Steampunk reveries

The other evening, it just so happened that Bear was out at Zen practise, and my tenant's boyfriend was spending some time with the guys, so I invited her over to hang out. I was working on my latest steampunk project, so we sat at the table in the kitchen and had a glass of wine while I fiddled with the final touches on the project (pictures to come, I still have to take them).



I asked if she felt like watching a movie, and she said she would. She'd never seen "The Illusionist" (one of my all-time favorite movies, as well as one of my most recently discovered, as all-time favorite movies go), so I popped a big bowl of popcorn, sprinkled on the parmesan cheese and salt, and we settled in for it.



As I watched it with her, I realized how very steampunk this movie is. Hats and pocket watches at every turn, and Edward's workshop (top picture) was a veritable melange of lenses, brass fittings, and mysterious contraptions. The fact that the entire movie is suffused with languorous romance and rivers of intrigue just adds to that OtherTime feeling so essential to steampunk.



I love that feeling of deja vu, when two of your favorite things in life collide and are connected. It's like finding out that your handsome prince is also your best friend.

Memorial Day 2009

I know this holiday is meant to remember those who died in the service of our country, but I choose to also remember those who put themselves in harm's way... who were just as willing to give up everything so that we might have everything. Just because fate did not take them up on the offer does not diminish their sacrifice in the slightest.

This is Bear, looking completely kissable in his beret. Ye gods, I love that man! There is no one that I would rather have at my side during the good times, but especially when the shite hits the fan. He is an incredible source of power- mental, emotional, and physical.

I remember and honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice. I remember their families, who had to go on living without them. I think perhaps this was the more difficult task.

I can never figure this stuff out...

Bear's son just called to tell him that his girlfriend is pregnant. And that has me wondering... does this mean I'm going to be a grandmother-by-proxy?

Happy Birthday, Jimmy Stewart

James Maitland Stewart

(May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997)

Jimmy Stewart was, to me, the embodiment of all the best things about the movies. I have never heard a single person in the entertainment industry say one bad thing about him, and in the world of Hollywood that's pretty much a miracle in itself.



He was kind and good, and sometimes people made fun of the way that always came out in his on-screen characters. I think it was wonderful. He was someone the regular Joe could relate to, and he played characters that dealt with the struggles and pitfalls that the less than well-to-do face every day.



In his earlier movies, he was totally crush-worthy. A shy, soft-spoken heart throb. He took the image of the muscle-bound athlete getting all the girls and turned it on its head.



In his later movies, he took on older character roles with the grace and gravity of presence that he learned while he was in the armed forces.



As he aged, he became a sort of grandfather figure to me. I have always admired him both in his personal and professional life, and I enjoy his movies more each time I watch them.

The silver screen has never sparkled quite so brightly
since he went away.

A gorgeous day!

I had big plans of doing lots of projects today, to include working on my antique chair and cleaning the house... but instead, since the weather was so incredibly gorgeous, I spent the entire day outside in the garden.

The little feller in the picture above was hanging out in my climbing roses, soaking up the vitamin D, and I went by every hour or so to see if he was still there. He stayed there most of the afternoon, but by the time Bear got home from work he was gone, so I had to show him the picture instead.

I planted nine trees today (foot-high arborvitae along the fence at the back of the garden) and re-planted a Japanese maple, did a bunch of weeding, transplanted some Star of Bethlehem, some Black-eyed Susans, and some daisies. I planted a daylily that came along with my order of the arborvitae, and I went to the nursery and picked up some pretty annuals for the planters in front of the main house. Got some petunias, some geraniums, and some impatiens, all in riotous colors... yay!

Tonight Bear and I took our friends out to dinner at a swank spot that my sister gave us a gift certificate to. We wined and dined and came home full, fat, and happy. It was a lovely evening to cap off a perfectly wonderful spring day.

Strange Saturday

When I got home from work yesterday, I discovered that my order of multiple arborvitae trees had arrived in the mail. In order to plant these trees, I had to clear a great deal of undergrowth away from the fence alongside which I plan to put the trees. And discovered that the fence was falling apart with rot, so two sections of fence had to be replaced before the trees could be planted.

At which point the village inspector showed up to check the apartments for my rental permit renewal, and told me that three new smoke detectors need to be purchased, as well as fireproof sheetrock for the ceiling above the furnace in the basement.

So Bear and I hopped into the truck and trundled off to Lowe's, where we picked up all the items we needed, for the tidy sum of just over $200. Thank the gods for credit cards, eh?

Well, it's been raining here for the past forever, and it's slated to rain for the forseeable future, but it wasn't raining yesterday afternoon... so we headed straight out to the back garden when we got home from the store, and began removing old fencing and putting up new fencing, which weighed approximately five times as much as the old fencing. As we worked, the light faded from the sky and darkness fell. Millions of mosquitos the size of fruit bats divebombed our arms, heads, and ankles. The joy and peace we felt while accomplishing this task was less than nonexistent.

Somehow we survived it all, and trooped inside for some leftover homemade lasagna and garlic bread. We invited our tenants to come and feast with us, which gave the evening a touch of festivity.

Today, I worked an 8-4 shift, and Bear and I had made plans to FINALLY go out to dinner to celebrate my qualification as a radio operator, and his new job (with a gift certificate my sister gave us for CHRISTMAS, mind you!). However, it's been foggy and humid all day, and when I got home and admitted that I was too tired and actually feeling a bit under the weather, Bear more than agreed. He said he was also feeling more lethargic than celebratory, so we decided to postpone the celebration yet again, hoping for a day when we both feel less weary and the weather is more cheerful for the longish drive up to Smithtown, where the restaurant is.

And so here I sit, the fog swirling around the cottage, the baby trees waiting outside in their little pots for a sunnier day to be planted, and my eyes drooping with the effort of not falling asleep on my keyboard. I may just have to go and curl up on the couch, where I can pretend to read a book... zzzzzzzz...

Oh - before I forget, the picture at the top is from a fantastic website called "airliners.net" which features a gazillion such amazing plane photos. I spent most of the day perusing this site, as it is one of the few I am authorized to view at work, since it is "industry related". Yessssssssssssss!

Goodbye to a dear friend

Elaine, author of the "Old Age is a Bitch" blog, has passed away. Her sister Enid was kind enough to let us know, so that those of us who loved Elaine but never got to meet her in person could share and grieve.

Elaine was smart, kind, and funny - she loved talking about her recipes, her family, her flowers... she lived in Scotland, my favorite place in all the world. Her stories brought me back there with such clarity, and I wished so many times I could just trot over to her house for a cup of tea and "a good blether", as she would say. She commented many times on this blog, and was always kind and supportive to me, offering words of encouragement and good cheer.

I think this is the first time I have lost someone I considered such a part of my life whom I have never spoken with on the phone or met in person. It's an odd feeling, like there's nothing to hold on to. Our relationship was created and existed entirely in the ether. And now she's there, too...

I will miss her.

A great day, for aye

It's official!
Bear got the job!
Starts Monday!
Good salary!

Hip-hip
HOORAY!!!!

We celebrated today by going to the local arboretum, walking hand-in-hand through lush gardens and looking at gorgeous trees. We made out under our favorite tree, saw a huge osprey sitting in the branches of another tree, and then walked behind the huge Tudor mansion and sat in sprawling wooden chairs overlooking the water. It was glorious, the feeling of being outside on a perfect day, feeling the stress and pressure of the job situation draining away with each beat of the butterflies' wings.

The light at the end of the tunnel...

Bear got a job offer! He goes to meet with the boss tomorrow morning and finalize the terms.

WOOT!

Tired but not Sleepy

I've always wondered what possessed Disney to put condoms on the dwarves' feet...

Anyway, I worked overtime yesterday and today (worked 24 hours in 2 days), and when I got home tonight I stayed up until midnight watching old movies (and Medium), then trudged off to bed. Tonight is my Friday, so I didn't want to ruin my Saturday by staying up all night... but here I am.

Laid down to sleep and my mind just won't stop turning around and around about things I have no control over. I wish I could help Bear find a job, but nothing I try seems to work. I've made plans to have people come over on my days off and now I feel like being alone, but feel crappy about cancelling. I have projects I've started that I want to finish, but there never seems to be enough time, or I am unmotivated. My neck hurts. I'm not heavy enough to be called fat, but I'm too fat not to be considered overweight, and I just want to be thin again. Without dieting or working out, of course - ha!

Well. Hope the rest of you are getting your sleep, at least. I'm off to find a book to nod off to (hopefully).

Things I've learned recently

1. Buying a toilet seat is not the simple task it once was. They now make really attractive toilet seats which are only available with little kiddie-seats inserted into the underside of the lid. ???? Those of us who don't have kids, nor friends with kids, are left to sort out our choices among the uglier toilet seats, as the really attractive type don't come in a regular adult human version. Oh, and they also charge lots of money for toiled seats with a new feature - they have lids with an automatic hydraulic letdown system that closes the lid s....l.....o.....w......l.....y and ostensibly without making any noise. You know, for all those people out there that find it just too difficult to put the lid down quietly by themselves. Cripes.

2. Cheap scotch in a plastic bottle is not a good substitute for wine when one wants to have a nice drink on one's day off. Sure, the sex is amazing, but the ensuing day-long headache? Whooooaaahhhh, Nelly.

3. Whenever you find yourself thinking that eating two hamburgers with onions is a great idea at two in the morning, just hit yourself in the head with a frying pan a few times and go to bed instead. I guarantee the consequences will be better, and so will your breath.

4. It's difficult to get motivated to do anything worthwhile when it's been raining non stop for TEN FREAKIN' DAYS. I can't remember what time it is, and I don't really want to move off the couch, and the roof of my truck leaks and the interior is now a swamp, and I have to put plastic bags over my shoes to get out of the lake that used to be my driveway, and if I wanted to live like a duck I would have moved to freakin' SEATTLE, okay? Enough already with the rain!!!

5. The idea of working overtime is much, much more attractive than actually working the overtime. In my mind, overtime gets offered to me when I really have nothing better to do anyway, and when I'd just have to stay a couple of extra hours after a regular shift. In real life, they want you to come in at 4am to work a few hours of overtime when you're not scheduled to come in and work until 4pm. Also, in my mind, the overtime just works itself and all I have to do is decide which bills to pay with the extra money.



6. No matter how many times I watch Original Sin, I love it more every time. If I could just get someone to pay me to watch that movie, all my financial troubles would be over. Also, if I don't find that coffee set, my life will never be complete.

Yet another trend...... SALT?

So Bear says to me today - "Hey, did you know that the word 'soldier' means 'he who is paid in salt'?" Apparently "sold" comes from the word "pay" from the olden times, when people were paid in salt. Or, were paid to guard the salt mines. Something like that. I've had enough scotch this evening to be quite forgiving when it comes to details at this point.





He then went on to tell me that "Gaul" comes from the ancient celtic word for salt... again, our ancestors linked to the word "salt".





And today, I checked the website of the movie I was recently in, "Splinterheads", which is now being premiered in Krakow, Poland. The crew just toured the famous Wieliczka Salt Mines.

The mystery continues.



In salty fashion.

Crazy like a fox

I accepted four hours of overtime today, which means I worked from midnight until noon today. Which means I only just rolled out of bed, and it's almost time to go back in for another midnight shift. Which means my brain is like fried jello. Which means today's post consists of my Brezny horoscope. Which, at least, sounds hopeful.




SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): An Arizona woman was jogging in the woods when a fox ran out of nowhere, leaped up, and clamped down on her arm with its teeth. Unable to pry it loose, the woman ran back to her car, which was a mile away, with the fox hanging on. She drove herself to the hospital, where doctors removed the creature and treated her successfully. I imagine that right about now you might feel a bit like she did, Sagittarius: bustling along energetically, in a state of alert, as some nagging vexation clings to you parasitically. Now here's the good news: I predict that you will get rid of the pest, and will ever thereafter enjoy an enhanced confidence in your ability to function well under pressure.



Editor's note: Last night at work, on my lunch break, a movie called "The Simple Plan" came on the tele just as I was sitting down. In the very first scenes of the movie, a huge red fox raids the chicken house and goes bounding away across a huge snowy field with the chicken in its mouth. I am sensing a trend here.