Pinkness

Every once in a while, I see a fashion combination that completely mystifies me. There's an IBM contractor who shows up around here about once every two weeks or so... she seems to work for some other department but parks herself and her Thinkpad in a cube nearby me. Now, I don't know what your preconceived image of an IBMer is, but once you get four inches off the floor, she is the perfect IBMer: dark charcoal suit, nicely cut (she's rather heavy but really well-proportioned and has great legs), white blouse, hair drawn back in a bun, black nylons.

And iridescent pink ankle-strap pumps.

I mean, PINK.

PIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINK!

I am mystified. I guess she didn't want to vanish completely into corporate suit-dom. She did a very good job of it. If she'd shown up in a pink suit and black heels instead of the other way around, she'd have looked like some strange creation made of pre-chewed Bubble Yum or something.

The first installment of the new podcast is out there in the world now, though Podcast.net hasn't added it to the directory yet. I am moderately impressed with the quality of the built-in microphone on the iMac... better than one could have expected, considering from the outside the microphone looks oddly similar to that hole on the front of the old Macintoshes where you stuck an unbent paperclip in order to force it to spit out an errant 3.5" diskette. I was relieved, since I couldn't immediately find my studio microphones.

I am pleased with how the overall cleaning of the house is going. If A Certain Cat Would Just Stop Crapping In Unauthorized Locations, thing would be fine. The porch is happy, the yard is happy. I am lending a friend my newly-resurrected rototiller, since I've largely given up on doing a garden this year in favor of trying to build a social life.

Sarah and I may go to New York later this month to hear some jazz. I just wish that working out details of things like that didn't often devolve into her playing 20 Questions with me, with most of her questions starting out with the phrase, "were you thinking of...?"

Jeez, just SAY something rather than trying to second-guess what I was thinking of when I made the suggestion, OK??

Yes, I think things have stabilized to where I can see minor things about her that bug me. Overall, things are just fine, though. According to Melody's blog, she met someone interesting a while ago, and incredibly, I find myself actually hoping things work out well. I am a little surprised by this... I guess that's how far over her I am now.

I realized that when you move quickly in your life, the horizon changes faster. Back in the early days of my online dating experience, there was a crazy woman named Marilyn who said that she was just then getting over "mourning" for her last relationship. It had lasted eight months, and she "mourned it" for nearly three years.

That isn't what made me think she was crazy, though. The thing that sort of made me suspicious was when I asked her to send a picture of herself, since her Match.com profile had had none. She sent me... her wedding picture from 15 years earlier.

Funny how that tips you off.

The pink-shoe contractor has another IBMer friend around here who has terrific calves as well, but is smaller and cuter. Ah, me.