Random stuff that makes me happy

Having dogs at work.. On a normal day there are two -- Simon the Australian shepherd and Jojo the ... I don't know. Mutt puppy. They're both great. Simon's neurotic, as herders tend to be, I guess, and Jojo's a treat. She's taken over the couch; you will usually find her lying there chewing on a "bone." She's the princess. And lately there's Clark. He's part Lab, part Great Pyrenees. His mother was a Great Pyrenees--they're white, and he got white paws, a white bib, and the tip of his tail from her. The rest is coal black. He has the most enormous head. "The Pyrenees is not recommended for apartment living."

The library. I know it's not very supportive of writers to get books at the library rather than buying them, but I could never afford to buy all the books I read, and also, when I get them at the library, I can choose books that just sound interesting to me, and if they don't turn out to be interesting, I just have to take them back. I don't have to feel guilty about not reading them, and I don't. Life's too short.

Bath & Body Works Aromatherapy Orange & Sandalwood Calming Body Lotion. They don't make this anymore, of course, or at least I haven't been able to find it. And it's not on the website, so I'm sure it's been discontinued. (No surprise there.) I found some awhile ago on a clearance rack at Bath & Body Works and bought several bottles. It's light, not sticky or heavy, and it smells wonderful.

Bath & Body Works Wickedly Hot Chocolate Body Wash. Also, sadly, discontinued. (Are you seeing a pattern here?). I don't usually like bath products that are scented like baked goods -- I can't stand "sugar cookie" scents or butter rum or things like that -- but this one is divine. Smells like brownie batter. Looks vaguely disgusting--brown and shiny--but smells amazing. I have a couple of bottles that I'm hoarding and using very slowly.

Bob's relationship with the cats next door. There are two young cats that live next door to us. They're both tabbies like Pyewacket, but quite a bit younger. They are incredibly friendly, they'll walk right up to almost anyone who walks by, and they're always happy to come over and talk to you and be petted.

If Bob sees them playing outside, he'll go outside to talk to them. That's what was happening here. I think it was Sunday morning. He looked out the window and saw the kitty in the yard, so he went out to talk to her. I love that.

The furballs:

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Wrecking my journal

I was going through Bloglines this morning and cleaning out posts -- I tend to go through the new posts really quickly in the morning, checking "keep new" on things that I want to save or read later, and seldom go back to them -- and ran across a post about Wreck This Journal. It's an "activity" book on the order of a guided journal, but in this case, the author, Keri Smith, wants you to really wreck the journal--get it wet, get it dirty, write in it with crayons, wad it up--in short, treat it as a repository for learning and artistic inspiration, and not as a sacred book that you're afraid to write in, and thus, mess up.

I have quite a few blank books that I've bought over the years that I have never--and probably will never--write in. They're just too perfect, and they're intimidating. Hard back books full of pristine creamy paper tend to make me feel that I can only write big things in them, that I need to use a special, nice pen, that I should sit down with the book and a cup of tea and ponder. But I don't have a lot of time for "pondering" lately, so the beautiful blank books stay blank.

However, I've been wrecking a journal of my own.

A few weeks ago I found some 4x6 Jordi Labanda journals at Target on clearance. They have plastic covers, and the pages have faint colored lines just the right distance apart (when I look at journals, I have to open them up and check the lines -- if they're dark black lines, and too far apart, no matter how lovely the cover is, I won't buy it, because I know I wouldn't enjoy writing in it).

It started out as being a notebook to record information--meanings of stones, suppliers and resources, ideas--for my jewelry business. Then I recorded some tarot readings in it, and I wrote down a knitting pattern in it, and I took it on our little vacation to Bennett Spring, and now I'm using it to keep my Second Life notes--places to shop, events, notes on keyboard shortcuts, notes on how to make things and import them into the game.

I carry the journal with me all the time now. I take it to the doctor's office to write down my blood pressure, I took it to physical therapy with me to write down the things I'm supposed to do, I keep it open on my desk at work to write down things I need to buy at the grocery store, Bob's work schedule, anything and everything that I don't want to forget. I skim Second Life fashion blog entries and note places that I want to check out later. I used it to take notes when I was looking for some land to rent -- I wrote down everything I found out so that I would have it to review later.

I don't try to write nicely (or even, sometimes, legibly), I don't even try to write on the lines. I don't have to write with the same pen all the time, whatever is at hand is fine. The way it's written isn't important--it doesn't have to be pretty--the information is the important thing, and as long as I can access it later, the method of getting it in there isn't important.

I have a package of stick-on divider tabs in the front of the book in a pocket that I added (actually an adhesive floppy disk pocket), a pad of small post-it type notes, and a package of Post-It flags, so that I can mark pages that I need to remember to look at later, if I don't want to skim all the pages.

When there's a page that I have to keep referring to (like the page that lists the control commands for Second Life items that require them), I put a tab on it.

This is how I used to use journals, a long time ago. I carried a notebook with me all the time and wrote down everything. That way, I knew that it was all in one place, and I could find it later. I got away from that when I started using an electronic organizer, and while I still use it, I use the organizer now more to hold records -- insurance numbers, phone numbers, addresses, appointments -- and keep all the miscellaneous detritus and minutiae of my daily life in the journal.

I don't know what my journaling will mutate to in the future, but for now I'm enjoying this freeform process.

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Visitors

C/o Photo Booth and my iMac at work.

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Hugs

Last night I got home around 7:30; Bob was already home, and he had picked up a sandwich for his dinner. He said, "Why don't you get something to eat, relax a little bit, then let's go out for ice cream." So I microwaved some leftover pizza, sat down at the computer and checked my email and blogs, then went upstairs and asked if he was still up for ice cream.

He was tired -- he's been working long hours, with no days off for the next two weeks, but he said sure, as long as I drove.

He wanted a chocolate malt, and he likes the ones from Culver's, so I checked to see if I had any coupons, and I did -- two for one. On the way out the door, he saw the Harry Potter CD box that I'd brought in after I finished the book in the book in the car, and he picked it up to take with us. He said he wanted to hear the ending again.

So I drove out to Culver's, and left him in the car while I went in to order. We listened to the end of the book again, and I drove around for awhile so he could hear most of it. I still think that it's a wonderful book, probably the best one she's written, but I know that Jim Dale's reading really makes it come to life.

I still haven't seen the latest movie; maybe during Bob's marathon work week next week, I'll go see it. Although, probably not. I'll probably wait for the DVD.

Not much else going on, really. We've both been working a lot, cross paths for a short time in the evening, then he goes to bed early so he can get up early --sometimes before dawn. But it's all good. He still enjoys it, and I love my job, of course, so it's no hardship. The housekeeping suffers, I suppose, but I never made any claim to be great at that anyway. Sometimes it's just good to have an excuse for why it doesn't get done. ;)

Last week one day Shane brought his dog Clark to work. Clark is part Lab, part . . . something else that I can never remember. Something HUGE. He's a great dog -- very gentle, actually, even though he looks intimidating. Jojo was enthralled by him, and wanted to play, but was a bit timid around him, as she should be.

Today, on the other end of the spectrum, Dixie, Jeff's girlfriend's teacup Yorkie is here. She's about the size of Clark's nose. She fits in the palm of my hand. And she's a sweetheart, too.

When I think of the things that make me happiest, one of the things is having the dogs here at work. Jojo has taken over the couch and is basically the princess of the place. She gets a chew toy and takes it up on the couch with her, chews for awhile, then naps there. It really adds something special to have animals here. I think it contributes to the atmosphere, and probably helps keep our blood pressure down.

Whenever I'm having a rough day, Bob will call and say, "Go hug Simon," and that really does help. Hugs always help.

Last night, before I left work, I heard the guys gathering in the kitchen, and I went out to see what they were doing. They had a bottle of absinthe -- I don't know where it came from, but Kurt's birthday was yesterday, so it may have been a gift. Dave offered me his glass, and I had a taste. It smelled like licorice and tasted -- this is the only comparison I could come up with -- like Nyquil.

I just had a small sip, but I could feel it. I said, "So, do you go blind, or insane?" Someone said they thought maybe both, but someone else said you were supposed to see hallucinations. As he was leaving, I heard one of the guys say he was disappointed, that he had hoped to see fairies flying around. That would have been a bonus, yes.

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The Deathly Hallows

For approximately the last month, I've been listening to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on CD on my commute. Jim Dale has read all of the books, and he's absolutely wonderful. I think I only have the last three on CD, I started out getting them on audiotape, and I guess they don't even put tape players in cars anymore.

I'd love to go back and listen to them all in order; maybe I can borrow the earlier ones on CD from the library. Have to look into that.

My favorite book of the series was, I think, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, but I think this one tops them all. It was extremely suspenseful, and I was completely engaged from the beginning.

Anyway, I LOVED it. I didn't want it to end. Bob and I went out to eat last night, and afterwards we drove around and listened to the ending. He said I wasn't allowed to go home until it was over, but I pulled into the garage on the last word of the main part of the book, and saved the Epilogue for my drive to work this morning.

I had purposely been avoiding talking about it, or reading anything about it, because I didn't want to know how it ended. That is, I didn't want to know specifically how it ended -- I knew that several major characters were going to die; I didn't really want to know who died, but I kind of wanted to know who didn't. Has it been long enough now that everyone who is going to read it has already? I guess I should still be careful.

Before I started listening, I had a list of people that I was interested in, and I asked Bob (he read the book in about a day and a half), ""Does ______ die?" and he'd tell me no, and I got through about four or five names before I got a "yes." So I felt like I was a little prepared, and knew that it was a mostly happy ending. Even being prepared, I cried several times over the deaths of characters that I'd come to know and love over the years. It was a very emotional experience for me.

What little I've read about the book tended to be people saying that they didn't like it, that it was a let-down or disappointment, but I didn't feel that way at all. I adored it. I thought it was very well written, and the CD version is worth every penny. I'm going to miss them all so much.

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