Watching the Clouds Roll In

Today’s Featured Blog is . . . The Comics Curmudgeon (http://joshreads.com/). After I started reading this blog, I suddenly developed a serious interest in following “Mary Worth,” “Mark Trail,” and other assorted serial comics that I used to think were beyond insipid and wastes of space. Who knew that they were a satirical gold mine? The comments sections are the best part of this blog. It does take a while to get into, since you need to be paying attention to the entire comics page to get what’s going on, but I promise your patience will be rewarded.

The nail polish experiment was a bit of a failure. I tried to paint my toes and it ended up looking like someone went at my feet with a weed whacker. Really, it totally looked like my feet were bleeding! I couldn’t quite get the contours right, since the toes were farther away than I was comfortable dealing with . . . I couldn’t “color within the lines.” I have flunked “Girly Skills 101.” I wish I had the digital camera so I could show you just how awful my toe painting skills are. I am either going to have to actually just go out and pay for a pedicure or just leave them be . . .

Carole King sang on the Today Show this morning and I actually turned the sound up to hear her. She still sounds exactly the same! I have played her “Tapestry” album hundreds of times since I purchased it, oh, about 15 years ago. She is playing at Wolf Trap tomorrow night, and I wish I could go, but alas . . . as always there are other plans.

If I see another “news” segment on the new Harry Potter book, I am going to scream. Now, Hubby and I actually pre-ordered the book months ago and are eagerly awaiting its hefty arrival on our doorstep. I have first dibs on the book because I am the faster reader and can have it polished off in a week, as long as I promise not to divulge any major plot twists. But to see the hoohah that the Today Show was doing all week, plus the 8 trillion newspaper and magazine articles on it . . . please stop the hype!

Speaking of hype, I am sad to admit that I really have no desire to see Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka. The character, as he portrays it, just looks too creepy for me. I am a HUGE fan of the Gene Wilder version, it just seems much more innocent and but sneakily subversive . . . kind of like the original “Bewitched” series.

. . . However, I do have a desire to see the new John Cusack movie, Must Love Dogs, when it comes out next week. I would watch the man read the phone book aloud, if possible.

I also have to admit that I actually do like some of LL Bean’s clothes, especially their sweaters and turtlenecks. I get cold easily and they are comfy and warm. I was also eyeing one of the large lunch bags in the new catalog . . . I haven’t been happy with the ones I find in Target, the LL Bean ones look sturdy and pretty rugged. I’m all about the practical . . .

In my campaign to eat healthier, I bought a bag of pistachios at lunchtime. I love pistachios, but they do take a bit of work to open. However, you get a much bigger payoff than you do with sunflower seeds . . . I don’t think I have that kind of patience anymore. On Saturday, we are going to a birthday dinner at a crab house . . . talk about food that takes a lot of work! Hubby says that this time he is actually going to try to eat some crabs with me . . . but that I may have to open them for him. Well, at least he isn’t going to order his usual chicken sandwich . . . he’s the kind of guy that will go to a seafood restaurant and order chicken or pasta . . . he doesn’t usually eat anything resembling shellfish, not because he is allergic, but just because he thinks they are gross.

. . . I guess I have settled on calling my husband, "Hubby," in this blog . . . I don't know if I like that . . . It sounds kinda dorky . . . I need to think of something better . . .

I always keep a bottle of OFF in my purse during the summer because I really hate mosquitoes. (The insects, not the groovy bossa nova group!) I shiver at the thought of the constant itching, itching, itching of fresh mosquito bites.

I love the randomness of the rain these days . . . one moment it is semi-bright, the next moment a dark cloud is hovering overhead and it’s pouring down rain, then the next moment it is light again . . .

That’s enough random thoughts for today. We’ll end today's posting with a poem instead of song lyrics – nothing is striking me on the radio today. Have a lovely weekend everyone!

Overcast
Jean L. Connor

The day, of no great merit,
ended — a dandelion gone to seed,
minutes squandered, hours spent,
no bright gold. Yet in the ledgered

plainness of the day, overcast, common,
some subtle brush of meaning
held me. Was it those unexpected
words of thanks, or the single lilac

plunged in a paper cup,
there on a stranger's desk?
Something, a fragrance,
lingered well past dusk.