A couple days back, I stumbled onto George Lucas' AMERICAN GRAFFITI on STARZ or another cable channel.  Took me no time at all to get me sucked in even though the last time I had actually seen the thing was back in the late Seventies in a second run theater. (It could be that I saw GREASE there too. I remember REALLY not liking GREASE either. Songs were great, the plot stitching them together, not so much.) It was probably an unconscious rebellion against what was popular as well...I remember everyone swooning about how great it was. John Travolta was white-hot at the time. That meant nothing to me. All I saw were these twenty-something actors/actresses pretending to be teenagers....) But A N Y W A Y......I remember loving GRAFFITI because it was everything GREASE was not: REAL. It was basically a love-letter to George Lucas' halcyon youth in late Fifties/Early Sixties California. It was all there. Classic cars, cruising down the main streets of America, drag-racing, rock and...

Sometimes you see one of those nature shows where you realize just how horrific and brutal nature really is. A writhing, slow-motion, multi-coiled, many-scaled reptilian nightmare as a gazelle slowly gets swallowed into a constrictor's gaping mouth. Or the frog without an actual head... there's just this wide maw that you can look down into with these weird handlike mandible things on either side. And then it hopped over to one of the people recording the footage. And then a horrifed, endless shrieking that will go on and ON until human history crumbles into dust. Why do I find all this hilarious?

Spring is coming...and my hubby has all of these little DIY projects in mind....and me, I usually duck out of housework unless it is absolutely necessary. For example, the desk I am typing on looks like a light snowfall accumulated across it. I should really start thinking about passing a dust rag along the flat  surfaces one of these days... As it is, hubby "suggested" that I blow the pile of dead leaves out from in front of the door. It only took a few minutes but some wind was fighting me at one point. And all l could think was "futility. Why bother? Wouldn't chilling out be a whole lot EASIER?" I am naturally a lazy person. I'd rather put my feet up, read, write a letter, or watch a movie that doing ANYTHING else. This used to shame me a lot. Now it  shames me only a little bit.

It's that time of decade again....I have to renew my passport for my air travel job...What with all of the fees...expedition, overnight mailing, renewal, yadda, yadda...it costs just under $200.00 The more you know, right? News you can use...

Time and time again, I have learned this  one thing: If I stay consistent with some kind of exercise routine, I feel more positive, I accomplish more, I procrastinate less, my patience levels are higher...Overall, life goes better. There is a price though. It has to be non-negotiable. You have to let people in your life know that this is something you're going to take seriously.  You have to carve yourself out some time, draw a metaphorical line in the sand.  In my case, I have to get up a couple hours earlier...which means I have to go to bed earlier, drink a whole lot less alcohol so that I'm not hung over the next morning. Now, it's not necessarily ONLY about weight loss. First and foremost, it's to move the serotonin around so I can generally feel better about life. Granted, aches and pains won't allow me to run any more...but I can manage some walking and definitely do some push-ups and stomach exercises...I alternate the two. It's the closest thing you c...

Time to re-up for a new passport. (U.S.) I work for an airline as a flight attendant so it's pretty much mandatory. For some reason, I keep thinking that the cost of it is $60.00. It WAS back in 1990....but that price seems to have stuck in my head and all subsequent renewal prices have been wiped from memory. So...if you're planning to apply for/renew a passport this year, get ready to fork out $110-$180 depending on how fast you need it. News you can use. Was thinking about problem solving and how I've finally learned (or AM learning...no one ever stops learning, hopefully) that getting angry, flustered, frustrated, or frantic at an obstacle or a problem DOES ABSOLUTELY NO GOOD. It took a LONG time to learn but but slowing down your mind helps infinitely. If I learned or wish to impart anything it is that one piece of advice. Real world example....When filling out that renewal form for the passport, the field would NOT take my date....and I KNOW the date was correct. ...

My month-long vacation continues apace. Thanks to a profit-sharing check, I'm spending cash like a drunken sailor. Mostly on books. Bill and I took a browse through a local antique shop. I found myself two decent pipes, one of which was a curiosity. It has a stainless steel cap at the bottom where put the tobacco in and a screen at the top of the bowl where you're supposed to light it. A unique addition to the collection. My "homemade" workout regimen seems to be paying off dividends. If the weight isn't flying off, at least the serotonin is being pushed around my system, generally making me feel a bit more positive. That's the main point. I've been writing a lot of letters during this vacation. Letter-writing is similar to most other types of "creative" writing, I'm sure. Inspiration hits...and then you follow it through. Take for example: This morning, in the wee hours when I was waking up, I was listening to BBC WORLD SERVICE on National...

Just went over to the Great North Aleworks to fill my Growler Jug with some chocolate stout. Had a pint of Vanilla Porter while I waited. The place was hopping. An early start to the ST. PATRICK'S DAY festivities. They had a band and everything. Always happy to support a local brewery as I wreck my  liver....

Hmmm... Could this be the muse-method I need to get writing again? The kick in the pants? The cattle prod?