What's Been on My Mind
In no particular order:
1. The Weather.
We finally had sun! After days and days of rain (and flooding). I'm so much happier with sunlight streaming in the windows.
2. The House.
Because of the improved weather (see above) We finally got the yard cleaned up and the last of the outdoor painting done. In the spring we'll have the whole exterior painted a different color. Right now the house is a faded blue and tired looking.
3. Christmas.
I've lived in Canada for ten years and I'm still not used to Christmas going up right after Remembrance Day. The lady across the street already has her Christmas bows and swags up all over her tiny bungalow. (Her three cats, sitting on the porch railing, do not look impressed)
3. Deathly Hallows movie.
I won't have a chance to see it for a few more weeks. We're going to be busy with away hockey games every weekend. When it comes to our little theatre in Liverpool I'll go see it. Meanwhile, I've been spoiling myself shamelessly. gioiamia has a very thorough review here: http://gioiamia.livejournal.com/221709.html
4. What destroys your soul/what feeds your soul
I don't think I've mentioned how much I love Bruce Springsteen - although a few fellow Bruce fans on my flist (say that fast!) might know it. My favorite album of his is Darkness on the Edge of Town, and my favorite song on that album is Racing in the Street. So I was delighted to read this blog post about that album and what one particular (discarded) song meant to Bruce and to the writer. http://joeposnanski.blogspot.com/2010/11/promise.html
I found the personal story about the son and the dad going off to the factory together very interesting for a lot of reasons.
For one thing, my husband goes off to a factory everyday - and has done for 20 odd years. It's very hard and stressful work being in that kind of environment - even if you're not on the paper machine or the tire line. It's hot and it's loud and it's continuous - for everyone. However, it's good pay, it's a steady job, and it's work that is tangible. At the end of the day you can say - we made that roll of paper - we made that tire. There is a lot of quiet pride that goes on in such places. So I would say that's it's not the actual work that is so soul-destroying - it's doing the work you don't want to do that's hard.
King William does not enjoy making tires as much as he enjoyed making paper. It just isn't as complicated or interesting to him. However, he's making the best of it, since he knows going off to work at a job you don't love isn't the worst possible thing that could ever happen to you. (See all of my posts about Russell)
I really liked this line in the blog post:
But I was watching [a movie], and it's entertaining enough, and then there was this scene when Vince's father was telling him how Steve Van Buren's touchdown, the one that gave the Eagles their championship over the Chicago Cardinals in 1948, how that touchdown was what kept him going through all the painful days.
It was just a corny line in a corny movie on a plane heading to the next city and the next assignment, and dammit, I felt tears in my eyes. The same tears from The Promise. What kept my Dad going? It isn't the sort of thing you talk about except in movies and songs.
Besides, friends and family and spiritual practices, art, music, sports, silly romance novels, finding out the end of the Harry Potter series - any or all of these things make life bearable and keep us going. I know they help me.
Which is a great segue to my next item:
5. Betty Neels
Her romance novels might as well be shelved in the fantasy section of the bookstore since her novels are set in a mythical land where the heroine is concerned about matching shoes and handbags and the closest references to sex are a few kisses and a prim 'when we have children' reference. I found the funniest blog called "The Uncrushable Jersey Dress" which is all about Betty's 134 novels and the ridiculous fun of reading them. http://everyneelsthing.blogspot.com/
6. William and Kate Middleton.
Woot! They're engaged - finally. I'm going to have to renew my subscription to Hello!Canada. How will I keep up with the wedding plans and what the minor royals are doing if I don't have these weekly updates? Forget sports, I have a royal wedding that isn't too-old-for-your-swimmer-Albert-of-Monaco to think about.
7. Grandma Kate
I know - we have to get you out of Medieval Japan! Maybe in time for CHK's birthday?
1. The Weather.
We finally had sun! After days and days of rain (and flooding). I'm so much happier with sunlight streaming in the windows.
2. The House.
Because of the improved weather (see above) We finally got the yard cleaned up and the last of the outdoor painting done. In the spring we'll have the whole exterior painted a different color. Right now the house is a faded blue and tired looking.
3. Christmas.
I've lived in Canada for ten years and I'm still not used to Christmas going up right after Remembrance Day. The lady across the street already has her Christmas bows and swags up all over her tiny bungalow. (Her three cats, sitting on the porch railing, do not look impressed)
3. Deathly Hallows movie.
I won't have a chance to see it for a few more weeks. We're going to be busy with away hockey games every weekend. When it comes to our little theatre in Liverpool I'll go see it. Meanwhile, I've been spoiling myself shamelessly. gioiamia has a very thorough review here: http://gioiamia.livejournal.com/221709.html
4. What destroys your soul/what feeds your soul
I don't think I've mentioned how much I love Bruce Springsteen - although a few fellow Bruce fans on my flist (say that fast!) might know it. My favorite album of his is Darkness on the Edge of Town, and my favorite song on that album is Racing in the Street. So I was delighted to read this blog post about that album and what one particular (discarded) song meant to Bruce and to the writer. http://joeposnanski.blogspot.com/2010/11/promise.html
I found the personal story about the son and the dad going off to the factory together very interesting for a lot of reasons.
For one thing, my husband goes off to a factory everyday - and has done for 20 odd years. It's very hard and stressful work being in that kind of environment - even if you're not on the paper machine or the tire line. It's hot and it's loud and it's continuous - for everyone. However, it's good pay, it's a steady job, and it's work that is tangible. At the end of the day you can say - we made that roll of paper - we made that tire. There is a lot of quiet pride that goes on in such places. So I would say that's it's not the actual work that is so soul-destroying - it's doing the work you don't want to do that's hard.
King William does not enjoy making tires as much as he enjoyed making paper. It just isn't as complicated or interesting to him. However, he's making the best of it, since he knows going off to work at a job you don't love isn't the worst possible thing that could ever happen to you. (See all of my posts about Russell)
I really liked this line in the blog post:
But I was watching [a movie], and it's entertaining enough, and then there was this scene when Vince's father was telling him how Steve Van Buren's touchdown, the one that gave the Eagles their championship over the Chicago Cardinals in 1948, how that touchdown was what kept him going through all the painful days.
It was just a corny line in a corny movie on a plane heading to the next city and the next assignment, and dammit, I felt tears in my eyes. The same tears from The Promise. What kept my Dad going? It isn't the sort of thing you talk about except in movies and songs.
Besides, friends and family and spiritual practices, art, music, sports, silly romance novels, finding out the end of the Harry Potter series - any or all of these things make life bearable and keep us going. I know they help me.
Which is a great segue to my next item:
5. Betty Neels
Her romance novels might as well be shelved in the fantasy section of the bookstore since her novels are set in a mythical land where the heroine is concerned about matching shoes and handbags and the closest references to sex are a few kisses and a prim 'when we have children' reference. I found the funniest blog called "The Uncrushable Jersey Dress" which is all about Betty's 134 novels and the ridiculous fun of reading them. http://everyneelsthing.blogspot.com/
6. William and Kate Middleton.
Woot! They're engaged - finally. I'm going to have to renew my subscription to Hello!Canada. How will I keep up with the wedding plans and what the minor royals are doing if I don't have these weekly updates? Forget sports, I have a royal wedding that isn't too-old-for-your-swimmer-Albert-of-Monaco to think about.
7. Grandma Kate
I know - we have to get you out of Medieval Japan! Maybe in time for CHK's birthday?