Nothing

Yep, I've got nothing. I've spent two mornings now in the planetarium, and it tends to do away with a person's brain a little bit.

I've got a little more voice left than I thought I was going to have, thank goodness, but I'm still trying to keep things pretty quiet so that I don't end up causing myself damage.

So... um... oh. Today's pointless photo. A kukui nut lei from one of our visits to Hawaii.

I like Hawaii.

Kind of wish I was in Hawaii right now, in fact.

I really have nothing to say about this picture, to be honest. The lei hangs in my closet at my father's house. I like it. I'm not sure why I like it, but I like it. I'm occasionally tempted to wear it to work for no reason at all, but I haven't got around to that yet. I probably will at some point.

There's a tourist-style cheap grass skirt in my closet at Dad's, too. Different trip to Hawaii. I was about twelve, I think.

I'm kind of embarrassed to say this, but the grass skirt's been worn. By me. On stage. For a church concert.

I wore shorts underneath, though.

I'm sure you're all relieved to hear that.




Did I mention that the planetarium fan tends to suck a person's brain out? Oh, good. I'm glad something will explain this nonsense.



I'm going to stop typing now before I start telling you about some of the other things I have from Hawaii.







Kind of wish I was in Hawaii right now...

Two down...

Well, it was -23C as I was scraping my car windows to get to work this morning. By the time I got here my hands had reacted, so the first half-hour or so of set-up was fanTAStic. What a stupid country to live in if you're allergic to the cold...

Anyway. Ooo, a bit early for anyways, isn't it? How about an at any rate, instead? At any rate, the morning was ok if way too early, but my voice is showing the effects of two hours of shouting over the planetarium fan. I'm taking it easy now in hopes of having enough voice for tomorrow morning, and it sounds like my coworker can take over tomorrow evening. And someday? Someday I'll get over this cold.

Just in time for the next one, no doubt.

Ah well. Since my mood isn't nearly as bad as I thought it might be after all of that, I guess I'll continue with this post at least long enough to give a bit of explanation to the pointless photo. The weekend's snow reminded me just how much I hate taking photos of winter (yes, I know that many of you think it's pretty. Go with that, then. Doesn't mean that I have to, and since it's my blog...). The problem, then, is that not taking photos of winter means I have very little else to take photos of. That's when random weird shots of things around the house start to happen. Sometimes I can come up with a post to go with them; sometimes not so much.

I have nothing for vacuum hoses, in case you haven't already guessed.

Sometimes the random shots just become a running gag. I took a series of bad wristwatch pun photos years ago. Come to think of it, they were on the other blog and have since been deleted. Might be time for a return of the watches...

Anyway (this time for real). All I'm trying to say is that if the pictures in the next while seem even less than inspired, blame the white stuff out there. Tell it to be spring already, and I'll take better shots.

In the meantime, I'll be trying every singer's trick I know to try to have some voice back for tomorrow. Wish me luck on that one, because I'll definitely need it.

Well, here's yer snow...

Sigh. That's what fifteen-to-twenty (never did hear the final tally for this area) cm looks like. And below you'll see the tracks I left when I came out to take the photo.

Doesn't exactly put me in the best frame of mind.

Well, that, and that fact that my head still isn't working right, which is why I stayed an extra night at my father's place rather than drive back yesterday. No choice today, though, although I'm very seriously wondering how I'm going to deal with tomorrow's early morning, cold, and double planetarium when I'm not sure if either my voice or my brain will be working.

And did I mention cold? Yeah. -26C this morning, apparently. It's supposed to warm up (in fact, I'm planning to wait until it warms up at least a half-dozen degrees more before I leave. Hear me, temperature?), but tomorrow morning's supposed to be below -20C again. Hmmm. Non-working head, non-working voice, early morning, and likely hives from the cold? Sounds like tomorrow's going to be freaking AMAZING.

I may not bother to blog. You probably won't want to be bothered with my mood if I do.

Anyway, that's all I've got for today. Time to go find some lunch, and then convince myself at some point this afternoon to hit the road.

Oh, one other thing. Oscars? Boring. Clothes? Needed colour. Guys? For the most part ok (I love you and your smoking jacket, Christopher Plummer!), but a few of you still need the bow tie lesson. But at least I've already found two different websites diametrically opposed to each other in their picks for best and worst dressed, which is all I really look for after an awards ceremony to make me happy. I get sort of an unreasonable thrill when one so-called expert picks a best that is absolutely another's worst. Shows how absurd the whole thing really is, and I like that sort of absurdity.

Empty cards and condiment loyalty

The two aren't related, if you wondered. They're two separate topics that I'm going to blather briefly about. Yep, two topics on a blog that doesn't usually have any. What can I say? Even I can recognise when my material is so thin that it needs a hand.

Condiments first, then. I read a thing on generics and brand-name loyalty the other day, the gist of which was that for most things the generic or store brand is just as good as the advertised brand, as hard as it is to convince the average consumer otherwise. I wasn't terribly surprised. With very few exceptions I'm willing to buy generic, but that's not because I'm too good to be won over by ad campaigns or anything snooty like that. It's because I'm cheap, and I admit it. I'm generally willing to give almost any generic product at least one try before I shell out for the more expensive item. There are a few time that I lose out that way, but overall not very often. Generics make sense in my brain.

Except when we get to condiments. I'm realising I'm pretty weird about condiments.

I use the same name brand ketchup I grew up with, even though I'm probably paying too much for it. Aren't other ketchups just as good? Dunno. Haven't tried them. My father currently has a different brand of mustard than my usual. He bought it for me since he doesn't generally use it. It tastes fine. Nothing wrong with it at all. Would I buy it for myself? No. It's not my brand of mustard.

Defies logic, doesn't it? Yep, and I know it.

I know it, and yet it's one of the few areas of my shopping life that I'm stubborn about. I use the same name brand worcestershire sauce that I've used for years, and if the store was out of it I'd wait until they got more rather than buy another type. Same goes for soy sauce. And hot sauce... no, wait. I take that one back. I'm willing to try other hot sauces, really. It's just that I don't go through humongous gobs of the stuff (I tend to add heat to the cooking, rather than on top afterwards) so I end up using the same bottle for a while. Buying the same one again after that is probably more reflex than anything. Point me to a different one that I don't have to pay an arm and a leg for, and I'll give it a go.

I suppose a person could say that we look for very specific tastes in our condiments, and I think that's probably true. Still, it says something for old habit that even a cheapy like me doesn't look for alternatives when it comes to the added dash of flavour, don't you think?

----------

And now, cards. What you see in today's pointless photo above is a package of Artist Trading Cards, otherwise known as ATCs. As you might guess, they're traded amongst artists and their friends, and occasionally also sold. They come blank, if that part wasn't obvious, and you make your own art on them. I took the picture on the keyboard just to give you an idea of the size of them.

Not terribly big, right? Shouldn't be much of a problem to do some little doodles. Then why are mine still empty?

I got this package as part of my annual Christmas habit-enabling gift card to the art store (ah yes. What would life be without enablers? In my case, less fun), and it's been sitting around unused ever since. It's not unopened -- I've felt up the different papers, yes, because that's a usual thing for me -- but it hasn't seen a hint of a pen or paint or anything.

Something about them has blocked me, I guess.

So here's the deal: tell me what to do. Suggest things. Drop me a comment or an e-mail. Or here's a thought... do you want one? Would you like me to send you an ATC for some reason? Then TELL ME. Maybe it'll help me get off my artistic arse and start doing something about these bloody cards.

As you can tell, it's starting to bug me a bit.

Ah well. If you want to help, drop me a line. If you want to do it by e-mail rather than comment, there's an address on the sidebar of the other blog. Just scroll down a bit and you'll find it.





Jeez, I hate it when my brain goes weird on things for no reason.

The single cat

Before I get to today's topic (ack! An actual topic?), let me present this almost-not-pointless shot hot off the camera. It's Huff the Car starring in What It Looks Like Outside Right Now.

And anyone who's read this blog more than a handful of times knows that what it looks like outside right now doesn't especially make me happy.

The snow's falling (you'll have to click on the picture to see the snow), the wind's supposed to be hitting gusts of 50 km/h later, and they still say that we're in for 10 - 20 cm in all. And me? I'm planning to stay indoors for the most part, unless I get absolutely convinced somehow that the world needs more pointless outdoor photography.

It'll take a fair amount of convincing.

Although...

I should probably at least take another shot of the car later on in the day to keep you up to date on the accumulation, shouldn't I? Call it the Car-O-Meter of snowfall, I guess.

----------

So, back to the cat. I'm sure one or two of my two fans might have been wondering how Max the Cat is getting along since Penny died. I wouldn't blame you for wondering. We got them within a couple of weeks of each other, they grew up together, and (what with the dog and Penny both gone now) it's the first time in his life he's been an only pet.

We're not counting the fish here, of course. Fish count as decor in my book, not pets.

And how's he doing, then?

Surprisingly all right. He was always a people cat, and now he's... well... let's say constantly a people cat. When he's not wrapping himself up in the bedsheets like he is in the photo he's generally with my father. Or with me when I'm here, but Dad's always been his first choice and that hasn't changed.

Max is a big suck, is what I'm saying.

He probably misses cuddling up to Penny on the bed (she was never given a choice as to whether she was cuddling up to him. He's a bit insistent), but he's not showing much sign of pining.

What he is showing signs of (as you'll notice in the picture, now that I'm mentioning it) is grease.

Apparently there was a lot more mutual grooming between the two cats than I was aware of, because Max is well on his way to becoming the oiliest cat you've ever seen. He's healthy-looking for an old cat otherwise; just greasy is all. I think I might try a dry shampoo at some point this weekend. I've been looking up home recipes, and it sounds pretty simple as long as the cat will put up with it. Who knew you could wash a cat with warmed bran or corn starch?

Do you suppose you could wash a person with warmed bran or corn starch?



Erm, just wondering on the last one. I'm not planning on giving up bathing any time soon. Still, it could be handy for the hair in a pinch if it works, right? And cheaper than the store-bought stuff, for sure.

Aaanyway. Like I was saying, the cat's fine. And old. And it'll be pretty sad when it's his time to go, but hopefully we'll have him around for a while yet.

And hopefully we'll be able to degreasify him as well at some point.

Pointless photo of the day:

To be honest, I've been busy enough working at work (I know. Shocking.) that I haven't really had time to think of a post. So here's a bird garbage pile. You're welcome.

I need to get out and take some more photos, really, but it sounds like this weekend will only be good for polar-bear-in-a-blizzard type shots. We're expecting a storm, boys and girls, and I have to say that it makes me a little sad. This has been a reasonably mild winter overall, true, but it's the end of February and that means we've hit the time of the year when even the people who like snow are wondering if we really need a new 10 - 15 cm.

Or maybe I'd just like to think that. Personally, I know we don't need another 10 - 15 cm.

I'd say it puts me in a bit of a funk (and no doubt by tomorrow it will have), but at the moment I'm working on my first real night's sleep in a while so I'm in no hurry for my mood to be funkified. Erm, so to speak.

It says a sad thing about my life, though, that when I woke up this morning I was thrilled to have slept in. All the way to 5 am... sigh. I miss the days of being a night owl. I know I've said this before, but it used to be that in the times when I wasn't working -- and my job used to be seasonal, so there were lots of times when I wasn't working -- I'd stay up until 2 am and sleep until about 10 am. It was fantastic. I used to do silly things like watch infomercials while I was baking. At midnight. No, I'm serious. We had no all-night grocery stores at the time, but if we had I would have loved visiting them even if it was just for the people watching.

I used to drive out in the country in the middle of the night to watch meteor showers. If I did that now I'd have to plan on getting nothing done for a day or two after, because my stupid brain's decided that it likes 4 am. It wouldn't matter if I went to bed at 3; my brain likes 4 so we (me 'n alllllllll the voices) would be up at 4.

It sucks.

Ah well. It seems to be what I'm stuck with at the moment. Obviously things can change since they changed for me, but I'm not counting on it happening any time soon. 4 am it is, or 5 on a good day. And lots of complaining about it...

You're welcome.




Well hey, if it wasn't for complaining this blog would be about less than nothing. Right?

Ow. Brain.

Pretty sure this is going to be a nothing post. I had a fairly rough night for sleeping (which is going to make this afternoon's program especially interesting), and my computer sounds like it's planning to blow up.

Ok, not really for the last part. It has a fan that occasionally likes to sound like lift-off, and it took me by surprise just now because it hasn't done that for a while. Guess we'll be taking it apart again at some point.

It's kind of disturbing to a disturbed brain, though.

Let me illustrate how tired I am right now.

I came in this morning, told Wheat that I was mostly sleepless and apologised for any resulting mood, tried to open up an envelope, sliced my knuckle open, bled, fished out a bandage from the drawer (yeah, I'm bandaged up often enough that I keep my own supply. No point in constantly running to the first aid kit), put the bandage on, and then proceeded to try to jam my pinkie ring back on over the bandage. I did realise at some point that I was cutting off my circulation, and then had a heck of a time pulling the ring back over the bandage.

At which point Wheat, who'd been watching the whole thing, informed me that he was totally not laughing at me...

Sigh.

And I somehow have to manage to both walk AND talk in about an hour's time. This ought to be entertaining.

Hopefully in a good way.

Anyway, that's all you're getting from me at the moment. We'll try again tomorrow, assuming that more sleep happens.







And assuming that I haven't tried to cut off any other body parts with envelopes.

Losing my Latin

Forgive today's pointless doodle. I know the arty things usually go to the other blog, but in this case I'm having a bit of a laugh with myself. You see, this is one of the exercises from an art program for the DS that I got on a whim with my points. It just seems funny to me that I'm making "art" on a what? 2 x 2 1/2" screen on a video game console?

Ah well. Maybe it'll be able to teach me how to paint. I've certainly not had much luck trying to teach myself.

----------

Now, to today's title. Further to my botanical thoughts from yesterday (oh! Should I throw out a few pointless botany terms before I go on? Ok, let me see... how about diadelphous? Glabrous? Acuminate? All perfectly good words in the world of plants), I ended up back in the more comfortable world of zoology last night when I was trying to come up with something for this week's Illustration Friday prompt.

The word was fluid. So what would you expect to do from that? Raindrops, maybe? Cocktails would have been all right. A lake would've done. Me? I drew blood vessels.

Yeah, yeah, I know. Look up the reason here if you're desperate to. I'm not going to type it twice.

Once I got on the track of arteries, I needed some reference material. Oddly enough, I don't carry around the structures of the body in my head anymore. There was a time when I could have made at least a rough sketch of the major vessels from memory, but that was a lot of years ago and (again, oddly enough) I don't do much dissection these days. Or any at all, really. That is, unless you count taking apart a pork roast to fit it into the slow cooker.

I make pretty decent pulled pork, you know.

Where was I? Oh yeah, reference material. And after the pulled pork thing, my crab salad sandwich really isn't going to cut it for lunch.

Anyway, I started flipping through my old dissection manuals looking for a likely subject. And yes, I do realise that some of you are officially grossed out by the fact that I kept my old dissection manuals, but hey. I'm in the nature business, remember? Occasionally they come in handy if someone's brought in a random bone or something for identification. And they don't stink of formalin anymore. Well, not much, anyway. The random staining would probably be disturbing to a lot of people, but...

Sorry. I'm distracting myself. My head's still not working quite right, which is part of the reason for last night's arterial extravaganza. I had a couple of other ideas, but I didn't think I'd be able to get my brain around them.

Back to topic. Obviously there's going to be a lot of terminology in an anatomy book. It's more comfortable terminology to me than the botany stuff, but these days I have to pause and think about some of those words to get the hamster wheel going, if you know what I mean. I can't exactly rattle them off like I used to be able to.

Which makes the notes kind of fascinating, in a weird way.

I took notes in my lab manuals, you see. It was easier to scribble in the margins (and all over the covers for the longer stuff) than to take out another notebook. Which, to be honest, probably would have just gained a bunch of all-too-identifiable stains. Better to keep that to the one book, right?

The notes and drawings are in my handwriting, of course. Reading them now, though, makes me feel a little like I have a split personality. Somebody was able to spell those twenty-letter words (only slightly exaggerating there). Somebody had all the muscles in a cat's neck and shoulder memorised. It sure the heck wasn't me.

Not anymore, at any rate. And incidentally, flipping through that cat book reminded me just how oddly braided a cat's shoulder muscles look. It's amazing. You should look it up. Or I will, if you like. That'll save you all the pictures of actual dead cats stretched out on dissection trays.

You're welcome.

Anyway, I know that I'm not the only one who could look back at old university notes -- I don't care what subject -- and be slightly astonished at how much I knew when I was intensively having to know. Do I know less now? No, I don't think so. I know different. I'm not in a lab every day, so I don't use the lab stuff much. Ask me how much I would have known about the wildlife in an aspen forest back in university, though. Not nearly as much as I know now. Back then I was learning how to be a specialist; today I have to know how to be a generalist.

I'm good with how things turned out. Still sometimes miss the labs, though. Even the formalin. And I never thought I'd say that.

----------

Just a note for anyone who's disgusted by the talk of dissection in both of today's blog posts: I studied zoology. Dissection was a vital part of learning anatomy. It always will be, no matter how good computer simulation gets. To really understand how a body works you have to do more than just stare at a screen. You have to be able to touch, feel, see how things move... and compare them with other things. You really do, and I wouldn't trade my anatomical training for anything.

Having said that, though, I'm going to say something that might surprise you: I'd like to see dissection taken out of high school biology courses. Seriously. On a practical note, the bulk specimens they buy are usually crap and you can't see anything anyway. On a moral (if you will) note, it's pointless to kill a bunch of animals when the vast majority of kids who take biology will never do a thing with it once they're out of school. So how do you teach the few who will use it about anatomy? That's the place for computer and plastic models. I don't deny at all that they're a great place to start, and that's how it should be done for beginners. Anything else is just the gross-out factor of having a group of kids cut open a dead thing, and that's a stupid and pointless waste.

Um.

Thus endeth the lecture?

I have to get back to work now.

Well hi, blog.

I, um, haven't been around this week.

You probably noticed that, though.

Anyway (yes, anyway this early), as is usual when I haven't been around for a bit I have a fair amount to catch up on, so I should continue doing that. One thing, though:

I've had to sift through a couple of botany papers this morning for something I'm putting together for the newsletter, and I seem to be losing my Latin. Has anyone out there seen it?

What I mean is, I'm far enough removed from school now that trying to read some of these scientific papers really is starting to get to be like reading a foreign language. I wasn't never a botanist to begin with, you'll remember, but I have enough botany courses that I could generally make some sort of sense out of botany terminology. Today, though? I had to look up cleistogamy. And chasmogamy, for that matter.

And now you do too, if you're at all curious, because I'm not going to link to them.

I get that way sometimes, when I haven't been around for a bit.






Later, then. Maybe even with more botanical terms, if I'm feeling cruel or something.

Pointless photo of the day:

Having a bit of a headachy day but don't feel like whinging about it (for a change. Yeah, I know), so I think I'll just pass on the blatherage for today if nobody minds.

And since I get the only vote on whether anyone minds...

----------

Sad news about Whitney Houston. I can't say that I was ever a huge fan (and to be honest, there's one hit in particular that can send me running from the room. No point in saying which, though), but she was undoubtedly talented and it's always too bad to see someone like that not make it through.

Funny money

I'm sorry, but today's photo isn't pointless. I'll do better in the future, I promise.

I mentioned a few days ago that Dirty Moe finally found a new home (my father's been keeping me abreast of its travels around town, which I kind of think is funny). The fellow who bought it paid cash -- yeah, that surprised me too -- so since I've only just this weekend managed to make it into town (and not yet to the bank) I currently have more of these fellows to the left on hand than I'm used to.

Boy, is that an understatement.

As you can see, it's not all about the Benjamins here in Canada. That'd be kind of weird, seeing as Mr. Franklin doesn't have a whole lot to do with our north-of-the-border history. Unless you count the United Empire Loyalists having to leave after the Revolution, I suppose.

The fellow you're seeing in the photo is Prime Minister Borden, whom I'm just going to link to because I don't want to turn this into a Canadian history lesson. And... um... frankly, I don't remember too much about him. In fact, I'll probably go back to that link later and read it myself. He's been on the hundred for quite a while now (how long? Well, why not make this a completely linky post? Read this, if you're totally into the history of banknotes. I understand that there are people out there like that), but he's wearing a fairly different face these days.

It's the first of our new funny money, you see.

Funny money, Dee? Yep. I know that the Americans already like to kid us for our "Monopoly money", but this is funny money on a different scale. Like Australia (who've had it for years) and Mexico, we've started going polymer.

It's plastic money.

It's... different. I'm not against it at all -- not a monetary preservationist, me -- but it's definitely different. It looks different, it feels different, and it's going to act differently. It'll last a lot longer, true, but I can't help but think that it'll be a pain in the youknow for businesses for at least a while. Think of all the bank machines and counting machines that will have to be recalibrated. And for smaller businesses? Well, handling the Dirty Moe stack has shown me that (at least when it's brand new) it may cause one pretty significant problem.

Static.

It sticks together.

Not a great thing when you're dealing with stacks of hundreds. Or stacks of any denomination, for that matter.

Ah well. Not really my problem to deal with in the end. And I'm sure that by the time they roll out the new twenties (this is happening in stages. Hundreds last year, fifties next month, and twenties... sometime. I can't remember) they'll have most of the kinks worked out.

As I said above, I have no problem with new money. My mother, on the other hand, did. Or maybe she just got nostalgic, I don't know. When I was a kid she had a whole piggy bank full of silver dimes that she'd saved when the Mint stopped making them out of silver. When loonies (for those not in the know, our dollar coin has a loon -- the bird -- on it. Led to an inevitable nickname) came in, she collected one dollar bills until they were gone. Same thing for two dollar bills, when the toonie (sigh. We're so original with our nicknames.  Could have been worse, though. The two dollar coin has a polar bear on it. Beary, then? At the time, some suggested that it should be a Moonie, since it had the Queen on the front and a bear behind...) was launched.

I don't suppose she'd be collecting hundreds now, though. Gets a bit expensive.

Anyway. Which, as my two fans know, means that this post is wrapping up. I'll be saying goodbye to the Sir Roberts soon, since they're much more use to me in their electronic form these days than in all of their plastic glory. It was kind of neat to have met him, though.

I wonder if I'll be feeling the same by the time I'm carrying plastic Queens in my wallet?

I'm just going to post random links from our twitter feeds today, ok?

Picture says: I'm too full of winter.

Head says: I'm too full of snot to think.

Title of post says: pretty much everything. I don't want to think of a post, so let me show you what other people are posting. This'll be a combination of feeds we follow with the work account and feeds I follow personally. Just so you know. Here we go:

Via @Earth_News: The Telegraph's animal pictures of the week. I generally have a look (oddly enough, weekly). Sometimes a bit too heavy on the cute for my tastes, but there's often a few really great shots in there.

Via @artrubicon: An artist's self-portraits of his decline from Alzheimer's disease. Just wow on this one.

Via @stephenfry: Well, first, you'd have to guess that I'd be among his what? five billion followers, now? Remembering the Hedge Sketch. This is seriously one of my favourite sketches. And I know I've posted it before, but watch it again anyway.

Via @BigMorningBuzz: Or via damned near anyone, seeing as it's the very definition of viral right now... OK Go does weird percussive things with a car. And abuses a fair number of pianos in the process.

And finally, one from me:

Not a link, no. And an old photo that I'm sure I've posted before.

There won't be any more now, though.

Bye, Lumpy.

Bonus post

Question, since I decided to check my stats after I posted today's blather: why do you suppose it is that someone manged to get to this blog by using the search term squirrel testicles?

I wonder if I've been doing this too long...

The blowing of the nose

Today's pointless photo is not of my nose (or of the blowing thereof). You're welcome.

Sorry for the unexpected absence this week. I mean, I was expecting to not blog on the weekend, but I wasn't expecting to wake up on Saturday with a throat raw enough to be worried about strep. It's not strep, if anyone was psychic (or psycho) enough to be worrying with me. It's very obvious from the sinus headache (AND THE BLOWING OF THE NOSE) at this point that I have a cold.

Again.

Well, come to think of it this might actually be my first cold of the new year (and I made it all the way into February? That'd be shocking), but still. Why the bloody nose hell whatever do I have to catch every single cold that comes along?

Almost makes me think that I like colds. I don't, but it could almost make me believe that I'm somehow subconsciously seeking colds out.

Ah well. What can a person do but work from home for a couple of days in the hopes that this might decide to be a short cold (is there such a thing?) and then give up and come in to work to cough (and blow the nose) instead?  My head's kind of wishing that I'd thought of a third option, to be honest, but you've all had colds so I don't think I have to continue to the point where I'm starting to describe the joys of snot.

You're welcome, again.

I don't really have a topic for this post, in case you haven't quite figured that out yet.



Is it time for an anyway?





Yeah, I think so. Type at you tomorrow, if I can find my way through the mucous.

I love a piano?

We have a piano at work now.

Every nature centre needs a piano, right?

Actually, my boss has wanted one for a while, and it'll get used. We have several people on staff who play, and members of the public are welcome to give it a go as well (google public piano or something like that, and you'll probably find instances of street pianos or pianos in other public places. Consider it art, if you like). We also often have functions that would probably be enhanced by music.

As for me, I'm... thrilled? No, that's not quite right.

I'm...

um...

I suppose indifferent might be a good word.

And why the indifference, Dee? You like music. You play the piano. You used to teach singing, for Whomever's sake. Why wouldn't you be excited at the prospect of sharing your talent with all and sundry?

For precisely that reason, actually. All and sundry. I don't like playing for all and sundry.

It makes me very nervous.

The fact is, I'm a nervous pianist, and not exactly a great one. I have small hands, I'm not good at faking a tune (very manuscript-bound, me, when it comes to anything but singing), and I really don't like playing when it comes to playing for anyone but myself.

All good qualities when it comes to rattling off a tune in the workplace, no?

I haven't touched the piano yet.



Ok, I've touched it. I opened the lid. And I moved the bench over a bit.

Yep.

Will I touch the piano?









Oh, probably. At some point. If there's very little chance that anyone's paying attention. Like, maybe when the building's closed, or when I'm waiting for an evening group and no one's arrived yet. Otherwise?

Well...

Does it count to admire it from afar?









sigh

Things I've been doing today instead of posting:

1. Trying to figure out what to do with a group of jiffers.

2. Eating wasabi peas.

3. Cleaning out my sinuses (see above).

4. Watching Wheat's slanted commuting video. Literally slanted, not politically slanted. Although, since he's on a bike in winter some may find a political slant of some sort implied, I suppose.

5. Looking for something to tweet in regards to World Wetlands Day (which is, in my opinion, inherently much more important than some pointless groundhog something or other).

6. Buying muffin tops. Actually, that should be first on the list since I did it on the way to work. I'm too lazy to redo the list, though. And what are muffin tops? The best part of the muffin, of course.

7. Eating a mayonnaise and mustard sandwich with occasional pieces of chicken and lettuce. I think the store deli overdid it a bit on the dressing today. Serves me right for being too lazy to make my own lunch, though.

8. Getting ready for this afternoon's program. Or I will be, once I'm done typing this nonsense.

9. Answering texts. They were work-related, however. No, seriously. They actually were. Office procedures have changed a fair bit since I first started here, now that I think of it.



Doesn't sound like much of a morning, now that I've put it in writing. Ah well. Back to the (apparently) non-grind for me, then. Oh, and for you fans of Dirty Moe? My father tells me that it's no longer a part of my life, for which my bank balance is thankful. Or will be, when I get the chance to go in and pick up the cash...

Should Dirty Moe be getting a better requiem than that, do you think? Is anyone feeling nostalgic, all of a sudden? Then maybe I should remind you that IT'S A CAR. And a car that's been sitting in my father's driveway for far too long now. I was beginning to think that we wouldn't get rid of it until spring, but I'm happy to be wrong this time around.

So.

Um, yeah. Done typing now, it seems.

Pointless photo of the day:

Yeah, I don't really have anything today. Well, I do have a headache because my neck's been kind of (more than kind of, but you don't want the gory details) screwed up the past couple of days. I don't need to blather about a headache, though. You've heard it often enough.

So... I guess that's it for today then, all right? All right with me, at any rate, and since I'm the one doing the typing...