My 600th Post

Our first attempt at yeasted pizza dough - we call this a Pizza Puff.

I've gone through my possessions multiple times.  I donate regularly, I've been curbing my consumerism, and there is really nothing left to cull.  I tossed/recycled all of my unneeded consumables (toiletries, office supplies, etc.), chose which things can be donated (I may go through the pots and pans one more time) and decided which items to sell or store (Japanese futon and frame, Caspian's Yamaha synthesizer, possibly the Ugly Armchair).  I put small items in baggies and categorized them by labeling each bag with a purple Sharpie.  Old medicines were thrown out, and pretty gifts (vases, tea bowls, etc.) that mean a lot to me will be given to friends as parting treasures.

We don't have much, but what we have is pretty nice.  We have beautiful cutlery and flatware, handmade pottery, expensive appliances, a few items of interesting furniture.  I have lots of clothes and books, and he has almost as many books as I do.  I've got an eeePC and he has a nice custom-built gaming system.  There's the Samsung flatscreen, the kitchen table and chairs purchased from a thrift store that I stripped and refinished almost 5 years ago.  We have a very pretty, minimalist bed that I also finished.  There's my lovely Casio piano, my sewing machine, a couple of lamps, miscellaneous small electronics (the Wii, Nintendo DS, Playstation One, cameras, the videocamera, computer sound system, etc.).  Bureaus, a cabinet, bookcases, two tables, a desk, four chairs...  And two tickies (kitties).  I've gone through my books and have already given away the ones I can't live without; a ginormous collection remains.  We just have to pack it all up.

Me, sitting at the Bosendorfer after my recital last night.

My year-end recital was last night, and it was my first experiment in non-memorized performance...  It did not go well from a technical perspective, but was extremely emotive and well-executed.  It was my first almost non-nervous performance.  I consider it a success, especially since I was wearing glasses for the first time in 10 years...

Because I lacerated my cornea on Thursday!  I was accepted for an emergency walk-in at my ophthalmologist, who found an infected series of scratches on my left cornea.  He said, "Absolutely NO contacts for two weeks, and antibiotics 4 times per day.  Oh, and bring your old bottles of contact solution in on Monday, I want to culture them."  For the equivalent of a few papercuts on the surface of my eye, it was severely painful.  I had to leave work early, I was so distracted and irritated by the goop dripping from my poor eyeball.  I rushed to the frame and lens store and had my first pair of glasses in years made.  Glasses are cute, though.

The glasses distort my vision a lot, which meant a day of vertigo; it didn't help the creative page turns at all.  I blame some of my technical problems on the glasses.  Now I can sew again!  Next projects - cloth napkins and handtowels!