Funnily enough, I find myself craving gingerale now. I know "Brilliant!" is Guiness's schtick, but I think the use of these 1950s illustrations to make hilarious commercials deserves a "Brilliant!". And a toast, with a Jack and Ginger, or something equally Schwepps-tastic.
My past week+ has been taken up with a nervous stomach over Milo, and the ups and downs a parent might feel. First, worried about his surgery (torn ACL). Followed by happy that he was coming home. Followed by worry that he was too excited, followed by extreme worry that he wasn't moving, followed by feeling helpless and sleeping in his bed with him because he was upset and crying, and I couldn't figure out what was wrong. This was followed by feelings of "did I do the right thing?" over the surgery; is he eating enough; is he eating too little? How much pain killer do I give him? Do I need to sedate him at night? Is it really okay if I leave his cone off? Is he using that leg too much? Too little? Will removing his staples tomorrow be painful? How will he react going back to the vet? Should I go to D.C. for Thanksgiving? What if something happens?????
Brain at a snail's pace, unless it is thinking about Milo. Then it is flying at light speed, along with my heart, my breath. I know it will all turn out fine, but I can't stop the anxiety.
It's Friday, and I think I just blew some snot into my caffè. Gross. Oh well, I guess that will just give it a slightly salty flavor.
I'm readying myself for another weekend with a long to-do list, which I'm sure I won't get through. In fact, most of the to-do's are left over from last week. This morning, I'm looking through the many photos from Italy, again, trying to determine what I want to put on the wall above the dining table. I'm thinking the warm tones in most of those photos would work in the room. I have a photo on the wall now, but it's not working for me. Too dark.
The photo above is from Firenze. I like the mixture of fresh fruit and overly processed junk food offered. You don't often see that in America, so you don't feel so bad if you reach for the Haribo and Sprite, because tasty-fresh apples and oranges aren't available at the local gas station.
I've been reading a new book, The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite by David Kessler, which isn't really a self-help book like you would think from the title, but actually an insightful look into how the food corporations make the food we crave and why we crave it. There's lots of talk of testing on lab rat testing, fat, sugar, and salt (To the point, sometimes, where I do not want to hear those 3 words again. I get it!!! already.), and reward. The one thing that really disturbs me is the talk of the food companies trying to make food that melts in your mouth. The food is described as almost pre-chewed and reconstituted just so it takes a few less chomps to make it melt in your mouth and disappear, thus taking the work out of it for you. Really? I'm so lazy that I can't chew 10 more times before swallowing? Maybe not lazy, but apparently this is something people react positively to in their food. Come to think of it, those Lay's potato chips do melt nicely in my mouth. Speaking of Lay's (don't they have the slogan "bet you can't eat just one"?), another theme that pops out in this book is the fact that the food companies want you addicted to their food. Anything less than addicted just won't do. Seriously.
So while I'll never give up my M&Ms and Ruffles with French Onion dip, admonish those who, *gasp*, eat American cheese, or become one of those people who notes the calories of the Chili Cheese Coney with tater tots and an Ocean Water trying to make myself or others feel guilty about what is being enjoyed in the moment, this book is reinforcing my need for home-cooked meals, restaurants that I trust not to feed me frozen, pre-cooked food that can be picked up at my local Safeway in the freezer section, "shopping the perimeter" of the grocery store, or better yet, shopping the Farmer's Market, and just in general enjoying some yummy food. Food, not reconstituted, addictive, melt-in-your-mouth, chemically-laden, overly preserved... un-food? Not sure what you call it at that point. Filler?
Hmm, I have went from "I need a picture" to soapbox in one post this morning. I guess I'm making up for my lack of posts this week.
Til next time... Ciao! (yes, I'm trying to learn Italian, too)
It feels like a Monday, even though it is Tuesday. The first day back to work after a long weekend is always bleh, but the first day back after spending the weekend cleaning is even more bleh. It feels like there was no break, no special day off.
Oh well, the weekend's closer than if it were Monday. Yay!
I cannot believe I've been writing this blog for over 4 years now. From the first post in Missouri with Milo enjoying the fresh air to the latest hiatus followed by domestic bliss, it's interesting to read what I was up to then and the thoughts that swirled through my head.
A few days ago we celebrated our second anniversary. On our first anniversary we just chilled out on our deck, enjoyed the view of the mountains, and talked all night while drinking a bottle of Krug. For the second anniversary, we chilled out on *our* deck - the one we spent a weekend staining a month ago. Switch Dom for Krug, and last year's conversation for something more light-hearted and less philosophical. Oh, and switch out the champagne glasses to the kitschy, heart-shaped, freebie glasses we used at our wedding, for nostalgia's sake.
Then we decided we needed to eat this time around. Out we went to Zeni, and Ethiopian restaurant, where we enjoyed our favorite, kitfo. After eating all the meats, a little injera was left, and Raju showed his artistic side by carving Orion's Belt into injera.
All in all it was a great night. Piece by piece it was a great night.
Yeah, I know the title is nonsense, but give me a break. I've been hopped up on Tylenol Cold - non-drowsy formula, for 4 days now, and I'm feeling a little dopey, a lot of speedy.
I've been in bed all day, surrounded by process maps and my computer, trying to make sense of it all. Who ever said there was no creativity in my day job? Anyways, at one point, I threw it all down and noticed the cool shadows undulating across my notebook. Flip, fresh page. Click - share - and here we are. It would have been so much easier if I could get blogger mobile to work, but bleh - I'm sick of fooling with it.
I think it's time for another dose of Tylenol. Hooray!
Nothing like a Saturday morning, sitting around in your sweats, drinking coffee and looking at the bright sunshine to make you feel like you might be able to conquer the world. Had it been cloudy, I would have wanted to bury my head further under the covers than I did this morning and not come out all day.
Blink. A year went by. 2008 was a good year where I feel like I did a lot of nothing. I rested up from event-filled 2007. I wasn't quite as crazy as I was in 2005 heading into 2006, though the way this work week is going, if I'm not careful, I'll be back there. I guess I'll just have to keep my sage friend pappy's advice in mind, "Fuck work. :D"
I'm back to blah again, with nothingness sitting in my brain. My mind is blank - right now would be a great time to take up that whole zen meditation thing, because I can't force a thought out of my head, except, of course, this rambling. Which hardly counts as a thought.
Actually, life is pretty colorful here too. Especially with me driving down the road trying to take a picture and shift gears this morning. But how often do you see a sky full of rainbows?
Lately, when I start to wake, instead of remembering part of a dream, I have a novel running through my head as I come into consciousness. Crazy stories, just like I'm reading it from a book.
This morning's was something out of science fiction. A person, in the future, doing some schleppy IT-related work because he wants to slack off. Only he realizes the work he does fuels what he hates about society and aids in lining the pockets of his enemies. There were spaceships involved - a la Futurama, but more grown up and realistic and grimy.
It just always strikes me as odd when I wake up and there are these well-formed sentences running through my head, and I'm not the center of the dream or even watching it - someone is narrating it. I find it even more odd that I have some sort of science fiction brewing in my unconscious; I don't even like science fiction. But that can mainly be blamed on Star Trek.
It's time to pick up work on the pod series again.
Well, not quite sleepless. Sleep just ended promptly with a whack of the neighbors window, which was followed by the usual 4 am noise. God, how I wish they'd get a hotel room.
In other news, I'm routine. Wake up (at 4 am), and again at 6 or 7 am, coffee, noodle around the net, shower, walk dog, drive, work, work, work, drive, walk dog, cook or procure food, eat, noodle around on net more, sleep for a few hours and do the entire thing over again. Punctuated by weekends where work is filled in with cleaning.
I find it funny that some people don't realize how much I love music - even I miss that about myself occasionally. It has the power to lift me up out of my blues, or sink me farther into them, depending on the mood I'm in when I hit that play button.
I'm not sure if there's anything better than driving down the road, windows rolled down on a sunny day, listening to something that makes you want to move. Move your head, tap your toes, dance with your fingers, wiggle your booo-tay.
Baby Bear's Bedroom, from Postcards from Another Reality
I haven't slept well in days and it's finally catching up with me. I have plenty of stuff to write and talk about here, but I'm so damn drained I just can't right now. By the time I sleep, it will have all slipped away - but maybe I will have some good dreams to share at that point.
In other holiday news, we are ready for our holiday, as the Europeans say. So, not that I've ever gotten around to updating this blog daily anyways, but updates will still continue to be spotty. If I can get some photos uploaded along the way, though, I will update.
We forgot to pack the flowers, but we did meet quite a few... well, interesting people. Tuesday we packed in a lot while visiting San Francisco. We saw the Golden Gate bridge, drove through Sausalito, down Lombard Street, hit the Haight and visited the Grateful Dead house. Then, down to the wharf and Ghiradelli Square, topped off with a dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse.
Then, yesterday we went to see the otters!! I've been wanting to see the Wild About Otters exhibit for a while in Monterey Bay Aquarium.
Last night Tiff finally got here and we hit the Pizzeria again, then came back and had our pict made with the sphere the people down the street made...
So, check out the photos! Again, some haven't been rotated, but here they are, unsorted :-)
Yesterday we were up at the crack of dawn, after 2 hours of drunken sleep. Mom drove the caravan down to Santa Cruz, where we watched the sun come up while listening to the bark of the sea lions.
Once we were on the boat we got set up with some squid on the line and waited to hear the magic words, "Okay, drop your lines."
Everyone caught some fish... Though Tammy's kept getting thrown back (she was catching rare and elusive fish).
Tammy all geared up:
Courtney's first fish:
Raju's catch:
Martin's pretty red fish:
Bob and Mom hooked fish at the same time:
I think we caught around 50 fish in all. Last night was good eats for sure.
You can check out all of the photos here. I haven't yet rotated all of the photos, and they are wacky out of order, but enjoy! (Some photos are mine, some photos are from Martin's camera, and there are even a few movies from Martin at the end.)
I'm sooooo ready for it. Sitting on the couch for an entire weekend, doing nothing, but eating nachos, wings, pizza, brats, and other yummy non-healthy things. Beer! Lovely, lovely beer. And not planning a wedding.
It's coming... only 12 more days. The next week is going to be a mad rush to get everything done. The weekend after the wedding I am doing nothing. I am going to pretend it's a football weekend, even if it's not yet on. I'm going to eat oooey-gooey cheesy food and sit on the couch... Well, I might take Milo to the beach, but that's about it.
Yesterday the day was spent in San Francisco. We went to pick up my dress (yay!!!). Then we headed down to the Ferry Building to take some pictures and grab some grub.
We're closing in on the wedding. Only 27 days until the big day. And there is still so much that needs to be done.
But, we did take a break yesterday evening to enjoy the gifts we've been receiving -- we ate our first meal off of the new dishes from our registry. Buffalo steaks and grilled veggies -- yummy! Thank you Lad & Becky and Ninny & Papaw!
Art is about experiences. It is about the experiences you, as a viewer, bring with you. It is about the experiences I've had over my lifetime.
So I'm giving you a glimpse into my life and experiences. This diary is a compilation of current events, reminiscences, thoughts, and even a few posts about my pieces.
Feel free to share your experiences with me via the comments links.
A southern girl, displaced, but loving every minute of it. A drifter through life, living in the moment or just enjoying that moment. An artist who forgoes the thinking to just create. An impassioned soul, but only for the briefest of periods... until the next new thing comes along. A comedian, well, I amuse myself anyway. :-)
