Perversity, thy name is Pickle...

In keeping with the ongoing theme of my life, which is that even though I plan and scheme, nothing goes as I think it should, the Pickle is performing admirably well. We are hip deep in dog toys around here: rubber squeaky ones, stuffed squeaky ones, balls, hard rubber knobby ones, twisty rope ties, rawhide bones, you name it, we got it. Yet Pickle finds anything left on the floor: pieces of straw from the broom, kleenex (the worst, all over the rug yesterday), a sock that found its way to our backyard (hey, not mine, really), cotton balls, even balls of Boo fur, and turns up with them in her mouth. I bought her a cute little pink bed to sleep in. It has moved from the bed to the floor beside the bed, as Pickle cannot go through the night without a pee break (sort of like me, actually), and we had a couple of accidents necessitating mucho laundry. Think she sleeps in it? Oh, nonono. I found her curled up on my cotton pj bottoms yesterday morning. I was kind of flattered, actually.
And one of the main reasons I got Pickle was to get Boo off his little Boo butt. She works on this a lot, now that his proximity alarm has been dialed down. Now she can jump all over him while he stands there in the shreds of his dignity. But let him try to play with her and she hides under a chair. This morning, they actually had about five minutes of interplay, all Boo's idea. I sat here enthralled at the vivacity. It was over before I knew it, and worth all the laundry, lost sleep, and, oh God, expense.

Life on hold, again...

I lost my wallet. Again. Seems this is doomed to happen at least once a year. That's okay. I know the drill. Go to bank, cancel VISA check card, and cash a check large enough to cover necessities for 7 to 10 business days till card comes. Call Discover Card, cancel that (they kindly overnighted me a new cardat no charge, that' how well they know me) Drive, very carefully, to DMV, fill out 7 part form, sit 45 minutes clutching little slip with call number on it, pay $22, get a sheaf of papers without a picture (no good to write a check). Good news is that last of cards arrived Saturday. After I stop by the bank this morning to establish a PIN, I can hit AAA for a new key card (handy when I lock myself out of the car, another of my favorite passtimes), and go to Costco and get a new card there. I know that drill well, too. I have lost my Costco card, all by itself, more times than I can recall. It always surprises me that whoever found my wallet (and I know someone did) didn't just keep the cash (about $23) and return the rest to me. How hard would that be? No one ever has. I guess the lesson for me is that, if I find your wallet, you can be assured you would get it back, even the cash. I would call you immediately to tell you I have it. Meanwhile, I am using the old one with the shoulder strap, so that it is securely tied to my body wherever I go. I cannot lay it down on the counter at Staples and forget it there. Or drop it somewhere in the ensuing 30 foot walk to the car. Sigh.

Brown sky in the morning...

Oh, dear. We Northern Californians have not seen blue sky for a week now. Our fifth season started early this year, fire season. Perhaps you have heard about this, like eight hundred or so fires burning in our state. It wasn't the Gold Rush that gave California its nickname, the Golden State, you know. It was the plethora of sunlit, golden hills. Dry grass, everywhere. Tinder dry. And if Man was not stupid enough to start fires with his campsites and cigarettes, then God steps in with dry lightening. Brown skies are awful. Depressing, yes, but unhealthy as hell, too. My canary and parakeet are doing well, glad to say. But I am not. Sore throat, flaming sinuses, and viscious headache, too. So, I do what I do when it is hot. I go the movies. The air there is cool, and smoke-free, too. Yesterday, I saw Wall-E, which funnily enough is about an earth so polluted, the population has fled to space. Really wonderful film, by the way. I am so grateful that I am no longer self-conscious about going to Disney films, without a kid in tow. I am a kid, underneath it all. And I felt better when I left, too. Refreshed. On the way home, I caught a glimpse of blue through the sunroof. And later, taking the Pickle out for her last potty stop of the day, there was a definite hole in the dirty stuff, hazy blue with a sprinkling of cottony white clouds. Never been so happy to see blue sky before. Our marine layer is back this morning, and it is looking gray, like maybe there is blue in our future when it burns off. Yay.

Well, finally!

The $$$ from Geo. W. came yesterday. I am suitably stimulated. So far, I have been to Petco for a Pickle carrier, handy-dandy foldable washable airline-appoved zipup bag for the little one in the car. Yay. Also Bitter Apple to spray in places where she should not be chewing, so I can relax a little. Then to Best Buy for a couple of cherished CDs. And this PM, a trip to Safeway for my favorite new ice cream, Cinnamon Caramel Cashew, which somehow disappeared awfully fast. Is anyone else uber-irritated at that thing the checker does, read your name off the receipt and thank you using your last name? Does that mean there is a Safeway supermarket secret police force that knows everything I buy there? Are they watching my ice cream consumption? Do they know I am addicted to Cool Whip? Oh, God! I'm so embarassed here!

And where does your zucchini come from?

I harvested the first zucchini from my little veggie garden in the back yard yesterday, chopped it up, sauted it with garlic and herbs, tossed in some seafood medley (calamari, shrimp and scallops) and some pasta, dredged it with parmesan, and voila, le diner! I don't know about you, but this was something of a miracle here in the little yellow house. I have never grown anything, much less something edible, that I actually ate. And, as we speak, there are a couple of dozen tomatoes on my six little plants, so many that I had to prop them all up. Happily, everything is still alive and kicking, and getting ready to give me a happy, healthy summer of organic veggies, still warm from the sun. How sweet is that!

If at first you don't succeed...

When I moved in from the house on the edge of the world, I got this dandy deal from the cable company because I was a "dish conversion". Then the introductory period ended, and the bill went through the roof. So I went back to the dish, a different provider. School heated up, I got really busy, and the lousy service just got tolerated. Once in a while I would throw something at the TV, like in the mornings when an episode of ER would suddenly morph into Spongebob Squarepants, or the company logo would pop on and float around the screen like some neglected jetsom. Taping became a real challenge, too, as I often got an hour of that self-same logo instead of the desired program, until I realized I had to set the dish as well as the VCR. So it was a priority to get a different service once I finished all that academic stuff. And I did. And I hated it. The cable company service was more expensive than the dish for less channels. And they had the balls to charge me an installation fee, without mentioning it. Their onscreen guide sucked, too. Now, I am housebound for the moment, with the baby Pickle (I know she's a dog, but she's still a baby, too), and I need my entertainment! So, I am back with the dish, a different provider. In fact, the same one I had at the coast, where there is no cable. And it has improved substantially. The remote is a thing of beauty, it even turns both TVs on and off, a feat not possible to date. And, I got DVR! Wow, that's slick. I've already set it to record my soap everyday, and some movies on the premium channels I got, free for the first three months, and some programs coming on in the middle of the night, like episodes of Sex and the City that are so hard to find in the schedule. Just love this! Ain't technology grand? Hopefully, this is it for a while. Only end left dangling is that the installer guy took the business unit out of the dish that was up there, and I need to return it to my former provider. Spent a few hours today trying to get them on the phone, then finally e-mailed them. That is why I kept that lousy, overpriced, glitchy system for so long in the first place.

I am not stimulated here!

I got all excited by this envelope in today's mail marked "Stimulus Payment". Finally! I thought they had forgotten me (this is not unusual, I always think that). And it was a notice from the Feds telling me how much my "Stimulus Payment" will be. Like I couldn't figure that out from the CHECK. Really, guys. How many trees died so you can send out these cheesy notices. Just send me the CHECK. And for the record, I already knew how much mine would be, I looked it up online. I already spent it. I really need that CHECK. Yesterday.

Moans and birdsong...

The Boo is mighty unhappy. He had his teeth cleaned, toenails clipped, and ears probed yesterday, a full day at the vet's. Now he is expressing his dismay, as Sunny, the canary, sings away in the kitchen, and Pickle rolls around on the floor with a stuffed ball about as big as she is. Surreal, that's what it is. Given my druthers, I would go back to bed. Alas, not to happen anytime soon. So, some work (laundry, dishes, dusting), some play (a mystery novel, a walk), some love, even from taciturn Boo. A cup of coffee helps. And at least an hour will be devoted to reading my new writing book, and perhaps a sojourn into one of my burgeoning novels. Fear of mediocrity, get thee behind me!

Equal time for the big boy Boo...

I keep telling him I only got the Pickle because I love him so much. Boo is not buying it, as you can see. He is very eloquent in his disdain, turning away and strolling off like royalty amongst the rabble whenever that annoying little furball comes near, wagging her tail at him. On top of the bed, on the couch, and on a kitchen chair are his only bastians of solitude, since Pickle is clueless of his dislike, and just keeps trying to engage him in her play. I play with both of them at the same time. That is probably why I have two hands. The day may come when they will play together. Or, this may just be a distant and unreasonable goal. I seem to be burning a few calories here in the process, never a bad thing. Nevertheless, Boo's proximity alarm seems to be lessening in distance, and it has only been six days. Stranger things have happened.

Pickle diaries...

Well, it is as if she always lived with us, the Pickle. It is like having a baby. You think you are getting your little one on a schedule, but, in reality, they are regimenting you. Sleep was a little tricky in the beginning. Pickle sleeps beside me on the bed. Boo sleeps on the same side, at the foot. Pillows separate them. This works fine, I found out. Since she is still on Missouri time, we get up really EARLY, like 4 AM the first night. I prevailed in getting her to sleep in till 5. Yay, me. Today, we got to sleep in till 6, and I was soooooo grateful. Of course, I turned off the lights last night at 9:30. Sigh. Well, that's what VCRs are for, right? Meanwhile, the Pickle can go outside by herself, and today, she learned to come back in, too! That doesn't mean she is housebroken, though. She still needs reminding. My days are about evenly divided between amusing her, looking for her, or fitting in some time for myself during her many naptimes. Dear daughter says she looks like Gizmo, from Gremlins. Well, yeah. Blessings come in small packages, full of spirit, joy, and love.

The Pickle has landed!

We had a hilarious trip to the airport yesterday afternoon, my friend Gina and I, the Pickle pickup party. We left earlier than I meant to, because suddenly got worried that her flight was coming in at 5:33 PM St. Louis time, which meant two hours earlier. Not to worry, the time we had was right, as I found when I remembered I could just look it up online. Nevertheless, it was good that we were early, as we had to find out where to get her, which meant Gina had to bounce into the Continental terminal while I hovered outside in the car at the curb, until the little policeman in the tiny golf cart honked at me, and I had do the terminal circle, again. We parked at the wrong garage, and took the Airtrain around to our terminal. We were supposed to be on the red train, but got onto the blue instead, and had to double back. None of this phased us. We were in hysterics most of the afternoon. Pickle's flight was six minutes late, and then, suddenly, there she was. She was a mighty happy little puppy, not at all frazzled from her eight hours in the crate. She had food and water and comfy papers to cushion her. We took her in the crate back to our car, then got her out, with some ingenuity as she was sealed in with plastic ties and we had no scissors. I just took the top of the crate off and lifted her out. Cute doesn't begin to describe this pup. She is happy and sweet and licky and bouncy. We stopped at In 'n Out Burger on the way home, she had some water, but didn't piddle till we got home, on her piddle pad before we took her inside. She slept next to me all night, with just a couple possible piddle runs. And we all got up, Boo, Pickle, and I, at 7 AM to begin our new life together. So far, she has negotiated the few stairs we have, actually used the dog door once, and jumped off the couch. She is at the moment taking her fourth nap of the day. We saw the vet this afternoon, and she is perfect. So I got exactly what I wanted, and what a blessing she is. My mother said why get one so far away, why get a fuzzy one, she's too expensive, blah, blah, blah. Oh, go rain on someone else's parade. Mine is perking along just fine.

Countdown to Pickle landing...

Two more days, and our family will grow by one. Little Pickle will arrive Thursday at one of our Bay Area airports (oh, please let it be Oakland, so much closer). I have conscripted a friend to accompany me with a full kit of Pickle accessories: water, piddle pads, towel, toys, Milkbones. And a trip to Petco gave us lots of goodies, little bitty bowls, little bitty collar, little bitty dog bed (to put on top of big bed, where we will all sleep together, a threesome, Boo, the Pickle, and I, and that's as exciting as my life gets), and a handy dandy enclosure to keep her safe when I go out, or when I am washing the car or working in the yard. I also got Puppies for Dummies, and plan on boning up on my training skills so that we start off on the right foot. It looked expensive, this proposition, but this is my present for stopping smoking nineteen years ago, and the cost of smoking for a year (at least the way I smoked, two and a half packs a day) would be approximately $4,095. I am getting off cheap here, really.

Almost here!

We are on high Pickle alert in the little yellow house. Our new puppy, if they can come through with a current picture of him next to my name on a piece of paper, we're not buying air here, is white and tan, sweet and scruffy, and, hopefully, small. His parents both weighed under 8 lbs., so he should be a little bugger. That would be nice, as I could keep him forever in the Pickle tote bag, which is now sitting by the door, all ready for the little guy. Boo listens intently when I tell him about his new adopted little brother and looks like he is all excited, too. Or maybe he just thinks I am going to give him a Milkbone. Exciting time here. Puppies bring so much love with them, warm fuzzy love, too. I have had some heartaches lately. Pickle will be very welcome here.

Appliance wars...

Our weather is flopping around like a dying fish. One day, it is triple-digit hot, and the next it barely reaches the half-century mark. I had retired the heat dish to its summer home in the garage, replacing the fan which came inside for duty. Now they are both sitting, side by side, awaiting the current day's offerings. Yes, I have this tender little body that does poorly against changes in temperature. I wear a sweater to the market year round because of those chilly refrigerated aisles that always make me shiver and goosebump up. Probably there is no ideal temperature for me, because the interior temp changes often, too, especially because of my inordinate love of coffee, a demon for causing really violent hot flashes. But I am ready for whatever gets laid on me here.

Stick a fork in me, I'm done!

Another semester is history. Last of the finals today, and they saved the best for last, the art history memory bowl. I did pretty well, I think. Like, perfect. Or damned near. What a difference studying makes! And I took back the last of my library books, sold the textbooks back, cleaned out my locker and my slot in back of the painting room, then rode the funny elevator with the windows in back up to my car in the parking garage, for the last time. Sigh. Well, for the last time in a while. I will probably go back for some more education, eventually, like next spring, when I plan on taking that one pesky class I need to graduate in my major. And maybe another bout of figure drawing, and some more painting classes, like watercolors, and, oh, I want to take a photography class, and, well, you see, it will go on as long as I do, probably. But for now, I need to go around the house and collect all the shoes that seem to have migrated to odd corners, and mow the lawn, and do some laundry, and renew my driver's license and cancel my #$%^&** satellite service and get something that will not change the channels all by itself, right in the middle of my favorite programs. Yeah. Sounds like a plan for tomorrow, when I have nothing to do.

Pomp and Circumstance, Then and Now...

Saturday, I mosied over to my hometown for my high school's centennial celebration. Tents were set up on the football field (first time my toes ever danced on that grass) for decades of classes. Right across from the 60's tent, where I hung out most of the time, was the 20's, 30's and 40's tent where my folks hung out, briefly. Long enough, though for my mother to get her picture in the Sunday paper, representing as she did the Class of '39 (Dad was '38). They weren't the oldest there, either. Meanwhile, back in the wild 60's, we were variously fat, wrinkled, grizzled or otherwise beaten up by life. Some were recognizable. Most were not. Nevertheless, we were there, alive and kicking, and for the most part, healthy, too. My feet were killing me, so I schlepped out of there after five hours. Got to see some really great old faces.

And, so, from the ridiculous to the sublime, my daughter graduated from law school the next day, magna cum laude. What a beautiful young woman she was in her velvet cap and purple-edged gown, with her juris doctorate hood trailing behind her. The Hon. Willie Brown was the guest speaker, an alum of '58, so it was a lively ceremony. I loved that they played Pomp and Circumstance, which was missing at her two previous graduation exercises. And the recessional was done to the final credit music from Star Wars. I just loved that bit of whimsey. We had a lovely dinner together before she was off with man and friends in tow for a mega-party at a local bar they shut down for the occasion. Oh, and did I mention she ran the Bay to Breakers in the morning, in an old cap and gown? What a kid. As we speak, she is at her bar class, with tons of materials, buckled down for the next 10 weeks till the exam.

And I have now taken my first final (a snap), am off to my final critique in principles of color, then home to buckle down myself for the biggee tomorrow morning, the art history blue-book torture test. Will be done, soon. Not too soon for this tired little lady.

As soon as school is over...

My whole life is hung up till school ends. I have been shopping for possible Pickles (my new Pekingese pup), but can't get him/her till school ends. The yard needs attention. The house is a natural disaster. I need to get my driver's license renewed. Only 1 1/2 little weeks. Last art history class this morning, and we are in the 20th century, when art melted its container and went all over the place. We learned about Dada Monday, and it seems impossible that it could get stranger than that, but we haven't even gotten to Jackson Pollock or Andy Warhol yet. Actually, I think our book skips old Andy. The gal who wrote it probably didn't like the wig. And last painting class is this afternoon. I am doing a very large, very fast copy of a woodblock print by Chiuro Obata, a Japanese American who taught art here in the Bay Area. Lovely colors. But what was I thinking, a 24" x 30" in two little three hour sessions? I like challenges, that's for sure. Happy to report, though, that I got an A on my color portfolio, and on my mythology presentation. So, if it ever ends, it will be a success, for sure.

Seeing red...

My parents have never been to my house. To be fair, I am older than dirt, so you can imagine how old the folks are. However, one of their favorite supermarkets lives half a block away. Sigh. So, my mother is kind of flying blind when she buys me gifts for the house. One of them was this really goofy cannister set, beige with grapes and vines all over them, blue lids with little bunches of graped for topknots, and lots of curlyques around the top and bottom. If they sound awful, well, they were. But, loyal daughter that I am, I put them on my counter and stored flour and dried cranberries and nuts in them (don't bake anymore, and don't use sugar, coffee is in the fridge), for about eight years. And suddenly, I looked at them and said NO MORE. Today, I bought a set of ultra-sleek bright red cannisters with airtight lids, each with their own handy dandy spoon attached, four of them. At Target, for $19.99. Best $20 bucks I have spent in years. Every time I walk by them, my heart goes pitty pat. My kitchen looks like, well, MY kitchen. Okay, it's not much of a rebellion, but I think it counts. And when my mother goes to her reward, the kitchen table is going to the Good Will, too. Can't do it yet. She may want it back. Yeah, she's like that.

Some days I should just stay in bed...

Actually, I used to schedule mental health days spent all scrunched up with pillows, quilts, laptop, dog, and a few good movies on the VCR. I usually couldn't make it past 3 PM, but I felt renewed anyway. And then there are days when the perversity fairies take over, and things just don't perk along as they should. It started with forgetting to put the pot under the brewing coffee, not a good idea at all. I stubbed my toe. I dropped an egg on the floor. Somehow, I got breakfast together, then sat down to check my e-mail. And, no desktop! Again! Now, I know how to get around without my icons, but what a pain. So, after a trip to Costco and most of a noon meeting, I sat down to work on it. Annoying pop-up kept telling me I had infections on my disk, click here and send $$$ to rid myself of them. I tried running my pop-up zapper. It wanted more $$$, too. Then I found my desktop, got online, and downloaded a super-duper zapper. And after running it, no desktop! Again! I walked away for a while, always a good idea, as steam was coming out my ears by then. Later, once again, I got it back (secret is getting into MSCONFIG file, once I found it), and now we are perking along. Very slooooowly perking along, but even limping, I am happy the good old gal is back. And it is perhaps time to retire her, though it would not be any different with a new, slick sucker. Those viruses are everywhere. Makes me want to pull the covers over my head.

Hair today, hair tomorrow...

As a teenager, my mother will tell you I was obsessed with my hair. This was because the good hair fairy skipped a generation and left me with all this admittedly very shiny, but also very fine hair (my kids got the thick, luxurious locks, thus sparing my mother's angst). To this day, I pack the kid's tiny baby hair combs in my Baggalini. I have tried it short. I have tried it long. It is best short, I decided, and got it all whacked off recently, in stages, so I could lessen the shock. It looked so good, I couldn't figure out why I didn't do it sooner. Then I remembered. Short hair is always too short when you get it cut. Then it hits optimum length, and looks super. For about three days. Then it is too long, and it looks lumpy and bumpy and lopsided. Lots of product helps, but it also makes it look like I am wearing a haystack. It stays that way until the day you decide to get it cut. That day, it will look absolutely fabulous. Hey, I don't make the rules. I just laugh at them.

If this is heaven, there must be cheesecake...

Last night was my womens' meeting's semi-annual potluck. As usual, Bev made her amazing pork roast. The rest of us supplied salads, side dishes, and of course, desserts. That is what I always bring, because there are lots of wonderful bakeries around that make it for me. I mosied over to Costco after school, and sidled up to the cheesecake division of their bakery, and there it was: Key lime cheesecake. Now, I adore key lime pie, and cheesecake, well, let's just say if I was diagnosed with a deadly disease, that is all I would eat for the rest of my short life. My mythology teacher says some scholars think ambrosia was not a drink, but something solid. That would be cheesecake. I must admit, last night's offerings were very healthy. We had edadame salad, and sauted tofu, and roasted veggies with our pork roast. And left room for the three desserts: an amazing chocolate walnut meringue, a mocha refrigerator cake with apricot filling and whipped cream frosting, and the aforementioned key lime cheesecake. I was pretty pooped and uber-hungry when I arrived. After the dessert, the sugar high kept me up till midnight. But it was worth it. I brought home the last piece, which I consumed only a moment ago. Burp.

The other side of the mountain, finally...

Okay. Paper on Schiele is done and turned in. Mbuti project is done, critiqued and hanging on the wall in the hall of the Art Building. And the project on the P and J myths from Genesis, the contradictory and highly discriminatory stories of the creation of Adam, and in particular, his gal, is finished and properly presented to the class. I was the first to do that, got extra credit, and it went pretty well, not the best, but not the worst, either. And now, I am ready to fall into bed for the entire weekend and not think of anything. Except maybe beginning to study for next quiz in art history. And make a new collage for an abstract painting in oil painting class. And read the Hymn to Aphrodite in the Homeric Hymns. And mow the lawn. And wrap my daughter's graduation present. And clean the house. And do the laundry. And walk the dog. And make a whole bunch of phone calls, like to the DMV to make an appointment to renew my driver's license. Okay, that's about all for now. Luckily, I have a three day weekend to accomplish all this. It will all be over in a month, just one little month. Groan.

Ta Da!

I hired my friend the handy dandy landscape person came over recently and together, we tamed the jungle in the backyard. Only took three hours, with frequent breaks for water and schmoozing. I weeded and trimmed, she mowed, a major feat as it was really overgrown. Got war wounds wrestling with the blackberries that have taken over the north forty, and a little color on my nose and shoulders. It was so much fun, I have been ambling out there everyday and doing a little more. I planted vegetables! This has been my plan for three years, and it finally happened. None of the little suckers have died yet, though one zucchini looked a little peaked. If all goes well, I will have tomatoes, green peppers and squash out the wazoo, enough to fill up a sweet little basket and take them to friends. I have always wanted to be one of those people. I also planted two sunflowers, mammoth ones. If they come up, I am going to be soooooo excited. My roses did not get pruned this year, and are all bushy but still putting out lots of blooms. The wisteria got overgrown and so heavy part of it broke off, poor thing, but we propped it up again and tied it to a big stake and it is happily if sparsely blooming, too. I just got in from watering and feeling pretty darned abundant with this great space to play in. Now Boo won't come in encrusted with burrs anymore. How sweet it is. All because I asked for and got help. We can all use some, you know.

I love you, California...

That's actually our state song. My mother knows all the words to it. Funnily enough, I don't, though I know all the words to the Hawaiian state song, in Hawaiian. Don't ask. Anyhoo, our sweet state enjoys a lovely temperate climate. In 24 hours, we have gone from thermal sweatshirt/heat dish weather to tank top/ceiling fan weather. I released my toes from their cotton prisons and painted them coral pink. And, with a little help from a friend, we tamed the backyard jungle again, so that it looks like a country club. The yard of shame is all tidied up, as well, and the car got it's zen carwash this afternoon. If this is not enough to convince you spring has sprung, just get a gander of the tomato, pepper and zucchini plants I plopped into the barrels out back today. Am I something or what! Also have pretty pink shoulders. Love that vitamin D.

Morning in the Yucatan, afternoon in Zaire

I spent my morning up to my neck in Mayan myth, all about Quetzlcoatl, Xmucane, and the first four humans, Jaguar Quitze, Jaguar Night, Dark Jaguar, and Not Right Now. Really, that's their names. Just love those Mayans. In our Color Theory class, we are doing Mbuti cloth reproductions, which is really fun, like kindergarten for college students. We each got a big square of brown paper, which we wadded up and got all wet, then spread out to dry. We tore the edges so it is irregularly shaped, then began painting it like a crazy quilt, paying attention to dark and light, warm and cool, bright and dull colors. Each section then gets its own design, large and small, active and quiet, etc. I nearly went cross-eyed painting this one black patch with yellow tiger stripes, but it came out fine and really is striking. And I love the yellow patch that I decorated with black dragonflies. Not as thrilling or wonderful as some of the students who came before me, pretty rough around the edges (like me, I suppose), but it will be an original, for sure. How much fun can one little old lady have, anyway?

She puzzled and puzzed...

I was thinking about Buddha today, as this was his birthday, I think, April 8th. That symbol for yin and yang, the circle split in two, black and white, each with a dot from the corresponding side, do you think that means that there is a blessing in every trial, and a trial in every blessing? This is a world of dualities: black and white, dark and light, old and young. How can we know joy if we never know suffering? Would you give up joy to not suffer? I don't think so. Joy is too precious. And rain, well that's just so I can appreciate sunshine. And winter brings the spring. Too bad I cannot go back to young now. I would savor it so much more than I did when I was there. Which reminds me, my birthday is coming. Will you still love me? I'm going to be 64. Paul McCartney is single. There's a thought.

Have some perspective, my dear?

Ah, the beauty of other people's travails. I sojourned down to Marin County today, that bastion of the botoxed and beautiful. I used to work down there, and never could get a line on what was happening. Lots of shiny cars, mostly in black and white and silver and gray, with a smidge of champagne beige to add some class. Lots of all-natural-fiber folks, looking fabulously green and firm. Today, I met with three former office-mates. Three of us are retired now. The youngun is still toiling away, though from her residence, which keeps her sane and far from our mutual boss, dear man that he is. I began this day toting about my cross-du-jour, a potpourri of angst that ranges from a sticky situation with a relative to the usual champagne-taste/beer budget stuff. And I came home happy and full of gratitude. These women are facing ailing husbands, chronic illness, adolescents learning to drive (been there, done that, bought the t-shirt). Me, I am hanging together fairly well health-wise, and my greatest responsibility is the Boo, who is at the moment, all well and sassy. How sweet it is, a soupcon of perspective keeps the blues away.

The weather inside...

Just returned from a little walk with little Boo, bag of Boo poo in hand. I noticed that today's weather pretty much mirrors my inner climate. On the surface, it is a pretty day to look at, all sunny and springy. But once out in it, there is a little chilly, goosebumpy breeze that sometimes just gets downright cold. We have not seen the last of winter. And I am kind of bearing my own inner chill, too. There was a time when this was outrageously importune. I am happy to say that my troubles have shrunk down from peaks and valleys to speedbumps and potholes, not major collisions, just occasions to pause on the shoulder of my highway of life and rethink my route. Today, that took me to (soul-sucking) Safeway, and that carrot cake that has been calling me lately is now in my fridge. Sigh.

Taking care of business...

I have been chewing on a troublesome problem now for a couple of weeks. What to do? Is this my fault? What is my part? Stew, stew, stew. And today, I remembered. I never could think myself into right action. The only thing that works is acting my way into right thinking. Wow, what a relief! So I am just doing what is in front of me. I went to a meeting (always a good idea, because others are dealing with real problems, stuff that is probably not temporary, like mine), then I got the car serviced (and only 500 miles late). I stopped at Trader Joe's, where I bought myself flowers. Also, some sushi for lunch, some avacados, some flaxseed cereal, some baby carrots, cage-free eggs, peppermint tea. Now I am here, relaxing into the day, about to take the dog for a walk before I assemble my outfit for tomorrow's trip to Marin County, where I am outclassed even before I start my engine, but always try, anyway. Not thinking too much today. Just taking care of business, as usual. All will fall out the way it is supposed to, any time now.

What. Ever.

Funny how retirement kind of takes the zing out of holidays. Easter, of course, was never a real holiday anyway, falling as it does on Sunday every year, and hell, I got Sundays off every week. I guess, like everything, holidays do that cycle thing. It was a time of new shoes and lots of candy when I was little, then smelly, long high mass early in the morning, followed by egg hunts and stomach aches. I liked the new dress and hat, for sure. Later, I had my own kids, and got to do the egg dying thing, and the egg hiding thing, and learned the importance of knowing how many eggs I had hidden to forestall a nasty surprise on the 4th of July. Then there were the champagne brunches or ham dinners, a long parade of them through the years of my middle-class marriage. Single parenthood moved holidays to more convenient times, as I was seldom the custodial parent on the really important dates. And now, well, holidays are a great time to go to the movies. Or take a walk with the dog, as I am doing this afternoon, now that he is perambulating on all four legs again, followed by a trip to the gas station (at least they are open - another major annoyance is all the stores are CLOSED!) for a gallon for the lawn mower. And maybe a Taco Bell cheesy beefy wrap for dinner. Okay, maybe not. But Taco Bell was open.

Tit for tat...

Happy to hear the professors are fighting back. Yes, I have been to ratemyprofessor.com. Verrrrry interesting. And pretty much dead on, these kids are. The design and composition teacher was a ditz. The geology professor was a peach, and a chili pepper, to boot. The American history guy was ho-hum, but hell, he played the banjo, how sweet it is! Now, MTV lets them tell the other side of the story. Which takes me to the coffee kiosk by Emeritus Hall, where I was tanking up for comparative mythology class, and talking to this other older lady, just chitchat. And I asked what she was majoring in, and she replied she was a teacher. Duh. So I told her how much I appreciate her. I think that's all anyone wants to hear, that those they served feel well served. Never hurts.

We plan, God laughs...

I am a born planner. Give me a year and I will plan the perfect weekend. And all that would be just fine if not for OTHER PEOPLE. A woman I do not know all that well but who I would like to know better suggested we do a retreat together. This was in April of 2007. So I sent in my deposit, and began planning. My dog was a major concern. He is older, and in need of medication at this time, and I didn't want him in a cage anywhere for three days. And, at the very last moment, my dog sitter couldn't. My only option was to trust a guy I really don't trust, because I was also responsible for driving my friend to and from our retreat center. Which made my retreat much more edgy than it might have been otherwise. I don't think I ever really arrived there, at this lovely convent right on the beach in Santa Cruz, with all these lovely other retreaters. We wound up coming home early, my friend to do some work, and me to hug my little dog, who, when I finally got him back, was walking on only three legs. Fortunately, that seems to have cleared up. Let us hope the infection does, too, because he missed a few pills while I was away. All of this teaches me that I must always have a Plan B in my back pocket. It is fortunate that one lesson I have learned from my eighteen years of recovery is to be flexible, and not to over-react to unexpected circumstances. And to always accept the responsibility and look at my part in the picture, because that is the only thing I can do anything about in the long run. And that I am perfectly human, and incapable of seeing the future. Wow, that's a lot! Some people I know who are a lot older than I do not know this stuff. I put myself on the mailing list for future retreats, and will try again next year. As long as I am sober, there is always hope.

It's not easy being me, Vol. XXXVIII

I am getting ready for my weekend getaway, which entails a great deal of thought and preparation, so I am a little distracted. Last night, while blowdrying my hair as I simultaneously heated up my curling iron, and ran the fan and heater in the bathroom, I overloaded the circuit and everything suddenly got dark and silent. This being not the first time I have done this, I know exactly where the circuit breaker box is. Since it is on the side of the house, and our little neighborhood does not have streetlights, I first had to know where a flashlight was. I found it in the third location I searched. Not bad. And yes, two of the little switch thingies in the box were at half mast, so I pushed them up to line up with the other soldiers. And nothing happened. I mulled. Since the computer was not on the now-dead circuit, I googled "overloaded circuit", which gave me all kinds of information, none of which told me how to un-overload that damned thing. Next action was to call Sue, who is a former homeowner and a fount of information on all sorts of things mechanical. Sue told me about the master switch, and that I couldn't hurt anything or myself by turning everything off and on again. I decided to wait for daylight to do that, which means that this morning I had to find an extension cord so I could put a lamp in the bathroom to do my leaving-the-house necessities like curl my hair and makeup my face. Curiously, I know I just saw an extension cord somewhere. At the moment, it still eludes me, so I pirated one from the lesser used side of the bed. Actually, I looked better in the light from the little lamp than I usually do in the bathroom overhead. However, I probably do not want to have to jump over the cord several times a day just to look 55 again. I made a little stab at those pesky switches again before toodling off to school, still loathe to turn off everything. I mean, that's hella-drastic. And once again, it did not do the trick. Off I went to study the Mahabhrata, then a truly spiritual experience at WalMart. Home again, I threw all caution to the wind, made sure everything I valued was off, and pulled the big switch. Nothing. Back to the circuit breaker box, and gee, those two errant soldiers were way out of formation again. I coaxed them back, and voila! We are cooking with gas here! And now I know what to do when it happens the next time. Which, spiritually speaking, it always will. Life on life' terms. My karma.

Help me, Obiwan Kenobi! You're my only hope!

Did I mention that I went gaga for Star Wars? I actually had a pirated copy of the movie (I didn't do it, it came to me in a round about way) long before it came out on video. Remember what a phenom it was? We'd never seen anything like it before. Of course, now we are inundated with digitally enhanced special effects, so much so that story and characters play a backseat role. Where is the Obiwan Kenobi of this millenium? Will we ever see another character with so much, well, character? Whatever. I am thinking, HELP, and that is what came to mind. I am taking my art history midterm tomorrow. All I will have in hand is a pen and a blue book. Everything else must be firmly in place, in my tiny head. The old brain is strained, for sure. Though, I did get my quiz 100% perfect, plus 4 points for extra stuff I threw in because I knew it. So maybe it is doable. I am finding that I learn a lot when material is presented to me this way. Multiple choice is maybe too easy? Oh, not. Thanks to Mr. Thompson who will make the quiz on the Mahabharata multiple choice. I could never remember all those names, for sure. The Pandavas and the Kauravas, Yudhisthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva, Paraudi, Krishna, Durodyana, Karna and that's just the beginning. Seriously overeducated, no doubt about it.

The yard of shame is no more!

It is, once again, lawn-mowing season in the neighborhood. Mine wouldn't start. The lawnmower, I mean. I filled it up with the dregs of gas in the red gascan that spits all over me when I turn it upside down, pressed the red rubber thingy three times, and sputter, sputter, sputter. Not even a healthy sputter, but a puny, throat-clearing ahem. So I put it back in the garage and went on a concentrated search for the manual. It wasn't where all the other manuals are, the can-opener and coffee-maker and microwave and toaster manuals, manuals I will probably never need to find again, ever. After a quick prayer to St. Jude, who is in charge of finding things for me, I located it in the tool cupboard. And it said that maybe my gasoline was old. Did you know that gasoline could get old? Well, if not, now we all know. So maybe I needed to drain the gas tank and start with new gasoline. Except that it didn't give me any instructions how to do that little thing. While I was fuming away, a friend called me. And she is the queen of lawn-mowers! In all her years of dealing with these balky things, she had never gotten an old gasoline problem. So I followed her instructions of pushing the red rubber thingy five times, trying (really hard) to get it started, and if unsuccessful, let it stew for a half hour and try again. And that worked! The psuedo-lawn is all mowed down and neatened up! And then it died, just as I was putting the finishing touches on. So I am off to the hardware store for a better gas can, one that doesn't have a dribble problem, and a funnel. That sounds like a quicker, easier way to go. I may even give the backyard a little try. Maybe.

How sweet it is!

I finally got my grades from last semester. Well, first I got this dandy little certificate in the mail saying I had achieved Dean's Highest Honors for the Fall 2007 semester. Really? I thought I royally blew the math final, as you may recall. Then this morning I learned I had scored 100% on my mythology test, and I am pretty sure I did the same on my art history test, so I decided I could now look and see what was up with that last semester. And, lo and behold, three As and a B in the dreaded Math 9, Finite Mathematics! Which makes me want to bang my head against the wall for not looking sooner. And the best thing is that I never have to take another math test as long as I live! My mythology teacher told the class today that they had "young and resourceful brains", and when I snickered he told me "yours is young and resourceful, too". And I think now that he is right. Just a little attention and I can remember the geneology of Inanna, Queen of Heaven and Earth, or that Soufflot designed the Pantheon (otherwise known as the Church of Sainte Genvieve) in Paris in 1755, and that it is Neo-Classical in style. New neural pathways are spitting out all kinds of information even as we speak. So, bravo, synapses! GRATEFUL.

My love affair with Oscar...

It was the 80th Academy Awards Sunday night. I have seen at least 60 of them. Well, that may be in my imagination, we didn't have a television till I was five, and probably they did not televise them till I was around eight, so that means I have only seen 55. And while I would like to say I have seen all the Best Pictures, I will admit that The Unforgiven remains to be viewed (I am westerned out from my youth, Wagontrain, Cheyenne, Sugarfoot, Maverick, etc. etc. etc.), and I skipped The Departed, which just seemed too sleazy. But I did see No Country for Old Men, and was delighted that it rose to the top, since the Coen brothers are idols of mine. Fargo and Raising Arizona and Oh, Brother Where Art Thou bristle with imagination, something that I find in short supply in this world that makes movies of old (and bad) TV sitcoms, video games and amusement park rides. And it is adult imagination, not easy to grasp even for college-educated ones, like my daughter and me. We looked at each other and wondered if the other knew what the ending of that film was all about. Luckily, we are adult enough to admit we don't understand something. And we left the theater feeling good that we had seen this film so we could tell people we had seen it. It just seemed like an adult way to while away a windy afternoon in the City.

PS I also saw Juno, and there is another film with dynamite dialogue, sweetness without the sap, a hopeful little movie about acceptance, surrender, letting go, and redemption. Mostly it was about being different, and how that can or cannot serve you. Diablo Cody certainly knows that, and wasn't she the epitome of daring, wearing a leopard-spotted gown among all the glitz? I liked it better than Tilda Swindon's pajamas, though.

Boo is home, and all is right with the world...

Mothers everywhere know the frustration of dealing with a sick baby, one that cannot say what is wrong, yet writhes in pain and discomfort. Then God gave us dogs, and we all get to know that awful feeling. Boo had been on the mend, then last night, he suddenly was in godawful pain, scrambling around the bed, howling and trying to get comfortable without much success. The first "emergency" vet I called could not see us for two hours. "But" I screamed, "this is an EMERGENCY!" So we went to another clinic. Of course, once he got there, he was no longer howling, and except for his usual vet demeanor, which consists of tucking his tail firmly between his back legs (you're gonna stick that thing where!) and trembling all over, he seemed almost normal. Which led this vet to begin to ring up test after test, xrays and such, till I said, no, I want to take him to his regular vet in the morning. So he got a shot of painkiller, and a prescription for pills, just in case, and home we went. And then it happened again this morning, when the shot wore off, howling and whimpering and scittering around. So off we went, again. Our vet ascertained that it was probably his ears, again, and proposed sedating him for a thorough exam and cleaning. That meant I went home without my Boo. From 9:30 till 3, I was dogless. It felt really weird, and every so often I would look up and wonder where he was. At one time, I had thrown a black sweater on the bed and I thought it was him, stretched out there looking out the window. Lord, I was soooooo happy to get him back. He is sore and kind of dopey still, and not without some pain, either, but on the mend. Not quite my Boo, but a most satisfactory reasonable facsimile. All for just under $500. It's a bargain.

What I did on my (five day) weekend...

My second ex-husband used to put movie reviews on his answering machine's outgoing message, giving plums or raisins, as the case may be. And while I always thought that was rather pompous, here are my reviews of the two movies I saw on this delightfully long, long weekend.
The Spiderwick Chronicles
Harry Potter fan that I am, how could I resist this movie? That young kid from Wonderland had a double role as twins, one meek and mild-mannered, the other a real shit-disturber. I found the interactions of the characters more engaging than most of the computer animation going on, and some of those animated characters were a little too precious for my taste. It was fun on a rather simple level.
Definitely, Maybe
Ah, this is everything I hoped 27 Dresses would be. Ryan Reynolds is sooooo cute (and tall, that's so refreshing in itself), Abigail Breslin is her sweet self, Rachel Weiz, well, they don't get any more sophisticated or disingenuous, do they. Mostly, the star of the show was the screenplay, which was smart and often really funny, a real plus in romantic comedies. I loved it.

In addition to going to the movies, on my weekend I knitted a red scarf, painted two still lifes and a color study of a pear, worked in my sketchbook, read a book and started another, rearranged lamps in the little yellow house, and slept late, every day except Friday, when Boo had to be into the vet early. Oh, yes, I gave Boo his five medications, twice a day. He is terrifically healthy at the moment. And me, I am well-rested and ready to schlep off to school tomorrow with my paintings and the 40 lb bookbag, for my two day schoolweek. It just keeps getting better.

I don't need no stinkin' Valentine...

Ah, another pseudo-Hallmark-holiday has come and gone. I am alone here in the little yellow house, have been for three years. And in the past, that was an occasion of much teary-eyed self-pity when the Hearts and Flowers (and chocolates) Day rolled around. However, here is what I have discovered - I have a built-in Valentine, one who knows exactly what I want and has the income and ability to give it freely. And that would be ME! My Valentine bought me pink tulips (which I immortalized in an alla prima painting yesterday), two DVD's, two books, and a comfort dinner of spaghetti with meat sauce and fresh asparagus. It was a warm and wonderful evening, under the quilts with my book and The Jane Austin Book Club on the tellie. And I spritzed myself with my Christmas parfum, and settled in for a night of self-care and gratitude. Boo curled up next to me in the circle of light from my little Tiffany flower lamp. We were the picture of contentment, an island of sweet serenity in a sea of relationships that, let's face it, are not always the happiest. So, God bless us, everyone. Or it that another Hallmark day?

Boo goes to the doctor...

Since we moved to town three years ago, austerity forced me to be circumspect about finances, so Boo got his innoculations at the local VIP clinic, where we got to stand in line with a lot of other frugal folks. Boo is a pretty healthy little guy, so eschewing annual $200 vet visits was not worrisome (I found they always found something to treat, like why waste a 25 mile round trip just for a pat on the head). But lately, his ear washings had not produced very good results, and I noticed little scabby sores at the corner of his lips, and then this big raw patch in the deep groove below one eye. Eeeeeyuuuu. I put some triple antibiotic cream on it, and it crusted over nicely, but still looked icky, so I bit the bullet and made an appointment for him with a new, in-town vet. Fortunately, I have a buddy who is a vet-tech and studying to become a vet himself, who could recommend his employer. My, they are really nice people. Boo got his ears all washed out, his butt trimmed (dingleberry city lately, yuck), and his eye examined. Damn thing is a hot-spot! We don't have fleas, but Boo has all these nifty folds and creases in his little worried-looking face that harbor bad microbes. I clean down in the deep fold above his nose, but generally don't mess with the area under his big brown eyes. We came away $143 lighter, with five different medications: Omega-3 capsule (poke hole in end and squirt into mouth once a day), eye ointment (smear under right eye twice a day), ear ointment (squirt several drops into each ear 2-3 times a day), antibiotic pills (one twice a day with food, so I wrap it in a little cheese and it goes right down), and ear cleaning fluid for his next deep cleansing. I had kids who never needed this much medicine! I am feeling, of course, like a bad dog mommy. But I suppose that noticing he needed help and getting him there counts to my favor. Meanwhile, he is happily ensconced on the bed, not a care in the world. Me, I am just stoked because I finally figured out how to get him to be still - I put a big fluffy towel on top of the dryer and go at him. Too high to jump off, high enough to be able to work with him, and comfy for his little poochy butt. He got weighed today, and is a little too fluffy at the moment. This means we will both be cutting down for a while. Can't hurt.

Winds of reason blowing here...

It is cold. Okay, I know we Californians are really just weinies when it comes to winter. People in Minnesota would call 50 degrees balmy. But for us sun-worshipers who are used to 70 degrees 90 percent of the time, this is an insult to our sensitive little systems. Everywhere I go, people are griping about how cold it is. And they don't even have the really big bubblewrap coats out yet. A nice fleecy sweatshirt hoodie is all I am wearing today, with my Ugg knockoffs, tights under my jeans, and two layers of cotton tees on top, with my little knitted scarf wrapped around my tender little neck. And I will be toasty as I hoof around campus with my gear. And just in case I feel like griping that my nose is getting all red, I saw that little old bag lady going through the recycling cans that line our street on Monday mornings. I had a moment, because mine is not full, and is still sitting by the side of the driveway, so she came into my yard. I wanted to yell at her "hey, that's my garbage". Then I realized she is looking for redeemable cans and bottle that the rest of us just toss. Perhaps I should leave her a special bag full of them next week, marked just for her, tiny little lady with the big shopping cart full of stuff. Sleeping outside in this weather must be awful. So, I am getting all grateful for the day. Sun is shining, birds are singing, and the heater works. How could it get any better?

Wednesday musings, historically speaking...

Just watched a video on YouTube, a site I would never have found by my lonesome, but one my more savvy friends are addicted to, on the incredible advances in our technology, which are expanding exponentially even as we speak. Yet, the Wright brothers first flight was less than 100 years ago. Women in this country have had the right to vote for only 87 years. And we still labor with intolerance and discrimination against persons of color, persons of different sexual orientations, and yes, persons of the female persuasion across the board. Soon, we will have a computer that exceeds the calculating capacity of the human brain. Do you think it will then turn its wrath on all machines perceived to be inferior to it? Just wondering here. How far have we come, really? Not very far at all, indeed.

Mufti moments...

In keeping with my philosophy of when in college, blend, I bought myself a pair of Levi's low riders. Actually, I wasn't aware they were hip slingers. I just saw that they were long enough to walk on. That's a tall girl's wet dream, to fray the back of her jeans like all the tiny little girls. Anyway, they fit just swell. And I really like them. Until I sit down. Then, they creep down and, if my top is not super long, show all my business. I realized, after thinking about it, (like why do they do that anyway?), that is the point, to show off those thong thingies that the younguns are wearing these days. Now, I don't know about you, but I have spent my very long life trying to keep my panties from creeping up the wazoo. There's no way I'm buying those dental floss undies. I may be in the market for a belt, though.

A little flying music, please...

Very gray and damp and cold here in paradise. The day started late, I slept in, what a sweet thing that is. Put on my favorite very soft pink sweater, moussed my hair and went off to my most favorite meeting, where this big guy who is one of my least favorite people endeared me with his spirit despite myself. Hurried home to a helping of my curry that I made last night, then discovered the dog was sick. All over the bed. Sigh. Now doing a heap of laundry and hoping the Boo will be all better soon. Kind of gray inside, too. So I put on some music. Nothing lights up my day more than music, no sirree. Have decided I want to leave this world in the rapture of soundtracks, ET, Out of Africa, Somewhere in Time. Sweet.

If all else fails, throw money at it.

Nasty popup browser seems to have expired. I bought an adware spyware blocker. I have papers to write! I cannot spare the time it takes to zap those annoying windows every 2 minutes! Research! Online games! Okay. That worked. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, after spending all Wednesday afternoon scooting around the art classroom floor, banging and pulling and stapling my self-stretched canvasses together, I got to prime them today with gesso. I really love gesso. I thought my 30x30 canvas was kind of flabby, but after slapping on this goo, it is drum tight. How sweet is that! Biggest challenge was all the free-floating Boo hair that had to be plucked from the canvas' surface, over and over again. Well, maybe what I missed will come out in the sanding that comes before the next coat of gesso. I had this good feeling that I really am an artist, standing there swiping away. There was a sense of pride that I actually put this thing together, and it actually will support a painting. I think the first assignment, which even those of us in the ADVANCED category will be called upon to perform, is an abstract. I hope to make a big statement with color, if she lets us. Sometimes she restricts our palette, which is really irritating. Just try painting without white, or limited to the earth tones. I am sure there is something to know there. Right.

Joy in the morning...

Happiness is:
pancakes with cranberry preserves, sliced almonds and Cool Whip
fresh brewed Sumatra coffee
hair that does not need to be curled
jeans that are long enough (tall girls understand this one) and a little big even though they are my size
a parking place in the campus garage, even if it is all the way at the tippy top
Mr. Thompson's comparative mythology class, where he recited Genesis in the original Hebrew, complete with sound effects, hand gestures, and a lot of yelling
being able to mix and match the colors for my very own color wheel, most of them on the first try
running into a whole bunch of students I have known in previous classes
meeting a whole bunch of new friends in my new classes
abundant good health
salmon tacos with mango chutney (the special today in the Food Court)
homemade split pea soup and broccoli salad for dinner
a new episode of Gray's Anatomy
curling up with Boo and a mystery novel.

Life is good!

Mythological morass...

Happy to say I found my way here and now have bookmarked this site in my new browsers bookmark file. I am sure there is an easier way, but gee, I am too overloaded to learn anything new at the moment. Let me exposit on my comparative mythology class. Of course, I expected we would be looking at different cultures, and indeed we are. We will be reading the Popol Vu, for instance, the sacred text of the Mayans. But our first assignment is to read the myth of all myths, Genesis. Yeah, it meets the criteria of a myth: anonymously written, pertaining to a supernatural being, widely accepted culturally, and totally without factual support. So, we learned, are the gospels. Not written by Matthew, Luke, John and Paul at all. Those authors were assigned to the scrolls at the Council of Nicea. So, where is truth in all this bullshit? Certainly that stringy guy in his Salvation Army suit passing out New Testaments on the sidewalk by the college looked like he knew the truth, and was eager that we all know it, too. I think this is one of the very classes his literature is hoping to neutralize. And I think it is really important to exercise my mind, one of the reasons I schlepp off to school instead of laying around the little yellow house, thumbing through my new O magazine and throwing crumbs of my hotcakes to Boo. Actually, I got to do that, too, this morning, while sipping my freshly brewed Sumatra that I freshly ground first thing. Oh, it is all so confusing. And upsetting. I want to know what is really true. Guess Dan Brown might have been right. It appears anything goes, biblically speaking.

What a bother!

I seem to have picked up a hitchiker on my system. Lots of annoying windows opening in Microsoft Internet Explorer, which I have never used. Not popups, though. Popups are blocked. I have been in every file I can think of trying to fix this puppy. Finally gave up, decided my browser was infected, and downloaded another browser, which works, but did not keep my bookmarks, so I could not get to my blog. How annoying is that! Anyway, the new browser seems to be unperturbed by this pest, so I will have to find out the address of my dashboard, because I have never needed it before. Gee, I miss the good old days, you know, when dirt was new and one could interact with one's operating system and viruses were just a gleam in the evil geeks' eyes. Anyhoo, here is the scoop on school, which started yesterday. It is always a zoo the first few weeks until attrition sets in and the weak drop off the tree. Parking was a little dicey, because my classes on Mondays and Wednesdays don't start till noon. How sweet it is! Even so, I plan on going in early tomorrow, to do my assigned reading for art history before class, and get a parking place in the new garage. I love the sweet young thing teaching this class, and her syllabus promises that we will be able to critique and compare and identify art from the French Revolution to modern day. Sounds like a deal. Painting in the afternoon will begin with that most rewarding task of stretching our own canvasses. I did this last semester and it is a hoot, crawling around on the floor, looking for tools that get covered up by the sheet we use to keep charcoal from the morning drawing class off our jeans. Staple guns, hammers, pliers, all bamboozle me, but I am up for it, yes I am. I have all the tools, and the grit, and plan on assembling two of those suckers in the allotted time. And I have a friend in class from last semester, so we are all juiced up to have a roaring good time. Today's classes were comparative mythology, taught by a Robin Williams wannabe who actually knows all the languages he spouts, and principles of color, taught by a gal who actually may be older than I, which is refreshing to say the least. She is not very exciting or animated, but I bet she knows her stuff, and we will be doing all kinds of projects in class, sort of kindergarten for grownups, things like color wheels and grey scales, so if she is articulate enough to explain how to do them, it will all be good. We got out early, and I thought, oh joy, I can get home to watch my soap. Right. I spent a happy half hour trudging around the garage, looking for my car. One woman actually laughed at me. Oh, well, I must have needed the humility. If I can find my way back here, more later.

I surprise myself sometimes...

Last summer (and the summer before), I had a list of things to accomplish. It was essentially the same list, and it remained unaccomplished through the second summer. Don't know what that was about, but everything seemed unimportant when compared to long sleep-ins, Disney movies, detective novels and my Netflix queue. Then, all of a sudden, over winter break, a measly three week sojourn in the darkest days of the year, most of it got done. Don't know what that was about, either. Usually winter is a chance to semi-hybernate, eat things that are not good for me like See's candy and sugar cookies, and do all those other things listed above in abundance. After I assembled my little art table and stool, I needed a place to put them, which required mucking out the studio that had become piled with all the canvasses I had painted over the last two semesters, plus my drawings, bags of art stuff, portfolios, design projects, etc. All the paintings are now hanging on the wall of the studio, where they can be observed and I can make the decision to keep them, rework them, or paint over them. Hmmmm. I made a portfolio out of cardboard from the table carton with tape and wrapping ribbon to hold most of my drawings. I put hooks up on the walls to hang my bags. With the new table tucked into the corner under the window, it is a cozy and hospitable place to work. Then I got the four paintings framed. Because the rabbit was not deep enough (I thought it was 5/8 in., but actually it was 3/8 and the painting stuck out a little), I decided to secure them into place with duck tape. How easy is that? And if they come lose, well, there is always my trusty staple gun to hold the tape down. Life is good when you own duck tape and a staple gun. There are now four new paintings hanging here in my little office. The frames are just right, not too formal, not too casual, subtle but striking, too. It is so empowering to have created something of permanence, something that is worthy of displaying. I get to believe that I truly am an artist when I look at them, as I often do. Anyway, while mucking out the studio, I found the material for the kitchen curtains I was thinking of making last summer. So I hauled out the sewing machine, put up the ironing board, unearthed the sewing box, and had at it. Now I have sweet tie-backs over my table, and it looks like someone of substance and taste lives here. Did I mention that I also knitted 8 scarves over the break? Five were gifts, three I kept for me. Busy little bugger, that's me.

What a difference a day makes!

You know, I have worn my hair long for the last 10 years. That's because I wore it short short for 15 years before that. I do that, glom onto something and just hold on to it, forever. Well, I got tired of it. I have weinie hair, really soft and shiny, but really really fine. It kind of just hangs there. And when the wind blows, what a mess. It kept getting in my mouth, like when I was bent over my drawings in the figure drawing class. I hated that. Half the time I clamped it up behind my head or cinched it up in a ponytail just so I didn't have to curl it with my collection of curling irons. Curling it really doesn't work anyway. The slightest moisture and the curl just dies. So I went cruising on the Net yesterday looking for a new look for me. And printed out the picture, and took it to my favorite haircutting person, and voila! Brand new me! Well, not quite. Actually it is a new rendition of old, old me from 10 years ago. Whatever, it is like laying down a heavy package. Wash, blow dry and I'm out of here. Of course, that is all it will do. No more improvising with hair implements when it is sticking out funny. However, from my research, it is unlikely anyone would be surprised if it did stick out funny. Most of the 'dos I saw stuck out funny anyway. If I get tired of it, I will grow it out a little and wear a bob. It has been about 25 years since I had one of those.

Small triumph here...

I don't know if I mentioned it, but I ordered a little drafting table and stool from Dick Blick, and the damned thing arrived yesterday. This was a little soon. I had planned on getting the studio all cleaned out first, and of course, I took the holiday as a day to loll about doing nothing particularly exemplary (saw dynamite film, Juno, loved it), and yesterday seemed to be an extension of that holiday, just getting settled back into routine, and lo, is that the doorbell? And is that FedEx with two humungous boxes? Of course, first I put my paintings into the frames. I was dying to see how they would look all dressed up. And that is how they look, like my paintings kind of gussied up. The frames are exactly what I wanted, now just need to figure out how to get paintings semi-permanently situtated within, and get them wired for hanging. Anyway, after breakfast and a couple stiff cups of coffee, I decided to tackle the assembly of my new furniture. Have I mentioned how handicapped I am, mechanically speaking? Nevertheless, I went about it with great elan, full of confidence. I can read a diagram. I can use an Allen wrench (kind of backwards at first, it works best if you put the short arm of the L into the screw, wish I'd know that a lot sooner). I put the stool together first, and did a bang up job, if I do say so myself. Then the table. It is adjustable, so it was a little trickier. One screw just refused to embed itself into the end of this dowel, that I had to hold while trying to get that sucker to go in. I wound up leaving it sticking out just a little, and it can't be too important anyway because the thing is all together now, and really super. Except I wound up with spare parts, two washers. I thought, how thoughtful of them to include extras for people like me who lose things so easily. Except then I noticed they really do belong in the assembly. So I am steeling myself for another tussle with the Allen wrench to put them in. I think they are actually important. Did I mention I own an electric screwdriver? And the bit for Allen bolts was too small for the ones in my table kit? What can I say. It's a guy thing, this fascination with drill bits. One needs to have a lot of them, I guess. This is frustrating, but also a good lesson. Look carefully at the diagram before screwing.

Let the fun begin!

School, finals, holidays are all history now, and today is (jumping up and down) my sobriety birthdate. Yep. Eighteen years now. My, how the time doth fly. And most of the time, I feel about that old, emotionally, at least. I also have gained some wisdom, none of it by myself. Nothing I know is particularly new, though some little metaphors I coined in my tiny little mind, but the concepts are as old as our race. Like be kind because I feel better about myself when I am, so I have let go of needing to be right. Most of the time. And today is the only really important moment. Yes, I am all excited about the frames I ordered for my paintings, and the table and stool for the studio, which up till now has been a cluttered mess and will now get organized into a workable space. They will not come today, however. Today I will lunch with a dear woman and receive my first birthday chip at the noon meeting. It is a funny moment, that, knowing that all I did was stay out of HP's way and not drink, one day at a time. It is still good to celebrate that admittedly small achievement, knowing that there are thousands who cannot do that. I was saying to a sponsee how wonderful it would be to be able to just give sobriety to those I think need it. And she replied "It wouldn't be very valuable if we could." So true. So, into the day to see what gifts there are in it.

Old is the new fresh...

I am feeling my age. First, I had a mental breakdown during my math final. Most of what I thought I knew, suddenly I didn't. So, to forget how ashamed I was of myself (I should have studied, didn't, just couldn't face it anymore), I went to the movies, where I saw the new National Treasure, because I knew it would be inaninity squared, and I didn't want anything that made me think too much. It sufficed quite adequately. When I got up to leave, I think I creaked. Two hours and I was in total body lock. Sigh. So I guess old has arrived, and I need a new word to describe the reality of my existence. "Young" doesn't cut it anymore. So I decided on "fresh", as opposed to "stale", which is what happened to my mother. She is the personification of one of my favorite bumper-sticker wisdoms - if you can't be a good example, you'll have to be a horrible warning. There is nothing that can excite her, she has done and seen everything, ho-hum. Whereas I go out the front door and get all excited because the camelias are blooming, again. I am blown away by a blue bowl of tangerines, which I hope to paint a portrait of today. I love my new book of Egon Schiele's work that my daughter gave me for Christmas (we do that early in our family, don't ask), and it will give me pleasure for years to come. It is like that menu item in my "view" dialogue box, "refresh". I want to keep my mind always refreshed by wonder. Beginner's mind, you know. That's the place to hang out.

Just one more thing to take care of (sigh)...

As if it wasn't bad enough that this is finals week, horrendous cummulative math final, enormous drawing project final, icky-picky trompe l'oiel painting project final, and, okay, not so big sociology final, not to mention Christmas, which comes early in my family, the Saturday before, and my house looks like downtown Bagdhad, yesterday, my kitchen sink backed up, again. I have an first-name basis relationship with a plumber because of the pipes in the little yellow house. While the bathroom backing up is horrible, and mega-expensive, at least that does not accrue to me, as it is usually roots in the main line, and those belong to my landlord. But the kitchen is another story. The kitchen backs up when I have the audacity to use the garbage disposal. That clog has me written all over it. Of course, I hit Safeway for their drain cleaner special of the week first, even though I knew it probably wouldn't work, and the plumber would stare at me incredulously when I told him I did it. Like dude, do I look stupid? It's like this: $6.99 or $147.00. Duh. This time, not only did it not work, but before I did it, it was draining, very slooooooowly, but draining. And after, nada. It was Sunday, so I bought a bigger bottle of some different stuff and tried again. And again. When I went to bed last night, there was all this foamy stuff just sitting there in the sink, looking back at me (I always try running the garbage disposal, too, like hey, it could work, and that makes all this pretty foam). Before hitting the sack, I looked up my plumber's phone number, so, even as I speak, the phone book is sitting here, open to the finger-walking pages. But, lo! The Christmas Miracle Fairy visited me in the night, and my drain is clear and gurgling merrily! Ah, the things I must be grateful for these days. Makes me want to shop with that $147.00 I just saved.

Fast away the old semester passes...

Tomorrow is last day of regular classes. Except they are not regular. No homework. Math is a dead week, and attendance is discretionary. Not so for me. I need all the help I can get, so I will be there, as bright and bushytailed as I can get. Painting, well, my final one is pretty done. Actually, I think it is overdone, and doesn't need any more picking over. The homework project needs some fine tuning, but is almost there, too. Drawing, that's another story. I turned in my portfolio today, but the final project isn't even started yet. Thank the powers that be, it is not due till next Wednesday morning, at the godawful hour of 7 AM. I forgot that 9 AM classes have that problem. Sigh. Really, only one horror to get through, and that is next Thursday, also at 7 AM, the math final. Well, it is all doable, and will soon be over. I intend to just lay around for several days, drinking oolong tea (which I hear speeds up the metabolism something nifty) and watching reruns of ER and Without a Trace. After I sell back my books and my calculator, which I hope to never see again. Adieu, simplex program! So long, sinking fund equations! Freedom, thy name is winter break.

Ah, youth!

I just got some CDs made for me by an old lover who shared my generation, and is a collector of old vinyl 45's, has been since our youth, and has a seemingly endless library of 50s music, not just rock and roll, also showtunes and that jazzy stuff, the folk music stuff, all of it. He loves to make me mixes , and I get all juicy when I listen to it, especially when I come upon a Johnny Mathis tune. God, I loved that guy. Still do, I guess. I am planning on obtaining a turntable that hooks into my computer just so I can record my vinyl, now residing in a box in the garage, on CDs and put them all on my iPod, too. My youth lives within me still. I listen to this music, and think I want to be in love, but wait! I am, with me and my life. I am the person I have been waiting to show up for me all my life. Good news. Wherever I go, there I am!

Sometimes I amaze myself...

Today was portfolio review in painting class. I had 13 paintings to discuss, and 2 more coming. My, how prolific am I! My final painting is almost done, too, a trompe l'oiel (fool the eye) of a collage of brightly colored shapes I cut out and stuck onto this piece of corrugated cardboard with push pins. The painting has all those details, the corrugation, the push pins, everything. It is pretty dynamite, if I do say so myself. I was kind of amazed. It only needs some fine tuning in the cast shadows, some edges that got a little blurry, and get all those pins the same size. I have to admit, it is soooooo much fun when I can actually do the assignment with some elan. I am waiting for the moment when I am comfortable saying that I am an artist. It is coming, for sure.

My, my, my...

The Catholic Church has its panties all in a wad, again. Remember the flap about the DaVinci Code? And Harry Potter, so dark and evil? Well, now it is The Golden Compass, which I understand is very anti-Christianity in its orientation, and aimed at children, tsk, tsk, tsk. How paranoid are there fat old men, all swathed in their golden vestments, surrounded by the utmost of luxury and pomp, making pronouncements of what it good or evil? Personally, I feel they are so removed from reality that anything they say is not even credible. Let them go live in a Sao Paulo slum for a while and find out why birth control is such a good idea. Let them live in a violent domestic environment and come out proclaiming divorce evil. The Dark Ages live among us, still. With their dark little minds. It's ENTERTAINMENT, guys. There is only a method if we are looking for one, which, now, thanks to you idiots, we are.

AAARRRGGGHHH!

My priority registration period just lapsed, and I was unable to get onto the website to register. No problem, you say? Do it by phone, you say? Well, that would be swell, except the printed catalog has not been issued, so I need to select the classes, where? Oh, online! Help! I am sure this will all be resolved, soon, but why is it such a hassle? Expecially now. I am 1) still recovering from my bout with a nasty virus, 2) in the throes of final projects and 3) a math test looms, and 4) Christmas is coming. I think I have been in this place before, but without the added terror of not being able to register promptly. Maybe there are other plans for me? Plans I have not formulated all by my little self? Whatever, please reveal them soon. I have very little hair left to tear out.

My head is bloodied but unbowed...

After totally surrendering to this nasty virus, burrowing in bed with a couple of cheesy detective novels, a cup of hot tea and a plethora of OTC drugs, I am about to set sail again into my sea of learning. I even managed to write that blasted paper, do the film response and begin a painting. Not finish a painting, sorry to say. Accepting my limits is not my forte, but I was not very steady on my feet yesterday. Let us hope everything works all right so I can get through today. As illnesses go, this one came at the right time. I got sick Thursday afternoon, my last day of school for the week, and had the whole weekend to convalesce. This is a very short week, just two days, as we have Wednesday off, too, so I will not have to stay the whole course. So, in a funny way, it was a blessing. I also got lots of rest, which I probably needed. And a couple of people got me as their good deed, never a bad thing. Okay, I am ready. Not going very fast, but still going.

Oh, crap...

You know how it is. You plan, God laughs. I am sick. Lousy head cold. Usually this is not a problem. I keep a handy supply of day and night cold tablets, so I rarely get all messy and stuffed up. Except I was out this time, and I bought another brand, and they didn't work. The good news is that I had just put in a new supply of genuine Kleenex, the really soft kind. The bad news is I used a whole box in the night, and didn't get much sleep because of it. So I threw my sweats on and ran out to Rite-Aid for the right stuff, as well as some nasal spray. It is not a good idea to try to deal with nasal spray on two hours of fitful sleep as well as a headful of cold medicine. Heck, it took two days before I could open the pump thingy on my new bottle of shampoo, and I was unmedicated then. I just hope the new ones work. I am absolutely miserable here. When I get well, I am going to be so grateful for my health. Really I am.

And the beat goes on...

Delightful four day weekend, almost over. Just one more little day, and then back to school. I will be toting two new paintings, both done all in one session each. Shoes again. First I had to search under the bed for the mate to my Dearfoams. I wear my Bear Paws mostly, so these slippers have fallen into disuse. They are, however, eminently paintable, as they are garnet red quilted velvet with fleecy white interiors, very Christmasy and Santa Clausy. After scraping off all the dog hair that accumulated on the one I drug out from under the bed, I set them up on my little corner table in the studio. At the last moment, I added my brass alarm clock, the kind that has the bells on top and a tiny hammer that dings them. It made a dynamite composition, and I am very proud of the outcome. Today, I followed another brainstorm. It rained. I dragged out my rain boots for the trip to the mail box. They are knock-offs of those really chichi ones in the L.L. Bean catalog, $15 at King's Sporting Goods in Guerneville, and really comfortable and waterproof to boot. I also noticed they were rather handsome, so they went up on the studio table next. I toned the canvas bright orange. Almost none of it is visible in the final painting, but it still has a wonderful warmth to it, and is probably the best so far, though I don't have the one of the athletic shoes to compare it with as it is still in the slot at school, drying. I am so stoked! I am able to just go slap, slap with my brush, and my idea just emerges right out of the canvas! This is what I have been working toward all along. Don't you just love epiphanies?

The most amazing thing happened today...

After this morning's math test (not too hard and I think I only missed 1/2 of one problem and one tiny little thing on another, but I could be wrong), I headed off to painting class. We had a critique and it was really good. Everyone has come along and the paintings were wonderful. Then we started on our next a la prima piece. I had toned my canvas black (first time I tried this) and scraped my image in with a dry brush, sort of a grisaille look, that was really neat, actually. I was painting a portrait of my Tommy Hilfiger athletic shoes. This is painting no. 3 in my shoe series. I had this idea in my mind, and for the very first time, I saw it emerge on the canvas! I finished in record time, and voila! My aim this semester (and last semester, come to think of it) has been to loosen up my work, find my muse, and produce fun and interesting, richly textured painterly pieces. And it is beginning to happen! And yesterday, my figure drawing teacher praised my work big time. We drew the head for the first time, and this is where I can really shine. I got a great image of the kid who modelled for us, and came away very excited. It seems that I have found myself, or at least part of myself, that I just never knew was there. What a trip this whirl around the blue ball has been!

If it's Wednesday, it must be sociology...

You know, I wake up in the morning with a fairly good idea of what will happen next. Boo will pad over, sit on my chest and sneeze in my face. I will get up, pee, brush my teeth then head for the kitchen to uncover Phoebe. There is a pumpkin pie in the fridge, and I will eat a slice for breakfast (hey, it has eggs in it after all). When all my preparations are done (food and water for the fur and feather people, back door open for easy exit when necessary, bookbag packed, little purse around my neck, keys in pocket, sunglasses on, Boo's treat ready to throw), I head out into the day. But wait, what is this? My parking permit that lives wrapped around my rearview mirror is not there. I vaguely remember it fell down when I used the sunvisor thingy on Saturday. Since I am sitting on the road about to enter the insanity that is our underpass these days, I could not take further action. And then, at school, I tossed the car. No sign of that sucker. I wound up buying a $3 day pass. Bummer. And then, expecting to draw in figure drawing, we were treated to 2 hours of lecture and slides, while sitting on a tall stool without a back to rest on, or a potty break. After lunch, I trudged over to sociology, only to find class had been cancelled. So I went home. Oh, and I found the parking permit, tucked down between the windshield and the dashboard, where I put it so it would be easy to find. So it is only an illusion that I know what is going to happen next. Life is an eternal mystery. Kind of disconcerting if I think about it too much.

Sunday stuff...

The whole world goes out to breakfast on Sunday. Jeez. My movie bud and I finally got together to see The Jane Austin Book Club today. The only time it was (still) playing was 10:40AM at the local Smart People's Movie Theater, so we decided that, instead of our usual dinner and a movie, to do breakfast and a movie. This was one of those moments when the idea was far superior to the reality, as there were lines of folks out the doors of the first three restaurants we tried, even IHOP. We wound up at the Flamingo Hotel, and it was a great meal, but they were chomping at the bit to get us out of there so they could set up a luncheon, at 9:30 AM! It must have been the time change thing. (Happy as I am to have my hour back, I feel no compulsion to be overly grateful as no one asked if they could take it away in the first place.) Anyhoo, we had a crowd of happy seniors in the theater with us, and what a great film! I am so happy that Jane Austin is in again. Timeless and wonder-full romance should never go out of fashion. I am so ready to pick up this new trilogy of books some enterprising Austin-wannabee has written from the view point of Mr. Darcy, whose first name, in case you wondered, is Fitzwilliam. I will carry this warm gooey feeling around for a while, I am sure. Oh, please. If they can remake Sleuth all stark and scary they can certainly lay a new Persuasion or Mansfield Park on us, right?

My favorite shoes are now immortalized...

I am working ahead in painting class, because I was done before most of the others. Not a big surprise; I work fast and am easily bored. So I began the series of ala prima (done all in one session) paintings. Our instructions were to use a 16x20 canvas and paint 1) a fish on a plate or 2) a hunk of fish on a plate or 3) a package of meat, unopened or 4) fruit spilling out of a paper bag or5) shoes. So I brought my Bass clogs, distressed brown shoes, all lumpy from toes twiddling in them for a number of years, set them on the hind end of a drawing horse, illumined them with my work light and painted a picture of them with my handy dandy palette knife. And it turned out pretty well, if I say so myself. I am not unhappy. That is saying a whole hell of a lot, indeed. In fact, I am thinking of doing a series of shoe paintings, as this is my second one so far, including other objects too, like a hat, or a flower, or a lemon. Whatever. That sounds like a good deal, actually. Fun fast and satisfying. How could it get any better than that?

How irritating...

Now, I just love school. And I tend to gravitate to other students who are older, like I. So, there are these two older gals (older than most of the other students, not older than I) in my painting class. One is this rather over-the-top woman, red spiky hairdo, tres chic outfits, kind of mouthy, and the other is this very sweet blond gal, petite and perky. And they have bonded tightly. Their common ground, besides the painting, is their husbands. Every other word is "my husband", to which the other responds "well, MY husband". Really, how very trite. Now, I do not have a husband. But even if I did, I hope that my conversations would not revolve around him. I would hope that I would have a LIFE. One of my very own, exclusive of the person sharing my bed. I am realizing that I find these women irritating. I do not pal around with them, as I think I have little in common with them, though the blond is smart and funny and would probably become a friend, if the redhead would get lost. And I realize that I am being pretty exclusive, myself. I wonder if I could drop the name of my last ex-husband, and join their club? Okay, probably not. More better I just get over myself, and just keep plugging away at my painting, on the other side of the studio.

I hate it when that happens, Vol. CCCDXXIV

I seem to have thoroughly trashed my right wrist. It hurt, a little, for a long time. I ignored it. Now it hurts, a lot. Lugging the 40 lb. bookbag, lifting the 50 lb. portfolio, grabbing textbooks and huge drawing tablets, all added to the damage. Now it hurts to adjust the fan in my car. So I got a nice brace for it ($11.99 at Raley's), and some ibuprofen. This is good. Already it feels better, now that I am not re-injuring it daily. And, some things are good about this. As much as it is a hassle, I am learning to use my left hand for a lot of things, like opening doors and carrying heavy stuff. I hear that is very good for the brain (we drew a gesture drawing with our opposite hand recently, and I could not tell it from the others I did that day). And instead of pushing myself up off the couch with my hands, I am using the old thigh muscles, and I am sure that they are getting nice and tight because of it. Mostly I just have to remember not to push with it too much. I even drive better, because abrupt movement is what sends searing pain around my wrist and down my hand. Never thought there would be a moment when I pined for an automatic transmission, but here it is. Not missing any school, or letting it interfere with drawing or painting, though. So how bad could it be, anyway. Nuisance, this getting old is.

Friday morning, coming down...

It is a rainy, gray day. Boo is laying on the rug kind of whining, because he wants to go outside. The back door is open, as always, but does he want to go there? Oh, nonono. He wants to go out front, where there is no fence to keep him from the road that those yahoos in pickups like to scream down. I am feeling kind of deflated today. I couldn't finish my math homework I turned in yesterday. I was not alone, most of the class was in that boat. But I still hate it when that happens. Thank HP we have moved on to a new discipline, sets. Very interesting ways of looking at groups of things, ie days of the week, students in a class, etc. Very esoteric. And I finished my painting in class, four fruits on a saturated colored backdrop. After the painting in a limited palette of earth tones, this was a feast. I painted four fruits, artistically arranged against a ground of violet (compliment of yellow) and backdrop of bright blue (compliment of orange), a lemon, a peach, an Anjou pear and a squatty green pear. All are much larger than life, and it turned out not too badly. I got lots of interesting ideas while working on it, and am now ready to move on. To onions, probably. I came home yesterday pretty wrung out, and now am resting. Well, I had to run to the store for milk for my pancakes, and am now about to embark for Costco for coffee, then laundry and cleaning and a meeting, and, well, I'll rest later. There is a big pot of split pea soup bubbling on the stove, perfect for this dreary day, and cornbread leftover in the fridge from my first-of-the-season pot of chili. Smells really yummy. Onward into the day, little soldier.

Want a little frosting on that cake?

In addition to my triumphs in sociology and math, the in-class critique of the latest two paintings went splendidly indeed. Everything the teacher pointed out was good and to my credit. Well, actually to her credit, because I have been following her directions. I am pretty much the only one doing that. With instructions to use definite props (black shoe, shoebox, two lemons and a potato), limited palette (earth tones only), and an 18x24 canvas, other students showed up with 10x14 blue paintings of peppers, onions, red apples, etc. What is that about? Well, I don't know how it served them, but I got an A, on every painting I have done so far. It pays to 1) show up and 2) follow directions. And I have learned a lot. Really.

A little retail therapy...

It has occurred to me that I may have only 20 little years left on our big blue ball, so waiting to have things is pretty, well, stupid. So, I replaced a couple of older things that were less than wonderful lately. First was my digital camera, poor little 3.2 megapixel thing that it is. The new one is 8 megapixels (!) and cost less than half of the first one. Ain't technology grand. It is also terribly tiny, soooooo cute, with a bigger viewing display, too. Thrilling. Then I got this $20 off coupon for a phone system that set me yearning. Mine was a funky AT&T model, with only one cordless extension, and the handset had a cord, which always made me feel tethered to my desk. The display was kind of murky, and it had an irritating ring (I didn't know that until I got the new, melifluous one). So, off to Costco on the first day the coupon was valid, and now I have four cordless phones sitting in the office, the studio, the kitchen counter where I can get it from the living room, and of course, the bedroom. They all have a well lighted display I can (almost) read without my glasses. This gizmo does some really nice stuff, like keep track of the last Caller IDs and I loaded a boatload of numbers into the head handset, and taught all the others my phonebook. I don't even need to look at the display, however, because the phone speaks to me, and tells me who is on the line! Very handy when I am in the bathtub, let me tell you. So no more fear that I will trip over the dog on my way to pick up a call from the Society toBeautify the Desert and spend what is left of this life in a neckbrace. It is pretty wonderful in the end. Ah, the good life, short though it may be.

Oh. My. God.

WARNING: I am about to brag. That is different, I know. Usually I gripe. Or moan. Or thrash about in my existential angst. But today, folks, is triumphant, indeed. I got an A on my math midterm! Who'd of thunk it? I assure you it was just a fluke. I didn't study all that much, just let it go and understood that if I didn't know it, I wasn't going to know it. This is the last math class I will ever take, thank the gods, and really, I am not all that invested in terrific grades as I will not be using the scholarship program next year. However, it never hurts to shine. And my spirit is buoyed considerably. I thought I was really stinking up the place this semester, kind of burnt out on academia. And then, WOW! So, if you see an old woman dancing around and acting tres heureuse, c'est moi!

Sociological me...

Last Wednesday was my first midterm in sociology. Have I mentioned that this is what I thought college was all about? I didn't find it in philosophy ( and couldn't tell you a thing about the subject now, either), or in psychology, which was all about brain parts and neurotransmitters, very little to question. But sociology is all about questions, about seeing the strange in the familiar, and taking it all apart to examine our norms, our values, our beliefs. Culture. Soooo interesting. And that is showing in my performance. Now, I have been kind of hanging my head, getting 14 of 15 on little papers, 17.5 of 20 on bigger ones. But today, I got my test back and I got 78 out of 80, the highest grade in the class! In fact, with 96%, I have the highest grade overall to date! Now, that's hot. This little mild-mannered professor is no pushover, for sure. I really have to put it together just the way she wants it, pay attention to every little thing. I am getting better at that all the time, as my paper got 20 out of 20 for the first time, because I read and followed the directions. So, even though I say I am not invested in grades this school year, it is really nice to know my efforts are being noticed. Very nice, indeed.

Midterm heebie jeebies...

Time for test, already. Good news is they will all be over by 10 AM Thursday, and then it is free-wheeling time again. Bad news is they happen bang, bang. Not much time between them, and tons of stuff to review. Luckily I am up to snuff. I hope. And then there is the painting critique Thursday afternoon. We had a homework assignment, kind of a doozie. Paint a still life of a shoe, two lemons, a shoebox, and a potato, ala prima (all in one session of three hours or less), using only earth tones (yellow ochre, burnt sienna, raw umber, black and white) on an 18x24 inch canvas, in palette knife. Well, it is done, and I like it. It makes me laugh. I will probably keep it, because there is so much paint on the canvas I will never be able to paint over it. While I like palette knife paintings, I need a whole lot more work with this medium before I get it to where I don't make a mega-mess. This definitely feels like college for kindergarteners. I think it would have been neater to do this with my fingers. And what a good girl am I! I followed the directions, did the work (early, too) and I should get a pat on the head, for sure.