Kids and swings

No turning the clock back to the witlessness of youth.  I don’t recall ever giving a minute of thought to the economy when it was in bad shape in the 70’s and 80’s. I probably didn’t even know there were recessions.  I guess it was a little inconvenient to buy gas for a while, but not really. 

Now, even though I’m still more or less powerless, it is of some interest to me.  I’m not ranting and raving on C-Span or anything but since I have mutual funds…well, it’s hard not to look at the DJIA every so often.  Those wild swings, I can feel them in my stomach, as if I were on one.   

Rain and so forth

It’s raining hard outside my office window right now.  I find the sound of rain to be comforting.  Most sounds of nature in action are soothing.  Although I can’t see deriving the same sense of satisfaction from one of those miniature waterfall things they sell at Brookstone.  Maybe a CD at certain times perhaps would be good.   

I used to live on what was once a farm in Pennsylvania.  There was a small pole barn that I converted in part to a studio where my friends and I could play music.  All the windows were boarded up but one where we put an exhaust fan to try and keep the temperature down in the summer.  The building had a metal roof.  One night I inadvertently left a tape recorder running after we were finished and I later discovered I’d taped the sound of the wind making the roof creak and the old out of kilter fan blades brush the grille ever so slightly.  I’d moved to Maryland by the time I found this portion of the tape and was stunned by how vividly evocative of the barn it was.  I could smell it while listening with headphones.  I would like to find that tape again but lack the patience to listen to hours of mostly bad music to find it, if it didn’t get recorded over anyway. 

My point must be listening to what might be considered nothing at all, can be time well spent.  

Kids faces

I was just looking at a facebook friends picture of his grand daughter. She appears about 6 or 7. She's looking into the camera. The clear direct gaze of a child is something remarkable to me and something we as adults for the most part seem to lose. Maybe we have too much to lose by an open countenance.  

Sunday Mornings

The coffee is brewing. Making it is a one of those domestic rituals I like. We have Krup KT4065 coffee maker. 100 watts of brewing power. Their motto is Passion Precision Perfection, Germans you know...it is cool. stainless steel, minimal buttons, a clock that's easily set.

I empty the previous day's grounds, rinse the plastic cone, empty the old coffee from the carafe,  

Later that same day...

Cleaner, or by my standards clean enough.  Fortunately my wife is out of town so there’s no one to contradict me.  Does anyone like housework?  Perhaps some people who can’t sit still.  I can’t sit still in my head but my body can remain in one place for quite some time. 

I found a stereo mini plug to stereo mini plug cable while rooting around in here so now can listen to my iPod through the living room stereo which is used primarily for the TV these days.  I can't recall the last time it was used for listening exclusively to music. I have it cranked loud enough to hear down in the laundry room.

Listening to music has changed so much. Those of you who are my age will remember when sitting around listening to an album was a social event. Most of my listening these days is through ear buds. I listen when I drive if I'm by myself.  My son says it's illegal. The police don't seem to care. Did I just jinx myself?        

Why icyspots?

I'm not all that clever and nearly every phrase and name you can think of is already taken by someone on the internet. Hence Dave32546@aol.com. However, icy spots are things I try and avoid especially while walking. I see spots sometimes too.

My brother has a couple of blogs one where he reviews books and another on music. Both things I like. Maybe I'll critique his reviews and suggestions, surely that will be easier than thinking up my own. I do read of course.

I recently finished 'The Man Who Loved Books Too Much' by Allison Hoover Bartlett. It's about a man who steals thousands of dollars of books by credit card fraud back in the 90's and a book dealer who helped to catch him. I felt like Bartlett portrayed him a little too sympathetically. He seemed very creepy to me and she was creeped out at least once when they went together to a book store he'd previously stolen from. Speaking of creeps though, the first time she met him, while in jail, she realized she had to remove her underwire bra before being admitted to the visiting room and runs out to her car in the parking lot to pull it out through her sleeve Upon reading that, I flipped right to the back fold of the dust jacket to check out her picture. I guess I'll never grow up.

Well, I have stuff to do. Chores. My office is getting really bad too. I don't want to end up on Hoarders.