Sometimes things are really busy at work, and sometimes, it’s really slow. This week was one of those times, and things got so slow that by the time yesterday rolled around, I decided to take the day off. Conveniently, Aimee also had the day off for the Good Friday holiday, so I surprised her this morning with breakfast and we planned our free day. Strangely enough, it began with watching last night’s premiere of The Office on NBC at about 8:45 am. It’s difficult to think about the show, having been blown away when I happened to find the original on BBC America one evening a few years ago. The surprise factor, the “I’ve never seen anything remotely like this ever before” reaction is gone, which was much of the reason the show was initially interesting. Even if you take that away, though, the American version is less laugh-out-loud funny, less painful, and less engaging than the original. That said, though, it is a pretty amazing thing to see on prime time network tv: no laugh track, less audience hand-holding, more dead time and uncomfortable silence. It’s not as entertaining, upon first viewing, as “Arrested Development,” which features many of the same elements but is faster, louder, and funnier. I’ll watch another episode to see if it comes out of the shadow of the original when it gets its own plotlines. I realized, in watching this episode, that it’s actually Gareth I miss the most.
After we’d taken care of that, we headed out to make the pilgrimage to the Jamba Juice at B.U. I’ve enjoyed many a Razzmatazz and Cranberry Craze in Seattle, San Francisco, Austin, Chicago, Minneapolis – when you say “What do they have that Boston doesn’t?” I always thought ‘Jamba Juice’ was the answer. But there is one, just one, in the entire state of Massachusetts. I figured I’d have a Power size smoothie (that’s 798 grams of liquid fruit goodness, for the uninitiated) since I won’t be going there too often – and it took me the rest of the morning to finish it. It’s not often you feel compelled to hold something you’re drinking with both hands because it’s so big. Mmm.
The best part of the morning, though, had to be the two times in fifty feet that Aimee and I were asked “Are you Jewish?” by some people wanting to involve us in a Purim celebration. It seemed strange – if we were, would we really stop and sign up for whatever it was they were promoting? And why us? Why twice? Did we look like likely candidates? It was very entertaining, especially when the second guy was wearing a king’s crown and carrying a couple of colorful shopping bags in his hands. As we walked back from Jamba Juice, we saw the same people, still at it.
It was almost warm out today – spring is definitely on its way. The geese out in front of Aimee’s apartment seem to be back from their winter holiday.
