Thursday Thoughts: Leap Day Edition

I wish I had been more mindful of the date during the day. It's not often you get a gift of time. I wish I had done something more meaningful, instead of laundry, walking Jace, and going to the gym. Funny I was so psyched for the beginning of March--you'd think I'd pay attention to the calendar. I realized the date when I was at the gym, then forgot about it. 

I feel cheated by the weather. Yesterday was warm but bleak and rainy. It was supposed to be nice. At least Jace and I got to Cove Island Park on Tuesday. And next week is supposed to be warm. 

We started watching Shogun last night; it was really good. It was nice to see two episodes but I still wanted more. I can't help but compare it to the 1980 version with Richard Chamberlain. I'd like to re-read the book. 

March will make its first appearance in two hours. I'll greet it tomorrow. 

Jace Visits Cove Island Park

Jace has been with us for a year-and-a-half, but today is the first time I took him to Cove Island Park in Stamford. I don't know why it took so long. 

At  any rate, today was the day. It was spring-like with sun and temperatures in the 50s. Jace loved Cove Island. I thought a lot about Lola because she had gone there many times before, especially when Jace jumped up and walked on the wall by the water. Lola used to do that. 

We have two more months to visit this season. We'll go back. 

What We've Been Watching--Part One

The Fall of the House of Usher--we watched this back in November or December. I thought I had already posted about it, but I had only written about the Vincent Price version. The mini-series by Mike Flanagan modernizes Edgar Allan Poe's story and includes elements from other Poe works. I liked that the Ushers ran a pharmaceutical firm manufacturing and selling a highly addictive opioid that wasn't supposed to be addictive a la the Sacklers. I was especially impressed with Bruce Greenwood's performance as Roderick Usher, especially because he was a late replacement for Frank Langella. 

Breaking Bad and El Camino--it took us a long time to watch this--not hard to understand because the series ran for five seasons. It didn't sound like anything I would want to watch--a frustrated high school chemistry teacher is diagnosed with lung cancer and begins to manufacture and deal meth. But the characters were compelling, the stories were addictive, and the actors were brilliant.  

A New Version of Frustration Dreaming

I've written about frustration dreams many times before. Last night's dream was a low-tech version. I was in an office and couldn't get a cup of coffee. At one point, the only coffee available was with cream that had turned; it was grossly unappetizing. Later I couldn't find a coffee cup. 

Strange how dreams manifest themselves. I wonder what Freud would say.

Book Three: The Woman Who Ran for President The Many Lives of Victoria Woodhull by Lois Beachy Underhill

This is the story of a feminist and suffragist who is almost forgotten today. I had heard of Victoria Woodhull in college; it was probably in the course Women and American Society. I remembered that her thoughts on love and marriage went beyond the more conventional views of most of the other suffragists and that she had run for President. I didn't know anything else about her. Nor did I hear anything about Woodhull during the 100th year anniversary of women's suffrage in 2019.

Victoria had a challenging childhood after her father lost his fortune and her mother was ostracized from town society. Both parents were physically abusive. Victoria was often left in charge of caring for her younger sisters. She probably hoped for a better life when she married at 15. Unfortunately, her husband was a chronic alcoholic. 

Yet Victoria persevered to become the first woman Wall Street broker, the first woman to testify before Congress on women's suffrage, and the first woman to run for President. 

I enjoyed learning more about Victoria Woodhull. Shamefully, other suffragists ostracized her for her extreme views on free love and sexual freedom for women. 

She deserves to be remembered.

Seven Positive Things

I've been thinking about easily I let things ruin my mood, even my day. So, I want to focus on positive things for this post, starting with last week.

1.    Jeff and I had a nice Valentine's dinner. I mentioned the menu here: filet mignon, scalloped potatoes, shitake mushrooms, creamed spinach, romesco sauce, with a vodka gimlet cocktail, and Faithful Hound wine. For dessert we had chocolate and mango ice creams with raspberries. 

2.    I had a nice lunch with my friends Elaine and Marti last Thursday. 

3.    Before our lunch, I went to the Greenwich library to check a reference in a book relating to Merwinsville that I missed before. I also got our favorite crab cakes from this place and found our favorite vodka in the liquor store next door.

4.    Yesterday Jeff and I had lunch with my brother Jim and his girlfriend Liz. We haven't seen Jim since Christmas Eve. I'm not sure when we last saw Liz. We went to Sedona Tap House, which is one of our favorite places. We hadn't been there in a while either, so it was especially nice. 

5.    On my morning walk with Jace on Friday, I felt a whiff of spring. The day was overcast and rather bleak. Patches of snow lay on the grass and snow was piled in the corners of parking lots. But the whiff was enough to make me happy.

6    The Mets have won their first spring training game (after losing yesterday.) I'm not sure what to make of the Mets this season. I'm tired of them breaking my heart. 

7.    The new Shogun mini-series starts on Tuesday; I'm really looking forward to watching it. 

Full disclosure: I wanted to make a list of ten positive things, but seven is as far as I could get. I'll be on the lookout for more positive things.

Longing for March

Another week has passed--with two snowstorms. I'm happy that next Friday is March. I know we have another month of winter, and winter weather may ignore the calendar. But getting through February is hard, and I'll celebrate it. 

I haven't been happy with my year so far. I've barely been writing and done very little blogging. It's been eight days since I've been to the gym. I'm still reading my second book of the year. I was on my seventh book by this time last year.  

I need to make some changes. To be continued. 

Tuesday Snow Day and Other Miscellanea

We're currently dealing with the biggest snowstorm of the season. Today is my day to care for the birds at New Canaan Nature Center, but I didn't go. I feel guilty about it, but it's better to be safe. At least winter is half-way over.

I made sure to go food shopping yesterday. ShopRite was crowded, but not as bad as I expected. I focused on things for tomorrow--Valentine's Day. we're having filet mignon, shitake mushrooms, scalloped potatoes, and creamed spinach, a gimlet, and Faithful Hound wine. We'll even eat by candlelight. I can't remember the last time we did that. 

It's been over a week since I last posted. That's pitiful if I want to maintain a presence here. I started a post about TV shows that we've been watching. I had been hoping that blogging would kickstart some other writing for me. So far, no good.

At least I've done some creative things. I've been working/playing in my art journal. I may not have much to show for it, but it makes me feel better.

More on Books Read in 2023

I did a rough breakdown of 29 books that I read in 2023.

History--10 books

Historical Fiction--six books

Mystery/Suspense--eight books

Writing--one book

Popular Culture--one book

Fiction (a catchall category for the rest)--three books

In 2022, I read 35 books.10 were history, eight nonfiction, nine were mystery/suspense, three were pop culture, two science fiction, 2 were collections, and one general fiction. 

In 2021, 10 history, two historical fiction, seven mystery/suspense, seven science fiction, one fantasy, four memoir, and two general fiction for a total of 33 books.

I am a little surprised that I'm consistently reading more history than the other categories. Within the history category, I've read more about Tudor history than other eras. Many of my selections are from books I got at library sales. Could those sales just have better history selections? At any rate, the book I just started is another in the history category.

Maybe a trip to browse the books at the library or a bookstore is in order. 

Book Two: The Second Chance Shop & Other Stories by Bette Bono

I'm a fan of Bette's writing--I always enjoyed listening to her stories in class.  This is her fourth book and second story collection. All the stories were good, but I enjoyed the stories in the first collection Neighbors & Other Stories more.

Short stories are great for reading before bed. I should seek out more collections.

2024 Goals

I've been avoiding and/or procrastinating about goals for this year. I guess I'm hung over from 2023 failures. 

I'm two-thirds through my version of Dryuary. Going forward, I'll drink less during the week. (I know that's not specific enough to be an effective goal, but it will do for now.) I'm going to be more mindful of what I drink as well as of what I eat. 

I'm going to continue with my gym goal of 150 gym visits for 2024.

I'll stick with the reading goal of 40 books for the year. Maybe I'll have better luck in 2024. I read an article recently that opined that the type of books read are more important than the number of books read (to be continued in another post.)

Write 150-200 blogposts. I fell short of my goal of 200 posts for 2023. I guess three to four posts weekly is fine. 

Other writing--here is the hard part. I don't want to overthink this. Let's start with writing 200 words a day. 

Art goals? Let's start with something this week in my art journal. 

Maybe the time is right.

Walking the Dog--Jace Edition

I was talking with someone whose dog had recently died. She was saying how freeing it was to not have to take her dog on walks. She also suggested we move to a place with a nice back yard so I wouldn't have to walk Jace at all. 

Walking Jace is one of my jobs. And walking Jace is a priority. It may not be the first thing I do each day, but it has to be done (multiple times) each day. Of course, there are days when I hate the idea of even going outside, especially when the weather is bad or I'm not feeling well. But, that's the deal.

Luckily, I like walking; it's a great form of exercise. I like feeling that I'm part of the neighborhood; I don't get that by driving around. I like that people recognize us and wave or say hi. Most of all, I like meeting other dogs.

I also like that I'm doing something good for myself by walking. About two years ago, a bone scan indicated that I have a 25 percent change of sustaining a broken bone. Walking can help slow bone loss in the legs. 

It may sound corny and cliched, but a positive attitude really helps here. I know Jace loves his walks; I get some time with him; it's good for me. I even enjoy them myself...most of the time. Now, after two weeks of clouds, rain, and fog, I'm looking forward to seeing the sun again on our walks.