From today's Washington Post: TODAY'S BIRTHDAY / JULY 1: You get the lucky break you deserve this year. This month features well-considered financial and lifestyle decisions. August brings new friends, harmonious partnerships and shared adventures. October shows you the way to make more money. Family grows in November. Compelling new interests crop up in January. Aries and Virgo people adore you.
As translated or interpreted by older son: July: Choose new exercise/diet plan & it works! Commit to Pig's Nest (family compound in country), plan purchases. August: Meet hobo. Go into business w/ hobo. Road trip! October: Sell snarky gun/election themed crafts. November: Other son gets engaged / gets someone preggers. January: Kills deer.
The Post one is probably more likely, though the son one has possibilities. I guess I'll have to start hanging around the tracks, though, if I really want to meet a hobo.
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Saturday, June 30, 2012
The Road to Hell
I had good intentions of blogging here in the last six months minus one day. I really did. Does it count that I blogged a seven-week trip elsewhere (though truth be told, I still have at least one more post to write)? At least regular blogging was not one of the resolutions I made, unlike at least one earlier year. At the midway point of the year--which also happens to be my birthday--how am I doing on those resolutions for 2012? I made them more general this year, in hopes of being better able to meet them. Let's see if that helped.
In 2012, I shall be healthy. I've done this for the most part, especially since my physical in May. I'm putting much less caffeine in my body on a daily basis, and trying to snack only on fruits and vegetables. Since a friend's summer vacation from teaching started, I've been going to the gym with her in the mornings. This has made it easy to add some weights back into my fitness routine. I'm not doing the Lazyman Triathlon this year. One, having done it twice and one of those being in two weeks rather than a month, I know I can do it. I'd rather not have what I do for exercise limited to the Lazyman's swimming, biking, and running. Be healthy? Check!
In 2012, I shall produce at least one something for which I feel a sense of accomplishment in several areas: writing, photography, fiber art, thinking. If I finish the last post or two on the trip blog, I would consider that an accomplishment. There were posts I could have written but didn't, but they were of a more general nature and would have had fewer photos. Several of the photos in that blog still amaze me, particularly the faces I showed here. Fiber art, I'm still working on, but with six months to go, I'm not too worried. An idea that delights or amazes me? I've actually had a couple that I hope to expand in posts here or elsewhere. Accomplish somethings? Check!
In 2012, I shall make progress in my practice of Myo Sim karate and kendo. I'm doing that, and in the four areas I mentioned even. Thanks to the sons, I've regularly worked on my kendo sparring, and have been told by fellow students that they see the improvement. I feel a bit more confident about my kicking in karate and my diagonal cuts in kendo though much work remains. And that's okay. If it were all that easy, I would have gotten bored with it by now. Myo Sim practice? Check!
It seems I should have been writing very general resolutions all along, since this is by far the best mid-year checkup that I've had. I feel better physically and while there have been some emotional dips in the road this year, feel better psychologically for now, today, anyway. As with the practice of a martial art, if life were all that easy, we might have gotten bored with it. I'd also have two fewer blog posts in a given year. Should I add a new resolution as a postscript, to run with scissors and a sword here more often? We shall see.
In 2012, I shall be healthy. I've done this for the most part, especially since my physical in May. I'm putting much less caffeine in my body on a daily basis, and trying to snack only on fruits and vegetables. Since a friend's summer vacation from teaching started, I've been going to the gym with her in the mornings. This has made it easy to add some weights back into my fitness routine. I'm not doing the Lazyman Triathlon this year. One, having done it twice and one of those being in two weeks rather than a month, I know I can do it. I'd rather not have what I do for exercise limited to the Lazyman's swimming, biking, and running. Be healthy? Check!
In 2012, I shall produce at least one something for which I feel a sense of accomplishment in several areas: writing, photography, fiber art, thinking. If I finish the last post or two on the trip blog, I would consider that an accomplishment. There were posts I could have written but didn't, but they were of a more general nature and would have had fewer photos. Several of the photos in that blog still amaze me, particularly the faces I showed here. Fiber art, I'm still working on, but with six months to go, I'm not too worried. An idea that delights or amazes me? I've actually had a couple that I hope to expand in posts here or elsewhere. Accomplish somethings? Check!
In 2012, I shall make progress in my practice of Myo Sim karate and kendo. I'm doing that, and in the four areas I mentioned even. Thanks to the sons, I've regularly worked on my kendo sparring, and have been told by fellow students that they see the improvement. I feel a bit more confident about my kicking in karate and my diagonal cuts in kendo though much work remains. And that's okay. If it were all that easy, I would have gotten bored with it by now. Myo Sim practice? Check!
It seems I should have been writing very general resolutions all along, since this is by far the best mid-year checkup that I've had. I feel better physically and while there have been some emotional dips in the road this year, feel better psychologically for now, today, anyway. As with the practice of a martial art, if life were all that easy, we might have gotten bored with it. I'd also have two fewer blog posts in a given year. Should I add a new resolution as a postscript, to run with scissors and a sword here more often? We shall see.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Good Intentions and All That
I've been posting my resolutions here for a couple of years now. There's really nothing like failing abjectly out in the open or feeling as if more people read this blog than really do and everyone knows I worry about my weight, caffeine intake, etc. I laid out the 2011 resolutions here, and offered a mid-year, birthday update here. Looking at things at year's end, did I really fail abjectly? No, though I really only succeeded at two of the overly specific resolutions I started with. I did, in fact, run, ski, bike, swim, etc. 700 miles to nowhere; the final total was right around 1,005 thanks to a valiant push the last 10 days or so of the year. I also succeeded in noting something to be grateful for or otherwise appreciate each day of the year. I did this thanks to a friend who gave me a boxed set of cards, one for each day of the year. The completed set is now moving to my studio, to my shelf of precious things. The rest of the list? Fuhgedaboutit!
My thinking for 2012 was to make much more general resolutions, a difficult task for someone who has worked in the planning field with measurable goals and the like. After I inked the list I'll put below onto the obligatory piece of cardboard, I read an article that advised making only one or two resolutions and making them quantifiable. Not this year, at least not for me. Here goes.
In 2012, I shall be healthy. I will watch what I eat and drink. I will work on getting stronger, perhaps by getting back to the weightlifting that I largely dropped when I added Myo Sim karate to my practice of Myo Sim kendo. Finally, I will try to act with more mindfulness, not flying off the handle or jumping to conclusions that may or may not be valid.
In 2012, I shall produce at least one something for which I feel a sense of accomplishment in several areas. I will write something, be it a blog post or letter or story or whatever, about which I feel pride. I will take one photograph that knocks my socks off; it doesn't have to knock anyone else's off, just my own. I will create one fiber something and one other something that needed to be created and will beautify the world. Finally, I will think of one idea, just one, that amazes or otherwise delights me.
In 2012, I shall make progress in my practice of Myo Sim karate and kendo. In kendo, I will work extra hard on diagonal cuts and sparring. In karate, I will work extra hard on kicking and channeling my anger outward, away from myself.
How will I know if I am succeeding at these? I'll figure that out, I guess, as I go along. I may not recognize the piece of writing or the photograph or the other things at the time I create them, but I'm hoping that as the year wears on, I will know which ones they are. Each day, I will try to keep being healthy near the front of my thinking. Does this mean I won't occasionally eat or drink too much of the wrong thing and that I will never skip a workout? No, but I will try not to obsess about it at the same time as I will try not to let it happen too often. In six months, when I turn 56, I'll do my mid-year assessment and hopefully feel better about the preceding six months than I do now about the preceding year. Stay tuned for details!
My thinking for 2012 was to make much more general resolutions, a difficult task for someone who has worked in the planning field with measurable goals and the like. After I inked the list I'll put below onto the obligatory piece of cardboard, I read an article that advised making only one or two resolutions and making them quantifiable. Not this year, at least not for me. Here goes.
In 2012, I shall be healthy. I will watch what I eat and drink. I will work on getting stronger, perhaps by getting back to the weightlifting that I largely dropped when I added Myo Sim karate to my practice of Myo Sim kendo. Finally, I will try to act with more mindfulness, not flying off the handle or jumping to conclusions that may or may not be valid.
In 2012, I shall produce at least one something for which I feel a sense of accomplishment in several areas. I will write something, be it a blog post or letter or story or whatever, about which I feel pride. I will take one photograph that knocks my socks off; it doesn't have to knock anyone else's off, just my own. I will create one fiber something and one other something that needed to be created and will beautify the world. Finally, I will think of one idea, just one, that amazes or otherwise delights me.
In 2012, I shall make progress in my practice of Myo Sim karate and kendo. In kendo, I will work extra hard on diagonal cuts and sparring. In karate, I will work extra hard on kicking and channeling my anger outward, away from myself.
How will I know if I am succeeding at these? I'll figure that out, I guess, as I go along. I may not recognize the piece of writing or the photograph or the other things at the time I create them, but I'm hoping that as the year wears on, I will know which ones they are. Each day, I will try to keep being healthy near the front of my thinking. Does this mean I won't occasionally eat or drink too much of the wrong thing and that I will never skip a workout? No, but I will try not to obsess about it at the same time as I will try not to let it happen too often. In six months, when I turn 56, I'll do my mid-year assessment and hopefully feel better about the preceding six months than I do now about the preceding year. Stay tuned for details!
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
O, Christmas Tree
I've posted here and there about our tradition of putting the Christmas Ape atop our Christmas tree. A comment on yesterday's post (the "there" one) expressed interest in seeing the whole tree. Things change somewhat from year to year because we either decide the tree looks full enough or we tire, one by one, of hanging ornaments and I decide I'd rather not finish the job myself. Here's this year's tree in its entirety. 
Two ornaments that always make it on the tree are the ones I showed in last year's tree post (the "here" one above), the sons in Christmas-pageant attire. As I think I said then, younger son is not quite the little angel he was then, 
while older son still knows what to do with a stick in his hands. 
We do have the odd store-bought ornament on the tree, 
including some given to us by the husband's now-departed mother. 
Most of the ornaments are homemade, though some of those were gifts from an art teacher friend. 
Others were stitched by my stepmother. 
Others were made by the sons. 
And still others, I made the year we lived in the Netherlands and decorated a tree entirely with creatively handmade ornaments such as toilet paper tolls covered with electrical tape. 
Besides the Christmas Ape atop the tree, some stuffed animals always manage to work their way into the branches. 
There are always some oddities such as the tag I took off a gift one year and started hanging as an ornament. 
For the first time, this year a number of "shinies," things I find and save for no reason other than I found them and think them interesting, made it onto the tree. 
Finally, somewhere in the tree (you'll just have to take my word for it because I could not find it to photograph) is a set of keys that younger son found beside the road. The radio locking component is beat up to the point of suggesting the set was run over at least once. Why are they on the tree? Why not? They were sitting on a nearby shelf as we were hanging adornments, and it seemed like a good idea at the time.
Two ornaments that always make it on the tree are the ones I showed in last year's tree post (the "here" one above), the sons in Christmas-pageant attire. As I think I said then, younger son is not quite the little angel he was then, 
while older son still knows what to do with a stick in his hands. 
We do have the odd store-bought ornament on the tree, 
including some given to us by the husband's now-departed mother. 
Most of the ornaments are homemade, though some of those were gifts from an art teacher friend. 
Others were stitched by my stepmother. 
Others were made by the sons. 
And still others, I made the year we lived in the Netherlands and decorated a tree entirely with creatively handmade ornaments such as toilet paper tolls covered with electrical tape. 
Besides the Christmas Ape atop the tree, some stuffed animals always manage to work their way into the branches. 
There are always some oddities such as the tag I took off a gift one year and started hanging as an ornament. 
For the first time, this year a number of "shinies," things I find and save for no reason other than I found them and think them interesting, made it onto the tree. 
Finally, somewhere in the tree (you'll just have to take my word for it because I could not find it to photograph) is a set of keys that younger son found beside the road. The radio locking component is beat up to the point of suggesting the set was run over at least once. Why are they on the tree? Why not? They were sitting on a nearby shelf as we were hanging adornments, and it seemed like a good idea at the time.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Beanie Baby Mutations, Parts V and VI
I didn't post any photos of the fifth Beanie Baby mutation since it was a gift, and I didn't want to spoil the surprise for the intended recipient. Since it turns out that her photos of it are better than the ones I took before I sent it off, you can see an elephant with butterfly wings here. It's not clear whether it's an elefly or a butterphant, but I sort of like elefly myself.
The sixth Beanie Baby mutation doesn't have a distinct name yet, but here it is.
If that photo isn't clear enough, try this one. 
Or this one. 
It's Howl the wolf wearing the clothing (well, the skin) of Fleece the sheep. And like any good wolf in sheep's clothing, this guy knows where to fit in, too. 
With a couple of other sheep, in the shadow of the Bearodactyl. 
It's still not clear just what I might do with these creatures other than probably clear them from the mantle perhaps to rest in the branches of the Christmas tree. I have decided what's coming next, though, a rhinopottamus or perhaps a hippoceros, though I think I prefer rhinopottamus.
The sixth Beanie Baby mutation doesn't have a distinct name yet, but here it is.
If that photo isn't clear enough, try this one. 
Or this one. 
It's Howl the wolf wearing the clothing (well, the skin) of Fleece the sheep. And like any good wolf in sheep's clothing, this guy knows where to fit in, too. 
With a couple of other sheep, in the shadow of the Bearodactyl. 
It's still not clear just what I might do with these creatures other than probably clear them from the mantle perhaps to rest in the branches of the Christmas tree. I have decided what's coming next, though, a rhinopottamus or perhaps a hippoceros, though I think I prefer rhinopottamus.
Friday, November 4, 2011
Beanie Baby Mutations, Part IV
Being a knitter, I do like yarn, so when a friend in England suggested that it might be fun to have a sheep that could spin its own wool into yarn, who was I to argue. Crossing Hairy the spider with Ewey the sheep was actually a bit more complicated that I thought it would be, and I still have a sheep's head with which to do something, but here's what Caroline's spinning sheep might look like. I'm open to suggestions as to what it might be called. 
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Beanie Baby Mutations, Part III
When the idea of doing Beanie Baby mutations and meldings other than SnailPony arose, the first one that came to mind (the sons' hivemind, not my own mind) was BearODactyl. BearODactyl actually arose from the mind of The Oatmeal. I'm not including the link to the specific BearODactyl comic here because the amount of profanity (words and ideas) that it contains might offend younger readers or their parents.
BearODactyl is a combination of Swoop the pterodactyl and Cinders the black bear. After taking Swoop apart, I had some help from older son on combining Swoop parts with the body of Cinders.
BearODactyl differs from the first two mutations in that the ODactyl part is actually a removable costume. 
The wings are simply sleeves into which the bear inserts his front legs. The head attached to the wings is tied onto the bear's head like a bowtie not really visible here. 
In the wake of Halloween, I'd have to say that Cinders the bear is quite pleased with the power and prestige that accompany his new alterego BearODactyl. 
In fact, he looks ready to cast a spell that might determine the next mutation to help clean up the library floor. Can you say "conjoined twins"? "Wolf in sheep's clothing"? "Cat of nine tails"?
BearODactyl is a combination of Swoop the pterodactyl and Cinders the black bear. After taking Swoop apart, I had some help from older son on combining Swoop parts with the body of Cinders.
BearODactyl differs from the first two mutations in that the ODactyl part is actually a removable costume. 
The wings are simply sleeves into which the bear inserts his front legs. The head attached to the wings is tied onto the bear's head like a bowtie not really visible here. 
In the wake of Halloween, I'd have to say that Cinders the bear is quite pleased with the power and prestige that accompany his new alterego BearODactyl. 
In fact, he looks ready to cast a spell that might determine the next mutation to help clean up the library floor. Can you say "conjoined twins"? "Wolf in sheep's clothing"? "Cat of nine tails"?
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