few degrees away from Max von Sydow

I just found out that my degrees of separation from Max von Sydow are even fewer than I thought. I originally got a (4) because I know Susan de Guardiola, who once worked on a play with a very young Robert Sean Leonard, who was in Branagh's "Much Ado About Nothing" along with Brian Blessed, who was in "Flash Gordon" with von Sydow. I now have a (3) because I've met writer Melinda Snodgrass, who worked on "Seaquest" and got to meet its producer, one Steven Spielberg, who directed "Minority Report", in which von Sydow had a role.

an evening of pleasure

Yesterday evening I experienced more pleasure than I have in a long time. ("TMI, Serge!") What? Oh. Not *that* kind of pleasure. It was the first time in a long time that I worked on something that didn't involve making sure our system hums along. I did something *creative* - converting and adapting one of our programs from the Pro*C language to PL/SQL, and then testing it successfully. There's a project going on, all of which would have been done by contractors if not for my deciding I'd be pushy and force my way in. I've already called dibs on a bunch of other programs, whether the boss wanted me to or not, because that's the only way I can make my career go where I wish. Just because I'm very good at what I currently do, it doesn't mean that's where I want them to keep me for their own safety until I've become obsolete.

"Klytus, I'm *bored*."
- Ming the Merciless