Weather, Music, Fish

We are heading into a warm spell, so of course it's snowing.

A few weeks ago the temperature was going to drop to roughly zero, and our daffodils had been coming up early (due to a mild January), so to preserve them I covered them in newspaper and plastic sheeting. It did the trick, but I really should have taken the plastic up before yesterday — the plastic sent the whole flower bed into fast-forward, and when I did pull up the plastic yesterday, most everything had sprouted to early-April heights.

I think daffodils are strong enough to take snow, and temperatures down to 28°, so I think we'll be OK. I'm not hauling the plastic out again tonight. Not again unless the forecast says temperatures in the low 20's. Otherwise I'm just crossing my fingers.

. . . . .

Meanwhile, last night I had my second night of DJ training. The DJ I was working with before had to leave town, and so I worked with a sub, who really gave me a good training. Where the first DJ didn't quite know what to do with me, the second DJ focused on teaching me the ropes and getting me comfortable. For the last half hour he put me completely in the hot seat — choosing and cuing all the music, selecting PSAs and promos to read, and working the board. I came out feeling much more on top of things.

So anyone in the Chicago area who heard Laurie Anderson, the Wolfgang Press, Kate Bush, and the Pansy Division last night, that was me. Hi!

So this whole DJ thing just goes to show you that anything you thought you missed out on in college, you know, maybe you can still do.

. . . . .

A month or so ago we ordered Thai food, which was delivered by an old man. He gawked for a moment at the fish sculpture in our front hall, which had been made by the former boyfriend of one of my cousins, back in the 70's. The old delivery man said, that must be Chinese, or Korean, maybe 100-200 years old, or a fossil! I said no, it was about 30 years old, and iron, and from Rhode Island. (His English was not great; I knocked on the fish to demonstrate that it was metal.)

But I realized I didn't know the whole story behind the sculpture. There are parts I can't remember, and things I don't know... I think my parents bought it, but maybe it was a gift... and looking at it, I think the head of the fish must have been a re-purposed piece of decorated cast iron, maybe a fireplace fender or something.

It's a very wonderful sculpture, and I'm very pleased to have it in my front hall. We do get a lot of comments about it.

I have a confession, though: when the delivery man was looking at it, it was decorated with Christmas cards.

Here's a picture of it with Rupert, our cat — why is it that cats so often look as though they are posing for the camera?

Labels: personal

posted by Tony at 2:53 PM