Spend More Time Living

Thursday morning Baxter's barking woke me at 5AM which I took for a sign that I should go somewhere early. Packing my things quickly, I got on I-4 intending to head for New Smyrna Beach. I didn't make it that far. Not because of any problems, but while driving I had an idea about catching the sunrise under the St. Johns River bridge near Sanford. I got impatient. I got back in the car and drove along Lake Monroe, pulling the Honda over to catch the sunrise between palm trees. Running across the road into the grassy area alongside the lake, I was swarmed by bugs. When I returned to the car this is what it looked like:

My body looked like the side of the car! For a nice change, at least they didn't bite.

So here's the sunrise in full glory:

Alert readers may notice I said above that I wanted to get the sunrise between palm trees; the one with the old dock posts turned out better. Maybe a little less cliche?

I walked around the marina, got gas and headed home. By now it was getting warm--not so horrible as the previous week, but warm by most people's standards. While driving I saw a billboard with today's blog tile. It was for a local hospital which most days I'd start ranting about, today, however, I will spare you that sermon. In any case, I thought how ambiguous it is. What the heck does spend more time living mean? Isn't that most people's goal anyway? I mean really.

Still fussing about that in my mind, later on that afternoon I learned of Farah Fawcett's death. Yes, she tried to spend more time living, but unfortunately she was denied. The same with Michael Jackson. By now we've learned that MJ's death is under suspicion which is a shame. Aren't you glad you're not a celebrity? Aren't you glad no one follows your every move? What a weird life that must be. I wonder what drives people to strive for that kind of fame?

Speaking of fame, I read a small piece in the Times yesterday afternoon about Susan Boyle regarding her meteoric rise to fame. We all know how she's been affected; I expect never in her wildest dreams did she imagine what's happened to her. I love her voice, and her story, of course, I've always been a sucker for the underdog.

Saturday afternoon, Bruce's mom came over to spend the night before an early morning flight to New York. Her brother in law passed away, the second time this year she's gone up North for a funeral. It must be horrible to lose all the people you've known all your life. Bruce took her at 6 in the morning, worrying until he'd heard she'd arrived safely. Her knee was bothering her terribly, you know how big terminals are. Frazzled, but safe, she called to let him know she'd made it.

We spent the evening looking at one of the old photo albums my dad made. We were both amazed at the condition of some of the photos dating back as far as 1901. Still very sharp compared to some in the next album we looked at. Amazingly, photos from our early days together in the late 60's and early 70's are faded. I'd not looked at those for quite a while--a little trip down memory lane--our high school graduation, prom, the bike Bruce bought for me with lawn mowing money, our first Christmas tree....you get the picture. I think our story has been mighty good.

The Weekend

Craigslist Defense
During our dinner out with Bruce's mom and Judy and Cris I told them about Craigslist. Funny that this article should appear today. Essentially I mentioned that it works like a charm and it was putting a strain on the daily newspaper's advertising revenue. Craig has something to say about that. The dinner was nice--both company and food.

We didn't end up going out on Friday night because our Mr. Bruce was just plain too tired. He's been traveling four days a week; while on the road it is not unusual for him to put in a fourteen hour day if you can imagine.

Another Mother's Day is behind us. I kinda have this thing against what I call "card company" holidays. Funny thing is, I do like to get a card on Mother's Day although it's not mandatory. This was my first Mother's Day when I got a text message--guess who sent that. I tried to get David to come to the market, but he declined. In fairness he was all set to come over after dinner, as was Bill but I declined. I had a decent day at the market which was a VAST improvement over last years. I wish our Matt could see me now. Last year he flew in from London for two days during which time he taught me a lot about my camera. But back to the market---he said maybe if people were there they might buy something. Our new manager has made incredible improvements to the scene. Her background is marketing which she has put to good use. The traffic is up at least ten fold! As well, I now have regulars who visit. One young man keeps bringing friends to buy the graffiti print. I've told folks that people of all ages love it although this is the first time a toddler has approved. She was so cute, just ran right up to it, touching it and squealing with delight. Notice her precious little shoes will you? Her heritage is Icelandic. What a cutie!

Forgive me, I digress. I was just too tired and was sound asleep by 8:30! I slept till 6:30 this morning, and drug myself out of bed to go to the little market. Because Bruce has built Olive Gardens all over the country, I always have something to talk about with the customers. More often than not, they've been to one of his restaurants.

While there I read an article in The New Yorker about the preservation of folk music, a term I'm using very broadly. Here's a quote: "Fame in folk music can be less a matter of talent than of opportunity.." Isn't that pretty much the way it is in all endeavors? Matt related that Madonna put on a good show, exciting the crowd with her presence. She's a good example of not that much talent, but boy does she know how to entertain!

If anyone can remind me how to make a picture my desktop I'd appreciate it. I want to put our little Baxter on there for now.

Lastly, I think I'm no fan of Mother's Day because I no longer have one.
Listening to: Pete Yorn - Murray
via FoxyTunes

Universal Experience

Lisa arrived early and we headed off to a sound stage at Universal Studios, about 10 miles from the house. When you live in one of the tourist capitals of the world you tend to forget that people come thousands of miles to visit the attractions. The promised crowds did not materialize, but we spent a pleasant day chatting, enjoying the snacks, and provided lunch. It was part of their diversity program--this month's theme was women. The woman who invited me was super nice asking when we left if I'd be up for another event in the future. Did I mention the compensation was two, one day passes to both parks for each of us. I've not been to the park for too many years tocount. Lisa is having fun being my assistant. A turkey wrap, apple, veggies with dip, and a brownie the size of two decks of cards made up the box lunch. My only complaint was that my camera takes terrible pictures indoors, thus, this is the best I could do.

Turns out we could roam the park at will today. Lisa walked out the side door onto the street that leads to the Blues Brothers show, one of her favorites; she caught the 2:15 performance! All in all it was well worth the time. As you are well aware from following my exploits, one thing definitely leads to another.

I forgot to mention something from my recent doctor's visit that may prove interesting. As he was scanning through my ridiculously huge chart he said he noticed my B-12 was low on a blood test--news to me. He suggested it could explain my neurological symptoms which I was skeptical about. Turns out he may be on to something because when I got home I researched it, finding it can cause peripheral neuropathy. My, oh my. We agreed that I'd start on B-12 vitamins looking for improvement. I can't report any changes just yet as I took my first one last night. Maybe my previous doctor moved on so I would have some fresh eyes poring over my medical records?

Wouldn't you know it--there's not been a drop of rain since the downpours over the weekend.

Tomorrow the MINI gets fixed and the federal taxes get paid. Our CPA called last night to tell me the damage--not too bad.

Before I forget my few minutes of fame, turns out I was on TV on Saturday. One of Bruce's coworkers mentioned she saw me, as did my MINI salesman when I was there yesterday. I knew they filmed me at the show, but that's all I knew.



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Listening to: Ozomatli - (Who Discovered) America?
via FoxyTunes