A Quick Entry About Chicago

I'm beat; running from event to event.
It is late, so I'll get a run on down on the basics -
We had a lovely breakfast with MichaelGuy and BF at Ann Sather's.
Wicked was excellent; the end was a bit of a surprise for me. It was nice to see a theatre with some many children, and excited to be there.
We ate dinner at one of our favorite Thai restaraunts.
This evening's performance of "Turandot' was splendid. Sets by Mr. Hockney. No dissappointments therein, so we got to hear 2 splendid operas this weekend. The Lyric did a fine job.
Our host Bob came home today, so we got to say hello to him. He leaves for Australia for three weeks; his book has become quite popular, and he is on tour.
Tomorrow we fly home early. I need to do last week's paperwork.
I want to get caught up on what everyone else is up to. I am looking forward to a leisurely read of blogs tomororow evening.
See ya tomorrow. Sleep well all.

Chicago so far

Chicago is cool, rainy, and overcast - with just a hint of fall colour. I love it!
Having lived here over a decade, it still feels familiar.
After we took the Blue Line into town we got to Scott and Bob's high rise, and change for dinner.
We met with Doug at his Nature Museum. (I tend to think of it as 'his place"). I got to see the latest bugs, snakes and visit "Ralph" the Tarantuala to update my phobia desensitization (it was only mildely disturbing.)
Doug's spouse joined us and we four had a good dinner and talked of blogs, Costa Rica and the possibility going to Palm Springs to hike in November.
The Lyric did a sensational job with Iphigenie en Tauride. Susan Graham was splendid. The sets were abstract, done in prison cell. When the goddess Diana releases them the set lifted and revealed radiant light.
Only two complaints - the costume designer has seen The Matrix a few too many times.
The 'love scenes' between Oreste and Pylade was a disappointment. The lyrics are all about love and dying together/living for each other. As they sing this passion, the two fellows buddy slap and hug each other. Half the audience was thinking "Oh, just give him a kiss why don't you!"
Afterwards, a few drinks at Gentry.
Today is Saturday - the sun in shining and I hope to see some fall colour. Soon we have breakfast with Michael from Temporary Troublespots
Then - Wicked! and later, Turandot What a pair.
I hope all is well with you all in blog-land.

Fruit of My Labors

This is the one fruit of my labors this summer.
It is a “black” green pepper. It tastes the same as any bell pepper but it has a black skin. It is striking in a salad with orange pepper and tomato.
Can’t get that sort in a store.

I love growing vegetables, but I have more or less given it up; it is far too hot here to produce flowers and pollen. Container gardening hasn’t been a success as a single day missed from watering kills.
I have a few hot pepper plants growing so I may stick with them. (when in Rome…).

Still, when the seed catalogs start coming in December and January, let’s see if I succumb to purchasing all those lovely seeds that failed for the 2nd year in a row.

I am at the airport, waiting to board the flight to Chicago. Don King is on the flight.
Tonight we have dinner with Douglas and then to the opera...
Have a good Friday my dears.

How Does That Make You Feel?

It's another "How Does That Make You Feel? Thursday!

You are 10 years old in this one.
Your father, mother, siblings - even Granny - line up in front of you. They have an announcement. Father speaks -

“Bad news- we’re all out of our minds.

You’re going to have to be the lone healthy person in this family”.

“And how does that make you feel?”

Going to Chicago

We go to Chicago this weekend.
I lived in Chicago from 1988-2000. I attended the Lyric Opera of Chicago and heard some splendid productions over those years.When I moved to Michigan in 2000 to start a life with Someone, we kept up the subscription. Someone was new to the opera world. I appreciate his patience in trying them. Most of the time he seems to enjoy them as much as I. Only bone of contention is “Peter Grimes”. I can never hear it enough; Someone would sooner eat rats.
Anyway, we both bemoaned ‘not going anymore’ when we moved to Arizona. However some clever young opera queen at the subscriber office kept calling; we finally got the ‘out of town’ series.
So twice a year we fly in for two operas each. We also see friends and eat at favorite places. As is our wont, we stay with “Scott and Bob” – although lately they are out of town more often than not when we drop in. This defeats some of the goals for going to Chicago but we are grateful for the allowance of their fabulous high rise.
This weekend we hear 2 works; a "Iphigenie en Tauride" by Gluck, and “Turandot’ by Puccini. The first is new opera for me; the later I have not heard in a long while. I am looking forward to them as Lyric usually does a good job. After some of the Arizona Opera productions they should sound fantastic.
While in town we will brunch Michael Guy of Temporary Troublespots and partner.
We will also have dinner with Douglas of Gossamer Tapestry and his partner – no doubt to talk about Costa Rica.
While in Chicago we will FINALLY see “Wicked”! We waited too long here in Arizona and the tickets were sold out. :-(

I don’t know about you, but I ‘pay’ for going away on a 3 day weekend. Lots of work to do prior to departure.
I hope you all are well. I try to visit 40 or so blogs on a regular basis - for all the news and recent goings-on!

Dr. Bowtie

I wear bowties instead of the usual long ties.

This did not start as a fashion statement. Truth be told; I spill a lot. I go through very few lunches or dinners without spilling down my front. I got tired of ruining ties, so bowties were a way to dodge the matter. It was easier to launder a shirt than a tie. Later, I discovered old photographs of my grandfather (a photo of him is in the 4 June entry).

He wore bowties. So I felt a connection to him this way.

Over the years people began to expect them on me. When I worked in a state hospital, they helped the schizophrenic patients remember the ‘man with the bowtie is the doctor’. Even in the ER it came in handy. A patient is wheeled in, psychotic and mumbling. “Who is your doctor?” they ask the patient. “BOWTIE!” Easily identified what unit to put them on.

By now I have quite a collection and I can not imagine wearing any other neck wear.

The majority of men who wear bowties do so as the majority of men do not. It is fun to be ‘different’ that way. At the symphony or the opera, there is a silent nod of camaraderie when I see another fellow in a bowtie.

Of course, bowtie pasta is a stable food source here in the land of Spo.

And yes, I tie them myself. Don’t even mention the “C” word (clip-on)!

Espanol lessons

Someone and I want to learn Spanish.
Douglas from Gossamer Tapestry persuaded us to join his merry troupe of friends to a week’s holiday in Costa Rica next February. So we want to learn Spanish to have the ability to order in restaurants and get around the countryside.
I am learning Spanish somewhat out of a sense of etiquette. I feel a polite duty to try to learn the language of any country I visit. When I went to Germany in college, they were pleased I was trying to speak German (they responded in English as they wanted to practice their English as much as I wanted to show off mein Deutsch, but they were pleased nevertheless). I was not a ‘pushy American’ who was expecting them to know English.
I am also learning Spanish somewhat out of neurotic concerns of being lost in Costa Rica without means of communication.
Also, Douglas is the only one of us who speaks Spanish. I am not going to be at his linguistic mercy. I shall be able to catch him in wicked acts such as telling the waiter “that man there is paying for everything.”

I speak German and I know how to sign ASL (American Sign Language). I think if I was around Germans or the deaf I would recall enough of either language to communicate adequately. But that was years ago. I fear learning a language at 44 is going to be harder.
This weekend the good folks at Rosetta Stone sent us a CD packet of interactive lessons.
We’ll see how this goes. Someone set it up and is already learning about un nino and una nina and el perro etc.

Any one out there speak Spanish?
Is it easy to learn?
What languages can you speak?

Windex

--Just in time for the weekend--

WINDEX Cocktails

1 ½ ounces tequila
1 ½ ounces rum
1 ½ ounces vodka
1 ½ ounces gin
1 ½ ounces blue curacao
Sour Mix
7-UP
Pour liquor over ice in a Collins glass. Fill with sour mix and add a splash of 7UP.
Stir. Add a froo-froo umbrella or swizzle stick.

Enjoy.

A sample of my week's labors

I am glad it is the weekend.
Here are a few examples of what came to the clinic this week. Each one wanted me to help them somehow.

1) A 30 year old woman, mother of a 3, who moved to Arizona a few months ago when her spouse got a job. 1 week after they moved, he was killed in a hit and run.
2) An elderly woman, claiming she planned a massive overdose, only to lie on the floor for days while her spouse waited for her to die. When she showed signs of NOT dying, he called 911 out of fear he may be arrested. “We don’t communicate well”.
3) An 18yo lad, with a temper problem, who was jumped while on a vacation in Mexico. He thinks in the fracas he broke the assailant’s neck.
4) Another young man covered from head to toe in a blanket, stating he was shielding himself from telepathic beams from supernatural powers.
5) A young woman bitter that years of therapy haven’t helped her, never will. In the process she reveals she has an ongoing crystal meth problem. Did her previous counselors know? “Oh, I wouldn’t tell them that or anything personal”.
6) A woman wanting to tell her fiancée she actually lost her virginity in her teens to rape.
7) A woman at wit’s end; her demented agitated spouse is beginning to hurt her. She has no other kin or friends to help her. And she has cancer, likely to go before him.
8) A man on a leave of absence for depression; they laid off his team while he was away, so if he ‘goes back’ he will be terminated.
9) A man recently diagnosed with HIV; he doesn’t know how. He will be coming out sooner than he hoped and he isn't prepared this way.
10) A woman in chronic pain, but her medications make her fall; she broke her hip again, but doesn’t dare stop her pain medications. She wants to die.
11) A woman already feeling the pain of loneliness of Christmas. Her children haven’t spoken to her in years.
12) A woman whose spouse is again off to Iraq. Prior to his departure he announces he doesn't want to return to her.

A Bit of Blake

O for a voice like thunder, and a tongue
To drown the throat of war! – When the senses
Are shaken, and the soul is driven to madness
Who can stand? When the souls of the oppressed
Fight in the troubled air that rages, who can stand?
When the whirlwind of fury comes from the
Throne of God, when the frowns of His countenance
Drives the nations together, who can stand?
When Sin claps his broad wings over the battle,
And sails rejoicing in the flood of Death;
When souls are torn to everlasting fire,
And fiends of Hell rejoice upon the slain,

O who can stand? O who hath caused this?
O who can answer at the throne of God?

The Kings and Nobles of the Land have done it!
Hear it not, Heaven, Thy Ministers have done it!

How Does That Make You Feel?

It's time for "How Does That Make You Feel?" Thursday!

The Aliens are back and they are upset.
They are very annoyed as while snooping around blog land for IKEA samples they discovered “Word Verification”. It often spells out the more popular names given to their female newborn. So they are working on sabotage. Don’t be surprised to see in the future that in order to leave comments at your favorite blog sites you have to type in the name of Project Runway contestants.

Speaking of Project Runway, it is on at our house 24/7. It is Someone’s favorite show. I don’t watch it myself but I overhear it in bits and pieces.
What strikes a nerve is the line up of contestants - melodramatic music playing - the pompous one announces ‘you’re in’ or ‘you’re out”. This reminds me all too much of high school gym baseball, when teams lined up and took turns in picking out the players.
You can see where this is going; I was always the last to be picked, and several times they would barter “well we took him last time, so you have to take him this time”. Once I was put on the ‘blue team’ only to have another member say in icy tones “we don’t want you on our team”.

“You’re out.”

Someone assures me that this is not really the tone or case in Project Runway.

‘You’re Out” and “You’re in” on Project Runway - or in life:

How does that make you feel?

The Black Dog Nips a Bit

I can feel the SAD kicking in these days. Winston Churchill had depression, which he called “The Black Dog’. I am fortunate that mine is never that bad or long lasting. Mine is more like a black puppy. I call it ‘the fall melancholia’. There is a gray, dreary hopeless undertone in all I feel and do these days. No fun in that – or in much.

I am also fortunate that it never causes me to crawl into a ball or miss work. Nor does it ever ‘stick’. It goes away by mid October. Or so I hope. Every year I face the possibility ‘it will stay”.
In years past, I have used the preparation of Hallowe’en as a sort of 'manic defense' against SAD, but this year even this does not help. Thinking of a special holiday meal for Someone, or channeling Martha Stewart for fabulous new decorating ideas - none of these feel worthwhile to do this year.
This year is the first bout of SAD as a blogger. Blog-land seems to both an outlet and a bane when feeling down. When feeling down, I go to more and more blogs, and recheck more often for comments, and see what others are up to only hours after looking – far more activity than in past months. There is the sensation of falling down the rabbit hole.
There are some grumblings from Someone that I have disappeared.
So I should lay off some time ‘on line’ and do more exercise, yoga and get some sleep.

What entries appear in the next two weeks may look glum but this too shall pass.
It is also good to throw a pie in its face from time to time, so if there are more outrageous entries than expected here, worry not.

Bad Gnome

Mr. Gnome was christened “James Evelyn Hoffman”.

James, as he looks much like my friend and colleague James.

Hoffman is the last name of all the mechanical devices in the backyard, including the pool vacuum (I kid you not).

Evelyn is a run-on joke from “The Ritz”. (See the movie).

With that said, JEH has been confined to the backyard. He has gotten off on the wrong foot. I won’t go into sordid details but we caught him and Pan at poolside , doing something loud and disgraceful.
JEH blamed Pan.
Nearby was the empty bottle of valium.

So I set up JEH in a detox programme. He stands across the pool from Pan and they are told to behave and keep to themselves.

Being a displaced Canadian, JEH is not familiar with the Arizona sunshine, he is donning sunglasses (also to hide the blood-shot pupils).

Such scandal!
There goes our good neighborhood reputation……..

Try to Be Happy

There is a lot of unhappiness and sorrow around these days. Maybe it is ‘no more than usual’ , but with the media and the internet we know of everyone’s sorrow everywhere, and it gets too much for one person.
We (meaning Americans) are the some of the most well off people in history. Even our poverty is deemed luxurious by history standards and contemporary countries. We seem to have everything – but we are not happy. Driving to work today I sensed from the interactions on the road people were in a great rush to get to work/whereever but weren't joyful for going.

Mark Twain once met Helen Keller, and asked her if she was happy in her dark inner world.
“Yes, Mr. Clemens, I am very happy in my world” she signed back through the interpreter.
He responded “Helen, I want you to know, that out here in our world, happy people are as rare as white blackbirds in Hell”.

Despite everything try to be happy today. And grateful for what you have. It still rings true that a lot of our lives are as good as we choose to see it.

Rubber Bears

http://www.nobodyhere.com/toren.hier

Mindless; amusing; and humorous.

He's HERE !!!

The Gnome arrived!

(for those new to the land of Spo, see entry 8/24/06)

Apparently he was held up at the Canadian border, as his passport was suspect.

(It was over 100 years old)

Survey time! Where should he be placed?
A) Front Yard (for all to see)

B) Back Yard (out of sight)

C) Poolside (but see entry 8/28/06)

D) At the bottom of the pool (Someone does not find this option funny)

E) "Other" (you think of something)

Bonus Contest!!

Name the Gnome!

The winner gets a year supply of Valium.

How Does That Make You Feel?

It is How Does That Make You Feel? Thursday.
(well, it is Thursday on the East Coast) .
For the new folks visiting the Land of Spo, every Thursday I describe a vignette to see how that makes you feel.
Sometimes aliens get in on the act, but they are out of town this week.

This isn’t zany or funny, but it haunts me. I thought if I wrote it out I could exorcise it from my memory……

You are six years old
You are at the ice cream parlor.
Nearby is a young girl, in a very smart pink dress; she is dressed up for something. She just came from church or a wedding perhaps.
Her parents give her a chocolate ice cream cone. After 3 licks the ball of ice cream comes right off and runs down her dress.
Her initial expression of joy and pleasure turn first to shock then to sorrow and she starts to cry – but this is quickly cut off as a man (no doubt her father) runs up and starts shouting at her. In a loud voice for all nearby to hear he tells her she is stupid, a bad girl, and she’s ruined her dress and this will be the “last time” (for ice cream? An outing? A new dress?).
She then starts to really bawl.

I remember being very confused at this. She had an accident, so why was this man shouting at her so?
At 44 it makes me mad to recall it.

How does that make you feel?

Handbell Choir

I belong to a handbell choir.
In the past, this was a great deal of joy for me. I was a member of the St. Francis Handbells. There was a ratio of 50/50 men and women, with the men mainly doing the bass bells. I play C4 and D4 and their sharps/flats -just butch enough to be bass but not so hard on the wrists. (the lower bells are very large and take some effort to lift and swing).
It was a great thing. I like music, so it felt both a gift from God and to God.
Besides being more integral to the Mass, it provided a nice social network. The handbell members all got along, and we were fond of each other. We had some parties/socials. Our choir mistress, Ginny, was very loving, patient and extremely good at directing.
The highlights were the annual ringing of Midnight Mass at Christmas time, and the Easter Vigil. They were splendid.

I now belong to a bell choir in Arizona. In comparison, it is a disappointment. I am the only man in a group of 14. I’ve crashed an all women’s group, and they are not sure what to do with me/around me. During excitement, the director still shouts out "Ladies! Ladies! Pay attention!". Our director is sweet but not very good at conducting. The members are rather lax in showing up/being on time. It is overall 'less well run’ and we don’t sound good. I have to remind myself I am not the director and I don’t run things here. I miss playing more complicated pieces. I thought of quitting after a year, but figured that was premature.
It took a few years to get into the St. Francis group, so I will give this group more time.

Random Thoughts V

I think that I fulfill the original intent of blogging more in these types of entries, to wit, writing spontaneous thoughts for (primarily) myself.

The seasonal affective disorder I mentioned on 1 September is beginning to creep in.
The cat’s death was at a bad time (if there is any ‘good’ time for a pet to die). I feel the same symptoms back up and running; loss of joy, sadness, hopelessness, sleeping more and caring less. On a 1-5 scale (1=mild, 5=worse) it feels a 3, so it could be worse. Like having a bad case of flu, I have to ride this out for some weeks while it lifts/mends.

One of the choir members remembered me on her travels this year. She went to Avila Spain. She recalled my fondness for St. Teresa. She brought back to me a prayer card and a medal. I was very pleased by this surprise gift. I admire St. Teresa in a lot of ways, mostly as she was a woman who did not take ‘no’ for answer and kicked butt. She shook things up all while suffering the worst migraines, illnesses, and self doubt (let alone persecution).
Now she is a Doctor of the Church. I always admire a Warrior, especially in a Woman.

I’ve had more people drop on by my blog. In my 'wanderings' I see my blog listed in others I did not know were there. This delights me that somebody would find it and me interesting. More intriguing is the variety of folks; besides ‘the guys’ I have some mothers and housewives. People from Europe and New Zeeland have found me. This makes a sort of “Communion of Blogs”. I still feel honored to be part of it all.

It is finally getting cooler and darker in Arizona. I look forward to having open windows and air the place out.

Someone is very clever and got our tickets for all 3 upcoming plane trips (Chicago, Michigan, and Costa Rica) using frequent flyer miles; so our budget is in the black for the year.

I am rereading “The Old Curiosity Shop” by Charles Dickens. Some people think it is not ‘essential Dickens’ but I think you can not know Dickens without it. The characters – and deaths – of Little Nell and Daniel Quilp are remarkable pieces of writing.

That’s all for now.

Hedgehog News

I have a fondness for the hedgehog.
When I was a boy, these little fellows evoked smiles and comfort. They continue to do so. I suppose I like their ability to crawl into a ball and sleep. They were my ‘totem’ animal for many decades. (now of course, being middle aged and fuzzy/whiskered it is the bear). Somewhere in the house I have a pile of stuffed animal hedgepigs; gifts given over the years in the vein of“I know you like them so I got you one….”

Recently Brother #3 reminded me of this all by sending me an article.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060901/ap_on_sc/britain_mcdonald_s_hedgehogs

I found it both comforting and somewhat absurd.
I hope it brings you laugh or a smile.

Ur-Spo AKA "Spiny Norman" AKA just plain Michael

I am the Countess, coo coo ca choo

Of course you have seen the movie“The Women”. How many times?
Today’s entry is inspired by an embarrassing vignette that occurred last year over this movie. I was talking on the phone with my brother in Michigan……

”Oh,” he interjects “we finally saw that movie you are always talking about. You know, the one with only women in it." "Oh, the Women! Did you like it?” I asked.
“It was funny, and there was one of them that reminded us a great deal of you in fact”

(Heart skips a beat)
“Which one?”

He then calls out to my sister in law to ask for the name of the woman ‘like me’. Meanwhile, my mind races. Which of them do I resemble? Mary? Miriam? Given my line of work, maybe the Mother?
In the background the sister in law shouts ”it was the Countess!”.

THE COUNTESS?

“Well,” he explains, “just about every line she said we’ve heard from you, and when she said them, we said, that sounds like Mike!”

Well!

But he is right, I can quote this movie word for word, line for line. And I do quote Countess the most. So he had me.

Which of the characters of the Women best captures you?

Thank you

I want to thank everyone in Blog-land who wrote comments, sent emails, and telephoned with condolences and support.
Bloggers whom I have never spoke with or met offered to do things, gave out telephone numbers etc.
But mostly they were with me.
A paradox! At a time when I felt alone I was surrounded by others.
Good Mr. Sondheim in "Into the Woods" hit the nail on the head with "No One is Alone".
We can not escape grief but we have each other. And that makes all the difference.
What a fantastic thing is this blogging! Who would have thought that after six months I would have such a marvelous group with whom I can share joys, jokes, and sorrows.
I am so glad to be 'one of us'.
Back to the usual nonsense tomorrow. Time to get out the black bombazine......

My Cat Has Died

This entry is painful.
My cat Tiberius died this morning.
The past month has seen a lot of pet woes; new onset soiling/urinating on the furniture and rugs along with a subtle change in behaviors. The vet advised we put him in the laundry room at night time, and this seemed to curtail night time 'accidents'. But I felt bad to hear him howling therein every night.
This morning when I went to let him out I knew it was bad - he was lethargic, pupils dilated, floppy, and not responsive. We raced to an ER, where CPR was applied.
But it was too late.
He was 15-16 year old. I remember getting him as a kitten; I opened the car door at the farm of my friend's, where a set of kittens were. I said to the litter 'who wants to live with me?" and this one hopped in. He has been my companion for 15 year, through joys and sorrows of the 90s. He moved with me from Illinois to Michigan to Arizona. I was pleased to see that he bonded with Someone when we two set up a home together.
And now Tiberius is gone.

I have never felt such pain and sorry and ache as I do today. The last time I felt this much loss and grief was when my grandfather died. This is the first loss of pet that I personally got and owned.
I have heard many single people tell me their pet's death was like losing a child. I can appreciate that more now.
I also feel some guilt and 'what ifs' - what if I had caught this sooner; what if I had not put him in the laundry room at all ; what if I had let him out earlier that morning when I heard him howling.... I longed for an end to the endless piles of poop. And now I got that wish.

I feel so awful. I feel so sad.
And I feel so alone.

How Does That Make You Feel?

It is "How Does That Make You Feel?" Thursday.

You are a counselor.
You are doing your weekly appointment with “Rob”. In his attempts to find love, Rob has a nightly pick up, and these never go well or last. So his appointments are usually about the latest date - and complaints why he can’t find anyone of quality.
As you listen you realize that the latest pick up may be “Sam”, the person you are presently dating! Through neutral questions (“tell me his name, what was he like, what does he do?”) Rob confirms it was Sam! Rob is hopeful, as Sam told him he is free/not dating and would be interest in seeing Rob again.
Since you are bound by patient confidentiality you can’t tell Rob or go home and confront Sam.
Next week, Rob has moved onto a new person and Sam is forgotten – at least by Rob!

It is rather awkward in supervision that week, presenting your case to the professor.

How does that make you feel?

P.S. this too is a true story.

Curious Things Around the House #3

This is a the start of a palm tree.
Doug at Gossemer Tapestry has a partner, whom I refer as the Wild One.
Mr. Wild One gave me this little palm tree when he and Douglas were hiking Palm Springs last year.
It is one of the few green things that is successfully growing in my backyard. It used to be six inches tall. As you can see it is doing nicely. I repotted it. I hope it ‘takes off”.
So thank you Wild One, I think of you every time I see and water it. I hope that some day he can visit and see it himself.

Mentall Illness in your Appliances

Mr. Spider at A Spider's Web got me thinking about whether or not a person’s personality can be illustrated by the type of dessert they eat. Since I usually don’t eat dessert, that would make me with ‘zero personality’ which I don’t relish as the truth. Hope not!

But perhaps it is not desserts but one’s favorite appliance that is the real personality test.

So, here it is;
Choose your ‘appliance’.
I gave the answers ahead of time, so you can get to work on your issues ASAP.

1) The TV – indicates paranoia.
“Gee everyone is watching me”

2) The lamp – manic depressive
“I shine brightly, then I just shut down and off”

3) The calculator – delusional disorder.
“Hey, I’m just as good a computer!”

4) The cell phone – schizophrenia
“I am receiving messages from out side and I hear voices in my head”

5) The washing machine – Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
“I keep washing the same things, over and over again, and they won’t stay clean”

6) The vacuum cleaner – depression
“Gee, life sucks, and so do I”

And finally

7) The bread machine – co-dependency issues
“I am so kneedy”

Can You Do This ???

This is a yoga pose called gomukhasana.

My fingers don't even touch each other, let alone the hands grasp.

It is somewhat frustrating.
So, I am curious; can you grasp your hands behind your back?

I want to know if I am the exception to the norm.

Impromptu on Sunday Night

This is written without forethought, without a topic in mind, without the predetermined notion of "what do others want to hear?"
If most bloggers write like this, I am in the minority. I think carefully ahead of time what I am doing, what photos to use, and whether anyone would find it interesting. This a worry, as I didn't start like that. Back in February, I wrote for myself. Over time I seem to have evolved toward 'writing for others'. I think this is an overall bad thing. Time to get back to the notion of writing for myself and if anyone finds it interesting that's fine. I suppose it is partially driven out of anxiety that if I am 'just me' no one would find it very interesting.

It has been a very quiet day. We both fell asleep early last night apparently exhausted from week. We were good boys and went to the gym today. I am out of shape. I am also not satisfied with my body; my arms and legs are too skinny. Only way to remedy this is to get to the gym on a regular basis.

I did the bills and budgets. Despite shelling out thousands of dollars for insurance I have some money left over. We are trying to book 3 vacations - an October trek to Chicago (opera), November to Michigan (brother's wedding), and February to Costa Rica (annual holiday). So funds will quickly be depleted.

I don't have any plans for September. I look forward to Arizona dropping below 100 degrees.
I look forward to reading blogs - lately I've had the honor of some new folks dropping by, so I want to see their work.

Tonight, I hope to play the piano, and perhaps pounce on Someone. Perhaps we'll see the new version of "The Wicker Man". Anyone see it/recommend it? (the movie, not the pounce).

That's all the ramblings. Let's see what being spontaneous does......

Random Thought IV

The weekend is here and none too soon.
One would think that being away on a week's vacation I would come back bright eyed and energetic. I don’t know about you, but I ‘pay’ for being away. Medicine never sleeps; even with a covering MD I came back to a pile of messages, matters and things to do. The week was even more strained as I forgot to make time in the schedule to take Someone for his colonoscopy.
The irony of that day was we were made to wait 1.5 hours for the arrival of the doctor. I pride myself on being ON TIME nearly 100% of the time (it the German in me I suppose). So I had a clinic full of angry people who had to wait for me. Between catch up and paperwork I didn’t eat well/get enough sleep and didn’t do my stretches. Physician, heal thyself.
Which is precisely what I want to do this Labor Day weekend - nothing.
I have no plans, outings, parties or BBQs. Apart from going to the grocery store and getting the oil changed I plan to sit home and grow moldy. I hope to hit the zafu a few times. I have 3 Netflix movies, not seen in 2 weeks.

So I hope you all have a fun filled exciting holiday. I’ll wave you on your journeys while sitting in the hot tub.

September Shirt

It is September.
I made this shirt in honor of my love for tomatoes; I love to grow all vegetables but tomatoes are my favorite. Usually at this time of year I am harvesting plenty. When I lived in the Midwest, one year I harvested over 300 heirloom tomatoes – green, yellow, orange, red and purple. I miss growing tomatoes.

The Tarot Card for the month of September – Queen of Swords.
This card usually means trying to hold onto and deal with sorrowful thoughts or events – an apt card, as I usually develop depression in September.
I have a variety of seasonal affective disorder. Seasonal Affective disorder or (“SAD”) is a sort of depression that usually hits in the winter months – people get sluggish, tired, down, eat/sleep more and feel badly for the lack of light. However SAD can be any time; mine hits about now. Some years it is mild, some years it is severe – what keeps me going is the experience it lifts by late October.
Last year I didn’t seem to get much SAD, maybe because I am in Arizona and there are no ‘cues’ of the usual fall colours, smells, and U of Michigan football games a mile away (I used to live down the street from the Stadium in Ann Arbor). I am curious to see if I have ‘licked’ this by moving to Arizona. Treating SAD was my bread and butter in Michigan – I don’t see any here in the Arizona winter. Does anyone out there get SAD?
The irony - I love the autumn! -- the colours, the smells, trips to cider mills, the anticipation of Hallowe’en. This year I want to go with Someone to see fall colours. I even have certain CDs and music associated with the fall; they are played at this time of year like Christmas records are played in December.

I envy Steve at Devious Steve O , Lemuel at The Greedy Maelstrom, and Hanuman at Chai and Sympathy . They have New England autumns to see. How lovely for them!