shoe shopping

(Note: today's posts are going to jump around time-wise as I try to get recorded everything I wanted to type in from the last few days..)

I had just about given up on the shoe thang. But then, last night, I went into that bastion of cheapness, Payless Shoes, and found a miracle awaiting me.

Yup...a pair of short boots in a size 5 wide.

How very amazing...!
And much less than everything else I'd be considering.
True, they're not very pretty - very simple, in fact, and they still have a zipper rather than lacing up *sigh*.

But the absolute "best" part was that, in this particular Payless, the size 5's are right next to the kid's shoes. So I got to try on shoes while listening to some obnoxious kiddy TV show...and even better, I had to go find a regular mirror because all of the ones where I was were funhouse mirrors, meant to amuse the kidlets while the mommies are shoe-shopping.

Oh yeah. I feel 32.
...NOT...

playing catch-up at work

So we had a meeting yesterday, and during it, I was rather surprised to learn that someone had turned in work for me with my name on it.

WTF?

Usually, when someone does something like this, they leave a copy of it on my desk.
In this case, that didn't happen.

Soooo..I went investigating.
First off, was told by Sparky (who has dreams of being a boss) that she'd had to go into my desk but couldn't find the key for a while. (Umm..actually, she didn't have to do this; and if she'd asked, my supervisor, Bertha, *does* have a key.) And then she said that she hadn't really done anything except type up a cover sheet describing what she was turning in - copies of reports.

Then I find out someone else helped her. But neither had left me copies of what they said, and neither had actually summarized the reports for Bossman.

Sigh.

No mention was made of the skeletal hand or comic..but then, Sparky wouldn't find that stuff funny.
(muehehehehe)

today's stupid work comment:

Coworker: "Cats don't get fleas!"

Ummmmmmmmmmm...
ok

playing with sleeping dogs

I decided to send my sister-in-law an email, after all.

I quoted her recall mail, and added, "You rang?"

Simple, non-aggressive.
And now I brace myself for the reaction.

woohoo! Book reading, here I come!

Nick Bantock, the author of the Griffin and Sabine series (if you don't know what *that* is, shame on you! go look it up! they're wonderful!), is speaking in Philly tonight at Friends Select School.

After much debate, I've decided to go.

It's free; I adore him; and I've not done anything like this in a long time.

Woohooo!!!

mysterious postcard

Back in 1995, I received a postcard, which is a rarity for me. It was signed "NB" and the handwriting was familiar but unplaceable. The postmarks were from Egypt and Canada. I was totally confused..until I looked closer and realized that the postcard was an ad for a new book by Nick Bantock, author of the Griffin and Sabine books, and this postcard was a response to one of my sporatic "thank you for writing this book" notes I send out to various authors that either inspire or touch me.

So tonight I got to listen to him pontificate about writing, and then listen to him read selections from his works.

A great deal of his actual lecture on writing was a god joke, as it fit well into discussions I've had and read in other LJs. Due to a fussy baby, I wasn't able to hear how he described, writing, so I ventured over to his website, www.nickbantock.com (which I strongly recommend!!)..
~~
(in reference to the classic definition of duende: "The ability to attract others through personal magnetism and charm.
[Spanish dialectal charm, from Spanish ghost.]"

The definition of Duende that you came accross is close but too
literal to give true meaning. In 'The Forgetting Room' I made duende
the heart of the story.
Here's too quotes from the book:
The duende is a power.
The duende is of the earth...the dark sounds,
a struggle not a concept.
The duende is not in the throat, it surges up
from the soles of the feet.
It is of blood, of ancient culture, of creative action.
It calls one out.
Garcia Lorca

The second quote comes from a poet I invented for the purpose:
Duende is silent, near-by, a pregnant, and overwhelming power...it is
death, life, and fate...the consummation of risk and knowledge. Made
visible it is huge, potent, patient, but less tolerant than anything
the human will can grasp. Duende ia a sweet bliss that will infiltrate
the bloodstream like toxin.
Simone
~~~~

My mind is still racing; I want to be lyrical, thoughtful, insightful; but I'm rather stuck right now on, "He's writing art, and I'm writing Barbie."

Still..am very glad I went. :)