World Domination

Where have I been, you ask? Making candles like a madwoman. My plan for world domination of the locally produced botanical beeswax candle market continues to play out. (I find world domination so much easier to accomplish if one draws the parameters of said domination very narrowly.)

So - you can now find our candles at B.B. Barns, the Asheville Art Museum Gift Shop, Woolworth Walk, the Asheville Shop at the Asheville Visitors Center, Shoji Spa, and Sanctuary of Stuff. I think I've about filled out everywhere we want to sell in Asheville - unless one of you owns a spa on the south side of town and wants to give me a call.

And for the last few weeks of the year you can also find us at City Market at Pack Square on Saturdays 10-2, the WCCJ Holiday Market at Grove Arcade today (10-8) and tomorrow (10-6), and also Shop West Asheville on Haywood Road next Saturday. Yikes - no wonder I feel like all I've been doing the last few weeks is making candles. That would be pretty much accurate. [Quick aside - I just checked the weather report for tomorrow - and I'm thinking City Market is out for tomorrow - high of 37 with snow and rain. Yikes.]

In non-candle news - I've also started lifting weights at the Y. Well, lifting might be a bit of an overstatement given my actual activity there. It's both demoralizing and kind of hopeful - because I figure if I'm this weak to start with, surely that means there's lots of upside to be gained. But right now I'm lifting just about the least amount of anyone wandering around those machines. This includes lots of women in their 60s who look like they're barely breaking a sweat. And frankly, at first I just stood there thinking WTF?? What has happened to me? And then I realized that lifting weights like a maniac in 1990 doesn't exactly mean you're going to be any stronger than average in 2009. In fact, based on actual results, it may mean you totally suck in 2009. And also that when you first start, even at totally reasonable (and tiny) weights, it may also mean you suck at swimming for that week because you're already tired when you start, and also possibly biking as well. Yep, that sums up this weeks athletic endeavors pretty well.

Except - in the gruesome and macabre category - guess what I saw while out biking last Sunday? This was before I went to the Y on Monday and Wednesday, and thus I still had enough oomph to get to Marshall via Alexander. So I've just crossed into Madison County, and I'm at an intersection taking a quick look at my route sheet to make sure I'm not spacing out and inadvertently riding off to Hot Springs or somewhere, and I glance down into the creek beside me and guess what I see - a cow's head. Just the head. I did a triple take. Talk about WTF. But it really was - a cow's head, with no evidence of the rest of it. I'm guessing someone had done some home butchering somewhere upstream and not been all that careful about where they put the leftovers. But it was sufficiently creepy that I jumped on my bike and took off to Marshall with a little more energy than I had before. Yikes.

So with that lovely story to end on - I'm off to make more candles! Shocker. And also maybe to squeeze in a quick bike ride before tomorrow's freeze descends upon us.