And another one come and another one gone, another one bites the dust

So the boy and I are off. It's OK, we really are different. And we were never more than dating, so it's not heartbreak city.

But his method was effed. It can only be topped by Masshole's '05 ender. Harry Caray said, "I knew a few days ago I just wanted to be friends, but I waited until today because I knew I'd see you at this party." In the meantime, of course, I was wracking my brain about why he wasn't calling.

Lately I've been reading a lot. And I'm trying to limit my selections so that I'm actually reading and not just accumulating library fines. On the shelf now:

The Manual

Three Black Skirts

I saw this next one in the bookstore today. The chapter titles sold me:
Do I want to date right now? I don't know ... Maybe
Insecurity kills more relationships than infidelity
You are what you hate
The right to change your mind should be revoked

Why You're Still Single

Of course, that's not the book I went in for. Neither is the astrology guide (plus CD-ROM!) but that's OK. How often can you find books on cognitive-behavioral therapy in Books A Million? I may just have to get those two from Amazon. Which means saving money.

Ah, money, how I hate thee.

I wish I could get my head on straight. I'm so much better off than I've been in the past, but it doesn't dampen the craziness I feel right now. It's to the point that any regular daily habit is being pushed to every other day. All I do at home is sleep and read a little bit. My poor cat really is being neglected. OK, not really, but she acts especially desperate.

Case in point (for general malaise, not cat): It took me a week to finally do my laundry. The night I did it, I put away the pants. A few days later, I put away the undies and sheets. The shirts are still sitting on my bed, stacked and getting covered in cat hair.

I can see all obstacles in my way

I'm having more trouble seeing lately. Been staring at the screen more since picking up pagination duties. Troubling, actually. Causing sentences to fragment.

At least today I got a giant good catch, albeit too late to do much. (It's never too late? Well, maybe.) I noticed a few conflicts between a story and a cutline I was working on after 11 p.m. This happens regularly, as any copy editor knows. My boss decided to look into one of them, and wouldn't you know, the information couldn't be verified through the property appraiser's Web site. And gosh, the reporter didn't even include the address in the story. (It's in a fact box ... but still.)

After I'd finished the story, I went to the clerk of courts Web site. Interesting. The people in the story -- they're raising money to refurbish a building and make it a community center or some such -- went to court earlier this year with two different banks about foreclosure. More research: They were in court a few years ago with another church.

I printed out the info and left copies for the Metro desk. We'll see where it goes.