Lollygagging Report

First, for those who asked, a bit on the word 'lollygag'. This was a word that I often heard from the parental types and it wasn't meant as a compliment. It meant I was not being productive - I was reading instead of making my bed. I was reading instead of picking the crabgrass out of the lawn. I was reading instead of doing the dishes. You get the idea. Of course, the thing, the brilliant thing, in my family, was that if you had a book in hand you were exempt from most chores. At least for the period of time you held the book. But woe to those who put the book down and tried other forms of non-work - say, talking on the phone, or listening to Dionne Warwick on the phonograph.
And here from the online Oxford:

verb (lollygags, lollygagging, lollygagged)

[no object] North American informal

• spend time aimlessly; idle:she goes to Arizona every January to lollygag in the sun
• [with adverbial of direction] dawdle:we're lollygagging along

Origin:

mid 19th century: of unknown origin

And hereto-with is my lollygag report as promised:

I did my lollygagging yesterday, Sunday. I started by staying in bed longer. I was reading Rosie by Anne Lamott - usually I don't like novels by people who write gosh-darn great writing books like Bird by Bird, but I thought I'd give it a try. And guess what? I loved it. All of Lamott's great wit and warmth was there wrapped up in a juicy joyous plot. So I stayed in bed late and then I sauntered downstairs and started some more lollygagging. I didn't look at my computer ALL day. I did do one thing that doesn't fall under lollygagging but my oh my it was satisfying. I cleaned out our linen-closet. Yep. I now have bags and bags of ancient mismatched sheets, old blankies and tired towels.  And a lovely deep linen closet with no more than two sets of sheets for each bed in the house. Ah!

Now, back to lollygagging. On Saturday night, the sweet patootie and I thought we'd go see the new Harry Potter. We got as far as the parking lot of the multi-plex and went - 'unh unh'. Full full full. So instead we went to Chapters where they are pretending to have a big blow-out summer sale but I know better. They are actually getting rid of books which aren't working out for them so well - and getting in more 'lifestyle crap'.  I got a wonderful book on Tibetan Art for $2. I also got a Doodle Art poster. Remember those? No, because you're not old like me. These are the original ones - huge big black and white posters that you can colour for hours. Yes, that is another thing I did yesterday. I worked on the massive poster of bugs and birds. I think I did a wren, several beetles, some butterflies, an owl and a flamingo. Then I knit. I finished my lace wrap. It took me 60 hours all told. So if I went into business I could either ask $600 for it and make minimum wage or ...? This morning - after I write this - I'm going to put it in warm water and then block it. I know this is terrible to say, but I'm not sure I made it long enough. I haven't knit any lace before and I understand it stretches out but I'm still terrified. If it doesn't get as long as I would like, I'm going to knit onto the edges of it. Which will make me crazy but so? As I knit in periods of an hour or so, I listened to CBC radio. I listened to a great piece on Sunday Morning all about Emily Dickinson. Fantastic. Later on, I listened to Writers in Company, where Eleanor Wachtel interviewed the writer of On Beauty - Zadie Smith.  It was a wonderful interview. Hmm...what else did I get up to? Nothing much. I walked the dog in the woods while Ron made dinner (smoked fish and potato casserole -yum). I knit while he read in the evening. He would read me bits of what he was diving into or he'd put the book down and tell me some stories of his past. All just the best. And even though we've had the lousiest weather and yesterday was gorgeous, I didn't let it make me all crazy and having to do something like work in the garden or paint the bottom of the boat as we haven't been out yet. I stuck to my lollygagging ways and I'm glad I did. Now I'm all ready for a day of writing! Yes. A day.

Howsabout you?

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