Monday Music Mambo

I saw this meme, and thought it looked like fun:

Name your favorite song by . . .

Jimi Hendrix
Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath)
Paul McCartney (non-Beatles, just to make it harder)
Billy Corgan (solo, Smashing Pumpkins or Zwan)
Phil Collins

  1. Jimi Hendrix: “Voodoo Child” – I liked the name before I ever liked the song.
  2. Tony Iommi: “Turn Up the Night” – I was never really a Black Sabbath fan, but I remember kind of liking this song when the guys in school were into this band.
  3. Paul McCartney: “Band on the Run” – This got a lot of radio play when I was nine and ten years old (1979 / 1980). I remember hearing it just after PM Magazine did their story on the “Paul McCartney is Dead” hoax.
  4. Billy Corgan: “The CameraEye” – No reason, I just like it.
  5. Phil Collins: “Separate Lives” – It’s all tied up in high school and college and teenaged angst and melodrama, for me. In a good way.

Cassoulet

Oil lamps left an eerie yellowish glow on the false fronts of each building, a glow that was at once comforting and strangely foreign, as we dashed from doorway to doorway, arc of light to arc of light, along the uneven cobblestone street in the old part of town. We knew, of course, that they were there just for show, that each of the buildings we passed had all the modern conveniences hidden away beyond the parts the public could see, but somehow in the sudden storm, they made the shadows appear to live, giving chase to us as we searched for the cafe that had been so highly recommended.

“What’s the address, again?” my husband asked, impatient with me for not being able to keep up, though he tried to hide it, as he always did.

“Four-twelve,” I said. We looked up at the doorway where we’d paused. The numbers were blurry, but we could tell we were in the three hundred block. “Almost there,” I added, although it was obvious.

Another few buildings, a dash across a rain-slick brick street, and we were opening the door into warmth and light, wood smoke, and the scent of something amazing.

The chimes on the door brought an old woman bustling from the back. She was wearing one of those skirts that could have just as easily been from last year or a hundred years ago, and a crisp white blouse, with a red shawl tied around her waist. Her hair was glossy black; her eyes a rich brown – she looked, in fact, very like my great-aunt, except that Aunt Maria would never have been caught dead in lipstick that shade of orange.

“You are Mireille’s friends?” It was technically a question, but there was no doubt in her tone. We nodded, as she continued, “Welcome, welcome, the cassoulet is ready, and the wine just needs to breathe.”

We joined her other patrons around a single, round, butcher-block table, and ate while we watched the rain continue to fall beyond the plate-glass window, and the green-painted door.

Sock It To Me

Striped Socks from Hue

While I wear flip-flops much of the time, when it’s cold or rainy, or the setting is inappropriate for sandals, I have a rule that my socks have to match what I’m wearing. Because of this I have an entire drawer of socks, tights, knee-high stockings – pretty much anything you can put on your foot that isn’t a shoe.

I really like trouser socks, because they’re thin enough for dressy shoes but still come in pretty colors and interesting patterns. Quite a lot of my socks are striped, in various colors. I’ll spare you the entire catalogue of them.

Just as I tend to go online to buy shoes, I also like to go online to buy socks. Hue socks are among the brands I know and like because their stuff is pretty, and their prices are great – 3 pairs for $15 for the cute striped socks in the picture.

Hue‘s offerings aren’t limited to socks, of course. They also sell cute pajamas and lounge wear, and tights. (May I just say, I love tights?)

Even cooler, they’re not limited to online shoppers. You can order them online (shipping is $5 per order) or you can find Hue socks in stores like Macy’s, Dillards, and Nordstrom.

Either way, your toes will be happy you tried Hue.

9:17 AM

… and it’s already nearly 90 degrees. Wake me up when summer ends, please?

In truth, this summer’s been pretty mild, and it isn’t even all that humid, really. But I wish it would rain again. Soon. I like rain. I especially like the way it rains every day for about 20 minutes in places like Colorado, almost as if someone’s scheduled a daily downpour.

This Friday is my birthday.
I’ll be 37.
I don’t feel that old.
But I also don’t see the point in lying about my age.

The dogs and I just got back from morning walkies. Cleo has very thick soft fur and does not do well in the heat. This means that she stops pulling after half a block. Zorro, despite his medical issues, is speedy and spirited, bounding over tiny rocks as if they were huge boulders, jumping onto curbs, and landing weightlessly in the grass, and walking with his tail curled happily over his back and his ears alert for anything and everything we might encounter.

As for me, I’m hot, and sticky, and so I shall end this.
Shower. Coffee. Work.

Unconscious Mutterings #236

I say… And you think… ?

  1. Voyage :: of the Dawn Treader
  2. Patricia :: the Stripper
  3. Transformation :: metamorph
  4. Vocabulary :: lessons
  5. San Francisco:: bonfires on Ocean Beach
  6. Edward :: Scissorhands
  7. Sawyer :: Tom
  8. Literary :: aspirations
  9. Tiger :: Lily
  10. Seal :: skin

Like this meme? Play along here.