January 30, 2004
Coastal
When you grow up on the edge of the ocean you have to acknowledge the power it exerts. My parents taught me that, but it was primordially enforced by actually living on an island in the Atlantic ocean. You couldn't avoid the power it exerted... and many of my neighbors earned their living on the sea. My brother has been a fisherman his entire adult life, spending most of his days on the open ocean... from the North Atlantic to the South Pacific.
The water separates us and yet brings us together. Now, can somebody book me a nice trip on the new Queen Mary? I could use a couple of cruises right about now...no matter what type.
January 29, 2004
The Lack of Yellow
The yellow that I lack today is the one of summer flowers and sunshine. But lurking on the hard drive are shots that remain unused...one less as of today.
Lots of snow and bitter cold conspire to make me look back to the warmth of June last year with it's lingering memories of patio grilling dinner parties served in the languid summer air.
Now my life is full of the art of business yet again, but there is a sense of detente in that regard. Old friends are reconnecting. New friends are being made. Puppies are growing up.
January 27, 2004
Shovel Time
It is not hammer time... but shovel time here. These shots were from last weekend when the sun last shined on us. The past two days have been Ice-Station Zebra weather.
The office building I work at just closed the front doors. Last night we had a blizzardy type of evening, including periods of white-out weather where the dog vanished into the back yard's howling winds. White on white...
January 24, 2004
January 20, 2004
Snowy Stretch
We haven't gotten all that much snow compared to other winters, but because the temperature hasn't risen above the Ice Station Zebra level in so many days its presence just lingers on... adding to itself every few days as the next Alberta Clipper passes through.
For myself, I have the Rhoda approach to this entire climate issue. On an early episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show she mused that the reason she moved to Minneapolis was because she would "keep better" in the cold. And so here I am keeping really better...
January 19, 2004
Sunny Breaks
I love the winter light, reflecting long shadows accross the fallen snow. It's just the shoveling that is occasionally a pain.
January 17, 2004
Fleeced Hound
I never wanted to be one of those people that would ever put a dog in clothing, but the past two weeks have brought the combined weight of two mother's voices on the phone unanimous with concern about this very subject. After all... it truly has been scary cold.
And, so he does wear it... but we are both convinced he is embarrassed by it. Real dogs go commando and he knows it.
January 15, 2004
Palmed Again
Ohhh. Just upgraded my crippled old Palm IIIc with a Tungsten C... wireless web access from the sofa in a handheld!
It was really time to upgrade... the old one was acting like a beat up crack whore in a coma, still electric but inert. And the new job demands PDA efficiency.
January 10, 2004
Napster
This nap wasn't over, but mine is. I love a new year that is truly new.
January 8, 2004
All Judy
He didn't want me to post this picture... but I am doing it anyway because for one thing he never turns off a freaking light, like EVER. I can hear my father talking. "Do you think we own shares of the electric company?"
It doesn't matter. Life is too short and I inherited a crap load of impatience at the start.
Yes, it's All Judy, All The Time here at the home front. With the release of a new coffee table book focused on the life of Miss Garland, the old books are trotted out for a meticulous cross-checking of facts. He is an editor who just wants to sing.
And now, his new thing is to only do what he really wants to do... nothing else. Where does laundry fit into this picture? Is there any food shopping in that universe of bliss cupcake?
Just don't call me Sid. Ever.
January 7, 2004
Drapery
Here we are ending the first week of a new year already. Doesn't time just fly by as you abandon resolutions...
We are draped in expectations again, sometimes literally, as Luigi is in this picture. What will 2004 bring to the table? Selfishly I am hoping it brings a new camera, some renewed prosperity and continued good health. That doesn't sound like all that much to ask for.
Oh, we need some new drapes. Somebody tore a hole in one side whilst teething... and it wasn't me.
January 3, 2004
Lighthouse Christmas
I miss them so much I can't stand to admit to it... lest I rip out the existential carpet under my feet completely. This is all about being at home for Christmas with my parents, at the tip of a glimmering oversized sandbar. Tony Soprano would describe it as being down da shore.
The flight in was a contradiction. TERROR ALERT the news channels tickers screamed... and so I proceeded to arrive at the airport far too early and way too anxious. But Immigration sweeps me through as if being an actual American Citizen was tantamount to having paid the bill to defend the whole of North America for 40 years or so. Guilty conscience anyone?
As we approached New York City my complete conviction that I was determined to die by crashing into the Empire State Building waned... we uneventfully landed ahead of schedule, passing Manhattan without a fatal turn.
Big crushing hugs. Friends looking you in the eye and telling you they love you. The women that cut your hair in 1989 sharing intimate stories of love and loss. Living rooms floors were exuberantly covered thinly but hilariously with seasonally colored paper, ribbons and bows---and filled with the oohs and aahs of appreciating gift givers and receivers.
It isn't the same without grandparents. And can the luxury of living ones really exist into your 40s? Yes, and then no. Just over a year ago my Grandmother passed on and the scars are still swollen and tender. I can only hope to honor my parents as they honored theirs... the imbalance of loss tries to straighten up and fly right.
We are meant to look across the water, to the other side. And then... swim.
January 2, 2004
Welcome 2004
We are striving to reach up-wards here at the head voice network (HVT) during 2004. Mostly because the entire year of 2003 could be best summed up as being like a slightly drunk driver mistakenly turning onto the cul-de-sac called Way So Crappy Drive. I got lost, and nobody could really help me find my way back.
Quit your job. Check.
Lose a best friend. Check.
Start the wrong new business. Check.
Go into debt. Check.
Feel sorry for yourself. Check.
Guess what? Feh. It doesn't add up to shit. Health is good. I have a partner and a puppy.
And, in any case, this eight track tape is quickly moving toward the end of the playback. Take a trip home for Christmas and see a year pass by in five days. Whoosh. That was your life going by... you might want to pay attention.
But I am still tired of waiting for my turn in the light.
Happy New Year! I hope we can all make the most of it...