They should give us a badge or something…

New Year’s Eve was fabulous for the most part. We had appetizers at Maloney’s and played Taboo at the Wine Loft with Bryan and Colleen. At midnight, we watched the pinecone drop as has become our tradition. You would not believe how many people fill the streets to watch this big metal pinecone drop about 8 feet.

After the crowd dispersed I was craving a pita, so we wandered over to the Pita Pit. On the way in, Bryan and Colleen got held up by a mob of kids trying to hold up their severely drunk friend. This guy was bad off. He hit the ground, they pulled him up and he kind of fell on to Bryan before he and Colleen made it in the door. We grabbed the only open barstools by the window and continued to monitor the chaos.

Most of the mob left and the guy sat down on a bench with one girl holding him up. Inevitably, after about 15 seconds he starts vomiting gratuitously - orange, liquidy, and instantly freezing on the sidewalk. The girl is trying to hold him up, but she can’t handle his weight and he falls onto the sidewalk and continues puking. At this point, the girl RUNS INSIDE THE PITA PIT AND HIDES, and the guy is left just lying on the concrete, shaking, as people step over him and walk past.

So I look at Steve and say, “Someone needs to get help,” and Steve heads out to grab the police officers. The police come and order Steve to wait across the street in the freezing cold. For 15 minutes we watch the police hold this guy still and he shakes and throws up. Finally, the ambulance shows up, the paramedics strap him to a board, and he's off to hopefully get the help he needs. In the middle of all of this, the girl "friend" sneaks out the restaurant covering her face. Eventually Steve makes it back in, but at this point, I’m not really feeling a pita.

Sidewalk Drunk Boy, if you’re reading this, make your New Year’s resolution to lay off the booze and look for some new friends.

The Most Terrifying Video You'll Ever See

Yet suitable for children of all ages.



These are the kind of simple arguments I can get behind.

[Expletive Deleted] [Expletive Deleted] [Expletive Deleted] Work

So after 11 blissful days off, being back at work is excruciatingly painful. Just the thought of being back at work turned me into a miserable, moping thing in a bathrobe and slippers for the majority of yesterday. And after drinking some of my Anxiety Tea (a Christmas gift from Becca who understands that I'm insane), I was a sleepy, moping thing in a bathrobe and slippers.

I wish every day that I could find a little more apathy because my doormat mentality is not serving me well at work. I don't think anyone would say that I'm a bad employee or a bad person, but the fear of being labeled as such keeps me from ever standing up for myself.

It's not an excuse for not speaking up, but I do fail to see how it is my responsibility to coax some of my superiors into behaving like decent human beings, showing a little consideration of others, and accepting some responsibility. If I can do it, they can do it. And they should be able do it without me having to fight tooth and nail for every inch.

For a good cause, I will fight my hardest and stand my ground, but for myself, I just can't do it.



"I believe you have my stapler..."

Make up my mind

I have been thinking a lot about the 2008 presidential race and who I would like to support as my candidate of choice. Every candidate seems to have a different issue that they have decided is most pressing yet I still don't know where my priorities are so I am asking you to help. I want you to tell me which candidate (or candidates if you are undecided between two) you hope to be president and why. Republican or Democrat, I want to know why it is that you think this person will be the best one to run the country.

Ready...set...go!

Shucks Paw, ain't you so proud?

5-year-old descendant of Davy Crockett kills bear

"I was up in the stand and I seen the bear," Tre Merritt said. "It came from the thicket and it was beside the road and I shot it."

At first, Mike Merritt didn't think Tre had hit the bear with his youth rifle.

"I said, 'Tre, you missed the bear,' " Mike Merritt said. "He said, 'Paw-paw I squeezed the trigger and I didn't close my eyes. I killed him."'

The bear turned out to be 445 pounds — 12 times the weight of Tre. Mike Merritt said tears rolled down his cheeks when he found out his grandson killed the enormous bear.

Tre Merritt's father said he began teaching his son to shoot when he was just 2 ½ years old, and said Tre killed three deer last year.

Tears, really? If you take the time to watch the video, you can find out what he hopes to kill next.

And growing up continues to suck...

Over the weekend the professor I would have easily picked as my favorite professor in all of college died. She had been hospitalized with liver and kidney failure and then died from complications of pneumonia. She was young. She had two small kids.

I had her for three classes. I loved that she was a very no-nonsense teacher with a great sense of humor. She didn't give anything a false sense of grandeur, but she could explain things so well.

I went to a Christmas party at her house in Munds Park my junior year. She invited all of her students to her house and had cider and cookies and I'm pretty sure she even made a ham dinner.

She was young. She had two young kids, or at least they were still in elementary school. At the Christmas party her son took a liking to me and she would always joke in the rest of her classes about how he missed me.

This semester I suggested that my supervisor work with her and her classes on a PR project. She was hospitalized about five weeks ago and another teacher had to take her classes.

The thing that bothers me the most about this is that if I wasn't working here, I never would have known. I would have had my happy memories of her classes and her family and her, and it never would have been tainted with this sick feeling that I have right now. I can't help feeling like I'm a little bit stuck in a part of my life that should have already reached its natural conclusion.

I wish I would have thanked her for making school more tolerable. I hope her kids are ok and have good people in their lives to get them through this time. I don't know what other good thoughts to think at this point.

And we thought Ted Danson was a big deal

Ellen DeGeneres is coming to NAU on Friday!

Where will I be while she is filming in the dorm right outside my office? I will be in Tempe for a conference. Lucky me!