(no subject)

Hooray, it's October! I like October because it's the month when Florida summer starts to release its hot, humid grip on us.

Having grown up in the North, there's still a part of me that associates this month with leaves achieving vivid color and swirling to earth like pointillist confetti. I remember riding to school on the bus in the mornings and looking at the houses to see which ones were decorated for Halloween.

This was long before the days of giant inflatable lawn sculptures---there were real pumpkins on front steps, a bundle of bright-hued indian corn tacked to a front door, or in a window, some pasteboard caricature with articulated arms and legs (a goblin, a skeleton or a witch).

"What are you going to be?" we asked each other. "I'm going to be a princess!"

I outgrew store-bought costumes after age 7, so I'd end up with a mask and whatever my mom could improvise, and when I reached junior high, my dad put an end to my trick-or-treating career. I was too old, he said, but that's also about the same time they sent me to a summer camp that was run by Weight Watchers.

It wasn't until my twenties that I began to dress up again. I spent several years as a Viking/valkyrie, though I've since broadened my range: I've been Ursula from The Little Mermaid, a trailer park alien abductee, a Renaissance maiden, and the Statue of Liberty. (I'm particularly proud of the latter, which won me a $20 gift certificate. The pointy headdress was the tricky part....)

Wishing you all the delights of October!

(no subject)

Hooray, it's October! I like October because it's the month when Florida summer starts to release its hot, humid grip on us.

Having grown up in the North, there's still a part of me that associates this month with leaves achieving vivid color and swirling to earth like pointillist confetti. I remember riding to school on the bus in the mornings and looking at the houses to see which ones were decorated for Halloween.

This was long before the days of giant inflatable lawn sculptures---there were real pumpkins on front steps, a bundle of bright-hued indian corn tacked to a front door, or in a window, some pasteboard caricature with articulated arms and legs (a goblin, a skeleton or a witch).

"What are you going to be?" we asked each other. "I'm going to be a princess!"

I outgrew store-bought costumes after age 7, so I'd end up with a mask and whatever my mom could improvise, and when I reached junior high, my dad put an end to my trick-or-treating career. I was too old, he said, but that's also about the same time they sent me to a summer camp that was run by Weight Watchers.

It wasn't until my twenties that I began to dress up again. I spent several years as a Viking/valkyrie, though I've since broadened my range: I've been Ursula from The Little Mermaid, a trailer park alien abductee, a Renaissance maiden, and the Statue of Liberty. (I'm particularly proud of the latter, which won me a $20 gift certificate. The pointy headdress was the tricky part....)

Wishing you all the delights of October!

From Schnauzerland ---

Here I am, ensconced in the lair of grey-bearded canines. Their mama has set sail---well, not actual sails, but she *is* on the high seas even as I type. I have cash in hand, a refridgerator that's not only quieter than mine, but considerably better stocked---a half-dozen different varieties of protein to tempt me---none of them eggs!---and a 12 pack of Diet Coke with Lime that nearly made me sob with feeling.

I've been subsisting on store-brand colas for so long---without a hint of citrus---that The Good Stuff makes me feel like one of those wine snobs you see: *sniff, sniff* "Ah, the bouquet! Key lime, harvested in February, 2006 in the Conch Republic..." *sip* "Effervescent! Lively, with full-bodied aspartame sweetness and a tart citrus aftertaste...." DC w/L is my caffeine of choice, you see, so after such an extended period of deprivation, I'm taking care not to guzzle the whole thing overnight. I could do it, no joke.

There are also several slightly stale donuts (a few seconds in the microwave should revive them), a whole loaf of honey wheat bread (I must locate her toaster), a few pieces of fruit, and sufficient dog- and cat food to keep the menagerie from starving until mama returns.

Tomorrow, I'll find a relatively cheap gas station, because I drove over here on fumes. I'll get some eggs, because toast alone does not breakfast make, some kidney beans to toss in the crockpot with that mass o' ground beef---a pot of chili ought to last me 2 or 3 days---and something chocolate. And then, I may just hunker down and write and cook and go for walks on the beach.

Tonight, though, I'm going to sink into the hot tub and soak until I'm a raisin.

===

And this is how paranoid I've become: when I set up my computer, I plugged my surge protector into her surge protector....

From Schnauzerland ---

Here I am, ensconced in the lair of grey-bearded canines. Their mama has set sail---well, not actual sails, but she *is* on the high seas even as I type. I have cash in hand, a refridgerator that's not only quieter than mine, but considerably better stocked---a half-dozen different varieties of protein to tempt me---none of them eggs!---and a 12 pack of Diet Coke with Lime that nearly made me sob with feeling.

I've been subsisting on store-brand colas for so long---without a hint of citrus---that The Good Stuff makes me feel like one of those wine snobs you see: *sniff, sniff* "Ah, the bouquet! Key lime, harvested in February, 2006 in the Conch Republic..." *sip* "Effervescent! Lively, with full-bodied aspartame sweetness and a tart citrus aftertaste...." DC w/L is my caffeine of choice, you see, so after such an extended period of deprivation, I'm taking care not to guzzle the whole thing overnight. I could do it, no joke.

There are also several slightly stale donuts (a few seconds in the microwave should revive them), a whole loaf of honey wheat bread (I must locate her toaster), a few pieces of fruit, and sufficient dog- and cat food to keep the menagerie from starving until mama returns.

Tomorrow, I'll find a relatively cheap gas station, because I drove over here on fumes. I'll get some eggs, because toast alone does not breakfast make, some kidney beans to toss in the crockpot with that mass o' ground beef---a pot of chili ought to last me 2 or 3 days---and something chocolate. And then, I may just hunker down and write and cook and go for walks on the beach.

Tonight, though, I'm going to sink into the hot tub and soak until I'm a raisin.

===

And this is how paranoid I've become: when I set up my computer, I plugged my surge protector into her surge protector....