Autumnal trees, shadows on the grass, and asters in the creekbed behind the gym.
A nice evening with the husband --- the food truck was Mexican street tacos, carne asada, etc, and the Oktoberfest is a long way yet from running out. My Tuesday nights are generally solitary, but after a long solitary weekend, it was lovely to get out of the house and reconnect a bit.
Today: the usual. Read more of Eliot's Notes Towards a Definition of Culture this morning with my first cup of coffee, and will keep reading. Continuing to research and compose my Walsingham lecture. Hammering at this conference presentation. One more Substack essay for next week, and then to look at my two essays for the following week, to be all caught up before I leave town.
And I really need to go renew my driver's license. Midweek is often a good time, crowd-wise. I don't want to put it off till Friday. Reminding myself that I can take work and reading with me.
Another warm day, with a high of 80F. Currently, at 9:30 a.m., it's 51F out, quite a bit chillier than the projected high, but not cold.
Wearing:
*Wool& Willow dress (M/Long) in Ocean Teal, bought October 2023, last worn October 17, as an under-dress with my floral pinafore. Total wears this year to date: 22.
*Secondhand Connemara merino cardigan, bought October 2024, last worn last night.
*Secondhand Allbirds tencel-merino leggings, bought May 2023, last worn yesterday.
*Secondhand Earth Shoes Mary Janes, bought August 2024, last worn Monday.
A year ago I was wearing this Willow dress every day, for a 30-day dress challenge. I'm not tempted to do another challenge for the simple reason that I like wearing all my dresses in rotation and don't want to have to put that off. Also, I'm resisting the temptation to buy another dress. I don't need one. The forthcoming Wool& Valerie maxi dress is calling my name pretty strongly, and my big birthday is coming, but I dunno. I really seem to have a lot of dresses, and I'd told myself I wasn't buying anything new. Mind you, I have ignored myself before and not been sorry. Still. I dunno.
I kind of think that if I contemplate a new dress, I should sell one to make room for it. This dress, actually, in many ways would be the top candidate for resale. It's in very good shape, and as I think I've said before, I'm rethinking this whole swing-dress business.
In good reselling news, I've just put out my Birk hiking boots for the mailman to pick up. I'd dropped the price a good bit ($60, for boots that were originally about $200 --- but I'd bought them secondhand, and although they're still in great shape, they do show evidence of wear), but managed to get that price without dropping it lower or accepting lowball offers. If you're willing to sit and wait . . . and you're not too unreasonable or greedy . . . yes, you can move things along. The right person will come and pay your price (again, as long as it's reasonable).
So that's two pairs of shoes sold this week, which again isn't bad. I've worn and enjoyed them, but came to the conclusion that I wasn't enjoying them enough, and it's good to find them new homes. I wish their next wearers many happy miles.
Anyway, I am contemplating letting go of this dress, though I do quite like it. Not making any decisions today --- I have enough decisions to make for the moment, thank you muchly. But if I did want another, I really would have to winnow down somehow. I could sell my Wisteria Willow, which I actually wear a lot less, for a knocked-down price, since it has that very faint bleach stain. That's a thought, really. It's too short to be my favorite dress to wear, and it's been just kind of languishing since I got back from Cullowhee last month. I don't need to sell for much --- I have some credit built up anyway and am not, at this moment, looking for another big purchase on Poshmark.
So if I did want to ask for another new dress for my birthday, that would make room for it. And it would be a dress-with-sleeves to make room for a dress-with-sleeves, which is something definitely to think about. I suspect I would really wear another maxi dress a lot, for much of the year . . .
Well, I've about used up my budget of time for these ruminations. Best get on with other things.
AFTERNOON UPDATE:
Welp, didn't get to the DMV, any more than I got to Mass yesterday, and for much the same reason.
*I've written roughly 850 words of my conference presentation. Finally hit a wall, but I think I have a general idea that I hope is not too dumb for people to sit through. I'm on a third double-spaced page, of roughly five, to constitute a 10-ish-minute talk.
*I've written roughly 500 words, maybe a little more, of my Walsingham lecture (which will need to cover about 10 pages).
*I've written and loaded my last essay for next week. Just have to do the two for the week after, and I can go away with a slightly easier conscience.
*I've speed-read the rest of Eliot's Notes Towards a Definition of Culture, which I seem not to be using after all in my conference remarks, but it's good to have that under my belt, at least somewhat.
*I've taken a break and read some Ngaio Marsh as a palate cleanser. I think I might do more of that anon, though I might also read some more of this Gary Waller Walsingham book. Wading through the credulous assent to feminist misreadings of all kinds of things gets a little tiresome, but there's a lot that's good and interesting in the midst of the dumbness.
*I did receive and set up my Android tablet last night. So far, it seems great for Kindle reading --- much better than my phone --- and good for using Google Docs, which was my real purpose in buying it. Some apps don't run that well on it, but that's okay. The battery also seems to run out really fast, which is a little worrying, but I don't intend for it to be a primary device.
Dora and I are sunbathing on the front porch at the moment: our afternoon ritual. I have some chicken drumsticks thawing in a pot of water, and eventually I'll have to decide what to do with them.
I am frustrated with myself for putting off the driver's license another day, but I did get a lot of good work done, so it's not all self-flagellation. Now, having gotten up at 7 and dived right into T.S. Eliot, I'm tired and ready to knock it off.