My pimples, that is. The few that were sprinkled across my forehead and causing me some embarrassment are basically gone. I’ve never had bad skin, so getting these ZITS when I’m soon to be 28 years old is a little, well, bizarre to me. Oh, well. Almost gone now…

I should’ve been in bed half an hour ago to keep with the schedule I’m trying to maintain. If I’m in bed by 10:30, even if I can’t fall asleep for several hours, I’ll have been in bed and RESTING for that time. Sometimes it’s the best I can get. However, tonight I caught an 8 p.m. showing of “The Producers” with Vin.

Methinks he enjoyed it at least a little since he laughed out loud during a few scenes and that’s usually a good sign. When we got out of the theatre, he had some complimentary things to say about all of the cast members and made the observation that, for him (someone who’s never seen a musical on stage or on the screen), the only thing that was a little difficult to “get with” was the style of acting; that over-the-top Broadway style. But, sayeth he, “I caught onto it about an hour into the movie.”

I promised that even though he seemed to like this one, I would not force any additional movie musicals upon him. That would be cruel indeed.

So here are the thoughts I jotted down today that I knew I wanted to write about tonight and which I feel guilty writing about since I should be getting into bed. Oh, well. If I don’t write, then I’ll be up thinking and end up getting up in 2 or 3 hours to write just to get things OUT OF MY HEAD!!!

Better now than later, I feel.

Item 1) The Forum.

Of course, getting back this late prevented me from completing the things I wanted to complete on the forum before I let it “go live.” I am trying to choose between two design templates and the degree to which I can customize each one to my tastes and satisfaction will determine which one gets to stay and which one gets to go.
Wait for it…

Item 2) Desperation Lunches.

Does anyone else keep a stock of desperation lunches at work? These are lunches for days when you have no money, don’t feel like spending money, didn’t bring food from home (for various reasons), feel lazy, don’t really know what you want, or just don’t really feel hungry but KNOW you should eat so you don’t pig out when you get home.

I keep a stock of these at work in one of my filing cabinets. I need to upgrade it to healthier things since today I had a Chicken-Flavored Cup of Noodle and some whole wheat crackers. Pure salt water, noodles and then crackers with salt. Mmm. Healthy. I also have a can of 99% fat free chicken chili in there, as well as some Dole Fruit Cups (in their own juice, always - NEVER in syrup!!) and some pistachios. Then a can opener, a Pyrex container with lid, and a proper spoon and fork. I’m thinking that I need to get some healthier soups in there, perhaps some dried fruit, a can or two of tuna (though the stink factor is a consideration in the office) and then some of the pre-made ethnic food “in a pouch” things they sell at Trader Joe’s which are quite tasty, inexpensive and have a LONG shelf-life - with no preservatives since they’re vacuum sealed, I believe.

Point being - does anyone else do desperation lunches? This might be a forum post… because I like to keep things EXCITING.

Item 3) and 4) The Train.

(These are tied in…)

This morning, there were very few people commuting into work, via train anyway. Kids have the week off from school and I think a lot of parents followed suit to spend time with their families. Fewer people = upset the whole seating strategy struggle and power dynamic on the train. It was weird. Normally, each train car has two columns of seats: the three-seaters and the two-seaters. When people get into an empty train, they will usually start by getting into the “window-seat” of a three-seater row, thus allowing themselves AMPLE room. Some of us (I am in this group) will take the “window seat” of a two-seater.

I think my method - the window seat of the two-seater - is the superior method, simply because of human nature. In the following diagrams, X marks occupied seat, O marks empty seat, underscore marks aisle and line marks window:

Now, let’s say that all the window seats on the three-seaters fill up, and then the window seats on the two-seaters fill up:

|XO__OOX|

The next seat to go is the “aisle seat” of the three-seater, represented thus:

|XO__XOX|

Using my method, you have a greater chance of being left in peace and NOT having a seatmate. Of course, if you get one, they’re right next to you. However, the risk to me is worth it - it will take longer for someone to sit next to you since they’ll fill up the seats with a space between them and the other human being before sitting right next to someone.

The additional benefit of my method is that even IF you get a cozy seatmate in your two-seater, they are almost GUARANTEED to move to the three-seater aisle seat the MOMENT someone else gets off and frees it up. We don’t like to be that close to strangers. Unless it’s in a club or on an elevator and then that’s called frottage and I believe you can be prosecuted.

The second portion of the train story also goes back to this morning. It was quiet on the train, so every sound seemed amplified since there was little white noise or murmur to distract from it. There was a woman on the train this morning tapping away on her laptop.

And when I say “tapping away,” I mean jackhammering like there was diamonds in them thar hills. I couldn’t see her hands, but I could tell from the heaviness with which her fingers were hitting the keyboard (the volume - on a laptop? You have to be beating the shit out of that thing to command this noise) that she was typing the way that you see secretaries typing in old movies on typewriters - their fingers drawn up like spiders’ legs or prancing ponies and them slamming down on the keys with the force of an anvil. Those arched fingers that sort of pause there, curled up in the air, ready to STRIKE. And she had long acrylic nails, I could hear this too from the residual clicking, aside from the general clacking of the keys.

It was SOO loud and so frustrating - I tried to cover my ears with my hands in some subtle way, but that was uncomfortable and not subtle. So, I found a clean tissue in my purse in the little plastic Kleenex wrapper. I tore it in half and then half again. Each quarter was folded up 4 times into a little rectangular cylinder which I then used as a makeshift EARPLUG in each of my ears because this noise was so grating and was actually making me sort of antsy and angry. The earplugs helped and I napped for at least the last 20 minutes of my train ride.

Those were today’s thoughts.

Well, that - and I want to travel to China. The Yunnan province - the area that was known as Shangri-La. But more on that tomorrow.