Welcome to Susie, Beth and Amy

Hey Ladies! Welcome to Brain Candy. We're growing! Thanks for accepting the invitation. I'm looking forward to our observations and conversations.

Amy, break a leg with "Grease." That sounds like a hoot. And I hope you survive your exams with your sense of humor intact. Don't let the pressure get to you.

dlc

A Quick Trip

We had an all too brief but imminently enjoyable visit with family this weekend. Friday night we rounded up friends to handle the critters, horses included, and headed for the Land of No Sales Tax. We got to my sister's house at 10 pm and spent the night. Some of us were up until 1 am. Those of us who failed to reset their alarm clocks were up again at 6:30 am. Ouch. Sorry, Sis. But you made terrific use of your time by going to Panera and getting a splendid array of carbohydrates. Mmmm.

Saturday's plan was to go out and do something special for our parents. Well, that changed. We went out and did something special for ourselves. We shopped. We delighted in delectables and desirables at Williams-Sonoma. We ogled organizational possibilities and clutter rearrangement opportunities at some specialty store. We even reflected on mirrors, perused prints, and offered critiques on marketing approaches at Platypus. Not a bad morning. It even melded seamlessly with a good afternoon. We hit the Farmer's Market so we could feed our starving progeny, stuffing ourselves in the process.

Despite the brevity of the visit, it was an oasis of relaxation and pleasure that we all enjoyed. Sis, you rock! And we even made it home in time for church. Thanks!

Hello All

It's me! The broke, starving, sleep-deprived college student. :-) Lately my life has been all studying...and not getting rewarded at all for my hard work...how is it acceptable for all my classes to have overall exam averages in the 50% range...chemical engineering is not the most enjoyable major. Any ideas for majors I might have more luck in?? On a more exciting note, I've been practicing all week for Greek Sing. Greek Sing is a big show put on by all the sororities and fraternities on campus. Each sorority is paired with a fraternity and has 15 minutes to perform a musical. Ours is Grease and it is AMAZING! We have great props and the guys are so awesome. You should see them perform "Grease Lightning"...the guys in our high school musicals weren't this animated. So the performance is tomorrow and that should be lots of fun...I'll let you know how it goes. But I need to get going...I have 5 exams in the next 7 days so I'm going to be a little busy the next few days! Talk to you later!

Well, HERE I Am..............

Hello! Welcome to ME! I am enjoying perusing your musings. :)

Where's the time?

Thanks for the invite to join you. Expect only the mundane from me for a while. Until the IAAPA show is over, I belong to work. Hopefully by Thanksgiving my time will be mine....

Smoke gets in your ... bales?

I was feeding the horses this morning and I found a smoky bale. That's a bale of hay with mold spores in it. When you break the flakes apart, a grey "smoke" wafts away. It's apparently not healthy for horses, so I unfed them and threw the offending bale over the fence and into the stream bed. If you're an environmentalist, this could be construed as pollution. However, I'm part of the centrist "if it's biodegradable it doesn't count" camp. So it's not. If you follow me down the road and I'm eating an apple, all I can offer by way of advice is this. Duck.

Complaint department: I was diligent this morning. I took that bale from the barn, across the back pasture, over the bridge, through mud that threatened to swamp my boots, and then found high ground so they could have a relatively dry eating place.That's when I learned the bale was smoky. I did my best. Really. But the next bale? I served that one within about 30 yards of the barn.

It's a happy day today. Sunshine. Lots of gorgeous sunshine. Yep, sunshine and "free" cable. We got a call from Comcast's telemarketing department last night and they will give us basic cable, free installation of up to two outlets, and no obligation for an entire year for no extra cost because we are cable internet subscribers. Sweet, huh? So they will be out on the 11th to do the install. These will be the channels we wanted before but had to take more because of our dish buyback promotion. Thankfully, they gave the credit but didn't take the dish equipment, so if the service is lousy we'll go back to DirecTV.

Why is there rain?

I know there must be some good reasons for rain. We all know the ones about making the flowers and crops grow. And I love the green grass laying like a velvet carpet, at least in other people's lawns. Our velvet is more like rough suede, what with the weeds and all. But ours is green too, so there. But there's something about a rainy day that bothers both me and the late Karen Carpenter. That and Mondays, I suppose. It could be the pall that doesn't seem to lift all day. But that is sometimes balanced by a sunshower. I love those. Water drops falling while sunbeams light them like little shards of crystal gently cascading to dance on leaves and branches. It could be the seeming weight of the day, but that too is balanced. There is a special sound that attends a rainy day. It's almost as if the world becomes a recording studio. The sound is almost artificial in that there is an absence of noises that we daily hear and take for granted. And colors. Colors seem more rich on rainy days. God seems to take the intensity knob and turn it up a notch. Now I'm not saying God's doing shoddy work. I just don't want to go there. But there are still days I much prefer to the rainy ones. If, however, it comes down to not having a day at all, then this one will do quite nicely, thank you very much.

Square pegs and all that

I'm beginning my day by taking my workplace life experiences and making them fit a prospective employer's concept of what a perfect employee should be. Ironically, if I want to be an effective technical communicator I must begin with some outstanding creative writing.

Not really. If you're out there Mr. Prospective Employer it's all the gospel truth. Honest.

Memories

I must be fading. I drove all the way into Columbia to attend a band practice for which I was not scheduled. The bright spot is that I got my second cup of coffee for the day. I love Riverside Roasters. Sumatra decaf. Mmmm. I'm happy now. But I would have liked to have had the chance to play a bit. Tomorrow, though, I'll practice with Heartland.

Maresy Doats and ...

If the question ever comes up, "Where should you not put your bicep?," I submit that in the jaws of an upset mare is one good suggestion. I was just across the street feeding the kids and one of the colts was reluctant to go out of the stall with me. I was tugging toward the door, and she was tugging back into the stall. Mama decided to referee and nipped me in the arm. She's a contrary cuss anyway and had been nipping at the colt earlier. She hasn't mastered, or even really attempted the art of sharing. Her boudoir is the least on her list for dual occupancy, even with blood kin. So I now will be opting for long-sleeve shirts in the foreseeable future. It doesn't even look like a halfway decent tatoo. It's just a big old bloody bruise with some scrapes where her bottom teeth attempted to make contact with her uppers. Shoot. Well, I now have my first battle scar and it still beats a kick in the head. Somewhat.

Note to self. Must buy plate armor.

Tying Up Souls

Something has been troubling me each time I see it. On a couple of roads nearby, grieving relatives have set up what amount to shrines for kids who have passed away in auto accidents. These spots are marked by mylar balloons, floral arrangements, plastic chairs, and, in one case, hanging votive lights. I'm not disturbed by the idea of grieving. It is necessary and even healthy as a process. But I have to wonder about the decoration. It almost reminds me of the parable of the rich man and poor man offering their gifts in the temple. I don't want to paint the parents and relatives in that light, but they could be seen as saying "look at me, woe is me, admire me in my grief." While that is probably as far from the truth as one could be I have to ask some questions. 1) Why set up this "shrine" at the point where the person was killed? They aren't there anymore, unless one subscribes to the theory that our refusal to let go ties a soul to this plane of existence. If that is the case, getting on with the healing would be a release for the souls we love. 2) Why erect hanging votive lights and drape these sites with distracting bright colors? Is the intention to mourn so publicly that the sites themselves become a traffice nuisance? Is it not enough that somebody has already died there? Is it necessary to inadvertently cause another accident by the very act of mourning? Why not do this at a graveside?, That's pretty much my rant. I don't want to be callous, but am I the only one bothered by this?

Still Foggy

I fed the kids this morning and brought them into the barn. I even did the dishes. Horses have this marvelously aromatic, well, I suppose "crud" is the scientific term, that grows on their water buckets. Since the kids had been outside for the past few days, the crud was much in evidence. I took their water buckets outside and scrubbed them down. I have the feeling I'll be wearing (and sharing) that delightful scent for the rest of the day. Maybe gasoline will take it off. Who knows? The fog has thinned a bit. I can make out the fence by the barn now. Meanwhile, Gato Barbieri is wailing on the sax [Europa--Earth's Cry, Heaven's Smile] and I'm entertaining the notion of putting a pot of coffee on to brew.

Misty Morning Hop

A veil softens any features more than 100 yards away this morning. I look toward the barn across the street and can not see the fences that extend to either side of it. The birds are hushed. Normal outside sounds are muted. A stillness prevails.

I feel at least partly responsible for today's weather. No need to congratulate me. It wasn't intentional. But during the beautiful weather of yesterday I opened wide a window and reveled in the warm breeze. When I took my daughter to dance class last night. I left that window open. It was even open when I went to bed. Not suprisingly, it was also open when I awakened this morning. The only thing that had changed was that huge drops of water clung to the screen and there was water on the windowsill. Oh yes, the sofa was damp as well. Yep. That was me. So if you had the same circumstances at your home, I'll bear at least part of the blame.

I've been blogged.

There I was minding my own business when I told my lover about my blog. I couldn't get her to the right screen, so I gave her my login and password. I know. There's a name for people like me. Anyway, she POSTED! In MY blog! How rude. She could very easily have signed in and gotten her own space. In fact, I believe she should. But that could be a hard sell. No action required folks, simply venting.

radical

You're totally radical, Dave! From one who knows you....

Today went unaccording to plan. I was to go visit a friend who is rehabbing but found out only pastoral visits are allowed during the week. Drats! Instead I helped another friend set up a pc. Will I go to hell for that? I told him to get a Mac. Some folks let a silly thing like dollars stand between them and happiness.

Playing the ponies
I'm feeding horses again. Four colts and five mares, plus a stallion. They're interesting. There is a defined pecking order and the attendant nips and kicks at whoever dares buck the tide. The stallion, who is kept apart from the herd (until he is deemed useful for increase), gets the occasional "uppity spell" as well.

What is it about eau de horse that keeps it attached to one's hands despite all good efforts to eradicate it? That is probably a rhetorical question.

Dancing queens
Soon we're off to my daughter's ballet class. I drop her off. They have the decency to conduct the class behind closed doors. Having seen the grace of some of the participants, I'm pleased. I have no illusions that I would look any better, although some have told me I have legs made for a tutu. Still, despite my applause for the courage of people to pursue their dreams, it is fitting that those dreams be sheltered---much like a classic vehicle being refurbished. Most of us don't want to see the work that goes into the public product. We simply want to enjoy the display when it is deemed ready for communal consumption. Thus, I'm pleased the class is relegated to the dance garage at this point in their development.