weekend

Gacked from hadesgirl, jlsjlsjls and others:
( ewwww! Can't I just smack him around instead? )

This weekend was a strange mix. Saturday and Sunday I was fairly active, motivated, and did a number of coolish things I'd planned to do - clean out the fabric stash, work on the POTC muslin (size small fits! now trying to create real pocket in place of the "faked" one), read a lot, do laundry, etc.

This morning, I just couldn't get it together. I slept VERY hard and dragging my head off the pillow this morning was like lifting a lump of lead. I read, I watched the Book TV thing mentioned a couple of entries back (only got the first half, dammit!), and called some friends but never really got on the ball.

I forced myself to lift some dumbells while watching Red Dwarf tapes (slow days are always good for RD) - now that my arms are finally toned as I'd like I'm not going to let something as silly as lethargy take them away! :P

Maybe my change in mood is due in part to the cooler/darker weather - right on schedule, the temperature dropped 10 degrees and it rained the first time all week. The days are also getting noticeably shorter - why the fsck must I be so sensitive as to notice these things?!

It's nice to consider that with the cooler weather/post Labor Day-ness, I can now have a bit of a change of wardrobe. It's now official tweed and velvet weather so I can pull those out, as well as my favorite pair of ankle boots! If when my skin clears up, I may even pull out makeup again :P

So, I'm making do. I think I'm ready for a change, and I'm waiting for another "lightning bolt" of creative inspiration to strike me; I just get this weird feeling like it's out there looking for me yet I somehow keep missing it :/

Think I'll give myself a quick pedicure before bed. It may be boot weather, but I'll know the difference!

afterthought of a long week: mantises

Not sure why this occurred to me just now - it was quite amusing when it happened, but certainly not memorable.

This week I went out for coffee with K. from fencing - I'd not seen her all summer and wanted to catch up. The evening was at that nice "just so" temperature, warm but not humid, nice breeze, so we sat outside.

Woman next to us leaps from the table; she was so loud I thought she recognized K. and hadn't seen her in years. Turns out she had a very large, very fast praying mantis on her head and was trying to shake it off.

Understand - I don't like mantises any more than I like any insect - they are crawly, creepy, tickly, and I would have been screaming my head off if I were in this woman's position as well :P But I have a soft spot for mantises because they were one of my odd fascinations as a kid. I remember collecting one in a dixie cup, and trying to find other bugs to feed to it, but ultimately let it go. At a distance, they are elegant, mysterious, and poised, in an odd way. Also, the fact that kill other bugs (including my nemesi, the entire arachnid family) is another massive point in their favor :P

Much fussing later, I got this speed-bug off the woman and chased it towards nearby holly bushes with a napkin (being very, very careful not to actually touch the thing).

Why is this even worth noting? Because usually I wig when confronted with large (~4") crawly (and this thing was zipping along - must have fallen in a cup of coffee somewhere :P) things, but I kept my head and he/she/it didn't become a big green "splat" in the middle of La Madeline's mezzanine and will hopefully live to kill more spiders :P See, my "kindness to animals" deed for the week :P

Trivia: it should eat well this year...