Oh. Wow. Inspiring!
And I want Aretha's hat.
Emily @ 38, I like your idea of deliberatley alternating tackling a little from each "end" of the pile. Part of the problem with any backlog is trying to decide LIFO (last in first out) or FIFO (first in first out) and being swamped in guilt about the other "end" whichever way you choose. Looking back, I can see that when I've been unconsciously alternating processing journal submissions from the top and bottom of the pile, I do feel better about it!
I've just started a six-month sabbatical, and my prime project besides the book I'm working on is a ruthless examination of how I've let my life get so crowded and figuring out what to do about it. If I run across any Good Stuff, I'll report it here!
One good piece of advice I've noted down so far: Any organizing you do should be for YOUR personal ease and convenience, not to live up to some outside ideal. And many people refuse to get organized as an unconscious protest against authority figures in their past. If you can get yourself free of outside expectations and look on organizing as something you do FOR YOURSELF ONLY, as an investment that will pay off in future time-savings, you should theoretically find it easier to dissolve those mental-road-blocks.
Re bullies at work -- "The No Asshole Rule" by Robert I. Sutton is an excelent book on identifying, surviving, and preventing workplaces ruled by bullies. I recommend it highly, and it looks like it will be out in paperback soon. One of the most enlightening things about it is the self-test to see if YOU are being an asshole at work.
Re bullies at work -- "The No Asshole Rule" by Robert I. Sutton is an excelent book on identifying, surviving, and preventing workplaces ruled by bullies. I recommend it highly, and it looks like it will be out in paperback soon. One of the most enlightening things about it is the self-test to see if YOU are being an asshole at work.
Anybody need a paperback copy of John M. Ford's Star Trek novel The Final Reflection? Pretty good condition, a few bookstore stamps inside the front cover. Good reading!
Tania @74: I have never ordered from them so can't speak to their quality or service, but Duluth Trading Co carries jeans and workpants with crotch gussets that might be just what you are looking for. Also long shirts for preventing the dreaded Plumber's Butt. http://www.duluthtrading.com/home/home.aspx?src=G014009&admkt=
Re the story and some of the discussion about acting quickly vs. holding back, with the risk of building resentment:
I was at a leadership conference over the summer (don't know why I go to these things all the time, but I do) and mirabile dictu, one of the presenters actually had something very useful to say. He pointed out that there is always a gap between stimulus and response, no matter how small, and the wise person will deliberately seek out and own this gap and use it -- to think, reflect, gather information, de-fuse, etc. The trick is finding the ideal length of time for this gap, as this story illustrates. Nasty email in the in-box? Ponder on it overnight before answering. Sudden charitable impulse? Don't over-think it, but don't react without spending a moment in the gap thinking about what you are doing.
Vian @ 15, that is the silliest thing. Now I have to send it to lots of people! Several of mine have ended with "Go down to the pub" or "Order out," which is what you would have to do if you attempted one of these...
I saw some spam posting like this recently on another forum -- a sort-of-almost-fits-the-topic post which makes little grammatical sense, followed by a link which might very marginally have something to do with the topic. I didn't follow the link deleted above -- was it to a commercial site?
Daniel -- Rupert Brooke's "Peace" seems to express what many young men thought about the beginning of the war:
Now, God be thanked Who has matched us with His hour,
And caught our youth, and wakened us from sleeping,
With hand made sure, clear eye, and sharpened power,
To turn, as swimmers into cleanness leaping,
Glad from a world grown old and cold and weary,
Leave the sick hearts that honour could not move,
And half-men, and their dirty songs and dreary,
And all the little emptiness of love!
Oh! we, who have known shame, we have found release there,
Where there's no ill, no grief, but sleep has mending,
Naught broken save this body, lost but breath;
Nothing to shake the laughing heart's long peace there
But only agony, and that has ending;
And the worst friend and enemy is but Death.
One of those poems that gives you the shivers in retrospect.
Seen on the street:
LOST: Precious Family Ring. Fell out of car on Jones St. Oct. 3. $1000 Reward! Contact *****
Posted directly above:
LOST PET: Disappeared After Finding Precious Family Ring. Answers to name of Smeagol. Has been known to bite. Contact Frodo Baggins, Bag End, The Shire.
Oklahoma news not so good -- we still have Inhofe (though Rice made a decent showing) and Cole at the national level. Locally in Norman we kept our Democratic incumbents in the campus area, but that wasn't a surprise. And unfortunately there's now a Republican majority in the state house.
Oh my god!!! Wow!!! Yes!!!
Reports from other staff members here in Oklahoma -- lines of 45 minutes to 1.5 hours at various polling places. And people planning to go to the nearest Starbucks and see if the rumors are true...
I drove past three polling places today on my way in, and they looked pretty crowded. But one of my staff voted at 7 this morning, and she said it didn't take long at all. We had enormous lines for the three days of early voting here in Norman, and reportedly in Oklahoma City as well; but I also heard that the early voting lines in McClain county, a more conservative area, were quite short. Probably a good sign! If ONLY Oklahoma would go blue enough to get rid of our national embarassment of a senator, Inhofe!
P.J Evans @51, I've noticed they seem to be the folks who practice tailgating and whip-around passing in no-passing zones more than anyone else. Or maybe they're just more offended by my Impeach Bush bumper sticker... But they do seem to think that they can pass on a hill and count on no one coming over the ridge ahead, thus wilfully ignoring the implications of my Darwin Fish bumper decoration.
Yes I Voted!
In-person absentee voting started today in Oklahoma. I arrived at the County Election Board just after 8:00 and the line already stretched around the corner of the block. It took me 90 minutes, and by the time I was done I'd estimate the wait was well over two hours. The weather was beautiful -- sunny, with just a hint of chill from a south breeze--but it will be getting up to around 80 this afternoon. The crowd was cheerful and strangers were happily chatting away with each other, but studiously avoiding politics. It was mostly an older crowd; I didn't see too many students this morning, but there were people with babies in tow. You can see a picture of the line here:
http://www.normantranscript.com/localnews/local_story_305100720.html
Oklahoma uses an optical scanning system. The voter connects two halves of a broken arrow pointing to their candidate or party. then feeds it into the scanner. The scanner I used was for the general election only, and I was voter number 160. The other scanner was for general and local, and I didn't see the number, but I esitate is was probably 1 1/2 to 2 times higher.
Plan for lines, but go vote!!
Re the "Evita" parody -- I couldn't help thinking of "Rainbow High" when I heard about Sarah's wardrobe...
SARAH:
I don't really think I need
The reasons why I won't succeed
I haven't started!
Let's get this show on the road
Let's make it obvious
Palin, I mean McCain, is off and rolling
SARAH's PERSONAL SHOPPERS:
Eyes! Hair! Mouth! Figure! Dress! Voice! Style!
Movement! Hands! Magic! Rings! Glamour! Face!
Diamonds! Excitement! Diva!
SARAH:
I came from the people
They need to adore me
So Christian Dior me
From my head to my toes
I need to be dazzling
I want to be Maverick High!
They must have excitement
And so must I
SARAH's PERSONAL SHOPPERS:
Eyes! Hair! Mouth! Figure! Dress! Voice! Style! Baby clothes!
SARAH:
I'm their product
It's vital you sell me
So Machiavell-me
Make an Alaskan Rose!
I need to be thrilling
I shall be Maverick High!
They need their escape
And so do I
SARAH's PERSONAL SHOPPERS:
Eyes! Hair! Mouth! Figure! Dress! Voice! Style!
Movement! Hands! Magic! Rings! Glamour! Face!
Diamonds! Rogue! Shotgun!
SARAH:
All my Joe Kegger friends expect me to outshine the enemy - those elite folks from the non-American parts of the country, dontcha know--
I won't disappoint them, you betcha!
I'm their savior!
That's what they call me
So Lauren Bacall me
Anything goes
To make me fantastic
I have to be Maverick High
In magical colors--
You're not decorating a girl for a night on the town!
And I'm not a second-rate queen getting kicks with a crown!
Next stop will be the White House!
The Maverick's gonna tour
Dressed up, somewhere to go
We'll put on a show!
Look out, mighty D.C.!
Because you oughta know what'cha gonna get in me
Just a little touch of
Just a little touch of
Alaska's brand of
Star quality!
This is just to say
I have accepted the general's endorsement
which you probably thought was locked up
and were saving for a November surprise
Forgive me
it was so eloquent
with a piquant touch
of schadenfreude
(And Jadzia at 192, that was brilliant...)
| Year | Number of comments posted |
|---|---|
| 2009 | 3 |
| 2008 | 27 |
| 2007 | 2 |
| 2006 | 6 |
| 2005 | 8 |
| 2004 | 41 |
| 2003 | 17 |
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