want to be MY favorite person?

Oh, woe is me. I've just become aware that the film short Are You The Favorite Person Of Anybody? (written by Miranda July -- clip is here) will be airing on the Sundance Channel beginning next week, and I don't HAVE the Sundance Channel! *sobs* I've entertained the idea of upgrading my cable solely on the desire to have the Sundance Channel and the Independent Film Channel, but it irritates me to pay an extra $10 per month for the required cable box and then to ONLY be able to watch the aforementioned channels on a single television. (Or pay another $5 per month per box to get additional ones.) We are a family of many tv's (and now 4 Tivo boxes), so it seems really lame to only have digital cable on one of them, but sheesh, the cost is outrageous (IMO). (I consider the Tivo boxes worth every penny, however. Go figure.) Oh well, it's probably for the best. If I had IFC and Sundance I would likely never leave the house, which could be problematic.

So here's your chance to unequivocably answer "YES!" when asked the question, "Are YOU the favorite person of anybody?" Just record those 4 little minutes of heaven and send it to me, and you will, without a doubt, become MY new favorite person. Any takers? :)

[HINT: It says the next screening is Sunday 01.29.06 at 11:20 PM but I have no idea which time zone that is.]

Oh, as an interesting aside, I didn't realize that Mike White (the guy being interviewed in the clip, for those not familiar with him) was one of the writers for the Dawson's Creek tv series (as well as Freaks and Geeks and Pasadena, and others). Of course any time *I* see him, all I can think of is his character in Chuck & Buck (which he also wrote). A creepy character and a creepy movie, but I liked it. :)

Vanity, thy name is MIO

Okay, so as I've mentioned recently, I've been battling this lab problem at work for the past several weeks. What I don't think I've said before is that the lab I've been working in is in a different building from where I usually work. This building (called the B-1 building) was built back in the early 1940's (and there's some interesting history here for those who care to read it) and it is HUGE (and old...and, uh, pretty gross, to be honest). The problem I have with having to venture over to this building from time to time is that you have to travel through these underground tunnels in order to get to the inner parts of the building (they don't really want folks wandering around on the factory floor). The tunnels are pretty creepy. When I walk through them, I'm always reminded of that scene in the movie Nightmare on Elm Street, where Freddy Krueger is walking down the alley with his arms stretched out to a freakishly abnormal length, and I half-expect him to appear at any moment. So besides being dirty, and scary, there is another problem with the tunnels, and that is that vehicles DRIVE in them throughout the day, making the air in the tunnels smell heavy with exhaust fumes. I've been getting increasingly wigged out lately over the fact that I am breathing in these toxic fumes on my way in and out of the lab (and the distance is too far to hold my breath, though I've become a master of shallow breathing). I’ve mentioned to my project lead (John) that I’d almost be willing to wear a protective mask when I’m in the tunnels (keyword: almost). I mean, besides the fact that it would probably scare the bejeezus of out anyone seeing me walking around those tunnels with a mask on, I'm just a wee bit self-conscious. But I've been looking around on-line and I've found this mask. So what do you think? Would you wear it? (Male readers, disregard the pink filters when considering the question.) ;) I'm sure John would happily fund the purchase, on the sheer entertainment value of seeing me wear it.

On a (barely) related note, I entertained myself this afternoon by reading the posts on WhoIsBenjaminStove.com (and I realize the site has been up for 5 days now, so my apologies to the internets if you're all ahead of me on this one). Even if it turns out to be a hoax or some sort of market research study, the idea sure is intriguing. Anyway, there is an interesting post in that forum about a mysterious man who was a retired engineer from Lockheed Martin. After reading about his eccentricities, I'm convinced that he must have spent his career working in the B-1 building and traversing those tunnels.

post-holiday recap

Well, I suppose it’s time that I just write something and put it out here. I’ve been having this mental block lately that has made me feel like I couldn’t write a blog post to save my own life. It started back in early December when, while reading one of my favorite daily blogs, I inadvertently followed a link to a post on another site (caution—read at your own risk) that for some reason had the most profoundly discouraging effect on me. Which is a little strange because: a) I am generally not a person who is easily discouraged, and b) I do not agree with many points that were written in the article. Anyway, I guess it just caught me on a bad day, and combined with the year-end stress of shopping for my youngest daughter’s birthday (which forces me into the stores just after Thanksgiving and thus officially starts my Christmas shopping as well) and work-related problems, it was just…well…a sucky month. The holidays themselves were nice though, better than I had anticipated. Everyone seemed even happier and more appreciative than usual. Score! One of the nice things about the company that I work for (which helps make up for the bazillion hours of mandatory training classes we must endure each year) is that we have an extended holiday from Christmas through New Years, so I had a nice bit of time off (which didn’t turn out to be all that restful, but it felt good to be off anyway). I did manage to see quite a few movies though: King Kong, Munich, Narnia and Hostel. I loved them all (for different reasons, obviously)...and Eric Bana--roooooowwwwrr! New Years Eve was spent back-and-forth between a neighbor-party and chaperoning a teenager-party (which would have been a lot more fun if I were the teenager and not the chaperone... being the chaperone has a way of making you feel like you've aged 100 years all in one night, I've never felt so old!) The last bit of excitement came this past weekend where I spent a good part of the day Sunday in the ER with my son. He had suffered a pretty serious head trauma (I have photos, but they aren't for the squeamish so I shant post them here) so I wanted him to get checked out by a doctor to be sure he was okay. Thankfully he is going to be fine (though they said he did need stitches and would have received them had he followed his mother's advice and gone to the hospital right away--proving yet again that mother is ALWAYS right *smirk*). He was such an entertaining patient, he literally had the poor woman in the next bed giggling in between her cries of pain...from the other side of the curtain we would hear "heheheheh...ooooww....I'm sorry" (for eavesdropping) repeatedly. It was really pretty funny.