Rants and Ramblings: random commentary about culture, media, politics, technology and whatnot.

study grounds

I’m making a last stand on my paper here at Common Grounds in Clarendon. Strangely enough, it’s a lot easier for me to mentally focus on what I need to work on here than at home. I’m sitting in the main room of the coffeehouse, near the cash register. I hear a low collective “roar” of animated conversation and funky, low-key music that plays over the loudspeaker.

My workday today was fairly short — I overslept and arrived late, then left early to finish this paper. We had our office Christmas “party” at Taberna del Alabardero, a fairly upscale restaurant a few blocks from the office. (It’s one of those places with a coat check and a dress code. E-mails were sent prior to the lunch advising us not to wear jeans today, but three people still had to run home to change clothes before lunch.) The bread, wine, appetizers and dessert were yummy … but I was overwhelmingly disappointed with their vaunted paella, which featured so many large and small chunks of bone mixed in with the rice that I soon just gave up on the dish and munched on bread as my coworkers finished their meals. After all that food and wine, I’m ready for sleep.

11:59 p.m., and I’m free. Hopefully.