Second Blooming

Spin Cycle: Just Lying Around

I have been stressed lately.

Too much to do, too little time.

Even though I just took a mini vacation to New York for 5 days, it wasn't really much relaxation, and when I got back, the amount I needed to do had doubled, and the amount of time I had in which to do it had halved.

So I've been dreaming of an opportunity to just lie around all day doing nothing, a time I could just give myself permission to chill.

Be careful what you ask for, or life will bite you in the ass.

I have been sick as a dog for the past week.

A horrible coughing virus thing. My symptoms - a hacking cough that sounds as if I have tuberculosis and am about to hack up a chunk of lung, a low-grade (99.9 - 101 degree) fever, nasal congestion, a headache, and a fuzzy brain that has left me completely unable to focus, and yet too busy to relax and let me sleep. The good news? I got me some excellent codeine cough medicine. The bad news? The doctor says that since it's viral, the only thing I can really do is just lie in bed and let my body get over it.

And so,  that is what I have been doing. Just lying around. "Relaxing"

This is not easy for someone who constantly feels that they're playing catch up. I am just not someone who can lie in bed all day. I've never even been able to take naps. It's just not in my nature.

So what have I been doing all this time? Hmmm...prepare yourself for a fascinating week...

• Took 21 hot showers. That's 3 a day for 7 days. Steaming seems to make me stop hacking for a few minutes.
• Made it all the way to Level 41 in the game Candy Crush Saga on Facebook. Quite an achievement.
• Despite its iffy reviews,  watched the entire first season of that new Netflix series Hemlock Grove. I liked it, it's a lot of fun - very stylish and well-written. Even though it has far too much teen sex and gore. And it suffers from what I think of as the Shot-in-Canada Syndrome, which most tv sci-fi shows have - shows which are supposed to take place somewhere in the US, but all of the smaller roles are played by bad Canadian day-players who can't act and speak with distinctly Canadian accents.
• Watched half of the first season of the show Continuum before turning it off because I couldn't take it any more. This makes me feel guilty, because we're friends with the writer/executive producer. But it has too many machine-gun shoot-em-ups, and over-the-top fight sequences - you know, when the main character will fight some bad guy for 10 minutes of non-stop violence, 1 minute of which would kill somebody in real life, and they come out of it with a butterfly bandage and a black eye. It's stupid. And it also suffers from the Shot-in-Canada bad day-players syndrome. I started begging for the minor characters to get killed off so I wouldn't have to watch them any more.
• Consumed about 10 gallons of coconut water. I do not exaggerate. My doctor told me to drink a lot of coconut water because it is really good for hydrating the lungs and is full of potassium, and I may have gone a little coconut water crazy. 
• During a codeine-induced dream, I conceived an entire television pilot. My high-concept pitch is "Boardwalk Empire meets Breaking Bad meets Friday Night Lights". I'd watch that, wouldn't you?! Now I just have to actually write it, and we'll be rich, rich, rich!
• Not only made excellent progress on my tiny virtual farm in Farmville, but I actually started a brand new farm using a pseudonym! So if Bobbi Jones asks to be your Zynga friend, it's me!
• Ate nothing but Trader Joe's microwavable frozen foods. As did my family.
• Did not read at all.

So as you see, it's been a busy and productive week. Not. I am actually dying to get up and do some cooking and cleaning and laundry, so you know it must be bad.

As you can imagine, this was not my original plan for a "Relaxation" spin. But such is life.

Have you been "relaxing" lately?

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More rather relaxed spinners...

Kendra at Life in the slow lane

Nain at View From Down Here

Janice at I Got Nothing

Vandy J at The Testosterone Three and Me

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Next week on The Spin Cycle...

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy

Considering we tend to be a cynical bunch around here, this one might be tough. Or not. But I'm feeling that after this last week of hacking and aching, I could use a little joy and happiness, so let's go for it.

It's all hearts and flowers and sweetness and love around here next week.

What makes you happy? What gives you joy? That seems simple enough, right?

You write it. Post it. Tell me. I'll link it.

Come back next Friday for my spin on "Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy" and to discover the next week's Spin Topic.

And don't be afraid to ask to be added to my Spin Cycle Topic reminder email!

 

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The Rose Lady

For a brief time, back in the summer of 1991, when I was a struggling actress in Los Angeles, I had the worst job in the world. Okay, maybe not THE worst job in the world. It didn't involve road kill, or cleaning sewers or anything. But it was everything I could hate in a job all rolled into one. I will explain...

When I first moved to Los Angeles, I started working pretty steadily as an actress. When I had lived in Dallas, I had worked in a book store and as a nanny, but since moving to LA, I was lucky enough that I'd never had to have a "day job".

But for a while there, things dried up. I was broke. I could probably have asked Mama for the cash to tide me over until I booked another tv gig, but I just couldn't do it. I was 30, for God's sakes, I should have been able to take care of myself.

So I started to hunt for a part-time job. This is a problem for the actor. You have to find a job that is flexible enough to allow you to go to auditions whenever they need you during the day, often at the last minute, and on the other side of town.

But the biggest problem was that I had...no marketable skills. None.

I could sort of type, and thought I could maybe do temp work. But temp jobs weren't flexible enough, and I was auditioning quite a bit. I drove around the neighborhood filling out job applications at stores and restaurants.

One restaurant manager actually called me in for a meeting, not to hire me, but just because he'd never met anybody honest enough to to write "No waitressing experience" on a job application.

Finally, a woman I knew from a comedy improv class told me about a job which sounded doable. No experience necessary. Worked only weekend nights, and you could make a couple of hundred dollars a week.

And so I became...a rose lady.

You've seen them. My job was to fill my car with cheap roses, then drive around the city to restaurants and clubs and stroll around the places, hawking my wares to unsuspecting patrons at outrageous prices.

The woman who owned the company (who happened to be a Scientologist, and I was one of her only non-Scientologist employees), had made deals with certain restaurants to allow us in - I guess they got some kind of a kick-back. I had to dress up in a frilly white blouse with a ridiculous amount of cleavage, and tight black pants, then carry a massive, rose-laden basket around with me. I offered three rose options - the single rose, the small bouquet of 3 roses, and the large bouquet of 6, which cost a whopping $20.

The idea was to walk slowly around the restaurant, and while we were not allowed to actually flat-out ask anyone if they'd like to make a purchase, we were allowed to stare intimidatingly. Then once some poor sap, in an attempt to impress his date, asked to make a purchase, I could pounce. The idea was to insinuate that only a pathetic cheapskate would purchase his ladylove the single rose. And that certainly she would be more willing to put-out later if he went for the big bouquet.

Apparently, there was much bickering and jockeying for the good restaurants amongst my fellow rose ladies, who I only saw when picking up roses at the beginning of the night, and dropping off the leftovers at the end. But they all liked me, because I had no interest at all in the good restaurants. I wanted to be working the most obscure, far-off-the-beaten-path restaurants possible, in hopes that I would NEVER run into anyone I knew.

So I took the route deep in the valley. I drove from Sherman Oaks all the way out to places like La Puente, El Monte and West Covina. These are places where you expect to happen upon a body dump.I started the evening at family restaurants, and ended it at discos and country-western bars.

I hated it. I hated it deeply and painfully. First of all, I am a POOR salesperson. And the thought of pushing some poor dude on a date into spending all his money on some cheap roses just made me weak. I felt so guilty.

I did make a few bucks. But I felt like a whore.

Finally, after about two months, I booked a recurring role on the tv show Wings, and quit the rose ladying so fast it would have made your head spin. In one day, I went from pimping roses to kissing Tim Daly. Such is the business.

I tell this story as a cautionary tale to any young actors heading to Los Angeles without any marketable skills. DON'T DO WHAT I DID! Have a backup job just in case!

And sadly, the smell of roses always takes me right back there. Damn. The smell of humiliation.

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This post was inspired by...

 

 

Prompt #4 - Tell us about a job you quit...why did you do it?

 

Spin Cycle: Best and Worst

Inspired by this post by Elizabeth...

Best - Going to New York all by myself for 5 whole days.  Man, did I need that. No responsibilities to anyone but myself. A chance to have a little fun and see old friends. A chance be artistic and perform purely for the love of the music and the experience.

Worst - Going to New York all by myself for 5 whole days. Not only did I worry about Jimmy and Jude the whole time, but I kept wishing that they could be with me to experience what I was doing. I think it would have made Jude super proud to see/hear our performance. And we would have had a fun time as a family.

Best - Finding that Jimmy cleaned the house while I was out of town. Made a huge difference coming home to a semi-tidy house.

Worst - Finding that Jimmy cleaned the house while I was out of town. Hopefully, I will have located all of the things which he "tidied" to the wrong place by next year or so. The cabinets in the kitchen are mayhem. Nothing is where it belongs. The towels have been washed and put in the linen closet, but instead of being folded neatly, they have simply been wadded up and stuffed on the shelves. And the vacuum cleaner seems to have been used to suck up some rather large item, and is now not working at all.

Best - Being extremely involved at Jude's school. I truly love being that mom. The one who is always down at school, and helps run things. I love knowing and being known by the principal and all the teachers. I love being there for him, and he actually encourages me to do more, and get even more involved. I know that soon he will want me to be nowhere near him, so I intend to milk this as long as I can.

Worst - Being extremely involved at Jude's school. It's all I stinking do. Today, right on the heels of my week-long Book Fair, I am running a Used Book Sale to benefit the library. I seem to be the Book Mommy. Which is a cool thing to be, but still...

Best - Owning a home. I'll never forget the day when I was struggling to make my way from our apartment down to the washer/dryer in the basement, juggling baby Jude strapped in his Baby Bjorn, a massive bag of dirty towels, and a handful of quarters, and I collapsed in a puddle of tears and decided that it was finally time to buy a house. Our house is very small, but it is sweet, and we are extremely lucky to have bought it when we did, and with our peculiar and always-fluctuating work/finance situation (actors never have steady work, so getting a loan can be difficult). And it has managed to maintain its value in the freaky LA housing market. And every time I use the washer/dryer I give up a prayer of thanks.

Worst - Owning a home. Dang, I miss the days of just calling the landlord when something breaks and having their people show up and fix it for free. And of having all of the building maintenance taken care of by someone else. Our little house is in desperate need of a paint job, and it's just so dang expensive!

Best - Cooking dinner for my family every night. I love cooking. I really do. I consider it an art. An extremely creative and nurturing art. I love planning a menu and shopping for ingredients and cooking a meal. I love improvising a meal from whatever I have on hand. I love feeding Jimmy and Jude and having them love what I have made for them. Every time I cook, for the last 20 years, Jimmy has said to me "It's delicious, honey." It's our little thing. And I love it.

Worst - Cooking dinner for my family every night. Some nights I just DO NOT WANT TO MOVE, let alone get in that kitchen and work. Sometimes I just want somebody to take me out to dinner!

Best - Becoming an old woman. There is a freedom in aging - I'm never going to look as good as I used to, so I don't really need to put forth that much effort anymore. And an old broad can say whatever she wants. It's true! I suddenly just blurt out truths that I would never have shared in the past. And I keep finding myself boldly disregarding the rules and doing what I want to do. I'm sure now that nobody is hanging out with me because I'm good-looking, but simply because they like my company. I'd like to be an old woman for a very long time. And as they say, it's better than the alternative.

Worst - Becoming an old woman. I am never the cutest one in the room any more. Men do not check me out any more. Sometimes I look at myself in the mirror, or at a picture of myself, and I'm stunned by what I see. Where did my mother come from? I suddenly have weird parts - those wobbly old-lady triceps, crepey skin on my decolletage, an extra chin. And worst of all, I get so tired. When I run, my joints hurt. As Bette Davis said, "Old age is no place for sissies." Luckily, I've always been pretty tough.

Best - Writing this blog. I genuinely feel that writing this blog has changed my life for the positive. It's a forum in which to express myself. It's a way in which to connect to the greater world around me. It's an opportunity to stop and look at and examine the events of my life, and see them from a healthy perspective and maybe laugh at myself a bit. It has undoubtedly helped me become a better and much more confident writer. And it's been an incredible opportunity to meet and get to know (sometimes in person, but mostly in cyberspace) a huge variety of amazing people from across the nation.

Worst - Writing this blog. It can be a drudge. I admit it. But I feel that my recent "blog every day of the month" experiment really did free me from feeling that the blog is a commitment that I am chained to. I finally feel that I can write if I want, and don't write if I don't want. But I have to say that usually? I want. So thank you all for reading my ramblings!

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Go and read the other Best and Worst posts this week!

Suzicate at The Water Witch's Daughter

Nain at View From Down Here

VandyJ at The Testosterone Three and Me

Jan at Jan's Sushi Bar 

Janice at I Got Nothing

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Next week on The Spin Cycle...

Commencement Speech

Nain at View From Down Here suggested this, and I love the idea!

It's June. It's graduation time of year. What would you say if you were asked to give a Commencement Speech? Do you have a thing or two you would like to say to the youth of America? Would you inspire? Would you empower? Would you hand out tough love? Would you say what you wish you'd heard back when you were sent out into the world?

Write it. Post it. Tell me. I'll link it.

Check back here next Friday for my spin on "Commencement Speech", and find out the spin topic for next week.

And let me know if you'd like to be added to the Spin Cycle Topic Reminder email!

 

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The Whole Carnegie Experience

Well, that was really just remarkably cool. This whole singing at Carnegie Hall thing = COOL! And I'm really not sure if I can do it justice, but I will try my best.

Saturday morning was our dress rehearsal in Carnegie Hall. Our call time was 9 am. I took the subway from Aunt Grace's, and while I'm usually extremely good with getting around in NYC, when I came up from the subway I got all turned around, and couldn't figure out which direction to go. I stopped and actually asked some guys at an outdoor cafe "How do you get to Carnegie Hall?" They managed to resist the standard "practice, practice, practice" response, and simply pointed across the street, where it was, albeit covered with scaffolding, the reason I didn't recognize it.

For some reason (possibly because I am a poor listener), I thought that I had been told that the Stage Door entrance was on 47th Street, when in fact it is on 46th Street, which caused me to wander aimlessly around Carnegie Hall for about 15 minutes, searching for the backstage area, until I finally opened a random door and stumbled upon this...

 

Whoa!

 

...where I stood for a bit, oogling, until one of the orchestra members tuning up on stage asked me "What are you looking for lady?" and politely showed me how to get backstage.

I found the backstage area at Carnegie Hall to be extremely thought-provoking. I kept touching the wood on the handrail in the stairwell, thinking about what great musicians had passed this very way, and touched this very piece of wood. When we took the stage for our rehearsal, the first thing that my friend Lynn and I noticed was that the wall behind us could use a good dusting - but the second thing I thought of was which great artists had been on that stage before me. There truly is a hallowed vibe about the place.

Here I am with my friend Gwen, after I finally located the Stage Door on the way out...

 

Notice that we are both wearing coats and scarves - it was stinking FREEZING and RAINY.

 

Oh, by the way, after rehearsal, Gwen and I went to Carnegie Deli and stuffed ourselves silly...

 

Last dregs of a corned beef sandwich which started out as big as my head. I'm serious.

When we returned that night for the performance, I was a bit concerned about the behavior of the high school choirs which were singing with us. They were all completely hyped up and out of control and...well, high school students. But our fearless choral director, Joe, came in and gave us a truly inspired and inspiring talk, in which he reminded us of the profound nature of the fact that we were performing a requiem on Memorial Day weekend, and asked us each to think of someone we've lost, or of the people who have fought and died for our country, to make the performance of a requiem personal and profound. And damn, if it didn't work. Those kids focused like laser beams.

Since I was the third tallest woman in the chorus, I was the third choral member to step on the stage for our performance, and thus I had a very long time to stand there and take in the view. I remember standing there thinking that I should try to soak in as much about this moment as I could, but mostly I was worried that I looked fat and that my hair was too frumpy.

 

Here we are! If you squint really hard, you can see me - the third from the right on the top row!

 

But once we began, all vain thoughts flew out the window and I just sang. And I really think we did well. Everyone on that stage was focused like a laser beam on their music and on Joe's conducting. And he was deeply emotional, I think he actually teared up during the "Lacrimosa", and he thoroughly expressed it through his body - he's a wonderful conductor.

The 45-minute piece felt like it lasted 10 minutes. I achieved goose bumps a few times, and only had one hot flash - during the "Kyrie", which is as good a place as any for a hot flash. It was thrilling, it was. But as with all thrilling and much anticipated events in life, it was over too quickly, and now I feel like I didn't savor it enough, though I'm not sure what I could have done to be more present and more conscious. I feel this way about most huge events in my life - I am so aware of how "important" it is and how much I need to fully experience the event, that I forget to fully experience the event. Sigh...

Tomorrow...24 Hours With the Inlaws.

 

Choir Geeks Take Manhattan

Carnegie Hall update thus far...in bullet points...

• Flew American Airlines for the first time in years. We had about a billion frequent flyer miles saved up, and thought I should use them. Okay, a billion is an exaggeration, but it was a bunch. I now remember why we haven't flown American in so long. CROWDED. NO LEG ROOM. NO TV. It was, however, FREE, so I really shouldn't complain. But I will. I had a terrible seat right across from the bathroom. Nasty. You know, I just don't understand the kind of person who goes into a airplane bathroom and takes a giant poo, so everybody has to breath it. Who can do that, anyway? I mean, I'm a little shit shy, but seriously, who does that?
• Got to JFK late Wednesday afternoon, and Aunt Grace very graciously sent "a car" to pick me up at the airport, so I didn't have to hoof it or take a bus. So yes, there was a dude in a black suit standing there with my name on a sign, which is something that never gets old, no matter how many times it happens to you.

View from Aunt Grace's terrace. Yes, you may be jealous.

• Thursday morning was our first rehearsal of Mozart's Requiem with the full chorus - 200 SINGERS. We all gathered in a ballroom at the NY Hilton, which was, in fact, the very place where I attended BlogHer a couple of years ago (ah, memories!). This ballroom was a great place for a blogger convention, but a lousy place to rehearse choral music, as the acoustics are dreadful. But even then as soon as we all started singing together, it was AMAZING. Such powerful music.
• The heavens opened up and DRENCHED the city. Crazy rain. You know, I've been coming to New York once or twice a year for the past 20 years, and I NEVER remember the rain. We Los Angelenos forget that it rains in other parts of the country. For us, we have "rainy season", for which we prepare. But everywhere else, it rains all year round at random times. An amazing concept. So I, of course, was caught without an umbrella, and had to buy one on the way home, but still ended up soaked to the skin. Dang.
• Thursday night was dinner with Cousins Steve and Lorraine. They took me to a wonderful restaurant - Destino on First Avenue. Big fat martinis. Big fat steak. Big fat Gretchen.
• Friday morning rehearsal at 9:00 am. Should probably not have had so much martini and steak. It was still rousing though. They arranged us the way we'll be standing when we perform in Carnegie Hall, making us line up from shortest to tallest within each section. I am, naturally, the third to tallest alto, and so am on the very back row. The story of my life. Amazingly, Lynn (Curly Girl on my sidebar) is standing right next to me, so we two tall girls get to experience Carnegie Hall together. Which I'm very happy about.

Lynn & me. Tall girls on the back row.

• Tonight I'm having a few of the choir friends over for a quick drink at Aunt Grace's apartment, and then joining my old college friends for dinner. I'm very excited to see them all - the FUNNEST group of people.  I will try not to drink too many martinis and go to sleep at a reasonable hour. Try.
• Tomorrow - Carnegie Hall!

Carnegie Hall Here I Come

I'm on my way to New York to sing at Carnegie Hall!

If you missed this amazing turn of events, read HERE.

I'm so excited I can't stand it. Five days on my own in the Big Apple! Actually performing Mozart's Requiem in Carnegie Hall! Getting to see a bunch of my old college friends! Swinging by Long Island to visit Mommy and Pop! It's all so good. It's just what I need.

However, I've been a nervous wreck all week. Am I worried about singing Mozart's Requiem? No. Am I worried about performing in front of 2000 people in Carnegie Hall? No.  Am I worried about what the hell I'm going to wear? Whether or not I'm going to trip and fall on my face? Come in at the wrong time? On the wrong note? No, no, no and no.

I am worried about the care and maintenance of Jude while I'm gone.

Yes, I know that Jude's a big boy, and Jimmy's an even bigger boy. And I know that I should trust Jimmy to take care of doing what needs to be done for his son. But...I don't. I just don't trust that he will get the boy where/when he needs to be for a whole 5 days. 

So I have prepared. Ridiculously. I have made a detailed schedule and posted it to the cabinet in the kitchen...

I have written out exactly what he needs to pack for Jude's lunch every day. With bullet points...

 

All lunch food is arranged and labeled on the counter below the sign.

 

I have pre-packed bags with everything Jude will need for his various activities, and clearly labeled them...

I have arranged for a teenage neighbor to come over and "hang out" with Jude while Jimmy works on Thursday night (apparently, he is much too old for a "babysitter"), and have left money for him in an envelope on the mantel.

I have arranged for a sleepover on Friday night, and a ride to a party at the beach on Saturday. I have printed out detailed directions to all of these places, with numerous phone numbers for everyone involved.

I have filled the refrigerator with a massive amount of simple-to-prepare and/or frozen foods. I have affixed Post-it notes to various foods saying things like "Eat this" and "Microwave on High for 2 minutes".

I have arranged for him to stay after school on Wednesday and Thursday to ensure that he has time to complete the THREE school projects he has due over the next two weeks.

Okay, Gretchen, breathe in...breathe out. It's all fine. It will all be fine. How bad could it get? No, don't think about it. Just think about this...

 

Carnegie Hall - the view from the stage.

 

I'll try to check in with y'all during the week. Ooo, maybe I'll even Tweet. I could do that, I could Tweet.

Wish me luck!! And wish Jimmy luck too!

Spin Cycle: Cat Lady

Back when I first met Jimmy, I was dangerously close to becoming an old Cat Lady.

I was 30, single and had 3 cats. In one small apartment. It's amazing that I ever got a date. I would bring a guy back to my apartment and one by one the three cats would come out to meet the man which their Mommy had brought into their midst, and I could see the concern growing in my date's face as each cat entered the room and started checking him out.  

And somehow, I had also started collecting...cat tchotchkes. A truly embarrassing number of small kitty figurines and kitty pictures and kitty potholders and kitty pajamas and kitty...well you get the idea. I could see how this could be deemed frightening.

I did not set out to become a creepy Cat Lady. I just somehow...accumulated them.

Cat Accumulation Timeline:

• College - adopted Bogie from the Humane Society.
• Moved to Dallas. Bogie passed away for unremembered reasons. It was very traumatizing.
• 1983 - Adopted Rodney from ex's parents.
• Adopted Mae from ex's parents (they had a terrifying number of cats, none of which they spayed or neutered - a font of kitties)
• Mae hit by car.
• The tragedy of Mae's death inspired me to make the cats indoor-only. I began to invest in those cat hair roller thingies.
• Adopted Bette from ex's parents.
• Louie appeared at my door. He joined the family.
• Louie died of kidney failure. Very traumatizing.
• 1987 - Imogene appeared at my door. She joined the family.
• 1989 - Moved to California with Rodney, Bette and Imogene. 3 cats, one Toyota Tercel. 
• String of boyfriends subjected to 3 cats.
• 1995 - Married Jimmy, making him the official Cat Daddy.
• 1998 - Rodney, aged 14, passed away from cancer.
• 2002 - Bette, aged 17, passed away from old age.
• 2009 - Imogene, aged 23, passed away from extreme old age.
• Jimmy refuses to let me adopt another cat.
• My time as Cat Lady comes to an end.

Of all of my feline companions, the most important and memorable was definitely Rodney.

Rodney was beyond cat. I always said that he was one reincarnation away from human. This cat was exceptional.

 

My Rodney.

 

He was completely gregarious - he loved people. I think that he thought he was a person. He followed me everywhere I went. I could actually take him places - he loved the car. When Jimmy or I would get home, he would leap up on our shoulders and ride around until we made him get down. He went crazy for french fries and cantaloupe. Everybody who met him was completely taken by him. Friends would drop by to bring the cat presents just because they liked him so much.

 

1994 Northridge earthquake. Most cats wanted to hide under the bed. Rodney wanted to be with the people.

I can still remember the smell of that cat and the satisfying warmth of his fur under my hand when I snuggled him.  I had a deep and profound love for that animal.

When he got sick, and was diagnosed with inoperable cancer, I held him for days as he slowly wasted away. He purred the whole time. When Jimmy and I decided that it was time to put him to sleep, we both held him, whispering in his ears, telling him how much we loved him, as the doctor gave him the injection. I still celebrate the anniversary of his death, February 21st.

Have I once again revealed too much? 

Jude and I desperately want another cat. We think that Fancy, our sweet little dog, would get along well with a kitten. But Jimmy firmly refuses. I'm afraid that at the end of our Imogene's life, she spent about a year living in the kitty nursing home, also known as the laundry room. She was completely incontinent and senile. I mean, she was 23 after all! But it was all just a little too much...urine for Jimmy. He says he can no longer be the Cat Daddy.

But I know that I still have it in me, the tendency toward Cat Ladydom. I can totally see myself as a loony old widow, living surrounded by my cat babies. Knitting them little sweaters. Sleeping with them all over my bed. Succumbing once again to the lure of the kitty tchotchke.

Oh well, something to look forward to!

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If you're an animal lover, you simply MUST read the other Pets spins...

Nadine at All Along the Hightower

Jan at Jan's Sushi Bar

Michele at It's a Dog's Life

Vandy J at The Testosterone Three and Me

Claire at Incognitus Scriptor

Nain at View From Down Here - NEW on FRIDAY

Ginny Marie at Lemon Drop Pie - NEW on FRIDAY

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Next week on the Spin Cycle...

Nothing

That's right, we're taking a week off while I head to New York to perform Mozart's Requiem in Carnegie Hall. For those who missed this exciting update, read about it HERE. I will try my best to check in here and post a little something. But don't count on it. I do promise a Carnegie Hall recap once I get back.

However, in TWO weeks, that's the week of May 27 - May 31 on the Spin Cycle...

Best and Worst

Inspired by Elizabeth's post HERE.

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." It's a week about contrasts.

What's great? What's dreadful? Spill it all. It's an excellent opportunity to cheer and to rant.

This is wide open, so take the next two weeks to think about it and let your mind go!

Write it, post it, tell me, I'll link it.

See you in TWO WEEKS. And be sure and wish us luck at Carnegie Hall!

 

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Experiment

So I have finished my blog-every-day-for-a-month experiment. The point of the experiment was to attempt to get myself out of my blogging rut and find inspiration in new and exciting ways. I would say it was somewhat successful. Here's what I learned...

Pros -

• Definitely got me thinking out of the box regarding blog fodder.
• I realized that my Random Tuesday Thoughts posts were using up all of my short ideas that I could have written into a full but short blog post.
• It's okay to write a short blog post.
• It's okay to post on the weekend. 
• It's okay to post about what I call "Day to day la-dee-dah". 
• I don't have to be on a "schedule", I can post whenever I want.
• I never had to resort to the threatened funny cat video.

Cons -

• Completely got in my way of writing the book I'm working on. I just don't have time to do both.
• Blogging every day led to some seriously lame posts. I mean, a salute to George Jones? A post about Jimmy's obsession with Jodi Arias? The weather? We could all have done without these.
• I was so busy blogging that I was even WORSE at reading other  people's blogs. Sigh.

I am glad that the month is over. I was so busy all month that I think I might not have blogged at all if I hadn't done it.

Will I do it again? Maybe. Maybe not. We'll see if I get completely stuck again.

I do recommend it though.

Okay, this is clearly an uninspired post. So maybe the great experiment didn't do anything to inspire me.

What do y'all think?

I guess I'll show that funny cat video after all...

 

Spin Cycle: Geek Warning

I am a game dork.

I play a wide variety of dorky online games. All the time. Like, really, pretty much all the time.

It's compulsive. I can't stop myself. At this very moment, I have open, on other tabs on my computer, both Zynga, where I'm playing Farmville 2, and Club Pogo, where I'm playing something called Mahjong Gardens. During the time it took for me to write this post thus far, I have gone to both of those sites and played both of those games. Twice.

Which isn't really that crazy, because, you know, there is a County Fair going on at my my tiny virtual farm, so it's pretty important that I keep my crops watered and fertilized. Because if my crops are fertilized, I'll get prized crops, and if I sell enough prized crops, I'll get a medal. I mean, not a real medal or anything, it's a...virtual medal. And Mahjong Gardens has a daily challenge going, and if I earn enough tokens, they'll give me even more tokens. Which aren't actually worth anything, but...

Okay, it really is crazy.

I have always been this way, since I was a kid. I remember compulsively playing jacks on the floor of my bathroom for hours and hours, working my way from onesies to tensies to Eggs in a Basket and Crack the Egg. I can still remember the clatter of the jacks when I tossed them on the tile, and the satisfaction of raking all the jacks up in one hand and catching the ball before it hit the floor.

After jacks, I became a Solitaire nut. I knew all sorts of types of Solitaire - Klondike, Pyramid, Seven Up, Spider. I'd play it on my bed while watching tv. I would sometimes watch tv, do my homework and play Solitaire at the same time. I was a multi-tasker.

Later, I got into word puzzles. I'd buy these puzzle magazines - I had one with me at all times.

 

I may have put the Dell children through college.

 

Crosswords, Anacrostics, Cryptoquizzes. I loved them all. And I always used a pen, never a pencil.

And then along came the computer and then the iPhone, and it's all been downhill from there.

Back before Jude was born, I bought these PC games which I played all the time. I played my way through the entire Diablo series, leading my tiny sorceress through the many levels of hell to defend the world against Mephisto and Baal. It was very gratifying. I also obsessed over the Myst games, and about 20 other puzzley adventure games. I would stay up late at night solving virtual mysteries and saving virtual worlds.

The list of dorky games goes on and on, and I know this is already becoming a little monotonous, and...embarrassing. So I will stop the litany of dorkdom.

Why do I obsess this way?

A friend of mine once read my palm. As she was running her finger over my various lines and rings, she suddenly asked "do you play a lot of games?"

"Yeah. A lot," I answered.

"Hmmm. Yeah, you're one of those..." she replied mysteriously.

According to this friend, certain people have minds that won't shut off. They just think and think and think and think. And the only way to relax and renew and...go to sleep, is to occupy the mind with a problem or puzzle.

YES! THAT IS ME!

I can't turn my brain off to go to sleep. I have to give myself something specific to think about, a story or a problem or a puzzle. It's something to do with occupying my conscious mind and freeing my unconscious mind. Or maybe it's the other way around. Playing a game or working on a puzzle actually makes me relax. And it also strangely frees my thoughts. I find that if I'm writing, and have a problem to solve, if I zone out playing a game for a while, my mind opens up and all sort of useful thoughts slip in.

At least that's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it.

Have I shared too much? Do y'all still respect me?

Oh look, my livestock is hungry. I'd better get to it.

 

Check out all my animals and crops!

 ___________________________________

More extremely obsessive spinners...please don't judge them...

Suzicate at The Water Witch's Daughter

Nain at View From Down Here

Vandy J at The Testosterone Three and Me

Lynn at Curly Girl's Music World

Jan at Jan's Sushi Bar - NEW on FRIDAY

Janice at I Got Nothing - NEW on FRIDAY

___________________________________

Next week on The Spin Cycle...

Pets

Ahhh. We love 'em don't we. Do you have a favorite non-human member of your family you want to show off? Put them front and center.

Or maybe there's a beloved childhood pet who you still miss every day?

Or maybe...you had some pet disasters? Did your family experience a run of dead hamsters? Or a dog who ate his way through all of your shoes and panties? Or an ornery cat who everybody hated but lived longer than any other animal you ever had?

Pet name? Pet project? Pet cemetery? Pet Sounds?

Write your spin on Pets. Post it. Tell me. I'll link it here.

Check back on Friday for my spin on "Pets", and to find out the next week's Spin topic.

If you've never joined The Spin Cycle, now's the time! Don't worry, we won't bite!

 

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Working Mother

My Book Fair is over! And it was quite successful. I'm really happy with the way things went. That's not to say there aren't things I'd like to improve next year, but for a first time out, I think it went really well.

The best part, aside from making a bunch of money for our library, was how excited the kids got. I mean, they were SO into it. Every day, they rushed in as soon as they got to school, and they were in there every recess and lunch. I had my regulars, mostly a group of little girls, who would come in during lunch and chat with me about books. It was really rather fun, since my OWN CHILD completely ignored me. But these other children came in with their piggy banks and tiny wallets filled with their hard-saved money, and I absolutely loved seeing them pick our a book that they were very excited about, and pay for it with their own money. So dear.

Now, however, I am so exhausted I can barely move. And you know, I am often exhausted, I think that just comes with being a busy working mother who just happens to be OLD. But this is really, bone-weary, ass-dragging, dog-tired exhausted.

All this week, I was down at that school, working the Book Fair from about 7:15 am to 4:30 pm. Essentially, I was the owner/manager of a small retail establishment. I had employees which I directed. I had customers who were always right. I worked hard to make sales, bending over backwards to make my customers happy.

And I have had a realization. I haven't had a full-time job, or really any...actual job, since...1987.

It's true. I mean, I earn money, but I don't really work. I have no schedule, no real demands aside from showing up where I'm supposed to be on time, and doing my best. 

It is HARD to have a day job!

I suddenly have such RESPECT for all of you working mothers! How the hell do you do it? Especially those of you in a position of authority, who have to make constant decisions, and everyone looks to you for answers and guidance. It's HARD.

So hats off to all of you! I'm glad my full-time job only lasted a week!