Long-married couples with dogs joke that they ought to greet their partner with all the enthusiasm and love with which they greet their dog — at least now and again. “Oh HELLO! How’s my big boy? Are you such a good boy?”
On this morning’s walk I realized that it wouldn’t kill me to praise myself with the same enthusiasm that I praise my dog — at least now and again.
Finn doesn’t react to Marmaduke dog from the brown duplex. “YES! What a good boy!”
I restrain my tongue recently at a couple of critical junctures. “YES! Atta girl!”
Two loud city buses lumber past and Finn doesn’t lunge. “YES! What a good boy!”
I take off my semi-decent pants and new sweater before bleaching the toilets. “Atta girl, Dee!”
Finn lifts the paw irritated by a piece of salt. “YES! Good, good boy! How smart you are!”
I start following query and MSWL hashtags on twitter. “Smart move, Dee! Keep at it!”
(MSWL stands for Manuscript Wish List. It’s a good resource for finding out what kind of books agents are interested in).
You get the idea.
Meanwhile, the slow down of sewing continues. Same with taking pictures. I hope this is some sort of mild seasonal arrhythmia or a function of writing-focus. But it’s weird and disorienting.
I backed and basted a small geometric study in vibrant colors and started quilting it. It’s crib-sized but I don’t expect grandchildren any time soon or perhaps ever, so why?
That’s the winter talking. Don’t mind me.
You wrote a post in spite of feeling mute and grey. ATTA GIRL! You have nothing, really, to report, but you reached out. Good, good girl!
The fires have pushed me over some internal edge I didn’t know was there. A tough couple of days. This, even as the fires burn 1,000’s of miles away.
Inspired by Kamala, I bought some Converse All Stars. My last pair were hot pink. I wore them to a “Firm Picnic” back in the nineties, one of many signs that I didn’t want to belong.
I take refuge in an idiotic and entertaining detective series called, Psyche. Kind of love it, actually. Perfect length. Just enough character development. I laugh out loud several times every episode. Eight seasons are free on Prime.
Editing continues apace and so does the finishing of C’s blanket. The sashing doesn’t line up. My quilting is erratic. Where one might expect rectangles, there are wedges.
In the room where I write, various robe ideas are being auditioned. The beige linen is too small, I’ve discovered, so even if it is to be a vest, cloth has to be added to the sides. Bah. Makes the lavender linen more appealing after all. Maybe I can in fact find colors to go with it?
Food procurement has been a little nuts this week mostly because of my pea brain. I ended up with three orders in five days. Not what I intended.
Much discussion in writing class today and elsewhere about how our habits have changed because of the coronavirus. What’s changed for the better? What of our old life maybe needs to be surrendered? How are we finding the increased quiet, the slower pace (if so lucky to be afforded that?) Read Kristin’s comment from yesterday. More on this from me later.