best day ever!

My lamps are here!

Okay, maybe it's not the best day ever. But it does make me happy. The lamps are assembled and awaiting light bulbs (I ordered bulbs too, but they are in a different box); then I can decide where is best to put them. Then I am going to tape over the light switch and no one with ever blind me with the evil fluorescent fixtures again.

words, words, words

Jed points to an excellent Jon Carroll column from last month on words, their meanings, and sometimes the lack thereof.

"The more I work with words, the less I seem to know about them. When I started writing, I was sure that words were my friends.... Now I feel that they are no more than passing acquaintances. If I stare at a word long enough, its spirit takes flight from its body, and the husk left behind has no meaning at all."

I have always loved Jon Carroll. If I could write like anyone in the world, it would be him. He writes about life, he writes about politics, he writes about cats, he writes about anything and everything. But no matter what subject he covers, I always come away enlightened, or entertained, or moved, or impressed by a turn of phrase, or all of the above.

I have gotten out of the habit of reading his column lately. That's something I need to start doing again.