if you're not getting better, you're getting worse

this quote by pat riley was so simple yet profound that it warranted a video:
warning: meant for overthinkers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpx-vVOKKrQ

tax deductions

hmmm...despite the fact that i've been audited already for thinking 2+2=3, that shouldn't stop me from trying out these new tax tactics. i'm pretty sure this is carte blanch to write off any dates, as it's research material for barnithebus.com. ;)

http://www.wired.com/techbiz/people/news/2008/04/blogger_writeoffs

yay, hibiscus is happy

death

a former coworker has lost his son; kevin was only 9 years old.

death has always disturbed me, as i suppose it does most people. as a child, i'd work myself into a neurotic state trying to imagine what it would be like to be dead. would it hurt? would it be scary? would there really be a light? should i really go into it? is reincarnation for real? and so on...

i still wonder most of those things today. i'm less afraid to die (my dogs both did it last year, and what's good enough for them is good enough for me). the assuaged fear leaves room for the perturbing fact that some day i just won't know how things will turn out. it also leaves room for curiosity: will donna, grammy, al, bonkers and uffda really be on the other side?

i believe in ghosts (i grew up in a haunted house - really). i just don't know what ghosts are. are they really the spirit of those passed? or just some other life form made up of energy or dark matter or something that we don't yet understand?

my current hope/belief is that there is a metaphysical life after our physical death. but i'm not sold on heaven and hell. i think we all wind up at the same place. bumm'r - no escaping the jerks in the afterworld, either.

someday - maybe sooner, maybe later - we will all learn the answers of death. meantime, let us make the best of life.

rest in peace, kevin.

the visual resume

my current employer is big on appearances. the dress policy opines that your appearance/attire is your visual resume.

huh. i suppose they're right.

to make it more interesting, they have specific seasonal requirements. in the spring, women are not allowed the luxury of bare shoulders [real example: if you wear a spaghetti strap top you must wear a jacket]. and no birkenstocks [i think i should sue on behalf of all lesbians]. and at no time (not even casual friday) are skorts allowed.

the guys also get their due. it is never acceptable to wear an untucked casual shirt without a collar (dog?).

my favorite rule is for employees in india: men must wear socks, but they are optional for women. freedom, girls, freedom!

so the next time you approach your closet door, think carefully as you select your garb. it's all part of your visual resume.

a truly good slam, a truly good characterization

"that's not writing, that's typing."
- truman capote on jack kerouac in "one of the bitchiest literary putdowns of all time" (-tony long of wired).