shooting the breeze

I always like the expression "shooting the breeze" even though I'm not sure where it comes from. It sounds friendly and dangerous all at once. Or like something a person with a deep abiding grudge against the wind would do. (I can picture it in my mind - shotgun off the wall, stomping through the grass and shooting the goddamned breeze until the ammo runs out or a sane member of the family runs out and says "Sweetheart, we've talked about this.") Anyway, here's what's going on Chez Jen @12:49 AM: (I should go to bed, but I totally slept through the entire middle part of Castle (should I be embarrassed?) and now I'm feeling AWAKE.)

1) My nails (both feet and hands) are now painted GUNMETAL. Which is awesome. It's a little less severe than black and it makes me feel like I'm turning into a robot starting with my fingertips and toes. This charms me more than it worries me, which you may take as you will.



2) I got a lamp! It's bigger than my old lamp so I'm still getting used to it, but it looks nice and casts a good light that comes from lightbulbs so eco-friendly they actually foster kittens and plant trees when not in use.

3) Today I am obsessed with American Chestnuts. I love this story.

4) I must be preparing for a winter indoors, because I'm cleaning and culling my junk and making way for a new bookcase, possibly TWO (one is very small). I have many plans.

5) Not unrelatedly, I bought a few things (giant bag full) at the Friends of the Library sale on half-off Monday last week. It was either 13 or 16 dollars for a bag FULL OF AWESOME. Last year my prize find was a 1970s reprint of Audubon's Birds of America, this year it was a library bound collection of Arizona Highways Magazine from the year 1960. Five bucks! My folks had old copies of this magazine when I was a kid and I remember being AMAZED, etc. I'm happy to report that it still looks amazing to me all these years later.

6) I had a meeting with my boss today. I'm proud of myself because I asked for the meeting, I went to a strange-to-me location that involved key pad doors and having to be fetched from reception, and I asked the questions that were on my mind. (These things are not always easy for me.) But it was a good meeting! I got valuable information and he reinforced a few conclusions that I'd come to on my own. What resonated with me the most, which I think is applicable to any period of growth, is that you have to humble yourself to the process. It takes what it takes and what it takes will change over time, because everything changes over time. (I should note that this is my interpretation, not verbatim quotes. I agree that if he said this exactly it would be a little weird.) The fact that this is government really does make it different than a private sector job - there are larger issues at work. Yes, it can be frustrating (has been frustrating), but now I have some tools and direction and we'll see what happens.