Friday check-in; 11/18/11

Happy Friday. I was thinking about construction paper turkeys today. I remember the smell of glue and paper.

So I'm hosting Thanksgiving for my grandparents this year and decided to make two smaller turkeys instead of one big one. More dark meat, easier to cook, plenty of leftovers to share. And if a practice run goes well, I"m going to cook the potatoes in the pressure cooker. I heard they will cook in six minutes. We'll see.

I lost my computer this week; the hard drive was on its last legs. So I lost a day's worth of time trying to figure out how to clone the drive, including four hours in a live chat with a nice man from India. I never was able to make it work, so instead, I backed up the files and reinstalled all the software.

I read a novel I ended up loving, called Stiltsville, by Susanna Daniel. It's the story of a marriage, set in Miami in the 70s and beyond. The author includes lots of small details that build a rich world to get lost in. I think some you would like it a lot. It would be a good book club pick.

Spidey, how's life after quitting? Has it happened yet?

11/11/11

So I'm here at home, alone for a few more hours. It's overcast, but unseasonably warm. Last week they came and cleaned up leaves, but the trees weren't quite finished and now there are just as many leaves today as there were last Friday. A long time ago I made a playlist with songs I thought suited November. Every song on the list wallowed in heartbreak; lost loves, dead friends, the lament of the weather. November, for no particular reason, is a sadder month. Maybe it's because the holidays loom just far enough into the future and the days darken earlier. But whatever sadness is held in November isn't personal; I don't have any gut-wrenching remorse tied up in the eleventh month. Maybe it's irrational; maybe it's just part of the normal psychological cycle. All this to say that on this November afternoon, I think about any other similar afternoon ten or more years ago when I would have poked into the Bookshelf to see who was there. I would have had just enough time to see the banter, maybe trade some IMs. I'm missing you all, today. That's all.