So I'll bet you're wondering what I've been so busy with that I haven't had time to write word one here in a whole week. I've been watching the third season of Lost, which Santa brought for Christmas. I can't imagine how this show became a hit on regular tv. While I love watching it on dvd, three eps at a time for a week straight, I can't imagine how it can keep anyone interested one hour a week at a time. As much as I have enjoyed watching the first three seasons, I don't think much about it when I'm finished. It's no Firefly. But it has kept me in thrall this week. I love tv on dvd.
I also got the first season of Weeds. It's funny but bizarre. Mary Louise Parker's character has no moral compass at all. I can easily see a situation in the future where she kills someone and convinces herself that it was the right thing to do, because she 's one of those people who's definition of "right" is "what serves me best". It certainly does make for entertaining television. Elizabeth Perkins is hilarious. Her character is a terrible mother, but she's gonna have to work for it if she wants to be considered alongside the likes of Livia Soprano or Lucille Bluth.
The Golden Globes were this week. I don't pay a whole lot of attention to awards shows but I really felt for the poor schmucks who won this year. How would you like to win your only GG on the year when there was no red carpet, no Joan Rivers, no ridiculous dresses cut down to there, no acceptance speeches and no after parties? That's a Devil's bargain, isn't it? You win a Globe, but no one sees or cares. It worked great for Johnny Depp of course, since he probably wouldn't have shown up anyway. Speaking of Johnny Depp, I no sooner finished Lost than the full series of "Extras" came out. Johnny Depp is not in it. But Orlando Bloom is, and his funniest bit is when he goes off on how gross Johnny Depp is and that everyone on Pirates of the Caribbean thought he (Orlando) was waaay hotter than Depp. Ricky Gervais is a comic genius, no doubt about it. If he never writes another thing, the Office and now Extras should put him in the television hall of fame, if there is such a thing. He deserves a Lifetime Achievement award right now.
While not watching tv, I was at basketball games or working or stuffing envelopes at Josie's school. I happen to be a very good envelope stuffer. It's all about the motions. You break the entire thing down into sections each of which can be accomplished with one or two motions. Then you do the motions as fast as possible. Get both hands and all ten fingers involved, like when typing. It's easiest if you don't have to stuff too many things into one envelope. We had to stuff a folded sheet and a return envelope into the larger envelope, then stick on an address label then seal them.
I think I like it because I can do it without thinking. Just stack and go. Then I like to see how fast I can go without suffering any paper cuts. I think if they had timed me I would've liked that, too. I actually broke a sweat at one point. I only had a few hours to donate so I wanted to really make my time count.
Jay's team won another game. By a lot. It was just the kind of game I like, we were up by thirty at the half. There were friends for me to talk to and I had a new needlepoint to work on. It was great. He's nearing his 500th career win.
I also went out to dinner one night with my mom and sisters. My daughter waited on us. We left her a big tip.
I've been working a ton, which is all good. I worry sometimes that most of my customers are old. Needlepoint is mostly an old ladies hobby, which is sad. It's a very satisfying, therapeutic activity. I think overworked women everywhere would benefit greatly from taking up needlepoint. It's much easier than cross stitch, which you actually have to pay attention to. You really can't do cross stitch while watching tv; you'd mess up. You can't really sew while doing other things either. You can knit but lets face it; knitted goods are frumpy. I don't care how popular it is right now, no one wants a house full of knit crap and you can only use so many mittens. But needlepoint is easy, portable, the hard work (the design) is already done so all you have to do is follow it and you can make the resulting fabric into absolutely anything from key chains to dining room chair cushions, from framed art to rugs. Plus, you can have pieces designed any way you like, you don't have to do ugly floral arrangements or cutesy animals. I love doing needlepoint. Right now I'm working on a purse for my sister Margy. It's from the cover of a book we both love. I'm using silk thread for the background, pearl cotton on the central design and I'm playing with the idea of something funky like metallic or rayon ribbon for parts of it.
So that's what I've been doing this week. I find that once the sun goes down I'm not much use these days. In the summer, when it's light out til 9:30 or 10:00, I can keep going all day but nowadays, with the sun going down by 5:00, I'm done. I've got nothing left. It's frustrating, as there's so much more I want to do every day, but that's the way it is. Turns out I run on solar power.
The sun's just going down right now.
I guess I'm done.
