Sittin in the office not doin no harm

There was a popular underground video making its way around Boone, NC when I was there for college, called "Jesco The Dancing Outlaw." It feels like a home movie made by Jesco himself (but in fact is a documentary made by an Emmy Award-winner) documenting several facts:

1. Jesco, who was born and raised in Boone County, West Virginia, is indeed a dancing (flatfooting on a board) outlaw (I think he was violent or drunk or both, and he did some time).
2. He likes Elvis a lot, and can even impersonate him, especially when he (Jesco) huffs gas fumes from a rag.
3. He loves his wife. And Jesus.

My roomate's and my moment from the movie shot from afar, and the editor put
subtitles on the screen so the viewers could understand what was being said over
there on the sidewalk, across the street. Someone asksJesco what he's doing, and Jesco says (or so we read): "I'm just sittin' on the corner not doin' no harm."

This line has such a lyrical quality, such a rhythm, that it became our catchphrase. And I just now thought of it for the first time in years.

This weekend we drove the big blue van down to Boston (you know you're up
North when you can say down to Boston) to drop the Northern Harmony teachers off for their flights to Europe. YesterdayKei and I drove (well, just me) the van back up. I can't believe we're just three hours from Boston. Unbelievable. This morning at the bus stop I was trying to explain to our neighbor how strange this is for me when I remembered that she's from NC as well, so she understands how that from down south, Boston is a whole 'nother world. And that's how we'd say it down there. Does anyone else say 'nother? Write in if you do. I'm curious.

My knitting class last Wednesday was a big success. My teacher is very cool, my classmates are funny and warm, and I can now knit socks on two circular needles at once. It's easy! I love it. I had almost four inches of the leg part done when I discovered that (surprise) it didn't fit my ginormous calf. I'm not being unnecessarily harsh here; it's true. I have big calves, but notcankles . They taper down nicely. Which means that my socks wouldn't pull up as far as they were designed to, so I had to take out the whole 4 inches and start again. Using my finely tuned (like a run-over trombone) math skills, I developed a tapering pattern for the sock that starts off as big as I need it to and gently comes back to the prescribed number of stitches for the ankle part, all while staying true to the K2 P2 rib. I am a knitting master. Fear me and my warm feet.

So, this morning was my first morning handling all the office stuff my myself. I really want to do a good job. I must say, it's not exactly easy learning QuickBooks and a new address filing system and remembering the steps to take when we get checks in the mail and filling PayPal orders (ok, that part's easy) and the myriad of other small tasks that make up my job. Once I get a little more practice in, it should get smoother. Right now I'm commenting aloud to myself often and trying to remember all the stuff that I need to do. But so far, so good. No major screw-ups. I feel quite competent.

It's also pretty satisfying being able to control what groceries come in and out of the house. I have sworn that Kei and I will have the most vegetable-laden, made from scratch, low fat high fiber wholesome Spring that either of us have ever seen.

In other news, I'm officially one of the arts n' crafts leaders at camp this summer. I could not be more elated about this. Those who know me through camp will know that I have mostly done fine arts (music/drama/dance) in the past but that I've really wanted to be switched to crafts (pottery/candlemaking/batik/tie-dye/beads/etc). I
understand my Directors' hesitation about this, because if you have a competent staff member working in area A, why switch them to area B? You have to get a replacement for area A plus you know there are like a dozen salivating counselors just dying (no pun) to be in area B. So, finally, finally. Hooray for 2007! I'm going to try to do an awesome job of it.

Well, better keep filing. Brrr.