The Visible Woman...August 3, 2003

You meet people when they move in and you get a new perspective when your friends move.

There were the old and usual aspects of today...the trip to the club, messing about my house where I've lived for almost twenty-six years, going through old pictures and things with my dad, uncovering some things I didn't know Mom had but, at the same time, uncovering things as familiar as living.

But I also drove with Dad out to the lake where SuRu lives now. We took ambling routes there and back. Dad enjoyed looking while I drove and seeing SuRu's new place. I saw things I hadn't noticed before. Or perhaps they sprang up since I last drove by. SuRu is settling into her new place and I put a router on her new Roadrunner setup. When your friends move to new places, you are opened up to the new place. Later, Jon and Marie called from Mobile, on their way to Ft. Lauderdale. They want us to visit...but will we?

Dad, Forrest and I went to Dad's neighbors' house for a party. It was a birthday party and the good news is that Dad and I both took wine because I didn't know that. We met the owners of the house, the teenaged son of one of the men and the mother, sister, brother-in-law, nieces, nephews, friends. They made a simple meal and were great hosts. They've fixed up the house in a beautiful way and had great collections of silver and other things. I got their work numbers and home number. It's good to know the neighbors and they were very gracious, telling Dad as we left that they'd have him over for dinner. They said Dad had come over after they moved in and offered a list of neighbors and phone numbers from a block party they'd had. As Dad's other neighbor said: "Dad is most sociable guy in neighborhood." I think, being alone, he has to reach out or it would be too hard.

I also met the young man renting the bedroom from Dad. He seemed a very nice kid. He'd spent the weekend in Dallas and, when we returned from the party, he was gone again, probably to go out with friends.

There is always the old and familiar balanced against the new. Lots of new pushing up right now.

Sunday, August 3, 2003

A Journal from Austin, Texas. A Project of LBFFP Stealth Publishing.
food	reading	writing	time	exercise	health and mood

. we have temporarily lost the video portion of our program	new people, new places You meet people when they move in and you get a new perspective when your friends move. There were the old and usual aspects of today...the trip to the club, messing about my house where I've lived for almost twenty-six years, going through old pictures and things with my dad, uncovering some things I didn't know Mom had but, at the same time, uncovering things as familiar as living. But I also drove with Dad out to the lake where SuRu lives now. We took ambling routes there and back. Dad enjoyed looking while I drove and seeing SuRu's new place. I saw things I hadn't noticed before. Or perhaps they sprang up since I last drove by. SuRu is settling into her new place and I put a router on her new Roadrunner setup. When your friends move to new places, you are opened up to the new place. Later, Jon and Marie called from Mobile, on their way to Ft. Lauderdale. They want us to visit...but will we? Dad, Forrest and I went to Dad's neighbors' house for a party. It was a birthday party and the good news is that Dad and I both took wine because I didn't know that. We met the owners of the house, the teenaged son of one of the men and the mother, sister, brother-in-law, nieces, nephews, friends. They made a simple meal and were great hosts. They've fixed up the house in a beautiful way and had great collections of silver and other things. I got their work numbers and home number. It's good to know the neighbors and they were very gracious, telling Dad as we left that they'd have him over for dinner. They said Dad had come over after they moved in and offered a list of neighbors and phone numbers from a block party they'd had. As Dad's other neighbor said: "Dad is most sociable guy in neighborhood." I think, being alone, he has to reach out or it would be too hard. I also met the young man renting the bedroom from Dad. He seemed a very nice kid. He'd spent the weekend in Dallas and, when we returned from the party, he was gone again, probably to go out with friends. There is always the old and familiar balanced against the new. Lots of new pushing up right now.
JUST TYPING What do our surroundings do? To us, for us. We don't move through the world's shelters and objects, weather and traffic. Unchanged. Surroudings and the people in them, mold us. Especially the people, of course. But also the houses, the color on the walls. We take it in. Process it. It processes us.
		Food Diary. Clean slate. Each day starts with one. You've slept, digested. You are empty, ready for fuel. What will you choose? About five ounces of salmon cooked in lemon juice, capers and Sister Sass Sesame Garlic dressing. Some grapefruit sections. A couple of meatballs with tomato sauce, some pasta with chicken and vegies, salad. Several glasses of red wine. Some cheese, green onions, hot sauce, carrots and tortilla chips. A large glass of red wine.
		Time flies.... I started to get up at 6:30 or so and drink coffee and read the paper. But I didn't. I drifted through the morning, planning my life, e-mailing, working on the journal, going for a workout, talking to the neighbors. It took time to drive to the lake, visit with SuRu and fix up the router, continue the closet cleaning at Mom's, visit with his neighbors. But it was worthwhile.

		Reading. Moliie & Other War Pieces by A.J. Leibling is a good evocation of the 'war is confusion' adage. First pieces are about North African campaign.
		I'm writing this journal, silly.
		Exercise Fifteen minutes on bike. Some ab work. Upper body (chest, back, shoulders) workout. Seventeen minutes on the bike.
		Mood was pretty upbeat. 106/77 70