Ray's House of Love Vol III

Hahaha! Also, happy Saturday.

My nearby city has its annual Lilac Festival this weekend. They're pretty good about predicting when the hundreds (thousands?) of lilacs in the park where it's held are going to bloom, but their record of staving off cold and rain is poor. Today it may reach 55F, and it's raining. Not exactly a delight to walk among the blooms and peruse the vendors and food trucks. Think I'll stay home. Again.

Maryn, a real stay-home person

I vowed long ago that I'd never pressure our kids to provide grandchildren, but I'm jealous.

I've been maybe a dozen times and the lilacs are indeed lovely. So lovely I bought a lilac on my way out, an Eisenhower Blue with light blue flowers, duly planted it, and watched my investment eaten by the @#$%^&*! deer that very summer.

Mostly I like living directly on the treeline that once separated farms here--in summer it's a green screen blocking other houses from view completely--but the critters use it like a highway and eat at the roadside attractions like my yard. I've learned to plant only things labeled "Deer Resistant." Which is sometimes a joke, as apparently the deer cannot read and eat some of it anyway.

I don't know about marigolds. Apparently garlic is not tasty to them, but I hear you can smell it yourself, and who wants a yard that smells of garlic? There are various sprays you can use to deter them, but you really have to keep up with it and reapply after every rain. I did it the first half of one summer, something involving rotten eggs, soap, and cayenne. It worked, but I got lazy.

We are driving to a nearby city and visiting its zoo today. I mused during the winter that I missed having young kids to take to the zoo, because I like the zoo. We decided we'd go on a nice day before the schools let out. Not much time left! It's going to be fairly warm, so I hope I don't regret this.

Maryn, recalling this zoo has a big gibbon habitat

The zoo trip was not what I'd hoped. I should have guessed when we got a really great parking spot. Since we last went there, they've made many changes that are good for the animals but bad for visitors--larger habitats with great places to hide out of sight, for instance. Reptile house closed. No bears. The aardvarks are gone. Only three big cats, all sound asleep. No monkeys at all. Larger gorilla enclosure, but again, lots of hiding places. Larger sea lion exhibit, but they know where they can swim unseen.

I doubt we'll go to that one again. Hell, I see more animals at our little rinky-dink zoo.

Today I feel all noble. It's hot and muggy and I went walking anyway. All hail!

Maryn, who's still plump

It's still ridiculously muggy for this time of year. Today I blew off walking. It's not that hot--mid 80s--but the humidity is horrific.

Why can't it be 58 with sunshine and a light breeze every time I ought to walk? Oh, right, because I don't live in San Francisco.

I've been rereading some of my older stories with the idea of potentially self-publishing. I was amused at one I wrote long enough ago that my character drops on the bar maybe a third of what it now takes to pay for two drinks and a decent tip at an expensive restaurant.

Maryn, whose favorite place has cocktails starting--starting!--at $12, artisinal cocktails at $16

Ate dinner with a large group tonight, including one who was the slowest eater ever. Like forty minutes to eat a small steak! Anyway, they were very good about refilling our glasses and I must’ve drunk a couple quarts of water.

and one gin and tonic.

I am apparently a Red Sox curse this year. Take last night. Mr. Maryn went upstairs to watch the end of the game while I watched something else. When my show ended, I turned off the lights and went upstairs. As I opened the bedroom door, I heard him groan--the Twins pulled ahead 3-2. I got ready for bed. He offered to go watch it elsewhere but I said I wasn't ready to sleep yet and he could stay where he was. So I watched the Twins pull ahead, final score 6-2--and clearly all my fault.

Maryn, hoping Pedroia isn't mad at her

I find queries are such a different beast that I'm at the start of the learning curve even though I kind of know how to write already. But the peeps there are seasoned veterans, so I bet they can help you whip that thing into acceptable shape.

I heard from Sassy recently. She lives!

We'd be delighted to have you join us, my friend.

I recommended your editing service online the other day, when a complete stranger wanted to know where to find an editor who knows what they're doing. Between the lines I read that she'd been ripped off by someone unqualified who hung out a shingle nevertheless. As usual, I gave them the URL of your website and that of one other AW person who edits, and tell them you are my grammar guy. Do these people ever contact you? I don't use the name "Maryn" there.

Maryn, here

Well, with luck one day when I recommend you, the person will follow through. But the site where I try to answer questions about books and writing is awash in teens who don't have any money. Or skill. Or basic education in written English.

Maryn, who moved here for the school district

I like baseball and go to five or six games a year. The local Triple-A games are especially pleasant. Cheap seats and food, too, compared to the bigs, and it's common to see some player get called up to the majors weeks after you saw him from twenty feet away, in a uniform with patched pants.

Chase, my morning paper had a big article about a local college for the deaf creating new ASL signs for academic use so interpreters aren't doomed to spell out so many words unique to a field of study. Apparently they're part of ASLCORE, which seeks to speed up development of ASL lexicon for college students.

(And I think one of them is a former classmate of our older daughter, but I'm not sure that's how she spelled her last name. Plus she looks a little too old. The Kid has not replied to my email asking.)

They mentioned the process for coming up with a sign for fresco, painting on plaster while it's wet. Combining the signs for paint and harden? Do we include wall or ceiling? Wait, wet has to be in there. Anyway, it was fascinating and made me think of you. New words!