Back to school

This week is back to school for me. I've been thinking a lot about how happy and gleeful all y'all who are not headed back to school right now must be feeling. Amongst you: Turd, JT, Scotty, Julia, and all my Haas cohorts who managed to wrap up their MBA requirements last summer. How I envy you!

Actually, it's not that bad. The classes I'm taking are interesting and I dig the professors, especially the young, funny, intellectually hot one. It's just rough getting used to the 9am to 11pm work to school schedule again. After a week or two I will be so sleep deprived I won't notice it anymore. Nor will I notice that my underwear are on inside out or that I haven't checked my voicemail in eight days.

This back to school season has been a touch more exciting than years past, because my little friend Sam started kindergarten on Monday. Needless to say, it was an exciting event for all. Watching him go through the excitement of picking out a "big kid" backpack (the backpack is totally rad -- dark green camo print with florescent orange accents) and then getting the jitters the night before and deciding all the other kids would think his backpack was stupid and make fun of him for it brought back a lot memories. Being new to this de facto parenting thing, I forgot to take pictures in the morning on his first day of school (will he be able to claim negligence later in life if he doesn't have a photographic record of his first day of kindergarten?), but I do have this to offer up -- the Grattan Elementary school song...

I'm Happy

It will beat all your expectations, I promise. I think it might make the Top 40 next week.

Digestive woes continue

Things aren't getting much better inside my digestive system, but on the bright side they're not getting worse either. I think my doctor might be onto something with the no dairy plan. Those MDs -- they know stuff. I discovered this the hard way.

I woke up around 2am on Monday night to find that my roommate had just stocked up on a brand new quart of 2%, and, predictably, I fell off the wagon. I drank about half of it before I went back to bed (sorry, Nadia). It was so delicious and refreshing, and it answered every craving I'd been having for the last two and a half weeks. The milk binge did result in extreme "problems" about 12 hours later, though. As a result, I'm back to avoiding all things dairy (aka all things good).

I think I've finally grown accustomed to soy milk in coffee, but there's just no replacement for cheese. As is evidenced by the fact I've lost 15 pounds since June.

Not too shabby

A review of the first book I worked on in my current job was published in the Wall Street Journal this week.

I feel like I'm bragging about my report card

The results are in

So, I took the tests. When it came down to it, I figured I would kick myself if I walked around with a tapeworm for years because I didn't take a few disgusting and logistically difficult tests when the doctor asked me to. I will spare you further details. They all came back normal and I don't have any parasites.

I'm still on my no dairy diet, and other than that things seem to be improving. The non-dairy lifestyle has made me extremely sympathetic to the lactose intolerant (it's a miserable way to live) and extremely resentful of vegans. I can't understand why anyone would willingly choose a life without cheese. I've seen those cows running around Point Reyes, and they look well cared for and damn happy.

I read this article yesterday with extreme envy. I'd give anything for a huge glass of milk.

It got better

They made the Greendimes service (the one I wrote about that takes your name off mailing lists so you don't get random junk mail) cheaper and easier. This is from their latest newsletter:

"GreenDimes is now a $15 one time charge instead of $36 every year. None of you, our existing members, will be charged again. We also have a $5 refer-a-friend bonus and a store with new products. All of the tools we have built are still yours, but for free, forever.

We're going to monitor mail preference lists every single month to make sure your name and address are not on them. And as always, if you have questions or if you feel like you're continuing to get junk mail, contact customer service and we'll be happy to help you. Nothing has changed from a service perspective, it's just cheaper and easier than ever before."

Sweet! Makes sense to sign up for this service. It's good for you and good for the environment.

Stupid ethics

I wish it wasn't completely unethical to post some of the book proposals and emails I get everyday at work, because, man -- there is some high entertainment value there. Basically, it's all rooted in laughing at someone's genuine book idea, though, so it's pretty much evil entertainment. Arguably the best kind.

That's the thing about book publishing. It's such a fine line between being a creative genius and a complete and total nutjob. It might not even matter if you're a complete at total nutjob as long as you're a skilled self-promoter with some business sense.

Speaking of, here's a website I stumbled across today: www.animalsign.com.