It's sad, what you'll do when you're bored at work. I ran across this site on the Usual Suspects. I had to share it with Laurie, who instantly took a liking to the "transparent screen" idea. She and I both got out our cameras and experimented with the technique. I'm not ashamed to admit that her attempt was much more successful than mine:

Partially, it's because she has a lot of interesting stuff on her desk, while mine opens out to Dan's office window. Partially, it's because a laptop screen works much better for these types of pictures than a regular monitor.

Mostly, it's because she's a much more talented photographer than I am.

She's not entirely happy with the results, of course, and wants y'all to know that she only took a few minutes to get that photo. I think it's very impressive. She knows how to deal with the perspective right, and positioned the laptop exactly right.

Juan, the design department's newest employee (who is way too well-adjusted for our rag-tag group) asked just what in the hell we were doing. I had him sit in my chair, and he got the effect. He then said we were both crazy.

Being crazy with a digital camera beats going postal, I'd say. This morning was enough to make me wish I had just stayed home.

I won't go into too many details except to say that if you're going to be demanding and condescending, you'd better have the brains to back it up. For instance, you'll lose a lot of points if you, say, catch your finger in a 3-ring binder (to the point of bloodshed), then push and push on the door clearly marked "pull," and then later complain that cutting a piece of cardstock with an X-acto knife and a ruler is "really hard to do." Your Ivy League education just isn't that impressive when you can't handle something that 5th graders master in art class.

Not that anything like that happened today.

The book bidding is going like gangbusters. I didn't think there was much demand for my silly little books, but I've been offered some primo stuff. So much so that I'm going to have to make a whole batch of books and boxes just to give away the books that have been requested.

I'm thrilled, of course. Now that I've taught myself to do all this stuff again, it'll be good to keep it going. I'll try to get everything made quickly enough to put the books, etc. into the mail early next week.

If you've written to tell me that you're "not artistic" or don't have anything to barter, remember that I'm not looking for anything earth-shattering. This is just a fun exchange; I'm not hoping to get a pile of loot out of this. Mostly, I'd like to see what people think I'd like, or that they'd like to show me. It doesn't have to be a handmade piece of art. Found objects that are interesting are always fun, as are items that are only available in your part of the world. (Like the Violet Crumble I've been daydreaming about ever since one of you offered to ship it all the way from Australia!)

Hey, write me a great letter telling me a story I haven't heard before. I don't care; it's just an experiment in sharing, and a way of getting these little story pieces out into the world without simply giving them away.

I got my car title today! I officially own a 7-year-old car. I couldn't be happier.

I have to remember to make sure that my car payment money is deposited directly into the Savings Bank, so that I can't touch it. I got a little spend-happy this past month, and now that I have everything I could ever need, I have to make sure I keep on-track so that the house purchase can happen at the end of the year.

Laurie asked me if my savings account and my checking account were linked, and thought I was a little ridiculous when I told her that no, I'd put half of my cash into savings in my town bank (I don't even have an ATM card for that account. It's deliberately untouchable without interacting with a person). She said that I've been so good about money, why was I hiding it away from myself?

Well, I have been very good with money for the past couple of years, but it's better for me not to even have the temptation of being able to get my hands on my cash easily. I know I should do something even more aggressive with that money, but I haven't had the courage to take that next step, even if it's fully-insured. I don't know when things will change so that I can buy either this or Sean and Heather's house when the time comes.

I'll never be a financial planner. But hey, I'm completely debt-free at this very moment (I made full payments on all my measly credit cards with this week's check). I could run off to some exotic locale at the drop of a hat...

See? Keep the money away from me. I should give my passbook to Mom for safekeeping.

Speaking of safekeeping, I've been thinking of giving strict written orders about what I want to happen to me should I become incapacitated.

I am 100% on the fence when it comes to the Terri Schiavo case (as if it's any of my business). It's all over the news, and the more I hear about it, the less I'm sure I agree or disagree with either side. I feel awful for everyone involved (especially Mrs. Schiavo herself), and I don't know what the right thing to do would be.

I understand the family's point-of-view. If they're willing to keep a family member alive in perpetuity at their own expense, why shouldn't they be allowed to do so? Then again, if there's a glimmer of consciousness in that poor woman's mind, is she going insane, being trapped in a body that can't do what she wants it to?

I've heard the arguments that Michael Schiavo is a monster; that he's greedy; that he doesn't love his wife. But would someone like that stick with someone for 15 years, trying to do the humane thing? Anyone who is taking advantage of this for the money would surely give up after this amount of time, wouldn't he? And isn't he the one with whom his wife would discuss such things? Then again, if Mrs. Schiavo is silently pleading with him for her to be able to stay on earth for just one more day, how is what he's doing "mercy"?

I don't know. I really don't know. Mom has a set of written guidelines about what is to happen to her if she's ever in a state similar to that (gods forbid). My cousin Diane, who is a nurse, is in charge of those orders. My brothers and I will have no say if anything ever happens to incapacitate Mom to such an extent that "extraordinary measures" have to be taken just to keep her breathing. I don't know all the details. I trust Diane completely, and I trust that Mom knows exactly what her own wishes are. I just hope I never have to go through it.

I don't know who I'd entrust with that responsibility. My family or Laurie would be too close to make that decision, and I wouldn't want them to have to go through the guilt and self-doubt associated with such a monumental choice. Diane was supposed to be my godmother, and always thinks of herself in those terms, so I wouldn't ask her.

I think, if and when I draw up such plans, I'll ask my cousin Kathy (on my father's side), who is also a nurse, to be the person who is responsible for that decision. She used to babysit me when I was a kid, but she's not all that much older than me. I know she loves me and has my best interests at heart, but we're distant enough (we only see one another around holidays) that she could be as impartial as someone would have to be.

It's morbid to think about, but as someone lays starving to death (that's so brutal...if we believe in a dignified death, why don't we allow for humane euthenasia?) as the country watches, it's on my mind.

Hopefully, it's not a choice that anyone is ever going to have to make about me, nor I them. Still, it's best to make sure that everyone knows exactly where I stand if the worst happens.

Right now, I feel blessed that the only creature whose fate lies in my hands is currently begging me for a bite of my toast.