Is It Too Late For A New Career?

No, no, not acting - the closest I ever came to acting was in 5th grade when I mumbled my way through a play written by my best friend; a play that, in retrospect, seemed suspiciously similar to an episode of Father Knows Best. And it's not that I'm even all that fond of Keira Knightley - she's a mumbler, too, I think. No, look beyond her, behind her. See those shelves stacked with pewter and blue transferware?

I want to be the person who gathers all that stuff and arranges it. I'm sure all those dishes need to be washed and dried and shined up pretty. Is that set design? I want to do that. I'll bet Keira Knightley never even noticed the lovely dishware, what with being accosted by scarey pirates and all. Stupid girl. --cds

Abundance

Wine Club is overwhelming me. I need winter guests to help me wine-taste our way through a week's worth of dinners. Yes, there are Christmas decorations in the background of this photo. It's time, don't you think? It's never too early for sparkley lights and candles. --cds

One Banner Done

One banner done, nine more to go. These are turning out to be huge. My lovely assistant is holding this one up above his six foot frame. I'm thinking I'd better call Ms. Bonnie and give her a heads up. I sure hope the Foodshelf has wall space for all ten of these because each one is amazing, I think. Bonnie color-coordinated the veggies, so one banner is orange, one red, one purple, etc. Again, I've just stitched the applique, borders, quilting and finishing details - these designs are the artist's, but she is inspiring me to get busy on my own stuff. I've got a self-imposed Thanksgiving deadline on these - I might make it, but the weather has been so gorgeous, I've had to stitch out on the porch, audiobook in my ear (currently Bill Bryson's At Home-A Short History of Private Life), cup of tea by my side. Pure pleasure. --cds

A Good and Severe Discipline

An essay a day might keep dementia away. Every once in a while I find myself brooding about my life here in retirementville. Not about the decision to do so (retire) or about the move to Florida (come on, it's sunny, breezy and 75 degrees in November!). But keeping the mind sharp once out of the workplace is important, we're told, so I mean to force myself to write more, and more often.

The public debate over raising the age at which to receive Social Security throws my situation into relief because at its crux is the argument that people in general are living longer and employed people remain healthy longer (and then, of course, there is the whole deficit thing). I believe this health argument is true and now realize that, as an unemployed person, adding a disciplined thinking routine to my day is as important as the physical exercise. I really did think a lot at work no matter what my co-workers might believe to the contrary. My Mom plays computer Scrabble at an advanced level (she's very good). Since I lack the competition gene, writing will be my discipline of choice.

I once made a braggy remark that given a subject, access to a library and an hour, I could produce a decent essay and to prove it I scribbled off an essay about essay writing. All that shows me now is that writing takes practice since it has taken me two days to generate this teensy piece. Clearly, my brain pencil needs sharpening.

I will never be able to write daily - I know me; but I really do want to try. So in between pictures of quilts, birds and bottles of wine, I might write on things that I know about. Whoever loves Ernest Hemingway, raise your hand. --cds

New Quilt Project

This one is for my Mom. We found the flower panels in one shop and I've been scrounging online to pick up the rest of this Lakehouse Drygoods collection. Each individual flower will make about a 9-inch block and I'll just make up the rest - we have a design in mind.

I'm finally winding down on the vegetable banners I've been hand-stitching. I have stitched down a lot a lot of vegetables over the past month.

I always have new quilt projects in the works of course, but this one will be for Mother - who DOESN'T BELIEVE IN PROCRASTINATION!! (how odd...). --cds

I Am Not Kidding.

While dusting my bookshelves (I do that a lot), I came across my old Manual for the Legal Secretarial Profession, circa 1970-72. It is priceless. As I have mentioned, I went to Champlain College and its Legal Secretarial Program during those years. According to the Manual, here is a list of the proscribed attributes for the legal secretary:

--Save your glamour for evenings when you want to attract, not distract attention. Hair-bows may have their places, but not in the office.
--Hide your light. If you originate a good idea, give the credit to your boss, because you know when he advances, you advance with him.
--Look beautiful over the telephone. Hundreds of men with plain secretaries have been startled to hear an outsider say: "your secretary must be lovely... she certainly sounds beautiful over the phone."
--Be a good housekeeper. Keep your boss's desk and office neat, his calendar up-to-date, his desk supplied with sharp pencils, erasers and blotters, his pen filled [is that a euphemism??].

Annoying attributes:
--gum chewing
--argumentative
--smoking at your desk
--BO
--untidy hair
--too emotional
--swearing; this should be the boss's privilege [I am not kidding, it says that].
--not ladylike enough

Oh, and clean clothing and clean hose should be worn every day.

Well, first off, the lawyer I worked for in those early days was the former Director of Vermont Legal Aid - he had long hair and wire-rimmed glasses and I wore jeans and tee-shirts to the office. We swore a lot, especially at insurance lawyers and our own disgusting criminal clients who threw up in the stairwell. We laughed loudly every single day, usually at the expense of some of our more stupid criminal clients or at stories in the NYTimes about other stupid criminals. We had disgusting, stupid and from time to time very very scarey clients. I loved that job.

In the next installment, I will describe the Champlain College class for The Professional Secretary when a real live New York City model (she modeled for Sears Catalogs) spoke to us about posture, grace, fashion, and what sort of cocktail to order when dining out in the big city -- I'm thinking it was Sloe Gin Fizz -- what the hell is that anyway???) --cds