In Honour of Accomplishment Despite Procrastination: A List

(inspired by Hannah Nicole @ You Are Here)

things that catch my eye:
 black-and-white photographs
 new words
 Ryrie scampering around the corner into the hall
 steam rising from a mug
 leaves turning over in the wind
 hefty tomes, especially ones devoid of contemporized covers and equally-modern one word titles
 non-descript corners
 failure to employ the Oxford comma
 exceptional dance covers (J-pop and K-pop) posted on Youtube

books I'm reading:
 Two-Part Invention: The Story of a Marriage, by Madeleine L'Engle
 You Can Get Arrested for That, by Rich Smith
 The Mark of Zorro, by Johnston McCulley [online]
 The Borrowers Aloft, by Mary Norton
 Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell

books I will be reading (or attempting to read) in the next several weeks:
 Eat My Words: Reading Women's Lives Through the Cookbooks They Wrote, by Janet Theophano
 New Worlds, Lost Worlds, by Susan Brigden
 Murder In The Cathedral, by T.S. Elliot
 Wordwatching: Field Notes from an Amateur Philologist, by Julian Burnside
 For the Time Being, by Annie Dillard

a (few) songs I could hear over and over again:
 "Hello", by Evanescence
 "Everything at Once" and "Sad Song", by Lenka
 "Knock, Knock", also by Lenka, because there are days when I know acutely the need
 "Top Secret", by Miku Hatsune, and "No Thank You", and "Liar's World"
 "May It Be", by Enya—there is no forgetting Frodo
 "I Wouldn't Mind" and "Pour Me Out", by He Is We
 "Say Your Name", by Plumb, and Nightcored

book reviews awaiting writing:
 Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen
 The Art of Travel, by Alain de Botton

things I don't want to purchase (but need to anyways):
 peppermint-flavoured fluoride-free toothpaste, Tom's of Maine
 a train ticket
 postage and materials for a birthday package

what I want to get better at this year:
 writing
 speaking in both Japanese and English
 remembering birthdays, giving Christmas presents
 keeping up with correspondence
 smiling at people instead of hiding (because maybe they need it)
 greeting people with enthusiasm
 courtesy: saying thank-you, listening to people, leaving the bathroom cleaner than I found it, rinsing the plates when stacking them after dinner, paying closer attention to the moods of those around me, hearing what is left unsaid
 telling the truth

some things I'm excited about:
 seeing Rye's reaction to unwrapping The Poky Little Puppy
 scrubbing the accumulation of green grime off of the deck siding
 posting a reply to Susan's note
 reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe to the girls
 browsing the library shelves
 giving Princess her very own envelope with her very own letter
 evening conversations with the girls
 going home

some sources of anxiety, however de minimus:
 not being ready for NaNoWriMo
 telling foolish stories
 making the mistake—again—of using "good" where "well" should be employed
 inability to pay income tax
 the need to find a job

plans for the rest of the week:
 teach Shadow parts of speech: prepositions, subjects, predicates, adjectives, and adverbs
 drink more water than I do coffee
 play the piano at least once
 enlist Kokuyoku's aid in preserving Ryrie's narrative of her plays
 move my boxes to the furnace room, so they are out of the family's way
 read most of my library books
 send a newsy note to my grandmother

outside my window:
 a cool breeze
 one lonely stinkbug sojourning across the window screen
 the cornfield across the street stripped by harvest
 two boys on horseback, the rider in the lead looking towards our house
 the crisp scent of imminent autumn (at last!)