night is half gone...: 05/11

May 31, 2011

May 27, 2011

In my never ending quest to become a dowager, the other day, I found myself in my favorite consignment shop, buying a very incomplete set of china. I've never owned china. Why would I need china?
Suddenly I've begun to feel the need. What's happening to me???
What's next? ~~dildos~~ doilies?
I'm afraid.

I adjusted my corset, glanced through my lorgnette and spied it,
near this vignette:

(Thankfully the ceramic gnomes are safely locked behind glass. For our own safety, I'm sure.)

On the other side, a decoupaged Pekinese purse looked at me plaintively.
Anyway, I ignored it all, and honed in my china.

What I'm going to do with it, I don't know, but the color is so pretty.
And the gold!
I'm a sucker for gold.

The tag said it's French, and about a hundred years old. There are a few saucers, one poor little cup, and a few salad plates. I've used them once, for cake. It made it look ever so posh.

Anyway, the whole shebang was $15.00, and takes up very little space, so I didn't feel too gilty.
Ha, get it? (sheesh...never mind)

Your ideal mate

Who's your lucky lady?

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May 25, 2011

thought for the day

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May 24, 2011

ambition

One of my worst traits is my lack of ambition, I think.

The other night I had dinner with some former coworkers.
We went to a sub-mediocre Chinese buffet where I was spit on for an hour or so by a semi-continent 90 year old, the father of one of them.

Then we all retired to watch a marathon of "Little House on the Prairie".
One did needlepoint of Ringo Starr's head, while the other's boyfriend wheezed a monologue about Stalin's nazi medical experiments in Roswell NM.
Yes, you read that right.
This was my Saturday night.

But back to my point....my lack of ambition.

They'd been pressuring me to leave my school ever since they left, a few years ago.

"You need to just come here. You'll make nearly twice as much as you're making now!" They repeated. "I should have left long ago. Come on, we'll put in a word for you. Here's the number."

I make so little money, less than just about anyone I know.
Heck, I think my students make more than I do. They were only looking out for me. I love them for that.

My job is a nightmare sometimes, believe me....but it's my nightmare, you know?

For many reasons: fear, inertia, comfort, security, commitment, love, laziness...I just didn't feel like going to teach with them there. Of course, they clucked their tongues at me, but I was too afraid.

Now, however, things have changed. I'm still making a pittance, but they're both unemployed now. One because she was laid off in the mass purge of teachers last year, and the other because she's just tired of teaching. Actually, come to think of it, every other teacher I know has quit working in the past few years....burned out. I can understand.

Over "Little House on the Prairie", they both regaled me with horror stories, the defecation in the halls that greeted them every other week, the fires in the bathroom, in the trashcans, the arrests mid class.

They'd both taught murder victims. One had taught a total of three convicted murderers, one of whom had been arrested in the middle of her Social Studies class...for murdering one of her other students in an earlier class.

Thankfully, I've only met my share of murderers at PTA.
I've never taught any, well, yet.
The three murderers (parents of my students), that I have met, by the way, have all been perfectly lovely...much nicer than most parents.

Ironic?

Anyway, if I had gone with them, who knows what would have happened. I'm pretty sure I'd either be unemployed or worse by now.

Maybe my lack of ambition paid off after all, come to think of it. Or not. Who knows.
I'm glad I did not move.

But the next time I'm at dinner with a spitter, I will at least move to the further side of the table.
Baby steps.

thought for the day

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May 23, 2011

spelunking

I just spent two hours in a cave, hunched up in the dark, my arm wedged uncomfortably against the wall, a freezing wind blowing on my face.

I knew I should have remembered to bring a jacket to the theater.

Anyway, it's not just any cave, but the Chauvet cave, the site of some of oldest cave paintings in the world. Werner Herzog (he of the fabulous voice)'s film.

"A 3-D Documentary?"
I heard a guy sniff to his friend trying to encourage him to see it. "You have to be kidding."

Not an unreasonable thought, but it was totally worth it.
You should see it if you have the chance.

The place is utterly spellbinding. The cave itself, even without the paintings is like a fairyland of calcite. It's gorgeous. And then there are the drawings.

The way the cave artists managed to draw so beautifully and elegantly, the horses, the bison, the mammoths, and especially the lions is fascinating.

And to think that the place had been sealed up for 30,000 years or so, with nothing to disturb it, until 15 or so years ago. It's a terrible cliche, but it truly is like stepping into another time for a few hours.

May 22, 2011

thought for the day

May 21, 2011

thought for the day

May 19, 2011

"she makin' groceries..."

So much to love here, not the least of which is that it's filmed at my local Walmart

May 18, 2011

thought for the day

May 17, 2011

loco! loco!

May 16, 2011

eleven sexy virtues

1. Compassion

2. Enthusiasm

3. Altruism

4. Diligence

5. Nobility

6. Charity

7. Cooperation

8. Piety

9. Intelligence

10. Filial devotion

11. Chastity

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thought for the day

May 15, 2011

Bill Cunningham N.O.

So I saw this film, Bill Cunningham NY, this weekend at the film fest.
It was so wonderful.

I was nestled between a pair of librarian types, with matching pewter bobs, sensible shoes and Sally Jesse Raphael glasses...a cadre of stylish young girls a la Zooey Deschanel...and a pair of male models one blond, one looking like a young 70s porn star.

Anyway, the point is Bill.
He's such an inspiration, such a joyful guy, it's hard not to be completely
charmed by him.
I heartily recommend it.