My Million Dollar Idea
Typical Conversation with Mike: Me: I’m going to take Rusty for a walk. Mike: Oh great, I’ll come with you. Me: If you’re coming, do you think we could bring Mimi? I could strap her in, you know, like a Baby Bjorn? Mike: Yes, I like where this is going… Me: BITTY BJORN! It’s a brilliant idea! Mike: Your best one yet. See, I’m often scheming about ways to take the cat with me, because I know she absolutely hates it. Like most normal cats, Mimi detests going places against her will. She also can’t stand being held, because she’s half feral. If she wants affection, it’s completely on her…
That Song
Okay, breathe. In and out, in and out… It is Shavasana in yoga, which can also be translated as “corpse pose.” Instead of contorting myself into twisty, impossible positions, I must lie on the mat and try to wipe the grime from my mind. I must be still. Okay, I need to go to the store after this. Eggs, olive oil, tissue. Or should I try to squeeze in some writing first? Gah, okay, clear mind, clear mind… I squirm at the itchy spot on my shoulder-blade, and try again, breathing in and out to the music. Clear mind, clear mind… Then a new song begins. I am clutching my…
Ways in Which I Am Like My Dog
This may seem banal after my last few posts, but it’s something on which I mused while celebrating this Memorial Day in the garden pulling weeds. I think it needs to be said, just to lighten the tone on here. I am much more like my dog Rusty than I care to admit. dogs can be scared of their owners, which is one trait that’s incorrigibly pervasive throughout the animal kingdom. No matter if its a dog or a cat all have some similar traits. Oh, I know, I’m a supposed to be this Cat Lady, all adorable fluffiness and purring, and believe me, I am, but Rusty and I have a…
House Hunting
“What a great neighborhood!” I said as we walked up the street to the open house. “Fifth doesn’t go all the way through, so I bet it’s really quiet.” “Yeah,” Mike replied. “Look at those apartments, though,” he said, pointing to a cluster of buildings across the street. “But they’re not ugly, like the ones in front of that duplex we looked at last month,” I pointed out. “No, they’re not bad.” We walked in, and it hit me right away. “This is perfect,” I breathed. Open, airy and bright, it was more spacious than other bungalows typically found in the neighborhood, with three bedrooms, two full baths and a…
Passions, Otherwise Known as Unhealthy Obsessions
Hey, lookey-here, another Finish-the-Sentence Friday, courtesy of Katie Hall! Any excuse I can find to indulge in this topic, since I am a very passionate person and sometimes journaling just doesn’t cut it. Plus, this is Friday, and I need to write something easy and non-serious so the first thing visible on this blog isn’t my first public attempt at poetry. Gah. I am very passionate about… Um, everything? More specifically, everything I write about on this blog? Do you need more detail? I guess so. I’m feeling lazy today this week. Must be a twenty-four hour tumor going around. Let me see if I can drill my passions down…
When it’s Plausible to Live in Two Cities
For something completely different, I am participating in Finish the Sentence Friday, because I read Katie Hall’s post, decided I wanted to write about this week’s prompt, and actually had time to do so. If I could live anywhere I’d live… Okay, first of all, I’m slightly tweaking the prompt, because anyone who knows anything about me knows I want to live somewhere in France or Italy more than I want a new baby kitten or a big scoop of gelato, so that wouldn’t be a fun topic. It’s predictable. I do NOT want to be predictable. So, I’m making a slight alteration… If you could live anywhere in the U.S., where would you…
Camping on the Beach
One of my favorite times of year is fast approaching, and I am feeling the customary combination of giddy anticipation and frazzled nerves. No, I’m not talking about spring break – that ship sailed long ago (and my do I miss those days). Sometime between February and April every year, my entire family goes camping at the same location we’ve been going to since long before I was born. My grandparents took my dad and aunt and uncles when they were still toe-headed kids with scraped knees, and my initiation took place some time around my first birthday. Ever since, we have gravitated back to this quiet place at the edge…
Not as Irish as I Thought
I’m not as Irish as I thought. This has skewed my worldview a bit, and now I’m feeling culturally adrift; in the throes of an existential crisis, if I allow my flair for dramatics to take the spotlight for a moment. But I’m getting ahead of myself… Being part-Irish has helped me situate myself in a world where culture has been wiped dry by chain restaurants and American flag-waving patriotism, with which I don’t identify because it’s so sterile. The only meaning I can extract from being American in this day and age is the value of capitalism and imperialism, and I’m not big on isms. When I was too…
Let’s Pretend
“Let’s pretend we’re mermaids!” I suggested to my sister. It is 1991, we had received The Little Mermaid video for Christmas, and we watched it any time mom would let us. Nene was two years younger, and thus agreeable to anything I suggested. Sometimes I think she was just happy I was being nice to her for a change, including her in my make-believe world. “Okay. But how can we do that when we don’t have a swimming pool?” she asked. “Mermaids don’t swim in pools,” I said, my impatience with her creeping into my voice. I reigned it in, though – I needed her. “We can pretend the hall closet is…
Two Days Before Valentine’s Day
He was late picking me up, but oddly enough, this didn’t bother me. Ordinarily his tardiness drove me bonkers, but today I could let it go. Plus I was enjoying my reruns of Buffy the Vampire Slayer in a rare moment of free time, so who was I to complain? Valentine’s Day fell on a Monday this year, so we were celebrating today, Saturday, with a hike followed by dinner. Truthfully, Valentine’s Day wouldn’t be a big deal to me, but it was the anniversary of when we reunited after a few years of on-again-off-again, youthful, angst-y romance. Six years, to be exact. For an additional three years, we had finally been…