Just Read: (3) I'm a Stranger Here Myself

Author: Bill Bryson

Third and final in the collector's pack. This was far and away the best of the three. It is a compilation of Bryson's weekly articles which were published over a span of about two years between 1996 and 1998 in Night and Day magazine. The segments are each one of his articles. He talks about being an American from the perspective of someone who is seeing it all for the first time as an adult. He's funny and satyrical and rude and forthright and correct in his observations about Americans and how ridiculous we can be. He holds no punches on topics like the garbage disposal, the postal system and holidays.

I just find Bryson amusing. He says things I'm occasionally thinking and also things I wonder why I wasn't thinking. I definitely recommend this book.

Just Read: (2) Neither Here nor There

Author: Bill Bryson

Ok, the second of the threesome. This book I could have done without with the exception of learning about Bryson's friend Katz. If you read A Walk in the Woods, which by the by you should, you'll learn about Katz. Bryson's friend who toured Europe with him when they were young and whom Bryson decided to call, after 20+ years of no contact with the man, to invite hime to hike the A.T. for his A Walk in the Woods book. It was interesting back story for me.

Just Read: (1) Notes from a Small Island

Author: Bill Bryson

That man cracks me up. If you like dry humor, and I do, this man is funny. I've read almost all his books now my favorite being A Walk in the Woods. If you don't know anything about Bryson, he writes humorous travelogues. He travels then writes commentary on his experience with a wit and insight most travelers might see, but not take the time to rethink and/ or put into such interesting prose. This book was one in a collector's edition pack of three I purchased recently. Bryson's humor is dry and British despite the fact he is actually an American. He's been in Britain for 20 some odd years and has decided to move his family back to the states. He takes one last tour of the island, a sort of last hurrah. It is, in my opinion, not up to his usual standard. But, I think he may have written this before he wrote some of the other stuff I like so much. He hadn't quite gotten his voice yet, well, in my opinion. Some very funny stuff here though as he has a tendency to be very open about bashing people he's met, and for some reason, it works. It is working for me because I have to believe wholly that he doesn't really say the things he thinks to real people, but writes what he thought at the time. Which, we all know are quite often two different things, especially when dealing with the public at large. Oy, am I digging a hole here for myself or what!

PS - It seems I didn't blog about A Walk in the Woods! Read it. That book was great.

** sigh *** and ** really deep cleansing breath ***

Well, I did "It". I did something that I may live to regret and may live to hold as one of the single most life changing (I hope in a good way) decisions of my life. "It" may very well be my ruin, but I doubt it. I'll just struggle for awhile with what it all means and blog when I'm down about "It" and get through "It" and be a more fulfilled person - well, that's always the hope isn't it? "It" has been on my mind for over a year. "It" scares the crap out of me. "It" will be such an incredibly new experience for me. I don't even know really what to think about "It". So, "It's" been on my mind for awhile. You have to know I am so good at procrastinating. I won a gold medal in procrastination in the '88 Olympics. Well, I would have had that been an event. "It" has been on my to do list,"It" really has. I'm just scared and very, very good at being stable and non-changing. I read my daily Miss Colleen blog. And wouldn't you know it, she referenced an inspiring post from some other blog. I was called to action, in my own mind. There you go. "It" has started. Like a small little pebble at the top of a snowy mountain "It" will be tumbling, cascading, building speed and size and hopefully (poor analogy on my part now that I think about it) not turning into an avalanche that kills and/or maims, but an avalanche that reveals some lost or long forgotten or unbeknownst until now treasure. A beautiful thing will emerge and I will be standing there smiling. Happy that "It" was a beginning and that I read Miss C's blog here on March 22, 2007. Don't get all freaked out, I'm not with child, nor do I plan to be. More information will follow as I relax and come to terms with "It".

This is also good

.. in my opinion. Could be because its two of my favorite people and we are all somewhere far off and away from the U.S. and its inherent responsibilities. I need no responsibilities right now. Can you tell.

Serenity now

I just like this photo. It makes me feel calm. I need that.

Just Read: A Death in Belmont

Author: Sebastian Junger

What can I say about his book. I went in thinking it was going to be a murder mystery with some suspense and then a nice little bow at the end tieing up all the loose ends answering all my questions. Not so much.

I picked up this book originally because the author is Sebastian Junger. He wrote The Perfect Storm and that was an amazing, gripping and, for me at least, emotionally wrenching book. The movie was a complete let down, no surprise there, but the book was great.

Sebastian Junger's family had a story. All through his childhood he'd heard about a murder in his family's neighborhood and the innocent black man who had gone to prison for it, Roy Smith. He grew up believing that Smith was innocent and had been the victim of the racial times and circumstance. These were also the days of the Boston Strangler. A series of sex murders that were gruesome. Albert DeSalvo was convicted of being the Boston Strangler. Albert DeSalvo worked as a carpenter, the summer in question, for the Jungers. This is the story of Junger becoming an adult and exploring those two stories and their connectivity through the eyes of a journalist.

At times this story was a little more graphic than I had envisioned, but serial rape and murder are just that. I don't know why I thought he'd "pretty up" the story for my sensitive ears, but he didn't. Frightening and informative. Don't open your front door to anyone you don't know and when you are alone, don't turn your back on a stranger, even one who seems very, very inocuous.

In the end, a good read.

Grateful...

Things for which I am grateful.

~ Mister

~ kitties

~ friends in far away places

~ Thai green curry w/ tofu

~ foregiveness

~ freedom of choice

~ a steady job

~ Jack Daniels

~ a brother who understands/supports me

~ two legs that work properly

~ blogs

Wow, I didn't think I'd have that many and I could easily have gone on and on. I think every day / week the list could change.

I should do this more often. It feels good to just write this down.

Friends and Lovahs

I feel so fortunate to have them. And when you really realize your lovah is your best friend, well, that's amazing. Mr. and I had issues, to be fair to him of my making, yesterday. As with most of our issues, we talk and misunderstand and don't completely hear what each other has to say and then we'll move on in agreement. Even if that agreement is to disagree. We really are pretty good, I think, for the most part, at problem / resolution. So, anyway, we have this issue and I'm all "well, its ABC" and he's all "I don't think its ABC" and I'm all, "why don't you listen when I tell you what I believe the issue to be, you know, so we can work through it". Then Mr. Smarty-Freudypants comes up "well, I think it's actually AbBcCd with under currents of XYzzz." And well, only your best friend can tell you when you are close but not quite on base when you don't want to hear it and/or just can't see it because its a little too close for comfort.

Yes, pretty vague post there, but I think you might be able to understand. I think we all can put in our own ABC and then add the subtext of our own and see how it hits home.

I'm so blessed that he knows me so well. And has the cajones to call me on my shtuff.

PS - Its hard to be called on shtuff. That means I have to actually look at it instead of just being able to act out like a 6 year old and blame others for my own shtuff.

PPS - Good luck with seeing your shtuff this week.

PPPS - And working throught it.

PPPPS - "Lovah" - That would be a shout out to my home-gehl MC. I know, I know, not an official gehl, but it just rolled off the fingertips so sweetly.

Why am I so tired

This week's been just crazy. I've got way too much going on and have been extremely tired. Why have I been tired? See exhibit A. This is Harley. We adopted him two weeks ago. He had the sniffles and blinked and squinted all the time. We found out from the vet he had infections in his eyes and upper respiratory system. He needed his shots and has some type of gum disease. The vet wouldn't even give him shots he was so sick. Anyway. He's much better now after two weeks of goo in the eyes and liquid oral antibiotics. Next phase is a teeth cleaning for which he'll have to be sedated and shots.

Exhibit A

These pics are about two weeks old now, he's changed quite a bit. He no longer has the nasty scar on his nose nor the cold nor the completely scared to death look in his eyes. He's happy and healthy now, for the most part. When we got him, he wouldn't come out of the little white tunnel bed and hid all the time. He was a perfect little, albeit sick, angel. Now that he's better, still an angel, but Oy, a night owl. And, he loves his mother. He wants to sleep on me. ON me. On my back or my stomach or my head, literally. And he rubs and cuddles ALL night long. Its sweet until you've gone hours and hours for nights on end without much sleep.

Ok, so I don't have children and I can't imagine how much more demanding a child would be, but, my blog, my life.

That's all I have for now. Spring is almost here, maybe I'll be motivated by it and start taking more pictures.

Filling space and time

This is why I dive and snorkel and save all my pennies to vacation in warm tropical locales. These pictures were taken by friends who were in the Galapagos just recently. They got these pictures snorkeling! Amazing. Mr. has wanted to go to the Galapagos since I met him and I've been steering us toward other places. My mind has been forever changed about this mysterious place.

Rays

White tip shark - I love sharks!!!

Friday Morning Commute

The man and my breakfast, water for me, cookies for him. The BackPacker magazine is for both of us to read and wish we had the time and money to purchase all the great gear to go on great hiking trips around the nation. It was a rather wonderful drive in to work this morning. Only a light rain and the sun was already beginning to come up. I realized I drive through this wonderful neighborhood almost every morning. So I whipped out the camera, rolled down the window and started snapping away, hence the blurriness, but, whatever. There are all these incredible huge and gorgeous old homes but its on a hill, a downhill and while driving, I might point the camera at one house and by the time the shutter clicks (or whatever happens with a digital camera) I've passed that house and am on to the next. Morning skyline. I actually stopped the vehicle for this one. There were several cars behind me wondering why mine was flashing occassionally and veering all over the road. The one place I stop, there is a pedestrian probably wondering if I was going to ask directions or something. I pretended to look for something in my purse until he passed. Clever of me, don't you think.

Stopped to fuel up, was very, very low. I realize now the steering wheel is turned so you can't see the gas gauge, it was resting on the very left bar. I don't know why I do this to myself. Actually, as I was driving in, I was calculating if I had enough fuel to get to work and then back to a gas station before I ran completely out. For once, my smart brain told me to just go to the gas station now instead of worrying how many miles I had left after the fuel light came on in the afternoon.

Beautiful old church downtown. That's all I got. Its not so easy taking pictures as you maneuver your way through traffic and people are looking at you when your flash goes off and cars are tailgating you because you aren't moving at top speed toward the waning green light a 1/2 block ahead.

Sad Things

Why do people say you are "good" if you don't eat the cake and whipped cream?

Ms. X: What? Lucy's not having cake today?

Ms. Y: Oh, no, she's trying to stay away from refined sugar because its unhealthy and although the ooey, gooey, rich and luscious looking cake beckons her with the strength of Achilles before he got chopped, she's staying away from the cake.

Ms X: Oh, she's so good.

Well, no, I'm not good because I don't eat cake. I am good for many other reasons, but this is not one of them. How is that we are so messed up that our entire perception of humans and their 'goodness' is wrapped up in what we eat! This is the age old story of Hollywood and its power to corrupt the way we (especially women) see ourselves vs. the rest of the real world. I understand we've all had the Bar-B-Doll syndrome explained and ranted about. I just get really, really tired of it. Its no wonder our country has so many people suffering from eating disorders. What would happen if we actually educated our children and ourselves about nutrition and a healthy lifestyle? What would happen if movies and television shows were acted by normal sized humans?

I'm not eating refined sugar today (hello, I am human, I do what I can but will surely eat refined sugar at some point, because well, its tasty and its everywhere). Yes its healthy to be an ideal weight. But not all of us can look like Courtney Cox-Arquette.

March 7 - Done

I decided that I'm not a 'new thing' kind of gal. New things should be fun, I would suppose, and well, its just got me all stressed out not being able to think of something new. And it also stresses me out that when I have found something new and it didn't pan out (i.e. doing my taxes and signing up for the CSA) does that mean I didn't do something new. I mean I could say, my new thing today is climbing K-2, if I don't actually climb k-2, does that mean I did something new today or does it mean I failed at something new today? Not a pity party, just annoyances at the way things are going and I don't want to keep writing things down here and then not having them work out. Also, while it seeemed like a novel and cute thing, coloring little circles with different colors of paint just isn't something I'm in to. So, there you go. I didn't make it to even day 10, so my new thing today might just be admitting when I'm in over my head.

Whew... now I know I won't fail at that.

March 6 - Oy! Only day six and I'm worn out

My new thing today, sign up for that CSA (community supported agriculture) I've been thinking and talking about for 8 months. Its finally time to take the vegetables by the horns-o-plenty and make a commitment. You may think, this is not such a difficult feat, but let me tell you, some websites seem user friendly until you actually want something from it and then the difficulties arise. Yes, I am having this trouble today. So, I sent off an email basically saying, "I'm some sort of incapable person, can you help me support your farm?" We'll have to wait for the outcome.

I have to say, this creating/starting something new each day for a month isn't as easy or fun (at least for me) as I thought it was going to be. It's so much easier to see someone else do something interesting and think it might be fun in your own life. In reality, well, its just a lot of mental energy being spun in circles because apparently, I'm not the creative type. I'm working on making it to day 10 and then re-evaluating my goals.

In light of doing something old and routine, the sun is out later now (for some magical reason it seems we have so much more daylight in the evening than just a week ago). Mister and I went for a nice walk last night and stopped at the store for dinner and then strolled back home. I so love living (if only part time) in a place where I can walk to do errands. Someday it will be full time there and I'll love it even more. Get up on the weekend and walk to coffee and/or breakfast, so soothing a thing to do.

March 5 - Class

No, I'm not all of the sudden going to start being sophisticated or elegant. What's that you say? Why thank you for acknowledging that I already am those things... Ahem, I am starting a class this evening. That will be my new thing for today.

Reflection:

Saturday - Why don't I take care of myself like that more often? I'm not one of those people who take time for massages and facials, but, boy howdy, that was 3 wonderful hours of me and relaxation getting re-acquainted. I was a noodle the rest of the day, and that was fine.

Sunday - Date Nut Pop 'Ems.. well, lets put it this way, I now know how I'd revamp the recipe. As is, not bad, but not calling out to me either. I ended up adding 8 dates and then still had to add more cashew butter to make them stick together. In the end, I rolled them in coconut. The recipe says grind the nuts to a find powder, I think I'd grind them a little finer and would cut down on the sunflower seed ratio opting for more almonds. I would use more dates and also add some dried apricots or other fruit. Right now I'm stuck on "just mangoes" from Trader Joes. Super Yummy! I might also experiment with adding some espresso powder and/or cocoa powder and I'd do the whole thing up in the food processor instead of me, a bowl, a wooden spoon and a mess on the counter. We'll see.

March 3/4 - I'm on the accrual plan for the weekend new things

Saturday:

My new thing for this day will be to do a little something nice for myself. Something for me and me alone. I am taking myself (via gift certificate from 10 months ago) to a spa and getting a massage and a facial. My Saturdays are usually filled with errands and house cleaning and yard work and until the sun comes out a little more and the rain goes away a little more no hiking or biking because even though I grew up in the great northwest, I'm not a fool. So, I'll be getting some forced relaxation in the middle of Saturday and if I'm lucky, I'll force myself to spend the balance of the day doing something else nice for myself. I'm going to have a me day. Well, we'll see. It will end up being something completely different because I'm just not all about me, but its a nice fantasy.

Sunday:

I read this blog (Vegan Lunchbox) every day for close to a year, well a school year that is. This woman is a vegan who decided that since she and her family are vegans and this world doesn't really understand vegans that well, that she would post a photo and occassionally recipes and other ideas for one school year of the lunches she prepared for her son. I believe her goal was to show that being a vegan doesn't mean all you eat are boring carrots and celery and that you are starved for anything like a culinary delight. It was great and gave me a lot of ideas for myself. I'm not a vegan, but have those tendencies.

Anyway, my new thing for Saturday will be to make these Date Nut Pop 'Ems that I've seen her write about. They look really tasty and I love dates, so I'm thinking a win-win combination.

That will be my new thing for Sunday, make myself a healthy treat instead of what I usually look for when I want something sweet and tasty and I don't have cake, candy, pie or ice cream in the house, which I rarely do, and that is Oroweat Country Potato bread toasted with Earth Balance margarine and homemade peach or blackberry or any other berry freezer jam that I find nestled in my freezer waiting to be spread on warm toasty bread. Hmm. you wouldn't think I'd just eaten breakfast, would you.

March 2 - Cheating already?

I sometimes look back at my ramblings and think, Oy, that girl is a pessimist of the first order. How did I ever get there? I'm not interested in being one of those snarly people you see in line, oh anywhere these days. I have always thought of myself as a realist with a generous handful of optimism thrown in just for good measure. How can I be so full of angst and worry and bitterness for the human condition (and more specifically, the humans I happen to be near too many hours each day).

Then I look a little closer at the writing, and consequently my life, and notice that most of the time when I rant on and on and wax rhapsodic, I do wrap it up with a positive note. I'm glad about that.

My new thing today is realizing I'm not a pessimist at heart. I am an optimist. I will endeavor to look for the silver lining and occassionlly hope to find just a big ball of silver. Not just a ball of crap with a lining, but full on wonderfulness. I think I'm cheating already. I don't know that I have the focus (aka time, read creativity) to create something new each day. I mean I can maybe create something, but does creating my tax return count? That little joy is on my list for this weekend.

March 1 - Create or Start something new each day

My new thing for today is not necessarily a creation but more a start (oh, and it started yesterday, unofficially).

Pedometer. I tried to take a quick snapshot of the one I am using, but its all reflective and I didn't have the time to figure it out. Anway, have you ever worn one? I've considered this little piece of modern technology more than once and finally made the commitment, for that is what it is. You don't realize it until you snap on the little gadget and then you obsess over it. Well, I did anyway. My goal is 10,000 steps each day. Yesterday I strapped on the counter at 10:00 am and by noon I had over 2,000 steps. Mind you, at my stride length, that's less than a mile. At my stride length, it takes approximately 3,335 steps for me to have walked one mile. Crazy!

So, when I got home yesterday, I'd not even come close to half my daily goal and I do most of my walking during the day. I mean, you can only walk around the house so much in an evening. I left the gadget on while I did my daily stint on the elliptical machine. Thank goodness I did. In the first 30 minutes, I stepped over 4,000 times. In the end, my grand total for yesterday was 11,895 steps. Something like 6,000 of them on the elliptical machine, but, whatever works. Right?

I would love to get all those steps in during the day without even getting onto an aerobic trainer. I need a job that makes that possible. Until then...

So, that is my new thing for today. Since I post so early in the morning, the new thing will have to actually be from the previous day, but whatever. Time is a man created concept anyway.