sand animation from ukraine's got talent......

ok, so so this piece is quite moving...i cried and i do not even speak russian.....

waiting on the rain.....

ok, so....i had big plans to load up the last of the bricks from my secret source....and begin the next phase of gardening expansion.....which includes digging up a bit more of the lawn (such as it is...) transferring plants from poorly lit areas into the new sunnier spot...and then leveling out the shady spot to pasve with the bricks......sounds easy, right?.....i could go on out to start digging, a task made easier by hours of rain....but i really should get dressed and do some grocery shopping before i transform myself into a muddy mess in the name of progress.......

up for auction?

ok, so this still-life by edward burra is up for auction in the uk.....i judge a painting by the simplest of criteria....whether i would hang it over my sofa......i think the artist did a fine job on the soup terrine, and i would display it proudly.....too bad the asking price is above the $15 i paid for the cezanne print currently holding court above my sofa.....

estrogen withdrawal

ok, so in studying for yet another semester of lecturing on all issues sexual....i came across the term estrogen withdrawal as a nicer way to describe menopause......the term fits just fine for my purposes......by the way....talking about sex is far more enjoyable than talking about swine flu......who knew it would come to this?

ok, so in a perfect world this would link you to Susan Boyle covering Wild Horses......by the Rolling Stones.....her version is addicting...

too much sun....

ok, so i was on duty at 7:30 am yesterday morning at the water and snack station at the burgin run....the morning was chilly and i was delighted to find a jacket in the trunk of my car.....at some point the race organizer sent her elderly mother over to sit with me 'in the sun'......yes, the sun was shining but i still felt a bit cold even with my outerwear.....fast forward to 10 am when i dashed home to drive my youngest child to her cross country meet at the stadium......the jacket stayed in teh car because the sun really was shining a bit brighter....but at no point during the 11-1:30 timeslot did i feel the least bit overheated.....granted, i was kept occupied during in between races with earnest updates with friends i rarely see in between sports seasons.....especially now that we follow the gold and black schedule rather than the blue one.......imagine my surprise later when my spouse came home and exclaimed 'honey, did you forget to use suncreen?'.......sunscreen never occurs to me when i am cold, BTW.......i had somehow managed to miss all mirrors as i caught up on chores before supper..... red raccoon eyes where my glasses shieled part of my face....and brilliantly burnt shoulders and neck.....yikes.....it is not as if i have been living in a cave all summer....i do sit and read the paper on the back deck when ever i get the chance.....hopefully this will fade by monday......one hates to flaunt one's disregard for the self-care in a public health workplace.....

a glass half-full.....

ok, so....blogging has taken a backseat to facebook, mostly because facebook features wordgames, but i still find blogging not only pleasurable, but priceless for its reliable access to details about my past.....when i cannot recall a recipe i search for it.....voila....same for trips taken, movies seens, opinions voices, etc....as i review this short holiday week, i am grateful to recall more good things than bad...a visa that will likely come through, the (sizable) medical bill that is being covered at long last, the usual pound and pedal crowd on labor day saturday, the shakertown lunch bikeride, the sunny day cd that my eldest child gave to me to lift my spirits on non-sunny days...yeah, the week had its low points, but i simply cannot recall any of those moments just now...my glass is at least half full rather than half-empty....the glass will be completely full when 4:30 comes, by the way.....

al franken draws map of usa from memory at minnesota state fair

ok, so.....wow!,,,,,

the wedding with too many printed purses

ok, so......i dreamed that our friend the l.o. got married last night......with a slightly russian flavor....it was in a big tent out at the restored shaker village....and at one point the friends of the bride and groom were dressed as russian peasants and did russian folk dances in lieu of an orchestral entrance......kinda like the wedding dance youtube clip only cozier.....and then i reached for my purse to get out my camera, and i could not find my purse.....and even though the wedding was not yet over, i started in searching for it....and there were many styles of sizes of this maker of cloth purses.....and i must have touched every one before i eventually found my own under my own chair.....and then i opted to sit inside the stone building rather than under the tent for the reception....at a table with scholarly friends of the family....and there was a department head who was admonishing teaching staff about the number of parties held by the department versusd actual seminars......and i moved my stuff, and my husband's stuff- i was saving him a seat....and it was then that i realized that i had not told him that i had found my purse, and he came in with the cosmetic bag that matches my purse only for me to tell him to take it back where he found it because it wasn't mine......sadly, my dream scenario failed to cover essentials such as cake and reception savories...the important details....ah well......

pink and green jammies....

ok, so my dream sequences were quite vivid last evening despite a fitful tennis-like sleep...hot-cold-hot-cold......the greens were brilliant, including the grass as perfect as befitting a putting green that was in my face as i tripped and fell under a very low-growing tree.....very green, very short, straight to the point of looking fake...grass.....i was wearing pink striped pajamas with a green and pink paisley robe- both in cotton....and i had just left a movie theatre rest room- a dwarf and his normal sized children were coming in as i was leaving...and i did not actually see a movie...just stopped by to use the facilities.....at some point i was in a waiting room, with a mother-in-law like person telling me something profound about her son...and then i was back in the last bedroom i used before going off to college, except that the bed was in an impossible position for the room in question.....and i was very cold.....which must have corresponded to the time i woke up very cold and pulled up all of the covers i have previously thrown off.....ah well......i can remember asking the owner of the green grassy yard with the low growing tree about the exquisite lawn.....and he showed me his chickens, and how he liquifies the droppings to spray on his yard, and trees.....maybe this is a sign that i need to buy chickens........and pink-striped pajamas with green and pink paisley robe....

a good night's sleep....

ok, so the cool evenings added onto my evening walking schedule and well.....i wish i knew what contributed to my nearly perfect sleeping session......but i woke up only when my spouse croawled out at 5:14 am to run....and i do not remember anything else til the alarm went off at 6:30........i did allow myself a few minutes to adjust to the reality of having to actually get out of the cocoon....and then a few minutes more to listen to the piece on sheila lukins, the co-author of the silver palate cookbook series that i have worn out since the early eighties......if ever i were to cook myself through a book....i suppose that should be the one, as there are stillr recipes that i have every intention of preparing but have not yet found the time....like a 3 layer vegetable terrine......i own the correct pan......own not being the same thing as knowing where it has been stashed.....maybe the enxt meatless monday i can manage to pull it off......here's to you, sheila....