follow-up

My mother is home from the hospital. Her doctors still do not know how her hemoglobin got so low but they have given her a transfusion, which has helped a lot, although she still has low energy. I phoned her Sunday to let her know I was on the way to her house and she was breathless from vacuuming her living room. She is one of those who do not let let cleaners come to her home until she has already cleaned it. I admit sometimes her cleaners do more harm than good to what they try to clean and polish. House cleaning is apparently one of those jobs that everyone thinks anyone can do and actually very few people do properly with the correct materials.

I thought I would only be working Monday day this week but I have been given permisssion to come back into the office on Wednesday for my temp job. I could always wiggle the days around if I want to now since they hardly have enough work for me to come in to do. I will try to see if I can get more extras work in the near future and try to remember to view that gig as flexible. They say they will not be needing me after this week but there is no telling. They have cut my hours and added days in the past. It is an entirely undependable gig that gets in the way of other work more than it helps at times. I wish I could choose an all-or-nothing (40 hours a week at decent pay) work situation.

Click here to support Earl Maddox Needs Your Help by Tim Lathrop

Click here to support Earl Maddox Needs Your Help by Tim Lathrop

Y'all please keep Earl in your thoughts today. He is in the ICU with g.i. bleeding. Not on life support or anything, but hurting bad.

drag

Today was ridiculously slow at my part time job. Spent far too much time making up work for myself and checking fb status on my phone. I am surprised they expect me back in on Friday. Thankful for any work I can get, regardless.

I was planning on meeting the girls for Zumba and eats tonight but I am cancelling the gym for now. Might still try to meet them for dinner afterwards because, hey, I gotta eat and MonsterMustDie usually eats a very good lunch during the day at work. 

My mom is in the hospital tonight and tomorrow, undergoing tests to try to find out why she is anemic. Good news is, they found out why she's been short of breath for so long - low hemoglobin, which is a start for treatment & recovery - and are giving her blood and iron supplements, etc. The pulmonologist and cardiologist could'nt figure it out. It was not until her kidney checkup that her nephrologist saw the problem. She does not want company and has begged me not to visit her tonight while she's being poked, prodded, and going through some very unglamorous procedures.

I think I need this book.

There is so much I can't know about a product or publication from an online description, it's nice to discover new things every time I go into a brick & mortar store like Barnes and Noble.

Merchandise

Bored with the products I've see in stores lately. 

Thoughts today:  It just so happens I've been looking at products in other places that are essentially one-color or 4-color low-res stuff and wondering how the manufacturers can expect consumers to purchase things not much better than they can make themselves on an inkjet printer. 

I want to see more things printed on durable acid-free stock and in rich spot inks and metallics that don't fall apart or dissolve when wet. I want to see, when appropriate, foil stamping. I love the delicacy of laser-cut papers on special keepsakes. Even if it is a novelty gift product, why would anyone pay for something they could do themselves? But good design & typesetting (with proper punctuation), printed well, on quality materials seems worth the investment even in small things. 

IMHO: Flyers, gift wrap, and direct-mail advertising are very ephemeral things that usually end up immediately in the trash and are perfectly fine to print cheaply as possible. The manufacturers of those make their money entirely on distribution and advertisements but anything lasting more than a week should be given more care. I look a card shops and craft stores and see too much bad design or one-color pieces that do not look special and have no recognizable style to them. I guess, as a consumer and as a designer, I want to see better options for those who want to buy something to save as a keepsake or something better than they could make themselves. 

Keeping up appearances

Today, we complain about having to dress well enough to wear a  bra. Makes me think of how my grandmother didn't like to go to a lot of places because she'd have to wear a girdle. Most ladies of her generation would not dare step out of the house without the legendary girdle, bra, hose, and makeup - at least lipstick and rouge.

Christmas

We drank coffee and opened our gifts in the morning on Christmas Day. MonsterMustDie, at my prompting, assembled the cardboard cat tank from Gillian for Ellie. (Cats, after all, have no thumbs and  don't read instructions.)

We spent most of the day not doing much of anything until we went to my brother's house for dinner with Mom. Gifts were exchanged. Andrew cooked a low country boil of shrimp, crawfish, potatoes, sausage, and corn on the cob. My nephew Adam made pomegranate martinis for the ladies and the men drank beer. MonsterMustDie brought one from the Winter Solstice Party named Old Crustacean, which seemed fitting for the seafood dinner.

 My brother Andrew is always too happy to see everyone once a year. Heh.

My nephew Adam making Black Out Barbie drinks.

 My mother, family matriarch, getting opening gifts with the youngest generation of the Perry family. 

The Perry family's holy beast, Otis. This is a house full of UGA fans and this
English Bulldog is the most highly esteemed among the pack of dogs they own.

Christmas Eve

The annual Winter Solstice party last Saturday was a blast. Though a lot of friends were out of town, I was delighted to see people who I did not expect to make it to the gathering and had a great time with everyone, despite all of the things that were left undone by the time things started. I always seem to run out of time or get too busy with guests to do. After it all, there was still a bag of groceries and soda I had bought that were never put out for guests. Typical.

Watching "It's A Wonderful Life" on the telly. Cats and humans are fed. The old Dutch man is drinking gifted holiday beer, with Ellie cat sharing the couch with him. I am having a glass of pinot noir that is unusually rich for pinot IMHO, from a bottle someone brought to the Winter Solstice Party. 

 
Tomorrow: a low-country boil dinner with my brother's family in Powder Springs. 

Today was spent driving to Alabama for a visit with MonsterMustDie's mother and cousin Kim. Mostly, his mother sleeps these days. She nods off constantly, which is a blessing in some ways. She doesn't want to be where she is - she misses her house on the mountain - but she is being well cared for now. It is sweet to see him putting lotion on her dry hands taking care of her. His cousin Kim is the sister he never had and the sister-daughter who is there for his mother in Alabama. So, really, things are as good as they could be for her. 

 
Maurice phoned from New Jersey tonight to say Happy Christmas and to scold me for not returning his calls last week. He had two gigs today as Santa Clause. I told him it was hard to picture the malcontent I know (him) being the merry old elf. He says he does it all, including a character he created called Murray The Elf. Hah! He and Larry might be coming for a visit to Atlanta soon and it might be fun to spend some time with them.

This week, I am house-cat sitting in Buckhead again, which I enjoy tremendously, while friends are in New York visiting family. Tonight, however, I am home. I will wake up in my own bed on Christmas morning, open gifts with my housemate, and then check in on the cat house.

Stockings were hung. 

Gifts waited under the tree. 

getting my holiday on

As it turns out, we did in fact get a small tree last week and it is now decorated and has survived Ellie cat's attention with no loss of ornaments or fragile objects nearby.

Last Saturday was  spent going to B&G's Holiday Silliness party, where we celebrate the shopportunities of the most traveled couple I know. Many gifts were exchanged. No drama was reported. Everyone was in good health and spirits this year. A lot of glogg and the Mrs. signature hot "rim jobs" were consumed. (drink, drank, drunk?)

Sunday was Anya's holiday Nightmare Before Xmas party at her island of misfit toys. More glogg was served. Many Scandinavians and those of northern european decent were in attendance. The lights went out for about an hour while I was there but, fortunately, it was a house with many candles and candle holders. Anya just scattered lit votives and candelabras in every room and the house looked even more festive and warm.

This coming weekend is the annual Winter Solstice Party at el Rancho de WereMonster, where I plan to serve the usual hot spiced cider out of the enormous crock pot my mother give me. This year's menu will also feature a repeat of the roast duck we had on Thankgiving, following the instructions of Mark Bittman's book "How To Cook Everything".

Friday Night

On my way home from my part-time temp job, I thought I should try to coax MonsterMustDie to go with me to get a fresh cut tree after he got home from work, among other things. I have decided in my head that a wreath hanging indoors under the sky light is probably just as bad or worse than a tree when it comes to providing an opportunity for Chaos Cat a.k.a Ellie, our little tuxedo kitty, to cause trouble.

That did not  happen last night but that's okay.

Fortunately, MonsterMustDie had plans to go to Jennifer's shop on Highland Avenue to pick up a vase that had sold online immediately after he took it out of the house and over to her shop to include in a collection of studio ceramics he was trying to sell. The vase had been on sale for over a year with no interest and he was confident it was going nowhere in his online shop - and then it sold this week. The Universe has a sense of humor. Last night happened to be the open house at the shop, so we cleaned up and got out and he got to be in his element with other antique dealers and mid-century modern design enthusiasts.

So, as it turned out, I had a very nice Friday evening with the guys, going to City Issue and Pure Taqueria last night. I always love the way Jennifer can make everything look so good in her shop by displaying it in a way that allows people to envision how good everything can look in homes and offices. As we walked back to the car, later, I could see the shop was still open but she was finally sitting down, relaxing and chatting with a few people before closing.

Hoping today that I can get a tree to try out my first xmas cat challenge. Ellie cat has not had a tree before so I don't know how this will go. I think if B&G can have a tree with five cats, I can figure out a way to have a tree with one very active cat.

post Thankgiving morning

I was dreaming of being in New York City with Lou Reed making art and watching music art video displays that were actually on entire wall of his living room. The color were very un-NYC to me: Copper, browns, golds, like a steam-punk kinda aesthetic. There were large photos I was working on that had cool palettes with blood red and wine highlight to images that had the hues tweaked down to almost monotones.

Then I woke up to the smashing sound of a car wreck on Pleasantdale Road.

Last week, I was house & cat sitting for the beloved B&G, who finally came home last night. I always enjoy my stays at their house - it's like a mini vacation from reality for me. It changes my perspective just enough to be in new surroundings for a while and I sleep like a baby there.
MonsterMustDie complains when I stay there but he knows it makes me happy. Don't deprive me of my bits of happy or karma payment will be long and drawn out.

Thanksgiving was spent with old friends at RRE who were deep-frying turkeys, pickles, etc. There was a great formal dinner in the main room, where tables were set formally and dinner was called to start by Neil, who made a toast of sorts before we ate, surrounded by music and art. We contributed a roast duck to the mix. That was the first duck either of us had roasted and it came out quite good, thanks to the instructions in our favorite cook book by Mark Bittman, How To Cook Everything.

My family holiday gathering was Sunday evening at my brother's house, where he and my mother prepared the dinner, which included the last marinated tomatoes of this year. The frost on Sunday night means tomato season is officially over. A lot of people I know were pulling whatever they could from their gardens on Saturday and Sunday before the frost. I picked all the green tomatoes that were on the vines at home and clipped as much basil as I could find. Most of the tomatoes are probably too green to ripen properly so I plan to fry them later this week.

Thanksgiving Duckling

Roasting one up according Mark Bittman's instructions.

About to start a week of Cat-House sitting over the holiday. Getting my suitcase packed and looking forward to little change in my life for a few days.

In other news, I am also going to be working with a friend at a 12-hour catering gig today. I don't know how long a shift of this kind will work because I've never done it for this company before but I think this might me a very good investment of my time if it works out well. It actually pays better than the part-time temp job I have now, which is kinda sad because my temping requires skills that I've spent years building. I am hopeful all will go well today and I can get more work days like this in the future.

Now that everyone is getting in the holiday mood:

A disturbance in the force

I have an unexplainable feeling of melancholy this morning.