Wednesday, March 25, 2009

9am arrive at work, delayed by leaving late and the subway taking forever
9 get tea, talk to coworker in kitchen
905 read personal emails, look at link for Nars blush from Sephora, I think this will be my next purchase. Reminded of the fact I have no money, damn. Also look at links from Allrecipes, white chili sounds good. Also gchat coworker about all these people around me sneezing and how annoyed it makes me.
916 updated order form and sent back to fulfillment people
917 emailed royalties asking them to send a statement
919 read ArtDaily newsletter, this new initiative sounds interesting 1
922 get email from publicist asking for an image I know I’ve sent her several times before, grow more and more annoyed as I search for the image, it’s right where it should be, I write a rather snippy email letting her know
925 back to ArtDaily. This sounds interesting too although I’ve never really understood what makes the Graduate so great, maybe when I’m in my 40s and have an affair with a teenager (of age!) I’ll get it.
927 back to my personal email, why does JCrew think they can charge $55+ for their crappy jewelry?
929 try to figure out question for one of the distributes who I really like, end up emailing managing editorial and a designer
932 back to work email, read Shelf Awareness which is mostly about the decline of books, cheery. Hmm Al Gore’s new book is coming out soon I’m ashamed to say I haven’t seen or read An Inconvenient Truth. Friend who I’m having dinner with tonight tells me she feels some hesitation about where we’re going, I tell her to find somewhere else then.
940 read coworkers blog
945 reminder pops up for me to go see BMW artists cars at Grand Central, maybe I’ll do that this weekend
945 read emails public sends in via our website. First is in some other language, delete. Second is from a mother who’s been laid off and can’t afford to buy books for her three sons. These always make me feel bad, she describes how even buying food and paying the mortgage is eating away at her savings and the boys are straight A students and play instruments. It’s a sad story. But in the end I think, “Isn’t this what libraries are for? Why do the kids need to own the books?” Forward email to marketing manager. Third is from someone who is “interested in expanding distribution of my ELA/reading e-books and hard copy products” I don’t know what this means and his rather long email doesn’t help me figure it out, delete. Fourth is from a company that doesn’t receive our catalogs but would like to get them, I go to their website to figure out who here would handle them, they have cool stuff
951 explore the website jesus Christ this stuff is expensive! Do these people not understand we’re in a recession? Way too overpriced.
955 back to website email, forward shopcomposition email to special sales. Fifth email is from a guy who wants to know the pub date of a book and how to buy it. I never understand the people who ask how to buy books. Go to a bookstore! Here’s my reply “The book will be published in May. You can order via our website, a bookstore, or a website like Amazon.com.” That’s the end of new emails, now we’re onto the ones I ignored from yesterday. Someone who wants to know if we’ve reviewed her book proposal, she has a Ph.D. in something, she’s sure to mention this several times. Delete. Someone who wants a desk copy, forward them generic letter. Next an email addressed a specific person in the office. Forward. Someone who wants their kid’s book signed. Forward to publicity. Another desk copy request, forward standard letter.
1002 check to see what’s in NYT dining section, so stupid I can’t even post it. gchat with friend instead. Ok, give NYT another chance. This sounds good. This sounds good too, but what is a tomatillo?
1007 explore other restaurants where I could eat tonight, not in the mood, give up
1010 bathroom, the ab workout I did yesterday has made my legs and lower back very sore, standing and sitting is torture. Also get advil.
1014 back to nytimes while I eat my granola bar. Tomatillo where do I buy this? Clearly I will never make that salsa. Interrupted with more questions about dinner.
1020 talk to ceo’s assistant about almonds
1022 trying to go back to nytimes, boss comes by, she asks about dinner, likes the ring I’m wearing. Ceo’s assistant comes back to discuss almonds more.
1026 go into sales and marketing meeting
1142 cover front desk for the receptionist to go on break, read part of the metro paper, today is the anniversary of the triangle shirtwaist factory fire. Talked to the receptionist about the house she wants to buy.
1159 Eat almonds and read personal and work emails I missed while in the meeting and covering break. Got newsletter from kashi, they should explain why they don’t have the granola bars I want in any store. Self.com’s tip of the day is especially helpful, it says to get a strong lower back to balance ab exercises I should “Lie on your stomach and lift up arms and legs. Hold for five counts, release, then repeat 10 times.” NY Times email alert about the MTA raising fares “Board members called the measures a disaster for commuters in the New York area but said they could no longer wait for lawmakers in Albany to rescue them.” Lovely.
1207 read Publisher’s Lunch, virtually no articles
1208 read PW Daily. I kind of want a Kindle, is this against everything the industry I work for stands for?
1211 look at website for the store I bought nuts from yesterday. It is a local Brooklyn store! Yay, I like it even more. My half pound of almonds was $2.49; can there be a better price? Corn nuts look good, I doubt they’re very good for you. Oh they have peanuts (duh) maybe I can buy their peanuts and make the NY Times recipe. Why are pine nuts so expensive? What is a pine nut? Oh dark chocolate covered almonds, so healthy! “Our supersized Grade A Almonds are packed with nutrients, high in protein, calcium, and Vitamin E! These are covered with Pure Dark Chocolate that adds flavenols which studies prove are good for your heart.” Oh they have malt balls, I love malt balls.
1220 call from guy at one of my boss’s accounts, transferred to boss because I don’t know the answer. Back to nuts. I wish I liked dried fruit, I don’t know, it freaks me out. Maybe I should give it another try.
1223 read email from website, someone from France who wants to order Simon and Schuster books, delete.
1224 Really want to read the NY Times, but instead update grid I keep with numbers people have emailed me. Coworker comes over to chat.
1235 now I’m distracted. Look at people’s gchat statuses. Someone’s quoting Robert Pattinson, nasty. VP of sales sends me to track someone down.
1237 still distracted
1238 I want chocolate, ok, back to spreadsheet
1241 done with spreadsheet, leave it open so it appears that I’m working in case anyone walks past.
1243 this headline in the Huffington post has almost nothing to do with the actual article
1245 go get water
1247 eat more almonds and continue reading The Huffington Post, I love that David Letterman got married This doesn’t sound so bad to me
1252 back to NY Times. This sounds tasty, and I could eat it at work this sounds good too on a fatass day
1256 boss gchats me asking what my “ohh lord” status means. Thankfully I don’t even have to lie, it’s about my eyes.
1257 back to ny times
100 I’m so hungry, normally we eat around 1230 (my exclusionary lunch group) but people are taking their sweet time today
102 Oh they’re back, time to eat!
202 back from lunch, exactly an hour; that never happens
203 put the rest of my lunch back in the fridge, go to the bathroom
207 listen to my voicemails, call from reception I immediately delete, another call from someone wanting us to donate books, immediately delete
208 I haven’t changed my poop calendar today, today’s entry deals with the popularity of the book Everyone Poops
209 My contacts are really driving me nuts. Should I take them out?
210 check website emails, someone who can’t get a link on our website to work, forward to editor. Someone in Canada who wants to buy books, forward to Canada.
211 delete two personal emails
212 contacts need to come out
214 much better, let’s check some work emails that I may have ignored over the past few days
222 let’s see what’s new on the internets
224 oh, I haven’t looked at facebook today, away I go
229 haven’t looked at Mrs. O today either, until now! I like the pictures on the site, but I think their coverage and tone is a bit condescending
231 time for the SCOTUS blog, nothing interesting
233 Back to the Huffington Post
239 At least this account of this guy’s death provides more information but it doesn’t tell me anything about a wild sex romp
245 Just read George Weber’s blog, really creepy
247 now here’s the article I’ve been searching for
249 I don’t think she’s that well-dressed, it’s just a lot of black
259 I’m getting bored of this list
301 back to NY Times
316 I’ve reached the time of day that I dread. I’ve read the NY Times, I’ve read the Huffington Post, I’ve read Mrs. O, I’ve read the SCOTUS blog, I’ve looked at Facebook, I have no new emails to address, no work to do. Where do I go from here?
331 Alright, after playing with Google Maps I guess I’ll do some desk copy orders. Maybe I’ll read through this list first.
336 Forwarded email from publicity to one of the distribution clients
337 Phone call from coworker asking if I can go check something in her email since she’s out of the office
342 Back at my desk, there’s a message from the receptionist telling me I don’t need to cover her break
343 I really like the name Ben. If I don’t marry a Ben I think I’ll name my son (if I have one) Ben. Is Ben a really Jewish name?
411 Finished very long discussion with my boss and other coworkers about the MTA service cuts
445 Just sat in coworkers office for a while gossiping
500 Researching places to go in Phoenix when I go with my boss for the Museum Store Association Show
521 wandered around for a while, now I’m requesting free books from my Random House connection. It sounds like someone’s jumping up and down on paper in the hallway.
523 I still really want a Kindle
525 now this is a really cool thing about the Kindle “By using the QWERTY keyboard, you can add annotations to text, just like you might write in the margins of a book. And because it is digital, you can edit, delete, and export your notes. Using the new 5-way controller, you can highlight and clip key passages and bookmark pages for future use. You'll never need to bookmark your last place in the book, because Kindle remembers for you and always opens to the last page you read.”
529 friend who I’m having dinner with wanted to leave at 530, no sign of her yet
533 still waiting, ugh my stomach hurts
534 I’m going to look for her
538 she’s still not ready
541 wooo, she’s ready!