I’m trying something new this year. A few months ago a friend emailed me and asked What’s Up. I responded with ten things about my day, both good and bad. I had fun writing those ten things down, and I came up with an idea that instead of journaling in the morning and evening, I would write five things in the AM and five before bed. To be fair, I was getting tired of my morning pages habit that I got from Julia Cameron after I read one of her books and became very disenchanted with her and her methods.

So…

On Saturdays I am going to randomly pick ten things from my weekly writing and post them. There will be gratitude and angst and happiness and sadness, as well as all the other human emotions that we often pretend that we don’t have.

  1. Old neighbors of our moved, but we were still invited to their traditional New Year’s Day brunch. everything is new and modern, but it took five minutes to figure out how to flush the toilet
  2. Saw Shadow of a Doubt at Film Forum, one of my favorite Hitchcock’s. Alas the daughter and the husband did not like it as much as I did.
  3. My gym recently added a relaxation station. What this amounts to is three massage chairs. Now I go to the gym to use the chair as a reward for the workout.
  4. Made spaghetti (homemade) and vodka sauce (homemade) for dinner. Both came out great. I realized that with fresh pasta you can start cooking it in boiling water but finish it in the sauce. So good.
  5. Giants shockingly make playoffs. Jets not shockingly don’t.
  6. Annoyed that I just missed the bus both coming and going
  7. Looking forward to playing pickleball again- so much fun
  8. Beat my family at Trivial Pursuit
  9. Happy that all the holiday decorations are put away
  10. Sad that a coat I like has a frayed collar because I don’t know if it can be fixed. It was old but I liked it.

65 thoughts on “Ten Things: 1/7/23”

    1. The problem is it’s a faux leather and it cracked where there’s a natural fold. The coat is ten years old and I don’t know if it’s worth the money to fix it. I’m trying to figure out if I can put a velvet collar on top of it for a reasonable cost

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      1. LA, A good tailor or seamstress can remove and replace the coat collar. You will just have to decide if it’s worth the cost of doing it. My grandfather was a tailor. I remember growing up and my grandmother would have my grandfather remake her coats, dresses etc. So, as a child, my grandma would walk in and model her new outfits. Which were actually redesigns. My grandfather would take the latest fabrics, buttons etc. left over from his other projects and she always looked fashionable. So yes it can be done. It’s all about the bones of the garment. Rather like upholstery. I have a friend who inherited her parent’s old wing chairs and recovered them every so often to update her front room. The chairs were extremely well made and worthy of reupholstering. I decided to reupholster a chair I liked but when I brought it in the upholstery expert explained that the chair’s insides would have to be reinforced and rebuilt. So it would be way more than a normal upholstery job. I bought a new chair instead. It all depends on the “bones”. My advice is to Ask a professional if they think it can be done successfully and look like a brand new garment . If it’s only the collar, that should be able to be removed and replaced. But a pro would know best.

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      8. LA, You know, the more I think about your coat, the more I think you should investigate the cost to redo the collar. My son in the film industry told me that when the costume/ wardrobe dept. uses vintage clothing for period films they often have to repair sleeves and collars on old clothing because they are worn. It’s standard practice. Think about all those wonderful pbs shows you watch. So many original vintage outfits. .People who deal with vintage clothing tend to collect a lot of old fabric for vintage items. Often they can find matching fabric to use. It’s worth a try. If you really love the coat it might be worth it and give you some extra years. I can still picture a fabulous 1950’s coat my mom had. When we moved to Florida she rarely wore it, but it was such a period piece. I wish I would have kept it after my mom died. I donated it but I realize now it was likely worth a pretty penny. TRY to repair it first.

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  4. Did you know that somewhere near Seattle, a suburb I don’t recall, has claimed to be the birthplace of pickleball? This apparently happened a million years ago but they are indignant when anyone else makes claims on the origin story of the sport. I’ve never played but it reminds me of life size ping pong and seems very enjoyable.

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      1. Maybe EA! Pickleball has been in the news around here for the last year, focused mainly in Seattle and how crazy everyone up there is about it. I think, like many things, Pickleball is probably *original* to lots of places 😉

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  5. Fun idea!
    I love massage chairs.
    5 minutes to figure out how to flush the toilet. I prefer to not be that modern. LOL!
    Scary movies are just not my thing. I saw Hitchcocks “The Birds” movie when I was a teen and that was enough of Hitchcock for me.
    Haven’t played Trivial Pursuit in years, but always enjoyed it!

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  6. “What up, Buttercup” is how I approach my entire blog. It is the question I am answering. I even mention it in my sidebar HELLO to readers. You can’t go wrong with this idea, even if you are on the wrong side of 50! Happy New Year!

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  9. I am interested in pickleball and even visited a local gym to watch a few games. I’m concerned, though, that I might be putting my (apparently) iffy bones in danger. I already broke my hip in a short fall off a ladder… don’t want to break anything else. I’m curious, do you see a lot of injuries?

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    1. So far other than a pulled muscle my friends have been ok. To e said, I hurt my back two months ago walking off a curb that I misjudged the height of, so I think anything can cause injury. I think that you play doubles in pickle ball helps not bing too bad. It’s a lot of fun though. I am Loving it

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  10. We tried pickle ball with the neighbors and we love it. I was sore for a week. And interestingly, I spent several hours hand sewing up seams that has opened in my granddaughters pajamas, stuffed animal, dress and my son-in-laws favorite t-shirt. Only one pin poke! I like the animal print collar! But I’m a little worried about the toilet! I like this new practice. Hugs, C

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  11. Nice way to mix up things and not get in a rut. I don’t think your readers would view your blog as being stagnant, but you might. I like how you intentionally look for ways to have fun and enjoy life.

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  13. Is there a chance you could find a bias tape that would match the coat and use that to cover up the fraying parts of the collar? Or take it to a tailor who could repair it? I was just thinking about doing one of those with my old coat this week, which has some fraying parts on the ends of the cuffs.

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  14. I have a conflict with my pickleball schedule at the YMCA. Beginners are on Fridays at the exact time of a zoom call I got invited to attend. It’s a discussion of current issues and world problems with a bunch of intelligent people. It’s an honor to be invited and intellectually stimulating, but pickleball is really fun and I’d like to get better. I may switch off between the two.

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    1. I’m liking it much better for journaling. It allows me to go over my day…wins and losses, gratitude and what to look forward to, what I’m glad is over, without being too daunting. It’s not suffocating because there’s a beginning middle and end

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    1. I read a Julia Cameron book on listening. Basically, she pretty much thinks morning pages can cure cancer, settle world peace and help you write the great American novel all because of her and morning pages. She comes off as pretentious and ver impressed with herself and I was turned off. I think there has to be a better way for some people…she just turned me off

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      1. lol

        At the expense of pissing you off further lol, I have to say that morning pages really did change how I do life a little bit. I don’t always do them in the morning, but I have found that journaling and setting aside time to journal kind of makes my day go a little easier.

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      2. I do believe in journaling but I felt pressure with morning pages, even though I am a morning person. I’m better at night, because it helps me sleep, to get everything on the page, but the whole free writing thing didn’t work for me. I feel better with a list…it makes sense for me…but I do think journaling is good…just not JC…😆

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