i haven't done a book review yet?

BOW or Book of the Week

The Professor and The Madman
A Tale of Murder, Insanity and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary



Simon Winchester's historical account of how the Oxford English Dictionary was made is complete with humor, sympathy and drama. The OED was decades in the making and required the help of thousands of English-reading citizens including Dr. W.C. Minor a certified criminal lunatic housed in an asylum outside of London who contributed over 10,000 words to the dictionary.

Sold yet?

The book is also replete with cool words (such as replete) sure to satisfy even the least curious among us.

I recommend the newest edition which contains a 16-page explanation of the research he did, fascinating.

I'm fast-tracking this page turner to my top-ten quick read list.

What spins from writer's block

One thing I do when I'm too bored to even pretend to be inspired is I pretend to be a boy and I write they way a boy might, what his thoughts might be.

i was watching the water today, watched it come close, close enough to touch almost or if i wanted to. watched it slide away, away like everything else in this crazy, mad, spinning world. away like the girlfriend i have back in silver springs, new mexico, sitting on her porch, glass of lemonade, hand outstretched, always expecting me. when's a good time to say "never coming back". away like my dear, sweet mother, up north, rhode island where the lobster is best, waiting, waiting, for her only son to pull up in his rumbling car. can't ever say "never coming back," because don't we all go home at least once before we die? away like the fathers and grandfathers i no longer know, easy to say "never coming back" we aren't destined for the same afterlife, they are much better men than i, and here I am on the ocean, breathing salty air, and thinking of all the people i never treated right. what kinds of thoughts are these to be having, beautiful day, beautiful water, and nothing but sadness everywhere. in a minute i have to get up, have to return to the apartment i love, the only thing i've ever loved, i have to put a wall between me and this ever sifting sand, this ever shifting water. always building walls it seems.
there was a girl at the bar last night. she smiled the way i suspect all girls do, when they know that someone somewhere loves them. that "i like you but i like him too" secretive smile, where you feel let in, but really you are further from your goal then you'll ever really know. she talked about old streets in poland, and cell phones and a song on guitar and i found the juxtaposition enthralling or abrasive, can't remember now. annie. she wants a new name, wants one that screams originality, and i found that disturbingly cliché. I have her number, burning a whole in my back pocket, can't bring myself to throw it away.
i am a packrat of acquaintances it seems.

and

a few blocks from where i work is an apartment where i used to spend the free time i don't have anymore. it's an old one and if you take a tour of the city the guide will say it's haunted. i'm not sure it's true, spent enough drunk nights there to feel safe. safe enough. always safe enough.

the bottom of a tequila bottle has never seemed so promising as it does now. full of secrets i'll only know after one. more. shot. one. more. shot.

i've given you everything i've got.

i still love you more than anyone else could.

--end--

even I admit that I tend towards melodrama when I have nothing else to say. but a lot of something is better than nothing.


(t-minus 20 minutes and work will be over. inspiration waits at home or so I tell my self)

((have you ever noticed that sometimes dressing up (even if you only end up sitting on your couch) is the best way out of a dazy lazy afternoon rut?))

Work is boring. . . i mean really boring

I have been here since 8am.
I have done 20 minutes of work (maybe).
I am being paid 14.5 dollars an hour.

But I do get some cool e-mails.

First e-mail for your consideration.

From: Names removed
Sent: Tuesday, June 17, 2008 5:33 PM
To: Documentation Seattle; Receiving-Seattle
Subject: Booking number removed


Please receive this under the correct booking. Eagle Global no longer exists as a company and has changed to CEVA. Please correct so it gets billed correctly and we get paid.


Thanks
Names removed
Anchorage/Fairbanks Sales

The Reply

Does Johnathan at Eagle Global know that Eagle Global no longer exisits? He is the one that requested the booking. Just curious.

Thanks,
Names removed

The Reply

They got bought out by CEVA about 6 to 8 months ago. You would hope he would have caught on by now.




--end transmission--


I'm not kidding. This is how your shit gets from the continental US to our satellite states.


Recent E-mail

Receiving,
Please see notes in Booking.

***WILL HAVE ORGAN IN A CRATE THAT MAY NEED A FORKLIFT TO LOAD***

--end transmission--

I mean. . . it's not like we work at a warehouse. . .forklifts are. . . you know, uncommon.

I might be the only one to enjoy these. But. There you go.

reasons to smile

Work is boring today so I have a little time to find somethings to make you, good readers, smile.

Top Ten Reasons to Smile as Much as you Can

All the Good News that's Fit to Print This website continually make me grin and at times helps restore my faith in humanity.


Basically, I want a dog.


Also. I have recommendations (movies this time)

Gone Baby, Gone : Casey Affleck is starting to live up to the name his brother created for them with Good Will Hunting. This film, a gritty look at what happens to a cop after years on the job, is heart wrenching, heart warming, and thought provoking. I dare you to watch it and not discuss it after . . . I bet you can't.

We Own the Night : I am slightly obsessed with the honor attached to the uniform, any uniform. This particular film is about the NYPD Street Teams that stared down drug pushers in the notoriously awful 80s. My parents tell stories about finding crack pipes outside their office door, murders every night. Besides being an awesomely intense film, Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Wahlberg throw every ounce of their talent into their performances.

No Country For Old Men : If you haven't seen it, see it. I love the Coen brothers, so, you know.

In Bruges : Quite possibly the best movie Colin Farrell's ever made, and I love Colin Farrell. It's funny, quick, and has just enough action to keep them boys entertained. Also, it's not even close to politically correct. (My dad and I are forcing my mom to stay in Bruges for two days specifically because we loved this movie so much.)

Cassandra's Dream : If In Bruges hadn't taken the best Colin movie ever award, this one would. Ewan McGregor and Colin Farrell play off eachother like they were born to do so. A look at just what we'll do for family, and for money, this film mixes humor, brutality and familial loyalty into a moral tale about how we cope with the worst in ourselves. Not to mention I can't resist a good "brother" film.


Happy Monday!

it's not father's day anymore but. . .

"I'm gonna watch you shine
Gonna watch you grow
Gonna paint a sign
So you'll always know
As long as one and one is two
There could never be a father
Who loved his daughter more than I love you"
-- Paul Simon

Everyday something reminds me how lucky I am to have the dad I do and to have with him the relationship I do. He is, without mincing words, my best friend. He challenges and frustrates me but most importantly he is unfailingly there for me.

Happy Father's Day Day!!
This made me smile.

We don't smile just for the sake of smiling nearly enough.

problematic perceptions

On the bus today I saw a young guy digging in the trash, and what I thought was: how sad, he's homeless and how gross, what is he looking for? Then he pulled his hand out and he was holding three plastic bottles which he proceeded to drop in a near by recycle bin. Basically, I had my eyes opened and my assumptions handed back to me. Pretty cool.

Later, I saw a guy eye this girls much younger than him, he smiled and watched them pass. I could only think that he was a pedophile of some sort, but then I realized as they boarded the bus that he was getting on the same bus and simply allowing them to climb aboard first. Again, assumptions.




Also. Please keep my cousin Macauley and her husband Jayson and their son Xavier in your prayers.

turning 21 and the amalfi coast

Finally 21.
There's no where I can't go now.
Except Cuba.
I really want to go to Cuba.


I said good bye to Eric today. It was horrible.

This, however, cheered me right the fuck up. I want to live here. Forever.




And the best part? The Library. I am such a nerd.

for my birthday

i would like this: Please?

Busy Blog Day

I'm not sure how many people read this, it seems that strangers drop in now and again.

It doesn't seem quite right to be asking for this, there are many people out there who deserve your prayers but right now I'm asking that you say a prayer for my unborn cousin. I don't have the details, but I do know that my aunt is asking for a miracle, which I've never heard her do.

My cousin Macaulay is this beautiful, strong woman who I don't know nearly well enough. She and her husband Jayson are expecting their second child who they just found out is severely ill, though not yet born.

This is the e-mail I received today.

Dear friends and family..I'd like to ask a special favor of you which is
to especially pray that Macaulay and Jason's new baby might be miraculously
healed. I think I understand that everything has to be in cooperation with
God's will. However, I think it is perfectly within our faith understanding
that we can certainly not be hesitant to ask for miracles through prayer as
well. It's sometimes confusing to me exactly how to pray and how that
prayer is directed. Recently, I have basically been talking to God and
asking for this intention through his son, Jesus and with the Blessed
Mother's and St. Joseph's intercession.

Will you please help pray for this new life and for Macaulay and Jason's
strength and peace too? We keep all of you in our prayers as well. Thank
you and God bless you. Smithy and Mary


So, if you have even a moment to spare, please send up a little prayer.

Thanks, H

All Faiths . . . Beautiful

If only we all lived in MD.

Seattle to Metlakatla

I'm up two hours earlier than I need to be but I still slept 3 hours longer than I normally would on a Monday. (Basically it's a good day).

In exactly one week I will be back at
which you know is . . . well it's money is what it is, and also it's a real job, but it's kind of suffocating too. I guess I'll look at it as a reminder: Hanley, this is not what you want to do with your life. This is why you're going to college.

Also, it makes me wonder. This job pays beaucoup dollars an hour with no experience necessary . . . and they always have openings, why are there still people working at McDonalds?

i am a coward.

no use hiding from that fact.

still this is pretty funny

washington state lottery

rant

So, we're supposed to be this progressive, human-rights minded, environmentally friendly state. . . right?

The Washington State Lottery's "motto" is: "Who's world could you change?"

But instead of showing a winner converting their house to solar energy . . . or donating to a soup kitchen. . . instead they show a bunch of idiots para-gliding with birds.

Chickens. Ostriches. Penguins.

"Every bird should get to fly."

Really? Really?.

I'm so sick of every ad-exec and TV producer thinking I'm an idiot, treating us all like we have not even a modicum of intelligence.

It's just that, when we're talking about lives we could change . . . I think penguins are pretty happy with their lot in life. The people of Sierra Leon however. . .

serious news

I am way too fucking complacent.

I was blog stalking today and read that one of my friends, well, their friend was attacked for being gay.

I think that I've actually convinced myself that gays have it okay now. (I mean they just got California, right?) And then I realize . . . Jesus. . . they're fighting for marriage one state at a time. There's a part of me that thinks, hey marriage shouldn't be a federal responsibility, it should be a state-by-state thing. The problem with that, however, is that marriage is a federal responsibility currently.

I'm lazy. I'm not going to lie. I'm going to do absolutely nothing about the current state of affairs. And in six months I'll look back and feel guilty.

Politics are complicated. (Which is why I'm not a poli-sci major.) I think what I should do this summer, is read up on every issue I can. I mean, I'm not completely head-in-the sand blind to world affairs (I read my New York Times, I check NPR whenever I can) but I don't do the research. Yes, I think I'll read up and for once and for all I'm going to form an opinion. I keep making decisions from my gut (I want everyone happy, healthy and free) but I don't understand the logistics.

I read a book last quarter, Six Billion Plus: World Population in the 21st Century (which i recommend to everyone) and it really opened my eyes to how much I don't know. Which is a tough thing to face when you're young and full of enthusiasm and absolutely convinced you're and right and righteous.

fun news
I chatted with the cutest boy yesterday. His name is Brandon and he was in the language lab with me. He's in my major and he lived in Argentina for a year. I froze when he started speaking Spanish (I understood, but as far as returning the conversation . . . oops).

C'est la vie.

C'est comme ça parce que c'est comme ça.

Not going to lie, this apartment thing is kind of stressing me out.