Timex Women...

We take a licking and keep on ticking. The Timex women in my life have served me notice that they are still around today.

First there was Gypsy, my tortoiseshell cat, demanding that I run fresh water in my vanity sink for her refreshment. Gypsy came into our family in October 2004 as a rescued stray we adopted. She was pretty beat up, starving and scarred when we first met her. But through our love and care, Gypsy has blossomed into the healthy, contented and spoiled queen of the castle she is today.

Then there was MsAdventure, my 2003 Hyundai Elantra. Her demands were a bit more comlicated and a lot more expensive. She began our morning by insisting on a new a new pair of brake pads. The previous pair had been worn down to 0%. While she was in the shop, I ordered her 90,000-mile service as well. Incredibly, MsAdventure's worn out pads were her original brake pads! They endured through over 87,500 miles of travel in just over 3 years. Now that is staying power!

I count myself blessed to be in such company.

A Sure Cure for Insomnia...

It seems for the past several weeks that no matter how early I log onto the Internet, I always wind up falling asleep at the switch before I can even slog through my e-mail correspondence. That has meant no updates to the blog. It has not meant an end to creativity or to creative inspiration, however. I have simply been finding it organically rather than through high technology.

Tonight, for example, I went on an Artist date at Easton Mall. My friends' band Yumbambe was playing in the Sounds on the Town series tonight. I sat in on their first set, then went over to find Eric and say hello during the break.

As Yumbambe prepared to take the stage again, I wandered into my favorite shops around the square. Sampled some gourmet goodies at Williams-Sonoma, then returned to Barnes & Noble to head back toward my car. While weaving through the stacks inside, I came up against my first tempation.

That temptation came in the form of a table of titles on sale--buy two, get the third free. As luck would have it, I found three whose subjects appealed to me: Joseph Ellis' Band of Brothers, the companion book to NOVA's The Elegant Universe, and a work on The Gnostic Gospels.

Since my covert credit card is getting too hot to handle the overload, I had to put these and my later Archivers charges on the kitchen sink card. I had been doing so well with staying away from the plastic for a while. I guess I was due for a relapse. This is not the best time, though with all the medical bills I anticipate for the fractured wingtip and the kidney stone crushing.

There is one upside I've discovered to my spendthrift ways. It always seems to give me a burst of creative energy after I've spent a bit of money spoiling myself. Witness that it is now nearly 2 AM and I am still awake and plugging away at this blog entry.

After purchasing the books, I drove to Archivers for my original purpose--printing a selection of photos from my Da Vinci-cago photo CD. There were 82 images and 10 index prints I selected to represent the July 29-30 whirlwind road trip to Chicago.

Next time I visit Chi-town, I will spend more time...more money too.