Watching: Glorious, my new Eddie concert tape. I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but damn, that guy is funny.
Also watching: The Golden Globes, although I don't know why. They're like Oscar's white trash cousins. Everyone seems hammered by the time they get up to present. And God, what the hell was wrong with Elizabeth Taylor? That was awful. Julia Roberts was cute, though, and I'm proud of my West Wing gang.
Also also watching: Boston Public. I didn't really realize how much I've been watching it, but I think I've seen almost every episode, and I had this revelation that I actually like it. Of course, it's a little frightening that I identify more with the teachers than the students, but I think it's actually helping me get over my age crisis.
Kind of watching: Buffy. I hate to say this, but I don't get quite so into them if they're not all about Spike. I mean, it was good tonight, but it's not the same for me. Maybe I was just too late to the party to appreciate it for all the Scoobies together. They did promote that Spike'll declare his love during February sweeps, so I'll be all over that.
Listening: To Corina's Crazy Funky 80's Mix. I am telling you, this is the bitchinest 80's mix you have ever heard in your life. If you came of age in the 80's, this CD will take you back, man. I'm grooving in my chair even as I'm typing this, my supper dish, my succotash wish.
Lamenting: My bad CD-player karma. Every single CD player I have owned, except my current Walkman, thus far has suffered some kind of untimely death. It's probably because I inflict physical violence on them, but that's only because they stop working as they should. Really.
Okay, so let's talk about Timothy McVeigh for just one second. Maybe two.
As I have said before, I am generally opposed to the death penalty. Not staunchly, not vociferously, not in a protesting sandwich-board kind of way, but in a general it's-just-a-bad-idea kind of way. If it were up to me, I'd get rid of it. It's expensive, it's racist, they've been wrong before, and it's ineffective as far as deterrence goes. (How many criminals have ever said, "You know, I was going to kill him and all, but then I thought I might get the death penalty, so I changed my mind.")
Right. But not only do I think it's all those things, I also don't think it's the worst punishment we can impose on people. Timothy McVeigh is what, 30 or so? I think it would be much worse for him to live the next 40 years, day in and day out, behind prison walls, rather than let him die in May.
And here's the thing: Timothy McVeigh quite obviously agrees with me. Does anyone think that he stopped all of his appeals, which could have dragged on for another 10 or 12 years, because he cares about the hard-working taxpayers of Oklahoma and wants to save their money?
Right. It's because his life sucks nowadays and he wants it to be over. That's all there is to it. When faced with the choice between fighting his appeals for another 10 years of prison life and being dead in May, he'd rather be dead. (I might point out that one of those Texas escapees agreed with me, too.)
So here's my point: If McVeigh's life in prison is so miserable that he'd rather die, wouldn't it be a worse punishment to force him to continue living his miserable life? I'm just saying that if we didn't have a death penalty, that's what would happen.
But since we do, what the hell. Fry the bastard.
On the work front, my coup is complete, and the things I wanted changed have been changed.
Hah. To tell the truth, it wasn't entirely about me. It turns out that everyone on the team has been wanting this to happen, but everyone's just been busy and not wanting to deal with the one person standing in the way.
One of the analysts who came back from trial (which we won, by the way, however that makes you feel) really led the groundswell on my behalf. Like I said before, I was kind of afraid of being the instigator, since I'm the new kid on the block, but this chick came back and just took charge.
And she shared something that made me happy, which was that one of the partners on the team had very complimentary things to say about me when she was meeting with him about this situation. I don't know who decided it was cool to act like praise doesn't make you happy, because that's insane. Yes, I was extremely happy that the partner noticed my work and had good things to say about it. Yes, it made me grin at my computer for a good half an hour. So what.
I'm telling you what, you all should get you some friends like the ones I have, because it has been like Christmas around here.
After a difficult hostage negotiation with my apartment complex office over the holiday weekend, I finally rescued a package from Kate. It contained a set of Kate-hand-painted glass dessert plates with matching glass mugs, and they are gorgeous. They brighten up my entire kitchen all by themselves.
And as if that weren't enough, today I came home to find a box with everyone's favorite little arrow on it. Inside is a copy of the Moonlighting pilot and a note from Kate wishing me a belated happy birthday.
And as if that weren't enough, yet another box appeared in my apartment complex office this week. This one was from Colleen, and is a beautiful collage of pictures from our various reunions. I can hardly look at it without getting all verklempt.
And then, of course, there is the sidebar-mentioned CD from Corina.
Honestly, girls. 51 days...
So there you have it. Timothy McVeigh, work coups, and my girls. Hell of an entry, don't you think?