The party's over.

Christmas is over. I know this because today I had to go to work. I like my job, as jobs go, but it's still a job. I must awake to the sound of an alarm, go to an office, spend untold hours sitting under flourescent lights and watch a clock for appointed breaks to release me from my cement and glass cage to go run errands or have lunch. My life is not my own. I work for The Man, and The Man owns my day. By virtue of that fact alone, I look forward to weekends and holidays and any time I don't have to be at work. I hate to think how miserable it would be if I didn't like my job. In fact, I need not ponder that like it's something I'm unfamiliar with. I've had jobs I hated, and it was truly miserable.

One job in particular leaps to mind. I would've enjoyed the work if I hadn't worked with the devil's spawn. There were 7 of us in the office, and 4 of the people are people I hope only bad things ever happen to for the rest of their lives. They are mean-spirited, horrible, awful people who worked overtime to make me miserable for no reason I could ever understand, and I hope they reap every moment of agony that they've sown. I realize that it's ony two days after Christmas and that's not exactly the spirit of the season. I'm not saying I'll have anything to do with inflicting said agony. The day I left that place was the last moment I ever had anything to do with any of those people. I'm out - clear. I'm just saying that I don't have that whole "love thine enemy" thing working. Maybe some day I'll elevate to some new level of Christian love that will transcend all this human reaction stuff. Until then, devil spawn, what comes around goes around - it's your karma, man, and good luck with it.

Speaking of karma, if there's anyone out there who hasn't seen "My Name is Earl" you've GOT to catch it! It's my absolute favorite new show of this year. It's on NBC and it has been on Tuesdays at 8:00 CST, but it's moving to Thursday nights as part of a new Must-See TV style lineup with The Office. I had a big crush on Jason Lee until I found out he's a Scientologist. That made my face scrunch up. But he's still cute as can-be, and the show is just great. The Office, too, is funny, but I'm a fan of the original so it's taken some getting use to for me to make the switch to the American version. Steve Carrell is a little different in the role of the boss than Ricky Gervais was - his character is a little more sympathetic than David Brent was. Ricky Gervais was absolutely brilliant. But Steve Carrell is one of my favorite comedians, so give that a shot, too, if you haven't.

I'm glad about the move because now My Name is Earl won't compete with The Amazing Race on Tuesdays. I have a satellite dish, and I don't have the DVR version, which means I can't tape on one channel while watching another. I know - it's like a step back into the early '80s. But I just can't justify additional television cost right now, and DVR would cost extra every month, yet I luv my satellite dish. So, the single-channel limitation is an albatross I shall live with for the time being. Anyway, I was having to tape Earl on my broadcast tv in my spare bedroom and watch TAR live, and the quality on the broadcast set isn't too hot. So, I'll be glad to stop that little operation. All I ask is that TAR never do this family version of the show again. That was lame. The challenges weren't as good, the travel wasn't as good, and the kids were annoying. Let's stick with adults, traveling all over the world, bungee jumping from rickety bridges into a pit of tigers while someone's a-hole husband screams in the background about how much better he is than everyone else...one episode before he goes DOWN! *That's* The Amazing Race I love to watch.