Thursday, May 6, 2010

Thursdee Thanx

It's a beyond fabulous day, isn't it?

Here's why I'm so abundantly grateful for today:

  • Spring has been here for around 2 months now! And when I say spring, I mean springlike weather. Granted, we've had our odd bouts of freezing and hot/humid, but for the most part the weather's been beyond beautiful for 2ish months. What's up with that? LOVIN' IT!
  • I get to spend the next 3, count 'em, three!, days doing nothing but gardening and sewing and building a chicken pen/coop. What is better than that? Nothing.
  • I have family and friends that support such actions as being excited to do nothing but garden and sew try to find bathtubs to plant eggplant in. Stop staring - it's an awesome idea. You just wish you'd thought of it!
  • That larger bedroom I've been waiting for? Thisclose to being done. We're talking putting-up-a-curtain-rod-close to done. It's not the cottage I desperately crave, but it will do quite nicely in the meantime.
  • Did you know it's Zombie Awareness Month?! I have it from a reliable source (i.e., Alexz saw it on Chelsea Lately last night) I'll be adding a Bottle Barrier(TM) to the Zombie Garden Annex (i.e., Rose Garden) this weekend to keep it safe from the marauding hordes. What will you do for Zombie Awareness Month? {need more proof? Go here.}
  • Yoga in the morning! I've given up the last few Tuesday night stretch-fests for various reasons, which range from snow-cones to dirt-moving, but tomorrow it's on like Donkey Kong. 
  • A leisurely breakfast. There's just nothing like a nice, leisurely breakfast with coffee. Outside, of course.
Cheers to the outdoors!

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Lostdays Are Coming to a Close... *sadface*

But Petula Clark is forever. Right?

Downtown

When you're alone and life is making you lonely
You can always go - downtown
When you've got worries, all the noise and the hurry
Seems to help, I know - downtown
Just listen to the music of the traffic in the city
Linger on the sidewalk where the neon signs are pretty
How can you lose?

The lights are much brighter there
You can forget all your troubles, forget all your cares
So go downtown, things'll be great when you're
Downtown - no finer place, for sure
Downtown - everything's waiting for you

Don't hang around and let your problems surround you
There are movie shows - downtown
Maybe you know some little places to go to
Where they never close - downtown
Just listen to the rhythm of a gentle bossa nova
You'll be dancing with him too before the night is over
Happy again

The lights are much brighter there
You can forget all your troubles, forget all your cares
So go downtown, where all the lights are bright
Downtown - waiting for you tonight
Downtown - you're gonna be all right now

And you may find somebody kind to help and understand you
Someone who is just like you and needs a gentle hand to
Guide them along

So maybe I'll see you there
We can forget all our troubles, forget all our cares
So go downtown, things'll be great when you're
Downtown - don't wait a minute for
Downtown - everything's waiting for you

Downtown, downtown, downtown, downtown ...

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary?

How does your garden grow?



With silver bells...



And cockle shells...



And pretty maids... 



all in a row.







Wednesday, April 21, 2010

"The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul"

It meant that the silently waged conflict between himself and his cleaning lady had escalated to a new and more frightening level.  It was now, Dirk reckoned, fully three months since this fridge door had been opened, and each of them was grimly determined not to be the one to open it first.  The fridge no longer merely stood there in the corner of the kitchen, it actually lurked.  Dirk could quite clearly remember the day on which the thing had started lurking.  It was about a week ago, when Dirk had tried a simply subterfuge to trick Elena - the old bat's name was Elena, pronounced to rhyme with "cleaner," which was an irony that Dirk now no longer relished - into opening the fridge door.  The subterfuge had been deftly deflected and had nearly rebounded horribly on Dirk.

 I puffy <3 this book. It is ridiculous nonsense in the Douglas Adams fashion. And I wrote a(n admittedly not good) paper using it for a Myths & Legends class I took. Now, one year later, I find myself re-reading it. And I love that lurking passage. Because, you see, my piano lurked once upon a time. I was working at Kent House full-time and working on all my pieces for my recital. Yes, I gave a piano recital. And it was pretty kicking (except for skipping over half of the sonata... but it was ok because I was still fully in control of the piece). But yeah, I practiced so much I had callouses on my fingertips. Such a fabulous experience!

But not to long after that it kinda crashed for me... I had gone so far with it, the only other place to go was to such an intense level that I just didn't have the time or the will-power to accomplish.  And so with many tears I gave up my amazing (often 2-3 hour) lessons with Mrs. Crump.

And then. It lurked. Just like Dirk's fridge. And it took me a long time to be ok with it again. It just... sat there. Used for teaching piano lessons to my darling students, but still not loved by me.

And then, we became ok, and I would fiddle on it some, but not just a whole lot.

That's when construction entered into my life. And trust me, that's a novel that you don't want to read. But my piano was moved to the garage to wait it out. Short term, you understand.

Two years ago.

And I miss it. So much. I want to be playing it tonight.

But I'm not sure it will ever speak to me again. My poor piano. Sure, it's not in great tune on the best of days, I'm sure, and yes, one of the legs is actually duct taped together after it was rolled over brick at Kent House (for a tea party. It was a good idea at the time - honest! Don't regret it one bit!), but it is my beautiful piano. We've been a lot of places together.

I hope it will still speak to me. For I long to speak to it.

(and I wholeheartedly recommend the book.)

Friday, April 16, 2010

A Few of My Favorite Things

  • Sprouting seeds (squash, zucchini, lettuce, radishes, spinach)
  • Sunshiney Spring Days
  • Sewing (zombies and pirates and ninjas and girls and boys and skirts and curtains and... stuff.)
  • Pina Coladas with Lauren
  • Margariras and Mexican with the gals
  • Weekends outside
  • Long bike rides
  • Sleeping in in freezing cold hotel rooms all buried in those ginormous beds

Thursday, April 8, 2010

How I Can Get Out of Working on the 24th:

As presented by my sister-in-law, Kati:
Just call in dead. Look, if you're dead and you're calling in, obviously you're a re-animated corpse. And what is a re-animated corpse? A ZOMBIE. And who wants a zombie working for them?? Nobody, that's who. The liability when people start losing their brains to your employee would be immense. Just point this out, and it will work for sure. Probably.
 Excellent idea, yes?

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Lately...

The daffodils have bloomed...



... as have the tulip trees...



quality studio time (with 1950's & 1960's scifi B movies)



The dog loves the movies too!
(Ok, not really. Mostly he's just excited to be inside.)


Birthday Cake!



Carousels in Central Park...



More daffodils!



Homemade tortillas...



and Warm Chocolate Melting Cake.




Mood Fabrics!
How can you choose?



The rubber chicken meets Lady Liberty.



 
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