November 30, 2019 - 78 - "One Sick Puppy"

      A lone figure huddles over a computer in a darkened room wearing sweatpants, a thick sweater, heavy socks, dirty house shoes, and a scarf...though it's 70 degrees out.  

     The hair is unwashed and sweaty.  It's covered with a thick wool hat pulled down below the eye sockets to block out the small amount of light coming through a crack in the curtains.  

   The posture is slumped, the fingers are wrapped around a mug of something hot.  

November 29, 2019 - 77 - "Sitting Here Enjoying Ten-Thousand-Hours Eve"

Michael:  Do you think when you pass the ten thousand hour mark writing...?

Me:  Yes...?

Michael:  Do you think in that last ten minutes you'll turn into Tolstoy?

---

Me:  Hmmmm....  I don't know.  But that would make a really good post!

---

     Michael was, of course, referring to Malcolm Gladwell's idea that "it takes 10,000 hours of deliberate practice to become world class in any field."

---

     If you count my time noodling around with ideas in notebooks and journals, plus all the time making notes on my phone, in computer files, and on untold piles of scrap paper and napkins...I may just be getting close to the 10,000 hours.

November 28, 2019 - 76 - "Feeling Thankful, Feeling Crappy - Plus a Recipe!"

The Good News

     My mom, my dad, my middle brother, and my husband, celebrated Thanksgiving today.

     Mom cooked.  I cooked.  There was lots of yummy stuff to eat.

     Everyone had a great time.

The Bad News

     I didn't get to join them.

The Weird News

     For the first time in my entire career I am senior enough to hold off Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, a n d New Year's Eve!!!

     And yet...  

The Rotten News

     I couldn't go out to my folks for Thanksgiving, as I have a really crappy cold.  

November 27, 2019 - 75 - "Cat-aclysmic Revelations About Christopher Walken"

Christopher Walken in "Puss In Boots", where he played:  Puss...in Boots

Writerly Fantasies

      I put a Christopher Walken quote on a recent post.  Later I went back to edit an error on the post.  (Yeah, I know I don't do this nearly enough, but I'm just barely managing to post daily - gotta save perfectionism for another  day  life.)  Anyway, I added at the end of the quote that it's hysterically funny  to think of Christopher Walken having a cat.  I wondered what his cat's name might be.

     Then I thought:  What if there were readers out there so devoted to my posts that they dissected them for various references?  Like they'd make note of my number of references to things like, I don't know; 'pie', or 'pinball'.  

     You true fans out there will know that I have never spoken of pinball.  Or, well, maybe I have?  

     That's how it is with fans - they know more details about what you do, than you do.

     I imagined that these fantasy readers would note my question and wonder what Christopher Walkins cat's name was too.  

    So, for all you hundreds dozens, uh, ones (?), of readers who've hardly been able to sleep for wondering about this burning question...

November 26, 2019 - 74 - "Funny Stuff Passengers Say: Meeting New People"

   

 

    I was on a flight last week and started to brief the people in my exit rows.  

     Here's the conversation I had with one of the exit row passengers:

     Me:  "Can I have everyone's attention in these two rows?  

     Passenger:  (The only one seeming even vaguely interested in what I had to say.)  "Hey!  Is this seat going to be open?"

     
     Me:  "That's what the seat map shows right now." 

     Passenger:  "Cool.  My lucky day!"  

     Me:  "I can't guarantee no one will show up for the seat, but it's late in boarding, and it looks like we've probably got everyone on."


---

A few minutes later I updated the seat map on my tablet and saw the seat was assigned.  

I went back to talk to the man:

     Me:   "Sir, the agents have made a liar out of me.  Looks like someone will be sitting next to you after all."

   Passenger:  "Oh no, I was so psyched."

   Me:  "I'm sorry.  But, look at it this way; it might be your future best-friend-for-life.

   Passenger:  "Yeah. Or maybe my future ex-wife."

November 25, 2019 - 73 - “Money Bags”

Michael:  I just got paid. 

Me:  Woohoo!  You’re my sugar-daddy!  Let’s  go spend it!  (I pucker up and start shimmying over in an attempt to vamp the poor guy out of his paycheck. 😂 ) 

Michael:  Well, it’s already spent on bills.   I’m more like your Splenda-daddy.

—-

 Baaahaaahaaa!  Splenda-daddy. That Michael is funny.

—-

“A nickel ain’t worth a dime anymore.”

-Yogi Berra

—-

“I’ve been married for 46 years, I live in a nice house, my grass is always cut, I pay my bills, and my cat loves me “ 

-Christopher Walken  

(This quote isn't all that relevant to this post.  I just stumbled onto it and had the most hilarious image of Christopher Walken talking baby-talk to his cat.  I wonder what his cat's name is?)  

—-

November 24, 2019 - 72 - "Ken Burns Country Music: A Series of Unlikely Stories"

Country Music - A Film by Ken Burns

     We've been watching the latest film by Ken Burns.  Dang!  He's done it again.

     I don't actually think of myself as a huge fan of country music.

     Or, I should say, I didn't think of myself that way.  But since watching this show I realize that I know every dang song, and love most of the musicians.  I've been more moved and influenced by country music, and the stories behind the music, than I ever really registered.

November 23, 2019 - 71 - "Becky, the Queen of Carpets"

     I'm flying with a young man named Nick.  Nick mentioned he'd found some ads on YouTube that "reminded him of his youth."  (He's 33.)

     He's from Saint Louis and explained there was a carpet store there when he was growing up, owned by a woman named Becky.  Becky came up with a series of ads featuring herself as:  The Queen of Carpets.

     I have dedicated a lot of my brain-space to a) bad advertising (I specialize in arcane, semi-lame local jingles from my further-back-in-time youth), and b) the seeking out, and sharing of particularly Loud and Ugly carpets.  (See my blog on the topic here:  Loud Ugly Carpets of the World.)

     I'm sure you can imagine how intrigued I was by Nick's carpet commercial finds.

          "Tell me more!",  I enthused.

November 22, 2019 - 70 - "Happy Marriage By Design"

     Environment is so important to the human experience.  

     I know there have been families of 8 who shared one bathroom, and my hats are off to them, but that, personally, sounds like my idea of hell.

 To me this bathroom just screams:  

Unhappily Married Couple...

...while this bathroom has "Wedded Bliss" written all over it.

November 21, 2019 - 69 - "A Round Tuit"

Retirement and Round Tuits

      Michael retired two years ago, and we've had a long series of deadlines ever since.  Most of the deadlines involved big family events and/or huge home restoration projects.  He's been so busy that, so far, it really hasn't seemed like he's retired at all.

      The project in Mexico is at a stage where Michael can't be in the house while the next stage is getting done.  So this past week he's, finally, getting to work on settling into the office he built above the garage.  

     This project was part of our plan to adjust to his retirement, and all of the massive amounts of time we expected to both be home together.  This, of course, hasn't really happened.  But, when and if it ever does happen we will both still have a little breathing room.

     

November 20, 2019 - 68 - "Griddle Guy"

Griddle Guy rustles up breakfast for the gang
on a beach vacation.

     I picked up a few extra pounds during my vacation and was thinking last night I'd like to get back to eating better.

     I've been escalating my daily sugar intake for the past week.  I know from experience that doing the beginner stage of the Atkins diet will ease my sugar cravings and get me back to actually wanting healthy foods.

     So, I resolved:

     'It's low-carb for me starting tomorrow!' 

     My very first thought this morning was, naturally: 
     
          'Pancakes!' 

     Luckily, I know a super-easy way to make pancakes:  All's I have to do is mention the word 'pancake' to Michael.

November 19, 2019 - 67 - "Self-Congratulations/Humble Pie"

     I wrote this little piece to use for the One Month Anniversary of blogging daily, but I guess I had better things to talk about and never posted it.

     Now I'm a bit past the  two month mark!  (Cool!)

     I didn't think I'd have anything to say after the first few days but the funny thing is:  the more I write, the more I have to write.

November 18, 2019 - 66 - Brilliant Inventions Series 1: "Kitty Kamp-Out"

Genius Ideas

      I regularly have ideas for new breakthroughs and inventions.  Just last night I dreamt a new dance.  This is a bit like the Steven Wright joke where he says he wrote a song...but he doesn't read music so he's not sure how it goes.  I invented a dance...but since I can't dance I probably can't demonstrate how to do it.

      So, anyway, I was telling Michael this morning about my latest Genius Invention.  

     He thought I should tell you about it so I'd stop bugging him so you'd get to share the excitement of of this new innovation.   

     It's almost like getting to hang at Menlo Park the morning Thomas Edison thought...  'This candle is messy and needs replacing too much.  Think I'll make an electric one.'

      Are you feeling the excitement?

November 17, 2019 - 65 - "Hoping For the Best"

The older I get, the more my opinion of everything is:  
       
         "Eh...it'll probably work out."

---

"Keep the circus going inside you, keep it going, don't take anything too seriously, it'll all work out in the end."

-David Niven

---

November 16, 2019 - 64 - "The Truth Hurts"

How to Piss People Off Without Really Trying

    There are so many ways to annoy passengers and I've pretty much tried them all.  

   Usually not on purpose. 

     A pretty big percentage of passengers come on already mildly to acutely aggravated.  

     Hell, I'm often annoyed when I travel.  Traveling is stressful. 

     So I can piss off passengers just by, ya know, existing on the planet.   They are captives, and I have on a uniform that represents the FAA wanting them not to go to the bathroom during landing, or representing the company that made the aircraft switch, or who knows what other assault on their good mood.  

Is Honesty Really The Best Policy?

November 15, 2019 - 63 - Mexican Casa - "Our Street"

There are a lot of sights and sounds along our street...

   

      Sometimes the local police will dress in Spanish Colonial Era uniforms and ride around on horseback.

     I love to hear their echoing hooves clip-clopping down the street.  We'll look down from the rooftop, or out a window, and be transported back to another time.

The buses don't use our street.  It's one way and narrow at points.  (Nowhere as narrow as our old alley street was, but not really big enough for the buses.)  But most of the traffic tends to be for local residents and foot traffic to the market or to the hostel at the end of our street is the biggest part of the activity. 

November 14, 2019 - 62 - Book Report: "Living a Beautiful Life" by Alexandra Stoddard

"Living a Beautiful Life" by Alexandra Stoddard   

      This book by Alexandra Stoddard, more than any other, has influenced my approach to daily life.  Every move I make at home is inextricably tied to something I've gleaned from this wise and inspirational book.

     I found it in the strangest place.  It must have been around 1989.  I was working a corporate 9-5 job and made a rushed stop at the grocery store on my way home. 

     There was a funny wire basket at the end of an aisle filled with a jumble of random books.  

     "Living A Beautiful Life" caught my eye.  I was so drawn to the pretty image on the front, and then the simple, evocative drawings by Pat Stewart I found as I leafed through the book.  

    I literally couldn't set the thing back down.  I don't know how long I stood in the aisle leaning on my cart reading the book but I knew I had to have it and I knew it would change my life.

    I wonder about so many moments like this one.  These tiny decisions that become a crossroads where you veer off in another direction altogether.  

November 13, 2019 - 61 - "Co-written by..."

     I'm thinking I'm not giving credit where credit is due.  

     My name's on everything but I can't do any of this alone.  I have to admit I've had a ghostwriter on all of my posts.
  
     Her name is Ella and she is ever-present when I'm writing.

   She's not much for fixing all the spelling, grammar, tense, and point of view issues I amass...but she does let me know when I'm getting boring.

November 12, 2019 - 60 - "Seeing Red"

This is the only picture I could find with my hair at
it's weirdest.  But it looked worse in real life.
It sort of took on an interesting dayglo effect.
 I avoided direct sun like a vampire if
cameras came out.

     A year or two ago I made the effort to use more natural products.  Better for the environment.  Better for me.  Chemical free.  It seemed like a good idea at the time.

     I started with my hair color.  A friend said she was using henna.  I thought that was just for having red hair, but she was brunette and said they have all sorts of mixes.   I did a bunch of Googling and YouTube-ing and found a company that got good reviews, and a henna/indigo mix that I thought might get pretty good results.  

    And it did...at first.  The first round or two was, basically, covering my already dyed-brunette hair.  But as my white roots started showing more and more, the color was just turning them a sort of orangey-red.  Like the little old ladies from my church growing up who 'henna'd their hair'.

     The product might be natural...but the results on my hair were anything but.  Definitely under the category of 'colors not found in nature'.

     ...not in hair anyway.  Originally it leaned toward a nice auburn, but as time passed  it more resembled Hawaiian Punch.  

November 11, 2019 - 59 - “You Say You Want a Revolution”

     No. Not that kind of Revolution.   

     I'm talking about the kind I have to douse on Ella once a month.  It's the name of her anti-flea/anti-heartworm medicine and I may as well be trying to stage a revolution to get it on her every month.  

     The stuff smells of rubbing alcohol and kind of gives off vapors as it dries.  

     She hates that.  

     I have to hold her still so I can get it at a spot behind her neck where she can't lick it off.  

     She hates sitting still...when it's not her choice.

  

    Based on her reaction as it goes on I'm guessing it's unpleasantly cold as it touches her skin.  

     She hates that too.

     I try to explain it's for her own good but, well, she's a cat.  

  

     I've developed all sorts of techniques to a) remember when to do it, b) set the medicine up so it's ready to go whenever she wanders by, and c) actually get it on her.

     See that paper-clip holder deal in the photo?  

November 10, 2019 - 58 - "Getting Back on Track"

Recognizing Stress

     Sometimes you don't know how stressed you are until it's over.  

     Michael 'celebrated' having completed a big goal by getting a really hellacious cold.  (It's actually kind of genius.  Your body just says:  You need to rest NOW.  And 'bam'...you've got no choice.)

     I am celebrating by eating every crappy non-food-stuff I can get my hands on, and slacking on my entire life.  

     Neither of these are conscious choices.  Okay, well, not exactly.

Mini Habits for the Win

     When I'm focused on a big deadline I keep laser-beam focus on my mini-habits.  I know  it's all too easy to lose track of them.  I also know if I don't keep them up I won't have the energy or motivation to reach my big goal.  

    But after getting our Mexico house interior to the first stage of 'done', and having a great time with Michael's kids for Day of the Dead...now there's suddenly a break.  For the last couple of days I've had all the time in the world to accomplish whatever I want to, and here it is almost 10 o'clock at night and I'm just now thinking about a post for the day.

     I can't even say what I did today.  I just know it wasn't anything productive.  

     I just sort of frittered my time away.  I watched a bunch of YouTube videos about random things.  Watched a biography of Audrey Hepburn on TV.  Kept wandering to the kitchen to see what kind of junk food I could rustle up.  Looked at a catalogue I got in the mail and have almost zero interest in.  I definitely don't need to order anything from this company.  

     I did a lot of staring into space and kind of dozing.  But it was so unfocused I can't even count it as meditation or rest time.  

Red Flags

     I follow a woman on YouTube named Alison Lumbatis.  She talks about things that are Red Flags for her as far as getting into a rut.  She says that produce going bad in her refrigerator is one of her warning signs of falling into a rut.

     I can't call it getting into a rut.  My schedule, life and constant change of locations don't leave  much room for ruts.  Ruts actually sound appealing to me.  I genuinely crave routine. 

      The danger for me is more in the direction of spinning completely out of control.  Sometimes it's like I'm too busy trying to just function to remember to actually live well.

    Instead of a 'rut' I think of it more as getting off track.  

November 9, 2019 - 57 - "Phew!!!"

Michael asked me this cryptic question around noon today:  "Do you know what we did today that we didn't have to do?"

Me:  "Huh?"  (See how cool it is for Michael to live with a wordsmith like me?  It's just one snappy retort after another.)

Michael said again:  "Do you know what we did that we didn't have to do?"

Me (staring stupidly as my brain tried to understand what the hell he was telling me):  "Huh??  I
          don't understand what you're saying."

Michael:  "We sat in the hot tub."

Me:  "Yessss...?  That was fun.  Sooooo...?"

Michael:  "We didn't have to.  It wasn't on a list.  We didn't have to do it."

Me:  "Oh.  Oh!  Oh, wow!  You're right!   I see what you mean."

---

November 8, 2019 - 56 - Mexican Casa Renovation 3 - "Master Bathroom-View 1"

January 8, 2019

     Here are some progress shots of the Master Bathroom at our new place in Mexico.

     The house was on the market for many, many, years.  Michael and I can look past a lot of cosmetic issues...but most people expect not to have their water heater as the main focal point of the master bath.

    They also expect that you can have a mirror above the sink.  (Two sinks would be a bonus.) . But having the open-roofed (just a screen above) atrium in the center of the bathroom pushed the vanity way over.  And the glass around it made a place for a mirror near-impossible.

August 12, 2019

November 7, 2019 - 55 - "Golfiness"

 

 I've recently started playing golf.

  I think that's how you say it.

   So far one of the toughest parts of the game is remembering how I'm supposed to refer to it.

   There's something I say that Michael keeps wincing at.  I think you can't say 'going golfing'.  Like you just 'play golf.'

   Yeah.  That's it.  Or...well, maybe?

    Anyway, I guess because I am the contentious sort, and enjoy getting Michael's goat.  I just keep coining new phrases to cover the fact that I can't remember, for sure, which phrases are right and which are wrong. 

   Unsuccessfully, of course.  Michael knows me too well to buy that.

   But I also do it because it amuses me.

November 6, 2019 - 54 - "Rainbow Reflections"

 
I never expected to gush to my stepson:

        "I really like your makeup!"

   On Day of the Dead we all got our makeup done.  Keenan's masque had a sort of rainbow effect around the eyes.

     He said:  "It's like I got punched in the face by a bag of Skittles."

     He later amended this to:  "It's more like two Care Bears pooped on my eyelids."

Bahhhahahahaa...

---

"I think if human beings had genuine courage, they'd wear their costumes every day of the year, not just on Halloween.  Wouldn't life be more interesting that way?"

-Douglas Coupland

---

"A mask you ask?  Optional I find!
Masks lend appeal of a mysterious kind."

-E. A. Bucchianeri

---

November 5, 2019 - 53 - "Truth in Spelling"

      We lived in Germany for six months back in 2001-2002.  (Special assignment with Michael's work.)

     For the first three months I took German lessons.  Three months, of twice a week lessons, even with studying in between, does not a speaker make.

     As with all language it's a 'use it or lose it' proposition.  When I was there I could maneuver my days pretty easily with the level of language I spoke.   New words would pop into my awareness many times a day and I had a pretty serviceable vocabulary.

     At this point I'm back to the 'please/thank you/count to ten' level of language.  It wasn't a beautiful language. It was hard for me to wrap my head around the structure of the language.  And I felt their biggest attack on reason was how they combine 3 or 4 words into one. 

     But I did admire the fact that if you knew the German alphabet, and you knew how a word sounded, you could combine that information and spell the word perfectly.

November 4, 2019 - 52 - "Somebody Needs a Nap"

Ella:  World-Class Sleeper

   Don't you hate it when you're hanging out with a real grouch?

    They're all whiney and out of sorts and not enjoying anything no matter how great it might be.

     It's a total drag.

---

     Especially when it's you.

November 3, 2019 - 51 - "Love Hurts"

 

 The good news is:  I'm in Mexico.

     It's good because they know a thing or two here about accepting and coming to terms with death.  

      They seem to understand that it's best for everyone to mourn loss fully and to accept that it this pain will be an ongoing part of life.  We don't lose someone once, we lose them every time we want to ask their advice, hear their voices or their laughter, be in their arms again...

     But, in Mexico, it seems they also know that this world is made for the living.  Loving life, and the people who are left behind, is also part of the Mexican philosophy.

     During the Dias de los Muertos celebrations they support each other, tell stories of those they've loved and lost.  They sing the songs and share the meals beloved by those they celebrate.

---

     The idea of this season seemed creepy and morbid to me once, but it's so much more beautiful and happy than I would have imagined.  Accepting the fact that we, and those we care about, won't always be here is so much more honest than our way of tending to ignore it.  

     The fact is none of us get out of here alive.

---

     I so respect and admire all of this, but that all being said...

     The bad news is:  I have had reason to learn some of these lessons this past year.

November 2, 2019 - 50 - "Day of the Dead"

   We all got made up for Day of the Dead.

    This is the fiesta part of Dias de los Muertos.  It's a chance to celebrate being alive, and to laugh in the face of death. 

---

"For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one."

-Kahlil Gibran

---

November 1, 2019 - 49 - “Altar-ed States”

Warning:  This is a bit of a cheat post.

     We're in Mexico with Michael's kids and their spouses and we're having sooo much fun.  Only problem is, it's almost midnight and I've finished nothing.

---

      It’s Dias de los Muertos, and it’s a party, and somber, and playful, and oh-so-sweet all at the same time.  Here are some pictures of the cool ofrendas (altars) that people have created around town to celebrate those who have passed. 

    Check these out...then go hug someone you love.

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"To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die."

-Thomas Campbell

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