PoMo Golightly

Get a Load of This, Mr. Jeffries, or Pup Pr*n

She may be older than the adorable Olive, but Coco feels that Mr. Jeffries (her no-longer-secret crush) should not squander all of his affections on a mere pup.  To entice him, she asked me to post  her recent bathing beauty photo.  If this doesn't catch his eye, she may resort to sending him half-dead beetles with which to amuse himself, or perhaps even a few slugs in which to roll and achieve that je ne sais quois she adores.

She even plans to donate to the Red Scarf Fund to prove her affection.

One Special Day and 99 Others

Yesterday was Neal's birthday.  I love this picture taken in the meadow over the summer with George the iPhone.  Sweet little kisses among the flowers are one of life's joys, don't you think?

Last Tuesday we hit 100 days until the end of the year, and in a final push to meet some goals, Neal and I have undertaken the 100 Days Project.  We have fitness and financial goals to meet, and I have some writing and crafting goals as well.  Since I seem to fail at goals that I proclaim publicly, I'm going to keep this set mum for the most part, but I'll be sure to let you know what success I meet.

Remember when knit bloggers used to write about knitting on their blogs?  Ravelry has caused me to move a lot of what I have to say about the craft off of the blog and onto my Projects pages, and I think I want to shift back here a little more.  Right now I'm in the midst of a Clapotis (surely I do not need to link to the pattern).  I want to wear it to Rhinebeck, which means a lot of knitting ahead of me.  At some point, though, I may decide I can't achieve that goal and switch my plan.  Beth has opened a shop for her lovely handspun, and I scored about 300 yards of her Green Beer worsted.  This fantastic yarn may become a Milkweed Shawl (Rav link) if I think I can squeak by with what I have.  Anyway, that's Plan B.

Are you going to Rhinebeck?  Are we going to see each other there?  I sure hope so!

No Pachanga Here

Johnny Castle never backed down.  He wasn't afraid to express himself.  He did what it took to survive.  He admired people who deserved admiration.  He wasn't going to settle for the pachanga when his dancers knew a livelier, fresher way to move.  He knew that no young woman should be put in a corner.

Patrick Swayze's passing hit me hard.  I came to adore him later than most.  The fall that "Dirty Dancing" was out, I was working like crazy at a couple of different jobs and in school.  Neal and I were dating for the first time.  I think I saw one movie that fall.  When spring came, I added even more work to my schedule as I was saving up to spend a month in Australia.  By the time I returned home and settled back into a more civilized pace of life, "Dirty Dancing" wasn't even in the 99 cent theater.  I did have a cut pair of denim shorts to my knee just like Baby sports, though.

Fast forward to the late 1990s.  My girlfriend Jessie, a dancer, couldn't believe that I'd never seen what can only be deemed a classic movie.  She had an extra copy and gave it to me.  I think I watched it three times in a row that first time.  I rarely can watch just once.  I think this lovely essay gets to the heart of what is so special about "Dirty Dancing" and Patrick Swayze.

This weekend, I'm going to have a little "Dirty Dancing" marathon.  I'm going to fix something wonderful to eat, curl up on the couch, and feel the thrill of first love again.  Then I might talk Neal into another round of dancing lessons.  Let's face it, who doesn't want to be Baby in that final scene, even for a moment?

Never Forget

It's rainy today, which suits the eighth anniversary of the scariest day of my life.  I will never forget being at the train station and seeing the smoke curl up into the air, an empty space where the Towers that used to glint pink in the sunset. I will never forget the smell of the air. I will never forget the pain of so many around me.  I will never forget the fear.  I will never forget the bravery.  I will never forget the unification of so many.  I will never forget the determination to not be afraid.  I will never forget my pride in the United States of America.

Please do a kindness today in remembrance of those who lost their lives eight years ago. 

Well, hey there, you!

I hadn't planned to take a break from blogging, but August zoomed by with nary a post. To tell the truth, I thought about closing the blog down about mid-month.  I wasn't missing it, and I figured neither was anyone else.  I mentioned to Spring that I thought FB and Twitter (which I've also neglected) were giving me enough space for my musings, that the blog had, perhaps, reached its natural end.  She kindly told me to keep blogging, and while I won't go into it any further, the argument she offered was so generous and supportive that I decided to listen to her.  I'm in the process of re-imagining the blog, though, and I hope to move it to its own domain (with a new name!  Stay tuned!) this fall.

So where did August go?  Well, here are some highlights:

• Vermont College of Fine Arts Post-Graduate Writing Conference.  I lived in a dorm for a week, worked with an excellent group, learned so much from Clint McCown.  Once more, I'm ditching everything I had written all summer to start the novel over.  I better get it right.  I'm running out of stamina for this story.
• Stumbled across a copperhead snake in the woods where the dogs and I walk.  Not literally a stumble, but Neal had to pull Maddie back from messing with it.  Then we admired it for a good, long time.  Copperheads are amazingly, well, coppery!
• Took a class with Jared Flood.  He is, as I read in a Brit Kntting mag, the darling of the knitting world, and a darling indeed.
• Finished up the inaugural Open Road Writing workshop.  I'm excited to get the next one scheduled and start working with my fabu students again.  Be sure to hop over to the site every Tuesday for a new writing prompt.
• Got myself a permanent reminder about what I'm meant to do with my days.*  It was the best tattooing experience I've had, and if you're ever in need of ink while in VT, I recommend Esme at Venus Tattoos.

I confess to marking the 1,000 + Bloglines entries as read.  I, so rarely overwhelmed, couldn't face that number.  I kept up via Ravelry, but will you tell me about your August?  What did you do?  What did you create?  Think? 

I start teaching on Thursday, and I'm eager to get back in the classroom.  September sets everything right for me.  Hope all is right with you!

* Latin for "Never a day without a line," one of my favorite quotes from Horace.  Some might argue about my translation choice, but I prefer "linea" to "versus" in part because "Iinea" keeps it all symmetrical.  Symmetry makes me happy.