Posts published during April, 2005

While we are on the topic of discussing those who look like American Idol contestants (I.e. Kristoff), I thought it might be fun to segue into a discussion about those who actually are crooners on that bubblegum pop program.

The nation was shocked last Wednesday when poodle-in-a-leather-jacket, faux rocker Constaine Moroulis was voted off Idol. Quite frankly I wasn’t, and here’s why:

Constatine’s unique pairing of a Prince Charming chin, (think cavernous dimple surrounded by two inverted peaks), with his classic and splendid Barney Gumble waddle made him the obvious choice to vote off.

And what do I mean by waddle? A waddle is a secret double chin.

In most instances the waddle is undetectable, and only when the neck is constricted – I.e. at times, when you are looking towards an audience with head lowered, seemingly sexy-like, in hopes of seducing fourteen-year-olds to text message a vote for you (idol 05!) – does it become apparent.

And you think, when the audience stares back all mystified, that you are the greatest pseudo rock star to ever sing Partridge family songs on a schlocky Fox stage. In reality the audience is simply spellbound by your awesome and glorious chin droop.

It would be remiss to write about the peeps at A Very Hip Software Company and not include my cubicle mate, Kristoff.

Kristoff, like myself, is a protege of Pepe and his frenchie mustache. All day we tinker and toil and fuss and muss. Every little detail must be glorious. Each product produced must be excruciatingly creative, and painstakingly inventive. Why, it took Kristoff three hours today to dot an ?i??

But that’s not too bad. Hell, it took me four hours to wean myself off the catering table at lunch today. God bless you bitsy pineapple chunks and delicious dill dressing!

So Kristoff, he lives his life like the class clown. He?s always playing pranks, making ridiculous suggestions, putting things up his nose? oh wait, that last one’s me.

But anyway, I know that beneath that blithesome veneer, there lurks something more sinister. In our weekly discussion about American Idol, Kristoff confided his discomfort with Anthony Federov. I’m bothered by Anthony because I think he is an androgynous, panty waist Clay-Aiken-wannabee. But Kristoff, he’s disturbed for far more personal reasons.

Shuddering, Kristoff confided that some random woman at the grocery store mistook Kristoff for Federov – that fair-haired fruitcake.

Kristoff was obviously upset, and being the good neighbor that I am, I told him no you do not resemble Anthony I-am-so-femme Federov in the slightest. In fact, I said, unless you start looking like a painted lady, I don?t think you could ever be that way.

But actually, I do see the resemblance.

The hännihaus family is growing, as Angel and I have just added another feisty feline to the fold. Sphynx is our new kitty, so named because of his striking resemblance to his Egyptian namesake. (Big ears, huge feet, that sort of thing).

As predicted, Belle is entirely upset. The other day when I told her, “Mommy is going to new PetSmart today. Maybe she’ll come home with a new little brother for you”, well her initial response was to lower her eyelids and hiss.

As I was walking out the door she told me, “If you bring another kitten in this house, I will set it on fire and dance on its bones.” And then she purrrrrped all cute-like, ran into the bedroom, and started chewing the drawstring off my favorite hoody sweatshirt.

Despite Bella Bad Girl’s threats, we plucked Sphynxy from his petstore plexiglass cage, and brought him to the hacienda. It’s been three days and Belle is still beyond pissed.

I’m starting to get nervous. I think I’ve got two Bebe’s kids on my hands. There’s constant running, hissing, smacking, and all other manner of naughty misbehavior going on. Why just yesterday, after being stared down by a steely-eyed Belle, Sphynx lodged his ass in Bella’s face and told her to kiss it!

And let me tell you, Sphynx’s ass is something to take seriously. He is extremely gassy. You pick him up, and he lets one fly. You scratch his neck, and he releases the green wind. You look at him and smile, and he gleefully rips one.

It’s really quite amazing, the power of his flatulence.

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Mini Me?

My cubicle neighbor told me that I reminded him of someone. And no, he didn’t say Sandra Bullock or Katie Holmes, or some other foxy brunette. He said, with great enthusiasm, You look just like a fraggle – the purple one!

For the record, I *do not* think I look like a cave-dwelling puppet, but if others have that opinion, well I guess this is a free country.

But why do I have to be the purple one? She?.. er- he?…er-it is the ugly one! And the thing has spooky droopy eyes to boot!

You e-mail Compaq customer support with this question.

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20 Seconds

I think it was hassle the writer day at A Very Hip Software Company. It seems that every 20 seconds someone from some random department needed some form of copy and they needed it STAT.

And of course, because I had to see so many different people today, my hair decided to go all wonky.

I am having the worst hair day! It looks like some sort of toupee that’s been run over a few times with a Mac truck. To contrast with the flatness, right in the middle of my head, right on the very crown, there is a hairy halo, a poofy bit of frizz that looks remarkably like a robin’s nest.

Why on a day when I am so very popular, is my hair so hideous?

Additionally, because I was feeling blah this morning, I wore the sweatshirt-that’s-too-grungy-for-casual-wear with flip flops and unpainted toes. In short, even the worst slob would be outraged by the sheer schlubbyness of my attire today.

In addition, I think I am getting arthritis in my right wrist, the remnants of my cubicle neighbor’s stinky tuna sandwich has lodged itself in my left nostril, and I’m forcing myself to eat fish and green beans for dinner, when all I really want is a big bowl chocolate chip cookies, drowned in fudge, served with brownie ice cream as the chaser.

Oy vei.

I was IMing a coworker the other day and I guess my relentless nonsensical rantings kind of got to him. At one point, in response to something about my love of creamed asparagus, he typed back in exasperation, gheesh!

And I furiously responded with, Don’t you mean “sheesh!”

A defensive fellow, he hurriedly typed back something about being Canadian, and how Canadians choose to pronounce “sheesh” with a soft g proceeding the eesh. (Having dated a Canadian, and having more than a fraction of a brain, I think this is bull crap, but that is another story.)

I typed back, No “gheesh” is something entirely different from “sheesh”.

Any idiot knows that “sheesh” is something you say when you’ve run out of anything clever to come back with. As for the Canadian “gheesh”, you can’t fool me. Gheesh are things that fly south for the winter. Sometimes they lay golden eggs, have bumps, and play duck, duck.

We kept up the gheesh / sheesh fight for a few more bouts, before retiring to other things of importance, i.e. working.

Part of the perks at my new job is that we get to use IM. Not only do we get to use it, we are encouraged to use it, so much so that at A Very Hip Software Company, as soon as a newbie is hired, they are instructed to create an account for use at work, and e-mail said account information to all employees in the company.

This level of trust is vastly different from that which I have experienced at my previous work/hell. In my other life, when employed as lowly slave at Other People?s Money, all employees were threatened via neatly typed memo that anyone caught instant messaging would be summarily dismissed from their position in the company. Likewise, sending a personal e-mail to your granny was also a good way to get the axe.

And at Other People?s Money, the axe fell A LOT.

Needless to say, as one of their longest running employees, having worked in their dank, decrepit hovel of an office for a whopping 14 months, I never broke the rules.

Err well, they never knew I broke the rules.

It?s true that I never once IM?d. Too risky, as downloading of software is involved. Now as far as those e-mails to granny, I never did that either. Well, not really too much. Maybe once or twice to gma, but she is old and needs the reading materials. You gotta have something to fill the days right?

Yes, I e-mailed gma only a negligible 10 times, but the e-mails to maaa, pop, sis, Rock Star Brother, an elderly French woman, my best friend, the neighbor with the ugly tattoo, that skeezy interpretive dancer I met at starbucks, my tenth grade Japanese teacher, and SORM ? well I probably wrote them more than the 20 times I ever did to gma, God bless her.

And maybe I wasn?t always the exemplary Other People?s Money employee. Maybe I?m the one who used up all the plastic forks in the kitchen and secretly snacked on other people?s potato chips, homemade cookies, and dressings. Maybe I made up all those ?appointments? so I could go shopping at the Gap on Friday afternoons. And maybe that one time I pretended to take my car to the shop, quite possibly, I really left work so I could stuff my face with movie house popcorn at the theater where Bridget Jones was showing.

I won?t tell if you don?t. Til next, adieu!

I am very disappointed in you. As you know, this apartment complex, of which you are an employee, is not some hoe dunk, low-rent motel. No, this apartment complex is pristine. Less like a complex, and more like a resort community, this place has immaculate landscaping, Spanish tiling, and a pretentious clubhouse. Correspondingly, the amount of rent that is paid by myself to your employer each month is more expensive than I could be leasing for, but is reflective of the higher echelon of apartment living.

Why then, if we are putting on the facade of being grandiose, can we not fix my plumbing, which is fast going to shit? (Pardon the pun). Isn’t it strange that an apartment that is only three years old has had, in the past two weeks:

1. An f’d up washer that has stopped rinsing – yes, fishing sopping briefs out of the appliance formerly known as the washing machine makes doing laundry that much more enjoyable.

2. A bathroom sink stopper that has become permanently lodged in the drain, making removal of water from said sink impossible – I just love the random dust balls and scummies that are congregating in the stagnant pool that is the sink basin. Bella likes it too, because she can hunt for bugs from the comfort of her own bathroom.

3. A toilet that does not flush – I haven’t had a manicure in forever, and it’s been really nice plunging my hands into the pristine water of the toilet tank to extract the little broken lever that controls the swirl of my toilet, each time I need to relieve myself.

4. A bathtub that does not drain – Maybe it’s because I have hairy hobbit toes that shed when I’m showering, but my god, is it too much to ask that you come pour some drain-o into my bathtub? A selling point to this place was the “garden-style bathtub”. While I think your employer meant for “garden-style” to refer to the shape and size of said tub, I understand it to mean, that because of all the dirt and muck left behind from a sloooow drain, I will now abe able to plant potatoes atop the porcelain.

And I realize, dear maintenance man, it may not be entirely your fault. While you are seemingly lazy and incompetent, I do realize that the middle man between us may be a weak link. I think it was a bad sign when I called Donna at the clubhouse with my requests, and instead of being sympathetic or professional by telling me she’d get it handled right away, her sole, glorious and dim witted response was “Oh.”

In any event dear maintenance man, Angelface and I are begging and pleading, please fix our plumbing! I understand if you don’t feel like working. I don’t feel like working most days either, but I do work, because that’s my job gosh darnit! And besides, I couldn’t hardly afford Bright Eyes CDs, nutrition books and Digourno pizzas without a paycheck.

Cheers jackass!

- H

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Catawompus

Recently I joined a fertility forum online. It’s not because Angelface and I are TTC (trying to conceive), as we say in the forum. Far from it, Angel and I have our hands full with a) each other (we’re both just big kids), and b) Bella Donna Bad Girl (the naughtiest kitty on the East coast.)

No this forum thing, I felt compelled to join because I am quasi-crunchy, and maybe getting crunchier all the time. As a result of my earth-mama/uber-conscientous/organically-infused lifestyle, I am interested in all sorts of seemingly strange things, including learning about the intricate and wondrous workings of my female body. – Hey that sounds like a line from one of those “change of life” videos we watched in the fifth grade! Forget about writing software docs, maybe I should write puberty videos! I think I’ve found my calling”

In any event, as a result of my newfound body awareness, I’ve been noticing things: Recently I’ve noticed something very interesting about myself. I am a lopsided sweater. No, not the sweater that granny knits you each year for Christmas – sweater as in “sweat-er”. I’m talking perspiration here folks.

Just as some girls have lopsided boobahs where one is bigger than the other, I have lopsided sweatiness. I’ve discovered that after running a few miles, the left side of my body is sweatier than the right. And it’s not just a little sweatier, it’s markedly sweatier. I mean after a good sweaty 3 mile run, you could swim in my left arm pit. The right, however, boasts merely a shallow puddle of perspiration.

And I wonder why I’m so disproportionate in my dankness. But actually I don’t worry about it at all. I know that there are some mysteries that may never be resolved. Take, for instance, the fact that Paris my-talent-is-being-rich Hilton is, inexplicably, “acting” in movies, or that Michael Jackson’s courthouse couture alternates between pajamas and british-style regal wear.

Yes I’m a sweater. Yes I am proud. And yes, I must stop blogging so I can do my pilates now in order to generate the body funk I have described above. Til next, adieu!