Corporate Test Dummy?

Jeez, has it really been almost 20 days since I posted here? Times flies I suppose when you are having something that might resemble fun to a person who has been locked in a closet for a year or five. Okay, guilty! I'm exagerrating although I have been in a bit of a funk. As much as I love Fall, the thought of another grim, dark Iowa winter has me feeling rather down. I always forget that as it begins to get cold and grey, I just want to sleep and eat and have almost no interest in leaving my apartment. It's just too cold and I'm just not that tough. I'll make it through, I always do.

So what gives? Did I really hear some screwball story on NPR today about a plan to corporately finance the national park systems? That there is a possibility of naming trails in for instance, the Grand Canyon, after corporate sponsors? Laudy, laudy! "Ride your rented mule down Dow Chemical Trail to see the lovely river we once set on fire. Sign up right here." My God the world is getting more and more absurd. Okay, I think it may have been the Snake River and I'm not certain it was Dow Chemical but you get my point.

Modern technology continues to baffle me. I was at the grocery store last night and they had a new water refill machine which for the life of me I could not figure out how to use. I finally had to go to the deli and beg for help. This is a life long problem. When I was a child and Coke came out with a new dispensing machine, the first time I encountered one I couldn't figure out why the Coke machine didn't offer Coke anymore but did offer 5 other types of soft drinks. What they had done was make the button for Coke about 20 times larger than the one for the other drinks so I thought that button was actually just a part of the advertising for coca-a-cola products. It never occured to me that they'd make a button so big. I guess I wasn't the only confused soda swiller on the block since that model of machine didn't stick around for very long. Be interesting to see how long the new water refill contraptions last.

Hhhhmm ..... new career possibility for me? Corporate test dummy? Would I get a trail named after me in Joshua Tree?

The Didion book is heart-breaking. Almost finished. I can't read this one too quickly because it's just too hard. I hate to say it but I almost feel as if she wrote it too soon. I hope she revisits her grieving process in another book or article in a few years - so much changes and we learn so much. Ultimately, this doesn't matter one bit. If the process of writing and publishing the book helped her recover from the deaths of her husband and daughter within 2 months of each other, I'm glad she did it and despite it's subject matter, at times the book is almost a joyful read.

c megdoeswords