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10Dec/09Off

Knots

I learned to tie a new type of knot today.

I was fascinated by it. The straight line of one part of the cord. The rounded, looping curve of the other half and how it wound around the straight side as if hugging it.

The harder I pulled on the looped half, the tighter it wound around the straight side. The stiffer the straight side seemed to become, as if it had been threaded around a bit of wire, when the looped side squeezed over it.

If I pulled the end of the looped side, it would slide up the straight side like a merry-go-round horse rides a pole. But then, all my work disappeared. The looped became straight and the straight seemed to taunt me. I resolved the issue by weaving a finger in at the top where the straight side bent into the looped side. Whenever I tugged at either end of the cord, the bend at the top remained.

My finger, however, grew purple and hurt, then tingled.

Tingly. I like that sensation.

Devoid of pain. Pleasant, actually.

Did you know that if you push past the pain, you can actually begin to tingle? It's a fascinating experiment. Each time I tried a new form of the exercise, the results were always the same. Sooner or later, the tinglies would come and on its heels, a sense of euphoria.

But then, after the tingly sensation and the euphoria, both would go away. There's nothing left. No pain. No tingles. No euphoria. No headiness. Nothing. It's like the complete absence of being.

I think I may have liked that better than everything else.

Some say that absence is death. Or the equivalent.

Possibly.

I would know about those kinds of things, wouldn't I?

I learned a new knot today.

I studied it closely. I tried out several ways to move it. Up. Down. To the very end when it would disappear. Tight against my finger. And then a stick. Finally, I fashioned a neck tie.

The tingles brought the euphoria.

After that, the blankness stared straight into my open eyes.

I think that's the last slipknot I'll ever tie.

-----

December 10, 2009

© 2009, Kathie Leung. All Rights Reserved.
No portion of this may be copied, transmitted, printed, or otherwise disseminated in part or whole without the express written permission of the author.

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17Jun/09Off

The Bourgeois Go Shopping

"Tiffany, I just got the bill from the credit card company and am a bit surprised to see the charges were so high. What on earth did you buy?"

"Funny you should mention 'earth' John, because that's exactly what I was doing - saving the planet!"

"Really? And how did you accomplish that?"

"Well, we needed some more wine glasses for the barbecue, right?"

"Uh, right."

"So, of course buying plastic disposables is out of the question. They don't decompose well and are toxic to the environment, right?"

"So the story goes."

"Exactly! So glass is a better bet since it can be melted and reshaped into other goods, or, new glasses for that matter."

"Okay."

"So I was shopping online for recyclable glasses and came across glasses already made from recycled materials. Windshields as a matter of fact!"

"Windshields you say?"

"Yes, incredible, isn't it? Who'd have thought!"

"I wouldn't. I sure hope they do wash them first. For some reason all I can picture is a black fly floating in my glass of Chablis."

"Very funny, John. Of course they wash them first!"

"Good. So you bought some I take it?"

"Yes, of course."

"How much?"

"Two dozen."

"No, Tiff, I meant how much were the glasses?"

"I don't quite recall, but I remember they'd been on sale and I got a better deal by ordering more."

"What was the company's name? Glass Implosion?"

"Yes! Yes, that's it!"

"And you said you got a good deal?"

"Uh huh."

"I see. Did you happen to check the Sunday ads?"

"We don't get the paper anymore, John. We have an online subscription, remember?"

"Yes, but we still can look at the ads, right?"

"I believe so, why?"

"Well, Tiff, did you check there first?"

"What are you asking, John?"

"So you didn't see the ad for the set of twenty-four glasses on sale at K-Mart for less than a buck a glass?"

"K-ame-a-Part? Don't be absurd, John! I'd never be caught dead shopping there!"

"And yet you have no qualms about buying recycled windshields out of a warehouse less than six miles from 3-Mile Island at thirty-five times what it would have cost to buy them from - what did you call it?"

"Kame Apart."

"Yes. And did you also realize this Kame Apart offered free shipping? Meaning you wouldn't have had to step foot in their wretched store?"

"But John--"

"I suppose next you'll tell me the money you spent is recyclable too."

"It's safer for our environment!"

"And I suppose the computer and the electricity is safer than the newspaper that's (a) recyclable and (b) printed on recycled paper and is better for the environment, too."

"Of course it is!"

"Really? And what do you do when the computer stops working, Tiffany?"

"Give it to an electronics recycler."

"I see. And the plastics? They're recycled how?"

"I'm not sure. I suppose they're melted down too."

"Really? You can safely melt plastic?"

"Stop it John! You're giving me a headache!"

"Well wet a towel and go lay down."

"I've too much to do to lay down. I'll just take some Motrin."

"Out of a plastic bottle ...."

by Kathie Leung
(c) 2009
All Rights Reserved

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10Jun/09Off

Spontaneous? Who? Us? Nah…

For our little family of four, spontaneity is when each of us has to make a simultaneous dash for the "facilities." Yeah, it's like that. So when Dadzilla suggested taking off for the weekend, Momster about fell out of her chair, then made a few calls and set things into action. There was a Renaissance Faire and then there was her mother's first century ride that would be nice to stop in on and cheer her on.

Well, well, well. Amazingly, we pulled it off. It was a grand time, too!

Lady Pirate

It was pirate weekend as evidenced by this couple we saw as we waited in line to enter the faire. Wizardly

And then there was this wizardly fellow.

Some came in costumes. Some were simple, some were in the making for something fantastic and others were quite extraordinary. It truly was like walking into a Renaissance Carolers different world altogether.

We were greeted by carolers dressed in beautiful, ornate costumes of the era...

We're fans of the show "How I Met Your Mother" and in one particular episode, there's a flashback to when Ted came home from the Renaissance Faire and showed his friends what he got. Of course, the Pie Dudes stopped off at the first place displaying the same weapon, mimicking Ted's famous line: "Look what I got at the ren-ee-sance fair!" Boys!

Look what we got at the Renaissance Faire!

And for your information, no, they did not get these!

There were pirates and people and minstrels. And look, it appears there was even a bear in our midst - check out the gal on the right. Yes, it was cold and rainy. Not your typical June day, not even up at Lake Tahoe.

Tobias the Adequate

And then there was this guy, Tobias the Adequate, who was strolling about the fair, hawking his show at the Queen's stage. He put on a grand magic show that was, if not amazing, quite funny! But more about Tobias another day, he deserves his own blog entry.

Nay or Verily, Sire?

The Queen of Poland enticed these two naves in a game of "Nay or Verily." One had to belt out the tune "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star!"

Nay you say, sire?

Twinkle, twinkle little star... o/~

Renaissance Musicians Does my doll look like me?

Musicians of the royal court play while one of the queen's hand maiden asks us if her doll looks just like her. One of the Pie Dudes noted the doll was missing a pair of glasses. Such a wise acre!

Around the corner, A Viking - quite a contrast to the maiden! nearby the queen's stage, this Viking woman was greeting faire goers. She drew quite a few stares, too. Think it was the copper uhm breast plates? And yes, we did happen to overhear someone ask about cup sizes...

Loading the Canon Drill
This gent was teaching the crowd how to load the canon. Dadzilla didn't think he looked very "Renaissancy."

Legoland Costume

As if this little lad was looking "Renaissancy"? He does get credit for coming in costume and possibly creating the costume, or a good portion of it, himself. Go Lego Warrior!

Lego Warrior had a friend. We called him Sir Silver Dude. He seemed enthralled with the cannon loading drill.

Plenty of helpers gathered for this drill. No swabbing the deck here!

Capturing My Heart
And we'll end this post with this fair maiden who captured my heart. There are many more pictures of this sweet little lass, but that'll come another day. My spontaneous burst of posting energy has drained out...

Filed under: 2009, Family, Journals, Kathie, Photo Essay, Series, Summer, copyright, travel No Comments

30Mar/09Off

My Man: Mr. Creativity

I've always said to my husband when asked for a gift list that I prefer things with careful thought and consideration, home/handmade for instance. He's caused himself immense amount of pain trying to come up with any satisfactory ideas and winds up having to rely upon the "can't go wrong" list I grudgingly supply him with.

I know, I know. This from the very same man who manages to make me laugh (even though I grouse about his teasing that can go overboard and me, Miss Sensitivity on a rather frequent basis, overreacts - shhh... that's our little secret), has created some pretty interesting ways to Topsy-Turvy our tomato plants, did a fair job at reupholstering the boat seats during the short 4 months or so we actually owned a boat. I was pretty surprised myself he couldn't come up with anything.

In his defense, I must say that he was pretty good about involving the kids in coming up with some thoughtful, personal creations; such as the ceramic plate they put their handprints on and then painted, had it fired and presented it to me when they were about five or the beautiful beaded necklace and bracelets they created and gave to me for Mother's Day a few years ago (ones that I still get raving comments about whenever I wear them and can proudly say "my sons made these for me").

But then, something truly amazing happened. Oh, I won't just tell you, how about I show you? Let's take a gander:

(c) 2009 All Rights Reserved
After unwrapping this very heavy box, I see that it's a case of the only diet soda I can drink, Pepsi One, because it has Splenda in it (I can't drink saccharine or aspartame because it gives me an instant migraine that shuts me down for several hours). Nice. But then I break it open and find that it already was opened once before. Inside, each individual can is wrapped with Press-n-Seal plastic wrap with a Dutch Bros. $1 gift certificate underneath. Twenty-four (he gave me the remaining 6 after I got them all off the cans.

This was a few years after I'd found these (see below) in my Easter basket from him...

Which was seven months before I opened this...

a photo album with printed copies of all the digital pictures we'd taken over the past year, with...

(c) 2009 All Rights Reserved
you guessed it, Dutch Bros. certificates tucked into several (about 19 in total not including the one in the front pocket) of the sleeves. But that one I figured out already because they had been in such a hurry to get the gift assembled and then out the door to go play a round of golf before sunset and forgot to clean up after themselves. The only trick was, trying to figure out how they "hid" the certificates.

This particular gift, a table-top Lazy Susan style rack of seasonings, was more-or-less regifted. I'd bought my husband, a master chef (well, more or less, he's one mean tri-tip griller among other things) a similar rack but several of the lids were broken and so he took it back. There weren't any more left and then along came my birthday, so, voila! Anyway, this was the hardest one the boys and he put together for me. They wrapped the bottles with the certificates and then put them back inside the rack. The problem was, the paper kept uncoiling and sliding down the center. I was completely surprised, though!

And finally, the recreated picture of the very first time he did this little project and presented it to me. He bought $20 worth of certificates and then pushed each one into a paperclip strung through the end of a zip-tie to create a colorful bouquet and then used a travel mug as the vase. I burst out into tears when he gave that to me, it was so very moving. It's now become a joke to see (a) if he can outdo the previous gifts he's given me and (b) if he can surprise me with the new creation.

Does this mean I'm cheap? That I can be easy with a mere $20 worth of coffee certificates? Oh, I won't answer that one! Only he gets to know that answer! ;0)

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27Mar/09Off

Up In The Sky

This photo has been retouched to draw focus upon the rainbow directly in the center. Originally it was intended to be a composition piece showing the wetlands, fields being prepared for harvest, blossoming nut trees, the foothills, snowcaps and in the distance, clouds that are leaving after raining down on us for several days. The rainbow was just an added bonus.

This photo, aside from being shrunk and cropped, has not been retouched. Absolutely stunning colors!

Uncropped, unretouched and merely shrunk to fit. The colors in the rainbow (or would it be rainbow spotlight?) intensivied at times, as seen here.

Unretouched, cropped and downscaled image of the moon, taken at the same time as the pictures above, just about two frames to the right. The one following is the same shot, just with the telephoto lens in use.

And finally, this shot (cropped but otherwise, unretouched) comes from when we went to the Yuba Sutter area about a month before the other shots. Again a moon and a most incredible up-close look at the top of the range. It looks even more incredible here than it did gazing up from the dirt road way below.