hello, lovely

It is raining! A lot! (a lot in this instance means I can SEE IT and HEAR IT, which is unlike the usual gently dripping grey skies we get from October to June.) This is not a complaint, but rather an observation. I don't know if it's because of the rain or because he thinks I need to hear it, but there is a bird in the tree right out my window reading me the riot act. I think it's either a crow or maybe a steller's jay, since they are the Birds Most Likely To (read me the riot act). Oh, good! now a squirrel is defending my honor. (or agreeing with the bird. Sometimes it's a definite advantage to not speak the language.)

ANYWAY.

Since it seems like all I do is bitch anymore, here are some things that have made me happy lately.

1. rainy day afternoon portents:



Thursday afternoon I had to run around and do some errands before crafty night/ debate night. Like many people, I've been stressed out about work things, personal things, and living in the world things; some days it's easy to know that this too shall pass, and other days it seems like I will be stuck in stress purgatory FOREVER. Anyway, I was running around on this drizzly day, picking up some stuff from the library and making some copies. (Craphound #7 makes for excellent debate night collaging, by the way.) During my errand travels I saw a yellow mini-cooper -- for as long as these have existed, they've served as a sort of hooray/good luck talisman for me. (I know! it's stupid, but it's true!!!) As I was driving to the grocery store to pick up some bread I saw a RAINBOW as big as the world -- a full side to side leprechaun pot of gold rainbow. By the time I got to the parking lot, it was a double rainbow and people were wandering around the pavement in the rain like they heard the rapture was about to happen or something. It was one of those times where strangers were saying "isn't it beautiful?" to each other. How often does that happen?? I stood out in the rain like a fool and snapped some pictures, including these. After that I was off to the park to pick up the CSA share. I realized I forgot the bag from last week, and the woman handing out the shares said I was "absolved" and I had two weeks (when the share ends) to return it. As I walked back to the car, I realized I'd been everywhere with my sweater on inside out. (I have heard that this is ALSO good luck, but maybe that rumor got started to keep people from being embarrassed about something that can't be undone.) Anyway. Rainbows are sure pretty.


2. Have you been listening to the weekly Fluxblog podcast? You should be! Fun, fun, fun.

3.Kelly Link not only has a new short story collection coming out called Pretty Monsters, but this collection is illustrated by Shaun Tan! AND, because she is awesome, her last collection, Magic For Beginners, is available for free download on her website. (particular favorite stories from that one: The Hortlack, Magic for Beginners, Stone Animals)

4. Improvements of things already existing: about two weeks ago I got a haircut that makes me believe I can solve important problems, and then I solved an important problem! (coincidence or causality???) I was working on my computer out on the patio (back in the days before the return of the rain), and I accidentally hit the brighten screen button. What a revelation! it was like getting a new computer!! Somehow I'd had it set about four clicks from THE DIMMEST and I wondered why it was hard to read. ha ha ha! Anyway. It's all fabulous now and my hair is no longer driving me crazy.

5. Elizabeth Peters has written a new Vicky Bliss novel!! I have a deep, abiding, cheese-loving affection for these books. I first read them at a very impressionable age and imprinted on that style of comic romantic suspense adventure. I have no idea how they'd hold up for me if I was reading them for the first time now, but as it is I cannot (but will somehow manage to) wait. Vicky is smart, beautiful, and has archaeological/art historical/ ass-kicking/romantical adventures -- you know, the kind where you maybe have to hide in some huge piece of furniture in a castle or a tomb and jump out and bonk someone on the head with an artifact and flee to safety, but you do it while being a wisecracking smart ass the whole time! Woo hoo!

6. encouraging graffiti at the park:



7. My new sneakers: