2005-12-14 - 4:32 p.m.
Last year, I went with my friends Terry & Bobby to see Big Head Todd and the Monsters. They were great. Their opening act was this group from rural Virginia called Carbon Leaf. I was impressed with them and bought one of their CDs, Indian Summer. I listened to it a few times, it fell out of rotation, and I picked it up again this fall. These guys are amazing. You can listen to a few of the tunes from this album on the website. (Lindsay, I think you'll like some of these - check 'em out.)
Speaking of amazing, since it's Christmastime, I've been listening to the Vince Guaraldi Trio's soundtrack to the Peanuts' cartoon, A Charlie Brown Christmas. Mr. Guaraldi is a genius. Every year, I'm floored by those tunes. I just looked him up - I didn't realize that he died almost 30 years ago, in 1976. He was only 48 years old. Sic transit gloria mundi.
I need to go to the commissary, especially since the kids are coming to visit. Sadly, it's close to a payday, so the place is going to be a zoo. Think Macy's the day after Thanksgiving. Seriously, I've been there when the check out line was 45 minutes long. I think I'll try going first thing on Saturday morning.
We have two holiday parties at work this week. (Oddly, in this era of bitching about the "war on Christmas", the staff here are pretty much militant about inclusiveness, and so we're all about Happy Holidays. Yay!) Tomorrow's party is for our division, Friday's party is for the whole organization. We'll have a baking competition, and the results of the door decoration contest will be announced. The Fun Committee busts its collective butt in this place, for real. I managed to get roped into the "Star Search" thing, and will be part of a cheesy skit. Hemlock! Where's that goddamn hemlock?!
This is a wonderful place to work. I think there are a few people here who really don't know how to take me, but we all get along anyway. We were discussing some new-agey guidelines for keeping communication open. I try to close me eyes before I roll them. Someone mentioned hurt feelings, and I piped up, "How about people take responsibility for their own feelings?" Dead silence. "Pardon me," I said, and sank down in my chair. Okay, then.
Sometimes I think I'm so different from most of the people here, I might as well be an alien. But just because they do things differently doesn't mean they're wrong, or I am. It's my responsibility to treat people well, period. I have an excellent example in my friend Andras. He always finds something positive to say about someone, no matter how difficult it might be to do so. Not because he's naive, but because he likes to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. You never know, I might be having a bad day someday, and need that benefit myself.
