Forever Young

I’m sitting here, my second full day at Arch Cape and I’m behind in writing about Ammogirl’s Seattle visit. Now since I’m at the beach and easily a good three days behind in blog writing and reading, I have to be honest and say that writing wasn’t the biggest priority before I left due to all I had to do before I headed out. But I will do my best to cover all the territory I can here.

You know when you encounter people in your life that you instantly feel comfortable with and you make them friends or you gravitate to them in some way and it’s just a good feeling? Well.. Treena is one of those people. Kari is as well, but I have been friends with her since my sophomore year. When Treena showed up and we started on the very beginnings of reminiscing, it was clear that the borders high school created were the only reasons we weren’t closer to Treena during that time because she is so much like us. I felt like no time had even passed between high school graduation and 17 plus years. Tho she and Kari have both had children, we all felt like girls together, giggling and telling stories of people we used to know, boys we used to be ‘madly’ in love with, etc. We cooked, we drank, we played with Kari’s girls, we shopped, and we even dared open at least one yearbook, which was frightening.. and the whole time I kept thinking.. how did I not know this girl better? But high school is filled with every kind of possible insecurity and awkwardness and the main goal is just trying to fit in and possibly in a way that isn’t completely noticeable because if someone does chance to see it, you’re certain to be ridiculed at some point. Know what I mean?

So Treena arrived on the Wednesday a week before July 4th.. and I was pretty much at Kari’s house every day after work for the rest of the work week. No plans were made for anyone else because when a friend comes from Germany to hang out with you, hi.. you spend the time. So when Kari had some wifely priorities on Friday, I stole the guest of honor and dragged her into the city for pub food and improvisational comedy-type merriment.. something she’d never actually experienced. We invited Loren and the three of us enjoyed some VERY strong martinis, quite a few laughs during the show.. and yours truly, Miss D, FINALLY won something!!! I made the best suggestion during this particular improv show and not only did I win two passes to any improv show after that, but I won two, that’s T-W-O superballs each with a little plastic baby in them.. one white and one black…… Yes.. ok.. ew. But hey.. I won SOMETHING! WHOO HOO!

And tho I was a bit overzealous in procuring dessert after the show, we did end up in Capital Hill with many types of baked sugar forms in front of us before the one o’clock am hour. I really don’t think any of us needed it tho.

Painfully tired, Treena and I headed back to my house, but tho we tried to sleep, we talked like teenage girls having a sleep-over for about an hour before we managed closing our eyes for the night. Must’ve been the sugar high, but it still made us both smile. Friends are good, you know?

Saturday, Kari joined us for brunch and shopping. We wandered with no purpose, dined on gourmet chocolates and Vietnamese coffees, found our way to the movies to see Evening, which is a total chic-flic-tear-jerker and a movie you should see when you’re with long-time friends and we finished with wine and conversation on the eastside so we could wake up and spend the whole last day with Kari and her family.

We languished as long as possible over meals and drinks.. naps in the sun, watching the girls do various gymnastics and dance performances for all of us.. and tried to take in the overdue catching up as much as we could without ever feeling like we were really forcing it. It was all just easy and fun and was just as much a vacation as this time at the beach is really.. just a different sense of family for me and just as rewarding.

I think as we’ve all grown older, it’s easier to erase the bullshit of the past and latch onto what’s positive about the future because in the big picture, what does the history matter? What matters is now. Bonds, friendship, a sense of belonging, trust and loyalty that would take a lot more than distance and dorky high school memories to damage. There’s a sense of ageing together, the aching bodies, the limitations, the wishes that were never fulfilled, and the insecurities that might still be there, but have long since been reduced to miniscule status.. and you can see yourself in your friends’ eyes, which are so warm and welcoming that you spend all your time smiling and suddenly, the time has flown by and you’re at your last moments with each other until an undetermined ‘next time.’

I feel old from Treena’s visit.. but in a good way. I would kill for my 17-year-old metabolism, but there was a new vision once I hit 30.. and it just keeps getting better as the years have passed. I have a totally different life than either Treena or Kari and you can’t say it’s better or worse – and neither would they – it’s just different.. but not one of us would wish for those high school days again.. no no.. even at the price of getting older, we are grateful to have all that over with. Just don’t call us ladies.. ok? And really.. no ma’am’s either.. are we clear? I think we established that we’ll be ‘girls’ forever.

Pretty Close To Paradise

The drive to the Oregon Coast on Sunday felt like driving one long stretch of the same road over and over. It wasn’t at all like last year, which felt like no time had passed and voilà! Beach! Family! Wine! No.. this year it was like I wasn’t getting anywhere, but add in driving behind an RV or slow-going truck that was moving 10 miles under the already 55 mph limit the whole way on a two-lane windy road that made it impossible to pass anyone. Snore..

I literally drove in on fumes having no luck in finding a gas station even 25 miles before I reached Arch Cape. Only the diesel station for said RV’s holding me up from arriving at my destination. But once I was finally out of the car, there were only welcoming arms of my family extended in big hugs and offering a much needed glass of red wine. Then almost immediately, a small voice came from behind all the adult legs, and my teensy little five-year-old cousin, Maeve, said, “Welcome to Arch Cape,” with a bright and shiny grin. “Come have some soup!” And she grabbed my hand, took me out on the deck to the ice chest where she was making her seafood ‘soup’, gave it to me in a crab shaped sand toy and I knew my vacation had begun.

Day 1: We woke up to a grey and windy day and I hoped this wasn’t the sort of thing we’d have to deal with the entire time here. I grew up in Lincoln City, just a couple of hours south from here where a summer day was 60 if you were lucky and you always wore a windbreaker. But my aunts assured me the fog would lift by afternoon and we would be sitting on the deck in the sun in no time. And it was kind of funny cuz they kept saying, “Oh it’s definitely brightening,” as the day wore on when in fact, it still looked the same color of grey and white outside to me, but I smiled at their enthusiasm.

We went into Seaside for some errands, came back and realized we’d forgotten the Beach Essentials of hot dogs and s’more makings, but there was still plenty of time since it was just us adults and 1 precocious five-year-old til Thursday. We had wine. We would live.

Actually, we went thru about three bottles of that just at dinner alone. My aunt Chris was drunk and funny. My uncles told stories of growing up I’d never heard before, which included a particularly funny one about my dad at 15 being chased by my very angry grandpa to the upstairs of their house and Dad being desperate enough to jump out the second-story window because he didn’t want to get caught and whipped for whatever it was he’d done.. how my grandparents actually were pretty strict and how the four boys they had drove my grandmother crazy at times, how that compared to the parents they’ve all become and the mischievous things we all did growing up in the name of rebellion. It was enlightening and lovely just to be there with everyone and to be appreciated as an adult along with them.

We ended our first full day by taking in the many stars you just can’t see when you live in a city. The sky was breathtaking, honestly. We found the Big Dipper and pointed out the Milky Way, which my aunt Chris had actually never been shown in school like the rest of us had.. and when they all went in, I waited until I saw a good sized falling star, closed my eyes, made a wish and said my goodnights.

Day 2: The sun had come out the day before, but it wasn’t until very late in the afternoon and it didn’t last very long. Today was a different story. It was HOT! While one aunt and two uncles headed out to Manzanita for a second day of 9-hole-golf, my aunt Elizabeth, her daughter, Maeve, and I decided we’d have our first sunny adventure down on the beach. Holy Global Warming, people! The wind was so warm it felt like it was coming straight out of a heater. I thought for sure someone had exchanged the Oregon coast for the California one while we were sleeping, but no.. we were certainly in the right place. Bathing suits were revealed, sunscreen lathered on, sandals removed and off we were for a long and leisurely walk while Maeve chased the seagulls and we all searched for the prized and unbroken sand dollars.

My freckles are coming out from their hiding places very comfortably now. My eyes have sparkled a lot more just from the relaxed sense of having to do nothing if I want.. or read a book for a whole hour even.. and I have taken more than my share of naps in the last two days as well. Right in the middle of the day! My aunts give me hugs and kisses for no reason, tell me how great it is that I’m here with them, we make incredible food, drink amazing wine and play pretend everything with Maeve who has one of the biggest vocabularies I’ve ever heard from a child of five.

And to think there are still five more full days of this…

Something Old, Something New

Today, Princess Lulu turns one year old. What a little treasure she is..

And there is so much to tell you all.. but right now I must head to her birthday party. Suffice it to say, vacation has begun and tomorrow I will be heading here:


I know.. you are mad with jealousy. And there will be plenty of time to catch you all up on a recent visitors, the mishap involving a large cement rock/rebar combo and my shiny car - oh yes, it had to happen - and other events.. but one mustn't be late to a princess' first birthday.

Ta for now lovelies!

Summer Social Experimenting

My favorite house in Vancouver. Doesn't it look like a little gnome lives there??

It has been an interesting week of socializing with new dates, old friends.. and very little sleep between all of it. Summer has officially started and tho it doesn't always feel like it here and we're often waiting for the real warmth to kick in, when the leather seats in the car are too hot to sit on with a short skirt or lean against in the tank with the bare back you're wearing, you know you can rest assured this is as good as it's going to get.

Now, the beginning of the week started out a bit on the frightening side of things because I sat for two hours with Boz in front of my tv watching An Inconvenient Truth. Uh.. hi. Scariest thing I've seen.. oh.. EVER. How is no one fixing this? How am I not?! How are we all not freaking the fuck out?! That's what I want to know. I wanted to join every environmental group possible after I watched it, quit my job, sell my car, live in a tee-pee and wear nothing but natural fibers and not brush my teeth.. but then I remembered, I can't actually do that. And I just took my wasteful and selfish excuse of a self and went to work the next day like normal in my very uneconomical and horribly-bad-for-the-ENTIRE-WORLD car. Like oh.. everyone else does.. Sigh.. how are we all not raging alcoholics from the sheer pressure of it all?!

After all that depressing information, I figured some brevity was in order. Staying up late has just happened rather accidentally quite often and I'm going to blame it on Pixie because I'm just trying to keep up with her new schedule of freedom these days. I mean, let's face it.. who wouldn't want the entire summer off just to play? Especially with a friend who's up for just about anything.

We managed to get ourselves together and meet up at this great movie theater, The Central Cinema, which pretty much shows whatever it wants.. and when they'd advertised the weekend of playing Fame, mostly to honor gay pride weekend, we hardly needed the Gays Of Our Lives contingent to be excited to see this together - plus, they all had plans. So on Wednesday, Kat, Paul, Pix and myself hit the 10pm show, laughed at the cheesy parts, pointed out the actors we recognized, sang at the top of our lungs during the movie's theme song and just giggled at the memories (and the horrible fashions). Pixie got to sleep in the next morning and take a luxurious walk whenever she wanted the next afternoon.. and I yawned thru most of my day. Um.. yeah.. I'm not bitter.. I can sleep when I'm dead. This is what I'm telling myself anyway.

Then, yes, there were some lovely dates.. and I'm staying mum about those for the moment. Suffice it to say, I had a good time and there will be more things like that happening. There are a couple of wild cards out there and only time will tell. I'm just enjoying things as they happen and thinking positively.

Finally, the Friday workday was completed and I was on the road north to my Canadian home away from home in Vancouver, BC. Tho my night was rather uneventful because my friend, Shay, and I were both wiped out from our busy weeks, it was good to catch up and see him a little since he left the next day to prepare for his half Iron Man triathlon.. which hi.. ow. I mean.. I couldn't do a quarter Iron Man, let alone a half of one. Do you guys know what this consists of?? Just listening to him wore me out: a mile and a half swim, a 65 mile (SIXTY FIVE PEOPLE) bike ride and then a 22K run (12 something miles).. holy exhaustion Batman. I would be crippled. So let's just say that I was in awe. Plus he's like the funniest person alive. Seriously. What's funnier is the deal we have that if we're not married by 40, we'll marry each other. But we're both hoping that doesn't happen cuz years ago when we dated for oh.. all of three minutes, clearly we weren't a good match.. but if we happen to get desperate enough.. hey.. laughter never sucks. And he could save me if I was ever almost drowning.. and run for help. Bonus!

Saturday, after a quick breakfast with Shayster before he had to leave, I met up with the fabulous Lady Miss Marquise who I haven't seen since last summer. Freshly returned home from her trip to Vietnam, we had giggly conversations about the outrageous people we'd both met and/or finally dispersed of.. the dramas were relayed and witty comebacks admired.. and mostly we just enjoyed being girls together.

There was a small emergency panic break when my card was declined in one store and then the ATM afterwards before I called the bank and found out that, hi.. a fraud alert had been placed on my card.... ???!! They were concerned by the gas I'd purchased that morning when it came back to them listed as Toronto Something Or Other. I told them I was in Canada and tho not in Toronto, the gas company is probably based there. Seeing that they'd been an eensy bit over-zealous, the alert was removed and in seconds, actually, I was back to breathing normally and happily over-spending as usual.

This of course brings on a new responsibility when you travel, right? Of course you update your family and friends regarding your whereabouts and hell, Loren and I always send our itineraries to each other so someone knows exactly where we are and when we'll be there and back and on what flights - just in case. But now you need to add to that list of priority notifications.. your bank?! I mean, I sincerely appreciate their astounding due diligence.. but hi.. it was just gas! Not like gas for a jet plane touring internationally or anything. There were no stops at jewelry stores or outlandish shopping sprees. $30 worth of gas. That's the red flag?! I'm just saying.. maybe someone ought to look at that process there, you know.. um.. it's a thought.

Once that misunderstanding was resolved, we carried on with our day. I dropped off Jules so she could disco-nap before our evening out later and then headed back to Shay's in North Van by wrong way of West Van, which caused me to get lost, which was totally awesome.. and by awesome I mean, completely irritating cuz we all know how expensive gas is in the states, but in Canada, it's about one gold bar per liter and I have no frickin idea how much that really is cuz hi! Metrics! What the f?

Almost worse than that, I discovered something new about North Vancouverites: they don't have to get anywhere. You know how I can tell? Well, the tell-tale sign is driving NO miles an hour. Seriously. And it's not just one guy. No, honestly, it's everyone. You know why I know that too? Because I was the only speed racer to be found ANYWHERE. True story - 40km. You know what that is in miles per hour people? NOTHING. Like there are NO miles being driven at ANY hour in my opinion. 40km is like 20 mph, which is practically the opposite of moving at all! You might as well say, 'Honey, let's go to dinner,' and then STAY HOME if you're going to drive that slow because you AREN'T MOVING at 40km. No, I'm telling you, you aren't.

Despite that fact, eventually I was picking up friends Ali, Jules and Courtney, for fun-having at the Solstice party thrown by some other friends of mine I hadn't seen in at least two years. There were hugs for everyone and drinks and a little dancing and more drinks.. and some chatty chat caused by too many drinks of some new and sexy maple syrup-infused whisky that changed my whole view about whisky people! It's called Sortiledge and you can't find it in the states apparently cuz this site is the only one that ships from Canada to the US and how sad was I when I read 'Temporarily Out Of Stock'?! SO sad, that's how!! But if y'all are somewhere else.. ohmygod - go get some NOW! A-mazing!

Lady Miss Marquise never likes her picture taken.. and she allowed 2 that night! Such a shiny treasure she is. Don't mind my hair.. it wasn't cooperating..

One of the loves of my life - Ali - and his western look for the night.

And another picture of fantastic girls.. Lady Miss Marquise and Courtney.

And since there was some mixing of alcohols and much staying up late, there was also some being hung over as well and a so-not-charming searing headache that I had to power thru til I crossed state-side and arrived home. I'd said goodbye to my lovely Canuck cohorts, brunched (or tried to considering my churning tummy) at The Reef, and did a bit of shopping around the boutiques of East Van enjoying the gorgeous day - when Mother Nature got crabby, the clouds rolled in and WHAM! Torrential downpour. The rain came and went in varying degrees of sprinkle to something that maybe resembled driving underneath Niagara Falls and it just kept following me south with flashes of lightening and booming thunder.

But there'll hopefully be none of that this week because we are now officially into T-minus 48 hours and Ammogirl arrives! Oh I fear the city of Seattle and surrounding areas will not know what to do with the likes of all my favorite blogger girls in one room. The energy will hardly be able to be contained! I promise to share pictures as soon as we have them. Now I hope y'all have yourselves a debaucherous week as I plan on having! Mwah!

Thinking, Aching, Golfing, & Celebrating

My head is a bit fuzzy because I think I've come down with a lovely combination of viruses that may have formerly been homeless. Now they've shacked up in my insides and might be picking out curtains. I'm feeling rather hurty and icky and yes, those are the technical terms.

I left work before noon and was in bed as soon as I came in the door. Emma didn't know what to think, but cuddled right up to me anyway with a look that if I was going to go back to bed, so was she. And there we slept for 5 straight hours. Hard.

I was supposed to be going out to celebrate Mrs. Pixie's new sense of freedom in the form of unemployment, which I am oh so excited about for her, but I sat up and my head = woozy and the body, achey.. and therefore it was determined the only thing I would be doing other than going back to sleep as soon as possible, would be finding my way to my kitchen to make something to eat, tho I want/ed to hurl at even having the idea, but I made myself anyway and I still a) feel tons of nausea and b) don't feel any better whatsoever at all. Poo.

While killing time trying to digest food I really couldn't taste, I was doing blog research (read: checking out who has linked to me recently) and people! I, Miss Devylish, have been granted a Thinking Blog Award! TWICE! Were you aware this possibility was out there? I tell you it was news to me! And that, you know, sometimes people actually think because of things I wrote! I know it's incredibly hard to believe, but it seems to be true! The darling girl over at Finnspace and the very kind Popeye both were tagged by individuals who are fans of their sites and they, in turn, tagged me (like IN APRIL! Hi! Where was I?!), and I must say how terribly flattered I am. They said some very nice things and I maybe blushed.

So now it's my turn to tag 5 blogs that make me think (tho I'm posting more than that because I was mentioned twice so I'm giving myself more room here, thank you.):

1. Miss Doxie: She is the reason I began blogging in the first place and my favoritest writer on the InterWeb EVER due to her amazing gift at humor. She is random and creative and a great word-maker-upper and then she'll suddenly throw in something so incredibly touching about the people and dogs in her life and you are right there with her and just a mess of tears, but she always lifts my spirits and my co-workers are always wondering what the hell I'm giggling about.

2. The Dog's Name and Charming, But Single: Indy is one of the better male bloggers out there, in my opinion, and I'm putting him with Charming because I don't link to many sites that are dedicated to discussing the trials and tribulations of dating, but I think the two of them combined are basically the best he said/she said sites out there and I hope they don't mind that I think that. He reminds me of most of the men I know: smart, flirty, thinks you look good in those jeans and her dating life reminds me of how little luck I'm having - but she's funnier and writes better (and she's actually probably luckier than I've been lately.).

3. The Writing Life and Ammogirl: These women have special places in my heart because they have known me for a large portion of my life and knew who I was before I ever even thought of creating this InterWeb alias. Kari has so much she wants to share and she takes everything life throws at her and writes for the feel of creating and for therapy, so she can grow and understand all that she's trying to control, but can't, which makes her incredibly human, identifiable, and endearing. Treena is just crazy, in a good way, and she and I relate by way of made-up words, over-italicizing and over-capitalization because we are just trying to get our points across with every ounce of enthusiasm (or frustration, which ever applies) we are possibly feeling right at that moment that we must get out and I'm always excited by that kind of sister energy.

4. Pomgirl, Sometimes Funny Is All I Have, and ... Mishaps, Missteps, And Manecdotes: These English, or practically English, birds are listed together because they have brought me infinite joy and with any read have provoked me to think long and hard.. or just laugh a lot - like Pom, for example. The last line of her most recent post says, "I got paid today and bought sweets, and it made me very happy." Now isn't this something that just brings the smiling back to your face? It does mine. She's bravely honest when she lets you in more personally, but then she puts up a very icky picture of the largest spider ever in her house and tells you she's named it Bob. What's not to love?! We will meet and share drinks and candy one day!

While Léonie, an aspiring singer/songwriter is never overrun with pretention or angst and just comes across as a darling girl trying to follow her dream. She also loves magical ponies, shoes, Charmed, and taking pictures of herself in pub bathrooms. She's witty without ever a mean spirit about her and I'm quite fond of her.

And then there's Lady Miss Marquise, who's come all the way from the UK to live in BC and has become a Real Life Friend of mine, but who's also now on an official blogging break. Still, she's worth mentioning because she's painfully intelligent in her writing and she always grabs me with how she can bring out the beauty in a single moment.. or the awkwardness in the realization of a mistake. Things we all may see and do, but don't necessarily write about as cleverly as she does. I miss her.

5. Pixie Rising: Last, but certainly not least, Mrs. Pix does something a lot of bloggers do, which is to write in short little bursts a bit here and there, but tho I'm probably biased, she continually reminds me that not everything needs shared. Some things are nice if kept to yourself but here.. look.. she found something special. It's a lot of little lovely things and you don't need to schedule a whole lot of time to breathe it in.. it just takes a moment and she's touched you. Plus I rather like her pictures and her choice of music.

There! Now.. your turn if you like.

The rules are only these:
1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think.
2. Link to this post (from The Thinking Blog) so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme
3. Optional: Proudly display the 'Thinking Blogger Award' with a link to the post that you wrote.
**********************

Not to forget the fun that was had last weekend as well, I must mention Seattle Urban Golf 2007. I did this last year with friends and Pixie and I had so much fun we forged on again this year. Nine holes and as many bars. Holy lightweights.. There were costumes of mimes and cowgirls in plaid socks and plaid-er dresses and tho it rained this year, our fervor couldn't be dampened.. oh no, it could not! So I leave you with a few of my favorite shots and you are welcome to view the whole thing complete with comments and fancy notes here.

Again, congrats Pixie! So much love!

You all take your vitamins now you hear me? I'm going back bed! Nighty night!

Oh The Lure Of Watching Famous People

There is. A lure, that is. Don't you think? I mean, watching ordinary people is fine.. entertaining even, but once in a while, I want to see famous people doing various things like.. um.. acting maybe.. and making me laugh - that's a good one - and if they can sing too.. bonus!

Now.. going to jail is something altogether different, adding more shock and awe value than actual merriment, especially when there are tears and screaming and the viscious reality check that celebrity doesn't buy you a Get Out Of Jail Free card.. or rather, revokes said card when the press waves it around all over the news in your honor. Oops.

So we did a bunch of this watching of the famous people, or tried and failed in one case, and I'm here to relay all events that transpired.

Boz and I made our way to Neil's who was having a lovely little barbeque a week ago last Sunday afternoon. I had just finished attending Wendy's bridal shower on the hottest day of Almost-Summer so far and was full of vim and vigor (read: cake). And the day was gorgeous and food was being grilled and eaten and we were all chatting and there was a little awkwardness because we didn't really know anyone and everyone was keeping to their own mostly, but we couldn't think of anything else to do while it was so nice.. and then BOOM! Thunder and lightening and rain! And oh! I know! Let's go to a movie! Ok!

We saw Knocked Up and you should run, don't walk, to see this movie. Hilariously good times! Oh the fun and enjoyment! And Paul Rudd is frickin adorable.

Tuesday, The Jedi came into town and we met up with our friends, Kristen and Keith at The Rendezvous for some HBO-sponsored thing for the Flight Of The Conchords because we thought it might be a different thing to do.. noting the promised 'open bar' and 'New York-style catered bites' and the first episode of this comedy duo's show, tho laughs were secondary to.. the free food and drink, of course.. yay! But.. and you knew it was just too good to be true, didn't you.. we noticed something amiss when 'open bar' was actually defined as 'beer and wine only' and the actual screening itself became an occupied-to-capacity theatre when the two 12-year-old girls hosting the party couldn't get it together to bring people from the bar to the theatre like they said they would, so we realized people were moving and by the time we asked about it, it was too late. A 9pm showing was offered.. and thusly, scoffed at because hi.. we arrived on time and asked appropriate questions at how this was going to work.. and were still denied. But they felt so badly about it that they offered us t-shirts. Um.. yeah.. that'll do it, thanks. Not to mention that we waited for the amazingly catered food and were already wondering what exactly that was going to be and when we saw it was seriously only four different kinds of over-fried samosas, we all sort of nodded, left, and went to get Mexican food.

So, tho there were no celebrities, or even semi-celebrities, that night, Wednesday overshadowed the rest of the week by delivering us to fabulous seats at Key Arena to see The Police. Ohhh.. people.. God. I. Love. Sting. I do. I know, I know.. he's become incredibly too mellow for some of you.. and a little too jazzy for me.. but like that mattered. No, I say.. NO! It did not! Watching him smile and sing all my favorite Police songs FINALLY.. was absolutely thrilling! Did I almost get into a fight with the stoners who had to sit directly in front of us when they decided to light up? Well, ok.. yes.. but once we got them to knock that shit off (and they practically passed out after), nothing could shake the sheer joy I felt being there. I mean, yes, of course, Andy Summers looked like he was literally about to keel over and was hardly having a good time and yes, it took them all the way thru the first two songs, Message In A Bottle and Don't Stand So Close To Me to sound like they were in sync, but then again, I'd heard a lot of the popular songs were rearranged here and there so I justified the off-ness to my poor hearing, even tho I knew better, and sang every word with an ear-to-ear grin. Two encores later and a frickin GORGEOUS version of Every Breath You Take.. and I was so in heaven walking back to the car.

I do love Sting, but I'm no longer in love anymore cuz hi.. he is aging, tho rather well.. however, I should be thinking of someone closer to my own age, don't you think, which is why I do have a new crush on the band that opened, Fiction Plane. Could the lead singer, and bass player, fyi, be Sting's son, Joe Sumner? Um.. yeah.. and could he be sexier? Um.. no.. especially since he sounds so much like Sting it's kind of freaky at times. I love the Two Sisters single.. and tho they were panned by both of the local paper's reviewers here as unmemorable and boring, I thought they were pretty damn cool, but then as we all know, I have no taste and am completely distracted by cute, lead singers. I'm totally ok with that.

Now.. Crowded House is reuniting and will be here for Bumbershoot this year.. go on.. ask me.. WHO is on frickin Cloud 9? Oh.. you know the answer.

This week in pictures: Urban Golf 2007! June has barely started and is just going to keep getting better and better. You just wait.

Hate Needs Love Too

Tho I've really felt a positive pull and have had a very good first half of the year (knock on wood), I've been tagged by the charming Pomgirl and it's been a while since I've done a meme - so I obliged.. It's always good to get the bitching out just in case it's building for an explosion, right? It's my own personal charity to the world. No need to thank me now.. You can just send wine/chocolate/money at your earliest convenience.

The 10 Things I Hate Most In Other People:

1. The thought that voting for George W. was a good idea and still is
When you have a guy with a history of running four (FOUR!!) companies into bankruptcy and oh.. general daddy-will-get-me-out-of-anything type thinking combined with well-documented drug and alcohol abuse, what sort of leader do you think you're going to get? And then you vote for him AGAIN?! We will have to agree to disagree, but if you could refrain from breeding, many of us would appreciate it.

2. Inconsiderate-and-not-thinking-of-others-ness
Turn off lights in rooms where you are not, clean the red lint from your nasty laundry out of the dryer and don't leave it there for me to remove, read what can be recycled (paper, plastic containers), what can't (all lids associated with said containers, singular plastic grocery bags), and put in the proper bins (glass does NOT go in the green container, it goes in the brown one, marked frickin 'GLASS.'), take off your shoes when you live in a hardwood-floored home and have neighbors who live below you because wearing clogs ALL DAY EVERY DAY is not neighborly at all. How hard is it, really??

3., 4., 5., & 6. The lack of the necessary skills most people need to be good drivers, ie., unable to merge, drive the speed limit, to find their way or signal
Don't stop the traffic behind you because you are too scared to use that pedal under your right foot that makes your car go. Merging means to blend yourself in, but with the flow of traffic. If you slow or stop everyone else, you are failing miserably. Simple as that.

Also, go. Like.. today. See that sign? It's says 60 or even 70 at times. That does not mean 50 or even 55. You are on the freeway. If you want to go slower, that is where the far right lane comes in. Don't take your self-righteous I'm-going-fast-enough attitude to the far left where I am trying to pass your slow-as-molasses ass. I have places to be and I'd like to get there. If you don't want to arrive til tomorrow, be my guest.. but MOVE OVER.

If you don't know where you are going, don't get on your cell phone and go slower because you are dialing your friend who can't give you good directions OR pull out a map from the passenger-side door, which you can barely reach. Pull over and stop. That doesn't mean stop in front of me when you should be going 35. No, it doesn't. It means pull over in a driveway, off the shoulder, into a gas station, but for the love of Pete, get off the damn road!

Hi. Yes.. you Mr. Driver of very expensive, power everything, tinted-windowed and new BMW/SUV/Audi. I think that car came with turn signals, did it not? Or did you opt for the lower-end model that somehow didn't have them added? I don't think so. I think you took that option of the bronze-handled stick shift and 18 speaker stereo, individual dvd player for every 2.5 child who will be sitting in back, and offer of a blowjob if you buy TODAY from the over-eye-make-up'd sales woman on the eastside in order to get this fine piece of German design and you are just choosing, by nature of being a complete moronic jackass, to not use those signals so cleverly included because you are just too good for them and everyone behind you that you have clearly cut off should've read your fucking mind.

7. Not looking after your children
The fact you are in a restaurant does not give you free reign to allow your toddler to throw a variety of whatever you're feeding them and/or demanding from the waitstaff (more crackers) all over the floor. Just because you aren't at home doesn't mean someone else should clean up after your child. Keep these thoughts in mind as you let them run rampant in the grocery store, maniacally harass the neighbor's dog, and generally destroy things that aren't theirs. I can't wait to see where they get in life with that level of discipline.. um.. Riker's maybe?

8. No ability to plan
Ok.. so I'm just saying, can't we find a happy medium between um.. my preferred brand of two weeks in advance and your oh.. three hours? Please?! I can if you can.. but 'Let's talk about it then' and 'If it's meant to happen, it will' sort of thinking is KILL-ING MEEE.. I would take even a 48-hour call. I'm a spontaneous girl. I'm fully fine with that, but then don't send me a text that day or even the day after and say 'Oh well, maybe next time' or 'Raincheck?' because.. yeah.. duh.. obviously.

9. Spelling issues
Ok.. I'm guilty of this when I want to make a point and I think hyphenated and gross capitalization of your completely made-up words are part of being creative (not to mention comic genius), but make some sense with them, ok? And I really have to draw the line at these: their and there, your and you're, to and too, it's and its. Know. The. Difference. I mean, c'mon.. my 7-year-old niece knows better. I will give you that affect and effect are tougher.. those get me every time, and you should be able to emphasize your 'ninja skilz' with your favorite z.. whatever Treena but these are basic.. eensy even. So if you hit on me on myspace with a 'your hotttttt,' I can assure you that we will have no future other than that of 'delete.'

10. Your dishes*
I know it's so much more effort to get to the sink rather than just setting that peanut-buttered knife on the counter, but unless you think it might wander to the sink and wash itself, which it won't - not even after three days - it will require you picking it up and cleaning up its mess afterwards. Also, you should know that clean dishes - whether in a dish rack or dishwasher - don't walk themselves to the cupboards like magic either. Fyi.

Phew! Well.. I feel WAY better now! How about you, you or hey, you? Anyone else?

*This has nothing to do with my current roommate who is GREAT actually - this just means historically those I may have co-habitated with and not in any romantic level cuz that would mean I may not have minded so much as I've minded in certain other times so very not romantic but actually way more annoying.

The Goose Has Been Spruced!

Hi y'all! Look at me! The Fancy InterWeb Pants have arrived! Complete with actual bling and fire and an oh-so-cute devil girl and everything! Do you love it?! Ok.. if you don't, don't tell me.. but I'm so madly in love with my new page that we may need some private time together.

So I have to give credit to a couple of people here.. First of all, these designs wouldn't exist without the magic of Evilkid Productions and some of the desktop designs on his site, which, when discovered, I didn't hesitate to email him and ask his permission to use.. because you know.. his art and I would never want to steal all his fancy-pantsness he created himself! How rude! Then there is this very nice man named Art, who did all this tweaking of said designs that I had permission to borrow. He's amazing and quick like a bunny.. and very VERY cool! His site is called Living Paint Studios so if you need something, you should send him a note, tell him I sent you, and pay him well because you won't be sorry.. oh no you won't! Would I steer you wrong? Not even!

In other news: 5, that's FIVE DAYS, until the magic of The Police baby! There will be Sting.. and there will be me.. and that's all I really care about. Ok ok.. actually, that's not true.. The Jedi (Oh.. I know, but he picked the name - don't blame me, people.) and I will be going together, my friend from the more southerly metropolis of Portland. The work day has been scheduled for the status of 'off' and there will be drinks and dinner when he arrives, possibly sight-seeing and galavanting in the sun the next day as people with the days of 'off' are prone to do.. and then The Concert Of Awesome featuring my dear friend, Sting. Alright.. so maybe I don't know him as well as I know Blake, but I feel Sting sending the love directly my way. He has for years. We have a connection. Don't laugh. It's real. Shut up.

And seriously.. this is all I can muster today because it's sooooo nice that I can barely concentrate keeping up with all of you fabulous minxes let alone trying to work today.. (Hi, can you say longest EVER four-day work week?? Jesus!).

Now go! Prosper in the almost-summerness of it all I say! Hooray!

Happiness Is A List

Can you feel it? You know.. that it's almost summer?! It's so close, isn't it? The sun is out, everyone is smiling, happiness is oozing.. like.. um.. stuff that might ooze - it's a good thing. That's what I'm saying. And I don't have anything in particular to be happy about.. but I'm happy. How great is that?! Happy for no reason. That doesn't suck. But since it's late and I've been up since 6am working today and really need sleep, I'll be listy about all my things happy..

Things I'm Happy About:

* Hi! Sun! And 75 today! Whoo hoo! Love it!

* Um.. can you say 3-day weekend?! God love the military for doing something right and giving us a frickin holiday.

* I gave myself a very good tarot reading last night. Not the reading I gave of course cuz I'm terribly awkward, checking my book and notes and whatnot - tho I'm very quick about it all.. just the cards that came up were particularly telling of good things to come and other nonsense that's past. I like that.. nonsense in the past because that's certainly where nonsense belongs, don't you think? And good in the future? Yeah.. pretty much.

* I'm going to be a member of Unicycle - a theatre collective started by my friends, Keith and Mary. Finally, I may actually start using that degree I spent 4.25 years achieving after all! Mom will be proud.

* I'm absolutely IN LOVE with this new Miguel Migs cd, Those Things. Nothing else says summer to me like music that makes you want to move. I listened to it all day at work today and practically danced all the way out the door and to the gym.. and even home while making dinner. The cat was perplexed. And he's going to be here July 20th (Miguel, not the cat. The cat is a she and always here.). Who's excited?! Ok.. duh. You don't have to answer that.

* My friend, Blake, came in second on American Idol - nothing to sneeze at and something to be proud of certainly. Second will absolutely not hurt his chances at becoming successful at all. That boy had a good portion of 74 MILLION votes! Holy crap! He'll be just fine. The world is going to eat him up.

* Speaking of eating, that's what Fatima and I did while we watched with much shock and much more awe that American Idol finale. Wow, that is a really important 4 minutes surrounded by a 116 pretty crappy other minutes. Good thing we had cake to eat. Really.. we did. I brought it from work. So what if it was for the monthly birthdays.. like 3 days ago. It still rocked. Ohmygod did it ever.

* I have a date tomorrow. I know.. stop it, you're shocked.. well.. it's a first date, and like many first dates, will probably end there - but maybe it won't. Don't know yet. Either way, afterwards, I'm meeting up w/ Kat to dish because first dates aren't allowed to take up an entire Friday night. Not yet anyway. Girl dates take priority.

* Summer means vacation is coming up, which is an ENTIRE WEEK in July that I'm spending on the Oregon Coast with my family like we did last year. Secluded beaches, starfish, fabulously gorgeous sunsets, the likes of which you never have enough time normally to appreciate, and simply relaxing and breathing in my family who I've grown closer to in recent years. I'm aching for it to be here already.. however.. before that is..

* The biggest, bestest, bad ass-est blogger visit yet.. especially since she's coming All The Way From GERMANY just to see us, thank you very much. Some of you might know her as Ammogirl, but since I went to high school with the tiny, little, talkative thing, I get to call her Treena.. or some form of that.. Treens, Treenster.. Tree.. hm.. odd.. Basically, whatever she'll tolerate because Ammogirl is just.. well.. strange outside of Blog Worldland. So when she gets here.. Kario, Pix and possibly others and I, will hit the town, annoy the fuck out of everyone younger than us, drink more than we're used to (well, not more than Treena - she does this thing where she IM's you after she's had a few.. Girl, you are funny!) while falling down a lot, reminisce about high school and laugh at how old we actually are now, which is still hard to believe considering some of us feel (and act) like we're kids. And it's the end of June people! How many more days is that, Treens? Like 42 or something? Hey.. that's close and I totally only guessed!

Alright. That's it for me. Go! Mingle! Find some cake!

Good Reminders

WARNING: What you are about to read is a true story. The names have not been changed to protect the innocent.. and the guilty already have aliases..

Tanya: You drive like how I feel.

Kristin: Yeah, I feel safe when I drive with Miss D.

These are actual Real Life quotes spoken just moments apart by people riding in MY CAR! While I was driving it! AND with NO provocation from me WHATSOEVER! Of course there was an immediate stopping of the car when I hit the brakes because I was dying of the laughter that quickly followed and trying to prevent my own death from the SHOCK and oh yes, the AWE of it all while wishing I had a tape recorder and other witnesses and things of that nature because none of my other friends would ever believe this ever in their Whole Lives!

And then Kristin happily repeated it again to Keith after we met up for late-night coffee on Tuesday, to which he said dryly:

Keith: Uh.. I feel stressed when I'm in the car with Miss D.

..which I expected because hi, I can.. uh.. scare people and I'm a rather.. assertive driver, which this city sorely needs more of, in my humble opinion. I mean, I just want to get where I'm going and everyone is in my way.. so when I drive with other people.. Keith, for example, I sometimes feel we're just never going to get there. Ever.

I don't know how it happened.. that I was born a speed racer. I just don't. It's a gift I suppose..

So the girls came into town and I haven't giggled like that in a long time. We ran around trying to find espresso in West Seattle after 9 pm. This proved to be a very trying task as this area of Seattle was explained to be 'sleepy' by the clerk at the local health food market whom we asked for suggestions. This was after trying on their array of fetching sun hats Kristin found by the entry and swore up and down she needed. And here we were, shocked.. me, especially, who had no idea, in the land of Starbucks no less, that there was ANY area in the entire Seattle metropolis that fit this obviously delusional man's description! And yet, there was not one single shot of espresso to be found! What madness!

As you can see, Kristin was not good at giving up and is slyly hiding the can of desperately needed caffeine-in-a-can because that's all we could find.. I ask you, what is the world coming to?!

The night ended with a round table of friends sharing stories over coffee we finally found in the hipper area of the not-so-sleepy Capital Hill. Keith and Paul had just finished an improv workshop, Paul was heading out to San Francisco the next day for work, and both of the girls, who were also headed south, were continuing on their road trip to meet up with some of our old friends and teachers and take in some theatre at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. None of this was especially significant, but I was just relishing the time with all of these people around me. Tho I didn't think of it then, it hit me a couple of days later that I've known Keith and Kristin both for about the same amount of time.. 17 years each.. almost as long as I've been alive, if you add them up. It was a quiet happiness I took in.. a good reminder of how much I love my friends, but even beyond that how every friend has the opportunity and capacity to become a long-term friend when their only purpose is to be in your company because they want to. And vice versa. It's pretty simple how just those two factors can bring people closer and then tie them together for years.

I dropped off everyone at Keith's home, after too much coffee and never enough Justin Timberlake and his Sexy Back, while still marveling at my Safety Skills. There were hugs and kisses goodbye for all and after I left and to the point I crawled into bed, we were still texting like excited school children.

What's not so surprising is I missed Kristin before she even left.. but what I figured out is that tho I'm madly in love with the friends that I've made here, I still crave the connections with the friends I made in college because we were all like-minded, but not so much that we were all the same. See.. I'm the hyper chihuahua in the group of my friends currently - at least most often - but in the theatre, um.. there were LOTS of chihuahuas. Ok.. dogs are probably a bad example here.. but you get what I'm saying. The things they talked about, what they were interested in - books, writing, theatre, poetry, arts, singing, directing, dancing, stupid musicals.. sure, my other friends could be and are interested in as well to a degree.. but theatre people are passionate about them.. in addition to already being extroverted, energetic, overly talkative and expressive to the point it could get annoying to.. well.. normal people.. So it was exciting to find others like me when I was just starting that direction, whom I had so much in common with and we strived together to learn and create and soak it all up like the eager sponges we were - before we learned to be jaded by rejections and before we lost some of our energy having to eventually earn a real living. Ok.. maybe that was just me.

Not surprisingly, Kristin is doing what we studied to do.. creating and teaching and learning and inspiring.. and hasn't lost one ounce of energy in the process. I have to admit I'm jealous of her ability and talent.. and her drive to get there because I certainly felt like I couldn't keep trying forever and eventually had to have some sort of back up plan, which is mediocre and stagnant at best these days. But I didn't want to wait on tables for the rest of my life and thought I'd better learn some other skills that could get me by and maybe came with benefits.. like insurance and sick days. Whoa.. what a crazy idea!

But I'm not resentful or bitter about my path or how I'm paving it. I've always been a late bloomer of sorts so finding the right career for me, not to mention the right guy, right location.. might take me some extra time. I'm ok with that even if some days I wonder if any of it will ever come together..

And when I need a good kick in the pants, I've got my friends to remind me that I'm growing and challenging myself and I'm good enough as I am. And I have a Kristin who'll come to visit once in a while, complete with enough giggles to tide me over until my next fix.

One Lulu Is Worth A Thousand Words

This is Lulu. She's my niece. Well.. basically. She's the daughter of one of my best friends, Fatima. That's beside the point tho because.. who cares, right? Just look at her, will you? The Cutest Thing Ever! And I should be seeing her tomorrow. If you think I'm happy about that, you are way understating it.

Alright Libby.. We're gonna break out of this joint and here's how we're gonna do it..

So I bet you're going to take a picture of me and I bet I'm going to be cute in it.. right? I'm right, aren't I?

If you had a mommy this pretty, you'd be mesmerized too.. ok? Geez..

Hey.. check this out.. the rabbit is on my head! It's like magic! Look at me! I'm so funny!

Look! I'm the Easter Bunny! Bok! Bok!

.. and then I will take over the WORLD! MWAHAHAHAHA..

Don't hold me back Auntie Ish! I'm GODZILLA! ROAR!

Then we just had a quiet moment of resting. Auntie Ish needed a short nap after saving the whole world from my Godzilla moment.. She did!

And then we just went right back to laughing cuz my Auntie Ish rocks like that. She's so funny!

Yes, I'm having a bath in the sink.. where Mommy washes the dishes too.. If you haven't noticed, I'm quite the dish as well, thank you very much!

Ok.. this isn't funny.. this is just where I'm very very cute.. maybe add one more 'very' to that..

Inspirations And Anniversaries

You guys!! I missed my blog-versary! How did that happen?! Two years ago I started this fancy overly-pink page and look! Y'all came and read what I had to say! Who knew?! But I will say thanks for the ego boost of coming by once in a while and for all the supportive comments and positive feedback when I need it. You guys are alright in my book even if only like three of you gave me ringtone ideas, but hey, I put you on the spot so I understand. The Pressure.

As far as the week in review, I'll start with Tex. The new boy who's also the old boy since we started and finished in such a short amount of time. The romantic outlook has improved, tho there isn't so much hope as there's just a person I'm getting to know and I'm ok with that. I don't really expect anyone to understand.

On Monday we met to close whatever we began a couple weeks prior and he explained what was going on so I understood better. It didn't make it suck any less, but the hugging it out part was lovely. Since then, we've been talking frequently for short amounts of time just to check in and the missing of the other, tho we try to downplay it, is still apparent. Seeing each other should be out of the question for a while, but we are trying it out anyway tonight and I'm just not going to over-think it. We enjoy each other's company and it is what it is.. for now.

The rest of the week was spent in slight pouty mode, including Monday night after talking with Tex when Boz responded to my last minute whiny request for cheering up and between pho, Heroes and just good friend vibes, Fun Times were had and thankfully, any pathetic wallowing was delayed for at least a couple of hours, which I really appreciated.

There was a walk around my pretty, little neighborhood of Queen Anne with Cindy on Tuesday, some pushing it at the gym and then dinner and wine and deep conversation about how short life really is at Abby's on Wednesday, and basically, trying to be ok with things and find the positive on which to focus. Friday was back to the gym and then Spin The Bottle, our Monthly Random Theatre Outing With Friends where strong drinks were downed, silly people doing sillier stuff were observed, and frites (hence needing the gym to cancel those out) were devoured promptly after the show. Some of the group left before the show was over and some after frites, but Boz, Paul, Kat and I remained and grabbed some champagne, which seemed fitting for the wee hours of the morning we stayed up to playing silly games with pigs for dice, learning how to moonwalk from Kat, and trying to remember old card tricks. You, too, can be complete dorks like us! Yes, really!

Now Saturday was very exciting because it was all about people and places and things like fancy art! Jason, my painter-artisty friend, and I met up for smashingly good biscuits and egg scrambles in south Seattle and talked about the fun we all had the night before, then Keith, who just returned from a three week trip in France for 150 hours of improv (!!), and I planned a Japanese feast with Abby and her boyfriend even tho Keith was a bit under the weather due to some snarky French fish who decided to lay him out with some last minute food poisoning. Snotty little poisson! But we had the best seat in the house for the restaurant's oh-so-active little aquarium filled with all kinds of crazy looking ocean oddities. Highly entertaining..

But the pièce de résistance was the grand re-opening of SAM, the Seattle Art Museum, open for 35 hours straight in which to celebrate with art, music and spectacle with pretty much the entire city of Seattle chattering and taking in their 80-million-dollar remodel. Did I mention it was free?!

You might think this funny.. um.. I've lived here for 11 years people and NEVER been to SAM. Nope. Not even for first Thursday art walks. Totally lame, I'll admit. So this remodel thing? Yeah.. uh.. I sort of didn't have any idea of what I'd missed before. Hence the lameness. BUT I'm betting you've never been to a museum after 10pm before, have you? Right.. well, now I can say I have.. tho they were trying to control the close to at-capacity crowds with time slot tickets so ours was for 10:40 and we eagerly stood in line for our entry.

Once in, we saw hanging Ford Tauruses with long wands of lights coming out of them, a huge Rorschach painting by Andy Warhol, a Shogun type warrier outfit made up entirely of gibberish dog tags, a giant mouse standing on the chest of a man in bed, my first Mark Rothko and Jackson Pollack paintings in person and many, many others that were interesting and quirky.. and honestly, some that I thought.. huh.. really? Cuz seriously, I could do that.. I mean.. no.. SERIOUSLY.. but ok.. whatevs. I'm sure you were brilliant in your time and oh.. a completely white canvas with only yellow and black trim was something genius, THEN, but um.. yeah, sorry.. I don't see the difference in a piece like that and oh.. painting your own bathroom. Call me dense.. I've been called worse.

Some of the group had to disperse for tiredy-ness and some for drama I don't care to discuss, but eventually, a few of us closed down the Alibi Room and then went back to the museum to finish out the 4th floor we'd missed and maybe get in a little booty shakin down on the main floor because let me tell you.. how often does one get the chance to get down in the museum? Uh.. never. That's how. There was good music, some crazy people doing even crazier dancing and everyone was having a glorious time. I needn't mention we stayed til 4am.. and even less so that it was STILL just about at capacity of people who were milling around and viewing the scenery or moving to the dj. It was really surprising the city rallied with so much enthusiasm, but maybe I just didn't know how fun this city can be sometimes after living here so long. My energy is renewed tho and I'm ready to find something new and inspiring like that again soon.

After much recovery on Sunday, all I could really manage was a movie w/ Scott. We saw Diggers, which didn't get the best review, but which I totally loved. About people and relationships and.. nothing really.. but it was funny and touching and just what I was in the mood for.

One particular character in the movie who was always short-tempered and angry reminded me a lot of my father, which was appropriate since today is his birthday. Next week will be seven years since his death. He would've been 61. Funny that also being my blog-versary, my second post ever was dedicated to him, the biggest man, literally and figuratively, in my life. So I bound us together in this way I didn't really think about, but created nonetheless. Not that I need the blog to remind me of him even if some years I don't think about the day he died or what year he should be turning if he were alive. I just know he's still a big presence in my life and there isn't one day that goes by where I don't think of him in some way.. wishing he was around to help me with taxes or available to offer advice on picking out a car. I miss Dad for those reasons. But I know he hasn't been angry in a very long time and that makes me happy.. and I hope I've turned out to be someone whom he can be proud of for many reasons, but also because I may finally be learning how to pick my battles better and what exactly is worth getting angry about. Life is so much more fulfilling when you're happy within it. I plan on doing so much more of that I think.

Happy birthday, Dad. And happy anniversary to me.

Focus On The Bits Of Happy

I think I'll try my hand at going back to what I do best: talking about me. That whole mocking someone's poor attempt at satire was fun and all and wow was that ever the first time where 176 people actually DIDN'T search for me directly in any way and found my humble little blog despite that fact and then thought they could leave snide little comments! Oh yes they did, but I showed them! Ha ha! I have this snazzy button called DELETE! And this thing about not liking snarky commenty-type people.

So. Back to me.

Things have been going well.. like.. really. I hardly recognized myself with all the smiling. I was feeling this heaviness mostly due to issues at work and just starting to feel stagnant in life in general.. and tho I think I still have another direction as far as a career to work towards, the weight was relieved at the office quite a bit.

We called it our Come To Jesus discussion. It was productive and our CEO listened and gave feedback and asked questions and there was a sense that things would take time, but changes would eventually come to pass. And lo! There came upon us a collective sigh of relief.

But the real miracle came not even a week after that meeting when Jesus, Himself, actually made an appearance in the form of the dismissal of one bastard sales manager whom we all desperately loathed. For those of us who couldn't hold back our glee and continued to mutter how this was karma in action, yes, we know, we're all going to burn in hell and let me tell you.. it'll SO be worth it. Hee!

With work feeling better with every passing minute, it seemed appropriate to celebrate with some live music that my friend, Scott, and I had tickets to for months now. We hit the Showbox for Rodrigo Y Gabriela. I'd barely heard of them and had no idea what to expect.. and all I could muster as soon as we witnessed their greatness was, 'Uh.. wow.' Seriously, We. Were. Floored. Check out the clip below and tell me that you are not impressed. Ok.. um, don't tell me that because you won't anyway, but they just started their tour I think so you should really go see them. And then tell them I sent you. And oh yeah.. hi for me and I love them. Ok, maybe not love love, but you know what I mean.. Watch.



There has also been some hitting of the gym with Mrs. Ironika, which has been good for both of us, tho I think I whine more when there is someone around to hear it. But I go to the gym out of an internal obligation not to turn into an over-sized Miss D because that is not something pretty and this gym'ing with a friend makes the whole idea a lot more tolerable.. especially when I get to push her around. Well.. when she isn't pushing me around. It's ok. She's instilling inspiration. As am I. We are there to inspire! It's really something to witness, honestly.

Did I mention I got a smashing new and shiny pink phone?! I didn't? Well.. it's awesome! I got myself some LG Chocolate. And as if free wasn't a good enough price since I hit my two year free upgrade time frame with Verizon, I HAD to spend $43 THOUSAND dollars on fancy new ringtones that eek out the Empire Strikes Back Imperial March, Hall & Oates, and The Shins even cuz.. um.. I had to. And they don't have 50 Cent 'In Da Club', which y'all can make fun of all you like, but that song is MINE. Well.. when they get it. Right now, unless you're special and have something assigned, I hear 'Singing In The Rain' because I've always had a huge crush on Gene Kelly. Again, go ahead.. mock away. This is me.. not caring. And yeah.. my phone bill is going to rock!

In-between all this crazy goodness there might've been Potential. There was an evening with drinks and chemistry and kisses goodnight and it may have been quite lovely. There was definitely so much smiling that by the end of the first night my face actually hurt from all the happy and maybe the fact that anything he said sounded just like something I would say on any given topic. I don't think my feet actually touched the ground at all the next day.

But due to gravity, the feet have to come back to Earth at some point. Newness and blue eyes and good kisses are quite powerful, but there's always Timing to spar with and remind me that if things seem too good to be true, they probably are. And however wonderful, Potential was short-lived and tho that will probably be better soon, it pretty much sucked today.

Kari came to whisk me away from my thoughts for the day tho, which we'd had planned for a couple of weeks. Sans children (my nieces), we brunched before outdoor marketing and Mrs. Pixie met us for caffeine. We then wandered over to the Fremont Sunday Market where Kari scored some gorgeous framed photographs and I landed a lovely little rose-colored cowboy hat that added some extra sass to my day.

Since that was hardly enough, we pedicured our little toes to beauty, had a short html tutorial between ourselves and then wined and dined in the early evening while the sun was still out. There was a lot to catch up on and the girl time was a positive distraction for us both. When you've known a friend for as long as we've known each other, tho time can be hard to come by with growing family responsibilities, it's so comforting to know you don't have to work at getting the other person. We just do. We've moved in different directions and still we never have a problem being there for each other no matter what the issue. Not everyone has friends who've been close like that for almost 20 years, but she's such a gift.

Now.. if y'all want to really cheer me up.. give me your ideas for ringtones. I must have more! Retail therapy people.. it works!

Global Warming: Apparently A Liberal Plot!

Run for your lives! Hide your children! It's really true that we, Democrats and bleeding-heart liberals, are only destroying the world! This Little Rock, Arkansas attorney says so and therefore, it must be true! Hell, that whole global warming idea that's circulating is just made up! Phew! I'm so glad! I do hope someone rushes to let all the polar bears know who are dying for clearly no reason at all because it's sure not due to the level of declining ice and whatnot. I sure wish they'd stop over-reacting! God!

Daylight exacerbates warning
You may have noticed that March of this year was particularly hot. As a matter of fact, I understand that it was the hottest March since the beginning of the last century. All of the trees were fully leafed out and legions of bugs and snakes were crawling around during a time in Arkansas when, on a normal year, we might see a snowflake or two. This should come as no surprise to any reasonable person. As you know, Daylight Saving Time started almost a month early this year. You would think that members of Congress would have considered the warming effect that an extra hour of daylight would have on our climate. Or did they ? Perhaps this is another plot by a liberal Congress to make us believe that global warming is a real threat. Perhaps next time there should be serious studies performed before Congress passes laws with such far-reaching effects.

CONNIE M. MESKIMEN / Hot Springs

The link to the Arkansas Democrat Gazette in which this letter appears is here.
Connie's attorney profile, map of directions, and all her contact info are listed here.

Props to my friend, Boris (hey, he let me pick the nickname.. so.), for sending me these today!

God help the people of Little Rock.

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UPDATED!

Note to anonymous: I didn't find your proof that the above letter from Ms. Meskimen was tongue-in-cheek at all, but I did find a response from someone else in Little Rock who counters her 'logic.' Um.. my favorite part is highlighted..

Climate change is real
No doubt mine will not be the only response to letter writer Connie Meskimen. First of all, she is correct to acknowledge the changes we’ve all seen in seasonal patterns. Sadly, though, she apparently doesn’t want to believe that this is indeed a result of global climate change, which will continue to have an impact on our environment until notable measures are taken to slow the damage being done to our atmosphere. To deny that the problem exists is just willful ignorance. With regard to the extension of Daylight Saving Time, I would like to point out that this measure was enacted by a Republican-controlled Congress and signed by a Republican president as part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. So much for her vast, left-wing, liberal conspiracy. But perhaps her most bizarre thinking is that somehow Congress has created an extra hour of daylight out of thin air. Anyone with even a basic understanding of reality knows that the number of hours of daylight we have on any given day isn’t altered by simply resetting a clock. We also know that this simple shift of time can help reduce the consumption of energy by delaying the increased need and use of electricity after sundown. Perhaps Meskimen can find an elementary school student to explain it to her.
C. A. GILBERT / North Little Rock

Thank you, God. There's hope for at least the northern part of Little Rock. Hallelujah!

A Few Things That Don't Really Go Together

Doing taxes suck. I don't care if they're super easy - which mine used to be - or like mine are now, which include a Schedule K-1 for the rent and profits from the trees on the family farm that the Tree Guy (This is what my uncle calls him, so I figure, why change it.) comes by and.. takes away?? Look.. I'm not in charge of it, ok? All I know is that sometimes I get money from it, which I would never question or turn down because that'd be quite stupid now, wouldn't it? So there is interest and income and distributions and all of it makes me want to stab myself in the eye with the nearest ballpoint pen since that would be less painful than say.. this:

"Income or Loss From Partnerships.. If you have passive activity income, complete Part II, column (g), for that acivity. If you have nonpassive income or losses, complete Part II, columns (h) through (j), as appropriate."

Did you hear that? That was the sound of MY HEAD EXPLODING. THAT'S what I thought was 'appropriate.'

What was that you say? That other sound you just heard? Oh that was the cha-ching of Turbo Tax charging me $49.95 to put the pieces of my head back together. And my grumbling about it, which followed.

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Let's say you're in Target, like I was today, prior to all the hanging out with my oh-so-fun friend, Turbo Tax, and you're doing errands like picking up freezer bags and cat litter. You might notice when getting your cart, which is near the 'food' court that it's pretty much packed. At Target. Where the 'food' means scary looking hot dogs and questionable liquid cheese that probably has a shelf life of 157 years and popcorn laden in oil that clogs your arteries upon impact. And these 'customers' might've been just.. hanging out. In the 'food' court. Again, at TARGET. I think you would've thought, like me, that sure.. they might need that cheese despite its lacking of any real dairy whatsoever.. but shouldn't they be.. going after the purchase? Eventually?? Not like.. having dates there? I'm just saying.

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The days of free internetting have gone. Our open connection up and abandoned us in the middle of the night last week. Kyle and I have consequently gone thru withdrawels. Periodically, these can be relieved slightly by a sub-par connection that was recently discovered and has a way of teasing us with its signal bars that come and go every few seconds. Discussions with the new upstairs neighbors have been successful and as soon as their new bundled service is installed, we will be official payees for a portion of that lovely wireless service and thieves no longer! We are practically salivating for its arrival. If you don't hear from me soon, it's probably because the withdrawels finally got to Kyle and out of his sheer greed for a wireless signal he put me out of my frothing misery.

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I was told I was on the front page of one of our local alternative papers on Friday. In the personals section, so it was a little side feature and friends emailed and sent texts and they said oh, now you just wait for the deluge of Prince Charmings to come running! Oh yes they did! And, um.. yeah.. so far? No deluge.. no drizzle for that matter. Nothing. God.. I think it's finally come to this: I have dated the entire frickin city.

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Speaking of the potential for lovin - which there ISN'T any, but one day, maybe - I was trying out some birth control, which sounds weird when your pool of lovin has been reduced to a mud puddle, but trust me that there are other reasons for taking it than just preventing another little devyl. ANYWAY.. I only took it for three weeks. I didn't like it because I gained a little weight and my boobs hurt All. The. Time. It also didn't help my mood in the slightest, which is another reason for taking it, and it actually made me feel crabbier and since there were no benefits that I could see, I quit taking it and that was that. So it's easily been another THREE WEEKS and the boobs STILL hurt.. and they're even a tad bigger, which wouldn't be so bad, but I like them their normal size cuz hey, my rack's alright, thank you, but even if I enjoyed the current boob bounty - and had a date that might also find them rather incredible, it wouldn't matter because OW. GET AWAY. DON'T COME NEAR THEM. OW OW OW.

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Call me Martha again.. call me whatever, but just call me a frickin GENIUS because I have found a guaranteed cure-all for wine stains and anything else spotting up your life.. well, maybe not everything, but stains for sure!

I may have been kneeling in a chair and talking to friends after a few drinks during Keith's birthday party on Friday.. and I leaned over too far and fell into Paul, who was holding a large glass of wine that he promptly threw on me and into my hair due to the fact he was trying to a) catch me and b) not get fallen upon. And yes, there I was with wine all over me and one of my favorite shirts. Awesome.

The soda water I bought didn't cut it so onto the INTERWEB I went and Lo! AND Behold even! I found a miracle as sure as the baby Jesus Himself! Dishsoap and hydorgen peroxide my friends. More of the latter than the former.. and the wine disappeared on contact. The small stain on my tank that was underneath the shirt took a bit more mix to get it gone, but it still worked. Y'all can thank me later.

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I'm off to make some dinner and then checking out Blades Of Glory with Boz. Hope everyone had a lovely weekend as random as mine.

Second Level Of Hell Much More Comfortable Than Eighth

The good news is that the sun is out and it's 70 degrees in Seattle. Other Seattlites completely understand the absolutely GLORIOUS feeling this creates within each of us who live here. It's such a welcome relief. My head seems so much more uncluttered with life and work issues because I can just sit in the sun and breathe in the smell of spring. Ahhhh..

I walked around my neighborhood the other evening after work. It had been a dreadful day full of stress and uncomfortable phone calls, emails that had gone unanswered that seemed urgent to me, but not so to others, and realizing there's only so much, and that's not much at all, that I can control within the office and if others don't care, neither should I.

So my walk started out sort of tense as I was pushing myself up the first steep hill and huffing and puffing and getting it all out, feeling the exertion it took and the pounding of my heart corresponding. And I did that a couple more times, tho it started to become more a rhythm and less a forceful motion and, as I walked more even road, I noticed my mood aligning with it, my breathing calmer, my forehead less wrinkled. The day's worries finally started to ebb away and my head was clearer.

After the walk, I met up with Pixie, who'd just returned from an amazing honeymoon (see pictures on her site), and we caught up on her trip and then this head-clearing that I'd done over a couple of rum and cokes and amaretto sours.

Of course there are a lot of things I feel I'm needing in life, but a partner and a career I love, both of which should love me right back, are the big ones. Since any efforts extended towards the more masculine sex seem to be backfiring lately, I thought I'd put that aside for a while and try my hand at oh.. figuring out what I want to be when I grow up.

Like I discussed with Pixie as well as with Ironika and a few others, I think I'll need to go back to school because the idea that stands out the most is to get into counseling.. all psychologist like - yes, that's the official term. Acting and theatre used to be a passion of mine and God knows I'm an attention whore at heart, but I think if I haven't really felt that drive to pursue it as hard as one really should to succeed in that business, I don't think I ever will. Honestly, I'm not that great anyway and it's not like I don't think I could do fine.. but I want to be more than fine. Fine is boring. I want to find something in which I can really excel and.. you know.. shine. I want to be shiny!

So that is the good news. Now there's like.. work to do. Money to go and find.. employment to coordinate. What school do I pick? What type of counseling do I get into? Do I look at the UW or go to Seattle Community? Do I take classes at night or try to find enough money to support myself completely without a job so I can actually focus on my education and don't run myself into the ground working and schooling and have No Life Whatsoever?! I mean.. phew.. lots to think about and get going on.. because I could actually start all this in the fall. People! That's only TWO SEASONS AWAY!

It's pretty thrilling, isn't it? When I think about the day to day here and hitting this wall of burn out that I've been hitting over and over for weeks now.. I get really excited by the idea. Tho it could be some months away still, if I don't procrastinate like I'm used to doing, this could actually happen and there could be an end to this monotonous pressure and dead-end rut I'm currently in. I mean, HI.. I have Direction! I have Goals! And this is Something Real And Plausible And Not Terribly Crazy Sounding!

You know what? I think this is so awesome and the day so beautiful that I think I have to leave all you lovely people and go get ice cream. Yes. That's what I'm doing. I'm so not even kidding.