That Hobbit Lady

It’s been so long since I’ve posted here that I’m almost surprised LJ hasn’t shut down my account. But here I am, and I’ll tell you why: lately I feel like life is just passing by way too fast! I mean…what happened to the month of October? How did it go by so fast? It was September…and now it’s November, in fact it’s 1/3 of the way through November, and I’m thinking…WHOA! Slow down! Where is it all going so fast!?

So I’ve made a decision, and I hope to stick to it, to come to this journal every day and write at least a little something about what that day was like. So I can anchor it, and not have it blow away like dandelion fluff. Maybe if I *say* something about each day, the “anchoring” will slow everything down, even just a little. That would be nice.

So here’s what today was like:

It rained. The edges of Ida. Just a nasty day, all day. But I stayed in the building at lunch, and read my book. I’m reading The Invisible Man, by H.G. Wells. I’ve been trying to make an effort to read some of the classics. This one is okay, but I liked Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde much better. This Invisible Man character is not a likeable person at all. At least Dr. Jekyll agonized about turning into Hyde, and tried to prevent it from happening, to prevent Hyde from hurting other people. The Invisible Man is just mean and nasty. No sympathy for him. Maybe he’ll change before it’s all over. If not, thankfully, it’s a short book, so I won’t have to put up with him for too much longer.

Yesterday I got my hair cut. It’s fairly short, a classic “bob” and I like it! I’ve also colored it a kind of rich reddish brown. Feeling good about my hair.

Russ has been working on his “analysis” for Marvel. I’m so proud of him! He’s been hired as a freelance writer for the Official Index to the Marvel Universe. It comes out once a month, and every month he’ll be reviewing several comics. The pay is minimal, but as he says…”Hey! I’m getting paid to read comics!” So the “Wow!” factor here is not the number on the amount line on the check, but the return address. He’s going to get paychecks from Marvel Comics! How cool is that?

We’re having Thanksgiving at our house this year, which is great motivation to finish up those last little household projects. Our garage is almost completely clean at this point!

Alabama is 9-0 and headed for the SEC Championship Game against Florida. Woo hoo!!

I moved into a new purse today, and I think it’s going to work out. I bought it on E-Bay, and it was exactly as described! Quite happy so far.

Got the music from New Moon and I’m really enjoying it.

Well, that’s enough to say for one day. I feel somewhat more “anchored” now. Hope I’ll be back here again tomorrow.

I know the first official day of Autumn was about a week ago, but I’m recording it here and now that TODAY was the first REAL day of Autumn. We’ve had a lot of rain lately, but that’s all cleared out, and today the temps were cooler, with a slight breeze, and the sky was brilliant blue. I’m going to have to start thinking about boots and sweaters.

I love Autumn.

This morning I was not yet awake three hours when I stumbled upon three situations which struck me as being ironic.

1. As Russ and I talked over our shopping list, I mentioned that I needed bread, but wasn’t sure what brand I wanted, because the last time I bought Sara Lee bread, and I didn’t like it. Of course I immediately thought of the jingle…”Everybody doesn’t like something…But nobody doesn’t like Sara Lee…” Well, guess what? I don’t like Sara Lee’s bread. Which makes the jingle somewhat…ironic. Don’t you think?

2. A few moments later, we drove past the Waffle House and noted there were not many cars in the parking lot. However, any evening the Waffle House will be packed—in fact, the later into the evening it gets, the more packed the Waffle House. Of course we all know why: because Waffle House is where drunks typically go to sober up with coffee and carbs after a long night of partying. Still, it struck me as ironic that a restaurant which is named after and specializes in a breakfast food has very few customers at breakfast time, yet lots of customers at night.

3. At work, our customers may choose seminar materials on flash drive, or in printed format. Today, someone signed up for the seminar “Integrating Technology into your Law Practice,” and chose seminar materials in printed format. I wonder if this person is really ready to integrte technology into their practice? Well, maybe after taking our seminar they will be.

Just some observations about life. Things that make you go…hmmmm….

My mother-in-law Marianne told me that hummingbirds will come into your yard if you leave them the right kind of food. I don’t believe I have ever seen a real live hummingbird, so I was intrigued by the possibility of having them in my yard. I bought the food and the feeder and set it up and waited…and waited…and waited…

And a week ago…hummingbirds!

I have seen up to three at one time. Mostly they just like to sit on the pole, but occassionally they come down to eat. They’re very pretty little things, and they do move very fast. I’m just getting such a kick out of having them in my very own backyard.

One of my life’s chief joys is finding “new music.” And I’ve found some good stuff lately. Which brings up today’s topic: gaspers.

Several years ago I discovered the band Better Than Ezra, and of course they still remain on the top of my all-time favorites list. One of the things I really enjoy about their songs might sound a bit odd. The lead singer, Kevin Griffin, does not have a polished professional voice. He’s just some guy who sings the songs he writes. His voice is not necessarily GOOD, but it’s full of emotion and definitely REAL. And one of the things that makes it real is that when he sings, he often tends to catch a giant breath at the end of the phrase. Maybe not on every line, but enough that if you’re listening for it, it’s really obvious.

I like that. As I said, it’s real. And now I’ve discovered the band Muse. And their lead singer, Matthew Bellamy, does the same thing. Gaspingly…Real.

I know there must be other bands, other singers who tend to do this. And if there are, I want to know who they are. But in the meantime, these are two bands I really enjoy, maybe not specifically because of the gasping of their lead singers, but that bit of stylization is so much a part of their sound, a sound that I love.

Oddly, these bands are, if not exactly “diametrically opposite,” they are at least far enough apart in their particular sound that you would never mistake one for the other. But in both cases, I find that the gasping voice of their lead singers, rather than detracting from the song, only works to make it better. I think if you had the same songs without the gasping, they just wouldn’t be as good.

As I said, you may find this odd, you may call me crazy (Gasp!), but for whatever it’s worth, I’m being real.

Just like my favorite singers.

I feel like it’s been a long time since I’ve been here. Just been too busy and stressed at work to want to do too much of anything when I get home, but think I’m starting to get a grip on it now. I have lots of topics to write about, but this one jumped out at me today:

Forced Rhymes

What is a forced rhyme? Is it when you say something in a way you wouldn’t usually say it, just to make a rhyme? It kind of sounds unnatural. I thought of it because I was listening to the song Betty Davis Eyes, and this is what I heard, that didn’t sound natural at all:

Doesn’t that just sound…not right?

The problem here for me is that I think it’s not SUPPOSED to sound unnatural. But the emphasis is on all the wrong words. If you were talking, you wouldn’t say this sentence this way.  Therefore, this just doesn’t work for me.

Now, in comparison, there is this great line in the song I Hear the Bells by Mike Dougherty where he MAKES UP a word, just to get a rhyme:

I love that! Sure it’s forced. But it’s so obviously forced it’s almost comical. No, wait. It IS comical. And that’s what makes it so great.

Well, if I keep going like this, I’m going to start talking about Al Yankovic, and that’s another journal entry altogether!

Oh, and one thing, btw:  the countdown is now at 10 days till the first Alabama game.  Woo hoo! 🙂

It would be very difficult to live in Tuscaloosa and not be aware of how strongly college football influences everything about this town. Even if you weren’t a fan of the Crimson Tide, you would at least have to admit what a driving force Alabama football is in almost every aspect of the community.

“Roll, Tide!” is an often-repeated battlecry, even during the off-season. Some people even answer their phone that way. When you go to the store, every fourth or fifth person is wearing a crimson hat or shirt or some other indication of their support for the team. I would guess that most people could sooner pick Coach Saban out of a line-up than they could recognize any elected official, other than the President.

Someday I’m going to do a scientific study of how far you have to get from the center of the University before you find a fast food restaurant that doesn’t have at least SOME reference to Alabama football. My guess is that it would be five miles at least.

Above I’ve included a picture from today’s issue of the college newspaper, the Crimson White, showing how many days until kickoff. It’s 51 days, and already we’re counting down! The local weatherman is counting down as well. Every weekend we watch “Crimson Classics” on a local TV station, where highlights from past football games are re-run, and last night we saw a panel of local experts (sports writers and broadcasters, radio commentators, former quarterbacks, etc.) discussing what’s likely in store for the coming season.

Which begins in 51 days.

If you don’t live here, you may not get it. If you DO live here, you can’t NOT get it.

Well, here are just a few words about Mary’s recent visit:

We ate out.
We shopped.
We watched some good TV.

We ate out.
We shopped.
We went to the movies. (Night at the Museum…very funny!)

We ate out.
We shopped.
And then we ate out and shopped some more.

Basically, we did just normal stuff, and I enjoyed it immensely. No visits to theme parks, no concerts, no huge family get-togethers. We just hung out and talked and caught up and had a good time. It was sad to put her back on the plane, but the plan, God willing, is to fly both Mary and Joey back up for Christmas. I’m also hoping to get to the point where every three months or so I’m either visiting family down in Florida, or having someone from down there come up for a visit here.

And then of course the topper to all this was that on the way back from the airport Russ and I stopped to buy our dining room set which was delivered this afternoon, and here’s what it looks like in our house:’

Our next move (after getting a little more money into our emergency fund) will be to start saving up for some new bedroom furniture, including a new bed, a kind-size, so we can put the queen-size into the guest room, so it will be easier to accomodate visitors. The house is really shaping up. It feels good. We are blessed, in so many ways.

Mary has just been here for a four day visit, which was quite enjoyable. I’ll write about it later, right now I’m just a bit worn out from all the eating out and staying up late! But I did want to report this much: on the way back from the airport, Russ and I stopped at our favorite furniture store in Birmingham and bought our new dining room set! Here’s a pic from their website:

As you can see, this is a very traditional set, which we think will look great in our dining room with hardwood floors and arched doorways. It’s being delivered this coming Friday. In the meantime, I’ll be doing some shopping for placemats and possibly a nice centerpiece (and some little felt pads for the chair and table legs so they won’t scratch the hardwood floor!).

So all in all, it’s been a very fun and productive week! And, as I say, later I’ll write a little more about our visit with Mary.

I have decided never to get old.

I think the mere act of making that decision means the battle is half won. I think if you’re not aware and committed to this goal, “oldness” can creep up on you, and one day you wake up and say, “Hey! I’m old! When did this happen? How did this happen?”

You know what? Before I go any further, perhaps I ought to offer up my definition of “old,” because it might not necessarily be the standard definition, and I wouldn’t want anybody to misunderstand me before I even get started.

To me, “old” has nothing to do with chronological age, and first and foremost everything to do with ATTITUDE. Old is having a “stale” attitude, a lack of enthusiasm. Old is when you are stuck in a rut for such a long time that you no longer even *know* you’re in a rut! And even if you did know, you wouldn’t care.

Old is also a lack of health and vibrancy. I’m talking about physical health, but I’m also talking about so much more. Of course I know that as our bodies age, deterioration is inevitable. That’s not what I’m trying to avoid. This is not about Botox and mega-vitamin treatments. Though of course part of staying young is treating your body kindly so that you do everything you can *within reason* to stave off that deterioration.

So I believe that a little exercise, fresh veggies, whole grains, no smoking/drinking/drugs/etc. can do as much for keeping your mind young as it does for keeping your body young. And visa versa. Because body and mind work together, they are two sides of the same coin. The longer I’m alive, the more aware I become of this fact.

And it’s because I am aware of this fact that I feel I have the ability to consciously keep myself from getting old. I stay young by delighting myself in the things I choose to fill my life with—lively music, funny TV shows, cats, books, conversations with my cerebral husband about the origin of words, proper uses of grammar, and the literary devices in the TV shows we’re watching. Yeah, nerdy, I know. But I love language and literature. I love music. I love nature. I love life. And I think that as long as I go on loving life and all there is in it for me, I will not get “old.”

“Old” happens when you sleepwalk through your days. Every day that you coast by, not bothering to be aware of all the positive forces around you is a day when the enthusiasm and vibrancy of youth slips away, bringing you one step closer to “old.” So, with this in mind, I have made a decision not to “sleepwalk” through my days. I’m making a commitment right now to do the following:

Each day, I will look for the opportunity to do at least one thing that I have never done before. It doesn’t have to be momentous, but it does have to be NEW. I thought this up yesterday, when I was on the bus. For some reason, I went to the back of the bus and sat in one of the “backwards” seats. I realized I had never sat there before. It gave me a whole new perspective on the bus ride. And that was when I realized that doing something new and different keeps us awake and alive and keeps us from getting “old.”

Maybe you could say it was an epiphany. It didn’t feel QUITE that momentous to me, but it was definitely some kind of turning point. It was a point when I realized anew that I can actively be involved in keeping myself (my mind, my body, my spirit) awake and fresh.

Never stop learning. That’s what it’s all about. Last summer I read Bram Stoker’s Dracula. At the time, I ran across so many new words I had never known before, and I wrote them down, meaning to look them up later. Well, here it is, a year later, and I have just now run across that vocabulary list. But you know what? Better late than never! Today, I’m going to look up those words, and learn something new. That will be my “new thing” for today.

And then I may REALLY have something to talk about with my cerebral husband when next we start up our conversation about language, semantics, myth and literature.

I look forward to it!