Friday. November 30, 2001

after 1945, we were able to just patch it up

"The inexorable boredom that is at the core of life."

Jacques Bénigne Bossuet

As if I'm accomplishing anything at work, I'm glad it's the weekend and I can feel less guilty about it. It's hard sometimes to know how to approach things.

I wanted to do a charity thing so I got one of the Salvation Army tags off the office tree. I didn't want it hanging over my head, however, so I went out at lunch and went to Zany Brainy and Gap Kids and got the stuff. Yeah, there are cheaper toys. But this place turned out to be a calm place to pick some for a kid who might not be too settled and might not be able to get batteries and stuff. The area around Gap Kids was crowded with SUVs. Yeah, there are cheaper places to get kids clothes. But the folks in Gap Kids were helpful. And why shouldn't this kid the Salvation Army is trying to help have stuff from Gap and not just the kids whose moms were peering down at me from the SUVs. And, yeah, Old Navy would be cheaper. But this was convenient. I turned the stuff back in one of the prescribed net bags available, no wrapping please. Done. Next week I'll buy food and toothpaste and stuff for ASA food bank and a buddy will deliver it. The company is collecting for Capital Area Food Bank but somehow an extra administrative layer charging food banks who distribute food for food (even at 'pennies on the dollar') and spending money on advertising and promotions just doesn't sit right with me. I'm always promising myself to be a better friend of the food bank all year round but I haven't done well lately.

To fortify myself during this shopping extravaganza, I have a small chopped beef sandwich combo at PoKeJo's. (Green bean casserole and Diet Coke.)

Did I mention that I didn't get much done at work. I tried, though. Really. I also took a moment to call the Algonquin Oak Room and get a reservation for when Les Girls visit NYC. Very cool.

FFP has been supervising shooting pix at Fonda all afternoon. So he is of a mind to eat there. SuRu goes along and we all are feeling festive. The restaurant is all dolled up for Christmas. We have queso and go back to the tortilla ladies twice ourselves to get those great freshly-made disks. I have an app with little tostaditas with ceviche, shrimp and such. Two Margaritas (up, with salt, thanks) find their way down.

Then it's home to enjoy my papers and watch some awful movies, one with Jeff Daniels and one with Anthony Hopkins. Who makes me watch this junk? If I wasn't reading at the same time, it would be a true waste.

I read that the Northern Alliance is now fighting each other over food and clothes dropping from the sky. And I continue to read about the AIDS crisis in South Africa. It's so sad. The New York Times is running it. As always, they overestimate our capacity to be sad. The papers say ground zero is a major attraction now. I can't decide if going near there interests me. I don't think so. I don't think I'll go below China Town which is what I would have done if 'events' hadn't occurred. I never went to WTC. Although I did once visit South Street Seaport. I don't remember exactly when or with whom. It may have been with a co-worker in 1986. The WTC wasn't really much on my radar. It defined the skyline and, now that the towers are gone, they are everywhere I look. Yes, they overpowered the skyline in even my own pictures but I didn't really notice them. Weird. In planning a trip to New York, one almost feels like asking someone, "So, do you want be to go down there?" I think the answer would be, "No, just go to shows, restaurants, etc. Leave your money with the hotels. Go to the top of the Empire State building." I think I will do that. I think I might have done it before but I'm not sure. Yeah, you'd think I'd remember, wouldn't you?

So, it's the weekend. I'm glad. Yep.

JUST TYPING
To be productive.
You have to do the maze.
Or maybe just rise above it.