Birdwalk

Idol Musings

Can someone please tell me why (virtually) every performer on American Idol needs to incorporate that arm-outstretched, palm-up, soulful-look straight into the camera, imploring gesture thing? Do you know what I'm talking about? I've always been annoyed by that but now it seems to be a prerequisite -- everyone does it, and IT MUST STOP.

There's actually one guy on that show who I simply can't take my eyes off...this Bo person. He sang Whipping Post (Allman Bros.) and I was prepared to scoff disdainfully and he KICKED that song's ASS. I was really surprised.

Also I should be at riding lessons right now but instead I'm stuck at home because there's pretty much a blizzard happening outside right now. I was a fortunate person today and I got sent home at lunch because of the coming storm, but the snow didn't really get bad until after five pm. It was really nice to know that I was safe and comfy at home long before the snow hit. I did some laundry, edited a brochure, had a tuna sammich...all in all a lovely afternoon.

As Our Heroine Finally Catches Up With The Rest of the World

I exchanged my first text message the other day. Yes I know everyone else has been doing this for quite some time but it's new to me. Here's how it went:

I heard my phone vibrate but could not answer it given that I was in a packed auditorium, surrounded by bigwigs. I glanced at the phone and saw that it was my husband. I suddenly realized, hey, I could text him!

I slowly tapped out this rudimentary communication: In a meeting is all ok? (I even found the question mark, believe it or not.)
A few minutes later the answer came back: All is well I'm home with the dog have fun at dinner.

Problem solved, communication has been achieved. Gotta love technology.

My Fav Time of Day

I know I don't get to post very often but I must tell you that the fifteen minutes I get to sit down and write about nothing are my favorite time of day. When, as I said, I get time to do that.

A few things of no real importance have gone on lately, including this.

Someone in my office almost ran me over in the parking lot the other day. I don't mean that in a figurative kind of way, like she was really far away and there was no real chance that she was going to cause me bodily harm. I mean that this person literally almost hit me with her car. Her bumper was mere feet from me. The only thing that saved me from almost certain injury was the fact that I looked up at the last second to see her barreling toward me in her SUV. I'm not sure quite what happened...it was broad daylight, although it was snowing (therefore increasing the danger level to me) and I was the only human being walking straight through the middle of a parking lot...there were no cars within thirty feet of me...it's not like I popped out from between two parked cars. There is no way I wasn't clearly visible to anyone with, oh, EYES or something along those lines. I don't know if she wasn't paying attention or what but when I looked up I looked right into her eyes and I swear she wasn't even braking...she was still coming straight for me...the road was wet and slick and she was looking right at me and either not seeing me or totally misjudging how close I was to her car. She literally never stopped, I just stopped in my tracks and took two steps back and she drove right past me as if SHE had the right of way. It was bizarre. The incident was over in seconds, but I got into my car and no kidding I had that adrenaline rush you get when you see a cop in your rearview mirror. Later she came by my office to apologize for almost hitting me in a joking way, ha ha, wasn't paying attention, all that, and I turned toward her and said, not smiling at all, "You could have killed me." She went, yeah, oh, ha ha, sorry....and walked away. There's no way she didn't realize how close she came to hitting me.

In other news, riding lessons going well...horse this week head butted me in the chest so hard that I almost fell over. He was "playing." But the riding went well.

I have two -- count 'em -- two vacations coming up. I am so pleased you have NO IDEA. How nice it is to look forward to something.

Also, I have an observation to make. Like many people, I have a schedule for many things in my life. I vacuum on Wednesdays and Sundays. I take my car for an oil change every three thousand miles. I change the sheets every Saturday. And I poop every morning at about 10:30. Sorry, but that's just the way it is. This is not a long, drawn-out process. There is no newspaper involved, no need for reading material of any kind. In, out, done, wham bam thank you ma'am. But the catch is this: I must go at this time, no matter where I am, or the whole system gets thrown out of whack. And unfortunately, 10:30 is the time they clean the ladies' room in my office building. So every single day, the guy comes to clean the bathroom and knocks on the door and I'm in there. Every day. It's getting absurd. It's like a joke....I'm just finishing up, and KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK. Then I have to say, "Just a minute." It's humiliating! Every single day!

Horsey update

If you heard a loud THUMP at about 8:30 on Monday night, that was the sound of me coming painfully back down to earth after my previous triumphant riding lesson. I couldn't do anything right this week...the horse simply would not do what I asked him to do no matter what I did. (Well, that's an exaggeration. He was not cooperative, but for the most part he did what I asked, more or less. Trotting was still fine, which puts me ahead of the rest of the class anyhow.)

The regular instructor was back this week and I realize that he doesn't really give very much positive reinforcement...I'm not sure he's even really paying very close attention, to tell you the truth. The substitute last week was really good with the positive reinforcement and I realized -- wow -- that I am the type of person that REALLY NEEDS POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT. (I'm sure that statement got a big fat "duh" from anyone who knows me.)

I also had a bit of a brainstorm at work when I realized that I could bring in my handheld milk frother and, together with the pod coffeemaker, I could create CAPPUCCINO. IN MY OFFICE. AT MY DESK. How cool is THAT?

Also...anyone else not give a crap about The Apprentice this time? I just can't seem to care.