Hoosier daddy?

Hello from Indiana - the red part of the state!



So I am visiting my dad for just a few days, I have to drive back to the city on Monday, but until then, I am soaking up some serious Midwest. I played the shit out of poker yesterday - Texas Hold'Em to be exact. They like their gambling and their smoking in this part of the country - I probably second-hand smoked a carton of Marlboro's yesterday while kicking ass in the cash game. Small sacrifices to hone one's poker skills.

I was in Cleveland over Thanksgiving and it was much needed - lots of cooking and sipping beverages and hanging in hottub and playing music and Wii and sitting by the fire and talking and laughing and you know, living. It's nice to do that on occasion.

It's snowing now and the weather is supposed to be shitty all around so good thing not driving back today. Here is the baby dog looking out into my dad's backyard while it snows and while she watches the squirrels. I left the big dog back with the agent for this trip so it's just baby dog and me. I woke up this morning and she was snoring in my face with her head on my pillow. Dogs..



I'm going to take a trip to see my old home town and my old house, check things out a bit and maybe take a picture or two. I am much appreciating the open space and cornfields, definitely gives me a chance to breathe. We all need a dose of that once in a while I say. Or at least I do. You city folk can have your constant noise and a million people if it works for you - whatever floats your boat/makes you happy and hello, in the profound words of that philosopher Sheryl Crow: If it makes you happy, it can't be that bad (which quite frankly I think is a fallacy because presumably doing meth makes some people happy but no one is out saying 'smoke it if you got it', you know?).

Where was I? Oh yes, northern Indiana. I ain't complaining.

How bout them Cubbies?

If you've been following my Tweets, you know I am in Chicago as we speak. Beyond being in the Midwest (which always puts me at ease), what I happen to appreciate about this city in comparison to DC (which will now always be compared to other places, quite possibly unfavorably at that) are the tall buildings. The skyline looks like a skyline and what you expect to see in a city. Because there are no buildings above like 4 stories or something in DC, everything is then squished down flat and out or underground so therefore, when you have to drop your dogs at the kennel on a weekday morning, there is still a traffic jam in what is basically West Virginia. This makes you sad and long for the open road of like Utah or something.

Also with all those short squat buildings in DC, you really can never tell where you are by looking around, which for a reluctant transplant means you just kind of walk around until you hit a street with a letter on it or a number and see if it matches up to your shitty mapquest directions. No point of reference whatsoever in that city and tall buildings are all outside of the city limits in Reston or wherever. Because people just love walking around the quaint downtown of Herndon gazing up at the architecture of an SAIC building or the beauty of a Lockheed Martin masterpiece.

Not going to keep dumping on DC (at least not anymore in this post!), but I am appreciating the skyline of Chicago and of course my favorite restaurants and I have a few people here too which helps. Too bad the trip is quick, but at least I got to take a shitty blurberry photo in the cab on the way back after dinner last night:



At least here, I always know where I'm at - in more ways than one.

Live long and prosper

This morning on the plane, I sat right behind this man:



(No, the one on the right)

His eyebrows gave him away. But unfortunately, I could only discreetly capture the below image of your hero:



You can rest easy now, America. The hair is indeed his own.

The pack's all here

I could literally watch this all f-ing day. If this does not melt your cruel cold heart, I don't know who or what you've become. A live puppy cam = enough to break the ice queen I've become.

They are sleeping in a big pile right now, I can't stand it!!

Resistance is futile:



They are crawling on top of each other to sleep on each others' heads! Who can stand to not watch this??



ETA: I can't stand it! The carrot! The pups on their backs!

Why does she get to have all the fun?

Well hello there, abuelitas. What up?

I have not too much to report in general, but will summarize a few key points regarding my life, this planet, and everything else of late:

1. I just got off the phone with my dad in Indiana. Among the many things we discussed (e.g., the lake being dredged, painting the bathroom, bedding down the flowers for winter, my cuckcoo clock (that he bought me), donating items for the new historical society depot, what are my plans for thanksgiving (I am going back home for a few days and he has signed me up for a $50 Texas Hold'Em buy-in game on Sat already), visiting the VFW in my old small town, and his plans to go to one of those new fangled flu shot drive-through windows he saw advertised), we talked about politics a bit. Personally, I can hardly believe IN is deadlocked at the moment and even more so, I am amazed that my dad plans to vote for Obama. Amazed for many many reasons having to do with my dad and his age and Indiana and various and sundry other issues (read: racism), but there you go. His main argument though is that he doesn't think that an old guy like McCain can clean up the mess that the damn Republicans put us in and that it's going to require a young guy. Whatever works, I say.

2. I have a cold which I am pretending not to have and which made me hunker down in my apt last night. But here is the great thing about last night in my apartment: Not a single trick or treater! You know how I feel about Halloween so was thrilled with the fact that I did not have to leave my place of residence to avoid the hobgoblins.

3. On Thurs, I sat through a government agency awards ceremony for which Robotech received one such award. I came away with the impression that there exists an Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Assistant Commissioner of the Office of the Assistant Deputy Director of the Secretary of a Cabinet Level Agency. Yay, bureaucracy!

4. My friends back home have not forgotten me. They texted me all last night telling of the adventures of a small cardboard cutout of me that they made by gluing a picture of my face on it and have placed me upon a stick. They made several of these and they pull out Cardboard Me at various/sundry events and take pictures of me doing (often naughty) things with people, animals, and objects. Aww, isn't that sweet? Apparently, they lost the one of me in blond wig one winter night last year while out drinking - she was the Jezebel whore of the bunch so god knows what she's doing with some stranger as we speak.

When I was back there in Sept for a wedding, my strai friend A (who keeps CB me in a potted plant or a cup full of pens most of the time) insisted that I take pictures with myself, one of which was very very wrong on many levels. Placing my tongue upon my own cardboard breasts = kinky! Good times, good times..

ETA: Here I am holding myself which is weird to say:



ETA2: My friend sent me a picture from Fri night where I apparently was enjoying a little beer with my chili -- I assume things got steamer as the night wore on. I was probably tucked into the bosom of a hooker or the asscrack of a go-go boy by night's end.




5. FYI - still in love with a hockey-loving eh-saying dark sexy soft Canadian drummer!

That is all, good day to you and don't forget to vote for the young guy on Tues!