December 13, 2007
Dear Everyone:
Today we had our annual “Year-End-
But instead of letters and numbers, the squares contain things like “Works in Active Files” or “Has three or more email addresses.” You’re supposed to go around the room finding people who can meet the criteria in each box until you get “Bingo” or, in this case, fill all but one box (you get one “Free” to use like a wildcard.)
The whole idea is to get people who don’t know each other to get to know each other through this “socializing ice breaker.” But, as one of my co-workers pointed out, it doesn’t promote socializing because as soon as you get someone to sign one of the squares you turn your back on them looking for your next target.
Once this nonsense was over we had a very nice buffet lunch with lots of desserts. Next came a “team building” exercise. Each table received a large gift bag containing a package of dry spaghetti, a bag of marshmallows, a bag of miniature marshmallows and a package of toothpicks. The objective: build a structure. The table with the tallest structure built in ten minutes wins a prize. My table did not win.
Next came the “White Elephant gift exchange.” To participate in this you had to bring a wrapped gift of some kind. We all picked slips of paper with numbers out of a bag. Number One got to open the first gift. Number Two had the choice of “stealing” Number One’s gift or opening a new gift. Each person had the choice of “stealing” a known gift or opening an unknown gift. If your gift was stolen, you could steal another or open a new one. A gift could only be stolen three times.
There was one woman who seemed to have a knack for opening gifts that others liked. Hers was stolen at least a half-dozen times. Needless to say, the bottles of wine were most popular with the “thieves”. Finally came the raffle for the Bingo sheets. Two people won lovely prizes.
More people won raffle prizes. Then it was time to get into line for the valet parking to bring your car around. The best gift was time: I got off “work” an hour early and did some holiday shopping before heading home.
I am pleased to say that I have almost all my
holiday preparations in order.
I just have some things to pick up at a specialty shop in
Last weekend our niece, “Liza” came out from
And we went to the movies. I still want to see Enchanted, but “Jeannie” and “Liza” voted for The Golden Compass. The movie starts out by explaining that there are many different universes, each with its own rules. In this universe people have “souls” outside their bodies in the form of animals called “daemons”. And these people frequently converse with their daemons. (Try finding someone in our universe who talks to their own soul and listens to the reply.)
Lyra is an orphan living in a boarding school that
looks a lot like
Sam Elliot plays a Texan, whose daemon is a floppy-eared rabbit. And Ian McKellen has a dual-role. It’s clear that what a person’s daemon looks like gives you a clue as to what kind of person they are. A school master’s daemon is a wise owl. A faithful servant’s is a faithful dog. Frightening soldiers have timber wolves.
Children’s daemons change shape frequently because the children are still growing into the person they will be come. This is an important plot point that I won’t go into further. From what I’ve heard, if you’ve already read the book (Northern Lights by Philip Pullman, part one of three), you’ll be disappointed.
If you haven’t read the book, you’ll enjoy the movie (it really is quite delightful) and it may inspire you to read the book. No doubt, all the bookstores have the set ready and waiting for you. Think of it as a holiday present for yourself.
Love, as always,
Pete
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