What we have here is a momentary lapse in inspiration.

Hi.
Is it too tiresome for me to stop in here to tell you that I've nothing-once again-much to say?
I'm preoccupied by all sorts of things that for one reason or the other are just not blog-material.
I could tell you all about how this first week of school for Anna is really not going all that well, for her or me.
How the girls' schedule is really overwhelming, and putting quite a strain on our ability to function as a family in the way that we are used to, and that is most important to us.
That despite not being particularly productive here at the computer, I'm accomplishing things around the house at roughly the rate that ice melts.
Or that I have a couple of really exciting projects to work on, but technical difficulties involving computer storage issues are holding me back from diving into them.
Heck, I could even waste your time a bit and tell you that I walked too far in the city in my new-ish clogs, and got such blisters that for the last week I can only wear an old pair of flip-flops without pain.

And so, lacking in inspiration, I move forward.

But...

maybe today at drop-off, Anna will not cry inconsolably and hang onto me for dear life,

and certainly I could spend a quick fifteen minutes and adios that pile of laundry over there.

After all, really, there's no sort of doldrums that can't be helped by a cup of tea and some cheesey toast.

It's possible that if I took my camera with me when I leave the house, I'll find something to take a picture of, and my creativity will get a necessary kick in the pants.

And surely, tonight, we will all sit down with our knees under the table and enjoy a meal together.

And if nothing else, tomorrow I am off to lunch in the city with my mom, and Miss A., and one of my most favorite people in the world, who is visiting from Denmark.

Or, to be totally cliche, this too shall pass.
Hopefully faster than ice melts.
Whatever that means.

More tomorrow. Thanks for reading.
tt

A completely random set of pictures I'm posting instead of doing all the other things I should be doing.

There.

Now I should::
Switch the laundry.
Make a doctor's appointment for Anna.
Shower and dress.
Get Anna some more granola.
Find out when our cell phone contract is up.
Order Callie some new low-tops for her birthday.
Write a letter to my niece.
Go to the market.
Clean out the toy closet while the kids are still away.
Call my father.
Take a walk.
Organize the pile of gallery submissions.
Call the orthodontist's office.
Return e-mails.
Have breakfast.

But not in that order.

What should you be doing today?

More tomorrow. Thanks for reading.
tt

Friday Happiness

I have lots of pretty pictures of flowers I've been saving for Friday Happiness.

I can't think of anything better than this, though.

So, here they are. Here it is. Here we are.

It's been a long time coming.

We've been doing this long enough to know that the fact that they all function as uber-citizens of the world, but fall into a heap when they walk through our door, is a good thing.

That they feel safe...comfortable...home...when they are nestled in the patchwork we call all of us, is all we want. All.we.want.

I had a list of random to share, but this is all I have to say, after all: I love you, girls.

Enjoy the weekend. I'm sure I'll be back with random, soon enough.
More tomorrow. Thanks for reading.
tt
ps::songs I'm loving right now:
http://www.pandora.com/music/song/tim+fite/big+mistake
http://www.pandora.com/music/song/mia+jonah/warm+wind
http://www.pandora.com/music/song/iron+wine/in+my+ladys+house
pps::have you seen this?

Tracy's face *

We don't have t.v.

This is something that I am both embarrassed about, and proud of. Funny, how those two emotions seem to lock fingers, particularly on this subject.

We do have a "t.v.". Well, a couple, actually. One of them doesn't work. Neither of them are plugged in to anything but an electrical socket, and often not even that. We do pay $12.13 each month so that should some amazing or catastrophic event (such as a Presidential election, or the Super Bowl) occur, we can plug in, tune in, and join the rest of the modern world.

But believe it or not, I'm not here today to talk about our (apparently) freakish lack of popular televised media, or the many and simple reasons why.

I just want to tell you about the movies we watch.

We Netflix, big time. Years ago, when my friend first loaned me Amelie to watch and return in her Netflix envelope, I could barely get my mind around how it worked. At this point, I can manipulate a Netflix queue like nobody's business.

But, still, we don't have a lot of spare time on our hands, so I find that often, we've neglected the queue altogether, and we end up re-watching a movie that we own, that we can watch over, and over, and over again.

Anecdotal evidence suggests we are rare on this point.

But here's what we've re-watched recently, or tend to re-watch on a regular basis:
Manhattan and Annie Hall
All three Bourne movies
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House
Wonder Boys
American Splendor
The Graduate
The Blues Brothers
The Constant Gardener
Casablanca
Best in Show
The Philadelphia Story
Raising Arizona
Elf (seasonal...sort of)

These are the ones that we-Tim and I-watch together. I'm not going to mention my fetish for several chick-flicks, most notably You've Got Mail, Practical Magic, Notting Hill (apologies to my un-named friend who hates this one), and last (but certainly not least), While You Were Sleeping.

What can I say? I'm a girl. I'm a geek. I'd watch any of these any day, and still cry at the end.

So, what's the point?

Um...Don't have one. But I'd love to hear what movies you think are worth watching, over and over again.

More tomorrow. Thanks for reading.
tt
ps::you can look all of these up at IMDB. But you know that.
pps::I'll send a little something to anyone who can place this post's title.

Monday morning love

I am loving, today,

::walking the kids to school.

::granola with bananas sliced in.

::the neighbors' dogwood, in full bloom outside our bedroom window.

::the neighbors' news-twins! born last night. A girl and a boy. Healthy and happy.

::summer in spring; opening the doors and windows.

::holding classes outdoors, for the middle schoolers.

::Public Bookstore inspiration, in this, and this.

::Laura Veirs; and this perfect Monday song.

More tomorrow. Thanks for reading.

tt

Saturday dispatch from the Gallery.

Are you the kind of person, upon leaving the farmer's market and rummaging around the basket for the bag holding a full quart of giardiniera, and finding that the helpful vendor had tied up the container in yet another bag, and twisted on one of those little twisty things, who would rip the bag right open from the side to get to the stuff as soon as possible, or who would take the time to untwist the twisty thing, thus insuring that you could safely re-twist the leftovers, assuming there were any, back into the extra plastic bag, so it wouldn't spill all over the basket in the car?

Just wondering.

::

This is a funny thing for me, to sit idle (more or less), in the gallery, for hours every once in a Saturday while. When I came in, Tim had set the computer up for me, with Pandora going. He's mentioned it before, that he's been listening to it here, but truth be told, I hadn't really focused on what he was telling me about it.

I typed in Bon Iver (yes, I'm still on that), and for the last three hours I've been listening to some of the best music I could hope to hear. Jose Gonzalez, The Shins, Iron and Wine, M. Ward, Wilco...it's kind of like having a cute boy you have a crush on making you a mixed tape.

::

I've been occupying myself by taking pictures (none of which I can post yet, as I don't have the proper cord down here at the gallery), picking at all my farmer's market loot, which I have with me because I came straight here from the market this morning, and watching YouTube clips,which literally had me in tears of laughter. (Thanks, Alexis!)

::

My stepdaughters and their friend came in and yanked me out of my Flickr-induced stupor, and were kind enough to run up the street for a cup of tea. So I'm wide awake now and watching the clock, ready to step out of the hush and still of the gallery, into the glare of finally sunlight, and start my day over again, in real life.

Hope you shed a few tears of laughter today, too.

More tomorrow. Thanks for reading.
tt

Friday Happiness

Running away from this computer as quickly as possible! Wanted to stop in and say...

Hi.

and,

Enjoy this incredible day, weary citizens of the Northeast.

and,

Come visit us tonight at Third Friday. There's so much going on in town, and finally the weather is on board.

and,

Check this out; seems like an inspired project for a photo-happy mother and daughter. I think my girl and I might have a try at it.

and,
because it's my blog and I can do what I want to:

I love you, T.

More tomorrow. Thanks for reading.
tt

Monday Morning Randomness

Hi. Welcome back. Nice to see you.

Did you know that I...

::know virtually every line of Stripes, but can not quote a single line of Ralph Waldo Emerson? I'm not boasting.

::was an English major in college. And an Art History minor. And an Asian Studies minor. And a Religion minor. I might even be forgetting one.

::have not been on a plane in seven years, but dream several times a week of being on a plane, and crashing.

::practically grew up in Kennedy Airport. Either on my way to various European cities with my parents, or waiting in the Pan Am Clipper Club for my dad to return from a business trip.

::have had two dogs, both named Sam, both black Labradors, and both, for a too-brief period, at the same time. At one point, the easiest way to tell them apart at a distance was that Sam-the-First had only three legs.

::am a perfectly capable and careful driver, but Tim always drives when we're together. This is a good thing, since I usually fall asleep when I'm in a car for any length of time.

::lived in Indianapolis, Indiana for about eighteen months, when I was young, with my family. I don't remember a lot about it, but have seen so many pictures and Super-8 movies, of the house, and the donkey, Wishbone, in the back yard, that I feel like they are my memories. I do remember looking out of the picture window in the front of the house, at a tornado coming across the sky.

::am a really good skier, and skater, and pretty good at baseball and basketball, but I loathe competitive sports. I could not, however, run a mile if I was being chased. This is not hyperbole.

::could not possibly go to bed with out all of the dishes being done, and everything being tidied up, and locked up, and ready for the morning. Except for that one night last summer, when I let it go.

::was a complete slob in my own room as a kid, except every once in a while I would clean it up and stage it like someone was going to come in and take pictures. Hmmm.

::worked for eleven years as an accountant, and was awful at it, despite a freaky proficiency for numbers. I have an untold depth of affection for the people I worked with for all of those years, and except for my best friend, whom I met at that job, I will most likely never speak to any of them again.

::sometimes go into my girls' room in the middle of the night, and lay down with them for a while, when I can't sleep.

::love Woody Allen movies, but not all of them. I could watch Annie Hall and Manhattan over and over again (and do). If Hannah and Her Sisters were cast with anyone other than Michael Caine, I would think it was the perfect movie. Sometimes I get despondent just thinking about how things could have been if only Alan Alda, for instance, played the Michael Caine role. Alan Alda? Come on. But Caine is that bad.

::am my own worst enemy.

::cry at the least of kindnesses from strangers. For instance, if you wave me on when I'm trying to make a left hand turn off of Broadway, I will most likely tear up for a second as I'm driving away.

::look forward to the day that my kids come back home from college to visit, and bring roommates and boyfriends and girlfriends.

::don't mind getting older, at all. But, I don't ever want to die. There's the rub.

More tomorrow. Thanks for reading.
tt

Our house, in motion, and at rest

I would definitely rather lose my sense of smell than my sense of humor. Who wouldn't, right?

I hate when a woman is talking to a man and a woman, and she directs all her eye contact at the man. If you ever catch me doing this, I beg you to start waving your arms in the air and say "over here, por favor!"

When I was little, I would slip a piece of paper, or string, or something, under the couch or in the corner of a closet, and see if when I found it, months or years later, I could remember the exact moment I had put it there.

My absolute most favorite meal is veal picatta. I don't eat veal anymore, but I really miss it.

I don't sleep well at all at night. I'm half awake for most of the time. But during the day, when the kids are in school and Anna is napping, I sleep like the dead. This is a major problem, but I don't see it getting solved until, say, all the kids are in college or married or something. Even then...

I have always wanted to live in a little house. I think even if we won the lottery, I would make this little yellow house much nicer, and maybe add a bathroom (or three; see sidebar to reference number of daughters), but basically wouldn't want anything else. I attribute this almost directly to this book.

I would always prefer to have tacos, but Tim likes burritos better. This, and the fact that he likes unscented floss, and I mint flavored, are among the major differences of taste we suffer. Neither are deal-breakers, thank goodness.

When the phone rings at night now, and we know it's just another telemarketer, we both say out loud, "what fresh hell is this?" It makes me laugh, every.time.

Just checking to see if there's anyone out there. Thanks for reading.

tt