Day 2369: Celebrating

On the two thousandth, three hundredth, and sixty-ninth consecutive day of this blog, I am celebrating the first use of the word “Celebrating” in a post title.

I am also celebrating

• the rich availability of relevant imagery all around me,
• seeing my guitar hero, Pat Metheny, with one of my friendship heroes later today,
• my son’s imminent arrival from Scotland on a newly-instituted direct flight from Edinburgh to Boston,
• the popularity of my Coping and Healing therapy groups at work,
• the resilience of the people I meet every day,
• my own resilience,
• the relative absence of carpenter ants in our home-by-the sea, Squanticello,
• visitors to my blog,
• Boston accents (deemed the second sexiest in the United States),
• different ideas,
• puns (and more “elevated” forms of humor),
• brains,
• hearts,
• guts,
• gifts,
• smiles,
• keepers,
• art,
• wishes,
• self-expression,
• baseball season,
• flowering trees and flowers,
• sunshine,
• freedom,
• deliberately and consciously leaving behind guilt, shame, and fear with every step, and
• whatever else I can find to celebrate, every precious moment.

I am celebrating all those things, and more, by sharing my images from yesterday.

I am also celebrating a new sidewalk, above,  which will prevent the kind of trips that landed me on the ground with a torn rotator cuff fifteen months ago.

I’m celebrating trees and Pat Metheny with this tune that was playing yesterday while I was walking that new, safer sidewalk to work.

What might you be celebrating, here and now?

As always, this blog celebrates the power of gratitude, every day.

 

Day 2141: Who needs a smile today?

Who needs a smile today, besides me?

Let me know if any of these photos — which I needed to take yesterday — give you a smile.

 

Who needs a perky turkey hat today?

I also needed a smile nine days ago, so I took that photo of somebody at my hospital who needed that hat that day (and I shared it in this blog post).

My search on YouTube for “who needs a smile today” found this today:

In order to smile, I need to hear words like “Hospitality and cordiality are very sincere here” (at :36 in that video).

Who needs to share a comment today?

As always, I need to express my thanks today to all who helped me create this post today and — of course! — to YOU.

Day 1916: Time Matzahs On

“Time matzahs on” is something my late father used to say during Passover, which started last night.

Here are some timely and matzah-related images from last night’s seder at my sister Ellen’s.

 

It’s time for two versions of that song — the original and one with matzah.

As time matzahs on, I’ve had a ball at many seders and many baseball games at Fenway park in Boston.

I look forward to your comments, with or without matzahs or puns.

So matzah thanks to Ellen, her spouse Linda, my cousin Lani, Michael, my late father,  my late mother, dramaramasam,  everybody else who helped me write this “Time Matzahs On” post and — of course! — everybody who matzahs over to this blog to read it, including YOU.

Day 1909: Reasons Not to Read This Blog

While I appreciate every reader who visits this blog, here are some reasons not to read it.

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy techniques make you angry.

• You dislike cats and/or dogs.

• Water views make you squeamish.

• You avoid puns.

• You are in therapy with me. If that is the case, there might be Too Much Information in this blog, which could interfere with the important work we are doing together.  If you are in individual and/or group therapy with me, I strongly recommend we have a conversation about this.

 

• You don’t like music videos.

 

• You find gratitude annoying.

Warmest thanks to all who help me create this daily blog and — of course! — to YOU.

Day 1612: Aficionado

Any aficionado of this blog knows that I often start by defining my terms.

a·fi·ci·o·na·do
əˌfiSHəˈnädō,əˌfisyəˈnädō
noun
a person who is very knowledgeable and enthusiastic about an activity, subject, or pastime.
“aficionados of the finest wines”
synonyms: connoisseur, expert, authority, specialist, pundit, cognoscente

Yesterday, when we were eating salmon for dinner (prepared by cooking aficionado Michael) …

I announced that Oscar …

… was a fish-ionado.  My son, Aaron, who is a comedy aficionado, thought that was a good one.  Michael, who is irritated by puns, gave me the fish eye.

I don’t see myself as a photography aficionado, but that doesn’t stop me from taking pictures of other aficionados.

 

Later today, I am seeing a tooth aficionado (who reads this blog) for some dental work. Tonight, I’m meeting a building aficionado at our new home by the water to discuss some possible remodeling.

My sister Ellen, who is an aficionado of fun videos, showed me this last week:

I assume the talent aficionados appreciated that.

I am an aficionado of blog comments and expect to be seeing some great ones soon.

I hope you’re an aficionado of gratitude and know I am sincerely grateful for all the aficionados who helped me create today’s post and — of course! — for you.

Day 1368: Good, better, best

Today’s post title is inspired by this equipment from the Mayo Clinic, designed to prevent pneumonia after major surgery:

It would be good, according to my health team, if I breathe into that plastic instrument once every hour I’m awake. I’m doing a much better job than I expected following their instructions. It’s best if I don’t tell you how often I’m REALLY using it.

Here are some photos I’ve recently taken, now that I’m home recovering from open heart surgery  a week ago:

 

 

Are there any images you thought were good, better or best?

People seem to think this blog is good enough no  matter what I post. They seem to like it better if I show photos and best if I include music. So here‘s music from one of the best movies I’ve ever seen — The Crying Game. (Please click on “here” in the previous sentence to hear that music.)

 

It’s good that I feel well enough to create another blog post so easily and so soon after my very recent valve replacement surgery.  It would be better if you left a comment with your thoughts about good, better, and best.  It’s best if I publish this post now and take a rest.

Thanks to all those who helped me create this good, better, best post and thanks to all my readers, who are the BEST!

Day 1184: You’re in

You’re in for a treat today, if urine the mood for stinky puns.

Are you in, pee-ple?

Yesterday morning, as I was minding my pees and q’s, I was  feeling  a little pissed, about my heart.

Then, I became much more pissed when I realized that our cat (whose name begins with O, not P), had urinated, peed, and pissed all over the bottom of our bedroom closet.

Of course, I had to de-urinate, de-pee, and de-piss the closet, pronto, even though I had an early appointment about my heart.

Does this  pissy post on my Facebook page sound pissed off?

Apparently, one of our cats tried to distract me from worrying about my heart by peeing everywhere in our closet. It worked.

After this pissy and pee-ved start to my morning, I met with Melanie at the New England Cardiac Arrhythmia Center.

Urine for some surprises, perhaps, when I tell you that:

1. Melanie and I have worked together, through many pacemakers, for thirty years.
2. I always feel less pissed after I talk with wonderful pee-ple like Melanie.
3. Melanie showed me empeethy and understanding, as usual, which helped my heart feel much better.

Throughout the day, I felt pissy about these things:

1. I could still imagine smelling that cat pee.
2. Several pairs of my shoes are probably ruined because of urine, which is very pee-ving.
3. I phoned  pee-ple at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, and Dr. Warnes (who is the expert in pee-ple with my heart condition) is taking vacation the same week as my vacation in May, which is pee-ving, because now I’ll have to miss work to visit her.
4. Dr. Warnes wants me to meet with a surgeon when I visit her in Minnesota, and surgeons are pee-ple who can piss me off.

Ready for some pissed photos from yesterday, pee-ple?

That last pissy picture shows our own personal Urinetown — the back porch containing everything Oscar has recently peed on.

Because personally, puns do NOT peeve me, here’s the subject heading of an email I sent to my doctors about my mixed feelings re: traveling all the way to the Mayo Clinic about my pissy heart:

Hold the Mayo?

Here’s a punny clip from the very punny movie Airplane! about the Mayo Clinic:

Pissed off, peeple?

If urine the mood to mark this territory with a comment, I will not be pissed or peeved.

Many thanks to all people who pee, including those who helped me create this pissy and punny post and to those who are reading it, here and now.

Day 748: A Salt and Battery

I love puns.  My boyfriend Michael says he strongly dislikes puns, but here’s the truth about Michael:

When Michael makes a pun,  he insists it’s not a pun.

When the rest of the world makes a pun, Michael acts like that’s assault and battery.

Yesterday, Michael and I probably made some puns, but I can’t remember any of them right now, no matter how much I assault and batter my brain trying to remember.

BTBW, here are some random thoughts battering around in my mind about what I’ve written so far:

• When I was a little kid having surgeries in the hospital, those felt like assault and battery.
• I am anticipating having heart surgery in the future, but everybody assures me that will NOT feel like assault and battery.
• Since I’ve been 10 years old, I’ve relied on the batteries in pacemakers to stay alive.
• I can get nervous/anxious/jumpy/whatever-we-want-to-call-it when regular batteries run down (as they always do), because of the way my mind makes associations.
• The way my mind makes associations probably helps me make puns AND helps me write the kind of posts I’ve been writing here, every day for the last 747 days.
• 747 is also a kind of airplane.

(Image of 747 found here)

• I plan to fly out on an airplane to California, with my 16-year-old son, next month.
• The plane reservations aren’t made yet, which can make me nervous/anxious/jumpy/whatever-we-want-to-call-it, but I have faith that my travel agent/niece Laura will take care of this beautifully, because she always does (including the trips I wrote about here, here, here, and here).
• When I had to replace some batteries yesterday, my mind/brain/whatever-we-want-to-call-it came up with the title for today’s post.

• I hope it won’t be photographic assault and battery, now, if I share all the other shots I took yesterday:

I don’t want to batter you into leaving me a comment about this post, but it would feel like the opposite of assault-and-battery to me, if you commented in any way.

Now, I have to salt-and-batter my brain to come up with a good-enough song to end this post.

I don’t mean to procrastinate, but what would YOU choose as a song for this Salt-and-Battery post?

Okay, here are my associations, leading to the Song Du Jour:

• “Batter, batter, batter” is something Cameron and Ferris say in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off at Chicago’s Wrigley Field, skipping school for a Cubs baseball game.

That YouTube video of that scene doesn’t have great sound (even though it has over 272,000 views). Here’s another YouTube video of “batter, batter, batter” that has better sound (but far fewer views):

• Here’s another scene from Ferris Bueller, with the Song Du Jour.

Gotta go Twist and Shout on my brand new, pink elliptical!

Thanks to Michael the Boyfriend (who, like Ferris, could be a Fry Cook on Venus), Laura the Niece/Travel Agent, Harley the Cat, Penny the Pen, Ferris and Cameron,  John Hughes the Late Screenwriter and Director,  LateBloomer777 the YouTube Batter-er,  The Beatles the Group, and You the Reader — of course! — for visiting me, today.

Day 584: The Red One

Here’s the cool music that came on, yesterday, as I started my walk to work.

(YouTube video found here)

It’s “The Red One,” written by Pat Metheny and played by two amazing jazz guitarists: Pat and John Scofield.

I learned yesterday why that tune has that title.  Somebody at a Pat Metheny concert once yelled out “THE RED ONE!” requesting that Pat play his special red guitar.

Here’s a live version of “The Red One,” so you can see Pat Metheny and John Scofield, playing away,  plus guitars of different colors (none of which look red, to me):

(YouTube video found here)

Anyway, when that tune came on yesterday, I thought

That, right there, is a very adequate title and topic for tomorrow’s post.  Not only does that give me an excuse to share something else by  my favorite musician and tell people about two of the finest jazz guitarists performing anywhere in the world,  it also provides the perfect balance of structure and freedom for the photographic component of the post, allowing me to seek an aesthetically pleasing and visually cohesive solution that embraces perhaps photos I’ve taken in the past as well as those I can take today.

Actually, my thoughts weren’t really like that. My actual thoughts were more like this:

The Red One! Wow! I love that song!  Hmmmm.  Photos? Ooooh!  I like to take pictures of colors, numbers, and stuff like that! Yay!!

And, immediately, I snapped this photo, in service of “The Red One” theme.

That certainly fits the premise, I thought.  I mean, there IS a red one, in that picture. However, that’s a little too advertising-y, for my tastes.

What do you think?

There MUST be other photos I can find for this piece, that are less commercial, I thought, yesterday morning.  I’m sure I can find images, today, that include …

• the color red,
• the number one
• red letters,
• other red things, standing out amidst obviously non-red things, and
• other riffs on the theme “The Red One.”

Hey (I thought) !!! What if I find and show things that are a close-to-perfect realization of tomorrow’s post theme and then –BIG FINISH! — hit my readers with an ACTUAL RED ONE.

I was very pleased with myself, about these ideas.

And, immediately, I saw and snapped these:

       

At this point, I was thinking …

Ooooh!  Maybe I can make the point that when we choose a theme or a way to look at things, THAT is what we’re going to see.

I also thought

I hope I don’t take TOO MANY photos today.  I have sooooo many things to do and take care of. I don’t want to spend too much time photographing and I don’t want to get overwhelmed, later, trying to decide among too many pictures.

And then, I noticed this:

Okay, then!  I reached my goal, for the day.  I found The Red One!  Now, I can relax.  My preparation, for tomorrow’s post, is done, I thought.

But, somehow, I couldn’t help myself. I took many, many more photos, throughout my day, that I believed could fit my theme.

Now, as I’m creating this post, I have two other goals: I don’t want to overwhelm (1) me or (2) you.

Let’s see how this goes, shall we?

First of all, before I show you any more photos,  I want to tell you that I took (hold on, I’m going to count) ….

ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-ONE photos yesterday.

Wow.  I’ve really got my work cut out for me, today.  So many choices!  I usually take WAY FEWER shots, with my iPhone. As a matter of fact, often I show you most (or even all) of the photos I’ve recently taken.

Granted, some of those photos are ones that my iPhone snapped on its own, accidentally, with no intent of mine —  but that number is  (hold on, I’m going to count) …

12 of all the photos I took yesterday are obvious throw-aways.

Eeeek!  How am I going to show you photos that meet my theme AND capture my day yesterday, as I:

1. Walked to work, from the parking lot where I leave my car,
2. Interacted with many people, in the morning,
3. Left work and walked back to my car,
4. Went to Pacemaker Clinic to get my pacemaker checked, at a different hospital from where I work,
5. Ran into one of my cardiologists, Dr. Salem,
6. Drove home,
7. Interacted with my son Aaron and my boyfriend Michael,
8. Welcomed a veterinarian who makes house calls, so she could (1) give our two cats their yearly exams and shots and (2) meet our newer cat, Harley,
9. Said goodbye to Aaron as he left for (1) the final dress rehearsal for his play and (2) his Wednesday night stay with his father,
10. Spent quality time  with Michael, at our usual Wednesday evening haunts of (1) Panera Bread, for dinner, (2) PetSmart, to get cat supplies and to hang out with the animals there, and (3) Whole Foods, to hang out and buy one or two items that strike our fancy….

…. without getting overwhelmed?!?!?

I shall do my best.

Wait!  Here are some things I know will help me not get overwhelmed, from past experience. I need to make this task do-able, by setting limits. For example, I am now telling myself that:

1. I don’t need to show you all the photos I took yesterday.
2. The photos I choose will be good enough, for the purposes of this post.
3. The post is already good enough (AND I can make it better).
4. I can’t think of a fourth thing, right now, but that’s a good enough list, already.
5. If I think of something else I want to tell you, I can add it later.

Oh!  I remembered one more thing I want to tell you: I didn’t take pictures of EVERYTHING yesterday.

Okay! I shall now present you with some photos I took, yesterday, inspired by “The Red One” (in order of appearance):

      

                                        

Phew! That wasn’t so bad.

Am I really done, for this post?

Well, I think I need to explain at least ONE of those photos.  I mean this one, where there is NOTHING red to be seen, anywhere:

That, ladies and gentlemen, is my 16-year-old son, Aaron, who has made two previous photographic appearances in this blog (here and here).  If you’ve seen Aaron before, you would know that his hair is, naturally, red. However, it’s dyed brown now, for his play.

Any questions?

Thanks to all the red ones in my life and to you — of course — because you READ this, today!

Day 220: Reasons why I should move to London, Part 1

Reason #1. This place expands my vocabulary.

For example, while my brain may have felt mushy because of jet lag on our first day here in London, a great fish and chips restaurant — recommended by our hotel’s concierge — informed me about a new use of the word “mushy”:

 

Mushy peas:

.

Reason #2. There are many opportunities for puns and wordplay.

For example, London gives a 60-year-old mother and her 15-year-old son the opportunity to make excellent puns using the word “eye,” as they walk around, with jet lag, on a beautiful first day in a gorgeous city:

.

Stay tuned for more reasons why I should move to London, in the days ahead.

Thanks to London Eye; to London Fish & Chips Company; to other things with the word “London” in their names (but not the word “the”); to our excellent concierge, Sen; to my son for his pun-ny and otherwise excellent mind; to those of you who can think of puns with the word “eye” in them right now and those who can’t; and to you, for reading today.