Sad

Sometimes, people out east die playing video games. Please, people of the Orient, stop. Just make this stop. It's bad enough we're all seen as lard-ass weirdos who are forced to commit violent acts by these brainwashing machines, now we die from it? Come on. Get those kids outside.

It's a plane

What do the words 'labile' and 'superordinate' have in common? At a seminar this morning, the speaker used both words, neither of which I had ever heard before. Creeped me right out.

In other word news, I'm tired of the word 'iconic'. Ever since Superman Returns, I keep seeing it around the web. Stop it, people. We know you saw the movie.

Flapjacks and sugar water

Cabin fever has officially struck the B A Start household, and we're getting dangerously close to Jack-London-type conditions. There is, it turns out, only so much TV two people can watch, only so many pages of difficult books a woman can stomach, even a limit on the number of hours I can burn playing video games.

I spent the bulk of Saturday doing Mr. Fix-it stuff. That's how bad it's getting in here. So, do me a favor and pour some libations to the sun gods before this turns ugly.

I am a jerk

I keep forgetting to tell you that Mark has started a blog. Der.

Updates

It would appear that I am without a doubt not the guy. All for the best.

Had that standing meeting again, but we did o'er the phone. Thus, no new clothing-related colleges to add to my list.

That is all.

Alma Not

Step foot in a corporation and you will run the risk of getting pulled in to a standing meeting. This is not a meeting in which people neither sit nor recline, but rather a regularly-scheduled meeting which occurs whether it is necessary or not. My schedule is speckled with many. I offer this info as back-story to the following.

Date: Two Wednesdays ago.
Alex's clothing: blue shirt, blue blazer, blue-and-orange striped tie, tan slacks.
Comment: You look like you went to Yale.

Date: Last Wednesday.
Alex's clothing: red tie, white shirt, yellow sweater, tan slacks.
Comment: This week Alex wore his red tie so we would know he went to Harvard.

While these comments were certainly meant as compliments, I would like to set the record straight. I did not go to an ivy league college. I did not go to prep school, or even regular old private school. Neither did my parents. I don't have a trust fund, and have never 'summered' anywhere. I'm just not that guy.

I do get it a lot, though. I think it's a combination of the non-Lucy-Arnaz accent, my coming to this land from the exotic East, the British last name, the English major, and the whole good-fences-good-neighbors thing. To the casual observer, I certainly could be that guy, but come on. I get my ties at Target, for sake o' pete.

Yes, that says 'fanboy'.

Can't remember if I told you this or not (it's one of the side-effects of never paying attention to the constant stream of little gifts one's sensory inputs offers one), but I tried to get a job as a pro blogger recently. This post caught my attention, and I gave it a shot. "So, let me get this straight. I link to news stories from other sites and you give me money?"

I made the first cut, but it's been a few weeks since the second deadline, so it should be safe to say I'm not the guy.

The experience does beg a veritable horn-o'-plenty of questions, though. Are there other similar jobs out there? Is the time worth the supplemental income? Would it give me any writer cred?
Would it be fun?

As with all things writery, I'd love to try it. Okay, maybe not all things writery. I don't think I could bring myself to go to anything called a "blank jam" where blank is a style, genre, or type of writing. I draw the line at jams. Other than that, though.