Begone foul spirit!

I hate it when my incredibly disgruntled spouse swoops into my office and unloads negativity all over my barely centered chi, leaving behind feelings of bitterness with the lingering scent of apple cinnamon danish. I'm already at my negative emotion threshold when I walk through the door. I don't need him pushing me more into Milton territory than I already am. For pete's sake, people - I just work here! There is nothing I can do about the reigning status quo of ridiculous political jockeying and the giant web of lies and suck.

Now I need more coffee!

Go fly a giant kite

I've been sitting here watching the opening Olympic ceremonies - which I do for every Olympics even if I have very little interest in the actual athletic contests - and I'm just amazed at the show the Chinese put on. It was quite beautiful, and obviously planned out down to the tiniest detail. I just don't remember the parade of nations being this long, or there being this many countries I'd never heard of, or the commentators being so goddamn annoying. I also find it a little ridiculous that McDonalds is calling itself the "official resturant" of the Olympic games. But then there's the Nike ad that uses a song by The Killers (are they going to release a new album soon, anyone know?), so that was a highlight. I watch the games because they represent the best that nations have to offer as they put aside their idealogical differences for the sake of the enduring competative spirit of international athletics.

A little boy who helped rescue classmates from the earthquake rubble is part of China's parade delegation. What an incredibly brave little boy!

And holy crap, they have a lot of competitors - this line is never ending (there are 1,099 members of the Chinese delegation...).

The official website of the 2008 Beijing Olmpics

NBC's coverage of the 2008 games - includes live feeds and medal updates for each contest


And now for something completely different...

Via Laughing Squid: Hamlet, as told on Facebook's news feed

What science makes possible:

Mapping pronounced brow ridges and occipital lobes

Complete fossils

Remains of the meh

Yesterday I had this nagging headache, which had persisted for two days. I had (and still have) work to do, but I just can't wrap my brain around it or attempt to care if it goes undone. So I've been avoiding it by arguing with idiots on the internet. Horray for deep-seeded ignorance and the outlet that allows it to be spewed forth for the whole world to bear witness, and that allows others to mercilessly mock it. Which, I admit, is kind of an effort in futility, but it provides me a modecum of joy.

Some of my coworkers have been getting very tricky lately. It is a known fact that if I am busy I sometimes won't answer my phone - I am even less inclined to answer even if I'm not busy if certain people are calling. So now those certain people, instead of leaving me a voice message when my phone goes unanswered, will then call the receptionist to "check" to see if I'm in. And she promptly transfers their call. Every. Single. Time!

I still don't know if I'll be working here or in the administration hub after the summer. Did I ever mention how much I hate loose ends? And I would hate to have the old "Oh, hey, tomorrow you start that new job we've been dragging our feet on for months. Hope you've got all your projects finished" pulled on me. because that is just crap.

A raven and a writing desk

This week has all the makings of a Lewis Carroll tale.

Firstly, this morning there was a white rabbit in my yard. In all the years I've lived in my house I've seen plenty of creatures on the front lawn - but never a rabbit. If I didn't have to go to work today I would have attempted a rescue op. Now I'll just spend the rest of the day wondering where it came from and how the croquette tournament went.

Secondly, the boss's new assistant keeps venting to me about the other manager's issues. This morning, first thing, to set the tone for the week to come: an e-mail suggesting that the new coworker has "customer service" issues and needs training so that the manager doesn't have to intervene when we have visitors here just looking for information. And this morning, although my coworker was here in time to open the office when it is supposed to be, the manager got here a few minutes earlier, opened everything up and then left again - then called and left a voicemail making it known that no one was here when she expected them to be. I've already expressed to this woman that I can serve up plenty of tit-for-tat as far as that kind of behavior is concerned - and that she'd be better served worrying less about my job and more about her own. I've started re-reading the book on how to work for an "Idiot Boss" that M lent to me, and it has made me realize that this manager is a combo platter of the worst sort, and I'm learning new ways of dealing with that. Between the rising acrimony now developing between our boss's right hand staffer (who may find herself on the outs if she doesn't watch herself) and his assistant (who is not as meek as I am and is going to give the other one a serious what-for if things keep up this way), and the cess pool of angst percolating right next door, someone is going to have his hands full very soon if he's not careful. I've done my part and directed his attention to the issue of supervisor/underling relations, and I can do no more. I'll just sit back and watch the the madness while I try to be grateful that for the most part my direct supervisor is fairly supportive and just lets me do my job.

I feel like the dormouse watching the Hatter let the March Hare conduct the tea party: in the end it's a ridiculous affair no matter who is in charge.

Actually, I think that would make a great painting! I think I just found my project for the weekend. I finally have a use for a couple of my blank canvases. I could do a series in the nursery rhyme/fairytale theme. I think a painting of the Three Billygoats Gruff would be kind of fun.

I feel I should mention that I just noticed an open position posted in Human Resources...for a job in another company! What. The. Hell.

(There is something seriously weird happening with this post. Please be patient while I kick Blogger's ass!)

The drinking will continue until morale improves

Yesterday my employer threw a baseball-themed summer picnic as part of their morale project. They already had some sort of mock game show a couple of weeks ago. (Obviously, someone in Human Resources has been taking corporate team building techniques from past seasons of The Office.) Next week the consulting group they hired - to gauge the corporate atmosphere to determine how "accepting" and "inclusive" and "diverse" it is - will deliver their (presumably scathing) report. There will be a new batch of employee benefits and perks instituted, including an employee of the month program. I suppose these kinds of things appeal to some people...the kind of people who are easily pacified by snacks and door prizes, while the real issues of salary inequity, disproportionate workload, and managerial deficiencies go unresolved. Myself, I don't put a lot of stock in insincere attempts at reparations through offerings of cake and hollow platitudes. Someone else is more than welcome to my piece of cake; while they're busy giving themselves diabetes I'll be scheming to figure out how to justify and execute a way to spend the monies earmarked for their pay increase.


What does excite me is the e-mail I recently got from Amazon:

Dear Amazon.com Customer,

As someone who has purchased Harry Potter products from Amazon.com, you might be happy to hear that The Tales of Beedle the Bard, J.K. Rowling's book of fairy tales written to supplement the Harry Potter series, will be published in two new editions on December 4, 2008.

The Standard Edition features all five fairy tales from the original The Tales of Beedle the Bard, an introduction and illustrations by J.K. Rowling, and commentary on each of the tales by Professor Albus Dumbledore.

Amazon is also thrilled to offer a luxuriously packaged Collector's Edition (available exclusively at Amazon) designed to evoke the spirit of the handcrafted original purchased at auction last December. Housed in its own slipcase--made to resemble a wizarding textbook found in the Hogwarts library--this Collector's Edition includes metal corners, clasp, and skull; a reproduction of J.K. Rowling's handwritten introduction; commentary on each of the tales by Professor Albus Dumbledore; and 10 additional illustrations not found in the Standard Edition (or the original).

I knew there was no way they weren't actually going to release this for sale. After all of the interest in the handwritten version she did for charity, I figured this would have to get published. And as of today there are 111 days until the premier of Half Blood Prince.

I've been sitting here sort-of watching Emma and realizing how much I really don't care for Gwyneth Paltrow and her ridiculously fake British accent. And her stupid cow face that she uses to convey emotion. There has got to be something else on that is more tolerable. Or I could just watch Batman Begins for the third time this week - it is firmly established on my DVR.