This entry is a day late. I am actually not going to apologize for this, simply because I was busy last night. Very busy, and very busy doing something thrilling and wondrous and absolutely unavoidable: watching Nik Wallenda cross NIAGARA FREAKING FALLS on a FREAKING TIGHT-FREAKING-ROPE.
It was basically the most exciting thing that’s happened since “thing” became a noun. I mean, it was raining and there were MICRO-CLIMATES and people asking him QUESTIONS. Oh, and also, there was NIAGARA FALLS. It was beyond beyond. I mean, I can barely even walk to the mailbox and manage to stay on the sidewalk, much less a rope. My favorite part of the whole thing, I think — besides the fact that there was a guy crossing NIAGARA FALLS on a TIGHTROPE, of course — was that he had to carry his passport with him and show it to the authorities once he got to Canada. My next-favorite part was that the sportscasters (are they sportscasters in this case? Or stuntscasters? Or awesomescasters?) mentioned this approximately eleventy times.
In other words, it was a lot, folks, so this Blog entry just had to wait. In fact, this whole week was a lot. Many things are afoot, and many of those things are things of great excitement, so stay tuned for future announcements of great excitement. In the meantime, some pictures.
I have to begin with a mea culpa – as always seems to happen, because things like counting, numbers, math, and organization aren’t exactly my strong-suits, I managed to mess up my day count and left a photo out last week. I’m kind of proud of myself, nonetheless, because that usually happens in January, not June. Here’s the picture that should have been 158:
The Picture That Should Have Been Day 158: I hate that I left this one out because it shows so clearly how absolutely, unbelievably, stunningly gorgeous southern Georgia can be. The day started out as the kind of gray, rainy day that makes me want to curl up in a ball like my cats and, like my cats, sleep until I feel it’s time for treats. The day ended as — well, this beautiful, and all I could think about was how happy I am to be living where I’m living. The cats, of course, were still sleeping — until they got up and asked me for treats.
Back to your regularly scheduled photocast.
Day 161: What’s this? Oh, just some rainbows. Just some DOUBLE RAINBOWS. ALL THE WAY. In case you haven’t seen it lately, you should definitely watch The Double Rainbow Guy Video again. Actually, even if you watched said video two seconds before reading this, you should definitely watch it again. This video is like vitamins. Or food and water. In fact, I hear they’re editing Maslow’s Pyramid so that The Double Rainbow Guy Video is at the bottom, where physiological needs used to be. Who needs sleep when there are double rainbows on the Internet?
Day 162: I’m trying to write in my home office more often. I couldn’t write in there while my foot was broken, as sitting was not so conducive to healing, and I got in the habit of writing in bed or on the couch. Though this doesn’t sound like a particularly bad habit, it was accompanied by a habit that is undeniably bad: leaving massive stacks of papers and books and uncapped pens and Post-Its and napkin notes scattered around Belle Reve II as I moved from bed to couch and back again. In my office, I can at least consolidate the mess. Unfortunately, my cats apparently claimed the home office as the feline office while my ankle was ailing, so there’s a lot of furious meowing while I’m trying to type.
Day 163: It’s summer in Statesboro, which means that there are a lot of wandering turtles on campus. Since last summer, I’ve learned many things about turtles, namely that they are definitely not slow and that they are definitely not afraid to bite. I’ve learned that turtles do not like to be saved, and that trying to save a turtle will provoke biting. A lot of biting. Also, I’ve learned that turtles have surprisingly strong jaw muscles and that turtle bites create a surprisingly intense sense of panic for Emma Bolden.
Day 164: I’ll admit it: I’m thinking about getting a Kindle. However, this doesn’t mean that I’ll stop buying actual books (though I’ll probably stop buying actual book copies of books that are kind of embarrassing). It’s like the iPod: I love my iPod, but if I really love an artist, I’m buying the CD. I don’t think I’ll ever get over loving books, especially used books, which so often come with such wonderful surprises left by former owners. Here’s one of them: a ticket to The Taming of the Shrew (I think) tucked (appropriately) inside my used copy of Lorrie Moore’s Anagrams.
Day 165: In keeping with the Lorrie Moore and book nerdery themes, here’s the drawing inside of my used first edition copy of Who Will Run the Frog Hospital? It’s my fourth book for The Summer of Lorrie Moore. I have to admit that I don’t love it as much as I loved her short stories, so I’ll probably move on to Like Life next.
Day 166: Lately, I’ve been waking up at four in the morning and kind of looking around in the dark and trying to figure out what the heck woke me up. This morning, I found out: my neighbors have, apparently, decided to create this summer beer party nook right outside my bedroom window. I am now taking bets on how long you think it’ll take for me to go all angry old lady on them.
Day 167: It’s been unseasonably cool this summer, which means I’ve been spending a lot of time with Ms. Stein and Ms. Toklas on my back porch. Here’s a picture of my Friday afternoon back porch chillaxation. NOTE: Yes, those are indeed faux Crocs. Worry not — I’m not allowed to wear them outside the house.
Day 168: I went to the Farmer’s Market this morning and, to my ultimate delight, there were square dancers. These two were taking a break, and I creepstergrammed them. I hope they’re there next week so we can become friends.
Love Day 164! How great finding forgotten things within the pages of a book! And love Day 168, too! Square dancers at the farmer’s market! Swing your partner and grab some fresh peaches.
I think I need to do a post devoted to the weird things I’ve found in books. I’ve quite a collection at this point. My favorite? A weird prayer card in a copy of I and Thou that belonged to a priest.