into work right away would be able to wash clothes
Bad - Water supply to washer and my SHOWER turned off.
Good - Am quite skilled at washing hair in sink.
Bad - After I checked the washer TWICE for renewed water flow, decided to leave my laundry to indicate existance of laundry queue.
Good - Walked to restaurant next door and got a double Arabic coffee
Bad - When I returned, someone had cut in line and was washing their clothes. I suspect The Elephant who snores really loudly. No wonder she ain't gots no mans.
Good - Put up Christmas tree, ornaments and garland
Bad - Blew fuse on On/Off button extention cord thingy
Good - Fixed and now have all 1,500 lights shining brightly.
Bad - Had to come into work with lots of edits awaiting me. It isn't even my project!

So, as you can see, there has been good and bad. But then I think about how last Saturday was like 80 degrees and how much I hate my "warm weather" clothes and rejoice in all that Friedrick has brought me.