I listen to many things at work from the gaggle of interns that leave me shaking my head in shame. Today was one I just have to share. From the girl in the office who has never heard of Wilco:

“I’ve never heard the word tsunami before this.”

I kid you not. This was before another one discredited the idea that the earth's rotation was slightly changed by the 9.0 quake.

If you have not seen videos of the tsunami, you should take the time to look here: LINK

Don’t get me started about insurance companies planning to only dole out $136 million to the +76,000 dead. That’s less than what was given to the four hurricanes that hit the Americas this summer. LINK

In keeping with the sad news, please take a moment to remember Jerry Orbach, of Law and Order fame. LINK

Posted by Colin J Allen at 6:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I was thinking about Christmas this morning in the winter darkness and I just can’t help but think what a good idea it is to have a party on the shortest day of the year. (For all you winter solstice sticklers, the date this year was the 21st. The 25th is just so much easier to remember...)Long before Christians usurped the holiday with their holy birthday, some pagan was sitting around in the middle of winter, all bummed out that it was cold and dark and he came up with the idea to just have a party. Get everyone around the only thing that is alive —evergreens – and celebrate life.

I really like the idea of having the happiest holiday of the year on the actual darkest day of the year. What brilliant irony.

Posted by Colin J Allen at 1:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I so did not post last week. I promise not to promise when I will next post. I am a bad, bad person and I will try to do better from here on out.

Not like you haven’t heard that line before.

I could just turn this into a blog where I apologize for not writing. Every day, I could come up with a new excuse for not writing and I could share it here. I think that I have something great here…

Ahem.

For today’s entertainment I have the perfect present for those familiar with Brooklyn geography. Alas, I’ve already bought all my presents, so none of you are going to get this, at least not until your birthday. LINK

Happy holidays, one and all. I wanted to thank you for being such great people. I would like to have the time to spend it with all of you, but it didn't work out this year. So it goes...

Posted by Colin J Allen at 1:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I promise to write more tomorrow, but I am shocked to find out that most slide projectors are more expensive than slide scanners.

That's just wacky, I tell ya.

Posted by Colin J Allen at 8:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

CHARLIE-OSCAR-LIMA-INDIGO-NOVEMBER HOTEL-ECHO-ROMEO-ECHO,

TANGO-HOTEL-INDIGO-SIERRA INDIGO-SIERRA ALPHA TANGO-ECHO-SIERRA-TANGO OSCAR-FOXTROT YANKEE-OSCAR-UNIFORM-ROMEO ROMEO-ALPHA-DELTA-INDIGO-OSCAR KILO-NOVEMBER-OSCAR-WHISKEY-LIMA-ECHO-DELTA-GOLF-ECHO.

Posted by Colin J Allen at 4:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Thank God, I am not the only one who thinks these panchos are hideous.

Posted by Colin J Allen at 12:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Let me squeeze in a note here for you all to enjoy. I know that I have been busy these last few months. I simply haven't had the time to stop and write. So here I am. For you!

Did you know that coffee tastes better in a real ceramic cup? Next time you get a cup of joe on the go, take the time and put it in a non-disposable beverage holder. You'll be amazed how much better the coffee tastes. Maybe, like wine, there should be different cups for different drinks. For a real cup of coffee -- black, no sugar -- you should have a wide rimmed cup a la red wine. The beverage will slip to the back off the tongue where you will taste that unique bitter greatness that makes coffee what it is.

The wimpier the coffee, the more sugar and milk products added, the narrower the cup. This will insure the drink, as it looses it's coffee essence and turns into warm sugary milk, increasingly hits the sweet buds on the tip of our tongue. By the time you get to the moca-frappachino-latte, you are drinking from an insulated champagne glass.

This conveniently breaks up coffee drinkers into easily classifiable segments, of which may or may not reflect their personality. If you know me, you probably know my thoughts on this.

Anyhow, It's lunch time. Time to fill up my coffee cup.

Posted by Colin J Allen at 1:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Woops. My Christmas list just got bigger this weekend. My favorite bag is MIA after a trip to the airport. She was last seen sitting in the luggage storage bin above one of the chairs on the Long Island Rail Road. My first contact with lost and found came up with zilch. I remember something I heard on one of those CSI shows, that after the first 48 hours the likelihood of finding the bad guy—read my bag—drops off like the Niagara.

Fortunately, I didn’t have my usual cornucopia of semi-valuable possessions with me. My gloves were in there, as well as my good hat, along with a borrowed book (I hope they don’t notice). The remaining detritus of office and home supplies, while useful, will accumulate on its own accord.

I’m going to Penn Station now to check for my bag. If she isn’t there, then I’ll be asking for some leather gloves and a black stocking cap for Christmas.

Posted by Colin J Allen at 6:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)