August/September(2005)

Another update from the email archives ...

August/September 2005 update

General Update

Hello everyone!  I'm not considering this a month late because I've decided that not enough happens in a single month to justify a monthly update, so I'm switching to bimonthly updates.

Now get this, I just went to look up the definition of bimonthly because I could not remember if that meant once every two month or twice a month and this is definition I found on OneLook.com:

Quick definitions (bimonthly)

noun:   a periodical that is published bimonthly

adjective:   occurring every two months (Example: "Bimonthly visits")

adjective:   occurring twice a month

adverb:   every two months (Example: "The bill was payable bimonthly")

adverb:   twice a month

Is it just me, or does that definition indicate that BOTH definitions are true?   That doesn't make any sense. I then looked it up on various dictionary sites and since most of them indicate it means once every two months, my use of the word shall be deemed correct. 

At this point I'm sure that everyone is wondering why the hell I have time to go researching the use of single word in a monthly email update to people who don't really care if I use the word correctly.  

This is a good segway into topic #1: my Leave of Absense (LOA) from work. 

Turns out that I need a break from work.  I know several of you are wondering why it took me so long to notice that I needed a break, but it just did.  It took me walking out in the middle of UAT (User Acceptance Testing) one day mid-heated-discussion with a client, standing out in the pouring rain where I could get cell phone reception, and tellling my boss I was done and had to fly out that night...three and half days early.  In any case, I was on a plane home that afternoon and thought about it for the next few days and decided that I need some time away from my job to relax and sort out if this is the job I want to stay at for the time being.  Right now, I think I will be returning to work on Jan. 9th, but I am leaving the final decision to what feels right in the next few months. I definitely know that taking the LOA was the right thing at this point.

One of they ways I plan to spend my time is by planning for the holidays, which segways nicely into topic #2: I would like to ask everyone (who has time) to send me your favorite recipes.  Either main dishes or desserts or appetizers.  Anything.  I'm going to come up with menus for my family that is here over the holidays and figured I'd solicit suggestions from all of you.  I fully expect that newly married Rachele will have plenty of suggestions, so the pressure is on the rest of you to match Mrs. Gorsegner.  

Finally, I received my custom-made hutch for my office last Friday. I have been happily filing away things. I have attached a picture of her.  She makes me very happy.  Retail Therapy - it's a beautiful thing.

Books

I fell off the reading wagon, but just read "A Million Little Pieces" (the Oprah book club book) this week.  It was a great book - extremely readable.  I couldn't put it down.  The idea of a book about drug and alcohol recovery most definitely did not appeal to me as a topic, but from the first page, it's extremely interesting and fast-paced.  I highly recommend it.

Movies (not in any particular order)

Murderball - An excellent documentary on wheelchair rugby (aka Murderball).  I would recommend this movie to anyone.

Me, You, and Everyone We Know - I watched this movie thinking "I should hate this movie, why don't I?" I guess because it was quite funny and made fun of the performance art aspect of it while still itself being a bit of performance art. The little kid in the movie was just amazing. 

Saint Ralph - Very few movies make me feel more positive about religion after seeing them, but this one managed it.  It was nice to see a movie where not all priests are evil child molestors.  I would highly recommend this to anyone.

The 40-Year-Old Virgin - It's a tie between this and Wedding Crashers for funniest movie this year.  Very funny. However, not for the prudish.

Grizzly Man - This got great reviews, but it is not a movie I'd recommend. The man whom the documentary is about is obnoxious and mentally unstable and most definitely was not helping the bears.  Skip this one, even when it comes out on video/DVD. The movie has gotten worse the more I've thought about it.

The Constant Gardner - It was better than I was expecting and I think it's one of the better movies of the summer.

The Transporter 2 - Completely, utterly unbelievable and I loved it.  The best way to describe it is as I read in one review "...fast-paced, unapologetic escapism."

Lord of War - I'm kind of neutral on this.   I didn't feel like it was a waste of money, but I didn't love it either.  It wasn't overly preachy, which is good.

Flightplan - We only went to see this because it was the only movie we hadn't seen that we have even a remote desire to see. It was definitely suspenseful, however, I wouldn't go see this unless you're really bored.