Hardly Working

Today was not just any other day at the office.  In fact, I only spent an hour and fifty minutes at my desk.  I spent the morning at a payroll class—it should have been titled—Payroll for Dummies.  Needless to say, I amused myself by doodling.  I confirmed my life-long belief that I cannot draw.

After that stimulating session/session on stimulants (aka coffee), I headed downtown to my favorite place for lunch.  The little Japanese place that I adore and have been missing dearly apparently misses me, too!  My two favorite waitresses fawned over me and I indulged in a food extravaganza.  Two blissful hours of good food and full sun is really just the thing to perk a girl right up.  I drove back to work with the windows down, singing at the top of my lungs.

A coworker then coerced me into attending a departmental awards ceremony.  Never mind I hadn’t cleared it with my boss…whatevs.  I breezed back into the office at four, shuffled some papers from here to there and caught up on some light reading.

All in all, it was a great day to be a bureaucrat.

Currently playing:  Björk, Play Dead

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Happiness is a -ford

English Diva celebrates five and twenty years of life this week.  Already in her short existence she has provided comic relief to throngs of fans (me and anyone she’s ever met), and dispensed advice to teens on topics ranging from fashion (don’t wear that gray sweatshirt) to naming their future children (every name, even Horst, sounds adorable when you add –ford at the end).  Her accomplishments are impressive, and yet I know she has so much more to give.  I just have to remember to expect the unexpected when it comes to English Diva!

She’s a prickly kind of friend, as seems to be the case with most of my dearest Gal Pals.  She holds a lot back and brushes it off with a laugh.  But I’ve had thirteen years or so to figure things out, and every bit of herself that she’s willing to give, I hoard. I made a little treasure chest of scraps, shavings, and small victories I fought hard to win.  To really know a friend is a lifelong journey.  It helps if you notice patterns, trace the etchings they make in your heart, and keep the secrets like a map to a sacred place.

I thought maybe her phone was broken, or both arms were in casts, and she’d simultaneously suffered a case of hysterical muteness; as it turns out she’s just busy with teaching America’s youth and falling in love.  She totally hearts a guy named Bruceford…  Her jubilant voice was enough to wash away any resentment I may or may not have been feeling.  That’s the thing about happiness—it’s catching, it creeps up on you, lights up your world and those you touch, and makes you forget you were ever sad.
Currently playing:  The Smiths; Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want

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The Strangest Game

A few weeks ago Lucky 10-Key and I played a rousing game of Would You Rather.  I’ve been fortunate enough to avoid all of those sticky situations, but I just heard the worst case of Would You Rather in real life.  The Pink Fairy sat in the dentist’s chair today and got four cavities filled and had five shots of Novocain; the only thing that ran through her head was, “I would rather be at the dentist than be at work.”

How can life be so complicated and yet be broken down into very basic choices?  Should I stay up late and write or should I go to bed knowing I have been unproductive?  Those are the choices I face right now.  Of course there are other ones that run a distant second, third and fourth—like should I leave those dishes in the sink, should I iron tomorrow’s outfit, should I fix a problem that is not mine to solve, etc.

There are consequences to every decision we make, and it is far too easy to point fingers or ask someone else to share the burden of our actions.  Ultimately, though, we must bear responsibility in the world we have created.  I guess that’s why some people tiptoe through life, hoping to avoid stepping into the fray, while others, like us Superheroines, jump headlong into it.

Currently playing:  The Cardigans, Live and Learn

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