Areas of Unrest

22 July 2001 - Hecticity

QOTD: "I do not exist; therefore, I am a mustache." - Jean Paul Sartre

Reading: Sarah Flannery with David Flannery, In Code: A Mathematical Journey

Listening to: nothing

This has been an insanely hectic week. Monday was spent rearranging travel for the rest of the week, since another person decided to "do me a favor." He meant well and he probably really thought he was doing a good thing by rescheduling a meeting, but it complicated my life. I also engaged in email catchup and several rounds of telephone tag.

Tuesday was a day trip to Sunnyvale. Be it officially known that I hate the 6:20 a.m. flight from LAX to San Jose. It was made even worse by waiting 20 minutes for the Lot C shuttle, which is supposed to run every 10 minutes. My meeting was long and tedious and, ultimately, unproductive. I was still sleep deprived from the Providence trip and getting up at 4 a.m. hadn't helped any. Not that the fatigue stopped me from speaking my mind. I told one of my colleagues that it's too bad but I talk in my sleep.

Then I had to fly off to Colorado on Wednesday. At least that included having a very nice dinner at Chatauqua - salad with a very vinegary dressing, seared ahi with veggies and rice, and strawberry shortcake for dessert. It was warm out and we sat outside on the porch, enjoying the view of the park. To be fair, my Thursday meeting wasn't nearly as bad as I feared it would be, though we did manage to run through all the action item forms they had available. I fear I was mildly disruptive as, when I got very bored, I occupied myself making origami frogs out of my business cards. (It's a new trick I learned from someone in Providence. The frogs even hop when you push down on the back of them!)

Friday was a day off, which I spent mostly shopping. Alas, the toy makers of America were not so cooperative as they might be and I was entirely unable to find a rubber jellyfish. So I had to resort to plan B and get other sort of jellyfish related things for a going-away present. (The person in question worked on backbone communications, so we figured he'd appreciate something without a backbone.) I did also indulge in the luxury of a movie matinee, seeing "Jump Tomorrow," which was a sweet but predictable romantic comedy with a nice tribute to telenovela traditions.

The rest of the weekend was no more relaxing, with a volksmarch in Santa Monica Saturday morning (rather a boring route, with way too much of Santa Monica Boulevard on the grounds that it was Route 66, rather than on the grounds that it has any redeeming qualities as a place to walk). In the afternoon I drove out to the northwestern edge of the known universe (well, okay, just to Oak Park, which is near the county line if not over it) for a friend's housewarming party. I have immense house envy, but I could never deal with the commute from way the hell out there, so it will remain mere envy.

And then today I went to Pasadena to see "Do I Hear a Waltz?" at the Pasadena Playhouse. Sondheim is a good enough reason to go to any musical and the Richard Rodgers tunes are pleasant enough, as well. It's still a deeply flawed show, despite the reworking that went into this production. It could use significant trimming, as it is at least a half hour too long. But it isn't obvious how to cut it since the subplots that are most expendable also add most of the comic value to the book. I still enjoyed myself, although I will be going around humming "We're Gonna Be All Right" for the next several days.