It's been AGES since we last had a really good chat!

• Some friends moved in with us (they lost their house and their move to Spokane is happening in stages). They moved into our renovated guest room at the end of November, two of them headed to Spokane at New Years, one more is headed over at the end of January, and the last one will head over when the weather in Eastern WA lends itself to working for a living in the outdoors.
• Celebrating the holidays and whatnot without mom for the first time was a little rough, but we all made it through and no one even had to take any mind-altering drugs (Ariella doesn't have to count the catnip, does she?).
• We began eating honey that was made by bees who lived with us last year. Of the 4 hives, three of them are thriving and the one is..well, we aren't sure they are going to make it to spring. My papa, the apiarist, was just out there yesterday checking on them in his bee suit, NOT the high of Milan fashion but very functional.
• Thing One is a first-born 14 year old. For those who know that statement is all I need to say. He is on track to finish his first semester at public school with 3 As and 3 A-s. He says high school takes way longer than home school, but he doesn't have to work anywhere near as hard. We've started getting titles from one of those, "Books Everyone Ought to Read" lists and he carries one with him to fill the downtime in classes (of which there is a SHOCKING amount).
• Thing Two is in Eastern WA (ok, fine, for those picky other-side-of-the-mountain folks, CENTRAL WA) this weekend with a kids' group doing some ice skating, sledding, etc.  We are hoping he remembers he is suppose to stay with the people who brought. He has a tendency to make friends everywhere he goes and then look around later and realize he has no idea where his group is. Next weekend his boyscout troop is headed across the mountains too. He and I went to Spokane last weekend so that will make three weekends in a row for him over there, which is a family record.
• Ariella is having surgery. She has developed a nodule on her snout and a fatty deposit on her leg. She is 7 this year and the middle years are NOT being kind. She has also gained rather too much weight so the vet was none too pleased with us. Time for her to start going on walks (and me too!).
• Mr. Logo is working for a place that makes parts of airplanes and other machined parts. He is their quality control guru and doesn't hate it at all.
• Last but not least, Mr. Logo told me last week that...

HE IS TAKING ME TO PARIS NEXT MONTH FOR MY BIRTHDAY!!!!!

Best advice EVAH

Two notes:

The days are getting longer which makes me happy.
Also, polite cherries (cordial) are really rather vile, and handing them to unsuspecting people who are expecting a nice truffle is rather unkind.

Thank you,
that is all.

If I were a rich man

Sooo,
you know how sometimes I link my old posts?
I've decided to go one better and just repost a whole one. It's really long and a pal who was looking through my archive single it out for a compliment so I thought I'd share it again (and update the song and phone referenced).
Here it is, from October of 2007, a really freaking long meme...

----
Jocelyn did a Jedi mind trick on me and made me do this. It took DAYS to finish so I think it only fair to give you days to read it. I'll be back next week. Feel free to pace yourself.


If I were a beginning, I would be…. "It was a dark and stormy night..." Name that book?

If I were a month, I would be…September, while learning is still something to be excited about and the fall colors are showing. It's not cold but a cozy polar fleece is perfect.

If I were a time of day, I would be… 11:11 Auspicious but in a useless way.

If I were a planet, I would be…orbiting Sirius. Don’t want to get toooo close though.

If I were a season, I would be…..Fall, bring some shorts, sandals, a warm jacket and an umbrella, who knows what you are going get!

If I were a sea animal, I would be….salty, wanna lick?

If I were a direction, I would be….west.

If I were a piece of furniture, I would be….a cozy chair; versatile and comfortable.

If I were a sin, I would be…mortal, you do know what you are getting yourself into, right?

If I were a liquid, I would be…mercury, because liquid metal is awesome and gallium just doesn't sound as cool.

If I were a scare, I would be…the one that haunts your nightmares and gives you a chill down your spine. Ever danced with the devil in the pale moon light?

If I were a gem, I would be…semi-precious.

If I were a flower/plant, I would be…some sort of scrubby little flowering shrub.

If I were a kind of weather, I would be….capricious.

If I were a musical instrument, I would be…a cello.

If I were an animal, I would be…wild.

If I were an emotion, I would be….swinging.

If I were a vegetable, I would be…delicious.

If I were a sound, I would be…water, sometimes soothing, sometimes overpowering.

If I were an element, I would be…plutonium. Can’t touch this!

If I were a car, I would be…a hybrid; a little of this, and a little of that.

If I were a song, I would be... catchy but hard to understand in spots.

If I were a food, I would be...Thai; salty, sweet, spicy, sour and sometimes bitter, but always in balance.

If I were a place, I would be…a magnetic pole, prone to wandering.

If I were a material, I would be…plaid silk.

If I were a taste, I would be…fleeting but worth repeating.

If I were a scent, I would be…floating in the air.

If I were a religion, I would be…misunderstood and misused.

If I were a sentence, I would be…compound (with plenty of parenthetical phrases thrown in for good measure).

If I were a facial expression, I would be…transparent.

If I were a subject in school, I would be…self paced.

If I were a colour, I would be...vibrant.

If I were a thing, I would be…a noun.

If I were a book, I would be…library bound.

If I were an artist, I would be…messy.

If I were a collection of poems, I would be…eclectic, an anthology type of deal.

If I were a landmass, I would be…Europe, separate but attached.

If I were a watch, I would be…superfluous. Who needs a watch?

If I were God, I would be…a goddess.

If I were a vowel, I would be...rounded.

If I were a consonant, I would be…an alveolar trill, or a sibilant s.

If I were a theory, I would be…more than mere hypothesis.

If I were a famous person, I would be…mocked for my fashion choices.

If I were an item of electronic equipment, I would be…a Droid.

 If I were a sport, I would be…a contact sport.

If I were a movie, I would be…a comedy.

If I were a cartoon, I would be…the Animaniacs.

If I were an explorer, I would be…intrepid, it only seems suitable.

If I were a scientist, I would be…mad.

If I were a relation, I would be…tenuous.

If I were a river, I would be…relentless.

If I were intoxication, I would be…all-consuming, enslaving, freeing, euphoric gratification. I am the new drug.

If I were alone, I would be…relaxing.

If I were a question, I would be…leading.

If I were a habit, I would be…addictive.

If I were in an atom, I would be… possessed of charm or maybe topness.

If I were you, I would be…tired of reading this.

"I thought of love with its head ripped off still trying to sing..."

the hookers, the madmen and the doomed


by Charles Bukowski



today at the track

2 or 3 days after

the death of the

jock

came this voice

over the speaker

asking us all to stand

and observe

a few moments

of silence. well,

that's a tired

formula and

I don't like it

but I do like

silence. so we

all stood: the

hookers and the

madmen and the

doomed. I was

set to be dis-

pleased but then

I looked up at the

TV screen

and there

standing silently

in the paddock

waiting to mount

up

stood the other jocks

along with

the officials and

the trainers:

quiet and thinking

of death and the

one gone,

they stood

in a semi-circle

the brave little

men in boots and

silks,

the legions of death

appeared and

vanished, the sun

blinked once

I thought of love

with its head ripped

off

still trying to

sing and

then the announcer

said, thank you

and we all went on about

our business.



"the hookers, the madmen and the doomed" by Charles Bukowski, from What Matters Most is How Well You Work Through the Fire.
------------------------------
I know I've mentioned The Writer's Almanac before it must be linked again because
Since the 1st, when this was the poem of the day, the phrase I used as a title has been dancing around in my head. Sometimes a poem or song phrase will stick in my head... for YEARS!
Like this line in Lovers in a Dangerous Time,
"...gotta kick at the darkness til it bleeds daylight."

It just speaks to me.

Show and Tell

 I got some new shoes. That is them up there.
They make me taller than Thing One.
:D
Mama like.
It isn't going to be long until there won't be shoes capable of acheiving that feat for me, so I plan to enjoy it while I can. Plus, these shoes are actually pretty comfortable. 
I needed new shoes.
See, there is the community Christmas thing and since there is a pretty strong Scandinavian influence here, one of the productions being performed is a stage play about early northern European immigrants.
There are some Sven and Ole sketches, among other things. The full cast, including chorus (that would be me), is about 40 people.
Mr. Logo is reprising his role of last year as Ole. 
Thing One  is reappearing as one of the youth leads, and Thing Two sings AND dances, although he didn't want to try out for a speaking role. 
We'll be performing every Sunday night in December. 


Also,
I got a new-to-me monitor. My last monitor was roughly the same size as a small island nation, or, well, anyway, it was BIG! I don't mean the screen size either, I mean the rear side of that thing stuck out about a foot and a half (and no one needs a computer monitor with back, ok, that is NOT sexeh).
So a pal gave me the monitor below when we started having a little monitor issue.

Turns out, it may not have been a monitor problem so much as a computer issue. I got this computer almost 4 years ago. I'm a little worried this might be the beginning of the end for it.

Oh, and the car won't start again.

Fricking, fracking, frugging...

Copied from my Facebook note

 because I haven't uploaded the pics I want to show you.
:-p

Once you've been tagged.... (1) Turn on your MP3 player or music player on your computer. (2) Go to SHUFFLE songs mode. (3) Write down the first 25 songs that come up--song title and artist--NO editing/cheating, please....

 

Alrighty then, you asked for it, but it's an odd list!

1. Candy - Presidents of the United States of America
2. I Feel It All - Feist
3. Song of the Cenury- Green Day
4. Sex on Fire - Kings of Leon
5. Stormy Weather - Etta James
6. Mr. Bad Man - Tori Amos
7. 3 AM - Matchbox 20
8. Add It Up - Violent Femmes
9. Commissioning a Symphony in C - Cake
10. Back to Black - Amy Winehouse
11. Life Less Ordinary - Carbon Leaf
12. Long, Long Time - Guy Forsyth
13. Black - Pearl Jam
14. I Want to Break Free - Queen
15. It's a Beautiful Day - Sarah Brightman
16. Seven Nation Army - White Stripes
17. Mummer's Dance - Lorena McKennit
18. Don't stop Believing - Journey
19. Thanks That Was Fun - Barenaked Ladies
20.  Barracuda - Heart
21. Creep - Radiohead
22. With or Without You - U2
23. Pork and Beans - Weezer
24. Better - Regina Spektor
25. Dreams - Cranberries

 

What can I say? It's what I like!