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Drinking In Complicated Times
Why are folks always surprised when I say the Wall Street Journal writers have a great sense of humor? I laughed out loud today as I read the following in a WSJ review of bottled cocktail drink mixes:
"The flacks for that supermarket standby, Rose's Cocktail Mixers, sent out a press release for their Mojito mix this summer touting it as a 'solution ( Read more... ) -
Philosophical Puzzles on the Commuter Train
There are times in life when one must fight for survival and overcome fierce obstacles that would wither lesser souls. A British sense of fortitude is just the inspiration to buck up one’s flagging spirits at times like this - times like rush hour on a commuter train.
Different commuters have different strategies for dealing with the stress, and I ( Read more... ) -
Appraisal - not a career for the faint-hearted
Well, it is going to be an extremely lean 2009 for us, but Jeff and I decided that it may be possible for us to afford for me to take the new commercial real estate appraisal trainee job which is my dream. I need an additional 2200 hours of experience (I already have 800 hours from a prior appraisal job), which works out to be 55 weeks of full time ( Read more... ) -
World of WordCraft
I have an unproven yet deeply-held conviction about Microsoft Word and the Paper Clip Help Guy. Microsoft Word, of course, is the world's best selling computer program for use in torturing and humiliating office workers. It allows users to type all the things that used to be easily produced on unbreakable cast iron typewriters with names like ( Read more... ) -
Cat, Clock and Revenge
I’m pretty sure my alarm clock and my cat are in cahoots. Today started like thousands of others; I bludgeon the alarm clock and roll over onto the cat. There’s a few seconds of bliss as the screeching from both cat and clock are silenced and I go back to my lovely dream about the seaside cottage I will someday own on Cape Cod. I am about to enjoy ( Read more... ) -
Scotty Says: If At First You Don't Decease, Die, Die Again
"As God is my bloody witness, I'm hell-bent on making it work ( Read more... ) -
Vanilla Boxes
We currently have about a dozen boxes of vanilla cake mix in our spare room in preparation for the next wedding cake that Elias is baking. Last week, my niece was visiting and commented, "Gee you must really like vanilla cakes around here ( Read more... ) -
Pillow talk, Gedney style
Elias and I have both had very intense emotional and intellectual weeks recently and this morning was our long-awaited opportunity to sleep in. Just snuggling and hearing his heart beat is one of my favorite things in life. I gazed into his eyes and quipped, "Honey, you're my Valium." Without missing a beat, he replied, "And you, my love, are my ( Read more... ) -
Rachel Ray Endorsement Proves Frighteningly Important
The Onion.com had a writing contest inviting participants to "write a 2-3 page script (not a newspaper article) for a segment based on the following idea: Rachel Ray Endorsement Proves Frighteningly Important. Rachel Ray has endorsed a candidate and immediately that candidate's popularity surges a shocking amount. The power of Rachel Ray has some ( Read more... ) -
Onion Application
I applied today for a freelance writing position at the Onion.com. The writing test requested applicants to write a news script based on a topic of their selection and a deadline of one week. I'll post my application here later today, but for now, gotta say, I am exhausted but proud of myself for trying to push my intellectual limits even when ( Read more... )