A variety of thoughts

In remarkably random order... perhaps mirroring the disorganization of my brain... here is a variety of thoughts for today (which is Earth Day among other important anniversaries)... My thoughts are often tangential and random and this post is no exception. I think my girlfriend is worried I'm going to have early onset Alzheimer's disease, but really I think the truth is that (a) I often just don't pay attention, and (b) there is WAY too much information coming into my world every day for me to effectively filter it and hang onto important pieces.

1. When I woke up this morning in a hotel in Dulce, NM (job-related hazard), for some reason the first thing I thought was, I'm so glad it is April and I don't have to worry about it snowing and me being stuck here until the weather clears. Then a half hour later after a lukewarm shower (apparently another job-related hazard in a hotel full of working people) I pulled back the curtain and there was a quarter inch of snow on my car.

2. I opened the medicine cabinet at home to get something for a headache and pulled out this bottle of Advil.

Then I turned the bottle over to look at the expiration date. This is an activity that my girlfriend has encouraged me to start practicing... and much to my chagrin I have found items in my kitchen that not only predate Obama's presidency, they predate my dog (who is on the elderly side of life for a labrador). This is what I found on the Advil bottle.

Admittedly, when I first glanced at the date I thought, "well, January of 2010 isn't too far outdated. Should be fine." Then I looked again and realized that a date circa Nine-Eleven was probably a little far gone for medication. I mean, that is older than the Iraq war and I'm pretty sure that has been going on most of my life now.

3. I walked into the living room to find this.

The offending party is implicated in the shot. Apparently my return home to feed her dinner at 6pm did not meet with her approval. Since the date on the raisin box was somewhat older than the current date, she probably did me a favor (though disposing of out-dated raisins is undoubtedly easier than outdated medication).

4. I am almost done with the piece on the loom. Tomorrow is a studio day and I am hoping that with some concerted effort I can finish it up. The next piece is planned, cartoon drawn, and yarn dyed. I just have to get this one OFF!

5. Lastly, this is the best piece of art I've seen lately. It is hanging in the hallway of one of the elementary schools where I work. Artist unknown. I may have to hunt him or her down and see if they will commission a tapestry.