IVP - Strangely Dim - Choose Your Weird

Choose Your Weird

First, for a topic that has nothing to do with the title: Congrats to Dave, whose latest book, Deliver Us from Me-Ville, has arrived, hot off the presses! I know I need to read it--and I know, because of who my fellow blogger is, it will be honest, challenging, well-written and very funny. Order your copy; then we can dialogue about it here at Strangely Dim.

On an entirely different note, I've been reflecting on the near-perfect weirdness I experienced in our office last Friday afternoon.

You know the kind of afternoon I'm talking about. Colleagues are out of the office. It's a perfect day outside. You're sitting at the cusp of a new weekend in which you're free to sleep, read, be with friends and family, organize your spice rack--whatever you enjoy.

That was last Friday in the editorial department here at IVP. My fellow ETF member (that's Editorial Task Force) Jeff, who happens to have impeccable taste in Friday-afternoon outings, suggested a Starbucks run with the following e-mail:

"ETF unite: We shall gather at 2:00, leave for Starbucks shortly thereafter, consume highly caffeinated beverages, and then come back to work! I'm feeling so adventuresome and rebellious! The exclamation points! The serial comma! Lord help us all!" [The way proofreaders rebel, if you didn't know, is by using capitalization and exclamation points with abandon.]

which was greeted with such e-mail responses as:

"Yaaaayyyyyyyy Starbucks! And Caffeine! (I'm Feeling REBELLIOUS Too.)"

"Mid-afternoon legal addictive stimulants . . . I could climb mountains, swim oceans, run through the desert . . ."

which was followed up by an e-mail from another ETF member (who shall remain nameless):

"You're all a little weird, I think. But I'm in!"

Now in case you're tempted to canonize this last ETF member as the voice of reason in our cacophony of weirdness, you should know that she has decorated her cubicle in Alias action figures and photos and frequently mentions her desire to be Sydney Bristow.

Which brings me to my point: Everyone's weird. You're weird. I'm weird. Might as well accept it.

Here at IVP, aside from the Alias action figures, we all have our own weird that we exhibit. I like to name plants and cars (as you know). Dave has been spotted in superhero tights. We say "rabbit" on the first day of the month. And some of us get a little excited about outings to select caffeinated-beverage locations.

So, on the cusp of this Memorial Day Weekend, I offer three small words for your three-day weekend: Choose your weird.

As for me on this Friday, the office is quiet again, our department head is out, my car Luci is calling my name, and Dave's book coming in is cause for celebration . . .

STARBUCKS, ANYONE????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!