Jul
29
2006
What a racket!
Patrick adds tennis racket to his new redording
Jul
27
2006
Fancy Smancy
Friday was my sister’s birthday. I went out to eat with her and my mother at a “fancy” restaurant downtown. The wait staff all wore black pants, black shirts, and long black aprons. I’ve been to several “fancy” restaurants where the wait staff wore the same thing. It must be the “fancy” restaurant uniform.
Our waiter was a thin, pale man. He made a point to look at each one of us for a few seconds as he told us about the specials. He used carefully planned hand gestures as he talked. When he left the table my mother said that he reminded her of a museum guide. I wondered if he slept huddled in the corner of the kitchen by day, surviving off of table scraps.
Most of the fish on the menu was encrusted with something, like Macadamia nuts or Parmesan cheese. I don’t know when this trend started, but I don’t like it. I don’t want to eat anything that’s been encrusted. I think that it is supposed to remind you of something being jewel encrusted, and thus make you feel fancy. The problem is that the only thing it reminds me of is an old pair of underwear that someone’s worn for three days straight.
The more expensive the food is at fancy restaurants, the less food you get. I would think that because I paid more, I’d get more. Apparently, part of what you’re paying for is the atmosphere. This placed greeted me with the atmosphere of dirt smudged glass on the door and cobwebs under the windows. The metal art on the walls was…interesting.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not complaining. My food was delicious. I wiped my plate clean. My sister ordered that same thing as me but she only ate half. She’s on a diet where she eats portions fit for a small bird. I often say I’ll start that diet, but forget when my food arrives.
We got truffled chocolates at the end of our meal. They were good. My sister didn’t eat hers. I think it was a good birthday for her. Don’t worry we didn’t spend too much money–my mother had a coupon, of course.
Jul
21
2006
Time Crunch Crunch Crunch
When I was young, I hated going to bed. I didn’t want to sleep. I wanted to be where all of the action was. I wanted to see and hear everything. Even after my parents got me into bed, I would lay there, struggling to keep my eyes open. Sleep was a hassle. It ate up precious time.
Now I can’t wait to get to sleep. I was happy to take an hour nap today. Tonight, I’ll bed thrilled to crawl into bed. I know I’m not missing anything. Sleep still eats up precious time, but I need it desperately.
My husband often reminisces about how much he did as a kid. “When I was a kid I had all of the time in the world,” he likes to say. It’s true too. As a child, the days creep by. A year takes lifetimes to pass.
Since I’ve been married, the days seem to be sixteen hours long. The year is flying by. I find myself saying, “I can’t believe it’s already July!” I look at my list of goals for the year and think that there’s no way I’ll complete them all.
Okay, I have to be completely honest. This having no time stuff is a load of garbage. If I really had no time, I wouldn’t have been able to take an hour long nap. If I really had no time, I wouldn’t be able to drive across town to eat lunch with my sister, or spend almost two hours looking at floor plans for dome homes online. If I really had no time, I wouldn’t be able to put up posts on this blog. So I guess I have time. I just need to organize it better.
Jul
7
2006
In My Dreams
Dreams are strange. They seem so real when they’re happening, but when you wake up, you realize how unreal they are. Last night, I dreamt about rain hats. They were tall gray hats that resembled a beehives. Inside each hat was a small storm cloud, that caused a constant downpour. This is why the hats were so popular. The rain could keep your head cool during the hot summer.
In my dream, everyone was very happy about their hats. No one was soaked. I think that under normal circumstances, the rain would run down your head getting you all wet. Dreams aren’t normal circumstances; so the water some how remained in the hat.
My stepson claims to be able to have lucid dreams. I have never had one and tend to doubt that they really happen. If I had a lucid dream, I don’t know what I would do. He likes to fly over cityscapes in his dreams. Flying isn’t really my thing. I’m clumsy and might crash into something. I have a hard enough time not banging my shoulder on the edge of doorways. Flying would be dangerous, even in a dream. I have had falling dreams, and I know I don’t like the feeling of falling. If I did have a lucid dream, I would probably just sleep. This would double the amount of rest I got that night. A dream about sleeping would be boring, I admit. It’s not something that I would tell people about, but at least it would be productive.
My stepson told me that you can find out whether you’re in a dream or not by looking at your hand. If you have too many or too few fingers, then you are in a dream. I promptly asked him where he got this information, and he said that he read it on Wikipedia. It sounds far fetched to me. I see my hands everyday. I should know how many fingers I have by now. If my brain can’t remember how many fingers I have, what other important details might it be forgetting? I shouldn’t get mad when I don’t know where I put the car keys, because apparently, I don’t even know how many fingers I have.
He also told me that he read that if you flip a light switch and nothing happens, you’re having a dream, because lights don’t work well in dreams. The next time you go to turn on a light and nothing happens, maybe the light bulb blew out, maybe the power is out, or maybe you didn’t pay the electric bill. Before you do anything, count the fingers on your hands, because maybe it’s just a dream.
