My Favorite Glass Things

ABJ's pictures of the lovely blue and lavendar glass vessels made me think about some of the glass objects that I have been thinking about this week... First the lovely glass acanthus drop that has to be one of my favorite Christmas gifts even though it was a package ornament. I can't get a picture that captures the sparkle and the color, so this will have to do.

And I have been looking for a glass teapot that would not break the bank ever since ABJ gave me my first flower tea. Found this on sale for $9.98 at Reading China and Glass yesterday on the sale shelf. It makes a perfect 2 cups and has a cup on the bottom.

And I first saw these lovely lozenge-shaped lamps in the Pottery Barn catalog about a month ago and can't get them out of my head. I would put them in my sun room if I had money to spare and didn't already have some nice pottery lamps already there.

Another Brother Heard From

Sitting peacefully at my pc before dinner this evening when suddenly my Skype phone rang and it was my brother - video image and all. Turned out that he had just installed Skype and had tried ringing ABJ but she and SJ were probably out partying or just not answering the phone so he settled for his sister. I think we are the only two people he knows on Skype. Had one of the longest phone conversations ever with him - clearly the technology had him hooked (I don't fool myself that it was our scintillating dialogue). He had this absolutely huge microphone that looked like it was from a 50's TV studio. Turned out he is setting up a video feed for a presentation he is making next week.

I was right, he is considering getting an iPad. He is the also the second person who has hounded me to get on Twitter in the past two days so I finally did it only to find that he hasn't tweeted a thing or maybe I am just following the wrong person. Technology is wonderful. And it is snowing again ........ 12 degrees F. Heat wave tomorrow - going all the way up to 30.

Kindle my Ipad

Haha. I could have said I told you so, but it has happened too often. As an IT Executive, who has had to deal with the dizzying pace of technology change and obsolescence for over 30 years, I have been predicting that the Kindle was going to be outdated almost immediately.

Aside from the hysterically funny fact that Mad TV actually did a skit on a sanitary napkin called the Ipad several years ago (which demonstrates that Apple doesn’t have any women on its marketing team), it was bound to happen. Right now, I am sure that Europeans who purchased a Kindle in the US that could only download books in the US are now kicking themselves now that Amazon introduced a European Kindle a few days ago(yes I have a cousin in Scotland who got one last August). I also realize that technology worshipers have a short memory, but does anyone remember what the first IPODS looked like or the problems people had with the first Iphones? I still have my old Ipod and it isn't very pretty and stopped working within a year.

On top of this is the fact that the Ipad, like the Iphone is exclusively on the AT&T network. Does anyone remember that they had to stop selling Iphones in NYC before Christmas because the network performance was so poor? I predict that my technology- geek brother who just purchased a Kindle before Christmas will think nothing of migrating to the Ipad within a year, but it is all a pretty expensive proposition. Would my cousin in Scotland really have purchased over $250 in books over the past year? I can guarantee that my brother wouldn’t.

As for me, I am happy with my books……..

Winter Soup

Nothing is better on a chilly damp winter day than lovely home made soup. Last week I made Julia Child's very simple, very delicious potato leek soup. Cook 3 cups of sliced potatoes with 3 cups of sliced leeks (only the white and tender green parts) in about 1 1/2 quarts of water for 50 minutes. Puree in a blender or by running through a sieve. Put back on the burner and add about 1/2 cup of heavy cream and seasonings to taste. Yummy!

Why We Don't Want Men to Vote

My mother gave me a book for Christmas that I thought (and so did she) I would really enjoy. It is titled When Everything Changed; the Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present. Unfortunately, after I finished the first couple of chapters, which dealt with the world I grew up with in the 50's and early 60's, I found that I was so filled with white-hot anger that I couldn't go any further. After a week I picked it up again and managed struggle through two more chapters, but my rage was reignited and I have had to stop again.

It strange and upsetting to find I have all this unfocused and volcanic fury stuffed deep inside me. Where did it come from, why has it been dormant all these years and what is it even about? Everytime I attempt to approach it I feel as though I will be consumed by the white flame.
I know it is important part of me that was lost somewhere and I have to find and untangle the parts.

In any case, my father and grandparents were born into a world where women couldn't vote and the nineteenth amendment to the constitution was passed only 7 months before my mother was born. (British women under 30 couldn't vote until 1028). In 1915 Alice Duer Miller wrote (she obviously had a sense of humour)

Why We Don't Want Men to Vote

- Because man's place is in the army.
- Because no really manly man wants to settle any question otherwise than by fighting about it.
- Because if men should adopt peaceable methods women will no longer look up to them.
- Because men will lose their charm if they step out of their natural sphere and interest themselves in other matters than feats of arms, uniforms, and drums.
- Because men are too emotional to vote. Their conduct at baseball games and political conventions shows this, while their innate tendency to appeal to force renders them unfit for government.

:/

Paul' s Stocking

Finally had Paul over for lunch today to get his handmade Christmas stocking (stuffed with goodies of course). He was very happy with it :)

Heat

Well, today I am feeling a little less enthusiastic about the cold weather. Just got a 1 month propane bill for $700 :( Maybe it could warm up a bit.

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

All the snow we are having this year reminds me of walking with a very little ABJ through the deep snow down the long driveway that wound through our white-carpeted woods at Windy Hill. I remember her listening with rapt attention as I recited my favorite Robert Frost poem -

Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

As people age they complain about the inconvenience, the shoveling and the cold but I have never gotten too old to lose my wonder and enjoyment of deep, thick snowfalls that muffle all sounds of life and force us to stay at home and rely on our own resources.