Artful Scheme of Happiness

What's shakin'?

I have consumed two entire bags of frozen blueberries in the past two days. One bag per day, each in a smoothie. We're defrosting our freezer and I'm trying to keep ahead of the spoilage. I'm seriously considering having a pea smoothie for breakfast tomorrow, or perhaps a blended pea and vodka sauce over pasta tonight. (Or maybe a couple of shots of vodka, and then I'll be drunk enough to just throw the peas away.)

The other day we got a new dryer. (Our old one -- and I mean OLD one -- had given out.) Marc called me and excitedly screamed, "Good news!! We got the dryer and it's in the front yard." How is that good news? He planned on leaving it there overnight, draped in a filthy, cat-hair-covered Mexican poncho. This would deter thieves, apparently. The upshot of all this is that I carried the dryer into the house with the help of a friend (and threw away the poncho).

My hip was showing signs of improvement but now it's backsliding. It had better not slide too far back or I'll have it removed.

posted by art @ 7:43 AM

Oldster

I went to the doctor today because my hip has been bothering me for the last six months or so. In my defense, the pain has only been really intense for the past three weeks though. I had pretty much diagnosed myself with a rare and fatal form of osteoporosis (mixed in with a dash of scleroderma). But I was wrong. Turns out I have bursitis. BURSITIS! Isn't that something little old men get?

I might get to have a cortisone shot in the hip in a few weeks. Check back then to see what a good mood I'll be in.

posted by art @ 3:12 PM

A Whole New World

I bought a new computer and am now computing via my own personal wireless network. It's very exciting, if totally incomprehensible. (I had to have a friend set the whole thing up.)

Hmm. Not a very interesting post, I guess. Oh well.

I hope you all had a good weekend!

posted by art @ 7:49 PM

Perseverance

There is a wasp in my mailbox. One small, relatively dim wasp, intent on building her nest and raising her kids in a nice, dry environment. I respect her efforts (she gets almost the whole thing built in a single day), but I can't agree with her choice of homes. So, six days a week, I remove the nest she has patiently and carefully built. She watches me, never very angry. She just hunches up her shoulders in defeat, too exhausted by making paper all day to put up much of a struggle. Every once in a while she musters a little buzz to vocalize her disappointment.

Sometimes I wonder if I should just let her finish her work and get on with the even more difficult task of raising a family of grubs. If we could come to some sort of agreement whereby I don't get stung when I get my mail, I'd be happy to have her stay. But if, after two weeks of trying to build a nest in the same inhospitable locale, she hasn't learned to relocate, how can I trust that she'd remember to honor our pact?

These are the types of dilemmas I face on a daily basis.

posted by art @ 7:43 AM

Save Us From Ourselves

It is being argued that public schools, at least in Kansas, should teach the theory of "Intelligent" Design. Fascinating. Why don't they teach this theory in Sunday school? Then, everyone who attends church could be exposed to both theories, and choose the one that suits them best. I guess we can't rely on people to get themselves to church though, and we need to expose those who can't get there to this crap.

posted by art @ 11:58 AM