Thursday, June 23, 2005

Anyone for dream interpretation?

Zeke, the oh so perfect appearing basset hound shown in my first blog posting, woke me up at 5:30 today, barking and scratching to be let into our bedroom. After I opened the door, I was able to fall back asleep - but the dream that then ensued was very vivid!

The dream: For some reason I found myself at a college reunion where I knew no one. I was sitting at a table for four and the pleasant looking professor in tweed next to me intoduced himself and then asked my name. When I told my name was La Vaughn Rynearson, he said, "Rynearson, like the flea soap?" Before I had a chance to respond, an officious gray-haired lady appeared and said the reunion was over and the tables were needed elsewhere. She immediately picked up our table and walked off with it, leaving us to put away our folding chairs. With little or no transition, I found myself leading my long-departed red Honda CRX on a leash up a steep, slippery, snow-covered hill. It took some coaxing, but eventually the car crested the hill. The next thing I knew, I was in a resort hotel and had knocked down a portion of a display of items for sale in the hotel store. I wandered around and quickly found myself lost. (It didn't help that the hotel layout seemed to resemble a spiral snail shell.) I suddenly discovered that I had misplaced my purse and thus my keys to home, car and work. I found a friendly face (one of the correction officers I work with in jail) and she directed me to the lost and found department. After locating my purse, I went about my business only to discover that I had somehow, again, misplaced my purse. This time, I explained the siutation to my supervisor at work, but she didn't seem to think it was a real problem. As soon as I could, I got away and determined I had left my purse in a building that could be seen across a muddy field. I slogged through mud past my ankles that spattered my clothing until I reached my destination. I must have looked like a something the cat dragged in, because the hotel employees didn't seem to want me in their lobby. That's when I woke up very grateful to discover that my purse was safe and sound on my bedroom bureau.

WHAT on earth could this mean (aside from an indication that I have a more than slightly over-active brain)? If you'd care to offer an interpretation, please feel free!

Wednesday, June 22, 2005

Solstice questions

The summer solstice seems to have come and gone. I wanted to make note of it, but wasn't sure if it was yesterday or today even after checking numerous online sources. That's a sad commentary on a day that was once one of humankind's most important celebrations. As the longest day of the year, that amount of daylight was truly meaningful in our ancestors' struggle against the encroaching cold and darkness.

I keep track of the increasing hours and minutes of sunlight on my start-up webpage. I'm not sure why I do this since I can easily have light whenever I flick a switch. Perhaps it's an atavistic response to a need to be aware of natural light. Or the recognition of small increments of something both positive and pleasant. I find myself watching and appreciating every minute of sunlight that is added to each new day's accumulation. Today's total: 15 hours and 26 minutes. You'd think this should be a time to rejoice and sing, but my mind inverts its meaning. It's all downhill from here. Less and less light until December 22nd. Why am I seeing an ending in what is actually an on-going cycle?

Tuesday, June 21, 2005

Mindful purring



Since I've blogged about our basset, Zeke, I need to give our cat, Zak (short for Zachariah Tailchaser) a blog debut as well. Zak can be very affectionate, especially when it gets close to "time to wake up and feed me" early in the morning. You'd be surprised how quickly one can move when eighteen pounds of purring cat lands on a full bladder. After eating catfood and drinking milk, Zak's next most favorite activity is sleeping on top of me while I'm trying to read. He also enjoys sitting on a meditation cushion with me. He's probably closer to enlightenment than I am, if his mindful purring is any indication.

Monday, June 20, 2005

Well, wadda ya know?

I've been spending some time getting to know myself a little better by sporadically filling out my profile page. You know - stuff like "favorite movies", "interests", "favorite music". When I finally decided to look at my partially completed user profile, I discovered that those interests, movies and types of music that I had entered were clickable and actually would take me to the profiles of fellow afficianados. Much to my suprise, there were numerous individuals who had listed the operas Carmen and Aida. Even more amazingly, there was one person who had also listed Tanglefoot as a favorite group and one who had likewise listed the Sons of the Neverwrong. I first heard both of these musical groups at the Oswego Music Hall several years ago. Both are from the sub-genre of folk music which meant to me that it was likely no one on Blogger had heard of them. Well, wadda ya know? I was wrong!

Not only that, but I discovered blogger profiles for such classic movies as Duel in the Sun and The African Queen. It looks like I've found a host of compatriot spirits online. I'll try and contact some and see where we go from here.

Sunday, June 19, 2005

The pressure's on

And I thought writing my first post was hard. It's not. It's the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 99th or 1,300th! What to write about? Eloquent epitaphs or edifying editorials have never been my style. I tend toward a more light and easy humor and try to see something daily along those lines. So, without further ado, today's posting: how does one choose one's favorite movies for a blog profile? Should I choose movies that I've seen repeatedly (bought the DVD, taped for future viewing)? Or should I choose movies that have made an emotional impact (guaranteed to make me cry)? Should I choose movies that are associated with an occasion of importance? Or movies that I've seen every multiple episode of? And what constitutes a "favorite" anyway? I've been watching movies for over a half-century. The 1st movie I ever saw - Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was my favorite when I was four. Now I'd say that Shrek is more to my taste! And how do people remember the names of all those movies? I clearly remember Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy in a movie pitting her memory/researching ability against a computer, but I can't retrieve the title for love nor money.

In any case, I've made an effort and have come up with a list of favorites for my profile and, coincidentally, completed my second blog posting!

Saturday, June 18, 2005

With a basset beneath my feet

As I write this first post, my basset hound, Zeke, is at my feet wagging his tail, not knowing that he is about to become immortalized in my blog. It's been a tough day for him so far. Every time he's gone outside he gets his big bassett paws wet because of the much needed rain that's falling. When he comes back inside the house, he's quarantined until his paws dry off. And, like many of us, he wants to be where he's not: in/out, out/in. Consequently, he's had a number of "time-outs" today. I'm just grateful not to find myself similarly quarantined for my vacillations.