Gary's annual lilac picking

Twas this evening in my parents' yard. When I venture annually, usually at dusk, to rip some off the bush, then place them in decorative "interesting old bottle" vases in the bathroom and living room. I got a tad worried tonight that I'd be activating my newly-acquired relatively minor allergies again by doing this, but so far (knock on wood), so good. Next to honeysuckle and juniper, lilacs are probably my favorite flowery/plant smell. And SUCH a short bloom...almost heartbreaking in its fleetingness. Is that too melodramatic?

Sweet dreams, Bea Arthur

There's some people you just can't imagine ever dying. They're just too larger than life, so dynamic, so singular, so indomitable. People like Bea Arthur, who died today of cancer at 86. HOW can Maude or Dorothy Zbornak be dead?! Repeats and the swift passage of time are starting to chip away at my sanity, because when I catch THE GOLDEN GIRLS on today, I can't quite grasp that they last aired 17 years ago next month. And it's been sort of jarring to see The Ladies aging in other public appearances since the show ended. Bea did NOT look good lately. Then again, she was in her mid 80s now. Sigh. It all just doesn't compute. She really, really was one of the greats, and it bothers me that it seems she's not getting the media coverage of her death like she should. What an incredible gift to make people laugh. Thank you, Bea. A terrible loss, but your withering stare and vicious sarcasm will live on.

Gary wears shorts for the 1st time this year!

Well, that pretty much sums up the information I wanted to disclose here today. Around 70 today...sat outside drinking for the 2nd Friday in a row...after mulching for 3 hours. My first gardening session of the season. The rest of the weekend will bring July-like warmth...YAY! Because if Gary can't have a freak April snowfall...he'll take freak summer-like heat. Though it's really not THAT freakish. Hitting 90 would be more rare...thus, fun. And it's possible. ANYWAY, this concludes my "SUMMER'S (kinda) HERE!" blog posting.

Be well, Len Berman!

Tonight was Len Berman's last night as Ch. 4's sports anchor after 27 years. Just thought that was worth noting. Budget-cutting by WNBC. Another fixture GONE. Sigh.

Popping my cork

Today was the day I woke up vowing to learn how to pop a cork. Hey, it's these little things that keep life interesting. Or not so little; I mean, shouldn't a man in his 30s know how to uncork a bottle of wine? The few other times I've tried, I've either broken the cork into 10 pieces or forced it into the bottle. It's increasingly become a source of supreme embarrassment.

So I've had a bottle of 2006 Blackstone Merlot sitting in my kitchen since July...along with the free Waiter's Corkscrew from a job last summer. Just learning that it WAS a "Waiter's Corkscrew" was an accomplishment. I learned everything ONLINE. Taught by the computer! And so THAT thing's called a LEVER! And THAT'S a FOIL CUTTER!?! WOW!! And after reading over the instructions a good 3 times verrrrrrrrry slowly, I attempted to pop my cork. AND I DID IT!! I was very nervous, but I persisted and succeeded! YAY for Gary! I think what I MAY have been doing wrong in the past is SHOVING the screw into the cork instead of, you know, SCREWING it.

I'm savoring my wine now at 12:50am, free of the chunks of cork that permeated past attempts. Such a delight! Practice makes perfect, though, and I won't feel totally cocksure until I've done this several more times...and with the various other kinds of corkscrews. Isn't educating oneself fun?!

I'm TOTALLY non-TAXED!

Man, what a fantastic few hours! In a nutshell...my tax situation was completely confusing me and I was sure I'd OWE a bit of money. Too complex to get into...4 jobs, 2 states, some of it taxed, some not. Ugh. Oh, yes, then there was the fact that I was owed state tax from LAST year...well, wasn't SURE I was...again, the 2 states thing getting in the way, and I really had NO idea how I'd officially determine whether I was actually even owed the money. Blah, blah, blah...once I actually sat down and FUCKING FOCUSED...and tuned EVERYthing else out...and gathered every possible paper and fact I'd need in front of me...well, it ALL turned out as BEST as it possibly could have! I'm OWED hundreds of dollars! AND i've finally figured out last year's non-payment fiasco! Now i'm just pissed I didn't do all this 3 damn months ago...I could've had my hundreds of bucks ages ago already. Gary's Lesson yet again...just do it! Don't keep putting things off. Twelve hours ago I was drowning in confusion and worry...now i'm elated and calm...not to mention financially organized. An INCREDIBLY productive day! Aaaaaaaaaaaaand it SNOWED!!!!!!! No accumulation, mind you, but frequent big ass snowflakes!! YAY for April 8th, 2009!!