house arrest=bliss
I only left the house once yesterday (to walk Leory). It was lovely. I finished two knitting projects (the cardigan has an 80s fit to it, really wide and really short, like a box with sleeves, so I have to figure out what to do with it, and I think if I unravel the yarn it will all pill up and not be as pretty), made some chicken salad and rice krispie treats, ate some animals crackers, read bad-for-you fashion magazines in my hammock, hung up a mirror in the entryway, and watched Family Guy and Arrested Development. I don't know if I've ever spent a whole day without talking to anyone, not even on the phone, so that was kind of strange, but restful too. The house and porch are spiffier, my yarn pile is smaller, and I have a fridge full of food to eat this week. Ah Sundays.
There is such a thing as too much information,
such as when you discover that you really like a certain artist, but then through wonderfully helpful fan websites, you learn that the artist's albums are next to impossible to get a hold of. And then you are distracted from work by hunting all over the place for the albums, and then you get sad.
On the flip side, a well-placed phone call told me that Y Thai is open again! Numma.
On the flip side, a well-placed phone call told me that Y Thai is open again! Numma.
Ta-da!
I got a cell phone! And it is so cute. I love it. It was a celebratory purchase after getting a very unexpected raise, inspired by one too many moments of pure inconvenience from not being able to get in touch with friends out and about. I absolutely am not allowed to have it on or touch it or even look at it while driving. Remind me of this.
I put up a Kerry/Edwards sign in my lawn a few weeks ago, with some hesitation because I have never been a particular advertiser of my opinions. I mean, it was a big deal to me to put Mac apple logo and communitiy radio stickers on my car. My neighborhood is, mercifully, full of Kerry/Edwards signs, and the occasional "regime change begins at home: vote Bush out" sign, so I knew I wasn't alone. But the house next to me has a big flag on the porch, and one member of the family that lives there is a retired police officer, and I could just imagine angry glares as I weed my tomato patch. Sure enough, a week after I put my sign up, he puts not one, not two, but five Republican signs of varying sorts in his front yard, including two Bushy/Cheney. Shudder. On Saturday I was chatting with another of the family and she said, "My husband is so embarassing with all those signs. Do you know, he's not even registered to vote?" I'm thinking maybe you shouldn't be allowed to have a sign if you can't be arsed to register to vote. Although the more Bush supporters who can't vote, the better, right?
I put up a Kerry/Edwards sign in my lawn a few weeks ago, with some hesitation because I have never been a particular advertiser of my opinions. I mean, it was a big deal to me to put Mac apple logo and communitiy radio stickers on my car. My neighborhood is, mercifully, full of Kerry/Edwards signs, and the occasional "regime change begins at home: vote Bush out" sign, so I knew I wasn't alone. But the house next to me has a big flag on the porch, and one member of the family that lives there is a retired police officer, and I could just imagine angry glares as I weed my tomato patch. Sure enough, a week after I put my sign up, he puts not one, not two, but five Republican signs of varying sorts in his front yard, including two Bushy/Cheney. Shudder. On Saturday I was chatting with another of the family and she said, "My husband is so embarassing with all those signs. Do you know, he's not even registered to vote?" I'm thinking maybe you shouldn't be allowed to have a sign if you can't be arsed to register to vote. Although the more Bush supporters who can't vote, the better, right?
okey-dokey karaoke
Went to a karaoke party last night and it was great fun, thanks largely to two brave souls who don't get out much but were definitely ready to sing their hearts out. Luci and I did a really wonderful rendition of "Crazy," if I do say so myself. (Not the Brittney song. The other one.)
Looking at a totally empty Sunday with sunshine and cool temperatures. Wonderful. The hammock is calling my name. After I check out the last day of the Kmart closing sale. Sniff. Where am I going to buy Martha stuff now?
Looking at a totally empty Sunday with sunshine and cool temperatures. Wonderful. The hammock is calling my name. After I check out the last day of the Kmart closing sale. Sniff. Where am I going to buy Martha stuff now?
The one where I get angry about Fat Monica
One of the flashback episodes of Friends was on last night and, of course, featured a hideously-attired fat-suited Monica. There are a lot of things that bother me about this particular character but the main one is that when she is fat, she is also STUPID. Surely a sitcom is not trying to tell us there's an inverse releationship between IQ and weight. I know that she's supposed to be younger then, and dorky in a "weren't we lame in high school" way, like all the other characters, but her voice is high and squeaky, and she's hyper, and seems to have no sense of self at all.
a good book
After an unhealthily long fiction drought, it's raining again. I have just finished Mick Jackson's The Underground Man, which was everything I hoped for and makes me want to go poking around archives and historical buildings, and am halway through Louise Rennison's Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging. (And thanks to the series website I now know there are 4 more of them!) Utterly delightful and very, very funny. It is all I can do to have left the book at home when I left for work this morning. It's that good.
big cheese
Have just seen picture of my little friend Raimi frolicking in my second-favorite childhood playground. Chandler Park is a nice, relatively refined and elegant downtown histoircal park, with brick archway, iron fencing, and gazebo (which, incidentally, was once turned into a castle with cardboard ramparts by my madrigal troupe). But it also features abstract concrete playground sculptural pieces, full of little holes for hands and feet to grip to climb. In my family, they were called the pig, the pretzel, the camel, the castle, and the cheese. Anyone from Macomb will know which one is which. I have only seen these in one other park, in Ontario somewhere, although I will make no claim for them being unique to Macomb. They are gentle and amorphous and fun to slide on, always slightly dirty but never encouraging injuries.
Just so you know, the first-favorite childhood playground is Glenwood Park. The last time I visited Macomb, it still had a rocket ship slide, sevearl other slides of varying heights (my parents and I used to ride them with our dog Cricket when I was little), a merry-go-round, big stone picnic shelter, huge old trees, hills of the Macomb sort, a little unlit playhouse, lots of swings, and two tilted metal twirling dishes, which made me queasy after just a few turns and were more fun to put walnuts in and watch them tumble around.
Just so you know, the first-favorite childhood playground is Glenwood Park. The last time I visited Macomb, it still had a rocket ship slide, sevearl other slides of varying heights (my parents and I used to ride them with our dog Cricket when I was little), a merry-go-round, big stone picnic shelter, huge old trees, hills of the Macomb sort, a little unlit playhouse, lots of swings, and two tilted metal twirling dishes, which made me queasy after just a few turns and were more fun to put walnuts in and watch them tumble around.
Candy, candy, candy, I can let you go
Someone has brought in a bunch of that, er, inexpensive ooky-tasting chocolate and put it in the candy dish at work. I was wooed by the shiny pink wrapper, even though the shape and size clearly indicated that the piece in question was not an authentic mini Reese's peanut butter cup. And I was sorry. It's a good deterrent, though.
Melina comes back Friday! Suzanne comes back next Thursday! Order is restored.
Melina comes back Friday! Suzanne comes back next Thursday! Order is restored.
