Personal Log: Jeremy Beeler

Today was a crazy day at work. This was the first of four days of all day training sessions with a professional trainer from the company supporting our campus software system. While it was an informative and helpful session, the training this week is only minimally related to my area. I understand that the idea is to cross-train us to support one another, but it is frustrating when it takes up the time I desperately need to catch up on work.

Know that today would be crazy and packed with training, I was sitting in my living room for close to an hour this morning doing work half dressed while I ate a Pop Tart for breakfast. After the usual work day ended, I stayed 2 hours later trying to catch up on my work before coming home. Needless to say, I'm zonked. I even brought work home but decided I need to read my Cal mail instead...

It took me forever to read the messages that were waiting for me and I'm finally through them. I have some thoughts about what I want to post for Lili and Efvra and hope I can post something for them tonight or tomorrow morning before I leave to go to work. Both of them are at points in the story line where they don't have extensively involved roles in the current story line, so hopefully that will help me to keep up despite working myself into the ground.

I didn't get much sleep last night. I knew it was a mistake to take a nap in the middle of the day on Sunday and I was paying for it last night. I had finally fallen asleep around 1am when the fire alarm in my building went off again. Of course it was another false alarm (this time someone pulled the alarm thinking they were funny.) By the time I fell asleep again it was 2am...and then up again for work at 6:30...I'll be dragging all day today.

Standing at the Edge is one of the most inspiring CDs I've heard. His voice and writing are both original and inspiring. If you're expecting the average run-of-the-mill pop guy, you'll be disappointed. Casey is more than a musician, he's an artist and his work reflects that. It's unfortunate that the pop-hungry, radio-driven market will never embrace someone who makes music for the sake of creating over someone who does it with the intention of being rich and famous.

My favorite tracks on the disc are "For Reasons Unexplained", "Contagious" and "Blood." I discovered Casey in a magazine review that described him as "inspired by Tori Amos and Sarah McLachlan." I see the inspiration and that was part of what led me to buy the album. You should check him out, everyone I've played him for has loved him. FIVE STARS

This is my first post...I think this blog is a great idea. It's hard to believe the weekend is almost over already. This weekend I managed to do a little shopping and lounging. I picked up a few holiday gifts for my friend's baby Kyler and some new socks for myself.

I managed to eat most of my meals out again, a bad weekend habit I seem to have gotten myself into. Lunch on Saturday was Olive Garden: always great. Dinner after shopping was going to be Chi Chi's, but I was disappointed to learn that the one in Allentown has permanently closed. Instead we went to Don Pablos...similar menu, but it still makes me sad since I liked Chi Chi's a lot.

I've been catching up on a lot on TiVo since Matthew got back from his sister's wedding in Australia. There's a lot of good shows on TV this season. My favorites are Lost, Veronica Mars, Father of the Pride and Desperate Housewives. Of course, I still enjoy Judging Amy, Joan of Arcadia, Enterprise, Missing, Wild Card and Strong Medicine. I never used to watch much television...ah, what TiVo has done to me.

Tonight I'm baking cookies. Matthew's dad sent a ton of chocolate from the factory he works at, so I thought I should bake some chocolate chip cookies. They're great, but probably the last thing I need, more junk!

I posted for Efvra and Lili this weekend. I love writing for them, but really need to stir them up a bit. They're too interchangeable for me at this point. I haven't decided what to do differently yet, but I'll keep pondering it.

When I was visiting my family two weekends ago, my mom and sister recommended a new artist named Charlotte Martin. I bought her CD and have to say it's excellent. It reminds me a bit of Kate Bush and Magdalen Hsu-Li. I recommend her highly. I also recently purchased Matt Nathanson but am still waiting for it to arrive since I bought it on Ebay.