Listening to: Sarah MacLachlan – "Mirror Ball"
Reading: Harry Potter
Weather: 50’s, sunny and cold
Trivia: Why do most pencils have six flat sides?
Most pencils have six sides. If you cut one across and look at the end, it is shaped like a hexagon. There are three reasons for this. First, it is cheaper to make pencils with six sides because more pencils can be made from the same amount of wood. The wood that
could make eight round pencils can be made into nine hexagonal ones. Two other reasons for hexagonal pencils: They are less likely to roll off a desk than round ones, and easier to sharpen than square ones. How do they get the lead (actually, graphite) into the center of the pencil? The wood starts out as two sections, each of which has a long groove. The graphite goes into the groove, and the two pieces are glued together.
Cool word: apologia [n. AP-uh-LOH-gee-uh]
An apologia is a formal defense or justification of one's opinions, position, or actions, almost always written. Example: "After stepping down as CEO of the company, Mr. Green circulated a lengthy apologia in which he explained his reasons for resigning."
An apologia is not the same as an apology, although the words are closely related. The Greek root of both words was apologesthai (to speak in one's defense), formed from the prefix apo- (away, off) and logos (speech). The word passed into Latin and French, then into English as apology, whose meaning changed in the sixteenth century to include a sense of regret and an admission of fault. Apologia came directly from Latin in the 18th century with its modern meaning. A related word is apologetics [n. uh-POL-uh-JET-iks], the
formal defense of a position or doctrine, especially a religion or tradition.
Baby’s in Black
My Red Sox lost.
Sigh. Wait until next year. The fan’s perennial cry.
I am in black today.
Turtleneck, pants, shoes, socks, watch, sweater (o.k. the watch and sweater have Halloween stuff on them, so there is a bit of color). I'm listening to Sarah MacLachlan, "Angel" and "I Will Remember You", two songs guaranteed to feed my melancholia.
Very sad.
I was in no mood to be at school today, but I doubt I would have been any better at home. It was the kind of day when little irritations made me crazy.
For example, the Einstein I teach reading with first thing in the morning told the kids that it was called "The Depression" during the 1930s because people were sad that there were no jobs.
Eek! I couldn't say anything without making him look like a fool in front of the kids, and it nearly killed me. This is why teachers have a bad reputation.
Nice guy, not very smart.
Chorus whine alert:
I have to go to rehearsal tonight, especially since I didn't go last week (Elton John or rehearsal, gee what should I do?)
They've been giving me a ton of crap for not selling any tickets to our show, which is on Nov 14. Of course the fact that I've chaired the creative part of the organization of the show, hired the talent, ordered the back drop, set the lights and sound, written the script, and planned the minimal stage decorations don't seem to count for much. At this point I shouldn't admit to having written the script as I think it sucks.
It's uninspired.
I'm also the only one in the chorus who has learned and passed all ten new songs.
Not in the mood for this tonight.
End of whine.
I went for a walk when I got home from school, to see if I could shake off the black mood. Didn't help.
The oil light in my car went on today, so I went to buy oil and see if that would fix the problem. It seems to have worked. I think I have a leak. I had to add three quarts. Even I know that that is not a good thing.
I heard from Michael. He’s going to be in Utah this weekend.
Now if he’s trying to avoid seeing me I think that’s a bit extreme.
Actually he has some sort of an editorial retreat that he has to attend for a magazine he edits. Something to do with music and media.
I'm trying to picture an editorial retreat. It sounds as if you'd sit around and chant media jargon, while flashing new DVDs and sound bytes from upcoming compact disc releases. Especially in Utah.
Why Utah? I thought they only produced Mormons and Osmonds. Of course if he tells me the retreat is at Sundance I'll have to jump off my balcony and kill myself.
Of course now I can’t decide exactly what to do with my time on Saturday. I'm not sure I'll get to Krispy Kreme, as that’s way down in Chelsea, and if I’m not going there to meet Michael I’m not sure there’s any point in schlepping that far.
I want to see if the artists who were outside MOMA are still there to get a couple more pictures like the ones I got this summer, and I also need to go to a Swatch store. There’s a NYC Swatch of the Empire State Building that I want to get.
A lot hinges on what show I manage to get a ticket for and what theatre it's playing in. I might try to get to the stamp store down in the village. It will also depend on the weather, if it's raining I probably won't go too far from the Times Square area.
Hard to predict.
Off to rehearsal. I've procrastinated enough.
Perhaps you can hear my whines as I slog out the door.
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