Day of Reckoning

Having engaged in some quantification last Sunday makes today the day of reckoning. I will be bummed if I have not made a millimeter of progress.

I should be patient, right? Besides, even if there is no progress, it's entirely possible I staved off regression of which I was previously unaware. It's not like I assumed a hefty workout regimen or altered my eating habits. Ok, perspective, good.

One year ago at TTaT: Trip Prep, A beginning is a very delicate time
Technorati tags: exercise, progress, goals

Sick of your martyrdom

When you say what you want, and I say what I want, and then you say you'll do what I want, you are not compromising even if you say you are. You're embracing frakking martyrdom, and it pisses me off.

You like that role though. There's no ammunition stockpiles to bolster if we both just do what we want separately. When I insisted that you should do what you wanted to do instead of "compromising," you got angry with me. Clearly, I am the bad guy.

One year ago at TTaT: Number 8
Technorati tags: martyrdom, martyrs

Je souhaite

Aside from the coffee,

I'd… wish that I'd never heard the word wish before. I'd wish that I could live my life moment by moment, … enjoying it for what it is instead of… instead of worrying about what it isn't. I'd sit down somewhere with a great cup of coffee and I'd watch the world go by. But then again, I'm not you so I doubt that's your wish. -Jenn, "Je Souhaite," The X files: season 7, episode 21

But then again... lately, I'm thinking I would wish for perfect health. Genies being the notorious tricksters that they are supposed to be has me considering just what "perfect health" means to me. No more sinus troubles, allergies, strained knees or shoulders. Not another cold ever. No stomach flus, food poisoning, depression. No viruses, diseases, mutations my body has yet to encounter or latent within. No acne, no moles or bumps that could be precursors to skin cancer (or hell, that I find distasteful).

Basically, impervious to all illnesses and injuries, free of flaws. But if that were so, would it make me immortal? No one dies of old age anymore, at least not in the US. I don't really want to live forever. Would I cease to age forced into a nomadic life like Duncan MacLeod? Would my genetics have to be altered to make perfect health possible and if so, how much like myself would I remain? I'm not looking to be indestructible; though it's tempting, I would feel burdened to use my powers for the greater good. Also, I wouldn't want to end up trapped in some lab while scientists fruitlessly study my perfect health. I reckon I want health perks without additional responsibilities.

And then, there are the flaws I kind of like: assorted freckles and my L scar. How would it be possible to phrase the wish to get what I actually want? Is it a vain and self-centered wish? Sure. The really grand wishes never seem to go over well in stories. If you assume three wishes, wish 1 surely ought to be something that would ensure the genie doesn't misinterpret your next wishes for kicks. Just a thought.

What would you wish for?

One year ago at TTaT: This could've been my first post
Technorati tags: wishes, genies, The X Files

What do you mean, no more Wendy's?!

The day started out well enough: feeling good, ready to tackle some errands, but my energy and motivation vanished with a wave of nausea. Drainage, sinuses, weather, pollen, particulates: I curse thee all. Some slow breaths, a couple Pepto bismol chewables, some more mental concentration, and I felt past the risk of throwing up. Still didn't feel particularly well though.

I studied my stomach's moods to discern what I might feel like eating later. Wendy's chili with cheese and some crackers. Didn't sound great, but it was the only thing that sounded all right.

That's when mom informed me there was no more Wendy's.

"What?! No. Huh?"

"There's no more Wendy's."

"What do you mean no more Wendy's? What are you talking about?"

Apparently the guy who owns several franchises across the county was having serious financial problems. Instead of setting closing dates, he just waited for managers to call him and say they were running out of burgers and then just told them to close. No warning, not even for his employees. What a dick.

Two years ago at TTaT: tip of the week- typing; Inspector No.12, where were you?
Technorati tag: Wendy's

Not always the best skill

Back in film school, Directing II included some acting exercises. In one, two people sat in chairs in front of the class, knee-to-knee. One person would make a present-tense observation about the other, and the other would repeat what the first had said verbatim.

"You're wearing jeans."
"You're wearing jeans."

"You're wearing a t-shirt."
"You're wearing a t-shirt."

"Your hair is brown."
"Your hair is brown."

It's more difficult to do than it sounds. A lot of people would switch the pronoun to I when they were repeating and others would drop the "You are..." or "Your" format when they got into details.

"You're wearing a t-shirt."
"I'm wearing a t-shirt."

"It's green."

It is as dull to watch other people doing as it seems unless you happen to be among friends, and they're screwing up and laughing.

When it was my turn to make observations, I sat across from O, our knees interlocked so we were each touching the edge of the other's chair.

"You're wearing a blue shirt."
"You're wearing a blue shirt."

"Your hair is black."
"Your hair is black."

"Your hair is short."
"Your hair is short."

Our professor altered the exercise so that O was supposed to change the yous to Is.

"You're wearing jeans."
"I'm wearing jeans."

"Your stubble is black."
"My stubble is black."

"You're smiling at me."
"I'm smiling at you."

"You're repeating everything I say."
"I'm repeating everything I, you say."

If I couldn't think of something, I had to repeat my last observation to preserve the rapid flow.

"You're repeating everything I say."
"I'm repeating everything you say."

"You're repeating everything I say."
O started messing around with his inflections, getting ever more grandiose. "I am repeating everything you say."

"You're repeating everything I say."
"I'm repeating everything you say."

"You're repeating everything I say."
"I'm repeating everything you say."

I started to laugh and my professor called for the next pair, but just then I got it:
"You're making fun of me."

O grinned. I looked over at my prof and he smiled. The whole point of the exercise was to recognize quickly what someone was really doing in the moment. For a director, this skill is crucial for ensuring she gets the performance she needs. In life, it helps elucidate people's subtext.

I am a literalist, so reading people's suppressed moods and ulterior motives is not my forte, but every now and then my brain clicks back to that repeating exercise and thinks, "What is she really saying?"

It's good to know the answer to that question, but when it comes to my mom, it's better not to call her on her subtext, particularly when she's unconsciously dissing my education because of her unwarranted low self-esteem from never finishing college. Note to self: stop setting off that booby trap.

"You and your father think I'm a monster."

"No, we don't." Oh man, this took a seriously wrong turn. I had pointed out that she was implying I shouldn't like cartoons based on my level of education. All this because I had recounted some silliness from an episode of Futurama.

Mom's eyes were watering and my desire to convince her that I was right plummeted. "I didn't mean to upset you."

"I'm not upset."

Your eyes are watering, I thought to myself, but I let it go.

I often don't know what to say to him

but when we do get around to talking to one another, it doesn't matter much. No one ever had to coax my brother into sharing his opinions. That's cool and Sounds good suffice to fill most of his pauses.

One year ago at TTaT: Two no's, Summer of birthdays
Technorati tags: siblings, brothers and sisters

Behind the Harry Potter lines: redux

The release of this latest Harry Potter tome takes me back to my firsthand experience of the craze in July 2000.
************************************

The store was dead when I arrived, but there was more staff on hand than I'd ever seen at once including staff meetings. Managers and staff from the other branch had joined us for the release of Harry Potter IV: Goblet of Fire.

Since our district manager and the regional vice president were due to show up sometime during the night, we were assigned SONICing. Straight, Organized, Neat, Impeccably Clean. I.e., arrange the books symmetrically tall to short while placing hardbacks face out favoring an aesthetic over alphabetical order.

To get out of the alpha-pretty initiative, I pointed out that I still had books to put out from that week's shipment. Since I had the weekend off, the books wouldn't get touched again until Monday; thankfully, my argument was persuasive, so I spent the next couple of hours productively.

Around 8:50, I was in the back putting away some overstocks when a manager suggested I stop shelving and help with crowd control. I walked back onto the floor now swarming with over a hundred people that seemed to have materialized instantaneously.

Kids in costumes, parents milling, and everyone with questions including the staff. With the bookstore’s usual bureaucracy, the directives I'd read merely said what was supposed to happen, not where or who or how; it was chaos.

I initially dodged face painting in favor of wizard hat making, but once I saw the supplies we had I had no more idea than the kids what we were expected to do with 8x11 pieces of construction paper in terms of making a hat. Dante and I set up some tables, covered them with paper, spread stuff out, and basically left each other hanging as we took turns wandering off until Dante decided it was a wizard hat design contest.

The company big-wigs arrived with the tv crew and added to the mayhem. The roar of conversation drowned out the store music and intercom as more people arrived.

Around ten, I ended up face painting to relieve Brandi so she could judge costumes. I'd never done it before, but once I realized that the expectations were low, and the kids and adults thought I was good, I had fun with it. Lightning bolts, leopards, cats, baseballs, rainbows, hearts, stars: I painted them all.

And then I was back in the fray.

My mistake was going back to customer service. We'd been taking reserves for the book up to the day before, but during the night the regional v.p. told people we'd keep taking reserves. We only had about 50 books beyond the existing list, so I started counting as we added names. Holding 'The List' was simply a bad idea. For 45 minutes, a steady stream of people asked me to add their names or to verify that they were already on The List. They asked about the procedure of getting books. (There wasn't one yet.) People started forming lines without provocation. One guy stood in front of customer service for a couple of hours saying he was just going to follow The List.

I got away and left The List behind to help some poor suckers who'd come in for regular shopping. They were very understanding as I stood in the aisles with a pronounced inability to concentrate.

Rockstar, our shipping and receiving clerk, wasn't working but stopped by to witness the mayhem. He commented that I looked stressed out and asked if I'd had a break yet; I hadn't. By then it was after 11 PM, I was losing my voice, and I was totally dehydrated. He kindly bought me a drink from the cafe and set it in the back room for me.

Finally a plan emerged (albeit a bad one) for distributing the books. Two separate lines: the reserved folk at customer service (that guy was smart to follow The List) and the unreserved at the front. Of course knowing we were going to be short copies, it was ill-advised to have both lines going simultaneously, but that was the directive of the regional v.p., and what she says, you do.

I hung to the back and started putting away all the magazines and books on the floor and benches. The store was a disaster, and the last thing I wanted to do was spend forever cleaning after everyone had gone.

After a while they ran out of copies for both lines; I was glad I didn't have to deal with the people who'd reserved books in advance and hadn't gotten them. Once most of the patrons had departed, a calm swept over the store. Our district manager bought us all drinks from the cafe, so I scored a second Snapple Rain, but that was little compensation for the fact that none of us had gotten dinner breaks.

After the refreshment, I finished cleaning up the magazine section by myself as the rest of the crew hoped and waited for the DM to leave. She didn't. She wasn't going to leave until she had all the numbers for the other stores in her district.

Regaining some motivation, Dante and I then picked up the most dreaded part of the store: the kids' section, while Brandi vacuumed obstinate piles of sparkles from the hat design area and everywhere else they were tracked. Our lurking patrons left, we locked the doors, and I clocked out at twenty to two.

At least I didn't have to be back in the morning like some other folks. Two days off in a row was going to be a real treat.

One year ago at TTaT: Paradise lost
Technorati tags: Harry Potter book release, The Goblet of Fire

Specifics

I was just reading a post about exercise over at Ririan Project, a site hard to pass up for list-lovers, when a familiar lesson appeared:

1. What is your Goal?

Amazingly, the average person never makes it successfully past this point because they think that they just want to “lose weight” or “be more healthy”. As with every other goal in your life, getting very specific is the necessary first step.

...by getting specific with your goal, you will give yourself a measurable target to aim for, which will help you immensely when it comes to staying focused.

With exercise, I go through phases in which I do and then I don't. I'd be hard pressed to describe a single, specific goal I've ever had for exercise. No wonder I always lose motivation; I've always hated tasks that I regard as maintenance. Without specificity, there's no way to measure accomplishment, nothing I can check off. If not for some old injuries, I'm sure I wouldn't even do the minimal stretching I do most every day.

I want to be stronger, my thighs to be slimmer like they used to be, my stomach to be a bit flatter, more endurance. I want my knees and shoulders to be more reliable/stronger- less the isolated joints of old injuries and more integrated with the rest of my body. Now I just have to figure out how to quantify these desires.

Then maybe I can incorporate some fucking goals into the rest of my life.

In the meantime, time to get back to playing DDR after a 4 week hiatus (Lego Star Wars 2- you slippery slope!).

Technorati tags: goal-setting, goals, exercise, DDR, Lego Star Wars 2

Maybe it's time to move

Doctors stress me out. Dentists somewhat surprisingly (considering how other people react to them) really don't bother me. Being able to keep my clothes on in front of strangers apparently keeps me reasonable.

Initially I was going to say that I don't like doctors, and that it's not personal, but that's not strictly true. It is personal in a couple cases. I miss my Florida PCP. She was cool although hard to get an appointment with within 3 months unless something was wrong. Seeing her at a vending machine staving off low blood sugar when I was on my way out after my first appointment made all the difference. Sigh.

Since my new health insurance plan has better coverage, I was going to be good and schedule a long overdue gyn appointment even though I loathe those exams. Turns out if I want a female ob/gyn in my area who accepts my plan, I have only two options. After forcing myself to research and actually make the call, it turns out she's not accepting new patients (although of course it says she is on the web). I don't think I have it in me to try calling the other one today.

One year ago at TTaT: Dude, something lighter
Technorati tags: doctors, gynecologists, ob-gyns, anxieties towards doctors

When a canvas presents itself, 2

(The making of can be seen here.)











Each star is actually the Egyptian hieroglyph for star. Together they comprise the following constellations: Orion, Ursas Minor and Major, and Cassiopeia. (Although each constellation is accurate within itself, they are not necessarily oriented correctly in relation to each other, and there are "extra" stars for the sake of balance in composition.)


The chalk claims to glow in the dark, but I think there was too long a gap between having direct sun and darkness for it to really work. This is a dusk shot.


One year ago at TTaT: I, the Divine; A little love
Technorati tag: chalk art

When a canvas presents itself...

(run time 0:26)
A freshly sealed driveway was just too good to pass up.

My photo-merging is not as clean as I'd hoped, but this should give you the gist. Closeups likely to come later --> here

(Other vlogs of TTaT)


One year ago at TTaT: Wtf, I didn't mean to, but I started a book
Technorati tags: chalk art, sealed driveways

Teaser

Fun was had, oh yes. Whether or not it will glow in the dark will depend on the weather and must wait until tomorrow. Even so, there's tons of photos to sort through, up and downs to sort, and images to stitch. So many photos actually that I'm tempted to make a stop-motion film of them, but that'd likely be really time consuming, so we'll see.

Two years ago at TTaT: Behind the Harry Potter Lines

Forget the shortcake

Melissa's Ready-to-Use Crepes: Yum!

I've been going with blueberries and whipped cream, but these crepes would be good for just about anything. Paper-thin too. I love being surprised by someone's ability to mass-market foodstuffs I never would've thought possible.

Remember when tv dinners meant salisbury steak or maybe meatloaf? Makes me ill just thinking about it. Huzzah for progress! (Yes, I know- better to cook fresh and all that, but it's still cool to have a no-fuss treat every now and again.)

One year ago at TTaT: Chair hazard
Technorati tag: Melissa's Ready-to-Use Crepes

Damn weather

Yesterday or today would've been fine it turns out, but the forecast said otherwise. I just need two days without rain in a row. Just two, is that so much to ask?

That's all the creative project I really want to do requires.

You'll see... eventually. Looks like a significant chance of another round of thunderstorms on Sunday, and then again on Tuesday and Wednesday. Grr.

UPDATE (14/vii/07): I feel somewhat vindicated since it started to rain five minutes after I shut my computer off last night. Still too many scattered showers in the forecast though.

Creative space

I used to paint on an easel in the laundry/back room of our old house. Whacking brushes against an easel leg to dry them off always gave me great satisfaction. I had to be careful to get all the paint off, so I wouldn't spatter light colored spots on the floor and wall.

Now I don't have easy access to an easel and I'm not sure where to set up. Dining room? A card table somewhere else? The floor? Flat or propped up? The canvas that awaits has parameters imposing additional challenges. It's fairly small though, so I think I will work flat on my drop cloth somewhere.

I keep thinking about light, how I'd prefer to paint in daylight to artificial, but not many rooms are suited for it. Also, some rooms are more convenient for listening to music than others, and working with acrylics means I should try to do it all in one shot, which adds a time constraint.

Trying to sort out the where is doing more to prevent me from starting than the other limitations.

Two years ago at TTaT: Thwack!
Technorati tags: creative space, painting

HP #5

I give it a thumbs up, peeps. As I've said other places, I'm not all that impressed by the Harry Potter books, and I think the movies do a better job of story-telling overall. The Goblet of Fire movie had its story problems, but I found them to be more pronounced in the book rather than clarified.

That said, I really enjoyed The Order of the Phoenix this afternoon. I have not read this one, but I found the movie to be quite clear. The special effects just keep getting better, and the young cast is maturing into a good looking lot. I hate spoilers, so I'll refrain from sharing specifics.

On an unrelated note, what an awesome compilation this is: Diana Ross & The Supremes, The #1's. No wonder it took so long to get from the library. Upside down, boy you turn me, inside out, and round and round...

One year ago at TTaT: Exercise, Discipline, Affection: in that order!
Technorati tags: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter movie, Diana Ross & The Supremes, The #1's

Best of TTaT

2005:

The Dive at Machu Picchu

Phoenix Rising

What Not to Tell Me

One Year Ago

A Prelude to Bewitched

Question Mark, Jerk

Hamlet was my undoing: Part I

The Prom: Take Two (part 1)

Restraint

Goblets of Beer

Three Breaks

Tidbit

Beauty Parlor Nostalgia

Higher Altitude

2006:

The Doctor is In

Either I've still got it, or I should be insulted

Night aerobics

The unconscious lie

Why wasn't it me?

Life at 16: The License Test

Little Creatures

Tacos and the bear

Good Friday Meets the Twilight Zone

PRSD

Blue gloves

I know that ass

The Screws of The Man

Heights, old and new

People are strange, myself included

I'm dreaming of a...

2007:

Formalwear Claire

Pollocks in Nature

In the ground

Clash of the Foreign Tongues

Flashback: An Evening's Soiree Cycle

A follow-up of sorts

Talking 'bout the car wash

Trees fight back

Leaf density II

Let The Pictures Do The Talking: A Road Trip

When a canvas presents itself...

Behind the Harry Potter lines: redux

Not always the best skill

Defining References

Inadvisable, certainly

Clear sky at last

Ruins where I can get them

Only so much patience

retrovlog one: A Taste of the Jam

Remainders, 1 and 2

Once upon a time in San Francisco

Snowprints

2008:

Thirty Year Old Jock-Thug

Claire's Bears

Fuzzy plant life

Additional tulips

Random Scan Sunday 1

Juicy Fruit: the survivalist's gum

Comic Book Guy's back room

Rhubarb!

To Be King Again

Humid!

Hibiscus

Cruise Night, round 1

Cruise Night, round 2

In motion

Art + Nature

Nap time

Autumn

Horizontal or vertical?

Milkweed

Fleeting

All but one

2009:

Winter waters

Interrupted sky

Splitting headache

Almost time...

Near bust

Also this time of year

Out of Sheer Rage: Wrestling with D.H. Lawrence

Unintentional odds

I'll take a bear in my Easter basket any day.

The moment I've been waiting for

20 self portraits from 1996, day 2

20 self portraits from 1996, day 3

20 self portraits from 1996, day 13

Making it official: coming out to my family

Haiku: Irony

It's short for Rococo. Obviously.

The unbuttoned twin, for Vahid

Before dinner...

After dinner...

Claire's Sublime Smoothies

Gettin' My Groove On... (vol. iv)

Gettin' My Groove On... (vol. xii)

2010:

Winter water drops

Sketchbook, page 11

BearWatch '10

Sketchbook, page 13

Final winter exhibits

Pick me up flowers

Light It Up, vol. 1

5 years of TTaT!

Sketchbook, page 17 + bonus sketch

G BIV flora

Gettin' My Groove On... (vol. xv)

Interrupted Golf: j'accuse le printemps!

Sketchbook, page 25

Airstrip

Sketchbook, page 29

It's OK to Zag.

4-H

Lakeside Splash

Trillium and self-portrait

Favorite Semi Blurs

Sketchbook, page 47: birthday edition

Translucent Trillium

Vinyl meets pollen

Observations in my parents' kitchen

Say "ah"

Sketchbook, page 58: Self-portrait

If you celebrate...

2011:

Icicle Branches

Biggest Bear Yet

Flame whoosh

I am a relaxation ninja.

Poppy profile

Bona fide tower

Would you like cheese on that?

The Power of Water, part 2

And then there was Wind...

Splotchy autumn colors

Wait!

2012:

Life of Art 2011: the year in review

Like a Ninja

Where Everybody Knows Your Name...

Temporal Transportation

The Pursuit of Moonrise

Are you ready to Jummmbbbllleee?

Note to self: vol. XVIII

Inner Badass

Super Moon

Unexpected

2013:

Life of Art 2012: the year in review

Blue Skies

Fleeting Diner Love

Fractional Storytelling #1

Fractional Storytelling #9

Fractional Storytelling #12

Fractional Storytelling #14

Longest haircut ever, part 1

Longest haircut ever, part 2

A Decade of Movies and Outings

Out, damned spot!

X-Ray Vision

A Glimpse of Summer

Flash, Crash, Rumble, Flash

Window A/C Tips

Left to my own devices...

Autumn

The Apex of Sociability

2014:

Life of Art 2013: the year in review

On Dinner and Dying

Favorite Fortune Ever

Happy Pride!

Rosco, I think his name's Rosco

Evening Stride

Evening Snack

Random Act

Japanese Painted Ferns

Nature's Javelin

Keep Your Head In The Game

Canopy Roads

Christmas Eve

2015:

Life of Art 2014: the year in review

Best Part of Winter

Things That Go Thump In The Night

Winter's Work

My First Haircut

I'm like a little chipmunk

Spring sighting?

10 Years of TTaT!

Triumphant Anxiety

Tiny Sheep!

Dusk Sighting

Perseids

Great Dane

You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost)

Enthusiastic

Home-grown Carrot Round-up

Eye-catching Mid-autumn Sighting

Unintentionally Perfect

Thanksgiving Haiku VII

2016:

Klutzy Coordination

Inverted Linguistics

BearWatch is Go!

19 Polar Bears

Trigger Happy Startle Reflex

Eleven

Interrupted Art

The Next Twilight Bear

Sheep in Disguise

How am I not myself?

Tree Cutters' Haiku

Why you should watch Wynonna Earp plus bits of real life

A Recent Lottery Exchange

Inspired by Wynonna Earp to Try Something New

The Seen, The Heard, and The Unseen: a tale of Perseids

A Recent Basement Discovery

Rosco, officially

Sights from a day

Draw What's In Your Bag

Blind Contour Self Portrait

One of my happiest days this year

Bacon Mysteries

Today's Winter Sightings

2017:

Snow Oddity

Snow Falling

Winter Roof Ice

Introvert Meets Extrovert

Extrovert continued

Climbing

Note to Self, vol. XXVI

Things In Common

A Low Growl

Dinner conversation snippet

Making Mölkky History

Red Lion Amaryllis

On Voicelessness

Subconscious Earping

Finding Cimmerian Darkness and Stygian Gloom, or How I Spent a Beautiful Summer Day

Tales of the Black Badge

Adventures in Shaving

Winter Walk

2018:

You'll Never Guess

An Olympic Conversation

To be fair...

Spring Sightings

A photograph for its own sake

Happy Halloween!

In the Category of Odd

2019:

Furries

Time Warp

7:38

Walkabout

Fortunes

Today's Sighting

Barbecue Themes

Alternative Covers

Today's Sightings

Summer Sounds

Note to Self, vol. XXIX

2020:

Bundt v. Tube

Old Paperwork

Daffodil Buds

Spring Snow

Something big and black

Today's Many Sightings

Signs

The Sound of Music

Today's Sightings (and Hearing)

Featured What A Year Holiday Card on Sale!

Moondrop Grapes

Insomnia Adventures

2021:

Hope

Light

Dinner at the Lake

Speculation

Neighborly

Utility Pole

How to Recognize You Have Shingles (Anecdotal)

A Critical Thing to Know About Shingles

Snap

New (to me) Word

2022:

Caller ID

Tarts

Captain America

Handwritten Wordle Notes From Games Past

2023:

Note to Self, vol. XXXII

2024: (through Apr.)

A Theme for 2024

Today's Sighting

He Exists


One year ago at TTaT: Wool

Nove

At Home With Kate: Growing Up In Katharine Hepburn's Household by Eileen Considine-Meara (4/5)

The author's mother was Ms. Hepburn's cook and housekeeper for thirty years, and the author was often enlisted to help out. The book is full of short, straightforward anecdotes which give a sense of what Katharine Hepburn was like in daily life. Also included are many mementos from the movie star; photos of famous visitors, her East 49th Street NYC brownstone and Connecticut estate, Fenwick; and recipes for several of Hepburn's favorite dishes.

I found it a thoroughly enjoyable read and an interesting take on a life of fame and privilege from the help's point of view. Hepburn was clearly a demanding employer but also a very generous one.

Two years ago at TTaT: Enter deluge
Technorati tags: Katharine Hepburn, At Home With Kate: Growing Up In Katharine Hepburn's Household, Eileen Considine-Meara

Boom then Shine

Boomshine: soothing and a little addictive. Good times.

Now I must really go wash off the talc my hairdresser put on my neck before I get all sneezy.

One year ago at TTaT: I know that ass
Technorati tag: online games

Not quite the help intended

The summer traffic was a bit crazy when I drove into town, but I lucked out and got a diagonal space in front of the library. S, my boss from long ago, also a family friend, was behind the counter helping a young man. A swarm of twenty or so kids was waiting to check out with the other staff member.

I gingerly placed the stack of books and CDs I was returning into the slot and waited for S to look up so I could say a quick hello before leaving. Further down, I noticed the side door open. Gravel entered and we exchanged waves.

I've known Gravel for a long time too. About ten years younger than my parents, she was the right age to go to Woodstock (which she did) and be really into the 60s. Into them so much so that those years took a toll on her voice giving it a light gravelly sound. I also heard that she met her second husband via a plot much like Stakeout. When I first came back to town, she told me about her daughter and her daughter's girlfriend as if it was the most natural thing in the world. I've always liked Gravel.

Next to me, the young man said, "Oh, I don't know what the street address is."

S rattled it off for him, and I immediately knew he was a summer student getting a temporary library card.

"Do you know what the zip code is?" S listed the digits as he'd barely finished asking.

She looked up and said, "Oh, hey Claire. Do we have something for you?"

"I don't think so."

"We haven't had a chance to call yet today. Stay right there." She stepped into the office and came out with a book I'd requested. The young man was still filling out forms, so she said, "They'll be done in a minute," looking at the large posse of kids waiting at the other station.

"Thanks." I took the book and headed deeper into the library taking a scenic route to reference upstairs where I knew I could also check out.

I was part way up the stairs when I saw Gravel again. I waved again. She smiled, flashing her clear braces, took a few steps towards me and said, "Hey, Claire. Are you feeling strong?"

I stopped my ascent and leaned on the rail. Circumspectly, I replied, "How strong?"

She gestured at her thin frame and shrugged her shoulders as if to say "C'mon."

"Oh, OK." I walked down and around to meet her in the reading room. As she led me to a long folding table, she told me about a children's event they'd just held that went great.

I tucked my book under my arm when I reached the far end of the table. "Where do you want it?"

"In the gallery."

To get to the gallery, we needed to rotate the table 90 degrees and carry it between two long tables covered with magazines. There was a lot of space between the magazine tables but between them was an antique globe dividing the open space into two widths about the same as the table we were carrying.

Gravel grunted as we lifted the table. I started walking backwards, and she said something I didn't quite catch, but I soon realized I was walking through the narrower side between the globe and other table. She gave me a look, sort of shaking her head at my choice, but we made it through without incident.

As we entered the gallery, Gravel said, "I'm not even going to try to put this away. We can just set it down here."

"OK."

"Now we can move that one." Gravel gestured to an ornately carved wood desk. "It'll be lighter," she said, but I didn't believe her. Still, I was game, so I set my book down on the table we'd just moved and went to the desk.

"Where are we going?"

"Back by the stairs where it goes." To be fair, I did not recall where the desk usually resided. Since the renovation, there are still some changes to the building to which I'm not yet accustomed.

Gravel groaned at the weight as we picked up the desk. I felt compelled to say, "This is heavier than that one." It was by a bit, but at least carrying it didn't cut into my hands.

Again, I was walking backwards. I was also thinking of the stairs I'd just come from, so I moved to walk around the first magazine table.

Gravel said, "What, are we taking the scenic route?"

"Aren't we going to the stairs?"

"Yeah, we need to center it where the table we just moved was."

"Oh. We are taking the scenic route. Sorry."

"Don't back up," Gravel said to a man looking at magazines.

There were stairs: 3 twenty foot long stairs that used to lead up to fiction from the main reading room. Now there are glass doors which cordon off the expansion of the children's room. Since I've never seen the doors open and don't spend much time in that room, I'd forgotten about the 3 stairs.

I'm sure Gravel thanked me for my help, but I keep dwelling on how flaky I must've seemed, so much so that I almost want to apologize again by email for misunderstanding and making the task more difficult. I'd like to chalk it up to feeling groggy from sinuses/allergies (which I was), but I think it was just a product of how my mind processed the information it received.

Instead, next time I see her I may just say, "If you need anything moved by circuitous routes, you know who to ask."

Let The Pictures Do The Talking: A Road Trip, iv

Happy 4th, everyone! Photos from my other day in DC seemed fitting today.

(Parts i, ii, iii)

I actually typed out my journal entries this time around, but blogger freaked out (I think from all the photos or the spell check) and ditched all my typing and half my photos just as I was about to post. Don't have it in me to retype, so enjoy the photos.













Two years ago at TTaT: Something I love, tip of the week- fuel price finder
Technorati tags: Washington, DC; road trip

I miss audioblogger

For a long time, my old audio posts didn't seem to be working, but today they are, so I just finished backing them all up. As much as I sometimes think those posts don't sound much like me, I would've been sad to lose them.

There have been times recently when I wanted to call in a post and nostalgically remembered the good ole days of audioblogger. Anyone know of a similar free audioblog/podcast service that doesn't swamp your page with tons of ads?

Technorati tags: audioblogger, technological nostalgia

My health insurance actually did something nice for me

I'm stunned. With a new state law requiring everyone to have health insurance, my provider was offering a new slew of plans and advertised a "free gift" for signing up for one of them before May 31. I figured it'd be a stupid coffee mug or an ill-fitting, logo-covered baseball cap, so when a month went by and nothing showed up in the mail, I didn't worry about it.

So often, dealing with health insurance has been a complete hassle, but today they sent me a thank you note with a $15 iTunes gift card. That's my kind of reward; I'll take it.

Technorati tag: health insurance incentives

Damn your revisionist history, George Lucas!

I made two trips to storage to dig through boxes and crates to find my pre-alterations VHS trilogy box set of Star Wars. When I found it, I felt satisfied knowing I hadn't given into The Man and his revisionist history.

But then... I was dismayed to find my set was full screen instead of wide screen. And The Empire Strikes Back was a little glitchy in places and never fully tracked correctly.

Best Buy has the limited edition Star Wars (episode IV: A New Hope) DVD with the original theatrical release version on sale this week for $6.99, so I picked it up. I'd seen all three DVDs a week or two ago at Costco for $9.99 each. Since I know they rotate their DVD stock fairly often, I succumbed to the limited edition ruse and picked up the other two films.

The whole "limited edition" aspect ticks me off to no end. If I felt certain the original versions would be available down the line whenever HD or Blu-ray or something else wins the next media evolution, I'd have waited. It's also irritating that Lucas hasn't offered a restored original version. I'm all for 5.1 surround sound, cleaned up special effects and film. They had to do all that on the originals anyway for his revised special editions. Grr.

One year ago at TTaT: Part of the family
Technorati tags: limited edition Star Wars DVDs, revisionist history