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The Shadow of Your Smile

March 2, 2015 in City Matters, Quoth the Raving, Weather Matters

I appreciate the creative incubation tank proffered by winter, I really do, but now that it’s officially March I find myself eying the floral dresses in my closet with a longing I usually reserve for chocolate-lemon tarts, Helena Rubenstein’s jewels, and certain exes who just aren’t good for me. Yesterday it snowed yet again, and to console myself I bought some tulips buds; their nascence matched my mood. Today they popped: yellow blooms with slender red stripes, such a pretty surprise. I love them ardently, and as I work at my desk, keep stealing glances of these proud little ambassadors of a spring that’s bound to arrive someday, regardless of the blizzard that threatens to arrive later this week. Who can believe such doomsday predictions anyway? Today at least it promises to reach 40 degrees and the sun is shining with all her might. I am cheering her on. “Only God, my dear/ Could love you for yourself alone/ And not your yellow hair.”

Moon Void of Crash

February 27, 2015 in City Matters, Spirit Matters

I was taking one of my long flaneuzy strolls around the neighborhood yesterday when a pickup truck stopped to let me cross the street. Just as I stepped off the curb, a big rig slammed the pickup about two feet from my face. And just as I jumped out of the way, a third truck slammed into the second, pushing it right where I’d stood the second before. We all froze for a second–did that really happen?!? Then the drivers sprang out of their vehicles and began bellowing in three different languages while other cars started honking like banchees. I dusted myself off, found my hat which had flown off in the kerfuffle, and ducked into a coffee shop. Yes, my americano was delicious, and, yes, moon was void of course. Of course.

A League of Our Own

February 21, 2015 in Cat Lady Matters, City Matters, Language Matters

I’ve always liked my manicurist a lot even if we’ve had a hard time communicating beyond the basics; her English isn’t very good and my Korean is nonexistent. A few weeks ago, we had a breakthrough, though. An animal rescue commercial came on the salon TV, and, from our shared reaction, it became immediately apparent that we both spoke the International Language of Cat Lady. Now, once we establish my nail color of the week, that her children are doing well, and how terrible I am for eating my cuticles, we converse solely in meows and purrs. Naturally, everyone around us thinks we’re batty once they realize we’re the cats they are hearing and, naturally, this only makes us meow more. It’s the nature of the beast. (Pictured here: Another member of our secret feline and fancy nail appreciation society.)

"All, everything I understand, I understand only because I love."
― Leo Tolstoy