Author: Zannah

Tonight’s the night

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Tonight, in just a few hours, we are going to see the Arkells again and YAY!!!!  It looks like they’re the opening opening act, and – I think I said this before – we may leave as soon as they’re off the stage.  Sure, we may miss out on falling in love with another new band, but we’re tired and we get up early and we didn’t take tomorrow off and we’ve never heard of the second opening act or the headliner and there’s only so much new I’m up for when there’s a 2-hour drive home to contemplate.

So. Arkells!

Hey, they’re going to be in Cincinnati for the Bunbury Music Festival for three days in a row at the beginning of June.  You Kentucky people?  You should consider going.

(Of course, they misspelled Cincinnati on their website, but give them a break – they’re Canadian.)

Chunks don’t make anything better. Unless they’re chocolate.

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Today did not start out well.  I had a 9am meeting (that’s 6am for me), which is never a good start, even if the meeting goes fine (like this one did).  John went out for coffee, but he brought me back the wrong drink.  I’m sure he ordered the right thing, but what came back was dark, bitter, and thick like mud.  Blech.  So I made tea, and I discovered that the milk was bad when it poured chunks into my mug.  After I managed not to throw up on the counter, I tried again with the new jug of milk – thank goodness I went to the store on Sunday.  My third attempt at caffeine was successful.

Then work was weird – a couple of projects aren’t going well, and it’s unsettling.  On top of that, my work computer decided to break Outlook, so the last hour of my day was spent IMing with IT while handling conference calls on my phone with no computer support.  Not fun.

The day got better.  My riding lesson was GREAT.  Smooth sailing.  I had control of Tigger, and everything just felt easier.  Then I walked in the door to the aroma of the brisket I had so thoughtfully put in the oven several hours before.  It’s a rainy, slightly chilly evening – perfect for brisket.  All weather is perfect for brisket.

Musing when I should be focused

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Take action.  Take it where?  Why is that the phrase?  What are you taking?  I’m doing an action.  I’m performing an action.  I’m not taking anything when I act.  Unless I’m taking something from you?  If I take an action, am I preventing you from taking it?  In some cases, sure.  In others, most, not in the least.  So why is that the phrase?  Google is not so helpful this time.

Words are hard

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Today, some pictures.

This first one is the only one actually taken today, in the few minutes of blue sky between rainstorms.

Don’t know what these flowers are, but they’re so little and cute!

These next few are painted on doors used as someone’s fence, all in a row.

And here are a few I took of the Willamette River on my run earlier in the week.  The water’s really high from all the rain.

I’m almost transparent

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It was warm enough to run in shorts today, so I took the chance of blinding people as the sun reflected off my whiter-than-white legs.  I didn’t have to worry; the sun didn’t stay out for long.  There went my opportunity to get some color.  And then it started to rain.  I passed a woman walking her dog right when it started to rain in earnest.  I gave her a “who’da thunk?” shrug as I went by, and she said, “Oh, we knew this was coming.”  She’s right.  It’s spring in the Pacific Northwest.

“Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!”

Since the band isn’t rehearsing tonight, I’ve decided to skip yoga (which is happening all too often), order Thai food, and hang out with John.

Look! Horses!

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I’ve been meaning to take pictures out at the horse farm for a while, but I keep forgetting (sorry, Dad).  I leave my phone in the car, so even if I remember mid-lesson, I don’t have it with me.  (Not like I’m going to take pictures mid-lesson, but you know what I mean.  Although I did see a couple of students using their phones while riding (pre-lesson) a few weeks back.  Totally weird.  One took an actual phone call.  The other was texting.  And today, I saw a girl sitting bareback, reading a book while her horse ate grass.  I’m a little jealous of her.)

Just before I drove away, I remembered about the pictures, so I took some of the two horses nearest my car.  Neither of these horses is Tigger.  And one of the dogs.  Also not Tigger.

This is Foster.  He looks entirely too much like Riley here.

Ghosts begone!

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Despite what I said yesterday, I think our house might be haunted.  Remember the mysterious cracked glass from last summer?

I still don’t know how it cracked in a nearly perfect horizontal circle like that while sitting in the cabinet.

Last night, I was drying dishes and putting them away, and I noticed that John’s favorite giant glass, the one he uses when he makes iced coffee, was standing up in the cabinet but had completely cracked in two, vertically.

What is happening?  Should I be worried?  Do we have tricksy creatures sneaking around at night?

Definitely not real

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I don’t believe in ghosts.  Ghost stories and scary movies scare me (The Sixth Sense freaked me the hell out), but I don’t actually believe in ghosts.  That didn’t stop my heart from leaping into my throat tonight when I saw a pale face lit by a ghostly light in the parking lot near my car.  Half a second later I realized it was a kid looking at a phone, sitting on the curb, wearing a black sweatshirt – his head was totally floating in the dark.  Adrenaline rush: check.  Ghost: nope.

What’s the opposite of “check”?  Do you say “no check”?  Do you say nothing and let the silence tell the person you’re reporting to that you cannot check that item off the list?  Do you get all formal and say “I cannot check this item off the list because it is not complete or does not apply”?  On TV, it’s usually silence, but is there an actual correct answer?  I don’t know how to google that.

I did stuff today, so I don’t have to do anything else tonight

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Today’s accomplishments:

  • I ran 5.5 miles.
  • I updated the SWV NOW website so we can accept membership dues and donations within the site.
  • I linked the SWV NOW Google calendar to the website.  Technically, that was yesterday’s accomplishment, but I’m going to count it for today.  Because.

Rolling list of things to do:

  • …

No, I don’t want to make that list right now.  It has too many things on it.  Instead, I am going to get ready for bed early and read.  John is checking out the competition during week 2 of this Battle of the Bands thing (his band plays in week 5), so I am going to enjoy some quiet time.

Quick to judge

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Here’s the thing I don’t like about my book club: I think they’re book snobs.

There are at least two people who like science fiction, but not many more than that.  And I can understand not liking it (well, I can’t, but I’m not going to give anyone a hard time about it), but that doesn’t mean you should look down your nose at it.  They read The Martian sometime last year, and that has become their go-to joke when they need an example of a science fiction book they all hated.  Really?  The Martian?  That book was more science than fiction.  If you want an example of bad science fiction, I can help you out, but The Martian ain’t it.

They’re not completely against light fiction.  Most of the group liked The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, which is pretty light, but even then, a couple of them dismissed it as candy.  Our next book is by Elizabeth Gilbert, which is a necessary antidote to The Sympathizer, but I expect half the group to think it’s twaddle, too.

Of COURSE not everyone in the group is going to like each book, but you can dislike something without dismissing an entire genre as beneath your notice.  At the end of the last meeting, someone suggested we go around the table and say what we’re reading now, and I didn’t want to.  I’m reading science fiction, and I didn’t want to have to deal with their judgment*.  That is not a nice feeling.

I need to find (or start) an SFF book club.  I guess it’ll have to wait until we stop moving.  It would suck to start one up and then move away.

*Can someone explain to me WHY “judgment” is more correct than “judgement”?  It looks SO WRONG.

Breakthrough!

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Yesterday’s lesson was the best lesson I’ve had in several weeks (although it’s been two weeks since my last one, so I suppose that’s not saying as much as I want it to).  We used the pelham bit, which is more restrictive and gives me more control, and you know what?  It totally works.  I’m not saying Tigger didn’t give me any trouble, but the couple of times he did I was able to win back control and exert my will without nearly as much effort.  Wendy says it’s definitely not my fault – he is going through a phase, and he’s doing it with everyone, including her.  That’s somewhat reassuring.

The other thing that went well was cantering.  I’ve had this tendency to post while cantering, and apparently that’s sometimes fine and sometimes not so fine.  It depends on the horse, the day, the rider, maybe the weather…who knows.  In yesterday’s lesson, it was while starting to canter that Tigger would head for the middle of the arena, and Wendy decided it was because I was posting, leaning too far forward, and giving him too much leeway in the reins.  She suggested I sit the canter, which made me heavier in the saddle, and kept more pressure on the reins.  As soon as I started doing that, he stopped acting out.  It was great (because I felt in control), and not uncomfortable.  A little bouncy.

Oh, the jumping was good yesterday, too.  Everything about riding yesterday was good!

A lazy evening at home by myself

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Buffy the Vampire Slayer won’t be available on Netflix anymore starting April 1st, so today might not have been the best day to start a series rewatch.  I’ll just have to watch the best episodes and leave it at that.  I’ll start with the musical episode, of course.

It must be bunnies.  Heh.

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I probably could have stopped reading it

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Some days something happens, and I can sit down and write about it.  Other days, maybe nothing happens, but I’m thinking about something, and I can sit down and write about it.  Today, I started writing about something, decided it was stupid or boring, and deleted it.  Then I did it again, but about something else.  And then I did it again, but about a third thing.  Considering what I do decide to post most days, that should tell you just how stupid or boring those three different things were.

So what have I got for you?  Well, I finished The Sympathizer, finally.  It only took a week, but it felt like an eternity.  That’s not to say it wasn’t good…  Tonight was book club night, and everyone had pretty much the same reaction except for a few people who LOVED it and one person who put it down after 30 pages and refused to finish it.

So far I don’t love my current book, but at least it has a plot.

That might be all I have for you.

Clearly not ready yet

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One of my Twitter friends put her cat to sleep tonight, and I am overcome with sadness.  Is it grief?  Will it always be grief?  Riley died in October of 2014, about two and a half years ago.  Roxy died in May of 2013, coming up on four years ago.

An old dog died in the book John is reading right now (a book I read about 6 months after Riley died).  It choked him up to read it and me just knowing he was at that part.

Howdy and Daisy are getting up there in years and have their own health problems.  (I know Mom and Dad are worrying about it – I’m not trying to bring you guys down.  Sorry about that.)

Corey and Christine got a puppy.  Christina and Will got a puppy.  Mel’s dogs aren’t old yet.  Jess’s dogs aren’t old yet.  There’s time.

We’re pretty sure we’ll get another dog when we settle down, but every once in a while I wonder if I can go through that again.  John, too.  We miss having a dog, but we miss our dogs.

I am a problem solver

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I’m pretty sure I have complained about the breakfast place that is within easy walking distance from our house and is really good but has TERRIBLE coffee, but I can’t find the post.  I’ll complain about it now.  There’s a really good breakfast place within easy walking distance from our house, but it has TERRIBLE coffee.  It’s not about how they’re brewing it.  We really don’t like the beans or the roast or whatever it is about a specific kind of coffee that makes it taste a certain way.  (Their Bloody Mary is also bad.)

It’s a real bummer since it keeps us from going there all that often.  Today we decided to go anyway, and I have solved the terrible coffee problem!  They also serve chai lattes, and THOSE are DAMN good.  Yay for not screwing up a drink they’re buying premade from somewhere and heating up for me!

How many times can I surprise myself with this?

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I just remembered that we’re going to see the Arkells in April.  They’ll be back in Portland opening for some band we’ve never heard of, and for $11 each, we’ll deal with a show for a band we’ve never heard of.  Assuming we stay.

Anyway, I just remembered that, and April’s almost here, and it makes me happy because we REALLY like them.

Hermiting

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I don’t think I’m going to leave the house today.  It’s my rest day, so I’m not running or going to the gym or going to yoga.  Wendy didn’t reschedule my lesson, so I’m not going out to her farm.  John is going to go tour a studio with the band in about half an hour, and they might go out for a beer or maybe dinner after, and right now, I’m thinking I won’t join them.  I have dinner stuff at home.  It stopped raining, and I could go for a walk or something, but it’s chilly and I’d have to put shoes on and eh.  Outside will be there tomorrow.

I will read my book (I need to finish The Sympathizer by Tuesday night) or watch a movie and have some wine and eat scrambled eggs with broccoli and cauliflower and sausage and cheese.  I will be quiet and warm and cozy, and I won’t have to talk to anyone.

I hope I didn’t just jinx myself.

I’m still learning how to be in charge

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My riding lesson with Tigger last week was pretty bad.  Lessons like that are certainly instructive for me (not fun, but helpful), but Tigger was being a jackass even when Wendy was in charge.  At least it wasn’t just me.  He didn’t do anything new (and I didn’t fall off) – he did the same old refusing to stay along the wall, veering off in the wrong direction thing, and all my leaning back and yanking the other direction (to Wendy’s shouted instructions) did nothing.  Over and over and over again.  At the point in the lesson where I would normally start cantering, I told Wendy that I wasn’t feeling terribly confident about that part and while normally I would try not to let my lack of confidence get in the way, maybe we could skip that part…?  She had already come to that conclusion, so I didn’t have to worry about that.

He continued to be a pain in the ass, though, so eventually Wendy switched out his normal bit for something called a pelham bit, which is more restrictive.  I’ve looked it up, but there are so many variations (and I don’t know what kind of bit we were using before) that I don’t really know what’s different about it.  EXCEPT THAT IT TOTALLY WORKED.  From the second Wendy put that thing on him, he behaved for me.  It was great (considering that we started the jumping portion of the lesson after that), and since Wendy thinks he’s going through a phase, we’re going to keep using that bit for a while.  So on the one hand, I’ll have to be careful and gentle with the reins (which I need to be better at anyway, so this will be good for me), but on the the other hand, I won’t have to fight him so much.  Yay!

Then someday we’ll switch back to the gentler bit and he’ll take his revenge, but that’s Future Me’s problem.

Mostly not-good smells

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My nose was more in tune with my surroundings today, probably as a precursor to the allergies I can see waiting in the wings.

In my kitchen, there are banana peels in the trash can.  I love bananas, but only while I’m eating them.  I don’t want to smell them before or after and heaven help the person who brings a banana into my car.  I’ve got two days’ worth of coffee grounds in the trash, too, but they seem to be losing the odor battle.

Also in the kitchen, in the early afternoon, there’s occasionally the smell of tuna.  It’s awful.  John has been making tuna salad for lunch nearly every day, and I know he rinses out the can even before he eats, but I think some days the tuna water doesn’t make it all the way down the drain right away.  Ugh.

In yoga today, the woman next to me was wearing a light perfume.  It was vaguely flowery, but still very much a perfume, and it was too much for an hour supposed to be spent in deep breathing.

The great outdoors tried to make it all up to me.  It’s spring, trees are blossoming, and people are doing yardwork.  The combination of some fragrant flower, newly cut grass, and the gas mower doing the cutting smelled fantastic.  I’d buy a candle that smelled like that.