Relatively Random

Hello all and Happy Labor Day a couple of days late.  I had a lovely, quiet, long weekend and for the most part, the weather was even agreeable.  However, now the weather is being rude and obnoxious again, and I am personally offended.   If it wants to be warm for a few more weeks, that is one thing.  But we are supposed to hit 94 degrees on Friday here, and go past a record from the 1800s.  That is not just annoying, it's also just wrong.  I am not amused.

Also - my allergies have decided that they have been gone too long.  Yesterday I think I went through an entire box of tissues.  Thanks, Obama.

We are getting ready for a vacation trip next week, and I just cannot wait. We will be doing a driving trip through New England, one of my most fave places.  I haven't been anywhere there for so long (not since high school), and The Tim has never been there at all.  We have our trip planned out as far as where we are staying each night, and we have some specific things we want to do/see, but otherwise, we'll be winging it.  When I was a kid, my mother's rich cousin (well, she was rich to us), who she was really close to (they grew up more or less like sisters), would send us a plane ticket every summer to visit her in Boston for two weeks.  While we were there, she would take all of us on amazing day trips to various places.  It was always fun, and compared our normal every day existences, extremely luxurious!  We had originally planned to do this trip last spring, but then our sweet Doodle Dog wasn't doing too well, so we cancelled it.  I would rather have him still here, but since he is not, we're going to hit the road and enjoy ourselves as much as we can.

Anyway, I have random things going through my head, and for better or for worse, feel the need to share.

This story is heartbreaking when you first read it.  However I would like to think that a) the father's last minutes of consciousness were happy ones. and b) that, given time, the daughter will be comforted knowing that the last thing she and her father did together was dance at her wedding.  I'm not saying it's not sad, but it has a bittersweet quality as well.  I would not be surprised to learn I'm the only person who feels this way.

Speaking of thoughts and opinions where I hold the minority view, I have to say that I do not like tattoos, and am actually sick of seeing them everywhere in the universe.  Most people I know both like them and have them, and some of them are really very nice, I just don't "get" it.  Maybe it's because I just don't feel the desire or need to have one.  Also, I'm not a big fan of voluntarily going out of my way to do anything involving needles.  I have had (and probably will still have) plenty of opportunities to spend way too much time with activities involving needles.  Though they do not frighten me, I'm also not a big fan.  It used to be that tattoos were a sign of non-conformity, and frankly I appreciated that concept.  Now they seem to be the ultimate in conformity.   There's a guy who owns a newstand in Center City Philadelphia, who is (from what I can see) completely tattooed - even on his face and bald head.  I always wonder why he took that route.

By the same token, I'm sure if he ever notices me at all (and why would he?), he wonders why I look like such a weird and boring person.  As my mother would say, that's what make horse racing ...

Moving on.

Do you listen to any podcasts?  I have a few that I enjoy, and one the non-craft-related ones I like is this one.  Though Alec Baldwin can be obnoxious in his personal behavior sometimes, I do think he does an excellent job with this podcast.  I enjoy the different types of people he interviews and like that some of them are people who I may otherwise never hear about or know.  Sometimes I'll think to myself, well, I'll listen to the first few minutes, but it probably isn't that interesting, and I end up listening to the entire thing.  You can also go back and listen to shows from the archives, which is nice since there are some I would have loved to heard when they were originally done - one of my favorites was the interview he did with the late Elaine Stritch, who played his character's mother on "30 Rock," and who has always been a favorite of mine.

Your mileage of course may vary.  :-)

That's it for now.  I don't know if I'll post at all while we are gone, but in any case, I'm sure I'll want to report on some of our adventures once we get back.

Take care!