The OFFICE Crossword Puzzles
I am HIGH-ly medicated (pun intended, of course), so I sleep a lot of the time away. Nevertheless, I must say that I spend my waking hours VERY wisely--as I'm sure you will agree: I have been watching season one of THE OFFICE (US) over and over and over and over...infinity. Oh my god! I have never seen anything this wryly funny on American TV before, and I challenge anyone to prove me wrong.
Have you seen this situation comedy? Every single character is worth their weight in a million bucks of gold. I wasn't joking when I said that I have been watching season one repetitively; I have. You can't possibly catch every facial expression and every crazy little nuance in one viewing. Besides, the story lines and actors are so incredible that I can't help but push the PLAY button again when the end credits begin to roll. Steve Carell kicks major buttocks in the category of comedic butt-kicking. Wouldn't you agree?
I went through roughly a week of not being able to read anything because the meds made it comepletely impossible for my eyes to focus on anything less than three feet away from me. That's a real shame because there's nothing worse than being stuck in bed and not being able to read. Now that my eyes have calmed down a bit, Ive decided to ease my way back into reading by casually flipping through magazines. Then--by osmosis--I found an incredible crossword puzzle in the back of New York magazine. I jogged my brain for most of the day figuring out the clues and then trying to find the corresponding numbers inside the puzzle to record my answers. When Cousin Chrissy came over to deliver some homemade dinner (she's so cool!), I talked her into filling in several answers. Hint: she's the crossword puzzle guru of the family!
All tolled, I ended the puzzle with only five empty spaces. As luck would have it, my mother brought me the latest issue of New York, which had the answers to the puzzle I tried to conquer, and I was able to check my answers against the answer key. I did pretty good! I only made up two words--and they seemingly only made up two (that I've never heard of)!
Needless to say, my eyes are freaking out again; not from the meds as much as from the crazy tiny crossword puzzle font and the crazily numbered boxes where the answers are to be written.
In a nutshell, I feel like I'm working again: I wake up, eat breakfast, do a bit of the crossword while eating, watch THE OFFICE, take a break for lunch, take a nap, watch some more of THE OFFICE, take another nap, wake up and do some more crossword puzzling, eat dinner, then I crash. It's as if I'm in New York City in the corporate world once again--only I have much more comfortable seating, I'm only awake and cognitive about four hours a day, and the bathroom is clean as a whistle (whatever that means).
tags: Jaibhakti, Bhakti Brophy, The Office, Steve Carell, humor, comedy, crossword puzzles,
Labels: Bhakti Brophy, crossword puzzles, humor, jaibhakti, laughter, Steve Carrell, The Office, The Office US
12 Comments:
Peace and Healing :)
in time soon you will be being brillant again and not in that land and haze of pain!!
people have no concept how living in pain can be a black wall of needles, trapping you down.. so far down into the depths of your own soul... until it happens to you that is... and then oh my ...
anyways peace , love and healing light to lift you up and out into yourself!!
:)
CASEY--Thank you for these words of wisdom. You are correct: pain does have the ability to drown you and take you to a depth that you never knew existed. However, in effect, I have found that the intense, overwhelming pain that I have been experiencing since the surgery also gives me a wonderful opportunity to acknowledge the difference between my physical existence and my existence as a form of conscious energy. I constantly find myself repeating the following words: "I have a body, but I am NOT my body." This is a brilliant mantra that my friend Sally introduced me to about 4 1/2 years ago. "I have a body, but I am NOT my body." "I have pain, but I am NOT my pain."
etc.
Repeating these words over and over reminds me that to identify with the pain-- and the physical body in general--is counterproductive to a life devoted to Self-Realization. It sort of reminds me of who/what I really am, at my core; the Truth of my existence IS that I have a body but I am NOT my body; I have emotions, but I am NOT my emotions; I have pain but I am NOT my pain.
Simply put, I am That.
I see this Truth; so then, why all of the pain? Who knows. The key, for me, is to keep remembering the source of strength within--and without! For example, we've never met, but you, Casey, are a great resevoir of strength and remembrance for me.
Thank you. :)
I hope you are on a speedy recovery. By the way, my wife thinks 'The Office' is great also. For some reason I don't watch it as much. I am usually on the computer at that time.
:)
I have used the pain in life as a similar tool of self discovery. I wouldn't recommend it to someone who doesn't experience daily pain, but, if you have it, it can be use to great effect in self exploration.
Heck I wonder if a Personal Tao would have ever been written if it hadn't been for some factors from pain in my life... go figure.
I suppose its like using an earthquake to probe the deeper parts of the earth.
pain is another sense. we have far more than 5 senses, and in effect pain is one of those other feedback tools for us.
And that in itself is interesting in having a pain avoidance culture, is yet another way our culture actively avoids listening to itself on so many levels
peace and love to you bhakti :)
We'll be praying, too. I grew up with pain, and memorized the inside of the hospital by the time I was 4. I know how it can take over your life, and how good it feels to wake up without it so you can just...be.
I'm thrilled that you're marking these important milestones in your recovery. I love The Office for so many reasons, and thanks to your writing about it, I'll always think of you whenever I watch it.
Be well, my friend.
BILL: Thank you for the 'speedy recovery' wish. I've sort of surrendered to the process and am just trying to keep my head above water. I'm very fortunate to have such an incredible mother--she's really making this 'ordeal' as pleasant as possible. And, I'm lucky to have blogger friends such as yourself who bring so much sunshine into my life. I appreciate your comment. I'm looking forward to visiting your blog again, as soon as I'm feeling like I can spend more than a few minutes at the computer. :)
CARMI: I think I, too, will definitely get a book out of this journey--not just talking about the spiritual aspect, but I think the world could use a guide on how to deal with chronic pain from a patient's point of view. It's been a struggle to find good doctors and to get my family and friends to realize how challenging this kind of pain is (by 'this kind of pain' I mean the kind where it doesn't show on the outside--besides my facial expressions!--for example, I'm not in a wheelchair, and my arm isn't severed and I'm not bleeding to death, etc. You know what I mean?
CARMI--I'm so glad to hear that you like The Office, too. That must mean that you and I would get along swimmingly in person; I have a very dry sense of humor...that not everyone gets.
I've only seen season one so far. The coolest thing to do is to watch the DVD with the subtitles on. For me, there are just too many times when I don't catch everything that Steve Carell's character says. For example, in the episode where the beautiful woman comes into the office to sell purses, there is a scene towards the beginning where 'Pam' goes into 'Michael's' office to tell hime that a woman is there who wants to sell purses. Well, just as Pam enters the office, Michael says three things to her really fast. I always laughed when I heard him say these three things--even though I never knew what he was saying--simply because of his facial expression and the way he laughed after he said them. I decided to use the subtitles and it turns out that he said--"burger and cheese...and fries...and a shake", obviously just assuming that she came in to take his lunch order.
This is exactly the type of thing I was talking about when I said that I loved watching each episode over and over. There's just so much going on all at once!
I've ordered the season one and seaon two boxset from Ebay--I do believe that laughter IS the best medicine. I think you will agree with me on that one. :)
Thanks for your comment, Carmi. You brought a huge smile to my face, my friend! :)
CARMI, PS: Why were you in the hospital at such a young age? if you don't mind me asking. ;)
Hi Bhakti!
Glad to hear from you!
I was in LOVE with the British 'Office', haven't seen the American one yet.
Sending healing wishes your way!
:-)
I agree, Steve Carrell kicks comedic butt. Glad to hear that you are healing.
Hi Bhakti -
I hope you're resting comfortably. I've been getting pulled into a million directions, what with one thing after another after another and then - SURPRISE - and it's back to the grind. WHEW! just a few more days and I should get a chance to slow it down a bit.
Mike
JIN: I am the opposite--I have seen (some) of the American version of The Office; however, I have yet to see the English version. It is, however, next on my list in my Netflix queue (Wow, I never realized how difficult the word 'queue is to spell! I had to look it up on Netflix!).
I'm sure you will LOVE the American version, just as sure as I will LOVE the original.
MARK: Thank you!
I was in a big, big funk this past weekend, so I just surrendered to Gurumayi and listened to the "God is Your Constant Companion" CD all night. Wow, what a powerful, energy-cleansing experience that was! Om Namah Shivaya!!!
MARK: Well, I'm sure glad that you took the time to comment on my blog. I was wondering where you were; and I was hoping that you were just busy, and not sick or something aweful like that. :)
Glad to hear yer recovery is comin' along.
BTW, I agree. The office is jus' funny. My mom always says I'm jus' like that Jim character. My dad is too busy coughin' to say much--strangely, only when mom's talkin' to me 'bout The Office.
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