Dabbling
I have been trying to use the word "dabble" more frequently. I started tossing it around freely the other day when I overheard a woman in the park tell her friend that don't get her wrong, she loves her job, but she's been dabbling in real estate. I can't explain why that entertained me so deeply. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love blogging, but lately, I have been dabbling in taxidermy, or neurosurgery, or midwifery.My parents encouraged me dabble in all kinds of things when I was growing up. In my home, encouragement meant that we all went to our respective favorite places as far away from one another as we could be so that we could dabble with our stuff in private. Mom dabbled in extracting ear wax with hair pins and doodling, Dad dabbled with the powers of telekinesis and do-it-yourself home repair (it took 20 years, but the kitchen floor miraculously developed new tiles). My sister, Elle, dabbled in soap tasting and shaving her hairy toddler legs. I dabbled in knotting my sheets into a ladder to escape the confines of my bedroom where I also dabbled in Tarot. We were and, continue to be a family that dabbles in dabbling.
Mom sent me a letter a few weeks ago. I shook the envelope for a check and, upon finding nothing, promptly set it aside so that it could be properly lost in a pile of magazines and throw pillows. I lose all kinds of things in my magazines and throw pillows. I am not certain, but I think the dark haired, blue eyed guy from the bar may be in there.
Last night, Mom called me. "Are you going to pick me up from the airport tomorrow?" she asked. I never pick Mom up from the airport. She takes MARTA because it makes her feel all grown up. She lives in the Tundra where they only recently got a light rail train. The recorded voice can say, "caution, doors are closing" in 42 languages. It also reminds you to check your seat for personal belongings. I know when my personal belongings in my seat and don't require a reminder. The new light rail is a miraculous development for the metro Tundra region. It is wired to travel exactly 0.7 miles. The convenience of traveling from the largest mall in North America to the Airport has been warmly received by tax payers in the Tundra. Mom likes to take the rail system here because she can travel for miles and miles in four major directions. She gives detailed reports on the stench of urine and who she believed the source of the odor to be..
Mom informed me that she would be arriving in the afternoon and not to worry about her, she would find plenty of stuff to dabble while utilizing public transit. I would have offered to pick her up, but I have absolutely too much to do before she arrives. Most importantly, I have set the chair in the living room upright, hide the ring that I "borrowed" from her jewelry box, take down the picture of my fake family and hang the photo of my real family, and drink two large bottles of cheap wine. The large bottles do not speak of class and refinement. Rather, they scream, "I dabble in cirrhosis."
I hung up the phone and calmly headed to the kitchen for a glass of wine. I vacuumed up all the change and my lip balm from under the cushions on the couch. I dabbled in fluffing the pillows, but was distracted by a glass of wine. I declined a drunken marriage proposal via text message and paged through the phone book to find a 24-hour cleaning service. Unable to find one, I had a glass of wine and wondered if I could use wine to moisturize my dry lips or if I should dabble in the vacuum cleaner bag to find my beeswax lip balm.
Elbow deep in a bag of dust and cat fur and pennies, I began to wonder how long Mom's visit would last. I wiped off my arm, drank a glass of wine and called her. She was at dinner and I could tell that she had been dabbling in martinis because it took her three guesses to figure out which of her two daughters she was speaking with. I asked Mom if she wanted to sleep in my bed or in the guinea pig room and that's when she let me know that she will be staying at the lovely bed and breakfast near my home. When Mom hung up, I breathed a sigh of relief. I had dabbled in enough cleaning.
I have been admiring the absence of crap under my couch cushions for hours now. The fabric is cool against my cheek. It sort of makes me want to dabble by myself before I go to bed.
Mist 1
Posted by Mist1 @ 6:07 AM
72 Comments:
Dabbling sounds like a lot of work!!
claudia,
What did you do with Michael? He is almost always first.
Michael must be sick. Or slipping. maybe he's off dabbling somewhere.
=
"I declined a drunken marriage proposal via text message"
Sorry about that, Mist, I'm sober now. And yes, I guess you're right, it is a big step. I'm just saying, you know, think about it.
Dabbling makes you go blind. Or is it hairy palms? I can't remember.
If you are blind, you might not notice the hairy palms.
Midwifery is also a fantastic word, it neither looks nor sounds right. Like Siobhan. I am glad I don't know anyone called Siobhan, or a midwife, or ..wive, or ..wiff.
I am going to dabble in thinking comments through before I post them, but not now.
Happy Dabbling! FAZ
p.s. did you find your lip balm?
p.p.s. if dabbling does make you go blind (ref Kentucky Girl), why don't you just dabble a little bit and wear glasses.
Now you've dabbled in cleaning you may want to do it again! I'd give up dabbling if I were you.
it took her three guesses to figure out which of her two daughters she was speaking with.
hee hee
Nicely played.
dabbling is about as long as my attention lasts.
I dabble in family relations.
Puss
it is a coincidence that the tarot card photo has "bj" on it?
Oh, dabbling is good.
Dabbling makes the dabbler appear as a fun individual full of life -- but too important or busy to commit to any one thing.
Dabbling is very good.
" I am not certain, but I think the dark haired, blue eyed guy from the bar may be in there."
Yes, I am. At least there's enough to eat in here...who left behind the pizza crusts?
All that dabbling you do makes me tired.
Dabbling is definitely an underated art form.
A little dabble do ya.
Can dabbling be a joint exercise?
A little dabling will do ya.
MARTA means you live in or around the ATL (I just realized this). I realize I just downgraded Fonzie to Potse from using the phrase ATL. I lived there for about 13 years including my time at GT.
phishez,
I hate it when people dabble without me.
capt. smack,
Perhaps I reacted to quickly. Did you mention a ring?
kentucky,
My palms are perfectly smooth.
mr. fab,
Or you might read the hair follicles like braille.
pie,
I thought I made that word up, but there was no squiggly red line under it, so I went with it.
faz,
My lips are still dry.
akelamalu,
Nothing can stop me from dabbling.
peter,
Thanks for noticing.
debbie,
You have Attention Dabbling Disorder.
puss,
I try not to have relations with my family.
hello,
Boaz and Jachin. But, you may think what you wish.
curiosity,
I dabble in being full of life.
nwjr,
I don't like the crust.
jazz,
Me too. I'm dabbling in napping.
karma,
The Art of Dabbling is one of my favorite books.
mindy,
It took decades to approve and another decade to build and it sure looks cute.
av,
I dabble in joint dabbling. You should refer to it as Avi-dabbling.
furious,
You have found me out. I am among the several million here.
I dabble.
-N
Do you think it would be ok to refer to it as "dabbling myself" from now on? That sounds so much less sad - more like something I choose to do.
Careful. Too much dabbling can cause hair to grown on your palms.
I dabbled in work while at the office yesterday. I didn't like it and since the next step is probably experimentation, I decided to take the rest of the week off. Maybe I'll smoke some meat or something...but I won't inhale.
"She gives detailed reports on the stench of urine and who she believed the source of the odor to be..." why do people do this? they should dabble, not dribble.
I didn't think anyone other than my grandmother extracted earwax with hairpins!
I too am very fond of the word "midwifery"
It appears if you're going to dabble you need lots of wine. That works for me. Have a great day Mist...well if you can. :)
Our lightrail cost each taxpayer here in the Tundra approximately $10,000.
Screw the 10,000 lakes... We have 10,000 feet of light rail no one uses.
We are a proud state.
Dabbling seems to be more work than I remember it......
natalia,
Welcome.
monkey,
Dabbling yourself sounds perfectly polite.
lcg,
Clearly, you have never held my hand.
michael,
Perhaps you should just dabble in smoking meats.
methe,
Even dabbling on public transportation is unacceptable.
tera,
I have hidden all of my hairpins.
comedy,
I could dabble in some wine right now.
mutt,
If you don't use the light rail, can you have your $10,000 back?
Yabba Dabble Doo?
I do look like Fred Flintstone. Will you be my Wilma?
I dabble in motherhood and my kids dabble in childhood. It works for us.
I've used the MPL light rail system before. It was a good time.
Also, I always recommend dabbling before going to bed. Makes for a good sleep.
I don't see anything wrong with dabbling yourself. I've found that nobody else can dabble quite as well as oneself. ;)
Oooh you clean like me. Vacuum a couch cushion, have a drink, dust a knick knack, have a drink, upright the chair, have a drink, pick up some laundry, have a drink.
It's a good system.
I dabble in knitting and making wreathes. I dabble in making money at each.
I, however, get distracted easily and dabble in tearing tiny piece of wallpaper off my walls in the bathroom mostly.
My mom's coming to visit next week and I have to get a room ready for her. I'd better get some more wine because I need to clean out the room she's staying in.
av,
Betty is hotter.
sqt,
My uncle dabbled in childhood. He's in jail now.
flenker,
Dabbling does make me sleep well.
miztris,
Sometimes, it's still nice to have help.
scotts,
I don't dust my knick knacks. I drink out of them.
susan,
I love dabbling in distractions like that.
velvet,
Put her in the guinea pig room.
You should take care to never lose a dark haired, blue eyed guy. No matter where you pick him up from.
They are so rare and so... precious.
2nd Mist, 2nd largest mall in North America, damn Canadians.
Jessie's Choochoo goes to the Metrodome too! And occasionally takes out drivers on Hiawatha along the way.
Boondoggle is what it really is.
britt,
I hope he's not lost. He's not in the couch, that's for sure.
sank,
You wrote Jessie's Choochoo, I read Jimmy Choo. What a disappointment.
I have read the word 'dabble' so much now that it has lost all meaning. Fabulous.
Love the conotations (sp?) of dabbling. Start something, but dont actually have the commitment and effort to actually 'do' it. I might dabble in trying to find a job. Yes.
I thought I'd give up dabbling when I got married. That was until I realized waking up with a redwood when the loving wife was already downstairs was a waste of lumber if you don't dabble once in a while.
I am the family dabbler. Everyone else sticks to their projects and goals. I like being the dabbler. Soon enough, I'll show them I've been right all along. Of course, this is after they finish fighting over who gets to pay my bills this month since I spent most of it dabbling.
The last time I rode MARTA a man licked my hair. Yes, that's right, he licked my hair.
I took a break from dabbling just now to check in on you. Found you dabbling. Guess I'll go dabble some more, it seems to be getting popular.
BTW, does your Mom dabble? Maybe that's why she's going to the B & B so you won't know.
..
legaleagle - ew!!!!!
I like to dabble in bubble baths.
if you say "dabble" a bunch of times, it starts to sound like jibberish.
doesn't it?
You need to change the name of the transit system in you town to something generic. Like Three Men and a Truck.
I used to dabble with a dibble in the communal garden.
Now I just wobble with a wiffle while my arteries harden!
Sigh. At least your mother has the courtesy to drink. Mine won't go for anything stronger than iced tea with lemon and sweet-n-low. She won't even dabble in Ripple.
when you get old mist you start dribbling and stop dabbling. sigh... it's not nearly as much fun either! ha ha
smiles, bee
The recorded voice can say, "caution, doors are closing" in 42 languages. It also reminds you to check your seat for personal belongings. I know when my personal belongings in my seat and don't require a reminder.
So true ! :D
You know, we even have talking elevators at work, in both official languages, French & English. How freaky is that ?
I, too, dabble with lots of things. I usually draw the line in dabbling in the vacuum. However, today I found myself doing that to retrieve a black stocking someone had attempted to hide in the vacuum. It didn't work too well.
Hope you have a nice visit with your mother!
Dabbling in train rides and mother visits is not my forte. Both require ativan with wine.
Self dabbling is my favouritst thing to do. I'm fucking good at it too.
pidge,
Dabbling in work and relationships are what I do best.
blitz,
Redwoods are huge.
fringes,
Dabbling can get expensive. Sometimes, it's nice to let people dabble for you.
legal,
That deeply upsets me.
jim,
Can we take an oath to not talk about Mom and dabbling? Thanks.
scotts,
I know.
123,
My tailbone digs into the tub, making it uncomfortable to dabble for very long.
kiyotoe,
Dabbledabbledabble. Yes.
dave,
I thought about it, but I love the name MARTA. It stands for Moving Africans Rapidly Through Atlanta.
uncivil,
I dabbled in community gardening too. I got kicked out. Long story.
nance,
Mom dabbles in gin.
bee,
I dribble when I leave the dentist.
zhu,
I'm not sure what the official language is here.
silver,
I hate that I dabbled in the vacuum. I had to.
pool,
One of my friends claims that her best friend is Ativan. Maybe I need to get some of that.
Dabbling can be hard work...I think about dabbling often but then I get tired and have to drink, and then my clothes fall off...maybe I should dabble in buying more clothes...
Oh I bet the dust bunnys are sad to be gone or at least the cat is missing them..
"It sort of makes me want to dabble by myself before I go to bed."
That is my new favorite euphemism.
Why? Did you know the guy?
Oh, I thought Elle was writing this post....
mmm burts bees lip balm. I dabble with that too.
I'm with Claudia on this one, dabbling does indeed seem like alot of work.
wine you always need wine -
it brings you out of the dabble nicely. :-D
Do you think the High Priestess dabbles in between BJ?
If you're finished with your fake family, can I have it?
You know, you'd think those "take your personal belongings from your seat" reminders would work. But on consecutive days last week I left favorite umbrellas on the light rail, in spite of the voice. I hate voice. It should have called my name specifically and said "James, take your sh!t!"
excellent use of the word dabble as a before bed activity.
tellin,
I don't dabble in buying clothes. That's almost full time for me.
his sin,
I like to dabble. What can I say?
legal,
It's been a long weekend. I don't remember anything anymore.
matt,
Elle writes elsewhere.
melanie,
I miss mine.
orhan,
Sometimes, a little hard work is worth it.
nofear,
I am dabble in reds only.
stacy,
I think the High Priestess might dabble in cursing me if I even dabbled in answering that.
hearts,
They are all yours.
james,
I hear the voices too.
eric,
Who doesn't like a little dabbling before bed? I even like dabbling in the morning.
Did anyone tell you this: You have a veru nice blog and good collection of friends here. You write from heart. No?
diogenes,
I write from wine.
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