Monday evening (sort of) chatter...

I used to have a five to seven minute walk to work. When I switched jobs in September, I began a daily ride on a bus that eventually ends up in Hollywood. The ride itself is usually no more than 15 minutes, twenty if there's extra pickups. I don't actually have to leave my house until about 7:45a, so oddly enough, I'm sleeping more. I attribute this to the fact that I let my waking distance privileges fool me into thinking I needed less sleep than I actually do. I'd love to regale with stories of various one-night stands and drug binges, but the truth is I was usually reading or surfing Wikipedia to see what Esther Rolle's life was like before and after Good Times.

Anyhow, as random as this may seem to anyone, the point is, I think that I've begun to fool myself again. Last night I found myself deciding where to put pictures and rearranging sock drawers past 1am. Tonight I find myself blogging past midnight and searching out June Lockhart. Yes, I get on kicks wondering whatever happened to TV's moms. Don't try and analyze me.

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A couple of weeks ago I developed a nasty ear infection. Which surprised the hell out of me, because I didn't realize adults actually got ear infections. As a child, I had them all the time. I went on antibiotics so many times that I think bacteria had been plotting it's revenge for the past twenty or so years. I woke up one Monday not knowing why my ear felt like Van Gogh had used me for practice. Upon looking it up, I determined that unless the pain got worse and it didn't clear up, I would just stay in for a few days and not see a doctor.

I should have seen a doctor - he might have given me a note letting me out of work. You see, my boss - who I'm actually good friends with was out that week on jury duty. She's also the only backup for certain systems that I have access to, making it necessary for one of us to be there on any given day. Team player that I am, yes, I dragged my ass into work and ran the reports and sent off the files that needed to be done. Then I went home and slept.

The thing that sucks about an ear infection, at least my ear infection, is that your ear is ringing and you have a dull pain inside of your head. TV is out of the question - not only was it always too loud, but I could hear the high pitch frequency it emits. This also made the computer my enemy (it still was until this week). Worse still - my iPod was usable, but only in the good ear. This, I must say, had it's upside. I heard some interesting mixes of songs that helped me pick out some lyrics and chords I'd never noticed before. Another upside? When I felt better, I went out for tacos and margaritas with the work crew. The Big Boss came along and bought a couple of rounds. She said that she was so impressed with my showing during my illness, that she wasn't even going to count any of of my time off. Lo and behold, my paycheck told me that she made good on that one. So the day my bled a little (it's normal, I checked) wasn't for naught.

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And on a final note, I just to make this clear: I love the American Idol auditions. I have long held that the show is only worth watching in the first few weeks, when the costumes, attitudes, and delusions are at the all-time high. If you want you fifteen minutes that badly, I reserve the right to laugh at you when drunk Paula falls off of her chair or Simon makes a face. After this point, I just can't follow. A bunch of B-rate singers thanking their "fans" and mangling Stevie Wonder tunes just isn't my cup of tea. They have karaoke bars for that - and the cheap booze is preferable to Seacrest any day of the week.

Until next time,

J.

This post was sponsored by the Let Me See Your Esther Rolle! Committee.