Sunday Snippets (blogtoberfest day 16)

It was a lovely weekend.

A Fair Warning

If you haven't heard about the Occupy Wall Street movement by now, I assume you live deep in a cave or high on a mountain or are perhaps stranded at sea, and thus don't have radio, television, or Internet access. 

Here in San Diego we've had marches and occupation downtown and at the Civic Center since October 7, and they have been peaceful and largely tolerated by our local government... until recently, that is. We've had some dramatic situations culminating in SDPD pepper spraying protesters. As you can imagine, there is some tension.

I haven't attended the protests yet, though I would like to show support. I find it particularly unconscionable to pepper spray peaceful protesters, simply because they are inconvenient. Pepper spray should be resorted to only when an individual is uncontrollably violent or a grave danger to himself. They aren't arresting most of the victims. I don't understand how one can be considered enough of a law breaker or public nuisance to pepper spray, but not to arrest. Anyway, I will make with the music already.

Local San Diego band, F_Tape has released a song, "A Fair Warning," in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street (and the world) protesters. Check it out:

If you like it, I think it's still available for free download, here. 

Caturday! (Blogtoberfest day 15)

No, I am not planning to make caturday a weekly feature, but it's great for busy days--especially as I try to do a true Blogtoberfest daily update. It's hard to think of what to say every day. I spend my "doing stuff" time blogging. But without doing, there's not enough to post about. A conundrum. 

Today I have a full schedule: shop the Mercato, shop the remaining ingredients and prepare food for the belated Canadian Thanksgiving dinner we're attending tonight, and attend the dinner. And the remaining in-between time I need to do chores and catch up on my Blogtoberfest and Blogging Your Way blogs and comments, as well as the BYW class material. Whew! 

So for the sake of brevity and my sanity, let's talk kitties! Specifically: my Hamilton. Relying on cute pictures once in a while doesn't make this a kitty blog, does it? I say no! Besides, kitty!

I can't believe how quickly Hamilton is growing. He is now just a little over 6 months. At the end of August he looked like this:

Can you tell how roomy that chair is? He's laying down with his head down and so much room to spare! But now he nearly overflows that same chair:

Sigh. They grow up so fast. Heh. Okay, there's so much to do, I'd better get busy! 

Pizza therapy

The Santa Anas have started blowing through San Diego this week. Late Wednesday morning I walked from our office, through the livingroom, into the kitchen thinking how pleasant the weather was, but when I headed back through the apartment toward the office with my glass of water, the air in the livingroom was suddenly oppressively hot. Like an oven. There was a steady breeze blowing through the front door, but the air was hot and dry.

"Well, shit" I thought, "the Santa Anas have arrived."

While I had purchased a chicken to roast this week, the weather has been too hot to turn on the oven the last few days. Yes, I know the USDA guidelines, but with a pastured, freshly-processed chicken one refrigerates right away and then cooks (duh), a few extra days will be fine. 

So last night we arranged to meet our friends Matt and Lynnea for dinner at one of our favorite places for good food and great beer, Blind Lady Ale House. If you consider yourself a beer or pizza connoisseur, and you find yourself in San Diego, take a break from the downtown and hotel circle chain establishments, and make your way to BLAH. So great. And if you're a San Diegan who hasn't dined there yet--well don't admit it! Just get there ASAP! "Toot sweet" if you will. Hahah.

I love how an evening with friends at a restaurant I adore can relax me. I was so grouchy yesterday afternoon! But a few hours with good company and good food and drink fixed my attitude right up! 

I do hope our San Diego autumn isn't too warm for too long--I love cozy sweaters and autumn cooking--but I can't complain too much about lovely weather and dear friends. I hope your week is winding down just as nicely. Happy Friday!

Whew! So that's done...

It was fun making my Life List, but now the hard part starts: trying to make this stuff happen. Obviously this is a life list, so I'm not trying to do everything at once. But I'm pretty excited to have named experiences I'd like to have and skills I'd like to learn. 

Somebody pointed out to me that a couple of the list items rely a bit on others. I actually considered the same thing when making the list, but I figured a couple pipe dreams were healthy. I guess there are different types of goals and dreams, and I've combined one or two of the whimsical kind with the kind I can do for myself (to varying degrees). Someone saying "Oh, you have a whimsical dream that is in my power to make a reality for you" definitely relies heavily on that person granting my wish, but I think a couple dreams that rely on the kindness of others are a good thing, as long as I haven't made a whole list of wishes or gifts.

I am definitely willing to accept help along the way. The list represents skills and habits I want to learn, as well as adventures and experiences I'd like to undertake and encounter. Conquering my tendencies toward isolation is probably at least as important--if not moreso--to my development and health than making sure I can accomplish every piece myself. Maybe instead of dreading anyone finding out I need help, while weirdly simultaneously waiting to be saved, I can learn to strike a balance. Is that crazy talk?

In the spirit of striking a balance, I included two things I have already accomplished--singing in a band, and celebrating Oktoberfest in Munich. I tend to be too hard on myself, feeling like I'm starting from scratch now, like I've wasted my whole life up until this point. When I was 9 I felt like I'd already missed my chance to accomplish anything, which I know is crazy, but that's my nature. Freakishly unattainable perfectionism. So admitting that I've already done some things I'm thrilled about--experiences I would add to my list at any point in my life--is like a little pat on the back, and a reminder that I am continuing my life journey, and building on past experiences and skills (which I do have) not just beginning it. 

Okay, I've probably stretched this list thing out over as many posts as possible (Blogtoberfest win!). More kitty pictures or similar in the future.