Isn’t it Romantic?

So, in book club the other week, we read this book (I’m not telling you what it was, because I’m going to give away the ending here and I don’t want to wreck it for you.)   It was a lovely book about star-crossed lovers dealing with a major impediment to their being together.  There was some magic involved.  The ending was somewhat convoluted and a little melancholy, but the gist was that they more or less sorted it out and kind of/sort of died/became immortal and were thereby able to live together happily ever after.

Forever.

Because they were immortal.

Until the end of time.

And Now I Have Become the Most Wonderful Conflict Resolver Ever

I’m off to broker peace in the Middle East.

Ha ha ha!

No, I’m afraid my conflict resolution course did not work that quickly.

Taking a Ride on a Fairy Boat

I think I’ve mentioned before that my husband is Australian.  (And, since earlier this year, Canadian now too!)  We have been together for about ten years, and we only spent one of those years in Australia.

Ten Years – Please forgive me for this self-indulgent moment of sappiness.

I like you  ~Sandol Stoddard Warburg

I like you and I know why.
I like you because you are a good person to like.
I like you because when I tell you something special, you know it’s special
And you remember it a long, long time.
You say, Remember when you told me something special
And both of us remember

Sighing a Sigh of Retail-Based Contentment

Oh what a weekend.  I was very productive.  I went to the gym twice and I made a gigantic dent in my Christmas shopping.  I’d say I’m at least 85% finished.  Oh, and it was so fun.  Aside from the mall and bookstore (I am naturally bookish and tend to gravitate to the bookstore for presents.  I sometimes have to remind myself that not everyone likes to read), I attended a fabulous visual feast of a craft fair downtown.

Generally speaking, I have a strange relationship with shopping.

On the one hand, I am a practical sort.  I don’t like to waste money and I tend to feel guilty buying myself anything other than food, as that money could better go to paying down the mortgage or traveling somewhere fabulous or helping some worthy charity or something.  I also think that as a society, we have been brainwashed into becoming these consumerist drones who just shop for shopping’s sake, replacing things — not because they need to be replaced — but because we are bored with them.  I think this leads to ridiculous waste on both a monetary and environmental level and I find that distressing.  Also, a crowded mall is possibly the most depressing and life-sucking thing in existence.

The History of a Family

The “funeral” I attended this last weekend wasn’t a traditional one.  It was in my uncle’s yard.  There was a barbecue and there were a lot of mosquitoes to contend with.  There was nothing religious going on, no formal service at all; people spoke, but mostly spontaneously, and mostly just about their happy memories of my grandmother.

I mingled a little, but spent most of my time there sitting with my siblings and my cousin looking through stacks and stacks of photo albums.

I love photos.  In the days of film, I would always develop my pictures as the rolls were used up on my vacations rather than wait until I was home.  I can spend hours and hours putting together my photo albums and looking through them.

The Family Trees of the Future

In almost every family, there seems to be at least one person who is really interested in the family tree, looking up ancestors from wherever and putting together charts and so on.  I think the internet has probably been an amazing boon to these people.  Myself, as far as family history goes, I am interested in the people that there are photos of.  If you’re going into pre-photograph times (unless you can dig up some portraits, I suppose), I find it pretty hard to feel connected to that history.

The Secret Lives of Others

Other people fascinate me.  I think the primary reason that they fascinate me is that they are not me.  As much as I am aware of this on a conscious level, at the same time, I find myself constantly shocked when presented with evidence of the fact.

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Valentine’s Day, huh? One day of romance a year? Seriously?

All good valentines have puns

Interesting day, the old Valentine’s Day.   The concept has been on my radar since elementary school, I suppose, when we all made heart-shaped pocket things to attach to our desks for people to put their Valentine’s cards into.  Because the feelings of children are so easily crushed (maybe this doesn’t go away – maybe adults just hide it better), the rule was that you made a card for everyone in your class.

The Sun Came Back

I didn't even know it was gone.

Approximately a month ago, I experienced a major life change.  I had nothing to do with it, no control over it. It wasn’t about me at all.  It was just something that happened.  But as a result, my life has suddenly become so much better.