The Kiddie Pool

I think this has been one of the worst summers on record. It may not necessarily have been the hottest summer but it has been very humid here in New York. It has made me a tad bit miserable. Being pregnant doesn’t make it any easier either. I find myself walking a few blocks and being so tired that I am out of commission the rest of the day. It might seem like a dream to some. But to me, it makes me feel useless. 

Usually I take comfort from the heat and humidity by going to Long Island and soaking in the pool. However, this year we decided not to fill it up for various reasons. Those reasons fail me now. It was not a good decision. However we made up for it by buying an inflatable kiddie pool. It is very small but I can put a chair in and sit submerged up to my tummy. I’ve used it a number of times already to just cool off.  I have enjoyed reading many books while sitting in the kiddie pool. It’s almost as good as the regular pool except that I can’t go for a swim.

What I also like about this kiddie pool is that it’s in the shade. It sits opposite one of my dogs’ secret hideaway. So while I sit in the pool, I can see her digging or napping or watching the birds from beneath her shrub. It is quite cute. Occasionally when I am not looking, she exits her secret lair and comes to visit me.  I always ask her where she’s come from because she’s surprised me. She doesn’t answer, of course, because it’s a secret. 

On one occasion I decided to talk to the baby from the pool. I read a little bit to her and then I told her about her two canine sisters. I explained what they looked like and what they usually do. Anyone looking at me from the outside would have thought I was insane but it seemed like just as good a time as any to let her in on the happenings and personalities of her future life. 

If it weren’t for this little pool, I am pretty sure I would have gone stir crazy by now. It has been a particularly grueling summer so I am happy to find a little relief in a PVC pond.

The Chase

My dogs bring me lots of happiness and cuddles. They cheer me up when they sense I am sad and like to be silly to make me laugh. They are very sweet. Occasionally though they can be troublemakers though.

This difficulty comes in giving them medicine. One of my dogs is fine with taking her pills to get better but the other one always seems 3 steps ahead of me. I used to be able to hide her medication in peanut butter until she caught on that the peanut butter was not crunchy style and whatever was in there didn’t taste too good. Hiding the pill in her food didn’t work because I’d ultimately find the remains of pills at the bottom of her dish.

Lately I’ve been sticking the medicine in “Laughing Cow” cheeses. This works on most days but sometimes it becomes a struggle. She decides she won’t take the cheese and I find myself chasing her around the apartment. From the kitchen through the living room and then to the bedroom and back through the living room and kitchen again. I try to lower myself to her level so that she will see that I am trying to appease her. She sniffs the cheese, turns her face and off she runs. This goes on for quite some time. My husband usually has to intervene and stick the cheese in her mouth. She then takes it but I don’t like this method because then she associates the cheese with something not pleasurable which makes the cycle continue again and again. I am of the non-forcing train of thought. 

This morning after a little morning run around the apartment, I decided to hide the pill in nutella. It was bad of me but really how can anyone or any animal resist nutella? It worked wonders. I probably won’t use this method every day but heck I know it works. I’ll just add it to my arsenal of pill feeding methods.

Bodies in Motion

I have been obsessed with the Olympics. I watched way too much coverage and now that it’s over I am happy so I can return to some other viewing. Every four years I am mesmerized by the feats that these athletes do.

I love the gymnastics. Having done it myself many years ago, I have an appreciation for how difficult it all is, especially that stinking balance beam. And I enjoy watching them doing all those skills, so much so that I hold my breath when all the risky tricks are happening. 

I often find myself watching sports that I never would watch. That’s also a great part about the Olympics – the sheer volume of sports that don’t get much airplay when it’s not Olympics time. I was really interesting in the fencing matches this time around. I don’t understand it at all but I like to observe and see if I can figure out the rules. And water polo, how hard is that sport? I’d probably drown if I had to tread water for that long while trying to get a ball into a goal. 

Swimming and track are fun to watch and easy to understand but of the two, I find swimming far more interesting. I love being in the pool and having learned all those strokes, I know how hard they can be. The track and field stuff is very interesting but because I’m not much of a runner, I don’t appreciate them as much. The 100m races always go by so quickly that I’m afraid to blink and honestly, the triple jump is weird to me. The longer races are breath taking to me because I can’t imagine ever running that long. My body just couldn’t do it. I can barely run to the corner without wanting to vomit. So the will and endurance for the long races always mystifies me. 

I love to watch the team sports although I think the beach volleyball ladies could wear more clothing. I wish there were more opportunities to see volleyball or field hockey because they are fairly easy to understand and interesting to watch. But then again, I am a big fan of soccer, a sport which many people think is super boring.

It was a great couple of weeks and I can’t wait for the Winter Olympics in 2014 to see more exciting tricks and bodily contortions and team sports.

The Commute

Almost every morning people get up and prepare the usual routine to get to their jobs. One aspect of this routine is the daily commute. Normally I don't mind this ritual because I spend most of my time catching up on my reading.

Lately it's been difficult for me to make the commute because I'm in pain and/or because I have appointments to get to during the day. It makes no sense for me to drag myself downtown to go to work then to haul to the doctor in midtown and then have to go back downtown to finish out my day. Luckily my boss doesn't mind me working from home on these occasions.

But today's commute was a very pleasant one. My husband decided to drive me to work. And my fellow commuters were my two dogs! Who am I kidding? It was the best commute ever.

The smaller dog sat on my lap for most of the trip and decided she didn't like a lot of what she was seeing on her commute. She didn't like the pigeon walking in the street and she certainly let him know by barking at him. She thought the doorman at one building was a little suspicious so she pointed it out by yapping. She notified us that she thought one statue was not appropriately placed. A little while after pointing these items out, we stepped off my lap to get some water in a bowl that is set behind the front seats. She lapped at the water happily.

In the meantime, my bigger dog saw that my lap was free and decided it was a perfect time to sit next to me. She gave me her paw and cuddled into my side. It was very relaxing. I noticed however that most of her fur was ending up on my suit jacket. Oh well I thought.

The little dog finished up her water and wondered how she was going to get back on my lap. She kept trying to jump past her sister but she couldn't find a space. A few minutes later, I felt her digging at my feet. She had crawled under the seat to get to me. She jumped up on my lap and I had two very pushy and adorable co-commuters trying to angle into my space. If a human had tried to take up all this room on the subway, I would have been highly perturbed and vocal about it. But when you have very big eyes and fur, I'll let you do just about anything!

I think more of my commutes should be this way. I certainly wouldn't mind all the hassle of the morning routine. Or maybe more people on the subway should let me rub their ears when they are pushing into my seat.

The Olympics

Every couple of years we are graced with this exciting international sporting event. I always enjoy watching all the different sports even if I have no idea what the rules are to most of them. It's also really interesting to see what each host country presents during the opening and closing ceremonies.

This time around, I really enjoyed the opening ceremonies because I'm an anglophile. Having Kenneth Branagh speak the words to "The Tempest" warmed my heart. Then when a big portion of the event was dedicated to children's stories from the British Isles, I couldn't have been happier. I was thrilled to have J.K. Rowling read from "Peter Pan" and to even see all those famous villains from British books appear in the nightmare sequence. Yes, Mary Poppins and Peter Pan are great but what about all those classic villains, Cruella DeVille, Voldemort and the Queen of Hearts? Just fabulous.

And I chuckled a number of times when specific reference o the British sense of humor were touched. It was great to see Rowan Atkinson as Mr. Bean. I do adore Mr. Bean and it was nice for him to make an appearance. I also thought the 007/Bond sketch with the Queen was quite funny. It's nice to see that certain countries do and don't take themselves seriously - British literature is fantastic but they do have a wonderful history to make fun of as well.

I look forward to the next 2 weeks of events. Maybe I'll finally figure out the rules to fencing. I do like to watch weightlifting even if I feel that the competitors will break in half during the 'clean and jerk' portion. I am always mesmerized and holding my breath during gymnastics and diving. I'm sure I'll have my commentary in the days to come. But until then, let the games begin and I hope others out there are enjoying them as much as I am.

Noises Off

In the past year I’ve becoming incredibly sensitive to noise. I don’t exactly know when it started to bother me but it has been relentless. In the early stages it had to do with the endless cachophony in my office. In a space of open cubicles it was really easy to hear the phone discussions and conversations of almost everyone in the aisles surrounding me. It made it hard for me to concentrate. So I resorted to listening to my ipod to drown out the noise.

Sadly in the time between it seems to have gotten worse. I moved locations but have been surrounded by a number of very loud talkers who are often on the telephone. I still turned to my ipod for assistance but I found that I was turning the volume up higher on my gadget to drown out the noise. One day when I got a headache from having the volume turned up too high, I decided to take some action. I actively told the people around me to please watch their conversational and call volumes. I am sure I made no friends by doing so. In fact, in a lot of ways I think they have gotten louder just to spike me. Even with ear plugs in at almost all times while I am at work, there isn’t much filtered out of the discussions and phone conferences happening around me. 

I began to wonder if it wasn’t just me. I made an appointment with the doctor to have my ears checked and nothing came out of it. Luckily my ears are fine but that is both a problem and not a problem according to the doctor. He said that people are talking at higher decibel levels and that is what I am experiencing. It’s not that I am more sensitive per se, it’s that they are getting louder and louder. I hear conversations on the other side of subway trains, the music on other people’s ipods, etc. It is just short of maddening. 

I decided after a while that I would just have to deal with this for the rest of my life until I saw a recent article in The New York Times(http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/20/nyregion/in-new-york-city-indoor-noise-goes-unabated.html?ref=nyregion).  The article claims what my doctor and I had suspected all along. The noise levels in the city and probably around the world have gotten higher. And the constant exposure to these levels is too much for our ears to handle. The article mentioned how certain locations have bought in sound proofing experts to control the noise levels. And this is great news. I wish that more people would make this effort especially in office buildings and on the subway!

Mr. Men and Little Miss

Back when I was a kid, there were a set of books called Mr. Men and Little Miss that I loved. Some of the characters in this line of books were “Little Miss Sunshine”, “Mr. Grumpy” and “Mr. Silly” to name a few.

I was reminded of these characters when someone at work referred to themselves as Mr. Bossy. It made me think about the actual character from those books whose name was “Little Miss Bossy”.  Of course some times my thoughts go all over the place and I began to think about what some of these characters might be called in a non-politically correct or even more modern manner. 

Would Little Miss Tidy or Little Miss Neat be considered Little Miss Obsessive Compulsive Disorder?

Would Little Miss Scary be Little Miss Goth? Or Little Miss Contrary, would she be Little Miss Devil’s Advocate? Little Miss Messy might be Little Miss Hoarder now-a-days. Would Mr. Rude be the equivalent of Mr. Business Man? etc. 

It really does make you wonder. What would the adult versions of most of these books be?

Any ideas?

Fly Swatter

Foxy is a very obedient dog except for two conditions. One reason for her disobedience is those blimey squirrels (mentioned in a couple of earlier entries) and the other is with flies. If she sees one flying around, she loses track of whatever she is doing and decides that she must catch them and eat them. I don’t know if she seems them as smaller versions of squirrels. Regardless, if she’s in the middle of following a command and one of our fair flying friends floats by, I know for sure she’s not paying attention to a word I’m saying.

Just like squirrels, Foxy has yet to catch a fly. I’ve seen her try to bite them as they fly by. She’s swatted at one with her tail while it was propped up on a wall. She’s also tried to smash it with her paw. Each time, she’s failed. I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before she catches one. I expect that some day soon she’ll come up to me with either a squirrel between her teeth or she’ll pop a fly out of her mouth to show me her catch.

Until then, I’ll enjoy watching her try at play with her two nemeses. I wonder if she’ll stop trying to catch them if she ever does grab hold of one?

I wrote the 3 paragraphs above last summer. Things have changed since then. Foxy has in fact caught a fly in her mouth, only to spit it out a millisecond later. Having finally succeeded at capturing a fly, it did nothing to stop her from continuing to try to catch them. If one of those pests is anywhere near her, she will try any of her myriad methods to obtain them - tail splatter, paw squash, mid-air nibble. I don't think she will ever stop trying to catch them but it's fine with me. Her enthusiasm reminds me that deep inside she's still a puppy and enjoys playing.

Is This a Dagger?

From reading my blog it can be surmised that I thoroughly love Shakespeare. I have spent many years of my life reading his plays and writing about them. Something about how the plots were constructed and the stories have always appealed to me. I like some plays more than others but they are all very interesting in their own way. 

On occasion I get to see performances as well.  I always love how directors rethink the stories to retell them in a more modern way – making them more relevant to present day audiences. Last week I went to see “MacBeth” by the Royal Theatre of Scotland. The actor Alan Cumming played almost every role in the play and it left me speechless in many ways. 

The beginning of the play sets up the idea that we are in a mental asylum via the stark environment and the beds and clinical items around the stage. We watch as two characters silently admit Alan Cumming into the asylum. As the play continues, Alan begins to speak the parts of the various characters and he delineates the different roles by standing in different places or holding different object or by changing the way he wears certain clothes. This continues to the end and culminates in the tragic ending of the Shakespearean play. 

There were a few funny moments based on Cumming’s interpretation of some of the characters but other than that, it was an intense and tiring show. Watching him popping back and forth between different characters and his frenetic energy during the portrayals kept me on the edge of my seat for most of the production. This was probably one of my favorite interpretations of a Shakespeare play because it captured the tension as well as the speed with which the action unravels of the original play. The play had no intermission and was just short of two hours long. 

Mesmerizing portrayals of fascinating characters always make watching a play enjoyable. When one person does all those portrayals you have to be in awe of their talent and interpretation, not to mention their stamina. Too bad this play had such a short run. Otherwise I would tell everyone I knew to go and see it and be as surprised and entranced as I was.

Messing with Perfection

I adore Nutella. The chocolate-hazelnut spread has been a food staple in my life for as long as I can remember. As a kid my mom would occasionally buy a jar as a treat. Probably within hours, my siblings and I would consume the whole jar while putting some on some bread or just eating spoonfuls straight from the jar. It was really a piece of heaven to wait as it melted in my mouth.

As I’ve grown older I occasionally purchase a jar myself but not that often. I prefer to have it when I go out somewhere as a treat to myself. The other day I passed by a place that had nutella filled pastries. I could not resist. I bought myself one. The anticipation of eating it had consumed me only to be dropped on the hot concrete when I finally ate the nugget. For some God forsaken reason the bakery decided to mix the usually exquisite and delectable nutella with something else. I couldn’t figure out if it was cream or something else but it adulterated the nutella. 

I wanted to really throw the item back at the place and tell them “What in Christ’s name is wrong with you? You don’t mess with nutella!”I was so appalled by the behavior. Why would anyone taint perfection? I will never figure it out. The only explanation that is satisfying to me is that they must not have any taste buds. There is just no point in messing with perfection!