can't resist scooby (or scooby can't resist)

I titled that last post "broken promises" for two reasons. The first pertained to the content of the Keith Olbermann video. And the second referenced my previous post which promised an entry of predetermined topic that I obviously did not do. I extend the breaking of the latter promise by offering up this video. It cracks me up.



Someday, I'll post that other entry. Someday.

broken promises

next post, i promise

I really will write the post I'd mentioned a couple weeks ago. Until then, check out this cute kitty. It won't embed nicely like YouTube, so you'll have to follow the link.

distraction

Spurts. It's a weird word, but seemingly the most appropriate to describe the method in which I currently blog. My life is most decidedly an uneven mixture of productivity and rollick. Neither are quite so concentrated as I'd imagined, but as long as I don't get hung up on it, I'm fine. So, until I take the time to write my next post (subject matter already established), here is a new picture of Sadie. If you've ever seen a picture of her before, the setting is very familiar. I take countless pictures of her in her favorite hammock on her favorite afghan because [A] she's just so darned cute, and [B] it is located right next to my desk (and so is she) every time I sit here. This one's moderately different in that I got down to eye level with her, plus she's covering her nose. Terribly cute! >^,,^<

Song: "Fascinating Rhythm" by Dave Grusin
Other: My new obsession is the Container Store. Today, I spent $@#*&^! there. Yes, I was just there last Tuesday. So enamoured am I that I've started buying Christmas gifts there.

my will is weak

By posting a few of the pictures I took earlier, my already waning desire to complete the office projects was altogether snuffed. I escaped. Ran one errand, but then wandered around looking for more photo opportunities. Everything is really starting to leaf out, so the blooms are getting harder and harder to find. Not that I mind taking the time because it's once again a sunny amazing day. So, here are a few more. Then I really must get back to work. Really.






Song: "Criterion" by Me'Shell Ndegeocello
Other: "Procrastination is the deferment or putting-off of an action or task, usually by focusing on some other distraction (compare temporisation). It is Latin for 'foremorrowing,' or making some such of tomorrow."

but look at the pretty flowers

My office project continues, what seems ad infinitum. I want it to be done sooner, at the same time my motivation flags. I guess I should stop futzing around in the blogosphere and get back to work so it can be done with once and for all. I should have taken "before" pictures, but I'll probably post "after" pictures anyway. Until then, some more celluloid Spring.

climb up my rainbow

Another beautiful day, another lunch with a friend, and a new twist on playing. Ted only had to work three hours this morning. We scheduled a last minute brunch with our friend, Sarah, whose friend from Atlanta was in town for a long weekend. When they headed out for the airport, we headed to White Plains, New York to go to the Container Store in search of a 48" airtight box in which to store a sword collection (it's a long story). We didn't find it, but we did find a few other things, making up for what I didn't spend at Christmas Tree Shoppe yesterday. We then headed up the Merritt Parkway back to Connecticut.

While enjoying the tree-lined drive, we were inspired to do something spontaneous that would, once again, allow us to enjoy the outdoors on such a wonderful day. I suggested the zoo, and Ted, once again, eagerly agreed. I have been to this zoo several times, as it is a regular activity any time a niece or nephew visits us. Any time I'd gone with the kids, however, Ted always had to work. So, he'd never been!

It turned out to be the perfect way to "do" the zoo! The weather was ideal -- warm with a light breeze, sunny with a few clouds. Every other time I'd gone, it was July and hot (or hotter). The crowds were perfect. That is to say, there were no crowds to speak of; only various Moms, Dads, and grandparents with children too young to be in school. We took our time, lingered looking at animals we particularly liked, read the information boards, and snapped some photos.

We saw boy peacocks in various states of showiness, startled into full plumage when a girl peacock ran noisily by. A California condor was walking in the old bald eagle enclosure (a seriously big bird). It's been a couple years since I was here. I wonder where the eagle went. Timber and red wolves. A family of Siberian tigers, with Papa in one enclosure, and Mama with two one-year old (basically full-size) cubs in the other. An Andean bear. A Canada lynx. Lots of turtles, piling up traffic jam style on a couple logs. Alligators sitting very still. Herons and wood ducks and egrets and all sorts of other birds flying around and preening in a walk-through aviary. River otters whose river wasn't running, so they frolicked in a water-filled basin at the top of the hill. A red fox. A white-tailed deer. You know, zoo residents.

In all, we were there for a little over two hours. I stopped at the gift store on the way out and procured a few more stocking stuffers. We got cold beverages from the vending machine before walking out the entrance just as they were closing it up for the day. It really worked out just right. We loaded ourselves back into the car, adding one more bag of goodies to the Container Store bag, and headed home. The fresh air, sunshine, and exercise conspired to lure us asleep. I napped so deeply (and for about 90 minutes) that I was a bit confused when Ted woke me up with dinner! He'd made chicken Parmesan and broccoli. Yum.

I'm really loving these great Spring days. Tomorrow, although we have plans for another trek (weather permitting), we do also have plans to actually do some projects, and will be working much of the day. But I'll have more pictures to post regardless.

~~~
Song: None, believe it or not. It's raining, and I love the sound of rain. So the music is off, and the window is open.

slide down my cellar door

After lunch with my friend, we lingered in the Olive Garden parking lot, extending our conversation so as to soak up the sun and admire the flowering apple trees. After a quick and fruitless jaunt to Christmas Tree Shoppe (a first -- I have never left that store without buying something), I trekked back home on this, the most beautiful day the year so far. Windows down, hair up, music on. The air's movement was too eager to be called a breeze, but not so zealous as to be frightening. The construction delays that frustrated me on the way to lunch were gone now that the afternoon was growing late. It was a glorious half hour of driving.

As I neared the house, I longed not to go inside. I called Ted and asked him to come out and play. He eagerly agreed. I stopped at the house to gather him in my happy Boom Box (which was spiffy and shined after a nice car wash yesterday), and off we went. We stopped at the post office to drop a letter, then wandered around town looking for nothing in particular, figuring we'd know it when we found it.

We ended up at a park on Long Island Sound that we've never entered in the 7½ years living here. Large, twisty sculptures punctuated the walk along the water. A girls' lacrosse team practiced on a fraction of the immense field across the lot from the shore. The walking path still bore the signs of the recent Nor'easter which, when combined with increased high tide, flooded much of the area. Seashell shrapnel co-mingled with pebbles, seaweed, and old dead leaves. Moss-filled clams were vertically embedded in the mud.

We walked for a bit, then sat on a bench to watch the ripples on the water and the variety of birds. There were seagulls, of course, but also swans, mallards, a singular and seemingly baby sandpiper, a singular and very tall crane, and a few unidentifiable birds floating on both air and water. I took some pictures. The rock island where four, five, or six of them had taken up residence slowly disappeared below an incoming tide. Not that it dissuaded the birds from perching there.

Ted and I talked about our day, our projects, our plans for the future. Then we'd walk some more and stop at another bench to enjoy a different angle, look at the waterfront houses, watch two crew boats and their coach practicing on the windy-topped waves, and wander out onto the thick, crunchy sand of a boat launch.

This occupied three hours of our time. Only a chill slight enough to make fingers shiver convinced us to head back home. What a lovely way to spend the afternoon.

~~~
Song: "Palo Santo" by Shearwater. Pretty music.
Other: Taking pictures with my fun-but-simplistic camera, on a day when every angle of life was picturesque, made me long for a better camera.

the end

Today is the last day of National Poetry Month. I have failed at any imagined attempt of writing some poetry myself this month. But I've quite enjoyed reading the daily poems that arrived to my inbox. And despite my inaction, it has motivated me at least subconsciously. I like this one from the 27th better than today's, so I'll include it as the capstone for this celebratory month.

Apples
by Grace Schulman

Rain hazes a street cart's
green umbrella but not its apples, heaped in paper cartons,
dry under cling film. The apple man,

who shirrs his mouth as though eating tart fruit,
exhibits four like racehorses at auction:
Blacktwig, Holland, Crimson King, Salome.

I tried one and its cold grain jolted memory:
a hill where meager apples fell so bruised
that locals wondered why we scooped them up,

my friend and I, in matching navy blazers.
One bite and I heard her laughter toll,
free as school's out, her face flushed in late sun.

I asked the apple merchant for another,
jaunty as Cezanne's still-life reds and yellows,
having more life than stillness, telling us,

uncut, unpeeled, they are not for the feast
but for themselves, and building strength to fly
at any moment, leap from a skewed bowl,

whirl in the air, and roll off a tilted table.
Fruit-stand vendor, master of Northern Spies,
let a loose apple teach me how to spin

at random, burn in light and rave in shadows.
Bring me a Winesap like the one Eve tasted,
savored and shared, and asked for more.

No fool, she knew that beauty strikes just once,
hard, never in comfort. For that bitter fruit,
tasting of earth and song, I'd risk exile.

The air is bland here. I would forfeit mist
for hail, put on a robe of dandelions,
and run out, broken, to weep and curse — for joy.

"Apples" from The Broken String by Grace Schulman.
Copyright © 2007 by Grace Schulman.

~~~
Song: "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Patti Smith. I've only heard one other cover of this Nirvana song (by the Bad Plus), and both do it justice in their own unique ways. I really admire Ms. Smith's take on it, adding a "Deliverance"-reminiscent banjo and with a whole new section in the middle where she rants about everything that's wrong with the world.
Other: Busily piling through stuff...

some spring

Before I get too deep into (shudder) working, here's one of my photos. I love flowers, especially on trees. Yay, Spring!

podington bear

Extremely cool electronic music, performed by a mysterious bear, with new songs available free three times a week, through iTunes podcasts, and in low-cost collections. NPR (National Public Radio) introduced me to this artist, and I am instantly hooked. Go and listen for yourself. It's free, so what have you got to lose?

I have a busy day ahead of me. It's nearly a new month, and my calendar of projects is full to the brim with things to do. Plus, today I'm meeting a friend for lunch. So much to do, so little time.

Song: "Sunset Stroll into the Wood" by Podington Bear (natch)
Reading Material: Rafts of miscellaneous paper scooped from my desk to be organized.
Other: I'm too old to be operating on fewer than five hours' sleep.

no day feels like any day anymore

It took four weeks post-employment for life to start to blur. I thought it might happen sooner. After all, Ted works a non-traditional week, removing the structure of a standard weekend that might theoretically reinforce the calendar. Add to that the TiVo revolution (in which, no television show is actually watched on the day it aired), which might further widen the fuzziness.

In any event, it's Sunday, and to me, it's felt like Thursday all day. Ted's at work. I'm working on my home projects. Today, it's the start of a complete overhaul of our entire office, from paper clips and overstuffed bookcases to photographs and the new LaserJet printer. Actually, I started yesterday (it's going to take a while). I'm taking the trash out to the Dumpster on the way to pick up the mail. I have pasta primavera planned for dinner.

I've also begun scheduling all the other projects on a large paper calendar -- the kind that hangs on the wall with big empty boxes to write stuff onto each day. Alas, after a 4-week vacation, it's time to buckle down and accomplish a few things. So, enough pointless blogging for now. I have stuff to do!

UPDATE: Two things. First, I neglected to mention that I'd read the Sunday New York Times this morning. You know, an obvious sign that today is Sunday, not Thursday. Second, after this whole spiel, I still wrote in this blog that I was going outside to get the mail. And when I went to the mailbox, um, well... the mail isn't delivered on Sundays.

Song: "Heartbreaker" by Michael Jackson. OK, why do I feel defensive listening to Jacko? Scandals aside, I enjoy most of his music. This song is good, and an obvious inspiration to folks like Justin Timberlake.
Book: Um, I'm not reading a book at the moment. I bought two gossip rags at Costco the other day (People and Us). I haven't read them yet, either.
Other: Flowers and trees are blooming all over the place. I've taken some pictures, and will be taking more in the next week. Watch future posts for the inclusion of my exciting Spring photos.