Let Us All Press On...again

Hey, Hey, Hey friends, (this reminds me of my nephew who while playing frequently refers to the imagined participants as "friend"). Well, since social media is supposed to totally be where it is at, I would like to refer you to a new blog of mine that is specifically for my letterpress passion: The Inky Pinky Press. Yay! Not to be redundant to the first post over there, but I have my press!! I am a fully functional printer! Yes, my dear friends that means you will soon have the benefit of requesting note cards, birth announcements and invitations.  I especially love to print 'house moving' cards, personalized note cards, and soiree invitations.  On that site I will post some samples of some of those types of cards. Come visit the new blog please and when I get a page on facebook, please friend me. Pretty Please?

Oh, and if you are recalling a previous post about buying a printing press, that press was not functional, and I just wasn't motivated to get it so since it wasn't the press I knew I wanted. So I sold it and decided to wait for 'the right one'. Waiting was worth it! 

A Benefit of Biking

OK, so some back story. I used to ride my bike a lot to get around when I lived in the city. Once I got married and found myself trapped in car-commuting it lapsed. Well recently I decided, HELK NO! (HELK is my new word, stronger than HECK, but not quite swearing). I decided that though I couldn’t control how I got to town from home (it has to be by car and Lin doesn’t want to move closer), I could choose how I got from Lin’s work to my work. 

So I started biking again. I brought my sweet little bike down. It is only about 2 miles to get to work, but I love it. I forgot how awesome it is to be on a bike and getting someplace without a carbon footprint. I also forgot how stupid my hair looks after wearing a helmet.  [ I will confess, since I am riding on side roads with little traffic, sometimes I don’t wear one. Why can’t we be like Amsterdam and everyone ride around without helmets? ]  I picked just the right time of year to start biking (a few weeks ago) because I was treated to the musky smell of the Tree of Heaven - Ailantus altissima, in bloom. In my old city apartment there was one outside my window and I got to love that musky (almost body-odor) scent of the Tree of Heaven. I know it is a “trash tree” and as an arborist would never in good conscious recommend planting one, but I am glad they come up on their own. I like the smell. It is gone now for another year. Now the Lindens are in full bloom, and they smell sweet and wonderful, but in truth, I prefer and miss the musky scent of the Ailianthus.

*The Wikipedia article refers to the scent as stink and so on.  Oh well. 

A Persistent Gummy Bear

You may remember my previous incident involving 'off-brand' gummy bears. Well, I have another chapter to add to the gummy bear book of life. I had to travel to Atlanta, GA for work. It was nice. I had a lovely suite that was a block away from the Olympic Park. Traffic flowed under my windows, but not excessively. I was able to walk to a nice pizzaria near by and have drinks on the roof-top patio of my hotel. I liked being alone. I am still adjusting to being married and sometimes I like having absolute autonomy.

Well, now to the reason I write. As I was cleaning my room in preparation for my departure I was giving it a good look-over and imagine my wonderment at finding a little neglected gummy bear under my bed. I had not eaten any gummy bears and so it must have been from a previous guest. Lost and neglected. I ate him, helping him fulfill the measure of his creation.