23 March 2008
Sick
I've been sick all week. Hope to blog again soon. Thanks for checking.
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18 February 2008
AWAY
I'm away this week, back on Saturday. See you then.
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18 December 2007
What I'm Not Writing About Yet
I have some stuff I want to write about but can't settle in to write it yet. I've been a baking fool for the last week, though.
One posting will be a review of Doris Lessing's The Golden Notebook, which I found thoroughly engaging and readable as a novel and full of ideas to think about. I want to talk about some of those ideas. (Thanks Rachael, for reading it so we can talk about it!)
Another will be a posting of the poems I choose for my bookgroup meeting this week. Each December, because of the heightened seasonal busyness of some members, we have a cookie exchange and instead of reading a book we choose a few of our favourite poems to share with each other. In past years I've chosen Yeats' Slouching Towards Bethlehem, Wallace Stevens' The Snow Man, Rumi's Out Beyond, ee cumming's since feeling is first, and probably something by T.S. Eliot (Ash Wednesday, most likely) and Dylan Thomas, maybe Nikki Giovanni or Muriel Rukeyser.
This year, I am thinking of reading Stepping Backwards by Adrienne Rich, if I can read it without crying, which is doubtful, especially as I stumbled upon it at Gil Bailie's website; he found it in an audio file read and left behind for him by his wife when she was alive.
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18 October 2007
Dogs, Blog, and Elephants
I'll be back to posting soon. For now, I'm spending most of my computer time updating booklists -- recently finished adult crime fiction, children's historical fiction, children's bibliotherapy, and now only about 30 more lists to go!
Don't forget to feed an animal today, and if you want more reason to care for critters, read this elephant rescue story.
And watch out for barking spiders! :-)
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15 September 2007
Update: Comformity // Assuming You're Wrong
I updated a previous post (here) after I got to thinking about the possible incompatibility of the idea that we humans have a strong tendency to comform and the idea that when someone has different views or tastes from us, we assume we're right. Could just be a paradox, but perhaps both responses derive from the same underlying basis.
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26 June 2007
Sad News
My beautiful, spirited, gentle dog was diagnosed with cancer today. She will have surgery ASAP, probably followed by chemotherapy. Please give her a good thought.
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15 June 2007
Copycat
I am such a copycat. But, like the famous Scott Adams of Dilbert fame, I am surprisingly often asked what I do all day, since I don't have a job or kids. As Scott said, every day is different. Fridays and Mondays are pretty similar, usually, unless I am travelling. Tues, Wed., and Thurs. I'm out and about more. Weekends could be anything. This is one day:
5:30 Awaken when spouse gets out of bed. Lay in bed thinking and going over dreams. Had a faintly disturbing one about being a murderer and hoping no one would find out, but people were suspicious and I was having to lie smoothly. When I wake up I wonder if I have murdered someone in my past and forgot about it. It seems like something I would do, not so much the murder but then forgetting about it. Not sure if I am really awake while musing on this or if it is another dream. Remember things I need to remind spouse about (not murder-related). Get up and go find and tell him. Get back in bed. Lie awake and listen to BBC News and worry about Hamas taking over Gaza. Fall asleep. Dream.
6:30 Wake up when spouse is getting ready to leave. Have short discussion with him about plans for later today. Consider getting out of bed. Check to see if arms feel any better; right one still hurting, can't tell about left one. Birds are insanely loud and chirpy outside. Fall asleep.
8:30 Wake up again. Write down notes on scrap pulled from last night's crossword puzzle paper about things I need to do today. Get up. Do usual morning stuff. Toss out an old naproxen from my pocket and put in a new Excedrin for mid-cycle pain. Take down mildewed shower curtain and add it to wine-stained white tablecloth in a bleach wash. Strip bed off sheets and line them up for next wash, then whites, then darks. Very busy laundry day, mainly so I don't forget and accidentally wash darks or anything I care about too soon after using bleach in the machine, so am washing a small load of whites and the sheets as a buffer. Arms hurt doing bed-stripping, but I think the left one hurts less than it has.
9:15 Feed dog, go out with dog to check on garden, give dog vitamins and treats, fresh water. Take my own vitamins, eat 1/2 cup cottage cheese, drink OJ. Eat three chocolate mints. Kill some little ants on counter (second day of mini-infestation). Unload dishwasher. Re-load dishwasher with items in the sink. Put recycling in recycling bin. Turn on computer and check mail. Reading mail evokes a variety of emotional response. Feelings run gamut of despair, sadness and resentment about what I perceive as alienation, exclusion, diminishment to happiness and warm fuzzies about what I perceive as inclusion, connection, loving-kindness, being seen as special.
9:30 Respond to email. Water some plants in garden. Check groundhog damage. Breathe in tropical yet fresh-feeling air. 63F degrees outside, a big improvement on 48F degrees at 6:30 a.m. Switch out laundry -- bleach wash out, whites in. Check hours of a local eating establishment online and leave voicemail for friend to re-arrange meeting time next week.
10:00 Start reading RSS feeds via Bloglines and catching up on news and opinion. Eat a banana, because Scott mentioned that he did and that reminded me that a banana would taste mighty good right about now. Mmmm. Write a few checks (botanical gardens membership, foster children's home/farm donation) and get them in the mail slot. Read some Onion stories, send one about Cracker Barrel to my sister and another on charismatic megafauna to a friend.
10:15 Start doing this. Screen door is open, dog is lying on the deck, and songbirds are just chirping their hearts out.
10:30 Whites to dryer, sheets and washcloths to washer. Only one more load to go. Dog in, lapping water. She feels warm. Mmmm, soft warm dog. Looking for little list of to-do notes I wrote while in bed. Can't find it. Dog out. Suddenly remember fragment of NPR story from this morning about ... spam and Hawaii? (Yes.)
11:00 Dog in. Recall Buddhist teachings from last night's meditation and gathering to watch the first part of a Pema Chödrön video on the paramitas, which are like tools for the journey: the journey towards being comfortable with groundlessness, insecurity, and not-knowing; the journey toward courageous loving-kindness in all relationships. The paramitas are 1. generosity (giving of one's ground, giving as a way to let go of what we cling to), 2. discipline (making decisions based not on trying to escape what's hard but on facing, being with, going towards it), 3. patience (abiding with edgy energy, with our own restlessness in a sticky or unclear situation), 4. joyous exertion (connecting with the moment, with what is alive), 5. meditation (training to be here, now, with focus and gentleness), and 6. prajna (wisdom, insight, curiosity, an open mind). We will hear more about each in the coming five weeks. Dog out.
11:15 Lots of emails to reply to today. Not getting very far on Bloglines yet. Still haven't found scrap of paper with notes about what to do today. Making plans via email for dates in July. Dog in. Dog out. Thinking about making tea. Remembering Ruth Graham. Remembering a loggerhead turtle, found dead on Jekyll Island. Sometimes we are on Jekyll at this time of the year because it's egg-laying season -- I would have hated to have stumbled across her. (Would I practice the paramitas?) Dog in.
11:45 Birds have abruptly stopped chirping. Has world ended, or is a sunny 67F too warm for birds to chirp? Dog out. Make tea (Chinese Restaurant). Call sick friend, who doesn't sound any better than she did when I saw her on Tuesday but she says she feels better. Another friend is taking her to the dr. today for another test. Hunt again for scrap of paper, which seems to have vanished in the ether, but have mostly remembered what was on it. Take laptop out on deck to write a letter to a friend. Hurray!: Find scrap of paper when I move laptop.
12:15 Eating leftover dal makhani and rice. And drinking tea. Sitting in sun, listening to pond waterfall and lone bird. And someone a street or two away running a loud machine. Move more laundry from machine to machine and basket to machine. Tablecloth stain did disappear!
12:45 Type letter to friend, about travel, resentment, apologetics, money and spirit. Burning hot out here on deck; change clothes, get diet ginger ale (for throat and heat). (Smart) dog is lying in shade.
1:15 Print letter and attachments, address it, put stamps on it. Spouse calls to discuss evening plans; nothing decided except what we're not doing (wine tasting). Eat four pieces of pineapple. Enjoy ginger ale, something we rarely have around but I got it yesterday because my throat is sore. Put last load of laundry in dryer, fold and put away other clothes, make bed with clean sheets. Back to checking Bloglines and email that's piling up.
1:30 Read that Scott Adams takes Longevinex, a wine extract that will apparently make him "nearly immortal if it works." Hmmm. OK, read a little online about it, realise that I drink enough red wine that I don't need another pill. Whew. Remind self to pick up interlibrary loan books at library today: Healing from the heart: A leading heart surgeon explores the power of complementary medicine by Mehmet Oz; and The ascent to truth by Thomas Merton. Want to recommend another book I recently ILL'd: Murder in Amsterdam: The Death of Theo Van Gogh and the Limits of Tolerance by Ian Buruma; this Salon review is almost as long as the book.
1:45 Listen to police sirens; dog growls, runs for deck stairs. Ponder this: "Just to engage in some arguments is to lose them; defending God, for instance" (from this). Sun is behind large maple tree. Finish checking Bloglines and email. Ready to walk to library. Take weekly vitamin D megadose with fragment of swiss cheese. Dog in.
3:00 Dog out. Home from 2-mile walk, library, posting letter, and other errands (dog, in absentia, chose small gift for Father's Day). Lots of happy moments: so many people home mid-day, playing ball with their kids, gardening, mowing lawn, working on house, laying in hammock (really!), walking, greeting neighbours, etc.; fabulous ongoing flower show with most lilacs done but most rhododendrons, iris, lilies, and daisies in bloom everywhere (except my house, in an Arctic pocket); not mauled by the sometimes growling, lunging, big, menacing dogs in the green house whose only barrier between them and passerby is a dubiously effective electric fence; the shining sun, the fresh air, abatement of my cold, time to do errands by walking.
3:15 Work out. Biceps, upper back, gluteals, outer thighs, abs, dancing, stretching. Very meditative. As usual, my readying the space for exercising is like a Pavlovian trigger for the dog to run and get her ball. As usual, I don't play (especially with pain in both arms). Today, she seems to sulk, which is unusual.
4:00 Sit on deck with dog. Walk through garden with camera, check on things. Notice that the lupine is still afflicted by scale, which I sprayed for on Tuesday. Spray again (with Safer insecticidal soap). Notice that ants under the spruce have totally pulled apart and removed the ant traps I put out a couple of weeks ago. Their tribe still seems vibrantly alive in spite of the traps and the ant-killer powder that's covering their area. (Bad Buddhist!) Take some photos (not of scale or ants). The yellow and purple iris that was in big manly bud yesterday is in full bloom today. See?
And the palmate leaves of one of my favourite foliage plants, the Rodgersia, are larger than I've ever seen them in my garden.
4:45 Think about dinner. Think about feeding dog. Sun has about another half-hour on back deck before it disappears behind trees. Think about sitting on deck with gin and tonic with lime. Respond to email instead.
5:30 Walk dog with spouse at leisurely pace (her only pace). Put away rest of laundry. Feed dog. Check Bloglines for afternoon additions.
6:15 Find 45-min. wait at restaurant of choice. Go to bookstore to use 40%-off coupons for dvds and cds.
7:00 Eat at restaurant of choice. Split bottle of wine that friends have recommended (Torrontes from Argentina) I don't love it -- too chardonnay-tasting somehow, too astringent, medicine-y. Better with food than alone, though. We drink half the bottle, bring the other half home. Best part of meal is fresh salads, garlic knots, and limoncello on the rocks for after-dinner drink. Mmmm. Listen to folks at nearby table talk about politics, from Hubert Humphrey to Arizona state politics to the Clintons (insert stupid joke) to Scooter Libby to 'favourite conservative Republican running for President.' ("Mitt Romney looks presidential.") See woman from last night's Buddhist group at restaurant.
9:00 Home to dog, go outside with dog, give treats and pats to dog. Reply to more email. Remember that I forgot to mention here that I was almost killed (or maybe maimed) in a "Six Feet Under" kind of way last Saturday, when I walked right behind a car that was pulling out of a parking space without looking. The car kept coming and I put my hand out to stop it. This method of stopping a moving car would likely not have proven effective but spouse was there, too, and driver or passenger saw or heard him, and I was spared. I hardly noticed. Reminded me of 6FU's season 5, episode 2, "Dancing For Me" obituary, though no one would have asked, "How do you run over yourself?" Thinking off and on today about Alan Johnston, worried about him, realise there are plenty of others suffering whose names I don't know. His name has been in my thoughts lately. (Maybe reason to hope?)
9:15 Realise we are out of diet ginger ale; congestion and throat feel worse; have to feel the need to drive to grocery store to get another bottle. Grrr.
9:45 Back from grocery store. Read article about children losing the right to roam. Sad. I roamed as many miles as I wanted in the 1906s/1970s suburbs, from age 5 onward, via legs or bike (and later city bus), alone or with others, on streets and in woods. End of blogging day. Sleep well.
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16 April 2007
Powerless Day
Electrical power (and cable and landline phone) went out at 9:20 a.m. today in the middle of our Nor'easter, which was all heavy rain and high winds today after an inch of snow last night. The power just came back on at 8:15 p.m., almost 11 hours later.
In the meantime, I finished all the crossword puzzles I had printed over the last couple of weeks, read some Economist magazines (but not even close to being caught up on those), read all of the month of April in Anthony Frewin's The Book of Days: What To Celebrate Today (not as gala as it sounds -- lists saints' days, global national holidays, important historical events, and who was born and died on this day), snuggled with the dog, and was mighty glad for propane (and propane accessories) to heat the downstairs and to cook with -- mostly, to make tea with. Also for city water and sewer instead of our old well and septic with electric pump.
Spouse came home at 12:30 to ingeniously siphon water from the basement, and we grabbed pizza at a place on the other side of town that never lost power. We were playing a 5th or 6th round of Boggle by oil lamps when the furnace kicked on and the mechanical things resumed their familiar clicking.
I took some photos of the torrential rains and wind but couldn't capture how strong both were, especially because I didn't want to get the camera wet. I'm posting a few here. The first is the backyard pond, the second is water pooling on the front porch, and the third is a neighbour's spring-motif flag whipping in the wind.
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22 March 2007
Manure
"Please remember that my web page is like a two-year-old manure pile in back of your barn: It is continually growing and the best stuff is often buried on the bottom." -- The Humble Farmer
J'agree, not just for myself but for lots of weblogs. Newest ≠ best.
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08 March 2007
Blog Business - Ignore
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18 February 2007
Away
I'm away for a week or so. My dad has quite suddenly been diagnosed with stage III bladder cancer and I'm heading down to visit him. If you have a thought or prayer to spare, send it our way. Thanks. (I'll have my laptop but don't know how much I can check it -- still, feel free to write or call.)
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08 January 2007
A Reading Blog
Now I'm thinking I should start a blog just to record and do link maps for books I'm reading.
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11 November 2006
AWAY
I'm away from the virtual world until Thanksgiving. When I return I hope to blog my trip to Memphis and Minneapolis, with photos. Take care.
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22 September 2006
Explaining RSS the Oprah way
This explanation of RSS may be helpful to some: "in Oprah speak, RSS stands for: I'm 'Ready for Some Stories.' It is a way online for you to get a quick list of the latest story headlines from all your favorite websites and blogs all in one place. How cool is that?" With graphics, info on aggregators, how to subscribe to feeds, etc.
13:15 Posted in blog business , books and reading , community , pop culture , science and tech | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
19 December 2005
Catching Up
I was away last week, visiting family with a friend. Between the train travel and the late nights coupled with early wake-ups, I managed to get a cold, which manifested in full force yesterday and is dissipating a little today.
So, this morning, after washing my hands well, I made sugary walnuts (with orange juice, cloves, nutmeg, mace, cinnamon, sugar, egg white) and spicy pecans (with chili powder, cayenne, salt, butter, cinnamon), then a double batch of ginger cookies, and now I am going to make the neapolitan cookie dough. And maybe some apple-rosemary teacakes.
Thanks to everyone who hosted us last week: my sister and her family (with new baby, and my 6-year-old nephew who swallowed his tooth!), my dad and his wife (in their Christmas-ful house! and thanks for the vehicle loans, too), and Bev and Mary Jo in Boston (thanks for the train snacks, bathroom spa items and aromatherapy, arugula-pear-walnut salad, and having dinner with us at the Centre Street Cafe!)
I've made donations, in lieu of Christmas gifts, in honour of my nephews to some cool organisations: The Heifer Project (honey bees), Oxfam America for the South Asia Earthquake Fund, and a feisty-pig adoption from Pasado's Safe Haven in Washington state. You can donate to organisations I support via Just Give, or create your own list.
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17 October 2005
Older Posts
To see older posts, go here.
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