3154 Change of season

Saturday, November 6, 2010

"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something."
-- Plato --

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It's kind of funny. Coincidence. I ran out of green quotes and had to start over from the beginning of the collection at just about the same time I ran out of Honeys of the Week.**

Also within the past week, I finally realized that I have actually moved. Yeah, I've been saying it, but it hadn't really sunk in that THIS house in NJ is my new home. This is home.

I had been bringing things down, but I had been bringing things like for camping. Like for an extended but temporary stay. Future thinking was like "this is where I'll store some stuff while I clean out the old house." The really important things, like the financial and insurance records, online passwords, photographs, the stuff you'd grab if the house was on fire, are still at the old house, and I hadn't really considered moving it all down here.

It was like on the top of my head I was moving in, but deep inside I hadn't accepted it yet.

There's a lot of things I'll miss about the old place, like the huge yard (1.3 rolling acres dotted with trees), the hawks nesting in the back, the doe parking her fawn under my bathroom window, snacking all summer on the blackberries along the edges of the yard and the mulberries in the back, the view all the way to Woodstock, the groundhogs and the foxes in the front yard, fighting wild turkeys to get down the driveway in the winter, the scent of the wild roses and locusts blooming in the spring, the thousands of daffodils along the driveway and around the house, the coyote packs having a loud party just below the hill, watching the shirtless Hairless Hunk mowing my lawn, the 2.5 car garage, the walkout basement.

On the other hand, driving to the movie yesterday, I saw at least one of every store I'd ever heard of along route 35. The shopping opportunities here are incredible! No more being satisfied with whatever one can find at the few local stores. No more driving 20 miles round trip just to find a decent pair of shoes or a selection of books, or 60 miles to find curtains of a certain color. One can actually comparison shop here, almost by bicycle!

I could get used to this.

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**Actually, The Man would qualify for HOTW status, but it would annoy him greatly if he ever discovered the post, so I won't. A friend, having met him, asked me if I thought he was handsome. I answered no, he's not particularly handsome, but he's definitely striking. She nodded, agreed, seemed satisfied with that description.

I haven't come across any other men who qualify. We'll have to be satisfied for now with the thirteen listed. I guess I'm very selective.
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3153 Workin' it.

Friday, November 5, 2010

The consumption of alcohol may lead you to think people are laughing WITH you.

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I painted some walls yesterday. I figure I need to do the rooms that will be getting bookcases and heavy furniture first, so that means the living room, master bedroom, and dining room first. The rest can be done later.

I found the "local" (25 minutes away) arts theater in Red Bank, and today I saw the third in the Lisbeth Salander trilogy, Stieg Larsson's "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest". I figured I'd avoid crowds by going to the 12:40 pm showing.

This one wasn't as bloody and cringe-worthy as the first two in the series, but, again, you must see them in order, and the closer together, the better. I'd seen the first two, but I still got lost a few times.

The theater is really nice, multiplex, soft, semi-reclining seats, electric fireplace in the hall, etc. There were only six people watching the movie, but a real live usher with a discrete flashlight walked down the aisle at least three times, and at the end he stood at the door with a basket of mints.

A movie at the Upstate in Rhinebeck, where I had seen the first two Lisbeth segments, costs about $6 with the senior discount ($7 for you young'uns), and parking is free. Today I was shocked to find that parking in the town lot across the street from the theater was going to cost me about $2 in change (of course I had only two dimes - had to beg change for a $5 from a very nice woman in the lot) and the movie was $11, no senior discount. Wow. That's more than twice what it would cost me for a movie in Rhinebeck. That's expensive for an afternoon's diversion!

I've been buying things for the house - freestanding toilet paper holders, shower curtain and rod and hanger-uppery things, spring tension rods to hang temporary sheers, sheer curtains, cotton cafe curtains, mops, waste paper baskets, cookie sheets, on and on. I have been utterly amazed at the packaging. The cheap spring tension rods came in a long skinny plastic bag, which is expected, but the bag was denser and stronger than many shower curtains I have known, and the top, where the hanger/label closed the bag, was fastened with metal studs, not the staples one would expect. Everything fabric came in a dense plastic bag with a zipper!, and then was in a second plastic bag inside the outer one.

I'm making a pile of packing materials twice the mass of the items I bought. Of course, being me, I've saved the zippered bags. They've got to be good for something. I can't just throw them out.

Besides the landfill question, plastic is made from oil. Am I the only person who sees over-packaging as a complete waste?
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3152 Annoyed again

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

"The world is supposed to be full of possibilities, but they narrow down to pretty few, in most personal experience. There's lots of good fish in the sea-maybe! But the vast masses seem to be mackerel or herring, and if you're not mackerel or herring yourself, you are inclined to find very few good fish in the sea."
-- DH Lawrence --

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I am annoyed that the same people who are busily getting anti-Sharia laws onto the state election ballots see no contradiction in getting Christian-based initiatives onto the same ballots.

At least Sharia law applies only to Muslims.
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3151 Wedding entrance clip

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

An adventure without a dragon is not worth telling.

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This is cool. Simple, and celebratory.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_GaP5kCObo&feature=player_embedded]
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3150 Short Memories

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Whatever you give a woman, she will make greater. If you
give her sperm, she'll give you a baby. If you give her a house, she'll give
you a home. If you give her groceries, she'll give you a meal. If you give
her a smile, she'll give you her heart. She multiplies and enlarges what is
given to her. So, if you give her any crap, be ready to receive a ton of
shit.

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Well, it seems like a lot of people with very short memories were upset because Obama wasn't able to undo in two years the mess that Bush created in eight.

Some good might come of this - maybe a few fear-mongers on TV and the radio will find nothing they want to talk about.
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3149 Sharing the water

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

"Never throughout history has a man who lived a life of ease
left a name worth remembering."
-- Theodore Roosevelt --

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I've been worried about Jasper not drinking water. I haven't seen him drink water since he arrived at the new house. He did drink some tuna can water, but that supply is rather limited.

On the other hand, I haven't seen him eat anything, either, but the food is disappearing from his dish. I have so many bowls of water scattered around, I wouldn't notice a drop in level.

I even closed the stopper in the tub in the master bath and put an inch of water in the deep end. He likes to play in water, and I hoped that would attract him to drink some. I heard him lapping water from the tub during the night last night --- which explains his confused expression when I took my bath this morning.

It was absolutely "Why is Mommy sitting in my water dish?"
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3148 Bad Night

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

“I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ.”
-- Ghandi --

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Last night was a very bad night. I had a lot of pain on my left side, just below and under my lowest ribs, front wrapping around to the back. I think it's probably a pulled muscle, but I really got worried because I couldn't find a comfortable position. I was afraid the pain was more serious than a pulled muscle. I hope it's a pulled muscle. And that stupid tempur-pedic-style/memory foam mattress wasn't helping at all. I positively HATE it. I need a firm flat mattress. I may have to buy a futon tomorrow.

I felt a little better after I got up, and lots better after a late-morning soak in a hot bath.

The pain in my side was only part of it. Jasper was going through something, I don't know what, but he called all night long, starting at about 1:30 am. I could hear him wandering the house, "Mau? Marrrr? Mao?" I'd yell to him (and finally yelled AT him) and he'd be quiet for a while, and just as I fell asleep he'd start up again. It wasn't that he couldn't find the litter box - I heard him use it once. I was ready to throw him out the front door! I wouldn't - he's strictly an indoor cat, but I was getting desperate. With hard floors and no curtains and so much undecorated wall and no furniture, sound echos. It sounded like he was maoing into my ear.

He stopped when the sun came up. Between the pain and the maoing, the only sleep I got was between 6 and 9 am.

I don't know what I'll do if he starts that crap again tonight.
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3147 Hallowe'en-worthy bagpipes

Monday, November 1, 2010

Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread wending its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.
-- Isaac Asimov --

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I've always loved bagpipes. Some form of bagpipes are found all over the world, especially in mountainous areas, because the sound carries in mountains. The music varies by culture.

I like Macedonian bagpipe music, but the pipes scare me.


Once you get over the initial shock, close your eyes and just listen.
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3146 Hallowe'en scaredy-cat

Sunday, October 31, 2010

When you bite the golden apple,
watch out for the golden worm at its core.

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It's just a hair after 1 pm, and trick-or-treaters are coming around. A few. With adults. They seem to be going to particular houses, though. Not others. Not mine. I don't know whether it's a preview for relatives and friends, or that they just go to houses that are decorated. Oh, well. The bags of yummies I bought are Wise, not an off brand, and I already ate a bag of popcorn. So if I've got leftovers, I don't mind.

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Jasper may be the most timid cat in the world (well, probably third to Schmeck and Poli, Daughter and Hercules' cats). He's still not settled in. I'm sure he recognizes the living room rug, and the hall runner, he rolled around on them to show his approval. But every time he rounds a corner and sees a broom, or a stepladder, or a bucket, he startles.

He's spending most of his time in the bedroom. He has used the litter boxes (one up, one down), but hasn't eaten, not even his favorite canned stuff, and as far as I know he hasn't tasted the water. I had made sure to bring his old water dish from NY, and he has rubbed his cheeks on it, but won't drink. Not when I'm looking, anyway.

He slept on the bed with me last night, and woke me about once an hour all night, with a cold nose on my cheek, paw pats on my arm, tickley whiskers on my eyelids. He needs constant reassurance.

I'm afraid to start the washing machine. That'll totally freak him out!

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Later: Yikes! It's a few minutes after 2 pm, and I've already handed out 1/3 of the goodies! Jasper has locked himself into the upstairs bathroom.
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