A Muse Amused @thaliawashere - Tumblr Blog

It has been smoky in these parts for the last couple of days. The air quality hit an unhealthy level today. The haze has been heavy and the light has an eerie, orange quality. It has felt like dusk all day.

My husband remarked that this is what it was like in the old days when everything was sepia-toned. I confess. I laughed out loud. He caught me off guard with that Dad joke. He is beyond pleased with himself.

This calls for two songs.

#smoke gets in your eyes #that reminds me of a song #two songs actually #dad jokes #you gotta laugh #my photos

My weather app has mastered my personalized forecast.

#forewarned is well there's nothing I can really do about it #migraines suck

snowangelsoul

Rest in Peace Sir Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill. 🦕

(Unmute)

thaliawashere

This one hurts.

I know Jurassic Park is his biggest hit, but I loved Sam Neill first in My Brilliant Career (1979).

My brother came home from grad school to take me to see it at an independent theater after it arrived in Boston. He was seeing it for the second time. Even though I was in the sixth grade, he thought I'd love it. He was right. It reinforced my already independent spirit and love of writing.

Thirteen years later, when I was in grad school, my entire lab played hooky to see Jurassic Park on opening day. They were there for the dinosaurs and to see what CGI could do. I was there, as I had been for his many other films, to see my old friend Sam Neill.

If you haven't seen My Brilliant Career, it's a beautiful, brilliantly acted, Australian film. Treat yourself to a great biographical story and some vintage Sam.

All of this reminds me that I should book that trip to Montana.

#another icon gone #sam neill #my brilliant career

sahpience

thaliawashere

When my mother would bake for an occasion, we all knew the results were off limits as they cooled on the counter. The temptation, however, remained great.

My father, an innate problem solver, would walk by the counter, scanning the baked goods as they sat cooling. In one swift movement, he would karate chop a muffin, pinch a petit four, or crumble a cookie and loudly declare, "Not good enough for company! It's a second!" He'd stand there and eat the treat as my mother rolled her eyes and threatened he'd lose a hand if he took another.

For macarons, he would've risked losing both hands.

#semper fi dad #baked goods #temptation

plastolux

thaliawashere

Eames duet

#chairs #eames chair

So far my cheering for the underdogs in the World Cup has been an inadvertent hex on those teams. Undeterred, I am rooting for Switzerland. My niece and her family live there. So, all I have to say is: Hopp Schwiiz!