February 22, 2007

Gender error?

So I signed up for free haircare samples from Sunsilk, but not without a glitch.

After I clicked "submit," I got the following message:





Please correct the following error:
- Invalid Gender

Click here to correct any errors.

I wonder what errors they can correct? This must be good stuff.

February 8, 2007

Citrus mysteries

Making mixed drinks last summer, I discovered something quite curious.

Lemon slices float, while lime slices do not.

I don't know why.

February 4, 2007

Life in a sensory deprivation tank

True, a fresh winter snow -- the puffy kind that's impossibly light and sparkles blue under the streetlights -- is among the most beautiful gifts nature bestows.

But we get too much of a good thing up here.

And that pristine sparkle always melts into a semi-solid mass of mush, mottled with a color best described as gray-brown, that builds up behind a car's mudflaps and soaks through the thickest boots.

So most of winter is a collage of gray: gray in the sky, gray on the ground, gray on the cars, gray in the brain. No wonder that this time of year, I crave a different kind of natural beauty.

Color. (Tulips. Erratic dandelions. Bright green of springtime leaves.)

Smell. (Freshly mown grass. Unlikely, happily stubborn hyacinths.)

Sound. (Birds! Crickets! Children playing kickball.)

No wonder an art class is such a good idea (particularly) at this time of year. Even just my amateurish sketches help break the bleak spell. And it gets me out into the gray long enough to enjoy time with a friend.

And, of course, friendship is a kind of beauty, too.

February 2, 2007

Winter distraction

I'm distracted, unable to focus. Many deadlines this week, but I don't feel like writing. Odd...I only have a couple of things left to write today but I'm stuck in the mud.

Some days, I wonder what I would like to be when I grow up.

Other days, I see that I'm doing exactly what I like.

And come to think of it, not many jobs offer the freedom and space to be stuck, and to wonder, beagle on lap and no commute.

Blah blah blah, who cares?

Okay, perspective check complete. I think I'll go work now ;-).