Movie Recommendation Imagine Me & You

 

Today was another low key, simple, and pleasant day.  In about the middle of the day, once the heat had risen and I had slipped inside to bask in the air conditioner, I watched the movie above on the DVR.  I am a fan of both Piper Peraboo and Lena Headey, so when I saw the two of them in a movie together, well, I hit record and there it was.  It is a good little movie, sweet, romantic, and amusing. Definitely worth the watch.

Most of the rest of the day was ordinary.  We are in the early part of a heat wave that is supposed to run through Thursday, so it is going to be nice and slow days of keeping a low profile and avoiding the heading.  I actually just went through the house with the intention of opening it up and letting the evening breeze flow through - but we're not yet there.  The sun set a few minutes ago and the temperature is still hovering around eighty, so I closed the patio doors and fired the AC back up.  I will open everything up when I slip into bed today.

For now, I am watching an episode of Sinbad off the DVR and then I am going to catch the next episode tonight, when it airs at nine. It has been an enjoyable series so far. Of course, as a child, I was a huge fan of Sinbad, originally based on the early movies, then the tales themselves.  I think Sinbad is such a cool character and I think the SyFy series definitely manages to capture what I consider to tbe the spirit of the character.

 

Sing To Me

“Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns driven time and again off course, one he had plundered the hallowed heights of Troy.” Homer, The Odyssey (Robert Fagles translation, 1996)

I slept close to eleven hours last night.  I got home at about the ordinary time, had a simple enough dinner, watched the most recent episode of Defiance off the DVR and then decided to take a thirty minute nap.  It was a beautiful cool evening, so I curled into bed, listened to the street noises and drifted off.  When my timer woke me up, I reset it for another thirty minutes because it was so cozy sleeping.  Then, when it went off the second time, I…turned it off and went back to sleep.  It was about six p.m. and I slept straight through until about 2:00 a.m., where I woke briefly and then drifted back to sleep, finally waking up about five a.m..  It was very nice.

Today, my work is mostly meetings - a solid block of meetings from 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m, for a total of six hours.  I’ve already got two meetings knocked off and I am in the third now.  The third is an informational presentation - in this third meeting, I helped to prepare the meeting materials, so I am just on the call as a question and answer resource.  I have some things that I hope to accomplish in the afternoon, but I am also planning on heading home fairly early today, since I started at 6:00 a.m.

Right now, I am going to head over to the conference room and spend the next half hour listening to the meeting and walking in small circles.  In thirty minutes, I will be able to get in about a mile or so, in small concentric circles. Move, move. Move.

I saw the quote from the Odyssey while I was at San Jose Museum of Art over the weekend and it was stuck in my head, so I thought I would share it here, since the process of sharing information can often release it.

Work, Chaos, Fire and Aliens

First, let me start this entry by giving a bit of a pop culture shout out to a very good show currently running on Syfy - Defiance.  I am enjoying it a lot and it seems to get better and better with each successive episode, which is exactly what you want to see in a television show.  It helps that it also features one of my favorite actors - the beautiful and talented Jamie Murray.

So, this week has been pretty busy at work, mostly dealing with our post go-live issues, the corporate Game of Thrones, and, today - a fire in our building. It was a small fire, caused by an electrical short, in another part of the building. The result was a morning of chaos since we were all barred from the building.  Fortunately, no one was hurt and we were cleared to get back into the building later in the day.

We've got one person out on vacation and another out sick, so our small group is effectively at half staff, meaning in addition to being chaotic, the day was also, well, chaotic.  About midway through the day I had a splitting headache, equal parts dehydration and stress.  I drank 24 ounces of water, took a Tylenol, and napped for thirty minutes.  The triple attack on the headache eased it onto a downward trajectory, which was nice.

I was going to cook something, but at the last minute decided to run out and get a cheese burger, simple and pleasurable. Given the assorted chaos of the day I am really feeling the desire to have a very simple and quiet night.

Tuesday Evening With Bones and Defiance

Two days back at the office and it is pretty much the same old same old - equal parts progress and frustration.  The go-live day is rushing straight at us, not this weekend, but next weekend and for better for worse it is all systems go.  I am not entirely sure they've done their contingency planning well, but then, it isn't my concern.  I'll cross my fingers and hope for the best (LOL - which may be what they are doing.)

It is a beautiful evening here in California.  I am sitting in the living room, watching an episode of Bones from the DVR with the patio doors wide open, listening to the sounds outside and enjoying the evening scents and sensations.  When I got home from work tonight I watched "Defiance" the new SyFy show.  I enjoyed it and they have me hooked, at least for now.  My friend Tony is also playing the companion game and I suspect some of the others might be as well.

I am going to keep this entry short tonight because I am going to log onto work and do some email, and then I plan on curling up with The Lies of Locke Lamorra.  In short, it is going to be a gentle and quiet evening.

Rain and Continuum

It was another pretty good day.  A few ups and downs, but what I would normally expect from a working day. It was a little stressful at the end of the day when I got a flurry of requests for data as other people ended their day, but I was able to knock about half of them off before I called it a day and headed home and the other half should be easy enough tomorrow morning. My meeting schedule at work is pretty light tomorrow, so it should be a productive day.

I had a simple dinner tonight, then took a bit of a rambling walk through the neighborhood just ahead of the gentle rain that has descended and is splashing off the rooftops outside.  That is a great and soothing sound. I called my step-dad and talked to him for about a half hour or so.  He is scheduled to be released on Thursday, and he's looking forward to it, but slightly apprehensive, which is understandable. After talking with him I called the ranch and talked to Tom for a while and everything seemed to be going smoothly out there.

So, my plan is to ease into the night and watch the most recent episode of "Continuum" from the DVR. During that, I may write a nice long email.  Then, I will most likely curl up with "The Pattern Scars" and read myself to sleep.  I think I am going to set my alarm clock tomorrow, something I rarely do, so that I can get a jump on the day. I'm feeling productive in advance of the day.  Incidentally, if you like Science Fiction and you haven't watched "Continuum" on the SyFy channel, I happen to enjoy it.

Another Nice Day In The Bag

Another nice day in the bag.  Breakfast at the Hickory Pit (ah, the power of habit).  From there, I took a walk through of Best Buy and then swung by the Apple Store at Valley Fair.

I find the Apple Store to be a cult like place, full of people with glazed eyes - none of which stops me from owning an iPod and an iPad and considering buying a MacAir.  My friend Tony is also looking at the MacAir. I like the idea of the ultralight laptop and the MacAir seems to be the top of that breed.

From there I stopped at Safeway to stock up on groceries for the coming week. 

Then, I headed home. I had planned on watching a movie off the DVR but ended up spending the afternoon on a pair of family calls. I tried to take a nap, but couldn't quite get to it. Dinner was Patxi's and then a walk through Barnes and Noble, where I actually managed to get out without buying anything. 

The evening finds me with my feet propped up, watching the SyFy Twentieth Anniversary Special.  I plan on writing a little and reading a little and easing into the night. I feel like calling off sick from work tomorrow, except of course I am off work all next week, so I probably won't. 

Oh, I am also on call for Jury Duty as well.  I already called in for Monday and now I have to call in between 12:00 PM and 1:00 PM tomorrow and work my way through the entire week on call.  I kind of hope I get called in as it will be a nice break in the routine of the last couple of months.

Beautiful Summer Evening Unfolding

We're deep in the re-planning and re-scheduling phase at work. Today was basically seven meetings, all marginally interrelated. Progress was made, both toward the goal and toward the clarity that the project needs. I have my fingers crossed that we are going to pull something a bit more civilized out of it.

It has been one beautiful summer day after another here. I am especially fond of the mornings.  I woke this morning to the calls of wild geese in the hour before dawn.  I slipped out of bed and stood at the open window and watched them winging through the sky.  From there trajectory I think they were circling to land at Starbird Park about a half mile away.  The scent of dawn, a soft breeze, the call of geese - beauty unfolded within beauty.

Dinner tonight was chicken and coleslaw, a good choice on a warm summer eve.  I spend most of the evening watching a part of guilty pleasures off the DVR - "Haunted Highway" and "Destination Truth", both from the SyFy channel.  I love it when the casts manage to scare themselves silly.

I am not sure what I am going to do tonight - I am deep in reading Orson Scott Card's new novel - "Earth Unaware (Formic Wars)".  I am about halfway through and it is quite enjoyable. I have Dean Koontz' "Odd Apocalypse" stacked up after it.  Good reading all in all. I love this time of year.

Tarsem Singh's The Immortals

After a quiet and productive day at work I slipped out a little early and drove over to Mercado 20 to meet Tony and see Tarsem Singh's "The Immortals". We'd originally seen the previews and excerpts at a panel at Wondercon with the director, so our anticipation has been fairly high. We also saw a second panel at Comic Con, which kept the interest high. I count myself a fan of Tarsem Singh and in that aspect The Immortals did not disappoint.

It was a work of visual poetry, with a few clunks, as is wont to happen when you're out there trying to push the edges of visionary film-making. If you're looking for a classic retelling of the Greek myth of Theseus, you'll be disappointed. But, if you are willing to go to the movie, sit back in chair, relax, and let the director take you where he will, then you will enjoy the movie. Think of it as a visual feast and don't worry too much about the stories. Or that fact that, apparently, in the Greek world leaping high was a critical combat skill. Let the little details like that slip away.

After the movie we stopped and got dinner at Mexicali Grill there in Santa Clara. As usual, it was pretty good. We took a quick walk through Microcenter to look at games (Tony was looking for Elder Scrolls Skyrim, which was supposed to be released today, but they didn't have there).

It was raining pretty steadily by the time I started homeward so I was a little bit worried about the rainy commute - and that turned out to be a well placed concern. Just down Lawrence Expressway there was an accident - fire trucks, ambulance, police - which forced four lanes of traffic into two lanes. It was bumper to bumper and slow going until I was past the accident point, then it was a pretty smooth drive. I love the way the city looks in the rain, black and slick and shiny and clean.

It's a nice quiet evening here now and I am watching "Sanctuary" on SyFy, contemplating the evening. I'm planning on getting together with friends tomorrow for some socializing and some game playing, so I reckon I am looking forward to that. It is the last weekend before I jet back to South Dakota for Thanksgiving and a week long vacation. I am looking forward to the visit, though not necessarily looking forward to the traveling part of it. My sister is planning on meeting me at the airport on the 18th, and then my folks want to take me back up to the airport for the return leg of the trip, largely so they can go Christmas shopping and visit a nephew and a pair of nieces who live in Rapid City, SD.

TR is out with friends tonight, so my plan for the evening is a quiet and simple evening with the DVR and at least a couple of chapters in "A Storm of Crows" by George R.R. Martin

Crashing Into Monday Morning

I crashed into a wall of stress when I walked into the office this morning. It arose out of a constellation of three things.

First, while I was out over the weekend a meeting was scheduled for early Monday morning. Because I had no idea the meeting was scheduled I was late for it and then I was unprepared for it. I am most decidedly not a fan of ambush meetings. One of the areas I think we do very poorly with at work is meetings. They tend to be unfocused and unproductive, with each individual in the meeting pursuing their own issues and items to the expense of the collective. If I had a related wish I'd wish that our entire directorate be sent to "Meeting 101" and learn three things - 1.) always have an agenda, 2.) always share the agenda prior to the meeting, and 3.) always stick to the agenda. Just those three things would increase the value of our meetings significantly. So, in short order - I dislike ambush meetings and I dislike unproductive meetings and this one managed to hit both of those buttons in one stroke.

Second, immediately on the heels of that meeting I went into another meeting where, of all things, the focused on one of the trendy management books, on discussing what they thought about it. First, I wasn't aware that I had joined a book club I had no interest in joining. Second - I've been in the working world for thirty years and I've been in supervision/management for twenty. I've seen dozens of trendy management books come and go. I've seen dozens of managers pay lip-service to the magic contents of these books, then turn right around and be a good manager (if they were already a good manager) or a bad manager (if they were already a bad manager). In short, I am highly skeptical when it comes to such books and their real impact on teams. The basics of management never change and success or failure as a manager depends entirely on whether or not you can do the basics. It really is that simple.

Third, I had a half-dozen issues escalated to me this morning that were not items I could do anything about. Technically, the specific support the customers were looking from has to come from another group. But, the issues keep coming to my desk because the responsible group has "dodging responsibility" down to an art form. I get badly frustrated by this because a.) it is not my area of responsibility and b.) there isn't anything I can do to help the customers. I am not sure which of the two irritates me more.

This constellation of events pretty much spun me into a very bad mood this morning. Once I made it through the meetings, I took a few minutes outside to breathe, to don my psychological armor, and to soak up a little sun. Then, I went back to work - one of the things I did was sit down and mentally work my way through root cause analysis and possible solutions for some of the problems I was facing. Fortunately, I like doing that. One part of my job that I still enjoy is productive trouble-shooting. I've always liked solving puzzles. It was very productive session - I managed to draw a six page root-cause analysis diagram and drill all the way down to the very bottom of one issue, coming up with three possible corrective actions.

Once I'd managed to reset the day by actually doing something productive I was able to salvage the rest of the day with productive work. I was definitely glad when the day ended though. I drove home, stopped at Sushi Totoro for a Golden California roll, a Philadelphia roll, and a bowl of Miso soup. I'm slowing winding my way into the evening by watching some SyFy, writing, and beginning the process of sorting my books. A rough start of the day but a gentle ending.

The Second Day of Vacation - I Try Not To Run Errands

Today was the second day of my vacation and I started by lingering in bed. I spent some quality time with TR. I had a bowl of oatmeal. I had a cup of coffee. I sat in the living room in the silence of the morning, drinking my coffee, and listening to the birds sing. I thought about how overstimulated our lives can be in this modern age.

Breakfast was with Bob and Tony at the Hickory Pit, followed by a walk-through at Fry's Electronics, where I picked up a SD memory card for my video camera. I also grabbed a few other miscellaneous things I thought I needed and one of those things was Neil Young's greatest hits. the Neil Young CD kind of reached out and grabbed me because Tony was talking about the song "Cinnamon Girl" while we were at breakfast. Besides, you can never go wrong with Neil Young.

After breakfast I went out to run a couple of errands and had to slow myself down because I found myself rushing through the tasks. I literally stopped myself and reminded myself that there was no reason to rush. Normally I like to knock off all of my errands in one day on the weekend since it will leave me the other day free. Without really thinking about it I had slipped into that rhythm. So I told myself "slow down, slow down, slow down" and picked up assorted odds and ends that I've been needing.

Then I headed home, unpacked the items I bought, put some of them away, and put the rest to use. I spent a very lazy afternoon doing some incidental cleaning and watching the DVR. I watched an episode of "Haven" from SyFy, I watched an episode of "Torchwood: Miracle Day" from Starz, and I watched a Gemma Atherton movie "Tamara Drewe". All of them were worth watching. I especially enjoyed the movie with Gemma Atherton. It was sort of a sweet quirky little movie, which almost always gets me. I thought the best characters in the movie were the two young teenage girls who serve as sort of a Greek chorus, observing and commenting on all the goings-on. I'd recommend it if you can find it On Demand or on Netflix.

While I was sitting in my chair watching the DVR I also engaged in a little bit of cleaning. In my bathroom there are two drawers under the sink, under the vanity - they are incidental drawers and they end up with incidental toiletries. I emptied both the drawers, surveyed all the stuff inside, threw about half of it away, and cleaned the rest and put it back. When I say cleaned I mean scrubbed in hot water and took a toothbrush to them, where appropriate. It was productive and it fulfilled the needs of my cleaning bug.

There is a Zen simplicity in cleaning. The repetitiveness of the tasks, the rhythms, the ability to fall into a sort of mindful state while you're cleaning is powerful stuff. So that was my day in a nutshell. Enjoyable. Simple. Productive. Entertaining.

I also, while I was on my errands, stopped and picked myself up a birthday present. My birthday is coming up next week, and there was an item that I've been meaning to get for several months now, but kept forgetting. It isn't a must-have but it was definitely a want to have kind of thing. It's the Kindle III. I have a Kindle II of course and I've spoken of my love for it. My II is several years old has seen better days so I've decommissioned it and stepped into the newer product. I'm going to enjoy it.