The Geek Reigns!

My company has an annual training week. We're required to take at least four hours of class. I took a writing workshop this morning that felt like a return to 8th grade--grammar, punctuation and spelling--but, it was great! She included all kinds of tips about things I knew intuitively, but couldn't articulate.

• If you substitute 'he' for 'who', and 'him' for 'whom', you can usually figure out which one to use.
  
• All singular verbs end in 's'.
• First and second person use a plural verb (I like, you like), only third person uses a singular (he likes).
• Either/or and Neither/nor: the subject closest to the verb determines plurality (Neither the brothers nor the sister wants the toy. Neither the sister nor the brothers want the toy).
• Singular indefinite pronouns (any combo of every, some, no, any with body, one, or thing) require singular verbs. (Everyone should improve her writing skills.)

At the beginning of class, she passed out a test. When I came back to the department, I told Gentle Man and British Boy about the test. They both wanted to try it. I ran back out and got copies. As we went over the results, the writer on our team came over and asked to take it as well. We all sat around and did grammar for the fun of it! My score tied with the writer on the team.

(Blows on fingers, polishes them on chest)

Did you enjoy the process of learning grammar in school? I've never had it feel as fun as it did today. I remember getting marks off because my words were outside the margins, red ink that had NOTHING to do with what I was writing about. Why are the worst teachers often the ones in intro 7th and 8th grade subjects?

It's HOT

All Together Now
Work picked up again this week, but it's been great. We've had a whole week to brainstorm and work on theme and image solutions for an upcoming show. We have 4 really solid concepts and I'm excited for Tuesday's presentation.

In my job at Science Devices International, my design director constantly made remarks about how I wasn't acting like a senior designer. She wanted me to go off into my cube and come out with The Solution. I've realized that my style is much more collaborative. This week has been perfect. I've had three other people involved who each came up with great concepts. Once I started putting the pieces together, I got other ideas to further what they'd begun. In the end, it's to the entire department's credit, not mine. I like it better that way; plus, the client gets much better options.

On-line hook-up attempts
When we moved here and decided to share a car, it really limited my ability to climb. If I have the car, that means I also have to walk the dog, so I can't head to the gym after work. If I don't have the car, then I have to ride 1-2 miles from the train station to the gym. For over a year, I was ok with not climbing. I waited and hoped that Jrex might decide he'd like nothing better than climbing with me (thus far, nope). Going to Yosemite changed all that. As I watched groups of women with wiry arms pulling gear out of their cars, when I looked up at the most amazing cliffs I've ever seen, while I played around on the rocks every where we hiked, I realized how profoundly I miss it. I discovered that if I don't climb outside while living in California, I will regret it the rest of my life. I try to live without those kinds of regrets, so, I posted an ad on Craigslist so I can meet up with some strangers. Crazy!

I said I was out of shape for climbing, but when I was in shape was doing 5.10's. I've only had three responses, one woman and two men. I did specify that I was married and in my 30's (lest anyone get funny notions). They all sound like great potential partners. The woman is also out of shape and was climbing at a similar level when she was in shape so she's my first choice. She had to cancel on me tonight, but that's fine--it was 106 degrees when I rode my bike to the train--I'd rather just stay home tonight. We've got another time scheduled for next week.

When all the on-line community stuff started happening, before I was a part of it, I thought anyone with an on-line life was a loner. Like they couldn't handle the real world. What I've discovered instead is that it's made my circle much wider than ever before. Since 10th grade, I've been comfortable going up to strangers to start a conversation. This is just a different format.

Do these Girl Scout cookies make my butt look big?

They say it takes 21 days to break a habit. I find that 40 seems to work for me. Each year I look around at my life and find the one thing that's begun to dominate my time or my thinking, and give that up for Lent.

One year it was TV. I'd reached the point where Jrex would come home from work and I wouldn't go say hi and would get pissy when he came to the TV room to say hello to me, "Wait 'til ____ is over!" I saw that and thought, "Hmm...warped? Yes. Acceptable? No." So I just stopped watching it. Ever since, it hasn't had the same hold over my time.

Another year I gave up novels. Read lots of magazines, watched lots of movies, but no novels. With that one, I'd reached a state where I read a novel every day or two. My job was boring, the computer files I worked with were huge, and my computer didn't have enough RAM. I'd read as a file opened, as I applied a filter, changed a color or saved. I saved frequently!

The hardest year was the one where I gave up all forms of media. I decided that for 40 days, the only thing I would read was the Bible. I didn't watch movies or TV either. I know I'm supposed to tell you it's my favorite book and how much I love it, but it's just not true. I usually read to get away from my life and reading the Bible is NOT brain-dead reading.

This year, I gave up sweets. I'd started going by the receptionist's desk just to raid her chocolate stash. Anything that was brought into the department, I 'had' to eat. I 'had' to have chocolate and pecans for dessert. I 'deserved' that sweet snack. On and on. In many ways this has been my least constructive fast: I'm breaking a habit, but not really altering my character much. However, it's been the most public one. Someone at work bought 30 boxes of Girl Scout cookies to help out her niece. They've been EVERYWHERE. All the people in my department know I've given up sweets for Lent. We eat together too often for me to get away with not eating sweets 'just because'. At meeting after meeting, the Girl Scout cookies are on the table and one of the other Creatives is laughing at me because I look so wistful.

It's been an interesting conversation starter. I'm sure most people assume I'm Catholic. The truth is, I'm following my Mom's footsteps and being a magpie of traditions. Fasting is one of the spiritual disciplines and I've seen how powerful it can be. The 'season of Lent' has become a convenient time to reconfigure my character.

I must say, Easter and the eruption of LIFE has taken on a whole new level of joy since I started my Lenten 'celebration'. Usually by Easter I can receive back the thing I gave up as a gift instead of demanding it as a 'right'. I tell ya, that box of Thin Mints in the freezer is sounding like a mighty fine gift! ;-)

Thoughts from the sickroom

I took today off to indulge the cold that's been attacking me since Tuesday. I should have stayed home yesterday, but I had to put out a few fires at work and make it relatively guilt-free to stay home today.

I love sick days. Ignore the congestion and general mental stupid/foggy brain and it's a great way to spend the day. When we were little, we had a Mom who veered toward the Mother Earth side of life. Meaning we never had sugar or candy or soda. Being sick meant we actually got 7-up and crackers! Best ever. The dark room, the quiet visit and the cool hand on my forehead, the pile of books and the cool fizz of pop in my face as I greedily drank it down--all mean I have a fond enjoyment of being ill.

This morning, I lay on the couch as the sun poured through the sliding glass doors. Against the painted brown wood of the balcony wall, the green leaves of my juniper bonsai glowed. In the diagonal strip of sun, Muttolah dozed in an acrobatic variety of contortions. At one point she lifted her head and half-sat up. She began panting while looking a little ill. "You ok, mutt?" I asked her. Panting, she turned her head and glanced at me, then sat there panting a little more, her black fur gleaming in the heat. "Get out of the sun, crazy dog," I laughed at her. She glanced at me again, then laid down with a happy sigh. Crazy Mutt! (Sorry, I do realize most of you are still deeply ensconsed in winter. I have to justify the Bay Area's cost of living with posts that remind me why it's theoretically worth it to live here.)

The phone rang numerous times. Clean the heater? Clean the carpet? Is this Wells Fargo? I almost didn't answer the fourth time. It was Jrex, so I'm glad I did. He picked me up for lunch. We were on our way to Stacks (home of American style breakfast and lunch) when we saw Sultana. Mmmm...Turkish food instead? Yes, please! He's in the midst of a month-long experiment where he has to inject mice twice a day. Yup. 30 days. Morning and evening. NO DAY OFF. Which meant my Valentine's Day was spent alone on a couch watching Ocean's 11. I was sick and brain-dead though, so that was fine with me. It was a wonderful surprise to go out for lunch. Don't worry, I coughed a bit and wore a scarf, I AM sick after all. This isn't just a mental health day...

I don't think that helped in any attempt to dissuade me from my love of sick days.

Do you have traditions/rituals that you do when you're sick? Memories of childhood illnesses? Do you hate being sick or enjoy it? My impression is that having kids means sickness is just pure torture with no room for self-indulgence, am I wrong? (lie to me, people!)

I'm considering bulemia as a viable solution

For a client presentation on Monday, we had to assemble six 'flavor' sets. From jelly beans. Meaning, we had to taste Jellie Bellies. Dozens of combos. By the end we were biting them in half, then in thirds. We made some fun combos: for example, to represent the creative department we found red, blue and green jelly beans (pomegranate, blueberry, margarita) and called that blend "The Spectrum".

I have a client presentation here in another forty minutes and I don't know if walking in with a green face will be acceptable...

Phew!

We're off for our vacation tomorrow. I don't have anything articulate to say.

1. I just worked a 40 hour week in three days (it feels like that, though I haven't really added it up). I got everything done and am out the door, so it's fine. I don't know if it's true or not, but I've told everyone there is no cell phone reception in Kings Canyon/Sequoia National Park.

2. I've been sucked into the bottomless pit that is Facebook. One of my best friends, who told me she never goes on line and therefore never reads my blog, sent me an invite. [Pause for irony to sink in...] I didn't sign up for a while since I really don't have time for anymore online activities. Three nights ago, I dove in. And yes, it's consumed what little free time I have and strained my poor designer eyeballs. I've mostly been connecting with people I knew during college. I was part of a fantastic community in the Pioneer Valley and have been horrible at keeping in touch so it's great fun to see their pics and reconnect a bit. The kids who were preteens when I left are now gorgeous adults! Yikes.

My symbol of Facebook rebellion is that my profile picture consists of a photo of Muttola. She's cuter than me anyway, if a little furrier.

See ya next Thursday!