Steppin' Out

I'm not going to write about AOL here tonight, except to point you to some interesting and valuable work Ayn, Vince et al. have done in figuring out some real numbers regarding the numbers of journalers going, staying, vacationing, quitting, etc., and the percentage of traffice generated by each according to hit counts. Click here: Ayn's Multiple World.

Also, Shelly's been coming up with more AOL-related news and helpful blogging tutorials over on Presto Speaks! Tomorrow I'll actually have time to read them.

And Julie Barrett, who actually programmed her blog from scratch quite some time ago, has been making it more full-featured recently. Take a look!

I would say more, but it's 3 AM, my computer's being buggy tonight, and I really need to get to bed.

The main reason I'm doing this at 3 AM is that it's been a busy day. After being up past 5 AM doing blog-related stuff (hint: there will be an announcement soon), I slept until 1:25 PM. When I did get up, I had to get dressed and rush off: I had an appointment with my trainer at 2 PM. Then there was email, hair-washing, lunch, shopping, and getting ready for the company Christmas party.

I'm not a party girl. Emphatically not. I don't drink, I'm shy, and I don't know many people who entertain. We used to have Doctor Who parties, when the Whovians were still active, and my friend Linda invites me to parties sometimes, but mostly, no. I don't get out much. And John doesn't do parties at all. I've come to realize that it's better not to try to force him to go to such things, especially since I kind of understand how he feels.

But I've kind of been looking forward to the party I went to tonight. It was at Loew's Ventana Canyon Resort, one of several major resorts in the foothills in the Catalina Mountains. I think I may be gone to a wedding or something in recent years, but other than that I hadn't been there since my travel agent days in the late 1980s, attending industry seminars and parties before the airlines decided they didn't need us any more. So: classy place, and the invitation said semi-formal. Was my one-and-only dress up to it? A few spots from Thanksgiving made things a little chancy, but I added my red shell, Christmas beads and a new Christmas tree pin. I think it came out fine.

But oh, boy! When I got there - a little late, because Ventana is hard to find in the dark when you're night-blind and haven't been there in 14 years - I saw a huge room full of women in black cocktail dresses and evening gowns. I felt just a smidge underdressed! The men were all in suits, though, not tuxedos.

See this bar? That's not glass. It's ice. The company logo was even etched on the front of it. Yes, it was visibly melting, but slowly.

A co-worker and I were chatting about Arizona observatories (including one staffed by people from the Vatican!) when he noticed that nearly everyone had already gone in to dinner in the adjacent ballroom. We were too late to get a place at the table with most of the rest of the Accounting department. My co-worker ended up with guys from Shipping, and I sat with a table full of complete strangers in Customer Service.

The table where I sat was notable for two things. Like all the tables there, it had potted cacti that people could take home as party favors. There wasn't one for each person, but one per couple at least. I would have taken one, but I sort of forgot at the end. The other item of interest was the candelabra. for some reason, the one at the table where I sat was burning down many times faster than similar centerpieces at other tables. I took about five pictures of it, rather annoying the woman who sat accross from me, who was in every shot. She didn't say anything, though. Here's kind of a before and after. In the end, the candle nearest me was almost completely gone, and about to go out.








The food, to quote from one of my books, was both plentiful and varied. There was hummus, several kinds of pasta, roast beef and pork, chicken picatta and shrimp. I ate too much, I'm afraid, and was quite uncomfortable afterward. However, this gave me a good excuse to leave around 10:00 or 10:30 PM, so I could come home and blog. I know, I know. I wanted to get back from my real world to my virtual one. But remember, I had already spent a few hours with total strangers, which for someone as shy as I am is doing pretty well!

The walk back to the car made me feel better, and I then explored a little outside until my camera batteries gave out. I like these stars that illuminated the main entrance of the resort, the road leading up to it, and these green ghostly saguaros.







Almost 4 AM. I'd better get to bed!

Karen