An Aries (Who Knows Some Stuff)
Today, I am being an editor. I love this almost as much as writing. Even the business parts are fun because I never, ever forget that someone–a writer and/or a publisher–has entrusted me with a Word Baby. Sometimes that means lots of affection, sometimes a little tough love, and in the best cases, it means dealing with the logistics of taking it from its creator’s hands to the world.
And I never have to pay for its braces or its college tuition. Score!
Prompt from FMS Photo A Day.
Sardines with a salmon backdrop. I make myself eat salmon, but I can’t swallow a sardine. [shudder]
Prompt from FMS Photo A Day. Thanks to Tim for the use of his pantry items.
Today is a stunning day in Houston. Vivid blue skies, moderate temperatures, a strange absence of mosquitos. It’s a great day for: WINDOW WASHING.
Needless to say, Tom is less than delighted. But we’ve broken out the Handi Wipes® and the ammonia and are soldiering on.
Prompt from FMS Photo A Day.
This is the last of my Christmas gift dolls whose photos I’ve shared. Recently David Puterbaugh mailed me the Oscar issue of Entertainment Weekly because he knew I’d be excited to read their tribute to designer Edith Head.
Of all the old movies I love, I’d have to say that Rear Window is the perfect conflux of talent: Alfred Hitchcock as a director, with a cast that includes Jimmy Stewart, Thelma Ritter, Raymond Burr, and the incomparable Grace Kelly. The movie has humor, romance, and suspense, and as if all that weren’t enough, Edith Head did the costumes–as she did for ten more Hitchcock films, and more than 400 other movies for the big screen and television, as well as for several TV series. What a phenomenal career that inspired the style of countless actresses including Elizabeth Taylor, Ava Gardner, and Natalie Wood.
You may recall that I once created my own homage to Edith Head’s fashion based on one of her sketches.
Prompt from FMS Photo A Day.
I had just finished making the salad for tonight’s Craft Night dinner (ha, it’s takeout pizza, but at least I made a salad!) when I remembered what the challenge was for today’s photo. I always think other people’s refrigerator contents are a lot more intriguing than my own very basic stuff. Usually the bottom left drawer is full of fresh vegetables, but it’s time for a trip to the grocery store. My sister bought that bottle of wine (top shelf, left) in October. It still hasn’t been opened. Debby’s coming for a visit soon. Maybe we’ll finally uncork it!
Prompt from FMS Photo A Day.
…all you need.
When I woke up this morning and walked into the kitchen, I found a vase of flowers with a box of candy waiting for me. The candy had a little creature attached. His name tag says he is Cuddle, so I’ve named him Cuddle Russell (it was Russell Stover candy). I shot this photo of those gifts from Tom with the cross-stitch Marika crafted and sent me for Christmas. I’ve been saving it to share on this date. Its rustic frame generally matches one with a moose my mother stitched for me; “Love” will hang next to the moose.
I know there are Valentine’s Day haters and people who call it a Hallmark holiday, commercialized and designed to make alone people lonelier. I think it’s a day less about what you get than what you have–and if that doesn’t include a special someone, it must surely include the love of family, friends, neighbors, animal companions, a deity if you so believe–even the love you feel for nature, art, books…and the Beatles!
Prompt from FMS Photo A Day.
This little ginger shorthair stalked me on my walk today. When I turned suddenly to shoot his photo, he was following so fast that I lost the tip of one foot and part of his tail. He then pretended to be absorbed by something else. Cats crack me up.
Prompt from FMS Photo A Day.
I’m grateful for today’s challenge because I was drowning in files and paperwork and bills. Not only was I paying bills, but I’m separating all of 2012’s nonessential paperwork from the stuff I need for my taxes. I’m hoping by the end of this week, I’ll have everything to the accountant. Taxes are a little more complicated for joint filers when one is self-employed. I organize most things quarterly, but there will always be stuff I can do only after year’s end.
Anyway, I’d probably have forgotten all about lunch, except that I knew it was today’s challenge. So I forced myself to take a break for a BLT (Everybody say it with me: Mmmmm, bacon.), fresh pineapple and grapes, a glass of water, and a mug of green tea–all at my own dining room table. Now it’s back to work for me!
Prompt from FMS Photo A Day.
Margot and Guinness are at the vet this morning, getting their semi-annual checkups. Since Pixie and Penny spent the night with us last night, they were snoozing with me on the bed when I was awakened by a strange and persistent clatter.
I jumped up, grabbed my camera, and opened the front door to shoot the sidewalk leading to the porch. Hail was falling fast and furious, clicking against all the windows and ripping dogs from their dreams.
Prompt from FMS Photo A Day.
How loud clocks can tick when a room is empty, and one is alone!
from Amy Lowell’s poem “The Blue Scarf”
Are children still taught to tell time in the old-fashioned way now that they have so many electronic devices?
We have clocks visible in every room of the house. In the guest room, we have an old wall clock of my mother’s that ticks so loudly Debby once complained about it. In our bedroom, we have a digital clock on the dresser and Tom has a Yoda clock on his nightstand. We rarely set an alarm because we have two of them whose hollow stomachs don’t allow anyone to sleep in. In the bathroom, we have a wall clock that was a gift from Tom’s grandma, I think. In the living room, every TV device visually blares the time, always. In the office, I can see my computer clock and the clock on the stove. Also in the kitchen, we have a clock we received as a wedding gift when decorative geese were all the rage–it still works, and I’m sure geese and ducks will come back into style one day.
The one pictured above is in the dining room, a gift from Tim that fits in with all the other sunflower decor in there. I can hear it ticking, too, when I’m sitting in a silent house sewing or painting at the dining room table. I’ve known that feeling Amy Lowell describes–when a house is too empty and a clock is too loud. But with the dogs snoozing near me, it’s more a companionable than a lonely sound.
Prompt from FMS Photo A Day.