Drabble

What's this, a drabble? Came to me on the train. Initially I wanted to do this with 100 characters, and not 100 words, but then I wasn't sure if spaces counted and so I just did the lazy thing and wrote it as a drabble instead.

When you left, I planted a tree. I would sit under it every day, and cry. My tears watered it. I thought of Cinderella, and the spirit of her mother. Maybe the spirit of our love would come back to me some day, if I tended faithfully to its remains. I promised I would never forget, never listen to the friends who told me to just get over it.

But trees need a lot of water, and a girl can only cry so much.

I met him before it had grown stout. And it withered, and died. I’m not sorry.

And the 100-characters (counting spaces and punctuation) version:

I planted a tree when you left. My tears watered it. But it was thirsty, and I can only cry so much.

The other idea I had on the train, this one does work with 100 characters, counting spaces:

His most serene highness, the emperor Ferdinand Archibald Van Hooferschteinen III, slept peacefully.

Belated Circus Video

What my mother has been waiting for:

Of course, when I look at it now all I see is the fumbles I make, the time I spend thinking "Wait, what now?" and so on. Advantages over the previous act: I have a character. Disadvantages: the song isn't as good for an act, and the moves don't go as well to the song.

I think those parts are a function of how I choreographed, which is to say that I chose the song (and in certain ways the character) because I was performing in two weeks and hadn't yet found anything better. I had a few sequences I wanted to fit in, and I cut stuff out to fit the music. It worked, and the act is okay, but it could be way better. And although I like the fact that the character came semi-first, and the music came later, I think that it probably works best to spend enough time playing around with the music that they really flow. So next time, before I start stringing tricks together, I'll find some music.

Gardening

My mother, I am certain, wants to see circus videos (last week was notable for two end-of-session showcases). But instead I will bother her with something no one but me cares about: pictures from my garden.

This is the garden that Amy and I planted. It is badly in need of weeding, but otherwise looks good. I think we should start eating some of the leafy greens, otherwise they will be altogether too much. Or something like that.
Especially the arugula. It's taking over the raised bed as if there's nothing else growing there, which shortly there won't be because it will all be arugula.

Which, honestly, won't be all that bad. There are a lot of worse things than arugula. I love it's spicy, bitter bite. None of this is news. What is news is that I finally tried some of the arugula growing in my garden. And let me tell you - it was like store bought arugula only about a hundred times more potent. I don't know what they do to remove all the flavor from the stuff I get in the produce section, but I was shocked, and impressed.

And I only have one more thing to say:

I'm looking forward to the tomatoes.