detestable nearness

our neighborhood is designed such that each home is nearly atop the other. a fact that, for the past four years, seemed a necessary evil as southern california is ever the growing real estate mogul and residents insist on spreading themselves on the land at such a pace as the construction (or destruction) cannot happen fast enough. proximity has never been much of an issue, save for the poorly designed picture windows that point, immodestly, toward our neighbor's laundry room, master bedroom, and child's bedroom, where visibility is determined with respect to your location in our hallway. it's a sad fact that one must always maintain proper attire in a house within one would hope to wander about freely, being that it is, in fact, a private residence. one day soon we hope to bolster our sense of privacy with some sort of window treatment: it might've happened sooner if one window didn't necessitate the use of an 18' tall ladder. 

today, however, a rare repose at home brought forth another concern: that ghostly ability of sound to travel through walls. i recall somehow investing in extra-quiet insulation, which appears to do little or nothing to quiet the celebration in progress for their three-year-old daughter. mind you, our neighbors are dear people, kind and considerate and friendly, but like 'til tuesday, "voices carry" (at one time mistaken for "this is scary". either interpretation works in this situation). the tunnel-like space created by two homes nearly atop one another serves to amplify sound, the effect like kryptonite diminishes the sound-dampening qualities of the insulation and served only as an irritation as i attempted to do my homework. and as a deterrent when i thought about playing piano. it might've been funny to play "happy birthday". it would've been depressing to subject them to scales and the bach prelude i'd like to be practicing. i can't imagine the level of disturbance without the extra insulation.

no. 44

i think somewhere along the line, redesign my site was envisioned as a literal "design it yourself with macromedia dreamweaver" project. i lost that opportunity as my trial copy swiftly surpassed 30 days without an ounce to show for all my secret ambitions at typing beautiful code and inventing a site that might win me a nobel peace prize or get me in the running for poet laureate. and, much like my interior decorating, my site was dying for a taste of modernity. so, thanks to blogger, i have once again pirated someone else's design and tweaked various components to make it feel like me. sort of. i'll continue tweaking in months to come, i'm sure. the most painful part of the process is trying to figure out what i did to cause various disruptions in the design (30 minutes of detective work all for once mislayed "div" tag!). being a hack is fun, but time consuming.

preakness

i heard on the radio the preakness is this weekend. which has little or nothing to do with my post here, mainly it's just a happy distraction: it reminds me of my childhood. i pretty much burned through all of walter farley's "black stallion" books in my youth, racing through tales of adventure, intrigue, and horse racing. i recently spotted an advertisement for flicka, a film based on mary o'hara's book "my friend flicka". the book and i have a history as well: the book is my mom's favorite by far, and it is through her that i came to read it. with any luck, i'll actually go and see the film with her. with any luck, it won't be a complete & total disappointment, as the transition of book to film often earns disasterous results and the disdain of critics and fans of the book. ah, the plight! 

josh turned 30 on monday without much hoorah. it's been an interesting transistion for him, i'm sure. it's all well for me next year, and the fact that i'm shopping for anti-aging spf moisturizer is a sure sign of insecurities that are purely superficial. ever since i transferred to a new office for work, my new coworkers have been shocked to learn my age and that i'm married. a strange coupling with my student status, i'm typically mistaken for 5-7 years younger than i actually am. thankfully my brain doesn't function like a 22-24 year old. i'm grateful for maturity.

thinking

because i AM thinking of you, my day in masking tape graffiti spotted on ring road at UCI:

DON'T THINK SO MUCH.
was all it said at first. then appeared:
I CAN'T HELP IT.
followed by:
YOU MIGHT COMBUST.

points to ponder, my friends. points to ponder.