I was sent this nugget:
“Does he, like many Democrats, think the election was stolen? Gore pauses a long time and starts in to the middle distance. ‘There may come a time when I speak on that,’ Gore says, ‘but it’s not now; I need more time to frame it carefully if I do.’ Gore sighs. ‘In our system, there’s no intermediate step between a definite Supreme Court decision and violent revolution.'” (New York magazine, May 29, 2006, page 24, line 57)
These are carefully couched terms. My sense is that the former VP and senator, a son of a senator, is being very politic. I believe that he’s really a bit grumpy, and deservedly so.
My friend Sarah has been accused of being a grumpy young woman. I wouldn’t call her grumpy, I’d consider her concerned for the state of the country.
Whereas I AM grumpy. This takes on two forms, the political and the personal. Re: the former, I’m grumpy that the Senate’s going to vote on ANWR–again. That Federal Marriage Amendment is bugging me; a friend has suggested joining a postcard campaign against it, which couldn’t hurt, I suppose, though I think personalized individual postcards and e-mails may be more effective; since the anthrax scare of 2001, letters are less effective. Oh, and there’s other stuff, too.
On the personal side, I discovered this week, to my horror, that a private conversation I was having at work could be heard perfectly four cubicles away. Conversely, I seem to be able to hear three groups of people talking, including every visitor, but only in a cacophonous mush.
I’m grumpy because I seemed to have missed the memos about how we’re tracking our questions, a small matter I suppose, but how did I miss it? I read an e-mail that my work e-mail had changed, so I sent out a bunch of e-mails to others to that effect, then I was told it hadn’t changed…yet. It will be, BTW, roger.green@nyssbdc.org..soon. Apparently, I received one or more phone calls last Friday and/or Monday, based on the light on my phone, but I can’t access them.
I’m uncharacteristically grumpy in a “bite-my-bottom-lip” sort of way, and I don’t think it’s my general state of being.
At least one of my colleagues is a bit grumpy, too. Writing to a third party: “Not to overstate things, but this has been the single most frustrating two-week stretch of work in my time here.” Internet has been intermittent. The power in the whole building went off for about 15 seconds on Tuesday, etc., etc., etc. At least we’ve gotten our CD-ROMs for the library on the eighth working day there.
I think it’s a function of the fact we like doing our work, and we like doing it well, and it’s been hard to do our jobs, WHEN we can do our jobs; a couple librarians STILL don’t have a working printer. A couple of us went to our work conference earlier this month to explain that we would be attacking the backlog of reference questions, when what’s been happening has been the opposite; I finished two questions yesterday that came in on the 20th…of April, totally unacceptable to us.
Also, in part, I think it’s also because it’s been uncommonly gloomy, weatherwise. Rain at least 10 of the last 12 days at some point, though it was sunny yesterday.
In fact, it’s gotten so bad that I’ve been forced to sing Broadway musicals to cheer myself up.
So, this what I’m asking for: Funny stuff. Laugh out loud stuff. Stupid stuff. Tasteless stuff. As long as it’s funny. Or in the words of another musical Be a Clown. Laughter is the best medicine, or so Reader’s Digest would tell me. Post to the site or send it to my CURRENT e-mail address. Or else I’ll be forced to sing “Tomorrow” from Annie.
Examples I’ve already gotten:
A woman on the bus I see often told me these yesterday:
Why did the bicyclist crash into the wall?
Because he was two-tired.
What did the fish say when he crashed into the wall?
“Dam.”
***
Freddie Hembeck talks about Freddie and the Dreamers’ front man Freddie Garrity, who died recently, in today’s post. Ah, I remember him well. THAT’LL cheer me up- doing the Freddie!