Johnny be nimble, Johnny be quick!

Today it's raining... as it has rained for the last 7 days. This afternoon it's supposed to be blowing a gale. But yesterday morning, we had what's known as a 'sunbreak' here in the Pacific Northwest. Out of towners find the idea of 'sunbreaks' to be an amusing novelty. But that's how the weather is here.

Some Northwesterners even use online radar to plan their outings to coincide with periods of rain lightening up.

But yesterday is what I keep in mind. It was sunny most of the morning! I should have taken a picture... glorious sunshine and shadows! So now, when such things happen, the first thing I do is pack up my paper & pencils and hop on my bike. It's sort of like a prison break. I know this sunbreak is not going to last. It's essential to not waste a minute.

Johnny be nimble, Johnny be quick! Catch that sunshine lickety-split!

I was glad I did. Biking to the nearby cafeteria and writing in a sunny window table is a little bit of heaven. I always think it's funny when people say, 'It's a beautiful day!'... what they really mean is it's a sunny day.

All Spiffed Up...

I just PDF'd off a painting... or did I FTP it? In any event, I don't know why I get so nervous when I do that. I much prefer the old fashioned mailbox and stamps and waiting in line. I always see the most fascinating people standing in line at the post office... whereas with FTP you only get to snoop around at cyber stuff. Not nearly as interesting.

I had a fabulous time shopping at Value Village the other day. I love shopping in thrift stores exactly as much as I hate shopping in malls. Malls depress me. They drain the spirit out of my soul.

Why do I like thrift stores best? First of all the prices are impossible to beat. I also much prefer clothes that are already a bit worn out... they match the rest of my wardrobe. (unlike those idiotic clothes from the high-end fashion stores where they want you to pay $145 for jeans that come 'pre-ripped').

Also the selection of clothes from thrift stores is far and away more interesting, with more character. High end labels, styles no longer made, assortments unavailable anywhere else... and all for a song. I also like how everything is in one store... so you don't have to troop for miles through a maze of flashing lights and glass counters full of glitzy junk like at the mall.


So I got all decked out in all my new thrift store finds... trying to feel like somebody else. That's the real reason I like thrift stores. For the first day or so it's like I'm somebody else instead of me, especially while they still have that thrift store smell. Eventually it wears off... and I return to being just me.

But I've prattled on too long, as usual. Anyhow, 2 cotton shirts, 2 corduroy pants, 1 pair of lined flannel chinos, 2 polartec pullovers and a light lined jacket... all for the price of 1 shirt at the mall. lol!

I was just thrilled to get a blog comment from the great nephew of Cromwell Dixon! Gosh... I know nobody else on planet earth much cares... but I do. Usually I feel slightly guilty when someone says they're going to buy my book... but in this case I'm making an exception.

Got Fungi?

Check out this mushroom! One thing about all the rain around here is the profusion of sci-fi mushrooms that sprout up in the most unlikely places. This one took me by surprise! It looks like the poison candy-apple that the evil witch gave to Snow White.


Or these odd concoctions... that look like Granny's lace knickers (as a writer friend once so aptly remarked).

Most of the exotic fungi that appear around here are more amorphous, slimy, and less picturesque. They are very often green or orange and grow on in places under the porch.

Technology - mixed up for monkeys!

Here in Seattle the perennial GLOOM has set in. After all that Denver sunshine, I'm ready to move! I think non-stop gloom is like a meteorological form of depression. Honestly, I don't know how people stand it sometimes.

Meanwhile... I spent the entire day yesterday trying to fix the scroll wheel on my wacom mouse. And failed miserably.

p.s. If you ever want to take apart your wacom mouse, you have to peel back the fabric on the base on the back end, what you will find there is a tiny screw. Just unscrew that and the rest pops off.

Or... if you're like me, you'll spend half the day trying to pry the top off with 4 screwdrivers, thinking, erroneously that it's held together by clips... (which is isn't).

Of course now that they've invented those USB cordless mice, it's easy to just plug one of those in to take the place of the wacom mouse.
The pen still works... no problem there. I hate how they've made the new wacom tablets so complicated. The Intuos 4 looks like it's got way too many bells & whistles. Or maybe it's just me...

Technology! It's a good mix for a monkey!