Humanyms

In Aisle 1

You never can predict when adventure will strike.

For example, Metro has these spring-loaded produce shelves so things never fall to the back out of reach. It seems practical…you pull one out, the next item pushes forward.

Seems good except theirs is a little too springy. I pulled out a salad greens package and there’s a cascade at my head as the entire chute of the shelf empties 6 of these things at me. The couple beside me tries to come to my aid but as he pushes one back in, the next row gets bumped and the next cartridge launches and that row of lettuce starts shooting out at us. He’s catching. The lady’s body blocking the attacking greens.

We’re all amused and he’s saying in a sort of mock-commander sobriety to crew, We can do this, with cooperation. I’m holding the shelf back, and he’s feeding the containers back in as his lady is passing them to him. The shelf makes some settling bumps and we’re braced to catch but it staying. Good he says. Now… we run. He winks and we’re back to normal shopping day.

Speaking of shopping day, I saw at Canadian Tire this neat product which uses insect psychology instead of chemical warfare. Apparently paper wasps are territorial and if they see another nest, won’t build nearby. A properly sized and colored paper lantern is enough to dissuade building under one’s garage eaves.

In other news, Christine McNair interviews me tonight on Literary landscapes about my upcoming (first) poetry collection, at 6:30 PM, listen online here: CKCU.

Also at Carleton U is this breaking moulds, an exhibit of 14 body casts, each accompanied by the woman’s personal story or statement.

And in art in NYC, via An, class action, Man Barlett’s Balloon Installation

Quote: “I’m one of those cliff-hanging Catholics. I don’t believe in God, but I do believe that Mary was his mother.” ~ Martin Sheen

Consuming Pleasure

Chopped up schedules seem and are so much less productive, more energy use just in gearing up and down when all one wants to do is cruise that doped speed of being in the groove.

A rental car and Édith Piaf anywhere the open road can take us. Some days we are spoiled. Utterly spoiled by technology and luck.

Technological shift is embodied in this. A keychain with 16 MB and take over 300 pictures and is positioned as an impulse buy with the hard candy in the checkout aisle. Price structures have shifted. And computing power.

Rent a movie from a kiosk for a dollar. I like this far better than the change-rolling machine that takes a commission from your piggy bank. There is a price-point at which hoarding reflex of consumerism kicks in to trump the sensible mind of need nothing.

Quote: “People will always, always be in the market for a story that resonates with them. Your product will either have this quality or it won’t. If your product fails this test, quit your job and go find something else. Just making the product incrementally cheaper or better won’t help you.” ~ Hugh MacLeod in Random Thoughts on Being an Entrepreneur

Floral Accented

In answer to AC’s question, by the foundation’s heat sink, crocuses bloom. Flowers can be perennial, long term, in the comparable way to how clocks can be redundant in the immediate.

It’s not only my 38th BD, it’s the 99th International Woman’s Day.

I’m normally feeling blessed but over three five dozen well-wishes for birthdays from various directions (and in digital, face to face, phone and paper), and then the response to the book launch too…

And come Thursday I’ll be the guest on Literary Landscapes on CKCU radio, hosted by the ever-lovely Christine.

Quote: “And all your future lies beneath your hat.” ~ John Oldham

Moving Ones Marbles

A pebble-quiet evening.

Mancala in bed.

*

Not that days aren’t without excitement enough. As I mentioned at pesbo I’ve got this poetry book launch coming in November. It’s been a while since I did a project with a reading. (Think the last time was poem-stuffed fortune cookies at a Factory Reading in ‘08.) I’m considering parachuting in bunnies. (I’ll probably mention more in time. About the book or bunnies.)

*

Using the euphemism generator [pointed out by Carmel] I find a few I must memorize and litter thru my speech. As the kids say, she was “shopping for the stainless steel midget” or “spellchecking the begonias”. Really one doesn’t need particular words for a sense of meaningfulness…

For example, to jabberwocky a sound…

Over the Shast of Eerdastisar

the cantibale of clade 
crads, crads, grames

the thromly hametz is geiging him 
to brilly, chibby trabe

& would until the stespacular reyeories
braited & kikotted to sathing throme

in suisly clard, the chash, 
stess’ dema
- an esseniary
- an acador
- a drale

when the stromecite had neeped
been dalked and blung
the canibale ungulded
suffaced the yarth
and claned.

*

After losing all open unsaved windows and files (the reprobates!) I’m weighing in on laptop versus iPod. Methinks iPod is winning. It gives a popup window to warn before it shuts down. Its batteries last. It is quiet to use for typing and no fan. It doubles as a handy flashlight. It doesn’t burn the lap. Touch screen scrolling within and between windows is easier than using tabs. It is more portable and more sturdy. It can be read portrait or landscape. I can read MS Word files as easily on either. Can’t figure out how to get the two machines to share gmail to know when a message was received or sent from the other from the same account. The small screen does make it onerous to type at length and it’s bit ungainly for large images but for most uses, handier. I suppose they *are* complementary, not in competition.

Quote: “Seriousness is a disease, and we should try to leave it and allow our selves to laugh more.” ~ Mata Amritanandamayi

In a Snap or Two

My lens has been acting peculiar (sleep in its eye?) but I kinda appreciate the dream effect it gave. (The meal they went into is here.)

See, it’s crocus spring. At least it is at the foundation of things. Upper air hasn’t been entirely caught up.

Light Links: Hacked signs with graffiti in them and learn from my fail.

Glad Game Variation:
Downside: Don’t feeling like leaving the front door.
Upside: The sun comes in after me, and so do emails and there’s a residual glow of all the recent warm social.

Downside: We hand over money to someone’s care presuming the bank won’t blow it in one place. The process is remarkably opaque and disorienting and faith-based on economic models I don’t trust. Money is like words. Once out of your hands you have no control and yet you’re culpable somehow yet they were never yours.
Upside: The fellow was nice. He gives us acronyms and it seems a fair trade for digital cash. Wait, we even get to keep the money? Who gets to keep the acronyms?

Downside: Hubby’s off to meetings.
Upside: Saying ooh la la and blowing kisses for an amusing variation on French kissing.

Downside: I can’t find a blessed thing I look for but I found a dentist bill from December, unopened. I should give flowers to that endlessly patient front desk lady, Marie Josee. Who else would give 4 reminder calls per appointment?
Upside: woo, panne forte is buried under a few inches of papers. And I count 128 books on or around my desk. What a richness has crept in, like an ideas cloak.

Downside: I think selections might be making myself look bad/dishevelled.
Upside: I don’t actually care. Amusing oneself and others and breathing is 9/10th of survival/thrive. Sometimes you stumble over good and notice. Sometimes you just notice you strumbled, but not over what, but mostly you have to make your own cheer.

Downside: Those unsent addressed Christmas cards are blinking at me.
Upside: I get endless amusement from the thought of sending them in time for Easter and some of these friends being momentarily perplexed then realizing who its from and that making a kind of sense.

Quote: “Anxiety is a thin stream of fear trickling through the mind. If encouraged, it cuts a channel into which all other thoughts are drained.” ~ Arthur Somers Roche