omg! it’s…. a current entry! of currents!!!! !!!

 (and an edit to say sorry about the "you don’t have access to this entry, loooooser!!!" notice. I saved it before I was done and then realized I forgot to make it private. So of course it showed up on everyone’s recent entry page and then had  that annoying message. Ooooops!)  

(and back to the original entry..)

Because I certainly cannot be bothered to make an entry that requires any thought! I’ve just found myself in the very unusual situation of having an hour more of work before I get off,  but nothing pressing to do. We’ve been processing graduation audits for a month and a half like mad. We’ve recently switched to using our brand new shiny online audit system – I will not bore you with the incomprehensible details but it makes doing audits both more interesting and more accurate. So, yay! And MUCH quicker, hence the "yikes, we’re DONE" moment. Next up is clearing the graduating seniors, but in another stroke of happy timing, their online application closes at midnight tonight so I don’t want to start that till Monday anyhow. It’s kind of odd that we’re ALREADY done with audits and it’s Graduation Application time. Usually we end up having to stop doing audits while we do grad clearances. Obviously the new system is WAY faster. I am trying not to worry too much that we’re efficient-ing ourselves out of our jobs. 

Well, so much for not boring you to death. ANYHOW, let’s just say I’m a little thrilled with this unexpected free slot of time. Which of course I would use in a much more productive way were it not 4:00 on Friday afternoon. Instead, I’ll do the February Currents.

Current food: That’s first up because I am currently eating the Best Mango EVER. Well, except for the three previous mangoes I’ve eaten this week, each one of which seemed to be the Best Mango EVER. Earth Fare has had shockingly delicious mangoes lately. It’s actually pretty rare around here to get a mango that even rates as "okay", but these are just… amazing. They’re organic, which may be why. They’re also on sale which is how I’ve ended up with three this week alone. It’s hard to think about anything else when I’m devouring this perfect mango.  

Currently listening to: Amok, the new (and so far only) album by Atoms For Peace. Which is comprised of Thom Yorke of Radiohead fame, and… Flea. Yes, Flea. The Red Hot Chili Peppers Flea. I LOVE it. It reminds me a lot of King of Limbs except perhaps even more electronicy. I’m not a big electronic music fan but I am a big Radiohead/Thom Yorke fan (or, as Baker B and I refer to him, "THommie Yorkie"), and he’s really doing the electronic stuff lately and I love it. You can’t download it yet- I’m listening to it via NPR. Here ya go! I’m looking forward to downloading it because I’ve only listened to it at work so far (several times) and I’m sure it will be very different to hear it when I can actually turn it up to a normal level vs. a "don’t disturb your workmates" level. 

Current anticipation: The weekend! Yay! I have no big plans, even better. And it is supposed to warm up considerably, although of course it’s also supposed to be rainy. It’s been very cold. No snow to speak of, but COLD and mostly icky and gloomy. I’m ready for summer. 

Current achievement: This is actually very funny. I’ve been nominated for… our new Outstanding Staff Award! I am pleased, of course, but it is a brand new thing for our college (not the entire university- just our little piece of it) and I’m thinking we ALL got nominated. Maybe not — but Mr. Organized certainly should have been before me. He works ALL THE TIME, has been the major player in our new online degree audit system, is the king of program changes, and is unfailingly pleasant and helpful (and is snarky enough to be lots of fun to work with). He’s basically perfect. I, on the other hand, am anti-social and lazy and not a big team player and not on the big important committees and I do things like write on Open Diary when I’m supposed to be working. There’s also not THAT many staff in our college so I’m really wondering how many nominations there were. I have to turn in a resume by Monday, so I’ve been working on that. It actually makes me sound quite impressive. The criteria are: 1) Concern for the wellbeing of students, faculty, office facility etc, 2) Enthusiasm for service, 3) Exemplary work going beyond job expectations 3) Miscellaneous pertinent information that may arise."

I think I find this amusing because this really does NOT describe me. Well, okay, of course I am concerned about the wellbeing of our students but I am afraid I do more complaining about them than expressing concern. Or enthusiasm. Miss Artsy fits this perfectly — maybe she got nominated too. I do try to do exemplary work, I’ll admit that. And i go far beyond my job expectations. So hey, maybe I qualify on that alone! And I am always helpful and cheery to my boss and my boss’s boss, as I know which side my bread is buttered on.  The winner gets public acclaim and $500 to spend on travel or office-related materials. I’m thinking I probably can’t use it to travel to England. But maybe I could go to a workshop somewhere. That would be fun. If in fact I do win, which will shock me even more than being nominated did. 

Current anticipation:The Big England Trip is all I can fit into my head these days. Baker B is still planning to go. I am stressing out about the airline tickets, which we hoped would drop in price but seem to be doing more rising than dropping. And of course gas prices are scheduled to skyrocket soon. Which I’m sure means airline tickets skyrocketing too. But, it will be whatever it will be. We can live on generic peanut butter and cornflakes when we get back, like I used to do it college. It will be worth it!

Current television: WELL, we just finished Downton Abbey last night. In case anyone hasn’t seen it but plans to, I will just say, WWWWAAAAHHHH!!!! Unfortunately I managed to find out about the Horrible Distressing Thing That Happens before we saw the episode, which is pretty typical. And I guess it’s the price you pay for streaming things instead of watching while they air. When we were watching Six Feet Under we got hooked on it as the last season was airing – or the next to last, I can’t remember – so we were watching it on DVD before the last season was finished. And I found out pretty much EVERY SINGLE THING THAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN. No matter how hard I tried to NOT find out. All I had to do was glance towards the computer, and there was some huge major plot twist that I DID NOT WANT TO KNOW. Especially the LAST big plot twist. If you watched Six Feet Under you will know what I’m talking about. If you didn’t, you really need to go watch it right this minute and I will not give anything away.   

Currently reading: Travel guides of course. And I’ve managed to get hooked on the Vera books, by Anne Cleeves. The ones that the excellent excellent British TV series is based on, which stars the amazing Brenda Blethyn. I don’t generally care for crime dramas in my TV viewing or my reading, but Vera has me making exceptions. My only complaint about the books — especially The Crow Trap, the first in the series – is that there isn’t enough of Vera. She doesn’t even show up in The Crow Trap (except briefly and anonymously) till halfway through the VERY long (over 500 pages) book. The other two – Telling Tales and Hidden Depths – are also heavier on the other characters than they are on Vera. But Anne Cleeves is such a good writer that everyone else is very interesting too so I don’t mind THAT much. They are complicated and twisty – both the book and the TV show. And TV Vera is EXACTLY like Novel Vera, right down to her voice in my head. Anne Cleeves has written a zillion non-Vera books too, which I may have to read despite not being a mystery/crime fan. 

(This originally said something about how these are not my pictures but are taken by a new webcam, and are from last week downtown so doesn’t look like this now, but even though it’s…eewww!!!… snowy, I like the way it makes our little town look so quaint and pretty. But I don’t know what happened to my text. Flickr has suddenly gotten all weird and I can’t post like I always have in the past, and had to go to "Source" and it went….weird.)

And adorable cats. With the not-so-adorable floor. Which needs replacing desperately. But at least it does match their eyes.