CT

So today it was in the low 60s here so I decided to wear jeans when I went out and about, like one does. Around 4ish or so, I had occasion to walk by a full length mirror and I stopped, checking out the goods. I was horrified! I'm wearing this pair of jeans from Old Navy, kind of baggy, definitely not tight. But there in the frontal region, is what looks like a very visible cameltoe. Wha???!! And I'm like, wait a minute..so I move a little and yes, do a quick hand check. Lo and behold, for some odd reason, the baggy fabric in the front there creases just so and is a little faded, folds weirdly and in these jeans, I have a faux cameltoe. TOTALLY not me, I swear. Listen, I'm one to claim my shame, but the CT? Not mine, never has been, never will be.

So then I'm in quite a quandry b/c hello, I don't want to end up on sketchy website for a transgression I did not commit. I notice that if I stand still, CT. Even if I hitch my jeans down low over my hips, CT.

IT'S THE FABRIC, PEOPLE.

Buuutt, if I move quick enough, there's no time for the folds to fold and the faux toe to appear. So for the rest of the day, I attempted to remain in perpetual motion. I was like the wind. Thank god I didn't have to stand around at a bus stop or wait in line at the bank.

I really really don't want to be that girl, esp in this day and age of camera phones and the internet. I am many things, but I shall not be CT-y. I am retiring those jeans as of this moment and they shall only be used for mowing the grass or walking the dogs. And that is all I have to say about that. Goodnight!

Mt Rainier

A few pix of my awesome trip to Seattle. Mountains are love in my book; I appreciate how small I feel next to them. Geologically, they're my favorite things on this planet (though I am partial to ultra-hot deep sea vents, caves, crevasses, and just about every gem/mineral deposit out there). But a mountain..that is humbling and awesome all at once. And being so close to Mt Rainier made me very very happy and peaceful. I wish I could grow my own out here. If only I had a few large granite plates, a little heat, and a bit of friction. Simple, really..

Approaching

Shadow Lake where we camped for the night (6300 ft elev)

Me realizing after two years that my camera has a function for taking pix of things up close

View from Glacier Overlook at sunset


View from Glacier Overlook at sunrise, just left prev pix

Happy bday!

Day late/dollar short, but Happy Birthday, sweetie!. We Librarians know how to rock it so I hope you've been doing that all night long...poppers and Stoli, darling, like the good old days.

ETA

I need to be in bed, but hey, the show tonight was enough to keep me going. I didn't bring my camera but I had my phone so the pix are not quality, but you get the idea. If not, let me recap:

Sexy Guitars + Fuck Me Boots + Hot Scottish Accent = KT Tunstall

Working the Sparkly Guitar

Up Close/Personal

Stoli, hold the tonic and limes

Oh man, too many vodka tonics last night - that's all I have to say about that. Who does that on a Wed? A friend's dad is in town so we did some grilling and such. And I found myself in front of the stereo playing dj which I'm wont to do late at night after a few beverages. Good times. Chalk it up to training for my Seattle trip by staying up until 2am. Nice.

I've got an early flight tomorrow and I don't even need to tell you that I'm going to be napping later this afternoon. Gotta get my shit together before then though b/c tonight it's all about KT Tunstall. (Of relevance to no one but myself, when I first heard her, I totally thought she was like this 18 year old singer from Australia. Then my friend J was like, um, yeah, she's 31..and from Scotland). I think I was getting her mixed up with Joss Stone (though I have no idea where she's from). Annnyywayy, yeah, so the show tonight should be great - it's raining cats/dogs now and there are supposed to be storms all day/night. Not that it matters since it's inside, but I melt when doused with water (that's how we witches roll).

I'm going with aforementioned friends and when they got tix, I didn't even think to ask The Agent if she wanted to go b/c our music tastes are 180 diff (need I mention the whole Anne Murray thing again?). So last week, she's like 'what's on tap for next week?' and I mentioned the show and she goes 'wait, that chick with the horse and cherry tree?' Yeah, so she kinda wanted to go, oops. But I suspect she's glad she isn't going b/c right now, she's down state at firearms practice and getting rained on. She will be in no mood for anything tonight when she gets home that doesn't involve a warm quiet situation. She always comes back from these things all bruised and cut up from having to shoot every gun in their arsenal. She had a bruise on her shoulder for a week from the shotgun alone. Poor thing.

Enough of Chatty Cathy, I'm going to have a little lunch and rustle up some tylenol-type things -- I blame the tonic and limes if you must know the truth. I'll be unable to pass any digital information along all those internet tubes and wires until I return, but I will be taking pix during my trip and will post the naked ones when I return. Yeah, I've got your Mt Rainier right here, baby. Later.


ps. Confidential to Vivvy: Did you receive my monkey? I made it say funny funny things for you, sweetie. Just like the old days when we took our monkey on the road...and you insisted we name it Tequila Mockingbird after that old drag queen who used to hook you up with poppers and wigs. Remember, darling? Good times, good times..

Find another place to fall

So I'm gearing up to see KT Tunstall this week (excited!) and then heading out to Seattle to visit some old friends for a long weekend. There are plans to camp on Mt Rainier, weather permitting. Also excited about that, but to be honest, I'm more excited about catching up and laughing with JJ. You know those kind of old friends you have that know most of your secrets and have the same sense of humor? The last few times we've gotten together for various things (wedding/holiday/etc), there's been too much going on and we haven't had a good conversation about some of the stuff that's been happening with both of us the last couple of years. So I'm looking forward to some drinkage and dishing.

Had a minor scare last night when I discovered that one of the black dogs had eaten one of those mouse poison cubes. I had put one in the garage here b/c there was some evidence of mice and usually, the door is closed. But somehow it got open and both dogs managed to hang out in the garage for enough time to find the cube and eat it. I only noticed b/c I was hyperaware of it given the dogs. I wasn't sure which one ate it, so I ended up taking them both into the vet about 10pm last night. Treatment is a shot of Vitamin K and Vit K pills for three weeks. Luckily, given their size and the preventative treatment of the vitamins (the mouse stuff acts as a major anti-coagulant so you need to get the clotting going again), the vet said they should be ok. You can bet there will be no more mice cubes anywhere they might get to them again. Dogs.

I can already tell this football season is going to be a long one. Chiefs are 0-2 and aren't looking good. Not a happy camper.

Finally, I have no idea why I am up at this hour other than the wine I had with dinner is making my head pound and I dread trying to fall asleep with the pain. I swear, wine has really been letting me down lately. Used to be able to drink it up one side and down the other, but now the headaches are starting to be a given. Again, this camper is not happy. Goodnight!

September Storm

Ohhh..look what's coming tonight. Awesome sleeping weather!



This post brought to you by Weather Geek - never met a doppler radar she didn't love.

So fast, so numb

Great, all this REM talk and now I'm digging through my old cds to transfer over to ipod. I'm a hankerin' for some Strange Currencies and Bang/Blame. Even though I'm partial to older stuff, New Adventures in Hi-Fi is by far their best complete CD front-to-back. And that is all I have to say. Goodnight!

And so it goes

Well, I've finally cleaned up the last of the party we had on Sat. Yeah, I know. But you tell me what I'm supposed to do with a frig full of potato salad? Helpful hint: if you are ever in doubt and think you need to make an extra batch of potato salad for your next party, don't. Trust me, no one can eat that much starch and mayo and no one wants to. So I put off dealing with some dishes and picking up some stuff and recycling until today. It was a great housewarming party (although funny enough, all the gift bottles of wine that ppl bought were gone the next day - and we had a keg so there was booze flowing, I don't know what happened). All my local peeps came by and some remaining friends who were staying over and I were up until 4am. As I've gotten older, I've realized that staying up until 4 requires at least two naps the next day. (Un)fortunately, my Chiefs played like shit so I had a nice halftime and fourth quarter nappage. On the bright side, no hangover at all besides being tired, I consider that a good party.

We also made it up onto the roof of the house that night (with minimal injury). I have a thing about climbing on the roof of anyplace I live, it's like a calling. Our new place is set up high on a ridge (contrary to pop belief, it's not flatter than a pancake here) and so up there, you have a great view of the city and any awesome sunsets. Part of the house is two-story so we made it to the very top and there was a storm rolling in from the west so we could see distant lightening. Very cool and I shall def be going back up there in the future. I'll take a pix next time I'm up there and it's not 4am.

The Agent is out of town until tomorrow so you know, I saw no reason to be all cleany while I'm here hanging out with all the strippers and cocaine. Yeah, that's how I roll when she's gone. So she's off in Buffalo NY (a perfectly nice city, by the way..great brewery somewhere downtown I recall) so I am here with dogs and cat. It's been nice to have the house to myself for a bit. I'm getting used to it and tomorrow will take care of a few outdoor things that need to be done. The Big Black Dog somehow managed to fit her fat black butt under the new chainlink fence we had built so I had to go out today and get some reinforcement stakes. We live right next to a pretty busy highway so the dogs getting out is a major concern. I literally drove down the highway looking for her on the side of the road only to come back to the house and see her running down the street in front of the house. By some stroke of luck, she decided to get into the car instead of continuing to flee. She's a free spirit and always has been a runner since we got her but it's too dangerous here. Plus I don't want the Baby Dog getting any ideas about following her, it'd kill me if she got hit (well, Big Dog too, but Baby Dog is..well, my baby). So tomorrow, fence-mending.

I had a nice but painful chiropractic adjustment today. About every month or so my back and neck get all fucky and I believe in the (semi-) quackery that is chiropracty. Sue me, but it works on my back. Not to toot my own horn(s), but after awhile, a decent-sized bosom becomes a burden on one's back. I know it's my own fault, what with getting those implants for the Dec 92 spread in Playboy, but I've always suffered for my art. (This also explains every perm I've ever gotten). I'm a giver so if my people demand it, who am I not to share the wealth? Did Michelangelo try to hide David's dingaling? No. I rest my case.

Ok, I think that covers the mundane of the last week or so. I also have some new bug pix to share when I get a chance to upload them. Pins and needles you sit I'm sure.

RIP Ann Richards...the last great Democrat in Texas.

To live in this world

Look, the trees
are turning
their own bodies
into pillars

of light,
are giving off the rich
fragrance of cinnamon
and fulfillment,

the long tapers
of cattails
are bursting and floating away over
the blue shoulders

of the ponds,
and every pond,
no matter what its
name is, is

nameless now.
Every year
everything
I have ever learned

in my lifetime
leads back to this: the fires
and the black river of loss
whose other side

is salvation,
whose meaning
none of us will ever know.
To live in this word

you must do three things:
to love what is mortal;
to hold it

against your bones knowing
your own life depends on it;
and, when the time comes to let it go,
to let it go.


- Mary Oliver, In Blackwater Woods

Country Critters # 3

Well, after all that big city LA-type excitement on Sat (how damn cute is Pamie?), you can imagine that I spent the next couple of days recovering. Ok, maybe not, but I spent yesterday mowing the grass and cutting out stumps. And that is the sound of two mice clicking the Back button, right before boredom sets in. But it's true. The grass needed to be mowed and the stupid junipers that the previous neighbors planted in weird places needed to be removed.

So I had occasion to pass by the walnut tree in the yard..and this is what I found:

The Hive

I decided to get the ladder for a closer look. I should have taken video because there was a lot of movement, lots of twitching. Kinda creepy. Here you go:

Resistance is Futile

Um, yeah..those are a bunch of worm-type catepillars, each with a face a little black face and white eye staring back at me stuck together in some sort of hive thing. The whole thing was about a foot and a half long. Oddly, today when I looked at it, all that was left were these dried out fuzzy husks, every single worm was gone. I'd like to assume they've all metamorphasized into beautiful butterflies and flown off to do whatever it is moths do("the moth don't care if the flame is real). Please tell me they haven't burrowed into my ear canal while I was sleeping last night. Except, well, at least I'd have an excuse...that could hold up in court.

Kidding!

Why Kansans Are Weird

So today, author/blogger/pop culture princess Pamela Ribon came to town to read from her new book Why Moms Are Weird. As expected, the reading was entertaining and Pamie was an engaging speaker, deftly handling an..unconventional..library patron who wandered into the session clueless and asked the first non-sequitor question of the day: "What do you think about co-dependency and how do you get out of it?" The crowd was about half and half, Pamie Fans and summer reading program participants who were just there for a prize drawing. She read several chapters from the new book and one from Why Girls Are Weird which had been brought by a Pamie Fan. Then an interesting Q&A, peppered by random conversations with the unconventional library patron. Apparently, there is one in every crowd.

However, the highlight for me was grabbing a quick interview with Pamie before the whole thing started and which I shall share with you now:

I'm a loner, Dottie. A rebel...

Country Critters # 1 and # 2

So I decided to start another photo series, this time documenting/identifying the various/sundry insects and/or other living things to be found around/in our new house. We've only been here two weeks, but already, I've noticed a tenfold increase in the number and diversity of bug types hanging out around here. I suspect it's because we actually have trees and the house is 20 years old vs our previous suburban hell (also affectionately called "Taupe Village" or "Brown Town"..you know, those housing developments where every house is a shade of brown or tan). I digress..

Aside from the million + 1 spiders I've already seen, I'm hoping to re-find the praying mantis and large beetle with the huge pinchers that was making a beeline for my foot two days ago. And then there was that newt-like thing behind the garage. I'm telling you, it's a jungle out there!

So here are the first two pictures, taken yesterday. We're obviously dealing with a walking stick and a beetle of some sort. The walking stick was on the garage and was about 4 inches long (I'm going to start using my cell phone for dimensional comparison but didn't think about it until later). The beetle was walking through the sunroom, probably on his way to tea or something. He curled up in a ball when I touched him to put him by the phone.







Definitely expect more Country Critters; trust me, this is only the start..

Somewhere beyond the bitter end

Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye old friend
I can't make you stay
I can't spend another ten years
Wishing you would anyway

How the sky turns to fire against a telephone wire
And even I'm getting tired of useless desires

Every day I take a bitter pill that gets me on my way
For the little aches and pains
The ones I have from day to day
To help me think a little less about the things I miss
To help me not to wonder how I ended up like this

- Patty Griffin

For reals..

As you know, I'm all about Gawker Stalker/Privacy Watch sightings of former Facts of Life stars. Here's the latest one:

8/18 - Urth Caffe in BH. I was about to ask the couple mulling the menu in front of me if they were in fact in line when they turned to leave, at which point I simultaneously noticed the haggard yet hip woman was The Facts of Life's Mindy Cohn and that she was saying to her hot male companion, "For reals?" They later returned to browse at the coffee selection before eventually getting cups to go. Does that count? Mindy Cohn spending a Fright evening perplexed by the Urth Caffe's offerings and saying, "For reals?"

Gay = happy!

This is how it rolls out here in Kansas. Tell me you're jealous, how much you wish you lived here...


Rainbow flag draws protests in Meade

MEADE, Kan. (AP) - A 12-year-old's gift to his parents -- a brightly colored flag that he said reminded him of Kansas and the Wizard of Oz -- has spawned one of the biggest controversies to hit this town of 1,600 people in a long time.


On Sunday, Police Chief Loren Borger, his colleagues and 16 troopers from the Kansas Highway Patrol kept an eye on protests over the rainbow-colored nylon banner that J.R. and Robin Knight decided to fly on the flagpole in front of their business, the Lakeway Hotel.


Townspeople gathered on downtown corners with their video cameras Sunday morning to watch as members of a Topeka-based church _ whose protests of funerals of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq spawned restrictive legislation in a number of states _ picketed the hotel because of the flag and five local churches for not doing enough to keep it from flying in their town.


While the flag reminded the Knights' young son of Dorothy and Toto, it's also recognized as a symbol of gay pride. Robin Knight said she and her husband didn't put the flag up to make a political statement, but rather because "it has pretty colors, it's bright, it's summery."


Soon after the flag went up, the local newspaper ran a picture of the banner on its front page, noting its significance in the gay community. Afterward, someone threw two bricks at the bed and breakfast, one of which broke through a window and destroyed two neon signs.


When someone cut the flag down, the Knights ordered two more and said they'll buy even more if they have to.


On Sunday, as the daughter of Westboro Baptist Church founder Fred Phelps protested with 10 of her 11 children, three brothers and two sisters, onlookers shook their heads at the spectacle.


"It's just not right," said Suzan Seybert, a 30-year resident of the southwest Kansas community, as she watched Shirley Phelps-Roper's children chanting about homosexuals burning in hell. "I think it's despicable to start to teach your children at such a young age the word 'hate'. It's just the worst thing you can do."


Mike Thompson, who teaches a class at Colby Community College on the sociology of discrimination, brought some of his students to see the protests. Among them was Kati Near, who grew up in Meade.


"I think a lot of people think we're all just a bunch of bigots," she said, adding that she was embarrassed by what was going on in her hometown.


From the balcony off the honeymoon suite of his bed and breakfast, J.R. Knight blared music such as Starship's "Nothing's Going to Stop Us Now." Nearby, in the Lakeway's parking lot, a car's bumper sticker read, "Kansas: As bigoted as you think," which is a play on the state's "As big as you think" motto.


Robin Knight said earlier this month that the anger spawned by the colorful flag has strengthened the family's resolve to keep the banner flying, noting that caving in to the pressure would send the wrong message to her son.


"It's our business," she said. "It shouldn't be dictated by other people.

Better in theory than in practice..

..which could be said about a great many things. This morning, I'm kind of maybe wishing I hadn't smoked that cigar that sounded and tasted so good last night.

In my defense, I've been chasing an elusive cigar I once had in Albany NY for 8 years - it was a dream and so creamy. I know that sounds dirty (shades of Monica Lewinski, anyone?), but really it was a fabulous and unfortunately, I didn't take notice of the brand. Ever since, I've looked for it, tried a cigar here and there, thinking it might be the one. But alas, I have never found The One. I'm not a smoker and really only like a cigar once every 6 months or so. The only problem is that the next day, that cigar you had the night before remains in your mouth no matter how much you brush or drink. Let this be a cautionary note and another example of what sounded like a good idea at the time..

Hot boxes...

No, nothing kinky, just unpacking about 2000 boxes full of our stuff in 100% humidity - not fun. The new place is way bigger than the old, but somehow, we seemed to have multiplied how much stuff we have by 5. The math ain't working out. So we got in on Wed (took 4 guys and two big moving trucks all day) and have been attempting to unpack ever since. I'm sad to report that I am so unmotivated that I've only finished the kitchen while The Agent has done a shitload; she's got her office set up, the den done, and who knows what else. I'm not sure where her energy is coming from or where mine went. I keep expecting to kick it in full gear sometime soon but so far, it's been weirdly hard to motivate myself. I did however take time out yesterday to try the new riding mower and mowed the whole front/side/back yards. There's only another 1.5 acres to go! Can't complain though, love the space and land.

Met one of the neighbors, nice guy, another cop-type. He and The Agent hit it off talking all that law enforcement stuff while I secretly was happy to have a nice big guy just across the street to help move the heavy stuff. Gotta love boys for that very reason.

It's been nice being back in this town with my peeps, went out on Fri and saw a great show - at some point in the evening I had to give in and go with the flow because it was about 200 degrees in this small club and it was packed with sweating ppl dancing and singing and drinking. I basically said to myself, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. So I did. As a result of the heat and dehydration and dancing, I woke up to a charley horse in my leg at around 5am - agony. But it was worth it. It's so nice to be only a few minutes from home and have all my friend close by..that place we were living before, aye, couldn't get out of there quick enough.

ETA: A video of that night surfaced on YouTube, I was probably 3 people in front of the person shooting it. Unfortunately, you don't get a good sense of just how hot and sweaty and crazy it was in there. Good times, good times..

Things are good; I just wish I could get my groove back - specifically and in general. I really don't want to have to resort to better living through chemistry again, but something has got to give. I'm hoping this move will inspire some positive changes.

That's it from here -- ps. been trying to watch my WNBA playoffs, but our cable is fucked up with this older house and I completely missed my Storm last night. Good news is my point guard girlfriend Sue Bird did NOT break her nose..again. Can only hope they can pull it off tomorrow night and my cable doesn't let me down. Lauren Jackson needs to bring that shit, end o' story. Peace out

LJ/Birdy