Odds-n-Ends

Howdy! I haven't been around much in the past week. Not a whole lot to discuss so I'll summarize my week in one tidy post.

Last Monday and Tuesday I was off from work. I had lunch with my friend Heath on Monday. Heath lives in Texas and I haven't seen him in about 4 years. It was nice to catch up. On Tuesday I went to the beach and got some much needed sun. It was nice.

I came down with a sinus infection and I've been fighting it for a few days now. I haven't seen my doctor about it because I get them somewhat regularly and this is not a bad one, it's more of a nuisance. Related or unrelated, I've had a problem with an impacted wisdom tooth. Whether one caused the other I don't know. 3 out of 4 of my wisdom teeth came in and have been no problem. This last tooth has been a problem on and off for a number of years. It acts up, I complain about it and just when I'm ready to have something done about it, it feels better. It's feeling better now, but not 100 percent back to normal. It has definitely grown more in these past few days and it may not be impacted much longer.

Saturday, Denise and I were invited to Dan and Luis' house to be stand-ins for dinner guests who had to cancel at the last minute. As usual, Luis produced a wonderfully creative and delicious meal. The original guests had some dietary restrictions and Luis met the challenge and wowed us. He also impressed himself.

Sunday, my sister came over, we celebrated her 50th birthday (which is actually on the 30th). Denise joined us, as well as my friend Karen. I gave Georgette a Skagen watch and a handbag, hand crafted by Denise. It was nice that Denise was there to see Georgette receive the purse that she created. While I have no pictures from the day, here are pictures of the watch and the purse.
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It was back to work on Monday and the first 5-day work week I've put in since the 3rd week in June. So far it's been a good week, even though it's the last week of working with my current CEO. Tomorrow we're having a cookout for him, it's his last day. He starts his job in Pittsburgh on Monday.

So that's what's been going on. Not much, but that's not a bad thing. How have you been? I hope you're doing well.

Single Clowns

Yet another clown thinks she can dance to Beyonce's "Single Ladies" song...

Oopsie

Last night I climbed into bed before 11. A bit earlier than usual but I was tired and feel right to sleep. This morning, the alarm went off, I looked out the window and could see that it looked pretty nice outside. I turned on the TV and thought "wow, I'm so glad I got the new TV, I can really see this one so much better. I turned to look at the time on my clock and thought "hey, the numbers look so clear. I don't remember dusting the face of the clock."

I got up to go to the bathroom. I could see things on the kitchen table (at the other end of the hall). That's when I realized that I never took my contact lenses out before bed. CRAP!

I squeezed a bunch of saline into each eye and started my morning routine. After finishing up I then set out to take out my lenses. The left lens came out pretty easily. The right lens was still kind of stuck. Finally, after a few more squirts of saline, I got it out.

I wore my glasses to work today, I figured my eyes needed a rest.

Tuesday Morning at Starbucks

Got here around 8:30. Had a grande (aka medium) coffee and a low-fat apple bran muffin (it's free pastry day with an online coupon).

It was kind of crowded when I arrived. My usual chair was occupied. Not sure I would have sat in it anyway, as the seat next to it was and still is occupied by "CJ." Tiday she is looking somewhat subdued - peach capris, grey shirt with peach piping, hair down with sparkly pins in it, flat sandals. She's got the little table in front of her, and her laptop is on it. Today the display is sideways. As I was settling into my spot, she sneezed, I said "bless you," and she scrunched her face and blew me a kiss. We may be engaged, I'm not sure...

The usual commuters have been in and out. The couple I see just about every moorning is here. An older black couple, both somewhat overweight. The womandoes all the talking. She's very social, wears fantastic hats. Today's hat is a wide-brimmed straw hat with gold edging and a band around the top with colorful large "jewels" affixed to it, like a big, sparkly halo. They both sit, in silence and read the paper and work the puzzles. they seem perfectly content.

CJ is tapping away on her computer. She isn't really typing, she just smacks the same series of keys with her left hand while occasionally her right hand smacks the same spot on the keyboard. A man who was waiting for his coffee saw her "typing" and commented "wow, you're really quite a fast typist!" Her response, which I could not hear, involved some sort of vocalization as well as some sort of finger drumming against her face, along with a wink and a smile. The man leaned in to hear what she was saying, I'm still not sure he really knew what she said or if she said anything that was in a known language. He smiled and backed away, slowly.

One wonders were people are headed on Tuesday at 10 in the morning. Some woman, who vaguely resembles that insipid "mom" Kate with the 8 kids (sans Jon), just walked in. She's in a black cotton tank dress with a short jacket. She's lacking a proper foundation garment as her ample chest is quite jiggly. Srangely, she just got her cup of coffee from a short, balding man with glasses. He, along with two other woman and Ms. Jiggles just left, together. Maybe they're new recruits for his whore house, maybe they're on their way to the church to do God's work.

I wonder if CJ is blogging about me right now?

Songs of Summertime

"The Warrior" - Scandal, faturing Patty Smyth

This song reminds me of summer because it relates to a funny story from the summer of 1985. I was 18, living at home with my parents in a large 2 bedroom apartment in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago. It was mid-August and I was home on a Friday night (I was home on ALL Friday nights but this one in particular relates to the story) and was watching TV in my bedroom. I heard music playing, but it wasn't my downstairs neighbors, it was coming from out back.

The apartments in my building were long. Bedroom 1 was up front and the second bedroom was half way down a long hallway. Further down was the dining room and then the kitchen. I went out to the kitchen to inspect the source of the music. It was one of those really warm nights after a stifling hot day. I could see light coming from the apartment next door, reflected on the shared back porch. I opened the door and could hear a party happening next door.

My next door neighbors were gay. They had lived in the building for a couple of months. In my mind, they were old, realistically they were probably 30-ish. They dressed "funny," wearing shredded cutoff jeans and vests and tank tops and work boots. they looked like gay people I had seen in shows about San Francisco or images from the Gay Pride parade on the news. When they moved in, I was intrigued by them. I would watch for them to leave their apartment or come home. I wanted to know what made them different. After weeks of studying them, I learned that NOTHING made them different, at least outside of their apartment. What happened inside of their four walls was unclear to me, but also none of my business.

So, back at the party, whose music had leaked out onto the back porch, I quietly opened my back door. "The Warrior" was playing. The porches were dimly lit, much of the light came from their kitchen window. I stood at my screen door and looked. One of my neighbors was on his porch enjoying the music. He was in short denim shorts and a white tank, and he was dancing, alone. As the words "Bang Bang, I am the Warrior" were sung, he held up his left and right hands, mimicking a gun, as if he were shooting in the air. He was in his own world and loving the moment. I laughed to myself but at the same time I was fascinated. I stood and listened for a couple minutes more before quietly closing the door. I didn't want to disturb his fun.

To this day, when I hear that song, I laugh a little because I picture that neighbor doing his dance on that warm August night.

Scenes from Starbucks

I'm at my Starbucks this morning. The usual transient coffee patrons are here, some rushing in for a cup of coffee on their way to work, some are stopping to have a pastry or sandwich. Then there are those who are lingering a bit to read the paper and sip their drink slowly. But then there are those who seem to always be here and are quite the sight to behold.

One in particular has been named "CJ." She's a woman of undetermined age who usually wears a yarmulke, she's got sparkly clips in her hair and often wears big beaded jewelry. Today she is here and dressed for safari. White knit cotton Pith Helmet, hair is in a braid, green tie-dyed shirt, ill-fitting jeans and ballet flats. She sits in here for hours at a time, monopolizing a table with her stuff. She's got a mini-laptop computer. The display on it is upside down - COMPLETELY upside down (I watched her boot it up the other day and even the brand logo came up upside down!). Most of the time she taps away with great force, then she sits back and grins at her work.

Apparently one day she was doing crafts. She had rubber stamps with her. My dear friend Steve who witnessed this said that she was having quite a time with the stamp pad and had ink all over her hands. Unphased, she continued with her stamping frenzy.

Today she's wearing headphones. Whatever she's listening to makes her happy. She's singing along (quietly!). She's uing her little computer and she's basically tapping the same 6 keys. Oh wait, she has stopped to apply lipstick. time for a beauty break!

One afternoon I ccame in here and she was drumming. Oh, she's quite the show.

The other semi-regular I see in here is the old woman with long white hair, who wears a lemon yellow organza bow on the top of her head. Today she is in a long shiny black duster with a pink blouse underneath, black pants and orange canvas sneakers. she has lots of bags and wears sunglasses. When I arrived here this morning, she was in my chair. I like the chair in the corner so that if I want to look at dirty pictures, I can without offending anybody. Anyway, yellow bow lady doesn't do much although I have seen her sitting and watching something on a portable DVD player.

these are the people in my neighborhood. Won't you be my neighbor?

Songs of Summertime

"Candy" - Iggy Pop w/ Kate Pierson

This song takes me back to the days when I was discovering "grunge" and phasing out of the 80's pop music. This one was a no-brainer because I'm a big B-52's fan and Kate is one of the principal voices of the band.

I don't really associate this song with any one memory but when I hear it I think about summer.

Here's the video for you to enjoy.