Five and Six on Friday
5 Things of Note:
1. I ran into that really cute fat dog and her really cute not-fat owner today on my way to the subway. I used to see the two of them all the time in the summer, but it had been awhile, and so, in my fatalist way, I just assumed the dog had died. But no, this morning, here she came, wagging her tail in this circular fashion. We all stopped at this house where two small Pomeranians were hanging out with their owner and I petted her. I still didn't know it was the same dog until her owner said something to me. I said, Oh! Here she is! I was worried because I hadn't seen you guys in awhile. He said, Nope, she's still okay. I have no idea if he recognized me or not. Still, I was glad to see her and she seemed sprightly and happy and not near death.
2. Going to dinner at Matyson's tonight with my $100 gift card from last year's holiday party. A. will bring the wine. I hope the food is good, but even if it's just okay, it's still free.
3. Started another book last night that I won't finish because even though the topic is interesting (memoir about a Harvard law graduate who grew up in foster homes), the writing is not. The writer has this tick of doing that participle clause thing over and over and over and over again. It's probably extremely nerdy to hate a particular type of clause, but I do. They never make sense to me. Example from the web: "Finishing the book, the student completed the assignment." It's easy to screw up participle clauses. Another example: "Driving on the motorway, the baby started to cry" (makes it sound like the baby was driving). I suppose even the best writers make this mistake (from Hamlet: "'Tis given out that, sleeping in my orchard, a serpent stung me"). But this author, whether he uses them correctly or incorrectly, repeats this sentence structure all the time. It drives me crazy. Or, "Reading a book chock full of bad writing, I began to feel insane."
4. Applied for Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation grant yesterday. They will give you $5,000 or $10,000 to assist with your writing. I would use the money to go to more writing retreats, to take a grad writing class, and maybe to invest in books and/or a lightweight laptop. I am certain it's competitive and I won't know anything until January 2009, but it only cost the price of postage to apply, so what the hell.
5. Going out with Miss Molly tomorrow night to see this band at the Bamboo Lounge. I haven't gone out with my gf's in a long time. I hope I remember how to dress and behave.
And now, here are some pictures I took this week on my way to the subway:
Okay, well, this first one is not from the subway. It's a photo of this ceramic nun made in Italy that was ordered this week. We put her in my co-worker's fake plant as a little surprise when she returned from vacation. Oh, aren't office shennigan's hilarious???
I wonder if I've uploaded this photo before or if I have just walked by it so many times thinking that I needed to take a picture of it? Here we have a lovely outdoor stairway adorned by the seven dwarves and then a statue of the patron saint of dwarves (St. Santeeny) defensively shrugging his shoulders and going, "What? This wasn't my idea."
I just like these lions.
Poor baby kittye with her one ear all folded over. She has the Emma Carol crazy eyes, and I love her little collar with the bell on it.
Very fancy door. And the owners aren't even musicians or Elvis fans.
And finally, here is the bunny photo for which I almost got beat up. In retrospect, it would hardly have been worth it.
1. I ran into that really cute fat dog and her really cute not-fat owner today on my way to the subway. I used to see the two of them all the time in the summer, but it had been awhile, and so, in my fatalist way, I just assumed the dog had died. But no, this morning, here she came, wagging her tail in this circular fashion. We all stopped at this house where two small Pomeranians were hanging out with their owner and I petted her. I still didn't know it was the same dog until her owner said something to me. I said, Oh! Here she is! I was worried because I hadn't seen you guys in awhile. He said, Nope, she's still okay. I have no idea if he recognized me or not. Still, I was glad to see her and she seemed sprightly and happy and not near death.
2. Going to dinner at Matyson's tonight with my $100 gift card from last year's holiday party. A. will bring the wine. I hope the food is good, but even if it's just okay, it's still free.
3. Started another book last night that I won't finish because even though the topic is interesting (memoir about a Harvard law graduate who grew up in foster homes), the writing is not. The writer has this tick of doing that participle clause thing over and over and over and over again. It's probably extremely nerdy to hate a particular type of clause, but I do. They never make sense to me. Example from the web: "Finishing the book, the student completed the assignment." It's easy to screw up participle clauses. Another example: "Driving on the motorway, the baby started to cry" (makes it sound like the baby was driving). I suppose even the best writers make this mistake (from Hamlet: "'Tis given out that, sleeping in my orchard, a serpent stung me"). But this author, whether he uses them correctly or incorrectly, repeats this sentence structure all the time. It drives me crazy. Or, "Reading a book chock full of bad writing, I began to feel insane."
4. Applied for Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation grant yesterday. They will give you $5,000 or $10,000 to assist with your writing. I would use the money to go to more writing retreats, to take a grad writing class, and maybe to invest in books and/or a lightweight laptop. I am certain it's competitive and I won't know anything until January 2009, but it only cost the price of postage to apply, so what the hell.
5. Going out with Miss Molly tomorrow night to see this band at the Bamboo Lounge. I haven't gone out with my gf's in a long time. I hope I remember how to dress and behave.
And now, here are some pictures I took this week on my way to the subway:
Okay, well, this first one is not from the subway. It's a photo of this ceramic nun made in Italy that was ordered this week. We put her in my co-worker's fake plant as a little surprise when she returned from vacation. Oh, aren't office shennigan's hilarious???
I wonder if I've uploaded this photo before or if I have just walked by it so many times thinking that I needed to take a picture of it? Here we have a lovely outdoor stairway adorned by the seven dwarves and then a statue of the patron saint of dwarves (St. Santeeny) defensively shrugging his shoulders and going, "What? This wasn't my idea."
I just like these lions.
Poor baby kittye with her one ear all folded over. She has the Emma Carol crazy eyes, and I love her little collar with the bell on it.
Very fancy door. And the owners aren't even musicians or Elvis fans.
And finally, here is the bunny photo for which I almost got beat up. In retrospect, it would hardly have been worth it.
Comments