Back to reality. 

How can I continue to make daily life as high spirited as this past weekend blissfully unfolded?  There must be a way.  Maybe if I close my eyes super tightly and click my heels together three times...

mood: contemplative music: A Nervous Tic Motion of the Head by Andrew Bird

It was a dreary Monday morning at the office.  I was wondering how I was going to plunder through another week of drudgery and impossible deadlines in my thankless job when in walks my boss with this alarmingly bright bunch of Gerbers!  Ahhhh....bliss.

mood: calm

Nice sentiment...if only it could...

mood: tired

Look what they did in the old City Market Parking Garage space recently...the trees are going in!!!  And there's my old office in the background...3rd floor corner windows in the white brick building with the green trim.  Ah...memories.

mood: curious

I just ordered myself a pair of new shoes for the summer.  The narrows were already sold out and there was only 1 pair of standard width left...so that's what I ordered.  I hope they'll fit.  The good thing with Zappos.com is that it's free shipping both ways, so if they don't fit, return shipping is on them.  I know it's rolled into their retail price, but it's still worth it to me to be able to shop from home. - Now most important of all...let's hope they're comfy.

mood: good music: Tiny Dancer - Elton John

How do I write about this without sounding selfish - childish?  Can't do it.  If I write what's in my head, that's exactly how it'll sound.  I'm feeling restless...wanting some adventure.  Lately I've begun to discover some new artists that I find interesting and listening to their work makes me want more.  I want to hear more.  I want to experience their performances live.  I want to travel again.  I want to have something to look forward to.  I want to have a fuller life.  I suddenly feel like things are passing me by.  I want to participate.  I am not sure what I want, but I am feeling antsy.  For years and years and years now I have subsisted on memories and the music of my past....and although I would never abandon those, I am ready for new!  Bring it on!!

Frustration is escalating in me today because yesterday I learned that Ben Sollee (my most favorite new artist discovered recently) added Atlanta to his current tour and the show is TONIGHT.  I could still go.  The prospect is completely doable.  Tickets are only $15.  Problem is...it's a 4 hour drive.  Is that too far?  Not into going to things like this alone.  One friend can't go with me because she has a small child / one friend can't go with me because her husband wouldn't allow it / one friend can't go with me because it's "not her thing".  Thankfully I eventually learned that Ben Sollee is only one of 3 performers tonight, so knowing that he would probably only be on stage for about half an hour or so makes not going seem a lot more attractive.

Is this the midlife crisis I've heard people make fun of my whole life?  "Oh, he/she must be having a midlife crisis."  Can't help but wonder.

mood: lonely music: Bird Gerhl - Antony & The Johnsons

Ryuichi Sakamoto now has a Flickr site!!!!!! I am a happy camper.

I want a cat like the one in this video.

This was in USA Today a couple of days ago...

The new version of the Element is sort of a rolling Ritz-Carlton for the canine set. It features a built-in bed in the cargo area, a private electric cooling fan, a spill-proof water bowl and a mesh net to keep animals separated from people. Rubber floor mats are embellished with a dog-bone design. A final version of the pooch-coddling 2009 Element will go on sale in late summer.

Besides the bed and other dog-friendly features, the dog-oriented Element even has a fold-out ramp for dogs that can't, won't or shouldn't (because some breeds can develop bad backs later in life) make the leap into the Element's rear.

 

mood: impressed music: The Rain Parade - No Easy Way Down

I seem to have abandoned Live Journal for Facebook.  For shame.  Most of my LJ friends are already also my FB friends, but if you're not there yet and want to be...please drop by!

mood: not so bad

It was a banner day on I Can Has Cheezburger? today...sooooooooooo many funnies that I had to post them here too...these are sooooooooooo funny.....

mood: cheerful

Jerry decided that he was game to try to walk both dogs at once.  I tried it once...and decided it was too dangerous and I'll never do it again.  Tessa got away from me when she spotted a Pug on the loose, and she proceeded to pounce on the defenseless Pug until I could get someone nearby to hold Vivi's leash while I tackled Tessa.  The whole while the Pug was yelping for its life.  It was fine, but I am sure scared senseless.  I really don't know why people let their dogs run loose when there are leash laws...we don't exactly live out in the countryside.

Anyway, Jerry bought a double dog coupler yesterday that basically puts two dogs on one leash.  He tried it out yesterday as soon as we got home.  He came back and said that we must go back into training mode because both dogs wanted to lead. 

So today all 4 of us walked at the same time, with both dogs side by side on separate leashes.  We've got to get them used to being with each other and still able to listen to commands.  For the longest time now they've been going on walks separately.  Today was better.  But it's still a challenge to get the dogs to walk slowly enough so that we don't feel like we're almost jogging.  Then I have to wonder how much exercise are the dogs really getting if we have to slow them down so much just so we can keep up.

I'm back to the wheels notion. I really wish I could walk Vivi while I ride my bike.  I'm afraid to try it.  I'm afraid she'll pull me over.  This is what the coupler looks like:It reminds me of hitching up the horses to pull the cart.  I just need a cart now.

mood: accomplished

There was a robbery earlier this week in a nearby home that I just read about in the online paper where the burglars fired their guns into the walls and ceilings and basically trashed the home.  No one was home at the time, but the home owners had two big dogs inside the home and both dogs were shot repeatedly.  Reading this made me go hug and hold my dogs.  I love them so much.  The thought of them being scared like that by an intruder just tears me up.  Amazingly enough, the dogs at the burglarized home did not die but they were wounded to the point that they did not pose a threat to the intruders.  So far these thugs haven't been caught...leaves me feeling not so safe.

mood: worried

Today I only cried once.  The lay-offs at work are over with now and these folks will begin to move on with new stages in their lives. Hence, the stress from the past week.

I had the last of the remaining cake doughnuts tonight (that I bought yesterday).  Tomorrow is a new day.  Back on the wagon.

mood: unwanted

  This is how I feel.

The past week has been nothing but stress.  I've all but forgotten about the fitness plan.  It's been all I could do to put on a happy face and keep making it to work daily.  Can't go into details.  I just want to curl up and wither.

mood: gloomy

I saw this in a magazine ad at work and couldn't believe it.  Party-life will be so much easier to navigate from now on.  How have we survived without these for all of these years?

mood: chipper music: The Classical Guitar channel on Sky.fm

I was messing around online and was recommended to view this site...and if you haven't checked it out, I recommend it also....that is, IF you like music.  This black cab in London picks up musicians and records them performing in the cab...acousticly...just fantastic stuff.  And in my shell of a world I had never heard of the Fleet Foxes until seeing them in the black cab.  Since then I have been curiously looking for more of their music and have found that I quite like a lot of it...here is one video.  If you watch, wait for the bits near the end where it looks as if the goats are singing.  Awesome.

mood: cheerful

Have you ever driven down a long, straight, two-lane road on a starry night, where there are no street lamps and the road is lined on both sides with giant, old Live Oaks that have grown to form a canopy over the road?  The limbs are dripping with Spanish Moss and as the beams from your own car's headlights bounce around, they ever so slightly illuminate those branches above so that you can just barely discern that the veil is there at all.  The experience is quite haunting really. 

I drove on that road after dark last night between my house and Jalapeno's, where I picked up our to-go order of Nachos Supreme with the sour cream and the guacamole on the side because Jerry doesn't eat those.  I have often wished that we lived on that road so I could drink in the dreaminess daily, but then I am reminded of the summer months when Spanish Moss is not the only thing those beautiful old limbs are dripping with. (...shudder, shudder)

mood: full - ate too much