Puzzle pieces

I can't believe how badly I've neglected this blogging thing. Usually I only do it to make sure I still know how to put sentences together and that I can still at least keep a toe in something related to writing.
However, I've felt generally unmotivated about writing for reasons I can't quite gather and somewhat hesitant to share my thoughts in a public forum such as this, which is a feeling I didn't have before; I used to speak fairly freely. Now I think about it too much, and that behaves kind of like a self-censor. The whole point of this thing is to not have a censor!
I have a feeling I've also been kinda distant in general. That I suppose will change in the next few months, and I'll start reconnecting. I kind of thought this year would be a year of productive change, and while sometimes change ain't necessarily easy, I think some of the first few pieces are falling in to place to allow the next to be possible.
We'll see.

George

This should be pretty cool:
Scorsese to direct George Harrison documentary
Martin Scorcese has a great track record with documentaries such as these, helming No Direction Home (Bob Dylan) and The Last Waltz (The Band).
I'll be waiting in line!

Baseball and hot dogs

I always thought that if I ever went to a baseball game, I'd do it right and go see a Yankees Game...and of course eat a hot dog.
So, I get to cross that off the list! With five kids, my brother and I, along with another adult, drove in yesterday, through the most horrendous traffic I've ever been through on the GW Bridge, and checked out the Yankees play the Blue Jays. What a perfect day to see a baseball game, as the sky was blue, without a cloud in the sky. I'm not a big baseball fan, but I totally enjoyed the day.

Do nine lives equal nine ghosts?

Sometimes it's a rather innocuous thing that makes you realize things have changed.
I left my shoes on the floor yesterday.
I don't think it gets more innocuous than that.
I was getting ready for bed last night, and as I was putting my shoes in the usual out-of-reach place I'd been putting them for years, I realized, that as of my cat dying last friday night, I guess I really don't have to do that anymore. A realization that all those workarounds I made to counter my cat's curious quirks were no longer required.

My cat, Galileo, used to love to remind me that he had claws. Whether it be destroyed carpets (I count at least five), countless scratches, or leather shoes, he almost always found a place to test his claws that was decidedly inconvenient for me. After many of my shoes had developed little claw marks, I realized that for their own safety, they needed to be hidden from his view.

Some other, not necessarily claw-related quirks:
* I haven't been able to completely close my bedroom door for the last 11 years. Galileo had this weird phobia about being in locked rooms. Within five minutes of a door being closed, he would be scratching at the door, and more annoyingly, at the carpets by the door. No matter what tactic I took to try to get him to stop, it never worked. The bugger would keep doing it, to no end, until the door was open. He'd step out, and then right back in. Basically, he won, as my patience was no match to his single-minded stubbornness.
* My glasses. I would never be able to keep my glasses on the night stand next to my bed. So, if I happened to be watching TV or reading in bed, I'd have to get up and put them on my desk, because he always slept on the nightstand, and most likely would not have cared about sleeping on my glasses.
* He didn't care for milk, but he loved yogurt and, stranger still, fresh bread. All other human food he didn't care for.
* I had to buy furniture and clothes thinking how much of Galileo's fur said item would attract and retain.

I'm sure there's a whole bunch more, and I'll most likely be reminded of them over the course of the next few weeks. Galileo actually scared people, and he certainly had a personality. It'll be strange not having him greet me at the door.

FLA

I'm back from Florida. Overall, it was a great trip, and some of it was indeed steeped in nostalgia (I'll get into it at another point), so I was able to fulfill the Nostalgia Tour 2007. I didn't find a cheap enchilada, so that'll have to be for the next time and the next place.
It does make me appreciate the area here, though; you drive an hour in Florida, and it all looks the same.
You drive an hour up here, you can get to the beach, the mountains, NYC, or Philadelphia. It is like geography for those with short attention spans.
Did you know Switzerland was 1/3 of Florida? That must be geography for rabbits.