I managed to kill two copies of Florida Weekly, two copies of “O” and a copy of Real Simple on the Lanai this afternoon. I even fell asleep – rather, I fell into that dreamy state in between wakefulness and sleep. In the meantime, hand-chopped organic vegetables and a free-range chicken bubbled on the stove. What an awesome day!
I’ve mentioned I think that I had been associating the lanai with smoking and for two years I did not venture out there at all. It was all wasted space. I’ve come to believe more and more in myself as a non-smoker. I NEVER want to go back to it. It was too hard to quit and I’m done with it. Done with the stink and the shortness of breath and the expense and the running of my life.
I’ve also mentioned that I’m getting back to analog reading. I have spent too much time in front of the computer in the last several years, and I end up buying books and periodicals that I’ve no time to read. The problem is not so much the allure of the computer as it was the situation with the progressive lenses I got a couple of years back. I just could not get used to them for reading. There was one tiny sliver that was good for reading and if the planets were not in precise alignment, I struggled. So I stopped reading.
Now that I have reading glasses that are NOT progressives, I am rediscovering the joy of analog – just as I’ve rediscovered the joy of hanging on the lanai without needing an excuse like smoking to be out there.
So here we have two things that are enjoyable, that were once integral parts of my life – especially the reading! And I gave them both up because some aspect of them had become aversive. Time or specific action can erase an aversive situation (Dr. Youth, God rest his soul, would have said “… can extinguish the aversive stimuli”).
There are other things I’ve stopped doing because they became aversive. I stopped performing for a while back when I was recovering from cancer. Stopped corresponding with certain friends, stopped keeping up with them.
Stopped dating. Talk about aversive – relationships can be downright painful. Mostly, it starts great and then becomes painful. REALLY painful.
I wonder if there really IS a way to make that work again, like I can make the lanai work (smoking doesn’t matter any more, time erased the problem) and I can make analog reading work (I actually found a solution and fixed the problem).
Hmmmm…..
This is in the March issue of Real Simple. two things I have been trying to do more of lately are sit on the lanai and read analog. I am reclaiming the lanai as a place I go to relax and NOT smoke. And I am reclaiming reading books and magazines now that I have good reading glasses. i have been reading exclusively from a screen for a while now. I think being outside more definitely improves my mood!
I’ve actually eaten at the one on Sanibel but I don’t think this is what it was called??? I think I woulda remembered this!
Another sunshine logo. Perhaps I should not be counting local ones; this IS the Sunshine State, after all. But look, it is a bank and I have been considering opening an account here.
Again, while I was on the treadmill yesterday, I spied a sunshine symbol on the TV. Wheel of Fortune sent someone to this resort. And again, not sure what the message is here. 2nd logo in a row – first one was about branding, bringing together disparate parts and uniting them under a single symbol. This one is about spinning the wheel and winning.
Oh, the resort is in Puerto Rico. I went to Puerto Rico once. It was the starting and ending point of the cruise I went on with my ex-husband. My father was stationed in Puerto Rico when he was in the Navy. The Sharks in West Side Story were from Puerto Rico but it was a Jet who sang “Something’s Coming”. Hmmm, that doesn’t really seem to be significant.
Perhaps I am scattered and that is the point. Perhaps if I unite and focus my disparate interests under a single, common banner, I will win.
I was on the treadmill when this sunshine motif came on the TV so I grabbed the phone quickly and snapped. Now I have to google to see what the heck is up with this. Hold that thought…
OK, I’m back. It’s the logo for the Smithsonian Institution. They are going to be selling replicas of their jewelry collection via QVC. All the different branches of the Smithsonian had different logos, which caused brand confusion, so now they are all united under the stylized sunburst. This is the firm that designed it –
www.cgstudionyc.com/identities/smithsonian
If you go through their portfolio, you will realize that they also designed the logo for my current-soon-to-be-former employer.
The site does not give reasons or rationales or zeitgeist behind why each symbol was selected, so I cannot tell you why the Smithsonian got a yellow sunburst on a blue field (my two favorite colors). But I know the story behind my employer’s logo. See, when New Amsterdam was first settled, it actually wasn’t the business it is today, yet. It started as a water company. The pipes were made of wood – hollowed out trees. So the logo for my employer is actually a stylized representation of a slice of an ancient wooden water pipe. There was a display of such artifacts in the Brooklyn offices, long ago when I had a desk there.
Not sure where this one is supposed to go….. I might have to fit it with other Memos later on to see if it makes sense.
