8/21/02

I didn't run at all today, and now I'm feeling pretty guilty. I have to get up early tomorrow and run before work, but tonight, I'm just sitting around, being a big lump and watching the "American Idol" results show. It's disgusting how addicted I am to this show. Right now, Tamyra just got voted off and Paula Abdul looks like she's devastated. I can't believe it was Tamyra instead of that icky Justin guy.

I guess I deserve a night off. I feel like all I ever really do in my journal these days is complain about how busy I am, but I don't have much else to talk about. The item on the front burner this week has been finding a location for the JournalCon banquet. It's not easy finding a place that can feed a group of our size within our very limited budget. Lunesse and I have been looking at a bunch of Chinese restaurants, since they tend to be reasonably priced and have banquet facilities, and also because Chinese culture has been such a big part of San Francisco's history. So, at the first place I called yesterday, the guy asked me about our budget and the size of our group. "And will there be a lot of Caucasian people in your group?" he asked. I hesitated for a second. The answer was, of course, yes, but did I really want for us to get the whitey menu? We may be white, but we're sophisticated, dammit! I shop at the Asian market and own a rice cooker and always have a bottle of soy sauce in the fridge, you know.

Or are we, I wondered. I have to admit, the food I've had at more authentic Chinese restaurants tends to be a bit heavy for my taste. I briefly had a flashback to my dad telling me about his Chinese grad student who brought in deep-fried chicken feet to share with the lab as an example of her native cuisine.

So, after all that flashed through my head in half a second, I responded by saying "um, yeah." I decided to go with the truth. I figure the menu is always negotiable, anyway.

This morning when I went outside to go to work, I saw that the front steps of my building were covered with approximately 100 "FREE personality tests" courtesy of the Scientologists. As I walked towards the lab, I noticed that every building within a few blocks of mine had also had their front steps carpeted with stupid personality tests. You know, I think I'm a pretty self-aware person. I don't need a personality test to tell me that I'm the kind of person who gets really pissed off when some stupid cult dumps garbage all over her neighborhood. I'm willing to shrug it off if a restaurant leaves a few takeout menus rubberbanded to the doorknob, but this was just ridiculous. I briefly considered calling the police (because littering is a crime, right?) but abandoned that idea after thinking about it for two seconds and realizing that they would probably not consider my complaint a top priority.

Anyway, I know it's kind of a stupid thing, but it put me in a bad mood that lasted most of the morning. Come to think of it, it still hasn't really worn off.

I got some news about my friend who I wrote about in the last entry. Apparently, as of a few weeks ago, he was in Europe. His family learned this when his bank statement arrived in the mail. That was somewhat reassuring, but less so was the fact that all activity on his account stopped a couple of weeks ago, on a day that happened to be his birthday. It might just be that he had enough cash to tide himself over for a while after that date, or there might be a more grim explanation. All that I can do right now is just wait and see...