Maybe I'm missing something but...

According to an MSNBC headline story today 43% of respondents to a recent poll say the country is 'on the right track' and 43% say it's on the 'wrong track.'

The headline? "Obama Gets High Early Marks"

Hmmmmm.

In addition to other mumbo jumbo, they also declared: "Perhaps most significantly, Americans so far find him to be likeable."

I guess that means a lot.

Lake Union boats

We took a walk on Seattle's Lake Union on Sunday and went in search of boats. Not hard to find, actually. There are an amazing number of yachts for sale in our area; of the $1m, $2m and $3m variety, although none, that I saw, with a helicopter pad on them. But they sure were sleek and fine. We also finally saw, through the trees, one of the famed houseboat areas - but not the specific "Sleepless in Seattle" boat. It was a great walk, followed by clam chowder and great fresh halibut for lunch, prepared by one of the finest seafood restaurants in the area. A very nice day. Our favorite kind of day.

It brought to mind a couple of stories:

My father had a 'tycoon' friend who had worked his way up in the world and bought a yacht in San Diego. He was cruising around the bay feeling pretty darn proud in this "I have finally Arrived" sort of moment when a much bigger boat floated by with a helicopter pad on top. I guess it was a very deflating moment. There is always 'bigger and better.'

The area we walked in is home to the SLUT - the city's unfortunately named South Lake Union Trolley. I kid you not. It's maybe taking acronyms a bit too far.

Every time we go out like this - almost weekly - we see something which we can't quite get to, but which inspires us to go again in search of new adventure. In this case it was the unique silhouette of Gas Works Park - where the remains of the gas plant is the main distinguishing feature of the park. We could just see it across the lake but had no idea how to get to it. (Like the troll that we searched and searched for, but finally found...) Every big city has these special hidden places, and day trips to find them are our specialty.

Hope your weekend was fun too!

Tiptoe through the Tulips again

In spite of our assertions that we might as well skip the trip and just look at past pictures, we succumbed to nice weather yesterday to drive up to the Tulip Festival in Mt Vernon. Tiptoeing through them, we got a few new pictures to add to the collection.

Words

'Weird words' is today's topic, though for no particular reason.

(I don't have enough to do?)

Some words are just inherently funny - producing a smile no matter what - like "poop!" Or they are formed in an odd way in your mouth (as in "fruit" - just like a melon ball in the very front of your mouth,) or they just roll off your tongue, like "indubitably." Others are harder to STOP saying than to start - "necessity."

How many flower names start with the letter P? Peonies, poppies, pansies, petunias, penstemon... Every time I see a primrose I can't come up with the name... because of all the 'white noise' that is 'P' plants.

Anyway, just for amusement today (goodness knows I need some amusement today) I offer these choice words:

"Floccinaucinihilipilification" - to establish or state that something has no value.

Fear of long words called "Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia" though why, I couldn't understand.

Nudiustertian means "the day before yesterday". I don't think I'll actually be adding that one to my vocabulary.

(Remember 'bloviate?' Good word.)

They're all good. Use them well!

Saving money on car insurance

It would seem that you could save $300 on car insurance no matter who you called - Geico, Allstate, Progressive... they all say that will happen if you switch to them. So here's our theory: Keep switching. After a while, someone will be paying YOU to have car insurance.

Internet surfing

(Do they still call it that? Surfing? I suspect not. Like so much in life, the whole business may have cruised on ahead to become something else, leaving me behind in the dust.)

Surfing, or searching, or clicking... I've really sort of fallen behind on the whole business. Lost interest. Lost my way. What is there that can use up hours of looking, every day? The novelty has long since worn off, so we should, surely, be down to some utility, by now, in our internet experience. But what?

I really hesitate to offer this observation - to admit that I don't get it any more - considering my very 'technical' husband who spends inordinate numbers of hours searching for things and reading, printing, saving, and responding to them. He is on 'chat' groups. He researches. He reviews. He shops. He finds humor. And outrage. And idiocy. He is so inclined to add to our 'favorites' list that it is simply too long to be useful any longer. (Of the several hundred 'favorites' only 9 are mine!)

And me? I look for email - which hardly ever comes. I look at the headline news page and see all of the same stuff I saw yesterday. Or 'sensational' stuff about celebrities that I refuse to click on at all on the principal that if anyone is counting 'hits' and using that information to support the inclusion of more of the same, then I don't want to encourage them.

Since changing my financial plan I don't have to look at my portfolio online anymore. I only check the local traffic cameras when there is eccentric weather. The old class reunion website is hardly ever updated now that the reunion is long over. I have my blog to post on, but it isn't something I read or check myself. And that about does it for me. It got too discouraging to look at Zillow for plunging house values so I sort of gave that up - although I do admit to having looked up George Bush's new house to see what it looked like, since the news reports conveniently gave us his address. It is just too ridiculous a waste of time to continue to put together electronic jigsaw puzzles, but... OK - I admit it, I DO still do that some. I have vacation reservations and research done for the year already, and it is months before we are going anywhere. I've recalculated my mortgage amortization with online calculators more times than I should admit to, and, yes, spent nearly an hour the other day in a fruitless search for a particular 'body image' cartoon. Diets, remedies, illnesses and pharmaceuticals don't really hold my interest - at least not in proportion to their preponderance on the internet. I can't think of a single webpage that I would want to 'check back daily for updates and news.' Plant and garden research only gets me with a longer 'want' list - and that I can do without.

So what else is there? What am I missing?

I know - it is sunny outside and I'm missing life!

Easter weekend

It's a rainy weekend - Easter weekend - and seemed like a good time to look through photo albums for reminders of holidays past. Of course I found annual recording of our Easter activities - year after year of Todd helping me color eggs. (I have year after year of pumpkin carving at Halloween, turkey-leg eating at Thanksgiving, and tree trimming at Christmas too. We seem to have managed such traditions well, or at least consistently.)

For Todd it wasn't the coloring of eggs that was the thrill though. It was The Hunt. He loved to hunt for hidden eggs - and he loved to hide them. Every Easter afternoon was spent stuffing eggs under pillows and inside the piano and underneath the cat, and then desperately trying to remember where that last one was that we hadn't been able to find. And not just on Easter afternoon either - a week wasn't long enough to satisfy this passion.

And I know, that if he'd been here this weekend, that's what we would be doing.

A good tradition. Lots of fun. Good memories.

Happy Easter!

Body Image

Somehow over the years when I haven't been looking (and believe me, I haven't been looking for a long time) I have turned into an 'apple.' I used to be a 'pear' - carrying weight on my hips and thighs instead of around my middle. A number of years ago I lost a whole lot of that weight - and actually kept it off for about 4 years. But when the weight finally went back on, it had a whole new idea of where to go. Sort of 'all over,' but a lot around my middle. Not good.

(I ask my son if he remembers me from his youth as being fat or slim and he refuses to answer on account of Diplomacy. I guess he probably did actually answer, huh?)

This is a significant issue because 'apples' are more at risk of heart and other health problems than 'pears.' But even more troubling to me is the fact that my old standard of when it was time to cut back on the cookies - when my pants didn't fit - doesn't apply very well any more. I should be scrutinizing myself, for health and aesthetics, in more... um, places.

(Here's where another of Mark's favorite jokes would apply:
Me: Honey, I'm gaining weight in a bunch of different places. What should I do?
Mark: Don't go to those places.)

Anyway, I guess it is time for my perception to catch up to reality. I'm an apple. And I need to stop eating cookies.

I have body image problems.

Rain

I know I exaggerate sometimes, but I don't think I'd be out of line to describe the water accumulation in our yard from the heavy rain today as excessive.

We now have a lake. And ducks swooped in.

It's Spring?

We are having miserable weather here in the Northwest and I can't help but think that a little sunshine would help my disposition - and everyone else's too. We certainly have the 'Spring Showers' part down, but the flowers? Not so much. Too wet and cold. Today I am at home worrying about flooding again. I am SO done with winter!

But, one makes compensations where one can (says the woman who orders a Diet Coke with her burgers and fries) and I do have a tree outside with buds on it, so... in came some sprigs, which managed to produce a nice bouquet. That Mark is allergic to blooming trees attests to our desperation to get a little 'life' in our lives.

Maybe the problem is that daylight savings time goes into effect so early now - it builds up our hopes! Maybe it is that we also have an interesting and fun project, building a little retaining wall and putting in a rose garden, just waiting for us outside, which we can't get to on account of the risk of just sinking in the mud if we go out in the yard. Maybe, having to resort to 'inside' projects off the bottom of the 'to-do' list (like trying to sculpt my spackle-patched door frame to make it look like the rest of the wood molding that was chewed up by some dog that lived here previously) is looking just a little pathetic on the 'worth-while' scale. It also could be my conscience telling me that a winter spent trying to perfect bread and brownie making techniques really MUST come to an end before WE do.

Anyway, here's to April - may it not carry us downstream!