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shadowkatI'm not allowed to buy more books. So I stared at the books at Lofty Pigeons, briefly picked up one on the art of making gluten free bread (hint, sourdough) and hobbled out again. I was dripping in sweat, since it was a hot and humid day and I'd walked three miles. So sweaty, that I could feel the booksellers giving me the side-eye (do not drip sweat on our books or touch them with sweaty fingers). That was yesterday not today.
Today - I went to work, got there way too early, and was so horribly bored, I found myself debating copyright law on Dreamwidth. (Thank you by the way for that. I may go back to it tomorrow. Note debate/discuss not argue. I'm conflict adverse not debate adverse. There is a difference. One is emotional, one is logical and analytical.) And then, unsuccessfully tried to revise my contemporary romance novel - which I'm becoming increasingly convinced doesn't quite work and requires a wee bit too much suspension of disbelief from the reader? I keep trying to fix it and make it work - but I don't think I can. And any time I attempt to explain it to someone - I watch their eyes get big, bewildered, then very confused, which ahem, is not a good sign? My brain decided to start telling itself the fantasy story instead on the way home in self-defense. So maybe I should just drop it? I'm just enamored of the title and the cover I have set up for it. (I'm not exactly much of a romance novelist. I get bored easily and feel the need to well add things to make it interesting?)
Art History Major was back and felt the need tobrag whine regale me with how busy she is. I wish people wouldn't do that. Yes, yes, we all know you are swamped and very very busy...bored now. (Actually all she does is chat in Teams meetings, or go to meetings in person, or go to training, or go chat in her boss's office - according to Breaking Bad - all AHM and her boss do is chat all day long. New agency that old agency was forcibly merged into is really into video chat and meetings. They have meetings about everything. ) So, I rarely talk to or see her. She might as well be out. We share a cubical wall, but I rarely see her outside of briefly in the morning or occasionally during the day.
Mother: does she accomplish much from these meetings?
Me: No, they never appear to.
I hate meetings - I find them to be generally speaking a colossal waste of time. Unless they are negotiations - in which case - those can be somewhat productive?
**
Allergies are beating me up this week a bit. Itchy eyes, sniffles, and a bit of chest congestion. It's fall - or end of summer - so allergy season.
COVID vaccine - didn't have any side-effects outside of the sore shoulder, unless we count the allergies, which showed up two days later, so probably not? Sore shoulder is over finally - thank god. I had to take aleve for that finally. It hurt more than it had the last time - this version of the vaccine really packs a wallop. Although I'm grateful it was just a sore shoulder.
**
Meditations - last night's and this morning's were helpful. As was the Sunday UU sermon. Or comforting at least.
Last night, I was listening to part four of a six part sleep story about a hike on the Pacific Crest Trail. Kai, an artist, is hiking the trail by herself. At one point she hooks up with a couple of other hikers and they form a makeshift trail family that hikes together for a few days along the challenging High Sierra section of the trail. After they reach a California town, in Northern California, and rest, the other hikers choose to either stay over in town for a few days, or take off to other parts of the state for a bit to visit friends, so Kai is on her own again. She is lonely, and at times wishes she could go back and find them, missing their company, but struggles on until she reaches a sign post - and celebrates. It states that she has come to the midway point of her goal. 1300 miles from Mexico, and 1300 miles left to go to reach Canada. And she realizes that sometimes on our journeys or hikes, we have people to hike or journey with us during the difficult bits, and others we are alone, making our way on our own, with the others left behind. Midway through our life. People drift in and out, walking at different paces, with different requirements, and different needs - and its not personal, sometimes they just have to go a different route or stay behind to rest up. We all hike our own hike.
The other one, this morning, was about not needing to please people all the time, or at all. And it told a fable - about a old man, a boy and a donkey.
They are going to town. For a while the boy is riding the donkey. Until someone comments, how could the boy let the old man lead the donkey while he rides. So they switch places, and the old man rides it. Then someone comments, how could the old man let the boy walk while he rides the donkey. So they both ride it until another more people jeer - that they are overloading the poor donkey. So they attempt to carry the donkey themselves, and the donkey kicks them and falls into the water, and they've lost the donkey.
Moral? If you try to please everyone, you end up pleasing no one including yourself. It's a good reminder, I think? About worrying too much about what others think. (Both are in the Calm meditation app.)
And in Sunday's service - I was reminded of the Leonard Cohen song, Anthem"
"Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in"
It's similar to the Native American view that all art needs to have a flaw in it, so as not to attempt to improve on nature, and remain balanced. My grandmother actually taught me the Native American view - she'd learned to bead and create beaded art, and dream catchers from watching the Hopi and Navajo in Arizona and Nevada. And deliberately put flaws in all her work - to ensure that the light got in. You know a work is genuine and not mass produced - when it has the deliberate flaw.
***
The clothing I ordered from Talbots came - or three of the four items. And they all fit and looked good, or I was pleased with them. Whew! Since they were mostly final sales items.
**
The day was sunny but hazy, and not good for allergies. But I took a long walk - first briefly through the trees and garden, then along the pier with the water brushing its sides, looping back through the tall buildings, old and new to get two chocolate chip cookies from Insomiac cookies. (Every time I go, I'm both annoyed and relieved that they only have one type of cookie that is gluten-free and it is chocolate chip.)
The picture is of a mural that is around the corner from where I work. I found it striking, so took a photo of it. NYC is a city that just vibrates with an artistic vibe. It's as if all the artists in the world decided to perch here for just a bit, to drink coffee, tea, and play, before popping off again somewhere else.
Today - I went to work, got there way too early, and was so horribly bored, I found myself debating copyright law on Dreamwidth. (Thank you by the way for that. I may go back to it tomorrow. Note debate/discuss not argue. I'm conflict adverse not debate adverse. There is a difference. One is emotional, one is logical and analytical.) And then, unsuccessfully tried to revise my contemporary romance novel - which I'm becoming increasingly convinced doesn't quite work and requires a wee bit too much suspension of disbelief from the reader? I keep trying to fix it and make it work - but I don't think I can. And any time I attempt to explain it to someone - I watch their eyes get big, bewildered, then very confused, which ahem, is not a good sign? My brain decided to start telling itself the fantasy story instead on the way home in self-defense. So maybe I should just drop it? I'm just enamored of the title and the cover I have set up for it. (I'm not exactly much of a romance novelist. I get bored easily and feel the need to well add things to make it interesting?)
Art History Major was back and felt the need to
Mother: does she accomplish much from these meetings?
Me: No, they never appear to.
I hate meetings - I find them to be generally speaking a colossal waste of time. Unless they are negotiations - in which case - those can be somewhat productive?
**
Allergies are beating me up this week a bit. Itchy eyes, sniffles, and a bit of chest congestion. It's fall - or end of summer - so allergy season.
COVID vaccine - didn't have any side-effects outside of the sore shoulder, unless we count the allergies, which showed up two days later, so probably not? Sore shoulder is over finally - thank god. I had to take aleve for that finally. It hurt more than it had the last time - this version of the vaccine really packs a wallop. Although I'm grateful it was just a sore shoulder.
**
Meditations - last night's and this morning's were helpful. As was the Sunday UU sermon. Or comforting at least.
Last night, I was listening to part four of a six part sleep story about a hike on the Pacific Crest Trail. Kai, an artist, is hiking the trail by herself. At one point she hooks up with a couple of other hikers and they form a makeshift trail family that hikes together for a few days along the challenging High Sierra section of the trail. After they reach a California town, in Northern California, and rest, the other hikers choose to either stay over in town for a few days, or take off to other parts of the state for a bit to visit friends, so Kai is on her own again. She is lonely, and at times wishes she could go back and find them, missing their company, but struggles on until she reaches a sign post - and celebrates. It states that she has come to the midway point of her goal. 1300 miles from Mexico, and 1300 miles left to go to reach Canada. And she realizes that sometimes on our journeys or hikes, we have people to hike or journey with us during the difficult bits, and others we are alone, making our way on our own, with the others left behind. Midway through our life. People drift in and out, walking at different paces, with different requirements, and different needs - and its not personal, sometimes they just have to go a different route or stay behind to rest up. We all hike our own hike.
The other one, this morning, was about not needing to please people all the time, or at all. And it told a fable - about a old man, a boy and a donkey.
They are going to town. For a while the boy is riding the donkey. Until someone comments, how could the boy let the old man lead the donkey while he rides. So they switch places, and the old man rides it. Then someone comments, how could the old man let the boy walk while he rides the donkey. So they both ride it until another more people jeer - that they are overloading the poor donkey. So they attempt to carry the donkey themselves, and the donkey kicks them and falls into the water, and they've lost the donkey.
Moral? If you try to please everyone, you end up pleasing no one including yourself. It's a good reminder, I think? About worrying too much about what others think. (Both are in the Calm meditation app.)
And in Sunday's service - I was reminded of the Leonard Cohen song, Anthem"
"Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in"
It's similar to the Native American view that all art needs to have a flaw in it, so as not to attempt to improve on nature, and remain balanced. My grandmother actually taught me the Native American view - she'd learned to bead and create beaded art, and dream catchers from watching the Hopi and Navajo in Arizona and Nevada. And deliberately put flaws in all her work - to ensure that the light got in. You know a work is genuine and not mass produced - when it has the deliberate flaw.
***
The clothing I ordered from Talbots came - or three of the four items. And they all fit and looked good, or I was pleased with them. Whew! Since they were mostly final sales items.
**
The day was sunny but hazy, and not good for allergies. But I took a long walk - first briefly through the trees and garden, then along the pier with the water brushing its sides, looping back through the tall buildings, old and new to get two chocolate chip cookies from Insomiac cookies. (Every time I go, I'm both annoyed and relieved that they only have one type of cookie that is gluten-free and it is chocolate chip.)
The picture is of a mural that is around the corner from where I work. I found it striking, so took a photo of it. NYC is a city that just vibrates with an artistic vibe. It's as if all the artists in the world decided to perch here for just a bit, to drink coffee, tea, and play, before popping off again somewhere else.
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Date: 2025-10-01 07:54 am (UTC)I really don't miss meetings at work - life is too short for meetings...