One more hour...

I'm agitated this Halloween morning. Could it be because I heard the news about Alito's nomination to the Supreme Court? Could it be because the Packers had another sloppy, horrific loss? Could it be because I had an allergy attack yesterday so my body's adjusting to the NyQuill (from last night), Sudafed and Wal-itin in my system - chased with a cup of coffee? Or could it be the fact that I'm going to be eating at The French Laundry in less than a week and I'm going to be the person responsible for driving two friends through wine country? So, for most of North America, daylight savings time came this weekend. I was dogsitting, so I was up by 6:30 a.m. because an Australian lab/border collie shoved her nose in my face and started licking my nose and lips mercilessly. I wanted to go back to bed, but I started thinking of the concept of daylight savings. You have one more hour of time. For my college life, that one hour meant one more hour of partying or more likely - one more hour of sleeping in to counter the effects of that hazy Saturday night. Now, in the post-grad world, that hour takes on a new meaning (at least for me). I see this hour as a gift. What are you going to do with it? After I let the dogs out, I went downstairs and started channel surfing; watching whatever was on at 7 a.m. Sunday morning. I felt like I was wasting a gift by sitting sleepily, watching heavily-edited versions of Fatal Attraction and Dennis the Menace (like 'Saved by the Bell', just watch it for a hate fix and wonder to yourself how desperate you would need to be to be Christopher Lloyd). Here were some recommendations taken from different sides of my personality. The indulgent side of me... What better way to feel young than to revert to your college years and use it to sleep in? The serious side of me... What better way to use up your time than to surf the Net for a job in Tucson and get another resume sent? Your lease expires in a week. If you sign a six-month lease, you're going to save a hundred dollars a month. If you sign a six month lease, you're in this city for another six months. Can you handle it? No - move, bust your ass - the clock is ticking. This is your life! ... of course, I didn't have a laptop, so this argument sort of died out like a tropical depression. The verdict... Took a shower and moved around at a slower (read leisurely) pace than usual. While waiting for my roommate to get up and meet me for breakfast at The Radial Cafe, I picked up a New York Times and ducked into a coffee house and read for an hour. I usually meet my friend at another coffee house later in the day, but I thought I'd get a start on the important events of the day.

Preemptive strike ...

Anyone who limits Rosa Parks' legacy to African American civil rights. Rosa Parks helped advance the human race, not just a single race. RIP, Ms. Parks - and thank you.