Goals... and Goals

Well, my grades for the second degree averaged out to A-, at least... I think there's still hope for a different career choice!

I couldn't not.


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Both comics (Frazz/Brevity) found here on today's date.

Blue Skies, A Little Fall of Rain

I found out I have a favorite type of weather.

That discovery was prefaced by my surprise when I walked out into it and immediately tried to wax poetic. Like, seriously, compose a poem about the weather. Oy. I left the library to walk home and the air was bright - it does that sometimes - in spite of the cluster of dark clouds over the mountain ahead to the right (interestingly, the mountain to the left was in sunlight) and the pale gray cover directly overhead. All around were swathes of blue sky, so it honestly was a little startling to walk out into the light and clear air AND feel a drizzle of raindrops! (I can't think of the right word. It was more than a smatter, but more distinctly raining than a 'drizzle' implies, except there were a whole bunch of miniature raindrops.) Anyway, I walked up the hill in fresh clean air, sunshine, and a wash of rain, all at the same time, and loved it. The breeze was just barely strong enough that the raindrops dried almost as soon as they fell - when I got home the only evidence I'd been out was that the hems on my jeans were damp.

It was invigorating, and marvelous, and I REALLY need a thesaurus. And to practice writing poetry.

And to find the right word for that kind of rain.

:-)

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Phraseology

I'm surprised that people still misuse the phrase '...another think coming', as in:

But if Dannai thinks that's going to stop him from doing everything in his power to make her his mate, the little witch has another thing coming.

I'm not reading the book that this blurb comes from, and a major part of the reason (besides the werewolves) is that it should read, 'If whoever thinks blah blah blah, then they have another THINK coming'. Not 'thing'. That doesn't make any sense! Someone thinks, they have another think! Think/think, see? It's not think/THING. That's just dumb.

Also, could we please deal with the whole 'could care less' debacle? The idea is that a person 'couldn't care less', as in could not possibly have any less interest in a person/situation than they do at the moment. (They are lying, of course, but that's dramatic irony, and a whole other misused issue.) When people say that they 'could care less' they are saying that they still have a certain level of caring and that it could be lower - i.e., THEY STILL CARE, when in fact they mean to say that they do not care at all any longer. 'COULDN'T care LESS.' That contraction is important, as it's the difference between a life of cool, detached sophistication and the sure fact that you'll be taking the lyin', cheatin' idiot back the minute they show up with puppy-dog eyes and a half-wilted flower. Don't be the doormat!

In conclusion:

If that lyin', cheatin' idiot thinks that Dannai could care less about his puppy-dog eyes and stupid flowers, he's got another think coming. That think, of course, is the concept that he can take his grocery-store rejects and shove 'em where the sun don't shine, because she COULDN'T care less about him and his redneck monster truck, having moved on to a life of cool, detached sophistication involving a yacht and a vaguely French accent. 

See? Now that's a book I'd read.

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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?