Thursday January 7th ~ 2010

I am really liking the typing out the numerical twenty-ten... do you think that the start of a new decade brings out optimism? I kind of do...and saying it is even better. Comes out so much easier than 2009


With the passing of friends and loved ones you will always spend some time in reflection and remembrance. I have spent time this last week remembering the loss of two people that I considered friends in the last months. In those moments of tears would come flashes that would make me smile and even laugh out loud.

As Dolly Parton's Steel Magnolias character •Truvy Jones•  said: "Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion." Nothing could be more true than those words in times of remembrance.

I was recalling a late night with Scott & Elizabeth at their condo in Chicago. We were discussing all of the crazy toys and gadgets that we had collected over time and Scott told me he could put all of mine to shame in one-second: then he broke out the "THE VIOLET RAY". This quack medical device was sold in the 1920's & 1930's and it is a hoot.  We plugged it in and cured ourselves of all manner of ailments. Click on the link above and see what all can be cured. I just remember all of us laughing and tearing up as we each tried a wide variety of the attachments. My favorite was the comb.

 I did get a bit of a late start this morning; no matter how I tried I just could not remove myself from under my warm covers and the fact that I had two cats trapping me in did nothing to assist in the matter.

But, so far, the rest of day has a productive day, spent gathering all of the stuff that I need to ship out on Monday for classes in Iowa City & in Detroit. I have loads to accomplish in the next week and I am looking forward to the intensity that these type of preparations require. My dining room work table is covered with everything that is to be packed all spread out and me and my laptop have been relegated to a small corner of the once vast open expanse of wood.