DAILY COMMUTE:
I got on the #2 bus marked City Hall. It was driven by the small thin man with the pencil mustache. He kind of reminded me of a black John Waters. The light rail train was on time. The shuttle bus again was on time. It arrived at it’s usual 5:50. It was driven by the gray bearded man.

CONCERN OF THE DAY: The Odd Man Strikes Again!
Again I saw the odd man at the light rail shuttle stop in front of the Meyerhoff. I first saw him on Monday. When I saw him on Monday he looked vaguely familiar. I couldn’t be quiet sure because it was dark and rainy. The only thing I knew for sure was that he had a very thick Baltimore accent. This morning however it’s bright and sunny outside and I can now tell that I’ve never seen him before prior to Monday. He again was talking to the chubby gray haired man who looks like Wolf Man Jack or a blue collar Santa Claus gone to seed. He was talking about the shuttle bus. This time he wanted to know about the shuttle bus to Hunt Valley. The man with the beard reminded him about Penn Station. The shuttle bus to Penn Station was what he asked about on Monday. As the shuttle bus was coming down the street the odd man cheerfully walked off in the direction of Penn Station.

The odd man had on very thick glasses, a baseball cap, a backpack, and an MTA pass around his neck. He looked possibly developmentally disabled. I don’t understand his fascination about asking about a shuttle that he apparently doesn’t need. After seeing him in broad daylight I feel sorry for calling him a doofus in a previous post. I don’t normally beat up on the disabled.

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, in honor of business casual day at work I have on blue slacks, a blue pullover that has bell sleeves. I’m not sure if it’s still in fashion. I don’t like to buy too many trendy clothes. Over the pullover I have on a black sweater in case I have chills again today. For some odd reason I felt very cold yesterday at work. No one else seemed to be affected. I hope I’m not coming down with something. In case you’re wondering, the shoes I have on are blue suede shoes.

DAILY COMMUTE:
This morning I got on the #2 bus. I didn’t take much notice of the driver. The light rail train was on time. The car I was on had about seven passengers on it. The shuttle bus was also on time. Yesterday, the express shuttle bus that I take home was 40 minutes late. This was highly unusual. I hope it doesn’t happen again.

Johnnie Cochran is Dead:(
This morning as I was listening to my walkman on the way to work I was shocked by the news that Johnnie Cochran died. He was 67 and died of an apparent brain tumor. When I came into work a woman who rarely talks to me asked, “Did you hear the news about Johnnie Cochran?” I told her that I had. Then she said, “They are killing us all!” I thought this was an odd thing to say. Cochran died of a brain tumor not as a victim of a drive by shooting. A brain tumor is uncontrollable. To the best of my knowledge there is no way to prevent it from forming. I have heard that you can get brain tumors from cell phones. I’m not quite sure if this true. However, just to be safe I don’t own a cell phone.

I’m saying right here and now that I have always admired Johnnie Cochran. He seemed like the the lawyer to go to if you were rich and guilty as hell. With Cochran’s expert legal know how you knew that against all odds you would get off. Who can forget during the O.J. Simpson Trial, “If the glove don’t fit. You must acquit!”

Even though I’ve never met Cochran or needed his legal services, I will miss him. It was nice knowing that if I was in serious trouble and rich that Johnnie Cochran was the lawyer to call. Now who will people like P. Diddy, Snoop Dogg, and Todd Bridges have to turn to when they are in trouble? I have a feeling that Lil’ Kim is kicking herself for not calling Cochran when she was in trouble. Anyway you cut it it’s all so sad....

Good bye Mr. Johnnie! :(

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I’m wearing a long sleeve green plaid shirt, blue jeans, and brown lace up shoes.

MORNING COMMUTE:
I woke up a little later than usual but still managed to get to work on time. I ended up taking the #2 bus to the light rail station. The light rail train was on time. The shuttle bus was also on time. However, there was barely anyone on it. This was very unusual. I suppose that maybe a bus connection was running late for some of the passengers. In case you’re wondering, the shuttle bus was driven by the man with the gray beard.

CONCERN OF THE DAY:
Lingering in restrooms
I’ve never understood why some people seem to linger in public rest rooms. I’ve never looked at public restrooms, especially at work as being places to socialize.

There was once was this woman who worked at the company who seemed to always hang out in the restroom. She was a tall older woman who liked to wear gobs of make up. If she saw you she would engage you in conversation about something. You’d talk to her for a bit then leave. She however, never seemed to leave the rest room. I found this behavior very very odd. It was like she was living in the ladies room. I always avoided her. To me her behavior seemed freakish. I believe it is best to use the restroom then leave. You should not hang out there waiting for unsuspecting victims to engage in conversation.

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I have on a sage green pullover, blue jeans, and brown lace up shoes.

MORNING COMMUTE:
This morning it’s raining outside. I just missed the #2 bus but got on the #1 bus. The #1 bus was driven by a heavy set woman who wore a blue knit cap. She said, “Good morning to everyone who got on the bus. She was very cheery. She must be filling in for someone else. Regular drivers are not usually this chipper in the morning.

The light rail train was also on time. It’s being driven by a gray haired woman. To the best of my knowledge she is the first older woman that I’ve seen drive the train.

At the light rail shuttle bus stop there was an unusually large throng of people waiting for the bus. This could indicate only one thing, the previous shuttle bus was late.

The only odd that happened was that this person with a very distinctive Baltimore accent asked two men standing beside me, if you could take the shuttle bus to Penn Station. This was very odd because I would believe that by now everyone knows that the light rail still runs to Penn Station. In fact there are two trains that run northbound, one is marked North Avenue while the other is marked Penn Station. I could have sworn the doofus got off the Penn Station light rail train.

CONCERN OF THE DAY: The HFSTival
I’ve never been to an HFStival. In case you don’t know an HFSTival is big concert that’s given every year by radio station WHFS. This year’s line up looks pretty good. I’m very interested in seeing They Might Be Giants, Coldplay, and The New York Dolls. Of all the artist performing, I’m most interested in seeing the New York Dolls. I can’t tell you a single song they’ve done. The only thing I know about them is that they are all very old and it would be a good thing to see them before they all die.

The festival this year is going to be held at M & T Bank Stadium, the home of the Baltimore Ravens. I could probably walk to and from the stadium from my house. If I went I would probably want to get club level seats. I would want these seats so that I could be kept away from the dirty unwashed masses. Regular seats are $40. Club level seats are $60. I sat in club seats a long time ago when David and I went to the O’s game with a friend of his who’s a doctor. The only reason we had these seats was because his friend paid for them.

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I have on a periwinkle blue pullover, blue jeans, and brown lace up shoes.

MORNING COMMUTE:
I got on the #2 bus driven. It was being driven by the same man as yesterday. Every thing was on time. The only bad news I have to report is that the light rail train smelled of urine.

NBC’s The Office
I’m simply shocked! I was prepared to hate it. I found myself laughing out loud. It had all the uncomfortable silences like in the original.

The only problem I had was with Rainn Wilson’s portrayal of the Gareth character. He was a little too subdued. He seemed too normal. He didn’t come off at all as this awkward uber ass kissing geek. You got the impression that his character was in fact a very competent person.

All in all I liked the show and will probably see it again next Tuesday when it moves to it’s regular time slot.

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I have on a purple Henley and again the blue slacks this time I’m wearing them with the brown lace up shoes.

MORNING COMMUTE:
Today, I got on the #2 bus. It arrived 5 minutes earlier than usual. It was being driven by a man I had never seen before. He has a resemblence to Ned the Wino from the 70’s tv show, Good Times. The only difference was that he had shorter cropped hair. The light rail train was also on time. It was as usual sparcially populated. No unusual smells emenated from the train.

CONCERN OF THE DAY: ABE Vigoda
Every now and then I wonder if Abe Vigoda is still alive. I finally found a site that lists his living status. Boy, do I feel good now!

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I have on blue slacks and a blue long sleeve pullover along with blue suede shoes. I’m really in the blue today!

It’s raining outside. The C schedule light rail shuttle did not show up at it’s usual 5:50. The only bus that arrived was a B Express Shuttle Bus at 6:00. I got on it but since it was raining cats and dogs I decided to get off at the Timonium Fairground stop. I did this so that I could catch the #8 or C shuttle bus.

I remember the last time I walked down the road in the rain with my umbrella. I got soaked. I didn’t want to do anything that could exasperate me getting a cold even though I know it’s unlikely.

As I’ve written before I have an extreme vitamin regimen 3,000 mg of vitamin C a day, niacin, a multivitamin, selenium, and St. Johns Wort. The only type of sickness I get is occasional nausea or diarrhea. You know, the types of things that can’t be prevented by my hypochondriac vitamin regimen.

CONCERN OF THE DAY:Amazing Irony
I’m probably the only one in the entire blogosphere who sees the irony in the Terry Shiavo situation. What’s ironic you ask? She became comatose due to complications from anorexia. She’s a freaking anorexic and there starving her to death which is what she herself would probably be doing if she were fully conscious! God has one crazy sense of humor.

Personally, I have a problem with her being starved to death. I think this is a job for Doctor Jack. You know Kervorkian... I think it would be more humane to just give her a lethal injection of something as opposed to this long drawn out starvation process.

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I have on a pink crocheted pullover along with beige khaki pants and blue suede shoes.

I had Monday off for the First Day of Spring.

The bus was on time this morning. The light rail was also on time with no strange smells emanating from the cars. All in all everything was running smoothly.

CONCERN OF THE DAY: Where is the OTL message board?
Today, I'm feeling a bit worried. When I went over to the Out To Lunch Show message board I found that it was no longer there in it's familiar form. All that was there were all these error warnings. I hope the site hasn't been attacked by hackers.

I need to have a definitive answer as to what happened? Has Noah decided to disband it? Hey, if all Noah needs is a little cash to pay for the board I'm willing to pony up something.

All in all I really miss reading all the posts between Boyitz, Shrinks and Drinks, Whiplash Blond, and Gillman. I hope that pretty soon I will get an answer to my questions.

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I have on a red striped Henley pullover along with beige khaki pants and leather lace up shoes.

permanentcoll, originally uploaded by willisgirl.

Today, I saw Permanent Collection at Center Stage. The play was written by Thomas Gibbons and directed by David Schweizer.

The play was about an African American businessman, Sterling North, who becomes the new director of The Morris Foundation. He soon discovers that the world famous art collection includes several historical African sculptures that have been hidden away in storage. To rectify this he proposes that the sculptures be added for display in the gallery. He is then vehemently opposed by the foundations long time education director, Paul Barrow. The reason for the education director’s opposition is that it would be going against the wishes of the eccentric late director of the foundation, Alfred Morris. The late Mr. Morris stipulated in his will that pieces can neither be added to or taken away from the gallery’s, Permanent Collection....

CAST

Terry Alexander......Sterling North

Quincy Tyler Bernstine.....Kanika Weaver

Elain R. Graham......Ella Franklin

Thomas M. Hammond......Paul Barrow

John Ramsey.......Alfred Morris

Christina Rouner......Gillian Crane

One thing I noticed immediately when I went into the theatre was that it was sparsely populated. I’m not sure what the cause of this could have been. The only thing I knew was that seeing the theatre practically bare made me wonder if the play had gotten several bad reviews.

I didn’t care too much about all the empty seats that surrounded me because the subject matter intrigued me. I was curious to see how a play about art and race would come across.

For starters the set was sparsely decorated. The background consisted of various paintings. During the beginning of the play there were blank canvases hanging up. I was practically salivating wondering if I could get a free blank canvas after the show’s run was through. The only thing I can imagine that taxed Scenic Director Andrew Lieberman would have been coming up with all those paintings.

The play also seemed to have taken forever to start. It began with the ghost of Alfred Morris played by veteran actor John Ramsey looking around the set silently appraising all the blank canvases that were up. To me this seemed to have taken up a good half hour of the play. In reality I think it was 10 minutes into the play before any dialogue was uttered. This was an absolutely pointless way to start off a play!! You kept wondering when the play was going to start.

Eventually, the play starts off with veteran actor and longtime Center Stage alumnus, Terry Alexander, explaining how he, a rich black man, got pulled over by the police on his way to his first day at work for the Morris Foundation. Alexander was absolutely riveting in that scene. You couldn’t take your eyes off him. OK, it was a monologue so you had no choice... Nevertheless, that scene and his performance in it were Tony award winning material. It felt so genuine and from the heart. Sadly, after that scene the play deteriorated into nothing but empty speeches.

I felt as though the playwright, Thomas Gibbons, was afraid to be decisive and take a stance. I’m not sure if that was entirely because of race or ineptitude. Gibbons by the way is a white playwright who seems to specialize in writing plays about racial issues.

The characters in the play were not really characters but symbols. When watching a play I don’t care too much about watching symbols. You ended up not really caring because symbols have no emotional center. There just well,......symbols.

As far as acting goes my favourite was John Ramsey as the late Alfred Morris. I liked him because he seemed to provide relief from all all the symbolistic characters and speeches.

I was delighted to see Thomas M. Hammond back as Paul Barrows, the Educational Director who wanted to keep things just as they were. Hammond was previously in Center Stage’s production of The Rainmaker. He was very good in his new role I wasn’t quiet sure if his character was a closet racist or just a guy who wanted to keep the gallery as is.

As far as the Center Stage newbie actors go, Elain R. Graham, as Ella Franklin the former assistant to the late Mr. Morris was great. I wish that she had more to do on stage. Her character had lots of potential but ended up doing nothing until the end of the play. I imagine that between the time her character was first introduced in the first half of the show then disappeared to show up again at the end of the play Ms. Graham might have had time enough to have knitted several scarves with matching mittens for all the cast members. Oh, well it must be great to get paid a lot of money to do nothing....

Quincy Tyler Bernstine who played Kanika Weaver, Sterling North’s assistant, who be-friend’s controversial Educational Director, Paul Barrows was very unique. I liked the fact that she chose to characterize Kanika as a black suburbanite as opposed to a girl from the hood. This I felt in a way made the character feel a little more offbeat and somewhat ditzy. Of all the characters on stage hers was the one with the most interesting wardrobe.

Christine Rouner was very good as the some what manipulative and conniving reporter, Gillian Crane.

Personally, I think the playwright really blew it by not developing the relationship between Kanika and Paul to a romantic one. As the play stands now Kanika and Paul are just platonic friends. I feel that if he had upped their relationship a notch it would have given the play more of a direct emotional center. You’d have something more to invest in than symbols. You would wonder whose side Kanika would be more on, her white possibly racist boyfriend or her black possibly racist boss.

As it is now everything is platonic, boring, and preachy. This play had so much potential to be good but it wasted it in speeches and symbols. To paraphrase the immortal words of Gertrude Stein, “.......there’s no there, there.”

Today I got on the #2 bus. The Friday driver was a young bearded man. He had a long oval shaped face. The elbows to his maroon MTA uniform sweater were threadbare. I could see from how he was driving that he had a habit of resting his elbows on the turning wheel at each stop. I suppose he must be single. If he were married I’m sure his wife might have told him to put on another sweater. Then again maybe he was in a hurry this morning and grabbed the wrong sweater.

CONCERN OF THE DAY: The Office
I’m still surprised to find that NBC will be airing their version of the popular BBC comedy, The Office. From everything I hear about the Americanized version it’s atrocious. I don’t understand why they won't just air the original UK version of the show. Do US networks really have such a low opinion of Americans ability to understand British accents? The only potential problem I see would be with British slang. Even I do not know all the nuances of it.

All in all I think I’ll probably tape it’s premier next Thursday just so that I can ridicule the absurdity of it’s existence...

Other concern of the day: where is Josh Speigel? I hope that the Out To Lunch newsman with the unique voice hasn’t been fired or anything. Sure, I hated his guts when he first started but the litte bugger has managed to grow on me. I hope he's back on air on Monday. The show isnt' the same with out him.

WHAT I’M WEARING:
In honor of the upcoming first day of spring on Sunday I have on a three quarter lenghth pastel lavender pull over along with stone washed jeans and brown lace up shoes. I feel kind of Easter egg-ish with all this pastel. In hindsight I now realize that I should have put on my blue suede shoes. It would have made everything I have on be in the same colour family.

This morning I left out the door and everything and didn’t realize it until I got to the bus stop and looked at my watch. It turns out that I left out for work a whole hour early! Geez! I of course went back home and continued editing my blog. Yeah, I really did.....

On with the rundown...the morning bus was about five minutes early. I got on the #2 bus. It was being driven by the big man. He was talking to a woman throughout the ride. She was wearing a black leather coat, dark olive slacks, and her hair was slicked back.

The light rail train itself was a little more crowded than usual. It’s usually like a ghost town in the morning with 3 to 4 passengers on a car. Todays, car had 8 people on it, including myself.

The light rail shuttle bus was on time. However, when the bus got to North Avenue there was a large throng of people waiting. The crowd was so large that I found myself mouthing the words, “Sweet Mother of God!”

When the crowd finally got on the bus there were people standing all the way towards the back of the bus. I have never seen anything like this before on a morning shuttle bus.

I think that the MTA should seriously think of using one of those long buses that they use for the #2 line. If not for every shuttle bus then at least for the 5:50 shuttle bus driven by the man with the gray beard.

Celebrity Justice:The Robert Blake Verdict
I guess this goes to prove that if you’re a celebrity accused of a crime in America, you will get off no matter how guilty you look.

I suppose this verdict bodes well for Michael Jackson. I’m making a prediction right here and now. Michael Jackson will not be convicted of child molestation, after all he’s a celebrity....

Let's face it, if Scott Peterson were a celebrity prior to killing his wife and unborn child he wouldn’t have gotten the death penalty. He would be walking around scott free. (The preceding pun may or may not have been intentional....)

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Continuing on with my green theme I have on a two toned green and purple sweater. I’m wearing it with stone washed jeans and my brown leather lace up shoes.

arcadefire, originally uploaded by willisgirl.

I’m still loving the Arcade Fire cd!

Today, I got on the #2 bus. It was being driven by the heavy set man. The light rail shuttle bus did not arrive at it’s usual 5:50. Fearing being late I got on the Express Shuttle Bus. Taking the Express Bus means I will have to walk quiet a ways to work. I don’t mind it much because it will be good exercise.

CONCERN OF THE DAY:
I’m worried that Doctor Who will not be seen in the US. It appears that the Sci-Fi network turned down the rights to air the new series.

Right now as far as Doctor Who is concerned the only three things I know for sure is that it will make it’s debut in the UK on March 26th, the first episode is called, Rose, and the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Company) will be running Rose 10 days after the Brits.

I know that I can always download it somewhere. The problem with this I don’t know where to find it or how to do it...

WHAT I’M WEARING:
I’m continuing on with my theme week of green. This time I have on yet another green sweater. This one is kelly green. The sweater has a lace like design at the bottom. Underneath the sweater I have on a green plaid shirt with khaki pants and brown lace up shoes.

This morning I took the #2 bus. It was being driven by a heavy set man with a beard.

There was a very fat man in front of me as I was getting on the bus. The driver told me to move behind the yellow line. I could not do this because the fat man was in front of me. From the way he was situated it looked like he was about to get off the bus. I wasn’t about to block his way. I felt very nervous about disobeying the driver. My nervousness didn’t last very long because at the next stop the big man got off the bus and I moved back. I even managed to find a seat!

WHAT I’M WEARING:
This week in honor of St. Patrick’s Day I thought it would be fun to wear all my green sweaters and sweatshirts. I can do this because I own a lot of green clothing. I could realistically wear green for the next month.

Today, I have on a sage green v-neck sweatshirt with a t-shirt peeking out underneath. I also have on black slacks and brown leather lace up shoes.

I got on the #2 bus this morning it was driven by a chubby man with a mustache. The light rail train was on time. However, the train smelled like pee. This is a change from the vinegar smell of a couple of weeks ago. Also I saw the man that looks like Andy Rooney. I haven’t seen him since last week when the shuttle bus was late and he followed me onto the Express bus.

On the ride home I saw the cute guy of undeterminable racial/ethnic origin. He was of course wearing black along with really dark sunglasses. When I saw him I wanted to take a picture of him but I think that would be a creepy border line stalker thing to do...

GOOD NEWS!
Today, my real life cousin announced that he will be running for the US Senate seat soon to be vacated by Paul Sarbanes. Go Kweisi!

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I have on an olive green v-neck chenille sweater, black slacks, brown lace up shoes and the shirt that is amongst the oldest I own. It’s a white cotton oxford shirt. It has a dark blue diamond design on it. I’ve owned it ever since my freshman year of college. It's a classic design. Nothing about it shouts early 90's.

My personal King Arthur movie film fest sponsored to you by the fine folks at Netflix is almost over. I have one more King Arthur movie to go then I’m through. My next big cycle of movies are the operettas of Gilbert & Sullivan.

Monty Python and the Search For the Holy Grail
Believe it or not I’ve never seen this movie before. I’ve heard of it of course but never saw it. Same goes for Monty Python’s Flying Circus tv show. I’ve seen bits of it but never sat through it in it’s entirety.

As far as the movie goes it was most excellent. I thoroughly enjoyed it throughout. I loved all the silly situations that was going on throughout the film.

I’d definitely put this in the top three best King Arthur movies of all time. The other ones being Excalibur and believe it or not recent entry Mists of Avalon.

This morning I got on the #1 bus. The driver whom I’d never seen before had his seat down very, very, very low. I think he did this because he was young and wanted to look hip.

CONCERN OF THE DAY:
I got home from work very, very, very late. I don’t know what happened. I just got caught up in things and couldn’t bring myself to leave. I believe today was the latest I’d ever stayed on a Friday. I’m scheduled to leave at 1:15 on Mondays and Fridays but today I left at 2:30.

I hope Brian (my supervisor who looks like Mr. Clean) doesn’t call a group meeting on Monday to stress the importance of leaving out on time. I always feel that when he calls group meetings about performance that it’s really aimed at one particular person that he feels uncomfortable addressing on a one to one basis.

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I have on a green sweater and a green plaid shirt along with blue jeans and brown lace up shoes.

The bus was on time. I got on the #2 bus it was being driven by a man who looked like Channel 2 newscaster Terry Owens glasses and all. I don’t know if he had buck teeth like Owens has.

The light rail was also on time this morning. The light rail shuttle bus was unusually crowded. For the first time since the light rail from North Avenue and beyond shut down I saw my most favorite passenger the Amer-Asian, Latino, Hawaiian, Filipino looking guy who always wears black. It seems that he’s let his hair grow out a little. Despite this, the beautiful foreign looking man still looks hot.

I’m sorry to say that I didn’t watch Dan Rather yesterday for his last broadcast. I was feeling drowsy as can be yesterday so I turned in earlier than my usual 8pm bed time. I think I should be working on a farm with the hours I keep, up at 4 and in bed at 8.

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I have on a pink crocheted sweater. Under it I have on a vanilla colored cotton pullover. I also have on blue jeans and my brown leather lace up shoes.

The bus was on time this morning. I’ve just noticed that I usually catch a bus at 5:25AM. This time the bus coming down the street was the #1 bus. It was being driven by a heavy set light skinned woman who wore her hair pulled back in a pony tail. Halfway through the ride she stopped at another bus and asked him if he had any paper. After several lifetimes he searched around his bus which was devoid of passengers. I guess maybe his bus broke down or he was the replacement bus for another broken down bus. Then at the next stop she put the paper on. This procedure took several lifetimes to complete. She did not move her bus until she replaced the paper that’s used to print out tickets.

CONCERN OF THE DAY:
I don’t understand why everyone is hating on Dan Rather. Today, is his last day as anchorman on the CBS Evening News. You would think that people would have kinder things to say about him. Former longtime anchorman, Walter Cronkite who was once touted as being the most trusted man in America is even hating on him. I just don’t understand. It makes a person not want to retire. After all, who would want to live through people trashing your name as you leave out the door.

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I have on a powder blue cowl neck sweater and beige khaki pants along with blue suede shoes.

This morning it was raining outside. I got on the #2 bus. Behind the #2 was the #20 bus. I haven’t seen the #20 bus in ages! The driver of the bus I got on was a big man.

The light rail shuttle bus this morning was late. It usually arrives at 5:50AM. It was 6:00AM and I saw neither hide nor hair of it so I hopped on the first shuttle bus I saw which was the Express Shuttle Bus. The main reason I have never taken the Express Shuttle Bus to work is because it’s last stop is Warren Road. This means I will have to walk quiet a way to work.

As I looked around at the passengers on the bus it was nice to see the deaf guy that works in the mail room who looks like 60 Minutes commentator Andy Rooney. I think he mainly got on the bus because he saw me get on it.

As I was leaving the Express Shuttle bus when it finally arrived at Warren Road, the driver asked me why I was in such a hurry. I told him because my usual bus was late. And he said in knowing tone, “Ohhh.” Truth be told, I have never taken this bus in the morning in my life. So I wasn’t quiet sure how long it would take me to walk to my job. In the afternoon I’m not really keeping track of time. I’m just happily walking down the street feeling great that I survived another day of work and wasn’t fired or yelled at. When I finally got to work at 6:40AM my coat was soaking wet from the rain.

CONCERN OF THE DAY: umbrellas and men
How come it seems that only women use umbrellas? Do men view not using an umbrella a sign of macho strength? If I see someone on the street not using an umbrella it’s usually a man. My father didn’t own an umbrella neither did my grandfather or uncles. My brother owned an umbrella for a brief period. It was black. Do men have something against umbrellas?

With women the use of umbrella’s is probably due to the fact that we don’t want to get our hair wet.

My most favorite umbrella that I ever owned was an orange clear umbrella. I was about 5 or 6 when I had that one. I lost it when it fell into the sewer one day while I was playing with it. It was the prettiest umbrella I ever did see.

I now carry a blue umbrella that has yellow smiley faces on it. I keep an umbrella at work in case it should rain and I don’t have an umbrella available. This is silly because I always carry the smiley face umbrella in a purse or bookbag. The spare umbrella at work has a leopard print and has a long wooden handle. It is very big when it’s opened and could probably cover more than one person. I found it near a senior center by the Walters Art Gallery on a rainy day.

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Alert the Presses!!! For the first time EVER in 2005! I’M NOT WEARING A SWEATER! Instead, I have on a long sleeve cream colored crew neck pullover. However, I still have on my blue denim jeans and brown leather lace up shoes.

I got on the #1 bus this morning. It was being driven by a heavy set light skinned woman who wore a pony tail. The light rail when it arrived seemed unusually crowded. As people got off the train a man started to yell. He was yelling so loud that I began to wince in pain then I realized that he must be a mental patient because he wasn;t making any sense. Today the light rail shuttle bus was late. I made it in at 6:40 instead of 6:30.

CHUCK THOMPSON...DEAD AT 83
The death of long time Orioles announcer, Chuck Thompson is the big news of the day in Baltimore. Thompson made it into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1993 for his work with the Orioles.

My memories of Chuck Thompson are tied into my memories of my late Uncle Ed. You see every summer Uncle Ed would sit out on our marble front steps with his transistor radio and listen to the Orioles. The sounds of the Orioles in the summer night air was a regular summer ritual up until his death in the 80’s.

Uncle Ed was an odd duck. He was extremely tall and thin. He was by trade a house painter. He was born in 1917 which made him the eldest in my father’s family. He moved in with our family after he divorced sometime in the 60’s. He had a very unique laugh. He actually laughed out loud, HA HA HA, like you see in cartoon captions. He seemed to take everything you said literally. He seemed socially awkward. He also liked to spend most of his time alone in the basement tending our coal furnace and listening to the radio. Also for some odd unknown reason he liked to call me Ching Chopper. Why Ching Chopper? Why Me? I don’t know.....

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, it’s a brown sweater and a blue turtleneck along with blue jeans and brown shoes.

arcadefire, originally uploaded by willisgirl.

Today, I finally listened to the Arcade Fire’s debut cd entitled, Funeral. It’s absolutely brilliant! I bought the cd because it was highly recommended by a fellow crablogs blogger, Evaporated. To be honest I was a little afraid to buy it fearing that her musical tastes would veer more towards death metal. It was kind of hard to gauge with an album title like Funeral. As you have probably guessed by now I was pleasantly surprised by what I heard. Arcade Fire are not in any way shape or form a death metal band.

The cd has a nice blend of rock and orchestral sounds. In a way they kind of remind me of the Talking Heads and Modest Mouse with a bit of Coldplay thrown in. The group has two singer/songwriters in it, Win Butler and his wife Regine Chassagne. Butler, sounds like he attended the prestigious yet fictiousDavid Byrne School of Singing. Chassagne has a girlish French singing voice that is reminiscent of Bjork.

Anyway, while listening to the cd I was also reading an article about the band in Rolling Stone magazine. I was surprised to find that Chassagne’s family are refugees from Haiti. They left sometime around the time that Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier took over the small island nation.

Also I was heartened to read that David Bowie bought stacks of their cd’s and hands them out to anyone who will listen. Also shockingly, David Byrne of the Talking Heads is a big fan of the group.

All in all they appear to be poised for greatness. I can’t wait to hear what they put out next.

The highlight of my day has been finally watching the director’s commentary to King Arthur. I guess it was more of a lowlight than a highlight.

Antoine Fuqua the director of the movie has a monotone voice. He sounded bored. As a result I was fighting sleep as I watched the movie while he commented on it.

The movie which I watched yesterday was far more exciting to watch without his commentary. The movie itself has plenty of action and violence. If you’re into that kind of thing...

The King Arthur film commentary now goes down as my second least favorite film commentary of all time. The other in case you’re keeping score is the commentary on Real Women Have Curves. I found the voice of America Ferrera the lead actress in the movie, to be like nails on a chalkboard. She was great in the movie. But on the commentary I found her to be extremely annoying. Real Women Have Curves has been the only film commentary that I have ever had to turn off because I felt that if I had listened to it any longer I would developed a migraine headache.

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I have on a long sleeve black shirt and purple pants along with purple fuzzy slippers.

Today the bus, light rail, and light rail shuttle bus were all on time today. I wonder how long this will keep up?

Also today, I took the B Express Shuttle Bus home from work. This is the first time that I've done this. I recently found out that it starts out on Warren Road which I can easily walk to from work. I do admit that it's a bit of a trek but it's well worth it.

After Warren Road the only other stop it makes is at the Timonium fairgrounds. Then after that it hits the highway and makes it's final stop at State Center. So far, I really like this particular Shuttle Bus because it's fast and it's not vey crowded. The bus driver like all the other Shuttle Bus drivers appears to be a senior citizen.

WHAT I'M WEARING:
Today, I have on a dark tweeded sweater. Under the sweater I have on a turquoise long sleeve shirt. I'm also wearing blue jeans and brown lace up shoes.

As usual every mode of transportation I take to and from work was on time. I’m starting to feel like I’m living in the twilight zone. of character of the Baltimore MTA.

CONCERN OF THE DAY:

I’m feeling kind of guilty today because I cheated on my Avon man. You see at work for some strange inexplicable reason men sell Avon products not women.

Keith, my regular Avon man works in the computer department. The celebrity Keith most resembles is Jimmy Olsen that is if he had a beard but not as he’s depicted in the comics books.

You see the problem is that I haven’t seen him around the office in days. Orders for last months book were due in on Tuesday. I really wanted to get the cute bear and the bunny rabbit (I like bunnies! Just not life sized ones...) that I saw in the book. Basically, I didn’t know if Keith’s been out sick or captured by aliens. All I knew was that I wanted those stuffed animals. So in desperation, I went over to Kenny, the other Avon man and gave him my order slip. The celebrity Kenny resembles is kind of difficult to come up with. Let’s just say he looks like a combination of the Pillsbury Doughboy meets the Snuggles Fabric Softener Bear.

Kenny has only recently taken up the mantle of being an Avon man. Kenny is also more accessible to me because he works in the warehouse. I’ve been over there millions of times. In fact our department was once housed in that part of the building.

Keith on the other hand works in a mysterious part of the building that I’ve never been in. In fact I don’t even know where the computer department is located. To me it’s like Area 51. I don’t know if they allow visitors there.

The guilt is killing me! Will I now have to order from both of them so as not to appear favoring one over the other? Oy Vey! Oh, well at least I got in my order for the cute teddy bear wearing the hat and the lavender sweater and the stuffed bunny that comes with a duck....

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I have on an ivory colored sweater. Under the sweater I have on an ivory colored long sleeve pull over along with stone washed denim jeans and brown leather shoes.

mr_shoes, originally uploaded by willisgirl.

The bus and light rail were all on time this morning. This is starting to feel eerie. I want to complain about something! Oh, I just though of something...

Can someone please explain to me why ever since the light rail has closed down at the North Avenue stop and beyond that the trains sometimes have the very acrid smell of vinegar? Is vinegar now being used as a cleaning solution by the MTA or is something more nefarious going on? Inquiring minds want to know...

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I have on a fair isle knit sweater. The primary back ground colour of the sweater is ecru. The detailing on the sweater is black, brown, and nutmeg. I’m starting to notice that I own and wear an awful lot of sweaters. I suppose this may be because I liked to watch the Mister Rogers Show as a kid. He also seemed to wear an awful lot of sweaters. Come to think of it he also seemed to wear a lot of canvas tennis shoes as well. I like to wear those type of shoes during the summer. Only I like to call them Muppet Shoes.

So there you have it Mr. Rogers has been one of my major life time fashion influences. Sorry to say, I’ve never met the man, the myth, the legend, Fred Rogers and never will. Sadly, fashion don Mister Rogers passed away a couple of years ago.

Anyway, back to my regularly scheduled clothing run down....along with the sweater, I have on stone washed jeans and brown lace up shoes.