I Love TV

When you need to shut down your brain, there's no better drug. The best thing might be that there's no hangover, unless you've watched way too much Deadwood or Sopranos, which can make you use way more profanity and get angry about minor things like dropping a potato chip on the floor.

Last weekend I watched both Rocky I and Rocky II - just because they were on. Everyone knows Rocky's famous "Yo Adrian," but what I didn't remember is that he says it repeatedly throughout the movie (I think he said it just as much in II as he did I).

He doesn't ever say, "Hey Adrian" or "Adrian." Every time he speaks to her he says "Yo Adrian" or often, "Yo, yo, yo Adrian." It's amazing. After a few minutes "yo" starts to sound like a loud gong, drowning out other sounds.

But, he wrote those movies, yo, and directed most of them, which is more than I've ever written or directed. Cut me, Mick.

Me Likey Edditing

I'm an idiot. I found a typo in my resume today. It's been there for years, as apparently "Dreameaver" is not an actual product.

What I meant was that Dreamweaver is a dream to use, being so EAsy, that it's not at all like weaving, which takes effort, so it's really more like Dream-eaving.

Let this be a lesson to all you kids out there working on your resumes by yourself. Always, ALWAYS get someone else to review it for you. ALWEAYS.

Sadful

Got home from work today and felt totally empty and depressed, like someone had died. With Cameron, Jeff, Julie, Shauna and now Christina gone and Miriam transitioning out of the group, I realized there will be no one left to hand things down to.

A few people have come & gone in the past couple of years, but there has always been an intact group to carry on. All the institutional knowledge and folklore that isn't documented anywhere is passed on so the group can successfully continue in its role.

And toys - "inherited" silly toys, pictures and trinkets decorate the area - little mementos to remind us of former teammates. Like Michael's Grand Marshall name plate and the picture of our mascot, Bob. Pictures of Lewis on a surf trip. Julie's play-doh sea monster sculpture. Jeff's checkered table cloth desk. It will all be left behind and no one will remember our names or what we did.

It won't be long before we're all gone. For the first time since the group was started five years ago, the department will cease to exist. Decimated. At a company with plenty of ongoing revenue and resources.

And it was confirmed this week that the reason for the re-org was to motivate one person to leave. Instead of dealing with the issue directly, an entire group was treated like furniture and moved around without any regard for who we are, what we do, and how the group needs to function to be successful.

One stupid move destroyed a highly-productive, valuable group. Will those responsible ever stand up and admit their mistake? Not likely. They act like it was just a natural cycle of some sort. What a huge disappointment.

Cat Power

I worked from home on Friday to go back through a 90+ page copy deck for a major site enhancement. The deck is based on almost 60 pages of wireframes and after the first pass I like to go back through at least one more time to review and catch whatever I missed.

It's a tedious, time-consuming process. It generally goes faster on the second pass, but it's a methodical thing that shouldn't be rushed.

I brought home a new set of wireframes, knowing they'd changed yet again, but hoped the changes would be minor enough that it wouldn't slow down the review process. I was mistaken.

A third of the way through the wireframes I came unhinged. They *had* been approved as final two weeks ago, as they should be before copy begins, but as always, there is no lock down at any phase of any project - ever. The review became all about finding minor tweaks in the wireframes instead of completing a thorough second pass.

I vocalized my frustration to no one in particular, since I was in my living room by myself except for the bird and a couple of cats. Nikita was napping in her kitty bed when I started mouthing off.

She got up and jumped onto the back of the couch, behind my head, and tried to creep down the front of me to get into my lap. I stopped her because I still had my computer in my lap, but she wouldn't be shoved away.

She was purring loudly and ended up nestled against my neck under my chin. She's never jumped on me and started purring before.

I think she was trying to take the wind right out of my lame sails. Why I let this crap frustrate me like this I don't know, and as she forced herself into my shoulders and under my chin, all I could do was laugh. She'd calmed me right down.

Enough Already

With the cold, clammy fog! I'm freeeeeeezing! I can't wake up when it's all gray and crappy in the mornings. And I don't like wearing my winter coat in June.

Quit it!