Takes on a Plane
It’s been many days since I’ve provided you my take on life, current events etc. The 10 hour flight from London to SF has provided me time to get some ideas down on paper so I could share them with you, thus brightening your day. I had plenty of room to think, seated in business class. I was upgraded due to my status in the blog world. Being taller than the average blogger, I greatly appreciated it.
I spent this past week in the suburbs of Brussels. Before I was corrected by 4M, I may have referred to it as a boondoggle. Now I understand that it was a junket, undertaken so I could work on a corporate boondoggle. We had a three day powwow including some cross-functional, dysfunctional meetings and a brainstorming session. I’ve found that brainstorming does not work well unless the room has a strict 1:1 ratio of bodies to brains.
I did not get into Brussels proper due to a couple evening get togethers, including a team building event at my boss’s house. We prepared our own dinner and it turned out well. The downside was that, after a few glasses of wine, my American sense of humor was met with polite smiles or befuddled stares. For example, someone pointed out an antique rifle near the kitchen. I said it had been used by their Belgian ancestors to hold off the Luxembourgers. I’m just glad I didn’t say Rhode Island could kick their ass in a war. (I stole the RI line from some obscure movie I saw 20 or 30 years ago.)
I see that W is again disappointed in the less than prolific pace of my recent posts. I was going put something out there before my trip, since there had been quite a news cycle, but I didn’t have the time. The story of Anna Nicole Smith’s death has dominated media reports. It was a sad end to a sad life. She would have been much better off continuing to live an anonymous life in her small Texas town, before our freakish culture transmogrified her into a Marilyn Monroe manqué. I also have some compassion for the lady astronaut who took a diapered drive across the Southeast to settle a score. However, she had a lot more going for her than Anna Nicole, who, to the best of my knowledge, never went after a perceived romantic rival with mace, a knife and Maxwell’s Silver Hammer.
There was also the recent news flash that Ted Haggard is now “completely heterosexual” after his conversion in the desert, with the help of some fellow right wing lunatic evangelicals. My question is how can they tell he is “completely heterosexual”? Is there some sort of test? Are there identifying marks, like the heterosexual bar code?
Last week also featured the return of MOC. You may remember her from my post last June. She was in town nailing down a major account for her firm. And make no mistake, it’s her firm. I somehow can’t see her working for someone else. 4M, TK, The Upgrade King and I met her in downtown Palo Alto, The UK’s former stomping grounds. The UK has jettisoned his most recent start-up so he can be a ski bum for the rest of the season. Our meal at Lavanda started with several small plates. We approached the menu in a very logical fashion. Instead of choosing a few we liked, we eliminated three and then ordered the rest. 4M ordered a Sancerre (Sauvignon Blanc from the Loire Valley). I had to check in with him recently to confirm which wine we started with because I didn’t want to say “we had a white from the refrigerator”. 4M also brought a 1997 Arrowood Cabernet Sauvignon, Reserve Speciale, which we had with the main course. That wine was outstanding and everyone enjoyed their entree. Quality and quantity were both well represented. I recommend it.
http://www.lavandarestaurant.com/
MOC shared with us that she thought she might be a good candidate for the Dove soap ads featured here:
http://www.doveproage.com/?source=dove_a
I, for one, embrace middle age but I was little disturbed by the fact that no men were included in the ad. I plan to submit this photo of me to Dove for their next ad campaign.
I spent this past week in the suburbs of Brussels. Before I was corrected by 4M, I may have referred to it as a boondoggle. Now I understand that it was a junket, undertaken so I could work on a corporate boondoggle. We had a three day powwow including some cross-functional, dysfunctional meetings and a brainstorming session. I’ve found that brainstorming does not work well unless the room has a strict 1:1 ratio of bodies to brains.
I did not get into Brussels proper due to a couple evening get togethers, including a team building event at my boss’s house. We prepared our own dinner and it turned out well. The downside was that, after a few glasses of wine, my American sense of humor was met with polite smiles or befuddled stares. For example, someone pointed out an antique rifle near the kitchen. I said it had been used by their Belgian ancestors to hold off the Luxembourgers. I’m just glad I didn’t say Rhode Island could kick their ass in a war. (I stole the RI line from some obscure movie I saw 20 or 30 years ago.)
I see that W is again disappointed in the less than prolific pace of my recent posts. I was going put something out there before my trip, since there had been quite a news cycle, but I didn’t have the time. The story of Anna Nicole Smith’s death has dominated media reports. It was a sad end to a sad life. She would have been much better off continuing to live an anonymous life in her small Texas town, before our freakish culture transmogrified her into a Marilyn Monroe manqué. I also have some compassion for the lady astronaut who took a diapered drive across the Southeast to settle a score. However, she had a lot more going for her than Anna Nicole, who, to the best of my knowledge, never went after a perceived romantic rival with mace, a knife and Maxwell’s Silver Hammer.
There was also the recent news flash that Ted Haggard is now “completely heterosexual” after his conversion in the desert, with the help of some fellow right wing lunatic evangelicals. My question is how can they tell he is “completely heterosexual”? Is there some sort of test? Are there identifying marks, like the heterosexual bar code?
Last week also featured the return of MOC. You may remember her from my post last June. She was in town nailing down a major account for her firm. And make no mistake, it’s her firm. I somehow can’t see her working for someone else. 4M, TK, The Upgrade King and I met her in downtown Palo Alto, The UK’s former stomping grounds. The UK has jettisoned his most recent start-up so he can be a ski bum for the rest of the season. Our meal at Lavanda started with several small plates. We approached the menu in a very logical fashion. Instead of choosing a few we liked, we eliminated three and then ordered the rest. 4M ordered a Sancerre (Sauvignon Blanc from the Loire Valley). I had to check in with him recently to confirm which wine we started with because I didn’t want to say “we had a white from the refrigerator”. 4M also brought a 1997 Arrowood Cabernet Sauvignon, Reserve Speciale, which we had with the main course. That wine was outstanding and everyone enjoyed their entree. Quality and quantity were both well represented. I recommend it.
http://www.lavandarestaurant.com/
MOC shared with us that she thought she might be a good candidate for the Dove soap ads featured here:
http://www.doveproage.com/?source=dove_a
I, for one, embrace middle age but I was little disturbed by the fact that no men were included in the ad. I plan to submit this photo of me to Dove for their next ad campaign.
posted by DJ @ 2:42 PM
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