Too much going on at the library

Thought I would come to my local public library to have a peaceful computer experience.  I did not have the energy to drive one hour to The Free Library of Philadelphia in order to hear Dave Barry.  It is so cold and windy and I am not doing so well being alone.  He just wrote his first fiction books.  I greatly enjoy his nonfiction, especially his habit of exageration.

First I couldn't find a parking place.  Then I had to leave some stuff in the car because they don't have an access ramp.  So I arrived in the middle of a children's program, Tales of the H.E.A.R.T. magic and puppet show.  Kind of distracting, but the kids seem to be really enjoying it.  I also can hear the strains of The Save the library group because I know several of the people on that committee.  Only get an hour here and there is not much room for my STUFF around the computer.  Oh well, it is better than staying home.

The Irish Manor House murder : a Torrey Tunet mystery, by Dicey Deere.  I found that there were too many characters for me to keep track of.  Nice local color, though, at an Irish country manor.  Apparently, this same detective person was in another book.  Actually, she is a translator of children's books looking for a quiet place to work.  I picked up this book merely because it was a paperback and I keep a collection of paperbacks to read when I am sitting in a certain chair.

Internet access

Well, I still haven't bit the bullet and gotten Internet access at home.  Don't know where to start with all of the things I "need"...Do I get a new phone, apps, Internet, wireless, Siruis XM radio, a camera, or what?  Article on Technorati about a lot of students using the Wi-Fi at McDonald's.  I don't see it in Bridgeton.  I am usually the only one using it when I go.  I thought this fact was interesting: " McDonalds have 12,000 Wi-Fi equipped locations across America, with Starbucks adding another 7,000. Combined they provide greater access to the Internet than the 15,000 Wi-Fi enabled public libraries in America."

Driving home from my class last night, I took a wrong turn and ended up in Millville.  That is somewhat disturbing.  I don't seem to recognize where I am in the dark, even when I know the way home.  This is when I venture an hour or more away from home.

"60 apps in 60 minutes" was quite inspiring.  Our instructor was a substitute but he was really knowledgeable and enthusiastic.  If he said "How cool is that" once, he said it 30 times.  Of course, now I "need" and want apps...but will I really use them?  It was inviting in a very librarian-like way.  How could I NOT enjoy all these extra ways to find things out?  Not sure I need a news aggregator or a personal magazine.  I kind of like newspapers and magazines the way they are and the way I am using them.  The music and photo apps were really cool, though.  I can see myself using Shazam or Dropbox.  And the "find your phone" app could come in handy.

Beach access closed until further notice

I found myself in Cape May Courthouse and saw that I HAD to drive a little further to check out the ocean in Stone Harbor.  The street just off the beach was in really bad shape and closed for construction.  I tried just one street over (97th St.) and was confronted with this sign when I attempted to go up the wooden walkway to the beach.  I could HEAR the ocean, but obediently, I retreated and didn't try to bypass the warning.  This is obviously Hurricane Sandy damage.

Just a beautiful day.  Finally, the sun came out and it got up to 58 degrees according to my car.  I did my "Vitamin D bath" routine, sitting in my car, listening to an audiobook.  Drove for an hour, passing places I always think I should stop at and take a walk.  Vowing to come back with my cross country ski poles and use them as walking poles.  Had soup for dinner.  Trying to eat more SOUP and SALAD instead of my favorite food, sandwiches.  I could eat sandwiches all day long, no problem. 

I came to this library to use the computers (of course) and take a class tonight.  60 apps in 60 minutes.  I don't even HAVE apps, but am thinking about getting them.  I am at the Cape May County library in Cape May Courthouse.  I actually have a card for this library system, being the library nerd that I am.

We're gonna die young

Listening to this song, it occurred to me that people rarely sing a song on their own these days.  Each song seems to feature about 5 famous people to max out the listeners, I guess.  "Die young" is by Kesha, or Ke$ha, as she likes to bill herself. The electropop song was written by Kesha, Dr. Luke, Benny Blanco, Cirkut, and fun. singer Nate Ruess.  The official remix features rappers Juicy J, Wiz Khalifa, and Becky G.  See, what did I tell you?  Some  people are refusing to play this song, because there are entirely too many people dying young.

I reported a light out to the electric company.  They can't find it.  I went to all the trouble of reporting the number on the pole and the type of light.  I guess it didn't help.  Now, they want me to provide an ADDRESS near there.  It is really out in the boondocks.  I wonder how they are making out at work with the soda machine.  I was always the one who would harass the Coca Cola company whenever the machine ran out of Diet Coke.

Mr. Penumbra's 24-hour bookstore : a novel, by Robin Sloan.  It started out delighting me as it was about books and bookstores and libraries.  Eventually, it lost me, though.  Got a bit too much into codes and games and science fiction.  A guy is working in a bookstore which has very few customers.  The books are shelved UP instead of OUT.  He asks himself, "Is this a book club?  How do they join?  Do they ever pay?"
Also includes the history of printing and type faces and secret societies, like the order of the Unbroken Spine.  There is also Google and spying...."I sit up straight and do the first thing a person is supposed to do in an emergency, which is send a text message."  His girlfriend works at Google..."everybody at Google likes codes....Books: boring.  Codes: awesome  These are the people who are running the Internet".

I hope it's not me

This really scary computer message came up about how you have to pay a lot of money to get your computer going again.  Now, I HAVE seen that hijacking message once before and it was at another library.  Could it be something I'm doing?  God forbid.  All I was on was blogspot and playlist.com.

It took me an entire hour just to deal with my email.  That gets to be a problem when libraries only let you use the computer for an hour.  I really do need to get the Internet at home.  This schlepping my stuff around is getting really tedious.  I am feeling like a real BAG lady. 

Feeling hungry.  Have only had oatmeal and an orange today.  Trying to get in the mood for diet and exercise.  Usually, I don't care about it.  But it is freaking me out that I used to weigh a good deal less and I thought I was fat THEN.  I am tired of being wide.

I need an online boyfriend

What a good idea.  A boyfriend that you never see.  Reminds me of George on Seinfeld who wanted to date a woman who was in prison so he could avoid "the dreaded drop-in".  But how am I going to look for a boyfriend if I don't feel photogenic?

Printing out a lot of stuff off of the Internet today.  Gee, it is really expensive not having a workplace where you can get printouts and photocopies at will.  But I just had to have a copy of how to clean your birdfeeder and getting used to discomfort.  That one really spoke to my condition and explains why people (me) don't want to eat right, exercise, travel or clean up their clutter.  IT'S UNCOMFORTABLE.

Still on my way to exercise.  I was headed to yoga this AM but was going to be 5 minutes late and I am trying to get over that habit.  So I didn't go.  Thus I am headed to another health club to do my daily chore.
It is already 12:38 and all I have done is visit with a friend and get my email under control.  Seeing how much I can get done before I go home to wait out the snow storm which is predicted.  So many things to look up and so little time.

I can't believe that I used to live in Vermont

How did I live and work in snowy Vermont?  I had my very own pair of snowmobile boots with liners.  My car spent 6 months dead in the driveway.  I had to be picked up by a guy from work who offered me a beer at 6 AM.  I drove a Snocat and a Bombardier on Killington Mountain in the early 70's.  I was the first woman to do so.

Just finished a book I read because it was recommended in an article in the New Yorker, from February 13 & 20, 2012.  The custom of the country was written by Edith Wharton during the years she was preparing to forsake the United States permanently (1913).Undine Spragg is ambitious and greedy.  As quoted in the New Yorker, "she anticipates two other hallmarks of modern American society, the obliteration of all social distinctions by money and the hedonic treadmill of materialism.  In Undine's world, everything an be bought, and none of it will ever be enough."  She visits several continents and has a few husbands and is selfish throughout.  I learned a good word..."the auriferous world of the Degens...." (meaning containing gold)

Had an "assessment" at the health club.  I was sort of dreading it, as I feel like my input is always going to equal my output, no matter what I do.  And also because I want to do what I want to do and not what someone else recommends that I do.  But it was an encouraging experience.  The guy made me feel like progress COULD be made if I would just agree to working up a sweat.  I told him that I have a problem with my attention span and that I do not like to sweat.

Another abandoned blog?

Losing interest in this blog.  First, all the interesting things that happened to me seem to be quite long ago.  Then, my life with stuff is falling behind, not progressing ahead.  So, I am having a mid-life crisis, as it were.

Just read an article about how Facebook is a stressful environment for some and envy causes some people to not want to be on there a lot.  Seems like there are PLENTY of people who want to put their whole lives out there, though.  Other people's vacation photos can cause the most unpleasant thoughts about your own life.  People who just lurk are, apprarently, the most disatisfied of all.

Went to an interesting program last night about Microsoft Access.  I have always been a bit intimidated by this database creator  and felt totally comfortable stopping with Excel.  But this teacher actually made it interesting and made me want to create a database or be more interested in the topic in general.  Can't attend part two tonight, but maybe someday.  I just happened to be at the Cumberland County Library when it started and thought it might do me some good to stretch my brain muscles, so I went in.  Maybe I will take all of the classes.  I feel that my computer knowledge is not advancing, either, in retirement.  No annoying patrons to force me to learn new things.

Bumped from the blog

Oh dear, my privileges for the blog of my prior workplace seem to have been revoked.  And just when I was feeling like posting a book review there.  Sigh...

It is so amazingly, horrifyingly COLD around here.  A friend flew to Florida yesterday and boy, did he have the right idea.  When I woke up, I thought, now this isn't so bad and it is actually quite lovely what with the snow and all.  But by evening, I was fed up TO HERE with it.  Plus it is windy.  And not even out of the twenties. 

Finished up an audiobook.  The best thing about it was that it played in my car without any problems.  But, I digress.  The book is: A drop of the hard stuff, by Lawrence Block.   Copyright is 2011, but it is kind of old fashioned.  There are pay phones, for example.  A good story involving a lot of twelve-step atmosphere.  Recovering alcoholic investigates suspicious death of a friend in the program.  Can he figure out which one of the guys on the list is the killer before they get to him?  Takes place in New York and involves Block's private detective Matthew Scudder.  The reader was very adept and in particular, I enjoyed the portrayal of the gay guys.

An armed society is a polite society

Somewhat puzzling sign at a Guns across America rally recently.  Picturing the world boiled down to a war between the gun owners and the non-gun owners.  I guess I know who would win.

Have been down with something....a cold, I presume.  I am always so cocky and proud of my record as a person who never gets sick.  Well, now I am humbled.  Spent the entire day in bed yesterday listening to NPR.  So unimaginative of me.  But the path of least resistance.  Hard getting re-motivated.  My sister made me chicken soup and loaned me her wireless.

Was going to cancel my subscription to the local paper but I am reconsidering.  Yeah, it's an "old white man's" paper, but it's all we've got.  I think I would miss it if it went out of business, which it probably will do.  They had an article in the paper about how they laid off a bunch of people.  So, maybe I should just HANG on and help them out with my subscription.  They regionalized (hate it) and I say periodically that "I'm not INTERESTED in Salem or Gloucester counties".  But, then, I saw an article about someone I went to school with and saw an interesting program advertised.

The last computer

Not really in the mood for spending a lot of time online today, so it is just me and a computer at the  Camden County Library.  This library is named after someone, but I refuse to complicate my life by using the name.  Nothing I like better than a whole room full of people minding their own business and quietly working on whatever they are working on (probably Facebook).  They have a rather loud air circulation system which actually helps as it hides incidental noises.

Attended a lecture here this morning called, Why can't I be happy?  Me and a bunch of other senior citizen ladies.  Oh, and a man with a walker.  I actually knew one of the people, but due to depression or due to my cold, I didn't say hello. The speaker was a geriatric psychiatrist, really young and cute.  I shouldn't be out and about, but I am getting really bored with staying home, AND not even accomplishing anything at home.  My cough has gotten worse and my nose started running last night when I was on the massage table.  I thought it was just because he was doing such a good job massaging me that my sinuses were clearing out.  So, now I have added SNEEZING to my repertoire.  I try to be sensitive as to how annoying I am to others, since I know, I, personally, HATE sick people and wish that they had stayed home.  My voice is really rough, so it is just easier to be anonymous and not talk to people.

My plan is to go over to the semi-good movie theater and catch a film, since I am all the way an hour away from home.  They have some really comfy chairs and a lot of film magazines.  The drive up was beautiful, with finally some sun and a few minutes of SNOW.

66 books

Read an article by a guy who knew how many books he had read during the last year.  I would like to have that statistic.  Thought of starting a record of all books read.  But, I guess, if I write them all up in this blog, I could find out that way how many I read.

It was too quiet at my house.  I am recovering from a chest cold so that was my excuse to lie down for several hours.  For awhile, it seemed a bit brighter out, but now it has gotten grey again.  The Millville Library is the opposite of quiet.  In fact, I don't have the nerve to ask for more time as it is so busy here.

Finished an audiobook called Sweet tooth, By Ian McEwan.  Didn't get to hear ALL of it because my CD player in the car is acting up.  Add to list of problems.    The story involved Serena Frome and her "career" with M15.  She seems to get involved with every guy she meets.  It is about writers and writing and about spying.  It is the least suspenseful story about spies I have ever read.  I enjoy the Britishness, especially good in the audiobook version.

Mesmerizing

The thing on the Google home page is really mesmerizing today.  I am sure there is a name for that thing.  Anyway, it is an ice skating rink and people keep coming and going on it.  Do they change it every day?  Is that someone's job?  I remember seeing results of a contest they had for schoolchildren to compete for a design for it.  The display was at the American visionary museum in Baltimore.

I am still really annoyed that I have gotten sick.  Can't seem to get out of bed lately at a timely hour.  I prefer to just lie there with my thoughts because if I listen to NPR I get side-tracked.  At least I am not coughing all night, but I AM coughing enough to feel the hurt.  This AM was hoping that a friend would call and invite me out to breakfast.  The first phone call was from The fraternal order of police.  I told them I was too sick to talk.  Then the census lady called me.  I was relieved that the only two questions were:
- Are you still retired? (Yes)
- Are you looking for work? (No)

Finished new Barbara Kingsolver book, Flight behavior.  I think she is my favorite author.  The title is apt and refers to the situation with the monarch butterflies, which are somehow in the wrong place, and also to the interior life of the narrator, a married woman eeking out an existence in that place.  There is tension between the life of the poor people who live in this mountainous region and the out of town environmentalists who want to save nature.  The main character is married with two kids and her family wants to sell off the land.  But she discovers a whole field full of monarch butterflies and it becomes a subject of scientific research and a tourist attraction. Dellarobia starts working for the visitng scientist and develops a crush on him.  Although this ultimately does not work out (his gorgeous wife comes for a visit near the end), it allows Dellarobia the courage to leave her husband and go back to college. The butterflies are in the wrong place (probably due to climate change) and Dellarobia realizes that she is in the wrong place, too. A telling moment in the interaction between the cultures is when Ovid (the scientist) gives her the carbon footprint test.  He tells her she should eat less red meat (she is trying to GET some red meat), eat out less (she hasn't eaten out in two years) and fly less (she has never flown).

Good news and bad news

Well, I finally found a disc to clean my CD player in the car.  The bad news is, it cost $21.37 and it didn't work. (Just desperately trying to find an alternative to the expensive options which have been told to me)

Someone near me is coughing.  But I can't hate them because I have a bit of a cough myself. So much for my cocky attitude towards illness (as in I never go there).  Laid around in bed for most of the day, even though my health book said you should keep moving..  Nothing really on my calendar today and the cold and clammy weather is getting me down.  Did various errands on the way to Vineland to pick up my library book.  Went to Wawa and had some chicken noodle soup for therapeutic reasons.  It was DELICIOUS.  I really should eat soup more often.  I have been coughing quite a bit and now it HURTS when I cough.

Finished a paperback book by Anne Rivers Siddon, Sweetwater Creek.  I didn't really enjoy it.  I thought I would as it takes place in the low country of South Carolina and I do enjoy Southern writers.  Emily is a young girl whose mother has left her and her twin brothers and father living in a big mansion of a house.  They raise hunting dogs.  Another young girl comes to board there and the girls become friends.  Lulu hates her own parents but has a cool grandmother who the girls visit.  I thought the book was overwrought and overwritten.  I did like this quote from Colette ( in reference to Emily's dead brother) - "When one we love dies there's no reason to stop writing them letters."

Blogging and exercising

Two things I think I should do DAILY but it does get a bit tiresome, day after day.  Plus, I have to leave home to accomplish both of these things and sometimes I just run out of energy. Or it is too cold outside.  Didn't get to it this weekend at all.

Trying to stay healthy, but it is hard.  Woke up early while it was still dark and I didn't like the sound of my breathing.  When I exhaled, there was a weird sound, like a little tiny person very far away screaming.  So, I went back to sleep somehow and it seemed to be better when I woke up.

Every time I go into my bathroom, I get excited, as the hole in my window finally got fixed.  When I say FINALLY....Not sure HOW many years ago someone threw a jar of spaghetti sauce through my window.  I was taking a shower at the time.  Someone threw a jar which went through the second floor storm window, through the window, under the shower curtain and landed in the tub behind me.  Luckily, this was not a FULL jar of spaghetti sauce.  That would have REALLY been a mess.  I think I still have some glass in the tub.  Of course, I have no idea who did it and if it was random or personal.  The cops were no help.  All that was left of the bottle was the label and they said they couldn't take fingerprints off of it.

Missed the Golden Globes last night.  OK, I didn't even know it was ON until I sat down to read the paper at 11 PM and saw it listed in the TV section.  I was busy watching 60 minutes and Downton Abbey.  I am committed to Downton Abbey.  Realized there are certain types of segments that I hate on 60 minutes:
- extreme sports
- terrorists
- egotistical, rich men

Secrets of my (health) success

I never seem to get "sick".  Of course, I am always semi-sick with an as-yet-unidentifed dread disease, but I don't get colds or the flu or any of that.  Here are the secrets of my success:
- Eat junk food
- Never clean your house
- Live alone

Why is my name so hard to remember?  My massage therapist and my exercise teacher are always calling me by the wrong name.  And not the SAME name, either.  I don't correct them.  I will answer to anything. 
My massage therapist calls me Janine and my exercise teacher calls me Mary Jane.

Went back on antidepressant yesterday.  I answered one question....I didn't automatically lose weight when I went off of them.  I was perfectly happy on Pristiq but it was going to cost me some horrifying amount with my new drug plan situation.  So, I was getting along OK...sometimes being obsessed with my NEED for an antidepressant and sometimes forgetting completely about it.  My doctor suggested that I fill my prescription for another brand because what can it hurt to try?  So I did.

99 problems

99 problems and the Manwich ain't one...just one of the many funny take-off lines by Stephen Colbert in his new book, America again : re-becoming the greatness we never weren't. ( In case you missed it, Jay-Z has a song, I got 99 problems but a bitch ain't one.)  Colbert includes essays on food, energy, health care and more.  An interesting gimmick for the audiobook is that he pretends to be sitting around with an audiocassette player and you hear it clicking on and off as he tries to think of the next subject.  I wasn't really a Stephen Colbert fan when I started this audiobook.  Just wanted to see what all the fuss was about.  Guy on NPR rated his show number 3 on his top ten list.  By the end I was enchanted with his wordsmith abilities....inventing words is one of his talents.  Too bad the audiobook was so SHORT.  I know the BOOK included 3 D glasses (my nephew asked for it for Christmas and I obliged).

Doctor's office was SO crowded this AM....people had to park on the road as no room in the parking lot!  I wasn't really there because I was sick.  Hope I didn't catch anything from all those people in the waiting room.  I LOVE my doctor.  Feeling nicely fortified with pills and advice.  Had a list of concerns and they all got addressed.  Then I drove down to my usual Wednesday haunt, the Cumberland County Historical Society, and THAT was crowded too.

Stopped by a bakery to get lunch and snacks.  I saw a guy who addressed me politely by name, but I am never sure WHO he is.  Either my yard guy or his brother.  He was riding a bike.  Now, I could be wrong, but he didn't seem like the kind of person who would be riding a bike for the exercise.  More like the kind of person who had lost his license or couldn't afford a car.  Is that racist?  Probably.

Pet peeves

It is annoying when many of the library computers are "down", the handicapped access button on the front door continues to not work, young girls walk by talking about someone's "birfday", and people were talking during a good portion of the movie today (Les miserables). On the plus side, the weather is gorgeous and it was $2 popcorn day at the movies.

Kind of rushing.  The PRESSURE of having to complete all of my computer tasks in ONE hour.  I do have my laptop in the trunk of my car....just too lazy to bring it in.  So, in addition to catching up with my email, I must think of a few topics to write about on this blog and look up a bunch of stuff, like the French revolution and what that big stone elephant was doing in the movie, Les miserables.  Left over from a world's fair, or something?  Plus I have a Princeton folder full of stuff to do on the computer and a couple of plastic folders full of papers.  So I will BEG for more computer time (that is the policy at the Millville Public Library).

Is today the day I am going to stop by Staples and invest in a calendar system for 2013?  Still have not been able to make the switch to the electronic life.  It is a slow process.  One of the things I have to tweak today is my list of features I desire in my new phone, to which I am "entitled" as we speak.  It is nice to be "FREE" of Sprint, but not nice to be indecisive and want to save money.  If the sky was the limit, what would I get?  Not accustomed to thinking like that.

Guilty pleasures

Some of my "guilty pleasures" ( I know it is a cliche)...Walmart, Eminem, L'il Wayne.  Forced to go to Walmart to save money on drugs.  Even though I am "anti-Walmart:, sometimes I look around when I am there.  Did find some things I really needed today for a really good price.  They do have some good ideas.  I like the way the bathrooms are right near the front door and that they are well maintained.  In fact, if Walmart had a drive-through it would be just about perfect!

Note to self - things to look up - duties of the footman, Google play, Google phone (?), dates of the upcoming Downton Abbey episodes....

Just took a look at Facebook.  Couldn't even figure out how to logout of it.  Perhaps there is some happy medium between this blog which no one reads and Facebook, which is filled with messages from people I don't really care about.  There are some nice photographs on there, though.  I would like to copy them for my desktop.  Right now I have a photo of Matthew and Lady Mary on there. 

Downton Abbey is back

Woke up excited about the start of Season 3 of Downton Abbey.  Rarely do I stay home in order to watch TV but tonight yes, attending a Downton Abbey viewing party.  My philosophy of TV is, if I am HOME and it is on, I might watch it for 5 minutes.

Saw a good play today, Assistance, at the Wilma in Philadelphia.  We have season tickets and this year, the weather has greatly cooperated.  Last year it rained or snowed every day our seats came up.
This was a rapid fire comedy involving the office of a really bad boss, who we never meet.  Some of the assistants manage to get promoted and some get fired or burned out.

I had to stop listening to The ruins, the book by Scott Smith.  Things were going from bad to worse and when two guys decided to amputate the legs of the guy who had fallen down the mine shaft and then been eaten by the man-eating plant, I couldn't stand it another minute.  They were never going to be rescued anyway.  Some story lines are just too horrible for me to even cope with.  That is how I feel about going to see that new movie called Django unchained. I can't imagine why anyone would want to see a movie about slaves fighting each other to the death.  What is WRONG with Americans?

A sense of accomplishment

Just tried the new sandwich at McDonald's.  I LIKE it and it only costs $1.  Well, I can't seem to find it on their website.  Seems like a regular cheeseburger but it has caramelized onions on it?  Already ate out ONCE today so now I can only eat out if it is CHEAP.

I only have two stations I like at the Cumberland County Library.  They have the dainty mouse instead of this huge Gateway thing.  Both stations were busy.  So I went into the lab hoping to avoid the noisy, amnoying people.  But I still have to use the ginormous stupid mouse.

Had a handyman come over today.  It makes me anxious as I have a very limited attention span for accomplishing things.  Even though it cost me quite a bit, I enjoyed "puttering around" with another person.  And the weather was quite decent! (sunny and perhaps in the 40's?)  I shouldn't begrudge him the money as I only have help very rarely.  Here is what we accomplished (and I really did feel good after working outside for 2 1/2 hours):
- Replaced broken window pane in garage
- Pulled most of ivy off of garage
- Replaced bulb in front door light
- Replaced two motion detector lights in back
- Replaced two motion detector lights up above
- Pounded in loose boards on fence
- Rewired bird feeder after the squirrels ate through the wire supports
- Took all stuff out of my trunk and sorted through it
- Went through a few boxes of stuff in my garage
- Threw out some of my books from Hollins Abroad in France (1967)
- Realligned fence gates so they latch better
- Clipped some branches touching house and hanging down
- Filled suet feeder
- Filled trash bin up to the top with trash bags

Once is not enough

Things that you need more than one of...candy corn, potato chips, hours of computer time.  Things I have in EVERY room of the house....scotch tape, scissors, stapler, waste basket, phone.

Still hanging in with that audiobook (The ruins).  Now all the people are up on top of the mountain and out of the mine shaft at least.  They are surrounding by the hostile Mayans at the bottom of the hill who have built fires all around the hill. They are waiting for daylight. Not that there is much hopeful to look forward to in the daylight.  Perhaps drinking their own urine or hoping that a plane flies by so they can try and signal them.  Or maybe the friends of Pablo, the Greek, may come looking for them, but they might get trapped too and they don't speak their language.  Of course, no one has a cell phone. There is something really creepy about these flowering vines.  When Jeff tried to go down to the bottom of the hill, they were really tangling around him but on the way up, they seemed to part for his passage. 

It is amazing how hard it is to meet my goal of ONE movie per week (at the movie theater, that is.)  One friend pooped out on me TWICE this week.  Everyone says they are sick but I don't know.  Luckily, another friend called and the day got reorganized.  The first person I called (my sister) could not commit.  She ALSO said she is sick.  I may have to give up EXERCISE in order to fit in going out to lunch, however.  That is not a real hardship since all exercise is an up hill battle for me.  I was debating between senior swim or lifting weights.  I may just have time for computer usage, going out to lunch at Andrea's trattoria ristorante, going to a movie (This is 40?) and then an art opening at Gallery 50 in Bridgeton.  Then it will be time for READING and getting into my delicious warm bed.  (I felt like getting back into it when I was MAKING it this morning).

High anxiety

Things making me anxious:
- A "for sale" sign went up outside my neighbor's house.  The known annoyance is better than the unknown one.  And the new owner will probably rent out TWO apartments because that is what they DO in my neighborhood.  Double the opportunity for noise, dogs, too many people, etc.
- WHEN is the weather going to improve?  I really can't stand it when it approaches freezing.  I am not comfortable in my clothes, in my apartment, outdoors, or ANYWHERE.
- My audiobook is really making me nervous.  The ruins incorporates hostile Mayans, very aggressive flowering vines, strange traveling cell phone noises, broken backs, language barriers, bloody gashes, food and water deprivations and the fear of never being rescued. 
- I took two anxiety pills today

Finished a book on my Nook.  Must be a young adult.  I choose it because a friend of mine is REALLY into Meg Cabot.  The book is called All-American girl.  It is about a teenager who is artistic and a picky eater and not really in with the popular kids.  She sort of accidentally saves the life of the president and gets catapulted into celebrity and popularity.  Another theme is figuring out which boy she really likes.  It was enjoyable and a quick read.

Don't know if it is this computer or my eyes, but some of these letters look green and some of them look black.

The ruins

Am listening to an audiobook by Scott Smith called The ruins.  Everything is ominous.  A bunch of friends are in Cancun and they go on an adventure to find the missing brother of a guy they ran into.  The story is fraught with confusion and dread.  The Americans are traveling with a Greek who speaks no English, and a German, the brother of the missing guy.  They run into unfriendly Mayans who speak no English.  There are flies and snakes and unhelpful people and secret paths and it is all making me very nervous;

Speaking of The ruins, I feel like a bit of a ruin myself.  Think I am going to have to make an EFFORT to lose weight.  I can't think of another way to stop the inexorable march of time.  I am feeling decrepit.  I look around at some of my women friends who are over 70 or over 80 and they look great.  I feel like crap and feel like I look the same way.  I have tried exercising and I don't feel any better.

Finished another library book, Started early and took my dog.  I love that title.  The book is by Kate Atkinson.  I found it enjoyable but very confusing.  Many characters moving around.  A  murder, a snatched child, a social worker, a detective, many car trips.  From the flap I learned that the author has written several other books featuring the same former private detective Jackson Brodie.  I liked this quote, "Now, like so much else in Jackson's world, videos were obsolete".  I liked the Britishness of this book.  "He came to the end of every day feeling as if he had failed somehow.....He lived his life in a state of guilt, every day waiting to be found out.  He wasn't even sure what it was he had done".  "Speaking truth to power.  That was what the Quakers said, he'd had to arrest a few in the eighthies, peaceniks, yacking on about "direct action" and Cruise missles.  For people who worshipped in silence they seemed to talk a lot."