Monday, June 30, 2003

Is it really after 4pm already?

Sheesh.

LATER (4:53pm): Payroll is complete and we will all get paid.

In an interesting wrinkle, MD (my supervisor friend) handed me a weird note when I walked into her office to get a timesheet signed. She was on the phone so couldn’t explain what it was. So later she came to explain that it was for a job that’s just come open with Justice that she thought I’d be good for. Looking at it, I’m excited at the possibility even if it means commuting to the main Justice building in DC. And it would involve some travel. So I’m going to think and pray about putting in my resume for it. It would mean a lot more money and a promotion too if I got it.

I had a moment of panic at the thought of no internet access today when I powered up the computer at work and Netscape didn’t want to open. Rumor has it that the entire USMS server system was down this morning. So instead of playing around in the blogosphere this morning, I was able to get a lot of tedious tasks done in my first two hours on the job.

I was facing a boring day (with the exception of payroll, but I’m halfway done with that already). Half of the office is on vacation this week. A lot of the judges are on vacation this week. So there’s not going to be a whole lot going on.

I’m thinking of taking Thursday off. Just thinking at this point. But I’m thinking hard.

Oh, and who can name the movie I parodied the post title from? I might have a prize to the first person who answers correctly in the comments. Or you might just get the satisfaction of knowing you were the first to answer it correctly.

Sunday, June 29, 2003

I was going into the kitchen and I noticed that the TV in the living room (tuned to Fox News, of course, has announced the death of Ms. Hepburn.

I know that my sister will be very sad about this news as am I. She was a great old dame from the Golden Era of Hollowood.

My favorite Hepburn movies: Bringing Up Baby and Philadelphia Story.

I love CMT. Have I mentioned that? Their show Inside Fame is country’s answer to VH-1’s Behind the Music. This afternoon’s artist was John Denver. And I was reminded how much I love his music. I grew up listening to John Denver, I saw Oh God! in the theater, I used to wonder, “Who’s this chick, Annie, of Annie’s Song?”

Did you know that he started out in folk music - and by folk music I’m talking A Mighty Wind style folk music? I cracked up a little when they showed the groups from those days. Now I know why A Mighty Wind resonates with folks of my parent’s generation so well. Christopher Guest et al, completely nailed it in their parody. But I digress…

In one hour I learned a ton of info about JD. It’s too bad he died so young.

Saturday, June 28, 2003

I just saw an ad on Fox News Channel for the Baseball All-Star Game coming up.

I haven’t watched much baseball this season, so this was the first time I heard about the new twist. And I think it’s an excellent idea.

The league that wins the All-Star Game, gets home field advantage for the World Series.

That is such a great idea.

Today is Hootinanny, Part Two for the Summer of 2003**.

This weekend, rather than the typical bluegrass band, they have a southern rock band that reminds me a little of Lynard Skynard, but they’re no where as good. To me anyway, the crowd is really whooping it up back there.

**In case you missed it from early May (I think), there is a house behind my apartment complex that looks like it came straight from Deliverance. Every spring/summer they have what I call hootinannies - barbecues, with roasted meat, horseshoes, live music, and a ton of rednecks.

You know Kelly? The redhead chick who’s engage to Jon on The Amazing Race?. You know...I mentioned her yesterday, she’s a little catty about Millie-the-virgin.

So I was watching something on TV this afternoon when a Priceline ad for hotels came on. The last chick to rave about her cheap-but-nice hotel room was KELLY!

I wonder if she told the TAR people that she’s an aspiring actress...not that it matter that much, but I thought it was an interesting discovery.

My mother had loaned my her copy of Road to Perdition weeks ago, but I just got around to watching it today.

I loved it. Tom Hanks is a great, great actor. Paul Newman still has it. And that kid...oh my.

That is all…

I downloaded IE 6.0 here at home early this morning and when I loaded my blog I noticed that my text boxes aren’t right. I didn’t want to take the time to investigate then, I thought maybe it was a fluke.

But they’re still not looking right to me. And they’re not right in the Earthlink browser I ocassionally use at home too.

So are they OK for you? Because I haven’t changed anything that would make them not work. As far as I know, because I haven’t touched the weblog.css file in more than a week.

Friday, June 27, 2003

From Tony:

I was out surfing around a bit, and came across this question:

Why aren’t conservatives interested in conservation?

Umm, I don’t know. How about this one from me:

Why aren’t Democrats interested in democracy?

Idiot.

[ rant ]

Somehow the idea that we need or want a National HIV Testing Day bothers me. Do we have a National Test-for-Every-Other-Disease Day?

Here’s my beef: Most (if not all) who have or get HIV these days, get it through specific behavior, that if stopped would prevent the spread of the disease.

Yes, I understand some who have/get it are seemingly unwitting “victims” of those who pass it on. But not really, because they could have done plenty to prevent it, including abstinence.

Yes, I understand that a rare few get/have it from tainted blood donations. Although I am confident enough to say that since the Red Cross and hospitals started testing the blood supply, there are no cases today.

So I go back to my main point - HIV/AIDS is a disease that is spread through specific behaviors, that if stopped, would stop the spread of the disease. So it galls me a little that we have a National HIV Testing Day because this is a disease that I believe could easily be wiped off the face of the earth if people changed their behavior.

[ /rant ]

It’s been a long while since I’ve visited The Internet Monk. He has a redesigned site, which looks great, but that’s not why I’m mentioning him.

He has a really thought-provoking post about doubt. Here’s an excerpt that I found myself agreeing with:

These doubts have made me respect my honest, unbelieving friends. To many of them, it isn’t so much the content of Christianity that is ridiculous. It’s the idea that Christians are so certain; so doubtless. They find it untenable that anyone could bury their own doubts so deep that you are as certain as Christians appear to be. Our television and radio preachers, our musicians and booksellers, the glowing testimonial at church, the zealous fanatic at the break table at work--they all say that Christians no longer have the doubts and questions of other people. Only certainties. And for many thoughtful unbelievers, that appears to be lying or delusion, and they would prefer to avoid both.

So do I. I profoundly dislike the unspoken requirement among Christians that we either bury all our doubts out in back of the church, or we restrict them to a list of specific religious questions that can be handled in polite conversations dispensing tidy, palatable answers. Mega-doubts. Nightmarish doubts. “I’m wasting my whole life” doubts are signs one may not be a Christian, and you’ve just made it to the prayer list.

The early chapters of Genesis make it clear that sin created a profound division between God and human beings. Not just an interruption in communication, but a universe-sized separation.. There is great evidence that this abyss creates a situation where human beings may reasonably, sensibly feel that God is absent, or that there is no God. This is not because of an absence of evidence for God’s existence, or because God has abandoned the world, but because human experience is fundamentally changed and we are blinded to the resident glory of God in the universe and within our lives.

[...]

The question may become, “Do I banish my doubts, call them the devil and refuse to examine them, or do I accept my doubts as part of the paradox of my human experience, and realize that faith may exist right alongside such feelings and questions, as Mark 9:24 suggests?”

This is my own experience. I cannot remove my doubts, but I cannot erase my faith. At every level, these two experiences exist together, convincing me that I am, indeed and exactly, the kind of contradiction that Luther believed all Christians were at the center: both righteous and sinful simultaneously. (Simul justus et peccator.) While these two experiences are at war over the most basic assumptions of my life, they actually blend together into a single experience that is what one person called “the awesomeness of being human.”

A lot of times, I don’t ever click on the link that someone else has to what they claim is a funny item. Mostly it’s a time thing. But this morning I clicked on this link that I found at Tony’s because we seem to have the same sense of humor and I was curious what a credit card prank would entail.

Please click on that link - it’s well worth it and just might make you laugh out loud. And maybe frighten you as well.

I’ve registered, have you?

Telemarketers be warned. If you call me, I will come after you. And I’ve got the law on my side.

You may not have figured out that I absolutely love, love, love The Amazing Race. It took a while for me to get into this season (last night was the 5th episode), but I’m hooked.

Here are my thoughts: ***POTENTIAL SPOILERAGE, YOU’VE BEEN WARNED***

1. Last night’s Fast Forward is the coolest FF they’ve done yet, imho. Of course, I may need to be reminded of some of the past cool FFs, but riding the sails of a windmill has got to be something else.

2. Last night’s Detour had the potential for hilarity on the pile-o-poo side. To me that task was not nearly as funny as the wooden clogs-cheese carry thing. I was belly laughing at that one.

3. I love Team Clown. We don’t see enough of Team Clown.

4. I like Kelly-Jon, but I don’t like that they’re catty about The Virgins.

5. I also like the NFL Wives, although I didn’t expect to mainly because I thought they’d be these primadonnas who couldn’t do the simplest task. They’re pretty scrappy. Although they win the Idiot Driver Award for trying to turn their car around in an obviously saturated grassy area.

6.  Call me Captain Obvious, but Tian-Jeree are the most dysfunctional team of this season. They really remind me of FloZach, but they’re not as annoying. And based on the FloZach thing from last season, these chicks may end up winning the cash. *shudder*

7.  I’m sad to see Team Air-Traffic Controllers go, but they actually got a lot further than I think anyone expected. I’ll miss them - they were always positive and never bickered. They were a good team, just not fit enough for a physical race like this.

8.  Judging from the previews for next week’s episode, it’s going to be g-o-o-d. If I remember India from season 2, those folks are in for a treat.