MORNING COMMUTE:
This morning I left out for work not realizing that the MTA was following a holiday schedule. While waiting for the bus I saw a bird across the street from the bus stop who had an injured wing. It was so sad. Everytime a car or bus would pass by he would frantically flap his wings to fly off to escape from getting hit. Miraculously he did not get hit. When I got home that evening I saw no trace of the bird. So I can assume that someone called Animal Protective Services and the bird got rescued.

Sadly, I had to take a shuttle bus after the light rail stopped at North Avenue. I got into work at 9:30.

When I got home I watched Enchanted. It was very good. The songs were not very memorable but I loved the story. It felt very original.

WHAT IM WEARING:
Today I have on a pink tweed looking v-neck sweater, a dark blue mock turtleneck, blue jeans, and black leather lace up shoes.

WALKING LOG
STEPS....6390
MILES....2.42
CALORIES BURNED....271

SUNDAY CHURCH DAY
Today I went to church. Like last Sunday and the Sundays before that I was 15 minutes late. I came in at the same time Valerie and Allen were arriving. The sermon today was done by Doreion. I had always wondered how he would do a sermon. It seems every year after the Christmas eve service he gets to do the first service of the new year.

His sinuses were acting up and he had a tissue at the ready. It was kind of distracting watching as he blew or wiped his nose during the sermon. He bused in the Capital Coral singers. I wish they sang more rousing songs. There appearance substantially increased the population of young black people in the church that morning.

His sermon was very rousing at first I thought it was going to veer in a direction that I was not into then it ended in a direction I felt comfortable with. It had something to do with conviction of your beliefs. At the end he asked, what do you believe? I felt that was kind of neat and open ended.

Before I went to Church I bought calendars for 2008 online. I hope they will arrive before the end of the week. Also when I got home I watched the last episode of Pushing Daisies where it was revealed that one of Chuck’s Aunts is in fact her mother.

WALKING LOG
STEPS....3718
MILES....1.40
CALORIES BURNED....141

SATURDAY
Today, I went to work. Visited my father his feet are swollen to the size of hams. It looks like there are hams attached to his legs. He again refuses to go to the hospital.

I finally snapped after pleading with him to get help and told him that I did not think that he had any intention of getting any help. He was just commiting suicide in front of us. My sister Carleen also joined in. I had no idea that she was hurting like I was. You constantly try to convince someone to get help and they constantly shut you down and yet it just feels sick as if they are delighting in telling you everything that is wrong with them. You try to lead them to the hospital but they come up with excuse after excuse. Then you just reach the realization that they want to kill themselves by not wanting to get treatment.

His feet and legs are swollen to the point where it looks like he has elephantitis or something. I am hurt and angry that he refuses help. However, I can not live with myself if I did not try to get him help. I am sure that he probably is suffering from depression on top of all this. If he were not depressed maybe he would see reason and see that he is hurting himself and his family.

WALKING LOG
STEPS....13746
MILES....5.20
CALORIES BURNED....607

MORNING COMMUTE:
This morning I am on time for work. The bus was three minutes late from its posted arrival time. The train again arrived early yet stayed at the station until it was scheduled to leave. This I feel is a big improvement over arriving early and leaving early.

Also at work I noticed that the time clock is ahead by two minutes. This is a recent development. I wonder who did this and why?

Saw that someone at work is reading The Law of Attraction. I wonder what his opinion is on the book.

BENAZIR BHUTTO ASSASINATED
I was out doing my daily afternoon walk when I heard the news. I actually exclaimed out loud, NOOOooo! I liked Benazir Bhutto and all she was doing to bring democracy to Pakistan. In my opinion she was a woman trying to do good. I hope that her death mobilizes Pakistanis to out extremists as the pariahs they are. Bhutto was a mother of I think two children.

WHAT IM WEARING:
Today, I have on blue jeans, a white turtleneck, and a fair isle knit sweater of black, red, white, grey, and tan. The shoes I have on are New Balance 653 shoes.

WALKING LOG
STEPS....8756
MILES....3.31
CALORIES BURNED....390

MORNING COMMUTE:
Today, I am running on time. The bus arrived at its posted arrival time. The train arrived early but pulled off at the right time. However it stalled at the North Avenue stop. The driver said he had to wait for a train to pass. I think it may have been one of those CFX trains. Right Here. Right Now. I feel good.

BACK TO WORK
I was not the slightest bit surprised to find that someone made off with my date stampers. They were all gone off my desk yesterday including the two broken ones.

No problem I just went off and bought a new one. I was expecting that someone would do something spiteful like that. What’s the saying, “No good deed goes unpunished.” I suppose I will again paint the new one in a customized colour. Im also thinking of painting a pattern or design on it. Who ever took the stampers probably has noticed that two of them are broken and another one is painted an odd metalic purple colour that can not be found in the office supply section of a store. Thus if they use it, it is immediately noticeable that they are utilizing a pilfered date stamper. I wonder if they are using them or threw them away? Anyway, its there dilema now not mine.

After I came home from doing overtime with a headache I went to Crazy Greeks and bought a cheesesteak sub. I like buying subs from that place because they always throw in free fries with your order. I wanted the sub to eat as I watched Voyage of the Damned the Doctor Who Christmas special that aired last night on the BBC. As predicted yesterday I could find numerous copies of the episode up and running.

DOCTOR WHO..Voyage of the Damned
I was really excited to see this episode because its been months since a new episode has aired. The episode featured a couple of familiar faces, Kylie Minogue as a waitress aboard the Titanic, the guy who was on Keeping Appearances, and the guy from Yes, Minister or was it Priminister? The plot did not involve the famous ship the Titanic but instead a space ship called Titanic that was designed to look like the Titanic floating in space. It was a sort of space tourist attraction. Passengers paid to board and get the feel of an early 20th century sailing venture. They went around in period costumes with the staff also dressed in period costumes. Of course over the years the history of early 20th century Earth culture became a bit perverted. It was funny all the things that they thought were the norm which are to my ears very funny. They seemed to think that everyone was at war with everyone else. I suppose the main clientel was Earth history buffs.

Overall, I was underwhelmed by the episode. It was OK just not the greatest episode ever. I loved how they tied in what happended in previous episodes of the Christmas specials. When they went down to modern day Earth Doctor Who was surprised to find that the streets were bare. He thought that something bad or catastrophic had happended. A news agent who just happended to there at his news stand explained that they were all scared. He then went through the various invasions that occured on Christmas all via previous episodes of Doctor Who episodes. So it was understandable that people would be scared to be out and would head to the country where its safe. Felt the villian was not evil enough he reminded me of Davros only more human. He was a cyborg. I was not scared of the hosts, these robots who were dressed as angels. They were not very creepy.

WHAT IM WEARING:
Today, I have on a red cardigan sweater, blue denim material long sleeve blouse, blue jeans, and Nike MaxAir shoes.

Im not doing perfume this morning because of the major headache I got yesterday. Im not sure if it was due to over spritzing or if the scent did not agree with me. I will give the other perfumes a test drive at a later date.

WALKING LOG
STEPS....9692
MILES....3.67
CALORIES BURNED....431

HAPPY KWANZA!!!

MORNING COMMUTE:
The streets were virtually bare this first day of Kwanza. Speaking of which I have yet to meet a fellow African American who celebrates Kwanza. For the most part the majority of us celebrate Christmas. I did know one girl who worked at Center Stage named Fiona who threw a Kwanza party. Im not sure if it was a yearly deal or if she just up and decided to do something different one year.

Anyway, the train is short by one car. I suppose they are doing this because school is out and they figure that only public school students use the light rail in the morning. I am running late this time because I had to run back into the house to pick up my badge. I did not want it to be two days in a row that I forgot to bring it. As I got back to the bus stop I watched the bus that would have got me on time drive away.

TV on the INTERNET:
Last night I watched part of National Treasure: Book of Secrets. I will watch the other half of it after I get home from work. Then of course by then Voyage of the Damned will have been uploaded to the internet. Voyage of the Damned is the name of the Christmas episode of Doctor Who that aired last night on the BBC. It is usually a 24 hour turn around time before the episodes make it to the internet. All I know about the episode is that it stars Australian pop star, Kylie Minogue and it involves the Titanic. I can not wait to watch it tonight.

CHRISTMAS POST MORTEM
I suppose the main reason I have been happy this holiday season is that I have decided to cherish what I have. Right at this point in time my father is still alive, as is my brother, sister, nieces, nephew, and grandnieces. I do not know what tomorrow will bring all I know is that I am grateful for the present. Also it was neat that we had a four day weekend at work!

WHAT IM WEARING:
Today, I have on a purple thermal henley, blue jeans, and New Balance 653 shoes.

I also have on some perfume I got for Christmas. I got a knock off of Chanel number 5, Beautiful, and Angel by Thierry Muggley. I have no idea what the real version of some of these scents smell like. I guess I’ll try them all out this week.

Right now I have on the knock off of Chanel number 5. Its the only one of the perfumes I have that I know something of. When I go to a mall I would sometimes go up to the perfume counter and spritz myself with Chanel Number 5. Spritzing oneself with Chanel number 5 does wonders for the shopping experience. However, right now I can not recall if the knockoff of Chanel number 5 smells like the real version or not. All I know about the real version is that I can not afford it. What I have on now smells nice. Its very floral and powdery. Its OK but it does not remind me of what Chanel number 5 should be like. Then again maybe it is right on target. Its been a while since Ive spritzed myself with Chanel number 5.

WALKING LOG
STEPS....11855
MILES....4.49
CALORIES BURNED....520

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Yesterday, I watched I am Legend online. In its entirety. It was fanatastic. Will Smith is a phenomenal actor. He is a better actor than anyone gives him credit for, including myself. Next I saw The Golden Compass. I watched bits of it a couple of weeks ago but could not follow it. I got hung up on why there were talking animals in it. And why all the characters seemed to have talking pets. I also tried to watch National Treasure:Bookof Secrets but could not. It seems that all the sites that have that movie require you to download Firefox to view it.

Made it over my fathers house with a shopping cart full of presents. I took a cab over because the buses were running slow. I gave out presents to everyone. Unfortunately, there was not enough time to give my nephew his present until Saturday. I could have given it to him today but I was in a rush to make it over the house before nightfall and to make it back home by 7pm. I made it in the house at 8pm just in time to watch bits of Pirates of the Carribean on regular TV before I decided to download Firefox to watch National Treasure: Book of Secrets.

My father again talked about the posssbility of going to the hospital tomorrow. I do not know how serious he was. He might have just been saying it to make me feel better.

WALKING LOG
STEPS....4795
MILES....1.81
CALORIES BURNED....188

As Promised from my November 24th post here is my year end list of iTunes / iPod stats. So here is a look a look see of what I actually like to listen to. My top 25 played songs, and the songs I recently added to my playlist. I would have added the most recently played songs but I noticed that they were all listed in alphabetical order.

GJ WILLIS’ 25 Most Listened To iPod Songs for 2007

Snow Patrol video for Chasing Cars


For the most part I would consider these to be my own personal comfort food for the ears. The majority of songs on this list are not new but simply music I like to listen to to cheer myself up. From looking at this list I get the impression that I really like Rob Zombie, Linkin Park and Five for Fighting an aweful lot. Also it appears that Chasing Cars from Snow Patrol was my most listened to song before I flipped the format of my iPod to Christmas music. I do not know why I like that song but I do. It has a very urgent immediate feel to it. It kind of reminds me of a U2 ballad.

Song................................Artist................................Spins as of 11/24/07

1. Chasing Cars.................*Snow Patrol.......................162

2. Dragula.............................*Rob Zombie.....................149

3. Dragula (techno remix)*Rob Zombie.......................148

4. This Corrosion................*Sisters of Mercy................125

5. Ooh La La.......................*Goldfrapp.............................123

6. Mad World......................*Gary Jules............................115

7. Numb/Encore..........*Linkin Park featuring Jay Z......114

8. One Step Closer............*Linkin Park..........................105

9. This Is the Day...............*The The................................105

10. Golden Brown................*The Stranglers....................105

11. Goodbye To You............*Scandal................................100

12. Grace Kelly...................*Mika.......................................95

13. Boston..........................*Augustana.............................93

14. Celebrity Skin..............*Hole........................................93

15 You.................................*Candlebox..............................92

16. Superman....................*Five for Fighting.....................90

17. 100 Years....................*Five for Fighting.....................89

18. How to Save a Life......*The Fray...................................89

19. Carrie Anne.................*The Hollies..............................85

20. Midnight Blue...............*Lou Gramm.............................83

21. More Human Than Human *White Zombie...............83

22. Nothing from Nothing *Billy Preston...........................80

23. Way Down Now............*World Party.............................80

24. Sir Duke.........................*Stevie Wonder........................79

25. Run to the Hills.............*Iron Maiden.............................77

Here’s a Partial List of New Songs I Added to iTunes in 2007

THE FRATELLIS play CHELSEA DAGGER



My favourite new musical finds this year are The Fratellis and LCD Soundsystem. The video above is Chelsea Dagger by The Fratellis. I still feel a little sad that I missed there at VirginFest. Maybe I'll be able to catch them on their next tour.

PARTIAL LIST OF NEWLY ADDED SONGS late 2006 to November 2007

Moment.......Gran Bel Fisher

My Love (Single Version)......Justin Timberlake featuring T.I.

Irreplaceable.........Beyoncé

Waiting On the World to Change.......John Mayer

Ooh La La........Goldfrapp

Dragula.......Rob Zombie

I Wanna Love You......Akon featuring Snoop Dogg

This Is the Day.........The The

She's so Cold.......The Rolling Stones

Urgent.......Foreigner

Midnight Blue.......Lou Gramm

Naughty Naughty.....John Parr

Grace Kelly......Mika

Hang Fire........The Rolling Stones

What I've Done...........Linkin Park

We Takin' Over....DJ Khaled featuring Akon, T.I., Rick Ross, Fat Joe, Baby & Lil' Wayne

Golden Skans......Klaxons

Pain........Three Days Grace

Because of You (Radio Edit).........Ne-Yo

Like a Boy......Ciara

Bailamos........Enrique Iglesias

Girlfriend.......Avril Lavigne

This Love.......Maroon

Almost Home.........Mary Chapin Carpenter

What Goes Around.../...Comes Around Interlude......Justin Timberlake

Pull Up to the Bumper......Grace Jones

Nipple to the Bottle (Long Version.......Grace Jones

Umbrella......Rihanna featuring Jay-Z

Hey There Delilah.......Plain White T's

Never Win.........Fischerspooner

For You..............Staind

Daft Punk Is Playing At My House...........LCD Soundsystem

Tribulations.........LCD Soundsystem

The Underdog.....Spoon

North American Scum........LCD Soundsystem

Flathead......The Fratellis

Chelsea Dagger......The Fratellis

Henrietta (Album Version)..........The Fratellis

Whistle for the Choir ..........The Fratellis

Maps........Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Better........Regina Spektor

Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five.....Paul McCartney & Wings

Beautiful Girls.......Sean Kingston

Fluorescent Adolescent.........Arctic Monkeys

Voodoo Child........Rogue Traders

Emerge.........Fischerspooner

Young Love.......Sonny James

Radio Nowhere.........Bruce Springsteen

The Rising.........Bruce Springsteen

Mary's Place.........Bruce Springsteen

American Skin (41 Shots) [Live at Madison Square Garden] Bruce Springsteen

Working Class Hero........Green Day

Don't Let Go......En Vogue

Always Be My Baby......Mariah Carey

I Have Nothing.....Whitney Houston

Our House.......Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

Lovely Day.......Bill Withers

Giving Him Something He Can Feel.....En Vogue

Gonna Be Some Changes Made......Bruce Hornsby

Kiss Kiss (feat. T-Pain)......Chris Brown
100 Days, 100 Nights.....Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings

Coma Girl.......Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros

Cannonball (Radio Remix)......Damien Rice

Bleed It Out.....Linkin Park

WALKING LOG
STEPS....136
MILES....0.05
CALORIES BURNED....0

SUNDAY CHURCH DAY
This Sunday I went to Church. As I was leaving the old lady who sits near me said, Merry Christmas. She never says anything to me. So I said Merry Christmas back to her.

Afterwards I headed to TARGET to completely finish Christmas shopping. It was raining as I was waiting for the bus. I got presents for everyone included my brother Carlos. I feel fantastic.

WALKING LOG
STEPS....7150
MILES....2.70
CALORIES BURNED....305

WALKING LOG
STEPS....6824
MILES....2.58
CALORIES BURNED....270

MORNING COMMUTE:
Today I am yet again running late. The train is yet again short by one car.

Anyway, below is my favourite new Christmas song of 2007, Sleigh Ride by Relient K. I have even included it on my myspace page. So far Relient K have yet to make a real video for the song so what I have posted below will have to make do.

I love how the song starts out sounding really jazzy then devolves into a punk anthem. I have a feeling this will be my top Christmas song of 2007. Sometime in January I will post my top played Christmas songs of 2007. Oh, before I forget the song was recently played on an episode of The Ghost Whisperer. So it seems it is getting a little more exposure than being on my iTunes song list!

RELIENT K - SLEIGH RIDE

THE LAST PRESENT
Yesterday, I kept going back and forth with whether or not to give Rick his present fearing how it might be interpreted. He’s white, he’s married. In the end I decided to just give him his present. Consequences be damned as to how it might be interpreted. Besides it would be one hell of an awkwardly funny moment that I created. It would be very Andy Kaufman. Gift giving as performance art.

Overall, Christmas at the office was fun for me. I really loved tripping out people who I never talk to with presents and cards knowing in the back of their minds they are wondering what the hell is she after? Does she want me to give her something? The answer is, Nah, it was just fun tripping people out and hearing comments like, “Im not about to give nobody no two or three presents!!”

Now I know how Andy Kaufman felt. Its fun to trip people out! I really do wish I could have afforded to rent a bus and take them all out for milk and cookies.

I ended up giving Rick his present in front of some guys he was talking to. I think they were talking sports or something. The look on their faces was priceless. I know he is probaly wondering what the hell was that all about?

Little known fact about of me, I was a drama major for a brief second over at Towson U. It was fun seeing how people react if you do something nice especially if you rarely say anything to them. The reactions were all unexpected. I never knew that some of the people I gave real present to would show them off. I just thought they would go what the BLEEP is she giving me this for?!

Also I know that the fact that I gave Rick a present probably freaked him out. Im a girl giving a guy a present. Is their a deeper meaning? Is a present, just a present? Or is it something more?

I did it all because it would be fun to practice random acts of kindess. A real live Christmas miracle!

Also lets face it, who am I kidding?, I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!! Its the most wonderful time of the year!

WHAT IM WEARING:
Today, I have on blue jeans, a light blue denim coloured flannel shirt and a blue and white glittery zipper up cardigan sweater with a fancy design of snowflakes embroidered with pearls and sequins.

WALKING LOG
STEPS....12908
MILES....4.88
CALORIES BURNED....543

MORNING COMMUTE:
This morning I am running late. The light rail train was short one car.

SECRET SANTA GIFT EXCHANGE:
I bought in a tray of store bought cookies from Super Fresh. Im not a great cook and wanted to contribute in some way. Last night while at Towson Town Center shopping for presents for my family I went downstairs to the lower level and found this store that sells memoribilia things. I was looking at Elvis posters when I saw that they also had Betty Boop posters as well. So I decided to pick up a Betty Boop poster as well as an Elvis poster for myself.

I believe I stated on an earlier post that I wanted to buy presents for co-workers who I know where into certain things that way it would not be an entirely generic Christmas present which I gave out to everyone in the department. And I also know that they are not in any way, shape, or form expecting anything from me which added to the element of surprise. I mainly did it because I knew it would be fun and a bit of a shock. Silent Gail giving out presents specifically meant for certain people! MY goodness she doesn’t talk to anyone! What is she after? The truth is nothing. I just like practicing random acts of kindness this time of the year. Its good for the soul. And I feel giddy that I did the unexpected. I did a very Andy Kauffman performance art like thing and it felt good! I wish I could take rent a big bus and take them all out for milk and cookies.

The only thing was I did not give Rick from the evening shift his Ravens theme present. This was the real wild card. He is white and I believe married with children. So there was no way of telling how he might take it. I think I will hold out on that one for tomorrow.....

Like Ive written before I rarely talk to anyone. I dont have anything against anyone. Im just mildly autistic and it goes along with my condition. Im not purposely dissing or ignoring anyone its just that at times it does not occcur to me to say anything. In the end did it all for the love of Christmas and the element of surprise. Its fun giving presents to people who are not expecting anything from you. I hope that they are not mad at me or anything.....

WHAT IM WEARING:
Today, I have on a black turtleneck and a black long sleeve t-shirt that has a picture of a reindeer on it. I also have on black slacks and New Balance 653 shoes.

WALKING LOG
STEPS....9530
MILES....3.60
CALORIES BURNED....427

MORNING COMMUTE:
Im on time again. The #20 bus came at the right time. Todays driver reminded me of Bookman from Good Times. That is if Bookman had shoulder length dreadlocks. The train came on time as well. Last night I finally managed to find what was causing the wheezing sound that woke me in the middle of the night.

It turns out it was my Golden Retriever that I bought last year as a Birthday present for myself. I suppose his batteries and mechanisms must be running down. It could not be the batteries because I bought new ones a couple of weeks ago. On average I have to replace his batteries about every three months. Nevertheless last night I got a good nights sleep despite doing overtime until 7:30. I think this is because I stuck to doing yoga and meditation before I went off to bed.

Right now Im feeling drousy. The supermarket did not have my usual brand of coffee tea bags and I am not an expert with coffee so Im using International Coffee instant coffee in vanilla. Its not as strong as the other stuff. Last night I felt apprensive about leaving from work because a co-worker who absolutely never does overtime seemed to be hanging around. Then I got this paranoid feeling that maybe he was mad at me for giving him a Christmas card. I really need to get some sleep....

WHAT IM WEARING:
Today, I have on my black Doctor Who sweatshirt, black slacks, a black mock turtleneck, and Nike MaxAir shoes.

WALKING LOG
STEPS....14594
MILES....5.52
CALORIES BURNED....640

MORNING COMMUTE:
Last night I woke up an hour earlier than my alarm goes off. Im not sure why I woke up so early. Im not sure if I had a nightmare. All I know is that I found it difficult to fall back to sleep. I kept hearing this wheezing sound coming from somewhere on my bed. I was afraid that there might be a danger I might over sleep then again I felt sleepy and felt I should just go back to sleep. I spent the better half of an hour debating what to do until my alarm went off.

Despite being an hour short of sleep I left out for work on time. I believe the #20 driver is on vacation. The driver today reminded me of the old SNL character of Pat. I was not sure if it was male or female. The train arrived two minutes earlier than its usual arrival time.

NEW JERSEY ABOLISHES DEATH PENALTY
Wow! Its kind of amazing that a state like New Jersey would do something that revolutionary. By the way I am against the death penalty. I can not help but notice that the majority of people who get that sentence are black males usually when the victim is white. If its a black killing a black no death penalty sentence is ever considered. If its a white killing a black also no death penalty sentence is considered. Its almost as if its saying that the lives of whites are more important than those of blacks. I am all for life imprisonment without the possibilty of parole.

TV
Last night I watched the second to last episode of Journeyman. It was kick ass good. I can not wait until Wednesday to see how the series goes about explaining the reason behind Dan’s time travelling abilities. Its a good thing that series creater Kevin Falls had the foresight to create 12 or is it 13 episodes that explained everything. This way there are no hanging threads.

Last night I did more weight training with the video that came with my tubing. Amazingly, I do not feel very sore. I was extremly sore last week when I tried it for the first time. The other black girl from Doctor Who was on the show. she played a psychic who knew something was up with Dan. I also did some yoga.

WHAT IM WEARING:
Today, I have on that red zipper up chenille sweater that tends to shed over everything. I also have on a dark blue mock turtleneck, blue jeans, and New Balance 653 shoes.

Ive gained about 4 pounds. This is mostly due to cookies. I had to try them out before I gave them out. I liked that on the back it lists calories, fat, and fiber content. The chocolate chip ones are my favourite. However, the gingerbread ones have a lower calorie count. I tried to give out the gingerbread ones to people I knew who were watching what they ate.

WALKING LOG
STEPS....10123
MILES....3.83
CALORIES BURNED....442

OFFICE CHRISTMAS CARDS
This morning I left out extra early so that i could distribute the cards as expected some of the people on the list were no longer working in our department.

I feel good. I know no good deed goes unpunished. I am sure that there are some people who hate my guts, others who are indifferent, and others who will be happy to get something from someone, dislike me for giving them something, some who are neither pro or con on the issue, others who are happy. Thats life you can not please all the people all of the time. I just feel happy that I took a risk. I feel it is important to practice acts of random kindness.

I decided to include the certifiers because well it is just their job to spot mistakes. I do not believe that they personally have a grudge against anyone they are certifying, its just there job. I said to myself what would Oprah do. So I did what I felt Oprah would do. People are people.

Its just kind of neat wondering what the reactions will be. One man I feel was absolutely hopping mad and absolutely livid that I gave him a card. Im not sure if it was the card and present of a cookie and candy or that he was having a bad day. Anyway it was all very entertaining. I even decided to give a card to the people who fold things. I wanted to last year but did not know there names. This year I simply asked them their names and gave them a card. I also gave one to Tim. I like Tim and have always wanted to give him a Christmas card. He does not work in my department so I was not sure if it would somehow be against ettiquette to do so. In the end I gave him a card as a well as a girl named Cathy who always says hi to me.

Some people Im sure I freaked the hell out of. Because I rarely talk so they might interpret it as being dislike towards them. I can not go around handing out cards saying I do not talk that much because Im Autistic.

I feel really good like I did something unexpected and good. My heart was in the right place. I do not want anything in exchange. I just did it because it was fun. It was my own impossible challenge. Can I buy small presents for the entire department and have them on their desks before the start of the work day.

Im sure that guy who was livid probably has issues or thought that he was the only person I gave something to or maybe something traumatic had happened over the weekend. Maybe he hated the card....

WHAT IM WEARING:
Today, I have on a red, white, and blue striped sweater that has touches of shiny silver threading in it. I also have on a blue mock turtleneck pullover, blue jeans, and black leather lace up shoes.

WALKING LOG
STEPS....10649
MILES....4.03
CALORIES BURNED....439

SUNDAY CHURCH DAY
This morning I went to Church. I felt apprehensive because the weather people where talking about the possibilty of 50mph wind gusts after 12pm. Fearing being blown away by the wind I hie tailed it out of there after the service was over. I did not stick around to see the Church vote in a new board. While out and about I found that I was short by just one fancy canned cookie. They were completely out at Target and Rite Aid. The only other place that had them was Safeway. The only kind they had at Safeway was gingerbread. This is kind of good because the gingerbread ones are lower in calories than the chocolate chip cookies.

WALKING LOG
STEPS....11202
MILES....4.24
CALORIES BURNED....460

SATURDAY
Today there is a threat of a snowstorm. I felt afraid to leave out to visit my father. I had intended to bring the KCF Festive Meal that I have seen advertised a lot on TV. The weather folks said the storm would start around 3pm. I was feeling antsy. I called my family around 11am to tell them I would not be able to make it. I changed my mind an hour later and decided to head out. I did not want to spend the entire day at home twiddling my thumbs thinking of something to do.

As far as the Festive Meal goes, the cake that came with the meal was very small. It looks much larger on TV. You also got two drinks with the meal instead of a big container of soda.

I left my Dads house around 6pm. I took a cab home. I left because I was afraid that I might get caught in a snowstorm of epic proportions. While over my fathers house I watched the last half of Liberty Heights. I rented that movie from Netflix a couple of months or was it years ago? When I got home the weather was doing nothing other than occassional drizzle on and off. I could have stayed longer but the way the weather forecasters were talking it seemed like we were on the verge of the next ice age.

WALKING LOG
STEPS....7228
MILES....2.73
CALORIES BURNED....275

MORNING COMMUTE:
This morning I am still late.

GOLDEN GLOBE NOMINATIONS
Loved that Viggo Mortensen was nominated for Best Actor along with Denzel Washington. Still can not believe that they have seven nominees for Best Picture instead of the usual five nominees. As far as the nominated Best Movies go, I saw No Country For Old Men. I absolutely loathed it. I saw Ratatouie. I hope it wins. Im glad that Shrek did not get nominated.

WHAT IM WEARING:
Today I have on a light blue cable knit sweater v-neck sweater that is kind of metallic, a dark blue mock turtleneck, blue jeans, and New Balance 653 shoes.

WALKING LOG
STEPS....11541
MILES....4.37
CALORIES BURNED....476

MORNING COMMUTE:
Running late again. Did not get much walking done. Finished up a project I was working on during my lunch break. I feel happy now that the project is complete. Im currently thinking about the possibilty of buying college courses from this company called The Teaching Company. They send me trial CD discs and catalogs from time to time. You know I have really missed learning new things. I used to listen to NPR all day at work but have not been able to because the building the company relocated to can not pick up that reception. I can only listen to NPR on the way to and from work.

TV on the Internet
I did not watch anything Im in mourning from the cancellation of Journeyman and the death of Ike Turner.

BASEBALL ON JUICE
This is the worlds stupidest scandel. Who the f**k cares!

I can not believe that this is all that Congress has to focus on. There is in illegal war in the middle east, people are starving and dying in the streets and all they can think to focus on is freakin’ baseball! I could give a rats ass if some overpaid athelete playing a little kids game decides to use steroids. Its there problem not mine! If they want to use steroids thats their business! This is America! OH!.... My goodness I am starting to sound like a Libertarian!

WHAT IM WEARING:
This morning I have on black slacks, a purple turtleneck with a leaf design, black cardigan, and Nike Max Air shoes.

WALKING LOG
STEPS....5515
MILES....2.08
CALORIES BURNED....226

FEELING A BIT STRESSED

Today, I took the day off I felt stressed with the knowledge that my father is essentially committing suicide by not getting any medical help to alleviate his symptoms. I never knew that until I read a chapter on old age in a Psychology book. Had no idea what he was doing could be considered as a form of suicide. We have to get him out of that room! Why did he decide to lock himself away? How come he never renewed his drivers license?

Also sadly this morning I woke to the news that NBC has decided not to give Journeyman a back nine order. This in effect means that they have cancelled Journeyman.

It was a family show! I have no idea why they had it scheduled for 10pm at night. Seemed like it would have been better off at 8 or 9PM. Also NBC never seemed to promote it much. Its surmised that the reason is because it was owned by FOX and the current Fox head recently left NBC and there could be a grudge against FOX productions on NBC. Never the less I will join in the Journeyman campaign and mail in a box of Rice a Roni to NBC.

If mailing peanuts worked for Jericho maybe Rice a Roni could work to save Journeyman. If the writers strike lasts past January it will leave NBC little time to come up with a new season for 2008. Pilots are usually written in January. So maybe just maybe they might reconsider....

WALKING LOG
STEPS....573
MILES....0.21
CALORIES BURNED....13

MORNING COMMUTE:
This morning I left out the door the same time I did yesterday hoping that magic would strike again. Unfortunately, the bus was late and crowded. A crowded bus equals a late bus. I will try again tomorrow. One of these days it will happen for me. I will be on time for work.

TV on the Internet
I still have yet to watch several episodes of Everybody Hates Chris. I have no idea if last Thursdays episodes of My Name is Earl, 30 Rock, and The Office were repeats or not. I did however over the weekend catch the second part of the two back to back episodes of Life. After all, How could I resist a show about a police detective with Buddist leanings?

I have also yet to catch up on The Young and the Restless. Not sure if its worth it because the current storyline is a snoozer. I wish Joost had other soaps than Young and the Restless. By the way it will not be until after Christmas that the soaps will be out of new episodes due to the Hollywood writers strike. Who knows maybe the writers devised this boring storyline as retribution against the network? Friday I tried to watch The Golden Compass but could not follow it. On Saturday I watched No Country For Old Men hated it.

WHAT IM WEARING:
Today, I have on a black cardigan, brown turtleneck, black slacks, and black shoes.

WALKING LOG
STEPS....8384
MILES....3.17
CALORIES BURNED....356

MORNING COMMUTE:
The ground is wet. Its kind of drizzly outside. I can not find my radio. I will have to listen to Christmas music all day courtesy of my iPod shuffle. I loaded my iPod a couple of weeks ago with Christmas and a Chanukkah music. Im Unitarian and I feel uncomfortable leaving out other groups who have year end celebrations this time of year. Depsite misplacing my radio Im on time for work this morning. I hope I can keep it up until the end of the year.

WHAT IM WEARING:
Today, I have on green and white marble like sweater, black slacks, a black mock turtleneck, and New Balance 653 shoes. My winter coat is a bunny or bear coloured zip jacket.

WALKING LOG
STEPS....10306
MILES....3.90
CALORIES BURNED....432

SUNDAY...CHURCH DAY
Today I went to Church and saw some of the Winterfest celebration.

Winterfest, Springfest, the Day of the Dead, and the Winter Solstice, are my favourite services to attend at Church. Unfortunately, I arrived just as the sunday school kids were leaving for there morning classes. I kind of get tied up when I checked my email this morning and got a letter saying that they were sold out of the birthday present I was going to give myself this year. I wanted to buy myself a Scoozie. Oh, well maybe I will see if I can find another place online to buy it or maybe find another brand of interactive pets. Preferably an interactive pet that has fur.

.....Back to the service, there was a mention of Temple Grandin and of Doctor Who. It was enough to make me raise an eyebrow. Temple Grandin is a well known woman in autism circles. She frequently participates in talks on the subject. She like me has Aspergers Syndrome. And as far as Doctor Who goes Im a big fan of the show. It all just made me go hmmm. Im sure it was all just coincidence.....

WALKING LOG
STEPS....4370
MILES....1.65
CALORIES BURNED....175

SATURDAY OVRTIME
This morning I did overtime at work. It was at our old building. I nearly cried tears of joy when I walked into the cafeteria/break room. It was actual size not the size of a Barbie playset like the one in the building we are now in. I had no feelings of claustrophobia only wide open spaces. I also smiled when I saw that there was still more than one ladies room in the building. The only thing is the cubicules in the old room our department used to be housed in our extremely small. The walls are tall but the inside space is claustrophobic. There is only enough room to turn the chair from left to right also very little desk space. I could see that the other area where our department (they used to move our departemtn around a lot) still has our old cubicules up. Some people had bad ass cubicules with shelves that had doors. I wonder what their jobs are?

Afterwards I went off to visit my father. He did not have any heartbreaking stories to tell me how poor his health was. To be honest after visiting him on Thanksgiving I went into another depression. I could not bring myself to visit him for fear that it would be the last time I would ever see him.

Anyway, it seems that he is not entirely against going into an old folks home. The only issue is that he does not want them taking away his entire pension check leaving him with $80 a month. I should have asked him how much he needs to live on a month. Then from there I could do a price check on retirement homes to find one thats nice and in his price range.

He again told me the story of a hacker he knew who went into a retirement home and died three days later. He moved in one day had a hell of a party the next day and died the next. According to my father the man was a real party animal type. He joked that the only way you can get a place in a retirement home is if someone dies. Very morbid but true...

I do not know if retirement homes are filled to capacity or not. It seems to me that more elderly people are like my father opting to stay home as opposed to moving into an old folks home. Overall, I think he would be better off there because there would be trained professionals to take care of his medical issues.

WHAT IM WEARING:
Today, I have on a black Doctor Who sweatshirt and a bright blue turtleneck, stone washed jeans, and New Balance 653 shoes.

ANOTHER AMERICAN HAS SEEN DOCTOR WHO!
In the entire history of my owing this Doctor Who sweatshirt no one has ever commented on it.

It seems that one of the supervisors at the other building actually knows the show! He claimed he has watched every episode. I should have asked him if he has seen the new series yet. It is my understanding that some people who were into the old series are unaware that a new series has started up. Also I should have asked him who his favourite Doctor is? I could have asked him a million questions about Doctor Who but I did not want to come off as too much of a geek. Anyway, odds are he was just a casual viewer of the show whose favourite Doctor is the guy with the curly hair and long scarf aka the Fourth Doctor or Tom Baker.

WALKING LOG
STEPS....11769
MILES....4.45
CALORIES BURNED....482

MORNING COMMUTE:
Today I am running late, again!

WHAT IM WEARING:
Today, I have on blue jeans, Nike Max Air shoes a v-neck light blue sweater that has touches of glitter sewn in and my purple mock turtlenck that has a design of leaves on it. It appears that all the snow has melted. I still feel stiff from exercising with the resistance cords.

WALKING LOG
STEPS....7070
MILES....2.67
CALORIES BURNED....293

MORNING COMMUTE:
Outside this morning is the aftermath of an unexpected winter storm. Yesterday, weather forecasters were calling for 1-2 inches instead when it was all said and done we got 2-4 inches. So as you can expect with my fear of walking on ice I was not in too much of a rush to leave out. Even if I left out on time I would be late because buses tend to run late in bad weather. Baltimore City and County schools have a two hour delay. This was a morning to walk slowly and mind the patches of ice on the streets and sidewalks. I am not about to fall and end up on crutches which is what happened my first year on the job. Ever since then I vowed to myself safety first. So all in all Im late but not too late.

TV Viewing

Snow Miser/Heat Miser from...A Year Without a Santa Claus

Last night I watched The Year Without a Santa Clause and The Young and the Restless on. A Year Without a Santa Claus includes my favourite cartoon musical production, Im Mister Heat Miser. For you listening enjoyment I have included it at the top of this post.

As far as The Young and the Restless is concerned I was surprised that Joost had todays episode uploaded. They are usually a day or two behind. So right now Im 100% caught up on Y&R.

I still feel that the Victoria, pregnant in a coma storyline is the most boring one they have ever mounted.

The judge did not have to worry about rendering a verdict Nikki and Victor decided to save the baby and Victoria. The babys birth was induced to save both there lives. Looks like Victoria will end up a vegetable. She’ll be moved to the ranch. Nikki decided to leave David Chow to move back to the ranch and care for her comatose daughter.

The only storylines that are kind of interesting is the one with Gloria and that guy who is her dead husbands twin. You constantly wonder whos conning who.

I also like the Amber storyline. Basically, I like anything involving Michael and his nutty family, mom Gloria, and brother Kevin.

Next, I think Ill see if Joost has anything for As The World Turns and Guiding Light. Its a pity they do not have any ABC soaps onboard yet. I have not watched those soaps in years. My radio can only clearly pick up the local CBS affiliate the other networks do not come in very strong.

Sadly, Pushing Daisies did not come on last night. So after the Rankin and Bass cartoon went off I curled up and went to bed. The Private Practice show is not my cup of tea.

WHAT IM WEARING:
It is about 14 degrees outside this morning so I felt it best to dress in layers. I have on two pairs of pants blue jeans on top of black stirrup pants. I also have on three layers of tops. Underneath I have on a beige lycra top. On top of the lycra top I have on a denime blue flannel shirt. On top of the flannel shirt I have on a blue and white zipper up fancy cardigan sweater. It has a lot of snowflake detailing. The fancy detailing includes materials like like faux pearls, glitter, rhinestones, and embroidery. I bought this sweater for myself a couple of years ago for a birthday present. On my feet I have on my tan suede and rubber winter boots. Inside the boots is a very warm furry lining.

WALKING LOG
STEPS....8791
MILES....3.32
CALORIES BURNED....366

MORNING COMMUTE:
Im on time. The LL Cool J driver is still around. Instead of the baseball cap he has switched to a woolen skull cap. I had to run to catch the train like I did on Monday. It has snowed on Dec 5th five of the last six years in Maryland according to the announcer on WYPR’s local morning news show. According to forecasters we should get 1-2 inches of snow.

RANDOM THOUGHTS
Did overtime last night. Went to Target. Thanks to me they are nearly out of gingerbread cookies. Thinking of cutting out the certifiers for the cookie gifts. I know they are just doing their jobs but... I think Ill just give them candy canes and a card like I did last year.

TV
Last nights House, MD was a repeat. Sadly I missed the holiday Rankin Bass classic stop animation cartoon, Santa Clause is Comin’ to Town.

WHAT IM WEARING:
Today, I have on a tweed pink and magenta sweater, a blue turtleneck, stone washed jeans, and Nike MaxAir shoes.

WALKING LOG
STEPS....11544
MILES....4.37
CALORIES BURNED....494

Today, I did only about fifteen minutes of walking during my lunchbreak. It was seriously snowing outside. I figured I would make it up with my Leslie Sansone walking videos. I bought them soley for days like today. After that I tried out the new Gaiam Tricord Resistance Cord Workout Kit that I bought on Tuesday at TARGET. The main selling point for me in purchasing this kit was that it came with a DVD. I already own some other resistance cords but they only came with booklets. With booklets there is no clear way to see if you are doing the exercise correctly from start to finish.

As far as the video that came with the stretch tubing is concerned I do not like that the model for the easier sets appears to be some fat guy. They could have at least dressed him a little better. He looked like he just came off the street while the other two models had on tight form fitting outfits that made them look more professional than him.

MORNING COMMUTE:
EXtremely late this morning. I had a weird dream that my father was adopted and his real last name was not Willis. This got me to thinking. He does not look like his other siblings he is slightly darker also he does not have the same cardiac profile. The majority of his brothers had heart trouble in middle age and had bypass surgery. He never did. He developed heart failure in his 70s. Maybe he is their half brother. His father was a porter so its possible the man he thought was his father was not. I think porters frequently travel on the train and did not stay in on area with the train. Oh, well it just a dream. Odds are his father really is his father. I wonder what prompted me to dream this?

TV Viewing
Last night I watched the Young and the Restless on Joost it appears that they have separated CBS soaps into their own separate chanel. Previously, all CBS daytime programming was on one channel. The programming for that stops at November 8th. The programming for seperate CBS shows starts with last Mondays show. I watched two and a half days worth of Y&R. The storline they have for November sweeps is on the extreme side of boring.

They should have run the Clear Springs collapse in November not October. Right now I could care less if pregnant coma victim, Victoria lives or dies. Im sick of her brother, Nick by her bedside telling tales of their childhood that was never seen onscreen. Im sick of her mother Nikki walking around makeup less and puffy eyed. Im also sick of Nikki, basically putting more importance on her unborn grandchild than her daughters life. Im sick of everyone hating on Victor. Enough already!! I hate this storyline and the endless bedside vigils telling of things that never happened on camera. Geez, Louise let the torture end!

On real TV I watched Heroes and Life in Journeymans timeslot. On Heroes I hated that Nathan got shot and it appears Nikki died in a fire which is kind of ironic giving that her husband DL was a fireman. Sadly, her young son, Micah was outside watching the fire while she dies inside.

INTERESTING OBSERVATION
Yesterday at around 8:05 am 92 Q’s Big Phat Morning Show played the original Fat Daddy Christmas song. The song Fat Daddy is a Baltimore classic. It was done by Baltimore DJ Paul "Fat Daddy" Johnson. The only place you can find the song is on the John Waters Christmas cd. Did I mention that I have an autographed copy of John Waters book Crackpot? Anyway, I Felt crestfallen when Porkchop from the morning show suggested that they all do a remake of it. Egad! Dude dont mess with perfection!

WHAT IM WEARING:
Today I have on an actual denim jean material long sleeve blouse, a fair isle knit sweater that looks too big, its practically a dress, blue jeans, and New Balance 653 shoes

WALKING LOG
STEPS....10009
MILES....3.79
CALORIES BURNED....419

MORNING COMMUTE:
Looks like Im going to be on time this morning. The bus arrived on time. The bus driver kind of reminded me of an actor on Living Single who is also on Everybody Hates Chris. He’s big and bald. Im sure after I post this I will remember either the actors name or the characters he played.

Despite the bus being on time I still had to run for the train. The ground outside is wet. I suppose it must have rained overnight.

TV on the INTERNET
I still have to watch Everybody Hates Chris. Tonight I will be watching Heroes and Journeyman. Last night I watched Lexx for the first time on Joost. It was kind of campy. I think I may be back to watch more episodes.

Also noticed that Joost has not updated any CBS soaps after Novemeber 8th. I was hoping to catch up with the shows I missed. I dont know if CBS has given up with Joost or if I have to do something to update the shows in order to view the latest episodes. Or it could have something to do with the writers strike. For all I know the strike might have originally started on November the 8th. Im not sure how far ahead the soaps are with scripts.

WHAT IM WEARING:
Today, I have on a black cardigan sweater, and a cocoa brown mock turtleneck, blue jeans, and Nike MaxAir shoes.

WALKING LOG
STEPS....9755
MILES....3.69
CALORIES BURNED....406

SUNDAY...CHURCH DAY
Glory Be! I turned on my computer and OutPost gallifrey was up and running. However, the movie site was still down. I don’t know if its really down for repairs or if the movie studios have closed it down permanently.

This morning I went to Church. The sermon Reverand Hubbell gave was very powerful. My eyes actually misted over. I was on the verge of tears. Her sermon today was about violence against women. She told of a massacre that took place in Montreal, Canada on December 6, 1989 on a college campus. The gunman murdered 14 female engineering students at Ecole Polytechnique. I had never heard of the Montreal Massacre until todays sermon. Then she told of various other stories of injustices of rapes and physical abuse. This has to have been the most powerful sermon she has ever done. She won a Skinner Sermon award for this sermon many years ago when she used to minister to a congregation in Canada.

MOVIES
When I got home from Church I watched the Darjeeling Limited and Ratatouille.

I was surprised that I could manage to find an indie movie like the Darjeeling Limited online. I liked the movie a lot. Then again I feel that Wes Anderson is a genius. I have seen almost all the movies he has ever writen/directed.

I was also surprised to find that I really, really, really, liked Ratatouille. It was as good as I expected it to be and more. As expected the computer animation was phenomenal. The one thing I found surprising about Ratatouille was that the humour in it was not too juvenile. It was right on time for an NPR, BBC, listener like myself.

WALKING LOG
STEPS....4970
MILES....1.88
CALORIES BURNED....198

SATURDAY...SAD DAY
A nearly depressing day for me. Almost all my favourite websites are down for maintenance (the site I watch movies on) or are being moved to different servers (OutPost Gallifrey). I never knew how lost I felt without Outpost Gallifrey unitl today. Instead I checked my email to see if I got an invite for that new website called HULU that NBC and FOX have devised. Nothing has shown up but through CNet I found a backdoor to entering the site without a password.

So I watched the rarely seen pilot episode of Lost in Space called No Place To Hide. It was kind of boring without the robot and Doctor Smith then after that I watched the proper first episode of the show that everyone is familiar with, called, The Reluctant Stowaway. Then I watched the infamous Thanksgiving episode of WKRP called, Turkey Drop. Amelia from the 98 Rock Morning Show is right, the new music they added to the show is generic and crappy. They had to put generic music in because the original artists wanted a big payday for their music to be continually used. If you can recall during the shows original run they played real music from real artists that was played on the radio.

After all that I went over to the NBC site to watch the shows I missed this week. It turns out it did not miss much. It appears that The Office ran two reruns which I believe were from last season. I would not know because Ive only started watching TV this season now that I can catch up with shows on the internet. Anyway it had to have been from an earlier season because Ryan did not have a beard and was working in the office and was not Michaels boss but still a temp. It appears that I only missed one episode of My Name is Earl and 30 Rock.

You know I just noticed that all the comedy shows I like to watch do not have a laugh track. Of the two mentioned above I laugh the most watching 30 Rock. Alec Baldwin is hilariously evil on that show. He reminds me of a live action younger Mr. Burns from the Simpsons. His male assistant is even effiminate like Mr. Burns assistant Smithers.

I also watched the latest episode of House on an alternative website. I really loved the black ad white photography with touches of blue in the opening sequence of the episode. It was about a Punk Rock musician who gets sick. Sad to see that the evil bitch intern was finally fired. She was really annoying but she was starting to grow on me... Heres hoping she will be back to raise hell in a later episode.

WALKING LOG
STEPS....326
MILES....0.12
CALORIES BURNED....0