my time on terra firma

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22456-2004Jul28.html

Gotta love working in the nation's capital. I think it'll wear off one day, but until then, I love going out and exploring. If anything, I get to see something I've never seen before; a new museum, restaurant, embassy or theater. Today, I found a 7-11...not that exciting. Okay, most of my journeys are pretty lame, but I also end up stumbling into something I've never seen before; they always start out lame but end up serendipitous and fulfilling. By doing this, the city seems smaller and smaller. I feel more and more comfortable w/my surroundings and fortifies my confidence insofar as knowing my way around the city. And, since I work less than three blocks away from the White House, I use that as my reference point. Who knew that getting lost could be so rewarding. http://www.wagenschenke.ch/

Tuesday...it ain't Monday. Another day, another visit from our clients. It seems like there's an ebb and flow when it comes to client visits. We could go weeks w/o seeing a single client; only receiving e-mails, phone calls, faxes and snail mail from them. I don't mind that so much, I believe that you need a "x" amount of distance from your clients and vice versa. Not distance as in not answering them via correspondence, but PHYSICALLY separated by blocks/miles/states from them; giving us the opportunity to breath and do our jobs. If they can pop in whenever they want, they would see how messy and counter-productive we really are and I don't think the client should see that. Yes, a few days ago, I entered a blog that said that I felt that it was wrong for us to deceive the client; I think the client should see your work space...once! After that, there's no need for repeated viewings! Man, I've gotta find more interesting things to write about... http:/

Not much today...just more very important clients stopping by for a visit. Weekend wasn't so bad. Did a number of things; watched "the Bourne Supremacy" (great film! tell all your friends about it) on Friday and then hung out w/a few friends afterwards. Saturday, I went to an art show which featured beautiful Farsi calligraphy written on a beautiful nude women...nice! Naturally, the photographer was trying to say much more than "hey, I can talk a woman into letting me scribble ancient text all over her body, take photos and post 'em on the 'net"; considering the fact that the dude's from Iran, I would imagine that it would take a lot of chutzpah to pull this off! He's really good, I want to see more Iranian artwork; in fact, let's see it from all over the globe!!! Then, there was a poetry reading, I learned about a poet named Hafez. I don't know a lot about him but, thanks to this exposure, I can find out more on my own. Sunday,

Finally. http://www.starwars.com/episode-iii/bts/production/news20040724.html

Solicitors! The new four letter word! Why? Why must they call here day in and day out; asking for people they don't even know??? I'm sick, sick, sick of 'em!!! The company that I work for is only 25 employees strong; the solicitors call thinking that I'm some nameless, faceless administrative assistant working for some large, Fortune 500 company. They feel that their call will slip through the cracks and get to the person they need to speak with! I cannot recall the countless amount of times someone has called asking for my supervisor like their buddy, I put them on hold, turn directly to my left and ask if they know the person (after my supervisor tells me that she doesn't know the person), then tell the person the usual spiel: (Supervisor's Name) is unavailable @ this time, may I take a message or would you like his/her voice mail? 99.9% of the time, they say they'll call back. They won't. They never do. For the last time, no, we're not m

I'm not a morning person, never have been. From as far back as I can remember, I've never really been the type of person to roll over and bed, feel the sun kiss my face, hear the birds sing, wake up to the sound of an alarm clock and think, "today's the best day of my life!". I'm usually the other guy; deep in slumber, sawing logs (like all snorers, I've never had the distinguished privilege of hearing the sweet, melodic sounds of my nocturnal singing performances) I've got a my drapes closed @ all times, birdsongs are overrated (it's like they're phoning it on or something; a total lack of originality!), the alarm clock goes off. I placed it across the room on purpose; that way I'll have to get out of bed. I throw a shoe @ it. This morning was different. I rolled over and felt the sun caress my face like a lover I lost ages ago, heard the beautiful chirp chirp chirp-ing of a mother bird and her young, jumped out of bed, stretched and f

Gotta love it when the "very important potential clients" show up; I've never really cared for the whole "cleaning up to make the office look neat and efficient" song and dance. I know that it's good business, but I know how cluttered my area is as are the areas of my co-workers. If I were a client, I'd accept the fact that we human beings are not necessarily the neatest nor the most efficient. The clients are smart enough to know this or I don't think we'd be working w/them. Still, this is a business, so you MUST put your best foot forward @ all times. I know that this is important to the company and I'm a team player. My area has been cleaned from top to bottom; can't help but feel a tad deceitful, it's never this clean, my greetings are never this friendly and I'm never dressed to the nines. It's a living.

So, this is the first entry. I guess I should tell a little about myself. I'm a single, 30 year old, African-American male; I was born and raised in Alexandria, Va and I currently work for a company that conducts research on fragrances and flavors in Washington, DC. I'm a huge movie fan; my netflix rental queue is nearly 500 deep. Everyone must see "Spidey 2"!!! Great film! I'm looking forward to "the Bourne Supremacy" and "Catwoman"...on DVD...on mute...w/the lights down low...candles...wine...Barry White. ..I love Tivo! Unfortunately, I watch way too much TV, TiVo doesn't help any. Favorite shows: "the Simpsons", "Arrested Development", "Six Feet Under", "Everybody Loves Raymond", "Family Business" and "King of the Hill". Radio: "Fresh Air w/Terry Gross", "The Kodjo Namdi Show" and "This American Life w/Ira Glass". I'm an active Toastmaster (an o