Filed Under: What the Hell?

After getting home from work today, I found in the mail a letter from some organization called Biltmore Who's Who. Upon reading the letter, I learned it pertained to placing me on some registry list for a Who's Who Among Executives and Professional Women and 2008 Honors Edition. Apparently the "Publishing Committee" (and yes, that ridiculously vague term was used) thinks that I have potential to be on their registry list based on my "current standing as well as criteria from executive and professional rosters." Hmm...I wonder what the hell gave them the idea that I was a professional or executive. I mean, hell, I work in retail...you can't get much less executive than that.

The Excitement of Sleep

Yeah, I know...random title. I'm sure this will have absolutely nothing to do with sleep, as I'm currently wide awake and in no way, shape or form contemplating the sweet, sweet bliss of dreamland. I did, however, sleep fairly well last night, so I suppose with that teeny little bit, I did mention sleep much more than I had planned. On to other topics.

Yesterday, I finally dug out the breast cancer socks I started knitting months and months ago. I decided to make them last June for a charity raffle that won't actually take place until this coming May. Had I known a few months before the fact, I may have made them for last year's event, but I didn't know the pattern existed until the owner of my LYS happened upon the pattern while we were discussing various charity knitting projects. Yeah, so I started this sock in June (or possibly July, I can't remember), got a little more than half of the leg knit and proceeded on another project (or five). So, the poor partial sock has languished in a knitting bag since then, only to be picked back up yesterday when I realized that I needed to finish the damn things so they'll be done in time for the event (I'm nothing if not a procrastinator). I managed to knit a whole TWO rounds on it yesterday during my work breaks. I know I can crank out a pair of socks in, like, a week and a half, so I should have had these finished by now. Sadly, though, I have a tendency to take a million times longer making things if I feel an obligation to finish them. I don't always have that feeling, but I do now and it sucks. Oh well. I should probably go knit something.

Inside Joke

The eagle flies at midnight....hehehehehe...

Curses, I Say, Curses!!!

On the way home this evening, I witnessed a fantastic orange and pink and purple sunset. The one fucking day I don't have my camera in my purse to take pretty pictures and I have a perfect sunset. Curses!

Skiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!!!!

Yesterday was fantastic. I went to Greek Peak with my favorite person and we learned how to ski. I was very nervous and very terrified, but I said "Fuck you, fear!" and did it anyway. We had wonderful instructors and ended up having a massively good time. I did, at one point, almost totally lose it because I was very afraid of how fast I was going, but I was saved by one of the awesome instructors. We stopped skiing after about two hours because my toes were cold to the point of pain. After we left, we stopped at a very cool organic foods store in Ithaca and proceeded home to watch South Park and a little bit of SNL. Then we attempted to sleep and ended up talking all night, which to me was the perfect ending to a perfect day. I'm very content right now and bordering on happy (made evident by the fact that I can't stop smiling). I can't wait to do it all again.

Mood Indigo

Without talking too much about my job, I have to give a bit of background about work for this entry, even though I'm loath to do so (I don't like discussing work too much here because I really don't want it to come back and bite me on the ass). My duties at work leave me alone much of the time, which can be a gift and a curse; a gift because I don't have to deal with as many people, and a curse because I have to deal with the never-ending string of thoughts and ideas that go through my head. Luckily, I'm often distracted by the constant (usually bad) music that fills the background, and the stuff that skips into my head skips right back out, leaving nothing deep and meaningful behind.

That did not happen today.

While speaking to a coworker (a very nice, sweet gentleman), I had one of my thoughts. Was this conversation full of deep philosophical ideas? No, it was more along the line of run-of-the-mill work chit-chat. Now, I often say that I really hate people...individuals can be awesome, but people generally suck and I really held firmly to that (misanthropic Minxy). My brief conversation with this coworker had me re-thinking that position. I found myself thinking that I really hope this kind individual has happiness in his life. This is not to say that I believe he isn't happy, but that I want happiness for him. The thought expanded to the realization that all I want is for everyone to be happy, even people I don't know. I want to see the good in people (note that "I want to see" does not mean "I see only," as I'm not so naive as to think there aren't people with badness in them, or that there aren't people who are just plain bad). I wish for the contentment and comfort of others as much as my own. I've learned today that, deep down, I really love my fellow human beings almost as much as I love my dogs. I don't hate humanity; I hate stupidity, which is solely a human affliction, therefore, I mistook that hatred for human hatred. I know this isn't an original thought by any means, but it's kind of new for me.

I'm not sure how to feel about this discovery in the mind of the Minx. One moment, I'll feel deep awesomeness at my newfound love for people, and the next moment I'll feel deep sorrow that so many of my fellow humans have to suffer so much (I suppose that qualifies as mild ambivalence). I haven't felt this much compassion in a very, very long time...so long that I nearly forgot how incredibly compassionate I am (if one could have a degree in compassion, I'd have a fucking doctorate, like, three times over). I'm sure the reviving of my tender heart is very much related to the newly discovered aspect of myself. This makes me scared, for I do not want my heart to hurt and it's very possible that I've inadvertantly made myself vulnerable to heartache. I'm not an idiot, but I can be a bit gullible at times and I'm afraid a person of less than savory character would try to take advantage of that. There's so much more to say about this, but the words have left me. Perhaps I'll have more another time.

Living the Title-Free Life

I can't think tonight. I believe my inability to form a decent thought is from watching a documentary on crossword puzzles...I used all my brain power to try and figure out clues. Prior to that, we (my friend and I) watched a movie about Jeffrey Dahmer that was a bit interesting, even though it had a rather idiotic ending. At least the guy playing Dahmer looked pretty good with his shirt off. Aside from all that, not much is going on in the life of the Minx. I did manage to give someone a little bit of perspective today, and that's always a good thing in my book. I'm looking forward to the weekend, as I'll be falling all over the place in what will probably be an ill-advised attempt at learning how to snowboard. A little excitement never hurt anyone.

Nothing to Say

Zip, zero, nada...yeah, I got nothin' at all to say. My brain is so dry right now, I pondered extolling the virtues of Eclipse gum (it's tasty, refreshing, makes my breath all tingly and cold, and clears my sinuses). I briefly contemplated writing about how my lace scarf is coming along, but really it's just longer than it was before, so there's nothing of interest there. I thought I might mention something about work (as a complete last resort), but alas, nothing interesting happened today. It's impractical to go out and do anything to later write about because it's entirely too cold to go out tonight (and it's Monday...what can possibly be interesting on a freakin' Monday). The things I can easily write about are either non-existent or I can't make mention of them, therefore rendering them as good as non-existent. Grrr...I hate having nothing to write about.

Bowling for MinxyLand

I'm a terrible bowler. This was made evident last night with my glorious scores of 67 and 88, and by the wonderful dropping of the ball behind me before my last throw of the last frame we played last night. However, I am impressed by the fact that I made it that far before dropping the twelve-pound ball, as I usually do that way early in the game. Nonetheless, I had a ton of fun with some very goofy people. I'd totally do it again.

Psycho-Hose-Beast

I've come to realize that I probably have more rants about driving than anything else. This is no exception to the road-related ranting (hooray for alliteration). Driving along the parkway on my way to work a day or two ago, I was in the left lane, easing my way past a few cars in the right lane when I was nearly side-swiped by this big-ish white car that appeared to be either trying to get into the left lane or trying to take up both lanes. I finally made it past the car and peeked over when I was level with the driver. I saw her hunched forward, close the steering wheel, forearms doing most of the maneuvering while her hands were firmly on her cell phone, mid-text. What the fuck?!?!?!? If a message isn't important enough to merit an actual call, it's not important enough to merit a response when you're driving along during what constitutes Elmira's rush-hour traffic. I know people text and drive and I DO NOT condone this in any way at all, but if you really must, memorize the damn key pad so you can at least look more at the road than the phone. Or, think of the safety of others and don't text at all, you fuckin' jackasses.

P.S. Thank you, Wayne's World, for leaving us with such memorable terminology as "psycho-hose-beast." The world is a more descriptive place for it.

Briefly

I've only enough energy for a wee little post tonight. I've been a little sad today. I learned this morning that a friend of my dad's passed away a few days ago and his funeral was today. He used to work with my dad and I was introduced to him years ago. My dad told me to call him "Uncle Jack" even though he's no relation. He was a cool dude and my dad thought highly of him. And, while I really didn't know him well, I'm saddened by his death...mostly because I'm sad for my father losing his friend. I hate the thought of my dad being sad, I hate death, and I hate the fact that I'm crying right now and I don't exactly understand why the tears are falling. Maybe it's stress-plus-death-plus-whatever else is in my head. Or maybe it really is just because it hurts me to know that my daddy lost his friend and is sad. I think I'm too sensitive sometimes.

$10.5 Million and I Turned It Down

Yeah, so this random dude hit on me while I was at work today. He looked fairly average for the Elmira/Horseheads area. First, he asked where he could find some dress pants and flashed his two fifties. As I walked him to the area he needed, we happened upon some Fox Racing shirts...he piped up that he used to race for them. We got to the dress pants and he saw some of our prices and was so impressed that he declared "I'm bringing my $10.5 million here to spend it." Then he thanked me and complimented me on my nice customer service as I walked to my co-worker, who had beckoned me to where she was to taste this bottled tea she had. I thought it was tasty and my wannabe-paramour asked where my co-worker got it and rushed off to go get one for me. I, however, didn't want to encourage the fellow and politely declined the offer. Now, I can't say that I get hit on very often, but I can say that this was the oddest occurrance of a man hitting on me that I've ever experienced. Also, while it was a thinly-veiled attempt to impress me, I have to give the dude credit for maintaining his composure even after his story got really, REALLY ridiculous.

Deeply In Like

I'm a member of a site called Ravelry, which is a community of knitters and crocheters who talk about yarn and needles and techniques and such. I call it MySpace for knitters to the muggles, but it's way cooler than MySpace. I wanted to join a group but couldn't find one to my liking. Then I found an entire group of atheists and agnostics and I read a few posts and joined right up. I'm enjoying it so much...I think I'm becoming an addict. I just love reading from so many people who think much in the same way I do. It's fantastic and wonderful and (some of my agnostic friends may laugh at this) it makes me feel normal and no longer a minority, even though we godless people are a minority. I guess I didn't realize how much I felt like an outsider until I started meeting (both online and in real life) people who have (non)beliefs similar to my own. I don't feel quite so outsider-like now. It's pretty freakin' sweet.

Hell Finally Froze Over...

...because I really got into a football game. I HATE football, and yet the last few minutes of the last quarter of the stupid Super Bowl had me on the edge of my seat wondering what would happen. I still can't believe how I ended up getting into it that much, though. Weird.

Wakeful

Between weird dreams involving my dogs running away, coyotes, wolves and wildebeest-like creatures all over my lawn and generally waking up a few times a night the past few nights, I haven't been getting a lot of sleep. I really don't enjoy interrupted sleep, and I'm sure most people feel the same way. I hate it, actually, because I don't have a really high energy level as it is, and with the sleep issues, what little energy I gain from sleeping is burned up pretty quickly. Yesterday and today, I think I started off the day with my energy in the negative column...luckily I had to work only one of those days. I'm really hoping tomorrow proves to be a better day because I'm fairly sick of feeling tired and drained. Really, it totally sucks and I'm pretty sure my writing is suffering as a result. And to top it all off, the damn spellcheck function hasn't been working the last two times I've posted, but I think I'd find this less annoying if I weren't so damn tired. Ok, I'm going to try and sleep now.