Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Remnants of a busy week

Guess what.

The tone of voice I use when my kids are on "my last nerve" should NOT be the same tone I use at any time, for any reason, with my mom. Got my ears figuratively pulled with that one.

If you walk to Wal-Mart from Dunwoody Village, you may think you're somewhat anonymous, but at least three friends will have driven past that day and will comment with some amazement that you're WALKING ON ASHFORD-DUNWOODY ROAD.

In order to tour a prospective apartment, you have to turn over your driver's license. This is purportedly to keep undesirables out of a gated community, but it's really to log in you into some master database. My mom is now on someone's "hit list" after one tour.

Guys in kilts are really, really attractive, knobby knees and wrinkles notwithstanding.

The Chicken Whisperer is coming to Dunwoody Nature Center. How cool is that?

The Amtrak Crescent that travels from New York to Atlanta is putrid beyond measure. The bathrooms are awash in human waste, the seats are stained, the train makes "smoking stops" for its addicted passengers, and the staff is AWOL most of the night. Good luck with that as alternative transportation.

On the other hand, the Acela Express from New York to Baltimore is timely, speedy, fairly clean, and well run. Same company. Way different scenario.

Just because a knitting pattern says you need just five skeins, go ahead and buy the 6th. I need the 6th. And don't have it.

The same kid who, just a month before couldn't keep a thought in his head can overnight turn into someone with initiative and self-reliance. Joy.

The Georgia State Legislature is paving the way for local school systems to create four-day school weeks by lengthening the school day (hours of learning, not weeks). On one hand, that means an even more brutal homework load for high school students. On the other hand, three-day weekends!

I pooh-poohed the iPod as yet another unnecessary bit of indulgence, but my kids got one and now I want one, too. I want to hear Norah Jones, Patsy Cline, Nat King Cole, favorite big-hair-and-shoulder-pads 80's tunes, bits from Fiddler on the Roof and Grease and O Brother Where Art Thou?, toss in Rhapsody in Blue and the Brandenburg Concertos, and maybe a few Shaker melodies. I'm nothing if not eclectic, and there isn't a radio station out there that hits all the right notes for me. So why not?

To get one simple hand x-ray to establish bone age for the endocrinologist, we have to admit our son into Children's Healthcare/Scottish Rite outpatient clinic (a one-hour plus process), head to x-ray, get triaged behind patients who really do need to go first, finally get the x-ray, then get "released." I asked why, last time. "The insurance company requires it, and we have liability issues." Yet another reason healthcare costs are way higher than they need to be.

Food smells and tastes really good when someone else makes it.

Continental knitting is wicked fast. I can't believe I haven't used the technique before. I knitted two scarves with the working yarn twined through my left hand and churned out the rows. However, it's a much looser knit, so I can't switch techniques in the same sweater. The Piedmont Park Hoodie will have to creep along at throwing pace. But I'm lovin' the design. The back is lovely and I've cast on the two front sections (to be knit at the same time).

The new "Welcome to Dunwoody" sign expresses our Williamsburg personna. Tidily nostalgic, clean and simple, it's a good fit.

4 comments:

  1. I may have loved this entire post, Donna! And, by the way, I have EXACTLY the same taste in music as you do! Totally weird! And, get this, I interviewed the Chicken Whisperer last week for my Nw Life Journal column! Does everyone know he has a Radio Sandy Springs show each Saturdsay morning? Yet Sandy Springs hasn't taken a position yet on backard chicken keeping yet? (Roswell allows, Decatur and Atlanta are totally on board) For anyone who has a quick negative opinion about this practice, I respectfully invite you to please do some research first and get wind of what's happening nationwide--it appears to be a good thing when it is done responsibly with appropriate attention paid to noise--no roosters--and cleanliness and 25-feet from nearest occupied dwelling--that's a standard urban rule. Also, meet someone with a few chickesn--the chickens are charming and much less disruptive than my neighbor's dog).

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  2. It's great that you mentioned the "quick negative opinion." That's exactly the response I got from a few people when I happily announced DNC is scheduling the class. I assured them them the chickens can be just as clean and quiet as a well trained/cared for dog. Turns out each thought roosters had to be involved! A great opportunity for a teachable moment (no roosters needed, thank you very much). In general, though, the response has been keen interest and early sign-up!

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  3. May I recommend WMLB 1690 (on your AM radio dial), The Voice of the Arts.

    They've got you covered for classical, country (Patsy Cline, yes -- and Hank Williams, Hank Snow, etc), show tunes, standards (Nat King Cole, yes), and critics faves from any era (that means Norah Jones, yes, and from the 80's R.E.M., the Replacements, XTC, B52s - hey, this is Atlanta - not so much for other big hair and shoulder pad groups, I think).

    You also get opera, Americana, spoken word and comedy bits, and lots, I mean way lots, of Bob Dylan (I love B.D., my fave). Give it a try -- it is the most eclectic station in town. Weak signal, though, that is wiped out as the sun goes down.

    WMLB 1690 -- you may not listen every day but if you have a wide-ranging taste in music you will be happier knowing it is out there.

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  4. Thanks, Steve! I missed the upper range on the AM dial past 750. I'll definitely give 1690 a try.

    Even opera? Wow.

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Thanks for sharing your thoughts - it's great to hear from you!