Transition time

There’s a certain slant of light,
On winter afternoons,
That oppresses, like the weight
Of cathedral tunes.

- Emily Dickenson

Heading into March (only four more days of February left, after all...), I am heading into my least favorite time of the year and it is difficult for me to maintain my preferred rose-tinged glasses view of the world.
Today, driving home and viewing the worn out grey and shabby landscape though my car window, I felt as worn out and shabby as what I was seeing.
We have had some melting of snow, and yes, we can see the ground in places, but it is a dead and brown ground with not a green and growing thing in sight.
And there are dirty, almost blackened lumps of snow left, lining the roads.
The trees look beaten up, with huge branches snapped off from winter storms.
The pond I pass every day is still all frozen over and I miss seeing the pair of swans that usually are there(where do they go?).
The left-over Christmas lights and wreaths on some houses(including mine) that still delighted the eye and spirit in January, are looking sad and forlorn now.

I guess I never do well with "transition" months between the ending of seasons and the beginning of another-- late August I find depressing, as well.
I have also been in a personal funk lately--going through my usual "what have I done with my life" and not being able to be motivated to do much of anything. I think I am having hot flashes(always only at night, though), too. So I am entering a transition of my own.
I did pick up some seed packets today:

Johnny-Jump-Up's (Viola)
Mexican Sunflower (Tithonia)
Oregano
Basil
Parsley
Morning Glory
Lettuce
Carrots

and I think I'll at least start growing the Johnny-Jump-Up seeds on Tuesday(March 1st).

Grammy Love

I had originally wanted to share some photos I took Saturday night of the cozy place we ate at in Newport, but this morning, as I took out the battery from my camera to re-charge it before loading the images onto my computer, it flipped out of my grasp and tumbled to the floor, and then....

....slid under the one small arched space under the bookcase near our dining table.

I tried to retrieve it by sticking a ruler under there but only dragged out some clumps of dust and a Lego that my nephew must have lost here last summer. So, no photos of the restaurant

from me, but the website has a few that give a pretty accurate idea of what it's like. Its an old favorite that Mr. F and I like to go to--nothing trendy, a little off the beaten path and housed in a centuries old house which adds to the atmosphere of the interior.. The food is always good, and there was a piano player there that night--perfect!

I am waiting for Mr. F to get home so we can have our dinner--chicken parm from this place, and then let R go on her little Valentine's Day treasure hunt. Every year I do this(I think I started this tradition when she was in Kindergarten and could finally read). I write out little clues in verse on a paper cut-out heart:

"Roses are red,

violets are blue,

look on a plate for something sweet for you"

...which would lead her to the kitchen cupboard and a box of chocolate truffles(which I had to replace after Jewel discovered the first box last week and ate them! And, no she didn't die or even get sick that we know of...) and another clue:

"Milk chocolate is brown

White chocolate is white,

Look above your "image"

for something to help you write."

Which will, hopefully, lead her to the ledge above the bathroom mirror and some Vera Bradley paisley pencils...and so on.

Yeah, my poetry sucks, but I HAVE to do this every year(I think R would be disappointed if I didn't do it).

As I write, R and I

are watching the taped Grammies Awards show(it just ran too long last night to watch it all).

R and Mr. F were watching the first half last night, and I was originally not interested(not much an awards show watcher, usually)

and reading a book in another room, BUT...did catch the Avett Brothers on there. I was so surprised they were on the Grammies--god, they were SO good!

Bruno Mars and Janelle Monae were incredible, too(watch the performance here)!

Actually, for a long time, I have been wanting to write something about her

here--SHE should be more well-known than Lady Gaga, if you ask me--so much more creative and unique.

As for Gaga--to me she has never been interesting. Madonna has done it already. The music is catchy, but that is all.

At some point she'll run out of steam trying to top each outrageous stunt.

And that egg she was inside--what the hell? Didn't she feel like a dolt all cramped up in there?

All I could think of when I saw her "arrival" in the egg was of the "Stonehenge" scene

in Spinal Tap.

Oh yeah--Mick Jagger has still got it(even if he still does the same old "Mick Schtick"). R was impressed , too.

I had never known what a "Lady Antebellum" was until I saw the show. Yawn.

And Justin Bieber didn't win anything. Ha!

This year's Grammies were actually

okay.

13 Quotes...

* my suburban morning view from here... 6:30-ish , Feb. 9, 2010

Its Thursday again (seems I can only manage one blog post a week these days) and that means its Thursday 13, so....and I have a list of "13" once again, too:

13 favorite quotes that resonate with me and/or inspire me:

1. "If you woke up breathing, congratulations! You have another chance." ~Andrea Boydston


2. "There was another life that I might have had, but I am having this one." ~Kazuo
Ishiguro

3. "I have the simplest of tastes. I am always satisfied with the best." ~ Oscar Wilde


4. "Art is the only way to run away without leaving home." ~Twyla Tharp


5. "Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up." ~Pablo Picasso (I read this one in my teens and have remembered it ever since)


6. "Painting is easy when you don't know how, but very difficult when you do." ~Edgar Degas


7. When my daughter was about seven years old, she asked me one day what I did at work. I told her I worked at the college - that my job was to teach people how to draw. She stared at me, incredulous, and said, "You mean they forget?" ~Howard Ikemoto

8. "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw

9. "Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair." - Kahlil Gibran

10. "Dreams are free, so free your dreams." ~Astrid Alauda

11. "I was trying to daydream, but my mind kept wandering." ~Steven Wright

12. "Every day may not be good, but there's something good in every day." ~Author Unknown


13. "Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

...and can I add a 14th?

Winter is nature's way of

saying, "Up yours." ~ Robert Byrne

*****

What’s the Thursday 13?
The Thursday 13 is a weekly meme with a simple theme: each Thursday you blog a list of 13 things. What kind of things? Any kind! Just come up with a list theme and run with it.

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others’ comments. It’s easy, and fun!

The Borrowed 13

Trying something new here--Thursday Thirteen, inspired by, and pretty much borrowed from Janet's entry today(in turn, borrowed from Dawn).

Right Now:

1. I am thinking… of all the things I want to change.

2. I am thankful for…a toasty warm home to be inside of, on a cold winter night.

3. From the kitchen… pretty much nothing! It was "fend for yourself" in there this evening. Got home--kid had made plans to go out to the movies, so she had some left-over Sesame Chicken from China Garden before getting picked up. Then I was feeling "off the hook" as far as getting a meal together which worked since I had NO idea what to make and was not into it anyway. I ate yesterday's split pea soup and a toasted English Muffin. When Mr. F got home, he also ate an English Muffin with honey on it, and then I think he cooked some frozen tortellini(I was in this room banging picture hooks into the walls at that time, so am not quite sure though) .

4. I am wearing… dark blue jeans, a dark grey boat neck top and grey and black argyle socks. I think I need to start wearing some color again.

5. I am creating…a new look in this room. I have been hanging newly re-framed pictures--some of them my art, some old Vogue magazine covers, some of R's art--on the recently repainted walls(Sherwin Williams SW6772 "Cay").

6. I am going…to get into bed very soon.

7. I am reading…"The Bachelor's Cat" .

8. I am hoping…that this fresh new round of winter stormy weather expected for Saturday won't be too bad--I do not want to get stuck in the house on a Saturday.

9. I am hearing…"30 Rock" on TV in the other room

10. Around the house…sleeping pets on beds and pillows(they live a pampered lifestyle),
Mr. F sprawled out on couch watching "30 Rock",
too many lights on(we need to be better about that...)

11. One of my favorite things… Key Lime Pie

12. A few plans for the rest of the week…watching "Sabrina" sometime in the next few days, and hopefully getting out with the dog and letting her have some real exercise for a change(it has been tough with sleet, slush and ice on roads and deep snow)

13. A picture to share…

It is always fun to bother the dog. Doesn't she look fabulous in red?

Daily Affirmations

I never actually think to do this, but have read about the positive results of giving oneself a little pep talk. A few weeks ago, I discovered the above daily kitten affirmation on the Page-A-Day Cute Overload calendar(our second year with this one--gotta get the daily dose of the Cute!) we have sitting on the dining table, and I had to put it up on my bathroom mirror. I just adore that kitten's vulnerable and oh-so-sensitive expression.

And, who knows-- seeing this on my mirror every day, may improve my inner "cattitude".

Or it could just remind me of Al Franken's SNL Stuart Smalley character every morning. ;-)

Alternatively, I could just watch this uplifting video(see below) for inspiration. I wish I had half the self-confidence and cheery outlook(and dancing-on-bathroom-counters without- falling-off skills!)this little girl has.