Today was a blur. One gray, broad streak my mind wandered all the way through.

Dear I-Might-Sound-Like-A-Bitch-But-I'm-Just-Being-Direct:

There are ways to be direct without sounding like a bitch. Instead of "Hey, you need to blah blah blah quicker." with the snappy hand gestures and the attitude or "What are you doing? Blah blah blah (Now I'm ordering you to do something)." can easily be "Ok, you know how to blah blah blah. Step your game up and we can get done quicker." in a friendly, lets-do-each-other-a-solid tone or "Once your done with that, we really need blah blah blah done. Could you do that?"

Its not that you are a bitch or anything, but you haven't learned to be direct in a way that isn't bitchy. And once you learn that, you can become a better leader.

"The oceans and the rivers attract the streams by their skills in being lower than they." Condescension doesn't make anyone want to do anything. Its a God awful motivator. When you give good advice in a condescending tone, you are probably going to make the recipient want to resist the advice. Later, the recipient might heed it, but wouldn't you want him/her to receive it immediately? We're all equals here, so treat others like one.

I just finished the second book of Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea Quartet. I read them when I was little, well at least the first two books and a bit of the third. So tomorrow I venture into new Archipelgan territory.

Ursula K. Le Guin is most widely known for her Earthsea series, but is also acclaimed for her version of the Tao Te Ching. Going back and reading A Wizard of Earthsea and The Tombs of Atuan, the Taoist elements are completely obvious. I love it. I read a little bit of her translation of the Tao Te Ching and I loved her rendition of the first chapter. So I ordered that bitch. Can't wait to read it!

Yesterday, I meditated for the first time in a while. I felt so good, like douching all the sewage in my mind. So today I meditated again. For a while I was meditating everyday. That was only for a month though. I think I'll pick it back up again. It's a great stress-reliever and just makes you feel content. Very refreshing.

Tomorrow we Americans will celebrate LIBERTY and FREEDOM and  THE BEST PART OF AMERICA - USAAAAAAAAA! I get to work my ass off. I know this because we get slammed during holidays and nothing's more American than a Brazilian steakhouse. Believe me, if you've ever been to one, you'd agree.

Well, it's off to eat and then to bed. I've got a big day ahead of me that I must mentally prepare for.

Seeing things through to the end is the best way to see them.

Surgeon general warning: this entry is raunchy and not recommended for the light-hearted, elderly, or any woman in the later trimester of her pregnancy.

When I returned from work, I found Ruby had shitted all over my room. You could tell she was nervous because the feces wasn't very solid. I'm talking about diarrhea. The nasty awful kind that reeks.

I took poor little Ruby for a walk so that she may exude any foul thing she had left in her. After I returned, it was time to get to work.

I felt like some ax murder, viciously scrubbing the rugs: latex gloves and carefully dabbing trying to transcend the vile nature of the situation. I'm no Ed Gein, but I did a pretty good clean-up job.

Other than that, work was aight and I got a little tip money. Not bad. Tomorrow's my day off and I plan on cleaning my room, reading, watching some movies, and whatever else. On the movie menu: Dead Leaves (an anime), Breathless (a Jean-Luc Godard film), and the Godfather movies I still have yet to watch any of. So big day tomorrow. Also, little Ruby has a check up appointment with the local vet, so I know she'll enjoy that. Hopefully she won't diarrhea all over their floor, too.