hot coffee girl

Since I am not a photoblog, I am assuming that you have come here to read a post.

Which brings me to the logical conclusion that you can, indeed, read. (I am so quick like that.) One might also then take it to the next step and think that perhaps you have a book or two lying around your house. Or hundreds. Come on, ‘fess up. You have scads of them sitting around, collecting dust (not to say you are a bad housekeeper…it’s just an expression).

So, these books that you loved, or hated, or felt fairly indifferent about are resting there looking impressive, but not really contributing anything. That’s so sad. All those poor little books want is to be read. They want to be curled up with on a rainy Sunday afternoon. They want to help someone’s lunch break a little more interesting. They want to fulfill their bookish destiny. They want to be read. "But I have already read them", you cry. “And I have a stack of them waiting to be read, too! I just don’t have the time or the inclination to go back and re-read them.”

That’s not really the book’s fault, now is it? Should it suffer just because you are busy or done with it? No. I think not. Lucky for you (and your books), I have an alternate suggestion.

There is this site, Bookcrossing.com that is just one of my favorite things. The concept is simple, really. From their site:

The "3 Rs" of BookCrossing...

1. Read a good book (you already know how to do that)
2. Register it (along with your journal comments), get a unique BCID (BookCrossing ID number), and label the book
3. Release it for someone else to read (give it to a friend, leave it on a park bench, donate it to charity, "forget" it in a coffee shop, etc.), and get notified by email each time someone records a journal entry for that book. And if you make Release Notes on the book, others can Go Hunting for it and try to find it!

I love the feeling of random acts of kindness. I’ll go on a binge where I’ll be cleaning up my bookshelf, and register three or four at a time. I am not suggesting that you immediately go and give away all of your books. (I could never do this myself…many of them are like old friends, and I couldn’t bear to part with them.) But everyone from time to time has a book that they are just sure they will never read again that someone else might really enjoy. Instead of lending a book out, I also have registered and “released” books to friends, so that they can pass the book on when they are done. It definitely takes the pressure off of wondering if you’ll ever get the book back.

There is something so cool about the feeling you get just leaving a book somewhere to be found by someone else. It makes you feel more connected. More a part of the big picture, even in the smallest way. I have released 24 books into the wild, and 10 of those have been caught and registered. (Here is my profile.) Sure, it’s better when you find that someone has picked up your book and taken the time to go online and register it, but even when they don’t it’s still not bad.

Because I imagine that it makes someone’s day to find a book in a random place, only to discover that in some karmatic way that it was meant just for them.

MSNBC has a feature on their website today about the Top Five Overlooked Rock and Roll Hall of Famers.

The list is decent, but is missing one fairly large oversight…Cleveland. Yes, Cleveland. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has been here in our fine city since September 2, 1995 , but every year, artists are inducted into the Hall of Fame in an annual induction ceremony in New York City.

What bullshit.

When considering locations, Cleveland lobbied to the Hall of Fame Foundation to be chosen. Reasons included the fact that one-time Cleveland disc jockey Alan Freed is widely credited with promoting the new genre (and the term) of "rock and roll", and that Cleveland was the location of the first rock and roll concert. After a petition drive that was signed by 600,000 fans favoring Cleveland, and a USA Today poll which Cleveland won by 100,000 votes, the hall of fame board voted to build the museum in Cleveland.

And every year since, they have dismissed us like a groupie that has served her purpose and go on to hold the all-important ceremony in NYC. I could almost stomach not having the ceremony in Cleveland every year if it traveled…if each year it was in a different location honoring a specific city for it’s contributions to the genre. But the fact that it is never held here and always held there…seems like kind of a load. God knows that Cleveland doesn’t need those extra tourism dollars that the ceremony would bring. (Cough, cough.) We are just literally bursting at the seams with people all over the world hopping planes to visit us.

I love our city. I think that we have a long way to go, but I also believe that there are a lot of wonderful things to see and do here. Unfortunately, attend the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony isn’t likely to be one of them.

The LPGA has not called to invite me to join the Tour. I have not yet made it as a professional poker player, so the WSOP circuit will have to survive another year without me. And apparently, things such as rent and food require money. Bummer. So, as the assignment in the Pitts wraps up here in the next few weeks, my attention is turning back to the Cleveland job market. I have to tell you, the prospect of being home all of the time is more than appealing, although the interview process is a freaking nightmare. I would rather you pour sugar in my gas tank and anally rape my cat than have to endure another round of “Dance for me, white girl. Show me what you’ve got.”

(To be fair, my car isn’t running and my cat is a real bitch, so it’s not like that’s a really fair assessment of how much I am dreading the Interviews.)

The real bitch of it? There is one beacon of light shining brightly, taunting me with its perfect-ness. It is The Job that I would love doing…at a company that appears, at least so far, that I would actually not mind spending time at. From what I know about them, they are successful, funky, creative, and take their work-but not themselves-too seriously. I have already fallen in love with their website, which is usually not the case with me. (They have no eye-bursting green, but a girl can make some concessions.)

I sent my resume in for this seemingly perfect-for-me job on Thursday, and miracle of miracles, they called me on Friday. To set up an interview for TODAY. Holy shit. I am freaking out just a little. Of course, it’s not until late this afternoon, so I have the entire day ensure that I completely fuck it up ummm, look perfect for the interview. When I was in my 20’s, I spent this kind of time preparing for dates with cute boys. Now, in my 30’s, I spend this kind of time impressing a different kind of stranger. Both potentially hold key stakes in my future, but jobs come with dental. And unless you have a blind date with a dentist, it’s not really the same.

I have to go get my nails done, iron my shirt, and manage to get all of the little interviewy details in place.

Any chance I can schedule a peel and liposuction before 4:00? Hmmm.

   There are some days you just need a hat. 

Do you love me less knowing that this is what I do all day?

select case when ne_pa1 . pallets is null then 0 else ne_pa1 . pallets end, case when ne_pa1 . ship is null then 0 else ne_pa1 . ship end, case when ne_pa1 . wgt is null then 0 else ne_pa1 . wgt end, case when ne_pa1 . need is null then 0 else ne_pa1 . need end from( select trunc (( a . pa +( c . pa /( sum_pa - sum_pa_minus1 )*( input_qty - sum_pa_minus1 )))/ b . unitsperpallet , 0 ) pallets , a . pa + b . unitsperpallet *( trunc (( c . pa /( sum_pa - sum_pa_minus1 ))*( input_qty - sum_pa_minus1 )/ b . unitsperpallet )) ship , ( a . pa + trunc (( c . pa /( sum_pa - sum_pa_minus1 )*( input_qty - sum_pa_minus1 ))/ b . unitsperpallet )* b . unitsperpallet )* b . wgt wgt , c . pa -( b . unitsperpallet *( trunc (( c . pa /( sum_pa - sum_pa_minus1 ))*( input_qty - sum_pa_minus1 )/ b . unitsperpallet ))) need from ( select case when pa is null then 0 else pa end as pa from ( select sum ( qty ) pa from stsc . planarriv where item = input_item and dest = 'NE' and source = input_source and trunc ( schedshipdate ) <= trunc ( sysdate + t - 1 )) ) a , (select wgt , unitsperpallet from stsc . item where item = input_item) b ,(select case when pa is null then 0 else pa end as pa from ( select sum ( qty ) pa from stsc . planarriv where item = input_item and dest = 'NE' and source = input_source and trunc ( schedshipdate ) = trunc ( sysdate + t )) ) c ) ne_pa1 ;

I think I just threw up in my mouth a little bit.