Solving the world's problems, one coffee break at a time.

I love the conversations that happen at the office. The ones that come up randomly with your co-workers while you're completely busy working on something, sometimes even with your headphones on. Someone pipes up with a comment about The Hurt Locker, or the grocery, or the revolution that was the microwave. I love it.

A few choice examples as of late:

#1 - Commencement speakers. It's that time of year, and UND was heavily promo'ing US Sec of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano as its speaker. The question posed was: how are these people are chosen? When you look around at the vast majority of commencement speakers, you have to wonder if they were tapped for their accolades or for their attributes. A person may have a laundry list of accomplishments, titles, etc. S/He may be a brilliant person. But a good speaker that does not make. Inspiring, engaging, filling young minds with vigor, gratitude and a can-do attitude -- these are all things people expect from a speaker. These are things rarely gotten. After much consideration, we had an intra-office jinx that Madonna should speak at UND in 2011. Runner up was Samuel L. Jackson. Not that either is Ghandi, but at least they'd be entertaining. Hats off as well to Ms. Napolitano for quality remarks under the 15 min mark. You're aces in my book.

#2 - Facebook buttons. There's a "like" button on facebook, which is really helpful if someone posts something like "I'm going to a Green Peace rally". But, what about when someone says "My grandma just died"? Um, awkward. My officemate did a little unscientific survey and came up with the following submissions for additional facebook buttons for all of life's occassions: Jealous, Hug, Lust, and a few others I don't remember. My very passionate argument was for "Disagree". Not that it would help in the instance of a death in the family.

#3 -Microwaves. Remember when the swept the nation? They swept it in a way bigger and broader than the iPod or even Obama '08. Everyone had to get one. I still remember going to get our first one; it was like an official family outing. And let me say, I don't really know why it was such a big deal (other than the fact that it was an Amana, dangerously close to my name and at roughly age 6 that obviously made it amazing) - it was nearly the size of the regular oven and didn't cook that much faster from what I remember. It had this huge door that swung down just like real oven, with orange digital numbers and faux wood siding. So modern and stylish. Sadly, I think my sister had it as a hand-me-down until not that long ago. The funny thing was my officemate's grandma didn't want one because she couldn't figure out what to do with all the extra space in her kitchen when she got rid of her range.

Summer Reading List

With the end of the school year upon you, I figured you can't start your vacations without a summer reading list. So whether you bring your book to the beach or just relax on your patio in the evenings with a glass of wine, here are some books I think you'll enjoy.

Laugh-out-loud:

- Long Way Down, by Nick Hornby

- Holidays On Ice, by David Sedaris

- We Thought You'd Be Prettier, by Laurie Notaro

Chic Lit:

- Thanks for the Memories, by Cecilia Ahren

- Expecting Adam, by Martha Beck

- Pink Slip, by Rita Cerisi

- The Dive from Clausen's Pier, by Ann Packer

General Reading:

- Running with Scissors, by Augusten Burroughs (to be followed by Dry and Wolf at the Table)

- A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, by Donald Miller

- A Year in the Merde, by Stephen Clarke

- Once a Runner, by John L. Parker Jr.

Happy Summer. Happy Reading.

TAG! You're it.

I'm working out at the gym the other day and basically counting the seconds (which feel like minutes) until I can get off the eliptical machine. When I finally do reach the 30min mark and head to clean the machine, I look around. What I see is not pleasant. A room full of overheated middle-aged people still agonizingly doing their counting. Not much in the way of Olympic aspirations or body-building competitions.

What are we doing? Oh the depression.

It occurred to me in that moment, that wouldn't it be better if we all just played a big game of tag? Like we did when we were kids, running through the neighborhoods, between each other's backyards. I remember running and biking and skipping and jumping. I know that dodge ball is making a real name for itself these days with adult leagues and here's my theory why - it's fun. It's fun that happens to incorporate exercise. Not exercise that might have a little fun in it (read: step aerobics).

So I ask why do we have to stop doing the fun things? Why can't we go meet up on Saturday mornings for sessions of red rover, red light/green light, and my personal favorite TV tag? I would definitely set my alarm on a weekend for that.