Adventures in Quick Naps…

I got home yesterday shortly before 1pm, and since my pottery class doesn’t start until 2pm, I changed into my potting clothes, and flaked out on my bed for a quick 5-minute rest (I can’t really fall asleep in 5 minutes, so these rests don’t usually turn into naps). The cat curled up next to me, and the next thing I knew, I was waking up with the residue of some kind of Mermaid and Potato dream clearing itself from my brain. I stretched and looked at my watch, thinking I’d better hurry if I was going to make it to pottery on time. Wasn’t I more than a little surprised to realize that 3.5 hours had passed! I’d missed pottery AND 1/2 of Oprah. On the other hand, I’m really glad to have a job where a 3 hour mid-afternoon snooze doesn’t get me fired! I’ll enjoy it while I can.

Adventures in Mischief Perpetrated upon William Blake…

(If you’ve never read William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience, you should take a look at “The Lamb” and “The Tiger” before reading this post. It won’t take long; you can Google ’em.)

I was curled up with my l’il cat this morning, and found myself quoting William Blake. Sadly, my cat is neither a lamb, nor a tiger, so my renditions needed to be altered. This was the result, with prolific apologies to Mr.Blake:

On Good Days ~
(From ‘The Lamb’)

Little kitty, who made thee?
Does thou know who made thee,
Gave thee life, and bid thee purr
Coating all my pants with fur;
Gave thee clothing of delight,
Softest clothing, woolly, bright;
Gave thee such a tender meow,
Sounding better than a cow?
Little kitty, who made thee?
Does thou know who made thee?

On Bad Days ~
(From ‘The Tiger’)

Kitty, kitty, taking flight
In the kitchen at midnight,
What imaginary fly
will you chase ‘til dawn is nigh?

Kitty, kitty, sharp’ning claws
On the furniture at all hours, (If you say this bit with a fake accent, it rhymes)
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry? (Just like Blake himself expected these last two lines to rhyme)

Happy 80th Birthday!

Yup, Her Majesty is celebrating her 80th Birthday. I don’t really have much to say about it, I just figured I would mention it. I’ve always been a fan of the monarchy, although I think is has more to do with a fascination for the gowns and glitter than for the job itself. Either way, I think the Queen has managed to hold on to a tough job with poise and dignity for a really long time. Having said all that, I honestly don’t know the lady very well. Oh, sure, we’ve had tea together a few times, and there was that time in ’99 that I lent her five bucks, because she ‘forgot her purse at the palace’, but beyond that, we’re not all that close.

When I was a kid and had to clean the bathroom, I used to imagine that the Queen was going to stop by. It was on those days that I actually scrubbed all the nooks and crannies I could find…until I got bored and switched to pretending I was a TV commercial and I’d try to sell myself some shampoo instead. Once in a while, I’d imagine the Queen stopped by and I would try to sell her some shampoo. It never occured to me that she might not be in the market for 1/2 a bottle of Pert Plus. Maybe I should have sent her some for her birthday. It’s got to make a better gift than the two black beavers Canada gave her once. At least shampoo is practical. What was my country thinking??