Pansies, Socks and Tea
18 November 2002, 8:44 AM

It's always a good weekend when I get to dig in the dirt. I planted pansies on Saturday. Got 'em at Lowes for 10 CENTS a flat because the poor things were gasping their last breath. I just plucked off the dead leaves and any flowers and planted them in some good soil. They look great now! All they needed was room for their roots and a little water.

I also went clothes shopping. I don't usually do that - I'm not much of a clothes hound. I'm more like a "keep the clothes until it's threadbare" kind of person, which means that my closet is FULL of stuff I haven't worn in a year or more, even *after* carting a bunch of stuff off to Goodwill. *sigh* I'll comb through it again soon I suppose. But in the meantime I got a couple of warm jackets, a sweater and a long-sleeved top. Oh, and nice socks.

I love patterned socks! I I've got stripes and polka dots, fair-isle patterns and flowers in black, blue, brown and tan. I don't know why I like 'em so much - most people don't see your socks. But they're *fun*, and *I* know they're there...

I also spent a lot of this weekend studying and baking cookies. I was rather behind in my archeology lecture notes and my reading for the sociology class, so most of Sunday was spent with my nose in the books. I did take a break to bake some cookies for an divisional party we're having on Tuesday. It's catered food, but pot-luck desserts and I volunteered to bring some stuff. I made an easy batch of cinnamon-pecan cookies (from a mix, not scratch) and tried again to make a decent batch of Zarda (sweet orange rice). I'm baffled. I used to make Zarda ALL THE TIME as a kid, and now I just can't get it right! Either the orange zest stays bitter instead of becoming candied, or the rice is rock hard when cold. At least with the latter I figured out that I shouldn't use a long-grain rice like basmati, but a shorter grain rice instead. But still, the darn thing just isn't coming out right.

Speaking of the office, I rearranged my space last night and fit in a tiny fridge, hot pot (to heat water) and a lovely celadon teapot with teacups. I can't stand coffee, so I can never make use of the office morning perk-me-ups, since most people are coffee people. I brought in a whole bunch of regular teas, green tea, decaffeinated tea and herbal teas in this cute wooden box made in Indonesia or India.

Tonight I'm going to go see the Harry Potter movie! I confess, I'm not as enamoured of them as most of my freinds, which is sorta unusual. They're fun, have great characters and are wonderfully constructed. I'd actually like to read the books. But in all honesty, it doesn't feel *new* to me.

I LOVE it when movies tell me a new story - or rather, give me the feeling that I've experienced something totally new after I've left the theatre. I want to leave breathless with excitement, awe, wrung emotions or intellectual curiosity. Every once in a *great* while, a movie will come along that can do that. For the most part though I simply enjoy the storytelling and then forget about it later. Of course, there are those that I just stay away from entirely because I can not only see through the plot, but everything in it is a stereotype.

At least the Harry Potter films aren't like *that*. But I don't leave with awe or breathless either. The last time I saw Harry Potter I felt more like I was reminiscing - remembering the feel that I got from reading all those favorite books of mine when I was a kid; everything from a "Wrinkle in Time", to "Witch's Sister", to "The Borrower's" or "Pippi Longstocking". That's actually why I'm looking forward to seeing the next one again. Like last time, I'm pretty darn sure I'll see every inch of the plot coming from a mile away. I just read too many of these kinds of stories while I was growing up NOT to. But even so, sitting through the movie leaves me with a nice warm fuzzy feeling and a reminder of childhood reading adventures. That's nice.