My mind has

been totally consumed by work lately; when I'm in the shower, I'm thinking about what has to be done for one launch, and while driving home, I'm going through a laundry list of outstanding issues for another. Relief should come in the form of the second week of October, when I plan to take a much needed vacation. For now, weekends are really good.

On a side note, hide your gym bags; they appear to be all the rage in the world of thievery these days (referencing one of my previous posts). My friend Kristina also got her gym bag stolen from her car. Has there been some sort of fitness revolution amongst all car thieves of the world? What the hell is going on?

If beauty could be portrayed through techno-marvel sandwiched between some clear-coat plastic and a thin metal plate, this would be it:

A random picture I took tonight while driving down El Camino Real. I still can't get over it. Northern California is beautiful. OK, maybe this scene looked cooler in person...

Have a great week everyone.

Bathroom etiquette

I went into the bathroom today at work and was pleased to find it empty (you'll know why in a bit). I proceeded to do my business when someone I know vaguely, but have absolutely no close working or personal relationship with starts using the urinal right next to me. I could feel him looking at me so I quickly glanced at him. He then greeted me with a "hey man." I responded with a quick "what's up." Much to my chagrin, he took me up on my rhetorical inquiry and initiated an in-depth conversation with me about his trite weekend, as if we were having beers and watching a Red Sox game at a bar off of University Ave. But no; we were in the bathroom, standing a foot away from each other taking a piss. Not the most appropriate or comfortable of places to be sharing details about your mountain biking excursion to Tahoe last Saturday. As I filled in my side of the conversation with a few "uh huh"s and "really?"s, I finished and proceeded to the sink, where he quickly joined me to resume the world's longest conversation ever. Hey, at least he washed his hands, which is more than I can say for about 30% of the general population (you sick bastards).

While I appreciated this guy's efforts to be friendly and kill the pest of a bug we know as Monday morning, I'll be using the stalls from now on.

For the effect...

Katrina...

Just one area of the devastation (toggle between the "Satellite" and "Katrina" buttons to see before and after). It's unbelievable how much of Louisiana is under water.

Sometimes it's easy to neglect the pain and suffering felt by those who are far away and continue to focus only on what is around us; things we can see. While I'm not sure how I feel about the whole race issue that has become intertwined with this already unfortunate situation, I do know that it is an issue. I credit Kanye, not necessarily for calling Bush out, but for stirring the pot.