:: anne in the attic ::

Create Your Own Countdown

:: Sunday, May 22, 2005 ::

Okay, I think my new favorite television series (in the wake of the HBO series Six Feet Under's impending last season) is PBS's Rough Science. Now I want to build a telescope and sit up on my roof with it. The scientists on the show had what looked like only an 8-10" mirror and they got a pretty big enlargement of the craters on the moon (Plato and Archimedes, specifically). I wonder if I could build one small enough to be safely mounted on the small roof just above my deck during the summer months. The materials seem rather inexpensive, probably the lens being the most dear; the rest is mirror, wood, swivel, base. Like I need another project.

Welcome to Vacation 2005, Version 3.o. All I've really got planned is a short trip to Corvallis and a weekend at the coast. The rest is just about enjoying the season. I'm trying to get all of my chores done so that I can do that, but today was lost to the forces of creation, feeble as they might be. Funny how lately I can spend literally days on end alone and not seem to notice that most of my pursuits are entirely without other people. Hmm.

:: Anne 5:28 PM [smartass remarks] ::
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"I believe we are born with our minds open to wonderful experiences, and only slowly learn to limit ourselves to narrow tastes."
- Roger Ebert

I received an email query today from my old boarding school in Southern Cal asking for address updates and news for the "Class Notes" section of the quarterly alumni publication. Funny, I couldn't think of a damn thing I wanted to tell those people, not one thing I thought they might care about. I came from such a different place as most of them, and have ended up so far away in so many ways. My best friend and I still keep in touch, of course-- funny, we both discovered we were gay years after being at Bishop's. And while I was perusing the school's site updates, I came across the above quotation.

Another week of vacation over, and I spent much of it in isolation, despite my obligations. The weather wasn't too conducive to outdoor pursuits, so I ended up with a lot of time for music. I can't say I did everything I wanted to do this week (or even everything I needed to do... heh), but there was a bit of a trade-off. I lost myself in some work and ended up learning something I thought I might not be able to learn at first. Think I gained a skill, a technique-- it's rough, but I'm happy to have tried, to have wrapped my mind, my hands, and my voice around it, and pretty much succeeded. All in all, I've managed to learn quite a few new songs recently, of varying styles-- one even just yesterday, and another today.

Of course, I should be cracking down on memorizing and fine-tuning my choir music for our annual performance next weekend.... But what better time to be intensely creative than when you have other stuff hanging over your head that you should be doing instead?

:: Anne 11:56 PM [smartass remarks] ::
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Having a bad day? Try THIS. Click on the picture when you get there. It requires Flash player. Sound helps too, but isn't necessary.

:: Anne 3:47 PM [smartass remarks] ::
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