I feel my brain resisting writing anything thoughtful these days... Is that because I'm thinking all the time at work, in a way (still pondering better categorizations and arrangements for books, as well as generally navigating new territory and personalities)
––or is it just the brain not wanting to do any heavy lifting, moving images & things into words?
Well, anyway, this morning I'm just going to chat a bit here---I do want to keep up with that.
Here I am sitting out on my back porch with my NEW ceramic-tile café table--photo taken with my laptop--I couldn't even be bothered to get a better photo by futzing with my new iPhone (another new thing my brain is working on--somewhat reluctantly, I have to say):
I had stopped in the big chain grocery store on Saturday to buy some Windex for work (to clean books), and saw these on clearance for $40, down from $160––!!!
Came with two orange, metal chairs too.
You can see why hands-on potters have such a terrible time competing with Big Box makers...
The table & chairs cost only $8 more than the WONDERFUL handmade bee-and-ginko mug I'm holding, which I love and use every morning.
Mug by Potter Miller,
whose blog painefalls.blogspot.com makes me want to write more amusingly about my own life. (I have to accept that's not my style, but I sure do love reading her take on life.)
I've wanted a table just like this for my tiny back porch (really, a big landing) for a long time but they were always too expensive. And too unwieldy---but now that I have a mobile phone, I was able to call bink to ask if she could use Maura's car to pick the table up--
and she could!
Of course there was no public phone in sight...
I chatted with the general manager about that (he told me they had 6 café tables left and just want to move them out, hence the mark-down)--he said he'd give up his mobile if we could have pay phones back.
Truly, that was a big reason I got this phone too--there's no way to make calls in public anymore.
So... let's see what's on my desktop...
Oh, here.
This is the most beautiful object I've come across at the thrift store--an antique, oak folding box (stamped "Patented 1889") with dovetail joints. It holds Singer Sewing machine parts (mostly loose-- the hardware that's screwed down could be removed and the box used for anything).
I put it on ebay for $38 (+ shipping)...
It's a pleasure to handle--it unfolds flat, and folds up again with such grace, I pondered buying it myself, but I just don't need another thing... I've brought all sorts of odds and ends home that I will probably take back. I just enjoy handling them for a little while.
Oh! And I found the perfect stuffed sheep for the haruspex project.
It's super cute, as you can see. That could be a problem (don't want to traumatize the Latin students), but I'll make a Velcro opening in the back, for access to take the liver out, so it's not gruesome like slitting open its front.
Also maybe my Latin teacher friend, Amy, can let her students know the sheep volunteered--it was waving its little furry hoof at me wildly. I guess it has a taste for theater.
Here we are sitting at my desk (it really is that much of a mess--or worse--all over the donation areas):
And here's an interesting thing.
This set of works by Carl Jung got donated >
They're very expensive new––and used,
so I thought about putting them on ebay but decided to test the Jungian waters at the store first.
I priced them $5 each––a good deal, but expensive for us––and yesterday the last few sold, to one person. The books would have sold for more online, but I'd rather offer stuff to the locals, if they want it.
And they did!
Finally, a photo I took off my sister's FB---her and my father marching in some goofy parade (forget what for) in Madison. This is the side of my father I liked best--his unabashedly childlike side.
He'd been waging a war on the oregano that had taken over his yard (because he never took care of his yard), so he and his friend & neighbor made up the Oregano Eradication Party--and ran him as candidate for the president of the United States:
––or is it just the brain not wanting to do any heavy lifting, moving images & things into words?
Well, anyway, this morning I'm just going to chat a bit here---I do want to keep up with that.
Here I am sitting out on my back porch with my NEW ceramic-tile café table--photo taken with my laptop--I couldn't even be bothered to get a better photo by futzing with my new iPhone (another new thing my brain is working on--somewhat reluctantly, I have to say):
I had stopped in the big chain grocery store on Saturday to buy some Windex for work (to clean books), and saw these on clearance for $40, down from $160––!!!
Came with two orange, metal chairs too.
You can see why hands-on potters have such a terrible time competing with Big Box makers...
The table & chairs cost only $8 more than the WONDERFUL handmade bee-and-ginko mug I'm holding, which I love and use every morning.
Mug by Potter Miller,
whose blog painefalls.blogspot.com makes me want to write more amusingly about my own life. (I have to accept that's not my style, but I sure do love reading her take on life.)
I've wanted a table just like this for my tiny back porch (really, a big landing) for a long time but they were always too expensive. And too unwieldy---but now that I have a mobile phone, I was able to call bink to ask if she could use Maura's car to pick the table up--
and she could!
Of course there was no public phone in sight...
I chatted with the general manager about that (he told me they had 6 café tables left and just want to move them out, hence the mark-down)--he said he'd give up his mobile if we could have pay phones back.
Truly, that was a big reason I got this phone too--there's no way to make calls in public anymore.
So... let's see what's on my desktop...
Oh, here.
This is the most beautiful object I've come across at the thrift store--an antique, oak folding box (stamped "Patented 1889") with dovetail joints. It holds Singer Sewing machine parts (mostly loose-- the hardware that's screwed down could be removed and the box used for anything).
It's a pleasure to handle--it unfolds flat, and folds up again with such grace, I pondered buying it myself, but I just don't need another thing... I've brought all sorts of odds and ends home that I will probably take back. I just enjoy handling them for a little while.
Oh! And I found the perfect stuffed sheep for the haruspex project.
It's super cute, as you can see. That could be a problem (don't want to traumatize the Latin students), but I'll make a Velcro opening in the back, for access to take the liver out, so it's not gruesome like slitting open its front.
Also maybe my Latin teacher friend, Amy, can let her students know the sheep volunteered--it was waving its little furry hoof at me wildly. I guess it has a taste for theater.
Here we are sitting at my desk (it really is that much of a mess--or worse--all over the donation areas):
And here's an interesting thing. This set of works by Carl Jung got donated >
They're very expensive new––and used,
so I thought about putting them on ebay but decided to test the Jungian waters at the store first.
I priced them $5 each––a good deal, but expensive for us––and yesterday the last few sold, to one person. The books would have sold for more online, but I'd rather offer stuff to the locals, if they want it.
And they did!
Finally, a photo I took off my sister's FB---her and my father marching in some goofy parade (forget what for) in Madison. This is the side of my father I liked best--his unabashedly childlike side.
He'd been waging a war on the oregano that had taken over his yard (because he never took care of his yard), so he and his friend & neighbor made up the Oregano Eradication Party--and ran him as candidate for the president of the United States:
I understand the whole sometimes it is hard to write stuff! I came across a youtube video of an interview with Samuel Freedman, professor at Columbia who apparently has a phenomenal record of students getting published: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPE51pFgi9g In the video he talks about writer's block: to him, it just means he hasn't done enough research so that he can write.
ReplyDeleteLove the idea of the table and wish I had a porch large enough for a small one like that but the idea of it costing less than a hand-crafted mug is sad.
Oregano Eradication Party--hmm now that's a party to stand behind!
Kirsten
Wow great score on the table and chairs!! You put me to shame on writing! I am so far behind on my writing, the entire time I am in the garden or working in the studio I'm secretly blogging in my head. I just found out my iPad (don't have a cell phone) has a recorder to now sounds like I am talking to myself! Summer just so much going on my head is spinning! So great to see you with the mug!!
ReplyDeleteI am more behind the Creeping Charlie Eradication Party or maybe Stomp out the Japanese Beetle Party LOL!
Loving catching up on your writing before I strap on the pruners and head out to the garden!!