June

unhappy news meant
a trip to the hospital
to visit our aunt

achy

a bit sore today
creaky joints resulting from
weekend exertions

Lickey Hills

a nicer day for
climbing, even if just for
a Birmingham view

the Malverns

on the early train
climbing up deserted hills
enshrouded in mist

one week?

perhaps this fluid
time is what Einstein meant by
relativity

Captain

apparently, their
first single is called "Frontline"
and not "Summertime"...

King's Norton

ancient bricks, mortar
miraculous survival
the Saracen's Head

spellchecker

feeling calmer, now
settling down, resolving
these inequities

livid

I'm more than spellcheck
it's time to find a new job
deadline: October

bleary

feeling very ill
sunshine, ice cream, and cider
a dangerous blend

Ben & Jerry's Sundae (on Saturday)

a helter skelter
sixteen different flavours
pitchers of Pimms

over Ireland

soon we'll be landing
then immigration, customs,
and my sweet husband

abandoned by the packing fairies, again...

feeling jittery
happy for the holiday
tense for the packing

out

tidying my desk,
saying my farewells, and then
leaving the office

copydeck maintenance

slowly accepting
myriad red-highlighted
long-ago-made changes

work is where the AC is

staying late isn't
such a terrible thing when
the mercury soars

what the thermometer said

politics aside,
I suppose there's something to
this global warming

hot

heavy stickiness
they say it's not the heat, it's
the humidity

"complete"

updated message
now our case goes to London
an interview soon?

Maya Lin

a mountain of wood
a "systematic landscape"
made of two-by-fours

soon

counting down the days
'til I head to Blighty and
finally see Wil

Dr. Amy Deans

what a nice surprise:
a good doctor who has a
helpful office staff

Matt

talking easily
about everything and
nothing, all night long

tired

exhausted by this
waiting, feeling like our lives
are stuck in limbo

Rita's moving day

on and off the truck
a busy elevator
good moving karma

ugly mugs

Welsh-made pottery
funny faces hand sculpted
collected by Wil

snorse

a woodland creature
light blue skin, tiny black wings
dining on truffles

sweater weather

summertime office
an arctic zone thanks to the
air conditioning

dentist

the hygienist laughs
and says "I'm the gentle one"
as she polishes

Sidekick 3

configuration
error results in the site
crashing to a halt

headbutt

only Zidane knows
just what Materazzi said
hope it was worth it

clipless pedals

this year's first bike ride
nearly falling while waiting
at the first stoplight

quarterly review

writing the same old
platitudes; like counting each
word in an essay

blah

listless, bored, blue,
complete lack of energy
is it the weather?

Portugal loses

dirty play, that wink...
Ronaldo's going home, his
diving days are done

Germany loses

they had become my
team of choice, playing cleanly
and honorably

fireworks tomorrow

reminders that this
separation is just a
quirk of history

1-0

even angrier
at / about Rooney, after
Brazil's loss to France

England out

"Que será, será"
sing the terraces; going
out on penalties

4-2 in PKs

feels strange to root for
Germany, but I'm glad they
beat Argentina

evesdropping

to hear stories of
kids forbidden to say "butt"
rather "bible school"

World Cup Hangover

no footie today
leaving an empty spot in
my daily routine

Huddle Up

too much rah-rah talk
but in the end we did good
painting blueberries

Monday

back in the office
feeling lost and unfocused
offsite tomorrow

England

Becks' masterful foot
bending the ball into the far
corner of the net

Maureen

delicate outside
but tough as nails inside, she's
a real favorite

real mission burritos

it's my first proper
burrito of the year; grilled
and stuffed with veggies

Usability Camp Day 1

I'm sitting between
the Campus Crusade for Christ
and Halliburton.

Solstice

balanced day and night
the pessimist in me says
darkness grows longer

England 2, Sweden 2

playing to a draw
less successfully than hoped
but still we are through

Happy Birthday, Matt Olson

he's one of "the Matts"
and though I rarely see him
he is dear to me

Happy Father's Day, Tony Holder

my birth dad has passed
but I've got a wonderful
new father-in-law

the week ahead

a lack of focus
being out of the office
in San Francisco

evesdropping

listening to a
pompous, self-aggrandizing,
wanna-be artist

the first goal

a cross by Beckham
headed in by Crouch to put
England up one-nil

Jack Blak

bourbon from Lynchburg
meets coffee-flavored cola
for a tasty mix

Joga Bonito

Ronaldo's waistline
aside, Brazil truly play
the beautiful game

brand immersion

magenta floodlights
sausage font, commercials, and
the tallest pygmy

Marshall & Amy

prepping for Solstice
silver-painted babies and
multi-colored wigs

England 1 - Paraguay 0

listless play, a team
withering in the heat, but
still a victory

kickoff -- soon

and so it begins
Germany, Costa Rica
and ninety minutes

1966 & All That

three lions rampant
many St. George's crosses
hope sprung eternal

crisis averted?

unless I've missed it,
yesterday resulted in
no armageddon

6/6/6

I'm all for dressing
up, but I hesitate at
wedding the dark lord

Ex-Sylvanian

the tiny squirrel
on my desk has reverted
to nature, sans clothes

thanks Barbara!

a needlework date,
yummy grilled-cheese sandwiches,
clothes T.V., and you!

CPR Saturday

the steps: Check, Call, Care
two breaths between each set of
thirty compressions

DOOM

a Netflix error
leads to an entertaining
serendipity

and so this is June

darkness descending
makes me afraid my eyes are
fading -- night returns

Keflavik

staying up all night
watching the light and the clock
our time feels longer

redrum

empty corridor
in an off-season hotel
a few creepy guests

an abomination

Iceland's favorite:
chocolate and liquorice
an unholy mix

Blue Lagoon

lava fields surround
milky, steaming hot waters
of luminous blue

to Iceland

we'll be together
amongst geysers, lava fields,
waterfalls, basalt

I dream of puffins

small black and white birds
adorned with clownish makeup
nested on the cliffs

happy birthday Jonathan

somewhere in Vermont
my grad school roommate, "Pookie",
is turning fifty

T-Motini

signature cocktails
are a sure sign you've paid an
agency too much

garden variety

I would tend to you
the pumpkin in my garden
nurture you with love

traffic meeting

each taking their turn
outlining the week ahead
some busy, some not

slow Sunday

a banging headache
aching neck, dodgy stomach
last night's memories

Space Needle

sometimes my ideas
are challenging to translate
to reality

Macbeth

walls running with blood
pointlessly shifted rocks and
no cauldron at all

desktop elephant

tiny pachyderm
shuffling amongst the papers
bringing me a pen

Herman the German Giant

twenty-pound rabbit
massive feet, toes splayed, embraced
by a smiling man

silent morning

an empty office
pale light streaming through windows
waking up slowly

happy '6-month-aversary'

this tiresome distance
cannot diminish the love
that I feel for you

tomorrow...

in our first half year
we've only spent, in total
two months together

spring, finally

growing warm outside
good to finally feel the
mercury rising

"teambuilding" day II

cynical armor
semi-permeable skin
renders me immune

"teambuilding" day I

we knew the secret
so we had no problem in
subverting the game

hooky

I skipped class tonight
needing instead to prepare
for tomorrow's trip

7-8

a thirteen-hour day
and still my to-do list grows
longer and longer

Affidavit of Support, part II

a not so small joy
finding a big envelope
crammed in the mailbox

Sunday night blues

melancholy mood
and another lost weekend
time standing so still

Paternayan 660

there's not enough wool
to finish my needlepoint
I blame the tent stitch

Friday

weeks drag by slowly
full and yet nearly empty
with few memories

trunk show

tonight at Reba's
a pleasing combination
of baubles and cake

copywriting class, week 4

distracted by a
large raccoon on the roof; all
of us children again

yesterday's march

watching protesters
feeling selfish -- I want my
immigrant here first

workers of the world, unite

nobody noticed
the red bracelet on my wrist
or the tune I hummed