End of August, relief from the blazing temps of last week

 Checking in.  Today I went on errands to get some things I needed.  I got some toothpaste, completely out, Q-tips, tartar sauce for fish sandwiches I am going to have this week, double A batteries, margarine, and some furniture coasters.  It seems like I got some other stuff but I can't think what the rest of the stuff was.  The weather was beautiful.  Looks like this week is going to be in the 80's.  I slept sort of late because I had a hard time getting to sleep.  The weekend was pretty fun.  I went to the World Food Fair downtown on Saturday and the Sister Soul Fest on Sunday.  The World Food Fair was in downtown Des Moines and had a ton of people.  The Sister Soul Fest was in a nearby park and was pretty mellow.  At the Food Fest I had Gelatto, rice and spring rolls, and a dumpling.  I brought something home that looks like a doughy bun and is supposed to have chicken in it.  At the Sister Soul Fest I bought some facial cream, a bracelet and a painting.  I think this is the first time I have ever bought a painting from an artist.  She was local and has a studio in Mainframe.  Actually, it was not the original canvas painting but a nice quality print.  I also bought a  pretty beverage coaster that featured the artwork of a young black artist about 11 years old.  Adults of course placed her drawings on a host of merchandise like coasters, mousepads, refrigerator magnets, etc.  

I was late to the zoom meeting but there was a good turnout and we discussed two chapters in our text..  Except for the book, The Issue at Hand I am only reading one other book right now.  It is a novel by Tom Clancy.  It is a novel about a plan to assassinate the pope.  There are  lot of characters in it and its challenging to keep track of them.  It is slow paced so I only read a few pages at a time.  There are CIA agents and KGB agents in it so it is somewhat suspenseful but not terribly since alot of it describes the thoughts of the different government workers.  There are British and American and Russian government employees.  Seems like the pope has written a letter threatening to resign and this has upset the Kremlin and one of their top leaders has initiated an assassination plan. 

Halloween candy is out so I bought a container of candy corn.  Very festive colors.

===


left artist: Saily (Saily's Swag)
right artist: Yvette Sutton



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I hear singing

Image
 Yesterday was a very special day.  I was walking in front of the house headed out to do errands about 10 am when I heard a rustling in the grass.  It repeated itself but when I looked down I couldn't see anything.  Then I heard it again.  It sounded like a large fly.  Finally, I saw a big object flapping its wings really fast. The wings were a big blur.  It was an Iowa locust that appeared to be caught under the netting the Google folks laid down after running the new fiberoptic down along the street.   I was going to go back to my room to get my jar but instead grabbed an envelope from my backpack and scraped the locust into that.  Then I went up to my room, poured the locust into my jar and took a picture of it.  After I took a picture of it I shook the jar and it looked dead as a door nail.  I felt horrible.  I guess I had been a little rough with it when I scooped it into the envelope.  Or maybe the jar had some ...
Read more

Christmas time at the Mall, JC Superstar on You-Tube

Image
Temps are in the thirties with a stiff wind that chills you more than the actual temp.  I went to the mall today and once again reflected on the dying nature of the creature.  I realize my life has paralleled the age of the Great Shopping Mall.  I was a child when they were first conceived of and am still alive as they slowly pass out of existence.  I remember when Merle Hay Mall was Merle Hay Plaza and the concept of a collection of stores all in once place was a consumer miracle.  I grew up on the "southside" of Des Moines, but a couple of times a month my mom and I would drive the 13 miles to go the more affluent west side and a shopping area called Merle Hay Plaza.  The long journey (to a kid) and the route we took remains a strong memory. My parents bowled in a bowling league at Plaza Lanes.  More memories.   Then they put a single roof over all those stores and changed the name from Merle Hay Plaza to Merle Hay Mall.  Merle Hay by ...
Read more

Sunday Morning 2023 Aug 13- books I am currently reading

Image
 Yesterday, I carried around one of Kay Ryan's books THE BEST OF IT.  (New York: Grove Press, 2010).  I was introduced to Kay Ryan several years ago when a lady from the Senior Center in Iowa City read a poem by her.  I think it was called The Elephant in the Room.  Kay Ryan writes very short poems.  In general they are much shorter than the ones my poetry group reads out loud.  You can watch Kay Ryan read some of her poetry on You Tube.  This is a treat--being able to see and hear a poet read their own work.  In general, they are pretty good readers. I like Kay Ryan because she writes about very common things that she has clearly spent time looking at studiously.  Alternatively, it could be that what seems like inane things to most people, must strike her profoundly and then she writes about it.  I'm drawn to Ryan's poetry because our minds are so very similar. If I wrote poetry it would be exactly like hers.   I also am ...
Read more