What is not but could be if

Toe,
It's funny that you should post on the very day I thought to post.

I understand dull. I sometimes feel that, because my life is right now for the most part boring, that my soul is dying, or maybe that it looks like a Ken doll, smooth and sealed up in the places other people's souls are most interesting. But this is just temporary, right?

Eventually the dullness will drive us to do something grand. Something like we used to do, or that we always thought we might one day do.

Existential crisis aside, your cocker spaniel sounds cute. But it's not a cocker spaniel, is it? The problem is, I just don't know what a king cavalier spaniel is. [Pause while Gooooooogling.] Criminy, that's a cute dog. What made you decide on that breed? How could you ever train it? I couldn't possibly yell at anything so cute.

The hundred pushups thing sounds worth a try. I am glad to see it starts out with a column for 5 or fewer pushups. At one point I think I could do 19 at once, back when I actually was 19, but its been a while.

Anyway, the grind of the everyday: This is the key to a good relationship, I think. I think C and I do pretty well, but there are days where we are totally on each other's last nerve, or at least one of us is (usually me on her's). We snap at each other on a pretty regular basis, but we both usually recognize that it's just a mood we're in, or that whatever we're pissy about is just silly.

Congratulations on a Masters man. I have one, too! We should start a club. Something tells me your MA is worth a lot more than mine, though, because every time I mention mine in cocktail parties, it's as if I said I have a degree in skipping rope (with a partial doctorate in double-dutch).

Things are good here in the prairieland. I'm overworked, but that's nothing new. The thing is, I hate working late in the summer. You think it wouldn't be so bad, since the days are longer, and even if I work until 8PM, there is still some light out to get outside and play. But no, for some reason working until 8PM in the winter is easier to swallow. I think it's the idea of working 11 or 12 hours while the sun is out that gets me.

A friend is coming into town this week. There will be drinking involved. This is something to look forward to. I won't be working that night.

I'll talk to you soon.
Love,
E-word

An empty wagon full of rattling bones

E-word,

How are things? I can't say that things are overly exciting here. We're in doldrums, adjusting to the grind of daily life together. It's nice having El here, though. Things are fine, just kind of dull.

Here's a list to fill out this entry.

1. hundredpushups.com - I'm doing this now. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning it's the first thing I do when I get into work in the morning. I close the door, and reel off what is recommended. I have doubts that I'll be able to do 100 pushups in 6 weeks, but it's a fairly low pressure regimen so far.

2. Guggenheim - is the name of our new tri-color Cavalier King Charles Spaniel pup. She's incredibly cute, and incredibly needy.

3. Credit card debt - Too much. El and I have a plan of sorts to rid ourselves.

4. Masters degree - Yessir, I finally got my stupid paper. Fuck, it feels like a waste of life.

Hope things are good. I miss old days. I always miss old days. People have to move on with their lives, I guess.

Love,

Toe

True love and homegrown tomatoes

Toe,
It's a hot afternoon. My tomatoes are out getting acquainted with the outdoors. They're seedlings I started myself, and until Saturday last they'd been inside for the entirety of their existence. They are heirloom tomatoes--some German varieties, one of which allegedly was brought to the States by a WWII vet--so I am pretty excited about them.

Sometimes I wonder if I focus too much on my tomatoes. I have other plants in the garden, but there is something classic about the tomato you grow yourself.

"There are only two things money can't buy:
True love and homegrown tomatoes."

Thank you, Guy Clark. That about sums up all I have to say on the matter.

It was nice talking to you last night, Toe. I pictured you outside the restaurant where you and El were picking up food. In my mind, it was the Thai place we went to, although you clearly stated it was Chinese. In my internalized DC suburb, those places are always opening and closing, so it may in fact have been the same location of the Thai place.

Anyway, I am blathering, and I feel like I am not giving this entry all I can give. It's hot in my office. I'm like the English in India, going a little mad from the heat. I also am suffering from allergies, which makes me a little bit batty, even minus any medication.

Blah, blah. I'll write again soon or call you.
E-word

Jersn: Thanks for writing. I check out your blog now and then, but haven't for a long time because you hadn't updated. Will read it soon. Sorry about the break up.