At Present

“Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery.  Today is a gift; that’s why it is called the present.” 

– Attributed to various people, including but not limited to Eleanor Roosevelt, Babatunde Olatunji, and Master Oogway.

    
    …I haven’t read a lot of books this summer.  Why should I?  There’s so much po…I mean reading material on the internet.  But I managed to finish “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” only to find that it there wasn’t an “ending” because it is the first of a series.  I’m still schlepping my way through “Dr. Zhivago,” as I have been for the last three years.  I am actually very close to finishing “Fever Pitch,” perhaps to understand my football obsession, and the Roman Empire has just started to crumble in "Europe: A History.”

***

    
    …a package that made my day (and possibly my entire week) arrived this afternoon.  Fragrant greetings from Zurich, the note said.  I opened it to reveal extrait samples of Vero Kern’s three fragrances: Onda, Rubj, and Kiki.  Each one so different from each other, each one beautiful in their own way.  
    
    I am not very good at picking out notes from a fragrance, nor am I an expert in describing any of them.  On me, Onda was all ginger and pepper and vetiver, definitely not cuddly, nevertheless intriguing.  Rubj reminded me of a vintage bottle of Jolie Madame that I acquired from my mother...they both have the white flowers and leather thing going on, although Rubj seems lighter because of its fruity notes.
    
    Kiki, however, is the one I fell in love with.  For someone who has a lavender fixation (lavender candles, lavender sachets in my drawers, lavender linen spray), I have a tragically small collection of lavender perfumes comprised of only one fragrance – New Haarlem, which I initially bought because it smelled like COFFEE.  Someone on the Perfume Smelling Things blog compared it to a macaron, but I dare my favorite macaron place to come up with something as delicious as this (I may have to talk to somebody at Madeleine.  A lavender/salted caramel/passionfruit/mango macacon sounds divine).  Plus I love that the name can also be a play on my initials.  KIKI, when my next paycheck comes, YOU SHALL BE MINE!!!
    
    We wants the precioussssss….

***

    
    …in the Bronx, somebody just passed by blaring “You’re all I ever wanted…you’re all I ever needed…so tell me what to do now…when I WANT YOU BACK!!!” full blast from his car stereo.  

    
    Dude.  So much for your street cred.    

***

    
    …after dabbling in it for oh, maybe close to thirty years, I think I am really learning more about watercolor this summer than at any other time in my life.  I stretched watercolor paper for the first time.  I have spent a lot of time practising strokes and giving my brushes a hard time.  I’ve already finished a few pads of watercolor paper and I am dying to try the new 300 pound pad that I just bought but I am terrified I would mess up the expensive paper.  After buying pretty much a new set of tubes, I learn from the watercolor forums that it is better to learn the pigment name of the color rather than going by the manufacturer’s names.  Because apparently, one’s scarlet lake may be someone else’s organic vermillion.
    
    Since I am a nerd of gargantuan proportions, I have compiled a list of my watercolor paints on Excel, listing their pigment names and numbers, their manufacturer’s names and level of light-fastness.  Yes, I know my list is not as detailed as some other people’s but my obsession is just starting to take hold.  Wait  ‘til next summer.  And I found out that my two crimson alizarins are not really exactly the same…

***

  

    …sulking because the BBC series “Sherlock” has only three episodes.  How do they expect me to go through the whole year without it?  HOW???  I must say, I love Martin Freeman, he is great at comedy (Hitchhiker’s Guide, Love Actually) and drama (The Power and the Passion, Sherlock).  Although he really did surprise me with that Lord Shaftesbury role.

***

    
    …thinking about the new school year, but not really wanting to prepare the lesson plans just yet…

Pics are from random Google searches, let's see if I can remember: Wikimedia Commons, Luckyscent, Blick Art Store, and some NSYNC fansite.