Share this with the young ones at your peril. It could be a bit like giving a kid a noisemaker for his birthday.
I put upon my feet my socks
and creep as silent as a fox;
I put upon my feet my shoes
and CLUMP AND CLATTER DOWN THE MEWS!
Friday, May 22, 2009 at 01:26PM Sunday, May 17, 2009 at 04:17PM Though certain of my friends are rabid on the issue, I'm not a crank about Starbucks. I'll go there if I want coffee and there's no other reasonable choice. Still, I prefer my local coffee houses and have always quietly cheered the Delocator's effort.
At Christmas last year we received a Starbucks gift box from our lovely friend Sharon. In it, among the coffee samples, biscotti, etc., were two mugs, one red and one white. They keep my coffee warm (I'm a sipper), have handles that fit my fingers nicely, and are a wonderful shape, size and color. I love them and use them regularly and without shame, as you can see.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009 at 02:37PM Spouse (n). (1) Someone who's destined to become the world's foremost authority on your strengths, weaknesses, successes, failures, habits good and bad, quirks, shortcomings, foibles and flaws. Accept it. (2) Someone who in order to have a full life with you will daily be exposing all her/his strengths, weaknesses, successes, failures, habits, etc., etc. Be gentle.
Saturday, March 14, 2009 at 12:37PM Ever notice how a few days freed from normal routine sends our internal planners into manic mode?
I took Meredith to the airport this morning. She's off to the Bay Area to visit our oldest daughter and meet our future son-in-law. On the way home I started thinking of all the exciting, busy things awaiting me. Three full days on my own -- the reading, the writing, the inevitable projects . . . continuing Flash lessons, refreshing (perennially) my Chinese, giving some long-delayed attention to the piano, attacking the stacks of acting books and plays that represent this year's revival of interest in theatre . . . rearranging my office, hanging out with my father over crosswords (that's him, there), making soup for next week . . . not to mention the usual filing and bills and housework and such.
As I write I've been home 20 minutes. I reheated this morning's coffee and sat down to look at my e-mail. There's a cat dozing on my lap. The sun streams in on us. E-mail is done and I feel perhaps a game of Freecell coming on . . . or a little snooze . . .
Friday, March 13, 2009 at 11:28AM 
Somebody remind me,
would you, please?
Either get more sleep
or stop trying to read
in the bathtub.
Saturday, February 28, 2009 at 01:09PM 
I'm impressed with the lengths the movie industry goes to present trailers that should not (they seem to be saying) offend anyone or damage young minds. I can munch my popcorn assured that the bloodiest violence will be left out, as will bare breasts, bad language, explicit sex and other less seemly body functions. (To the modern TV or movie producer an hour without a cookie toss is an hour wasted.)
How is it, then, we let them jack the sound up to a level that stuns the senses and sends the nervous system reeling?
Tuesday, February 3, 2009 at 09:45PM The mind is a marvelous thing. I'm not talking about any sort of transcendant mind - the place where mysteries dwell and our highest values live, where there is no gap between knowledge and action. I'm talking about the chatterbox there in the passenger seat, always at me about one thing or another.
Slow down. Speed up. Watch out for the bicycle! Turn ahead, don't miss it. Are you sure you want this client? Bugger the interview, let's just go home and live on peanut butter [whatever that means] . . .You're following too close. You're following too far. Are your brakes still working? Both hands on the wheel! Is that a cop? Did you remember your breath spray? . . .
Of course he's just looking out for my safety and well-being. Unfortunately, life isn't always about safety and well being. Sometimes it's about facing the unknown, taking a risk. Give that nattering mind his way and I'd be sitting in the driveway, impoverished but risk free, going r r m m - r r r m m m m and pretending to shift gears once in a while. I ask myself, Is that what I want my life to be about?
Friday, January 9, 2009 at 03:20PM 