dual personalities

The wear and tear of daily life takes a toll on all of us — not least on the objects that we rely on for our comfort, including all types of dishes and glassware. We rarely think about the things we use every day until something gets broken. Take, for example, the tea-making paraphernalia that we use constantly.

The electric kettle needs its weekly vinegar cleanse. We have hard water.

We store our tea in the Spode cookie jar at the back of the photo. I’ve broken and repaired it twice.

If I drop the lid on it one more time, it’ll be a goner and I will be very sad.

And so it went with my DH’s tea mug. He’d used it for going on forty years until he dropped a heavy knife on it while emptying the dishwasher, and broke it beyond repair.

At least I didn’t do it! My DH is not the sentimental type. I’m the one who saved it from the garbage to photograph. Like an old friend, that mug had seen him through many trials and tribulations. Every ding and chip represented a story. At the very least it deserved a photo!

Fortunately, we are not short of mugs. (In fact, most of our mugs are packed away. Two people don’t need that many.) Guess which one the DH is using now?

I use the rooster mug that my Aunt Donna gave to me 25 or 30 years ago. It has survived very well and has no chips (touch wood). Am I a sentimental fool or is it normal to take ownership of objects this way?

I’ll leave you to ponder these deep philosophical questions. Meanwhile, I’m off to a local conference to give a talk on experiential learning in the premodern classroom (eye-rolling is permitted).

Have a great weekend and don’t break anything!

After hearing about it from seemingly everyone, DN & I decided to give the show Schitt’s Creek a try. The show was created by Eugene Levy and his son Daniel Levy, who also star in the series with daughter/sister Sarah — a real family affair. Centering on the Rose family’s fall from grace that leaves them living in a motel in the town of “Schitt’s Creek,” the show draws its strength from good writing and comedic acting. Given that Catherine O’Hara costars as Moira Rose, wife to Eugene Levy’s Johnny Rose, the films of Christopher Guest come to mind. There’s a similar vibe, which I might describe as… oddball farce with heart?

We have also compared the show to Arrested Development, given the similar founding premise. On the other hand, Arrested Development is hilarious for its one-liners and gifability. In Schitt’s Creek, humor is situational, and the biggest laughs are rooted in the actors’ delivery of their characters’ quirks. I couldn’t find my favorite scenes online, but here’s an example:

So far, we have only seen the second season, as it was advised that we skip the first. I suppose it might have taken the first season a bit of time to find its footing. But I plan to go back and watch, if only to see the backstory of my favorite characters — the whole Rose family has grown on me immensely!

I took a bit of a break from blogging about apartment updates, but I’m afraid I don’t have much else to share today. I came down with a bad cold at the end of the workweek, so I spent much of the weekend feeling sick and tired. We had planned to have our first dinner party on Saturday to show off our apartment, but we had to cancel! Quelle disappointment.

Was this how DN felt when I was awake blowing my nose from 1:30-4:00 a.m. on Friday?

I had partly invited friends over to give myself a deadline for projects, though, so not all was lost in terms of progress. DN moved things to the basement (where we have a storage unit) while I reclined on the sofa like a Victorian damsel. And then after I pepped myself up a bit with some Tylenol, we hung a number of pieces of art. On Sunday, I made great progress on the second bedroom (aka dumping grounds) and took some pictures.

We store glassware wherever we can, including the TV stand.

The quilt atop a sofa is a little bohemian, I know. But placing the old couch in a new apartment really emphasized its age! This is a temporary improvement.

The light in our apartment makes it a bit difficult to take photos — this is somehow backlit AND dim!

My grocery store flowers and table runner definitely look like I’m going for an April vibe. But Tabletop — the shop around the corner — was having a 50% off sidewalk sale and I couldn’t resist. This corner needs a bit of color. I’ll make room for Halloween and Thanksgiving one of these days…

Deodorant adds a great touch to this tableau.

I realize now that my captions are making a lot of excuses — I think it’s because the apartment really reads much better in person than in fuzzy iPhone photos. But hopefully you (literally) get the picture — it’s shaping up!

*Maud Hart Lovelace, Emily of Deep Valley

Welcome to another rainy Saturday! We celebrated the last of the September birthdays this week. My sweet little guy

turned 24…. so for one year he can sing Neil Young’s “Old Man” (you know, “twenty-four and there’s so much more”).

He’s still my Tim — formidable beard and all — and he still has those perfect eyebrows. I wish I knew where he got them — certainly not from me!

The DH and I gave him a circular saw for his birthday. It just seemed like a fitting present for the grown-up version of this guy.

Just in case you’re worried, he’s carrying a movie prop — notice the green screen!

Although Tim is experienced with a wide variety of lethal tools, I will fret constantly about his fingers (he’s a musician!) and the cat’s tail. I can’t help it; it’s the mother reflex in me.

I confess that I’m a little sad that our family can’t celebrate birthdays and holidays together anymore, at least not often. Of course I know that it’s good for children to grow up, move away, and make lives of their own. I wouldn’t have it any other way, but permit me a little wistfulness now and then.  Metaphorically speaking, I’m not ready for October at all. I want to hold on to September a little longer.

Lo! a ripe sheaf of many golden days
Gleaned by the year in autumn’s harvest ways,
With here and there, blood-tinted as an ember,
Some crimson poppy of a late delight
Atoning in its splendor for the flight
Of summer blooms and joys.­
This is September. 

Lucy Maud Montgomery (of Anne of Green Gables fame)

I hope the weather in your area is suitably Fall-like and that the sun is shining. Have a great weekend and enjoy it for all it’s worth because it will never happen again!

*Hosea 13:3

On Monday, DN and I went to see Whitney at the 9:30 Club. I am not great at concerts — I don’t like all the standing up, and being in crowds, and feeling overstimulated by lights and noise. However, Whitney (whom we have seen before) always put on a mellow show, and I survived the full set — even at the end of a long workday!

I did realize at this concert that, for the first time, I felt so much older than the band. They noted that they were trying out something new for this performance: wearing suits. They looked so cute — in a very young way. Is this middle age?

Well, young or old — enjoy these selections!