Sunday, April 18, 2004
long time, no blog!
so many mundane details to tell you about, so little typing time! okay, i'll just get started. glee club was great as usual. even though we have three season-ending concerts looming in a few weeks, our fearless leader, bert, kept things moving by using his sense of humor, even though it's a stressful time (we have *a lot* of music this time!). and here's a surprise. instead of my usual trek to walgreens after glee club, i went to fred meyer. yes, that's correct, no typing error here. you should know by now that living in the fast lane in ballard means i will, from time to time, shock you with news like this.
as i was at the checkout counter with organizational tools such as cd albums and coat hangers, the person in front of me was caught shoplifting. his accomplice, name of janet, hit the store before him, and loaded a bunch of expensive items into a cheap plastic tool box. he then entered the store and attempted to purchase the toolbox, which was, of course, much heavier than it should have been. the fred meyer clerk opened the box, as is store policy when there are suspicious circumstances, and found the (potentially) stolen items.
at this point the man began screaming and creating a huge fuss. the manager was called over, and he allowed the "customer" to get a refund for the price of the empty toolbox. the cashier was infuriated. i told her to take deep breaths. the manager said store policy dictated that in these situations, the customer always gets a refund and a free pass out of the store. a phone call then came from the second floor of the store, where the man's accomplish (remember janet?) had been caught stuffing items into other containers.
after a bit, the cashier downstairs calmed down, and said that since she found the items stuffed in the plastic toolbox, they were, according to store policy, now her property. when i left, she was excitedly picking up the toolbox and examining its contents. sometimes it pays to take a walk on the wild side and head to fred meyer on a tuesday evening.
the truck's engine light came on again on the way back from fred meyer. after the light came on the week before, on the way back from band, dan put oil in the engine. this time he put radiator fluid in the radiator. i took it for a short test spin sunday night, and no lights came on, so that's a positive sign.
no band news to report this week, because i slept through it (ooops and drat). oh, back to fred meyer for a minute. on the way back, it was very rainy and windy, and cherry blossoms were madly swirling on the wet streets. parked cars looked like they were covered with measles, with pink blossoms stuck all over them.
i saw the podiatrist last tuesday, and she suggested taking my ankle boot off for an hour a day and just wearing the neoprene uber-brace. i tried this the next day and regretted it. so i'm back to wearing the boot full-time. i can tell from the pain that now is not the right time to do without the boot. i am going to see a physical therapist tomorrow for my ankle. in fact, he's the same one i saw for months for my back injuries. i finally was able to stop seeing him and do the exercises at home. i'm hoping with the ankle that he can show me what i need to do, so i won't have to keep going back for months again. the PT place is in ballard, only about a mile from here, and everyone in the office is just great, so that's a good thing. i'm not so sure about my podiatrist. she contradicts herself, and has some other slightly unsettling habits, like not being able to correctly bill me. i've been keeping track of my bills (which are pretty much impossible to decipher), and saw enough errors in the last bill that i was able to reduce my payment from $205 to $11.90!
dan brought home a couple of those doughnuts that have achieved celebrity status across parts of the country: krispie kreme. mine was tasty, everything i expected. but oy, the sugar! i think it'll be a few years until i'm ready for another one.
two pieces of news on the all-important futon front: we gave away the futon mattress that a friend had abandoned in our basement close to 20 years ago. and the new futon mattress, frame, and cover that i'd ordered have arrived. while i was asleep, dan spent three hours putting it together. he kept track of the time by the number and length of the cd's he listened to while assembling it. it's really lovely.
we tried giving away the '40s sofa that the futon replaced through freecycle, but only one person was interested. she likes vintage furniture, as do i (i really don't want to get rid of the sofa, but comfort is a huge issue). i must say once i cleaned up the sofa and removed enough hair from it to create an entirely new medium-sized cat, it looked pretty good. we did get the names of two places that take vintage furniture, restore it, and then re-sell it. the problem, of course, is transportation. at 78", it's pretty big and heavy.
i was (you'll never guess this) asleep when our one prospective sofa-taker came to the house. i'd been corresponding with her through email and noted we had similar interests. it turns out she's the famous kelly lyles, whose "leopard bernstein" art car is a seattle landmark (see the URL on the side of my blog titled "kelly, leopard bernstein, & art cars." i'd met her about ten years ago at an art-car convention at the seattle center. even dan was thrilled that she'd parked leopard bernstein in front of our house. our brush with greatness!
i dragged dan to see a *very* different movie saturday night, called "hukkle." i'm going to try to insert a description of it from the internet movie database here, because it's almost impossible to describe:Hukkle
i don't think dan was as taken with it as i was. i just keep thinking about the amazing sounds and images in it. (the "check other user comments" link on the main movie page contains some interesting observations.)
our one-eyed white cat seems to have gone crazy. last week he started standing in the hallway making horrendous, indescribable (and very loud) sounds. i got a cardboard box for him, lined it with recycled paper, and placed it by the chair in the bedroom. he immediately climbed in and ceased all loud utterings. now, as long as he's in the box, which is at least 90% of the time, he fine. out of the box, craziness sets in again.
lastly, we got a call from one of the new residents of our rental house. she wanted us to have an exterminator come over and get rid of the ants that had materialized in their house when the weather got warm. (we've had the same problem for years, and use ant traps, citrus spray, and anything else that makes a dent in the ant population.) dan talked to her partner, later, and he didn't seem to think the problem was so bad. dan went to the store and bought a gift for them--ant traps and citrus spray. we've heard nothing since then, so maybe things are a bit better over there.
last but not least, dan turned 50 on sunday. he can now join me as an AARP member! in the evening he went to a new, for lack of a better term, book club. it differs in a conventional book club in that its members do not read the same books, but bring in the various books they are currently reading. it's a brand-new club, formed from people who saw the notice on craig's list and wanted to join. dan said people just sat around at the coffee shop for a while, because nobody knew anybody else and nobody was in charge. but they finally got together and met. they're meeting again in two weeks.
okay, *this* is really the last thing in this post. dan is volunteering for the seattle film festival that starts next month. he will usher for three movies, so he'll get to see those three movies for free, and then get free tickets for three other movies of his choice. should be a fun experience.
as i was at the checkout counter with organizational tools such as cd albums and coat hangers, the person in front of me was caught shoplifting. his accomplice, name of janet, hit the store before him, and loaded a bunch of expensive items into a cheap plastic tool box. he then entered the store and attempted to purchase the toolbox, which was, of course, much heavier than it should have been. the fred meyer clerk opened the box, as is store policy when there are suspicious circumstances, and found the (potentially) stolen items.
at this point the man began screaming and creating a huge fuss. the manager was called over, and he allowed the "customer" to get a refund for the price of the empty toolbox. the cashier was infuriated. i told her to take deep breaths. the manager said store policy dictated that in these situations, the customer always gets a refund and a free pass out of the store. a phone call then came from the second floor of the store, where the man's accomplish (remember janet?) had been caught stuffing items into other containers.
after a bit, the cashier downstairs calmed down, and said that since she found the items stuffed in the plastic toolbox, they were, according to store policy, now her property. when i left, she was excitedly picking up the toolbox and examining its contents. sometimes it pays to take a walk on the wild side and head to fred meyer on a tuesday evening.
the truck's engine light came on again on the way back from fred meyer. after the light came on the week before, on the way back from band, dan put oil in the engine. this time he put radiator fluid in the radiator. i took it for a short test spin sunday night, and no lights came on, so that's a positive sign.
no band news to report this week, because i slept through it (ooops and drat). oh, back to fred meyer for a minute. on the way back, it was very rainy and windy, and cherry blossoms were madly swirling on the wet streets. parked cars looked like they were covered with measles, with pink blossoms stuck all over them.
i saw the podiatrist last tuesday, and she suggested taking my ankle boot off for an hour a day and just wearing the neoprene uber-brace. i tried this the next day and regretted it. so i'm back to wearing the boot full-time. i can tell from the pain that now is not the right time to do without the boot. i am going to see a physical therapist tomorrow for my ankle. in fact, he's the same one i saw for months for my back injuries. i finally was able to stop seeing him and do the exercises at home. i'm hoping with the ankle that he can show me what i need to do, so i won't have to keep going back for months again. the PT place is in ballard, only about a mile from here, and everyone in the office is just great, so that's a good thing. i'm not so sure about my podiatrist. she contradicts herself, and has some other slightly unsettling habits, like not being able to correctly bill me. i've been keeping track of my bills (which are pretty much impossible to decipher), and saw enough errors in the last bill that i was able to reduce my payment from $205 to $11.90!
dan brought home a couple of those doughnuts that have achieved celebrity status across parts of the country: krispie kreme. mine was tasty, everything i expected. but oy, the sugar! i think it'll be a few years until i'm ready for another one.
two pieces of news on the all-important futon front: we gave away the futon mattress that a friend had abandoned in our basement close to 20 years ago. and the new futon mattress, frame, and cover that i'd ordered have arrived. while i was asleep, dan spent three hours putting it together. he kept track of the time by the number and length of the cd's he listened to while assembling it. it's really lovely.
we tried giving away the '40s sofa that the futon replaced through freecycle, but only one person was interested. she likes vintage furniture, as do i (i really don't want to get rid of the sofa, but comfort is a huge issue). i must say once i cleaned up the sofa and removed enough hair from it to create an entirely new medium-sized cat, it looked pretty good. we did get the names of two places that take vintage furniture, restore it, and then re-sell it. the problem, of course, is transportation. at 78", it's pretty big and heavy.
i was (you'll never guess this) asleep when our one prospective sofa-taker came to the house. i'd been corresponding with her through email and noted we had similar interests. it turns out she's the famous kelly lyles, whose "leopard bernstein" art car is a seattle landmark (see the URL on the side of my blog titled "kelly, leopard bernstein, & art cars." i'd met her about ten years ago at an art-car convention at the seattle center. even dan was thrilled that she'd parked leopard bernstein in front of our house. our brush with greatness!
i dragged dan to see a *very* different movie saturday night, called "hukkle." i'm going to try to insert a description of it from the internet movie database here, because it's almost impossible to describe:
i don't think dan was as taken with it as i was. i just keep thinking about the amazing sounds and images in it. (the "check other user comments" link on the main movie page contains some interesting observations.)
our one-eyed white cat seems to have gone crazy. last week he started standing in the hallway making horrendous, indescribable (and very loud) sounds. i got a cardboard box for him, lined it with recycled paper, and placed it by the chair in the bedroom. he immediately climbed in and ceased all loud utterings. now, as long as he's in the box, which is at least 90% of the time, he fine. out of the box, craziness sets in again.
lastly, we got a call from one of the new residents of our rental house. she wanted us to have an exterminator come over and get rid of the ants that had materialized in their house when the weather got warm. (we've had the same problem for years, and use ant traps, citrus spray, and anything else that makes a dent in the ant population.) dan talked to her partner, later, and he didn't seem to think the problem was so bad. dan went to the store and bought a gift for them--ant traps and citrus spray. we've heard nothing since then, so maybe things are a bit better over there.
last but not least, dan turned 50 on sunday. he can now join me as an AARP member! in the evening he went to a new, for lack of a better term, book club. it differs in a conventional book club in that its members do not read the same books, but bring in the various books they are currently reading. it's a brand-new club, formed from people who saw the notice on craig's list and wanted to join. dan said people just sat around at the coffee shop for a while, because nobody knew anybody else and nobody was in charge. but they finally got together and met. they're meeting again in two weeks.
okay, *this* is really the last thing in this post. dan is volunteering for the seattle film festival that starts next month. he will usher for three movies, so he'll get to see those three movies for free, and then get free tickets for three other movies of his choice. should be a fun experience.
Sunday, April 11, 2004
blog-o-rama!
long time, no blog. lots of things to chatter about, but never enough time to sit down and type away. so here are some ballard doings, pretty much in random order:
i've been very good since our big declutter weekend and have continued to not re-clutter anywhere in the house. i actually have gone through some things and gotten rid of more stuff (mainly papers, papers, papers). i've got a list of about eight things to give away (small things from the kitchen up to a futon mattress and a couch). i know these things will go quickly on the seattle freecycle email list.
as a reward for undergoing our grueling decluttering weekend, dan and i have ordered a futon couch to take the place of the extremely uncomfortable couch in our den. the couch is cool-looking, from the fifties or the sixties, but oy! sitting on it has become more and more of an....um...pain in the butt.
so i spent hours online looking at futons, mattresses, and futon covers. hours! i had to look at every last option. i was all done except choosing the fabric cover. i'd narrowed it down to three from about 100. i asked dan for his opinion, and he quickly said, "oh, that one is fine," pointing at the first pattern i showed him. when i told him low long i'd spent choosing everything, he quite sensibly said, "you know, you don't have to look at *all* the options." something that never occurred to me! anyway, it will be neat when our futon couch arrives (except for the "some assembly required" part).
we finally figured out why my computer kept turning off. it turned out not to be a faulty power-cord connection, but an overheating problem. the bottom left side of my computer gets too hot when i have it on my lap, so now i position my laptop so it hangs off the left side of my lap and gets some air. it's sort of awkward, but at least i'm up and running again.
it seems as though dan's caulking job around the soap holder of our rental house's upstairs bathroom did the trick. (yay!)
friday we got a new garbage disposal for *our* house. dan didn't really care either way, but i really do like the convenience of a disposal.
last week dan and i saw a very fake-looking image on tv of the space needle falling and crushing people. it turns out nbc is going to air an movie sometime this month or next, called "10.5." what we'd seen was a scene from that movie. about 15-20 years ago, there was an april fool's broadcast of a local comedy show that showed the space needle falling down. that low-budget effort was far more realistic than this upcoming nbc movie! i've forgotten the reason why, but to use the space needle's image, you need to request permission; it's illegal not to. so, the space needle corporation may end up suing the company producing the tv movie.
i've been driving our old bronco around seattle (always interesting driving a truck with a trailer hitch around a city with narrow streets and limited parking). i've found if i drive my little honda, the boot i wear on my right leg (to protect my torn ligaments) can hit the gas, clutch, and brake at the same time--not optimal! the truck is automatic, and the space around the gas and brake pedals is much larger. tuesday i see the podiatrist again to see how things are going and what the next step (so to speak) is. i'd really like to be able to take walks around the neighborhood, especially with the nice weather we've had the last few days.
the only downside to the clear, warm days is the high allergy index. i sneeze, my eyes itch, my ears plug up. dan coughs. we're quite a pair.
i went to see a strange movie from japan at the little theater across town. dan had driven over earlier to see the movie before it. it turns out both movies were just out-and-out awful, so dan left part-way through the second feature. i stuck it out, sort of forced into a strange state of inertia through the sheer awfulness of the movie (and it got worse as it went along). driving back was the nicest thing about the evening. i always enjoy the bumpy and winding seattle streets (each street with its own idiosyncrasies). i was listening to a cd of chrissie hynde and the pretenders (always a good choice for driving a small car around seattle neighborhoods). last but not least, i was in third gear. my very favorite gear. (this was, by the way, the last time i drove my honda while accessorized by my ankle boot.)
i started tracking our finances again this month. i do it in a really low-tech way: i write everything down on one piece of paper. dan has become very good at leaving receipts out for me. speaking of monetary matters, we finally got my late father's 2003 tax papers to his accountant. even though he died on november 30th of 2002, it took awhile to transfer and close out his investments. the same is true of my late mother's testamentary trust, which was dispersed when my father died
last tuesday at glee-club rehearsal, i volunteered for a solo within one of the gilbert and sullivan pieces we're doing. bert, our fearless leader and my friend, reminded me that i had to really belt it out (i tend to sing rather softly, primarily due to lack of technique). so, i told him he could replace me this tuesday if i don't project enough. i've been practicing, so we'll see what ends up happening.
band rehearsal thursday was good. i wore another pair of pajama pants (they fit nicely over my big old ankle boot), much to the delight of my fellow third-clarinetist, cara, who is 17 years old. so next week, we are going to both wear pajama pants to rehearsal. i do like that about band: pretty much every age group is represented among the members. i also have a part to a very hard piece of music where i am the only person on the part. (the other two people who usually play third clarinet with me have a fourth clarinet part, while i have the sole third clarinet part.) once i got past one run-through, where i felt like a confused lemming, i was able to strike out on my own successfully.
last, and perhaps, least, i just ordered two cd's from amazon. i don't do that too much (although i have a huge wishlist of cd's i would like). i'm getting ron isley of the isley brothers singing burt bacharach songs (he makes "raindrops keep fallin' on my head" into something i almost cried over when i first heard it). now, *that's* talent! the second cd is a sort of punk band, the distillers. i think dan will like the distillers, too. sort of an apt name, because the one song i heard was pretty straight-ahead, no-frills punk-rock.
i've been very good since our big declutter weekend and have continued to not re-clutter anywhere in the house. i actually have gone through some things and gotten rid of more stuff (mainly papers, papers, papers). i've got a list of about eight things to give away (small things from the kitchen up to a futon mattress and a couch). i know these things will go quickly on the seattle freecycle email list.
as a reward for undergoing our grueling decluttering weekend, dan and i have ordered a futon couch to take the place of the extremely uncomfortable couch in our den. the couch is cool-looking, from the fifties or the sixties, but oy! sitting on it has become more and more of an....um...pain in the butt.
so i spent hours online looking at futons, mattresses, and futon covers. hours! i had to look at every last option. i was all done except choosing the fabric cover. i'd narrowed it down to three from about 100. i asked dan for his opinion, and he quickly said, "oh, that one is fine," pointing at the first pattern i showed him. when i told him low long i'd spent choosing everything, he quite sensibly said, "you know, you don't have to look at *all* the options." something that never occurred to me! anyway, it will be neat when our futon couch arrives (except for the "some assembly required" part).
we finally figured out why my computer kept turning off. it turned out not to be a faulty power-cord connection, but an overheating problem. the bottom left side of my computer gets too hot when i have it on my lap, so now i position my laptop so it hangs off the left side of my lap and gets some air. it's sort of awkward, but at least i'm up and running again.
it seems as though dan's caulking job around the soap holder of our rental house's upstairs bathroom did the trick. (yay!)
friday we got a new garbage disposal for *our* house. dan didn't really care either way, but i really do like the convenience of a disposal.
last week dan and i saw a very fake-looking image on tv of the space needle falling and crushing people. it turns out nbc is going to air an movie sometime this month or next, called "10.5." what we'd seen was a scene from that movie. about 15-20 years ago, there was an april fool's broadcast of a local comedy show that showed the space needle falling down. that low-budget effort was far more realistic than this upcoming nbc movie! i've forgotten the reason why, but to use the space needle's image, you need to request permission; it's illegal not to. so, the space needle corporation may end up suing the company producing the tv movie.
i've been driving our old bronco around seattle (always interesting driving a truck with a trailer hitch around a city with narrow streets and limited parking). i've found if i drive my little honda, the boot i wear on my right leg (to protect my torn ligaments) can hit the gas, clutch, and brake at the same time--not optimal! the truck is automatic, and the space around the gas and brake pedals is much larger. tuesday i see the podiatrist again to see how things are going and what the next step (so to speak) is. i'd really like to be able to take walks around the neighborhood, especially with the nice weather we've had the last few days.
the only downside to the clear, warm days is the high allergy index. i sneeze, my eyes itch, my ears plug up. dan coughs. we're quite a pair.
i went to see a strange movie from japan at the little theater across town. dan had driven over earlier to see the movie before it. it turns out both movies were just out-and-out awful, so dan left part-way through the second feature. i stuck it out, sort of forced into a strange state of inertia through the sheer awfulness of the movie (and it got worse as it went along). driving back was the nicest thing about the evening. i always enjoy the bumpy and winding seattle streets (each street with its own idiosyncrasies). i was listening to a cd of chrissie hynde and the pretenders (always a good choice for driving a small car around seattle neighborhoods). last but not least, i was in third gear. my very favorite gear. (this was, by the way, the last time i drove my honda while accessorized by my ankle boot.)
i started tracking our finances again this month. i do it in a really low-tech way: i write everything down on one piece of paper. dan has become very good at leaving receipts out for me. speaking of monetary matters, we finally got my late father's 2003 tax papers to his accountant. even though he died on november 30th of 2002, it took awhile to transfer and close out his investments. the same is true of my late mother's testamentary trust, which was dispersed when my father died
last tuesday at glee-club rehearsal, i volunteered for a solo within one of the gilbert and sullivan pieces we're doing. bert, our fearless leader and my friend, reminded me that i had to really belt it out (i tend to sing rather softly, primarily due to lack of technique). so, i told him he could replace me this tuesday if i don't project enough. i've been practicing, so we'll see what ends up happening.
band rehearsal thursday was good. i wore another pair of pajama pants (they fit nicely over my big old ankle boot), much to the delight of my fellow third-clarinetist, cara, who is 17 years old. so next week, we are going to both wear pajama pants to rehearsal. i do like that about band: pretty much every age group is represented among the members. i also have a part to a very hard piece of music where i am the only person on the part. (the other two people who usually play third clarinet with me have a fourth clarinet part, while i have the sole third clarinet part.) once i got past one run-through, where i felt like a confused lemming, i was able to strike out on my own successfully.
last, and perhaps, least, i just ordered two cd's from amazon. i don't do that too much (although i have a huge wishlist of cd's i would like). i'm getting ron isley of the isley brothers singing burt bacharach songs (he makes "raindrops keep fallin' on my head" into something i almost cried over when i first heard it). now, *that's* talent! the second cd is a sort of punk band, the distillers. i think dan will like the distillers, too. sort of an apt name, because the one song i heard was pretty straight-ahead, no-frills punk-rock.
Monday, April 05, 2004
with a blog in my heart...
More mundane stuff excerpted from my mile-a-minute ballard existence. I stayed up all night the other day, so I could get a fasting blood draw at 7-8am (it had to be in that time frame, or I never would have bopped down to downtown ballard at such a seldom experienced--pour moi--time o' day).
Additionally, I wore loose gray pajama pants decorated with a plethora of cats singing in rowboats. It worked for me. As I walked up to the medical center, I saw the staff just arriving at their offices. They were all looking out their windows at my attire. I could almost see little thought bubbles above their heads, filled with phrases such as THAT'S JUST NOT RIGHT...THIS IS BALLARD...IT'S BROAD DAYLIGHT...CATS ON PANTS?...SINGING CATS WHO ROW IN BOATS?...HERE IN OUR BALLARD PARKING LOT?
After frightening the office workers at the medical center, I had a successful blood draw, came back home, unwound a bit, and went to sleep. Woke up late that evening (yeah, yeah, I know) and rushed off to band practice. Very stressed and tired. But I played really well at band, so you can never predict these things.
I love when we're playing a piece of music, and out of your peripheral vision, you can see the fingers of the other clarinetists in your section moving in precisely the same patterns. I just can't get over how absolutely amazing that is, and how we all pretty much take it for granted. The individual band members are all such different people, with different lives and different skill levels. (along with so many other variables, such as: what did each of us have for dinner, how were our days, do some of us have children, did someone have a fight before rehearsal, did someone's car almost break down on the way to rehearsal?)
From all these disparate places and circumstances, we all drive from the south, east, west, and north (waaaaay from the north in my case, for an 80-mile round trip) to gather at one place at one time to play music as one person, with (in the case of us third clarinets), six fingers autonomously producing one sound. hard to describe, but there's something almost metaphysical about it, something that takes my breath away nearly every week.
Additionally, I wore loose gray pajama pants decorated with a plethora of cats singing in rowboats. It worked for me. As I walked up to the medical center, I saw the staff just arriving at their offices. They were all looking out their windows at my attire. I could almost see little thought bubbles above their heads, filled with phrases such as THAT'S JUST NOT RIGHT...THIS IS BALLARD...IT'S BROAD DAYLIGHT...CATS ON PANTS?...SINGING CATS WHO ROW IN BOATS?...HERE IN OUR BALLARD PARKING LOT?
After frightening the office workers at the medical center, I had a successful blood draw, came back home, unwound a bit, and went to sleep. Woke up late that evening (yeah, yeah, I know) and rushed off to band practice. Very stressed and tired. But I played really well at band, so you can never predict these things.
I love when we're playing a piece of music, and out of your peripheral vision, you can see the fingers of the other clarinetists in your section moving in precisely the same patterns. I just can't get over how absolutely amazing that is, and how we all pretty much take it for granted. The individual band members are all such different people, with different lives and different skill levels. (along with so many other variables, such as: what did each of us have for dinner, how were our days, do some of us have children, did someone have a fight before rehearsal, did someone's car almost break down on the way to rehearsal?)
From all these disparate places and circumstances, we all drive from the south, east, west, and north (waaaaay from the north in my case, for an 80-mile round trip) to gather at one place at one time to play music as one person, with (in the case of us third clarinets), six fingers autonomously producing one sound. hard to describe, but there's something almost metaphysical about it, something that takes my breath away nearly every week.
