At work I have to look at plaintiffs' employment histories. The other day I came across a file for a guy who works for a forestry service in Oregon. His job title? "Green chain puller." And his duties? "Pull the green chain." It was very Zen, and also kind of sad.

I had lunch with some people from my floor. There was a guy there, a relatively new hire, who in the course of events shared that once when he was in Honduras he paid $40 for a "full-service" massage. "You know, a rub-and-tug," he said, by way of clarification. "A happy ending." It took everyone a moment to figure out what he was talking about. I thought this a rather indiscriminate thing to share with a group of near-strangers. Good to know if I'm ever in Honduras, I guess.

In the science-fiction novel Ender's Game the world of the future is predominantly composed of closed-in, underground cities with tunnels connecting buildings and very little contact with the actual outdoors (this is surely a very common sci-fi conceit). Just today I realized that I could get from my office to Europe without once breathing fresh air, since the Blue Line runs from the basement of my building to O'Hare, and planes all have jetways these days ... Getting closer to that utopian dream every day!

I am amped for my visit to Iowa City this weekend, which promises nothing more than practice with Dino and a show marking the end of the longest hiatus in my band�s short history. And some beer will probably be involved somehow. We�re also going to bid on a Juno 106 on eBay, preferably while drunk. And I�m psyched as hell that Leah is back in IC where she belongs.

0 Comments

Back & Forth