An open letter to friends residing in the UK...

Skype is for expatriates.

A (very) short list...

of things I miss when I stay home sick from work:

1. snack drawer
2. surprise office visitors (especially when they deliver sodas)
2. my chicken, mrs. brains



she also doubles as a slingshot. seriously. there is a slingshot built in. i know...you're jealous. she also makes gobble-y sounds when you shoot her at people. yeah.

Things...

in my cube that make me happy.


Robot. I make him hold my pens. He does my maths.


My T-rex likes cheeseburgers. Really a lot. And palm trees.


The Office quote of the day calendar. Edvard Munch mouse pad. The reading of the quotes has become a much-anticipated office event.


Sometimes I get awesome scrawlings and prizes on my dry erase board. And...yet another calendar featuring The Office. Common theme: I like The Office.


I use at least one of these books every day...hoping that I will become much more smarter. And I like the Thesaurus. It sounds like a dinosaur.


When I first got this metal-pin-thing I would press my face into it and pull it away and laugh...flip it over to erase it...repeat. Then, random co-workers started coming up and pressing their faces into it. So...I don't do that anymore. It's highly unsanitary. I don't tell them that though.


Roxy. My piggy bank. I rob her for soda money. Side note: She's running low. So, if anyone in the IS department would like to contribute to Roxy's "fund", please do so at your earliest convenience.


My ING ball. I use this to study geography...and to throw at people. I also find it's a conversation piece. If you and I have not spoken about the awesomeness that is ING, we need to make it a priority. Stat.


My very own Chi Claus. This was a collaborative creation that I had nothing to do with. A surprise masterpiece...truly. And obviously the main focal point of the cubicle. Well, Chi and the Robot. Hmm...that would make a terrific children's book.


A tiny Slinky. A paperclip holder (with a dog bone paperclip that turned up mysteriously). A magnet tower of what appear to be jester-ish characters...a gift from the ladies upstairs. A sand timer. Is that what you call them? It reminds me of The Wizard of Oz. And, lastly, a green car eraser. A gift from a little boy that was in my Junior Achievement class last year. You can also throw it at people. Or make driving sounds (horns, tire squeaks, crashes) while racing it back and forth, up and down...thereby getting death rays from Staci. When that happens, my goal for the day has been accomplished. Snack time.

I didn't show you my drawer of crackers and tangled iPod stuff. Nor did I show you a drawer where I keep over 20 different colors of Play-Doh. I also have to safeguard all of my top secret files and official documents and codes. So, much has been left out. But, I hope you will take a look around where you spend most of your day and think about what...in that space...makes you happy. We spend almost 2,000 hours a year at work. If you don't have something fun...or something to throw at someone...then make it happen. You owe it to yourself.

From me to you: Song 1

I Can't Read Your ...

I Can't Read Your Mind by Jonah Matranga

I know those eyes.
I know those eyes so well.
I've seen them when you're saying come to me.
I've seen them when you're saying go to hell.
I've seen the way they fall when things don't go your way
and I wanna make it better, but the words get hard to find.
I've gotta remind myself
that I can't read your mind.

And I know your smile.
I've seen it when you pray.
I've seen it when you trying not to fall apart.
I see it on your birthday.
And when you're trying but you're tired,
when I hurt, when I'm trying to help
you know I really want to get it right...
be perfect every time.
But no matter how hard I try,
I can't read your mind.

We've been through a lot.
We've gone a lot of miles.
And with a little luck we'll keep going for a long while.
So for every aching night and every perfect day
when I ask if you love me, don't laugh or turn away.
I love you all the time,
but I can't read your mind.

Places for Josh and Matt to go in London after 7 o'clock in the pm...

1. pub

2. club

3. pub-ish club

4. club-ish pub

5. flat

Proof: Moms are adorable...

Below is an e-mail from my friend Bill's mom to Bill concerning Myspace. It made me smile. It's just freaking adorable. Enjoy.

date: Jan 17, 2008 3:23 PM
subject: My Space friends

Hey Bill,

What am I suppose to do when someone I don't know wants to be one of my friends? This girl is young and kinda pretty. Don't know what I would have in common with her unless I knew her. I know it says approve, deny, send a message, etc. I really don't know how this stuff works. Tell me what to do.

Love You,
Mom

I stole this prank from "The Office"...

and implemented it in my own office.

Today, I replaced all of Staci's writing utensils with Crayola crayons.
You may see my detailed plan below.
I encourage you to torment your co-workers; it's a good time.



Once again, double-click the image and it will take you to flickr.com where you can make it larger.

Sometimes you give in to the undertow...

because you can't tread water forever.

In order to learn the art of resignation, most specifically in situations where we desperately want to act, sometimes we must have our hands tied behind our backs. We must be placed right in the thick of things...bound, sans blindfold.

If this process is repeated in various situations, the individual will gradually become more accepting of the scenarios he or she used to desire some control over/want to fight against. These events will inevitably remain frustrating... and the desire to act, even in part, will still be there. That may never fully go away.

Over time though, one will learn to concede...because of the simple (yet somehow abundantly complicated) fact that, in all reality, there is nothing left to do but look the situation in the face... and surrender.

Because on a Monday morning...

she's good for the heart.

My dear acquaintance...

a happy new year.

Regina Spektor has sent us a present and you can find it here:

www.twelvemajorchords.com/?p=825

Here's to hoping that she will throw her B-sides and rarities on an album soon. Very soon.

My Dear Acquaintance (A Happy New Year) by Regina Spektor

My dear acquaintance it’s so good to know you
for strength of your hand that is loving and giving.
And happy new year with love overflowing
with joy in our hearts for the blessed new year.

Raise your glass and we’ll have a cheer
for us all who are gathered here.
And a happy new year to all that is living
to all that is gentle, kind and forgiving.
Raise your glass and we’ll have a cheer
my dear acquaintance a happy new year.

All of those who are hither and yonder
with love in our hearts we grow fonder and fonder.
Hail to those who we hold so dear
and hail to those that are gathered here.

And a happy new year to all that is living
to all that is gentle, young and forgiving.
Raise your glass and we’ll have a cheer
my dear acquaintance a happy new year.
Happy new year.

Cheers to a new year...

and another chance for us to get it right.

We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives... not looking for flaws, but for potential.
--Ellen Goodman

Dear Friends,

At exactly twelve o'clock last night, it became a new year. I think that is pretty exciting! Actually, I am not sure I have ever been more excited about beginning a new year...except maybe 2000 (because I envisioned explosions and computer meltdowns and having to ration out my food and because I knew the days of the disgusting, superfluous use of "Party Like It's 1999" had finally reached their end).

I hope that you were able to ring in the new year with the person/people you love. Maybe you watched the ball drop on what is formerly known as "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve", which has been tragically commandeered by Carson Daly. Maybe you travelled somewhere awesome and experienced midnight in a different time zone (an experience I hope to encounter...possibly next year). Maybe you put on you dancing shoes and hit the town. Maybe you put on flannel pajamas and curled up on the couch with Chinese takeout and a few Blockbuster rentals. However your evening went, I hope you were able to reflect on 2007, gear up for 2008, and maybe even snag a kiss from the person sitting next to you.

Today marks the beginning of a new year. And you can choose to look at it one of two ways: 1) As just another day on the Gregorian calendar or 2) A fresh start. A clean slate. A day of optimism that opens the door to so much possibility. Benjamin Franklin once wrote, "Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man." Maybe this is where resolutions come into play. Today is a day to remind yourself that if 2007 wasn't all you hoped it would be...it's over now and, therefore, in the past. And who wants to live in the past? This year can become anything you want it to be. Anything at all. See, that is exciting! Happy New Year!

For last year's words belong to last year's language.
And next year's words await another voice.
And to make an end is to make a beginning.
--T.S. Eliot

Sincerely and with appropriate love for the type of relationship we have,
Melia

One resolution I have made, and try always to keep, is this: To rise above the little things.
--John Burroughs