Bad Taste

Friday. Yeah! More spreadsheets to do on the schedule today. Fun times. Every month my benevolent employer provides its employees with cake in order to simultaneously recognize the respective birthdays and employment anniversaries of the branch staff. While I am certainly not knocking this gesture, I do have one particular issue regarding this that I would like to discuss today. You see, each month it's the same thing. They order a cake with cream cheese frosting and cream cheese filling. The cake changes from chocolate, to white cake, to yellow cake, etc., but the filling is always cream cheese. Now I realize that most people out there right now are thinking, “Man, that sounds good. I wish I had a piece!” I know this, because every month when cake day rolls around that is the general reaction of my co-workers. People hang up on customers, stiff-arm suppliers, and trample over each other just to get a good place in line to enjoy the confectory goodness of the cream cheese cake. Then I get to listen to everyone moan in delight while I sit at my desk dessertless. You see I have a strong aversion to all things white and creamy (I know I'm setting myself up for a joke here, so get your mind out of the gutter!). I don't eat sour cream, ranch dressing, mayonnaise, bleu cheese, cottage cheese, and definitely not cream cheese (this list is definitely not all-inclusive). This is not a matter of a slight disliking of the taste. There are lots of things that my body can eat, but I choose not to due to personal preference. In the case of things white and creamy, my body immediately rejects the nasty substance inadvertently digested. The mere smell of some of these substances (mayonnaise) can send me into dry heaves. I can go on here with the gross details, but I think you all get the picture. Trust me, I wish it were otherwise. It would make living in a world where everyone assumes you love the white stuff a whole lot easier. The simple task of ordering a hamburger becomes a major production every time. I couldn't even enjoy my own respective birthday and anniversary cakes here at work (I know you are shedding a tear for me). So, once again today while everyone gets a free break from work to stand around, enjoy their cake, and tell me all about how good it is and how much I'm missing out I am internalizing my anger and smiling. On the plus side, at least it gives me a subject to write about today.

I listened to Beck's new album, Guero, on the way in to work. I know, I said yesterday it would be The Misfits, but I woke up thinking I needed happy Friday music instead (I guess I should have grabbed the Misfits disc to deal with my cake issues). If you are a Beck fan you will like this album. Of course, if you were a Beck fan you would like all of his albums, so that was a dumb thing to say. Ok, how about this: If you are a casual fan who likes some of Beck's old stuff but unsure about the stuff he has been putting out lately, then you will really enjoy this album. Of course, I put my self in the former category, but that doesn't really matter. What matters is that this album is good, it's upbeat, and I can dance to it (not that anyone really wants to see that, although it might cause a reaction that could help you empathize with my cream cheese aversion). Bottom line, this is a fun album with good tunes on it. I recommend it.

In other music news, I heard a great song on the local college radio station the other day, Alive and Amplified by The Mooney Suzuki. I really dig this song. I found a free download of this tune on the internet as a sampler, but have yet to hear the rest of the album. I will fill you all in more on this story as it develops...