Last night, I had a rather interesting night of doing theater tech at IB. Instead of our normal Thursday lineup, we are hosting the first Queer Qomedy Festival (no, that's not a typo). I have to say that working last night was pretty darn awesome. The stand-ups and the drag queens were not only a joy to watch and to work with, but it was fun, even if harrowing, to help those shows just go off to a pleased audience.

Someone asked me before why I like doing theater tech. After all, you're not in the spotlight, you often get crappy jobs like running cables or fetching props, and it does involve some actor static since, face it, some performers are insane talking piles of douche. At the same time, there is something nice about being part of a show, even if your part is best served by being an invisible hand that shines a well-timed light at the right spot or makes that darn phone ring. Those parts may not have all the luster of the spotlight, but they have their own rewards. Plus, I don't really enjoy the spotlight as much as many, and would rather render that onto someone who wants to play Caesar.

I think it also does give an interesting perspective on things. Because I'm a bit removed from the action, I can feel a bit more objective while being not as dispassionate as a critic. Most of the action of teching is just watching people perform because you have to pay super-close attention to aspects of the show that normally get occluded by that fourth wall. Did the player find his or her light? Are they mangling the script and paraphrasing or, worse yet, jumping lines, thus throwing off everyone else? You see things like that, and I think it's kinda neat because it reminds me of how much art there is in all aspects of the show. And seeing it all come together is, to me, more enjoyable than being plopped into the audience to just watch the end result, even if the end result is really impressive.

One of my biggest regrets from college is that I didn't explore theater when I was there, especially since UVa had such an amazing drama department. I felt overly intimidated by it, honestly. My high school had no drama classes, thus put on no plays while I was there, and there wasn't many outlets for people wanting to explore this field in a town with zero live theater venues. The only time that I had done anything was doing the Forensics team in high school (that's the speaking kind, not the dead body kind). I went as far as State doing oratory on semi-automatic gun control (and was ripped to shreds by a judge who called me a "left-wing wacko" for saying that we should have some controls in place -- yay rural Virginia!). I wrote humorous and serious speeches. I did dramatic poetry readings. I even acted all the parts of a one-act play once. These things were the best way that I could stop being the kid that cried and hid under his desk in sixth grade when asked to read his book report in front of the class. That kid is part of who I am still, but as get older, I start to realize more and more than shyness and modesty can keep you honest, but hiding in your room, safely in your metaphorical womb so that you touch no one and no one touches you is not the way I want to live.

Once in a while, I think I will venture onto the stage in a very limited way just to prove to myself that I can. That's another reason that I am staying so involved in productions, because I'm learning by osmosis. The tutelage of vlvtjones has been invaluable as well. I hear her voice when I think I'm acting unreasonable, and that's a good thing. I have a long way to go, and feel like I'm over a decade late from where I want to be, but at least I'm doing it now. And it's not too late. Maybe I can finally channel that sense of overwhelming stage dread into something useful, be it in tech, at karaoke, or just in life.

I have had the most exhausting, but amazing week, which just needs to be written about on this dreary Saturday afternoon. The only really negative to the week is that Ben's been out of town traveling since early Sunday morning for work. Honestly, though, I was so busy that the week flew by without much loneliness, especially since most of the week was me running between jobs or running home to walk Trooper, feed my neighbors' cat (they gave birth on Tuesday to their son), and taking another neighbor's mail in.

Right now, I'm on a "party like a rock star" streak that really started Wednesday night. I have been working on the production of Atreus for ImprovBoston for the past two months and received a text from the stage manager to report to Dali in Somerville for dinner and drinks. An order like that couldn't be disobeyed, though I was disappointed that the message came after I had already finished my sad little salmon burger at home. Many glasses of sangria with the cast eased the pain until I attended the extremely packed karaoke night at the Asgard (I sang third to last after arriving shortly before 10 PM, which gives you an idea) and had enough beers to keep a steady buzz until it was time to leave.

Thursday, I awoke to find that my sister had given birth (no pictures yet since they haven't been home to upload them). The sound of "Uncle Mark" still rings with an almost musical joy in my head. After my work, I headed up to IB for a packed evening of improv teching, including the monthly Rock Band show that ran, including cleanup, until almost 1 AM. My neighbor, the new dad, stopped by and talked with me until almost 2 AM, which was fun then but, man, did waking up the next morning suck monkey balls, especially since I drank a few beers after the show.

Friday, we had our annual sub-departmental "R&R," which was a boat ride on the Charles with a bar and free food. Then, I went to IB for our final Atreus show (it was sold-out and the house people actually had to turn people away, which is freaking awesome) then the cast party. Oh, the cast party. It's a vodka-filled haze that kept me out until 3:30 AM this morning when I split a cab home with someone.

Again, waking up this morning was even less fun since I have had no more than five hours sleep any given night this week. But, I managed to put myself together enough to get dressed up to be an extra in a television pilot this morning. I was more than thrilled to see bwilder, even briefly, back directing the affair. I was there only briefly, but I put in my bit doing the end man-to-man kiss with the camera focused tight on me. Awesome.

Now, I'm enjoying precious moments of downtime before going off to party for legolink and knowthyself's birthday. Can I keep up this level of energy as though I was 23 and not almost 33? Stay tuned....

(PS. Next week, my liver gets a well-deserved break. I want to thank it and wish it was not harmed this much producing this week.)

Born at 9:19 AM this morning and doing well. I just got the call from my sister, who is exhausted from the C section, but resting well. Pictures will come later today.

I've now been elevated to the status of "uncle." I am most pleased. :-)

Okay, I have been retardedly bad about updating LJ of late, mainly because I have been sucked into the vortex of Twitter and Facebook, both of which appeal to my short attention span on things Internet. Judging by the increasingly dry well of LJ entries (only 80 entries to catch up on during Mem Day weekend, which is way down from last year), it seems that I'm not alone in this.

I guess things of note that have happened to me of late are, in no order:

1. I bought a shiny iPhone. It's pretty and tells me that I'm good, which is what I expect of Apple products now. Haven't yet gotten the dreaded Verizon cancellation penalty. That won't be as fun.
   
2. Had a lovely weekend with Ben up in Maine. We traveled up there to visit a friend of his from college in Alfred, Maine, then spent the night in Ogunquit. A surfeit of lobster was had, which is required by Maine Law, I believe.
   
3. Still working lights and sound at IB. This month, been working on Friday nights to do Atreus, Inc., which is going really well. I'm looking forward to switching back to Thursdays after its run since I would like my weekend nights back to probably spend watching shows at IB, or something along that line.
   
4. I have lost almost 15 pounds since the start of the year. I'm hoping to keep that trend up, since it is most welcome. I attribute it mainly to eating better and to stress, nature's appetite killer.
   
5. The apartment is starting to resemble a place where people live and not a place just moved into. Ben's largely responsible for this. I have chucked quite a bit of crap in the past month. Since I lost my "I move all the bloody time" streak, having someone else move in is a good substitute for motivating me to chuck VHS tapes with more layers of dust than viewings.
   
6. I am almost done with my first actual bona fide improv class. I realized quickly that I am not a performer, and will never play one on TV, but I love learning about it, so I may take another class. I'm also really looking forward to Camprov in late August.
   
7. Planning for our September trip to Luxembourg is taking shape. Can't freaking wait, though I it will be weird to travel without my usual cohorts, vilasy, anna_esq, and sofija_m. Clearly, we need to plan another holiday together and I'll need to prod Anna to have an amazing destination wedding to make it happen.
   
8. Some time in June, the official title of "Uncle" will be thrust upon me. I look upon it as all the fun and none of the fuss of having my own child.

Such is life right now, which is pretty darn good. How are you, Internet?

So, I dragged Ben out this weekend to see the Star Trek film after it being touted as a second-coming of movies to me. Editorial note: touting a movie such usually turns the movie into a colossal letdown because the more you build up a movie to me, the more likely that my expectations are going to be so ridiculously uncalibrated that any movie would seem a let-down. That being said, I wouldn't say that I was let down by the movie since it did provide some interesting space action, lots of Trek-specific and not jokes, and the general appeal of things going boom. In some respects, my opinion of this movie isn't unlike that of Independence Day in that it's a perfectly watchable popcorn movie. I would re-watch it, should the opportunity arise, through a DVD or other rental.

But I would never call it a "great" movie. At best, I'll score it a B+. And here's why:( Cut to not offend people who think I'm committing heresy, or spoiling the plot. )

It's funny, but I say pretty much the same thing to myself every time I go down to NYC, "Why don't I live here?" There are so many reasons why I would and would not move there that it would fill up an entry, if not some extended tome, all by itself. But, until I make some sort of final choice, I still have it to visit.

And I visited the hell out of this weekend. Battling over four car accidents, numerous traffic snarls, and even seeing a car catch on fire in front of me on the Triboro Bridge, I arrived in Queens to stay with my friend Matt for that evening. Both of us were pretty darn zonked, so we ended up not doing all that much, despite our much-discussed aspirations to the contrary. We walked over to the bar at which he works part-time in Astoria, then heading back to his place with some other folks to hang out. I believe I passed out super-early, which is kinda lame for a guy in the city, but hey, I had a long drive.

Saturday, however, would be a complete departure from the day before. I made my way down to the new sparkly Citi Field poised right beside the remaining rubble of Shae's Stadium to watch the Mets play with anna_esq. Honestly, the day could not have been more perfect to be at the ball park, and I cannot thank Steve, Anna's bf, enough for giving me his ticket to watch (he has a season pass) on such a wonderful warm and sunny spring day (the Mets won, 1-0, over the Brewers). After taking the "super express" 7 train/the less-than-express N back to Astoria, Anna and I hopped into my car and braved the BQE down to her place.

There would be little time for rest, however, as we had some singing to do. After a lovely sushi dinner in Brooklyn, we headed into the city and met back up with Matt and company at Vlada, also known as the place with "martinis the size of your head" per sofija_m. They went down a bit too smoothly, to say the least, all three of my pomegranate-infused vodka drinks. Then, we piled into a cab and went downtown to a little karaoke bar that Anna knew. We met up with Anna's former roommate, Joan, and then spent the remainder of the evening singing up a storm in a private room with an amazing catalogue of songs. Folks started drifting off as the evening progressed, leaving Anna and me there by ourselves at some point in the evening with a very flowing bar and an increasing inability to sing proportionate to our consumption/fatigue. We flopped into a cab to Brooklyn around 3:45 AM, then woke up the next morning feeling far from daisy fresh.

A quick diner breakfast and lots of water helped to right us enough into a state of "passably functional," so I said my good-byes, made a quick detour to Queens to say good-bye to Matt, then headed back to Boston. Again, if one had to pick a day to label as "driving weather," one would have picked Friday and Sunday for that, since it was just amazing. I came back to find that Ben had done an amazing job over the weekend putting the apartment together and cleaning. There is just nothing better than coming home to all that.

I give this weekend a hearty thumbs-up. I look forward to more of these!

Okay, last night some of you saw me all full of squee. Ben and I bought our plane tickets for our big trip this September. Starting in Boston, we'll go to San Francisco for a few days so that we can attend a friend's wedding there. Then, onto Paris where we'll spend a day, then head into Luxembourg to do our hiking trip across the country. I'm really looking forward to this part, especially given all the great information I found on the Luxembourg by foot website. Imagine the awesome of waking up in the morning, walking leisurely to your next hamlet town, getting wine, cheese, and bread. SQUEE! I can't think of a better way to ring in my 33rd b'day.

After the week of hiking, we'll head into Germany and take a flight home from Frankfurt, thus giving me some chance to see another European country. I'm hoping we'll have some time in Germany to see some sites.

The best part is all the multi-city flying is being done for $920. That's total for all the legs. I guess there is one good thing about the crashing economy, eh?

Man, this is totally my idea of a vacation. Yeah, it's a lot of travel, but there is just so much of a world to see out there. And I have been feeling rather cooped up since I haven't even left the Boston Metro area since I came back from Africa (though I'm hoping to remedy that with a trip down to NYC next weekend to see anna_esq). Just thinking about this trip has given me a new lease on happy!

Since it's post as someone else day, I suppose I should jump in. You'll never guess who I did. ( Groan, again? )

This morning I had my third jury duty in Massachusetts since moving here mid 2000. This state has a policy of making its citizens eligible for service once every three years. Since I have been here for almost nine years, I have been selected three times, even once being impaneled on a a car accident case suitable for a low-end sitcom.

This time would be a bit different. At least I didn't have to schlep all the way to Lowell, but to the sunny town of Woburn and their remodeled courthouse smack in the middle of an industrial park. I walked in around 8, as was required to do, and got processed with my number in hand of "121" ready for some jury action.

Now, anyone who's served jury duty in Mass has probably all seen the same introduction video that looks like it was recorded in someone's basement circa 1982. The chief justice giving the opening speech honestly sounds like a female Elmer Fudd, especially when she talks about the "jur-wy" process. In a different context, I could have made a drinking game out of it. Then comes a parade of other judges and a pair of lawyers that look like Night Court extras, especially when the older male lawyer puts his hands on his jacket like he's a gentleman farmer from the Old South. In one scene, you see the two of them approach each other so that you can see them confront each other in front of the bench. Again, in a different context, there would be porn music playing and you'd see some less-than-hot, well, you know.

The trials all started at 10 and the bailiff assured us of a long day because of yesterday's snow storm postponing many trials. So, we sat. And we waited. Then, we waited some more. Imagine being in a giant airport terminal room with all the fun of waiting on a delayed flight, but none of the fun of actually getting anywhere. Finally, shortly after noon, the bailiff gets on the loudspeaker and summons us all back into the giant terminal-like room to let us know that of the four trials in progress that day, two were postponed, one was settled, and one person plead guilty after the court finally located a translator. Given that the three criminal trials were for drugs, rape, and murder, respectively, I breathed a long sigh of relief for not getting sucked into them, though the bailiff did tell us that one of the trails had the defendant defending himself and turning the court into a Judge Judy-like circus, but with him yelling at the judge. Apparently, this guy wanted to call 90 of his fellow inmates (he was already serving a 66 year sentence) as witnesses and so on. On some level, I would have been amused by this spectacle, but not if it had dragged on for weeks. Also, I may have derived some sense of satisfaction sending some rapist (if actually guilty) to jail where he would experience said thing himself, if the universe played along, but I digress.

So, I'm free, FREE again for three more years when I fully expect another jury summons delivered to my door. At least now I have the afternoon off to get back some of the lost sleep for having to wake up at 5:45.

Since a couple people asked, here is how my cinnamon-raisin bread turned out:




As you can see, it's a loaf of bread, but I crafted it to cut like a cinnamon roll, thus combining both worlds. And I mixed in some golden raisins to boot. The result: gooey deliciousness!

I took the recipe from a cookbook with only the most minor of modifications, so if you want it, let me know, and I will post. My only regret is that I didn't have any natural vanilla extract on hand, so I had to use imitation, which resulted in the off color for the frosting.

( How it's made )

Opting to be a wuss this morning and work from home, I was inspired by a Facebook status message on hanseth's page to bake something. My suggestion was, of course, something with cinnamon, namely cinnamon bread.

Deciding to act on my own suggestion, I walked down to Trader Joe's and took my yearly spill on their parking lot walking in. Unlike last year's rather spectacular, worthy of a Road Runner cartoon, style fall, this one was relatively benign with me landing squarely on my right arm. My lovely fellow Cantabrigians, such as the man who was shoveling snow nearby, opted not to inquire if I was okay upon seeing me splayed upon the ice sheet, but instead actually turn away from me, and continue to shovel as if I didn't exist. And who said New Englanders weren't friendly?

At least this time I didn't take out my iPod ear buds as I did in last year's self-body slam. But man, is my arm sore.

Last night, I went down to the South End to my friend Chris's birthday dinner. It was a very last-minute affair, but I always look forward to dining out with old friends and was more than happy to go to Aquitaine for a meal. We had some mix-ups with our party size, so I forgive them for not seating us at 8:45 PM on the dot when we showed up with two extra people, who weren't eating anyway but were consuming the lovely Petsi chocolate banana pie (yumz).

Anyway, after an hour plus of waiting for this table of dowagers, who'd finished eating when we arrived and were leisurely eating their dessert and drinking their coffee as though they were savoring their last meal EVER, we were finally seated. Because I had already blown $12 on a martini earlier in the evening (it was a good martini, but not a $12 one, but meh), I decided to just have Diet Coke with my meal. So, I got these tiny juice glasses filled with the stuff for my beverage while others opted for the wine and spirits. When the bill came, I fully expected to pay an extra $2 or so on top of my steak frites (which were quite yummy), but instead I found this line item:

Diet Pepsi ( 3 @ 2.50 ) = 7.50

Yes, that $7.50 for three small ass diet soft drinks. I was floored by this line item. I mean, I would have been MUCH better off just going down the street and sneaking in a can from 7-11 for less than a dollar and getting the same amount of soda. I could have abjured the glass, ice, and privilege of having someone bring it to me for that amount.

Needless to say, I was tired and didn't feel like arguing, so I paid whilst gritting my teeth. Still, I feel ripped off. But is $7.50 enough to make a fuss? Or should I just write a Yelp review saying "BUY A BIG GULP INSTEAD, OMG"?

[begin senseless rant]

Okay, I know that I need to unclench about this one, but I keep seeing people at work writing effect instead of affect, and it's driving me batty. I know that they are virtually homophones, but it shouldn't be too, too hard to remember that almost always affect is a verb while effect is a noun. When you affect something, a change can be the effect. That doesn't seem to be too hard to remember.

Maybe it's something that I just need to get over, like the continuous use of "less" instead of "fewer," or the one that used to drive me the most crazy, "you did good." What, I humped a commodity? Oh, you mean I did well. Ah, that makes sense now.

Okay... calming down. I know that I am far from perfect in terms of grammar or syntax (especially in writing), but seeing simple mistakes in semi-official communications makes me want to cringe. Oy.

[end senseless rant - thank you for flying Crank Airlines]

Since I have given out now six of the eleven CDs for my "musicalstrikeforcealpha" contribution, I bring to you the tracklist (yes, I was thinking mainly love songs -- sue me):

1. Please Come to Boston - Dave Loggins
2. Dream a Little Dream of Me - The Beautiful South
3. I'm Gettin' Sentimental Over You (Adaptation) - They Might Be Giants
4. Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters - Elton John
5. A Chicken with Its Head Cut Off - The Magnetic Fields
6. Beautiful Stranger - Madonna
7. Ever Fallen In Love - Buzzcocks
8. Conventional Lover - Speck
9. Space Age Love Song - A Flock of Seagulls
10. In the Air Tonight - Phil Collins
11. Can't Help Falling in Love - Elvis Presley and the Jordanaires
12. Waiting For a Girl Like You - Foreigner
13. Angels - Robbie Williams
14. Dim All the Lights - Donna Summer
15. Up the Ladder To the Roof - The Supremes
16. Midnight Confessions - The Grassroots
17. Let's Spend the Night Together - David Bowie
18. Am I Sexy - Lords of Acid
19. La La Love You - The Pixies
20. I Want You Now - Depeche Mode
21. Hold Me Up - Live

If you haven't yet gotten one, let me know when I can hand it over! And if you have gotten one, please let me know what you think!

Thanks to Facebook, I have been reconnecting slowly to friends of mine from high school. One recently started posting lots of pictures that he had taken, including this one:



Keep in mind, I'm at a small party in my junior year ('92)... playing chess. What the douche?!? I knew that I was a giant nerd in high school, but man, this photo makes me feel like the supreme galactic dungeon master overlord of nerds.

I like this photo a little better, since I'm 1) smiling and 2) not playing chess at a party:



I just can't get over this. It seems like another lifetime and another person, but there I am. Wow. And that was 17 years ago! Yikes! And what the HELL are we wearing?!?

Thanks for indulging if you read this. I'm sure other people look at old photos sometimes that make them both giggle and cringe at the same time. :-)

Oh well, I guess I get what I paid for. See, for some time, I had been wanting the box set of Six Feet Under. Scanning the Internet, however, I couldn't find it for less than $150 from many vendor sites such as Amazon, etc., so I decided to expand the parameters to a full Google search. I found a site that promised me new copies of the whole series, plus a special promotional bonus DVD of the new Incredible Hulk for only $99.99! "What a bargain!" I thought to myself. "Maybe they had excess inventory after Christmas, or maybe they're going out of business and want to liquidate?"

Clearly, I am that sucker. After visiting the Post Office this morning, my heart sunk a bit when I saw that my DVD package had a "China Post" sticker on it and with the exception of my address, all the rest of the characters were Chinese. Opening the package, my heart sunk even more when I looked at the back of the Hulk DVD and saw:



Inspecting the Six Feet Under package, my eye was immediately drawn to the obvious typos on the back of the box:



Unless there is now a "Colden" Globe prize and people are the declared the "minner" of an Emmy, methinks I received a bootleg copy.

On the plus side, it seems that all the DVDs are there, even if out of order. I'm watching the pilot now and it's not a large series of Chinese people re-enacting the episode, so it's not a complete loss. In the end, maybe that they play the content they should is the important part, but still, I feel a bit cheated.

Caveat emptor, Internet. Speaking of which, I also ordered the box set of Rome, but on eBay from this place in Buffalo. If it arrives and is only in Spanish, then I will never shop on the Internet again without a chaperon.

One of the biggest problems with this time of year is that people are buying large amounts of comfort food for themselves. Being unable to eat it, they are bringing it to work, where it seems to invariably end up in my mouth. I just finished a smallish piece of Chocolate Boston Cream Pie (yum!) and am following it with a chaser of strong coffee to help me wake out of my mid-afternoon slump. This pie was brought to us by some mysterious benefactor who left it on the assigned "free food" table. Last week, some Work Food Angel also left a slew of bagels and a sparsely attended lunch meeting led to a large series of Cosi sandwiches being also up for grabs.

All this sounds awesome, right? I mean, who doesn't like free food? Not this guy. And that's kinda a problem. See, like many, I'm trying to shed excess holiday/winter weight, not pack it on. That's been my main impetus for my self-imposed torture of running laps on the treadmill again. But I don't think I can physically run enough laps to work off a large amount of chocolate hazelnut truffles.

I guess it's sort of justice for the large volume of food that I used to bring my old co-workers at Harvard all the time. I used to bring in vast quantities of homemade chocolate chip cookies when I just felt like baking until several people asked me to stop after their gaining some weight.

I think I now understand their position as I sit here licking the bits of frosting from the aforementioned pie off my fingers, feeling fairly guilty for my gluttony and thinking of the extra "laps" that I'll promise myself on the treadmill in the morning that probably won't happen. I guess I can blame boredom, the cold, the stars, or whatever for my "consume on sight" mentality for these sweets, but at some level, I just need to man up and break the cycle! Is there some sort of intervention technique that I can use on myself to NOT eat work pie, no matter how sinfully moist and siren-like it is?

It's official. Some time around June, I'll be an uncle to a proud new baby girl in the family. It's funny, but most of us really thought that my sister would be having a boy given the preponderance of boys in my brother-in-law's family. That being said, maybe they need a girl or two to balance things out a bit.

Baby is completely healthy and has been tested eight ways to Sunday for things like Downs, etc. So far, so good! I just hope my sister's right when she said that I would be the "best long-distance uncle." Hell, I'm looking forward to it since it seems really like a win-win situation for me to have a kid in the family with none of the fuss. :-)

Don't worry, this story does have a happy ending.

Last night, I was working late getting ready to head over to kev_bot"s for some pre-karaoke Arrested Development (I'm shepherding him through the series and now we're in season two) when I get a panicked call from Ben. "OMG, Trooper broke through the window and IS MISSING!" It seems that at some point yesterday afternoon, Trooper had jumped through Ben's bedroom window (he's in a basement apartment, so the windows are high on the walls), shattering the glass and splintering the hell out of the door frame. After driving over there, I could see debris all over the place and a few large blood-splattered glass shards laying in the windowsill.

Needless to say, it was not a fun evening for Ben. Because it was later in the evening, nobody was around to give him immediate answers, which just made the not knowing all that much worse. It was obvious that Trooper had hurt himself with the blood stains in the window, but I noticed quickly that none of the snow or the sidewalks outside had any evidence of a blood trail. Quickly surveying the outside of the building, I found evidence of Trooper running around behind the building in the newly fallen slush/ice of yesterday, so it was obvious that he couldn't have been that hurt.

Ben, however, was hurting. Trooper has been his dog for six years in four different states, so the thought of losing his long-term companion and just not knowing was just wrenching for him. We called around to all the various shelters, animal control agencies, etc, but no one was answering. We just had to sit back and wait.

Finally, the extremely friendly Cambridge Animal Control called Ben back and informed him that Trooper was picked up around 11 AM that morning wandering around his street and that he was fine. I could see the relief and the gratitude wash over Ben as they sloughed off the anger and the worry. We just came back from JP and the MSPCA with a "back-to-normal" Trooper, who's sitting at my feet right now as though nothing had ever happened. I don't see any visible cuts, so his injuries seem surprisingly minor.

We don't know what could have motivated him to just jump through a window, chewing through a screen, and just running around Cambridge. I felt the most for poor Ben, who came home to an empty apartment, a broken window, and whole lot of unanswered questions. I just can't imagine the angst that would cause.

In reading a friend's status on Facebook, I am reminded of how much I detest buzzwords. For instance, when I read about our needing a "strategic shift" or "going forward with actionable items" or "enterprise-class solution," I seriously want to put my fist through the speaker's face for butchering the English language so.

When did it become necessary to use as many polysyllabic words as possible to work around single words like "rethinking" or "tasks" and the like? Was there a school somewhere that is teaching generations of how to speak more and say less? How will it conflict with the growing text message speak in coming years? How long will it be before people are seriously writing things like "I'M IN UR MEETING, MAKING ACTIONABLE ITEMS FOR $$$$, LOLZ."

In other news, I clearly have too much time on my hands at work today.