I added pics of the reptile expo in Tuscon to my "09_06" picture group. This one here is my absolute favorite. There is absolutely nothing cuter than a box of baby bearded dragons. Hard to believe they get as big as Cheeto and Lucy.

Posted by Laura at 9:03 PM | Permalink | Comments

After the aforementioned team luncheon today, my boss told us girls in the group that instead of going right back to work, we could go hang at the mall for an hour or so if we wanted.

How's THAT for a cool boss???

I bought sneakers.

Posted by Laura at 2:16 PM | Permalink | Comments

Mood: Hanging in there
Music: "Sunday Mornings" by Maroon 5
Location: Work

I have a quiet spot in my day. The rush of the last couple of weeks (financial year-end activities) have passed and left me (after catching up with the other stuff I couldn't prioritize during that time) with a nice little space of time before a team luncheon.

I seriously don't know how people get through a work day without listening to music. A large population of my co-workers actually say that they prefer NOT to listen to their iPods, or headphones, or what have they. I'm obsessed with my playlist, and I must say that I have a fantastic variety of really good songs. The latest being "#1 in Heaven" by Nemesis... and a less apt band name I have yet to find, since "Nemesis" consists of twin brothers who were raised as Jehovah's Witnesses and left their podunk little town to find their fame and fortune while simultaneously coming out of the closet. I had to let out a good ol' guffaw when I heard them referred to as the "Dynamic Gay Duo" (spot the SNL reference). I love their debut song, though, and I think their video is hot. In part because of the gayness.

Like Lisa Lampanelli, I love the gays.

My admin just stopped by my desk and asked me to stop tapping my shoe on my footrest. "It sounds like someone is hammering." Well, if she had noise cancelling headphones too, it wouldn't bother her! Huff.

Calvin and I are going to the Tuscon Reptile Show this weekend, and I'm really looking forward to it. I mean, when we first got the Chinese Water Dragons (for us) and the Ball Python (for Marie), it was a whim supported by (and probably caused by) our fascination with subject-specific shows on the Discovery Channel. It's turned into something close to an obsession, and we actually have to stop ourselves from filling our house with critters.

Yes, we've turned into those people.

I can't guarantee that we won't be coming home from this expo with additional creatures to add to our collection. I do know that there are several additional breeds of lizards that we'd like to own, and little to stop us if we decide we see something we like. I mean, once one has four lizards, a snake, two dogs, and a cat, what difference does one little Rough Green snake make? Or a Uromastyx? Or a Frilled Dragon?

Of course, vacationing is difficult with so many exotics to care for. House sitters are squeamish to feed live rats and superworms and cockroaches, for some reason.

Posted by Laura at 10:44 AM | Permalink | Comments

If you haven't been keeping up with 3 Fast, 3 Furious, you are obviously broken beyond redemption.

Posted by Laura at 9:55 PM | Permalink | Comments

I've uploaded some new photos on Flickr.

Posted by Laura at 8:23 PM | Permalink | Comments

Okay, so I've been slacker chickie over at the journal. It's not that I have nothing to say. It's not that I don't have enough mediums available to me to communicate to you, my loyal subjects. It IS that I am just a L-A-Z-Y slacker chickie. I'm going to pull the same thing I did last year and post over here for a while.

Hey, did you guys know that as of the 15th I've been on-line with Snerkology in all its forms for six years?? That's, like, 120 in OLJ years.

Posted by Laura at 9:45 AM | Permalink | Comments

I do not know James Joseph Demonico, and of all the people in this world to try and do justice to the memorialization of his life, there is probably few less suited to do so than I am. I can only claim to be touched peripherally by the fall of the Twin Towers. I was horrified and afraid and desperate for news of survivors, just as the entire world was. But I've never even been to New York City, and had never visited the World Trade Center. So I only have my imagination to try to discern what the victims might have been like. I can only imagine what their families might have gone through. I can only imagine the trauma the entire city underwent.

I can imagine that James Joseph Demonico was performing the same routine he had for much of his 56 years, on the morning of September 11, 2001. He would have made his way to his office in the World Trade Center and settled in to begin his day. As a member of the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, he was no doubt refreshed from a recent vacation he'd had (*), and was reapproaching his responsibilities with renewed vitality. He could have grabbed a cup of coffee, stopped to chat with his friends and colleagues, and perhaps had taken his time getting started that morning.

I hope he went off that morning with a smile and a kiss shared with his loved ones. I hope that, somewhere in there, there was a hug, a laugh, a clasp on the shoulder. I hope that he felt appreciated and loved and alive on that morning. And, when faced with the inevitable, I hope that he remembered all the good that he experienced in this world, and that in the end a sense of peace overcame any fear.

I do not know on what floor Mr. Demonico resided when the Twin Towers were attacked. I just know, by an impersonal and bald statement on a few websites, that he was confirmed dead either at or in one of the buildings. I looked long and hard for more information about James, to little avail. But from what I did find, it paints a picture of a very fine man.

I know he was called "Jimmy". I know he grew up in the Bronx. I know he is Godfather to a little boy. I know he was a fun-loving person. I know he was a dedicated employee. I know he has a family that misses him (*).

I know so little about this man, yet I feel enormous respect for his memory and the memories of all the victims of the terrorist attacks. We will never forget, but we will go on.


(*) Postings on the September 11th Victims Website by his friends and colleagues revealed these personal insights into James Joseph Demonico's life.

Posted by Laura at 3:38 PM | Permalink | Comments

Steve Irwin, Discovery Channel's "Crocodile Hunter", has died.

Posted by Laura at 11:16 AM | Permalink | Comments