Habits and Addictions, Routines and Rituals

Was it as I was indulging my habit of wandering and looking around the house as I grind my morning coffee that I looked out the pantry window and saw this view into the garage? Or perhaps it was during the sunny afternoon routine of doing laundry that it caught my eye. Was it addiction that forced me to grab my camera? And what of my ritual of sharing photographs on the blog with you?

In the week without computer, I nearly became addicted to solitaire (the card kind), and reading graphic novels, though I did not become addicted to drawing. Trying to make drawing a daily habit has been very difficult for me. Where does creating art fit in a life committed to taking care of other people, especially when I barely keep up with all the mundane tasks involved in running a household? And how come I can make room for blogging?!

As for the photograph...

The metal angel candle holders are a gift from my mother. She had sent two when my family was two, then she was happy to find and send a third when I had another child. As soon as the seasons turn dark, we add the ritual of lighting candles at the dinner routine.

I found the 7-up bottle at one of my favorite local houses, Grave's Farm, after the brothers Grave had died, but before the house had been renovated and turned into a bed & breakfast, and the land had become part of Mass Audubon. I have a habit of searching for and saving rusty things. I found some rusty buckets and tools along with this soda bottle and some old magazines there on some of my routine bike rides past the farm. I also once drew an ink sketch of the tree out front.

I gave the original drawing to a friend, this is a photograph of a color copy

Whiskey. I'm not sure when I first fell in love with the word (and for me, it always has an 'e'). Perhaps it came from my childhood: there have been addictions in my family (but I managed to escape them). I associate the word not only with country music (it's hard to front a band named Whiskey Ina without being gifted with lots of whiskey--Ooh! I like the double meaning there!), but also poverty and passion, pirates and poets, a black & white movie of a life lived. And, heck, the Knob Creek bottles are cool.

The tea cannisters are from back in the days before the french press came to live here. Before I made coffee at home, I was mostly a tea drinker. I have the bad habit of keeping cannisters and tins, thinking I might use them for something someday. Oh, the many projects that see light only in my mind, more rusty treasures.

The spiderwebs are courtesy of the spiders.

I'm Back!

the flu
pencil on paper, 6x5 inches

I've been gone for a week. And now, just like that, I'm back. All hail mighty electricity.

My old computer cord could not be coaxed into working any longer so I shut the machine down and contemplated my fate. The girls like me better when I have no computer access at home. My books and newspapers like me better, too.

In the mix of contemplation was a household full of flu. In all its swiney-ness, it was mostly just fever and cough. The girls are both better and were back to school today, so I decided it was time to fix the computer.

I had gone to the computer store downtown last Saturday. I had heard they were a bad store, but I decided to try anyway. They had a cord for $70, but if I took it home and it didn't work, they'd charge me a 15% restocking fee to return it. Factor in their less-than-helpful attitude and I left the store empty handed.

This morning, I looked in the phone book for other computer stores. I can't believe, in our hippy groovy town, there isn't a friendly mac store. Perhaps there's one in Amherst. Anyway, I found a listing for a store over the bridge. So there I went. It turned out to be a repair shop (Yeah, I could've called first, but I had other errands I needed to do over the bridge anyway). However unlike the computer store in my town, these folks were very friendly. They suggested I go to the Apple store in the mall (even though I never go to the mall). They assured me the folks there were also very friendly.

Sure enough, they were. At the Apple store, they let me plug in my computer using one of their cords to determine if that was indeed my problem. How delighted I was when the machine came to life, and there I was, still online at my blog (where I had been when it crashed)! I had 205 new emails! My virtual world was still alive!

I bought a new cord, then moseyed down to eyeball all the fancy new machines. I started talking to one of the salespeople and he surprised me by suggesting I keep my old machine, just get out of Panther. He said he would need to know how much memory I had, to see if I could go to Leopard. I asked if we could plug in my machine with my new plug and take a look. We did (I need more memory). He searched online for a place that still sells memory for my machine. He also searched for the (high) cost of Leopard (which we added to my wishlist). The whole time he was talking to me and searching online, he was also using his computer cleaner to clean my machine! It's never had a bath before (don't tell my dad), and gosh, it looks as good as new now.

[Full disclosure: the cord actually cost $79 at the mall, but it was an Apple cord rather than the generic one at the store downtown, if that means anything. I asked if they would charge me a restocking fee if I returned it, and they said they only charge restocking fees for things with serial numbers, like computers, not for cords. Of course, I won't need to return it because they let me try their cord before I bought one to make sure that was my problem!]

It's good to be back. Though I feel guilty that the girls are in the kitchen building a cardboard city and I'm in here reading and writing. Hmm... And contemplating.

My Broken Cord

This is the angle at which it has often sat, and now that it's broken, this is where it's happiest (ie, working). The bendy part of the casing cracked and slipped down without my noticing. I scooched it back up.

Thanks for all the advice at the crack den. I guess I should shut down and unplug until I can fix it. But will I?

Late Fall Colors

deep thought

This is my phone
(yeah, it's kinda dirty)

Now that people know it's me calling before they pick up the phone, can I still say, "Hi. It's Ina?"

The View from the Library Yesterday

Don't forget to vote today.

Monday Morning Light

morning shadows

Each year when Halloween rolls around, I find myself cleaning and arranging the house--well, specifically, the view from the front door. Visitors who know me do not use the front door, so it's hardly ever opened. On Halloween morning, I spend some time creating a tableau. Then I check it from the front porch. Yes, I know that most eyes at the door on Halloween are only seeing candy, but I still set the perfect scene. This year, I decided to hang paper to hide the mess in my art studio (created in the former front room).

This morning, when the extra daylight streamed in, it created some interesting shadows.

julia and the typewriter

And here are some scenes from this morning's ride. I was halfway into this intersection when I realized it looked a lot different than it did last week.

one week later

not sure what this is about (there's a fez in there)

Happy Full Moon Monday, all.