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Sunny, chilly, day-offy Friday

I took the day off from work today and managed not to do a whole lot with it, beyond a little reading (Kaleidotrope slush, Steve Martin’s biography), a little television watching (this week’s touching, if not hilarious, Community), and a little faxing (some confirmation forms for my residency at the Banff Centre in September).

That last one took a little longer than anticipated, as I first thought to mail them, then ran into confusion and resistance at the post office — I FedEx stuff internationally regularly from the office; I’ve never needed a commercial invoice unless there’s something of value and weight enclosed, and certainly never for two sheets of paper. But whatever — and then went to the local Kinko’s to fax it instead. I don’t think it would be the end of the world if I faxed it from work on Monday, or even it arrived near the end of next week in the mail, but they did say “within two weeks.” So anyway.

Of course, the fax number just rang and rang, and when I tried calling the Registrar’s Office directly, I just got a recording. The two-hour time difference might have been working against me, as I was likely calling on their lunch hour. But I finally got through, and the woman at the other end confirmed the fax number, then told me she’d switch it off then on, and I should try again. And that seemed to work. I sent an e-mail following up, and now everything should be confirmed and paid for.

I think now with this, and buying my plane tickets earlier in the week, there’s no denying that I’m actually doing this quite possibly crazy thing. I still have to book my hotel stay in Calgary, but I am looking forward to it — to the week of writing, to the inspiring scenery of Banff itself, and to the chance to meet Heather in person. She’s the one who recommended the residency in the first place, and honestly no slouch as a writer herself.

And she sent me this for my birthday! The first of the books won’t arrive until early summer, unfortunately, but they look like an interesting enough mix that it will be worth the wait. Seriously very cool and thoughtful, and a nice way to ease into the fact that tomorrow — in just a few short minutes from now, actually — I will be thirty-four years old.

As little as I did with it, the day off helped with that, too.

Sunday is the day after Saturday

Today was a lot like yesterday, only more Sunday-ish. So that meant the New York Times crossword instead of a movie, and it meant watching this week’s episode of Fringe instead of, like yesterday, this week’s episode of Community. I’m watching less television lately, but those two I am compelled by law to watch. (It is so a law. Shut up!)

Anyway, I also did some reading and, with my weekly group, some writing. What I wrote yesterday is more a work in progress, born out of those weekly free-writing exercises but still growing. This, on the other hand…well, I’m not really sure what this is:

[cut]

I dunno. I had fun writing it.

Wednesday various

  • What It’s Like to Work for Donald Rumsfeld. You really do expect him to close with, “And has everybody signed Debbie’s birthday card? Invade Iraq and then ice cream cake in the break room at three!”
  • Why Nielsen Ratings Are Inaccurate, and Why They’ll Stay That Way. Frankly, it’s amazing any television of quality gets made, ever. [via]
  • Tyranny of the Alphabet. All these years, my last name beginning with C, and I was apparently the unknowing beneficiary of reverse-alphabetism. This is sort of similar to something Malcolm Gladwell has suggested, namely that being born after the first three months of the year significantly limits your success in life. Gosh, three letters into the alphabet, only three months into the year — I should be President by now!

    Though seriously, those of you with last names further along down the chain of letters than me: did it affect you in school, or your current psychological outlook? [via]

  • Speaking of Malcolm Gladwell, the Malcolm Gladwell Book Generator. (Also, this xkcd comic. The rollover text is particularly amusing.) [via]
  • And finally, When Should I Visit? It’s the reverse-Foursquare, finding the least busy times to visit museums, galleries, theaters, etc. By the site’s own admission, it’s only somewhat accurate, pulling data only from Foursquare users, and exclusive to London. But I am amused by the idea of “use[ing] Foursquare to learn how to avoid Foursquare users.” [

Such a Saturday as this

Not a particularly exciting day. First thing, I drove my father over to our local mechanic to get his car inspected. And then I spent the day doing not much else. I watched last night’s episode of Fringe. I thought it was really good, a step back up from the past two maybe less than terrific weeks. And I read a little. Mostly, I just finished the first volume of Art Spiegelman’s Maus. And this evening, almost at random, I watched Crimes and Misdemeanors. It’s an interesting Woody Allen film, more like two films that brush up against each other in the end. I don’t know that it was brilliant, but it was thoughtful, sometimes funny, well acted, and I liked it.

And that’s really it for my Saturday.

Busy(ish) Monday

Today, I:

  • went to the doctor;
  • called a local glass place about replacing my suddenly cracked windshield and set up an appointment for Friday;
  • grabbed a quick breakfast;
  • thoroughly failed to get a haircut;
  • went to the library, returning some books and picking up some more;
  • went to the post office, picking up some books I’d purchased from Nightshade Books, during their recent half-price sale;
  • watched a couple of episodes of Red Dwarf. I had completely forgotten that Kryten, in his first appearance, was played by a different actor;
  • read Shaun Tan’s beautiful graphic novel The Arrival. It still counts as reading if there are no words, right? and;
  • donated blood at a drive at my old elementary school.

This last wasn’t so weird — I’ve donated blood lots of times before, and been back to the school on occasion — but it seemed like it was being run largely by students of the school, plus one somewhat exasperated woman who kept telling reminding them of what they had to do. Like instruct people where they were supposed to go, or sit. Thankfully the kids were just walkers and administrative helpers, not actually the ones sticking needles in anyone’s arms. It was just a little comical watching them try to figure out what they were supposed to be doing. Asking fourth and fifth graders to remember multiple instructions, much less explain them to anyone else, may be asking too much. They seemed inordinately pleased when they discovered a task — like handing out donation stickers — that offered no ambiguity.

So that, basically, was my day. It’s back to work with me tomorrow.