The Visible Woman...May 15, 2003

Little things fill my day. Making the house presentable for FFP's meeting and getting ready for him to serve coffee and cake. Cleaning up after that. Only takes a moment to do any one thing. Adds up to a day.

Just little things. Watching some workmen we hired, chatting, paying them. Tidying up the landscaping where they installed lights. Reading the front page of The New York Times from a new days ago. A couple minutes' chat with a yound woman who comes by the pick something up FFP left in our delivery box.

Only the smallest errands. Shopping at Central Market. (Choosing a time when one can go directly to the register and see almost no one one knows although I did see one couple and was a little embarrassed as I was in sweaty shorts and TShirt.) Driving to the club to do some exercise, doing it while reading. Making food for Dad's group at his church tomorrow. Boiling a ton of eggs (deviled eggs, tuna salad). Mixing, slicing, fixing. Feeding myself, cleaning myself, cleaning up after myself. Arranging a couple more things about a trip. Discussing the building with Forrest.

Just doing the ordinary. Reading some of the day's papers. Working a crossword. Watching TV. (NBA playoffs, Who Wants to be a Millionaire?) Talking on the phone. (Wrong number, another Linda Ball who never has a listed phone but makes friends who are always looking for her. Discussion with SuRu about her possible move and the weekend.)

Nothing of significance but still all that this day will know me by.

When we have only trivial things to deal with, they magnify themselves and make themselves capable of thrilling you or depressing you.

study of items for sale at Uncommon Objects on South Congress "Is it so small a thing To have enjoy'd the sun, To have lived light in the spring To have loved, to have thought, to have done?" Matthew Arnold, Empedocles on Etna	small duties A day in which the tiniest duties are elevated to iconic importance. Little things fill my day. Making the house presentable for FFP's meeting and getting ready for him to serve coffee and cake. Cleaning up after that. Only takes a moment to do any one thing. Adds up to a day. Just little things. Watching some workmen we hired, chatting, paying them. Tidying up the landscaping where they installed lights. Reading the front page of The New York Times from a new days ago. A couple minutes' chat with a yound woman who comes by the pick something up FFP left in our delivery box. Only the smallest errands. Shopping at Central Market. (Choosing a time when one can go directly to the register and see almost no one one knows although I did see one couple and was a little embarrassed as I was in sweaty shorts and TShirt.) Driving to the club to do some exercise, doing it while reading. Making food for Dad's group at his church tomorrow. Boiling a ton of eggs (deviled eggs, tuna salad). Mixing, slicing, fixing. Feeding myself, cleaning myself, cleaning up after myself. Arranging a couple more things about a trip. Discussing the building with Forrest. Just doing the ordinary. Reading some of the day's papers. Working a crossword. Watching TV. (NBA playoffs, Who Wants to be a Millionaire?) Talking on the phone. (Wrong number, another Linda Ball who never has a listed phone but makes friends who are always looking for her. Discussion with SuRu about her possible move and the weekend.) Nothing of significance but still all that this day will know me by. When we have only trivial things to deal with, they magnify themselves and make themselves capable of thrilling you or depressing you.
JUST TYPING The things that fill the day. The coffee cup, filled, then emptied, then washed. The shopping. The routine exercise. Accomplishment enough. If looked at a certain way.
		Food Diary. coffee, decaf coffee, few bites of coffee cake icing bowl of rice, hot sauce, onions, cheese two slices provolone cheese All the tastes and leftovers of making tuna salad and deviled eggs and dip. Felt quite full after that.
		Time flies.... Get up about 7, tired, blurry. Have coffee and set up coffee and cake for FFP's meeting. Hide in office working on journal. Come out to watch electrician put new lights in front bed. Pay him. About 10, clean up from meeting. Plan what I'm going to take to Dad's game day at his church tomorrow. (He's in charge of food.) Read some old papers, surf a little. The rest of the day is really pretty easy. A little aerobic exercise, shop, fix the food later tonight. And, yeah, I get to the club about 1:30 and leave about 2:30 and go to Central Market all sweaty. I pop in to Paper Place to get a pen refill for FFP. I am home around four, putting away food, starting eggs to boil. I e-mail, work on the journal, read a little newspaper, get things in order. From five until seven or so, I slice boiled eggs, chop the duds, mix the deviled egg filling (black olives, green onions diced fine with the yolks, mustard, mayo, white pepper and salt). I dice apples. I mix the chopped eggs with the apples, a few cans of tuna, mayo, curry, pickle relish (almost forgot relish!). I make a dip from a Martin Brothers salad dressing (roasted pecan and sun-dried tomato), Neuchatel cheese and cottage cheese. I chop up broccoli, cauliflower, zuchinni, yellow squash. Now all I have to do is make sandwiches tomorrow and slice them into little triangles and load up all the stuff. (Including the already prepared carrots, spinach dip and guacamole.) It's too much for the occasion of old folks playing dominoes, but I always go overboard. I think my dad will be taking cheese cubes and desserts, too.

		Reading. Robert Massie's Peter the Great. I've reached the part where he travels to Western Europe. Journey Through Genius in small bites. My respect for Euclid grows. I have a desire to sit down with a compass and a straight edge. But I've moved on to number theory.
		Today I intended to just sit down and write for an hour. I was thinking of working on the book and/or articles that I call 'Traveling Light.' I did not do this, however. I only thought about doing it.
		Exercise 52 minutes recumbent bike. ab exercises
		My digestive system is in an upset. 118/78 77 [In case you were wondering, these numbers are just records of blood pressure, resting pulse. I wish I could get the resting pulse lower. But these readings otherwise seem good.]

Thursday, May 15, 2003

A Journal from Austin, Texas. A Project of LBFFP Stealth Publishing.