all over the place blog

Do you know how many people tried to make me miss my train this afternoon? First, there was the very large man who, whether he wanted to or not, took up most of both escalator lanes. Then, on the next escalator, there was the guy who positioned his roller suitcase smack in the middle of the escalator. Then, with the train in sight, shortly before the doors closed--one good thing about rush hour is that you get that time that it takes people to get off the train-- the person in front of me just stopped. And thought. And then boarded. Thankfully, I made it in, too, but it was annoying. And it happens all the time. People are in a hurry, but then they stop and contemplate (or realize that it's not the line they want), but they continue to lock the doors. It's really f*ing annoying.

By the way, I'm not proud of or even unconcerned about this anti-overweight bias that Project Implicit has confirmed that I have (the good news is, I harbor "little or no" other biases, of the ones I tested on). I don't believe in trying to justify my bias, although part of it really is that I don't like it when people block the escalator or take up part of my seat. But I don't accept that kind of argument from other people-- I think it's pretty lame, actually. You hear guys especially say that it's not a shallow thing so much as a proxy for self-control. Having no self-control myself when it comes to food, I can hardly judge others for that. Maybe that's it? Maybe it's my own frustration with my post-30 weight, especially now that, given that I'm leaving in ten days, I have to accept that I'll be going on vacation chubby? Maybe that's why Gracie is especially annoying (although let me tell you, she is pretty annoying in her own right)?

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Back to the topic of public transit, the buzz around Washington is that half the members of the WMATA board rarely use the system and some owe parking fees. The reactions range from "I'm shocked" to "makes perfect sense." It actually makes even more perfect sense given some of the inane, expensive ideas they've implemented over the years to try to improve service (hiring a marketing company to come up with cheesy posters on metro etiquette; hiring riders to test the system-- I mean, WTF?).

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I didn't watch the Oscars; I don't have a TV, and anyway, most of it was past my bedtime. I did read about it, though, and I f*ing LOVED the opening line of Sean Penn's acceptance speech.

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Okay, back to the studmaster. Which doesn't seem to think my kitchen wall has any studs. Well, it does, but they're never in the same place twice. I don't know.