Let The Dancing Begin...

"Anyone who thinks fallen leaves are dead, has never watched them dancing on a windy day."

~Shira Tamir

September is drifting along, quietly. No noise. Well, except for the irritating barking of my neighbor's dog. Poor little fella is used as a weapon in the neighborhood. Any time the immature little brat adults I have mentioned in previous posts as, Donny and Nina, are up to their old tricks, they allow the dog to bark. It seems marriage really did nothing for their maturity. Sigh. The cute little pup-pup began barking at 5:30 am, both of the last couple days... as soon as Donny left for work. It's vintage Nina to let the pup-pup bark, because she knows it pisses off the neighbors in all directions. And when it does, Donny usually gets a visit from someone yelling at him. Yelling is a given at this point, as we have all complained in reasonable tones, and it did no good! Don't get me wrong, Donny isn't innocent. He is the one that came up with the idea of letting pup-pup bark, as punishment towards me for complaining about him to the property owner... in 2011! They enjoyed the affect it had on my health to the point they found they could use the same tactic to keep others in line as well.

As you may remember, Donny and Nina got married last summer, and moved from this property to an adjoining property. Things got better for a little while. He and his psycho bully attitude were gone, but he is still close enough that his behavior still affects all of us to different degrees. In my case, waking me up at 5:30 am. God, I had only been in bed an hour. Sigh. It's so unnecessary. Why can't they just live their lives? Work on their releationship? Plan for the future? I can think of a million things that Alan and I were busy with during our first year of marriage, but actively working on getting each other in trouble with the neighbors wasn't on the radar. Call us boring, but we have found filling our spare time with loving each other, and our little furry children, pretty life affirming!

Oh well. Let's not dwell on things. Summer is taking it's last breaths, and that's a good thing because it makes the pain in life, like not getting the sleep I need, a little easier to take. I can actually see the light of autumn outside my window! It's right there. It's in the golden sunrise, and the light orange sunsets. It's in that hint of coolness in the air. It's in the way a barrel of apples smells at the grocery stores and farmers markets. It's in the taste of a really delicious heirloom tomato. It's in the colors of the new outfits I just bought for autumn, and it's in the sound of the deceased leaves blowing down the street. I know autumn is associated with the withering of the year, but it makes me feel alive inside. It makes me feel like I can deal with the barking. I will try to dismiss the pain from my Fibromyalgia and concentrate on the leaves.

Leaves dancing on the wind is life affirming too!

"Let your life lightly dance on the edges of time, like dew on the tip of a leaf."

~Rabindranath Tagore

Mood: Quiet/Tired/Happy

~Me :)

Shiver Me Timbers... It's International Talk Like A Pirate Day!

The Hawaiian Cheiftan, Richardson Bay, Sausalito, Ca 

October 22nd 2006

 

"Life's pretty good, and why wouldn't it be? I'm a pirate after all."

~Captain Jack Sparrow

Welcome to Talk Like A Pirate Day!

I almost missed the observance, if it had not been for Comedy Central's very funny @Midnight and their evening game of #hashtag wars on Twitter, I would have. Last night's #hashtag was #PirateTVShows. If you are unfamiliar with the premise, basically you would choose a TV show, and change the title to reflect the topic of pirates. Here are some I came up with...

1. Don't Trust The P In Apartment 23

2. Make Room For Booty

3. Plunder Woman

Alan and I wouldn't miss playing #hashtag wars. It keeps us laughing and laughing... and that's a good thing for the weary soul. Honestly, that man of mine has the silliest sense of humor! One has to have a sense of humor to put up with me! Life is slowly getting back to normal. It's been a hellish year, and probably the most depressing summer I can remember, but there is only a few more days of this horrible season, and then autumn will make everything all better.

It always does. Autumn never lets me down!

I took the photos of this ship, on one lazy beautiful autumn Sunday afternoon, in 2006, while visiting San Francisco, and southern Marin County. The ship sails from Sausalito's Richardson Bay, into the San Francisco Bay, and show those on-board a good time by participating in mock battles with other Tall Ships. It's a beautiful sight, and listening to the cannon shots is kinda fun too. I love living here in the Bay Area. It's wonderful here. I couldn't live without the beautiful bay! I am so lucky to be able to see whenever I want to.

:)

Alan and I are going on the bay several times for vacation in October. I can hardly wait.

Life Is Good!

Now, in honor of "Talk Like A Pirate Day"

Be gone you skallywags... Arrr ye mateys...

TALK LIKE A PIRATE! 

"To live is to walk beside Death but never join hands."

~Captain Buck "Slackeye" Roberts

~Kai McCarthy

Tall Ships Return To Sausalito 

(Marin Scope)

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

Art About Town: San Leandro... "Lariat" By Artist, Roger Berry

 "An ice sculpture in the Sahara makes about as much sense as donkey left open gaping wagon, Sergeant (add cream cheese sparingly)."

~Jarod Kintz
This Is The Best Book I've Ever Written, And It Still Sucks.

Okay, so, while out doing some errands Monday, that included having my blood drawn, I spotted this gorgeous sculpture standing outside the new Kaiser Permanente hospital, in San Leandro. It was moved to the new hospital a couple months ago, upon the closing of the old Hayward hospital. 

I hadn't been to the old hospital in years, I tended to avoid it if I could. As you might imagine, I don't have such fond memories of the place. Well, maybe one or two, after all, a hospital isn't always about the ones you lose, is it? Births. Good news about medical tests you dreaded taking, and maybe one or two downright amusing stories can come out of a hospital. One of my favorites being the time I was very sick, with terrible pain in my stomach from a small cyst on my ovary that decided to burst. Well, I was in the waiting room, standing in line,waiting to be checked in my the receptionist, when I began to vomit from the pain. GOD how embarrassing!

But the man in front of me, whose shoe I narrowly missed, and to who I apologized profusely, moved behind me in line and told the receptionist... "Take her first, she's sicker than I am." I can still remember the long line of folks laughing their sick little butts off. It was the most endearingly embarrassing moment of my life. LOL. I still smile when I think of that kindness showed me that day. That man could have reacted in so many negative ways, but instead, he showed me compassion, kindness and yes, a little humor!

Laughter Is The Best Medicine.

 

"Lariat" By Roger Berry

Kaiser Permanente San Leandro 

And wonderful public art helps too.

I love that hospitals, HMO's and clinics have begun displaying different types of art throughout their campuses.

Artist, Roger Berry, has several gorgeous sculptures around the Bay Area, so I think I might be posting more of his sculptures in this series as we move toward the end of the year!

Mood: Nostalgic

~Me :)

Shoes. Mine.

"I did not have 3,000 pairs of shoes, I had 1050."

~Imelda Marcos

I like shoes. I have lots of shoes. I should start a new series about shoes.

Just shoes, and where they take me.

I wonder if my coat collection would get jealous?

Hmmmmm.

Mood: Introspective

~Me :)

Breakfast In America

"I went to a restaurant that serves "breakfast any time" 

so I ordered French Toast during the Renaissance.
~Steven Wright

I had a Monday yesterday, I went to have my yearly blood work to see if I my in-nerds are still working properly. I have some of the tests back, and yes, in fact I rocked a couple of them. But I am still waiting on the ones that make my doctor raise a disapproving eyebrow from time to time. My Hemoglobin A1C.

In my travels with diabetes, I have learned a lot about what makes my numbers go off the rails. Oddly enough it isn't just sugar that makes my numbers go wacky... stress is a big factor as well! I need to stop stressing over stupid stuff... cough... Sarah Palin.

Somehow, my doctor never believes me when I say it's all Sarah Palin's fault.

Odd.

Mood: Eh.

~Me :)

What Will I Be Watching On TV This Fall? Glad You Asked!

"If television is a babysitter then the Internet is a drunk librarian who won't shut up."

~Dorothy Gambrell, Cat and Girl Volume I

It's THAT time again... time for the premiers of the new Fall 2014 shows on TV.

What will I be watching?

Glad you asked!

Sunday

Madam Secretary - Tea Leoni

CBS 8:00pm

Monday

Gotham - Ben McKenzie, Erin Richards

FOX 8:00pm - 9:00pm

Tuesday 

Selfie -  Karen Gillian, John Cho

ABC 8:00pm

Manhattan Love Story - Analeigh Tipton, Jake Dorman

ABC 8:30pm

Marry Me - Casey Wilson, Ken Marino

NBC 9:00pm

Forever - Ioan Gruffudd, Alana De La Garza

ABC 10:00pm

Wednesday

The Mysteries Of Laura - Debra Messing

NBC 8:00pm

Stalker - Dylan McDermott, Maggie Q

CBS 10:00pm

Thursday

How To Get Away With Murder - Viola Davis, Billy Brown

ABC 10:00pm

And there you have it! But that's just the new shows I will be tuning into, I will also be loyal to my old favorites too. New Girl, American Horror Story: Freak Show (season4) and, of course,  Castle! Missing these shows is non-negotiable! I wish a couple of shortsighted networks hadn't cancelled a couple of my favorites from last season... The Crazy Ones and The Michael J. Fox Show. I enjoyed both shows very much. Especially in the case of The Crazy Ones. Sigh. Robin Williams was back on TV and that has always been a thing to behold! He was such a gifted and funny man! When I heard that the show had been cancelled, I was sad, but figured he would be back to TV one day. Sigh.

I will miss Robin Williams forever!

Mood: Okay

~Me :)

The Healing Power Of Pizza

"Those pizzas I ate were for medicinal purposes."

~Amy Neftzger

Friday night, Alan and I had dinner at one of our favorite pizza places, located here in Berkeley, Cheeseboard Collective. Actually, it's Cheese Board Collective, but over the years folks like me have found ourselves running the Cheese and the Board together. Either version is acceptable, I believe, the folks at this place don't sweat the small stuff, they are too busy making what I consider to be, the BEST pizza in Berkeley!

Eating their pizza is actually a healthy thing. Using this as an example, they start with a super thin crust, brush it with olive and garlic oil and sprinkle with fresh herbs, then add the 12month-aged Gruyere cheese. Next comes the lovely ripe Heirloom tomatoes, and a few more fresh herbs on top! The end result is a delicious pizza that can not only sooth a weary soul, but indeed heal it!
It's truly one of life's great gifts!

Mood: HAPPY

~Me :)