To slack or not to slack...Hanging out at the local bar conveniently located approximately 15 feet across the street from where I work, drinking too much brewed-on-premises beer (which means it's strong and cheap) for the second time this week, which leads us to the work hangover. There are those that think calling in sick with a hangover is disreputable. Those, like Sourpuss, who will stay up until 4 in the morning and then go to work still drunk at 8am. I think there are generally two schools of thought on the issue and I must say, after dragging ass all day for the last couple of days, I am not inclined to subscribe to this particular sense of decorum. Here's my case:

1. I feel like shit.
2. I'm not getting anything done anyway.
3. Okay, so I probably shouldn't have been getting drunk on a weeknight, but come on. Just because I'm an adult doesn't mean I have to give up my fun-loving inner-inebriated-child does it? Is work ultimately more important than my social life? I know I need it to pay my tab, I mean bills, but shouldn't there be some sort of balance between work and play? I'm sorry, but the weekend just isn't enough sometimes.
4. I mean, I'm responsible at work and I care about what I do and all that shit, but is work really sooo important that we should feel ashamed to take a day off every once in awhile to nurse a hangover? Are we really so important that we would be letting someone down by taking a mental health day?
5. Or am I letting myself down? Do I lack professional integrity? Am I simply justifying my irresponsible actions because I'm an unaccountable alcoholic?

Ultimately, I think I just resent having to work so much. I absolutely hate the fact that during winter I see the sun for about 30 minutes a day. Sometimes swimming at Barton Springs is the only acceptable way of spending a Monday afternoon. I don't think I could ever be the stay-at-home housewife type; I'd get really bored really fast. But I can't be brainwashed into that American work-more-to-buy-more mentality. Or maybe I'm just a compulsive slacker.

I have the best friends in the world.

Moving is hard. There are the boxes to pack, the shit to get rid of that you've been hoarding for years, hauling it from apartment to apartment like Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. There are the bills to cut off, mail to be forwarded, bank accounts to be closed. It can all be a bit overwhelming. But the best part about it is realizing how much you truly appreciate your friends when you start to think about leaving them and getting to tangibly witness how much they love you when the time comes to say goodbye.

My friends threw Chris and me a surprise going away party this weekend. I simply cannot believe the lengths they went to in order to organize the extravaganza that was Saturday night and keep the details secret from me, the nosiest most relentless woman alive. It's not every day you get to witness how blessed you truly are. Makes me a little weepy.

And just in case you live in the Central Texas area and are planning an event any time soon: Christina, Dondie, Heather and Joy are the power party planners you need to hook up with. Fo Sho!

Just for kinks, uh...I mean kicks:



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Howard Dean is the Man, yo.

Last week I went to a Howard Dean house party over at the lovely little cottage of Sunshine and Sourpuss. There were about 73 of them across the grand state of Texas on that particular night. We watched a little video (mostly of his rally at Saltillo Plaza here in Austin) and then got to listen in as he conference called all of the house parties. It was cool.

Now there's been a lot of buzz about Dr. Dean lately. Is he really as progressive as we'd all like him to be? Nah. Does he have what it takes to stick it to the W come election day? I think he might. But I think the most inspired thing about Howard Dean is that he represents hope to so many people. In an era where everyone I know is ready to expatriate, where a lot of people are realizing that voting with your ideals may not have a place in modern day politics and other than that there's not a lot of choice out there; Howie's got a lot of fresh ideas about grassroots campaigning, about what it means to be a politician, and about how to create change in this country. Don't get me wrong, there are things about the man's policies that I don't agree with. But in an age where hedging your bets and doing whatever you can to resist the regime is the best it gets, I'm pretty happy that Dean's up at the microphone with the rest of the shirts.

Tequila + Tarot = Cosmic Delight

This weekend I settled down with a couple of friends, a couple blenders worth of margaritas, and several packs of cigarettes to answer some of life's biggest questions. Armed with the I Ching, the Osho Zen Tarot, and a set of Runes to guide us, I am proud to say that we managed to figure it all out by about 5am on Sunday June 29th in the year 2003. I finally answered the following questions:

1. What is my Nature? The material cause of my being, the possibilities I was born with.
2. Why was I Born? What is the lack or privation with which I have come into the world.
3. What is my Vocation? How I am called to go through this life and what principles I must embody in my passage.
4. What is my Destiny? My ideal passage through this life, my ideal possibility.
5. What is my Cross? Condition that lasts a lifetime. My ordeal from birth to death.
6. What is my Unified Self? The qualities that will ever be in my life when my intellect and will begin to work in harmony with my physical being and my heart.

Now I just have to figure out what the answers mean and I'll be all set.