bulletpointed, for your ease of reading

* my blog interest is bordering on obsession-lite. i *love* them! what's really comical about my new interest is my lack of desire to promote my little land of blog. i am a net troll in the purest sense, snooping in on others, but not offering any of me. at some point, i may enter onto the chicago bloggers site, but for now i will remain heard and unseen. i like the idea of having a little forum to air my grievances, but don't necessarily need anyone to read them for a full-on confrontation.

* just talked to LadyB. she too was lamenting the 200 bones we dropped on our overpriced sushi extravaganza on the eve of '05. she has now proclaimed no more dining out for this visit, only homemade dinners or drinks in. i have to agree with her, in that my dining experiences more often than not fail to meet my expectation levels. of all the pricey offerings in chicago, you could blaze through a fortune on clubbing or eating meals out. the former holds no appeal for me, and neither does the latter anymore. i used to love me a meal out, but the price knocks the winds out of my enthusiasm, now that i can't write my restaurant jaunts off onto vague advertising budgets. well, come to think of it, perhaps i can write off dining out. being self-employed, i know i can let loose of cable (but i ain't got no cable!), tix for shows, magazine scripts and "entertainment". i'm hoping i can write off insurance expenses as well, if i ever *get* any damn insurance. must ask TaxMan about this. somehow i've gotten off the subject of dining out, but i suppose it's okay because this is my damn blog and i'll say what i wanna!

* enjoying a nice cuppa chocolate caramel coffee from the folks at ghiradelli. during the holiday explosion at the office, i was the lucky recipient of a fancified coffeemaker. it's for the office, natch, but since i was the one leading the complaints against YingBoss' uber-filthy filtrating machine, i get to be the sole proprietress of cafe' becshala. i'm working my way up to having a counter window installed in my lair of the supply closet. even YingBoss has started to abandon his perculator to have some Agent99 goodness in a mug. in seriousness, the last time i had a sip of coffee by his hand, i thought i'd swallowed a mouthful of a watery ashtray. it was vile. sensing that i may be receiving the power of coffee making, i procured a box of the chocolatey coffee grounds along with some sweetie syrup flavorings as my gift for the office personnel. we also offers tea, hot chocolate and apple cider. call for the flavor of the day!

* yoga finna save my winterized soul! i was a bundle of crabbiness under a curled, snearing lip yesterday, but a class at the cheetah gym got this sista's chakras in order wiff a quickness. my worry about having trouble making the gym a habit again is unwarranted. i enjoyed my class so much last night that i'm looking forward to making this my main focus for january. in three weeks, i can make anything a habit, so this won't be a problem. taking the night off tonight to do some resistance band lifting with Mole. fitness can be fun!

* back to work. actually, i've been working all day while typing this, so i should more appropriately say time to sign off. just spent an hour on the phone negotiating a possible conference appearance with HippieKing of the "survivor" shows. he is incredibly nice and was great to work with during my last entrapment in the advertising industry. after his work at my former client's trade show last june, i contacted his sister-in-law (who manages his schedule) about possible work with us, then i happened to run into him at the detroit airport during a layover to winston-salem in october. so, we chatted today and it looks like he may be in minneapolis with us in february. he'd be a major draw at our booth, so this would great if it works out.

* it's four o'clock and i have yet to eat lunch. i'm becoming a coffee/tea junkie and subsisting on pretzels and soy peanut butter. easy mac, take me away!