Things That Matter To People Who Matter

The Office; Walt Whitman Dot-to-Dot; House of Leaves, Haunted and Silent Hill 4: The Room; Taking the Bus

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Published: Mar 30, 2007

I love The Office. I dream about selling paper for Dunder-Mifflin. Starting at the top, Michael Scott would be the best boss ever to work for, with his awkwardly desperate attempts to be everyone's best friend. Assistant to the regional manager Dwight Schrute is an otherworldly, power-hungry dweeb, and the funniest character on television. Throw in Jim and Pam, who have the sweetest, albeit most impossible romantic relationship ever; Ryan the temp; and a handful of other colorful characters, and you have the funniest sitcom on network television. This show isn't just great, it's colossal.

It was an American-writer report for 12th-grade English class, and a visual aid was necessary. My report was on Ambrose Bierce, famous for his Devil's Dictionary and one of my favorite short stories, "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge." I constructed an action-figure play set based on the story of a man who is hung from a bridge. A friend outdid me with his visual aid, the Walt Whitman dot-to-dot. I kept it all of these years because it continues to make me laugh.

—Carmen Martella III

In 2000, Mark Z. Danielewski wrote the novel House of Leaves while his sister, Poe, composed the album Haunted. The novel and album are companion works that reference each other. The story, based around a house with questionable spatial dimensions, is so involved that I keep rereading it. Listening to Haunted and reading House of Leaves while playing Silent Hill 4: The Room on my PS2, I feel immersed in the world of Danielewski's characters, ready to get out a tape measure to check the spatial dimensions of my room. Just to make sure.

I've actually been enjoying taking the bus to and from work. I've been doing it for about a year now, and most of the drivers I've had have been friendly or at least courteous. I can't imagine the stress that must accumulate from snaking one of those monsters through the driver's education crash-avoidance film that is Philadelphia, and all in all they handle it well. Plus, it's cool to get on the bus sometimes in a really good mood and, without saying or doing anything, see that good mood affect the overall mood of the bus.

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House Broken
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What a Quaint Scene We Were That Night