NaBloPoMo Valedictory 2006

The one month commitment is coming to a close. Thanks to everyone who stopped for a quick skim, and especially to those who came by more than once. I promise that now the pressure of posting every day is lifted from my shoulders, I will raise my standards for what is fit to publish.

I would like to say thanks to our lovely hostess for organizing NaBloPoMo. It was an enormous and selfless undertaking consolidating all of those links and setting up the Randomizer.

I regret that I barely tapped into the list of participants, but I intend to continue visiting the other blogs even if I am not bound by the NaBloPo commitment. To think, I would have postponed starting this blog if I had not enrolled in NaBloPoMo. I guess my fear of failure was trumped by my fear of breaking a promise.

Holiday Card Flashback 2005

This was the Holiday Card from Christmas 2005. I didn’t feel like I had punished myself nearly enough after I composed and illustrated this one………Sooooo, I cut out copies of myself an Dirty Girl and taped them on the card front using carpet tape to give us a more three-dimensional appearance. After all Dirty Girl and I are larger than life.

Fall Leaves Naked Trees

Just three weeks ago I was mesmerized by how little the fall colors had changed. There were so many shades of green, that you would hardly notice the season had changed if you were relying solely on your eyes. This morning when I gazed out the window, it was as if a gang of hoodlums had passed through and sprayed bright colors on the deciduous trees. The hostas have transformed from a vibrant spring green to a warm cadmium yellow and the deck is littered with carnage of fallen acorns that must be swept away on a daily basis.

The grass is littered with dried leaves like a carpet of confetti after a birthday party. The disheveled appearance of the yard is easy to accept. We don’t concern ourselves with the ascetics or labor required to capture the coveted “Yard of the Month” sign assigned by the home owners’ association each month. We’re more concerned about flying below the radar. Too much attention to lawn care and you’re invited to join the home owners board, but too little attention to maintenance and you get served with a legal notice for violating the covenance.

While the beauty of the season is finally upon us, I wish the temperature would return to the forties and fifties. Cooler temperatures mean more trips outdoors and more opportunities to spy on neighbors. The humans have more spring in their step when the weather is cooler. I guess they need a change of season too.

Perception

“After scolding one’s cat one looks into its face and is seized by the ugly suspicion that it understood every word. And has filed it for reference.”

– Charlotte Gray

Licensed To Chill

After three full days of holiday exasperation joy, the Skinny Guy and his Artist Chic mate opted to decompress for a couple hours at the movie theater. The happy couple spent two and half hours in semi-reclined seating rating the performance of the new James Bond, one Mr. Daniel Craig.

They found the film to be entertaining, though gravity-defying at times. But, it’s not like they went to the movie expecting a cerebral experience. Nope. The past three days were filled with entirely too much thinking, too much eye covering, too much jaw dropping, and an unrealistic amount of verbal restraint.

While blessed to spend time with loved ones, they are thankful to see the fourth Thursday in November pass.