First day without my snow boots

Actually, I kind of miss them! Someone asked me to wear them to a meeting tonight so that they could take a picture of me in them. Glad to oblige.

Tried to read The turn of the screw and other short fiction (book), by Henry James, but I really couldn't get into it. I kind of skimmed through it. Perhaps I am having trouble with dense fiction due to my ADD?

Oops... forgot to work on my memories and bio for a high school reunion coming up in May. I really find writing is not my thing. Hard for me to concentrate on anything taking more than 15 minutes.

Feeling like a bull in a china shop

Winter has settled in around my waistline. Lack of exercise and excess of stuffing my face has led me to feel like a blimp. Add to that bathrobes and bulky coats and my usual clutter around the house and I feel like I am always knocking into things and making oddly perched boxes of what-not fall to the ground. Have STOPPED wearing a coat for just such reasons....all of my shoulder bags fall off my shoulders with all that excess bulk. I had to pick an outrageous weather week/month to go coatless. The weather is brutal, the wind is ferocious and my house is cold. Spending today in my car (WARM!), at the Health club (oh so proud of myself), in the library (right now), at the chiropractor, and volunteering at the college performing arts center. Staying home just depresses me since I have no fireplace.

Freedom (audiobook), by Jonathan Franzen. I usually try to listen to an entire audiobook, no matter how it displeases me. But this one I had to abandon halfway through. There were no people to like and they were making a lot of inappropriate, pedantic speeches to each other. It followed three friends from college into later life. They all were assholes in their own way. Things happened and then the narrator went back in time and told the story from another perspective.

I'm a stranger here myself (ebook) : notes on returning to America after twenty years away, by Bill Bryson. I like this author and read much by him. They are all so different. This is essays on life in America. He married a British woman and then they moved back to the states and took up residence in New Hampshire.

Vegetarian cooking for everyone (book), by Deborah Madison. Had to get this out of the library because my sister made some really good oatmeal pancakes from it and I wanted to copy the recipe. I have a few more to copy, like a sage and butter sauce, which is what I had in Italy. I aspire to be a vegetarian. Do not really enjoy meat most of the time when I get it.

Signs of Spring

Here are some signs of Spring that I have seen:
- brilliant sunsets
- cars on the corner FOR SALE
- people renovating their homes
- robins
- birds making a lot of noise on top of my air conditioners
- me no longer wearing a coat

My dream of you (book), by Nuala O'Faolain. Don't know where I picked this book up. It was a so-so fiction tale of a travel writer who goes to a town to do historical research about things that happened around the time of the potato famine in Ireland.
A woman of the higher classes was vilified for having an affair with a tradesman....true or not?

I am an obsessive list maker. One of my lists is called "Computers to avoid at the Vineland Public Library". I just added THIS computer, number 9. I hate it when those little thingys are broken off, the thingys that hold the keyboard up at an angle. Invariably, ONE of them is broken, rendering the other one useless. Problem number 2 is that the keys are worn away and you have to type from your memory of what the keys are. Also, I hate the mouse. It is a Dell and very "reluctant". The screen is tiny but that does not really bug me so very much.

God what a gloomy winter day

The only saving grace is that it is not too cold. Should have worn my rain boots. When am I going to remember that my driveway sucks you down and messes up your shoes?! The ONLY good thing about this winter is that I have not had to shovel once.

Sitting here at the Millville Public library. At least it is bright. But there are smelly patrons - smoke. Also other people talking to themselves while trying to create passwords. Me, I am lost on Youtube, listening to Emili Sande singing You can read all about it, part 3. Just have to keep myself from singing along and thus becoming another annoying patron.

Vanessa and her sister (book), by Priya Parmar. An enjoyable, fictional story about the Bloomsbury group. Boy, did Virginia Woolf have problems dating back even to childhood. The story starts when the four Stephens siblings are living together in London after the death of their parents. Vanessa (later Bell) was a painter and her sister, Virginia, was the more famous writer. People move in and out, fall in and out of love, sleep with this one and that one and generally enjoy themselves in salon society.

Easing on into the weekend

Don't know how I am going to fit exercise back into my life. Now that I have lapsed. Not too much time left over after I get enough sleep, get online and be with my friends.

Listening to Into the woods and a Joe Cocker album on Hoopla, the library borrowing database. Just saw the movie of Into the woods yesterday and Joe Cocker died this week. There is no connection between the two.

It is a rainy, gray, dreary day in January. I MUST plan a getaway...maybe drive my home-away-from-home? Need sun and warmth and blue skies.

Sunshine isn't all it is cracked up to be

I miss, miss, miss the sun....but when it came out, I realized that it blinds me when I am driving home near sunset, and reflects off of the shiny bits in my car and blinds me. So, maybe clouds aren't so bad! If we ever get sun in the winter, it doesn't last so long, anyway.

The man who mistook his wife for a hat (book): and other clinical tales, by Oliver Sacks. I read everything by this author, even though his themes are very wide-reaching. This is a book of essays, featuring stories involving the mind. So, I am glad I read it, but am going to give it away at our New Year's day book exchange.

Haunted (book) : a Hannah Smith novel, by Randy Wayne White. This is the third book in this series, by one of my favorite Florida writers. The character gets involved with quite fantastical people, confusing, I could say. Old deserted houses, far from civilization, witches and fortunetellers, strange druggie animal trainers, etc. A bit over-the-top.

Still working?

Boy, was it hard to get up and out today. Had to be in Camden to start work before 9 AM. Also, needed to do several errands on the way to work. To add to the misery, I was sick, had a TERRIBLE night and it was dark and cold. Well, now I am at work and it is quiet and peaceful and I am catching up on my computer work and sucking on cough drops.

This is what I hate about winter:
- the dark
- the cold
- the lack of sun
- the wearing of coats
- the wind

This is what I love about winter:
- the bare bones of the trees
- the pastel sunsets
- a tiny bit of snow

The zone of interest (audio book), by Martin Amis. This is a despicable book. I picked it up without much thought, thinking that Martin Amis was a good writer. I started off trying to figure out what it was actually ABOUT. I knew it was about some misogynistic men of the German persuasion. So, it is about men who work at concentration camps during World War II. Other unpleasant topics are suspected adultery, abortion, murder, torture. I couldn't wait for it to be over. Also, it was hard keeping the narrators straight.

Elizabeth and Hazel : two women of Little Rock (book), by David Margolick. Got this on loan from another library for a book club discussion. It is the story of an event, the integration of schools in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957. More to the point, the story of a photograph taken on September 4th, 1957 of a black girl walking down the street surrounded by a crowd of angry white people. One face stands out, that of Hazel. The photo becomes an iconic portrait of America. The two women did get to know each other and even become friends later in life, but the raprochement did not last. The author examines the legacy of the Little Rock nine and the attitudes of the townspeople and the country in memory and in present time.

It is harder to schleppe in winter

I have enough trouble getting my many bags from here to there without the addition of a COAT! I find that everything slides off of my shoulders when wearing a coat. I should just break down and clean up my clutter enough that someone can get into my house to install the wifi. I have been informed that WIFI is not the same thing as WIRELESS.

Starting a relationship with my new phone. It is probably smarter than I am, but I foresee many happy hours of getting to know it. Missing my KEYBOARD with my old LG phone. I can't deal with "pictures" of keys. My nephew and my brother-in-law tried to straighten me out on some procedures with the Samsung Galaxy S IV. There are scarily on top of technology. I am at the other end of the spectrum. What is the opposite of an "early adaptor"? I have to be dragged kicking and screaming into anything new. Not really the update kind of a girl.

It is so frigging COLD around here. I must try and plan some future vacations. A friend called and told me he got a round trip ticket for $60 on Spirit. How come I never see those kind of deals? Plus, I DETEST Spirit for their nickel and diming of customers.

Things I learned about birds

There are 426 species of birds in Cape May, New Jersey. In the month of May is when songs of birds are most heard. In the Spring a lot of birds are colorful. Their plumage becomes duller in the fall. I saw a bunch of birds in Heislerville, East Point Lighthouse and Thompson's beach. The best named bird is the Ruddy Stoneturn. The cutest bird was a barn swallow. Yesterday was a great day for bird watching and rescuing horseshoe crabs. Today it was rainy and windy but the hardcore birders kept at it.

Cape May was a bit sad today in the rain. It is only limping into the summer season anyway. Saw a jogger and two women riding bikes like it wasn't even raining, but generally speaking, not much is going on. Nice and quiet in Cape May Point, just the way I like it. The body of water across from our rented house got very active later in the afternoon. It was enjoyable to watch and listen. But the very BEST part of the day was waking up and seeing the sun rise over the pond out the window while I was still lying in bed. I am looking out of a window right now and seeing the beam of the lighthouse. It is nicely framed by the window.

Read the current edition of the newspaper called Exit zero. That is the exit off of the Garden State Parkway for Cape May. It is a rag filled with advertisements and pictures of people posing and posed. You get a good idea of what goes on around here.

Spring has sprung

Such a delight to walk outside and see sprouts on the trees. Even on my dogwood about that I suspected of being dead the other day. OK, I only have ONE daffodil on all of those green sprouts in the back yard, but now I know they ARE supposed to be daffodils.

Under the Tuscan sun (book), by Frances Mayes - I REread this book in anticipation of trip to Italy this May. Getting in the mood for something old and charming. About a couple who buys an old house in Tuscany (wasn't it a SINGLE woman in the movie?) They spend a fortune on renovations and are back at work in California much of the time. Goes into detail about construction gone wrong and wonderful meals and exploring trips.

Tomorrow is Easter. Playing the chimes and singing three songs with the choir. Gotta come up with something pastel-like to wear. Looking forward to the flowers and perhaps a taste of Easter candy? Not so much fun since our local candy store went out of business.

A heavenly day

Perhaps, maybe, Spring will actually SPRING some day soon?!?!? It is actually the first day of Spring. The Google doodle had to remind me of that. It seems that it is also National Happiness day. They seem to be creating more days at a rapid rate.

Sadly, the only three movies that I would be willing to see at our local theater are cartoons......Mr. Peabody and Sherman, The Lego movie and Muppets most wanted. All the others involve speed or violence or other distasteful topics.
Would like to get back to my one-movie-a-week policy but nothing really calls to me, except for $2 popcorn day which is Tuesday.

Returning some books today and picking up a book I had reserved at the Vineland Public Library. Getting organized with projects such as filling out questionnaire for jury duty and other stuff. Not real enthusiastic about jury duty. One of my issues is DECISION MAKING and that is what jury duty is all about. It is always educational as well as depressing so I guess I will go forward with it and not try to think up some excuse. Luckily, I can walk to the courthouse so I don't have to deal with the impossible parking situation. I COULD walk to a lot of places, I just DON'T.

I'm fascinated by names

Must enter this thought so I can tear up a piece of paper and get it out of my life. Getting lighter, one item at a time.

Has anyone else noticed the penchant for making up names in our African American community? So, a guy named Jermarl died (I think perhaps he was shot). He had four children, named Jermarl, Jr., Jermiara, Jershuna and Jernasia. Can't you just imagine the mother yelling at them? He had ten brothers, of which the names Keontray and Tyehiem jumbed out at me, three sisters, including a Tonoa and a fiance named Tira.

This morning I went out with two goals to accomplish before I got in my car. Sprinkle salt on my outrageously icy front steps so that I don't accidentally kill myself and so that the mail woman doesn't do the same and fill up the bird feeder so that the murder of crows can devour it. That is what a group of crows is called, a MURDER. They are going through one feeder full every day because it is SO cold and snowy. I really want to help out the pretty, normal birds, but the blackbirds and the squirrels are dominating the back yard. My hands almost froze up as I didn't want to get my gloves all soiled with bird poop and salt. When I got into the car, it said it was two degrees below zero. That must be some kind of a record. Still and all, I made it to the exercise class almost on time (8 AM).

Adam y Yves

Once again I found a little slip of paper with something written on it. Where to file/put it? I was a sign in a cool demonstration (parade) I saw in Paris. It went right past my hotel. It was quite festive event, with little cars all decorated. All of the themes seemed to have the word BAR in them....BARack Obama, BARbie. Not sure what these students were for or against. It mostly seemed to be an advertisement for a party they were going to have. This sign was a sort of a pro-gay sign...a take off on Adam and Eve. Adam y Yves are two boys in French. (Y means and. It is pronounced EEE)

My plan for today was to work on the computer for one hour and then walk for ten minutes. I haven't really accomplished that. I walked a delightful few minutes down to the new restaurant in town (the ONLY restaurant in town) and had a nice lunch with a friend. Then I walked back to the historical society. It is a beautiful fall day. I seem bedazzled by each leaf that falls this year...the COLOR!...the SIZE!...the SHAPE! I love the falling moments and the rustling as you walk. Also poignant knowing that tomorrow could be colder and rainier and windier.

Tried out some headphones last night at the Spring store. My God, they were fantastic. Dr. Dre, white, for $199. And attached to a phone I would like to have (HTC) but it cost $99. And I am not sure I am going to stay with Sprint. It is time to start looking, however. Am getting disappointed in my phone. I think it is time to get disappointed in another phone or company.

"Something smells like it is burning.....

Oh, it's sawdust". My sister's partner has a wood shop and they are serving coffee in the front part. This is the third day of regular hours and they are already thinking of what else to do. I tried to look up business licenses in the code of the City of Bridgeton, but I couldn't get anywhere.

I had a good experience yesterday. Well, first a BAD experience. Unbeknownst to me, my credit card fell out of my pocket and was laying on the street downtown. A kind, honest lady picked it up and called the bank. They called me and I walked downtown to get it from an employee of the WIC office. The buildings were very poorly marked. Crazy numbers and old names of organizations. I guess you have to KNOW about it to find it. A lot of security. Can't get into any buildings without ringing a buzzer. I snuck into a preschool along with a lady and her tiny daughter. They rang the buzzer and when questioned, she said (in Spanish), "I'm here to pick up my baby". Had to ask various people and be personally led by a person I remembered from my old job. Along the way to the very-well-hidden WIC office, I discovered a fruit and vegetable market. I think it is for poor people but I am going to go. It is sort of hidden halfway down a parking lot and is there Tuesdays - Fridays (not sure of the hours). All this within a few blocks of my house!

Not feeling really great. Allergies for one thing. A variety of rashes, digestive difficulties and general tiredness round out the picture. Seems like I am slowing down every day. Weather went from HOT to COLD. I guess it is just the usual shock to the system that another season is coming upon us. I thought I would be so happy when the heat ended. A friend was very jealous when I told her I couldn't remember the last time I set the alarm.

God, I hate summer

My apartment is "cooled" by 1 - 4 window air units and it just doesn't get rid of the humidity.
A dehumidifier is on my very long list of big-ticket items that I "need".  It seems I am always in need of a FAN, directly on me, or at my beck and call.

I "could" have gone down to the beach yesterday as I had nothing on my calendar.  That is very unusual.  But I chose to stay home and get started on some things like paying bills and save money on gas.  That was enough of that.  My home is not the place to be on a hot and humid day.  I did go out to do some "local" errands, if you call driving all the way to Carll's Corner local.  I found myself sitting in the car in a parking lot wasting gas just to get the air conditioning.

Then I did go out to Millville to a restaurant for dinner.  I was delighted with my meal at Kawa thai and sushi.  There were so many creative menu items!  I had the MAN IN BLACK, #26 on the Chef special II menu.  It was SO delicious, I couldn't even save any for leftovers.  And you can get BROWN rice for only 15 cents extra.  Usually I am disappointed with what I order and am envious of what others order, but this time I was totally enthralled with MINE.

I think I would like summer if I were here...                                                                                                        

the embers of the pre-computer chip world...

Nicely put in my audiobook about giving board games to children after they had become enamored of video games.

The weather MAY be remembering that it is supposed to be Spring.  Nice and sunny but still windy and chilly. Looking out the window down here in Greenwich.  it is nice to see clothes on a line blowing in the breeze.  Very country.

Finished a book by Simon Doonan, Eccentric glamour : creating an insanely more fabulous you.   One was enough. He is quite over the top.  I wanted to read it just because he is the husband of Jonathan Adler, who grew up in Bridgeton.  I am less thrilled hearing the Jonathan won't admit that.  He says that he is from Philadelphia.  Simon has some good points such as that all women are aiming for the same look....the librarian look is out and, due to the easy availability of  many FAKE things, everyone wants to look like a porno star.  He suggests eschewing this look and going for individuality.  He describes various categories of looks.  Celebrities are pictured along with their answers to his questionnaire. He was dropping a lot of names but I had not heard of most of them.  He also describes games he plays with his husband to keep the love alive.  Simon is a window dresser at Barneys New York and wrote several other books, including Confessions of a window dresser.

What happened to the day?

It seemed like your average dank and chilly March day when I left the house.  In the middle of my exercise class, I turned to the side with the imaginary ball and saw it was SNOWING.  Huh?!  No wonder a friend of mine is leaving for Florida.  The wait for Spring is ENDLESS.

Another stoplight, oh no!  My small up-and-coming bank now has a new Shoprite across the street and they are putting a STOPLIGHT at the driveway.  Another impediment to progress and speed.  Have you ever noticed that they are always putting UP stoplights and never taking them down?  So, life and traffic just get slower and slower.

Inspira - the new (stupid) name of the merged health care system.  I used to work at Bridgeton Hospital.  Then it got merged and became South Jersey Regional Medical Center.  My health club has had three names, but I still call it "the center" the name three names ago.  Inspira sounds like the name of a drug or that someone wants you to think good things about them like in inspiration.  The secret name was just announced today.  I have been dreading this moment because I HATE CHANGE.

Squidoo

This is a really cool website that I discovered today while trying to investigate the soundtrack of the movie Identify thief.  You can get a list of all the songs from the soundtrack AND the original songs and listen to snippets of them on Amazon.  Now I am going over to playlist.com to see if I can capture the songs.  There was a lot of music with which I was not familiar.  Good intent by Kimbra....Right thurr by Chingy....I eat boys like you by Ida Maria, to name a few.  So far, having pretty good luck with it.

Identity thief was kind of good movie, in spots.  Melissa McCarthy has quite a range and is good with physical comedy, which is somewhat amazing, considering her size. She is alternately cute, scary, funny and sad.   All the other movies playing at the theater are too gory or too horrifying.  I can't deal with that!
Guess I am going to have to resign myself to DRIVING AN HOUR to see arty films with lots of conversation instead of killing.

The weather is so grim today.  My life is so predictable today.  Unfortunately, I had several calendar malfunctions.  My massage appointment was YESTERDAY, as it turns out.  My date with my girlfriend also was YESTERDAY, I was dismayed to realize.  I need some ART or some LOVE or some FOOD or some PALM TREES or some SUNSHINE.  Instead I am having some COMPUTER and some EXERCISE.  Ho hum.  Alright, the MUSIC was unanticipated and is making me happy and preventing me from hearing the bleed-through from the other computer patrons headphones.

Winter has lost its allure (if it ever had any)

Our minister spoke these words on Sunday, making me feel better about the fact that I do not like winter at all.

One of my favorite authors is Walter Mosley.  He has several series and non-series.  I just finished an audiobook, When the thrill is gone : a Leonid McGill mystery.  Read by Mirron Willis and available at the Bridgeton Public Library (AUDB M Mosley).  Leonid is a dangerous man, trying to be less dangerous and work as a private detective in New York.    There are a lot of women in his life and interesting characters and clients.  His current case involves a case of women who pretend to be other people and many levels of frustration trying to get to certain other people to check things out.  An old friend dying of cancer, a wife who is sleeping with who knows how many other men, a girlfriend who is kind of distant, the connections keep getting more intriguing all the time.

This book was recommended somewhere.  It was OK.  Laura Lamont's life in pictures, by Emma Straub.  Themes are fame and the losing thereof, losing and gaining family, and the passage of time.  Laura comes from  a theater family and marries her co-star and then her director.  It is a story of success and failure in Depression era Hollywood.  You can get the book at the Vineland Public Library (FIC Straub Emma)

Who has time for Twitter?

Is that why everyone is always playing with their phone?

I survived Valentine's day and it wasn't half bad.  Went with my French club to Philadelphia to see a movie called Amour.  A slow moving story of an elderly couple and their decline.  Lots to think about, even the day after.  Before the movie we dined at Fork, 306 Market Street. Had a yummy kale salad with creme fraiche.  Then my sister and her boyfriend invited me over for dinner and served Duck a l'orange.  This all kind of came together at the last minute and was an enjoyable day.  I even exercised at 8 AM.

Weather is sunny and temperate.  Winter is so much more bearable when the temperature is in the 40's.
And it is already February 15th!  How much more winter could there be?