My Precious/Eyes Open

Welcome back to Monday. Weekend was as I made it. Friday Schaller's with Judy and Carmen - we three broads sang well and the patrons loved us. Actually, I was the weakest of the three, not fully on my game. I started the evening feeling teary for some reason, arrived late, distracted but I rallied and immersed myself in the festivities - made myself have fun. The great thing about not drinking is the clarity - Josh's term, and he's so right. You see everything properly. You drive home stone cold sober, being mindful of the other drivers who may be inebriated. In my case, I even read for an hour before bedding down and then, the next morning, bright eyed and bushy tailed like the squirrels outside my window in the favorite elm tree, ready to start the day in an industrious way without the painful veil of the night before to contend with. And what is so interesting is the whole habit thing. At first it was a struggle - saying good-bye to the favorite cocktail, learning to have fun without altering the brain chemicals. Now it's just habit, and a comfortable one. Things do change.

Saturday, friend Tom drove in from Crystal Lake. He, James and Liza (Lucas and Convex) came over for dinner. I made pasta primavera, roasted chicken, appetizers from the Whole Foods olive bar, and for dessert, brownies and pistachio ice cream. I had none of it except the chicken - made myself plain brown rice and vegetables sauteed in Pam. Drank ice water and had a WW ice cream for dessert. Yesterday Pam and I went to 12 West Elm to sing with Bob Salone and his gang of merry revelers. "Twas a lot of fun. When I sang, I Thought About You  (it keeps getting better and better), Pam said she had chills and performances rarely affect her that way. And then, when I was leaving, another singer, a very, very handsome young man came up to me and told me I got his attention when I sang, asked if we could sing together some time, and requested my phone number. Young though...what's with guys in their twenties and older women..weird right?

I'm in love, really. OK, it's with an inanimate object, but nevertheless, my affection almost knows no bounds! I've even kissed this new love object several times! It's as close to perfection as anything can be. "What," you ask breathlessly, "can this thing be?" It's my new Kindle Touch. I must be the last e-reader hold out, clinging fast to my paper books until now. But lately things people have said -they were die hard paper readers too, but now they are total converts - made me think I should give it a try. And really, it goes hand in hand with the whole getting rid of stuff thing I'm doing these days. I want my life simple and tidy - books can overwhelm. So, my Kindle - it should have a name (working on that). I bought the Touch because it's the model that's closest to paper - not backlit (when the sun goes down, you need to put on a light), and because it's small enough to slip into my purse. Got the simplest model ($99) - didn't need all the bells and whistles of the fancier models - I have my IPad for that stuff. I also bought a purple case.

On Friday it was delivered - elegantly packaged. I unpacked it with reverence and appreciation and immediately snapped it into the case. I swear I could hear the planets sigh in appreciation when the case and the device were united - I can't even imagine it now without its case - I think I love the case as much as the Kindle itself. Now it's hard to discern where the case ends and the device begins - there is almost a seamless connection between the two. And speaking of seams, the leather of the front flap is stitched on both sides. I've studied this stitching for way too long. Being a seamstress, I looked closely at the tiny stitches and what I've noticed is that the stitching is impossibly perfect. Whenever something is stitched in a circle, you can, upon close examination, find the beginning and end of the sewing. Often there is one overlapping stitch. It's absolutely impossible to find this spot on the Kindle case - magic? Then there is the leather which is the most exquisite port color (did I say purple before - that doesn't come close to doing it justice) and the front flap is reinforced with something strong but light (aluminum?). The way it opens and closes is exquisite - the hinges strong and invisible and perfectly aligned. So I stroke it, rub it against my cheek, and as I said, even kiss it - it calls to me. Is it weird that I call it "My Precious" and use that Golum-ey voice when I say it?!  Wait that's the name! Precious! 


And now I worry that it will become flawed. Liza held it the other night after eating olives with her fingers. I had to restrain myself from snatching it away from her, so fearful was I that she would leave olive-y finger prints on the perfect leather.  Have you noticed I haven't even talked about the device itself - just the case?  It too is perfection in its simplicity. The words on the "page" are crisp and clear, the pages turn with a single touch of my thumb in the r-h corner, if I forget who a character is, I can "x-ray" him and it gives me his stats. Similarly, if I don't recognize a word, I can click on it and it's defined. What I'm appreciating is the perfect marriage of form and function - amazing. Tomorrow I'll tell you about the amazing book I'm reading on it - a recommendation from my literary daughter, Catherine. It's called Night Circus and ----oh, my. 

Also tomorrow I'll talk about something that's been brewing for a while - "eyes open".  It's a theme that keeps presenting itself to me. Most recently Josh sent me an article on marriage that talks about a therapeutic technique for couples called "Eye Open Sex" (it's been a central theme between Martin and me for me to keep my eyes open - intimacy only happens when you're not afraid of looking deeply into someone's eyes). Singing can also be a problem - hard to connect with your audience when you can't look them right in the eye. Last night, as I sang the last note of my sad song, I searched the audience for the most receptive person. I met the eyes of the young Italian boy I mentioned earlier who was looking at me enraptured. I forced myself to hold his gaze - it was a first for me.

Challenge today could be as specific as looking into a Kindle if you've been on the fence - I swear you will be an instant convert, or it could be as broad as taking my experience and extrapolating it it to other objects. I'm thinking the things we choose to keep around us should be inspirational.  Just a few quintessential objects that speak to us.  On my clutter-free desk, I have a paperweight of my mothers that is old and lovely. I also have a tiny box that a client made me that is simple and absolutely perfect, each corner straight and true, the archival paper that covers it appears seamless. I can't conceive how he made it - boggles my mind.  A treasure that has come into its own in the Zen space of my new office.

Hugs to you today - I'm grateful for you.
Sarah