Tidings of Boredom and Complacency

Ahh yes, the day after Christmas in the working world. It's days like these that allow me to sit at my desk with no regard for anyone else in the office, simply because there's really no one else in the office to regard. I'm pretty sure someone in the lobby of the building could hear Zeppelin's The Ocean emanating from my desktop speakers (which I stole from someone else who's not here today), but the lobby is and will remain empty throughout the day.


another hiatus...

I've got to stop taking these breaks between paragraphs...it's killing my train of thought, which is entirely different today than it was when I began to write this post on Wednesday. I've got no reason as to why I haven't been able to finish this post since I began to write it. These last three work days have been positively fruitless from a business standpoint. I suppose plenty of people are off this week and the rest of us who have chosen to go into work are battling those holiday hangovers that accompany the typical three and four-day marathons of family, food and fun. I'm not talking about actual hangovers from booze, because I didn't consume too much alcohol during the marathon this year. I'm talking about the hangover that comes as a result of catching up with so many people...eating so much crap...driving all over the map.

Oh, that reminds me...I need to welcome another reader to the blog. This is someone who has felt it necessary to hide his identity on the blog for the last several months, although he has only commented a couple times. Cousin Brian...the one cousin I have that is just about my age. You do understand that since your identity has been revealed, you need to comment as such from here on in? Well, I suppose I am jumping the gun here, assuming that you actually read this with any regularity. But if you choose to comment again, I hope I can expect to see some sort of alias that suggests it's you. Either way, thanks for reading, B. Welcome, and good luck wherever grad school accepts you.

Speaking of my cousin Brian, I'd like to add that he is a part of one instance in my childhood that I wish I could have back again...one stretch of about three minutes that I want to do over again. See, being that we were about the same age and from neighboring towns, we had the opportunity to play against each other in a Little League game one summer when I was 11 and he was 12. This was the age group that plays to get to Williamsport, or the LLWS. It was a big deal to me back then...to be an All-Star second basemen and on a team of really good players. Anyway, I was a reserve on my team and Brian was probably the best player on his. It also happened that he was a pitcher above all else, and he indeed pitched for his Salem National squad against my Beverly East squad. All you need to know as a reader is that the opening paragraph of the article in the local news the next day was something like "Chad Benoit struck out on three pitches against his cousin Brian Benoit in Salem National's win over Beverly East in District 15 action last night, but he shouldn't feel bad..." The writer was saying that I shouldn't feel bad because B struck out everyone on my team that evening, sending us to the Loser's Bracket (where we would eventually lose in the final round) of the tournament.

Well, I want that at-bat back. I want it back so I can get a better look at that first-pitch fastball instead of being all nervous and overwhelmed by the situation. I want it back so I don't watch the second fastball whizz by me, just as my knees stopped shaking. And finally...and most of all...I want that fucking third pitch back. That off speed junk that was served up, which I missed badly. Whaddya say, Bri? Me, you, a bat and a ball and field...rematch. You up for it?

I think that's all I have for today/the last three days. I'm kinda thinking that all the shit that's in my brain right now might be on lockdown because it's not coming out. Oh, here's one thing...

La and I had drinks and appetizers at the upstairs bar at the Four Seasons in Boston a week or so ago, and the urinal at this place was phenomenal. It was like pissing into a giant salad bowl, but the beauty of it was the angle of the bowl. It was tilted ever so slightly forward, so that all streams could gently deflect off the inside lip of the bowl and spray harmlessly outward...not back towards you. I tried to take a photo with my phone but to no avail. Regardless, I was really pleased with that urinal.