Random Play

You know, like songs on an iPod but with thoughts in my head rather than tunes.

First, apologies. I went AWOL there for a while. It’s CRAZY here and I suspect my usual daily/weekly updates will continue to be somewhat haphazard. I have less than 2 weeks to move a collection of 3500 objects – with NO staff. Mm. Should be fun. Any bets on when the magic wand will appear? I’m hoping for the third act. I’m luring volunteers with fresh baked goods so… fingers crossed!

- My friend Miss Amazing told me the best story yesterday. She has an elderly relative, we’ll call her ‘Aunt Mabel,’ who lives in Kentucky. Mabel had a hearing aid that wasn’t always perfectly ‘tuned’ and whenever it hummed or whistled Mabel was convinced she was being haunted by a ghost named Spit. (This is about the point in the story when I fell in love with Mabel. Anyone whose personal ghost is named Spit is good people.) Mabel’s neighbors eventually complained against her because Mabel’s form of exorcism was to blow a loud coach’s whistle whenever she felt Spit was being bothersome, day or night. She apologized to the neighbors but really couldn’t be expected to put up with a ghost in her apartment. She was sure they’d understand. Eventually Mabel was moved to a new residence – and coincidentally got a new hearing aid – where she lives Spit- and whistle- free. I understand that Mabel is a pretty good clogger.

- Those of you who have never been to my office don’t know that I have a Trigger Fish on my wall. Former staff members in the Collections Department named him Mr. Chompers because he has a prim little fish-mouth full of the meanest looking teeth. I’m quite fond of him.

- I’m a 3^rd generation CBS soaps fan. Both of my grandmothers watched The Young & The Restless and As the World Turns. As did my mom, my sister, my cousin and I. I still tune in now and then, although not nearly as often as I did when I was younger. Some things never change: the Brooke+Ridge+Other Guy love triangles on Bold & the Beautiful, the 4^th of July barbecue on Guiding Light, the endless Snyder clan on ATWT, and also the perennial one-actress-two-roles gambit. Once upon a time it was Julianne Moore playing twins Sabrina and Franny, or Martha Byrne playing Lily and Rose. Now it’s the Landon girl playing the ‘pretty singer’ and ‘weird frumpy girl’ versions of her character. It’s nice to count on a few constants.

- I’m going on vacation in two weeks. To Hawaii. To visit with conveniently located family members. I’m so excited about having a holiday that I’m dreaming of Hawaiian shirts and macadamia nuts. I haven’t taken a real break since December 2005 and I can feel a giant tidal wave of anticipation building up. Well, Aloooooooo-HA!

- Last night I had to climb across two cars to get to my laundry. Seriously. My landlord owns the house across the street as well as the one I live in, and the laundry facilities are in the basement across the street. I put a load in the washing machine. When I went back to move it to the dryer the entrance to the back yard was completely blocked by two cars parked on the driveway. I couldn’t slip past either car – they were too close to each other and to trees and fences for me to fit through IN THE DARK. So I scooted over the hood of one car, while stepping on the bumper of the other, and prayed neither had a touch-sensitive car alarm. That would have given me a heart attack. Fortunately one of the cars had been moved by the time the dryer cycle finished.

- Book recommendation: Black Swan Green by David Mitchell. Best novel I’ve read this summer. It’s about a year in the life of a 13 year old boy in Britain in 1982. He’s mystified by boys, girls, his parents, himself. He’s a poet, he’s a teenager, he’s a brilliant protagonist. Highly recommend it.

- Going to a Red Sox game tonight! Wohoo! Brought my B cap and will polish up my Neil Diamond lyrics on the way to Fenway.