Sunday, January 20, 2013

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.

Friday, January 18, 2013

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.

Thursday, January 17, 2013

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.

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

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).

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

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."

Monday, January 14, 2013

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

Thursday, January 10, 2013

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.