tuesday things

* the flapper valve in my toilet tank isn’t sealing properly. this means that the water verrrrrry slowly leaks into the bowl, and the tank partially refills itself every 20 minutes or so. i could probably fix it myself, but if i break anything in the process i’m liable. ergo, i’ve called the super, and she’s coming to fix it sometime this week. it’s not urgent – it doesn’t affect the toilet’s functioning, but it does waste water. i’m standing by.

* in related news, the up-and-down nature of temperatures in toronto lately means that the heat in my building occasionally goes on... and then off for a day or two... and then back on... which results in a quiet, gentle tip-tip-tap-tapping behind the radiators as the pipes expand and contract.

* i bought a head of garlic that’s kind of purple. at first, i thought this was a sign of dead-old garlic, but my mom loves it. so, tonight, i will grate and sautée a few cloves for spaghetti sauce.

* today’s horoscope on my page-a-day calendar reads: “even though the universe’s timetable (soon) and yours (yesterday!) could differ, list your wishes. that way, you can have it put on the itinerary when you’re asked – which you will be.” i find this very interesting... given my affinity for universe lists, signs and the current state of my emotional affairs. i wouldn’t mind the universe stopping by for cake and asking me for my list. like, right now.

* to that end, i mentioned last week that i need some paid work, and the universe did, apparently, hear me. i have two good-sized writing assignments now, with one more pending. i’d sent out a bunch of pitches last week, and a few of them stuck.

* on the non-paying-writing front, another set of lyrics are done and being shaped into a song. i look forward to hearing the words and music (which had already been written) put together.

* i don’t care about American Idol. sorry.

* tomorrow morning, i’m meeting my mom for a rainy-day shopping jaunt to IKEA. she was in there lately and said there’s a ton of new stuff *plus* a ton of clearance stuff. so, since the weather promises to be dreary, anyway, we’ve decided to meander indoors. i’m kind of hoping to find a (cheap) new duvet set. normally, i’d wait for my next cross-border shopping trip with young beatrix, but i’m not sure when that will be.

* that said, i *think* my next cross-border shopping trip with young beatrix will be in late june.

* i saw Star Trek and thought it was just okay.

* as an experiment, i picked up a small bottle of “optimism,” the new scent at B&BW. i liked the idea of saying “i bought some `optimism’...”, and i also wanted to see whether it had any effect at all on me. i mean, the relaxing and energizing scents are meant to affect their wearers accordingly, and i felt like i needed some optimism, so why not? turns out, i dig the scent but haven’t noticed any difference, psychologically or emotionally.

* i was supposed to get my semi-annual haircut tomorrow, but it’s been pushed back a day because my stylist won’t be in, after all. i’m about three months overdue for a shearing but, with almost no income for 2009 thus far, i wanted to postpone it as long as possible. so, it’s been about seven months since i sat in the salon chair. i suspect the difference will be negligible, but there are dead ends that need to be cut off. literally and metaphorically, it turns out.

* i am almost out of flavoured coffee syrup.

* there’s nothing on TV tonight.

* it's possible to develop eye strain from searching for the silver lining on the wrong cloud.