Memorial Day, 2018

1) The tradition continues. We all work on Memorial Day to get ready for Reunions (next week!). I was in at 8 AM and left at 4:15 PM, and it was a good day - except for it being 80 degrees in the office unless the windows were wide open. What on earth?!

2) Early in my 20s, still a closeted undergrad, my best friend was a woman named Erika who was older than I and - in retrospect - had more than a few problems. She moved to Albany for some unexplained or forgotten reason, but when she came to visit once, I collected her at the old Greyhound station on St. James Street (now long gone) and whisked her immediately into Legal's (when it was still at the Pahk Plahzah) for a very late lunch. "In an instant you've takem my drab life and brought into the glamorous!" she said (or something close to). And that is exactly how I felt meeting my best friend (not Erika; she disappeared years ago, literally) for drinks at Bah Boulud Dahling. I'd never been, and we lounged - me somewhat indolently - over a couple frosé cocktails with gigantic floral straws and dendrobium orchid garnishes. Definitely feeling fabulous (but looking - how shall I say this? - now quite pulled together).

2a) I thought about how that stretch of Boylston Street had changed since my very first visit to Boston in April, 1982, when that stretch of Back Bay was a bit sketchy. Now it's like the more glamorous parts of New York.

2b) Quote of the Day: Best Friend looking pointedly at me and saying "High school superlatives: most likely to make best use of servants." And I would, too, if I had 'em! :-)

3) Happily home in bed now, putting aside thoughts of Reunions until the morrow.

Sunday Afternoon, May 27

1) In the most beautiful, relaxed state after an hour and 45 minutes of a NAP. Oh, I needed that!

2) I took my cuppa into the garden for tea - a cool, gray afternoon with a fresh breeze - and phoned a friend who'd responded to Etiquetteer's summer reading list with this comment about Valley of the Dolls "It’s the cheapest kind of sensationalism, VERY badly written, cliche-drenched, silly, and as removed from reality as is possible. It’s a production of a cheap and vulgar mind." To which I had to reply "That is exactly why I included it on the list!" And we had a good laugh.

3) Oh mercy, listening to the latest episode of Help I Sexted My Boss. Those guys are fabulous.

Sunday Morning, May 27

1) Parlor coffee and devotional yielded an appropriate description of the world now, Acts 19:32: "Some therefore cried one thing, and some another: for the assembly was confused: and the more part knew not wherefore they were come together."

2) I attempted a second cup of coffee on the back porch, but it's just too chilly today.

3) The time of flowering trees has passed. The redbud tree is now clothed in feathery green. The lilacs have faded, but not the rhododendrons are blossoming, and this morning I even spied the first red poppy (a relic from the previous owner's landscaping) blooming.

Saturday Night, May 26

1) First back porch coffee of the season.

2) The day included (but was not limited to): English Country House Murders, MBTA shuttle between Forest Hills and Jackson Square, "The Continental," Charlie Chan at the Opera, a ~45-minute walk from my office in Cambridge to my barber on Washington Street, a much-needed haircut, and the sighting of a dishtowel that read "Bitch, I am the secret ingredient."

3) I spent almost five hours at the office and accomplished only half of what I intended. Happy with progress, but will have to complete work from home on Sunday.

BONUS: Drinks and dinner with a friend at ye Bytchyre Shoppe, featuring conversation (at different points) about work life, the royal family, the city, and retirement plans.

BONUS II: I was off ye Fycebykke all day - ALL day - and now I wish I hadn't logged back in because the news is so distressing and it's just before bedtime. #nightmares

Saturday Morning, May 26

1) Yesterday I stupidly tried to break in a pair of new shoes, which I am now going to call the Cruel Shoes. The results above are just from the walking involved in my morning commute. Happily this morning I discovered a pair of my daddy's shoe trees that expand inside the shoes by turning a handle, so let's hope that stretches these into a more tolerable shape.

1a) They certainly didn't feel like that when I tried them on.

2) Back porch coffee this morning yielded the sight of a) a female cardinal, the first I've seen in a long time, and b) the first blooms this year of one of the rhododendrons at the back of the house.

2a) Rhododendrons feature prominently in the landscaping of ye Instytytte, and a former colleague once confessed that their arrival brought home the urgency of the arrival of alumni for Reunions. And indeed, they'll be showing up in record numbers in only 12 days. #braceyourselfmillicent

3) And indeed, I'm spending this beautiful day at the office (I really need to get a move on), in the hopes that what I accomplish today will leave me completely free tomorrow. Onward!

Friday Morning, May 25

1) Peeking out the parlor window this morning, I could see that my nasturtium seeds have started to send out their round green leaves. #victory

2) "Full canonicals" today for a site visit at which diplomacy will be required. Thank goodness I just got a new seersucker suit a couple weekends ago! But this time with a necktie, bow ties often (and wrongly) giving a frivolous impression.

3) Thank goodness I have a haircut on the books for tomorrow afternoon.

Wednesday Night, May 23

1) Mercy, I'm never going to be able to read all those privacy policies . . . and they're counting on that!

2) Today I made it to Wednesday Midday Meditation at the office, which is conducted by a retired staffer by popular demand. What a palpable benefit; this really brought me to a better, more relaxed place at a time of year when I really need to be there.

2a) And there were a few situations today when I really needed some calm - and I had it when needed.

3) After a 12-hour day*, I actually went for a swim for the first time in many weeks. I'm glad I did, though I huff and puff like a hippo.

BONUS: Commute home after swim of ideal connections: bus arrived ten seconds after I sat down, train pulled into the station as I got there, walk signal lit up just as I approach the intersection.

*That's not a complaint, just an observation. Long days are what's necessary in the weeks just before Reunions, and I accept that knowledgably.

Wednesday Morning, May 23

1) The current earworm is Kay Thompson and Fred Astaire singin' "Ringa Dem Bells" (or "Clap Yo Hands," whatever it's called) in Funny Face:

2) Eating dinner with colleagues at the office last night (see "Chicken tikka masala" in last entry) somehow we ended up talking about how to prepare scrambled eggs. Sarah Bernhardt said that Escoffier made the best scrambled eggs; his secret was to stir them with a fork that had a clove of garlic on it. A colleague, for supersmooth eggs, strains them once or twice before cooking them. Wow!

3) Let's just take a moment of gratitude for a) colleagues who are a true joy to work with and b) the peaceful peaceful mornings at home since Princess Thundertoes moved away.

Tuesday Evening, May 22

1) Today was marked by a 30-minute wait for the bus, non-stop reunion prep, a persistent headache, and hair so swoopy I'm convinced I'm the love child of Ann Miller and Herbie the Elf Who Doesn't Like to Make Toys.

1a) Haircut Saturday, thank goodness!

2) The news is distressing in itself, and it's distressing because I don't have time to take it all in until after June 10.

3) Chicken tikka masala.

Tuesday Morning, May 22

1) Yesterday after work a colleague and I went across campus to meet a volunteer. Chatting en route, we touched on her alma mater, ye Wyllslye Cyllyge, and she described herself as a "Hillary worshiper." Later she showed me photos of her wedding gown and headpiece, which looked to me like a white lace bandeau. "So of course you remember Hillary's Velvet Arc of Control from the 1992 campaign," I said. Her reply: "I was negative three years old then." Turns out she was born after i'd been working at MIT for five years. #agingactressyesterdaysglamorqueen

2) This morning it's Rachmaninoff's Vocalise.

3) I must say, this history of Charlie Chan I'm reading is really engaging. So many threads - the real life Honolulu detective Chang Apana, the history of Hawaiian trade/agriculture that brought so many Chinese workers to the islands and to America, the life experiences of Chan's creator (and Hahvahd grad) Earl Derr Biggers, and the life experiences of the author, who left China two years after Tiananmen Square, operated a Chinese restaurant in Tuscaloosa (of all places), and then went North for education. I'm loving it.

Monday Morning, May 21

1) No fewer than three friends reached out to me about typographical errors in Etiquetteer's royal wedding column, which is one of the best response rates I've had lately. Perhaps I should do this more often! But it speaks more to how devilishly sleepy I was when I was finishing it.

2) Coffee and devotional in the study, going online to iread four Bible passages recommended by one of my best friends concerning "the ancient Christian understanding that God’s judgment on individuals would be vindicated by a general revelation to all of everyone’s sins and virtues."

3) No idea what the day will bring, but so grateful that I spent time at the office yesterday. It makes today clearer.

Sunday, May 20

1) Up just after 5 AM quite naturally. Devotional, coffee, breakfast, cleaning of bathroom fixtures, social correspondence, and then out the door to the office.

2) Sometimes another person's troubles benefit you. Today, I was shocked to see a 47 bus pull up half an hour early! Turns out a driver was late or something (I don't need to know the details, I just need to be grateful), and it was really the earlier bus 30+ minutes late. That bus driver's delay got me to work sooner.

3) Five good hours in the office including a) perpetual correspondence with a particular volunteer, preparations for a class's resort activites, and especially c) developed a presentation for which I'd been asked to use more humor.

3a) Now I just need to figure out how to make gifs work in ye Pywyrpynnte.

4) Absorbed in that Charlie Chan history I mentioned yesterday, but put it aside for an evening of domesticity, catch-up with the neigbhors, and some writing.

Saturday, May 19 - Royal Wedding Day

1) I got up at 5 AM - oh yes, I did! - and made it to Craig's by 6:05 AM to view the royal wedding. And it was wonderful to see Mass. Ave. devoid of rush-hour traffic.

2) And it was wonderful to enjoy the pageantry of the wedding at the home of my best friend with four of his friends, who all wore fascinators. There was a lot of witty badinage, none of which I can remember now - as effervescent and inconsequential as champagne bubbles.

3) Then into town on the Silver Line, witnessing Washington Street change from spacous urban thoroughfare to narrow downtown lane. I paused for a cup of coffee in Downtown Crossing and finished reading Double Indemnity. It's quite different from the movie.

4) Masssssssssssssage. How much baggage would I have to unpack to get rid of that persistent knot under my right shoulder blade?

5) Back in Downtown Crossing, I committed Acts of Retail, picking up a new seersucker suit and two pairs of shoes, and then spending a ridiculous amount of time at ye Bryttle Bykke Shop looking for something to read during lunch. Nothing caught my fancy, not even Simon Sebag Montefiore's huge Stalin bio The Court of the Red Tsar (which I do want to read, having read his history of the Romanov dynasty), until I turned to the Mystery section (which I never do at ye Bryttle). And there I found it: Charlie Chan: The Untold Story of the Honorable Detective and His Rendezvous with American History, by Yunte Huang. Remember back when I had the flu about six weeks ago? Toward the end of that gray episode I started watching all the Charlie Chan movies starring Warner Oland. This book is a perfect followup.

6) Mexican food for lunch, then home with the bulk of my purchases and an umbrella.

7) I had to leave the house almost immediately to do some food shopping. When I got back it was about 4:30. I started to write a column and realized I needed a NAP. One hour later, I had what I needed.

8) Mother called while I was washing the dishes. To my surprise and delight, she had picked up on my encouragement and watched the royal wedding, too! Talking about the wedding and comparing notes was one of the best parts of my day.

9) Finished that column (not as pleased with it as I'd hoped, but done is better than good), posted it, and wrapped myself up in a blanket, ready for sleep after a day of happy experiences.

Friday Evening, May 18

1) Stepping out of the house this morning, the spring weather was just like I wish I was in my daily life: cool and calm, but sunny. Whereas I'm usually variable but prone to clouds and the occasional storm.

2) Peripatetic network outages at the office today led to redirecting my energies to cleaning up my office and generally being flexible about rescheduling meetings. Because what else can you do?

3) And, being flexible about leaving the office, which turned out to be a GREAT thing because one of my volunteers who I'd been trying to reach was on the bus! She and I got some good business done.

BONUS (in every way): En route home I stopped at the Gahdnah Museum for the fabled Fra Angelico exhibition, and I was transfixed. Or I would have been, were it not for the crowds. The remarkable individuality of every face, the varied treatment of gold leaf, the angels who never wore white but pastels or black spangled with gold . . . WOW. The Corsini Triptych below was the first work I saw in the exhibition, and I found it fascinating.

The Corsini Triptych: The Ascension, Last Judgment, and Pentecost. (Not my photo!)

Thursday Morning, May 17

1) The quiet of an early morning after deep but too-brief sleep. The red-purple-pink of both the lilac and the redbud tree, the latter's branches already tipped with green.

2) Quote of the Day: “When we as people, a free people, go wobbly on the truth even on what may seem the most trivial matters, we go wobbly on America.” - Rex Tillerson, in a commencement speech at VMI

3) It's always a pleasure to find out that total strangers are reading Etiquetteer, so it's still a surprise that that Fycebykke post about the restaurant with a no crying children policy got so much traction. The column, too. Clearly a nerve was struck.

Wednesday Night, May 16

1) First, keep calm because there's a solution. Then you can freak out later.

2) Beautiful and necessary walk along the river at lunch with a colleague.

3) The deep, deep peace of being quietly at home.

Wednesday Morning, May 16

1) Up at 5 AM quite naturally and quite by accident, and spent two hours working on today's column. I trick myself into thinking the words will come easily, and then . . . but I feel good that I got it done.

2) Yesterday "Roses from the South" kept coming to me.

3) It is now established beyond any doubt that none of my dress shoes are waterproof. And as observed earlier, I have two closets full of nothing to wear!

Tuesday Night, May 15

1) May 14 is special because it's my parents' wedding anniversary (1955) and my sister's birthday (erty-farf years later). May 15 is special because of birthdays: my best friend's, Original Boss's, and (bwaahahaha) the Final Roommate's, whose True Age I have not forgotten.

2) After a reasonable day at the office, left shortly after 5 PM on foot for Kendall Squayah, about five minutes before the heavens opened up. Thank goodness for the tunnel system on campus! And I discovered some wonderful murals en route.

3) Saturated to the thighs, I squshed into ye Cytylyst for Best Friend's birthday dinner. At different points in the evening the sunlight outside was golden, yellow-green, or orange due to the storm. Fascinating.

3a) Our party of five enjoyed a mighty fine dinner: for me, lamb meatballs served with very thinly sliced cucumber, chicken with lemon and barley risotto, and the most heavenly milk chocolate mousse. And because we are all in our fifties, we talked about real estate values, air travel to glamorous destinations, and some of the more ominous, and humorous, aspects of healthcare.

3b) I must say, their new Upside Down cocktail is going to be my new go-to drink there.

Monday Evening, May 14

1) The time of flowering trees is coming to a close.

2) Mercy, I nearly fell asleep on the bus on the way home.

3) Arriving home, I turned into the garden first to see if the lily-of-the-valley were blooming all the way to the tops of their stalks. And for the first time in almost 15 years here, I could smell them almost from the sidewalk. So I snipped a few, and some violets, to have in the study.

Mother's Day, 2018

1) Awake and up early, coffee, devotional, breakfast, and completed and published a column on a topic some might find scandalous, so I didn't distribute it widely.

2) Since I couldn't be with my mother in person this Mother's Day, I did something she'd heartily approve of: planting seeds and weeding weeds in the garden. Not only the last packet of nasturtiums (peach melba), but three packets of herb seeds from last year: Provence lavender, mignonette, and creeping thyme. With my skill as a gardener it's highly likely they won't come up, but it's the thought that counts.

3) Because OF COURSE during the day I had to watch Mildred Pierce and most of Now Voyager.

Discover & share this Joan Crawford GIF with everyone you know. GIPHY is how you search, share, discover, and create GIFs.

3a) But toward the dinner hour I just had to put on Gone With the Wind for the first time in many many months.

4) I did something else Mother would have liked me doing: booking my flights for my summer visit home.

5) She and I spoke twice today, once at midday briefly, and in the early evening for a more extended chat. She said that the orchid corsage I sent her got a lot of compliments at church.

6) Started researching birthday vacation destinations: Vienna and Budapest. Recommendations welcome!

7) The tarot . . . well, the tarot makes things look a bit rocky for me, but not completely rocky.

8) Now hoping for a sound night's sleep.