Every year at this time of the year, a graveyard appears in our neighborhood. Sometimes the gravestones return, but mostly new epitaphs appear. Here are this year’s grave markers:
And for Halloween, some appropriate music:
Rockapella (scroll to 3:19 to avoid the South American geography game)
Dr. Horrible meets “Skullcrusher Mountain”
Jonathan Coulton’s performance of “Re: Your Brains”
Sarah’s My D.C. post is devoted to Halloween-loving folks on her side of town. Hillary’s looks at Lafayette Park statuary.
I’m having a rather frazzled end of the month, but it’s good to take a few deep breaths and focus for a few minutes on what has been beautiful in the world recently.
So, I offer you three beautiful things from the past week.
1. My former coworker Sarah, who went to Peru for a few months, is back in the States. While lunching today, she told me about the new job she starts next Wednesday — a paid position with an organization she used to volunteer with.
2. Remember last month when I told you about my friend BW, who inspires a love of and thirst for knowledge about politics in her high school students? Well, this week, she and her students have gotten more well-deserved recognition for their interest and involvement in this election cycle:
3. I wrote about it last night, but my best friend Danny, generally known here as Grey Kitten, married his fiance, David, today at a courthouse in San Diego. This was not, perhaps, the celebration they would have planned if time had not been of the essence, but I know it was a happy one and one that friends and family have been awaiting for years now. In my book, any wedding that involves two people who love each other, respect each other, and are good for one another is cause for celebration. So tonight I shall lift a steaming mug of hot chocolate toward a lovely couple in California and I hope you will join me in doing the same.
Instead, I send my love, with all speediness, to shower blessings upon the two of you today as you make formal the claims you had already staked on one another’s hearts.
Sometimes
~Sheenagh Pugh
Sometimes things don’t go, after all,
from bad to worse. Some years, muscadel
faces down frost; green thrives; the crops don’t fail,
sometimes a man aims high, and all goes well.
A people sometimes will step back from war;
elect an honest man; decide they care
enough, that they can’t leave some stranger poor.
Some men become what they were born for.
Sometimes our best efforts do not go
amiss; sometimes we do as we meant to.
The sun will sometimes melt a field of sorrow
that seemed hard frozen: may it happen for you.
May your sometimes last a lifetime. And may you always look back on today with happiness.
While I like Impressionist art, I’m not so sure about this…
Your result for What Your Taste in Art Says About You Test…
Balanced, Secure, and Realistic.
Impressionism is a movement in French painting, sometimes called optical realism because of its almost scientific interest in the actual visual experience and effect of light and movement on appearance of objects. Impressionist paintings are balanced, use colored shadows, use pure color, broken brushstrokes, thick paint, and scenes from everyday life or nature.
People that like Impressionist paintings may not alway be what is deemed socially acceptable. They tend to move on their own path without always worrying that it may be offensive to others. They value friendships but because they also value honesty tend to have a few really good friends. They do not, however, like people that are rude and do not appreciate the ideas of others. They are secure enough in themselves that they can listen to the ideas of other people without it affecting their own final decisions. The world for them is not black and white but more in shades of grey and muted colors. They like things to be aesthetically pleasing, not stark and sharp. There are many ways to view things, and the impressionist personality views the world from many different aspects. They enjoy life and try to keep a realistic viewpoint of things, but are not very open to new experiences. If they are content in their live they will be more than likely pleased to keep things just the way they are.
My mail carrier has had a busy few days. Last week, swap pal Teri shared some of her favorite things in an exchange organized on Ravelry.
Each of us was supposed to pack up both some handmade and some store-bought items that we were particularly fond of ourselves and send them off to share with a fellow knitter. All I can say is that Teri has very good taste:
First, she picked the perfect card. You might need to click over to Flickr to make this shot bigger so you can see that the girl on the card has three cats, is lounging on her sofa while chatting on the phone, and likes fun hats. Perfect!
Teri knit and felted that bowl in a fantastic shade of pink and then even provided something to fill it with. I will admit that its contents were soon emptied and have been refilled several times already!
Also included was pretty yarn I’ve never tried in a colorway I love (Monet. Doesn’t it totally make you think of his waterlilies?). I enjoy looking at it so much that I’ve yet to tuck it into my stash. It’s still sitting on my desk where I can stop and pet it every so often. Teri also thought to look at my queue of Ravelry projects and printed out the pattern for the one at the top of the list (ruffly ankle socks). Additionally, she sent me a great British knitting magazine that had a Christmas-related pattern supplement included!
Finally, she included a lot of great little things that just make packages fun. Even Jeremiah tried to figure out how he could abscond with some of it… Two flavors of tea (both are quite good!), two flavors of a local coffee, nice smelling soap, more chocolate, a bath soak, and Knitters Hands, which went immediately into my knitting bag.
You have to admit — I am a very lucky girl! Thank you, Teri. I love it all!
I was listening to a lot of place songs this weekend, and found myself re-enchanted by the Jonatha Brooke version of “Bleecker Street.” Videos of this particular song are sparse, so I offer you this one of the Simon and Garfunkel original:
Cover Lay Down wrote a post earlier this year looking at covers of various S&G songs that includes a QuckTime version of the song. Jonatha takes what was already a gorgeous song and turns it into a hymn.
The Jonatha version is available on Bleecker Street: Greenwich Village in the 60′s. The original is on S&G’s Wednesday Morning 3AM, Old Friends, and The Essential Simon and Garfunkel.
During the day, Dupont Circle, the park after which my neighborhood is named, is crowded with people, as in this post from Sarah last winter. The homeless congregate there, tourists stop to rest, office workers read on their lunch breaks, the competitive play chess … Generally it’s bustling. And sometimes that’s true on summer evenings as well.
Tonight, though, it was empty. Clouds had darkened the sky all night, and although the humidity had kept the afternoon temperate, folks generally had a feeling of wanting to be cozy and inside tonight.
The Circle was mostly deserted when I crossed through just before seven. A few people sat at the periphery. The homeless congregated by twos or threes or wandered alone, hoping to pick up a few bucks.
During the day, the residents of Dupont Circle surrender the park temporarily to others. At night, though, we reclaim what is ours. The Dupont Circle Guerrilla Poetry Society took credit for the chalkings.
Behind me, a girl was on the phone. “No, we broke up,” she told a friend. “Yes, really.” She paused. “Well, except for last night, when we totally made out.” I doubt she noticed the chalk drawings we were walking over.
The hearts were followed, like chalk Burma Shave ads, by a message: “Go. Ahead. Call. Him.”
1. Last night Amani, Sarah, and I met up for dinner and began the evening with dessert at Hello Cupcake! The specialized bakery opened over the summer, but their early closing time has precluded me from visiting them before last night. My triple coconut cupcake merits a return trip at some point.
2. There are a lot of “learn to speak a foreign language” podcasts out there just waiting to be downloaded to my iPod. A lot. What a great resource for the procrastinators amongst us.
3. Monday night after work, I went to a candidates’ forum for the at-large seats on the city council. This is not the first such forum around the city, so I was encouraged to note that while the hall wasn’t packed, more than half the seats had been taken by people of all ages. I haven’t yet made my decision, but events like this help me — and others — to hear directly from the candidates and to make up our minds. Democracy in action…
In my grandparents’ Connecticut backyard thirty-six years ago, my parents were married amidst the fall colors. My uncle sang this song during the ceremony:
I can’t help but think of music when I think of my folks. PPM, Harry Chapin, John Denver, the Beatles, Babs, Sting. Think of your favorite love song and sing along…
Happy anniversary, Mum and Dad. May the years amble by gently with you and may you meet any challenges together, hand in hand.
Sun’s out. Farmers’ market opens in an hour. Must help Susan move…
Must doze first…
No more books finished, but I did start another one.
Here’s the final meme of the readalong:
1. Which hour was most daunting for you?
Hour 12 was tough, as was Hour 19.
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?
Hmmm… My brain isn’t working too well right now. Mysteries, probably.
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
I thought it worked really well this time. Kudos to Dewey and her cadre of volunteers, organizers, and cheerleaders.
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?
All of it?
5. How many books did you read?
I finished three, read portions of three others, and listened to part of a chapter of another.
6. What were the names of the books you read?
I finished Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, Carnet de Voyage, and Book of a Thousand Days. I read/listened to portions of Stardust, Death of a Gentle Lady, Little Women, and Around the World in 80 Days (in both French and English).
7. Which book did you enjoy most?
Probably Book of a Thousand Days.
8. Which did you enjoy least?
Carnert de Voyage.
9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?
N/a, but I do appreciate the comments from the Cheerleaders who stopped by yesterday.
10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?
I’d definitely read again. I’m not sure if I’d take on other roles or not.
Other pertinent Readathon info:
Number of books read since you started: 3+
Running total of pages read since you started: 820 pages of paper + 6 Daily Lit entries + half an hour of audio.
Running total of time spent reading since you started: 20ish hours
