I know this. Every fiber of my being knows this. I have experienced horrible. I know the difference.

Yet, it has been a week. Actually, it has been a couple of weeks of thing after thing.

Starr frowns on complaining, and I try to comply, so I will leave it at that and go do the dishes. At the moment, the dishwasher is still working.

Since “breaking up” with me (Jason commented on that post and said, “You can’t break up with your mom, duh!”…and that appears to be true!!), I have seen Starr every single day. Except for yesterday. We didn’t see each other yesterday.

It felt weird!

What am I going to do when she leaves town?

The Plastics Revolution – “Light Of Day”

I stumbled across this video the other night and it left me happy. Those smiles are contagious!

“Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.”
–Mother Teresa

It’s not my box, but it is Starr’s. A birthday gift from Sookie. The note says:

This box is supposed to be a feel good box that you’ll fill with fun memories and feel good moments. Then, when you feel down, you’re supposed to open it up and feel all better!

Sookie contacted some of Starr’s friends who wrote a few sweet notes to get the memories and good feelings started. Starr said that there were (happy) tears shed when she read the messages. What a great gift!

It is just really sweet, really cute and quite meaningful!

It’s Friday!!

*It’s been a rough week, nothing major or earth shattering, just life bumps!

*It is a beautiful day so far this morning, cool temps, sunshine, gentle breezes, a hay fire just north of town. The smoke is driving my sinuses crazy and is ramping up my headache, so I have closed the house up. It still smells like ashtray. I hope they are able to get it under control and that it doesn’t spread.

*Starr announced the other day that she was breaking up with me. Yep.

Actually, I was relieved. She has been hanging out over here more often than not for the past week as she recovered from Fall Recruitment and a bad cold. I am sure that she just meant that she was planning on spending less time over here and, as much as I love her, that is a good thing!

She said that after class, a friend would be bringing her by to pick up the rest of her things. I told her that she would find her things on the front lawn.

*One of the cats managed to poop on the office door! How? Why? What the…  Seriously?! Hopefully, he hasn’t learned a skill that he intends to use again in the future!!

*Starr called this morning and said, “I know that I broke up with you, but I’m having a little bit of separation anxiety, so I will be over in about 10 minutes…okay?” Turns out she just wanted some kitten love, food and the use of my printer…I feel so used.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend! Here is 22 seconds of cuteness I thought I would pass along:

Kitten Massage Therapy

Read this man’s experience using the iPhone as a blind man. I know that it doesn’t take much to bring tears to my eyes these days, but reading the joy in this post did it for me once again!

My First Week with the iPhone

The other night, however, a very amazing thing happened. I downloaded an app called Color ID. It uses the iPhone’s camera, and speaks names of colors. It must use a table, because each color has an identifier made up of 6 hexadecimal digits. This puts the total at 16777216 colors, and I believe it. Some of them have very surreal names, such as Atomic Orange, Cosmic, Hippie Green, Opium, and Black-White. These names in combination with what feels like a rise in serotonin levels makes for a very psychedelic experience.

I have never experienced this before in my life. I can see some light and color, but just in blurs, and objects don’t really have a color, just light sources. When I first tried it at three o’clock in the morning, I couldn’t figure out why it just reported black. After realizing that the screen curtain also disables the camera, I turned it off, but it still have very dark colors. Then I remembered that you actually need light to see, and it probably couldn’t see much at night. I thought about light sources, and my interview I did for Get Lamp. First, I saw one of my beautiful salt lamps in its various shades of orange, another with its pink and rose colors, and the third kind in glowing pink and red.. I felt stunned.

The next day, I went outside. I looked at the sky. I heard colors such as “Horizon,” “Outer Space,” and many shades of blue and gray. I used color queues to find my pumpkin plants, by looking for the green among the brown and stone. I spent ten minutes looking at my pumpkin plants, with their leaves of green and lemon-ginger. I then roamed my yard, and saw a blue flower. I then found the brown shed, and returned to the gray house. My mind felt blown. I watched the sun set, listening to the colors change as the sky darkened. The next night, I had a conversation with Mom about how the sky looked bluer tonight. Since I can see some light and color, I think hearing the color names can help nudge my perception, and enhance my visual experience. Amazing!

I thought this was too fun not to share:

Performed and choreographed by Suzanne Cleary & Peter Harding
Film by Jonny Reed
Music: Yolanda Be Cool & D Cup ft. Cleary & Harding

Happy Sunday!!

Actually, it is not belated. She made this video on my birthday and showed it to me on her phone as we were walking to dinner that night. She has been just so very busy ever since, that I have been unable to download it off her phone until yesterday. She is sick and spent day crashing on the sofa (poor thing!). A great time to steal her phone and finally grab my video!

The video is glitchy (it was glitchy on her phone too), but it is still sweet. Starr (center, bottom!) and some of her sorority sisters wishing me a happy birthday!

Aren’t they adorable?!

The other day as I was dropping Starr off on campus, she paused before opening the door and said, “I really love this song!”

I smiled.

“Yeah, ‘Mandolin Rain’. It’s true, your daughter likes an easy listening song. Deal with it!!”

And she was gone.

“Mandolin Rain” – Bruce Hornsby and the Range, February 1987

Or possibly cereal, again, if I don’t get my act together today!!!

Cilantro Lime Tacos

• Meat: I am doing chicken today (2 boneless skinless chicken breasts), but steak is good and I was just thinking that pork tenderloin might be good too.
• 1/4 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• 1 tablespoon chopped onion
• Your favorite taco toppings (mine include cheese and sour cream!)
• Soft corn or flour tortillas

In small bowl combine lime, salt and pepper, cilantro and onion. Place meat in a large zip-lock bag and then add the lime mixture. Seal bag and make sure the meat is completely coated with the marinade. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

Grill or sauté the meat to desired doneness…let it rest for a minute then thinly slice and serve on tortillas with toppings!!

Several years ago, five or more, I decided that the pictures and junk that I’d collected on my refrigerator needed to go. I cleaned it all off and was happy with my clutter free fridge. Starr didn’t agree. She said that we needed pictures. That it was homey and the way it should be.

As usual, I caved and looked for a solution that would make both of us happy. I found these little magnetic plastic frames. It was funny, because the magnets just wouldn’t hold the weight of the frame to the fridge. Seriously. I hate it when things don’t work! I had to go out and find some magnetic strips and fix each and every one of those suckers.

For a while, I rotated the pictures regularly. With pictures of Starr and her friends, her siblings, my nephew…it was nice. And she was right!

In the past three years, since the accident, I have made very few changes. Sunny is still there, as is Skye, but they are all old pictures. It has been a comfort. I need to and want to make some changes. It is time.

So here is today’s door:

My goal is to make those changes…and soon!

It’s been a while since I’ve posted music here, though I am still posting music regularly over at my music blog Bourgeois Blue. Today I thought that I would share this song here too:

mp3: “Like the  Wheel” – The Tallest Man on Earth
Buy: Sometimes the Blues is Just a Passing Bird on iTunes
The Tallest Man on Earth-MySpace

Previously posted: The Tallest Man on Earth