You Will Believe ... That A Man Can Blog.

Well, now that you've all had time to soak in my Best of 2005 picks, I figured it's about time to hit ya all up with yet another round of verbal goodness.

This past week was just totally draining. I worked until nearly 8 pm every day, including Tuesday when I went to work, changed into the page uniform to work Leno, changed back, and ended up staying i nthe office until almost 10 freakin' pm. Not fun, and that day just totally sucked all energy out of me for the rest of the week. On one hand, I understand that it's a tough job and everyone is suffering for it together. On the other hand, it's difficult to balance such long hours when one only has a few weeks left before the assignment is over, and I'm all but jobless. I need money, health insurance, and at least a little bit of job security, and fast. Many of my fellow pages are now in the same boat, but I am getting close to being the longest tenured NBC page, and since I started in late January 2005, my year of pagedom is quickly running out.

Forget a new job, just give me a vacation.

- I think I hate the digital camera craze. Now any time a bunch of people go out, half the time is spent snapping away with the cameras. Sure, people have always been phot-happ, but now with digital cameras, every event, no matter how um, uneventful, becomes a photo op. I mean, how many pictures do I need to see of a bunch of girls posing at some party? (Note: rhetorical question, that was). But you get the point. All I'm saying is ... I think that digital photography may be contributing to the downfall of society.

- On a related note, and I know I'm not alone in this - I hate when people feel like everyone needs to see their pictures. Now friends, coworkers, and people you just met can't resist showing you a conveniently accessible picture of their dog, their cousin's new baby, or their trip to Ecuador. Ugh, when will people learn? Not everyone cares about your digital pictures, your home movies, your daily bulletins on myspace.com, etc. (btw, those things are getting WAY out of hand). So yeah, keep the 5,000 new pictures of your nephew's recital PUT AWAY. But, if you're one of those people who has pictures of events where I was in attendance and still ahven't sent me the pics ... GET ON IT ALREADY! (kidding, well not really, I was serious). Now ... insightful, provacative, life-altering blogs - that one is free to persuse on their own time and consumes like they would a nutritional snack ... well, duh, there' s nothing wrong with those.

- A few quick hits:

GOODBYE ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT: RIP (probably) to one of the best comedies ever, which likely ended its brilliantly funny run last Monday. On the other hand, if the show had to go out, it went out with one hell of a bang. Last week's awesome finale was hilarious, smart, and one giant, thinly-veiled F-U to everyone who criticized the show, including the suits at FOX. That was an insta-classic episode, and will go down with the best of 'em. So long Michael, Gob, Tobias, George Michael, Lucille, Buster, George, Maybe, Bob Loblaw, and all the rest. Thank you to this show's talented creative staff, its amazing cast, and to the people who stuck with it. And remember: never use a one-armed man to teach a lesson.

- And by the way, so now FOX is talking about bringing back Futurama? The thing is, I guarantee the show would have been a much bigger hit if properly marketed and scheduled. For years, Futurama was left to die in a terrible 7 pm Sunday timeslot, where it was constantly preempted by football. And tragically, the show was consistently smart and hilarious even as The Simpsons was beginning its slide into mediocrity. And just like with Family Guy, the DVD sales and reurun ratings show the type of hit this show could have been. And yet again, FOX screwed it when it had the chance to push it. Just like with Family Guy's first run, just like with Andy Richter, Undeclared, and now Arrested Development. But I guess one can't deny the almighty dollar ... in any case though, if FOX brings back Futurama, puts it on at 8:30 or 9:30 on Sundays .. well, that would kick shiny metal ass.

- I'm currently trying to get into Frank Zappa, but I don't think I fully "get" him yet. What are some of his best songs? I will say though, "Dynamo Hum" is hilarious, if you can stomach it.

- I just can't get into the NBA as much this year. Partly because I keep missing all the games, but partly because there just seems to be a lack of quality teams. Almost every big gun team from last year remaisn intact, which leaves San Antonio and Detroit once again alone at the top, unless Miami, Pheonix, or a wild card like Cleveland can pull a big upset. I'm not a fan of either Detroit or San Antonio, and I just can't find many teams or personalities to really get behind and root for.

- And speaking of sports -- man, I felt like I was in a foreign country this past week, with all the craziness surrounding the Rose Bowl. This is definitely a West Coast / Midwest thing, because I never knew of ANYONE who was that into college football in CT, and growing up I associated the Rose Bowl only with some lame parade, and never gave a second thought as to wh o was playing in the games. But here, dayum, it turns out that 99% of the population is either from Texas or went to USC, because seemingly everyone I work with was talking about nothing but this game, and doing so with crazy enthusiasm. Well, congrats to Texas, I guess.

- Alright, sorry for this somewhat lame edition of my blog. I really need to go to sleep now, as unbelievably, another week of work is mere hours away from beginning. Will this be my final run at NBC? Will my blog soon be coming to you Live ... From OfficeMax, in Simsbury, CT? Stay tuned.