Thought snippets

• It's always after I polish off the ten marshmallows I start to think it was a bad idea.

• I've been reading about inflation and deflation. I should stop that.

• If you suffer from an overabundance of love for humanity, I urge you to ride King County Metro Transit during commuter hour. Problem solved.

• Seriously. Why did I eat all those marshmallows.

More things I don't know

I'm sort of getting the hang of this house stuff. Last night I vacuumed the stairs. Tonight I mowed the lawn. Let's all practice mass hypnosis and pretend I made a dent.

It occurred to me today I have no idea what the word "rhetoric" means. That should probably embarrass me, but it's never to late to learn, right? I found this site by Robert A. Harris with lots of definitions and examples. After reading for awhile, I ordered a used copy of his book.

Seems like I should have left high school or college with at least a rudimentary knowledge of what the word means. When I started reading about the different rhetorical devices it was like a light bulb came on. That's what's been missing: understanding, really understanding, the structure of sentences and the effect of stacking words together.

This is what I need to advance as a writer. Intuition only gets you so far.

Two book recommendations

I've been reading about happiness. About a choice of life. Specifically "The History of Rasselas: Prince of Abissinia," by Samuel Johnson.

It's a good book. Short. Satire. Came out about the same time as Candide.

I've also been reading "Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion." It's well done. An easy read with insight into human nature, and the ways our natures can be manipulated for better or worse.

Sick day, call the wahhhmbulance

I woke up Saturday morning with a stiff neck. It was bad this time, and I've spent most of the last couple of days flinching or propped up with a heating pad. There were grand plans for the weekend, but mostly I just watched Jer replace the light fixtures in the hallway and hang curtains in two rooms. I read. I watched TV. I tried not to move too much.

I suspect this happened because I haven't been exercising. This is the first sign, the next will be when body parts start falling off.

Jer set up a new media machine (with Internet) next to the TV, so we've been able to watch Hulu at will. It's been great. We were able to watch Rick Steves' Europe episodes of Paris, Rome, and Prague. Then I went onto YouTube and watched some language intros for Czech and French. It's amazing what you can access for free. In related news, Czech is hard. Doh-bree den.

Oh, there goes a toe. I should probably walk around the block.

That's Me in the Corner ... of that Music Video

The internet is amazing. With just a few clicks I can finally show you photographic evidence of that music video I was in that one time. Look at me, pumping my fist at the heavens, rocking out.

You can't see him any better, but Jer is standing behind me playing the role of "Best Sport in the World."

That was a good day.

Only the TV pins me down

One of the nicest things about living in Seattle is that when the sun comes out, you appreciate it. All the green plants glow, the birds sing, squares of light magically appear on your carpet -- which the cats, if you have them, find and collapse on -- and the sky turns a fabulous shade of blue.

Of course I'm sitting inside, watching "House Hunters International." That makes sense.

I'm hoping today we get around to hanging a couple of paintings. I hesitate only because they're in sections (one painting is 3 canvases and the other is 5 canvases) and will be hung fairly high on the walls. We're waiting on two other paintings and once they're all up I'll take a picture or two. I've read it's preferable to hang art at eye-level, but I will not be pinned down by such crazy conventions.

Saturdays are my oasis. Everything is possible.

Design-near, Design-far

I've discovered Hulu Desktop and it's fantastic. (Special thanks to Jer.) I'm watching the last few episodes of the 4th season of HGTV's Design Star. We got rid of cable around the time I started getting into it, and even though I know who won, I'm still excited to finally see it.

It doesn't hurt that we just received several boxes from Overstock.com today, including some new curtains. Whee! Curtains.

Getting excited about curtains cements my stodgy old grownupness, doesn't it. Well, tough.

One of the crazy things about having a house is that I can CHANGE stuff. In the decade or so of renting apartments I never even painted a wall. I didn't bother accessorizing. What's the point? I wasn't going to make improvements to someone else's income property.

And now I hover around the discount home web sites, order things on sale that arrive in discrete cardboard boxes, annoying Jer with their arrival.

Now maybe one of these days we'll replace the hand-me-down furniture with something made in this century. A stodgy old grownup can dream.

They say it's raining I don't see

Today was unsatisfactory.

I could go into details but what's the point. After that... situational stuff... I worked on one of my short writing pieces and picked a place to send it to. I'll wait until tomorrow to send it off, and that's a start. It's kind of a strange piece. I changed its name and tightened the text. The last time I worked on it I had a different last name. This place says it's open to the crazy. Let's see if they mean it.

Oh good news, everyone. Match.com has an unsolicited match for me. Hello, spam.