observation

People on TV are always asking each other, eyes blazing, "And why would I do that?" (presumably because it's shorter than "What do you know that I don't know you know and will compel me to action?") There should be a word for these sorts of phrases that are only ever used to speed exposition. In the meantime, I'm going to start saying it - starting tomorrow, at work.

Highlights (part 2)

Whoever it was who first said that it's the journey and not the destination that counts was not talking about these.

Which New Yorker cartoon caption contest-based contest would you rather see?

1. A contest in which you take the current New Yorker contest image, doctor it, and submit it along with your caption.

2. A contest in which you submit a (presumably absurd) drawing to accompany the (presumably commonplace) sentence/question/exclamation.

Um....

Someone at work was saying that the long, drawn out "OM" sound that's used in meditation is the sound that the universe makes, or the frequency of the sound that the universe makes, or something like that. But it seems that can't be right: the sound starts with the "O" and finishes with the "M," so is it the "M" that is the sound of the universe? And if so, how important is the "O?" It was then suggested that the "M" sound was very specific and could only exist having been preceded by the "O." I have my doubts. Couldn't the sound of the universe be "UM?" Are we really that sure about the opening vowel? I'm not blind to the fact that trying to compartmentalize the sounds in OM is extremely unOM, like as unOM as you can get.

The first time I saw a medallion with the OM symbol on it I thought it was a pendant given for 30 years of service, so that's how in tune with the universe I am.

I am an aunt for real and not just like to a dog!

Alana arrived, as my dad put it, at 11:05 last night. 6lbs, 5 oz.

I used to wonder why people were so interested in communicating the weight of newborns. But what else can you say about them?

So there it is: Alana. I suppose it's good that I wasn't consulted, as I myself would be uncomfortable with a name that seems to want so much to be a palindrome. Alananala will be good when she runs off and joins an ashram. And I dislike both the New England and the Pittsburgh pronunciations of "aunt." I don't suppose my sister will let her call me "Zia Sally," if my name were Sally, but "zia" is Italian for aunt, and I think its exoticism will make her, Alana, more inclined to visit me.

anyway

Things aren't tough in the least. There's no animosity. We're in complete agreement. There's a little bittersweetness, sure; but I walked into town on Saturday with a spring in my step. I thought, "I have peace of mind." And then I started wondering why I had peace of mind. Was it because I honestly wanted to settle down, just not with P? Or was it the ol' fear of commitment mutating into new forms to avoid detection and annihilation? Because I'm honestly terribly good at being single. I've spent the last ten years by myself (not counting 3 relationships each of which lasted a year and a half), because I wanted to master being alone (for its own sake. but it is also true that mastery of being alone makes you a more desirable companion). At any rate, while I anticipate a return to the Wild West of dating, at the moment I'm more interested in getting a dog.

prediction

Ten years ago in April, I moved out of the apartment I was living in with my (very longtime)then-boyfriend because I felt I was too young to settle down.

Now, we're both moving out because I do want to settle down, and we have different ideas about what that means.

Next time this happens, it will be because I want to settle down, and the man in question and I will share ideas about what it means, but he will think that I had been saying "I want a metal crown."