and no, i don't have photos. if you want to see some photos, you can click on mary's blog. she snapped all sorts of great shots. that's what i depend on her for sometimes, because she'll actually get them out of her camera and show them off... unlike me, who unabashedly sucks in that area.
note to mary: stick it, caucasian. i just LURRRVE centerpieces. and to prove it, i'm showing you the centerpiece of my fingers in an upward motion right now. put that one on your calendar and celebrate it. (WHY?!?! that's so WRONG!!) did you get me in that photo on purpose just to show off my obliviousness? you're a genius - kiss kiss.
people made it in from all over the place for the event! kris drove in from kansas. andy came in from california. mary flew in from north carolina. jenny and tony drove down, as did ed and rhiannon. it was like a single servings reunion... missing shawn. we should've done a number together and churned out some more sketch comedy for the occasion. i bet we would even break some furniture and split a few seams in the process. "roller coaster.... of love...."
besides the wedding, we had a great time at sons of hermann by sneaking into an english country dancing class. you know all those la-dee-dah dances they do in jane austen stories? we got to learn some of them! mary joined in immediately, while in an unexpected jolt of tables turned, i ran off in terror before getting enlisted. upon further thought, i decided that she shouldn't have all the fun; we should both be able to tell people that we did something new and bizarre this weekend. so i went back in and learned how to tromp around like a proper lady. i'm not sure if i was any good at it, but the dancing was a nerdy blast. enthusiasm can make up for mad skillz when you laugh at yourself hard enough.
now, i won't say that people got totally drunk at the wedding. what i will say is that some people lost their ability to use an inside voice when standing right next to my ear. i will also say that while holly was one of those people, she did manage to stop before getting into a state that would lead her to warbling out michael jackson songs. (for that, we all thank her.) in appreciation of this, i shared one of my special discontinued sanrio band-aids when she smooshed her finger in andy's rental car. i admit that i did feel a bit bad for not taking her injury seriously. andy made me take care of her by noting that yes, she really was bleeding, and then we told him it was his turn to babysit since he hadn't done it in a few years. in fine fashion, he took charge of the situation by turning our full hotel room - me, mary, derek, andy, and holly - into a madlibs slumber party. EEE! i found the one he gave me in my tote bag today and i'll send it to him sometime when he's having a bad day.
on sunday we went for brunch at the local ethiopian place before everyone went their own ways. holly loves the idea of meat plus pancakes minus silverware, so i always make a point to eat ethiopian food with her when i have the chance. she was even so relaxed on the way home that she fell asleep in the car. trust me, this is a momentous occasion after the reign of terror she experienced on road trips with a certain jackass whose name need not be spoken. the first time we drove to dallas together she was fuurrreeeaking out.
three, 3, THREE times good! pop culture i'm digesting:
reading - the customer is always wrong, who's your city?, such a pretty fat
watching - SATC (of course), ladies and gentlemen the fabulous stains, heroes
listening - the raveonettes (lust lust lust), jet (get born), zero 7 (when it falls)
30 September 2008
25 September 2008
autumn nesting beats spring cleaning
the basil plant is hanging in there. the coffee table has been unearthed from a heap of pop culture items. i am NOT living on cereal and popcorn while derek is gone. all my stuff has finally been unpacked from the seattle trip, just in time to pack for dallas. my stick-vac is a wonder of science.
in an ongoing effort to clean shit out of my house, i've managed to get my piles in check. i can once again see a flat surface on part of my desk. the cats think this means i've made a place for them to lay down whenever someone is sitting here. strangely, they don't give a fig about climbing up here unless they hear the clacking of a keyboard or the sound of packages being wrapped. (and you thought cats hated tape.) honestly, for three cats that are such complete bed hogs, it's difficult to imagine why they want to wedge themselves between a lamp and a computer while tromping through a case full of sharpies. it makes me feel the love.
i wonder sometimes if i should just chuck everything and start over. a spartan lifestyle would give me a fresh start... to accumulate more once again. how many times have i repeated the mantra "holy shit, i have too much stuff - i need to get rid of this" while ramping up into a feng shui cleaning rampage? how often has the chore of taking in my recyclables led to a full-scale green seizure? argh, i don't really need anything i have; i don't really need to punish myself for having stuff around the house. it's a small house that keeps us from getting too much without feeling the discomfort of having too much. more space is all too tempting. this is why the two of us don't want an excess of square footage.
and on the subject of green seizures... does anyone else occasionally see a big flashing sign in their head with the word "ENTROPY!" on it while they're shopping green or sorting out recyclables or doing some other kind of good citizen bullshit? it can't be just me. my consumer side and my green side get into a brawl and i'm left standing in the middle, getting beaten from both sides. if you see me wandering around with a black eye, that means my conscience had a fight with itself. it probably happened while taking out the garbage.
mostly i just wanted to clean the house this week so that i could return from our trip to dallas without having to look at dirty dishes after a long car ride. that's how a feng shui attack starts, eh? you want to take a shower and not have stuff sticking to your damp feet afterwards, so you end up vacuuming the whole house before you wash. you need more underpants and end up breaking down to do the laundry. you want to show derek that you're perfectly capable of being in the kitchen unsupervised, so you... well, there was an injury or two involved. let's not discuss it.
next up this week:
the wedding trip - EEE!
in an ongoing effort to clean shit out of my house, i've managed to get my piles in check. i can once again see a flat surface on part of my desk. the cats think this means i've made a place for them to lay down whenever someone is sitting here. strangely, they don't give a fig about climbing up here unless they hear the clacking of a keyboard or the sound of packages being wrapped. (and you thought cats hated tape.) honestly, for three cats that are such complete bed hogs, it's difficult to imagine why they want to wedge themselves between a lamp and a computer while tromping through a case full of sharpies. it makes me feel the love.
i wonder sometimes if i should just chuck everything and start over. a spartan lifestyle would give me a fresh start... to accumulate more once again. how many times have i repeated the mantra "holy shit, i have too much stuff - i need to get rid of this" while ramping up into a feng shui cleaning rampage? how often has the chore of taking in my recyclables led to a full-scale green seizure? argh, i don't really need anything i have; i don't really need to punish myself for having stuff around the house. it's a small house that keeps us from getting too much without feeling the discomfort of having too much. more space is all too tempting. this is why the two of us don't want an excess of square footage.
and on the subject of green seizures... does anyone else occasionally see a big flashing sign in their head with the word "ENTROPY!" on it while they're shopping green or sorting out recyclables or doing some other kind of good citizen bullshit? it can't be just me. my consumer side and my green side get into a brawl and i'm left standing in the middle, getting beaten from both sides. if you see me wandering around with a black eye, that means my conscience had a fight with itself. it probably happened while taking out the garbage.
mostly i just wanted to clean the house this week so that i could return from our trip to dallas without having to look at dirty dishes after a long car ride. that's how a feng shui attack starts, eh? you want to take a shower and not have stuff sticking to your damp feet afterwards, so you end up vacuuming the whole house before you wash. you need more underpants and end up breaking down to do the laundry. you want to show derek that you're perfectly capable of being in the kitchen unsupervised, so you... well, there was an injury or two involved. let's not discuss it.
next up this week:
the wedding trip - EEE!
19 September 2008
ahhhll by maahhhhyy-sehhlleeeyelllf
derek is taking a long trip through pennsylvania and new york. he is not here to see my small tragedies this week or next, as he'll be on the road until meeting up with all of us in dallas for la festivale de vee et travis. beh, he doesn't know what he's missing. my basil plant is suicidal, i burned myself on the toaster oven, and managed to slice a couch cushion while trying to construct a homemade box. i ain't called calamity george for nothing, baby.
here's a whoop-a-dee-doo friday shoutout to liz. happy birthday, lady! glad to hear you're taking the day off from work to celebrate your big day with the fams.
my volkswagen is in the shop. boo. hoo. wahhhh. no no no, it's nothing big - just all those little things that build up after owning a car for ten (or is it eleven now?) years and all need attention at once. it's a good thing i was working in seattle and picked up some more hours here. we'll call it a "working for the car" holiday. the maintenance issue doesn't bother me, but now i'm fucking stuck without a vehicle. ugh, can anyone give me a ride?!?
the cooking continues. i will not give up! yet!
in an industrious move, i managed to make - YES, MAKE!!! - a tote bag for holly last night. it started out as a pillow, but as i reworked the old fabric pieces it turned into a seventies looking thingy that just screeched her name. (and she earned her stripes last night by taking me to drop off the car and get tacos in the wee hours.) you don't know, man... this is my first ever time to A: successfully sew anything at all from scratch, B: successfully make a button stay on for more than five minutes, C: not injure myself during a new project. look, no blood! all that and the hours passed by in a relaxing way without me even noticing time passing. there could be something to this.
quick fixes for my calamities:
talking to basil plant calmingly while stroking the leaves.
watering basil and giving it more sun.
keeping the bactine spray in the kitchen.
turning cushion over to hide the evidence.
renting a car, if need be.
keeping a vigilant eye on the litterbox so that dizzy no longer feels the need to make a ginormous poopy right in front of the human toilet in protest.
using a lot of tape/adhesive on stuff in general.
here's a whoop-a-dee-doo friday shoutout to liz. happy birthday, lady! glad to hear you're taking the day off from work to celebrate your big day with the fams.
my volkswagen is in the shop. boo. hoo. wahhhh. no no no, it's nothing big - just all those little things that build up after owning a car for ten (or is it eleven now?) years and all need attention at once. it's a good thing i was working in seattle and picked up some more hours here. we'll call it a "working for the car" holiday. the maintenance issue doesn't bother me, but now i'm fucking stuck without a vehicle. ugh, can anyone give me a ride?!?
the cooking continues. i will not give up! yet!
in an industrious move, i managed to make - YES, MAKE!!! - a tote bag for holly last night. it started out as a pillow, but as i reworked the old fabric pieces it turned into a seventies looking thingy that just screeched her name. (and she earned her stripes last night by taking me to drop off the car and get tacos in the wee hours.) you don't know, man... this is my first ever time to A: successfully sew anything at all from scratch, B: successfully make a button stay on for more than five minutes, C: not injure myself during a new project. look, no blood! all that and the hours passed by in a relaxing way without me even noticing time passing. there could be something to this.
quick fixes for my calamities:
talking to basil plant calmingly while stroking the leaves.
watering basil and giving it more sun.
keeping the bactine spray in the kitchen.
turning cushion over to hide the evidence.
renting a car, if need be.
keeping a vigilant eye on the litterbox so that dizzy no longer feels the need to make a ginormous poopy right in front of the human toilet in protest.
using a lot of tape/adhesive on stuff in general.
12 September 2008
back home, but not in a rut
it's time to direct another show! yes yes, my vow to take a long break was (as always) a short-lived thing. so now scott and i are going to do a double bill of absurdist one act plays. do i need to abuse myself in this way? guess so - should be fun.
my toaster oven inspired me to get back in the kitchen this week. now if only i could figure out how to make a mountain dew doughnut like the one i got in portland for derek...
went out to see threepenny upright at topeca cafe tonight. live music is only a passing fancy with me, but we had a good time. personally, i prefer NOT to see people out at a bar. call me a snob, but bars are kinda yucky. it's much nicer for me to meet for coffee, although two large americanos was probably not a good idea on the caffeine front. my head might pop into orbit at any second. ZOOOOOOM!
i bought a plant! really! for those of you that don't know: plants + me = death. every so often i'll get something green and drag it home. shortly thereafter i'll wave a wistful goodbye to that no-longer-green thing. i try to remember this fact each time i want to try again. i eventually forget it and try again anyway... like now. living with alice inspired me to whip over by the local farmers' market and invest in fresh basil. and it's still alive (with a whole new leaf sprouting) after almost a week!!! keep your fingers crossed for me and maybe i'll even get to use some of that basil someday soon. derek says that if this one lives long enough to harvest then he'll get me some cilantro to celebrate.
big hug of the day:
much love going out to bonnie rae and family. so sorry about gramps.
my toaster oven inspired me to get back in the kitchen this week. now if only i could figure out how to make a mountain dew doughnut like the one i got in portland for derek...
went out to see threepenny upright at topeca cafe tonight. live music is only a passing fancy with me, but we had a good time. personally, i prefer NOT to see people out at a bar. call me a snob, but bars are kinda yucky. it's much nicer for me to meet for coffee, although two large americanos was probably not a good idea on the caffeine front. my head might pop into orbit at any second. ZOOOOOOM!
i bought a plant! really! for those of you that don't know: plants + me = death. every so often i'll get something green and drag it home. shortly thereafter i'll wave a wistful goodbye to that no-longer-green thing. i try to remember this fact each time i want to try again. i eventually forget it and try again anyway... like now. living with alice inspired me to whip over by the local farmers' market and invest in fresh basil. and it's still alive (with a whole new leaf sprouting) after almost a week!!! keep your fingers crossed for me and maybe i'll even get to use some of that basil someday soon. derek says that if this one lives long enough to harvest then he'll get me some cilantro to celebrate.
big hug of the day:
much love going out to bonnie rae and family. so sorry about gramps.
11 September 2008
so kiss me and smile for me...
perhaps inappropriate, as i already got back home over the weekend, but that damn song has been stuck in my head ever since. the random humming is driving me crazy. i should probably be grateful. brandon started talking about celine dion and titanic when we rode the ferry to bainbridge island last week, thereby infecting my internal radio station with a virus that has since been cleared. thank goodness.
holly asked me if i was bummed about being back here. i thought about it and promptly got confused by the question. why would i hate coming home? it's true that i had a great time in seattle. it's true that i enjoyed myself much more this time and tried to focus on the positive parts about living there. however, it is also true that i like where i live. it might not be that glamorous to some people, but i'm happy with my choices. you never know when our wanderlust will kick up dust and lead us elsewhere. in the meantime, i'd much rather embrace this place and reap my resources than sit here and bitch about what's missing. even in los crapeles - which was designed for "great place to visit but i wouldn't want to live there" living - i managed to find some redeeming qualities in the city. i'm not "stuck" anywhere.
but that's enough of being positive for one day. we now return you to our regularly scheduled snark and cynicism:
i realized that i hadn't been ambushed for spare change since leaving seattle. this is even in the face of visiting other cities like detroit, dallas, st. louis, and las vegas. i cursed myself! over the weekend i got asked for change while i was leaving quiktrip. i blurted out a VERY loud ""NO THANK YOU!" with a smile (before he could even get past the opening "excuse me ma'am" part of things) and went on my way. the guy was so freaked out by my odd response that he shuddered and took off down the road. thanks go to mary. that's a great trick.
okay, so i really DID have a great time in seattle. who cares that the entire downtown area smells like pee? i strapped on my best dalai lama attitude and went for it. and i ate in chinatown bakeries... a lot. if i had a hombow and sesame ball cart near my house here, i would tear the kitchen out of my house. in fact, i should just tear my kitchen out anyway. my excursion into throwing things down the disposal gave me a free lifetime pass out of cooking. (don't ask - just know that rice keeps on expanding long after you see it go away) so if anyone wants to start an asian bakery on my block, be aware that i could probably support your lifestyle all by myself.
speaking of which, the wedding of travis and veronica draws ever closer! not only do i get a super cool-calm-and-collected new family member in travis, but i have a reason to go visit the bakeries in dallas right down the street from their house. jeez, i gotta get on those registries and find some gifty things. is it considered tacky to use a coupon on a gift? if only i could find something from their registries that was on clearance with a big orange sticker; how that would make vee smile with delight! derek is afraid that the wedding weekend is going to turn into girlparty2008 part deux. i'll just send him off with andy and ed to go talk about computer cables and cellphone plans or some shit like that.
the northwest px-fest was a bust. sort of. due to scheduling difficulties, we'll have to try again at some future date when we plan our shit out better. dem's da breaks, ya know? so bonnie and i got together and went to the evergreen state fair in bumfuck, washington. there were buzzcuts galore and she had her first ever fried twinkie. we rode a parking shuttle fashioned from a tractor and some benches, pitched softballs to fight against drunk driving, and stared at prize-winning pigeons. sound like fun or what? duh. yesssireeee!
AND i called a stranger on the phone. this is a really big deal for me. i have a major fear of calling people i don't know. often times i am the sort who'll practice the call for several minutes - okay, so it's more like a few hours or days most of the time - before actually hitting send on my cell. even though i've exchanged many mail items with this lady over the past few years, it was shocking to hear her voice. funny how talking to strangers in real life doesn't fuck with me at all, but add in electronics and i'm a basket case. luckily, she sounded just as stunned that i had called her. next time, ginger, next time...
mostly my brain is in whapwhapwhap mode since i got home. you know, that noise a flat tire makes when you're rolling down the road and it sounds like you're going really super fast in spite of the fact that you were forced to slow down. that's the noise i hear at night when i lay down and my brain won't shut off for the day and my mouth keeps on running like a freight train about random crap even though derek justs wants to go to sleep. he's very good at pretending to listen. i love him for that. he doesn't even seem to mind too much that the whapping goes on for most of the day as well. sometimes i hear a little voice in the background telling me to shut up. it often gets drowned out by my "creative tendencies" that inspire me to keep on rambling.
my creative side had a rest on holiday. it got to go in stealth mode while i penned postcards and wrote in my journal. i got to watch others and appreciate their artistic qualities at galleries and theatres and street corners. (yes, they do have more than just hobos out on the street in seattle.) amongst my favorites were a girl playing violin out in front of a bookstore while i shopped for more postcards one day and the ten minute play festival i went to with amy after we got back from strolling around olympia. i also got to meet an artist i like, whose stuff has been migrating to my house piece by piece, and pour praise all over him even after he had already let me use the bathroom. i think that taking a break was a good idea. my brain is more energized and i'm ready to start working on the next show. whapwhapwhap.
one thing i love about being home:
watching dizzy prance around with her new haircut!
holly asked me if i was bummed about being back here. i thought about it and promptly got confused by the question. why would i hate coming home? it's true that i had a great time in seattle. it's true that i enjoyed myself much more this time and tried to focus on the positive parts about living there. however, it is also true that i like where i live. it might not be that glamorous to some people, but i'm happy with my choices. you never know when our wanderlust will kick up dust and lead us elsewhere. in the meantime, i'd much rather embrace this place and reap my resources than sit here and bitch about what's missing. even in los crapeles - which was designed for "great place to visit but i wouldn't want to live there" living - i managed to find some redeeming qualities in the city. i'm not "stuck" anywhere.
but that's enough of being positive for one day. we now return you to our regularly scheduled snark and cynicism:
i realized that i hadn't been ambushed for spare change since leaving seattle. this is even in the face of visiting other cities like detroit, dallas, st. louis, and las vegas. i cursed myself! over the weekend i got asked for change while i was leaving quiktrip. i blurted out a VERY loud ""NO THANK YOU!" with a smile (before he could even get past the opening "excuse me ma'am" part of things) and went on my way. the guy was so freaked out by my odd response that he shuddered and took off down the road. thanks go to mary. that's a great trick.
okay, so i really DID have a great time in seattle. who cares that the entire downtown area smells like pee? i strapped on my best dalai lama attitude and went for it. and i ate in chinatown bakeries... a lot. if i had a hombow and sesame ball cart near my house here, i would tear the kitchen out of my house. in fact, i should just tear my kitchen out anyway. my excursion into throwing things down the disposal gave me a free lifetime pass out of cooking. (don't ask - just know that rice keeps on expanding long after you see it go away) so if anyone wants to start an asian bakery on my block, be aware that i could probably support your lifestyle all by myself.
speaking of which, the wedding of travis and veronica draws ever closer! not only do i get a super cool-calm-and-collected new family member in travis, but i have a reason to go visit the bakeries in dallas right down the street from their house. jeez, i gotta get on those registries and find some gifty things. is it considered tacky to use a coupon on a gift? if only i could find something from their registries that was on clearance with a big orange sticker; how that would make vee smile with delight! derek is afraid that the wedding weekend is going to turn into girlparty2008 part deux. i'll just send him off with andy and ed to go talk about computer cables and cellphone plans or some shit like that.
the northwest px-fest was a bust. sort of. due to scheduling difficulties, we'll have to try again at some future date when we plan our shit out better. dem's da breaks, ya know? so bonnie and i got together and went to the evergreen state fair in bumfuck, washington. there were buzzcuts galore and she had her first ever fried twinkie. we rode a parking shuttle fashioned from a tractor and some benches, pitched softballs to fight against drunk driving, and stared at prize-winning pigeons. sound like fun or what? duh. yesssireeee!
AND i called a stranger on the phone. this is a really big deal for me. i have a major fear of calling people i don't know. often times i am the sort who'll practice the call for several minutes - okay, so it's more like a few hours or days most of the time - before actually hitting send on my cell. even though i've exchanged many mail items with this lady over the past few years, it was shocking to hear her voice. funny how talking to strangers in real life doesn't fuck with me at all, but add in electronics and i'm a basket case. luckily, she sounded just as stunned that i had called her. next time, ginger, next time...
mostly my brain is in whapwhapwhap mode since i got home. you know, that noise a flat tire makes when you're rolling down the road and it sounds like you're going really super fast in spite of the fact that you were forced to slow down. that's the noise i hear at night when i lay down and my brain won't shut off for the day and my mouth keeps on running like a freight train about random crap even though derek justs wants to go to sleep. he's very good at pretending to listen. i love him for that. he doesn't even seem to mind too much that the whapping goes on for most of the day as well. sometimes i hear a little voice in the background telling me to shut up. it often gets drowned out by my "creative tendencies" that inspire me to keep on rambling.
my creative side had a rest on holiday. it got to go in stealth mode while i penned postcards and wrote in my journal. i got to watch others and appreciate their artistic qualities at galleries and theatres and street corners. (yes, they do have more than just hobos out on the street in seattle.) amongst my favorites were a girl playing violin out in front of a bookstore while i shopped for more postcards one day and the ten minute play festival i went to with amy after we got back from strolling around olympia. i also got to meet an artist i like, whose stuff has been migrating to my house piece by piece, and pour praise all over him even after he had already let me use the bathroom. i think that taking a break was a good idea. my brain is more energized and i'm ready to start working on the next show. whapwhapwhap.
one thing i love about being home:
watching dizzy prance around with her new haircut!
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