Swan Swan Hummingbird Hurrah

Today was my first day at work since last Thursday, and it felt like an underwater dream. Nearly everyone was relocated to a new cubicle, a process which mainly occurred on Friday when I was busy sleeping in and doing other important non-work things that I'm sure were fantastic but right now I can't seem to recall any of them. I do know that later in the evening we ate out at a new restaurant (Francesca's Forno, good but small portions and touch pricey) and went to see a movie* but it was sold out so we bought tequila and came back home and watched Kiss Kiss Bang Bang instead.

*The movie we were going to see was The Last Kiss, which has gotten nothing but horrible reviews and the more I see/hear about it the more I don't want to see it. M was a big Garden State fan, and though I initially liked that film on the first viewing, every time since I've realized its many flaws, which cut through me like a jagged knife, making me cringe. And suddenly Zach Braff (who I've also been a fan of by the way, I've seen nearly every episode of Scrubs since the pilot (a show which in its last season has disappointingly become to seem rather formulaic)) is considered some sort of film soundtrack genius, but whose selections, The Shins aside (though they won't change your or anyone else's life), are largely made up of weepy singer-songwriter types and other mostly boring music. Perhaps I should stare off into space, looking wistful, perhaps, while some delicate guitar picking is heard; I will be a soulful and beautiful person. Anyway, haven't seen the movie, so I'm not justified to give a proper review.

Back to the main topic: new cubicle wasn't properly cleaned, and had a few things still in the desk drawers. This was disappointing because my previous cubicle is now occupied by my new cubicle's former resident (i.e. we switched), and I had spent much of Thursday afternoon inhaling fumes from a most likely illegal ammonia-based cleaner as I scrubbed up years of dust (I'd only been there a year and a half, but it certainly wasn't cleaned when I moved in). After cleaning, I tried to arrange my files and belongings exactly like I had them in my previous location (you are thinking, a cube is a cube, what's the problem here, Complainy McGee?) Well, it just felt different. Maybe because of the different lighting. I'm pretty sure my drawers are one centimeter narrower than previously. Also, the aisle separating the cubicle across from me used to be about six feet wide, now it is barely four. I am at least twenty feet farther from the nearest printing location. Whereas I used to have an empty cube in front of me, now it is occupied (and in fact, if you picture me as Jim J. Bullock in the center square, I used to be bordered on only four of a possible eight sides, whereas now I'm bordered on no less than seven), and, worse, whereas I used to work next to a bunch of people who I never actually worked with, now I am sandwiched by my two closest colleagues. And finally, and most severe, my same computer has been moved with me, but now I'm unable to access my fantasy baseball team, my football pool, and every other website with the word 'fantasy' in the URL due to corporate fascist filters, except for, oddly, my fantasy football team, on a generally slower than usual Internet, mind you. All of this, combined with the fact that I was coming off of a four-day unproductive and late-sleeping weekend, resulted in a not very productive day.

Other highlights from the weekend include another good meal out (at the Pacific Cafe, which was great, though I'm vowing never to eat tempura for at least a couple years), making vegetable soup, watching four episodes of Angel, meeting a long lost friend for only one beer and one hour, buying a bottle of Cachaca (which isn't too easy to find) and making endless caipirinhas, each of which was better than the last. Otherwise, not much worth sharing with the common unwashed such as yourself.