Reading between the lines

Funny I used to thing retro modern houses from the 50's-late 60's were ugly and cold. It was the lines you see, I wanted the curvy softness of the Victorian or Craftsman. Something about this style just crept under my skin... And you know what they say if you fixate on something long enough you either go crazy or you get it. I think I am suffering from a little bit of both, because I am now crazy in love with retro modern. I love the lines... those quirky, creative lines, that grab the eye and chase the light. My weekly fix is at http://www.seattlemodern.com/.

Still Life with Cat

Last week after years of thinking about it, I went and bought a digital camera. I went to 3 big box stores and after receiving the polar opposite of help and customer service, I found myself at a little camera shop in the mall. The gentleman at the counter answered my questions, let me try 17 different cameras and spent well over an hour with me. By night's end, I had purchased this, with all the requisite accessories.

Over the next two days, I took 63 pictures trying every button on the camera I could find. Only two of the pictures were even remotely decent. That has led me to surmise the following:

• This photography stuff is a hell of a lot harder than certain people make it look.
• Light is important... I get it now!
  
• Sleeping cats make the best models
• And just because you find 63 pictures of a sleeping cat and yarn fascinating, does not mean your partner will...
  

The Gift of Good Health

In the midst of all my holiday shopping, it occurred to me that the one thing I really wanted for Christmas was something that only I could give myself. Every year I buy a few presents or two for myself and stick it under the tree, addressing it to me from Santa or to me from the pets. In this way, I am sure to get the exact fit or book title that I want while preserving the spirit of giving. Okay maybe not really, but it works for me.

This year I realized that the only thing I really wanted for myself was good health. You know the kind… height weight proportionate, glowing skin, yoga limbered body, toned muscles, shining eyes and a spring in my step. More than just wanting good health, I wanted to shed all those nasty habits that had lead to my demise (healthwise).

So I made a pledge to give myself the gift of good health, no matter what it took. That pledge took a comfortable place on my list of priorities right between number 4 - organize sock drawer and number 6- win lottery. The higher powers must have thought I needed a little encouragement, because on January 3rd, I developed a sudden case of the flu (at work) that caused me to pass out (at work) and be rushed to the emergency room (from work).

[Side Note Here: My co-workers sent flowers and well wishes, but on a daily basis people eye me like I am Typhoid Mary and ask me how I am doing . Not to mention, that every time I sneeze or cough little bottles of Purell are discreetly whipped out.]

I am doing much better, but apparently [surprise] Flu, dehydration and high blood pressure are a nasty mix. And an even bigger surprise, the 3 sodas I used to drink each day didn’t even count towards the 60-75 ounces of water I was supposed to be drinking.

So the minute I was better, I called the doctor, dentist, therapist, exercise clinic and anyone else I could think of to aid me in my quest. And funny thing, the more I have taken action to do something about my health the better I have started to feel.

Last night I underwent a sleep study to find out why I am so tired all the time. If you enjoy torture, then I highly recommend a sleep study. They place you in a hotel like setting with a giant camera watching your every move and the disembodied voice of a technician monitoring you from another room. Then they strap every electrode they can find to your head, legs, fingers and eyelids. And then they tell you to relax and fall asleep. Yeah right… Of course when you do fall asleep they awaken you to add more electrodes and take readings… TORTURE!!!
Little steps, but in the right direction…

A Multitude of Sins

It has occurred to me, the really organized people may in fact not be so organized, they just have better containers in which to hide their stuff.

Happy Birthday Martin Luther King Jr !!!!

There is a powerful quote on Detritus, that I had never heard before. To this day, my grandmother still tears up for his loss. To me it has always just been history, but lately, I think I understand. Her tears must be similar to the tears I would feel if something were to happen to Obama...(Heaven and Gods forbid) The loss of a future promise, the loss of hope.

Scattered Snow Showers

It is winter in Seattle and like every one here my thoughts have turned to … California, New Mexico, Carolinas, Hawaii, Florida… Pretty much any state I can imagine with a seasonal low of no more than 50 degrees.

Our weather so far has included 10 inches of rain, ice, hail, lightening, falling trees, power outages, snow(we don’t have plows) and biting cold. In a word, Suckage!!!! I am pretty sure that we have angered some higher deity and suspect that only an elected official jumping in a volcano will restore order.(I have a list of officials in mind)

In the midst of all this merriment, the history channel decides to air a selection of shows on disasters to remind us in the Pacific Northwest that if the weather does not get us, the earthquakes and Tsunamis (both of which we are over due) surely will.

In fact I am pretty sure that if it weren’t for the collective amnesia all of us in the PNW experience on the first warm sunny day, Seattle would have been abandoned long ago.

So I wait for the spring to warm the earth and melt away all memory of winter. In the meantime, I drink lots of tea, eat oodles of chocolate(got to keep the serotonins up) and compile my list of officials to sacrifice to the angry winter deities…

I've been away...

"I've been away, far from me, an isle of solitude in a stormy sea."