360

So I'm still having trouble uploading some pix from yesterday. I took the dogs out to the lake for a good walk and took some pix of various/sundry. I did manage to upload a couple of videos however. It was a very warm windy day and the dogs were loving being outside. The first vid is just a short little thing I took on the way up to a hill near the lake. The next is a 360 shot where I stood on a bench at the top of Sanders Mound. Did I mention the wind? I nearly fell taking the second one and my hair was flying all over the place but yeah, I think I have a future in the movie industry.

(After all, I did direct my favorite thes-bian in several low-budget softcore p()rn movies in the 70's and 80's such as Chica and The Man and Tequila Mockingbird: Boob Radley's Revenge. Of course, this was way before our Betty Ford days and you know how things were back then..poppers and martinis and such).

Anyway: Nature! MegaWind! Dogs!





Sanders Mound in the center of pix behind tree

More to come when Blogger gets its shit together.

Here comes the rain again

As I wait while slowly downloading BSG eps this evening, the weather is a lovely shade of green, yellow, and red. It will be good sleeping tonight!




ps. Here is a semi-non-sequitor for you - if you take the wayback machine to a time when CDs were new technology, the very first one I ever purchased was Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams because I was in love with the song and video for Love is a Stranger and was intrigued by the orange hair. I unfortunately no longer remember my first cassette tape purchased, but the first album I purchased was Johnny Cougar - American Fool back when he actually went by Johnny and Cougar. I am also sad to remind that I am familiar with and have listened to 8-track tapes on a console stereo. All of which is to say that here comes the rain again, falling on my head like a memory!

pps. Egads, it's that damn time of the year again. Luckily, I will be out of town this weekend and we also live out in the very dark country now so I won't have to work as hard to avoid the TorT-ing.

The Green World

I had occasion to look up a Mary Oliver poem this evening and I hopped over to her Wiki entry and discovered an interesting connection I had never known about:

As a teenager, she lived for a brief while in the home of the recently-deceased Edna St. Vincent Millay, where she helped Millay's sister Norma organize the papers Millay left behind

I may be the only one who thinks that is amazingly cool and it makes me wonder how influential ESVM's poetry was on MO. I can certainly see how MO would have read Renascence and been struck with its deeply natural world imagery. I would like to think it helped informed her own poetry with its emphasis on such elements. Anyway. Cool to me.

Bird is the Word

Everytime I see a new pix, I decide I don't care who knows about my love for Sue Bird. It's the off season but thank god she's doing some publicity. I can barely stand how damn wholesome and cute she is. She's totally my type. And hello, she's a premier point guard so you know she has good hands. Yeah.



The next one, I have no words:



Images borrowed from rks' flickr page

Weekend wrapup

So, Friday I think I may have been on the good side of the proverbial Old Girls Club. A contact finally came through and things are looking positive. In my area, it's all about who you know..actually, I'm sure that's true for many many things. But it's one of those cases where you don't want to talk about good things until you sign on the dotted line because of The Jinx. We shall see..

What else? Some old friends from grad school were in town and we had them out to the house Sat night for dinner. Here's the thing: I love kids, I really do. And most kids love me. Kids, pets and old folks are fans of mine. Many of my friends have kids and I adore all of them. Except this one. I don't know what it was about this 6 year old boy, but he's just not a nice friendly kid. Sure there are discipline issues with the parents, but it's something more than just a boy acting out. The Agent had to retire from the situation early and I can't tell you how much I wanted to join her. It was exhausting having to monitor this kid and I developed a very large headache that remains to this moment. Even the Baby Dog, who loves people, went to bed with The Agent just to get away. It's strange and sad to me. I want to like my friends' kids instead of being glad that they live four hours away.

The cool thing (at least to me) about Sat night aside from seeing old friends was that we had our first fire in the fireplace. It was a cold and miserably rainy day on Sat and that night it was freezing. Perfect for a fire. It was glorious. Yay fire! Loved it so much that I made another one tonight b/c it's still nice and nippy. It's the little things, you know?

I miss drugs.

So I've been in a total music mood lately, mainly b/c I've been riding my bike constantly and have the ipod going. You know how you go through periods where it's all music all the time and other times when you don't listen to a thing for months? And remember when I said I really believe that no one gives two shits about what someone else has on their ipod? I still think that so here are the songs I recently downloaded:

• Hold On, Hold -- Neko Case -- Fox Confessor Brings The Flood
• The Golden Age (Beck cover) -- The Flaming Lips --Yoshimi Wins! (Live Radio Sessions)
• Invisible Ink (Live) --Aimee Mann --Lost In Space (Special Edition)
• At Least That's What You Said --Wilco -- Kicking Television - Live In Chicago
• All These Things That I've Done --The Killers -- Hot Fuss
• When You Were Young --The Killers -- Sam's Town
• The One I Love -- David Gray --Life In Slow Motion
• For Us -- Pete Yorn -- For Us
• One (U2 cover) -- Cowboy Junkies --Early 21st Century Blues
• My Skin --Natalie Merchant --Ophelia
• Hands Clean (iTunes Version) --Alanis Morissette --iTunes Originals
• Head Over Feet (iTunes Version) Alanis Morissette --iTunes Originals
  

If there's an awesome cover or a live version of a song I like, I am all over it. I lived for B-sides back in the day. So I'm always on the lookout. I'm a ninja b-side cover queen.

Alright, that be it. The fun never ends.

Confidential to attache: You rock with that bsg tip! Thanks so much!

At Least That's What You Said

pps.

For the last several days, I have played one of Neko Case's songs on repeat. Like, repeat repeat. Hold on, Hold on. When that gunslinger guitar and the drums come in after the first verse? And the haunted vocals? Gah. I would marry that song, you know?

The most tender place in my heart is for strangers
I know it's unkind but my own blood is much too dangerous
Hangin' round the ceiling half the time
Hangin' round the ceiling half the time

Compared to some I've been around
But I really tried so hard
That echo chorus lied to me with its
"Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on"

In the end I was the mean girl
Or somebody's in-between girl
Now it's the devil I love
And that's as funny as real love

I leave the party at three a.m.
Alone, thank God
With a valium from the bride
It's the devil I love
And that's as funny as real love
And that's as real as true love

That echo chorus lied to me with its
"Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on"

Be there or be square

Hey, have you ever noticed that those Classmates advertisement pictures totally look like people you actually did go to high school with or someone you know now? I don't know if it's the 80's hair or what, but check it:



That first chick? That's Nanette, she used to live down the street from me and I don't want to toot my own horn, but she would not have made it through junior year if I hadn't personally picked her up for school every day that year. She wasn't all that academically motivated, you might say. Unfortunately, she met up with a carnival worker named Vonnie (this is not fiction) and got pregnant sometime in senior year. We lost touch after I went to college and I haven't seen her since. But that hair and that jean jacket? Totally Nanette.

The next girl is Charmin. Yeah, I know. We made the same jokes about squeezability behind her back. She used to be in my AP English class and that is completely all I remember about her, except what she looked like. And judging by the height of those bangs, we're somewhere circa 1989. You may wonder why I know the precise year in which girls all wore their bangs and sides artificially stiffened away from their face by half a can of spray to heights of between 3-6 inches. You may also wonder how popular the Turd Curl (one long continuous curl roll created with curling iron and sprayed shitless, framing just the face, descending from top to bottom and if lucky, joined seamlessly in the back of otherwise completely flat hair) was when it made its debut in 1983. I think you ask too many questions.

And finally, that girl on the end. I didn't go to high school with her but do you know what? Irony of ironies, that is totally my current hair consultant Roxanne! I'm not kidding, it looks so much like her I'm tempted to take it in next time I go for a consultation and ask if they raided her mid 90s yearbook. I love Roxanne, by the way, love, love her. I'd have her babies, she is that good. She's my favorite ever. One time I came in and said that I really wanted a new hair style and wondered whether she had a book I could look through on mullets. Without blinking an eye, she goes: "Oh honey, let me get the wine first, I only do that when I'm drunk". We kid. In addition to keeping booze at her shop, she told us that purposely leans over to show off the girls when she's cutting both my hair and The Agent's. She's so sweet! One final Roxanne story. The last time I got my hair cut, she goes: "Can I ask you about something I saw on TV?" and I was like, go for it. And she goes: "Do real lesbians actually take girls into the bathroom at clubs or restaurants and make out with them in there?" Naturally, I replied: "Yes, hello. All the time. That's just one of the many perks, sweetie!" Who does not love a hair consultant who serves booze, shows off her la-las and gets all hip to girl on girl flirting behavior? If she wasn't married, I'd sign her up, even if she had that dual pony tail-ish hair style back in high school.

And that's all I have to say about that, goodnight!

Wood

Heh, yeah. So anyway, this weekend is a total wood weekend. I took some pix of my current project which is restoring an old chair. Had to make new bottom slats and remove all the old finish and resand and fill etc. I also took pix of my shop area b/c it inspires jealousy and covetousness - if you're into that sort of thing. And finally, The Agent and I took in our first country livestock auction this morning to buy firewood by the pile. We have a fireplace now and it's getting nippy at night so it was time for some serious wood. I was bidding on wood like one of the old farmers, doing the head nod and the finger lift. All that was missing was a John Deere hat on my head. Needless to say I loved it. The Agent liked it as well, she almost bought a bunch of little live chickens for 50 cents each, cage not included (bargain I say!). Ah, the country. Now on to the wood!

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Wood!

Baby Dog in Sun!

Gotta have my hustle tight

It's finally starting to feel like fall here. Nice Canadian cold front moving down this afternoon and we're headed for a freeze. This I appreciate. The summer was way too long and way too hot for my taste.

The weekend was lovely, had some good quality peep time on Sat, farmers market and window shopping downtown, then sat outside and ate by the light of a firepit. Had a very chill day on Sun, biking, football watching. Just nice.

Still going strong on the detox front. Coming up on 3 weeks, woo! I swear I haven't drank so much water and mochas in my life. I've found that it's best to have something in my hand during socializing time since most of my friends like their intoxicants so I have been Water Girl. I'm feeling good, it's cool, so there's that.

So The Agent and I have just started to watch Battlestar Galactica on Fri. Yeah, we like to roll in late, catch a quality show in like Season 3 and wonder what all we missed. Aye, so now I'm going to have to figure out how to catch up on S1 and S2, I suppose there are DVDs but I'm looking for low budget alternatives. I have decided my (other) new crush is Sharon/Boomer. She seems tortured and conflicted enough to fit my TV girlfriend archetype. So again with going out to catch up on backstory. This is why one should really start watching a show on Day 1. Why didn't anyone tell me about BSG??

That's about it, the next few weeks are pretty uneventful so I will continue to enjoy the dangers of having too much time on my hands. I really need my job contacts to come through for me before I start, like, a webcam or escort service. Boy, it's hard out here for a pimp, I tell ya.

Make that a double...

Do I make you horny?

I couldn't resist, it's so wrong, it's right! From monagrrl's blog, Lively Writhing:



and finally, this Foley-page video re-enactment is HI-larious*!


*note: Pedophilia is never a laughing matter, what is wrong with you people?? But Republican scandals? Always funny!

flex time

I just spent the better part of 2.5 hours helping put together The Agent's new Bowflex (I keep wanting to call it Blowflex for some reason). For the most part, I hate exercise equip. It's often big, heavy, takes up too much space, and never gets used. Check back with me in 6 weeks, we have until then to return it.

Speaking of The Agent, she invited a couple and their 13 year old son over for dinner tomorrow. Both are law enforcement types so the kid and I are probably going to have to fend for ourselves while they talk penal code or something. It's interesting, but I find most LEO types to be..socially stiff, even The Agent at times. God love em, but it's a rare bird among them that can cut loose and hang. I understand why, but still. Most of my friends are about 180 diff so when I've had occasion to be with groups of LE types, it's like night/day. Granted, most of my friends are on the very liberal end of the spectrum on most issues and those folks are pretty conservative. They tend to stick to themselves and not socialize with people they haven't done full background checks on. I exaggerate, but it's true. I actually had to agree to a background check when we moved in together - I hope they chalked most of my..past indiscretions..up to grad school in a hippy town. Actually, I think they only checked out credit reports and criminal history so no big. The Agent obviously had a much more extensive bg check and polygraph etc etc. This is why I am not in LE or politics, too much dirt!

That's all I have to say about that, goodnight!

Wind-scattered seed on stone and dry land

So I've been riding my bike along this trail were I live and this morning, I decided to take a camera with me.

Little red berries of temptation

I pass this bush/tree near the beginning of the ride and right now, the whole thing is loaded with these bright red berries. I do not find it hard to imagine how people poison themselves out in the woods -- I must resist the very irrational temptation to put a handful of these little berries in my mouth. Must.Resist.

You belong among the wildflowers

The wild sunflowers along the trail are starting to give up the ghost. They were in full bloom the last couple of weeks and now, just the late bloomers are out. The golden rods are still out in force though so the fields are tinged with yellow.

He's going the distance, he's going for speed

I nearly wrecked my bike trying to stop when I saw this guy in front of me. He's hanging out at the 4 mile marker. On this trail over the years, I've seen lots of snakes and turtles and every bug you can imagine. I had not seen a snake this big or of this kind though. After I took the pictures, I had to steer a Suburban Mom away from it b/c she was pushing a baby stroller and yakking on the phone headed right for it. In addition to snakes, the trail is filled with Suburban Moms and Active Seniors.

Snakes On A Trail

Here I am again using the new-to-me closeup function on my camera. It's handy. ETA: After a little bit of internet research, I've concluded that this is a Speckled Kingsnake..and apparently, it emits a very foul odor if one fucks with it.

Take a picture here, take a souvenir

This is my zen. I love this part of the trail because it slopes slightly down and it feels like you could keep going forever on it. If you look far off into the distance just to the right of the trail, you can see some higher elevation land. We live on top of that hill. When all the leaves are off the trees, I'm going to head up on the roof and see if I can see the trail from there.


This way to the Emerald City

If you take the trail this way, it curves around and you get a great view of the lake (man-made, yes, but water nonetheless). Alas, I only went to the 5 mile marker before I turned back around to head home. To the left on top of the ridge that is visible, I had one of those Thou Art That moments years ago. I'm glad to be back among this geography.

Heisman Stance

We are having some freakish heat wave right now, 95 yesterday, today and tomorrow. I thought I left that heat bullshit behind this summer so all I have to say about that is wtf? I do not appreciate it.

And finally, I have been re-listening to the Spinanes a lot lately. Somewhere in the mid 90s, I came across them and they promptly broke up. I had kind of forgotten about them until we moved and I unpacked my CDs to start the long, arduous process of transferring them to iPod. I think I'd describe them thusly: languid and honey-tongued. Two qualities I appreciate in a great many things. So if you're looking for something new-to-you and of that variety, I'm here to preach. Start with Arches and Aisles, you like? Move on to Strand. Trust me.








Your tongue, so close to torture
With everything it seeks
An empty-handed breeze
An empty head it grabs at
As if it could be real
You say you'll leave it up to me
I can't stand to hear you speak
Or to listen to you sleep

- The Spinanes Den Trawler

Habeus Corpus

p.s. I forgot to mention that I had a wacky dream last night where I was hanging out with the Supreme Court justices and I was talking to Ruth Bader Ginsberg. It went something like this: "Your honor, how does it feel not having another woman on the court, didn't you hang with Justice O'Connor? I can't imagine having to spend time with Scalia, how do you do it?" Unfortunately, I don't recall her answers before we all had to hike up this steep narrow hill at the top of which was a very small hatch door going up into some room. Very claustrophobic. The end.

All the perfect drugs and superheroes

So I've been getting back into a healthier routine these last few weeks. Riding my bike (it's been lovely..the wild sunflowers are all in bloom around here and the weather has been perfect for 10 mile rides) and watching what I eat, but most importantly, I'm detoxing from the booze. I mentioned a few nights of debauchery recently and before I went out to Seattle, I decided that I needed to Stop. There have been other periods in my life where I have had the sense to Stop (and other times, where I did not have the sense). I admit it's a struggle and lord knows I'm not the only one. There's a reason people drink; I know mine. My method of cold turkey, not even a celebratory birthday drink, not even a little glass of wine has worked in the past so I'm going to stick with it. My detox is only in its infancy, just barely a week old, but I feel good about it and shall keep it up for awhile. I feel lucky that I'm actually able to Stop when I know others, friends of mine, who just..can't. So yeah, exercise, eating healthy, no booze. There's nothing vice-like left for me except for the strippers and cocaine. A girl has her limits!