Romance.

The most important lesson a couple will learn in 2013:

Romance can exist between ordinary people who live ordinary lives. 

Kind of a great quote, isn't it? Simple and beautiful. Reminds us all that grand gestures aren't the only things that make up a love story—the little ones are just as significant. I don't even remember on which program I heard it, just that it prompted me to leap from the couch in search of a pen, and then scribble fiendishly on a used Post-It Note. You know, much like any other day.

Falling into Autumn

I  hardly need share my inherent love of autumn, or of fall and fired foliage; yet,  I leave it to a poet more refined to herald the artful entry of the season.

 

October

By Robert Frost
 

O hushed October morning mild,

Thy leaves have ripened to the fall;

Tomorrow’s wind, if it be wild,

Should waste them all.

The crows above the forest call;

Tomorrow they may form and go.

O hushed October morning mild,

Begin the hours of this day slow.

Make the day seem to us less brief.

Hearts not averse to being beguiled,

Beguile us in the way you know.

Release one leaf at break of day;

At noon release another leaf;

One from our trees, one far away.

Retard the sun with gentle mist;

Enchant the land with amethyst.

Slow, slow!

For the grapes’ sake, if they were all,

Whose leaves already are burnt with frost,

Whose clustered fruit must else be lost—

For the grapes’ sake along the wall.

Obituaries CAN can be inspiring

I won't apologize for a brief absence in the blogging world--trust me, my excuses would make you bow down to me and revel in my ability to multi-task over a 3 month period. You might even give me a title. I will accept it--hands waving Miss Universe style, a brilliant smile on my very stressed out face!

But, enough of that. I have to share a little link with the world. READ Mr. Patterson's Tale.

Before you all consider me morbid, READ the obituary all the way through. He wrote his own goodbye to the world; he took the time to reminisce over his youthful pranks, he honored his wife, and well...he inspired me to remember that life is a blessing full of seemingly "random" accidents that shape a person's journey. If there was ever proof of a life well laid and well used, it's this little memoir. I like to exaggerate the obit in my head to something like this Big Fish reminiscent montage:

A-ragged-smiling-man-with-his-life-used-up-to-the-point-of-exhaustion-dressed-in-rags-and-tatters-coming-into-town-on-a-60 MPH-motorcycle-with-a-parade-of-cheering-strangers-there-to-greet-him-and-his-pathos-with-lofty-orchestral-music-in-the-background.

 Nice, right? Am I dramatic. Of course! I like it that way. 

Ultimately, this is a story that shows us that if we can laugh at those "random" accidents, and get away with a few BIG mistakes along the way, those experiences will be all the better ingredients for crafting a truly personal legacy. So, maybe we should stop stressing at our youthful age and just get into a little trouble?

Geeking Out on a Weekday

Unless you get to live your life in those hallowed halls of Cambridge's Special Collections library--frolicking among the manuscripts on vellum of Beowulf, and possibly gazing through glass at the hand written letters of Charles Dickens--then you probably don't understand my frequent need to simply "geek out" over literature.

Who does really?

My mother thinks I am insane. I think she is right, but that has no relevance to this post.

This post is to pay homage to a beautifully crafted sentiment. A book I stumbled upon (and which I have later learned is WELL appreciated by the international reading community), houses this great line. This line to lead all others! Yeah, sorry Tolkein. My bad. I won't poorly commandeer anymore of your writing. Promise! ::fingers crossed::

Taken from The Geurnsey Literary & Potatoe Peel Pie Society, the now deceased Mary Ann Shaffer brilliantly put into words what all book lovers have instinctually felt since picking The Cat in the Hat. All I can say is "Amen."

Perhaps there is some secret sort of homing device in books that brings them to their perfect readers... 

Santa Baby...I want some Chalkboard Paint!

Today's post is brought to you out of absurdity. And tradition. Mostly absurdity.

You know how it is: you visit friends, speech gets twisted, things are said out of context, you say something horribly embarrassing and off color and it haunts you for a year. Which of course means your friends also coined some ridiculous phrases, but  YOU don't remember them. Why? Why so unprepared! I have a solution!

Need to write something down? Do it on the WALL!

QUOTE WALL. 

Yeah, yeah. Quote boards are popular, and part of the tradition I mentioned earlier. I once bought a poster board on day #1 of a 2 week trip to Minnesota, and by the end we were cramming things to fit on there. Accidental innuendos spurred on by pulling all-night talk sessions ::cough, cough:: or wine....Anyways, it has since been laminated and is living in someone's closet. For a reunion maybe. Where we will laugh at ourselves. I heartily recommend the practice.

Well, fabulously creative phrases, and accidents, and sometimes poor comebacks just seem to "POOF!" into existence in my house. And I need a quote board. I know, "Don't you have an expo board for that!? I mean you are obsessed!" Well, no. Because, by definition Expo-topia is organized. And my quote wall should be anything but. ::petulantly sticks out her tongue::

When Sisterita and I were kids, my DAD actually brought home a 4x6 ft chalkboard. Sisterita loved it. I think she still laments its loss in the house sale. My point is, I got curious and decided to look into buying a chalkboard for capturing the quotes and fun and silly sayings! But...I discovered CHALKBOARD PAINT. The flexibility! The options! The stylish nature of it! I mean LOOK what I found!

Have a new obsession with Greek architecture? DONE.

Want to let your dinner party know the menu for the evening? Hell, they could rate it! 

Or, if you are a vampire and can't abide mirrors?

What if you have your own Wilson, you know from Home Improvement?

 Only your neighbor is mute. And mysterious... Probably anti-hero seductive. Well, now he can leave you notes. On the fence. In a gloomier garden, of course. More wild ivy, less sandalwood furniture.

The one I couldn't find: the one by the "facilities." I mean, how much easier would like for dive bar owners be if they painted stalls with chalk paint that they could wash, vs replacing metal doors vandalized by drunken, vindictive exes? You know I am right. I should invent that.

So, Santa...how about some Chalkboard Paint? I have been downright noble this year. Let's make it happen.