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I've noticed that far too many bloggers refer to their blogs as "rants" so, until further notice, mine will be known as hasty insights. *
Whenever I go to flea markets or similar places with Janice, she invariably lingers over the stuff she wouldn't buy in a million years. I don't know why, but she can't pass up something tacky without picking it up and studying it at length. She even has a particular tone of voice she uses. Without really opening her mouth, she says something like "oooooooooooh my goddddddd. Who in the world would want such a thiiiiiiing?" Surrounded by nice stuff, she can't tear herself away from the truly horrid. They were thinking of people like Janice when they started Who Would Buy That website. This might actually get Janice onto the Internet. *
Some of my online sailing buddies have gone into business for themselves. Check them out at Harmony Boatworks. * Thursday, January 24, 2002
I already told you that I have moved into my new window office. My previous office never felt like home, so I never tried to make it nice. With the new office I decided to arrange things a bit better and put some artwork on the walls. Being cheap, I decided to put up some stuff that I already had, but wasn't using. The pictures above are of four posters which we never hung after moving into the house 8 ½ years ago. They just look out of place here. So they're on the way to the office. Somehow, I've had these posters all these years without noticing what they have in common. Can you see it? Why don't I just tell you.. All four posters are dated 1982. Two are for art exhibits that year, one is for an art lecture, and one is for a balloon festival (the only event I didn't attend). All in 1982. If you visited a home displaying this collection, you could draw certain assumptions about the owners. You might say "here lives a young wannabe artsy couple... ages 22 and 23, who just set up housekeeping and ran out and framed all the artsy art they could get their hands on in a hurry." And you'd be amazingly accurate. This is the kind of impression I'd have gone to lengths to avoid at that time, but you just can't hide who you are, can you? We used to admire older people who had collected nice things all their lives and had art and antiques and such. Now we are those older people... with art, antiques and such. I need to look around and see what obvious faux pas I'm committing and might only notice 20 years from now. *
Thanks to Shane for pointing out that my Ship's Log hadn't been updated with Monday's sail. I had forgotten to update that blog with my new password. It's working now. * Wednesday, January 23, 2002
I hate to say this. Even worse, I hate to DO it… but the dreaded “E” word has crept into my lifestyle. That’s right. I’ve started to exercise (shrieks of horror!). Every year during the holidays I put on a few pounds, but this year has been the worst. I’ve put on about ten pounds and I feel like a bloated pig. I still wear size 30 pants, but 32 would feel a lot better. Just as Janice swore she’d never wear double digits, I have to draw the line at 30. We’ve had a Total Gym in the corner of the TV room for about a year, but it’s a very lazy machine. It’s more sedentary than we are. So I’ve had to drag it out and give it a workout. Believe me, it’s not a happy machine. Home exercise equipment in America enjoys a lifestyle that even a cat would envy. Ours has sat idly for months, watching television in its fetal position, blaming Janice and me for its slovenly ways. Well, it’s time for some discipline and hard work. Our machine could take a lesson from the liquor cabinet, which is a hard working contributor to our domestic lifestyle. I’m giving him a well-deserved vacation while I devote some time to whipping the Total Gym into shape. Lazy bastard. Denying the liquor cabinet of a loving father! Wilda’s husband Al tells me that it’s hopeless. He’s a transplant from New England who married a Cajun, like I did, and knows that the odds of staying trim and eating local fare are about as good as (fill in your own metaphor). Janice and I watched the Total Gym video again the other day. Since she has advanced degrees in psychology, I asked if we would benefit from just watching the exercises performed by those taut models. I was delighted to hear that the answer is yes! As long as you picture yourself doing the workout, and how it might feel. But some of those taut models make me picture myself doing entirely different activities, so I guess I’ll be doing the real exercises. Don’t worry. I’m not taking before and after pictures. How cruel do you think I am? * Tuesday, January 22, 2002
Well I finally got to go sailing again. Yesterday was Martin Luther King Day, so I had the day off. The day was too pretty to waste. Click the menu above, then go to the sailing page and click the "Ship's Log" to read about it. That ship's log hasn't had an entry in far too long. * Archives |
