[Background: the "What Do You Think?" Mix. Currently, Better Than Ezra, "Briefly"]
I had to leave work for a couple of hours this morning. I enjoy that. I miss being out during the day, the sense of playing hookey, the sly and cynical looks from others who are wondering why you're not a contributing member of society either--that you can be driving around at 2:30 for no apparent reason. Of course, it's hotter than hell (weather.com says 82°/feels like 86° but the bank across the street says 96°) and no one in their right mind would drive around just for the hell of it on a day like this.
I was in the left lane, AC blasting, two tiny trails of sweat sliding down the back of my neck. J.R.'s ABC Mix in the CD player, Finger Eleven's "One Thing" blaring from the speakers. Yes, I was singing, loudly enough that my mouth was open all the way. I caught a glimpse of myself in the rear-view mirror and stopped singing, but only long enough to nearly swallow my tongue. The girl driving the car behind me had, while I was looking, executed a maneuver that I'd once done and thought I'd be the only person to ever do. While flipping her rear-view mirror from the down to the up position (presumably to cut out glare?), she flipped the thing right off the windshield. It landed in her lap. She's driving 40+ mph and suddenly has her rear-view mirror in her lap.
[Roachford, "Lay Your Love On Me"]
The look on her face was priceless. Shock, annoyance, a bit of fear--I was dying laughing. The next move was even better: she attempted to push the mirror back onto the windshield. As if it had been stuck on with Velcro® or something. By this time, tears were streaming down my face and I was just about passing out from lack of oxygen. I somehow managed to keep my car in the lane, but it was mostly luck. Fucking hilarious. Poor kid. Too funny.
[The Housemartins, "I'll Be Your Shelter"]
I just discovered that a guy I've known for years (3? maybe 4?) is also a Housemartins fan. I'd have sworn that I was the only person who even knew who The Housemartins are, much less actively liked their music. But he was ecstatic to discover my cache of their CDs--he'd thought they were out of print. Very cool.
[Eddie Vedder, "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away"]
Speaking of the good old days (as I was, if vaguely), I'm thinking of changing the photo in my profile. I'm not exactly looking for "votes", but if there are strong feelings as to whether the childhood picture is quaint or annoying, let me know.
[Van Halen, "Love Walks In" - sheesh, this is a love-heavy mix, at least toward the end]
Coworker T is on vacation this week. It's a good thing in that the office is extremely quiet (and at the same time I can play--and blare--anything I choose, musically) so I can concentrate. It's also extremely dull, so I'm finding myself wandering out to the public service desk more often seeking company. Not a good thing, particularly when She Who Rules is out there doing the same thing. That doesn't reinforce my request for another employee to do the processing because I'm so damned busy.
[restarted the mix--3 Doors Down, "When I'm Gone"]
The never-ending thesis rears its ugly head again. Tonight will be devoted to last, last, last-minute editing so that I can mail it (Express, yet again, for another $13) to EMU so that the grad school can perform whatever voodoo is required to declare it officially done. From there, I pay fees by credit card (for copying and binding) and they'll make the copies for me (sweet! no driving to Ypsi just to go to Kinkos!) and mail the non-EMU copies (i.e. the ones not destined for the library and grad school) to me when they're finished.
[Live, "Forever May Not Be Long Enough"]
I don't give a flying fuck about the last-minute changes, but I shall remove those extraneous commas and add those semicolons, and I'll even bite the bullet on the compose/comprise issue (a major sticking-point in my negotiations with the grad school reader) if it'll mean this goddamned monkey will vacate from its 10-year lease on my back.
How does one celebrate something like this? Is it really an event worth "celebrating", or is it something about which I should be vaguely ashamed, having taken so long and being so...barely relevant to my life? And goddamned expensive, all things considered? Ah, fuck it, I know I'm going to celebrate, very likely with some extravagance (perhaps a new black bag? or even a car?), some Blue Moon Belgian White, and wishing I was taking that trip to a warm place. That was not to be, but it would have been nice if it could've been.
[Bob Mould, "It's Too Late"]
Sigh. Back to work.
No comments:
Post a Comment