SILVER BUTTS AND ROBOT FACES

Data entry has become brain-searing work for me. BRAIN-SEARING. And caffeine seems to take longer to affect me lately, so it wasn't until about an hour and a half into work that I started to wake up a little bit. I've been having to take a lot of breaks, getting up and walking around, talking to people, using the bathroom--ANYTHING to crush the shackles of a desk job. Don't get me wrong, I am more than thankful to have this job right now. But when you're temping, you learn pretty quickly what kind of work you like and what kind of work you don't like. It was a turning point for me when, at Stevens Transport, I realized I enjoyed pulling staples and sorting papers more than I enjoyed "work." Pulling staples is freakishly rewarding to me. Don't forget, I saved all the staples I pulled from my first office job and put them in that decorative glass cube.

Today on one of my breaks, I stopped in and got to know the other girl who is temping with me. Her name is Elvira O'Connor (she married an Irishman, perhaps?). She told me about the horrors of interviewing for jobs when the interviewer gets annoyed at her "accent" or seems impatient when it comes to communicating with her. No, it's not like she's got broken English or anything. But she is Hispanic (I'm not sure where she's from, I didn't ask yet). I guess after conversing with so many broken-English types in Russia, I have a lot of patience for people who aren't fluent. So anyway, Elvira and I connected pretty well and we exchanged phone numbers and email addresses. I'm determined to get her one of those bilingual jobs I saw all over the Dallas classifieds on Sunday.

Okay, here is a really awesome story. When my grandmother died, my parents wound up with her not-very-old TV and used it in their bedroom. About a month ago, it started fritzing out and eventually stopped working so my dad went out and bought a new, beautiful, flat-screen TV to replace it. The box for the new television set is still sitting in the game room, the room I am sitting in right now, the room I pass through whenever I go to or from my bedroom or bathroom. Considering the box is roughly three-feet tall, and given its prime location, it's the perfect mix of circumstances to tempt me when I run in and need a place to toss my keys or purse so I won't lose them (trust me, this is not a lame excuse to use the box). So I guess you could say it is a temporary tabletop for me when I'm on my way in or out. The climax of this tale: my father has become fiercely irritated by any item sitting on this box. "Are these your beads?!" "Is this your mail?" "Why is your jacket on that box?!" All very fun questions considering IT'S A CARDBOARD BOX. I think if it's such a big deal, he should DISPOSE OF THE BOX properly and then I clearly won't be tempted to use it as a catch-all. But no, I'm beginning to wonder if it will become like everything else that enters this house: it will never leave.

I've been thinking of Spirited Away a lot lately and I'm salivating at the thought of watching it again. My sister has it at her house, I'll have to borrow it. I'd kind of like to improve on the last time I saw it since I was kind of distracted (not that distracted, sickos). No no, that was the time I watched Red Dragon. Okay, honestly, I don't remember a thing about that film. Except Emily Watson as blind lady and the house on fire. And Edward Norton, but only at the end. THAT'S IT!

Now it's time for me to go to bed. I'm seriously behind on sleep and I want to make it through tomorrow a little bit more alert. There are few things I despise more than knowing you have absolutely no control over how tired you are, like all those times I dozed off in a class because I was exhausted. I guess I just hate being tired. At some point, it all catches up with me and I start killing people but don't remember it later.

OH AND GUESS WHAT! Lately I love onions and radishes and root beer, and I've always hated onions and radishes and root beer! AND NO, NOT TOGETHER AT THE SAME TIME, DUMMIES! I'm attributing this to the Just Now 25 Phenomenon.