December 07, 2004

6:44 p.m.

Kibbles & Bits

What could be better, on a shivery, cold, icy wet evening, than to bundle up in everything one owns and sit in the little closet office eating Annie's organic Cheddar Bunnies baked snack crackers, with no hydrogenated oils and no artificial flavors? I must have gotten a little protein deprived, because I don't normally eat much cheese, but this afternoon I had a jones for a grilled cheese sandwich, and now the cheddar bunnies. And thinking how good some melted cheese would taste on them. Had my greens earlier, too -- sauteed kale and snow peas with a little garlic and soy sauce. To balance out all the cheese.

It's cold, folks. It's cold in Connecticut. I went out to the post office today, and to one other place where I did find a Christmas present for Rose, but then I hied me home to my cozy burrow. I did manage to do my data entry from the weekend, and a lot of postal returns from our mailing list, but I've put off practicing because I just don't want to do anything. Responsible, that is. I just want someone to come and get my laundry, take it out and do it, bring it back folded. And drop off some hot, homemade food and a few presents. And tonight in particular, I'm wishing I had cable tv.

I finished Da Vinci Code (excellent book, as are all Dan Brown's), and am now reading a freebie paperback I got from my downstairs neighbor who was purging her book collection. She warned me it wasn't all that good, though the premise seemed promising -- it's about Sherlock Holmes's housekeeper, Mrs. Hudson, and how she goes out to solve a murder case when Holmes and Watson are vacationing in Scotland. It tries so very hard to be clever, but the cockney dialogue is so overdone, the whole thing is so contrived, that it completely lacks any of the subtlety or complexity contained in the original.

However, it's fascinating in its badly-written-ness, so I keep reading it.

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A while back, Dar bought me a little meditation gong from an online store. The gong turned out to have a dissonant sound, so I sent it back for a gift certificate. I just cashed that in for a pre-Columbian replica Goddess of Humanity sculpture. She's lovely. Got big thighs, no tits, rudimentary arms (more like little loops on the sides), and a big flat face. I love her.

Other mundanities... I put shrink plastic on the kitchen windows, the last link to the outside world. Everything is sealed now except the front and back doors. I hope it'll be warm enough this winter; it's a drafty place and gas isn't as cheap as it was in the 90s. I'm not making my quota of dollars this month, and with Christmas shopping to boot, I'm feeling a little poor. But when I sit really in the now, and stop worrying about the next moment or the next month, and see that I'm warm, safe, fed, clothed, and amused, I feel rich.

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So I found an amber pendant necklace for Rose. She and I share almost the same taste in everything. Did you know that amber with bugs in it is very valuable? Especially if they're extinct bugs, but anything will raise the value of a piece -- an ant, a termite, a worm. This necklace doesn't have any fauna in it. But I got it from a cool store that I like to check now and then. And, what is with the plethora of good, cheap, Belgian chocolates at T.J. Maxx?? And the really excellent mismatched dishes. Going into that store makes me want to throw a party. No good shopping for clothes there, though -- it's too confusing.

What else? I'm enjoying being a slug this week, in between gigs. I have two more days of slugdom ahead. Thursday will involve a mammogram appointment, and dinner and lots of laundry at Rose's, so it's not really a slug day.

I think I haven't showered since Sunday morning. It's okay, no one has seen me since I got back from Pennsylvania Sunday night. And it's not like I've exerted myself. But I suppose I ought to, you know, clean myself up at some point. I have changed my underwear, at least.

Now and then I wonder if I should be doing something about this dateless state. But I don't really know what to do about it, so I do nothing. Hey, speaking of topics that make me think of cute men, I heard this week that Kevin Spacey (yes, the actor) is doing a series of concerts to promote his new movie about Bobbie Darrin. I didn't even know he was a singer (Kevin, not Bobbie). Dar informed me that he's also a standup comic. I wanted to go see him at Foxwoods Casino & Resort, but I looked online and it's already sold out. Too bad! He's in Boston too, but on a date when I'm gigging in Syracuse. This is why I almost never go to concerts. The last concert I saw was Jonatha Brooke, at Berkeley College, a few years ago.

I'm off to fill in my 2005 calendar with gig dates, and knit on a scarf.