Superman

The anniversary of the death of Christopher Reeve is coming up. It just so happens that the Richard Donner cut of Superman II has come up on my Netflix queue. I find it very interesting to watch a different director's cut of a movie I've seen many times before; something we don't often have the opportunity to experience. It has me thinking again about creative choices.
When you read books or watch movies do you stop and think about the roads the creators and editors didn't take? What alternatives ended up on the cutting room floor? Why was one choice made over another? How would the same story look or sound different if it were told by someone else? In one sense, the story is what it is. But in another sense, story making is more fluid, perhaps without the finality we perceive in the end products of books & movies.
I am just glad I don't write fiction because I have enough trouble with the choices in my own life.

The word of the day is architeuthis.
The song of the day is The Space In Between Us, Building 429.
I finished Wind In The Willows & I'm not sure what to read next. Maybe The Princess Bride.

Irony

How come when people make a "new & improved" version of something it usually means it's going to be more expensive, less convenient, and more trouble in general?
Granted, I understand very little about economics, but how come we can spend billions of dollars to bail out people whose job it is to manage vast sums of money, and then when we need to balance the budget we will do it by taking the few dollars left to the very poorest in our society?
How come my cat can keep me up for hours on end by running wild all over the place and then want to cuddle and sleep in the 10 minutes before I need to get up? And how come I don't then listen to her when she tries to convince me to stay in bed and read stories all day?

Next Year Is Here

I orginally posted this a year ago. Now that the Cubs have once again won their division & are headed for the playoffs, I thought I'd repost it. Incidentally, a few posts ago I mentioned having a hard time picking a favorite post. I think this is one of them.

Growing up a Cubs fan had quite an impact on my development. I think I just realized this about an hour and a half ago. Let me tell you what the Cubs have taught me.
Loyalty Sometimes people disappoint you. People are human. Believe in them and come back to them anyway.
Persistence It's OK to be discouraged, but not for long. By the time you've showered & wiped the dust off your clothes you need to be telling yourself "there's always next year."
Have Fun I don't remember how old I was when I found out that not everyone sings "Take Me Out to The Ballgame" during the seventh inning stretch, but I do remember I was appalled. How do the rest of you have any fun at a ballgame at all? Seriously.
Sometimes Small is Good They call it "The Friendly Confines" for a reason; it's small. But that's OK. And by the way, we don't need a bunch of cheerleaders or a half time show either.
Support Cubs players, fans, announcers, etc all make an effort to acknowledge the people who help them do their jobs. Remember the people who had your back, the hands that pulled you up, and the shoulders you stood on.
One more thing. It doesn't hurt that the Cubs' mascot is a bear.

Odds & Ends

I have a headache. I meant to post earlier, but life has been getting in the way. I'm hoping that will change a little this week.
My cat still has not learned to do the dishes. She's still young though, so there's hope.
I made a book yesterday, which I am quite pleased with. I originally had other plans for it, but it wants to be for my brother. And one should not argue with a book as that is just a little bit weird. I was going to post a photo of it, but I was pretty wiped out by the end of the day.
So I guess unless you are my brother, this post might be a bit boring. I have other things to say, but my cat's tendency to sleep 16 hours a day is apparently contagious.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Silver Linings

Even though it took me 2.5 hours to get to work yesterday, and even though it took twice as long as usual to get home, and even though my kitten waited until a week after her 1st vet visit to get sick, yesterday was full of brief moments where I suspect I was entertaining angels.
While my usual bus was extraordinarily late due to local flooding, the bus that is scheduled to arrive 2 hours earlier arrived just as I got to the bus stop. So my whole commute was at least spent on the bus. The usual driver is a bit cranky, but the driver of this "earlier" bus was very nice. And with not many passengers daring to brave the roads, it was generally quiet enough for me to read & think.
Although a bus never showed on the way home, the cab dispatcher suggested a highly efficient train route rather than what would have been a ridiculous fare with all the waiting in traffic. And the cab driver who took me to the train station charged me only a typical flat fare rather than letting the meter run as we hit traffic and experimented with side streets to take the proverbial scenic route to the train station.
And while I did have to drop another wad of cash on pet care, she's already doing better and isn't too mad at me for taking her back to the vet. The vet was also very nice to both of us.
So, despite the fact that I didn't get much work done yesterday, I didn't get dinner until 9PM, and my body still hurts from dealing with all the public transportation, I feel pretty lucky. After all, my place isn't flooded, I don't live in Texas, and the sun was shining today.

A Quote For Today

I've mostly been relaxing this weekend, but now that it's Sunday night I've decided to get it in gear and do all the housework & other stuff I didn't have time to do this week. One of the things I need to catch up on is writing. However, I think I'm going to do most of that writing in my journal tonight. Maybe I'll share some of it later.
For now, here's a quote I came across the other day.

"If I knew you and you knew me: we would love one another regardless of who I am or who you are."
Eric Butterworth

Thirteen Things I'd Rather Be Doing

1. Writing about all the great conversations I've had this week.
2. Finishing my brother's birthday present (only 2.5 hours left, not gonna happen).
3. Sitting on my balcony doing a whole lot of nothing.
4. Watching my latest Netflix movie.
5. Taking narcotics for pain management.
6. Eating chocolate (you know that had to make the list somewhere).
7. Napping/playing with Katerina.
8. Making a book.
9. Talking with my best friend.
10. Working out. Seriously. I have not had time. I want to. Really really.
11. Reading. Since when do I not have the energy to read?
12. Playing my video game. The latest scenario takes a long time & I just can't right now.
13. Crossing everything else off my list that prevents me from doing the aforementioned things.

Just A Quick Hello

I haven't totally forgotten about the blog. I was just out of town for a long weekend. I also have a long week coming up, so I'll probably only post a time or two over the next several days.
Regarding my previous thoughts on nature, over the last few weeks, I've found several 4 leaf clovers. I'm not particularly drawn to them and I don't particularly buy the whole good luck thing. I also wasn't particularly looking for them. I've noticed that's when you tend to find that sort of thing.
My cat has been sleeping all afternoon. I think she's going to want playtime at 3:43 AM again.

Thirteen Bloggie Things

1. This is my 2 year blogging anniversary.
2. This is my 226th post.
3. I've had over 3,700 visitors to my blog since it started.
4. That might not sound like much, but I'm happy with it since I don't do much of anything to promote the blog.
5. In fact, most of my visitors are friends and family.
6. I started the blog as a way to get back into writing when I finished grad school.
7. Blogging has helped me write with more consistency since I finished school.
8. Many people find my blog by searching for "relaxing activities."
9. I tried to find a favorite post, but I couldn't. The one on "Identity" might come close.
10. But the post I like best could change tomorrow.
11. People also stumble across my blog looking for bibliotherapy.
12. Or quotes.
13. Out of the last 100 visitors, a visitor from the Philippines ranks as the one who lives furthest from me.

Katerina