"Traveling Light", "Score Ten!", "Celebrating Differences and Similarities"
March 13, 1999
The question: Open your wallet or purse and describe what's in it. What do you think these things might tell us about you?
I always streamline the things I carry with me to the barest amount necessary. This used to not be so. I used to haul a huge purse stuffed with everything I might possibly ever need anywhere I went. I'd have a full medicine cabinet worth of aspirin, tagamet, band-aids, and so forth, along with wallet and the junk that the purse collected through the months, such as old receipts and coupons that never got used. I simply felt more secure when I dragged it ALL with me.But that purse got to be rather HEAVY. My joints let me know about it. For easier mobility, I've cut back and now tailor my haulings to the expedition at hand. If it's a trip to the fitness center, I bring three or four cards in a pocket - member cards for the fitness center, my driver's license, and my bank card. If it's a trip in which I suspect the usefulness of the camera, I use the camera case as a purse, putting drivers license, bank card, some cash, a few tagamet, and possibly other medications wrapped in foil - into the zippered compartment that holds extra disks.
I hardly ever use the big purse anymore. Possibly, I might use it to carry cans of 7-up, the drink I live on, in the event of a lengthy outing. But mostly, I travel pretty light.
March 14, 1999
Also, there is a site with several excerpts of Crisp's writing. It doesn't require all the fancy plug-ins. I read his Naked Civil Servant years ago, and have always liked him. But that book, and others he wrote were turned into Bookman's several moves ago. Well, I suppose it's good to have let someone else get acquainted with this fascinating character. Check the links out!
Onto other things English! They're being driven batty over there. It seems:
"(AP)- In a land renowned for loving all creatures great and small, one of the smallest, the bat, is not all that popular in some historic churches.The furry flying mammals, strictly protected by British law, like to rear their little offspring in the rafters of old churches. But they can make a terrible mess of altars and pews, and have caused irreparable damage to rare medieval paintings, carvings and brasswork.
It is not unknown for a bat to make a direct hit on the Communion chalice during Sunday services . . . "
Splat!
Score Ten!
I imagine these bats having a contest amongst themselves. The Communion chalice or the minister's head ranks as a ten, baptismal font, perhaps an eight, any parisioners head counts as five points worth, and anywhere else only a single point.But, of course, "Disgusted parishioners and vicars from more than 150 churches - and one bat-hating newspaper columnist - are campaigning against bats." Nature conservations advise, however, that most of the problems can be solved without harm to the bats. The use of deflector shields is being recommended.
I couldn't resist a little comment on the Starnet Community Front Page, however:
The bats are just giving their editorial opinion!
"Hah! It's just a small problem, easily solved by the deflector shields. Should liven up the services a bit! The wearing of large hats will become popular. "I'm really quite fortunate to be so easily amused!
March 15, 1999
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Cold whispering over me,
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Noon now, I didn't get back to bed until 5:30am. I still don't know what spooked me so. I laid down, and let the scary images come as they will. They turned into dream, and I finally got some sleep. One image was crystal clear. It was a pleasantly warm sunny day, and I was dancing on the flat roof of a skycraper. The sky vista was wide and welcoming. In the next scene, I'm at the building's railing, leaning over. A silent scream shot through me as I looked at the little cars and people below. A moment of terror. Then all was gray again.
Maybe I should avoid caffeine altogether. I thought that by only drinking half of that 20oz. bottle of cherry coke, I would be safe. That and the cold night air coming in through the open window only heightened the mood. Now I just feel wrung out and sleepy.
After I got dressed, I tried to take a nap with Laura for a bit. The night's anxiety returned. I explained my perplexity to Laura. Laura reminded me how I always get fearful before I do a big drawing. Was that it? I couldn't tell.
Yet she may have been right, for as soon as I had Crisp's eyes looking right, I relaxed quite a bit. A joyful eagerness then overcame me.
I've got the picture done!
Quentin Crisp!
I even had time to make a silly doodle!
March 16, 1999
March 17, 1999
Happy St Patrick's Day!
"Ladies of the HeartSo I went to the page. Yellow roses line the left hand side. A logo in gray, echoing the gray background of the flowers, has a couple of its letters in lacy floral script. The maroon text of the body sits in good contrast with the pale gray background. I find it quite visually pleasing. I like the sweet notions the words espouse. Maybe, just maybe, Mike would find MY pages "cloyingly saccharine and ass-ugly". I wonder why cynicism has become the fashion of the day. But I don't worry. I've never been one to follow fashion.
Possibly the second-funniest site on the web, and all the more so because it's unintentional. Check this out, if you want tips on how to design a cloyingly saccharine and ass-ugly page."
I keep thinking about the LOTH site. They have a lovely creed, full of beautiful sentiments. It begins with these words:
"Celebrate the human spirit. We all share that common bond, love, hope, peace and humanity. This force is probably the more compelling one on this planet because it calls to all of us no matter where we go, or who we are it is always there. . . "It goes on to speak of celebrating our differences, enjoying life, following your heart and so forth. All of it expresses splendid concepts. I told them so when I signed the questbook. I also explained how I'd found their URL, and that the guy was probably suffering from "venus envy".
And then I stopped to think some more, as I did my sewing this morning. Maybe Mike's resentments could be due to the fact that he's excluded from the party. It would be wonderful if someone were to create such an organization that were open to all genders. Yet I understand the need of women to join together and give each other support. For perhaps what Mike doesn't like about their site is that it has a very feminine design. Feminine values can get short shift in the larger society. Not even women want to claim them sometimes. It's sad. They're not all bad. They often make the world a better place to live. But there I go again, showing my lack of cynicism. PROUDLY!
However I'm also a realist, as well. When a group isn't 'as advertised', I can understand why some would look askance at it. I've not felt any urge to join such an organization. The abundance of flowers in their design is a matter of taste. It doesn't cloy on me, but then I've been known to load a page with flowers . Yet hypocrisy would gall me as much as anyone.
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The wine left me surprisingly unscathed! Usually if I have any more than a few swallows of something alcoholic, my sinuses make me pay. Nice!
I've got the picture of Quentin Crisp up on the Starnet side. I tried to show a little of why I like him, in the latest ATTWT entry. I selected out the two most telling quotes from his Naked Civil Servant to illustrate his wit. Hopefully they are short enough to still qualify as "review" length.
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I checked my email tonight and found permission to quote Mike's earlier email to me:
"I had a look at your site, and no, I don't consider it cloying or saccharine. You use flowery stuff in some places, but it's not *over*used... and I haven't yet spotted an embedded MIDI file, so that's another point in your favour. <g> Looks like an interesting site, in fact."
I was thinking of what to put next in the current section of ATTWT. I'd just finished talking about two other people, so it seemed time to bring it back to a more personal subject. As I lay in bed waking up this morning, I thought of Rob's newest question:
"If you could go back in time and have a conversation with a younger version of yourself, at what point in your life would you pick the younger you, and what would you tell yourself?"It proved to be quite an introspective session. So I nestled it within the quieter journal. When Laura read it, she suggested I illustrate it, and showed me some of her tricks. I was pleased with the results of the older me, younger me illustration. Maybe more of those will appear from time to time.
I'm as greedy with words as I am with eating. I stuff them into my brain with two hands, as fast as I can digest them. I learn of more and more journallers out there, such as Noah Grey, with his poetry and artistry, the quietly reflective words of Margaret DeAngelis, and Heyoka's poetic words and images. The variety of lives out there, having in common only the love of writing, is amazing. I have to laugh at one of the names Ms. DeAngelis gave her reading page, Ruined by Reading. I was deep into devouring all of her current pages when a customer came by to pick up her clothes. As she walked out, I glanced at the pale tan pants and shorts resting on the chair by the sewing machine. "Didn't he want those for the weekend?" I stopped right there, leaving the computer screen where it was, without a neat exit of all programs. Pants done, I returned to the computer, reconnected, and went back to reading. I was ALMOST "Ruined by Reading"!
later today. . .
After we watched TV, Farscape, the new show on the SCI-FI channel looks promising, I started a crossword puzzle, while Laura and Julia played Baldur's Gate. I grew weary, laid down on the sofa, and set the crossword puzzle on the floor. I fell asleep, waking up periodically to glance with eyes half open at the backs of Julia and Laura. I woke up enough at 11:30 to go to bed. We all made the exit, but as their breathing turned into rhythmic almost snores, I became awake. Too awake to sleep, I got up again.
Today was a relaxing day. Tomorrow I'll need to do some serious work, at least dig into the mountains of laundry, at any rate. Sunday we're hoping for a trip into Tucson and the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. They have a few new things since we were there last. But still, it's the old favorites such as the Hummingbird walk-in aviary, and the prairie dogs that call to me. And, yes, of course, the camera batteries are all charged!
Maybe I'll try for some more sleep now.
The last load of laundry is sloshing away in the washer. Laura's Mother brought over some old letters and pictures she found when she was sorting through her things. Among them was a picture of Laura's paternal grandmother.
I was surprised to learn how much alike they look:
Having scanned that picture, I dug out some of my old pictures. I found a rare one with my Aunt June and Grandmother caught while laughing:
(No, Aunt June was born in February, not in June!)
June 1983
later today. . .
I was going to go to bed early, but spring fever has got me. So I'm wide awake at 10:30pm. The windows are open and the house still feels warm. Spring in the desert has definitely arrived.
Happy Spring!