December 2003
January 31, 2004
1/12th or 8.3%
Last day of January. Time can sure move when it feels like it. We have a long February this year with an extra day at the end and a Friday the 13th in the middle. But then there's Valentine's Day right after it so maybe that will mean luck in love following the day of bad. Aw that's just superstition and it's unlucky to be superstitious.I bought a new watch yesterday. My old one was an inexpensive Pulsar from Sam’s Club over two years ago. The date feature stopped working about a year ago and then just recently everything came to a stop. I assumed it was the battery but I took it in to get it changed and it still didn’t work with a fresh battery. Repair would have been more than the watch itself cost so I decided to get another. So I went about two weeks without a watch and it’s strange that I haven’t really adjusted back to having one. I keep looking for clocks on the wall or on the computer or pulling put my cell phone to look at the time when all I need do is pull up my sleeve and turn my wrist. Strange how quickly habits can be broken for some things.There is also something different in how I perceive time on an analog watch versus a digital clock. Two things at play there I think. First is the hands which do more than just display time. They divide it up into portions. 12:40 sometimes seems closer to noon and sometimes closer to one on a digital clock. When I see the hands it always seems the same which means I have one third of an hour to go before 1:00. The second thind is the watch that is yours and with you all the time. Its time becomes a part of you and seemingly more accurate than other clocks around.
January 30, 2004
Director's Cut
So Quimby came up to me this morning and said, "I was reading over this site of yours and noticed you made some changes.""Not really. Haven't made any major changes in quite some time.""I didn't say 'major changes' did I?" (Quimby can be quite a jerk at times.) "I simply noticed that you have changed some of your entries since posting.""Oh yes, I do that.""It's quite disconcerting." (Quimby is a little fey at times too.)"Why is that?" I asked."Because I never know if I've read the final version or if I have to check back later to see if you've improved upon or at least altered your previous entries.""Oh well. Too bad for you."So I do make changes to entries when I think of more to say on a subject or better ways of saying it. I guess the site is like a continuous director's cut DVD with additional scenes and small bits that may not be good enough at the moment. When I have an idea I write it and write it quickly and have the liberty to come back and edit at leisure. So if you go back and read something you read once before and find it is now better or at least different you know why.
January 29, 2004
Being There
"Any idiot can face a crisis; it is this day-to-day living that wears you out." Anton Chekhov said that. Today is his birthday. I'm not sure if the day-to-day stuff wore him out when he died of TB at the age of 44 in a Crimean bungalow. Did he consider TB a crisis or just more of the every day life stuff? Either way I think I understand what he meant.I know several people who seem to have a superhero syndrome. They are always searching for opportunities to step up and save the day, on the look out for lost dogs, perplexed women in broken down cars, kids needing a temporary helping hand. While they search, their houses stay a mess, their bills overdue, their children left with the television babysitter. I wonder sometimes if the attraction of heroism is that it doesn’t matter what you’ve done before, how many times you’ve screwed up, how many people you’ve disappointed. It is pure living for that moment of the ultimate first impression. If you survive it everything else becomes inconsequential as you seek out the next pure moment.People often worry that friends or lovers may not be there in the hard times. I wonder though if more often they leave from the sheer weight of the everyday drudgery. The same routine, the same conversations, the same long silences, the same disappointment in what the day will bring. Do more people kill themselves because of some great change or because of the lack of it in their lives?Maybe the key to happiness is either filling your life with enough special moments to make it seem worthwhile or simply to appreciate the everyday things as special moments and realize that your life is already full of them.
January 28, 2004
Henry in the Snow
I stayed with my friends Ray and Claudia and family during the recent bit of weather. We got some time to play in the snow. Here are some photos I took of Henry the very large puppy.
January 27, 2004
Quimby on 100
So Quimby came up to me this morning and asked, "Are you doing anything special for your 100th blog entry?""What?""Well I counted your entries and you've done 99 so far. Your next will be 100.""Really?""I counted twice.""Huh. Hadn't given it much thought.""Well do. Not many blogs make it this far.""I guess not. Maybe I can write a story or something," I said."That might be interesting. Any ideas?""I've been thinking about maybe adding a fictional character to my entries. Someone I can bounce ideas off of. Someone who can be a devil's advocate. Kind of an alternate voice in my head.""Oh God no," groaned Quimby.
January 19, 2004
Strange Visitors
A bug was crawling on my bathroom floor the other morning. It may be a beetle of some sort, about an inch long with three distinct sections, a brown head and abdomen and an orangish thorax, long antennae and legs. But I am no entomologst. I can say that it was fiesty. As it crawled out from the corner I tore a piece of toilet paper from the roll to grab it and flush him out of the house. It took several attempts to get him and when I eventually had him in the bowl with the water swirling down he somehow managed to paddle and float so as to not be pulled under. When the water started to rise again he was still there. Well such a dsplay is worthy of a pardon so I made no more efforts to end his life.The next day I saw him (or another of his kin) moving rapidly across my dining room floor. He was booking it, moving with all speed and business. Later I saw him in the computer room where he violated the cardinal rule of vermin in my household: don't touch me. While I sat barefoot at my desk he unexpectedly moved across my foot. I jumped back like Don Knotts in "The Ghost and Mr Chicken" and kicked him somewhere I could not easily find him.A day later I found such a bug in the other room not moving. He was dead, presumably from natural causes since I doubt my kick was forceful enough to send him around corners into the living room. I have also had recent visits from a one-eyed cat. Every now and then a thick furred graTITLE: feline missing its right eye will come up on my porch. She doesn't stay long. If I make any motion inside the house she will flee. I don't take this as any strange portent of things to come, only that there is a cat who has had some bad eye problems like Sammy or Peter Falk. Years ago when a feral cat with three kittens loitered around my porch I took pity and left out some cat food. The next day I read in the local paper about a man who had gotten rabies from a stray he was feeding. That was the end of my cat chow kitchen.I also have a squirrel who has his favorite dining table on the landing of my porch stairs. There I find the remains of his acorn dinners. Before Christmas I placed some peanuts that had gone stale on the top of tha porch rail as food for my visitor. Either he too did not find the quality of the peanuts up to muster or didn't want to climb to the top of the deck to get them. I suspect the first reason since I have seen him there many times before. Next time I'll try pistachios.
AUTHOR: Kirk
January 14, 2004
Sick and Tired
I'm officially sick. Or at least so says I. Not sure if it's a cold or the flu. From the way it has steadily crept up on me over the past day I won't be surprised if it turns out to be the latter. First a stuffy nose. Oh that could be from allergies. Then a scratch in the back of my throat. Then another. Next the scratch keeps working until I cough. Now a sneeze and that definitely wasn't from an allergy. Finally that slow achy feeling that makes you feel like your walking through a Jell-O maze. When that comes time to go home and hit the hay.But before coming home I ran to the grocery to stock up on my sick supplies: some good chicken soup (I ate all of what I made this weekend. A lot of good it does you before you get sick.), some ginger ale and some hot chocolate. What is it about the taste of ginger ale when one is sick? Bubble, yes, are good. Not too much caffeine. Must be some other element.I came up with a new way to fix my hot cocoa tonight. I’m sure someone else has done something like it before since every coffee chain in America has staffs of people to invent such things. My drink I make by taking 2 packet of hot chocolate mix, in this case Swiss Miss Instant Cocoa with Marshmallows, and add two parts hot water to one part steamed milk and one part foamed milk. Stir it all up. Pretty darned good. There’s something about setting down your spoon and seeing the liquid still swirling around in the cup as if stirred by some magical tempest. A tempest in a teacup perhaps.Well, off to bed.'
January 13, 2004
Chicken Soup for the Stomach
I've been cooking a lot of soups lately. Here's one I made this weekend, Chicken Noodle Soup with Homemade Noodles.Some tips I've found for making really good soup:-Always start with cold water. Broth will end up less cloudy.-Skim any foam that rises to the surface. Also helps keep soup clear.-Don't overcook your broth. You're not making stock so you don't have to reduce the liquid too much. One and half hours is about right.-What's the difference between stock and broth? The terms are often used interchangeably but the main differences: -stock is typically made from bones; broth is made from meat and bones or simply vegetables -stock is more greatly greatly reduced than broth -broth can be used on its own while stock is almost always used as a component in something else-The addition of thyme (my current favorite herb) will kick start any type of broth or stock.
January 07, 2004
Favorite Films of 2003
I haven't seen every film that came out in 2003 and there were some I've so far missed that might make this list (American Splendor, 21 Grams, Cold Mountain) but as of today here's what I enjoyed most this past year in no particular order.Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl - This movie was just plain fun. The effects were spectacular. The swashes were buckled. Johnny Depp did his best Keith Richards impersonation. A good time was had by all.Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World - Here's another great ripping nautical yarn based on the Aubrey/Maturin books of Patrick O'Brian. More fun at the movies.Pretty Dirty Things - Maybe one of the most overlooked movies of the year, this film may be at the top of my list. A story about the underground world of illegal immigrants in present-day London brings such humanity and heart to characters filled with sorrow.Love Actually - Not a great movie by any means but a wonderful romantic comedy in the tradition of Four Weddings and a Funeral and Notting Hill. Second film on the list with Keira Knightly who is making some solid choices in the roles she selects. In America - Another sad movie about troubled immigrants that leaves you with a feeling of appreciation for each moment of life. Also near the top of this list.Kill Bill: Vol. 1 - The first time I saw Kill Bill I was troubled by the grotesque violence that is almost trademark to Tarantino's work. On a second viewing I focused on the confluence of other films that went into this movie and really appreciated it as an homage to the martial arts action films I grew up watching.Whale Rider - Here's a movie I just saw on video the other night with the expectation it might be on this list. It truly deserves to be. A wonderful story for all ages about how sometimes our adherence to a set of rules blinds us to the changes that have to occur for those rules to go on being relevant.Bad Santa - Unrelentingly dark and funny. I think I have quoted this movie more than any other this year. Billy Bob Thornton deserves to be nominated for all the movie awards for this performance.
January 03, 2004
Calendars
I bought my 2004 calendars today. At work for the past two years I've had a German Shepherd wall calendar. I searched through the sale racks of what remained and there were none left. Lots of other dogs. Dachshunds, chihuahuas, chocolate labs, German shorthair pointers. I thought about a friend of mine who has two chihuahuas, thought about getting the calendar for her. No, people should pick out there own calendars. Even though I don't own a dog yet I've been planning on getting one for a few years. Just can't have one where I'm currently living.I settled on a calendar of black and white photographs of New York City. It will look good in my new office. For home I bought a clander of some nice nature photos. It will hang in my kitchen in a spot where I haven't had a calendar for a year. Well, not a full year since the old calendar, 365 Days of France, hung for a month or two after it was out of date. I didn't replace with one that year.I don't like those page-a-day calendars that have one day on each sheet that have to be torn off. Invariably days will go by without it being changed and a block of pages will have to be ripped off at once.February 29th comes again this year. Makes it special I guess. Also the Chinese new year brings the year of the monkey. I was born in the year of the monkey. Should be a good year. But that's may be just superstitious and superstition, they say, is unlucky.'
January 02, 2004
C is for ...
Cookie. I just posted two new recipes for cookies I got at home.The Molasses Spice Cookies were really my favorite of all the Christmas baking my mom made.The Chocolate Chip Cookies are the ones I grew up eating and have always been my favorite because of it. They fall in the crunchy, non-soft cookie variety of chocolate chip cookie but are not dry or chaulky like, say a Chips Ahoy.Enjoy.
January 01, 2004
I Firmly Resolve ...
res·o·lu·tion [re-z&-'lü-sh&n] noun1 : the act or process of reducing to simpler form: as a : the act of analyzing a complex notion into simpler ones b : the act of answering : SOLVING Here's what I'm thinking at the start of a new year. Last year was a good year. I made a lot of progress in my life, thirty-five years of it so far. Main goal for the new year, number one resolution, is to prioritize. Keep lists of my goals, major and minor, and work off the list. Don't let things that aren't goals detract from things that are. Don't let minor goals subvert major ones. For the most part put small efforts into several goals at once instead of all efforts into one. This spreads the enjoyment around.Break big goals into smaller parts and set realistic goals to accomplish each part.Stay organized. Clean as you go. Get rid of clutter and think twice before acquiring new clutter.Happy New Year everyone!