with my husband. Marriages just can't sustain things like that. At least mine apparently can't. We both worked from home today to save a bit on gas... the theory being that since we usually carpool, with only one of us working from home, we werent' really saving anything. Makes sense.. So it all started out lovely, and actually it was all lovely until about an hour ago, when we had our daily spat. Do all couples fight this much? There is a lady at work who fights with her husband constantly and they legitimitely just can't seem to stand each other. I want to yell over the cubicle wall "get a divorce, lady! You'll be happier!" We don't have horrible fights, but I do feel like lately we fight a lot. Oh well... the nice thing about life is that it has a way of working itself out. Either it will get better, or it will get worse. Not much point dwelling on it.

All of us here on the Sports Flow team would like to wish all readers and passers-by a very merry Christmas from all of us. Enjoy your time with family and friends and tune in later in the week as we will continue to count down all our favorite and top teams, plays, games, and players of the year that was 2007.

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Had sort of a crappy day at work. It wasn't so bad, but I got that feeling a few times...you know that high blood pressure feeling where you want to rip somebody's head off? Ever get that? But I took a deep breath, resorted to short sentences and turning my head, and then just blocked people out. I don't even have pms, which leads me to believe that people are just irritating. But what can you do? I'm in a bit of a spot because I've told people over and over again how NOT to irritate me but they don't seem to be paying attention, so that's it. I just can't let it bother me. Part of what bothers me is that I think maybe I'm not that good at my job. I know I'm good at parts of it, but I'm not great at everything (who is, right?) so that bothers me too. But all I can do is to do the best I can do and let the rest roll off my back.

my head hurts from way too much exertion. I've almost memorized the whole Jessica's theme song. It's a tough one and I'm about 3 measures away. I still have to look at the music sometimes to peak, but I'm very very close. It feels good becuase it's been a real challenge and I'm almost there! I'm not even going to worry about the Enya song for now because that's easy by comparison and if I have to I could even drop that one. But I don't think I'll have to. I've got a long weekend and another 2 weeks after that so I think I'm golden.

My sister helped me come up with a great idea for a book. It needs a little fleshing out but it has the potential to be really funny. And hey, if I'm only spending a month on it, I can take the risk. No pressure, right? The plan is to start June 1 and obviously be done by June 30 with the first draft. I see it as something sort of Carl Hiaasen-ish. Funny, irreverent, a bit kitchy, but with a little bit of a message (yet to be determined).

Call me a nerd, but I've wanted to do a labyrinth walk for years. I have no idea why.. it's just one of those things (like the nautilus) that I see and I like and then I become semi-obsessed with. I have dreams of building my own labyrinth in my side yard out of rocks and flowers. But tonight, I actually walked one! There's a church in Portland, probably 2-3 miles from where I work that has a labyrinth on a canvas and they open it up to the public once a month or so. Now, I'm not religious at all and I've probably stepped foot in a church a total of 10 times in my life (half of them at a daycare center when I was a nanny, once I went with a boyfriend on Christmas, a few times I went wtih friends when I was kid, and once to a wedding in a catholic church). Oh, and once I blew a tire on my car when I veered trying to avoid a squirrel and hit the curb... wanted to see if they had a phone but the door was locked - typical!

bleak. I can't really think of any other time in my lifetime when the economy looked so bad and the future looked so scary. I don't know if it's because I used to live in a wealthy area and didn't drive far to work, and just didn't notice things... or it really is that bad. When I was visiting VA a few weeks ago, I was going on and on about conspiracy theories and how the middle class will be wiped out and my sister said to me "what do you care? you live a good life. enjoy it." All the news coverage lately just ... I don't know... it makes me think of a Hollywood movie of a futuristic world well it all effing sucks! I don't anticipate not being able to afford food. I have a decent paying job and with carpooling, etc. we'll get by, even with the price of gas these days...but this is the first time that economic factors like that really have changed my life. My driving habits have changed (65 mph baby!), I'm carpooling, I asked my boss about telecommuting. Our expendable income has gone down...I dunno.

I used to own a movie (back when there were "videotapes" called Bodies, Rest, and Motion. It was one of those independent films where not much happens, but for some reason I liked the movie. It's about a couple who moves to Arizona and then once they get there, they break up and the guy starts dating someone else, who he now lives with. The guy and his girfriend are still friends iwth the ex. So that's just the background, nothing has actually happened yet. Ok.. now the boyfriend decides he wants to move to Butte, Montana. Girlfriend doesn't really want to go, but she's a nice, peaceable girl so she will follow him. They get all packed up, hire a painter, quit their jobs...at the last minute boyfriend tells her that he's going alone. And he leaves. She's stunned. The painter shows up and they start chatting, get high, and have sex. He goes on about love. She gets up in the morning and leaves, not waking the painter. The painter decides he will find her.

This was sent out to members by the WGA today:

PRO AND CON MEMBER STATEMENTS
on Ratification of the Proposed 2008 MBA

Rules for Members of WGA East (WGAE) and WGA West (WGAW)

In keeping with our tradition of encouraging a free flow of ideas and opinions among the membership, the Current members in good standing have the opportunity to submit statements supporting or opposing ratification of

Received an invite this morning from the DaVinci Institute in Denver to attend Night with a Futurist on July 7. Sometimes I wish I lived in the Denver area as their events usually seem relevant and interesting. Anyway, this next event is called "The Transformative Nature of Burning Man" with Scott Perlman, Co-Founder and COO of Think Like a Genius who has participated in the Burning Man event five times as well as organized the Colorado regional burning man event.

Some time ago, a co-worker of mine shared photos of when she attended the Burning Man event, so this invite reminded me to find out more about it. Upon further exploration, it did get me thinking about some Burning Man questions that may be relevant to what you're doing.

What kind of temporary community would you create, what would you name it, and where would you locate it?
What if there were no selling, no transportation other than walking or biking, and no dogs?
Who would you invite to participate, who would want to participate, and who would just show up as members of your community?
What would it feel like to participate in a community that would totally disappear with no trace within a month's time?

I know many of you out there are college football fans like I am, and I've been a loyal Notre Dame fan for a good part of my life. But I'm sure many of you have noticed how the length of college games have just gotten longer and longer, especially at the Division 1-A level. It seems like it's a miracle if they can play a major college game in under 3 1/2 hours these days.

Of course, there are are numerous things like TV timeouts and instant replays that back games up, and there's not much you can do about that. But in watching college games, I've come up with something that I think could speed games up considerably.

Yes, tonight I discovered the wonders of non-alcoholic beer! Perhaps at one time in my life I scoffed at such things and wondered what the f-ing point was, but that's what getting older and wiser is all about I suppose. We went to a local Mexican restaurant/Irish bar (I know!) and I got tacos and an O'douls, and I have to say - it was lovely. aaah.... it was like having an old friend back. The comfort of a green glass bottle and a glass of amber beauty with a nice head on it. yum! Tasted just like bud or miller light, and with a 0.5% alcohol, I could pretend that I was getting a weeeeeeee bit of a buzz. Good stuff. Of course beer was never my drink of choice, so I've been thinking about looking for some non-alcoholic wine. I guess they would call that grape juice (unrefridgerated). : )

So what does that say about me... I need the illusion of having a drink in front of me more than the drink itself, which is true. At home, when I really feel like I need a drink, I just put ice cubes in my martini glass (the sound of home...clink clink clink in a cocktail glasss) and put some crangrape in their and just pretend there's vodka in it. I mean, I like getting drunk too, but more than anything, it's just a comfort to have something that I think will make me feel better. And it seems to work pretty well.

bleak. And I'm not just talking about the weather, though that applies too. Dreary! So what's wrong?

Well, first, those creepy crawly, bitey, nearly invisible fiends are back..the bird mites! J has been talking about them for a few days and I thought it was just psychological. I even did that little finger thing around the head that means "koo koo" to him a few times. But he finally had me check his back, and sure enough, there was what looked like a speck of dust sitting there. DOH! I'm not even sure the birds have left the nest yet... ?? Anyway, I'm pretty sure the cats brought them in with them from the porch, so at 10 pm last night I bathed the cats, had my 3rd shower of teh day while J took off all the bed stuff to wash and vaccuumed. Then I locked the cats out, but I still woke up with bites. I've been itching for a few nights, but with sunburn and skeeter bites, etc, etc. I pretty much itch all the time.

Oh well... we will vanquish again. Second, unbeknownst to me, J did a radon test down in the basement and surprise! we have high levels. Ok, that was sarcasm. Given the fact that radon comes from granite and we dynamited out a ledge of granite to build our house...not too shocking. But I still didn't want to know! Now what? Ugh.

I don't watch too much TV. I only say this because if a picky snob like myself endorses a TV show, you know it has to be awesome.

So let me just say right now that the new American Gladiators which debuted last night is a shining example of just what is possible with the medium of television.

If you're not familiar with American Gladiators, it's a contest between 2 reasonably athletic but otherwise average schmoes against gigantic roid monsters who could snap a loser like me in half with a menacing glance. They're so badass they don't even have normal, god-fearing Christian names. They've got names like Stealth, Titan, Militia, Fury, and Hellga. These are names that let you know they mean business.

Every day, I am amazed at the sorts of things people are afraid of.
Perhaps because of my time in the Fusiliers Marins, - and because a handful of my friends are in hot war zones where death could come at any moment from a sniper's bullet, landmine, rocket, mortar shell or IED, - I am not really all that phased by the thought of getting yelled at by my boss or looking bad when one of my projects doesn't pan out the way I thought it would.

Well, I just declared the new Frightened Rabbit album my favorite of the year so far. So now it's time to talk about some records that I was highly anticipating but which (for one reason or another) didn't quite make the cut. First on the list is the follow-up to my #1 from last year. And that right there might tell you a little something about what went wrong on this one.

The Meaning of 8 from Cloud Cult was stunning, expansive, emotional. It dragged me through the coals and showed me things I had never seen before. To try and turn around from something like that and put out a new record in less than 12 months is tough work unless your name is Lennon or McCartney.

What is it about this time of year that just PISSES ME OFF??

I think it's the people. Sometimes, I just HATE people. Or maybe it's something else. Maybe it's all the emphasis on finding that perfect gift, which I can never seem to do. Maybe it's that sense of good cheer I'm supposed to be feeling at this time of year. Maybe it's the carbs.

Nah, it's probably the people.

Hell, even I'M annoying me. That can't be good.

In January of 2004 REALTOR® Kent snatched up a piece of prime Santaluz 1.6 acre plot at $560,000. Despite monthly mello roos, property tax, and HOA of $1,500 on an empty plot of land, this property was going to make him millions by the time he's done with the home.

Figuring the longer he hold on to the land, the more it appreciates, REALTOR® Kent then held on to the empty plot for a couple of years. This is called Kent's "maximize profits through absolutely no cash flow properties" plan.

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The book is entirely out of my hands now, but the pressure still hasn't lifted. Several times a night these last few nights I've woken in heavy sweats, desperatley wanting to change words I am no longer able to change. It is a terrifying thing to accept that the way I said things on particular days sometime at the end of last year are now set forever.

I woke up and lay in the dark at 3am last night trying to force myself to remember the words of the serenity prayer. I eventually remembered 'accept...', 'change...' and 'know the difference...' But I couldn't string the rest of it together or get any comfort from even the jist of it.

They are just words I keep telling myself, just, just words... But it hasn't been easy letting go of them.

I am sitting here trying to catch up with emails. Lots of them in the last few days are from readers in Asia.. I had no idea my story would end up in an article over there and be read by a 16-year old student in Singapore or a man in Pakistan...how bizarre is that! But over the last few days emails have been coming in, not just from people here but from people who have read the article or read my book all those thousands of miles away telling me how, although they might have very different lives, they have been able to relate to my story in some way.

I have spent the last hour dipping in and out of some of their blogs, reading about their lives and cultures, being reminded that people are essentially the same wherever they come from, the same fears the same dreams.

While I know I need to get a lot of sleep, sleep alludes me. I was up and wide awake this morning at 7:30, even though I had gotten up three times in the middle of the night. I did however, take a three hour nap on Sunday. It was awesome, but left me feeling foggy the rest of the day.

This weekend we celebrated Dan's birthday with a bunch of friends. It was really nice getting to meet his friend from work and his wife. We of course played games, but mostly we girls sat around and talked. My one pregnant friend brought her baby, who was just too cute. My son will be right in the middle of her oldest and future baby. So he already has some playmates in store for him. I think Dan had a good time. He loves playing host. We did forget to eat his cake though. We were cleaning up after everyone had left and noticed the uneaten cake. So at five minutes until midnight we broke out the cake and candles and sang happy birthday. Needless to say the cake we ate was just sitting in my stomach. Not the best going to bed food!

Last week I worked 10 hours, but was then able to use up my remaining sick and personal time to cover the rest of the week, woohoo! I also knocked out plumbers and dentist this last week. This week I will actually get a real break. The only think I have on my calendar is my birth class and pest control. : ) Exciting life : )

The marathon moves on, potential trades with the same names, with mainly the same destinations still in the incubation stage, much like a Senators power play of late with little finish around the net.

In fact the second hour of the day takes on a decidedly Ottawa theme.

At TSN, Dave Hodge and his Reporters crew are in the house, as the Sunday morning panel assemble to pass on their sage advice on the day’s happenings, Hodge boldly predicts that Ray Emery will be gone from Ottawa by the end of the day.

About a half an hour later, TSN expands the exodus list for Ottawa.

TSN’s has decided to carry the Paddock must go theme on through the second hour, at 650 they check in with their Senators reporter Brent Wallace who citing Senators sources says that Paddock’s days may very well be numbered. The TSN rumour mill suggesting that Bryan Murray is set to return to the bench to handle his stumbling charges.

Wallace also reveals that both Martin Gerber and Ray Emery have asked to be traded, which consensus seems to be would be a positive move in Ottawa. Pierre McGuire tracing a lot of Ottawa’s troubles to when Ray Emery signed his contract and a change in the goaltending coaching dynamic took place.

I usually do my best to avoid sports talk radio. It is usually a haven for brainless nitwits who can run their mouths off about any sports subject. (Sounds like the Internet actually.)
Yesterday was a rather dull day so I listened to a bit of "Mike and the Mad Dog" on WFAN.  (I still love the nickname Don Imus once hung on them: "Fatso and Fruit Loops.")  A big topic of discussion was the Giants upcoming games against Buffalo and New England. The Giants are still in a very good position to make the playoffs despite the loss to Washington last Sunday night. 

December probably isn't the time for it, but I'm looking around for another job at the moment. This job was only ever meant to be a stepping stone - a way back into things — temporary cover that I knew would come to an end, but I feel quite anxious now that it is - anxious about what the next step will be. Not sure which way to turn again. Not sure I'm tough-headed or tough-hearted enough to go back to a career in law full-time, even if that was possible, but not sure what else I can do. It's hard knowing what you're cut out for.

Merriam-Webster recently announced the winner of 2007's "Word of the Year" award, which was determined via the always reliable internet vote.

This year's winner was "w00t".

The article mentions that "w00t" is not currently listed in a regular Merriam-Webster dictionary but this award "might just improve its chances." If you ask me, that is awesome.

I get into a lot of debates with people about language, particularly at work. A lot of people are driven crazy by the newest slang or even differences in regional dialect, but I think it's cool, or possibly even "pimp" (the kids are still saying that right? Somebody help me out here).

I haven't written here for a while. I've been trying to let things settle and to think forwards, rather than backwards all the time. Obviously I had to do that while I was writing the book, think backwards — wade through all that past, all that heavy sludge of childhood emotion. I felt like a spring recoiling on itself. But once the book was finished it was time to try to go forward again. It's what we all have to do, but that's exactly what I hadn't been doing for so long. I'd gotten stuck. So these past few weeks I've tried to think forwards, and put all the past behind me. But the paperback is out tomorrow, so for a while I can see that will be difficult to do.

Yesterday I put up the Frank Kelly parody of "The 12 Days of Christmas" and I got a whole bunch of hits from folks around the world looking for it on YouTube (especially from England, Ireland and Australia).

My friend Steve reminded me today of another great parody of the song, this time by the legendary Canadian duo of Bob and Doug McKenzie. It's been over 25 years since Bob and Doug hit the big time. They were actually Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas of the great "SCTV" show, and they were a funny recurring skit of two Canadian guys with their own TV show, "The Great White North," talking up the greatness that is the nation of Canada.

From screenwriter Brian Nelson (HARD CANDY, 30 DAYS OF NIGHT) --

The other day I had a conversation with a friend of mine who works in Craft Services. It was an unsettling talk. While this friend has been quite supportive of me all through the strike, during this talk he kept raising points that felt more like what people on the other side would say. "Well, it'll take a long time to undo all the damage ... the moment there was a DGA deal, why didn't the WGA just jump on that? ... It seemed like they were a lot more willing to talk to the DGA than to you guys, and I wonder why." I took a while and patiently responded to all these points, but it struck me that every time I'd respond, he didn't really acknowledge it but came back with another bone to pick.

What it brought home to me was that while my friend was definitely on our side because he felt that the corporate bosses were out to screw us all, he still was very wary of the WGA. Now that the WGA didn't need him so overtly on our side, he felt freer to express a lot of the frustration that BTL people must still feel.