The Spirit of the Season

Some people are always willing to inject that little bit of fun into things. My mom worked to do it. She cooked, made stockings, decorated, invited people (lots of people) to come to the festivities. But my dad? He just made the fun. He told stories, true or not. Here my dad on the left (RIP) is amusing his brother-in-law, my Uncle E.C. (also RIP) with some story. The gift he has unwrapped is a pack of long matches for lighting the fireplace. Fire-building was his job. My Uncle E.C. loved to tell a story, too. They both enjoyed a bit of the spirits, too. I miss them both.

Drifting to the Other Shore of SXSW

It's a crazy time for me and the town. I'm coming out of the weird protracted illness that demanded OTC drugs and carrying Kleenex and cough drops about just in case. I've sat in a bunch of darkened movie theaters and seen other worlds. The town is alive with people doing whatever it is that engages them. (Me as we pass a rooftop venue with some 'sounds' pounding out: "You would have to pay me to listen to that!" Himself: "You read my mind.") Last night there was a venue in the Ballet Austin's Armstrong/Connelly studio and people were lined up when we went by at what we thought was a late hour. FFP got up in the wee hours and saw people rocking out there.

As we walked to our movie (in the Convention Center) and to Taste to have fried chicken and half price champagne after, there were hoards of people walking and queuing and sounds of all kinds floating around.

We are going to a movie this morning and then I have to go to the airport in the afternoon and get some relatives and be a dutiful daughter for part of the weekend. I'm not looking forward to the airport but maybe it won't be too bad. It's a terrible time traffic-wise anyway but so be it. The good news? They are not flying when they leave but getting rides with other relatives. And my aunt and uncle and Dad did give me a pass for entertaining them last night so what, after all, am I complaining about? I'm not really. I'm glad they are visiting Dad since he doesn't like to travel far in the car anymore to visit them. One aunt and uncle will be off to Maine for the summer soon so it is a chance to see them again...otherwise we'll be waiting for November or going to see them in Maine. (Now, there's an idea with merit.)

I have this feeling that now that I'm mostly recovered from mystery illness and SXSW is winding down and the relatives will be gone that things will settle down. But then I look at the calendar and see that it is pretty darn packed. Easter brings a reprieve and the last part of April looms with some 'free time' when, I'm sure, I will get everything finished, organized, clean, straight, created and well, you know. Or else I'll enjoy leisurely walks and some Centex drives.

Why always looking ahead, though? Enjoy today for Heaven's sake.

Downsizing and Collecting Memories

Me, reflected two ways, in the shop window of Let's Dish with a very cool punch bowl and cups. Once I would have coveted it for its decorative appearance in a collection of such things. No more. I read an article about some folks trying to pass a law to keep museums from selling art to pay the bills. Made me say 'hmmm.' Seems like a museum has a charter, yada, yada and a board with oversight. A law? Hmmm.

Anyway, it always makes me think about downsizing when I see something interesting that I might once have owned but now have to be circumspect about. Makes me think how now we collect words as pixels (instead of in notebooks) and digital pictures of things instead of prints. Or, even, the things themselves.

It's surprising how fuzzy the line is between the concrete and the virtual. Especially with art...words and pictures. In our building lobby there is some real art and some TV screens showing slides of art from galleries. I enjoy both.

Of course, some things are real and corporeal. This cup of coffee in my hand. Plunged into SXSW movies and (last night) a bit of music, one wonders about the levels of experience. The live music vs. the iPod. The movie house versus the real experience versus the movie on TV. Subtitles versus understanding the languange.

Yes, since last we spoke I have fought off illness to see all of three movies in two days. Oh, we also went to the Austin Music Awards and sat through it until the end when Roky Erickson jammed with a band called Black Angels. It was pretty entertaining, really, although the Austin Music Hall is the worst venue imaginable. Uncomfortable, bad accoustics. Oh. Well. I'm pretty sure if the city didn't own it they would shut it down.

But the movies. Of the three we saw on Tuesday and Wednesday, I'd say that the best by a long shot was "Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo." About the Oklahoma prison rodeo with a focus on the women allowed to compete in recent years, it was really about incareration and prison life and the very real people inside. They came to life as characters. We also saw "Sissyboy," a show with promise about a troupe of guys performing very radical skits in drag. It failed me as I didn't get a sense of the characters beyond their participation in the group and the basic 'growing up gay and different' thing. The piece didn't have a dramatic arc and the lives didn't seem to either. Yesterday we saw one movie. "For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism." It was complete and it is good that they captured some people while they were still alive to speak about movie criticism. I wasn't mesmerized, though. But I felt more educated about the subject.

Today we plan to see one movie. Well, I plan to see one movie. It is a fascinating topic. In 1974 when Ali and Foreman had the 'rumble in the jungle' in Zaire, there was also a three-day soul music festival. This documentary is made from many hours of footage from that event. FFP may see more movies, but I have to deal with relatives visiting my dad so it isn't too hard on him. I could have caught another one this morning but, instead, I'm doing a few chores. Changing the bed, doing laundry. I managed to clean one bathroom yesterday. It seemed like a big chore because I wasn't feeling that well. I need to clean out my car, too, so I can fetch some relatives from the airport tomorrow. I sent FFP off with a grocery bag stuffed with things for the thrift store. It feels like downsizing all over again perhaps because I stashed things in my car that I couldn't decide about last summer during the death throes of getting out of the house.

But, as the kids say when things look a little tattered but everyone is still standing, "it's all good." SXSW has taken over downtown but our place is a quiet enclave. You wouldn't know anything was going on from up here. I have relatives visiting and the attendant hassle of entertaining them, but, as Dad says "they will be gone soon enough and you will forget about it." My head hurts a little, but some decon has cleared up some morning dizziness and some Ibuprofin will probably make everything great.

So...I went to my car and as I looked at a stack of New Yorkers therein I remembered the very articles I was hoping to read sometime before I tossed them. But I did get rid of a few things. Very few. My attachment to to things is ephemeral now. The trunk is full of tapes and CDs that I'm listening to one last time before tossing them (in other words, putting in the thrift store bag). There was also a suitcase of spare clothes (now in storage). A ton of old tennis balls. Haven't dealt with that yet. My tennis bag, a spare tennis racket and a 'pick up' container of old balls to take to a court and practice serving. I think I'll ditch the latter and assume I'll never use it again or, if I'm tempted, I'll borrow one at the club. My car was definitely the refuge of last resort to save things from being downsized. Or was it Dad's house? I brought a box of books and articles and maps for and about New York from there the other day. Definitely need to get rid of some of it. Sigh.

Holidailies is Open For Business

A big shout out for Chip and Jette for creating a portal for the Ninth Year for bloggers and online diarists and journalists and various hangers-on. Holidailies is officiailly Open for Business.

It has already allowed me a big laugh by directing me to a report on YAPPIR (Yet Another Pop Phenomena I Refuse). There are things I read about and marvel at but about which I never catch the fever and climb on the fan train. "Twilight" (books, movie, buzz, possibly merchandise) is the latest of these. Like "Harry Potter," various rappers, several TV shows about paranormal politicians (OK, I made that up) I will marvel from afar at book sales, movie weekend numbers, etc. reported in The New York Times. To further my appreciation, I now have this blog entry. I know nothing about the blogger but I really got a laugh. Permit me to quote:

The movie was exceedingly cheese-ridden. Fromage extraordinaire. Aged cheddar. Blue cheese with extra bleu. Squeezie cheese from a tube. Cheese with a nozzle. Cheetos. Doritos Blue Cheese with Buffalo Wings. Monterey PepperJack.

Yeah, I was drawn by the blurb on the portal or I would never have ended up there. So, Holidailies is open. Let the wonderful accidental stumbling into others' lives begin. It's not unlike City Daily Photo only more emphasis on words. Much as I love pictures I love words more.

In other news: we went to a big charity event at the Monarch last night. It was very well done and I hope they raised a lot of money for Equality Texas. I talked to so many people, made introductions. I also got to see Oliver and Craig's apartment decorated. I think they have six trees, maybe more. Our decoration so far? A handful of Christmas cards people have sent. There is a mild threat I've made to get the Bendable, Posable Christmas figures, mostly Santas, out of the storage cage. Anyway, I need to get another invitation over there when I have my camera in tow to get some pictures.

In still other news, my relatives (two aunts and an uncle) are visiting my dad from Dallas. They went off to Luby's (a cafeteria) to eat last night when they were left to their own devices. The car they were driving refusted to start for their return trip and a circus ensued until they got a new battery for the car, my dad got a ride back to his place and then got his van and went back to guide them home because they didn't think they could find it. They didn't call me for help which is both disturbing and heartening. Most of my day will be spent with them. After some chores and a little exercise. And so the days of our lives as it says in the soap opera. Yeah, Soap Operas. Except for a brief fling with "Dallas" back in the day, soaps are also YAPPIR with me. Even six years of retirement haven't driven me to daytime TV. Although there is a small "Jeopardy" addiction I'm now kicking due to lack of time to consume all the stuff on the DVR.

So, OK Holidailies is open for business and I hope everyone enjoys the spill of words. I know I will.

[Shop window photo is Tesoros Trading on South Congress.]

Taking Time to Notice

One really needs to take time to notice one's luck. To remind oneself that even when a day seems filled with things that don't work and make one angry that those things are trivial. One also needs to observe how one's fortune far exceeds that of most everyone else. Most of our friends have faced or are facing much more serious health problems or they are struggling more for money. A lot of people still have to work. (How does anyone find time for that?)

It's also important to take note of what's going on around one's own little nest. Sometimes I think I notice TOO much around here and not enough outside. I've been fretting over some cosmetic things FFP says don't matter much, that he wouldn't notice if I didn't notice.

I took this picture from the Long Center Terrace. I photographed the 360 from over there plenty of times. Our building really wants to be noticed from other there, set apart from the tall buildings on Congress.

Most of all one needs to notice when one is happy, take heed of what one is doing when there is that sought-after peaceful, satisfied feeling. Then repeat those moments. I spent a few hours at my club on Tuesday. I thought I was going to play tennis but there weren't enough folks for doubles and the one other lady didn't want to play singles. I went to the gym and had a long ride on the bike to nowhere finishing up a book I'd wanted to finish reading for a while. Then I had a coffee/yogurt smoothie and a breakfast taco and then I lifted weights and did sit-ups and stuff. Very slow and leisurely. Then I went to the locker room in the pro shop which I had completely to myself for a shower and grooming. I took my laptop to the club house to wait for a meeting and popped it open and read my e-mail. Someone came by and said the meeting would be in the pro shop so I went over there and ordered some food. I met with a sub-committee I'm on and then we walked the construction site. I felt peaceful and unstressed. (In spite of the worries about the construction project.) I realized that I really enjoy exercising, reading, relaxing. Yeah, of course. But sometimes I do forget.

This morning (which started off cool and sunny, almost but not quite fall) I played tennis and while I was playing I so enjoyed it. I even enjoyed the feeling when I got back to the condo and I was moving stuff around and cleaning up the place a little and then taking a shower. I felt I should go visit with my sister, but when I called Dad he said my sister and my brother-in-law were not back from going off somewhere to visit friends. I felt I had a little reprieve from trying to go out and compete with traffic for the ACL festival and the UT game. I like it when people entertain themselves.

Yesterday was a bad day, mostly, although I made myself stop, breathe and appreciate more than once to get through it. I must remember to repeat the things I love, over and over, as long as they give me that pleasurable feeling.

Where Is My Head?

Between a bunch of relative visiting and the countdown to closing the condo and starting the move, I feel like I am losing my head. I also have been hearing the phrase "you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone" in my head.

So, yeah one niece flew in Tuesday and the rest arrived by car and another couple of cousins and some of their offspring at various times. Our house is a disaster so we didn't entertain anyone here except for a few minutes. I've had my fill of playscapes, toy shops, candy and ice cream for a while.

The downsizing effort is getting very weird and frazzled. We are getting more stuff ready to give away and I'm trying to pack up a few boxes for the movers with essentials for living in another chaos central in the condo while we work on it. I know that I'll ultimately be happy that I painted a little and put in custom shelves and custom closet fittings. But another part of me wishes we didn't have to go through all that at the other end. Tomorrow we see if they have fixed nicks and dings that we may in fact paint over. (Although most of the things were things that we were not touching, of course.)

We are going to move a little bit of permanent furniture and some temporary stuff (a couple of lamps, a folding table and some folding chairs for example). We hope to be able to 'camp out' down there if we wish while we are working on it. So we are trying to plan for stocking the bathrooms and the kitchen with a few things. It's crazy, like going on a trip or something.

I keep finding things I wish I'd cleaned out years ago and then I settle in to do something and I have everything where I can find it or things look a certain way and I think "maybe I'll miss this, maybe I won't like my condo setup." Of course, most of the time I say to myself that I can't wait to not have things scattered all over so much space and to be shut of a lot of the things stacked around here.

Sigh.

The picture was taken on South Congress of the window of Austin Art Glass. I didn't visit the store. Wouldn't be wise with little ones in tow. Nope, we visited the Kid Genius for toys and the Big Top for candy.

Welcome to Austin

My great nephew looks bewildered. It was a dizzying day for me. I had a workout and did a few things at my house but mostly I bought food like whole milk, Ritz crackers, bananas. Frosted Flakes and peanut butter and tidied up my dad's house. Three separate trips to get groceries (HEB, Costco and Randall's, don't ask), a rush hour trip to the airport and a trip to get some takeout for dinner later I had settled my niece and this young man into the house. (He was delighted to find that cabinets opened in Dad's kitchen though not in his at home.) He looks a little confused here in baggage claim. Before ten o'clock the rest of the Colorado gang arrived, my other niece, her husband, her small daughter and the brothers of this guy, six and eight, who erupted from the van sputtering about Game Boy and their night in a motel and other exciting adventures with their aunt and uncle.

I am fretting about the condo, the move, selling my house and a zillion other things. But I'm going to have to worry about kid-friendly restaurants, playgrounds, etc. for a few days. The kids are cute and their great-grandfather enjoys seeing them. (Although by Sunday he may not be enjoying so much since they are all seven staying at his house.)

I may not be posting for a bit. Much to do and need to spend some time with this crowd, too.

Initimate Confessions

Well, not really that kind of intimate. Just occurred to me to title it thus because of the photo. (Taken recently of mannequins at Let's Dish on South Lamar if I'm not mistaken. I like the wigs and the way the slips drape.)

I am almost completely paralyzed by trying to figure out what to do next. I took my dad to the doctor (his repaired retina is doing well so far) and did a few things around his house and then went to one of his banks and got him some money for his granddaughters and great grandchildren to spend while they are here. Tomorrow I'll do some more chores at his house, buy a few groceries for over there and pick up one of my nieces and her smallest son at the airport during rush hour. Wednesday at some point the other niece, her husband, their daughter and my other two great nephews arrive by car. Yikes. I reassured Dad that they will all leave on Sunday. He said he'd survive.

I have so much to do around here. I have lists and lists of lists. What the mover will move. What will we move. What we will wait to have delivered until something is painted or built. It's not cosmic. Repeat. Talked to one of the AV people. I asked about blank plates in the floor that the condo people said were speaker things. He said they didn't have anything in the floor! Uh, OK. This is going to be such fun. He is also having trouble sending me an e-mail, even though I sent him one that he can reply to! Bodes, if not the worst, a less than stellar customer experience. He did call me back finally, however.

OK. Just do something. Even if it is wrong.

Interlocking

They are sturdy, colorful, cute and fascinating. They pop together, interlocking with a satisfying snap. Since I'm in a twelve (or more) step program for recovering collectors, I will admit that I was tempted to collect LEGO Toys. When I realized I had money to waste, somehow I acquired LEGO sets and bricks. Oh, I had my excuses. I bought sets on sale at Target to 'give as gifts.' And mostly I gave them away. But some, no. I bought bulk bricks online to do a project for a Christmas party at work where we let the kids make ornaments from them. Someone gave me a pile that had belonged to her son. He had 'outgrown' them. I bought some trains and LEGO Christmas sets to decorate a tree at work. A few people started giving me gifts of interesting sets. Some I opened and put together. Others sat in their boxes in a closet, under the stairs in storage.

In 2005, I realized that a number of sets and piles of loose pieces were taking up lots of cubic feet of space and that I had no reason to hold them hostage. I'm not even very good at assembling LEGO stuff. Three-dimensional things are not my forté sadly. Meanwhile, my niece in Colorado was raising a house of boys. So I found as many of the sets and pieces as I could and sorted them into types or piled them up by age group. Before Christmas I shipped a bunch of them to her. Santa brought the boys special bags of LEGO that Christmas. Some sets were put aside for later gifts. I still had some sets that were too advanced for the kids so I stored those awaiting a trip to Colorado where they could wait for the boys to grow up.

I felt good about giving them away. My niece talked about all the joy they brought and she said that one night when she and her husband were searching this trove of LEGO to pick gifts and decide what to save for later that he said: "You aunt is so cool!" You don't get that much from the young people. Even if he was a thirty-something Dad.

In June my Dad and I were able to drive his van up to see the Colorado relatives. I piled in stuff to give them and included the remaining LEGO sets. There was an electric train, mint in box. With the oldest great nephew only seven, it was still too advanced for them. I'd hoped to get the sets to my niece to hide away. But we were weary when we arrived and wanted to unload the van and the boys needed entertaining so we let them help unload. The oldest convinced his mom that he could put together a small set on the spot with her help and then he talked to his dad on the cell and told him that he got it together and "it was for eight year olds!" He eyed the train wistfully. We told him it was for much later or needed assistance from his dad.

The next day we planned a dinner to celebrate a birthday and anniversary. Eight adults, two feisty boys and two infants. So we went to a noisy Buca di Beppo. We met there and my seven-year-old great nephew insisted on sitting by me. He said he had something to tell me. He had convinced his dad to put together the train and they'd spent most of the afternoon on it. He was so excited about it and drew a picture of it on the kid's menu with some stick figures beside it.

"Is that you and your dad?" I asked.

"No. It's me and you!" He said.

Of course, he's a kid and he couldn't stop talking also about running things over with the train, like mini-figs and other toys.

Now I guess I can't show up without a LEGO in hand. I don't get to see these kids this Christmas but there will be a LEGO under the tree for that boy. It would seem that once you have 10,000 bricks you could make anything and wouldn't need more sets. But the sets fascinate the kids because inside are all the parts you need and these great visual plans for making something shown on the box.

I love the idea of LEGO. But the reality of owning bricks is now limited to a couple of Christmas ornaments stuffed away with the other Christmas stuff I haven't gotten out this year. Little elves and Santas made from a few bricks. And I can always go to Colorado and visit the collection and know that when those little boys see me they think of interlocking bricks. There could be worse things.

Cute...if you don't have to change diapers

I enjoyed visiting the relatives. Especially the young ones. Who can resist a smile like this one? Of course, I didn't change one diaper. And I gradually got to the point where I wanted things a bit calmer. I wanted to eat sophisticated food and talk to adults. But, yeah, what a cute smile.

Road trip over, I'm trying to tame a pile of newspapers. I've caught up a lot of personal financial stuff and have a bit more of that to do. I've gotten back into water aerobics and tennis, but I need to get back to the weights and aerobic conditioning. I've gotten started on some work for my club.

Last night and tonight I had nice restaurant meals with wine and peace and quiet. (Well, one of the restaurants was loud, but still, no kids.) I've recovered from all the driving, I think, and caught up lost sleep.

I need to, gulp, get into the downsizing again. The summer of purging. That's what this will be.

It's All Relative

My dad asked today if I wasn't glad that the close relatives were nine hundred miles away. And it's true that the distance allows us to lead our own lives and, when we get together, enjoy each other. Even squirmy babies and hyper kids. It's been entertaining and this little baby boy is cute. But, nine hundred miles is about right! We can see each other now and then. We can even drive that distance sometimes. In between we can look at Snapfish photo albums of the kids! Or share their antics on YouTube. Yep. That's about right.

A River Runs Through It

FFP is maintaining the home fires. I'm visiting my nearest relatives (sister, brother-in-law, two nieces and their husbands, three great nephews and a great niece). My sister lives in a largely uninteresting sprawl of subdivisions west of Denver. However, on my daily walks I can see the South Platte roaring through a natural area. Otherwise, it's been a bunch of amusing babies and making up tasks for the five- and seven-year-old kiddos and helping them assemble Lego toys.

I'm not sure how it counts in the annals of downsizing but a van load of stuff is staying at my sister's (ground zero of the need for downsizing) and with my niece with the boys.