Bored of working, ate too much lunch, feeling like a nap. Tomorrow is Finally Friday, but between now and then, I have to get through 3 more hours of actual work.

Or at least look busy enough to pass for someone who is working.

I'm reading a fascinating book but I'm not going to tell you about it because I'm annoying that way. It's really cool and occasionally gross and sometimes emotionally upsetting.

That's all you get.

In other non-news, a Kind Friend to whom I just offloaded passed along a box o'books told me that I forgot to put my return name and address on them. Apparently she had some internal debate about the wisdom of opening unidentified packages in these days of terrorism and bioterrorism alerts before she decided to live dangerously and cut the tape.

I don't know why she didn't know they were from me. Sheesh. I told her only three months ago I was going to send her a box of books. Maybe she has memory problems.

Last night, my brain suddenly spoke up to remind me that I might, just possibly, have committed to turn out a new XF story within six months of Escapade. I mean, I don't remember making an actual commitment, but something tells me I was penciled in as agreeable to the idea anyhow.

I remember, vaguely, what the characters looked like. I remember they were pretty cool in the first four or so years the show was on. I'm a little fuzzy on the rest of it. I could, of course, re-watch episodes, but I don't think I've attained the necessary distance from the disaster yet.

(I may be developing some kind of brain disease. If I type a word that ends, for instance with 't', as in "don't" and then the next work begins with 't', as in "think", my fingers have taken to typing only the first 't' of the pair. It happens rather consistently. It could be a conservation move, of course, but it could be a brain disease. I doubt that my physician, if confronted with the information that I'm losing 't's and 's's, is going to show much sympathy.)

(The above digression was brought to you courtesy of a highly sugared dessert item.)

Other people around the net are getting heads of steam up over the cancellation of various shows. Although I understand many of these were amazing works of art, I didn't watch any of them, so I'm not particularly involved with the topic. That's one advantage of watching very little television. It lowers the odds that some beloved show will get the axe. I picked up "Monk" last summer and it was fabbo. It was also renewed, so I have that to look forward to this summer.

I've been watching CSI since the first episode and since it remains one of the highest-rated dramas on the screen, I don't think it's in any imminent danger of dissolving into mist.

I watch West Wing, for which the ratings aren't as good, but they're not bad, either.

I miss the heck out of Sam Seaborn. Don't get me wrong, I like the new guy. He's totally cool. I just miss Sam's silken articulacy. There's really no other character on the show who can say the things Sam said, in the way Sam said them.

Ah well. The show isn't cancelled. That's the key thing. And Josh remains aboard, a vital element to my enjoyment of the program. And CJ. CJ rocks. And I love Margaret. And Charlie.

Okay, I love pretty much everyone on the show. I miss Sam's voice, though.

I quit watching Andromeda partway through season two and I'm astounded that it's been renewed for a fourth season. Astounded and appalled.

Okay, maybe not quite "astounded" when I remember that a recent TVGuide promoted the show as one of those on the air today that's ideal for you to sit down and watch with your small children. Maybe TV is a wasteland for that kind of thing and all twenty-three people who watch television with their eight year-olds are now tuning in.

What happened to the intelligent, thought-provoking show I watched that first season, I don't know (Psss. It was Star Stupidity and Corporate Greed!), but if it's now being touted as ideal fodder for the under-ten demographic, I'm glad I bailed on it when I did. I'm pleased to see that Keith Hamilton Cobb finally got out of his contract, and plan to never think about the show again.

I don't really have anything interesting or startling to share, so this isn't likely to get interesting at any point, okay?

I'm just saying. If you have something better to do, now would be a good time to trot off and get started on it.

Dum dee dum Two hours and twenty minutes left.

There's just nothing to say about the office, okay?

I've been working. Alvin's been working. The Chipmunk hasn't been heard from since shortly after he heard we wanted a divorce. The Terminator has decided to move on to "new opportunities" so she won't be popping in and driving everyone nuts any more. Buehler has, for some reason, decided I'm funny, so he speaks to me when we meet. The Brother Darrell has (brace yourselves) spoken to me three times, quite voluntarily, in the last week. The Other Brother Darrell has been pulling a fair share of 24-hour workathons and he talks to everyone, albeit not very coherently.

I'm still hard-up for a new fandom. I mean, sure, there's the Spike BtVS thing, but that's really more about obsessing over one facet of the mythology of the show, mixed with a heaping helping of hormones over one character than a whole "fandom' thing.

I haven't forgotten the idea of carving out a new corner of quasi-reality and starting a new, more exclusive kind of fandom.

I'm leaning toward making it a kingdom. I'd like to be king and then there's all the opportunities for patronage. You get to wear great costumes, too.

I haven't forgotten about it, but I'm not really interested in it at the moment. I just wanted to say that if I name the new neighborhood, "elysium", then the new fandom would be "elysiumdom" which has a certain charm. It's like an IQ test. Anyone who can't say it, or spell it, can't join. We could be "elysiods" too, which would make us almost strange enough to be scary. Or, better yet, we could be "elysiosts," a word guaranteed to spark fifty fights over pronunciation.

Think about it, but don't give yourselves a headache.

I just remembered that I have a 2:30 meeting.