Kvetching and kvelling (upcoming posts)

Hey folks, I'm back from vacation. Here's some of what you've got to look forward to:

A bit of kvetching (Yiddish: "complaining or grumbling"), about Ikea, the store with the worst customer service I've ever experienced and how I thought I might have a nervous breakdown, pass out, or both, in their cafeteria.

Lots of kvelling (from the Yiddish kveln; to be delighted, from Middle High German quellen to well, gush, or swell), about the early spring gardens of Provincetown, Massachusetts, the three hours of continuous whale sightings not five minutes out to sea, the surprise of enjoying a visit to the inside of a 1950's submarine, and the even bigger surprise of coming home to a garden full of plants pushing up through the earth, spring peepers and the early arrival of nesting warblers. Plus, I'll even have my own photographs for a change.

Bonus features will include ruminations on why stuffed animals are indeed good for adults and not to be scoffed at, just how delightful my cat Miko is, how hiring your neighbor's kids to work is a good thing, the fun of talking to strangers, why I'm suddenly using Yiddish words and, lastly, once again loving L'artisan's Passage D'Enfer. Ooh. There is a lot to look forward to (at least for me, since I love turning experience into stories). I know there's more, too. Provincetown is a town worth talking about for a myriad of reasons, and I'm looking forward to telling you why.

Here's one small thing: I finally saw Ira Glass on television. He looked nothing like I imagined he would and I still can't listen to "This American Life" without picturing a different face. There's nothing wrong with what Ira Glass looks like in "real life", but somehow his uber-conservative suits and big horn-rimmed glasses were not what I expected. What's absurd is that I could write for over an hour about this subject alone. But, don't worry, I'll restrain myself.

As for the rest of it, well, you'll just have to wait. Photos need to be uploaded to another computer and then e-mailed to me. It's too glorious a day to stay inside long. And, it's too sunny a day to see my laptop screen outside. Why can't someone fix that problem?

Photo note: When we arrived in Provincetown, there were daffodils in profusion. The big surprise was coming home to a garden filled with them. They are even blooming in the woods, and a new batch of mini-daffodils has appeared from nowhere. Two eleven-year-olds said of the minis - "super cute!"