2009 and already miscellany

I mentioned that I've been listening to recorded books lately... I listen in my car on my drives to and from work, mostly. Once again, my current book is one set in Ireland. As with all books I read/or listen to, when a passage strikes me, I tend to write it down. Yesterday, I heard this:

"Below the hem of my nightdress, I could see, and I noticed it with a quick flick of misery, that the skin was blotchy over the knob of my ankle bone. And when I lifted the leg and twisted myself to look at it more closely, I saw that the veins at the back of my knees were coarse and blue-black. That was new, wasn't it? Then because the mirror was in front of me, I experimented with moving my head while I listened to Ella. Yes, the skin of my neck puckered when I bowed my head. I leaned across and peered into the mirror and did it again. Lower chin, throat puckers; lift chin, throat smooths out. To think when I was young, I took the fabric of myself for granted. It never occurred to me, no more than it would to Ella now, that some day I would be afraid to look at myself closely."

From the book, My Dream of You, by Nuala O'Faolain - in which I'm only less than half-way through, but so far, so good...

And darn it all, Dyan Cannon is back in my head. Ugh.

While I was rewinding the cassette tape (yes! cassette tape! They look like this, remember?), so I could write down the above text from the book (rewind, write, rewind, write... very handy thing to do while driving!), I heard a bit on NPR, so I stopped for a moment and listened. It was a bit about a group of people artists who each took a photo at 7:15pm each day for a year. It was somewhat interesting; here's the article on NPR.org. I haven't formed any opinion about the collaborative work, because I haven't looked at their site enough... maybe some day when I'm at Espress Milano and can use their super fast 'net access, I'll do so. Maybe. But I did take a gander at the web site for the artist from whom they got their inspiration... I'm not going to link to it here, you can get to it from the NPR article. But.... Oh. My. Heck. This guy did these one-year "art" pieces. In one, he built a wooden cage in his apartment and basically lived in it for one year without radio, TV, etc., and had a friend bring in food. Um... like solitary confinement in prison. Have you ever wondered what it would feel like to be in solitary confinement in prison for a year? Me, neither. (Duh, it'd be awful.) Another year-long piece was punching a time-clock every hour for a year at the same time... only the NPR article got it wrong, because the artist didn't quite make it every hour all year long... there is a document on his web site that explains all the times he missed or was late or early. So seems to me he failed on that one. Then another I looked at was him vowing to live outside for a year. Ever wonder what it'd be like to be homeless? Me, neither.

Stranger still for me was the Google search results... it would appear this guy is some well-known artist, I guess. Oy! Me and my hicksville-ness will just stay out of it. All that "thought-provoking" crap stuff on this one just ain't my thang. Here's a thought for you... instead of pretending to be homeless, help them!

So... did I stay up and watch 2009 come into being? No, I did not. I was in bed quite early, actually... before 9pm. Kev was watching some sports stuff on TV, Sammy and his friend, Nate, were up and about, and I said g'night. Joycie and Mike called me about 9:30pm, so I got to wish them Happy New Year. Then I closed my eyes. To sleep a wonderful, restful sleep. Best way to bring in 2009 as far as I'm concerned. Here's hoping the rest of ought nine will be similarly peaceful. Sammy and I are also still hoping our slogan "everything'll be fine in '09" is dependable. No New Year's resolutions from me, however. Don't believe in 'em. It's just Thursday, folks, just another Thursday. What I resolve to do today is no more important than what I resolve to do on a Thursday in, say, March. Gotta go with the flow, stay in the loop, keep your eye on the ball, roll with the punches, make hay while the sun shines, be the duck* and try not to take any wooden nickels.

*Be the duck. This is a wisdom I learned from my mom. When something or someone bothers you and you have no control over the situation, or very little control... be the duck. Let the anger &/or frustration roll off you like water off a duck's back. Be the duck is good advice. Many a time I've needed it, remembered it and got back to being productive and of a more peaceful mindset. Go, Mom!

Yesterday, by the way, was NOT my sister, Kathy's 50th Birthday! But I got Kev, Joycie and Sammy all 3 to call her and wish her a very happy birthday. It was most excellent. Because at some time in our youngsterhood, I apparently decided that Kathy's birthday was not really December 30th, but instead, the Last Day of December, and we argued about it off and on through the years. So when I called Kathy yesterday morning after my family had all called to wish her A Very Happy Birthday Today!, I could hardly talk from laughing. Kathy was on to me from the get-go, but I still got a big chuckle out of it. She told me, "You've been trying to change my birth date for years, and it's never going to work." Right-o. Did I mention she's FIFTY YEARS OLD?!!! Ha! I figure in a couple more decades, I'll be able to convince her.

No-Tail the Squirrel... A few months ago, we began to notice that one of the fox squirrels that lives near our house had a very thin tail...



Not a very good photo - it was kinda dark out and snowing when I took it, but you can definitely see the difference in the poor critter's tail vs. his fine-tailed kin. We figure he got into a fight with something, but maybe it's some kind of squirrel disease.

He's been coming up to the bird feeder regularly, and when I'm up early, such as this morning, I've noticed he's usually the first squirrel to arrive. He'll climb up the limb of the bush nearest the feeder until it bends right to the feeder and onto the roof he goes. It's very graceful. But when other squirrels begin to arrive, fox, gray, black, a veritable melting pot gathering of squirrels, he is the No. 1 to be scared away. Poor little No-Tail. I took a photo of him just now, and I had to use my flash through the window... look at his poor, skinny freezing tail now...



I don't have the heart to scare him away from the feeder.

Update! He's at the feeder still, and a gray squirrel is occupying the other side, and another fox squirrel just came up, onto the roof and tried to take over No-Tail's side of the feeder... and No-Tail didn't let him! Yay for No-Tail! Perhaps he's made himself a New Year's Resolution...