Before enlightenment:
Chop wood, carry water.
After enlightenment: Chop
wood, carry water.
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Yesterday I wore a caftan I've had for ages. It's made like a rectangle with two smaller rectangles on either side for long full sleeves. It used to be floor-length, but I shortened it to mid-calf thinking I might wear it more often if it didn't look so eveningish. It's a lightweight black silky fabric with vertical alternating stripes of sheer and not-so-sheer, and thin silver threads. I wore it with a black nylon tank top and black leggings I had bought in Morocco (the only leggings I own), and a heavy silver Turkoman necklace. I really liked the outfit, and it was incredibly cool in the heat and humidity.
I have several loose thigh-length caftan-like semisheer tunics that I rarely wear because over regular pants they look too "heavy". So I got all enthusiastic and went to eBay, and bought some more leggings in black, brown, and white. They'll arrive early next week. I used the measurement guides on the listings and ended up ordering size "L" instead of the "M" I would ordinarily order, because I didn't want them to be too tight at the waist, and that's what my 39" hips demanded.
Last night when I took the Moroccan leggings off, I looked at the size inside. They are S/M. Ouch. Maybe I should have looked at that label before I ordered new ones.
Oh well. They were like $7 each, so no big loss if they don't fit.
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The new neighbor across the street seems nice. BUT this morning at 6:30 am I was awakened by a power saw, and pounding of a mallet, and general mayhem. He was replacing the posts for his gate. At 6:30 am. Sheesh! I gave up trying to sleep and got up at 7:30. I'd been reading into the wee hours, so I'm not too happy.
Reading:
I've been reading mostly nonfiction the past few months.
I read a book about Eliot Spitzer, his rise to power and his sudden fall from grace. I really liked him as NY attorney general, he wasn't afraid to go after the people who thought they were powerful enough to get away with anything. When he was elected governor I was ecstatic. I figured he could fix Albany, probably the most corrupt state government in the country. I really expected big things from him. He lasted 14 months. Sigh.
I read a book written by a British Muslim female physician who accepted a two-year stint in a hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. She, having spent the previous several years in the US, was unprepared for the restrictions on her person and her freedom there. It was interesting, but, unfortunately, in her view, everything was just hunky-dory. I would have liked to see a little indignation....
I read the book written by Jaycee Dugard, the woman who had been kidnapped at age 11, and spent 18 years held captive by her rapist. Her story isn't quite what one would expect from the tabloid versions, but it's harrowing enough. It's easy to see why she had not attempted to escape, when seen through her eyes.
I read the story of Henrietta Lacks, the woman from whom came the HeLa cell line used by labs the world over. HeLa was the first cells that didn't eventually die in culture. Her cells are pretty much immortal. They are responsible for many research breakthroughs and cures, and have made many people rich. But until recently, she got no credit. Her children didn't benefit - in fact, they can't afford the very cures her cells created. An interesting story, but the writer got too close, I think. It dragged sometimes.
There were a few other books in there, but I forget. The current book is a novel about ... it's hard to explain ... you know how you make a decision that takes your life a particular direction, and years later you wonder what your life would be like if you'd gone the other direction? This is about a guy who "splits" at a key decision point, and one copy goes one way in one complete version of the world, and another copy goes the other way. Some 13 or 15 (I forget) years later, both men are very unhappy with their lives. Both realize they hadn't necessarily made the right decision. And then there's like a rift in the fabric between the two worlds, and the two meet, and decide to exchange lives. I'm having trouble with this. I have difficulty suspending disbelief, and I really can't accept that both would simply give up and go to a world where they know nothing, nobody, dropping into a life with no context, and one that they probably won't be able to get back from. Like, guys, hey, you already KNOW you don't make the best decisions. What makes you think your doppelganger knows any better. Frying pan, fire, you know?
Well, I'm only 1/3 or so into the book. What do I know.
If you want the title and author of any of the above, ask in a comment and I'll dig it out for you.
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