Hot List - week of Jan. 30

Last week was pretty dull - which I can attribute to a scaled back social calendar due to all of the new year's resolutioning (yes, I just made that word up.) So, the hot list is mildly warm at best.

Highlights:
The STEELERS winning the SuperBowl XL is a highlight that must stand alone.

Lowlights:
Hines Ward being named MVP and using incorrect grammar within two seconds of receiving the trophy, Bettis announcing his retirement (which we all knew was coming, but made me sad to hear out loud), and all of the ad dollars wasted on lame commercials.

Spotlight:
Getting into a verbal battle with some old, balding, overweight dude at the movies on Saturday night was the funniest thing that happened this week. I wrote it out exactly as it happened only to realize that you had to be there to appreciate it. Trust me - it was a classic.

Crazy work story:
Here is some work nonsense for you. I've been working (for weeks) on a long, detailed contract for a deal that needed to close last week. I finally got everything resolved between the vendor's legal department and our legal department. The one sticking point that took me forever (read: five hours) to resolve was the line in the contract that would force us to go to Minnesota if, for some reason (non-payment, breach of contract, etc.), we had to go to court. My legal counsel wasn't worried about all the reasons we could end up in court, she simply didn't want to go to Minnesota. I thought it was because the laws were different, there were jurisdiction issues, or she just wanted to play legal power struggle. Nope - she just thought Minnesota was a cold and awful place and if they had the nerve to sue us or, even worse, had the nerve to do something so horrible that we would sue them, the least they could do was go to court in California where the weather is nice and there are lots of good restaurants. I'm not even kidding. That was the reason she gave me. The contract isn't final yet because we haven't heard back from the vendor's lawyers. They are probably too exhausted from laughing at us.

What I’m listening to:
The new Belle and Sebastian album that was released today, but I got a digital copy when I pre-ordered it from Amazon. I haven't listened to it enough to give it a fair review. I'll let you know next week.