Johnny's amazing technicolor dreamhair

OF COURSE this is from Tim Burton's adaptation of Alice in Wonderland:

This is terrifying. And bizarre. And undoubtedly brilliant.

It's not the heat...

(Actually, yes it is.)

On two occassions so far today I've been forced to walk a distance of about three blocks in mid-80 degree heat while wearing a silk shirt. It is not even the heart of summer yet, and the temp is supposed to reach the low 90s today. I don't think I can take much more of this, honestly. Plus, I may be developing a cold. I feel better than I did this morning, but that's not saying much. One budget project is almost finished. I think I'll throw a little party for myself when this is off my plate. I should be finished with most of my other projects that have been thrown off schedule, just in time for my vacation. The highs up there have been upper 60s to mid 70s, which sounds heavenly.

I'm also holding out hope that any issues with my job description, this year's review, and my comp rate get resolved either before I leave town, or as soon as I get back. We're creeping up on month seven, here, and simply ridiculous gives way to totally assinine. I'm a relatively patient person but this is seriously testing my limits, and if I were anyone else, the management would've seen a stink raised by now. But, the way I look at it is, the longer this goes on, the more cause for grievance-based bargaining leverage I may have.

M - here's a TPFD classic, just for you:

Slim's left town

I don't have time to post, but I'm going to anyway. There's just so much tension that's built up, I feel like I can't even function and my head is contantly throbbing. Some people were recently awarded salary increases, and not everyone knows. But at least one person who does is irate - because we've been told on numerous occassions that no one was being awarded increases for numerous reasons including the fact that we're into our fourth or fifth round of budget "reductions" (I've lost track at this point...there may be another cut in the Fall).

In fact, I got an equity review weeks ago regarding the additional work I've been doing, and despite indications of support from HR and my supervisor's boss (who I sat down and had a little chat with last week), there's been no sign of a resolution. That's okay...every time a new duty gets added on or I have to answer a really dumb question from or fix something done by someone "more qualified" than myself, I mentally add a fraction of a percentage point to the to-be-negotiated pay increase (I'm also asking that it become retrocative to when I started doing this job six months ago). If it ever gets to that point. So far, it's all talk, so I have my doubts. But, some people are so overwhelmed, that parts of their job are getting dumped left and right on others who aren't getting these phantom pay increases that we're officially not supposed to be giving out. They seem to be banking on the "tough economic times" keeping people around. I don't think they've thought their cunning plan all the way through, because that tactic has some people at a breaking point.

Crap. My boss saw my husband ranting in unhappiness earlier, and called me thinking he was yelling at me (just to be clear, he was not - I was just acting as a buffer for his frustration with some of the issues I mention just above). Then she offered an ear, as a "friend", in case I needed to talk. I want a comfortable relationship as supervisor/subordinate and am trying to maintain a little bit of distance so as not to complicate that or to develop too much loyalty to her as an individual, but she's made it clear she likes me on a personal level and doesn't seem to mind bridging that gap between personal and professional. She's now hinting around that she expects me to be doing her job some day. Halp!

I honestly can't wait to get out of here. We're planning a dash up the East Coast to NW PA at the end of the month, with a brief pause in Georgia, a detour into Pittsburgh to have lunch at the original Primanti Bros. location (and to possibly pick up Penguins Stanley Cup gear - yes, I'm staying cautiously optimistic), and spending a couple of days with family in PA, then turning right around and making the 18 hour trek back. I hope it's worth all that driving and I come back a little bit renewed. Or, I'll just decide to not come back!

Beads and bruises

HR tried to throw a surprise party for me today. I'm not entirely sure why - my birthday was two weeks ago, and I intentionally didn't mention it to anyone, so as to avoid anyone making an unecessary to-do. Don't get me wrong - I really appreciated it. But the whole thing felt to me like it was being done because they felt they should, rather than from a genuine desire to celebrate my birthday, and I never feel comfortable thinking people are doing something out of a misplaced sense obligation. Today there were streamers, and beads necklaces, and bagels, and even a light-up tiara (all birthday celebrants in HR are required to wear this), but it just didn't compare to those SA extravaganzas from back in the day. Because we partied like we meant it then.

I managed to hurt myself twice throughout the course of the day today. The first time was at work, when I was being ridiculously clumsy and managed to kick something while wearing ballet flats and ended up with a bruise on the top of my foot. Then tonight I walked into the bathroom and discovered the hard way that my son left a standing puddle on the floor after his bath. I went ass over tea kettle, and ended up with a bump on my knee, a bruise on the top of my other foot, and injured toes. Overall I was okay, but both of my feet hurt, and I had to deliver a lecture about bathroom safety.

Tomorrow is my son's last day of 1st grade, and his very last at his current elementary school. Next year he'll go to the new school they built up the street. Which was *just* in the news because some transient got onto campus and tried to steal a purse and may have punched a male teacher, which caused the school to go into lockdown. Have I mentioned lately how much I love this town more and more every day. Wait. Did I say love? No...I meant loathe.

It's not dumbing down, merely correcting your aim.

A response to the Twitter "Trending Topic"#myweakness that I just had to share, and then promptly mock without regard for mercy or common human decency:

a MaN Wit a PlaN---->I Dnt LiKe them "Wing it" Ni66aSz<---Cant BuilD NthN WitOut a BluePriNt

Okay. That was incredibly painful for my brain to try and interpret. I understand that Twitter only gives you limited characters to work with, and that sometimes you have to get a little creative in order to say what it is you are trying to say in those circumstances. But it seems like only the truly creative actually manage this with any level of success. Everyone else comes off as lazy and illiterate. I also understand some...*ahem*...younger people's obsession with ridiculous 733t speak, to an extent - I am, after all, a lolspeak afficianado, myself - but that abomination up there? THAT is some of the most unconscionable mangling of written language I've ever seen from someone outside of grade-school. Does it really take that much effort to use vowels? I've made some spelling errors in my day, but Jesus Tapdancing Cristobel, I'd be damned if I'd ever intentionally use the number six to substitute for the letter "g". Speaking of crimes against literacy, the mainstreaming of the number 4 as an analog for the word "for" fills me with an indescribable sorrow. I saw that shit on a billboard for a local BMW dealership the other day and just about wept. Then I was overcome with an intense desire to set fire to it, but overcame that compulsion - mainly because I have a sneaking suspicion that "grammar-rage" isn't an acceptable defense against charges of felony arson.

Of course, having just given you an example of everything that's wrong with applications and platforms like Twitter, now it is time to regale you with the high points to to explain why I kind of think that Twitter, despite all of its many failings (I got Fail Whale three times today, their servers must be freaking vintage), is the best part of what Web 2.0* has to offer...

Because, you can get updates and notifications in real time on things you may want to know about, and you can creepily but awesomely stal..I mean follow some awesome people - mostly celebrities, because, lets face it, we're culturally conditioned to be fascinated by fame and infamy alike, no matter how dubiously achieved or undeserved it may be(IrefusetotalkaboutOprah...IrefusetotalkaboutOprah...):

Hugh Jackman - @TheRealHughJackman

I think it's actually him. The posts have mostly been about press junkets and PR for the X-Men: Mangling Logan's Origin Canon and Killing a Franchise movie, but there have been a couple of candid comments about spending down time with his family, so it might be legit.

Crispin Glover - @crispinglover

He's promoting a movie he made. The posts are brief, but completely sane, so it is not clear if it's him or a staffer. I don't "follow", but the potential for the possibility for it to dissolve into the random, unhinged ramblings of a complete loon keep me coming back from time to time.

Kevin Spacey - @KevinSpacey

May be him, since the profile seems to be used for promoting projects and talking about theatre (i.e., the art of the stage you uncultured pleebs!).

Tom Felton - @TomFelton

AKA, Draco Malfoy. Tom seems to be one of the few young Harry Potter cast members who does not have a locked profile or a bunch of fake profiles - if this is actually him. Also there's...

Matthew Lewis - @mattdavelewis

AKA, Neville Longbottom. He talks about football a lot (the European variety, of course), and if you check out his photo, which gets updated from time to time, you'll see that he's really grown into his teeth quite nicely.

Oh, and as a Harry Potter bonus, I'll give you BOTH Phelps twins. Double your pleasure with James (@James_Phelps) and Oliver (@OliverPhelps).

In news that reminds me of an Alanis Morisette song, my mom managed to win tickets to see Pete Yorn and Coldplay in concert. There's just one small problem. The concert is in Pittsburgh, which is about 1,500 miles or so across the country from where we are. And the show is tomorrow!

(Haha - everyone's mom is now on Facebook)




*My husband hates the term "Web 2.0", so I use it with reckless abandon.