in order to stop myself from pondering the question:

does my state agency really need me?

i've decided to muse a bit here, hoping to distract myself from all the things around me, on my desk, at arm's length.

had a media extravaganza blowout this weekend whilst larky visited. we went to see _italian for beginners_ and _amelie_ (finally) and both were just about as good as everyone's been saying they are.

also saw steven wright do standup--

"life hasn't been the same since i installed those fun-house rear-view mirrors"

i took monday off to do errands and housey-stuff while lark was still here. last night we ended up sewing upholstery fabric (well, she did most of the sewing and i bitched about not having a thimble) and drinking martinis and watching the Real World/Road Rules Challenge half-way show (which was a piece of shit).

at some point something ry said made us hysterical with laughter for nearly an hour.

it was one of those situations where you think you're done laughing and then realize you are sorely mistaken. eventually you notice that you are crying mascara-y tears into the new celery-colored chintz.

i also discovered that an Iowa colleague of mine (whom i actually respected) just won one of the book contests i'd been vying for. those rejection letters are doubly complex, because there are so few colleagues/classmates I respect, and yet there's always that jealousy lurking around.