Well, There It Is.

When I’m not sleeping on the train to and from work, I’ve been reading. Right now I’m working on Immortality, by Milan Kundera. I had read his The Unbearable Lightness Of Being a few months ago and really enjoyed it, so I decided to continue with his other books. He’s very philosophical without being cryptic, and the thoughts he portrays are very much rooted in the real world.

Immortality is basically about how people strive to live and die such that they are remembered a certain way and about how they interact with their own images. It, like Unbearable Lightness, takes the form of a novel.

He writes in Czech and the books are translated into English, each by a different translator, yet both translators seem to have captured the same style and feel.

There was a boy, a very strange, enchanted boy. I try not to read it any more, but strangely enough, when I do I often feel better about myself and happier about the way things are now. I realize there was more than just one person with “issues.” Sometimes my guilt made me forget that.

Yom Kippur is coming up soon.

I know of a “small” company (who calls itself a non-profit organization) who could learn a lot from the business practices of a small fast food chain in Seattle.

Speaking of Dar Williams, how come I wasn’t invited? (More wedding pictures here.)

Pop collaborations are always big sellers. Here are some musical collaborations I’d like to see. Some may be posthumous, but so what?

· Harry Nilsson and Baz Luhrmann
· Roger Waters and Pink Floyd
· Dar Williams and Moxy Früvous

Any other suggestions?

It’s Monday, and I’m not at work because of some national holiday. This weekend was great. I got a haircut.

Also, it was Denise‘s birthday. The main birthday event was a trip to The Melting Pot, possibly the best restaurant anywhere. Fortunately, I think the other seven people who were there (Denise obviously, M-D, Jenn, Courtney, Ken, Tim and Hilary) agreed.

It’s a fondue restaurant. At first, some people (okay, just M-D) reacted violently to the idea of the waiters bringing out raw meat and requiring the paying customers to cook it. First they start you off with a cheese fondue appetizer. They bring plates of bread, apples, and assorted vegetables to dip into the pot of melted cheddar and swiss.

The second course involves a salad. I highly recommend the California salad with the raspberry walnut vinaigrette dressing. The salad is followed by the main course, where you choose either an oil or vegetable broth in which to cook your meat.

Then comes the dessert (if you have not yet exploded). You have your choice of chocolate fondues: cookies and creme, white and dark chocalte mix, s’mores, and many more. They bring out a plate of strawberries, pineapple, bananas, marshmallows with nuts, and cheesecake to dip in the chocolate or on which to drizzle the fondue. Heaven. Must go again soon if my wallet can withstand the powerful sucking force.

Actually, it’s not ridiculously expensive, but be prepared to spend some money.

After dinner, some how we found a way to make it back to the apartment to play games, open gifts, and miraculously eat birthday icecream cake. Darren, Ali, Sue and Stacey joined us after we got home. Beyond Balderdash is a fun game… remind me to play that more often.

Lance Bass, of the amazing ‘N Sync popcrapgroup has amazingly been approved by NASA to be launched into space.

The 23-year-old member of the popular boy band told reporters the point of his space adventure is to inspire kids to become astronauts, scientists, or anything else — no matter how difficult or seemingly impossible.

Sure, if you’ve got 20 million dollars lying around…

I got this email from my department’s HR contact yesterday: Due to the holiday (Labor Day) on Monday Septemeber 2nd, all overtime and part-time sheets are due in to me by 12:00 pm Friday, August 30th.

The subject of the email was, “Accelerated Pay Cycle.” The pay cycle has not in fact gotten any faster these last two weeks. (In fact, the last two weeks seem to have dragged along at a rapidly declining pace — maybe they meant a negatively accelerating pay cycle.) The pay cycle has also not increased (another meaning of the word “accelerate”). I do not have to prepare my time sheet faster, just earlier. Silly, silly English.

For the next chapter in the tome I like to call Rediscovering People I Knew In High School, here’s Josh.

We have a new addition to our apartment. Unfortunately, he won’t be contributing to the rent. His name is Lou, which is short for Louie, which is short for L’Oiseau de feu. He’s a betta fish.