I know at least two people who need this

SIGNS YOU NEED TO SLOW DOWN

- You no longer remember anyone's phone number because they're all programmed into your cell phone
- You IM people sitting within 20 feet of you
- You make itineraries for your vacations
- The idea of a week without internet access fills you with terror
- You're bored at home if the television isn't on
- You absolutely must watch the news every day to make sure the world isn't ending
- You regularly watch sitcom reruns you have seen countless times before [this is, of course, assuming you're not too busy to do anything as leisurely as watch TV, or irresponsible enough to watch sitcoms instead of 24/7 cycling news and/or talking heads]
- You're unable to sit still and think in silence
- Your conversation regularly revolves around the lives of others rather than your own [I'm not sure what this is supposed to imply...]
- You buy shoes to match your iPod.

Americans work more and vacation less than any other country - even Japan, which has a word, kashori, that roughly translates to "death from overwork."

[From Utne magazine, Jan/Feb 2005, except for what's in brackets, which is my editorial comment.]

It's a shame this article has several irrelevant political editorial comments that would make one person who could really use it (yes, I am looking at YOU, you know who you are*) discount the validity of the entire thing.

*(well, maybe**)
**(OK, chances are, probably not, but it's nice to hope. You'll be recieving it in the mail as soon as I can find and operate the photocopiers at the library.)

A Ponderance

I wonder if, perhaps, the important meeting next Thursday in the Snicket books is an oblique reference/tribute to Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next novels, whose main character is named ... you guessed it ... Thursday Next.

The more I think about it, the more likely it seems. Mr. Fforde makes copious use of literature and literary references for both plot elements and in-jokes, as well as satirizes the real world through the lens of a historically altered and somewhat caricatured world of his own. These are things Mr. Handler seems to admire, or at least do himself in both the Snicket books and The Basic Eight (Not for young readers! I'm serious! Beware!). Could it be? Or is it just a coincidence? After all, there are only seven days of the week to choose from, and Thursday is appealingly insignificant.