Morning Story for December 11, 2008

The story of the morning ...

5:20 - Climb off of lofted bed and turn off the first alarm.
5:30 - Turn off second alarm from safety of bed and actually get up.
5:30 - 5:45 - Wait for shower to warm up and then clean up for the day.
6:00 - Cook grits while getting dressed.
6:15 - Eat watery, milky grits and realize, "Less water or more grits next time kiddo".
6:30 - Grab the umbrella and head out for the train. Try to remember lines of two unwritten poems - one about mornings, one about seagulls.
6:45 - Join the early-commuter reading group on the T and arrive at site of possible contract work by ... 7:12 - Go upstairs, say hi to the kind employee who drove me to the hospital for stitches months earlier, and see if there really is work today.

7:15 - The answer is no, no work.

Spend the next fifteen minutes catching up with supervisors.

7:30 - Return to safety and warmth of apartment via train. On the way, reflect on the pink/ purple of the sky earlier, the blue of the sky over the Charles, the way the tent near the shipping docks matches the sky but for the blue and purple lights on the tension-ribbing, the well-fed terrier from the walk home, and the humour behind returning and starting the day again from the usual time : 8:00. Go team.

Clipping Found While Cleaning ...

Frequently while cleaning, I find clippings from magazines, books, and old notebooks with quotes on them. The most recent one I have uncovered is an old Chivas Regal Scotch Whiskey ad ...

"THIS IS THE KEEP YOUR EYES PEELED FOR POLAR BEARS, WHERE THE HELL ARE WE, NOT ON THE GUIDED TOUR LIFE."

Now that I have recorded here online, I don't feel the need to keep the small piece of paper which was once on my bulletin board in a prominent spot. For years. Why did I keep this slogan for so long? Disconnected from the product, the idea is pretty good; the ad is basically describing a take-the-path-less-traveled sort of life style. It is cute that the advertiser is trying to convince the viewer of the correlation between the scotch and such a life-style. I'm not sure if they are saying that you need the scotch in order to live on the edge, or that those who live on the edge drink this scotch. Who wouldn't want to be out fishing on an ice cap like the suave young men featured in the commercial? Right.

Either way, as a young woman who drinks scotch regardless and is more interested in the text than the product ... the idea is still a nice one. Thanks, Chivas.

Artists of Today's Search

In my efforts to find contemporary female painters to whom I should look for guidance and inspiration, I came across Susan Grossman on the DFN Gallery Website. She works with charcoal and pastel. Not the oil painter or a portraitist I was seeking, her work has a livliness and energy which winds out from her limited pallatte to engage me in her detailed city scapes, a helpful lesson nonetheless! Her work does not seem to be photorealist. Instead, she does what I am glad artists can do: expresses something intangible in the snap that a photo would do differently.

Thank you, DFN.

Minuteman Bikeway

Today I rode the Minuteman Bikeway, beginning at its point of intersection with Mass. Ave. and continuing on through to its ending point at Depot Park, Bedford. I nearly suffocated my current young cube within the depths of my backpack. Just before I rode out of our brick girded parking lot though, I thought better of tucking the cube into my bag like an in-animate object. Instead, I strapped him into the elastic webbing of my pack. My ride is better when I know the cube is getting fresh air and is able to enjoy the scenery. Would you blindfold your child and put it into the trunk? No. You would let him or her have the window down and encourage said child to engage with the countryside passing by. Thus is my attitude toward traveling with a cube on board.

The ride was delightful. From seeing kids learning to ride, to smelling that beautiful scent of wet autumn, the path proved a bumpy yet still enjoyable sampling of Northern Massachusetts.