You're Doing It Wrong

A Frayed Knot
First — my email has been haywire all day. I haven’t tried to troubleshoot it which I will probably regret later but there you go. I’m hoping if I ignore it, it will go away.

For Christmas, Mom gave me a new black sweater. Priscilla gave me my first Pendleton cardigan almost 10 years ago and it is one of my favorite pieces of clothing, ever. I’ve probably worn it at least three times a week, during the cold season, every week since then.

I’m wearing the old one right now. It’s completely in tatters. One elbow is worn throught. The collar and shoulder seams have holes. I cuff my sleeves because my arms are short and because the fold makes a handy spot to keep a tissue (am I an old lady or what?) and the cuffs are completely worn and frayed. Priscilla gave me a green cardigan a year or two later and that one’s also in bad shape although I still wear it in public.

I love these sweaters because they are warm, they aren’t bulky and they don’t pill or look like crap after you’ve worn them a few times. If I was ever to be a spokesperson for a product, Pendleton clothing would be it. I have a pair of wool pants that my mom gave me when I moved to Oregon 15 years ago. They were hers for years before that. They still look fantastic although the lining is starting to protest.

The new cardigan has been hanging in the closet all pretty with the tag and extra button still on it. I kept putting off wearing it. It’s so perfect and new, what if I went to the bar and people were smoking or what if I ate marinara sauce and got sloppy?

I finally wore it last night for bluegrass and nothing bad happened and I suspect this will soon be in the regular, all the time clothing rotation.

Bluegrass turned out to be pretty fun. There were a few organizational snafus. We started out to the left of the stage and a few kids were playing there which rapidly turned into a pack of kids playing there and being kids, they made a lot of noise. At first a few adults seemed to pay attention and shush them when they got too loud. But as more and more kids joined the games everyone seemed to shrug and look the other way. When you were a kid did your parents let you play balloon volleyball and hit adults who paid $55 for an all day bluegrass pass with your balloons? I didn’t think so.

We moved closer to the middle which worked great except for the beer garden. The event is gaining momentum. I think this is year #3. They had a lot more vending taking up space in the back of the hall so the beer garden was moved up to the side of the bleachers. Before it was behind the bleachers. Emmylou was in the middle of a heart-melting melody and for accompaniment: the din from the beer garden. You have to ask yourself why someone would pay $55 for a bluegrass pass and then sit in the beer garden and talk.

Lots of people were looking over there unhappily so I suspect they’ll rearrange next year.

We had a good time and heard lots of great music. Today I’m still trying to get organized whatever that means. I’m making progress. I got the paper edition of the newsletter done. I used Illustrator this year which made it a lot easier. If you’re an experienced InDesign user you’re probably laughing right now but I don’t know how to use InDesign and it takes about 10 years off my life trying to figure it out on the fly, just for the newsletter. I didn’t process my text properly, as learned in class: don’t tell my teacher Nancy. I’m going to take to the printers tomorrow and get those in the mail next week. I also finished putting together a bunch of stuff I need to mail to people, another long procrastinated project. I thought I’d have time to watch a movie and hem my pants this afternoon but never got that far.

The weekend days always go by so quickly.

Tired On Fire
The 07 book page is up.

I finished a book this week and realized I had to make a new page. I just spent the last hour and a half dicking around with it and trying to do something arty with the banner and side photo. Sadly, my skill set still does not even meet the level of my primitive artistic ideas. Here’s the part where I normally say, I’ll fiddle with it more later but I doubt that will happen so instead I’ll say, I meant to do it that way.

Yesterday was my first normal Friday in awhile so I seized the opportunity to do a bunch of errands and chores.

After dinner I felt really tired so I figured I get into bed a little early and read. Outside it was dark and windy. Rain whipped against the window. What could be better than curling up under the covers?

Except the clock said: 7:30pm.

There’s no way that could be right. I couldn’t be read for bed that early. I checked another clock. Nope, I was ready for bed at 7:30pm. I bravely kept the light on until 9pm although couldn’t tell you with any accuracy what I read about.

Naturally I woke up at 5am. Too bad we don’t have any cows to milk.

This morning we’re doing a quick trip to the market and picking up our vegetables and this afternoon/evening is bluegrass.

A Few More Things Because I Keep Getting Distracted
I found a whole bunch of articles about having your domain hijacked for spam here. Sadly, it’s not uncommon and it looks like not a whole lot I can do, especially since I don’t want to invest much energy into it. The 50 + mailer-daemons per login is growing very old although also entertaining because half of them are from other countries like this subject line: MANCATA CONSEGNA: L’utente progettohspr (progettohspr@progetto.net) non è elencato nella Rubrica

If, like me, one of you favorite expressions is “smells like ass,” you should drop everything and read this. (The part that comes after the Winnie the Pooh stuff.)

Omigod, I drank tea with regular caffeine this morning. My regular caffeine intake is about: nothing. I don’t know how you people do this every day. I feel all shiny and jittery and like I’m about to blast off. I’m thinking of drinking a downer tea to see if it will counteract it.

Firmer Thighs in 60 Days
Someone in our office convinced the building management to let us use the stairs. There’s a secret passage and codes involved but I’m not allowed to say anything else because, you know, it’s a high stakes security environment.

Now the situation is transformed from a pain in the ass to an opportunity for the ass. Running up and down the stairs several times a day will surely promote firming and toning like nobody’s business. I didn’t even have to make a resolution.

Speaking of resolutions, one of the things I like to do at the end of the year, both at the office and at home, is clean out drawers filled with various kinds of papers that accumulate over the year and refile, toss, or shred as necessary. Or in some cases finding something and saying: “Ah-ha, that’s where that went.”

This year I didn’t have time at home or the office. And I guess this isn’t really a resolution. More like a new years practice.

The office is going to be a lost cause. I did manage to get 9 months of filing done right before Christmas so at least I cleared off my sorting table. But I have boxes to archive and little odds and ends that I never had time to get to, that will remain ungot to. Too much else going on.

I like cleaning out things partly because I’m a little bit insane and it relieves my anxiety and but also because it’s a symbolic exercise. Clear out the old, make room for the new. You never know what new great thing you’re inviting in by creating a fresh space for it.

UPDATE: I tried the upstairs bathroom. The secret part all went fine. The bathroom, geez: it’s still 1972 up there. Orange and red. Also a green sign that says: Thank you for not smoking. I’ve got to bring my camera next week.

Building Upgrades, Phase 1
Our building at work is under new ownership or new management, or both. I don’t know since it has nothing to do with me.

What I do know is they are reportedly trying to make the building more appealing to potential tenants and in the process, making it a pain in the ass for the current tenants.

First they refurbished the building entry which involved closing it for 8 weeks so that we could only enter in the back of the building. The new entry is nice but not a huge difference and whatever they paid: not worth it.

Then some mastermind came up with an idea to strip the empty units bare so that potential tenants could see what raw space they could work with. I don’t know this for a fact but this is my best guess given that the other half of our floor was dismantled (not a quiet job) and then they did (and continue to do) something that sounds like a jet engine at take off, for hours at a time.

Meanwhile, some work in the building is making a union unhappy so periodically the union gets a bunch of people with whistles and drums to march around on the sidewalk and carry signs and yell which is surprisingly loud, even on the 18th floor.

Now, the absolute worst one is that they’ve closed the restrooms on our floor. The stairs are locked because, who knows why, so we have to take the elevator to another floor to use the restroom. For two months.

Rituals
Before I leave the house in the morning, I turn down the thermostat. Not too far, because I’m from the camp that believes that it costs just as much to bring your house back to toasty after letting it cool down all day, as it does to keep it on the low end of normal all day. I read a completely sane and well argued item that tells me this is a complete falsehood. I don’t care. This is how I do it.

Also, I can’t turn it too low while the husband is still home because if he gets cold, he’ll crank it way up and then go off to work and now we’re paying for a toasty house all day long. The only time it occurs to him to touch the thermostat is when he is cold. Conservation is not part of the equation.

Another thing I do is crack the blinds in the bedroom. The people who lived here before us had their bedboard against one of the windows so they didn’t open the blinds for who knows how many years and there was furry band of mold growing around the window panes when we moved in. The idea behind the crack is moisture control.

I check the rolled up towel at the bottom crack of the front door to minimize chilly draft. This is another item spouse ignores because he doesn’t like bending.

I put any stray cups or dishes into the dishwasher so the counters will be clean when I return home. Then I turn out all the lights and head off to work.

When I return home I do almost the same drill in reverse. Punch up the thermostat. Close blinds. Turn on a few lights.

The summer is opposite. I close the windows and blinds in the morning and open them all up when I get home because sunlight and fresh air are my favorite.

Spam Central
Happy New Year! It appears some spammer used my domain for a nice (s)pamfest. Thanks! Like I don’t have enough stupid sh*t to deal with.

I had a busy day dismantling all the Christmas decorations, any remaining boxes, wrapping and fluff from the actual xmas gifts, rearranging shelves and cupboards to fit in new stuff, another clear out of the fridge and related kitchen projects including turning my beautiful pumpkin into eating material and finalizing the turkey carcass broth into turkey noodle soup. I also caught up on all the laundry.

Things I didn’t get to? The list is much longer. *sigh* What is it? Does everything just take longer than you’d think? Do I poop out earlier than the average person? Am I slower or too detail oriented? My room is still a mess with gifts and books and papers strewn about and projects not even started. Short work week. There will be another weekend in no time. (And bluegrass next weekend, too.)

Like the eerie glow on the pumpkin photo? I have a vague recollection of a photo trick where you cover the flash with paper or something like that. I used my finger. This gives me lots of ideas.

While I undid the xmas tree and careful rewrapped all the ornaments and then did the advanced puzzle where you have to fit it all into the two boxes that go into the garage, I watched a movie I DVR’d earlier this month: Force Ten from Navarone.

I picked two movies, The Sting and Navarone.

I saw The Sting with my friend Julie, when it came out in 1973 which means I was about 10 and I liked it then. I’m not sure the last time I saw it but it’s been at least 20 years and I say this: it holds up well. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Newman and Redford both look fantastic.

I’ve never seen Navarone but I picked it because Harrison Ford is in it. Long story short: it’s a WWII movie and very fun to watch while doing xmas decorations plus there are numerous coincidences.

1 – Robert Shaw who played Doyle Lonnegan in The Sting, and is also well know as Quint from Jaws, which I also saw with my childhood friend, Julie. You might argue that his character in Navarone is the “Han Solo” character.

2 – Carl Weathers is in the movie. Last night Bob and I watched a half disk of Arrested Development and Carl Weathers appeared in one episode in a hilarious “as himself” role.

3 – Richard Kiel who played the unforgettable Jaws role in a James Bond movie appeared in Navarone as a bad guy.

4 – I liked Harrison Ford but you could see the Han Solo in this performance as well. This movie came out in 78 after Star Wars.

I’m sure there is more I could say but I’ve got a glass of wine and 2 more Arrested Developments waiting for me and I get to go to work tomorrow so must drop kick my big butt to bed early.

Too Tired for Even A Clever Title
Just wanted to send out a quick HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone.

I finally finished the holiday newsletter and if you haven’t seen it yet, click away.

Today I accomplished the following:

I exercised. I did the holiday newsletter. It took all freaking day. OOF. I do it to myself because I end up geeking around with the photos and changing my mind what to use and then thinking I’ll change the format and geeking with that.

I am now so tired of sitting at the computer and I can hardly see straight. And tomorrow: the paper version. (That sound you hear is me screaming.)

I also made turkey tetrazzini. Can you imagine the expression on a child’s face if you told him he was going to have a candy buffet for dinner? This is how my husband looks when I tell him I’m making turkey tetrazzini. It’s like eating magical goodness cooked while unicorns dance around the kitchen. (For him.) For me it’s just delicious hot food with lots of leftovers.

After I staggered away from the keyboard this afternoon, I wasn’t really in the mood for the tetrazzini. The recipe is seriously yummy but also gets every dish in the kitchen dirty and most of the counterspace. But everything was ready to do so I threw it together and made a salad and also a brown betty with the mushy pears we didn’t get around to eating. Man, there’s a lot of stuff to eat during the holidays.

We’ve had an excellent holidays and birthday but to be honest, I’m ready for it to be over. We’re invited to another doo tomorrow but halfway through tetrazzini dishes I hit my breaking point. I told Bob: I need to stay home. I have things to do, puttering to putt, notes to jot, pictures to cut out, crap to put away, more crap to put in the trash. I’m not up for one more event right now.

Birthday
A couple years ago Bob bought me a Time and Newsweek from the week of my birthday. This morning I flipped through them to see if there was some fun thing I could share here.

I don’t know where to start.

The Newsweek cover story has to do with missionaries around the world. The cover price is .25¢.

Time has Painter Andrew Wyeth on the cover. The price is .30¢

Time is a bit nicer with more color ads. Well, more ads period. In Newsweek the big color ads are for alcoholic beverages or cigarettes.

I was born a little over a month after JFK was assassinated so both issues talk about President Johnson and domestic issues. Both include items on the marriage of Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. Both show a long line of West Berliners waiting to cross the wall to visit with East German relatives.

There’s a lot of forward-looking at technology in the realm of travel, planes and space. One ad predicts that by the early 1970’s we’ll be traveling in airplanes faster than 1500 MPH “probably much faster.”

It’s a amazing how a person can feel, not THAT old, yet all these things that have changed in my life time.

One favorite tidbit: an article on modern living reports that the bathroom was undergoing a renaissance. Even small homeowners wanted more and bigger bathrooms. Two particular trends: bigger bathtubs which “further threaten[] the national water table,” and “female emancipation” leading to a fad in twin installations. You know, two sinks.

My favorite birthday is dinner and a movie. This afternoon we’re going to Volver and then trying a new restaurant — well, new to us.

Foraging for Food
This morning I wanted to lay around in bed reading and drinking tea but Bob very persistently convinced me to go on a walk which was a good thing. I had to put on clothes and nothing like bracing cold air to clear your head. I did some yoga when I got home and then dug into the chores.

One of my main adventures for today was getting the food situation under control. There is a fridge full of leftovers and foods purchased with something special in mind that I never got around to. I had to check for funny smelling stuff, consolidate other stuff, chuck stuff past pull date. I bought a bunch of leeks to do something with. Then I bought some more. Some were sacrificed to the compost gods.

I intended to make a breakfast strata while we had the group here over Xmas but we had so much other food it seemed silly to make another thing. I checked the mushrooms and they were still a day or two away from bolting and I had 5 egg whites left from the pots de creme so I threw that together this morning including some leeks. It’s in the oven right now.

I still need to pick the turkey clean and get that carcass a-boiling for some soup but I actually made progress on the tardy holiday newsletter and didn’t want to step away from the computer while I had that going. This weekend, for sure.