the absence of noise

Not in terms of traffic, sirens, or construction, but in another, more internal way. You know how sometimes you don't notice a constant background noise until it suddenly stops? That's what I realized recently about being with my engineer vs. my ex. With the ex, there was always an undercurrent of faint anxiety about his feelings towards me.

Now that I don't have that feeling with Mr. Engineer, it's left me a little disoriented (in a good way). I'm bemused because he's affectionate and actually tells me how he feels about me (!) without me having to sit him down for A Talk. Holy cr*p. Nope, not throwing this one back into the sea.

And because I don't feel uncertain, and since he's not a workaholic, there's never a compulsive need to ask when he'll call, or when I'll see him. Amazing. (Well to me anyway, but then, I'm not always very bright.)

The photo on the left is of some black radishes (who knew they existed?) in a collander before they were chopped and roasted for dinner Sunday (yes, he made me dinner again -- definitely a keeper) and the one on the right is of the beets prior to roasting. I just thought they were cool images.

Also cool is watching my mom being entertained by various new additions to the family. :-) She's now much less likely to be bored while visiting my sister's family in CT, what with THREE GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN. Jeez.

In other news, saw THE MUMMY: TOMB OF THE DRAGON EMPEROR with my friend Sam, and it was worth exactly what we paid for it: $0.

The clerk at the movie theater screwed up, and although I did appease my conscience by pointing this out, he decided it was just easier to give me both tickets instead of voiding out one, and just giving me the one free ticket I was entitled to, from the AMC loyalty card. Insufficient asskicking and too much silliness & noise. I think I will have to go and watch my HK VCDs for a good dose of Michelle Yeoh and Jet Li and serious martial arts choreography. (Margaret - Russell Wong has a supporting role and he is not aging well. Alas. Used to have such a crush on him. Oh well.)

Tonight was also my last night of ceramics class for the next 6 weeks or so, during which time the studio will be closed. (Gee, whatever will I do with all of that free time? ;-P) My latest kick has been to throw really big tumblers and cups, since I hate having to refill my water glass all the time. Here's one I really hope will turn out well, once I glaze it next semester.

There are so many ways to screw up in ceramics. When the glaze crawls (i.e., doesn't stick to the bisque-fired clay piece) and leaves bald patches, it's sooo frustrating! Like this bowl I got back tonight: the color was great. It just didn't cover the whole bowl!

See the brown patch on the inside? And the white patches on the outside? That's what's known as crawling. Phooey. So I decided that whenever that happened, I'd just use the piece at the studio (as a crock to hold tools, a water bowl, etc.)

And now, I really need to sleep.

P.S.
Oh, and tonight, someone in class called me one of those skinny people who can always eat whatever they want. WTF?? I mean, uh, SAY WHAT?!

This was particularly ironic given that I had just hurt myself by having my usual Tuesday night dinner of a 6" Subway ham sandwich on whole wheat crammed with veggies, and topped with mustard (a mere 5 pts in WW land), and THEN continuously grazing on nuts, Terra chips, mini-Twix bars, etc. during our traditional end of semester potluck. Unluckily for me, my weekly WW weigh in manana. Oh well. At it was all worth it taste-wise. :-)