My Life Is Weird
Not that this should be news to anyone, but I just wanted to say it. I have uploaded all my Vegas pictures as well as pictures of the National Christmas tree from this weekend to my flickr page.
Friday I didn't manage to get together with Toni, so I guess we'll try again this week. I did break up with Jim though. No one particular reason, I just didn't want to date him any more. I wait with dark glee in my heart for all the awkward conversations that will happen at Christmas when everyone asks about my boyfriend.
Saturday Brooke and I went over to Rachel's for a wii party. I binged a bit on all the candy she had out to decorate her gingerbread house. We played several games. I liked the rhythm game even though Brooke kicked my butt every time. Rachel's younger brother, Tony, was also there, sporting a '70s style pornstache. He gave some lame excuse about it being for a costume, but I think he was just trying to get skeezy gay guys to hit on him. Sunday Brooke and I went to see the National Christmas tree in front of the White House. It's a huge, living tree that is decorated every year at Christmas time. Smaller trees are set up around the main tree for each state and territory. There was a Nativity with a creepily Aryan Holy Family. The Baby Jesus was especially wrong to me. There was a large fire, fenced in for safety, to huddle around for warmth and model trains running around the main tree. After we were sufficiently frozen and had seen the trees in daylight and lit up, we saw The Golden Compass. There were some changes from the book, but they worked fairly well for the movie. The movie does end before the book does. I think they wanted to have it end on less of a cliffhanger in case they didn't get to make the next movie. Nicole Kidman was perfect as Mrs. Coulter, and the girl who played Lyra did an excellent job as well.
I had previously received several Christmas cards from various coworkers, but today Boss gave out his presents (same for everyone). To start, there was a Bible quote on the wrapping paper. (You should be feeling a sense of foreboding now.) The book inside is titled "Creation: Facts of Life," tagline "How Real Science Reveals the Hand of God." It's written by a guy with a phd in biology. Apparently his studies have led him to the belief that the universe is too complex to have developed on its own; God must have had something to do with things. Putting aside the idiocy of the book itself, how can anyone think it's appropriate to give such a strongly religious-themed gifts to employees? I have known since I started work that Boss is a very religious man, but it has always been a quiet, low-key knowledge. This was very unexpected. I know he gave this book with good intentions, but it makes me extremely uncomfortable. I don't want to file a complaint with HR (or whoever deals with these things) because he's a great boss, and I don't want to turn a really great work situation sour. I'm still a bit stunned that he thought his gift an acceptable one. As much as it pains me to do this to a book, I'm going to throw it away. Usually I donate unwanted books to the library, but I want to limit access to such gross stupidity.
This marks the third incident at work where I have felt discomfort due to a religious issue. The other two times involved group prayer. Before the office Thanksgiving potluck and again before the division pizza party, one of the higher ups lead everyone in a prayer that used the words "Dear Lord" and "Jesus Christ". These were not the nondenominational blessings that I had become used to at large gatherings. They were very obviously Christian prayers. I know when the prayer started before the potluck my jaw dropped. I just couldn't believe they were doing this at an official work event. I still can't believe one of the non-Christian employees hasn't filed a complaint about it before now. I spoke about it with the other Jennifer R. in the office. She said someone had filed a complaint. Apparently it used to be more extreme. I think I'm just going to let it go for right now. However if anyone says anything to me about not participating in the prayers, I will absolutely make my discomfort known to HR (or whoever).
Friday I didn't manage to get together with Toni, so I guess we'll try again this week. I did break up with Jim though. No one particular reason, I just didn't want to date him any more. I wait with dark glee in my heart for all the awkward conversations that will happen at Christmas when everyone asks about my boyfriend.
Saturday Brooke and I went over to Rachel's for a wii party. I binged a bit on all the candy she had out to decorate her gingerbread house. We played several games. I liked the rhythm game even though Brooke kicked my butt every time. Rachel's younger brother, Tony, was also there, sporting a '70s style pornstache. He gave some lame excuse about it being for a costume, but I think he was just trying to get skeezy gay guys to hit on him. Sunday Brooke and I went to see the National Christmas tree in front of the White House. It's a huge, living tree that is decorated every year at Christmas time. Smaller trees are set up around the main tree for each state and territory. There was a Nativity with a creepily Aryan Holy Family. The Baby Jesus was especially wrong to me. There was a large fire, fenced in for safety, to huddle around for warmth and model trains running around the main tree. After we were sufficiently frozen and had seen the trees in daylight and lit up, we saw The Golden Compass. There were some changes from the book, but they worked fairly well for the movie. The movie does end before the book does. I think they wanted to have it end on less of a cliffhanger in case they didn't get to make the next movie. Nicole Kidman was perfect as Mrs. Coulter, and the girl who played Lyra did an excellent job as well.
I had previously received several Christmas cards from various coworkers, but today Boss gave out his presents (same for everyone). To start, there was a Bible quote on the wrapping paper. (You should be feeling a sense of foreboding now.) The book inside is titled "Creation: Facts of Life," tagline "How Real Science Reveals the Hand of God." It's written by a guy with a phd in biology. Apparently his studies have led him to the belief that the universe is too complex to have developed on its own; God must have had something to do with things. Putting aside the idiocy of the book itself, how can anyone think it's appropriate to give such a strongly religious-themed gifts to employees? I have known since I started work that Boss is a very religious man, but it has always been a quiet, low-key knowledge. This was very unexpected. I know he gave this book with good intentions, but it makes me extremely uncomfortable. I don't want to file a complaint with HR (or whoever deals with these things) because he's a great boss, and I don't want to turn a really great work situation sour. I'm still a bit stunned that he thought his gift an acceptable one. As much as it pains me to do this to a book, I'm going to throw it away. Usually I donate unwanted books to the library, but I want to limit access to such gross stupidity.
This marks the third incident at work where I have felt discomfort due to a religious issue. The other two times involved group prayer. Before the office Thanksgiving potluck and again before the division pizza party, one of the higher ups lead everyone in a prayer that used the words "Dear Lord" and "Jesus Christ". These were not the nondenominational blessings that I had become used to at large gatherings. They were very obviously Christian prayers. I know when the prayer started before the potluck my jaw dropped. I just couldn't believe they were doing this at an official work event. I still can't believe one of the non-Christian employees hasn't filed a complaint about it before now. I spoke about it with the other Jennifer R. in the office. She said someone had filed a complaint. Apparently it used to be more extreme. I think I'm just going to let it go for right now. However if anyone says anything to me about not participating in the prayers, I will absolutely make my discomfort known to HR (or whoever).