Odds and ends

I've dropped off in my posting this week, mostly because work has been kicking my ass, but also because we've had a lot of social outings. Generally, I'm pleased if I have a couple of friend dates each week, because I'm really a homebody, but this week has been a little crazy. Multiple dates in one night! Boy, are we feeling like party people.

So I thought I'd just do a little wrap-up.

Work
Is still kicking my ass, though it's resorted to a kindler, gentler foot-to-ass approach. I'm still getting all the information I need in bits and pieces, which makes it hard to get the larger picture, but it's starting to come together. I think the hardest part, for me, will be maintaining good relationships with our vendors--large companies that create consumer electronics products. At my old job, I was free to tell them to fuck-off (though not in those exact words) because the job was clearly editorial. This new job is a weird admixture of...I don't know what. I mean, yeah, it's purely editorial in that we review these companies' products and we can't have the companies trying to influence what we write about their stuff. But we do need to make nice with them, otherwise they can actually make it difficult for us to get our hands on hot, new stuff, which would suck if everyone around us had the scoop on the latest and greatest, and we were left standing there, scratching our butts. So yeah, new for me. We'll see how it goes. In other work news, our little department staff (of 6) went out for a "Welcome Felisa to Big Internet Company (BIC)" lunch. I think I made a tactical error when I admitted to wanting a functional tail. I'll be known as "Tail Girl" from here on out, I'm sure. I also revealed my minor obsession with the Amish, though I think that's less damning.

Wedding
The list is pretty much final...the save the date cards have gone out...and we are enjoying people's reactions to the cards. Any guesses, people? Chris and I are going down to L.A. the weekend of 9/10 for my Grandma's birthday, so we're going to try to take care of some other stuff that weekend: photographer, florist, cake. Any recommendations? We went for a hike in the Presidio yesterday, and walked up to Inspiration Point, from which you can see Marin City, Angel Island, Alcatraz, and Berkeley. So fucking gorgeous. I felt a keen pang of regret at not seeing this place before because the moment I saw the view, I knew--I want to get married there. Of course, it's too late now, and besides, the Presidio would've busted our budget. But still...I yearn.

Random stuff
I went to an A's game on Wednesday (Dollar Wednesdays!) with Chris, Mike, Elliot and Adam. One of the most boring games I've ever been to: no runs until the bottom of the 9th, when the A's finally scored to win. So Adam and I set out to improve the game. So, Rule #1: if the pitchers are going to engage in a pitching contest, they should face off directly. Goal: to hit the other pitcher. Excellent. Rule #2: the game is now played on ice. NO skates allowed. The Zamboni machine smooths over the ice at irregular intervals, but under no circumstance should the game be delayed by the presence of the Zamboni. Play on, boys. Rule #3: there are hitters and then there are base runners. And the base runners will be culled from the ranks of young male gymnasts. As soon as the batter hits a fair ball, the gymnast takes off down the line with his best floor routine pass. He can be tagged out either by a defensive player holding the ball, or the ball itself. Rule #4: Huns. In the outfield. With flaming arrows and bows. That little gymnast better be paying attention. Rule #5: increased audience participation, in the form of stoning the players. So that's it. Got it? Play ball! (We're tentatively naming the game BESTball(tm).)

The cat
I've been feeling a lot of guilt lately, because what I feel towards the cat is less than...good. In fact, there are moments of active hate. Before you call PETA, rest assured, I've done nothing to harm him. It's just that...he's such a whiner. All day long, he thinks it's feeding time. If I go to the kitchen, it's "Feed me!" If I go to the bathroom, "Feed me!" If I get up from a nap, "Feed me!" His feeding routine hasn't changed in at least a year: breakfast in the morning, dinner at night. He's taken to breaking into his bag of food and chowing down. We've had to put all his food and treats into tupperware. And this woe-is-me routine only started up a couple of months ago. I'm afraid we may have broken him by moving across the country. Is that possible? He has been doing some pretty funny stuff, though, which helps ease the hate. He's been playing soccer with this...thing. It's plastic and looks vaguely like a mini air hockey paddle. He gets all spazzy when he plays with it, and scuttles around so quickly, it looks like he's grown four more legs and is actually moving in every direction at once. The other thing is that he discovered the stoppers on our doors: the screw-on metal thing that sticks out and prevents the door from slamming into the wall. The kind we have are tightly coiled metal that have some give and spring to them. He's taken to batting at them so they make a "sproing-oing-oing-oing-oing" sound. It's funny to be sitting on the couch reading, and suddenly hear "sproing-oing-oing-oing" from the other room. He must be bored, that little bastard.

So that's about it for this week. If you want to know more about the tail-coveting, ask me. That may be an entry for another time.