Red Pencil Diaries

Okay. In college, I tuned in for the first four seasons of the Real World. I even watched Road Rules for a couple of years. We''d have pizza and watch hours and hours of Real World marathons. It was bad. But then, I grew up. I stopped watching. And until Tuesday night, I couldn''t tell you the last time I''d watched the show.

But co-workers told me about the first episode of the Real World Las Vegas, so of course, since I have all this free time, I tuned in and watched it and the second show too. These people are awful. A real car wreck! They all have screwed up names and even more screwed up lives. But now I''m addicted. I must watch it! Tuesday can''t get here soon enough... Ah, the DRAMA!

I''m just glad I haven''t gotten addicted to another reality show like The Anna Nicole Show. Hmmm. Might have to tune in for that one... The preview show some cousin showing up on her door step who is real country and has no teeth. Could be interesting!

I know that stupid people were put here on earth so that those of us who have a clue can feel superior, but sometimes I get so aggravated at them, I wish they lived on another planet.

Take for instance one goober that I am forced to work with. He has no clue. He''s worked here for months and still doesn''t seem to understand how work flows or how to work with the team. Our boss gave him a new task: organizing a list of content that''s going to be due fairly soon to meet a deadline and letting us know if there are any due dates that are closing in so we can all pitch in to help out (so one person doesn''t get bogged down with a ton of stuff at the last minute).

His report today made no sense--he couldn''t find the status of most of the content--even though our CMS allows you to search and sort and check dates and versions rather easily. We all sat in the meeting in disbelief. At first several of us tried to correct his reports. In the end, the boss sort of ended his report and said he''d clarify a few things and get a better report for next week. The rest of us sat somewhat embarrassed (because members of other teams were present and this guy single-handledly made us look like bafoons) and angry (b/c without even putting forth much effort, we knew the status of most of the content--a feat that seemed to elude said employee).

I know most of my ramblings don''t make sense to you who are reading this. But it helps me to regurgitate my pent up feelings onto the blog page. Thank you for letting me vent. I must go back to work now.

Okay, today I stumbled upon this list of 101 things to do in your lifetime. Under mysterious places, I found a link to the isle of Capri''s Blue Grotto. How beautiful! I must go there. Now I need to find out what are the other 100 things I must do before I die... I hope there are some things I can mark off the list...

When I was in school, I was part of a group of outcasts that the popular people in school liked to call "the smart people." We went to a fairly redneck school, and being in the top 10% of the class wasn''t looked highly upon by the crowd others deemed "cool." We all took upper-level classes, hung out together on weekends, didn''t skip school, do drugs, or anything else that was considered to be cool.

One day at school, the teacher divided the class into groups. Of course, those "smart people" in the class wanted to be in a group together, but one idiotic student protested and said that since the groups would be graded on the performance of the group, each group should be allowed one "smart person." One of the "smart people" disagreed and said that she didn''t want to be treated like that one red pencil in the box that all the first graders fought over.

From that day on, we smart people adopted the group name of Red Pencils.

I''ve been proud to be a red pencil ever since. So tonight, as I sit here, bored and waiting for my Dave to get home from work, I decided to do a Google search for red pencils. I discovered several sites, but the term "red pencil" was used in reference to those who "edit" with red writing instruments. In fact, one site even went so far as to explain how those red marks on paper can have a profound effect on your outlook on life.

Funny. I am now an editor. Of course, I edit on a computer, but I still leave red marks. And I now I''m thinking about how being a "red pencil" has affected me. Time for me to go and get all introspective... I''ll write more about my thoughts later.

Didn''t want to miss a day of blogging... I found the quotes from kids about the different types of candy to be quite fun.

Also, I love''s Slate''s Bushisms of the Day!

And I''m making note of this book b/c it might be good to recommend to my book club. (I''ve read Eugenides'' book The Virgin Suicides and I liked it. This one sounds strange, but on another level.

Last night I was a slug. Sort of. I came home, read a magazine. Decided to go to the grocery b/c we were out of food (and nothing to fix for dinner), got a call from Mark while I was at grocery inviting me to join them for dinner, but since I''d already half filled the cart, I declined.

Then I went home, put away groceries. Ate a Healthy Choice french bread pizza. Read more of my book club book, The Shipping News. Went upstairs to touch up paint in our office. Decided I wasn''t in the mood to paint. Turned on the TV and folded more laundry (a never-ending task in my house). Started watching American Gigolo. Got bored. Turned to Disney channel. Got hooked watching the second part of Zoog Disney''s Zenon movie called Zenon: The Zequel. Completely cheesy, but enough of a distraction that I couldn''t stop watching.

I''m hoping that after a few days of moping and being bored, I''ll get into some routine and stop sitting around wishing that Dave was home. Maybe I''ll start watching Survivor or some other show that my co-workers claim is addictive. At least then I''ll have something to look forward to. Right?

Tonight I have to really touch up the paint (the carpet guy is coming at 9 a.m. to put down the new carpet) and tear up the old carpet pad and remove staples (the guy will lay our carpet for less $ if we do this upfront). Sounds like such fun! I can''t wait...

Today I''m at work. Avoiding work. Thank God I have my own office with a door. (Remembering the six years I spent in cubicals and the two years when I had to share an office with a co-worker... how did I stay sane? Headphones.) My boss changed my editing assignments, so I will now be editing for a different area/person starting Monday--but not the person he told me I would probably be editing for when we met on Friday.

Boy am I glad we had that hour long conversation on Friday about what areas I felt comfortable editing. Whew. I''d hate to have to edit for something I know nothing about. Oh wait! I am. Nevermind.

So last night Dave worked and I was at home with dog. I watched some TV (Law & Order) and had some dinner (chow mein noodles with chicken and shiitake mushrooms with garlic black bean sauce) and then did laundry. I organized and folded socks and underwear for what seemed like an eternity. And hung clothes in the closet for hours. Boy what an exciting existence. Can''t wait to see what I''ll do tonight...

I am concluding that editing is not my life''s calling. I''m good at it, but I''m starting to get tired of doing it. Of course, it could just be that I''m tired of what I''m editing. After three years of reading and fixing grammar on technical articles, I''m dreaming of something better. Maybe I''ll find it. Maybe I won''t. It''s sort of slim pickings here when it comes to jobs for English majors. Wish me luck.

I found this interesting nugget of info on a page of Entertainment news:

"An Indian version of Quentin Tarantino’s ''Reservoir Dogs'' is being released in India next week. ''Kaante'' features, believe it or not, several song-and-dance numbers, but a Hindu group called Shiv Sena is really steamed by the product placement scenes for goods such as Thums Up, a soft drink owned by Coca-Cola. Shiv Sena is vowing to release snakes in theaters where ''Kaante'' is showing, according to the London Sunday Times. That threat, however, was denounced by animal-rights activists."

This afternoon Dave (husband) begins his first day of work at the new company on second shift. Which will suck. I''m used to coming home and one of us fixing dinner or going out to dinner. Then spending the evening on some home project or geeking on our computers or playing video games. And then cuddling up in bed and watching The Daily Show and then falling asleep to the sounds of the snoring dog in the next room.

Now it will just be me and dog. Even on the weekends. Some might think this is kind of nice. Time alone. Do whatever I want. But I actually love Dave''s company. Even just knowing he''s in our home office geeking while I''m watching TV downstairs is comforting.

I have a ton of things I can do around the house. I can paint. Sew. Do laundry. clean out closets. But it just won''t be the same for me. No one to talk to when I suddenly come up with a cool plan on how to rearrange the bedroom. No one to remind me to take the clothes out of the washer and put them in the dryer.

I guess it won''t be so bad. I''m gonna try to take a class. Read more. Exercise some more.

But I''ll miss our evenings together. I really will.

A co-worker just forwarded these two links to me about the NY winning lotto 3 numbers on the evening of September 11, 2002. I wonder how many people played the numbers 9-1-1? And it also makes me wonder how many times the date comes up in the lotto? Maybe I should consider playing the day''s date... hmmm.