updates galore

1) I got one of those mass update emails that start with "As many of you already know ... ". Well, since everyone was bcc'ed, it could have just been 5 recipients. Or 500. The problem is that I didn't already know. What does that mean? My gut reaction was to feel wholly inadequate. How could I not know? What kind of a friend am I? But then I got annoyed that I got the followup email but was not in the know from the start.

2) A hotel in DC stole my favorite pair of jeans. Broadway and I stayed at a fancy hotel he got off of PriceLine, and we were in a bit of a rush the morning we checked out, and left a shirt of his and my jeans. When we called housekeeping, they had his shirt, but said that they didn't find any jeans. We are both baffled by the situation. Upon explaining it to one of Broadway's roommates, he asked me "What brand of jeans were they?" I said, "Err, I don't know. They just fit me the best out of all of my jeans." Do jeans have to have brands nowadays? Seven jeans cost $100+. I'd be upset if I lost one of those, but I'm more upset that I lost a pair of jeans that fit me perfectly.

3) My new favorite word is now "clusterfuck". Broadway and I saw the new Coens Brothers movie, Burn After Reading. Towards the end, one of the very minor roles says "Wow, what a clusterfuck." The whole movie is a clusterfuck, if ever the word could be used in a positive connotation. It's so random, insane, and completely awesome and entertaining.

4) Our division has around 20 people or so. One of the other women sent out an email wanting to do a "Girl's Night Out." Now I feel caught between a rock and a hard place. I don't particularly like hanging out with all of these people. There are ones I like, but I get the feeling that the people who would go to this Girls Night Out would be the ones I can't stand. Yet, I don't want to seem like a complete non-team-player. And generally, I just don't really like these forced "Girl's Night" social outings. Of the 20, some 12 or 13 are women. Don't we usually do girls night out when we're in the extreme minority and somehow need to spend time together away from the men? Anyway, I told some of the guys in our lab that they should organize a "Boy's Night Out" in protest. But don't tell anyone I gave them the idea.