Farewell for Now

Ann Lassitter
(my "Granny Lassitter")

May 31st, 1941 - January 16th, 2015

“Nothing is ever really lost to us as long as we remember it.”

-- L.M. Montgomery, The Story Girl

Luna, Destroyer of Toys

I was looking through some photos this morning and came across this one-- then realized that Luna has since sent all of these three toys to the garbage can.

She ate off the feet and one of the ears of the yellow one.  (Garbage can.)

She dislodged the squeaker from the pink one, but we kept it around.  It could still make a very pathetic, wheezy squeak, poor thing.  But then she tore off one of his feet.  (Garbage can.)

The blue one hung on.  Sure, it had some punctures from her puppy-teeth days.  It didn't squeak with quite the same force as in its happier, pre-Luna days, but it was a tough toy.  It could take the abuse. Until she ripped open one of its "bobbles" and proceeded to eat part of it.  (Excuse me, but there's someonething I'd like to introduce you to-- GARBAGE CAN.)

Oh! and she also tore (and tried to eat) part of a squeaker from a soft, fabric skunk toy (not pictured).  I rescued the squeaker bit just in time, and I think it can be repaired.  At least I'll try...

(I should note that all of this carnage happened when she was out of her crate, playing in the house "under supervision".  Yeah, if you're supervising Luna, you're not allowed to turn your back on her for a few minutes at a time, happily imagining that she's playing safely and sweetly...)

So now she's destroyed pretty much every squeaky toy she had.  There's one more that doesn't squeak unless two strong human hands work together (with great determination) to elicit a squeak-- and even that one's on his last leg.  Now she's reduced to hard, rubber jingly balls and Nylabones and KONG toys... and a couple of other rubbery balls that she scorns, for some reason.  There's a really fun, new squeaky toy hiding out of reach, but for now, it's not for the likes of her. 

How many more months before she's calm enough to not ruin most dog toys?

So, so true.

“The older I get, and the more I see of human beings, the more I understand why some people love their dogs so much.”    
--Thomas Sowell

52 Weeks of Happy (8/52)

I'm beginning to reconsider this whole (self-imposed) "writing assignment"... But since I'm already here, and because "better late than never" still holds true (I guess)...


Four Things That Made Me Happy This Last Week:


1.  A family get-together on Saturday.
It had been a while (Christmas) since I'd seen many of them, and in the meantime there had been a new addition to the family (Matthew).  I'm using the get-together as my excuse for why I didn't get around to writing this on Saturday, by the way.


2.  Getting to see another year (i.e. turning a year older).
Well, at least I'm trying to look at it positively.  Once we're past our late teens/early twenties, most of us decide that we'd just as soon not continue aging.  But since getting older is better than the alternative (as they say (g))... On the plus side, I was spoiled with gifts.  ;o)  (Thank you again, those of you reading!)


3.  Kicking the ants out of our yard.
I know, it's a weird one for this list... but the truth is, I'm having a hard time remembering specific things from last week... Unless you want to hear about gifts-- crochet books, wax melts, etc.  (g) 

Last week, I put out the second round of ant poison.  (Yes, "kicking them out of the yard" is a euphemism for... heartlessly poisoning them.  Sorry, but you just can't reason with ants.)  The first time around didn't entirely knock them all out, so a few new beds had popped up around the lawn.  I hope that this next effort keeps them at bay for a bit longer. 


4.  Yummy pizza.  
Donald brought home a birthday pizza from Vitoli's.  (I've mentioned them on one of these lists before.  Also: A "birthday pizza" is just like a regular pizza, only it arrives on your birthday so that you don't have to bother about supper.  Highly recommended! ;o))  It was absolutely delicious, as always.  Now I need to get outside, this week, and work off some of the extra calories!  Both the yard and my waistline would benefit. 

52 Weeks of Happy (7/52)

Four Things That Made Me Happy This Week:


1.  Reading.
I'm going at a snail's pace through my current book, since I generally only read while exercising, these days, and, um, I haven't been as consistent about that as I ought, but Tish is growing on me.  The book Donald and I are reading, Feet of Clay, has been amusing, too.  There's nothing like slipping into another world for half an hour or so-- especially when it's a well-ordered world with the kind of author you can trust to supply a satisfying conclusion with all the threads of the story tied into a nice, neat bow.  Yes, please, and thank you kindly!


2.  A new crochet project in new colors.
This one will be a variety of different 12" blocks.  There's no chance to get bored when you crochet each pattern only once!  It keeps you on your toes.  (I know; I mention crochet a lot in these "what made me happy" entries-- but it's one of the things that most consistently make me happy, lately...)


3.  Homemade sugar cookies. 
I don't make them very often-- once or twice a year, maybe-- and that's probably definitely a good thing, because they never last long.  I end up eating (much) more than my share of them.  So while it made me happy to have a batch of them to enjoy, this week, I'm also happy that-- as of this afternoon-- they're gone.  No more guilty craving for one more cookie.  ;o)


4.  Favorite TV shows.
(For instance, Community, which finally returned with new episodes a week or so ago.)   It sounds kind of shallow, somehow, which is silly.  Why is feeling happy about a TV show so different from feeling happy about books?  Turning on the TV and relaxing on the couch (with a crochet project in hand) at the end of the day is a real treat.  Nothin' wrong with a little escapism... (Or a whole heapin' lot of it, as the case may be, what with books and TV and so on and so forth.)


BONUS.  Not getting hit by a meteorite.
Can something that didn't happen count? (g)  Sure, why not?  I'm thankful and very happy that the world is still turning in its usual way, with no cataclysmic calamities to complain of.  Seriously, though, these "little things" have a wonderful way of making you stop and take stock of your life.  There are major problems in the world, but it could be so much worse. 


Hm.  I think at least certain elements of these "52 Weeks" entries are beginning to sound like a broken record.  (Crafts, food, weather, gardening, books.)  I guess the same small things make me happy on a regular basis... Or maybe I'm just not good at remembering the other things.  I'll keep up with 52 Weeks, though.  It can't hurt, and we're only seven weeks into the project.

52 Weeks of Happy (5/52)

Four Things That Made Me Happy This Week: 

1.  The safe arrival of a new baby in the family.
Baby Matthew was born on Monday (I believe).  He's the son of my cousin Jonathan and his wife, Lindsey, which would make him... my first cousin once removed?  (I think... (g))  He's the first grandchild for my aunt and uncle and only the second great-grandchild (first boy) for my grandparents. 


2.  Scented wax.
I received an electric wax melter for Christmas and have been enjoying it ever since.  I love the fact that you can just turn it on and off without bothering with matches or candles-- and since there's no open flame, it's safer to use than my old tea-light wax melters.  The "Scent of the Week" at our house was Pure White Woods (by Better Homes & Gardens-- probably available at your local Walmart (g)). 


3.  Completing the afghan.
I'm so glad it's done!!  Now I want to start something else-- of course-- but I've been giving my hand a little bit of a rest first.  I think I may have tired it out with all that sawing on Thursday... (I was clearing some unwanted trees and shrubs just outside our yard.)


4.  The Last of the Dr. Pepper.
Yes, I've been drinking colas again-- since the holiday season or so.  I plan to (at least temporarily) kick the can again, because all that extra sugar isn't going to help me lose weight and be healthier-- but in the meantime, gosh, Dr. Pepper is just so good!  I'm savoring these last few cans.  ;o) 

52 Weeks of Happy (3/52)

(Almost forgot about this, and I'm only three weeks in.  Doesn't bode well for the future of "52 Weeks"...)


Four Things That Made Me Happy This Week: 


1.  Going to the Duck Pond.
Donald and I went to the "duck pond" (in one of the parks beside the pier in Fairhope) one afternoon this week.  I was surprised how many birds there were.  The whole area was bustling with activity (ducks, geese, Canada geese-- and a heron and a squirrel, too).  It was a very nice place.  Plenty of things to photograph, birds moving, interacting with one another and quacking, etc.  I'd definitely like to stop by again. 


2.  Two slices of Vitolli's Pizza.
New York-style pizza.  Pepperoni and ham.  Cheese and tomato sauce.  Yum.  Definitely not a healthy, everyday sort of lunch, but an oh-so-delicious one.


3.  A Blunt Instrument, by Georgette Heyer.
That's the book I'm currently reading-- mostly while walking on the treadmill.  It's a light mystery with some wonderfully humorous and memorable characters.  I'm really enjoying it, so far, and I'm happy that the author wrote quite a few other books, so if this is representative of the quality of the bulk of her work, I'll have lots of fun reading ahead of me. 


4.  Cool, crisp air.
The humidity went away!  (Well, for a while, at least.)  Even if we somehow lost the ability to detect the temperature and humidity, ourselves, we'd be able to tell when there'd been a significant improvement in the weather, because Molly will suddenly want to stay outside and run around longer in the morning, rather than trying to break the world record for Speediest "Toileting" by a Cocker Spaniel.  ;o) 

52 Weeks of Happy (2/52)

(No "illustrations" this time, either.  It looks like I'll be doing well to even remember to write these weekly posts... and I'm already doing Project 365 this year, so let's call that good enough. (g))


Four Things That Made Me Happy This Week:

1.  Relaxing with a new crochet book.  Helpful hints, crisp and orderly lay-outs, pretty pictures, new motifs!  Ah, nothing like a new craft book (or two)!  I foresee many hours of happy browsing.


2.  Ibuprofen.  This is a weird one, maybe, but gosh, I appreciate that stuff.  It may take a little while to kick in, but once it does, it makes a world of difference in some of my occasional aches and pains.  I'm happy to live in a world with ibuprofen!


3.  Slow-cooker stew.  Or slow-cooker anything, really.  I love that feeling of accomplishment when I get it all set up and turned on in the morning... and the pleasant smells of cooking food wafting through the house later on... and then the utter joy of not having to figure out what's for supper in the evening.  ;o)  Sure, you may have to make a pot of rice or something to go along with the main dish, but the bulk of the work is already done.  (I really, really love not having to cook in the afternoon/evening.  Can you tell? (g))


4. Walking on the treadmill again.  It was the first time in far too long (though we take short walks outside fairly often, this time of the year).  It's amazing how little it takes to make you feel that you're on the right track.  I need to make it a habit again-- part of the usual routine-- but I did spend time doing yard work two days this week, and I'm counting that as exercise-ish, too.

I'm not going to tell myself I should really be running on the treadmill, because I pretty much hate running (because it makes my stomach hurt... because I push myself too hard, too fast... because I'm too much "all or nothing" when it comes to running).  Walking while reading a book, on the other hand, is something I actually enjoy.  If I enjoy something, I'm more likely to do it.  It's much better to get light exercise regularly than heavy exercise hardly ever, so in my case, walking is better than running.  (Any questions?  ;o))

52 Weeks of Happy (1/52)

I just saw this idea on someone else's blog (where she mentioned that she'd found it on another blog, via another blog, etc.), and it struck a chord. 

52 Weeks of Happy:
Every week of the year, write a post mentioning four things that made you happy.  They don't have to be big things; they don't have to be momentous things.  Just four things, each week, that made you happy.  (Photos or other illustrations are a plus.)

It seems like a good way to make yourself stop and appreciate the happiness in life. 

Since I just now saw this idea (and it's too dark/I'm too lazy to get up and scramble for photos right now), I'll have to do my best to muddle through for the first week-- without photos.

1.  Trixie lying in my lap.  She wasn't invited-- but as far as she's concerned, there's a standing invitation, so she doesn't let that stop her!  She doesn't do it that often (and if she did, it might become a nuisance), but this time she came purposefully of her own volition-- and it was pleasant to be cozied up with a warm Eskimo dog who so obviously wanted my attention.  Silly, sweet little dog!


2.  Working on my current crochet afghan.   I found out I wasn't so far along in it as I'd thought, but that's fine.  There's no deadline-- another happy thing. (g)  I always enjoy making motifs, playing around with color combinations, and getting into the rhythm of a memorized pattern. 


3. Sleeping in this morning.  I'm not always (or even usually) a "sleeping-in" person.  I tend to wake and want to get up right away (though I can and do get sleepy again later on), but occasionally it's nice to drowse, luxuriate in the warmth of bed, and retreat to just the outskirts of Dreamland...  (I really needed to catch up on some sleep, after waking up far too early on Friday!)


4. Playing Dominion: Prosperity with Donald.  It's always fun playing games with Donald-- who is simply the best game-playing partner a girl could hope for! :o)-- and breaking in a new one, like this, is extra-fun.  Especially because it was just "new enough".  We already knew most of the rules, since this is an expansion of a game we've had a while.  The differences were enough to make it interesting, but not so much that we had to struggle with a new set of rules. 

And With That...

And with that, I solemnly vow to avoid politics (here) for a while.  I'll still be following them, I'm sure, but I'm going to shift the focus of this blog.  Four years is a long time, and I can't take much more of this nonsense without the rest of my hair turning grey.  ;o) 

Less grumbling about idiots and charlatans (I hope). 

More photos. 
More "this is what we've been doing lately" posts.
More of just life. 


:o)

We Voted!

We voted this morning.  It was Donald's first time voting in an American election. 

(He was surprised by the lack of "voting booths".  Yes, that is kind of weird, I guess.  On TV, at least, there are always curtained booths protecting the sacred voting machines from prying eyes.  Our local polling place just provides circular tables that seat four each; there are no partitions at all. And instead of pushing a button or pulling a lever, you fill in arrows and feed the page through a machine.  ...Then the machine beeps at you and you're done. (g))

...Now it's just a matter of waiting, hoping, praying.

Don't forget to vote-- but only if you're voting Republican.  ;o)
(Hey, someone has to balance out those bloggers begging their readers to vote for Obama.)

Oh, and One More Thing ;o)

Since writing my last post, it has come to my attention that the "no closer than 40 feet" rule has something to do with a goal to "Preserve the Beautiful Rural Nature of B-------- County's Roads" (or some other such nonsense to that effect).


Point Number 1:  
In that case, O Brilliant Minds of Local Government, why not have a rule that you can't build within 40 feet of the road (as opposed to one's property line)?  If I didn't make it abundantly clear before, we live-- and our property line lies-- way off the road.  There's no way our garage will affect the nearest county road at all.  I doubt you'll even see it from the road, and if you do, you'll have to be looking for it (which isn't a safe driving practice).  In the next twenty or thirty years, two or three more houses could easily be built between our garage and that road.  So... basically what I'm saying is that you need to re-write your dumb rule for it to make any sense at all.

(Oh, and if/when we alter the property lines so that our proposed garage will satisfy the zoning ordinance or whatever it is, the garage will be the exact same distance from the road as it would be if you DIDN'T put us to this unnecessary expense and trouble.  ~youdarnstupididiots~   ...See my point?  No?  Oh.  Well, I tried...)


Point Number 2:
I am a native and lifelong resident of this county, and in general, I like it (though you shouldn't ask me what I think about its government, right now).  I think that it has at least its own fair share of natural and man-made beauty-- but let's just be honest.  Like most large counties, there are also plenty of eyesores right off many roads, in very plain view.  Junky trailers.  Run-down or abandoned buildings.  Overgrown fields of weeds.  Our proposed garage, even if it was closer to the road and not hidden by eleventy-hundred trees and shrubs, would not be as offensive to the eye as hundreds of other extant spots along the county roads.

Just sayin', is all (as the cool folks put it).

On Building Permits & Idiotic Zoning Laws

You decide to build a garage on your property, which is way off the nearest county-maintained road.  You try to follow the rules by going to get a building permit, even though you really feel that it isn't any of the county's business, anyway, where / when / how you build said garage.  (Seriously, why must you pay the local government for the privilege of building a simple garage on your own-- decidedly rural--  property, which you own free and clear?)

But still, you go to apply for the permit.  And then they inform you that you are not allowed to build it where you've planned it (and in fact, have already had dirt brought in and leveled, because who could have foreseen that there would be an issue?).  No, they say, it's too close to the property line.  You see, that's the property line that faces the nearest county-maintained road (which, again, is way off through hundreds of yards of trees), and any structures built on your property must be at least 40 feet away from that property line.  Now, if it were the side property line, 15 feet would be enough of a buffer.  (Our buffer is currently about 18 feet.  We had no idea our rural area even had zoning laws.  I am SO VERY VERY HAPPY to know, now, that it does.  Yippee, hurray, hurrah.)

You explain that you are way off the county road, and that the proposed garage, like the already existing house, will face the (non-county-maintained) easement... so really, that is the front of your property. (Through gritted teeth:) ...Right? 

Sorry, not so!  We, the Mighty and All-Powerful County Zoning Poo-Bahs do hereby proclaim that the front of your property is now and forever shall be that north-facing side, because of how it is oriented regarding the nearest county-maintained road.  But no biggie.  Just move the garage (extremely inconvenient) or have the property line moved.  Simple as that!  Then (and only then) we'll be more than happy to accept your money and generously grant you permission to build ON YOUR OWN PROPERTY.  You're welcome.

Oh, and have a nice day! 
We're always happy to serve!

They don't care that no-one lives anywhere near that property line.  Neither are they moved by the information that the land is owned by family, who would not care about the location of the garage and would sign a document to that effect.  Nope.  (In robo-voice:)  Does not compute.  Must not build within 40 feet of front property line.  MUST NOT-- MUST NOT-- MUST NOT...

~soul-weary sigh~

We're fortunate that my family owns that land, and there's not a house or something already on it-- so we can work something out-- but still, incredibly infuriating. 

One of the things I want in our garage, should it ever actually be built, is a punching bag.  No, seriously.  I mean it.  I need an outlet for my rage.  In the meantime, I guess I'll just have to hold it in.

The Final Frontier, Here I Come...?

Darn it.  I was really hoping I wouldn't have to become one of those space colonists.  I don't even like to fly, and the thought of leaving behind the whole planet really just doesn't appeal-- but the way things are going down here, lately... 

You space colony organizers better get a move on.

Our Backyard-- the Wonderful World of Wildlife

This has been a great day for wildlife in our yard (and nearby).

This morning, I found a black window spider in one of the dog houses.  The dogs very rarely use them, since they're usually indoors, but still-- I'm never happy to see a black widow, and especially not on our back porch.  Donald was working from home today, and between the two of us, we killed it.  Ok, so he did the actual deed, but I helped.  Anyway, the point is there was a happy ending, after all.  I saw another one near our rock pile a couple months ago, but that one got away from me before I could kill it.  (I have no mercy on black widows.  They all must die.)

I could tell you about the birds that visited our feeder today-- the sparrows and some sort of finch-like bird with a red head... the multiple sizes of doves... the bluebird... the family of cardinals (with the adults still feeding the fluttering-winged juveniles)-- but that's nothing unusual, so I guess I won't (only I just did).  ;o)

Similarly, I won't bore you about the many (comparatively slow, lazy) green anoles and (paranoid, skittery) skinks that can be seen in our yard at practically all times of the day (if you know where to look).  

Instead, I'll tell you that Donald saw what must have been a hognose snake on the easement, today.  From his description-- mean/dangerous-looking, hissing, flattened out like a cobra-- there's little doubt that it was another hognose.  I'm glad it wasn't something worse (like the moccasin Molly found a month or so ago). 

Finally, do you remember that time (not quite two years ago) that Trixie discovered a headless rabbit in our yard, first thing in the morning?  Back then, she came right in when called, like a good doggy.  Well, this time she wasn't so well-behaved after finding another headless rabbit (this time with the front legs missing as well).  Instead of coming when called, she decided that it was a clear case of Finders Keepers.  She was basically a brat about the whole thing, ate goodness knows how much of her prize, growled at Donald when he tried to get her to leave it, and stubbornly ignored even the most tempting of our Emergency Squeaky Toys.  Donald finally managed to put a large leaf rake over the rabbit so that she couldn't get to it, and while she was distracted, he got it out of the yard.  (Molly didn't see what it was, so we got her back inside fairly easily.  Otherwise, there's no telling what might have happened...)

So.  Such is life in the Great Wilderness of Southwestern Alabama.  Trixie has a wild streak of vicious wolf hidden just below the deceptive surface of silky-softness, intelligence, and faithful companionability.  And something needs to stop making a habit of leaving headless animals in our yard.  (Please?  Why not take it home with you for later?)

Pet Peeves of "Window Treatment" Photos

I'd like to sort out the "window treatment" situation in a few rooms of our house.  We've been making do for years; it would be nice to gradually upgrade to something nicer. 

(And I guess we've already started, in at least the breakfast room.  I like the thicker, faux wood blinds we put in however-long-ago so much that we may not even need any curtains/shades/whatever else in there-- but I'd like to find a way to fix it so that the cornices (?) that came with them sit straight.  They tend to slide down too far on one side, which is painfully obvious from the bright light that sneaks through the gap.  This bothers me more than it ought to.  Anyway, as I was saying... )

So I'm trying to figure out what might look nice in different rooms (and what curtain rods we need to make those looks possible).  Of course this eventually leads to looking online for inspiration photos-- which in turn leads to the titular pet peeves.


Pet Peeve #1:  Where are the blinds?


It seems very rare that these photos include blinds.  Maybe this is just another way in which I am weird, but I must have blinds on (almost all) our windows.  (Exceptions: the window over the kitchen sink and the windows in the doors.) 

Partly this is due to a wish for privacy without completely blocking out the light and the view with curtains.  (Yes, those airy, billowing sheers next to the bathtub are lovely, but-- privacy?  Or maybe this is an upstairs bathroom-- and they live on their own personal island in the Caribbean.) 

Partly it is because I live in a place where it gets insufferably hot in the summer, and to cut down on the heat in the house-- and the electric bill for the A/C-- we use blinds to block the direct sunlight.  (Maybe these people live above the arctic circle and don't have to bother about grueling summertime heat.  Lucky.) 

So there are all these gorgeous curtain arrangements-- but none of the photos give me a good, realistic idea of how a similar curtain might look in our house, because we are weirdos who use blinds.  No matter how hard I try, my curtains will never look as nice as theirs, because I use blinds.  (Boo hoo.)

(Related:  These windows never seem to have screens.  Ours do, of course.  Screens are ugly, but necessary, if the window is ever to be opened.  I hate flies, mosquitoes, wasps, etc. more than I dislike the ugliness of screens.)  


Pet Peeve #2:  Why are all the windows so FANCY?

This isn't as much of an issue-- because there are fairly regular, plain-jane windows in some photos-- but very often, these photos of curtains and "window treatments" (which phrase I cannot use without the quotation marks, sorry) are set in such fancy, perfect rooms!  And ok, that's just the way it's usually going to be in any home decorating photo, but still, the windows!  The very windows are all so FANCY that I think to myself, "Why are you even bothering with curtains at all?  You're hiding your fancy (and obviously expensive) windows!" 
 
Well, possibly that's an exaggeration, but you get my point, right?  Once again it's a case of  "no matter how nice my new curtains are, they cannot make my plain window into something that extravagant, and by the way, thank you for making me a little bit dissatisfied with my plain windows". 




...You know what?  I don't really enjoy figuring out "window treatments", at all.   Another tick against me as a perfect homemaker.  Shoot, and I was going to be so close to perfect, other than that one little thing! ;o)

(More and More Often)

Sometimes I wish we had decided to settle down in Sweden...

Well, too late for that, now, I guess.

Random Things

In no particular order...

--

We've been seeing a couple of turtles in the pond, lately.  They seem pretty skittish, though, so no up-close viewing.  Mostly just a splash when we get anywhere near where they are, then two little heads popping up out the water-- and popping back down again when they apparently decide that we look scary.


--
I've been trying to do a little yard work this spring.  There's still so much more to do, but at least I'm trying.  Every little bit helps, etc., etc.  This morning, I planted a new "daisy gardenia" near our patio (where we can enjoy the fragrance of the blooms), transplanted some roses, and mulched a little.  Next up-- more mulching, more transplanting (white spider lilies, snowflake flowers, montbretia), painting the sundial and obelisk "trellis", finishing bushwhacking the Jungle (a.k.a. the overgrown flowerbed by the bay window), putting river stones and pavers by the front door (where the runoff from the roof is particularly punishing during downpours), doing something about that unfortunate patch of the yard that covers the septic tank, and so on and so forth.  It should be enough to keep me busy for, oh, the rest of my life-- or longer, if there were a way to do yard work from the Great Beyond...


--
We've started looking more seriously into having a garage built.  It's one of those things I really want to have done-- but dread doing.  (Or deciding, planning, arranging, and paying to have done.  Same difference, as they used to say in school.)  Still, it will be nice to have a really good storage spot for our tools (which now take up too much room in the utility/laundry room) and various other odds and ends-- and I long for the day when the threat of a severe thunderstorm doesn't make me worry that one of the cars will sustain hail damage.  (Alright, damaging hail doesn't happen that often, but it has happened once, and I'm paranoid about hail, now.  You'd almost think I was Pa Ingalls worrying about an all-important crop that's a week away from harvest.)

I think Donald mostly wants a garage so that we'd have a place to play ping-pong, justifying the purchase of one.  (Well, maybe not really.  I don't think I'll be enough competition to make it that much fun for him.)


--
I tried making some hypertufa in the past couple of weeks.  Some of it turned out okay (knock on wood), and some of it did not.  I'm not sure what was wrong, really, but I plan to give it another try, sometime. 

I've made hypertufa stepping stones, troughs, etc. before, and it always worked fine.  (Not to say that none of it ever broke; some things did, but that was probably because I didn't use any reinforcing wire mesh or fibers... and they were relatively thin.) 

Anyway, hypertufa is a fun and easy outdoor project-- but it's more fun when it actually works.  (g)


--
I (and then sometimes Donald) started watching That Girl in the evenings, a couple months ago, when the local "retro TV" station began showing an episode every weeknight.  I was really enjoying it-- and so of course the powers that be decided to reschedule it for 7 a.m.  I still catch it, occasionally, but it's not exactly a convenient time for relaxing in front of the TV.  (Tsk!) 

Anyway.  About the show.  I find it inordinately amusing-- and curious-- that (reportedly) Marlo Thomas didn't want the series to end with Ann and Donald (um, a character on the show by that name) getting married because she didn't want the young women watching at home to think that marriage was a woman's only real purpose or goal in life.  She even thought that having the (engaged) couple actually get married at the end would "defeat the somewhat feminist message of the show" (according to, erm, Wikipedia... so give that as much credence as you see fit). 

And yet taken as a whole, the program (or as much of it as I've seen so far) is far from presenting what I'd consider a uniformly strong feminist message.  (Maybe that says more about me and what I think of as "feminist" than the program itself... Or maybe it's a reflection of how feminism has changed over the years.) It's just that Ann is frequently presented as a somewhat scatter-brained (or maybe "scrape-prone" would be a more accurate descriptor) individual and regularly needs Donald (or her father) to come to her rescue.  Not a very feminist portrayal of an independent woman, as I understand it. 

That's not to say that the character seems weak-- far from it.  Let's just say that her boyfriend is a prominent feature of her life in the show.  He's in nearly every episode, usually to play some important role.  He treats her with respect and affection, takes her career aspirations seriously, and supports her in her pursuit of that career.  I can't see how it would've hurt anything to have her finally marry him.  It's interesting how you never hear people saying that it somehow emasculates a male character when he gets married in a book or TV show.  I can't recall anyone ever suggesting that when a male character admits he wants or even needs a woman to be a permanent fixture in his life, he's no longer independent enough and is setting a bad example for the young men who look up to him.  Why should it be any different for a female character?  Sure, she could continue living alone, unmarried.  Hadn't they already shown her doing just that for a few seasons?  Why would having her marry-- at some point-- not even necessarily the very last episode-- have weakened the "message" that Ann was a successful example of the independent woman?

...But again, "feminist" isn't one of the labels I'd apply to myself, so possibly I'm just incapable of seeing the what the big deal was or is.  Of course I think women should have the same rights as men and be treated with the same level of respect, but that's just common sense and common decency-- and so the belief doesn't (imho) require any special designation.

...Not that it matters whether the character marries or not.  (g)  It was the (supposed) fact that it was purposely avoided that makes me think about it at all...


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Gee, aren't you glad I got started on that tangent and that-- lucky you!-- you were here to skim or altogether skip it?!  ;o)  (I don't blame you.)


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I recently had cause to glance into some of the earliest journals I ever wrote (and kept), and let me just say that few things could be as mortifying as reading your own words from when you were... I don't know, 13 or 14 years old.  So embarrassing.  My only hope is that (nearly) everyone is as silly at that age as I was.  Of course, not all of them were or are foolish enough to make a written record of it... 

It wasn't so much what I wrote about-- well, okay, maybe that, too, at times-- as it was the way I wrote it.  Good grief.  If you think I'm too wordy now.  I clearly wanted very desperately to be "fancify" reality.  Actually, I wanted to be living in an LMM novel, and apparently I thought that if I wrote as though I were, then I would be.  (Or something like that.)  The horrible purple prose-ification of a teenager's rather dull life!  The amplification of the mundane and the trivial into the Deep and Meaningful!  And, of course, almost every teenage girl's natural gift for finding potential for drama in the most unexpected places.  Well, at least I have a handy way to bring myself back down to earth, whenever I begin to form too high an opinion of myself. 


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And that's more than enough for one entry.  Much, much more than enough.

2012 Blues

Well, given that this is an election year, of course this will be a bad year for randomly, unexpectedly encountering annoying political opinions on blogs (and other places where people express opinions) that are not usually political in nature. 

I know, I know.  How can I complain when I regularly, well, complain about politics on my own blog?  But I do try to keep that contained here on my personal, rarely-updated blog that hardly anyone reads, anyway.  Also, I do it often enough that you really ought to be prepared. ;o) 

There are a few blogs/feeds I read that I know will (at least occasionally) be political in nature-- some more often than others-- and even though I do still find myself annoyed at the opinions expressed, at least I'm prepared for them. (And if I'm having a "don't even look at me wrong" type of day, I know to avoid them until I'm feeling more sanguine.  Or maybe it's the other way 'round.  Don't ruin a good mood...?)  It's more offensive when the blog/feed is usually crafts-centered, for instance, or books-focused, and then suddenly springs a (seriously irritating) political opinion on you out of nowhere.  

Ugh, 2012. 
I haven't really been looking forward to you, to tell the truth, but since the alternative was not being here to see it, we'll just have to make the most of it. 

Facebook = :'- (

"Author Says Facebook Is Making Us Miserable".
(What have I been saying-- to myself, if not others?)

"Facebook is making us unhappy by making everyone else look really, really happy."

Author Daniel Gulati blogs for Harvard Business Review.  He says all that shared information is creating a subconscious "ranking" among friends as our curated selves broadcast online are compared in real life. 

"Facebook is bringing down a lot of people's daily sense of well-being."  

Well, that's a big part (not all of it, but a very big part) of why I deleted my personal Facebook account.

I realize that it sounds kind of namby-pamby-- if not downright pathetic-- to admit that you start to feel a little dissatisfied with your own life just because Facebook makes it seem like everyone else on the bloomin' planet is thoroughly fulfilled, living up to every potential, happy-happy, 100% perfect (or at least Better Than You), and generally peachy-keen, but to tell the truth, I noticed that every time I visited the site, I came away feeling a degree or two sadder... discontented... somehow deflated. (So maybe I am namby-pamby.  Oh well.)

Anyway, it's always nice to find another Facebook decrier.  ;o)

P.S. If you love Facebook, I have nothing against you personally.  I just secretly hope for the day when your favorite social media site goes up in flames. :o)  On to the next thing!