Herz, mein Herz, sei nicht beklommen,
und ertrage dein Geschick,
neuer Frühling gibt zurück,
was der Winter dir genommen.

Und wie viel ist dir geblieben,
und wie schön ist noch die Welt!
Und, mein Herz, was dir gefällt,
alles, alles darfst du lieben!

Things to know:

* Although it feels like nature is Not in the city, you do, in fact, to coin a stephenjaygouldy cliche, live ever in a complicated system of heartbeats and locomotion. As a human, I mean, a human amongst the littler beasties. I have only recently come to see the bird hierarchy I am interrupting, for instance. The seagull>duck>sparrow>pigeon fight going on right outside, all the time. Tossing a cube of bread into the river churns it all up, really fast.

* Mrs. Pettigrew Lives for a Day is a lovely film. Fluffy, like a pair of maribou mules, but nice. The set-up has a nice balance to it. I like Shirley Henderson's precise little voice. And nobody does vulnerable male facial expressions like Ciaran Hinds.

* Old Navy has no clue how to design clothes for fatties, but by sheer luck (I always figure), their tank tops really ROCK. The rest of their 'plus-size' stuff is designed for a skinny 50-foot woman, as it were, but their tank tops continue to please. Enough/right coverage, cheap, long-lasting, many colors. Fab.

* I am going to put in my periodic plug for http://cuteotters.com, as early spring brings lots of otter cubs and hence cute otter cub pix. Delish. That and the cheap tulips: good things.

* I apologize for the rather more intermittent blogitudinous announcements of recent weeks. Real life, with all its mutability and challenge...interfered, I suppose I'll say. C'est la guerre.