It's so bright and sunny outside today, I think I'll go to my favorite pub and then take a stroll in the park. That would be lovely, don't you think?

Today, I'm making funeral arrangements for a woman who lived a full 96 years. From horse and buggies to cyberspace, all in the span of one lifetime. Wow.

The kid and I just got back from a long walk that involved Barnes and Noble. Kid was being cranky and one of the clerks at B&N (young dude, didn't look any older than about 20) spent 15 minutes or so playing with her while I bought my friend's birthday present. So nice of him.

I just got home to find these on my doorstep. As I was putting them in water my 85-year-old neighbour, Peggy, phoned to say they were from her, a thank you for being a good neighbour and friend and for running errands for her from time to time.

...and I told that story without realising that the bookstore thread was about B&N. Huh.

I've been sent to Gulfport, Mississippi for three months of training; and it is an absolutely beautiful time of year to be here. The ground and fauna remind me of Upstate New York; where the lichens and ferns seemed to be so alive that they were more than just plants growing. I'm looking forward to meals of fresh oysters and shrimp; I'm also going to take advantage of the physical part of the training and get back into a healthy fitness level.

A long time ago, couple of years maybe, pinky.p gave me some music, and I just found it and put it on my computer. I'm all set up with some ELO to listen to as I bake and cook today!

aw Stew, that makes me really happy! I was too irritable to say anything in this thread, but you have buoyed me right up :-)

My 95 yo aunt sends racy cartoons and pictures of naked people out to her email contacts. I find it very cute!

I gave these bunnies to the cast and crew for an adaptation of Calvino's Marcovaldo. They were a big hit! Glad to feel like I fit in, after a couple of weeks of cultural miscues.
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This morning on my way to work I passed through the bi-weekly farmers' market. I saw the Potato Guy (who remembers which potatoes of his we've tried in the past, despite seeing the guy only about once a month) and smiling cheese makers and happy people setting up stalls of vegetables and honey and potted plants. It made me happy to see their wares, and know that the community would come out and support these local folks. I might have gotten a tiny bit misty about the whole scene, actually.

The MTA is building a new subway station around the existing one at the end of the block, and this weekend they've closed off 45th Road at my corner as a staging point for lifting steel beams into place with a tall crane.

There are five men working down there, and the foreman was as foulmouthed as they come. So I went to the bodega and bought a bag of a dozen little donuts and then called the guy over.

"Hey man, here are some donuts for you and your men for your next break... I wanna ask you something. This is a neighborhood here with a lot of kids and you can see there's a church at the end of the block and a lot of my neighbors go there on Sundays; anyway, the point is, you're shouting "fuck" a lot, like every few words, and I don't really care but I think my neighbors might not want to make an issue of it, but they got kids, y'know? Believe me, I curse like a motherfucker when it's just my buddies, but that's a lotta fuck to be broadcasting in a neighborhood full of quiet people at home on a Saturday."

Then I asked how much longer the project would take (he didn't know) and assured him that the donuts were for him and his crew.

Now he's down there shouting, "Okay left, move it left, NO RIGHT! FFFF-- COME ON!!! I said left, would you ffff-OKAY! Get a mmmm-COME ON! OKAY! What the, uh, WHAT ARE YOU DOING? Turn it the ffff-OKAY, TURN IT AROUND!"

Meanwhile I'm in my apartment typing fuck and shit on the internet.

Hugh's story just made my day.

The weather is gorgeous today, and my husband has a man playdate. His buddy is coming over to play some college basketball video game thingie on our XBox 360. Luckily, he will have his darling five year old in tow, so I have an excuse to go to the local playground and climb all over equipment so cool that we never had back when I was that age. Good times.

I was super productive yesterday and I went to bed feeling quite accomplished and pleased with myself. I'm glad that working on trying to do nicer things and focusing on things that make me happy instead of things that everyone else says will make me happy is actually working how it is supposed to.

It is a beautiful day! Beautiful! High 74, Low 68.

I can't wait to see my mom!
I bought her a pair of these lacy undies from the Gap that are my new favorite thing because they are so comfortable and I wonder if she will wear them. I got my sister 4 pair and she has been texting me every day since to tell me which color she has on.

I think tomorrow we are going to all have girl time at my house and I will paint everyone's nails. I am excited!

Plus, my sister just got into grad school for public health and I am so proud of her!

Today, I saw a woman reach into her pack of groceries and hand a bag of apples and a hunk of cheese to a homeless man on the corner. I guess she'd picked it up particularly for him, cause it looked like she had it ready.

Conan's earnest goodbye: "If you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen." I was really touched that someone who's publicly, messily getting ousted from his dream job can be so gracious about it and see that, in the larger picture, he's incredibly fortunate.

I've been sent to Gulfport, Mississippi for three months of training; and it is an absolutely beautiful time of year to be here.

Speaking of nice things and the Mississippi Coast, the Walter Anderson Museum in Ocean Springs is a jewel.

The first time Guy and I seriously considered getting together (we did not, rumors to the contrary) was in Gulfport, in 1997. We stayed in an octagonal beach house with many of our friends. One night there was an absolutely gorgeous and violent thunderstorm. Long after midnight, when everyone else was asleep and the storm was mostly calmed, Guy and I walked up and down the beach, watching the waves calming themselves, examining the debris tossed all over the beach. It was one of the most beautiful nights of my life, me and Guy walking along, being very close to one another, knowing no "thing" was going to come of it, we were just going to be very important to each other for the rest of our lives. Which we were. Only now, years later, some "thing" did come of it.

Gulfport was hit very hard by Katrina. I had heard the entire town was wiped off the map, which I guess is not true. I am really glad to hear it.

Whenever I see people making snotty or cruel comments online, I just picture the Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons doing a dramatic recitation of their post. Cracks me up every time. Turning bullets into butterflies....

Best. Strategy. EVER.

I'm totally going to use that, evilcupcakes!