Artful Scheme of Happiness

Whirlwinds Without Romance

In the past two days, I have had dates with two different people. By the time the week is out, that number might be up to four. Of course, I hate dating more than anything, but all of a sudden all of these people are asking me out. And I am so taken aback by the whole thing that I pretty much agree to ANY request for a date.

I am currently looking into entering a monastery HIGH on a mountaintop somewhere ... in Greece perhaps.

posted by art @ 9:16 PM

"Smallpox, I intend to get you used to bleeding."

A French doctor, upon noticing that patients with smallpox almost invariably died after being bled, decided that he would teach smallpox a little lesson. A Seattle lawyer, upon realizing that he is constitutionally incapable of making a lemon meringue pie, decided that he was going to make one EVERY WEEK until he can make one that turns out well. Are both of these men fools?

For an Easter dinner yesterday, I made 12 apple dumplings that turned out spectacularly well. (Many thanks to my friend Rand, who fashioned three beautiful little dough leaves for the top of each dumpling.) And I made one lemon meringue pie. That last time I made one, it was gorgeous. And as soon as I sliced into it, I realized that the lemon filling had never set up and that we would be having meringue in lemon sauce. So I decided to use a different recipe this time. I might have been a little pressed for time, and I know that I was working without a candy thermometer (a situation I intend to rectify), but I really didn't think that the EXACT SAME THING would happen to me

Thank God for the apple dumplings. The people at the party I went to never had to know about my great failure (they did know -- I blabbed).

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. It was absolutely beautiful here, in the 70s, lilacs in full bloom. I even left my bedroom window wide open last night. Spring is here.

posted by art @ 6:22 AM

fun with life

Let's see. What can I tell you. The lilacs and the rosemary are blooming here in Seattle, which means that the narcissus and the tulips and the crocuses are all past their prime.

And I'm past my prime too, I guess. On Friday I was laid off from my job, which was rather a shock. But I looked on the bright side and prepared myself to enjoy a long weekend, since I'd been working so much lately. Plus, I was scheduled to get scuba certified in the icy cold waters of beautiful Puget Sound, so it's not like I didn't have anything to do with my time.

Well, I got certified. And I got called back into work. On Saturday. My layoff lasted exactly zero days. So that was nice. Though instead of a long weekend I had no weekend, and that doesn't seem so fair.

But I was laid off again today (it's the nature of being a contract attorney), so maybe I'll finally have a chance to relax and unwind. I have to say, I'm kind of expecting to be called back in TONIGHT for some sort of rush job. We'll just have to wait and see.

Oh, by the way, Puget Sound is beautiful, teeming with amazing sea life. And it's very, very cold.

posted by art @ 8:00 PM

Can I just tell you...

... that in the course of the day today, my sister has sent me a series of e-mails wherein she has detailed today's dining experiences. For lunch today she had a hot dog, onion rings and a cherry Mister Misty from Dairy Queen. And now she's enjoying a packet of strawberry pop rocks! Where does she get all of these magical things?

Oh I am so jealous! (Except about the hot dog. No one needs a hot dog. It's all L&A.)

posted by art @ 2:08 PM

Fools In April

I have been taking scuba lessons lately and this weekend I have my first open-water dives. We'll be diving in the freezing cold deep of Puget Sound, and I have to say I have some trepidation about this whole thing. I was outfitted for a wetsuit last night ("you're too tall for a standard wetsuit because they make them for short, squat men, so plan on having cold ankles while you dive") which was not the most exciting experience. Once inside this suit, which is more like a human sausage casing than anything else, I could barely move my arms. I felt like a little kid again, so bundled up against the cold that I almost couldn't move.

So keep your fingers crossed for me. I'm figuring that nothing will look more appetizing to an orca than a 6'4" sausage drifting through the water.

posted by art @ 7:09 AM