Category Archives: personal

Another Placeholder Post

Once again I am running out of morning in which to make yesterday’s blog post.  And I have very little brain to work with.  How is my brain vanishing so quickly and thoroughly?  I am not that old, and any evidence of senility or dementia can be explained away with, “Oh, everybody does that sometimes,” or, “Hell, I’ve been doing that for years.”  Now I am fighting the dreaded type-it-in-backspace-it-out disease.

I went running both yesterday and today, so I could make a Running Commentary post, couldn’t I?  You would think so, wouldn’t you?

Not where I ran.

I also had a delightful lunch at Salvatore’s in Herkimer, NY yesterday.  That would make a nice blog post, too. Oh dear, am I doing another post about Why I Can’t Make a Blog Post?  I think I have to blame it on my sinuses.  Allergy season is kicking my butt, as it seems to do with increasing violence each year.  I do not have a sinus headache, which I am quite grateful for, but I have that lightheaded feeling which makes doing anything difficult.

THERE’S that brain!

I was looking for a picture of flowers to brighten up the post when I found the Brain from the Planet Arous, which regular readers know I like to show when I am feeling particularly brain dead (yes, yes, I know that is most of the time lately), only I can never find it.  In fact, this is what I was looking for when I saw the picture of Salvatore’s and decided to mention my lunch with friends.

And here are some flowers.

These flowers have been coming up every year since I planted them, which is nice.  Other things I have planted have been less successful, although the Black-Eyed Susans usually go great guns.  Once again, I fear my blog post is merely a placeholder.  I hope a placeholder post (should I add that as a category?) is better than none.

 

There’s No Place Like Lame

I am almost entirely through Saturday morning as I sit down to make my Lame Post Friday blog post.  I am once again ten-finger typing, because I successfully remembered my Chromebook password.  I think I mentioned how I locked myself out, goodness knows how.  I finished one post and made another on the Tablet, which I used to always do.  But nobody needs to hear about my computer trials and tribulations, least of all me.  On with the post!

Ah, the theatre!

I wanted to throw in a picture to pep things up and came across this gem in my Media Library.  It is my friends Kim and Jim in a play at Ilion Little Theatre.  The young lady in the background is a friend, too, of course.  I am meeting Kim, Jim, and Jim’s daughter Kelly for lunch at Salvatore’s in Herkimer, NY for lunch in — yikes, little more than an hour!

It has not been a real good week for me, blog-wise or health-wise (or come to think of it getting-my-house-clean-wise), but you’ll have that.  Yesterday I was asking people if it was really Friday, because I just wasn’t feeling it.  This you will also have.  But never mind that.  I hope to have  (continue to have; it is almost noon on Saturday, for heavens’ sake) a good weekend.  I went for a run of over 2 miles (not much over, but I must celebrate every small win).  I guess this post is in the nature of a place-holder, so I have made a post for every day (if not on every day).  Will I manage to make Saturday’s blog post on Saturday?  A little uncertainty adds interest to my day.

 

Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chickens!

Yesterday was a Blogger’s Sick Day.   I did not mention that part of my motivation to walk was to help the headache I woke up with.  It seemed to help, but after I got to work, it developed into a true migraine.  This morning I have just a little bit of a headache and am hoping for the best.

Once again I took my walk while the coffee maker worked its magic (I thought I would try to elevate an ordinary daily occurrence with words, did it work?).  I walked by the little skull.  Something had knocked it over!  I did not stop to try to fix it, but I hope someone else does.

I insert a picture to pep things up. I am back to posting from my Tablet, because I hit something on my Chromebook that locked me out, and I can’t remember my password.  Yes, I am pecking in one letter at a time with the stylus, the predictive text thingy being only of marginal assistance.  Also, I can’t put captions on pictures. I am so technologically inept!

Anyways, I took the above picture last Saturday.  So it seems I did have another picture for a Waste Not Want Not Wednesday.  Oh well, I guess a guy in a chicken suit can do for a Non-Sequitur Thursday Post as well.

Now it won’t let me add the title!

 

Wuss then Walk

So I wussed out on Wednesday by not making a blog post (except for Tuesday’s, of course).  Big surprise there.  I had hoped to make a Waste Not Want Not Wednesday post, although the only picture I had taken but not used was a cute skull in a neighbor’s yard, taken on a cool-down walk after a run.

I do enjoy skulls and skeletons.

This morning, I overslept, not by much but small blocks of time can mean a lot in the morning, so decided to take my walk while my coffee dripped.  I did not take a walk yesterday due to rain.  I hate to miss a day.  I thought, I can walk by the skull and use that picture in a Pedestrian Post with Pictures (here is a Freudian typo:  I first put “Pedestrain,” because sometimes it is a strain to walk).

However, when I left the house, it was foggy.  I wanted to climb a hill to enjoy the sight of the fog so turned toward Valley Health.  It is not a huge hill, but I could get somewhat of a view.  Also, it is good exercise to walk up a hill.  I was using my phone to Map My Walk (the app is actually called Map My Run) but figured I would not have many photo ops in the dark.  My phone does not take good pictures in the dark, as I found when I tried to get a shot of the full moon.  Anyways, I reasoned to myself, how can I take a picture of the fog?  It obscures vision; how can I take a picture of what I can’t see?  I pondered how I could post a white square and pretend it was a picture of the fog by ultimately decided to use a screenshot of the map of my walk.

I walked a mile, but not in somebody else’s shoes.

The map did not come out the shape I had hoped.  I was picturing the body part narrower, like a worm or a snake.  But it was a pretty good walk.  I felt better after I had taken it than before.  I feel better yet now that I have had coffee and made my blog post.  Once again, thank you for tuning in.

 

The Blog Will Go On

Oh dear, will I have another week of late posts?  They say better late than never (one Saturday I said, “Better Lame Than Never,” and thought I was pretty clever) (but perhaps I flattered myself).  If only I was not too brain dead to make a decent blog post, and that is becoming a chronic condition.  Could it be my age?  SAY IT AIN’T SO !!!  But I must not obsess over that.  I talked about being old yesterday; if I keep doing it, it will become, you should pardon the expression, old (although we did establish yesterday that old people repeat themselves).

She is awesome, yes!

One reason I have been feeling extra down lately is that my bestie, Kim, is moving across the country to Colorado.  It may be a very good move for her, but who will I go on Mohawk Valley adventures with?  I know, I have gone on many by myself, and some with my family.  The blog will survive.  So will I, I am sure, but sometimes you have to allow yourself space to say, and feel, that this is a real bummer.

I do love flowers.

I thought I would put in a more cheerful picture, to end today’s post on an optimistic note.  I am determined to have a container garden on my deck this year.  Perhaps before Kim leaves town she will have time to wander around The Flower Barn in Ilion, NY with me, choosing blooms and herbs (sticking in a shout-out to a local business).

I see I am over 250 words.  I am going to bill this as a Tired Tuesday and drive on.  I hope today will not turn out to be a Wuss-out Wednesday.

 

I Guess Old People Repeat Themselves

Does anybody remember a feature I used to have called Monday Middle-aged Musings?  I have been told I am no longer middle-aged but old (59 + 59 = 118, an age I am unlikely to attain, was the logic, but I rarely do the math) (I am 60 now, but I was 59 when the unkind remark was made to me).  Still, I love my alliteration, and I really feel I have overdone Monstrous Monday, at least until I get some new monster pictures into my Media Library.

Full disclosure:  It is early Tuesday morning.  I was tired last night, and lazy.  The fact is, all I require of myself on Monday is to get through the day.  However, yesterday I… oh never mind what all I did, but I accomplished several chores and errands. They may not have been enough to exhaust the average person, but give me a break.  I’m old.

Why do I feel such relief that it is no longer Monday?  I first wrote that as a parenthetical comment in the last paragraph then thought it was a musing as well as a comment.  I have reflected before on the rhythm of a Monday through Friday schedule, how to many people the week sucks progressively less as it wends slowly toward Friday and the weekend.  I rebel against this thinking on principle, and I have said this before:  why would we pack all our happiness into two days and be miserable for the remaining five?  Sorry to repeat myself.

Why do I always dive right back into redundancy?

I went to my Media Library, to find a picture to distract myself from saying the same thing yet again.  I thought this was appropriate.  Do Not Enter!  Do Not Keep Making the Same Stupid Blog Post!  Do Not Pass Go!  Do Not Collect $200!  Now I am getting silly.  Anyways, as regular readers know, when I see a sign like the above while running or walking, I do not hesitate to enter.

In any case, this nonsense has gotten me over 300 words, and I do not have time to come up with anything else if I want to take a walk this morning (full disclosure:  I do not particularly want to but know it would be a good idea).  Once again, I thank you for tuning in.

 

Oh, What’s Wrong With Another Vampire Post?

I sip just a little more wine while I make my Wrist to Forehead Sunday post.  Oh, don’t shake your finger or your head at me (or your booty, for that matter)!  I haven’t had that much, just a glass or two to end my weekend on a relaxing note.  Earlier I relaxed by watching the rest of the vampire movie I started watching Friday night, Dracula  A.D. 1972. I dug that groovy soundtrack.

He looks a little worried, and somebody needs to hand him a napkin.

Christopher Lee was the Dracula in the movie, as I probably mentioned in my Lame Post Friday post.  He is a fine vampire, but not as dapper as Bela Lugosi.  Never mind, though, I did not mean to make another vampire post.

But if I did, I would include this little cutie.

I had meant to make a blog post about purchasing my mother’s birthday present, which I did on Saturday.  I still intend to make that post, a shout-out to Weisser’s Jewelers, a local business of note.

“Are you sure you don’t want to make a post about vampires?”

That being said, I do not have a whole lot to blog about, nor a whole lot of brain to blog with.  I just now added today’s headline.  I hope no vampires read it and are triggered by the word “post.”  When you think about it (and I always think about these things), a post is practically the same thing as a stake.  Some even have a pointy end, and many of them are wooden.

See what I mean? Dapper.

I close with the quintessential Count Dracula, Bela Lugosi.  Some may disagree, but I say in general you can’t go wrong with a classic.

In the meantime, I am approaching 300 words.  I hope they have been at least mildly entertaining.  I rather enjoy these foolish posts, but I will try for better ones in the future.  No promises about tomorrow, though.  Monstrous Monday, you know.

 

What the Hill?

I went on a two mile run this morning, thinking I could do a Saturday Running Commentary post.  It may have been a better idea to make said post soon after the run, when it was still fresh in what’s left of my mind.  Of course that ship sailed, as it usually does.  Isn’t it funny how my ship never comes in, yet that ship sails all the time.  Points to ponder.

This morning as I got up I could hear drops on the tin roof over part of my back deck (it doesn’t cover much of the deck, but it sure makes a good noise when it rains).  Can’t run in the rain, I told myself. However, the drops were merely falling off the tree that’s right there; it had stopped raining.  After coffee (which took a damn long time to drip), I got dressed and set out.

I had both my Garmin and my cell phone with Map My Run app working for me, which was good, because I am never sure if I will have my legs working for me.  Today they worked on and off.  One minute I would be loping along (faster in my head than in reality, but you’ll have that) with grace and audacity, the next minute my legs felt like macaroni, overcooked and sticking to the plate. I ignored them, although sometimes I add to the entertainment of the run by speculating what kind of sauce would be good on such macaroni.  Cheese?  Marinara?  Alfredo?  Hey, I have to keep myself going any way I can.

NOT this morning’s hill.

Well that was annoying.  I just spent a ridiculous amount of time searching my Media Library for a picture of the hill by Valley Health, which I ran up this morning.  Regular readers may recall (although I do not flatter myself that anybody need remember anything in particular about me) that that hill is the first one I run up when I am getting back into shape.  As a matter of fact, there are a couple of minor hills that I run up before that, and I have run them recently, but the one by Valley Health is the first real challenge.  The hill shown is the one up to Herkimer College (previously known as HCCC).  I assure you it is steeper and longer than it looks.  I will be running up that hill soon, I hope.

Today’s run was not particularly memorable, except for the fact that I went up that one pretty good hill, and that I ran over two miles.  However, I see I am over 400 words in talking about it.  Perhaps they were boring words. I can’t worry about that now but will content myself with making another on-time blog post.  I hope you are all having a delightful weekend and once again I thank you for tuning in.

 

But Dracula Isn’t Lame

I am looking at Dracula A.D 1972, a Hammer Horror movie on a DVD collection of four such pictures.  Recently somebody on one of the horror pages I follow on Facebook said this was a really dumb movie, and somebody else asked for opinions.  I said I found it fun, not one of my favorites, but worth popping in once in a while.  With that in mind, I popped it in tonight.  Alas that I have no pictures to share of it.  I still can’t figure out how to download pictures on the Chromebook, and I am far too lazy to get on my Tablet, download a picture, put it in my WordPress Media Library, then get back on the Chromebook to make the post.

He is scary, yes?

Here is Christopher Lee as Dracula.  I do not know which movie it is from, but he does not look a whole lot different in this one.

I would rather drink a glass of wine a day.

Taste the Blood of Dracula is also on this disc, on the opposite side.  I put that side in at first, but I had it in my mind to see A.D 1972. 

Well, this is a boring blog post, even for Lame Post Friday.  Sorry, I am feeling quite tired but hoping to make my Friday post on Friday.  Still, some might enjoy the pictures of Christopher Lee.  He is rather a horror icon.  In any case, I am over 200 words.  Regular readers know that is my standard.  Once again, I will try for a better blog post tomorrow.

 

Brains Are As Brains Do

I continue posting late, making my Non-Sequitur Thursday post early Friday morning while the coffee drips (I would like to say “perks,” but my sense of accuracy forbids me) (now I feel like I am a drip, as opposed to being perked up) (but I digress).  I’m thinking those parenthetical comments may be the start of another post, but perhaps I flatter myself.

THERE’S that brain!

I was looking for a random picture to pep things up, as I often do on these foolish posts, when I found the Brain from Planet Arous!  Regular readers (and my WordPress Stats assure me that I have some) know I like to use this picture to illustrate when I am feeling brain dead (which occurs with lamentable frequency) but often cannot find it in my Media Library.  Don’t you always find things when you are looking for something else?  Oh, I suppose YOU never have to look for anything; “a place for everything and everything in its place” (you know who you are).

One reason I was too tired to make my blog post on Thursday was that I went for a mile and a half run.  Chicken-feed to hard-core runners, of course (I first put “real runners” but felt that was degrading myself and others), but hard enough for me after a full day’s work. Before the run, I took care of a couple of chores, nothing worth blogging about, but I mention it to prove to myself that I am less useless than I sometimes feel.

I see this nonsense has brought me over 250 words.  Score!  Maybe one more picture to round things out.

Plans for later.

Who me, drink wine?  Well, maybe after work.  Right now my coffee is done.