Category: Off-Topic

If there’s one thing the early history of the internet has taught us, it’s that everyone loves cute animal photos.

Let’s kick off the week, then, with this adorable hedgehog.  My friend emailed me this — she set up a hedgehog feeding station in her yard.

My girls and I have named this little guy “Hedgie.”

I have been without my computer for a few days, as Apple (very nicely) fixed a video card problem.  In the past, I have been without kitchen appliances for weeks (couldn’t cook),  without hot water (had to go to friends and family to shower), without a car for a week, and even without power for two or three days.

But being without the computer may have been worse.  Not being able to cook has its good side, after all, and without a car you can bicycle or walk. With my laptop, I have everything set up to run seamlessly and automatically — every website is logged in, every email account password is entered and every document for work is at hand.  Even my recipes are on that computer.  Without all that, I could hardly do anything, and what I could do took forever.

So I found myself reading a book last night.  An actual book — printed on paper.  Holy “Back in the 20th Century,” Batman.

It was a good book.  And I went to sleep earlier than usual.  But I was the happiest person in the world when I could pick up this machine again.  First world problems, I know.  But may it never leave my side again.

Looking back on the previous week, having learned a few things. Looking ahead, wondering a few things.

1. Inked out? I feel like I’ve been very focused on ink these past few weeks. It has been fun, and I’ve learned a lot. But I just cleaned out nine pens. I’m thinking longingly of my normal blue and black inks right now.

2. Penned out? I bought a few pens this year, and I’ve been feeling like my pen cases are overstuffed. I’m not really sure what to do about this. I’m mulling the options.

3. Nice pen; cheap thrills. I really enjoy using clear Kaweco Sport fountain pens as eyedroppers. I like tilting the pens and watching the ink roll to and fro. It’s neat to see the range of color. But, yes, that does show that I am easily entertained.

4. New job? A possible job change occurred to me yesterday: I should be a billionaire. I’d be very good at that.

There’s going to be a Star Wars Episode Seven?! I was tickled to see the trailer the other day.

I was in grade school when the movie Star Wars came out. Now Princess Leia and Han Solo must be parents or grandparents. I love it. Fictional characters: they’re just like us.

I am totally not a Star Wars fan. But I am totally looking forward to this.

Teenagers and parents are not always the best match. I’m sure both groups would agree.

Earlier this week, I was shaking my head about the latest teenage eruption here.  But then my older daughter offered a comforting thought. “The good thing about teenagers,” she pointed out, “is that they are out with their friends a lot.”

So true.

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“Munch The Scream lithography” by Edvard Munch, licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

Pardon me for this very off-topic post, but tonight is a big sports night in Chicago.

I am a huge sports fan. It’s no doubt due to growing up in a sports-crazy town, but it’s also something I picked up from my family.

My father is a sensible man, so he has always been a football fan. On Sundays he’d rake the leaves and watch the Bears. He was happy for company in either activity, and I was happy to join him. Being a Bears fan was not exactly easy. But they were usually competitive and always had a few great players. You always felt the Bears were just a quarterback away.

Being a Chicago baseball fan, in contrast, usually meant suffering. But my mother’s side of the family were all baseball fanatics, and they were all Cubs fans. I became one, too.

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Looking back on the previous week, having learned a few things.

1. Biggest Challenge. I am not the world’s biggest fan of the color purple. So deciding to make last week “purple ink week” was daunting. Did I even own more than two purple inks? Would I start to loathe purple? Could anyone last seven days using purple ink every single day?

2. Biggest Relief. Using purple ink turned out to be not just doable, but very nice. Purple ink was good for editing and cheery in letters. My daughters liked it. Both iron gall Gummiberry and Sailor Kobe Tamon Purple Grey were dark enough to be perfectly acceptable for work. I liked using these inks.

3. Biggest Reminder. It’s good to to keep trying new things. Life’s more fun that way.

4. Biggest Lesson. Nothing to do with pens or inks. Did anyone see Pope Francis stopping to bless and embrace a boy with cerebral palsy in Philadelphia? I happened to see this, and I hope I always remember it.