This is a neighbor cat that ran over to say hi and then got suspicious when I broke out the camera.

My sweetheart did a lovely post of shots around the neighborhood.

Today had some great parts and some aggravating parts. I woke up at 3am and couldn't get back to sleep, we had a plumbing problem which was eventually resolved and then the Internet died. So I spend most of the morning tired and trying to problem solve.

At Noon we zoomed out of the house to the Wordstock Festival one of our favorite annual events. We cruised the floor and saw several people we know. We had tickets to the special Sherman Alexie event. Have you read this great poem Unkissed by him? If you're thinking, oh - I'm not a poetry person, you should read it anyway. It's a poem for everyone. He was awesome as usual and we now each have a signed copy of his new book.

We also saw Shawn Levy talk about his Paul Newman book. We've seen him speak once before and he's always super-interesting with lots of filmgeek details.

You'd think an event like Wordstock: tables and tables of books and a room filled with book geeks would make me more excited about writing. But actually, the volume of stuff overwhelmed me. I want to support the business and buy small press stuff and magazines but I don't have time to read the stuff I already have. Who can read all this stuff? Besides the moms and really loyal colleagues of the writers?

On the way home I was thinking that maybe I'd just recycle 75% of the stuff in my current magazine pile to catch me up to the current month. That was how I resolved my discomfort.

So getting back to Wordstock, it felt like there are already so many books out there. I don't think that's the right attitude I'm just telling you how I felt at the time.

Then we tried to take care of an errand on the way home and were thwarted so now I've got to try to keep my eyes open and finish my daily word count.

I never even went there but I miss it already.

Two Depressing Moments From TV Last Night

1. Hearing classic Blue Öyster Cult remade as dancebeat twaddle and sung by a breathy teenie-bopper and used to pimp a car that I wouldn't drive if it was offered to me for free.

2. Three small children playing doctor. The "doctor" tells the other small children that what they need is more fiber. The solution? Froot Loops. I don't even know which part is more depressing. Kids discussing fiber or the advertising brain trust that decided that the real selling point for a candy-flavored cereal is fiber.

The Cellar

Oops, the morning got away from me so only a couple of quick updates.

1. The good news is that I've completely restored my home email to exactly like it was before I upgraded it. Yay. The bad news is that all new mail on the machine since I switched is gone.

2. Simpson's Review that includes a line about how the episode feels like it was written by elderly people. We thought it was hilarious. Ouch.

Do Not Hold Over People

Wow. I'm grumpy this morning.

I just wrote 400 words about how much I hate all email programs that aren't 2005 and earlier Eudora. Then I poured another cup of tea and realized no one wants to read that.

Then I started ranting about Ann Taylor. But I found some cookies so I deleted that, too, and will just say that my attempt to burn through my giftcard via Internet ordering failed so I'm still not done with them. They are doing nothing to convince me that they want my business.

I think I might break open this box of See's and see if I can get some work done.

Timbers!

Smells. Soccer. Bulbs.

This is going to be another rambling thematically unlinked post.

This morning I got on the freeway behind a giant truck that I think was running on coal and camel fat. It was a curious smell coming from those bursts of murky exhaust.

Yesterday afternoon I went to the Timbers playoff game which was completely awesome. It was sunny, big crowd, cold beer. Exciting game. It ended in a 3-3 draw but the Timbers were eliminated because they lost the previous game 2-1. Bummer. But a great way to end the soccer season.

I've just started a major writing project that involves soccer so I've been thinking about soccer all weekend. World Cup starts June 11. Woo! Check out the official mascot Zakumi. He looks like the lovechild of a leopard and the Jolly Green Giant. I might have to replace my Shane in the lily pads desktop background for one of these Zakumi wallpapers because they are hilarious.

We found my camera battery charger yesterday. And when I say we, I mean Bob who miraculously found it downstairs in his man cave.

I noticed yesterday that the bulb company didn't send me a catalog this year. Normally I'd be ordering my spring bulbs now. This reminds me of an experience I had with a completely unrelated company and goes under the heading: WTF with the marketing?

A couple years ago Mom gave me her bulb catalog to order. Now I was in their system. I started getting blizzards of catalogs. They didn't just have X Bulb Catalog. They had about 20 bulb and flower catalogs. And maybe birdhouses. Or knitted things. I can't remember. I called them up and told them to knock it off. The following year I ordered from them via the Internet. Now they had my email. EVERY WEEK I would get an email pimping some evening birdsong kiwi crocuses or Danish sunset tiger lilies.

You know what I don't even think about much less purchase every week?

Flower bulbs.

So I told them to knock it off.

So now I get nothing? That's the choice: bombarded or nothing? That's what happened with the other company, too. They sold my name to every Tom, Dick and Harry in the world and when I told them to knock it off they stopped sending me their catalog. The one with stuff that I actually wanted to buy. So I called and asked what that was all about and they said I could open a new account with a different name.

They are doing it wrong.

This represents 25% of my lemon cucumber crop this year. I don't understand what went wrong. I had tons of vines going everywhere with lots of blossoms.

Saturday Wrap-up

I have a ton of notes jotted down here that don't go together. I'm just going to type for a bit and see how it all comes out.

Yesterday was the first crockpot meal of the season. My crockpot is desperately underused. I'm always looking at crockpot websites and cookbooks and they always seem to have ridiculous recipes like apple cider. Why would I dig my crockpot out from its spot in the back of the cupboard so I can heat up apple cider?

Yesterday I had a bean soup recipe and I realized I was going to be out for most of the afternoon and there wouldn't be enough time for it to cook when I got home. So I tossed everything in Mr. Crockpot and fired him up and when I got home, dinner was done.

Today is my first cocoa of the season.

Later in the day I need to find my seasonal clothes box and get all the fuzzy wool stuff out and put away all the shorts and tanktops. I finally accept that summer is over.



Co-worker's Dad sent him a box of goodies from WY -- very securely packed with Dora the Explorer diapers and duct tape. You have to admire his ingenuity.

Bob and I have been fans of At The Movies forever. I remember watching it together in our very first apartment. At that time it was still Siskel & Ebert. We've stuck with it through all the changes up until last year when there was some sort of dispute with Ebert. The show was taken over by dark overlord entertainment channel people and was hosted by two discoheads with shiny teeth that talked like game show hosts. It was so awful Bob and I didn't even last to the first commercial break. I realize it's unfair of me to give such a terrible rating to a show that I watched for less than 10 minutes but I'm confident in my assessment.

One of the things we liked about the show is that the reviewers were intelligent with a huge knowledge of film. They weren't there to pimp product they wanted to talk about movies. And they reviewed mainstream stuff and independent stuff. And when they found some undiscovered gem they would do as much as they could to get the word out.

This year the show dumped the phonies and returned with film nerds A.O. Scott and Michael Phillips who were often seen on the previous version. We're so happy. Every time they make an obscure reference I get all shivery.



Peaches and chokecherry jelly from WY. I told co-worker he should tell his Dad I was putting this online and he could read my blog. Co-worker's response: That would require teaching him to use a computer.

Last week I got an email that made me so angry I had to sit on my hands to keep from jetting off a nasty reply. Unfortunately it wouldn't be cool to elaborate but I will say that is wasn't a home email.

I'm almost always good about not responding to email that makes me mad or annoyed. There have been a few incidences when I failed to do that and even as I was whomping on the keyboard setting that person straight, I knew it was a bad idea but sent it anyway. I can think of one occasion where that turned into a disaster.

I don't know what it was about this one that unhinged me. As the day went on I'd find myself trying to construct a perfect reply. One that would professionally but not passive-aggressively inform this business entity what a bunch of worthless patronizing morons they were. Dummies.

On that note, I'm going to wrap up. I have a few other items on my list but maybe I'll write more tomorrow.

Do It Yourself

My haircut lady phoned me last weekend to tell me she's getting out of the business. She started working out at the mall at the beginning of the summer and I knew she didn't like it there. I asked her if she meant the mall or cutting hair altogether. She said she was trying to get another business started. The styling job was too slow.

If you've ever seen my hair you'd wonder why I'd pay someone to cut it. I cut my own hair for years and years after I gave up that horrible Carol Brady shag I had in college. (Barely exaggerating – the haircut was so awful I don't even think it was funny. I burn any photos I run across. I'm so grateful there was no Facebook back then.)

I started seeing my current person back when I was trying to improve my style and I wanted to get highlights or a weave or some fancy thing I thought was a good idea. I liked it at first but it cost a lot of money and took forever to do. I don't have the patience to invest a lot of time into vanity.

Then I went back to my regular boring hair but I like my person so I still went to see her for a cut and style every other month. I don't know the exact timeline, I think I've been with her 10 years. She's moved salons at least six times. The mall was the sixth.

I hope it all works out for her. Meanwhile, I'm cutting my own hair again.