The Letter O

Octopus

I used to have a strange, twisted, poorly-constructed, self-mocking entry here, but it was regarded widely as being both unfunny and dumb. That's a bad combination. So now let me just say: I love tentacles of all kinds, but I think Octopus is my favorite.

Odd Duck

I am not.

Onion Rings

Whoever invented these should be canonized. Is there anything more comfort-foodesque than Onion Rings, except, perhaps, Onion Soup?

Ophelia

If Ophelia hadn't drowned, if she had lived, would she still be so lionized?

Orchids

Orchids are not disposable plants; if you take care of them (i.e. soak them regularly and make sure they are well-potted), they'll bloom over and over again for you. They're odd and they are beautiful - and sometimes beautiful because they're odd.

Organizer-in-Chief

When you work for a small start-up/post start-up company, you have (by necessity) to wear many hats. I used to refer to myself snarkily as MoraleGirl when I was organizing lunches, robot death matches, and fomenting office entertainment in the old building. I've since promoted myself to Organizer-in-Chief (with a side of the Exit Fairy - even though I have no access to it, myself, I tell people how to get on the alumni mailing list when they depart).

Oscars

It's usually a freaking popularity contest married to a "Whoops!" and divided by a "I only read the ads in the trades" mentality. Occassionally, they get it right. More often, they don't settle just for wrong, they head straight for "Holy Heck, Batman!"

Outer Banks

The water was perfect last August (1999) and pretty good in July (2000). You could wade out far, swimming the small passes between sandbars, and float or catch waves in an ocean warmed by three months of summer. We used to go when we were little and my father worked on the Duck Pier. We had a massive family gathering there last summer, and there's something entirely endearing about little kids just learning about waves lapping at the beach. Less endearing are those pretentious OBX stickers half the cars flooding out of North Carolina have...