Category: To Occupy my Time

Surgery day

Today is the day the boyfriend has a surgery to remove a growth on his head.  Here are all the things I brought along: my work computer, my phone, my tablet (Matt brought that so he could play games while he waited. But then I had to hold onto it while he was in surgery), two books, my camera (not pictured because it was taking the picture) and some tea.

It struck me that I had about $3000 worth of devices with me.  Yikes.

Some wild post-surgery hair.

His surgery went well and the lump is gone.  The patient is recovering.

Poetry Reading at Shut Up and Eat

My friend C. came to town to participate in an open poetry reading and I got to accompany her. The location was the restaurant Shut Up and Eat.  I had a very good fried egg sandwich on a biscuit and settled back to hear some poetry.

David Cooke came to read his poems and also show his poetry boxes he has for sale.  He also read the poem “the New Colossus,” a poem which I have memorized.  For unknown reasons, he left off the last line.

I had this guy pegged as a poet even when he was standing in line for food.  He had the bulging notebook and taut mannerisms that pointed to a lot of thoughtful writing time.  Before everyone got started, he flipped through his notebook, reading this and that.  He also knew David Cooke left off the last line of “the New Colossus.”  What he did not do was read any poetry aloud.  Odd.

My friend going over her poem.  This picture also includes my phone, and the post-it note where I wrote down the bus transit times.

Another woman was taking pictures for a write-up of the event .

Reading.

This woman was the organizer.  She read also.

Listening.

A bevy of poems to choose from.

My friend’s poem went over well, and I enjoyed it.  I also enjoyed several other poems read aloud.  It was a great way to spend an evening.

REI Co-op Member #2

I don’t read the obituaries on a regular basis, but at times I’ll skim them.  What I have been doing for years, is match the birthdates of the current people listed in the obits with people in my life.  For many years, the people dying had birth years similar to my grandparents, 1908 and 1912.*  It’s now incredibly rare to find someone who was born in 1912, and the 1908 people have been out of the running for some time now.  Now I mostly find people my parents age, or my own age.

But here!  Mary Anderson!  Only one year younger than my grandfather, and three years older than my grandmother. What an exciting find!  As was the news that she was member #2 in the REI co-op.  My co-op number is much higher than hers.

*My other grandparents were born in 1898 and 1900, but by the time I started playing this game, everyone their age was more-or-less dead.

New Cap

In the 80s, when I swam on a summer swim team, the only caps available were made out of latex.  They were hard to get on by yourself because the latex would pull your hair. Putting them on involved two people.  I would hold the edge of the cap to my forehead and someone else would stretch the cap backward over my head.  They would hold it while I shoved my hair into the cap.  Then they could let the cap go.

The caps were prone to ripping, which meant you never bought just one, because you had to always have one on hand.  The best part about them was that they would stretch a lot in the water.  Sometimes at the end of a swim meet we would jump in the pool and carefully stretch the cap out in the water until we could put one of the younger swim team members inside.

Now they have invited silicone swim caps.  Which are much better in every way but stretching to small-child size.  They don’t stick to your hair and they last forever.  My cap that just broke lasted for years.  (Granted, not all of those were swimming years, but it didn’t even break down like the latex ones would.)

So welcome to the new cap.  And thank you, new cap, for showing me how to properly treat you through graphics and Engrish.

I am owsam

One of the fun things about being an “expert” at The Emerson School, is the thank you note that arrives in the mail after your informative talk.I was tasked with discussing why we use pickling salt instead of normal salt when pickling.  I imparted that knowledge (additives such as anti-caking agents and/or iodine cloud the liquid and can discolor the items being pickled) and assisted the class in making refrigerator pickles.  For my troubles, I got this very owsam thank you note.

Of note in Vanity Fair March 2017

Among the things I learned about the Director of the FBI, James Comey, is that he is very tall.  So much so that this picture of him and Attorney General Loretta Lynch had me very confused.  It turned out they were both standing, but I wasn’t sure on first viewing.

From a very interesting article of interviews about 1967 and the radical change in women’s fashion comes this great quote from Grace Slick about how someone is always standing on the outside of women’s fashion.  In this case, women who didn’t have straight hair. (Also, that’s a not-very-nice comment about Janis Joplin)

And this picture of Judy Collins taken during the photo shoot for her album Wildflowers.  I find her upper lip hair to be very prominent in this picture.  In looking images of the album cover online, that seems not to be as much of the case, but possibly because the images are smaller.