Worlds Collide

Picture of the Day for 8/31/2011. I'm still making my way through my packing boxes. Today I opened up a box of action figures. The sight of them just made me tired. Why I ever thought I needed Lord of the Rings action figures is beyond me.

I did laugh when I took a closer look at the face of Battle Action Aragorn. Sure looks like David Duchovny, the actor who played William Mulder from the TV series The X-Files, rather than Viggo Mortensen, the actual actor who played Aragorn in the Lord of the Rings movies. Makes you wonder if the toy company had a mold from an X-Files action figure and decided it was close enough.

Yes, It is Possible to Wear All Those Shoes

Picture of the Day for 8/30/2011. This picture is for my niece Chantal who claims there's no way I can possibly wear all the shoes in my possession. I beg to differ. The shoes pictured above certainly don't represent my entire collection, but it does give you an idea of how many pairs I've worn over the past couple of weeks.

I have a little bit of OCD when it comes to my shoes. Before I'll return a pair of shoes I've worn to its proper box, I wash the soles with a wet washcloth. It's amazing the grime that comes off the bottom of the shoes. This is a photo of freshly-cleaned shoes shortly before I stashed them back in my closet.

Vile Smell

Picture of the Day for 8/29/2011. I had to have my windshield replaced due to the frequent, yet inadvertent abuse I subject my car to. (Sorry- I ended the previous sentence with a preposition. A grammatical no-no, I know.) Upon taking possession of my repaired car, I noticed an air freshener hanging from the rear view mirror. I'm hoping this is just the glass company's standard practice rather than an implied commentary about how my car smelled. I didn't have any dead animals stashed away in the back seat so I'm not convinced there were any offensive odors that required masking. All I know is that my car smells worse now due to the dang air freshener. There's no more vile fragrance, in my opinion, than those tree-shaped air fresheners. I can't imagine anyone buying/using them on purpose.

Local Band Scene

Picture of the Day for 8/28/2011. My friend Mary's son is in a band called Folk Hogan so we (me, Mary, Kelly, Margaret) went to see them play at what has to be the seediest bar on the planet. Here are some observations about the evening:

1- Folk Hogan is great! Their music is kind of like bluegrass on acid.

2- The bar was soooo seedy that Mary refused to sit on any of the upholstered chairs or sofas. Can't blame her- who knows what fluids have accumulated in the fabric. Since seating was limited, I threw caution to the wind and sat on the chairs.

3- The band was scheduled to perform at 11:00 p.m., but didn't get started until after midnight. I can tell I'm getting older since I was soooo tired. We only stayed for a few songs before heading home.

4- Our buddy Margaret is a psychic of some renown. I was telling her about how my dad passed away last month. She asked if I ever had conversations with him. I indicated I was still shaking my fist at him for passing away. I'm so irritated that he left us. I also admitted that when I'm not reprimanding him, I do have the occasional one-sided conversation with him. She said she gets the impression he's trying to respond so I should pay attention to the thoughts that enter my head since it probably is my dad trying to communicate. I thought that was pretty interesting.

Weird Sky

Picture of the Day for 8/27/2011. I don't have any additional commentary to add. I think my title says it all.

I'm Not Cut Out for Home Maintenance

Picture of the Day for 8/26/2011. This is the image that greets me each morning upon waking up- ceiling tiles that are taped up. I seem to recall when my parents were living in the house they did this to thwart some enterprising bees who were making their way through the tiles. (Don't even get me started on bees. I think I'd rather face an army of irritable zombies rather than deal with bees burrowing their way into the house.) This seems like something that would be pretty easy to fix since the bees are long gone, but all I feel is an overwhelming sense of exhaustion. I don't think I'm cut out for even the simplest home maintenance.

Sadistic Ballet Workout

Picture of the Day for 8/25/2011. A colleague of mine recommended this workout and mentioned that it might be a "little" rigorous. That was an understatement. I could barely make it through the 6-minute warm-up for crying out loud. Apparently, there's a new Xtend Barre studio not too far from my office. I'm going to have to check it out.

Heavy Drinker

Picture of the Day for 8/24/2011. I was greeted this morning by no less than 5 different empty cups on my office desk. They're all mine as I'm a heavy consumer of beverages throughout the day. Diet Coke is the preferred drink (duh), but tea, water, hot chocolate, and juice are in the mix as well. Part of my morning routine is to dispose of all the cups that have accumulated from the day before.

Not So Famous

Picture of the Day for 8/23/2011. Dang. I'm not as famous as I hoped I would be. I just got my copy of Al Worden's (command module pilot for Apollo 15) autobiography in the mail and the picture I took of him last November was not in the book as I had hoped. A couple of months ago, the Smithsonian Air & Space magazine published an article about Worden and his upcoming autobiography. The aforementioned photo was featured in both the print and online versions of the magazine. The online article included my picture in a series of photographs that would be supposedly appearing in the book. Didn't happen. Oh well.

Behind Schedule

Picture of the Day for 8/21/2011. It's time for mid-year performance reviews so I opened up my company's online goal setting/tracking tool to discover the demoralizing message, Behind Schedule, plastered across the screen. I'm not sure how I can be behind schedule since mid-year updates technically aren't due until August 31. I'd be more outraged by the demoralizing message, but it is actually representative of the kind of year I've had. I've not been a stellar employee. Watching a father fade away and eventually die this year has understandably been a little distracting.

Bad Reading Habit

Picture of the Day for 8/21/2011. I've gotten into a really bad reading habit lately. I start a book, get distracted, and move on to something else. Pictured above are all the books I stopped reading halfway through over the past few months. They've been interesting, so I'm looking forward to finishing them..when I get around to it...

Shop Closed

Picture of the Day for 8/20/2011. There's a shop in Trolley Square I like to visit, but I don't know why I bother trying since it is invariably closed no matter what time or what day I show up. Grr...

I guess it's a good thing I'm thwarted because they sell very lovely, but expensive jewelry. Since I'm a jewelry junkie, I cannot be trusted to abstain from making purchases.

Curly Hair - Part 2

Picture of the Day for 8/19/2011. Oh sure, this blog is supposedly a venue for my pictures of the day, but in reality, it's just a thinly-veiled excuse to obsess about my hair. It's been five weeks since my last hair-centric blog entry so I'm within my rights to circle back to the topic. This is a follow-up to a previous discussion where I mentioned my hair was inexplicably turning curly. It's getting even curlier! Weird...

Old Friend

Picture of the Day for 8/18/2011. As I've mentioned in a previous blog entry, if I know you and you're in the vicinity of my camera, you will make an appearance on my blog. I'm always delighted when I have a willing victim for my "picture of the day." This is my friend Steve Miner who agreed to have his picture taken without giving me a single bit of crap (unlike some recalcitrant family members of mine). We've been friends since high school and he has the added bonus of being my friend Suzanne's younger brother. Steve teaches school in Washington D.C. so I only get to see him a couple of times a year. I could explain why he's standing behind some figurines of warriors engaged in battle while perched on top of elephants, but I choose to let it remain a mystery to my readers.

Mad Men Fashion

Picture of the Day for 8/17/2011. I'm in fashion heaven. The costume designer for Mad Men (a TV series that takes place in the 1960s) just came out with a book on fashion which I had to buy of course. I've been poring over it and have been so inspired that I've decided my new motto is going to be, "every day is an opportunity to look fabulous." I say this while wearing glasses, no make-up, and my hair piled haphazardly on top of my head. I'll take this motto to heart beginning tomorrow. ;-)

Sprinkler Update

Picture of the Day for 8/16/2011. Now there appear to be hose thingies (a technical construction/landscaping term) in the trenches in my yard. I assume they're related to the sprinkling system that's in the process of being installed.

Momento

Picture of the Day for 8/15/2011. My next-door neighbor, Erma, who has been a close family friend, indicated she "had a little something" for each of us three Merrill sisters in remembrance of our parents. The memento turned out to be this paperweight with the names of our parents and their birth/death years engraved on the front. When I thanked Erma for the lovely gift, she revealed that she chose the star for me given my love of space.Very sweet.

Sadie with Ponytails

Picture of the Day for 8/14/2011. My niece Sadie was quick to point out to me tonight that she was wearing her hair in very cute ponytails. I'm posting this picture for my friend Aurora's benefit since she thinks Sadie is the cutest little girl on the planet.

Dominic Thinks I'm Fun

Picture of the Day for 8/13/2011. My flight home from Los Angeles didn't leave until 8:00 p.m. so I was able to spend the day with my friend Ana and her 9-year-old nephew Dominic. We went out to lunch, saw Captain America, and went out for yogurt. Dominic is 9 going on 40. He's one of those kids who feel older than their chronological age so he chafes at being treated like a child. I remember feeling exactly the same way when I was his age. He paid me the ultimate compliment when he told Ana that the next time I was in town she was to let him know so he could come play with us again. I've used my Michelle magic to charm yet another kid. I say this for my sister Robynne's benefit since my ability to charm kids annoys her to no end, because in her words, I'm "not that interesting." LOL.

New Baby

Picture of the Day for 8/12/2011. I had a work meeting in Los Angeles today. Afterward, my client and I went to see a work colleague of ours who is on maternity leave- having had a baby girl a couple of months ago. We spent a couple of hours making googly eyes and talking baby talk to this sweet little girl. And oh yeah, when we could tear our attention away from the baby, it was nice chatting with our friend and catching up with her.

Moon Over the Mountains

Picture of the Day for 8/11/2011. Readers of my blog are aware that I'm on a quest to take a good picture of the moon in the sky despite having inadequate photographic equipment. This one's OK albeit a little blurry.

Desire Time

Picture of the Day for 8/10/2011. I'm working on organizing my jewelry and during the course of the project, I encountered this set of instructions to a watch I bought at the Moulin Rouge in Paris. English is clearly not the author's first language as the instructions are a little fractured. Not that I'm making fun of him/her. I wouldn't fare half as well. I can read the heck out of French, but I can barely string two coherent words together on my own. I have to admit I snickered like an immature adolescent at the phrase "desire time." Kind of sounds like a euphemism for "being in the mood."

Navy Seal Book

Picture of the Day for 8/9/2011. Costco is a dangerous place. I always end up spending more money than I intended on purely impulse purchases. This memoir of a navy seal caught my eye so I picked it up. Whenever I buy a book at Costco, I'm reminded of a lecture I attended over a year ago at a mystery writer's convention where a representative from G.P. Putnam’s Sons (a publishing house) was talking about the changing landscape of the book industry. I won't repeat the entire discussion, but the bottom line is he laments the dwindling number of independent bookstores and is alarmed that big box stores like Costco have a huge hand in determining what America reads. He's also unhappy about the proliferation of vampires in popular fiction. Hey, at least I didn't buy a vampire novel at Costco. That's something...

138 Days Until Christmas

Picture of the Day for 8/8/2011. Oh geez. I encountered the first sign of Christmas today at Costco where they've set up a holiday ribbon display- a full 138 days before the big event. I enjoy celebrating Christmas as well as anyone, but I felt a pit in my stomach at the sight of this display.

Trenches

Picture of the Day for 8/7/2011. For those of you wondering how the landscape project is going, here's an update. The trenches have been dug for the sprinkling system pipes.

Women's World Magazine Strikes Again

Picture of the Day for 8/6/2011. I believe I've mentioned this before, but I am such a sucker for the Women's World magazine prominently displayed at grocery store check-out counters. I'm always fascinated to see the miracle weight-loss remedies advertised on the cover. The latest ones seemed like something I could try- drinking two glasses of blueberry juice a day and taking cinnamon supplements. I'll keep you posted if I experience miraculous weight loss over the next week!

Proof I Was at My High School Reunion

This is a follow-up to yesterday's post where I mentioned that I didn't have any good photos to post of my 30th high school reunion. I ended up snagging one from Facebook that my friend Deanna (pictured above) had posted. I'm posting this picture for a totally self-serving reason- I actually think I don't look half bad in this photo.

High School Reunion

Picture of the Day for 8/5/2011. I attended my 30th (gasp) high school reunion tonight. I was a little apprehensive about going since this is the first reunion I've attended in 25 years, but I had a great time. In fact, I was one of the last people to leave. It was fun re-connecting with friends and acquaintances I haven't seen years.

We were encouraged to bring photos from our high school days. Here is one my friend Deanna brought from a prom during our junior year. I'm the one on the front row in the teal dress sitting on my date's lap. Deanna is the other one on the front row. I'm featuring this photo for my picture of the day since I didn't end up taking many photos (as I was too busy socializing) and the ones I did turned out blurry.

One of These Things is Not Like the Others

Picture of the Day for 8/4/2011. One of these things (in the picture above) is not like the others. If you guessed my red car, you'd be right. I laughed when I pulled into the parking lot at my gym. It was a sea of white cars and I ruined the symmetry of it all by parking in the middle of them. I like the splash of color I added to the tableau.

Talking Great White Shark App

Picture of the Day for 8/3/2011. In honor of Shark Week on the Discovery Channel, I searched to see if there were any interesting shark-related iPhone apps. Boy, did I hit the jackpot with the Talking Great White app. If you pet the shark, it either snaps or growls at you. Best of all, the shark repeats back everything you say in a snarky shark voice. Too funny.

Calories Burned

Picture of the Day for 8/2/2011. My 33 minutes on the elliptical machine at the gym resulted in 194 calories burned. I know this is fascinating intel and you're hanging on every word. Here are some additional fascinating facts. I normally burn over 200 calories during this exercise routine, but my heart wasn't in it last night. It wasn't so much of a workout as it was the equivalent of a leisurely stroll. But hey, at least I made the effort to go to the gym. That's something.

Silly Reminder of My Mother

Picture of the Day for 8/1/2011. Just got done cleaning my bathroom. I always smile when I put back this ceramic toilet paper holder in its proper spot after mopping the floor. My mother, who loved novelty items, gave this to me for Christmas one year. She laughed when she saw the incredulous look on my face when I opened it up. I'd never really wanted or needed a ceramic toilet paper holder, but now I love it since it reminds me of my silly mother.

Car Abuse

Picture of the Day for 7/31/2011. I have it in for my car. My PT Cruiser hasn't been my favorite and I think I subconsciously try to sabotage it since I keep "accidentally" bumping it into things. There are several scrapes along both sides, several cracks in the windshield, and now I've managed to rip off the passenger-side rear-view mirror. It's hanging by a thread so I've got the mirror taped up until I can get it replaced. My car looks so bedraggled that it's embarrassing. I really need to just get the car spruced up and trade it in for another one.

Painful Reminder

Picture of the Day for 7/30/2011. A friend of mine had surgery yesterday to correct some problems of a "female" nature. Consequently, the hospital placed her in the women's pavilion. When I went to visit her today, I had to walk through the Labor and Delivery section to get to her room. The corridors were decorated with shadow boxes filled with baby items. I'm mostly OK with not being able to have children, but instances like these are a painful reminder of what I'll never have. Hopefully, there will come a day when I don't feel a pang.