Untoward motion

http://www.phy.ntnu.edu.tw/ntnujava/index.php?topic=24

Crusin' and playin' the radio
With no particular place to go
- - Chuck Berry


Today's purchase:
Neverwhere, Neil Gaiman (Avon)
Anansi Boys, Neil Gaiman (William Morrow an imprint of HarperCollins)
Staring at the Sea, The Cure (Elektra/Asylum)


Today's earrings: turquoise, blue glass swirly beads

Bedtime reading: The Gospel of Food, Barry Glassner

Fun With Food

http://www.candyboots.com/wwcards.html
http://www.lileks.com/institute/gallery/index.html
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_25303,00.html

Some things are just wrong.


Today's earrings: pineapples, peas

Bedtime reading: The Gospel of Food, Barry Glassner

Nice out

Had lunch al fresco today. It was tasty, except for the vast pile of mushrooms that I had to pick off my salad.*


Today's earrings: fire extinguishers, red peppers

Bedtime reading: Hard Row, Margaret Maron
-------------------------------------------------
*With this post I officially join the list of "all-about-me-and-what-I-had-for-lunch" bloggers. Mark your calendars.

Left work early

The system was god-awful slow. I was sitting there fuming about how some programmer somewhere had decided that the best possible use of my time was to sit and wait... and wait... and wait for the screen to refresh. Or worse, that the highly-paid programming team hadn't even thought that much about the end user. Steam was staring to come out of my ears, so I walked out and went to Stacey's. I feel this was an excellent call on my part.

Today's book purchase:
Bad Monkeys, Matt Ruff (HarperCollins)
The Gospel of Food, Barry Glassner (ecco, an imprint of HarperCollins)
Hard Row, Margaret Maron (Warner Books)
The Atlantic, September 2007


Today's earrings: lizards, rocks

Bedtime reading: Hard Row, Margaret Maron

A Limerick

Little Zooks, of whom no one was fond,
They shot toward the roof and beyond;
The infant's trajectory passed him over the rectory,
And into a lily-choked pond.
- - Edward Gorey


Today's earrings: frogs, alligators

Bedtime reading: The Deranged Cousins, Edward Gorey

Shoo-fly pie

http://www.seedsofknowledge.com/shoofly.html


Today's earrings: flies, brown glass beads

Bedtime reading: Sweet and Low, Emma Lathen

Kind Hearts & Coronets

http://baking.about.com/od/piesandfruiteddesserts/ss/strawhearts_6.htm
http://www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk/rolls/peerage/dukes.htm


Today's earrings: strawberries, leaves

Bedtime reading: Gaudy Night, Dorothy L. Sayers

Sting

NOUN:
1. A cutting quality: bite, edge, incisiveness, keenness, sharpness. See SHARP. 2. Informal. A stimulating or intoxicating effect: Informal : punch, wallop. Slang : kick. See DRUGS. 3. A sensation of physical discomfort occurring as the result of disease or injury: ache, pain, pang, prick, prickle, smart, soreness, stab, stitch, throe, twinge. Informal : misery. See PAIN.
VERB:
1. Slang. To get money or something else from by deceitful trickery: bilk, cheat, cozen, defraud, gull, mulct, rook, swindle, victimize. Informal : chisel, flimflam, take, trim. Slang : diddle1, do, gyp, stick. See HONEST. 2. To cause to become sore or inflamed: burn, inflame, irritate. See HELP. 3. To feel or cause to feel a sensation of heat or discomfort: bite, burn, smart. See PAIN.

- - Roget’s II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition. Copyright © 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company.


Today's earrings: Sapphires, turtles

Bedtime Reading: Reality and Dreams, Muriel Spark

Not what I'd write on the walls of a restaurant

'A loaf of bread,' the Walrus said,
'Is what we chiefly need:
Pepper and vinegar besides
Are very good indeed --
Now, if you're ready, Oysters dear,
We can begin to feed.'

'But not on us!' the Oysters cried,
Turning a little blue.
'After such kindness, that would be
A dismal thing to do!'
'The night is fine,' the Walrus said,
'Do you admire the view?'
- - Lewis Carroll


Today's earrings: elephants, lockets

Bedtime Reading: American Gods, Neil Gaiman

Maple by mail

Got a thank you note from D today, with a maple sugar leaf enclosed. My, that child is precocious. And mannerly. I feel very fortunate in my nephew.
:)


Today's earrings: spiders, estrogen molecules

Bedtime reading: American Gods, Neil Gaiman

Fubsy in Literature

His spots are the joy of the Leopard: his horns are the Buffalo's pride.
Be clean, for the strength of the hunter is known by the gloss of his hide.
If ye find that the Bullock can toss you, or the heavy-browed Sambhur can gore;
Ye need not stop work to inform us: we knew it ten seasons before.

Oppress not the cubs of the stranger, but hail them as Sister and Brother,
For though they are little and fubsy, it may be the Bear is their mother.
"There is none like to me!" says the Cub in the pride of his earliest kill;
But the jungle is large and the Cub he is small. Let him think and be still.
- Maxims of Baloo [The Jungle Book, Rudyard Kipling]


Today's earrings: bees, typewriter keys

Bedtime reading: American Gods, Neil Gaiman

Stardust

• s/w MS in re: remote diagnosis and proper treatment of the lunatics in our computers.
• laundered. Collected dry cleaning. Sm. hole in the purple cardigan; asked them to clean it anyway - pickup Wed am.
• to EB. Serious traffic in SF. Saw an actual amphibious vehicle driving around Union Square. While walking from NBB to M's, was asked by fellow pedestrians which way was north. Still believe I answered correctly.
• Discussed quilt edging & Halloween costumes w/M.
• Presentation of presents.
• Dinner w/ M, A, S, and Spanish Mathematician.
• To Eville for movie. M parked cleverly. Movie sold out.
• To Andronico's for ice cream and cake. Singing & dancing to Thelma Houston + discussion of standard excellence of in-store soundtrack.
• To M's for Scrabble. M won (observed). Drank float. Was paid a quarter to eat cake.
• Valiant attempt on BB, aborted @ last exit d/t general recognition of ridiculousness of enterprise. (Suspect only 1 or 2 lanes open each way, because, damn.)
• Lots of loungers in Embarcadero Stn; no cabs @ Hilton cab rank. Caught cable car. Per brakeman, concert @ ball park => crowd. ["Rock the Bells": Rage Against the Machine, Public Enemy, and many, many more played the McCovey Cove parking lot.]
• To Cala. Bought crumbled feta for tomorrow's lunch.
• s/w KP. All well in the Far East, though the sub-prime mortgage crisis looms larger there. He was on his way to get a foot massage.
• Off to bed.
  

Today's earrings: diamonds, suns

Bedtime reading: American Gods, Neil Gaiman

Saint of the Day

Though today isn't actually her day: http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintc80.htm


Today's earrings: scarabs

Bedtime reading: Carpe Jugulum, Terry Pratchett

And, for my one hundredth post, something earth-shaking

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/08/16/BANMRIC93.DTL


Today's earrings: hands, basketweave spoons

Bedtime reading: The Great War and Modern Memory, Paul Fussell

The Waste Land

What are the roots that clutch, what branches grow
Out of this stony rubbish? Son of man,
You cannot say, or guess, for you know only
A heap of broken images, where the sun beats,
And the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief,
And the dry stone no sound of water. Only
There is shadow under this red rock,
(Come in under the shadow of this red rock),
And I will show you something different from either
Your shadow at morning striding behind you
Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you;
I will show you fear in a handful of dust.
- - T.S. Eliot

Today's earrings: camels, lizards

Bedtime reading: The Great War and Modern Memory, Paul Fussell

John Godfrey Saxe's ( 1816-1887) version of the famous Indian legend

It was six men of Indostan,
To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the Elephant
(Though all of them were blind),
That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind.

The First approach'd the Elephant,
And happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
At once began to bawl:
"God bless me! but the Elephant
Is very like a wall!"

The Second, feeling of the tusk,
Cried, -"Ho! what have we here
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me 'tis mighty clear,
This wonder of an Elephant
Is very like a spear!"

The Third approach'd the animal,
And happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
Thus boldly up and spake:
"I see," -quoth he- "the Elephant
Is very like a snake!"

The Fourth reached out an eager hand,
And felt about the knee:"
What most this wondrous beast is like
Is mighty plain," -quoth he,-"'
Tis clear enough the Elephant
Is very like a tree!"

The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
Said- "E'en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
Deny the fact who can,
This marvel of an Elephant
Is very like a fan!"

The Sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope,
Then, seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope,"
I see," -quoth he,- "the Elephant
Is very like a rope!"

And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right,
And all were in the wrong!

MORAL,

So, oft in theologic wars
The disputants, I ween,
Rail on in utter ignorance
Of what each other mean;
And prate about an Elephant
Not one of them has seen!


Today's earrings: elephants, ebony teardrops

Bedtime reading: Carpe Jugulum, Terry Pratchett

Glistening through a tear of tremulous admiration

Confirmed my hypothesis about the homeless guy in Stacey's - he will move over if asked politely.
I am over-pleased with my new plant dictionary. Inside are gems like

• Boojum tree Idria columnaris
• Darling lily Crinum flaccidum
• Firewheel tree Stenocarpus sinuatus
• Honesty Lunaria annua
• Joker's hat chilli Capsicum baccatum 'Bi-Bell'
• the Larch Larix
• Nodding clubmoss Lycopodiella cernua
• Painted tongue Salpiglossis sinuata
• Rosy posy Rhodohypoxis baurii
• Toadflax Linaria, L. vulgaris
• Velvet prickly pear Opuntia tomentosa
• Zombi palm Zombia antillarum

I'm almost as pleased about the darling lily as I was to find out Grace Darling was a real person.
*gloat*gloat*gloat*


Today's book purchase:
The Penguin Who Knew Too Much, Donna Andrews
Flora's Plant Names; Loretta Barnard, Dannielle Doggett, Fiona Doig, Kate Etherington, eds.
Games Magazine, October 2007

Today's earrings: flies, amber teardrops

Bedtime reading: The Penguin Who Knew Too Much, Donna Andrews

Vertumnus, by Arcimboldo

Today's earrings: eyes, leaves

Bedtime reading: Maskerade, Terry Pratchett

The Blues

468. Blueness. --N. blue &c. adj.; garter-blue; watchet.
[Pigments] ultramarine, smalt, cobalt, cyanogen; Prussian --, syenite-blue; bice, indigo, woad.
lapis lazuli, sapphire, turquoise.
blue-, bluish-ness; bloom.
Adj. blue, azure, cerulean; sky-blue, -coloured, -dyed; nazy-blue, cyanic; bluish; atmospheric, retiring; cold.
-- Mark Peter Roget, M.D., F.R.S., enlarged by John Lewis Roget, M.A., new edition revised and enlarged by Samuel Romilly Roget, M.A. [Edition of 1941]


Today's earrings: sapphires, aquamarines

Bedtime reading: Maskerade, Terry Pratchett

Song of the Turtle

"Will you walk a little faster?" said a whiting to a snail,
"There's a porpoise close behind us, and he's treading on my tail.
See how eagerly the lobsters and the turtles all advance!
They are waiting on the shingle - will you come and join the dance?
Will you, won't you, will you, won't you, will you join the dance?
Will you, won't you, will you, won't you, won't you join the dance?

"You can really have no notion how delightful it will be
When they take us up and throw us, with the lobsters, out to sea!"
But the snail replied, "Too far, too far!" and gave a look askance -
Said he thanked the whiting kindly, but he would not join the dance.
Would not, could not, would not, could not, would not join the dance.
Would not, could not, would not, could not, could not join the dance.

"What matters it how far we go?" his scaly friend replied,
"There is another shore, you know, upon the other side.
The further off from England the nearer is to France -
Then turn not pale, beloved snail, but come and join the dance.
Will you, won't you, will you, won't you, will you join the dance?
Will you, won't you, will you, won't you, won't you join the dance?
- - Lewis Carroll


Today's earrings: violins, turtles

Bedtime reading: Maskerade, Terry Pratchett

Who needs sleep?

I didn't sleep at all last night. Teach me to read Deborah Tannen at bedtime - pumps my blood pressure right up.

The bus I got on this morning turned around at Union Square.

To my surprise, I had a reasonably productive day at work today. On the way home I stopped @ Crate & Barrel to get some dish scrubbers, and on impulse I went across the street to Macy's. As I went in, I was saying to myself, 'you won't find anything, and you'll just get all het up again. Bittermumblemoan.' To my vast surprise, I found clothes worth buying. Seems a negative attitude produces good results for me.

Then the bus I got on to go home broke down two blocks past Union Square...


Today's earrings: abalone footballs

Bedtime reading: Maskerade, Terry Pratchett

Back to Work

The eggs on my boss's windowsill have hatched into two wee pigeons. One is about twice the size of the other. Both are sort of damp-looking. They'll fly off soon and never call, never write, and what else could I expect after I missed most of their childhood?


Today's earrings: hands, typewriter keys

Bedtime reading: Talking From 9 to 5, Deborah Tannen, Ph.D.

Picnic on the beach!

We got sandwiches & went out to the Great Highway and lunched on the beach. I taught D to say "I dipped my toes in the water." He was fascinated by a giant cargo ship heading out to sea. After lunch, we encouraged D to run circles around us.

Then we went to look at the giant metal dinosaurs in Half Moon Bay. They are most excellent. Some of them harbor birds' nests.

We drove on to San Jose and dropped off K&S&D at their hotel. M and I headed back to her place so I could raid her refrigerator. We did rock/paper/scissors for the most desirable items; I won the avocado and lost the spready cheeses. She was walking me to the BART station when I fell down and scraped my knee. Embarassing, but not otherwise very damaging. I placed my feet very carefully the rest of the way home.


Today's earrings: mice, dopamine molecules

Bedtime reading: Rats, Lice and History; Hans Zinsser

Places to go

I fell in behind a guy with a beard going up the stairs at Embarcadero Station. We both got on the cable car.

The cable car conductor told me I was sitting there so peaceful, he wondered... He said he didn't think I was just getting off work, and I wasn't coming from the bars, and he knew I wasn't a tourist [I used a fast pass], so he wondered. I told him I'd come from my brother-in-law's birthday dinner, which we'd capped off with a game of Scrabble. "I knew it was something nice," he said. I don't know that I'm comfortable being so patently respectable.

I got off at the market, and I found myself following the same guy with the beard across the street and into the store. He grabbed a basket; I grabbed a basket. We were both heading for the produce section when he suddenly, with a backward glance, peeled off at the bakery counter. I think he thought I was following him. Maybe I'm not so patently respectable after all. :)


Today's earrings: compasses

Bedtime reading: Howl's Moving Castle, Diana Wynn Jones

Missing Audrey II

The original plan for today was to go see a rare bloom. Instead, we got some Chinese, and then we took a straw poll, which resulted in a change of plan. A&I went went shopping for dinner, and the rest of the crew headed for the steam trains.

I made my debut at the Berkeley Bowl today. There were many people there. Many, many people. And vegetables. Lots of vegetables. Then we went to Trader Joe's. Fewer people, fewer vegetables.

We got back to M's, and found a Scrabble game in progress. Turns out D had fallen asleep on the way to the trains, so they'd gone for root beer float makings. We gave them chocolate. :)

A started cooking while I got in on the next round of Scrabble. I won. Sorta. My big play was an 80-point bingo that M found for me.

T&S turned up, and we had a lovely evening. Good food. Fun people. T&S invited us all for Thanksgiving this year. I had pretty much planned on going east.

A brought me home. Thanks, A!


Today's earrings: flies, dragonflies

Bedtime reading: Howl's Moving Castle, Diana Wynn Jones