Lately, all around I’ve been seeing bumper stickers, magnets, and signs reading “United we Stand,” which is the first part of Kentucky’s state motto, based on a song, based on some Aesop quote or something, it’s a pretty popular saying. However, I’ve never seen the complete quote, and they’re leaving out the second and just-as-important part, you know, “Divided we Fall?” That’s kind of an important piece of the puzzle to just toss away.
Tag Archives: connecticut
St. Nick’s Day
Being from Kentucky, and growing up in Louisville no less, there was a time when I thought that the Kentucky Derby was a normal holiday, like Easter or Halloween. I just figured everybody celebrated it. When I got a little older and the scope of my mind expanded beyond my immediate surroundings, that changed rather quickly.
However, I discovered this week that *apparently*, not *everyone* celebrates St. Nick’s Day. Who knew! It went like this:
(Tuesday)
Me: “Oh drat, I totally forgot about St. Nick’s Day!”
Boss: “What’s St. Nick’s Day?”
Me: (after I figured out he wasn’t kidding)…WHAT?
Boss: Huh?
Me: You know, St. Nick’s Day, with the shoes and the candy!
Boss: …WHAT?
Horrified, I proceeded to ask every person who walked in the prop shop that day if they knew about St. Nick’s day, what with the shoes and the candy. Nobody did. I had NO idea, people in Connecticut apparently don’t know anything about this holiday, or maybe just people in New Haven? I then attempted to figure out what regions the celebration of St. Nick’s day fell into, but I had no luck whatsoever.
For those who don’t know: On the Eve of the feast day of St. Nicholos (Dec 6), you hang stockings on the fireplace mantle. You then get goodies–small things, usually candy or a slinky (having most assuredly broken last year’s slinky, at least that’s how it was with my family). If you want to be super-traditional (or if you live in a dorm), you leave a shoes out in the hall overnight, and St. Nick (your RA) leaves candy in them for you. Perhaps not the most sanitary of holidays, but still! You get goodies! It’s like pre-Christmas gratification.
My props carpenter said that the tradition probably died out as the whole St. Nick/Santa Claus/giving presents thing got merged in with Christmas. But hey, WE still celebrated it!
What other holidays am I mislead about? Time for research.
Thanksgiving Thoughts
If anyone remembers the christmas cactus I rescued from the gloom of props storage last year, I’d like to announce that it is blooming like crazy. It’s ready to be re-potted, too.
A more general thought: every now and then, I am forced into some situation (being stuck in an airport lobby, for instance) in which McDonalds is the only feasible means of nourishment. I usually buy something, eat it, gag in disgust, and make a dramatic proclamation that I will never, NEVER, eat McDonalds again EVER. However, deep in my heart, I know the next time I stop at a rest station on a long trip and that’s the only food for miles, I’ll shrug off my promise to myself and eat again….only to be disgusted again….only to swear I’ll never eat it again.
What is it about us humans that we constantly and even knowingly make the same mistakes in life, over and over and over again?
Happy Thanksgiving!
Incredible
Finally saw The Incredibles last night. It was, well, incredible! I will agree with Jaster that Syndrome looks surprisingly similar to Checkerboard Nightmare, perhaps with a little Freakazoid thrown in.
Anyway, I’m going to blow glass today for the first time since the spring! I’m super excited, although I’ll probably just make some cups to get back into the swing of things.
Moving here and there and everywhere
It’s been a busy week on my gas tank! I drove up to UConn yesterday to see a show that Carleton designed lights for at Eastern. The lights were quite awesome and there were some kick-ass masks in the show. It was actually the first time I’ve ever seen his lighting before (not counting photos, which look pretty, but you miss out on a lot if you don’t see it in person).
I woke up early this morning to transport his fish, Ivory, back home so that he doesn’t have to worry about it when he frantically packs to come home for Thanksgiving. I’m also going to bring Mr. Laguna home from work for the holiday. Fish is very excited about flaring at his new tank neighbor 🙂
I can’t believe next week is Thanksgiving! The year is rushing by, but I don’t mind the holiday getting closer, as I am ready to go home for a visit. I hope I can arrange visits with everyone in that short of time, but I’ll be satisfied with a bit of Halo 2 and a trip to the Pie Kitchen. And to Guadi’s. I’m going to the Guad, and no one can stop me! But they may accompany me if they wish ^_^ If I do that I may try and visit Sheldon, since no one will be on campus due to the holiday and all.
Well, Ivory seems to have settled in nicely from his move, off to work with me!
Glass
A little tinkering here and there, and a theme is coming to be, still a major work in progress, though.
I found a place to blow glass up here! I’m soooooo excited, as I’ve really really missed being in the studio. It’s a guy who does production work on his own, and the best part is, he’s going to let me have FREE studio time if I help him teach beginner workshops!! That’s very cool, because normally it costs at least $30 an hour to rent time.
Still work to come on this new journal, but most of it is just making it pretty.
A New Beginning!
Well, I finally gave in to Brendan’s many praises of NewsBruiser and decided to give it a shot. Upon realizing that I have no sense of design or color scheme, I’m still working on customizing the look. Default theme for now ^_^
In other news: Halo 2 is awesome, but I’m sure everybody knows that already. It is bittersweet, though, as waves of longing for old Halo friends wash over me every time I play. I miss you guys so much!!
First show at Long Wharf was a success, now we are putting up a show that we got shipped in from Hartford Stage. The Mystery of Irma Vep looks like it will be quite funny. Stay tuned.
Baseball??
Connecticut is between New York and Massachusetts, thus I’ve been surrounded by both sides of this rivalry for the past couple of weeks. Now, I don’t even like baseball, but I suppose that because more people at my workplace are Red Sox fans than Yankees fans, then through association, or diffusion, or some other means of physics, that makes me a Sox fan too. And, as
In other news, my computer is down for the count at the moment (I’m at work). I guess after all this muttering to myself of “I spend too much time on the computer” and “I need to quit the internet”, my puter thought it would be nice and help me out.
Turtle Eggs! (maybe)
Today, Carleton and I went on a walk at a nature preserve. It was very pleasant and brisk, and we had some interesting finds, one being a nest of reptile eggs, likely turtle eggs (I only make this assumption because the nest was on the bank of a pond, I know nothing of New England turtle species to make a guess of what kind).
I at first plucked up what I thought to be a small, deflated ball, only to realize that it was actually the leathery egg of some reptile. We soon found more half-buried beneath the sand where the first one lay on the surface. Now, it’s awfully close to first frost, and I don’t know enough about the nesting habits of turtles to say if the eggs were still kickin or if they were drowned in the recent rains or what. Nonetheless, it was still an exciting find, and we recovered the eggs that were poking out and went on our way.
We also found several lively frogs, a woodpecker, a few finches, and a dragonfly that let me hold it as if to say “Look at this pose! Aren’t you sad you didn’t bring your camera? HAHAHAHAHA!!”
This week is tech for Guys and Dolls, so I will be absent and chained to the theater. Have a good week, all!
Sound Bites
Carleton’s family lives right near the shore on the Long Island Sound, and this morning we went critter scavenging on the beach.