Another day of trivia

I have frittered away the day with trivia...and oh, boy, does it feel good. I spent two long grueling days fixing formatting on a manuscript (not mine but one I was editing). Haven't heard from the managing editor, so not even sure if I did it right, but that is surely not the creative part of writing or editing. I love to edit, to catch little things, suggest better ways of saying something, ask what a passage means. Fiddling with extra spaces and track changes and all that, not so much. So I guess that's why I decided to take a vacation today.
Went to the grocery, where my outrage was that they carry Centrum Silver for Men but not for women--had to buy a generic. But my daughter-in-law just told me Centrum Silver is recommended by her ophthalmologist for eye health. Any idea what would happen if I took Centrum Silver for Men--no, we won't go there.
Lunch with friends but I forgot to put my hearing aids in which was a definite handicap. Still fun and good. Home to nap, and spent the afternoon fiddling with small things on my desk, worrying about whether or not I can afford the pants and shirt I want from a catalog, fixing a really special parfait for Jacob--strawberry yogurt, blueberries, granola, chocolate chips and chocolate sauce, all in layers. He didn't make it was far as the blueberries.
Quick visit with Jordan, nice happy hour with Jay and Susan who kindly invited me to go with them for barbecue. I declined, ate zucchini, asparagus, and smoked trout--low calorie but good. But oh my, that barbecue was tempting.
Now I've spent an inordinate amount of time on Facebook--did you know there's a breed of dog named Boerboel? One of the best guardian breeds--bred to fight lions in Africa. And Caucasian sheepdogs? I thought I knew about dogs but I keep learning about new breeds. In truth, these bits of trivial knowledge are one of the things I like about Facebook.
And now? I'm going to read. I know, I know--there's a novel to be written. But not tonight. However, I now have a grand plan for my writing career for the next few years. Watch my dust if I ever get over this spell of self-satisfied laziness.

Pre-Christmas trivia

It's five days before Christmas and, according to my usual habit, I have everything done, so I'm kind of fiddling the days away on trivia--a grocery store trip that wasn't needed except that I decided to bake coal cookies for all my grandchildren. I figure not a one of them  has been an angel every minute of the year so they get a lump of coal in their stockings--the directions say to shape the still-warm cookies in your hands until they resemble a lump of coal. They sound delicious, with dutch-process cocoa (none other), espresso powder, and chocolate bits.
I still have odds and ends to do--the kinds of things that you figure if you don't write them down, you'll forget. For instance, where is that wonderful fancy Christmas stocking someone made me years ago?
Tonight Jacob and I went with Betty to the Star Cafe, the Stockyards restaurant she and her husband own. Jacob has been clamoring to go to the Star and see Aunt Betty and Uncle Don. Uncle Don never did show up while we were there, but we had a good time. Highlight of the evening: Aunt Betty got Jacob a real Wrangler cowboy shirt. That became even more important because when we got out of the car, three riders on horseback moved up Exchange Avenue. Jacob ate a grilled cheese, and Aunt Betty kept refilling his sundae with more chocolate sauce and whipped cream. I told her if he's awake at midnight, I'm calling her. I also told her she was evil, and Jacob asked, "What's evil?" Betty sat back in her chair and said, "I really want to hear how you're going to answer that." Thanks for the support!
My project for tonight is to find just the right books to download for Christmas reading, which means reading first chapters to make sure I haven't read them before and am interested.
Something that puzzles me: I thought North Korean leader Kim Jong II was listed as one of the world's worst dictators. But I saw TV pictures tonight of thousands of North Koreans weeping in the streets. Was he evil and they loved him anyway? Was he a benevolent dictator--I can't believe that. Another thing that puzzles me: Texas law contains a provision saying a person who collects a pension must step down from their position, be it elected or appointed. So why do people dismiss what Rick Perry's doing with a wave of the arm and "Everyone does that!" I don't think so.
The world is full of puzzlements, and I know there were one or two more I was going to post about--but I forgot to write them down. Maybe they'll occur to me tomorrow.
Meantime, my granddaughter Maddie can tell you to the day, hour and minute how long until Christmas. If you haven't done your shopping, it may scare  you.

Mondays

Somehow, Mondays are catch-up days. This morning I discovered I was almost out of coffee, so I rushed to shower, get dressed, and go buy coffee plus pick up a book at Barnes & Noble that I had ordered. Came home to unload the dishwsher, fold the towels for the apt., and do chores like that. Of course, tonight, when I looked in that cabinet that I had thoroughly scoured this morning, I found a new container of coffee. Always the way.
Taught my memoir class at TCU at noon. It's a hard one. The ladies are really nice and sharing, but they are in the midst of their workday--on Monday, of all days, as one of them said. This is just an hour out of work, and their heads may have a hard time adjusting. We did share some great stories today--one woman wrote a prose poem about the women in her life and demonstated the legacy of strong women she's come from. Her own life made her sound really strong, and I much admired  her writing. She early on tried to drop out of the class because she didn't think her writing would hold up. I encouraged her, and now she's come up with one of the best pieces of the whole session. Today, the women shared stories happily and laughed a lot, though many agreed that most of what they recall about their lives is sad. I asked them to each write six sentences--or bullets--that sum up their life, trying to get them to put the odd bits and pieces  they've been writing into the perspective of a memoir. I think they see this as a writing class in which they should write an entertaining piece, without thought of how it fits into the overall picture of their lives. I stressed again that writing a memoir is about figuring out how you got where you are today, how you became the person you are.
It's amazing how busy I can keep with nothing the rest of the day--e-mails, answering questions for an online interview that I don't know when will appear, figuring out my Christmas list, cleaning off a huge pile on the corner of my desk--sorting pieces of paper and putting them where they belong, many in the trash. It's a good feeling.
Tomorrow is election day. I'll go to the White campaign office and make last-minute phone calls. I remain a bit optimistic in the face of negative polls. White had a good explanation that those are target polls, and in recent weeks I've surely talked to a lot more people who planned to vote for White than Perry.. I think the media gets hold of the polls and makes Perry's re-election a self-fulfilling prophecy. Can you imagine a United States with Rick Perry as president? God help us all. Please vote for Bill White tomorrow--it's important for Texas and for your future and mine.
The promised pictures of the weekend have not appeared. Maybe tomorrow.