Today has been overcast and cool, my favorite kind of day. If it rained, that would be the best. Sitting inside, listening to the patter of rain against the window is so soothing. Can you tell I'm from Seattle? I don't suffer from any of that seasonal disorder stuff, for which I'm very grateful. I truly thrive on grey days. A physician told me I probably process melatonin extra well. I definitely dislike sunny days, especially if there's much heat.
We're off to Milwaukee tomorrow for my father-in-law's 80th birthday celebration. I have two sisters-in-law. One I find irritating (it's mutual), and one I adore. John doesn't have any sisters or female cousins, so we're kind of thrown on each other at family gatherings, we womenfolk. If it weren't for us, the guys would celebrate Thanksgiving by heating up tv dinners, so we do have a bond of sorts. They don't hug, though. My family hugs, and smooches, and holds hands, and generally acts like touch is a good thing. I find John's family oddly formal, sometimes.
It will be good for me to get away from the computer for a couple of days. I've spent the last three weeks really struggling to grok Photoshop. We have an "off-site backup" copy, hem, hem, so we haven't got the documentation. I'm not in the least techie, either, so it's a bit like learning to read using a Jules Verne novel. Uphill all the way. I like it, though. It makes me feel smart to figure it out.
Got into a brief discussion of composers named Strauss last night online. A couple of friends were unclear on who wrote what, and when they lived. Without hesitation, I assured them it was easy to keep the two main ones apart since one was German and one was Austrian, and the Austrian one was born in 1825 and the German one was born about 40 years later. See how much good a college education does one? I haven't thought of that stuff in 20 years, yet it's all stuck in my head from Music History 201, University of Washington, sophomore year. Incredible. If only this were useful.
We walked down the street last week to examine the local oddity, the Bongo Java coffeehouse's Mother Teresa Cinnamon Bun. It looks a lot more like Popeye than Mother Teresa to me, but it definitely looks like a face with a cloth wrapped around its head. Makes me wonder if some poor goof ate the Buddha Bun without noticing. How many other holy pastries went unnoticed?