The Insanity Defense

Just as I was heading out the door this evening I realized I hadn't blown out a scented candle I had burning in a jar in my room. Before I snuffed it, though, I saw there was a ridge of unmelted wax around one side, and my OCD (undiagnosed, but...) I smush that ridge down so the whole thing would melt evenly. Using the end of a plastic spoon I angled around the flame and under the top of the jar to get to the ridge, pulling it down into the melted wax. Then the spoon slipped - I found myself with a hand- and face-full of (black) melted wax spatters. The first thought was 'I'm burning! No, not burning - is it going to burn? DON'T MOVE' followed by the discovery that while the wax had fortunately not been hot enough to burn, I was now covered in it, scarf, coat, and all. My next thought was to photographically document the moment and update my Facebook status.

Seriously.

There are a couple of surprises today - the main was was realizing just how trained we have become to sharing everything electronically. The refrain 'pictures or it didn't happen!' is practically reality - seemingly an actual reality for me, as I immediately took a picture of myself with my phone, getting a wax-covered hand into the shot with my face, and then went upstairs to present the incident to my father. He told whoever he was talking to on the phone that his daughter looked like a 'chocolate-chip cookie' for some reason.

Remember how when some embarrassing or silly accident happened you used to look around furtively and hope no one had seen you? And how you'd try to forget it had ever occurred until you suddenly remembered it months or years later when you were trying to win a 'Most Embarrassing Story' contest? I think that Facebook, with its voracious and insatiable appetite for updates and information, has bred that tendency out of us. Now nothing has happened unless there is photographic evidence and some kind of validation. I'm not quite sure if this is a good thing or not - we seem to be gradually growing less and less discretionary, but we might also be getting more and more relatably human. It's hard to stand in awe of someone who uploads a picture of themselves wearing wax splatters and a sheepish smirk; it's maybe easy to see yourself doing the same thing.

(In retrospect, I'm not sure I'll post my picture. Vanity may beat out a need for validation - or perhaps there's still a touch of discretionary embarrassment surviving still. Also...)

In other news, the next surprise of the day came when, after cleaning the wax off my hands (non-burning candle wax peels easily off skin, did you know?) I remembered I still hadn't blown out the candle. Seeing I hadn't actually finished pressing down the unmelted ridge, I reached for my spoon and went at it AGAIN - and AGAIN, the spoon slipped and I got a SECOND splatter. See the post title; what did I actually think would happen?

Pressing the wax out of the fabric of my scarf and coat with an iron between towels worked pretty well; we'll see tomorrow if the mark will come all the way out of my shirt.

I'm still picking bits of wax out of my hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes.

At least I smell good!

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Apropos of nothing other than the fact that I love it, THIS:


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Be This

*putting this on permanent rotation in my head*

Today's Letter

Sesame Street may have to go back to being my favorite TV show.

I sat down with my niece this morning and watched a little Sesame Street, and was delighted to find all those Muppet-y puppets spoofing 'Glee' with a clip from 'the -G- club'. Most of the main characters are there, with the only named one being 'Mr. Geu', or 'Mr. Geuster' (Matthew Morrison is SO CUTE as a puppet!) and everyone breaking into song in preparation for some competition or other. Hilarious. How did I not know Sesame Street was the kindergarten set's answer to SNL? Watch:

Now I'm off to the YouTube to try to find the clip of the Street doing Downton Abbey. 'Upside Downton Abbey' - I AM SO EXCITED.

See? SO CUTE.

If ever there was a live-action Muppet, it's Finn (back right). 

*Clip and images property of of Sesame Street. Brought to you by the letters B and G, and the numbers 1, 2, and 3.

** I was also surprised to find, per my labels, this is not the first time I've blogged about Sesame Street. Huh.

Delivery

In two feet of snow, the FedEx guy is wearing shorts and a windbreaker (unzipped) with the hood up.

Is the surprise this evidence of foolhardiness, or for an extreme example of actual hardiness?

Or should I be surprised that I shouldn't be surprised?

Candles

I'm now 39. How did THAT happen?





Fortunately, according to the 12-yr-old girl I asked earlier today, I only look about 30.

(Ha.)



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Also, there were no candles on either of my birthday cakes. (One of which I made from scratch, a new-to-me recipe, and it was - surprisingly - delicious.)

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I Dreamed a Dream

Last night (or rather, early this morning as I dozed off without turning of my lights and didn't rectify the situation until 4 AM and thus, didn't sleep very much or well until late early morning - y'follow?) I had a dream. In my dream I was singing and dancing with a group, Glee-style, in some generic community center-type hall/classroom, and we were performing for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We were dressed in early 60's crinolines and prepster outfits, and we were fantastic. The refrain of the song we finished with was something along the lines of 'Shakin' the Money Tree' (I was still humming it when I woke up). Then we all sat down on the floor and Dr. King stood up to speak - he talked for a minute, then started singing, then dancing with a super-cool Motown groove, and we gradually all joined in.

I don't dream very often - or at least, my dreams are not vivid enough to remember very often, and usually the ones I do hang on to are creepy and unsettling. This one made me wake up happy - still tired (see above re: 4 AM), but happy. I was singing and dancing with Martin Luther King, Jr.! I bet he would have enjoyed it, too.

There were not this many people in my dream. Also, I wasn't black.

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You thought this post was going to be about Les Miserables, didn't you? Surprise!

(That post is coming soon.)

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Here They Come

On the first day of January I unexpectedly made a little money on some jewelry. As I'm planning to set up an Etsy shop, I take this as a very good sign for the next year! (Additionally, I got some impromptu expert job-search coaching and professional contacts, which I take as an astronomically good sign* for the next year!)

I have a hunch that some of the best surprises are going to (continue to) be delivered by terrific friends.

Any lovely/exciting/intriguing 'signs' and indications for your next year so far?






* See what I did there?