Martin's Musings

Looks like there’s an error over at Excite.com. This is how my home page showed up last night. No kidding. I didn’t doctor this at all.

Someone tell me which one is supposed to be the wizard and which one is supposed to be the ape.

“I’m 30 years old and I’ve finally learned how to talk to teenage girls.”
— Dan Friedell on covering high school sports for his local paper

I hear ya, buddy.

Did you know that tomorrow is Positive People Day? It has been so declared by an organization called Victory Over Violence. I was reminded of this fact by the folks in South Station this morning who were handing out reminder cards and posters.

So how does one celebrate Positive People Day? Well, aside from the obvious (being a positive person), the group’s web site says you’re supposed to do random acts of kindness: smile (often), give a hug (though it’s not specified to whom), thank someone, pay an unexpected compliment, share a laugh or a kind word, or call your mother or a loved one.

I’m going to do all those things (look out!) and also celebrate all those in my life who have a positive attitude — like Jenn, a loyal and enthusiastic reader of this site who sits at the corner desk in my office near the kitchen and always has a friendly smile on her face (hi, Jenn!) — and who encourage me to have a positive attitude.

I’m not going to question the fact that we even need a Positive People Day, or the randomness of why Underdog is the day’s mascot. Why? Because doing so would run counter to the day’s goals. La-dee-dah, I will just say that this is the most wonderful day of the year. Yahooie!

It’s official: I’m not a morning person. Had to get up early (i.e.: at 6 am) to take care of some car repairs and even when I got out of the bathroom post-shower and washing up it was still dark out. I’m the kind of guy who will hit snooze every 9 minutes for an hour just because he doesn’t like the song playing on the radio, or because it just didn’t feel right and I needed 9 more minutes, so I just can’t get behind all those people who wake up early by choice. Sure, no one likes staying in the office too late (myself included), and I’d wake up early for work if I had to, but if given the choice of being here at 8 am or staying until 7 pm, I’ll take the later option. Waking up early is just no fun. And no, I’m not a coffee drinker. So right now I’m chugging from a can of Coke (diet, because we were all out of regular. Argh).

Happy Monday y’all.

Over the summer, when I was working until 9, 10 or 11pm, I’d come home each night to a blinking notification that I had voice mail. And I’d be excited, of course, because after a pretty solitary and lonely evening, the possibility of some love from a friend or family member was just what I needed.

But it never failed: the messages would always be from telemarketers informing me that I’d been preapproved for a credit card, or the entry that I or a family member or friend had submitted had been chosen and I’d won a trip, or that I could consolidate my mortgage payments (note: I rent, not own), or that a satellite TV provider would be in my area … You all know what these calls sound like. And my caller ID would be filled with “Unknown Caller” or “Ocean Glass” or “Iowa” or “Michigan” or other random IDs.

And I found that there really was not much more depressing than coming home from work so late again to find all these messages and have none of them be from people you actually know. Talk about adding insult to injury.

So a couple of months ago, I finally signed up for the National Do Not Call Registry. The thing works like a charm; no more telemarketing calls, no more random IDs on the caller ID. (Alright, maybe an occasional one or two.) In fact, almost no calls at all.

But you know what? I’m not sure this is so much better. I keep asking myself what’s worse: coming home after a long day to messages, even if they are from telemarketers, or coming home to nothing. And no, this is not a plea for people I know to call me. It’s just something of a discussion topic, I suppose, even if it’s a discussion I’m having with myself. Personally, in hindsight, I think I may have liked the calls. Maybe it was their frequency that got annoying. (Ehhhh, maybe not.) I mean, after all, it’s nice to be called by people. Who doesn’t like attention? I don’t know.

So what do you think? Is it worse to have no messages waiting or to have multiple messages from telemarketers?

About 10 years ago, a bunch of guys playing racquetball discovered that speaking in pirate slang made playing the game more fun. They decided that as long as there is a holiday for everything else, there needed to be a holiday to celebrate this kind of thing too, and began calling September 19 “Talk Like a Pirate Day.” Writer Dave Barry heard about it some years later, and in 2002 he wrote a column about the guys. Well, the rest is history. So today I bring you this special announcement …

Today is the 11th annual International Talk Like a Pirate Day!

In the spirit of the day, and with thanks to talklikeapirate.com, here are some key words that will help you to talk like a pirate:

Ahoy! — “Hello!”

Avast! — Stop and give attention. It can be used in a sense of surprise, “Whoa! Get a load of that!” which today makes it more of a “Check it out” or “No way!” or “Get off!”

Aye! — “Why yes, I agree most heartily with everything you just said or did.”

Aye aye! — “I’ll get right on that sir, as soon as my break is over.”

Arrr! — This one is often confused with arrrgh, which is of course the sound you make when you sit on a belaying pin. “Arrr!” can mean, variously, “yes,” “I agree,” “I’m happy,” “I’m enjoying this beer,” “My team is going to win it all,” “I saw that television show, it sucked!” and “That was a clever remark you or I just made.” And those are just a few of the myriad possibilities of Arrr!

… Really, it’s just that simple. (I guess pirate vocabulary doesn’t go much past the A’s.) But if you need help translating your common English to pirate-speak, here’s a handy translator that will do it for you. Just click on “ahoy!” And if you want even more fun, try speaking — I mean, talking like a German pirate. (These guys clearly have too much time on their hands.

But remember one thing: it’s Talk Like a Pirate Day, not Dress Like a Pirate Day. So you can participate without calling too much attention to yourself.

Consider this the most valuable PSA you’ll read today.

If you’re in the Boston area and have been wanting to help the displaced victims of Hurricane Katrina but haven’t yet found a way, please consider this option.

Basically, there appears to be a huge need for used, but serviceable, LUGGAGE WITH WHEELS in Houston so that evacuees who have been flown there and are being temporarily housed in the Houston Convention Center could have luggage rather than using garbage bags.
 
My company is currently trying to collect as much luggage as we can to send down to Houston this Friday. If you have anything you’d like to donate, please send me an email ASAP.
 
Be sure it’s luggage that closes properly, has servicable wheels and is completely empty with nothing inside. It does not have to be pretty or in perfect shape as long as it meets these three criteria.
 
I need to bring in all luggage no later than this Friday. Someone here will be driving it all over to Logan Airport and dropping it off at the terminal.
 
If you would like to donate luggage or know someone else who would, but you can’t get it to me by Friday, please let me know and I’ll get you information about dropping it off yourself.

Thanks.