- The night sky in Fall/Winter. It's so brilliant and beautiful and much nicer than summer.
- Seeing Orion reflected in Lake Winnebago.
- Watching the full moon come up over Lake W. while eating a Snickers Blizzard.
- The smell of books, particularly old ones.
- Getting published online for the first time.
- Buying a new diary.
- Office supply stores.
- Lingerie shopping - come on, who doesn't like a pretty new bra or pajamas?
- Art exhibits.
- Ripe watermelon.
- A big, green, leafy salad with homemade vinaigrette.
- Deep-fried dandelion heads. Mmmm-mmmm!
- A glass of Lambrusco (very sweet and just ever-so-slightly fizzy. I love the color, too. I want a dress or lipstick that color).
- Laughing so hard your gut aches all night.
- Sopping up curry or masala sauce with fresh, hot naan and washing it all down with a Mango Lassi. Even better than dandelion heads.
- Wrapping presents.
- The Nissan Altima (that's one hell of a fun car to drive).
- Icy-cold Lemonade.
- A big bouquet of blue iris, daffodils and white carnations or roses (especially during the winter).
- Crickets chirping.
- Maru the Cat (I want to hug him and hug him and hug him).
- Ella Fitzgerald ringtones.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Progress?
Just one more day of heat to endure before it cools off. Thank goodness. It's been a miserable 6 weeks around here and has really screwed with all my grand plans.
Another bonus? For the longest time I have wanted to join the Shrink Yourself online program. It was started by a therapist named Roger Gould, who has done a great deal with people who eat emotionally. A few years back he wrote a book with the same name, which I bought, but I'd never gotten around to doing the online thing. This morning I joined up. It's a 12-week program and people have raved about how good it is. I'm hoping to shed some slop and poundage and maybe learn to deal with my fears a bit better. One amazing thing I learned this morning is this: When you're trying to lose weight, overdoing it on treats is not a simple indulgence. It's nothing more than throwing an obstacle in your own way. Simple, I know, but I'm kind of embarrassed to say that I'd never thought of it that way before. Here, I thought I was simply indulging. I think this little piece of information is going to have a big impact on my attitude towards food/eating.
What else? I got an opportunity to do a guest post on an amazing blog called Met Another Frog. This blog deals with relationships, dating, nookie and the like. I was a little anxious because this month's theme is non-vanilla sex and I am not a femme fatale. I managed to write something that was quite well-received and I had fun doing it. It was a fantastic opportunity and made me realize all over again, just how much I enjoy writing. It makes me want to write novel after novel (and hopefully end up with a JK Rowling-esque checking account). I've already got some pretty good ideas festering in my noodle. If you want to check out my guest post, go to metanotherfrog.com and take a gander at the article from August 2nd. It's mine.
Yesterday morning, I got online to Ticketmaster in Milwaukee and ordered myself a ticket to see the writer/actor/humorist Garrison Keillor at the Fox Cities P.A.C. on September 20th. Those of you who aren't familiar with this guy need to go to prairiehome.publicradio.org and click on Archives and look for the box that says The News From Lake Wobegon. Subscribe to the free podcasts. You won't be sorry. Garrison Keillor talks about his fictional hometown of Lake Wobegon, Minnesota. The monologues are wonderful. Some are touching, some a little sad, but most are riotously funny, and Keillor has the most soothing speaking voice. Whenever I was really sick as a kid, I'd put on his tapes and they'd lull me to sleep. As a grown-up (that's debatable), whenever I feel crappy physically or sick-at-heart or scared, I still put on his CDs and fall asleep to them. They never fail to comfort me. Keillor has also written quite a number of books. If reading is more your speed, hie thee to the local library and check out such novels as Lake Wobegon Days, Wobegon Boy, Pontoon: A Novel of Lake Wobegon(my favorite), Life Among the Lutherans, Lake Wobegon Summer 1956, and a plethora of others. You won't regret that, either. Having lived in a tiny farm community in rural Minnesota for 3 years, this stuff is right up my alley.
Since the car is still in disrepair my next plan is to hop the city bus and learn the various routes. I'm tired of never going anywhere. The first cool day we have, I'm hopping the bus to Oshkosh and going to the Paine Art Center to check out the current exhibition and drink in the majesty of the gardens.
I swear, I get out and do more things in Fall and Winter than I do in the summer. -50F? No problem! 85F? Big problem. I would make a terrible bear. I'd be the only one hibernating from June-September.
So, hopefully my schemes will be back on track soon. I'm really stoked about this whole Shrink Yourself program. If I can get my emotional eating under control I think I'll be sitting pretty (in smaller jeans) before long.
Another bonus? For the longest time I have wanted to join the Shrink Yourself online program. It was started by a therapist named Roger Gould, who has done a great deal with people who eat emotionally. A few years back he wrote a book with the same name, which I bought, but I'd never gotten around to doing the online thing. This morning I joined up. It's a 12-week program and people have raved about how good it is. I'm hoping to shed some slop and poundage and maybe learn to deal with my fears a bit better. One amazing thing I learned this morning is this: When you're trying to lose weight, overdoing it on treats is not a simple indulgence. It's nothing more than throwing an obstacle in your own way. Simple, I know, but I'm kind of embarrassed to say that I'd never thought of it that way before. Here, I thought I was simply indulging. I think this little piece of information is going to have a big impact on my attitude towards food/eating.
What else? I got an opportunity to do a guest post on an amazing blog called Met Another Frog. This blog deals with relationships, dating, nookie and the like. I was a little anxious because this month's theme is non-vanilla sex and I am not a femme fatale. I managed to write something that was quite well-received and I had fun doing it. It was a fantastic opportunity and made me realize all over again, just how much I enjoy writing. It makes me want to write novel after novel (and hopefully end up with a JK Rowling-esque checking account). I've already got some pretty good ideas festering in my noodle. If you want to check out my guest post, go to metanotherfrog.com and take a gander at the article from August 2nd. It's mine.
Yesterday morning, I got online to Ticketmaster in Milwaukee and ordered myself a ticket to see the writer/actor/humorist Garrison Keillor at the Fox Cities P.A.C. on September 20th. Those of you who aren't familiar with this guy need to go to prairiehome.publicradio.org and click on Archives and look for the box that says The News From Lake Wobegon. Subscribe to the free podcasts. You won't be sorry. Garrison Keillor talks about his fictional hometown of Lake Wobegon, Minnesota. The monologues are wonderful. Some are touching, some a little sad, but most are riotously funny, and Keillor has the most soothing speaking voice. Whenever I was really sick as a kid, I'd put on his tapes and they'd lull me to sleep. As a grown-up (that's debatable), whenever I feel crappy physically or sick-at-heart or scared, I still put on his CDs and fall asleep to them. They never fail to comfort me. Keillor has also written quite a number of books. If reading is more your speed, hie thee to the local library and check out such novels as Lake Wobegon Days, Wobegon Boy, Pontoon: A Novel of Lake Wobegon(my favorite), Life Among the Lutherans, Lake Wobegon Summer 1956, and a plethora of others. You won't regret that, either. Having lived in a tiny farm community in rural Minnesota for 3 years, this stuff is right up my alley.
Since the car is still in disrepair my next plan is to hop the city bus and learn the various routes. I'm tired of never going anywhere. The first cool day we have, I'm hopping the bus to Oshkosh and going to the Paine Art Center to check out the current exhibition and drink in the majesty of the gardens.
I swear, I get out and do more things in Fall and Winter than I do in the summer. -50F? No problem! 85F? Big problem. I would make a terrible bear. I'd be the only one hibernating from June-September.
So, hopefully my schemes will be back on track soon. I'm really stoked about this whole Shrink Yourself program. If I can get my emotional eating under control I think I'll be sitting pretty (in smaller jeans) before long.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Cruisin' For a Bruisin'?
I have to say that I am non-plussed. But, it's a pretty safe bet that the people who claim that YOU are crazy, are actually pretty damn nutty themselves. And probably not in a good way.
My aunt died on July 23. It was and wasn't surprising. She'd had some pretty big heart issues for at least 25 years and then about a month ago she had a stroke. Not a big one but with strokes, you don't need to have a big one in order for things to go ass-over-teakettle.
I did not attend the funeral. Before you have me tarred and feathered as a cold bitch, let me say that the side of the family on which this death occurred, is not easy to deal with, but I'm not going to go into the whys and wherefores tonight. Suffice it to say, I prefer to give them a very wide berth. I do, however, have to see a couple of these relatives (an aunt and her daughter, my cousin "Violet") on a fairly regular basis and this is where the trouble starts.
"Violet" is anything but shrinking. She says what she wants, when she wants and to whom she wants. I think an angry, pitchfork-wielding mob would've gone after her long ago, with torches blazing, if it weren't for the fact that, deep down, I think Vi does mean well. It's just that damn big mouth of hers! If she'd nail it shut once in a while, mind her own damn business and get it through her head that her you-know-what does smell, she'd be o.k., and I wouldn't want to lobotomize her.
For some time Vi has been operating under the misapprehension that I am manic-depressive. I have no clue where she got this idea. Well, maybe I do a little. Her ex-husband struggles with Bi-Polar Disorder. He did not feel as though he needed treatment and it messed up their marriage. After the divorce and subsequent custody battle bullshit, she and their daughter went in for a spot of counseling, which is good. Things were somewhat acrimonious, particularly after the ex remarried, and it was good that Vi and her daughter got some things off their chests.
However, Vi seems to think that a few sessions on the couch means that she's a reincarnation of Freud and fit to analyze/diagnose the entire world, particularly me. She took it upon herself to hunt up shrinks and mental health resource information and has been after my mother to pass the info on to me. Mom, bless her heart, has refused point-blank on a number of occasions. I've known for a while that Vi has been questioning my mental hygiene (which is just fine, thank you very much) and for the most part, it amused me. But at Aunt B's funeral, it seems Vi really ran her mouth about me. She cornered my mother again, she accosted my brother and, since she was helping the other cousins with their mother's funeral, she brought it up to them.
A good friend of the family is a counselor. He has his Ph.D and has helped tons of people. In his hometown back east, he was the person other shrinks would call to talk people out of suicide. About 4 years ago, I was going through an unpleasant situation and was somewhat anxious about it and my ability to handle things properly. I talked to him a couple of times and we resolved the situation. Things have been good since then. It was as simple as that. Mom happened to tell D at Christmastime about Vi's opinions and D was angry. His words, verbatim, were "THERE IS NO WAY IN HELL LILY IS MANIC-DEPRESSIVE!" I just wish he could convince Vi.
I'm torn. In one way, I do appreciate her concern, erroneous though it is. It's nice to know that someone on that side of the family does give a damn. But I do not appreciate her presumption nor do I care for her big mouth and the way she sticks her nose in where it does not belong. I'm not sure if I should say something to her, ask her to cease and desist, or if I should just let it pass. I know I'm just fine. My family and friends and acquaintances know that I'm fine. Do I tell her to knock it off or just go about my business and let her be the one with pie on her face?
Honestly, I'm amazed that nobody else has torn her a new one yet. She's overstepped her bounds a number of times over the years and I've been the one to tell her off. The only other person who ever lambasted her was a former co-worker. I don't understand her. She does a lot for many people but at the same time, she's so freakin' difficult. She badmouths and gossips about the people she helps. She's not exactly grateful to the people who help her. The dichotomy between Angel of Mercy and Snotty Bitch really messes with my head. My brother claims she has an attitude of noblesse oblige.
Whether it's noblesse oblige or just a crappy attitude, I think a wider berth may be needed.
My aunt died on July 23. It was and wasn't surprising. She'd had some pretty big heart issues for at least 25 years and then about a month ago she had a stroke. Not a big one but with strokes, you don't need to have a big one in order for things to go ass-over-teakettle.
I did not attend the funeral. Before you have me tarred and feathered as a cold bitch, let me say that the side of the family on which this death occurred, is not easy to deal with, but I'm not going to go into the whys and wherefores tonight. Suffice it to say, I prefer to give them a very wide berth. I do, however, have to see a couple of these relatives (an aunt and her daughter, my cousin "Violet") on a fairly regular basis and this is where the trouble starts.
"Violet" is anything but shrinking. She says what she wants, when she wants and to whom she wants. I think an angry, pitchfork-wielding mob would've gone after her long ago, with torches blazing, if it weren't for the fact that, deep down, I think Vi does mean well. It's just that damn big mouth of hers! If she'd nail it shut once in a while, mind her own damn business and get it through her head that her you-know-what does smell, she'd be o.k., and I wouldn't want to lobotomize her.
For some time Vi has been operating under the misapprehension that I am manic-depressive. I have no clue where she got this idea. Well, maybe I do a little. Her ex-husband struggles with Bi-Polar Disorder. He did not feel as though he needed treatment and it messed up their marriage. After the divorce and subsequent custody battle bullshit, she and their daughter went in for a spot of counseling, which is good. Things were somewhat acrimonious, particularly after the ex remarried, and it was good that Vi and her daughter got some things off their chests.
However, Vi seems to think that a few sessions on the couch means that she's a reincarnation of Freud and fit to analyze/diagnose the entire world, particularly me. She took it upon herself to hunt up shrinks and mental health resource information and has been after my mother to pass the info on to me. Mom, bless her heart, has refused point-blank on a number of occasions. I've known for a while that Vi has been questioning my mental hygiene (which is just fine, thank you very much) and for the most part, it amused me. But at Aunt B's funeral, it seems Vi really ran her mouth about me. She cornered my mother again, she accosted my brother and, since she was helping the other cousins with their mother's funeral, she brought it up to them.
A good friend of the family is a counselor. He has his Ph.D and has helped tons of people. In his hometown back east, he was the person other shrinks would call to talk people out of suicide. About 4 years ago, I was going through an unpleasant situation and was somewhat anxious about it and my ability to handle things properly. I talked to him a couple of times and we resolved the situation. Things have been good since then. It was as simple as that. Mom happened to tell D at Christmastime about Vi's opinions and D was angry. His words, verbatim, were "THERE IS NO WAY IN HELL LILY IS MANIC-DEPRESSIVE!" I just wish he could convince Vi.
I'm torn. In one way, I do appreciate her concern, erroneous though it is. It's nice to know that someone on that side of the family does give a damn. But I do not appreciate her presumption nor do I care for her big mouth and the way she sticks her nose in where it does not belong. I'm not sure if I should say something to her, ask her to cease and desist, or if I should just let it pass. I know I'm just fine. My family and friends and acquaintances know that I'm fine. Do I tell her to knock it off or just go about my business and let her be the one with pie on her face?
Honestly, I'm amazed that nobody else has torn her a new one yet. She's overstepped her bounds a number of times over the years and I've been the one to tell her off. The only other person who ever lambasted her was a former co-worker. I don't understand her. She does a lot for many people but at the same time, she's so freakin' difficult. She badmouths and gossips about the people she helps. She's not exactly grateful to the people who help her. The dichotomy between Angel of Mercy and Snotty Bitch really messes with my head. My brother claims she has an attitude of noblesse oblige.
Whether it's noblesse oblige or just a crappy attitude, I think a wider berth may be needed.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
The Master Plan?
The last thing I want to do is be pessimistic, but I cannot help wondering if there's any point to making plans. I had some damn fine plans for this summer. I wasn't going to sit around on my duff, pining and whining over CG like I did last year. I was going to go to local museums, some art shows, a couple of botanical gardens, the Manawa Rodeo, picnics, concerts, my friend's farm (which is an hour from the Twin Cities), etc., and I haven't been able to do one darn thing, either because of car troubles or hellish heat. It's already August 2nd and I'm going stir-crazy. A couple of days ago I realized that I get out more in the winter than I do in summer. Unless it cools off pretty soon, I'm probably going to be hibernating in a dim, air-conditioned room for at least another month. The one thing I'm looking forward to is the Garrison Keillor (of A Prairie Home Companion, Lake Wobegon fame) show at the Fox Cities P.A.C. on Sept. 20th. Tickets go on sale Friday morning at 10 a.m. I'm so hoping I'll be able to score a seat. He said in a recent interview that, due to a stroke, he's going to be retiring in a year or two so this is probably going to be my only chance to see him live.
What does everyone think? Is there any real point to making plans? I've gotten to where I'm reluctant to make any and afraid to look forward to anything because of disappointment or fear of something bad happening. I realize that by doing this I'm borrowing trouble. And isn't it Matthew who says not to worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself?
By the way, it's just after 1:00 a.m. here and it's still 80F. I sat outside a few hours ago chatting on the phone with an out-of-town friend and I could've sworn I was in a sauna. Got eaten alive by mosquitos, too. Fall cannot come fast enough...
Nota Bene: Happy Birthday to my big brother! Have a great day!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)