listen to yourself churn

ketchup

2010-07-18T14:22:00.004-05:00

Eek, time to play catch-up with the blog.

June brought our first Smith family reunion, the Maurice and Mattie Memorial Ice Cream Social and Fishing Expedition in McComb, MS. It was overall a great success, with 41 people attending. Our hq was Villa Jenny, only a few blocks from the old Smith home on Missouri Ave. It was the ideal setting for our event, with 4 bedrooms/baths upstairs and tons of living space downstairs, as well as a pretty back yard with gazebo and a fully equipped kitchen (for Zannah!).

Friday night was hectic, crazy, funny: too many people arrived just about all at once, more than we expected so there wasn't enough food. A couple of trips to Popeyes Chicken took care of that though! Saturday morning we met up at the Best Western breakfast room, then ALL headed out to Percy Quin State Park for the fishing expedition.
Old and young, large and teeny, we sat in the shade or fished from the pier. KWS was the only one who caught any fish, two babies who we sent back to their moms.

We ended up going to Golden Corral for lunch, which worked out very well. Many of us said that it was the best GC we had even been to, and it certainly delighted the kiddoes.

Back at the Villa, adults lounged and shared stories, kids ran around the back yard and attempted to make ice cream in a special rolling ball. Eventually it was time to eat (AGAIN) so we went up the road to Justin's on the Lake in Summit for fried catfish.

Sunday morning most of us met at GC again for the breakfast/brunch buffet, which was pretty amazing. Then it was time for some to head home, others to enjoy the hotel pool before check-out time.

So. Was it worth the work and planning? Totally! Do I want to do it again? Absolutely.

pros: all nine cousins of my generation together for the first time since (none of us can remember when!); seeing tiny new family members; getting to know the next generations better; hearing stories; making new memories
cons: unnecessary drama from one person who thinks the world revolves around her

starting the day with Jon Stewart

2010-05-29T10:36:00.002-05:00

What a way to begin a Thursday morning! Jon Stewart MCed the Adult Author Breakfast; other authors appearing were Condi Rice, John Grisham, and Mary Roach. I didn't know who Roach was, but am glad to have discovered her. We all received a free ARC of her new book, Packing for Mars, about astronautical things. The other authors didn't have books ready but we received previews of theirs and they look good.

I was standing in line to enter the ballroom for the breakfast when suddenly Stewart and his "people" came bounding down the stairs (well, Stewart bounded, the "people" just tried to keep up). He was pumping his arm and shouting and generally being his goofy, enthusiastic self. As with the Childrens Author Breakfast, the "breakfast" consisted of a "muffin bucket" as Stewart called it. And once again, the first people at the table had grabbed all the bagels. Muffins again for moi.

I had to leave the Javits Center at 11:30 to head to Newark and my flight home, so after breakfast I mostly just wandered the exhibits and picked up a few more books. *blush* One bit of excitement was discovering that the Super Shuttle could take me straight from the Javitz to the airport for a mere $15; that gave me a bit more time to stay at the Expo.

waking up is hard to do, Brontorina

2010-05-29T10:17:00.004-05:00

Neil Sedaka!!! The book wasn't ready but he signed the CD that goes with it.

James Howe signed Brontorina.

celebrity sightings @ BEA

2010-05-29T10:08:00.006-05:00

Adam Richman (Man vs Food) &

Rowan Jacobsen (American Terroir)

Duchess of York

fun with John and Humphrey

2010-05-29T09:58:00.003-05:00

Humphrey at the dog park

subway fun with John

room with a view, NYC May 2010

2010-05-29T09:17:00.006-05:00

looking down 7th Ave from balcony outside my room

looking north, toward Central Park

The Wellington, on 7th Ave between 55th and 56th

"My petticoat exploded on the customs people" and other scenes from New York

2010-05-28T11:00:00.002-05:00

I'm just back from Book Expo America in NYC. This year I went on my own and still managed to have a wonderful time. I went early, on Saturday, so I could spend some time with my former student John. He performed in a cabaret show Saturday night, great fun and energy, at a bar called Duplex. On Sunday we went to brunch at Good Enough to Eat, yum, then wandered around doing some shopping for his new apartment.

Monday evening I was able to attend a taping of Late Night with Dave Letterman, which was a new adventure for me. I had to show up at 3:30 to be given a ticket and told to return at 5:15. When I got back, my group was escorted up to the balcony, which was disappointing, but oh well. I had been warned that it was very cold inside but it wasn't bad at all. The special guest for that taping was Don Rickles (age 84). It seems like he was on TV all of my life, even back when I was just a little kid, so it was pretty cool to see him in person. Then Dave had the birdcall contest winners from Piedmont High in California, which was very entertaining. The musical guest was John Prine, with Yim Yames. It was great to get to see Prine live.

Tuesday was the LJ/SLJ Day of Dialogue, which began with free breakfast (always a plus) at the Javits Center. The first panel discussed Steampunk literature (the quote in this blog's title is from a librarian and "fangirl" who was on the panel). Cory Doctorow lead the discussion. That was followed by a discussion on "The Line Between Graphic Novels and Picture Books" by David Wiesner, George O'Connor, Laura Vaccaro, and Mark Siegel. We had a free lunch (woot, big bonus!) and then had the Publisher's Pitch. I came away from the day with two tote bags stuffed full of books.

Wednesday morning was the "Childrens Book and Author Breakfast" MCed by Sarah Ferguson. After the news of her most recent scandal (attempting to sell access to her ex) I wondered if she would make the appearance, but she did, head held high, even making a couple of light jokes about her situation. The other authors on the panel were Cory Doctorow, author of For the Win (Tor Books / Tor Teen); Mitali Perkins, author of Bamboo People (Charlesbridge); and Richard Peck, author of Three Quarters Dead (Penguin/Dial Books for Young Readers. All of their talks were wonderful, both entertaining and moving, but Richard Peck's talk was phenomenal. I made a brief video of part of that and will post it later. Wednesday afternoon I attended the American Flavor presentation: Host: Melissa Clark, NYT dining columnist, author, IN THE KITCHEN WITH A GOOD APPETITE; Authors: Adam Richman, AMERICA THE EDIBLE: Why We Eat, What We Eat, Where We Eat; Rowan Jacobsen, AMERICAN TERROIR: Savoring the Flavors of Our Woods, Waters, and Fields. This was pretty interesting, and Adam Richman wasn't as odd in person as he is on his TV show, Man VS Food. He actually seemed pretty intelligent.

2010-05-13T13:48:00.003-05:00

Cousin C and I have been working on the upcoming family reunion, the first ever official one for our branch of the Smiths, and it has been a blast. I traveled with her to Mississippi to scrutinize the B&B we've rented for the weekend, and to check out the park where we'll go fishing. We visited the cemetery where our grandparents are buried and toured the house where they used to live, thanks to the accomodating current owner.

C had the idea to make an ABC book about memories of the house and our grandparents, and enlisted me to help since I'm slightly more proficient on the computer. We worked long hours getting it just right, scanning numerous ancient letters and photographs and arranging them just so. I hope all the cousins will enjoy having the book even half as much as we enjoyed making it.

borrowed pictures

2010-04-16T10:44:00.003-05:00

In the village of Grasmere (photo by Tracy R), where I had the most wonderful gingerbread from Sarah Nelson's Grasmere Gingerbread Shop.

Outside the Eagle and Child pub in Oxford, where we lifted a pint in memory of Tolkien, Lewis, and other literary giants. It was St Patrick's Day, hence the goofy green balloons over the door. (photo by Paul J via Tracy R)

Finally, STP for the Bongo Pudding Lady

2010-04-14T12:28:00.006-05:00

Our last full day in England was spent seeing some more of London. Our T.D., Paul, had to travel back to the north for his grandfather's funeral; while he was away on Saturday we were left in the competent (but not nearly so wonderful) hands of Salvatore. First the entire group went to the Tate Modern, which was better than I thought it would be. I enjoyed having a snack at a table from which I could gaze across the Thames at St Paul's. Then, most of the group wanted to visit the Tower of London so Tracy and I took the four kids who weren't interested in that and went by tube to the Victoria and Albert Museum, which I had been wanting to visit for ages. Of course there wasn't time to see all of it, but I enjoyed it very much. Then we met up with the rest of the group at Picadilly Circus. Because we hadn't had time for lunch, I was ravenous! We found a place called Burger Co. and I got the "posh fries" :
Posh Fries 3.35
Fries with sweet chilli & ginger dressing and chunky guacamole Everyone’s favourite

they were yummy!

We left the restaurant and were heading up Regent St so I could catch the train to Watford when I heard my name being called. CB was across the street and beckoned us over. One of the Canadian kids was having a migraine and needed to return to the hotel. We had no way to contact their adults, so Nancy (again, bless her heart) offered to take him back in a taxi. I felt bad about letting her do it but I really didn't want to miss out on my visit to Watford.

With no more problems, I found the correct train and settled down for a peaceful journey with my book. At the station, I was scolded for using a group ticket without being with the group, but was let go and warmly greeted by Mike and Tabitha. Joanne had prepared a lovely roast dinner of chicken, gravy, yorkshire puddings, potatoes, carrots and parsnips. It was fun to snuggle on the sofa with Tabs while watching the end of the first Harry Potter movie with the kids. At dinner, Tabs played a couple of Justin Bieber songs for me, much to Max's disgust. Sweet Joanne even made sticky toffee pudding for dessert. I felt very well-fed indeed! After dinner we had time for a bit of a cuddle with Amanita before Mike drove me back across London to the hotel, which was very kind of him. I think I would have gotten lost trying to find the hotel from the station. An odd thing happened on a road near the hotel; there was a barricade and when Mike stopped the car, a guard came over and swabbed the steering wheel. Then he let us go on. Mike said that he had never before experienced that.

And Then it was Sunday morning and time for us to leave our Canadian friends and T.D. Paul. All the kids and Paul gathered on the stairs at the hotel lobby at 6:30 a.m. for a group picture. Poor Paul, he had only gone to sleep at 3 a.m. after returning very late from the funeral. He nonetheless gathered us onto the bus and delivered us to Heathrow.

Purse-pinching bastard!

2010-04-13T13:30:00.006-05:00

After the tour of Bath, our trusty coach took us to our London hotel, the Britannia International at Canary Wharf. This was the nicest hotel yet. It was not in the center of town but was still quite accessible by Docklands Light Rail and the Underground. After check-in, the rest of the group dashed off for a quick fish and chips dinner before going to see Wicked in the West End. I stayed at the hotel to meet up with my pal Lydia. We walked through light rain over to a nearby Indian restaurant, Lime, where we enjoyed catching up over some yummy food:

Wild Duck Shashlik £9.95 Succulent breast of wild duck marinated in a rich and aromatic mixture of exotic spices. Cooked in a clay oven with vegetables, and a lamb dish. We followed that with a shared molten chocolate cake (not Indian, but pretty dang tasty!).

On Friday morning, March 19, local guide Stewie and driver Dell took us on a bus tour of the sights of London. Stewie shared lots of information abotu the various neighborhoods. It was especially interesting to drive around the Wharf area and Wapping and to hear stories of the olde

days.

Then we walked over to watch the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. While I was snapping this wonderful photo, some low-life was pinching my purse from my tote bag! I immediately realized it was gone, but it was already too late to do anything. I immediately called home and woke up hubby to get him to cancel the debit and credit cards.

I had to soldier on for the Globe Theatre tour, which was quite well done. A docent took us through various exercises to help with understanding of Shakespeare's styles and the audience of his time. Unfortunately, I was distracted as my mind was racing through scenarios for replacing my lost IDs. By the time to Globe tour was over, EF had sent an employee named Bruno to take me (and Nancy, bless her heart) to the American Embassy so I could get an emergency passport. Bruno turned out to be French, which explained why we had a lot of trouble understanding him.

The embassy experience was interesting, though unfortunate. Before we could enter the embassy we had to turn over all electronics (phones and cameras) and our bags were scanned as we were metal-detected. After seeing several people behind various windows (and receiving an official scolding), and after Nancy loaned me $100 via credit card, I was issued a passport that would serve to get me home. Bruno then escorted us to the Spice Cellar Restaurant, where we were to meet the group for dinner. Since we were very early, we went across the street to an Illy shop for hot cocoa. Later we met the group for our Indian buffet before going to the West End to see a play, The 39 Steps at the Criterion Theatre. It was a very funny show and the kids all seemed to enjoy it very much, as did I.

I've been to Bath

2010-04-12T20:30:00.005-05:00

Thursday, March 18, was our day in Bath. The coach took us back across the Severn and into the town where we picked up our local guide for a bus tour around Bath, which is a beautiful city. We toured the Roman Bath, the cathedral and dropped in at the Jane Austen Centre. Lunch was a sandwich at The Promenade.

"Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?"

2010-03-28T20:03:00.004-05:00

After our time in Oxford, we spent the rest of Wednesday driving to our next hotel, which turned out to be in Wales, of all places! During our time on the bus, Paul directed the students in dramatic readings from Shakespeare, which was preferable over listening to them sing Disney tunes for the umpteenth time. What a unique activity for a bus ride!

I was happy that I got to at least see Wales, even though it meant a bit of time on the bus. As we crossed over the River Severn there was a sign saying "Welcome to Wales" in both English and Welsh. Our driver, Owen, said it for us in Welsh; very cool.

"O God, I could be bounded in a nutshell, and count myself a king of infinite space"

2010-03-27T09:19:00.005-05:00

On Wednesday, March 17, we began at the end with a visit to Shakespeare's grave at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon. It was funny: we were taken into the church by our guide, who sat us down and told us all about burial customs and Shakespeare's grave, and then told us that since we were pressed for time we wouldn't actually go see his grave. WHAT??? Make a short shrift: he longs to see your head. Fortunately, noble Paul stepped in to be sure we were able to go see the actual burial place rather than just hear about it.

We also toured Anne Hathaway's Cottage and Shakespeare's birthplace, both very interesting. Since we were in a bit of a hurry, we grabbed sandwiches to have on the bus for lunch (chicken, brie and cranberry from a place called Food of Love).

From Stratford, we went on to Oxford, where we rambled past the Radcliffe Camera, the Bodleian Library (I poked my head in the door), and into Brasenose College. It was very interesting to see the actual inside of the college. Finally I was able to get inside the Eagle and Child, the pub where the Inklings (including JRR Tolkien and C S Lewis) met. They didn''t have Strongbow so I got an Irish cider called Magners. Very nice.

"and when you're only halfway up you're neither up nor down..."

2010-03-26T17:25:00.006-05:00

Tuesday, March 16, Owen and the orange bus took us to York. We had a tour of the York Minster, first built as a wooden church around 626. The stone church was begun after the Norman conquest but was not finished. Work resumed in 1220 and it was finished in 1422. It's incredibly beautiful.

After the tour we stopped for a light lunch at the Cornish Pasty Bakery; I got lamb and mint. Then we wandered around The Shambles, an old narrow street with interesting shops. I bought an alpaca scarf and then some yarn so I could crochet a hat to wear with it.

Then we walked to the York Castle Museum, which was great fun, with recreations of Victorian streets. We strolled along the ancient city wall.

I think some of the kids were imagining themselves to be archers or swordsmen in long-ago times. I was just trying to keep up! Knee was hurting.

Our trusty driver Owen got us safely to our hotel, a Brittanica out by the Leeds airport, so we could get some rest for the next day's adventure in Stratford-upon-Avon.

"Conventionality is not morality. Self-righteousness is not religion. To attack the first is not to assail the last." C. Bronte

2010-03-25T17:47:00.009-05:00

On Monday, March 15, our trusty coach and Owen drove us up to Hadrian's Wall! It was a windy and cold day; just imagine being there in the winter back in the days of the Romans. EEK! This is one of the places I've wanted to see for ages, so it was a wonderful surprise addition to the itinerary. After romping on the wall and surprising some sheep, we went on to Haworth, home of the Bronte sisters.

We visited the Bronte Parsonage Museum and saw the rooms where the Bronte sisters did most of their writing. This is a small but interesting and informative place with many original artifacts..

After we toured the museum, we spotted a post

office so ran in to buy stamps. The man asked where we were from and when he learnt we were Texans, he told us that there was a man from Texas running the apothecary shop just up the road. Of course we had to go there, where we met the wife (British) who told us that they had lived in Texas for 20 years and that her husband was a retired Fort Worth police officer. Small world. We chatted with him for just a moment and bought some Kendal mint cakes for Paul. We asked the lady for a lunch spot recommendation and she sent us just up the road to Cobbles and Clay, where I had a Wensleydale cheese sandwich with chutney and a dandelion & burdock soda.

Next we drove through the Yorkshire dales, where I saw pheasants just hanging out in the fields. We made a brief stop in Harrowgate where my ladies and I went to Betty's Tea Room (cocoa and cake, yum!).

A genial hearth, a hospitable board, And a refined rusticity,

2010-03-25T14:45:00.005-05:00

March 14 we arose and boarded our orange coach for Rydal Mount, home of romantic poet William Wordsworth. It was a lovely day and I enjoyed the countryside dotted with sheep and lambs. It was a touching experience to be in the house where Wordsworth lived and wrote. I did feel that I could maybe be inspired to write poetry if I lived in such a lovely setting and had nothing to do all day but reflect in the beauty of nature.

Next our coach took us to the village of Grasmere, where I enjoyed a hot bowl of parsnip soup and a seeded roll at Greens Cafe before going over to the famous gingerbread shop. There was quite a queue of gingerbread fans waiting for the shop to open, enjoying the wonderful aroma of baking gingerbread. It's delicious! Then our bus took us to Ambleside where most of us got a boat to cross Lake Windermere to Bowness.

There, some of us went to the Beatrix Potter Museum! It was pretty cheesy but sort of cool anyway, with a nice gift shop where I found a Mrs Tiggywinkle keychain. We drove through the Lake District back to our Carlisle hotel, enjoying the view of snow on distant peaks and sheep grazing everywhere. For dinner we went to the Chinese buffet again, where I commented on how lovely it would be if there were a nearby 7-11 where I could buy a can of Strongbow to enjoy before bed in my room.

Later, I was just about ready for bed when there was a knock on my door. Our ever-thoughtful T.D. made a special delivery of Strongbow! I slept like a baby that night.

In such a jocund company

2010-03-25T09:47:00.005-05:00

Before it all fades from my inner eye, here's a summary of the AP Literature Tour of England, March 12-21, 2010.

We arrived at the Manchester airport early in the morning on March 13. There was no one with an EF sign waiting to meet us, so we found the toilet and gathered at the official meeting point. Shortly, a young man came up and asked if I was Lucy. Yay, our tour director found us! Paul gathered us up and took us on the train into the city of Manchester, where we wandered around a bit, took some pictures, and stopped for a traditional English breakfast in a pub, which was a very nice way to spend our first morning.

After we made our way back to the airport, the group from Canada arrived and we all boarded our orange bus driven by Owen, from Wales. He took us north to Carlisle, where we checked into our hotel, the Ibis Botchergate. After settling in, we walked through town to Carlisle Castle. As we were returning we discovered that the town was preparing for an evening event to light up Hadrian's Wall in commemoration of the 1600th anniversary of the Romans leaving Britain.

Residents and tourists joined the parade – accompanied by a band, costumed characters and musicians – to Bitts Park, where flaming beacons marked the line of Hadrian’s Wall.
The event saw the wall lit from Segedunum Roman Fort at Wallsend to Bowness-on-Solway.
The parade, which started at 5.30pm in the city centre, followed an airborne heliosphere to Bitts Park for a firework display and lighting of the beacons.
A spokesman said more than 300 torches had been sold online – from the Go Lakes website – and hundreds more were available from Carlisle’s Tourist Information Centre.
They were also sold on the night at stalls and cost £3 if bought in advance and £4 on the night. Profits will be donated to local charities.
A spokesman for Carlisle Tourism Partnership said the event was a huge boost for tourism in the city, and county, with many city centre hotels fully booked.
Organisers of the event said they were inundated with people applying to light one of the 500 beacons at stages along the 84-mile wall, with 4,000 applications submitted.
They increased the number of illuminators from 500 to 1,000 by doubling the size of illuminator teams and hundreds are expected to go out and watch at the 250 sites. http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/hundreds-take-part-in-carlisle-procession-as-roman-wall-lit-up-1.683237?referrerPath=home

like a pendulum do

2010-03-09T13:26:00.006-06:00

I leave for England this Friday. I have a throat which yesterday felt like I had swallowed razor blades and today is downgraded to ground glass. The physician said that she has seen a lot of this and it often turns into a nasty bronchitis. I explained that I can't have bronchitis because I fly to england Friday. I am taking medication now.

The trip to England will be a literary tour. I found out today that our optional excursion to Canterbury and Dover will not happen, so we have a free day in London which is probably a good thing. Harrods, maybe the Victoria and Albert. Despite this small disappointment, I am excited about seeing the Lake District, Yorkshire, Stratford on Avon, and Bath. I am very excited about plans to see friends in the London area.

"Time and distance are out of place here"

2010-02-24T13:18:00.011-06:00

Feb. 19-21, 2010, KHS Interact Club traveled to Del Rio, TX., in order to paint classrooms in a kindergarten across the Rio Grande in Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila, Mexico. We took 12 students from KHS and 7 from CHS. I ended up in the noisy van.

Lots of fun was had Friday night

at dinner with mariachis in

Acuña.

Saturday was mostly spent painting at the Alfredo Garza kindergarten.

Then we had time for some shopping along the main street before returnign to Del Rio for a peaceful celebratory dinner at Chili's.

a gathering of book lovers

2009-11-09T10:56:00.008-06:00

Back from the American Association of School Librarians conference in Charlotte, North Carolina. The weather there was perfect and Charlotte is a walking-friendly city. Highlights of the conference were being able to talk and have a picture made with Stephen Chbosky, and getting a nice pile of free books from various vendors.

Charlotte has some wonderful restaurants; our favorite was Mert's Heart and Soul, serving good old Southern soul food. Our second time there I had the salmon cakes with cornbread, red beans, and yams. Their cakes were to-die-for and their sweet tea was amazing.

Yesterday we had brunch at a place called Zink, where I experienced chocolate bread pudding

and some of the most delectable grits ever

Texas State Aquarium

2009-11-02T20:09:00.003-06:00

Moon jelly fish are mysterious-looking.

Sea turtle has lost a front flipper. He swims straight though, not in circles. All the turtles at the aquarium have been rehabbed but could not be released back into the wild.

A little otter PDA,

debate

2009-11-02T20:03:00.002-06:00

Friday – We met at the school at 5 a.m. and rode a school bus (most uncomfortable seats EVER) for seven hours, reaching CC around 12:30. We went straight to the Texas State Aquarium where I took what were possibly too many pictures of the adorable otters. The dolphins were beautiful and the jellyfish were ethereal. The sea turtles were friendly and swam over to the side of the tank where we were standing. That was cool.
Saturday morning arrived too soon. After a little breakfast at the hotel we rode to a high school where the debate tournament was held. I love watching kids who are really engaged in what they’re doing. These students LOVE to debate. They competed in a variety of events such as public forum and cross examination and Lincoln-Douglas style debate. I went and watched students from other schools competing in “dramatic interpretation.” Apparently most consider a dramatic topic to be one involving death/dying/disease: we had two breast cancers, one leukemia, one abusive father, one child-murderer and one actually uplifting piece about Billie Holiday called “Tonight I Saw My Life Onstage.”
Mostly I spent the day sitting in the cafeteria just hanging out with the kids. I did manage to crochet two beanies during the day. Once, in the afternoon, I slipped outside, spread my jacket on the ground, and took a little nap in the sun. A couple of people asked if I was all right (I suppose a middle-aged woman face-down on the grass could be a slightly peculiar sight). It felt good to soak up some sun and just relax for a little while.
Sunday was one long bus ride, with stops for lunch, potty, and too much sugar. I feel like I need a cleansing. At least I walked a lot Saturday, racking up over four miles per my pedometer. It has been a good trip; I’ve enjoyed getting to know the kids better and hope they noticed a side of me they don’t see at school.

Loy Krathong

2009-10-04T10:19:00.008-05:00

Last night I attended the New Year festival at the local Buddhist temple with a few students from the Culture Club I sponsor at the high school. It had been raining so I almost didn't go, but I'm so glad I decided to venture out anyway. The field in the temple complex contained several booths where people were grilling various meats and making other unknown foodstuffs. The girls and I shared a serving of tiny Thai pancakes which contained coconut, sugar, and green onion. That's an odd combination to me, but the pancakes tasted pretty good. I also had a skewer of spiced grilled chicken.

We enjoyed watching the Thai dancing and really loved the beauty pageant. There were seven girls ranging in age from 7 to 13. People voted by purchasing balloons which they then gave to the girls. The girl with the most balloons would win the "People's Choice" award and the money raised would go to the temple fund.

After the students left, I took the paper lotus flower that I had bought and went over to the pond. Some girls helped me light my candle and incense sticks. The candle wouldn't stay lit (gusts and light rain) but I set it loose in the pond and enjoyed watching it drift away. The girls told me to make a wish as I let it go.

Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails

2009-10-02T21:21:00.007-05:00

Yesterday I drove down to Austin and met up with Emily at Boo’s house. We went out to eat at Galaxy Café, then Em and I went on down to the Continental Club. We were pretty surprised to see a long line of people waiting to get in an hour before the concert was to begin. It was sort of entertaining to listen to people while we were waiting. The folks behind us had flown down from Canada for ACL.

Inside, it wasn’t as crowded as I had thought it might be so we were able to position ourselves right in front of the stage, Wynn-side, brews in hand, ready for some music. I heard someone calling out “Lucy” so I looked and found Nan from Murmurs (who has a major thing for Mr. Buck and had stationed herself right in front of where he would be standing). Nice to see her again.

The concert was a nice mix of Baseball Project, new and some older Minus 5, Steve Wynn songs, and covers. Scott’s voice wasn’t in top form, I thought, but that didn’t detracted from the passion he puts into every song. They all just have such a great time performing together. Of course I’m envious of Linda Pitmon, since I want to be a drummer when I grow up. Alas. There’s no way I could ever have her rhythm and stamina, not to mention I couldn’t assist on vocals.

As the first set ended, Scott encouraged the audience to come visit with them at the merch table. Em and I were just about the first ones there. We snagged all the Butcher Cover CDs that we had agreed to get for others as well as ourselves and immediately asked Peter for autographs. He was very nice and obliging and just sweet as he could be. Contrary to some reports, he did NOT seem to have gained any weight.

Scott seemed to appreciate the spirit of the Scottie mug that Emily brought for him to autograph. What a hoot. He and Buck were both very nice about signing things and having pictures taken.

That's a picture of me with a sweaty Buck, who only looks like an angry axe-murderer but was actually quite pleasant. I found myself wondering if he's off the booze. His face doesn't look puffy and he wasn't drinking red wine onstage. He had glasses of what looked like lemonade but could have been anything.

The show ended about 1:15 I think, with some raucous covers and a bartender dancing onstage.

knots

2009-09-30T21:26:00.003-05:00

Something extremely disturbing has happened and I need to talk it out but don't want to actually talk to anyone about it. So here goes, since hardly anyone ever reads this. Initials have been changed.

Y sent me a text last night: "J killed the cat and then tried to kill himself. In hospital for psych eval." Of course I called her for more info. I knew that she had told me that J didn't like the cat and didn't get along with it. They were trying to find a new home for it; she had even asked me. I certainly didn't see this coming, and I feel that anyone who would do such a thing has far greater issues than not getting along with a cat.

N was a work when this happened. She was on the phone with J and he told her that he had hurt the cat. She was going to go home but he told her not to, that he didn't want her to see it. She eventually did go home and found that J had taken pills and alcohol. She got him to the hospital, he didn't want to be admitted but the hospital kept him anyway and will hold him for two weeks for evaluation.

This situation has been preying on my mind all last night and all day today. I've never met J but I feel so sad for N. She must be beside herself. Y said that N was staying with her parents last night.

Anyway, my stomach has been in a knot for 24 hours now. I have a busy early morning tomorrow and need to relax and sleep tonight.

To make matters worse, Tybee is having mouth trouble again. The vet dentist office wasn't open today. I'll call them in the morning and try to get an appt for Friday afternoon, since tomorrow I'm going to Austin (coming back Friday).

Must sleep.

no damn class in the Classic City

2008-07-23T12:14:00.008-05:00

Last week was our second trip to Athens this month. Since we didn't get to see much of Larry or Renee when we were there earlier, Z and I had to go back, this time dragging along Cousin C. Sadly, Renee wasn't able to be in town due to a family illness. LG, however, didn't have to work so we were able to kidnap him for significant periods of time.

We arrived at ATL and drove to Snellville where we stopped for lunch (lupper? linner?) at the Snellville Diner, a most interesting place where six-layer cakes are on display at the counter. Oh my. Fortunately, we didn't have room for dessert and didn't want to drag it to Athens with us, knowing that we'd be able to find enough yummy food once we got there. After a bit of a rest in the Athens HI, we met Larry at The Grit and then wandered over to the river to try to spot the beavers which LG swears had been frolicking there every evening for the past month. Yeah, right. No beavers, just lots of mosquitos which nibbled my sweet little ankles. We did wander down a trail right beside the river though, and found some wild blackberries. YUM!

We had decided that Friday would be our local day. C and I went to the Mayflower for a light breakfast so Z could sleep in. Then we scooped up LG and drove over to Watkinsville so we could visit the Chappelle Gallery and Main Street Yarns. We wandered around the Botanic Garden in the afternoon - beautiful. That night we again attempted beaver-watching, again to no avail. We suspect LG made up the entire beaver saga. He's hoaxy like that.

Saturday was our day to drive up into the Blue Ridge Mountain foothills. I had seen things online about "Alpine Helen", a town made to look sort of Swiss, and wanted to see what that was all about. After enduring much teasing from LG, who assured me that it was cheesier than Swiss cheese, we drove on up there and sure enough, he was right! Oh my. It's just the main highway with hotels and shops and restaurants that sort of have Alpine facades and names. As far as we could tell, the only thing to actually DO there other than shop and eat is to go tubing in the Chatahoochee, which did look like fun but couldn't possibly occupy the throngs of people we saw wandering along the hot sidewalks.

Anyway, we beat it out of there and headed to Cleveland, home of Babyland Hospital, birthplace of Cabbage Patch Kids! The tour was actually interesting and funny. Have you ever seen a cabbage give birth? I thought not. It was silly and fun and brought back memories of Zannah's getting her Cabbage Patch when she was three.

We went for lunch in Hiawasee and discovered that the GA Mountain Fair was going on, so we went to that for the afternoon. There were demonstrations of board-splitting and such, displays of home-made canned goods and crafts, as well as vendors and huge Percherons and cotton candy.

The highlight of the day was the Old Sautee Store with its peepshow and yummy candies and farmer cheese. And bubbles.

On Sunday we met LG at the Grill for brunch then set out for Atlanta, where we got stuck in a massive traffic jam due to road construction. Finally we arrived at the Georgia Aquarium, which was certainly worth all the hassle. I loved the weedy sea dragons and the otters and of course the beluga whales.

In a rare moment of good luck, arriving early at the airport scored us seats on an earlier flight home, which pleased everyone.

As we left Athens, LG asked "when are you coming back?". I wish I knew.

This world is big and so-awake/ I stayed up late to hear your voice

2008-07-01T10:30:00.006-05:00

Our flight home from Toronto was canceled (way to go, American Airlines!) so we arrived on a much later flight. I felt bad that Em had to drive all the way back to her place three hours away, but she needed to be at work the next day.

And so did I! I worked three days of summer school library over at FRHS. It was good because two senior English teachers brought their classes to do the song project for senior theme. It helped that I'm familiar with the project. Anyway, that was an extra $500 or so to go toward my summer adventures.

The next trip was bipedal. First Becky and I flew to New York where we met up with Lydia. As always, New York was fascinating. We had great weather, not too terribly hot this time, and only a few rain showers which didn't interfere with much at all. Quick run-down: Bronx Zoo, Metropolitan Museum of Art (where the Superhero: Fashion and Fantasy exhibit was very interesting to me) and lots and lots of good food.

One day we walked down Broadway; I wanted to browse in the ABC Carpet store and was hoping to have lunch at TeaNY. When we got there it was too crowded (such a tiny place) so we went next door to Bruschetterria for lunch. That was delicious! Then we were able to get a table at TeaNY for dessert, so that worked out perfectly.

Of course the "purpose" of the New York trip was the R.E.M. concert at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night (June 19). Since fan club tickets could only be bought in pairs, Lydia and Becky were sitting on the opposite side of the venue from me. I had bought two tickets, thinking surely I could find someone to go with me, and sure enough, a former KHS student was available and interested. It was cool to be able to share his excitement and his comments. It was neat that he couldn't tell which were old songs and which were from the new album.

I had one band sighting while in the city. We went into a teeny tiny shop (Crumpler) so Lydia could buy a camera bag. There were several people there and boxes on the floor so it was really stuffed. I looked up and saw that Bill Rieflin (drummer for R.E.M.) had come in with another guy who had a bagless camera. I was hoping they would shop for a while but I guess the conditions deterred them, as they left right after I spotted them. Drat.

One of the best parts of the trip was the opportunity to visit with former student John. Our first night in town, we dined at the restaurant where he's working. We were enjoying sitting outside until a thunderstorm popped up and forced us indoors. And let me just say, don't try a pineapple mojito. Not good. Regular mojito much nicer. We spent more time with John and his bf Wednesday. We took the subway to his neighborhood (upper east side) and got food at an adorable cafe, Champignon. Then we dined out on the terrace of his apartment building. It was so fun to meet his second dog, Chloe the Papillon, and to again cuddle Parker the Yorkie.

One evening was spent at the theatre seeing Morgan Freeman, Peter Gallagher and Frances McDorman in The Country Girl. It was an excellent production, and no, seeing Mr Freeman in his boxers was NOT the highlight of the experience for me.

Our time in NY was over too soon, as always, and on Friday we flew off to Atlanta.

Going to a place that’s far, so far away and if that’s not enough

2008-06-28T15:13:00.001-05:00

My summer roaming is done already, so a report is in order.

June 6 - flew to Toronto with Emily. We stayed in Oakville, a western suburb, away from the bustle of the city but close enough for an easy drive (with the assistance of our friendly GPS lady).

Saturday morning we got up and drove to Niagara Falls (Canadian side). The drive isn't especially attractive, it's pretty much industrialized stuff, and the town of Niagara Falls is totally commercialized tourist-trap stuff. They really couldn't ruin the falls themselves though. We parked in the overpriced lot ($20 if I remember correctly) and assumed the fee covered the "people-mover" bus, but no, that was another fee to pay. We bought tickets for the Maid of the Mist boat to the bottom of the falls. Em and I had agreed that this was the one thing we both really wanted to do while there.

Each of us was given a blue plastic poncho. I wish I had realized that the poncho hoods had drawstrings for a very good reason. Since we were near the first of the line to enter the boat, I scrambled up the steps and to the front of the boat. It seemed like a good idea at the time. At some point, Em said she had wondered how so many people had managed to already be wearing "Maid of the Mist" tshirts; then she realized the picture and lettering were on the poncho that we were all wearing. Seems like something I would think!

It was a hot day in Ontario, but as we neared the falls the spray from the water was cooling. the closer we got, the more the spray turned into something resembling a torrential downpour complete with gusty winds. Sort of like standing in a hurricane maybe. I was soon soaked. Because I hadn't drawn the drawstring, the hood was blown off and useless. Water ran down inside the sleeves of the poncho and down inside the front as well. My glasses were so wet I couldn't see through them, but if I took them off I couldn't open my eyes because of the blowing water.

It was wonderful. I was able to open my eyes and peek out enough to appreciate the power and beauty of the falls.

We drove back through Niagara-on-the-Lake, a charming and charmingly expensive little town of B&Bs and cute shops and wineries.

Saturday evening was the Leonard Cohen concert. We decided to go on into downtown Toronto and find dinner near the Sony Centre. Em was seriously wanting some Thai food so we found the name and address of a place and decided to go there. We parked in a garage near the Centre; as we emerged, we noticed that almost every pedestrian was accompanied by a dog. We were both thinking "gosh, Canadians sure love their dogs!" when we noticed tents and booths and blocked-off streets. We had emerged into Woofstock! No time to explore much that evening though.

We couldn't find the restaurant we had in mind but someone recommended another for us, so we went to Spring Rolls. We were able to get a table outside where we could watch the parade of dogs and interesting people. The food was great - they had Em's favorite soup. The other diners were very friendly and we enjoyed talking to Torontonians.

The Cohen concert was all I hoped it would be and then some. For 73, he's remarkably spry! His voice is amazing and his stage presence is mesmerizing. He just went through wonderful song after wonderful song for over two hours. The other musicians were excellent as well, and the backup singers too. A beautiful evening.

Sunday we drove downtown again, parked, and hiked around. We walked up to Chinatown and had a dim sum lunch. We went into almost every booth at Woofstock and both found new collars for our dogs. Even though the R.E.M. concert didn't begin until 6:30, we went on over to Ontario Place early - I was pooped from all that walking in the heat. We caught part of the soundcheck there, which was really cool, and engaged in entertaining people-watching and commenting ("Oh my god, look, he's wearing an REM shirt to an REM concert!!" "Oh, I know, how totally uncool is THAT?!?" *snort* *giggle*).

People began lining up early to enter the venue (why? there was no GA, all reserved seats except for lawn) and I spotted a virtual acquaintance in line so went over to meet her. We went ahead to our seats, then met up with some other acquaintances from The Community. I didn't especially enjoy either of the opening acts: The National and Modest Mouse. MM would have been okay sort of if the "singer" hadn't screamed instead of singing.

The R.E.M. concert was soooo much fun! Em and I (and everyone around us) stood for the entire show. I was surprised at how many people knew the words to the new songs as well as the old ones. I had brought my new camera along and was taking pictures. Our seats were great, close to the front and almost dead center, so I was getting good shots. Finally the guy behind me handed me his card and asked if I would email him the pictures. Then he started suggesting which things I should photograph! Too funny. The guy on my right eventually gave me his email address too, as he wanted to pictures as well.

This brief report has turned into a marathon. Next leg of Summer Tour 08 will be posted later.

Green green grass of home

2008-06-03T12:07:00.003-05:00

One of my very favorite YA authors posted a video on Amazon, ostensibly about his new book which will come out in October. I love this video.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/mpd/permalink/m2LPBA0SKVWTR7

The Bluest Eye

2008-05-24T12:51:00.002-05:00

Me and AA, taken by AA's short little arm, @ The Police concert.

Stung!

2008-05-24T12:37:00.003-05:00

Stole this picture from a pal's blog. I found the Elvis Costello/Police concert to be a lot more fun than I had anticipated. EW had given me a Costello CD so some of his songs were familiar, and I discovered that my subconscious contained most of the Police songs. The photo is Sting singing along with Costello on "Alison". Very cool.

all of a sudden now you're back again

2008-05-10T11:22:00.003-05:00

More Ritterization. *sigh* That boy certainly knows how to put on a show. The audience was really into it too, which just makes everything better.

making all the right moves

2008-05-10T11:03:00.003-05:00

Us getting Ritterized

Ritter getting Ritterized too.

the wind comes a'tickling my knees

2008-05-10T09:45:00.001-05:00

The trip to Athens for the Josh Ritter concert was gorgeous. First off our flight was canceled so instead of having plenty of time to meander over from Atlanta, we were in a mad wicked rush through the dark Georgia night. The show began at 9. We arrived in Atlanta at 7:30ish, snagged a cherry red Impala SS and were off.

I called The Melting Point to have them let LG and RY get their tickets without me being there so they could go on in. We hit the HI at 9 pm, checked in, changed clothes, and hoofed it across downtown. I called LG as we walked and learned that the opener (Ingrid Michaelson) had finished. We got there about 5-10 minutes before Josh took the stage. Our Athenian Angels had saved a table on the second tier and by standing on our sturdy wooden chairs, we were able to see just fine. The crowd was mostly young, though there were some others in my age group-ish, and very enthusiastic, even singing along. As RY told Josh later, Athens crowds are usually much more jaded.

After the show I spent a smallish fortune at the merch table - new tour shirts, people! Josh was signing out by the bus so we got into line. Since I had bought the vinyl of Conquests I tried to get all the band members to sign the album, but Mr. Liam slunk away into the night with his cymbal bag. Another time, maybe. We had a good chat with Mr Austin though. We got our share of time with Josh, hugs and autographs for everyone.

To keep this short, the rest of the weekend was spent eating (The Grill, The Grit X2, Clocked) and hanging out. We drove to Watkinsville so I could shop the sale at the cool yarn shop. We spent time Saturday night wandering the UGA campus with LG as our guide; that hoaxing varmint is not to be trusted! We got to spend a bit of time with EM, though I think our numbers intimidated him a little, bless his subversive little heart.

ears up

2008-04-12T16:04:00.003-05:00

Dang, I let the blog thing get away from me again. So what have I been doing? Walking the dog, working, going to see George Carlin (a little disappointing, he's just an angry old man), running down to Austin to hang out with a pal (including a trip to Hippie Hollow!) and seeing B & P.

What's to look forward to? May will bring a Police and Elvis Costello concert with E, and a trip to Athens with my Girl Posse for a Josh Ritter concert. In June I'll go to Toronto with E for an R.E.M. concert and a side-trip to Niagara Falls. Then my major summer adventure will be seeing R.E.M. in New York at Madison Square Garden and in Atlanta. The new camera should get quite a workout over the next couple of months.

camera

2008-03-17T20:58:00.002-05:00

So far all I've done with the new camera is get pictures of Tybee. I love this one that Zannah took of me and Tyb on our walk Sunday.

Illustrations

2008-03-14T09:53:00.005-05:00

Coming into Bass Hall

2008-03-13T12:57:00.000-05:00

As I left Bass Hall last night, I commented to C, “This was like going to church, only better.” Her reply: “Waaaay better!”

The Arlo Guthrie concert was brilliant in every way. As we were waiting to enter the hall, C said “These people look like they might have gone to college with us.” Yes, the crowd was decidedly middle-aged, with a few younger folks in tow, as well as a few older folks with canes. We looked at the merch and I wanted a “Solo reunion Tour” t-shirt but talked myself out of it; how many t-shirts does one woman need? Anyway, our seats were perfect – the first row on the second orchestra section. Too bad the geezer beside me with either dead or asleep – must have been a dragged-along husband.

Of course I can’t remember the set list, but I do know Arlo played The Motorcycle Song (aka The Pickle Song), City of New Orleans, St James Infirmary, Coming Into Los Angeles, Green Green Rocky Road, The Alice’s Restaurant Massacree, among others. The last song of his set was This Land is Your Land. For the encore he taught us a song that his dad wrote but never set to music, then led us in a sing-along. I wish I could remember the words, but my infamously sieve-like memory has let them trickle out overnight. “My Peace” is the title. While his songs mostly touched my heart, his stories touched my funny-bone. Lord, he’s a great storyteller. C and I hadn’t laughed so much in a long time.

And at intermission? I did buy a t-shirt.

but now the snow

2008-03-06T19:41:00.004-06:00

We're having a blizzard. Well, by north Texas standards, it's a blizzard. It bagan sleeting this morning, then changed to a "wintery mix" as the meteorologists say, then turned to plain old snow falling in huge fluffy flakes. So what did I immediately think?

Photo op!

If we get more snow tonight, school will probably be canceled tomorrow. That's good, but bad, because it'd mean I would have to work on June 5.

at night we crossed the border

2008-03-02T21:05:00.008-06:00

The day after the Dylan concert I left for the borderlands with the Interact Club, for which I'm faculty adviser. We went with members of the Keller Rotary, the Grapevine Rotary and Interact, and one guy from the Metroport Rotary, in whose vehicle I happened to ride, along with three juniors from my school. The girls were great; funny, nice, just super kids. Our driver enjoyed them very much.

So we drove about seven hours to Del Rio and checked into the hotel. We were supposed to go across to Cuidad Acuna for dinner at a certain time but the G'vine people were running very late arriving so we had to wait for them. We finally got to the Taco Grill around 8 p.m. They had the same funky guy (with a toupee, I think) playing the keyboard and singing. The kids really got into the dancing this year. Senor Keyboard played Achy Breaky Heart and some ladies from the Rotary taught the moves to the kids. Then he played the Macarena. Oh my.

We had mariachis too.

Saturday morning we crossed back into Mexico to spend the day painting classrooms at the Escuela Benito Juarez. The school was generally in worse condition than the one we painted last year, but at least some rooms had plaster over the bricks so they were easier to paint with rollers. Painting the rooms white certainly made them look clean and bright, but if I do this again next year, I'll take some bottles of acrylics to paint some flowers or stencils or something to brighten them up a bit. The Interact kids worked hard and had a really good time. Many of them made an effort to attempt to communicate with the children who came to watch, help, and score free tshirts .

After a full day of work, we went back to the hotel to clean up and rest up before crossing the border yet again to enjoy a dinner hosted by the Acuna Rotary. We went to the same place as last year but I thought this year's food was better - they grilled meat out back, and had the best cheese quesadillas ever. The kids talked big about how they were going to stay up all night, go to the hotel sauna, etc, but on the drive back the girls in our car conceded that they were entirely too tired for that and would be tumbling straight into bed. Smart gals.

I often seem to dread excursions such as this, but then they almost always turn out to be great experiences, and this trip was no exception. I hope I can remember that next year and be enthusiastic in my agreement to go along again.

the answer, my friend

2008-03-02T12:55:00.003-06:00

It has been suggested that I write about seeing Bob Dylan in concert in Dallas recently (Feb. 21, to be exact, at House of Blues). Sweet Zannah agreed to accompany me; she loves some Dylan herself, particularly the "stoner song". Anyway, we got to the right area after a couple of missed turns on my part, then drove around looking for a place to have dinner before the concert. Finally we decided on El Fenix, which is reliable and quick. Zannah had a lovely peach margarita; I enjoyed a sip.

We made it into the venue shortly before the concert began. Since we had GA floor tickets, we first tried to get into the main crowd but as always, just when we thought we were settled the tallest, broadest man in the building came and plonked himself down in front of us. We retreated to the back, where we could see pretty well actually. Unfortunately, that was the lair of the folks who paid $70 to drink and talk with Dylan as background music. Idiots. The acoustics weren't good there either. We moved back into the crowd down front and managed to be able to get a decent view for the rest of the show, as well as to hear it.

And hearing is pretty dang important. Dylan played some old classics but they were reworked so as to be unrecognizable. That makes it impossible for me to mention the set list! However, I have lifted that from a Bob-blog:

1.	Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat (Bob on electric guitar)
2.	It Ain't Me, Babe (Bob on electric guitar)
3.	Watching The River Flow (Bob on electric guitar)
4.	Girl Of The North Country (Bob on keyboard and harp)
5.	Rollin' And Tumblin' (Bob on keyboard)
6.	Workingman's Blues #2 (Bob on keyboard)
7.	High Water (For Charlie Patton) (Bob on keyboard)
8.	Spirit On The Water (Bob on keyboard and harp)
9.	Can't Wait (Bob on keyboard)
10.	Highway 61 Revisited (Bob on keyboard)
11.	Positively 4th Street (Bob on keyboard and harp)
12.	Honest With Me (Bob on keyboard)
13.	Nettie Moore (Bob on keyboard)
14.	Summer Days (Bob on keyboard)
15.	Ballad Of A Thin Man (Bob on keyboard and harp)

	(encore)
16.	Thunder On The Mountain (Bob on keyboard)
17.	Blowin' In The Wind (Bob on keyboard)

It was just amazing to be in the same room with a legend.

Here's the review from The Dallas Morning News:

BY THOR CHRISTENSEN / The Dallas Morning News
tchristensen@dallasnews.com

"You think I’m over the hill?" Bob Dylan sang with sneer Thursday night at the House of Blues. "You think I’m past my prime?"

The answer, my friends, isn't blowing in the wind. It’s a very concrete "No."

At his best, the 66-year-old legend was full of spit and venom – a grizzled blues master with a voice that bordered on the demonic. And even when the show wobbled – as it did for about a third of the 105-minute set – Mr. Dylan still gave it his all, bobbing his shoulders and pummeling his keyboard in "Highway 61 Revisited" like he was Little Richard.

Before the show, there was reason to believe Mr. Dylan might not be at his best. He hasn’t played live in four months, and his handlers were apparently so sure he’d be rusty they issued a statement saying press wasn’t invited to his three sold-out H.O.B. shows.

What next? No fans under 30 allowed? No one who doesn’t own Slow Train Coming? No eye-rolling during his harmonica solos?

They needn’t have been so uptight. It was one of Mr. Dylan’s more exciting Dallas gigs in recent decades – much better than in ’95 at the Dallas Music Complex or ‘03 at the Granada, though not as stunning as his ‘99 Starplex show with Paul Simon.

Dressed in black, with a wide-brimmed hat blocking his face, Mr. Dylan walked on to the dimly lit stage flanked by his usual band – longtime bassist Tony Garnier, drummer George Recili, pedal steel player Donnie Herron and guitarists Stu Kimball and Denny Freeman (who’s originally from Dallas).

Despite the four-month break, they started the show with a bang: A rocking version of "Leopard-Skin Pill Box Hat," followed by a wicked jump blues overhaul of "Watching the River Flow." Soon after, Mr. Dylan unplugged his guitar and retreated for the rest of the show to electric keyboard – his instrument of choice in recent years.

Visually, Keyboard Bob isn’t nearly as fun to watch as Electric Guitar Bob. But it gave Mr. Freeman more room to execute his knife-like guitar solos in songs like "Thunder on the Mountain" and Muddy Waters’ "Rollin and Tumblin." And when the whole band kicked into high-octane blues-rock ("Can’t Wait,’’ "High Water (For Charley Patton)") they were the world’s best middle-aged garage band.

They had their share of tentative moments in slower songs like "Nettie Moore." And some of the new arrangement didn't work, especially the dirge-paced "Positively 4TH Street."

But for every fizzled experiment, another one soared, like the bizarre, Brian Eno-style "Girl of the North Country" and the fiddle-laced waltz version of "Blowin’ in the Wind" that closed the show.

Curveballs like that tend to confuse casual fans who like to hear the hits played the way they know them. But Mr. Dylan couldn’t care less: He keeps everyone guessing – including himself – which is why he’ll never be past his prime.

I feel I'm owed some joy

2008-01-27T19:56:00.000-06:00

So is this the cutest little fluffy black face you've ever seen or what? Yes, we are totally in love with our Tybee. He actually has shown his naughty side recently - twice he's gotten into the kitchen trash and ingested things that were not intended to be ingested by man or beast. He hasn't lost any weight so I've cut his rations starting today. The weather was gorgeous yesterday so we had a long ramble at Bear Creek Park, where he enjoyed watching the ducks.

Hubby and I made use of my free Stock Show tickets this afternoon; beautiful weather for wandering around outdoors. We had a little lunch there - red beans and rice for me, gumbo for him, then looked at the cattle, sheep, and goats as well as the commercial exhibits. Neither of us felt moved to make any other purchases though. No llamas today, alas.

What else? Let's see . . . nothing new at work, just the usual suspects grumbling and thinking of quitting. Not that I would blame anyone. Heck, I might move on myself if there was anything I could do that anyone else would pay me to do. In an effort to bring the library into the 21st century, I spent some time Friday getting our schedule on the website. If anyone bothers to look, it could be useful.

I'm still spending about an hour every night helping hubby search for a new job.

Oh, and you know how I wrote that my little blue car was gone? Well, it's back. The guy bought it for his wife and she wanted something larger so we took it back and had the repairs done.

songs from a station wagon

2008-01-13T12:51:00.000-06:00

Well, the Mava-mobile is gone. I'm really sad to no longer have my little blue wagon, but it had simply developed too many problems and needed too much money put into it. I don't know what I can do about getting a new personalized license plate for the Beetle, which I'll be driving now.

At this moment I have a little black dog curled up behind my chair in a sunny spot on the floor. I'm pleasantly full of tofu and brown rice and apple. I wish I could simply be content in this moment but there are many changes afoot so my mind is in a bit of a whirl.

to the dogs or whoever

2008-01-12T15:46:00.000-06:00

How could I have failed to post about the biggest news of the year?

I got a dog! A little black dog, more specifically. Fluffy. Rescue dog. Supposed to be a mix of Pomeranian and spaniel. Ish.

Anyway, his name is Tybee (aka Tybers, Tyberius, and Ty-Ty). Even hubby loves him already. He's a sweet and friendly little guy. He's got me walking about 30 minutes almost every day, at a brisk pace (his short little legs really move). He's great in the car and doesn't have accidents in the house. I do feel bad about leaving him alone while I'm at work but he's very very happy to see me when I get home.

In other news: I'm ready to move from this house (I'm pretty sure of that) into a smaller one more reasonable for just two people. We've been looking already. Of course when T gets a plan into his head, he wants to plunge forward, so I'm having to drag my heels a bit to be sure we're doing the right thing. We're looking at some that are very close to the best park in town, which would make it really convenient for Tybee-walking. The downsides, of course, would be less room for guests and no more pool. Boo hoo. I'd manage somehow.

What else? Let's see. I'm excited about the upcoming new music: an album from Moby and one from R.E.M., plus an R.E.M. tour (woot!). I'm pretty sad that they'll be at SXSW this year when my spring break is the next week, but I may take a half-day off to go try to get into the venue or at least hang around outside listening (I'm hoping they'll be in the outdoor "amphitheatre" of the place).

Work. Oh my. Things have happened that I cannot share here, but the situation is depressing and frustrating and annoying. How's that? At least I still get lots of pleasure from individual students and am enjoying my involvement with Natural Helpers, Interact, and even Culture Club.

And hubby just sold my car. Yes, the mava-mobile is going bye-bye. It's been having too many problems and we don't want to put money into it, so he sold it to a co-worker who can do the repairs himself. A good investment for that guy, and it gets a problem off our hands. Looks like I'll be in the little green Beetle for a while.

bright smiles galore

2007-11-30T21:57:00.000-06:00

So tonight I'm in a hotel across the freeway from Alliance Airport, attdning Natural Helpers training with 29 teens and a smattering of adults from school. At this moment we're having "activity time"; the kids are in a large room across the hall playing noisy games. I'm checking in online, fighting sleep, waiting for bedtime.

So far today we've done trust exercises and practiced active listening skills. I've also eaten entirely too much - donut, pizza, barbeque. If I outgrow these jeans, I'm sunk. I'm already in my "fat jeans". The Program begins in earnest Monday. Really. Remind me of that when I cheat, please.

I'm enjoying these kids - mostly freshmen and sophs with a few juniors. They're smart and cute and friendly. And I've had a chance to talk with a few teachers whom I haven't known very well, so that's cool too. One has a truly hideous Boston terrier. Our SRO led a session tonight - he was pretty crazy and a really good singer. At the beginning he sang the entire song from Willy Wonka (I dunno the name, the one about imagination) and at the end he sang a Mr Rogers song. But it worked.

I've been thinking about hubby and how miserable he is at work. I hope we can find something else for him soon, or else figure out how to live on MUCH less income. I don't know what to do, but something has to change. I feel really bad for him.

Night.

memories were like coins that tumbled

2007-11-28T17:43:00.000-06:00

Well dang, I have readers! I had no idea that anyone would notice a new blog so quickly. *blush*

So I suppose I should say more. Thanksgiving was an adventure this year because I had a guest from the Netherlands. It was her second trip to the US and first time in Texas, so it was quite interesting to see things through her eyes. She's very curious and interested in many things, so I spent a lot of time answering questions and showing sights. It was nice to get out to three museums (all in Fort Worth) as well as the Dallas World Aquarium, the Stockyards, and some shops. Turning a vegetarian animal-rights activist thrifty European into a rabid consumer was kind of fun (even though I know she's back to her old habits by now and was really only doing Christmas shopping and taking advantage of the lovely Bush economy). One very exciting event was that I converted her to rabid Ritterdom. Heh.

Ann stayed in Jessica's room during her visit - she was Jess's friend first, on the Moby board. Just this evening I discovered a note Ann left behind on the bedside table, with a poem about Jessica that brought tears to my eyes. Beautiful.

the ships to set me free

2007-11-27T21:55:00.001-06:00

Dangittie, it's been forever since I last blogged and I'm too sleepy tonight to say much. San Diego. Boise. Austin. Reno. Austin again. San Marcos. Upcoming adventure: with the husband to El Paso and Albuquerque, Flat Pablo in tow (though he isn't flat, actually. . . yet).

Seriously, I've been roaming a lot this fall, and expect my usual Dear Readers already know about that so there's not much point in going into it all here.

I left off with waiting for my new aide to begin work. She's been with us now for a couple of months or so and is working out well. She's not JA, but she has her own strengths.

Story from today: I was over in the assistant principal's area, walking down the hall past the principal's office. Saw him unlocking his door, so as I drew even with him I said a cheery "good morning". I heard him say, enthusiastically, "Good morning! How are you?" and instantly realized that he was talking to another lady who was still down the hall, completely ignoring little old moi, who was right freakin' beside the idiot. I swear.

on the second day of scho-ol my true love gave to me....

2007-08-28T20:54:00.000-05:00

a new aide. Well, actually, my true love didn't give me squat, but the assistant principal had me participate in interviews of three potential aides. I liked all three and felt they all could do the job. For a couple of reasons, #3 was eliminated, leaving me the day to ponder which of the other two to choose. The AP had told them that she'd let them know one way or the other today, so I ahd to make a decision.

I'm not so good at making decisions. I generally dither, faff, ponder, take a while to meditate. There was not that luxury today, so I made a selection. I hope I made the right, best choice. I truly felt that either lady would be good at the job, and I liked them both. Dang. that made it soooo hard. I hope the one I didn't choose isn't too disappointed.

Now we have to wait for HR to approve the applicant, so I suppose it'll be next week before she gets to start.

I had two classes come to the library today for book talks and check-out, and will have 6 tomorrow and 5 Thursday. More Friday. I'm already booked up through next week. This is crazy.

Fairy elves, Whose midnight revels by a forest side

2007-08-25T20:56:00.001-05:00

Let me try to wrap up the rest of my UK holiday in July, what parts I can still remember at least. So Monday, July 9: J and I went to St Albans after getting the kids off to school (which was complicated by the enterprise scheme for T, who had to take tons of supplies for making toasties with some other girls). When we were over there in January it was cold and we ran out of time for seeing the Roman ruins. This time we headed straight for the Roman theatre ruins http://www.romantheatre.co.uk/. This was very interesting for me. Then we strolled over to the Roman wall and also went into the hypocaust building to see the mosaic floor. http://www.stalbansmuseums.org.uk/hypocaust.htm After seeing plenty of old stuff (no, I wasn't using a mirror, hah hah) we found a pub for lunch, then popped in and out of shops. I found a set of hedgehog salt and pepper shakers! Extremely cute.

We had to get back to J's house before the kids were out of school. We went in to check on the enterprise scheme and I bought a lovely ham and cheese toastie from T and her friends. It was really nice to see the inside of a little British school and the kids looked adorable in their blue uniforms. I so wish we could require uniforms at our school.

Later that afternoon J, T, and I took Ammy for a walk through the park. Ammy is sooo sweet and happy, such a pleasure to be with. It was really nice to be in a place where one can go for a walk in July without risking heat stroke. I especially enjoyed seeing the canal boats along the way. So quaint. It'd be fun for me and T to take a bit of a trip in one, I think..

On Tuesday, M took the day off work and he drove me and J to the Buckinghamshire town of Chalfont St Giles where we toured Milton's Cottage http://www.miltonscottage.org/aboutmiltonscottage.htm. This was very interesting and really sort of amazing to me, to be wandering around in a cottage that had been used by such a famous and important poet. He lived there while he was completing Paradise Lost. There are various editions of Milton's works on display.

After the cottage, we went to the town duck pond and had a picnic lunch. I love having little picnics in England.

On Wednesday morning I was set to fly home early, so poor Mike had to get up before dawn and drive me over to Heathrow. When I went to check in for my flight, I was informed that it had been cancelled. ARGH! They had switched me to a later flight, so I (and Mike) could have slept later. Oh well. I don't mind hanging around a decent airport for a while.

It was a lovely trip for me all around. My friends there are such kind and generous people, and the children are cute and polite and funny and the family dog is perfection. Oh, not to mention the desserts. YUM. Sticky toffee pudding on my last night there.

2007-08-23T21:30:00.000-05:00

Due to popular demand (okay, well, Lydia-demand anyhow) I'm blogging again already.

My summer holiday is over. This Tuesday I had to go back to work at the library, and got the confirmation that one of my aides, JA, is transaferring to another high school to job-share. I'm happy for her, she worked long and hard to get her degree and become a librarian, and it's actually a good situation for her, though she'd love to be getting the entire salary instead of a portion. Today we had a secondary librarians meeting and she was there in her new capacity. It was fun, though it took some adjusting for everyone. Whenever she said "we" I wasn't sure if she meant "we" as in my school or "we" as in where she is now. She usually meant my school, as she still thinks of herself as part of my team. I'll take her a little while to adjust.

Meanwhile, I'm searching for a new aide. I may have someone to interview in the morning. If she doesn't pan out, I'm pretty much at a deadend. The position hasn't been posted on the district website yet though, so there could be someone out there for me. It's jsut going to be really rough to start school Monday with only the two of us. I'll have to train the student aides (that was part of JA's job) and then when I get a new paraprofessional aide, I'll have to train her, all the while hoping that my other aide doesn't try to run her off like she did when JA was new.

It's all too complicated. What it boils down to is that this is going to be an extremely difficult and trying fall. Oh well. One day at a time. Laugh, and the world laughs with you.

Fortunately, the new Josh Ritter CD has some songs that have not yet failed to bring a smile to my face, so if I can listen to at least one on my way to work every morning, and maybe have a chance to hear one at lunchtime, I can get through this with that smile firmly in place.

2007-08-18T12:55:00.000-05:00

Okay, obviously I'm so far behind that I'll never finish my UK blogging in time to write about Georgia before I forget everything, so, I'm skipping on to GA right now. Like it or lump it.

Zannah and I left midmorning last Friday, driving east in the Beetle. We failed to stock up on trash magazines before heading out, so made multiple stops in search of mind-candy: US, OK!, and even The Enquirer. We also stopped to eat a couple of times. Around 10 pm we checked into a hotel in Meridian, Mississippi, to spend the night. Saturday we pressed on and arrived at Hard Labor Creek State Park around 4 pm. After settling into our cottage, we drove toward Athens and called Larry and Renee as soon as we could get a cell signal. Larry was working, but we met Renee at the Grit for dinner - the veggie plate, as usual, and dessert (pineapple/rhubarb pie for me).

Sunday morning we picked up Renee and a slightly MIA Larry and headed north to Dahlonega, site of the first gold rush in US history in 1833. We checked out the small town, then drove to a mine where we could pan for gold. It's kind of silly - you give them $$ and they give you a plastic bag full of sand and gravel. You go over to a trough and get a pan and proceed to slosh through your bag of dirt in search of gold. We all found some tiny flecks and teeny nuggety-thingies, so it was fun. We had a great lunch at The Crimson Moon, where there was a mountain-music jam session going on.

The Crimson Moon, Dahlonega, GA.

We also drove to Amicalola Falls State Park, and walked down the trail to the waterfall. A lovely place.

Monday Zannah and I went to Watkinsville so I could go to the yarn shop we discovered last November. It's moved location, but a phone call to Larry got us to the right place. I found some lovely yarns, and Zannah decided she wants to learn to knit, so we got her a book. We went to the grocery store, then went back out to our cottage so Zannah could make dinner for our guests, Renee and Larry! She roasted new potatoes from the Daily Co-op, and made a pizza with fresh basil, mushrooms, bell peppers, mozzarella, and added olives that Larry brought out with him. It was yummy!
On Tuesday we met Renee at Weaver D's for lunch. As we arrived, we noticed a camera crew. The Travel Channel was filming for their Taste of America program. EEK! We all had to sign a release form, so it's possible our faces could appear on the show when it airs in January. Eating at WEaver D's was an experience. The guy randomly calls out "Communicate!" or "Automatic!". The corn muffin was probably the best one I've ever had in my life. Lord knows how much fat
was in it. Watching the crew interview the folks in the restaurant was fun.

Tuesday afternoon Renee had to work, so Zannah and I shopped at Junkman's Daughter's Brother, then went back to the cottage for a shower and rest before going back to town to meet Larry and Renee for dinner at A Taste of India. Then we wandered over to Paul's shop and hung out a little, then met Renee's friend Jeff and went to a show at The Morton Theatre. They were taping for the radio show, Athens 441, and the first two acts were guys Renee knows. Peter was good fun, I enjoyed his music a lot. Then it was Steven, whom Renee had played with at that very theatre a few years ago when they opened for Robyn Hitchcock! www.myspace.com/greenlawns He was really good.

Josh Ritter: To the Dogs or Whoever

2007-08-18T12:44:00.001-05:00

Josh Ritter: Mind's Eye

2007-08-18T12:43:00.001-05:00

Hobbiton and The Shire?

2007-07-26T21:04:00.000-05:00

After our picnic at the Rollright Stones, we stopped off at a nearby farm shop for ice cream and a chance to pat the baby water buffaloes.

Then we drove to the town of Burford, a very charming place indeed. I popped into quite a few shops on the main street and found a sweet sleeping hedgie statue for my collection. The flowers on the stone buildings were magnificent. Tabs found some very cute summer shoes in one of the shops. I heard requests for more ice cream, but Joanne seemed to remember that some had already been eaten; drat.

Then we drove on over to Oxford for a quick look around. The colleges were all closed for the day, but we strolled around the streets outside, past several colleges and the Bodleian Library. I was thrilled to see the pub where J.R.R. Tolkien and his colleagues used to hang out.

If I had been alone, I probably would have gone inside and ordered a pint, then sat there dreaming of being a hobbit or something equally "me."

After that, we had to get back to Watford so the kids could get into bed - school the next day. It had been a beautiful day out in the English countryside - just what I had wanted, so I went to bed tired and satisfied. And full of pudding, too.

like a pendulum do

2007-07-22T21:02:00.000-05:00

From Dublin we flew back to Gatwick, where Lydia helped me get my ticket for the correct train to Watford. Her train was leaving just before mine from the same platform, so we had a few more minutes to chat. She got an ugly dirty train. I got a shiny green pretty one. Hah!

At Watford Junction I was met by a speeding Max and laughing Tabs, followed by their dad. When we got to their home, I was greeted by a wet tongue in my ear. Joanne should have been making dinner, but.... oh, right, the tongue was Amanita's, never mind. We had the first in a series of yummy dinners, then were off to bed so we could be ready
for a busy Saturday.

Around noon on Saturday we were ready to head into London to see the first stage of the Tour de France. I know next to nothing about bicycle racing, but it was fun to be in the crowd of spectators watching the cyclists in their brightly-colored spandex whizzing past. After we had had enough of that, we set off for the Victoria and Albert Museum, only to arrive right after they had closed for the day. Undaunted, we dashed across the road to the Natural History Museum instead. We only had about 15 minutes there before they closed.

We hadn't been able to take the train to London because of station closures, so we got back to the car and drove home.

On Sunday morning we set out in the direction of the Cotswalds. I had wanted to see a standing stone circle and Mike had suggested the Rollright Stones. Little did we know at the time that the reason he knew about these stones was that they're mentioned in a Half Man Half Biscuit lyric. *insert eye-rolling smilie here* Anyway, since I wasn't being picky, they were dandy standing stones for a visit. When we arrived there (near Chipping Norton) we got out our picnic and had lunch near the stones.

We noticed a silver-haired man standing in the center of the circle with his hands on a woman's head, rocking her back and forth. There was some other odd activity going on - a guy with some metal rods sort of wandering around with some concentration. After our picnic, the man saw the kids and asked if they'd like to learn to use his dowsing rods. Of course they were eager to give it a try. They picked it up immediately and we successfully commanding the rods in no time.

Next Joanne had a try, then me. I wasn't very good at it at all. The man said I was trying t0o hard or something. Oh well, I did get the rods to move some of the time. It was fun to mess around with them, anyway. Mike got them to move by saying "ghostbusters" instead of "thank you". There was a beautiful patch of red poppies growing in the field just past the stones. It made me wish Zannah were there to enjoy them with me.

had a fever

2007-07-18T20:38:00.000-05:00

After the 4 July "not a show" we (me, Lydia, WH, WVO, and the Cresswells) met up with Astrid and wandered into a pub for a drink - shortly before closing time, but I was totally exhausted and Lydia wasn't feeling well, so we needed to get back to the hotel soon anyway. It was great to finally meet someone I've known only online for, gosh, about 4 years now, and who knew Jess before that. On the morning of the 5th, we overslept and missed breakfast at the hotel. Oh well. Our plan was to visit the National Museum, just across the road from the hotel, and we found a coffee shop (with chocolate croissants and diet Coke!) around the corner. We'd been in the museum only a little while when WVO caught up with us, so we toured together. He wanted to take the Jameson Whiskey Distillery tour, so we three walked across the river to the Smithfield area and embarked on the tour. As we were purchasing tickets, we saw that there was a nice discounted family rate, so we entertained the notion of claiming that we were Wim's lesbian mothers. Oh well, at least he got a student discount. The tour was pretty interesting and at the end we had samples of the whiskey. I got the one mixed with cranberry juice, and have to admit it was fairly tasty that way. After that, we strolled back to the Temple Bar area and had dinner (seafood pancakes) before making our way once more to the Olympia. It was another magical night of rocking music from an enthusiastic band for an equally enthusiastic audience.

Afterward, I was able to meet AH, a member of both Murmurs and the Moby board. She and her husband are a charming German couple. Since pubs were closing and I missed Astrid suggesting a club, we went to Eddie Rocket's for diner-style stuff, which was just as well. Lydia and WVO had a good opportunity to visit, and Astrid spoke German with AH & hubby. They're funny and cute and I was glad to meet in person.

So ended our second night in Dublin. Determined to get our hotel Irish breakfast on our last morning, we put in a wake-up call and arose at 8 a.m. on Friday. After enjoying our breakfast, we checked out and got Paddy to store our bags so we could do some shopping before our flight back to Gatwick. Despite repeated text-message efforts to find The Boys, we ended up shopping on our own and only seeing them for just long enough for goodbye hugs by the Molly Malone statue.

Don't even get me started on the Ryanair experience at Dublin airport. Feedlot without the feed. Mass confusion. Delayed flight, of course. Our "gate" was assigned to our Gatwick flight as well as a flight to Oslo, so the line was a huge mess.

Next entry - on to jolly old England.

streets broad and narrow

2007-07-18T09:22:00.000-05:00

So. 4 July, 2007. As I was saying, we (me, Lydia, WH and WVO) went to dinner in the Temple Bar area; no, I don't remember the name of the place, but I had some lovely chicken and mushrooms. No pear cider, but the apple was nice. After the meal, we ambled down the narrow lanes back to the Olympia to take our seats: first circle, row D. WH was several rows behind us, and it turned out that J&M were almost directly in front of us. It was grand to have a chance to visit with them a bit before the show.

Opener was Via Rosa, otherwise known to the memory-impaired as Viagra (because, as Lydia said, they helped Robyn hitch his cock). Their music is okay, nothing special. After a couple songs from them, Robyn Hitchcock joined them. Then the Viagra guys left and Robyn was joined by two of the Venus Three - Scott McCaughey and Bill Rieflin. Robyn is so bizarre and so entertaining..
Then finally, R.E.M. (+2) took the stage for the "working rehearsal". Mills used the bullhorn to make certain that everyone knew "This is NOT a show". No, it wasn't a "show". It was something far better - an opportunity to see the guys relaxed and happy, in "making music for the fun of it" mode instead of "performing because we have to" mode.

There are reviews of the "shows" elsewhere. For me personally, much of the evening was spent thinking how much Jessica would have loved to have been there. Yes, it would have fed her obsession with JMS, but seeing him enjoying himself, smiling, relaxed, would have meant the world to her.

singing cockles and mussels

2007-07-17T21:31:00.000-05:00

Dublin. July 4-6. Left DFW July 3. Of course the flight was delayed, as were almost all flights during this period of unusual (for Texas summer) daily thunderstorms. I knew I would probably be late arriving at Gatwick, so carried on both my bags for the trip. Got to Gatwick around 11 Wednesday morning instead of 8, as planned, so dashed through immigration and over to the other terminal, searched high and low for the Ryanair desk, got checked in, hustled through security, and made it to the departure lounge with minutes to spare. After a quick stop in the ladies room, I was wandering back out to look for Lydia when she serendipitously found me. Of course, our flight to Dublin was delayed (the story of my summer travels) but we made it there around 4 p.m.

As we were riding the bus to our hotel, Lydia got the first of many text messages from friends we were meeting: "Where are you NOW?". We both cracked up. Fortunately, the bus dropped us off just across the road from the hotel, and I immediately saw WH out front waiting for us. Hugs all around. Eventually he got hold of WVO and we all walked together over to the Olympia to pick up our tickets for the 4th of July "working rehearsal" of R.E.M. Tickets in hand, we chatted to a couple of people in the queue for standing spots, then continued on to dinner.

(more later....eyes are tired)

shuffle off

2007-07-17T21:08:00.001-05:00

How sad is this? I need to finish writing about the New York trip so I can move on to the Dublin and Watford trips.

Okay, so after Book Expo I met up with friends Lydia and Nicky, from England. I was the first to arrive at our hotel, which Lydia had booked, accompanied by John. As the car pulled up to the hotel, we saw a giant inflatable rat tied to a pole outside the entrance. There was a labor protest going on. I thought the protesters were very rude, and I knew Lydia had pre-paid for the room, so I went on in and checked in. The room was gorgeous! After a while, Lydia and Nicky got there and called from the lobby, wondering if we should stay there or not because of the labor situation. We decided to stay.

Anyway, enough of that! The days in NYC were great! Sights: Empire State Building, Bronx Zoo, harbor cruise in the evening, MOMA, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Guggenheim, Natural History Museum. Food: too much to name! We ate a couple of times at the restaurant where John works - complimentary mimosas on Saturday from our handsome waiter (another friend and her husband met up with us that day).

Chocolate cheesecake so big that I couldn't finish it.

Of course it wasn't all food food food. We strolled through Central Park. We tried to visit St Patrick's Cathedral but made the error of attempting that on the day of the Puerto Rico parade. Couldn't get across 5th, and were pressed in enormous crowds for a good while.

I fell completely in love with John's Yorkie, Parker.
Snatches: mariachi buskers on the subway; breakdancers in the station; Dominican food in John's neighborhood; yorkie fashion show; cheap jewelry; silk wrap skirt; morning run for diet pepsi.

a brilliant night, I'm still awake

2007-06-21T12:07:00.000-05:00

I'm going to include some extraneous details here because there are things that I'll forget, which I want to remember, so bear with me, please.

For the Book Expo, I stayed first at the Hotel Metro on W. 35th St. It was pretty good, except the AC wasn't adequate. Then I spent one night at an official conference hotel, Holiday Inn Midtown. It was very nice, had good AC, large room, and was affordable because of the conference rate.

After the Expo ended, I went to visit my young friend John at his apartment on the upper upper west side, in an old building with a marble and tile lobby and marble staircase. He lives on the second floor with Bridget the cat and Parker the yorkie, along with a human roommate or two. I totally fell in love with Parker and want a yorkie of my own now. What a tiny sweetheart!

It was wonderful to be able to spend so much time with John and catch up on his hectic life. We went for a stroll with Parker, went out to eat at his neighborhood diner, made a trip to the dollar store down the street. It was all fun. He even came along on some adventures with me and my friends later in the week.

"she is too fond of books, and it has addled her brain"

2007-06-20T14:11:00.000-05:00

How awesome was the New York trip? Empire State, Guggenheim, Bronx Zoo, MOMA, Natural History, Met. Harbor lights cruise. Time with John.

Book Expo America:
http://www.bookexpoamerica.com/App/homepage.cfm?moduleid=42&appname=288

I attended this with another librarian from my district; we got along well, both willing to be together or go separately to do our own thing. We adventuresomely went to Kmart, since she hadn't packed enough undies; who knew there was a Kmart in Manhattan?

At the Expo, I went to three informative sessions - the best was about how to plan author visits. I traipsed around both levels of the Javits several times, becoming more and more laden with free tote bags, advance reader copies of books, pens, pins, bookmarks, you name it, I got it. Crazy.

The best thing about the Expo (well, in addition to the free totes) was the opportunity to just run into authors. I went to the booth of the publisher for Jan Brett because I had seen people carrying a tote with the art from her Three Snow Bears book and I wanted one, and when I got there, she was there too. Jan Brett. Just hanging around. We chatted about hedgehogs. Another time I noticed John Green so I waited til he was free and went to tell him my thoughts upon finishing An Abundance of Katherines.

Friday night during Expo, we went to a concert by the Rock Bottom Remainders. http://www.rockbottomremainders.com
How amazing that was! Stephen King, Amy Tan, Mitch Albom, Greg Iles, Scott Turow and others, playing like a garage band. Frank McCourt came out and played harmonica (a little, bless his heart). Lesley Gore sang with them. Then they brought out Roger McGuinn; what a dream come true for a long-time Byrds fan, to be singing along with Roger McGuinn, in person, in a small hall. I'm so glad we decided to go to that concert.

More on New York to follow.

Books

2007-05-24T21:31:00.000-05:00

Oh dear. I've dreadfully neglected this blog. I suppose there's been nothing blog-worthy going on, but now that school is almost over for the year, I can begin getting excited about some trips.

Next week I'll go to New York City, first for Book Expo and then to hang out with some friends from England who are coming over. The Book Expo is huge, at the Javitz Center, and from what I've heard, I'll be hauling home tons of freebies, including advance readers copies of book. I'm especially excited about the chance to get an ARC of Libba Bray's new book. On Friday night, my colleague (elementary librarian) and I will go to a concert, The Rock-Bottom Remainders (Stephen King's band). All good.

After Book Expo, I'll stay a couple of nights with a former student, a total sweetie. Then I'll meet up with the Brits for a week of frivolity. We have tickets for Inherit the Wind and The Pirate Queen on Broadway. We've researched restaurants, museums, all the things we need to see and do and eat.

More adventure previews later, with reports to follow.

halfway to the stars

2007-04-08T11:14:00.000-05:00

Taken by surprise sometimes, at odd moments. Yesterday afternoon I was enjoying my ADK chapter's 50th anniversary party. We had a singer performing the music of Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, and it was lovely. He has a great voice and we were swaying and chorus-lining and having a grand old time. Then he started singing "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" and I had to go hide in the ladies room so no one would noticed the tears. I still can't listen to the tape of Jessica singing that song, made only a couple of weeks before her death. I tried once, couldn't do it. Maybe someday, but the association of that song with her is too much.

I'll remember your song

2007-03-18T19:55:00.000-05:00

I am dealing with the approaching anniversary by keeping as busy as possible. Spring Break this past week was good. A friend from England came to visit and we spent the latter half of the week in Austin for SXSW, along with another friend. We made a good threesome, all got along and enjoyed one another's company. Also went to Dallas Blooms (see above). Now I'm pretty much worn out, and have lots to do at work the next couple of days, and at home as well, so there'll be no time for melancholy. Time for reflection, I hope, but not enough time to dwell on the "what ifs".

Pictures from SXSW:

the broken heart that's lonely's only thought

2007-03-06T17:39:00.000-06:00

Feeling weepy today, thinking too much. Sometimes I just want it to all be over.

meanwhile, back in London

2007-03-03T12:50:00.000-06:00

I believe I left off as we were going to the Robyn Hitchcock and the Venus 3 show. That was fun as well as interesting. The venue was basically a largeish room with bars on either side and a stage at the front. It was already fairly crowded when we arrived, so there was no chance to get to the front, which was just as well. We quickly found Ll & H, and then AP; 'twas good to see her again, though briefly. We couldn't chat because the opening band was too loud, of course, and she had a seat in a roped off area to the side at the front. Everyone else was standing.

We sort of staked out our turf midway back, off to one side a bit. Eventually some very very tall men got in front of us, which was a tad annoying. The concert was very good. I'm not very familiar with RH's music, but it was a good and fun show, and nice to see PLB and SM and BR looking like they were having fun. Pretty near the end, Z and I needed the loo and once we went back there, we found that the back part of the room was much cooler than the front, so we stayed back there, could hear fine and see almost as well.

The funniest part of the evening was when the concert ended. Our normally genial host seemed to be in a big hurry to leave, practically bolted like a bunny. I was ready to get home anyway, so that was fine with me.

Friday J took us to nearby St Albans. It was a cool, windy, dampish day. We walked past the ruins of a Roman wall and went to visit the very large cathedral. www.stalbanscathedral.org.uk. After touring the cathedral, we wandered around town a bit and found a pub for lunch. Starving by then, we were!

arriba

2007-02-26T20:23:00.000-06:00

Before I return to the Tale of Engalond, I must take a detour through Mexico, where I was this past weekend. As the school sponsor of the Interact Club, I went along with 12 of our students and members of the local Rotary Club for a service project across the border in Ciudad Acuña, Mexico. We stayed in a motel in Del Rio, on the Texas side of the river, and drove over the bridge for dinner Friday night, our work day on Saturday, and then back over for shopping and dinner Saturday night. It was a really good experience for the students, and I enjoyed myself very much. I helped with the painting of the school a bit, and took lots of photos to share with everyone. I rode down with the Rotary sponsor for our club, and enjoyed getting to know him better. Also was glad to get to know the other gentlemen of the local Rotary; all seemed to be very nice men. One guy, about my age, kept calling me "ma'am" which made me feel really old or something. Another man asked me to dance at the Friday night dinner, do I did! Explained that I haven't danced in years. It was kind of fun.

sticky

2007-02-22T21:37:00.000-06:00

Back to the Chicago trip.

Despite having a splitting headache, sore throat and heavy chest, I really enjoyed the concert. I couldn't yell, or sing, or go "woot", but I could listen and smile.

After the concert, B went to get out coats while I went to the merch table to get a Jiggs cap for T. After I bought it and walked out to the lobby to find B, I realized that Josh had come out to the merch table. Much as I wanted to go back in for a hug, I really didn't feel up to it. We decided to splurge and take a taxi back to the hotel instead of waiting for a bus in the cold.

I was feeling pretty bad by this time, so went straight to bed. My chest was so congested and I felt that if I could only cough, I'd feel better. Sometime during the night, I woke up as I coughed, and, okay this is graphic and gross, but a wad of phlegm came up from my lungs and lodged in my windpipe and I couldn't breathe. I was having to struggle to get even a little air. It occured to me that I could pass out and die and no one would know, so I manage to whisper B's name. She had told me she could sleep through anything so I was afraid she hadn't heard me struggling to breathe. Turns out she had, and watched with concern as I sat up and continued to work to pull in air. In a few moments, the blockage subsided and I was able to breathe again. Propped up on extra pillows and managed to get back to sleep.

Monday morning we knew we had to head out to the airport, but first we set out in lovely snowfall to find the Belgian waffle restaurant we had spotted our first night in town. We knew what street it was on, just a few blocks north of the hotel, so we walked up that way. Couldn't find it. Decided it might be on another street, walked over and down: couldn't find it. Damn. No Belgian zucker waffles for us. We went back to the hotel in defeat and ate donuts instead.

Clever girls that we are, we checked out and took the bus to the train station, then took the train back out to the airport. Discovered that our flight was showing "delayed", said delay stretched into two hours. We had gotten to the airport early anyway, so were there for a very long time. Shared a plate of bbq wings with carrots and celery. B had a nice Long Island iced tea. Finally boarded, flew home uneventfully, were picked up by T and taken home. Poor B then had to drive back to her place, so she didn't get home til 11 p.m.

Overall, an A+ trip with the exception of me becoming ill. If I had felt better, it would have been totally excellent.

William

2007-02-21T17:21:00.000-06:00

Last night T mentioned that it was exactly 29 years ago that my father died. February 20, 1978. I hadn't thought of it. For 29 years I guess I've been an orphan, though I don't think of myself that way. Mostly I think of daddy when I have my colonoscopy (he died of colon cancer) or when I see Lawrence Welk, or someone balancing something. He was 64. My husband is now older than that. Weird. Dad was very funny; I wish I had appreciated him more.

face forward in the wind

2007-02-19T20:37:00.000-06:00

Mmmm, hot dogs, that's where I left off. Hot dogs on buns with mustard, onions, relish, tomatos, pickle spear and picled peppers. Crispy fries. Suitably warmed, we again struck off for the Water Tower. It turns out that we were only a few blocks away by then. We took some pictures, then dashed inside the fragrant Hershey's shop. Not that Hershey is my favorite chocolate by any stretch of the imagination, but it was close, warm, and smelled soooooo nice.

The next scheme was to catch a bus back to our hotel. I am still amazed that we managed to do so. Chicago is laid out in such a simple grid and has soooo many bus lines that it's really easy to get around. This bus went up Lake Shore Drive through Lincoln Park and let us out on Diversey just to the east of our hotel. We wanted to relax and rest before the concert Sunday night, so went to the hotel. By this time my headache was throbbing and my throat was more sore than ever. I plopped down on the bed in exhaustion. Sweet B got a blanket and covered me but I just couldn't manage to feel warm. A very very long hot bath worked wonders; I emerged warm and breathing.

Back in the balmy fall when we planned this trip, I chose this hotel partly because it seemed to be within walking distance of the concert venue. And it would have been, easily, if I had not been ill and the temp had been above mid-20s. We decided to walk down Clark and find someplace for dinner, then take the bus down to Armitage and the venue. This worked out well; we hadn't gone too terribly far when we came across Oodles of Noodles, where B got a huge plate of pineapple fried rice and I had some very nice noodles. Thus fortified, we found a bus and arrived at the venue easily. We were a little later than planned but there wasn't a line for coat check so we got rid of our heavy coats right away. I made a beeline for the merch table, only to find that the tour shirts were already sold out in every size but small. Very sad, but I consoled myself with the Idaho/piano shirt instead, and a "Jiggs" hat for T., so when we go out together it'll be Me and Jiggs.

We went on into the concert hall, stopping to get a drink for B., and checked out the set-up. Right in front of the stage they had smallish tables, about 15 feet long, perpendicular to the stage. Those seats seemed pretty crowded, but we went on down and actually found two seats slightly to the right of center and only three chairs from the stage. Awesome. We got a guy across from us to take a picture of me and B together - can't wait to see it, because I suspect I looked as bad as I felt, despite being invigorated by the anticipation of my first time to see Josh headlining.

More to follow.

man ray skies

2007-02-18T16:43:00.000-06:00

Continuing . . . Saturday evening after we ate it was just too cold to do much of anything so we huddled in our hotel room watching Daytona 500 qualifying races. Did I mention that B is a redneck? ;) We remained so full of pizza that we weren't interested in going out for dinner even. During the evening, I realized that my chest was beginning to feel congested and hoped it was due to the cold air or second-hand smoke or something other than a virus.

Sunday morning dawned, err, cold. We breakfasted in the hotel on cereal and yogurt and such, plenty to get us going. Ever the intrepid explorers, we decided to set out for the Art Institute using public transportation. Once again, we got on a bus going the right direction and alit at the L station. B was soooo cute about all this, being unaccustomed to it. We took the Brown Line to the Loop and got off at the right stop (notice how delighted I am with our success on public transportation? This relates to issues faced last year in NYC, going the wrong way on subways).

The Art Institute was as wonderous as I remembered it. Huge, meandering, treasures at every turn. Unfortunately, by then my throat was hurting along with my head, so I didn't feel up to staying as long as I would have liked. Didn't take the time to track down American Gothic. B and I took a break at the Institute cafe for a coke and a conference with our map. We decided the best course of action would be to walk up Michigan Ave. toward the Water Tower, hopping a bus along the way. The best laid plans . . .

Of course by this time we were very hungry, having used our meager breakfast calories to keep our bodies warm all morning, so we were sort of looking for a place to get a Chicago hot dog as we, err, strolled. We happened upon Millenium Park so stopped to watch ice sculptures being created (we had seen a story about that on the news the night before).
It was really interesting to stop and watch. There's a very cool sculpture at the park as well, Cloud Gate. We continued our northward trek, stopping to take pictures as we crossed the frozen Chicago River. Hungrier and hungrier, we plodded ever onward. Finally I realized that we weren't going to be finding a hot dog stand on Michigan Ave., so we diverted ourselves a couple of blocks to the west and fairly soon came across Portillos, across the street from Hard Rock Cafe and the rock & roll McDonalds. Warmth, seats, dogs and fries soon revived our flagging spirits.

My kind of town

2007-02-16T21:46:00.000-06:00

Abandoning in mid-stream, so to speak, though it reminds me of a urine sample, my attempt to detail the London trip, I must move on to Chicago while it, at least, is still fresh in my mind. How much can I say in the ten minutes available tonight?

Last Saturday we left balmy Texas for the frigid north. B and I arrived at O'Hare and delighted ourselves by finding a machine at which we could purchase CTA cards good for the next three days on all buses and trains. Wheeeee! We promptly took the train into town, then a bus (even going the correct direction) which dropped us off half a block from our hotel. Delightful. Hotel, built in 1913, was a little shabby but perfectly acceptable and offered coffee and tea in the lobby at all times, essential for rewarming ourselves when coming in from the cold. That day I think the high may have reached 9 F. Maybe.

So anyway, we checked in then went in search of pizza, which we found at a little place a few blocks from the hotel. Not bad at all, though it looked like roadkill in the cellphone picture that I sent to Z.

Not enough time for details, so for now, let me remind myself that I left Chicago even more in love with the music of Josh Ritter than ever before. (I'm reminding myself because I'm the one who reads this, self, in case you/I have forgotten)

oven gloves

2007-01-28T20:06:00.000-06:00

So, continuing the story:

We went to the "shopping centre" which was very very much like our local malls except with different stores. Z had said she wanted to look at clothes, but once we got there, she wasn't in the mood. We looked for shoes/boots for me, didn't find any, of course. I did, however, find a Daniel O'Donnell calendar to bring back for CH - perfect! Half-price even.

Back at the house, we had a lovely dinner - casseolet (spelling? some Frenchie bean casserole with goose - very very good) and sticky toffee pudding! Oh, and baked eggs atop a parsnip puree with mushrooms, except we had them made to order, so I got my baked egg without the egg. Yum yum!

That was Wednesday. On Thursday, hmmm, let me see if I can remember. *thinks* Ohhh, yes, we took the train to London and went to Borough Market. We walked quite a distance to a tradional pie and mash shop. We all had miince (beef) pies with mash and liquor. Mash = mashed potatoes and liquor = gravy, a sort of white gravy with herbs in it, secret recipe, doncha know. Manzes Pie Shop. T had the eels instead of pie, with mash. Picture posted here. Then we walked back over to the Market and met up with LK (the other LK, not me) and greatly enjoyed strolling around looking at all the very interesting foods and drinks there. One place had a pile of large dead rabbits, still in skin. Another, The Ginger Pig, offered courses in pig-butchering.

M left to take T back home so he could babysit for the evening, and M could get the car to come back into the city. The rest of us went to the British Museum to see the Rosetta Stone, Elgin marbles, and items from the Sutton Hoo burial. I annoyed Z by saying "Sutton Hoo" too many times. W thought it sounded like a Chinese emperor. I remember reading about the discover of the Sutton Hoo burial ship in National Geographic and had always wanted to see it. Of course I wanted to see the Rosetta Stone as well. Everyone has always commented on how much smaller it is than one expects, so I guess I expected it to be small and thought it was larger than I expected. The museum was quite interesting and I'd like to go back and see the things we didn't have time for.

After a bit, LK had to leave to meet her friend for dinner. J, Z, W and I found our way to the neighborhood where the concert would be (Islington) and decided on Indian food for our dinner. M called and managed to find us and joined us for a drink at the restaurant before we left for the concert. The venue was just down the street from the Indian restaurant so there was no rush.

More to come.

orange crush

2007-01-20T16:08:00.000-06:00

This is a "catch up" blog, an effort to record what's been actually going on in my life. It's January, so seems like a good time for this. It will probably occur in installments.

Last week we went to England, quite possibly our last vacation abroad for a while. Overall it was a very good trip. We all enjoy the friend we stayed with outside of London very much. Clever couple, cute kids, sweet dog, great food, all just lovely.

We arrived on Wednesday at Gatwick, took a direct train to Watford. I messed up getting the train tickets but managed to get it all straightened out and we arrived there as expected. We enjoyed hot cockaleeky (spelling?) soup and bread for lunch. Z and I wanted to go to the mall (shopping centre), so J took us and W. We dropped T off at a neighborhood pub while we shopped.

It was pretty strange having my real family and my virtual extended family meet. Everyone seemed to get along well and enjoy one another though. W seemed truly happy with the Beatles 45 I framed for him. He brought me an adorable hedgehog and a very large, very orange Hamster Week bag! Awesome. Of course we thought the bag needed to be put to use so a very cooperative big black pudding-hound was pressed into service.

I'm With the Star

2006-12-09T18:36:00.000-06:00

I only tonight discovered something interesting. Of all Jessica's favorite musicians, the only ones that I've listened to regularly are R.E.M. and Moby. So tonight since I'm on the computer, I decided to open her songs she saved here. I found that I cannot listen to Ben Lee without becoming very sad. I'm listening to Elliot Smith and doing okay with it. Maybe it's because when she was with me, Jess played more Ben than Elliot. Or maybe because I was with her when she met Ben. Or something. I don't know, but thought I was sort of past that point.

in the service of the muse

2006-11-27T20:28:00.000-06:00

Last week Z and I flew to Georgia for Thanksgiving, since T was deer hunting in Indiana. I had expected crowded airports and long waits, but the trip was actually the same as usual. No problems at all. Instead of the faithful Holiday Inn in Athens, we had to stay at the new Hilton Garden Inn. It's a great location, smack-dab downtown. Our room had a fridge and microwave, so we made our own breakfast every morning.

I could go on about the entire trip, but I feel like writing about the highlight. RY had taken some of Jessica's lyrics and composed melodies for them. Thursday night we went to her apartment and she played one for us. Nighttime Sunglasses. These were the lyrics that I could most easily imagine actually being a song, and R did a brilliant job of matching them to a melody. I can't wait for her to do the others and actually make a recording.

We sat in her apartment and she played guitar to accompany herself as she sang Jessica's words. I looked over and saw tears glistening in LG's eyes. Z's eyes were filling up as well. Me? I was just so pleased that one of Jessica's dreams was actually coming true.

R had prepared another song, but the lyrics were sad so I didn't want Z to have to listen, since it was apparent that the experience was very emotional for her.

Then yesterday I started thinking, wondering what Jessica would have thought of R's treatment of her song. Would she have been pleased? Would she have thought it wasn't "rock" enough? I simply cannot know; she was very unpredictable about such things. I think she would have wanted to work with R to get the song just the way she wanted it. But we'll never know. And that's okay.

drive across the county line

2006-11-08T21:31:00.000-06:00

I got down and dirty at the Texas Motor Speedway this past Saturday. My friend BS came down from OK with her season tickets to the NASCAR. Saturday Z went with her to the race, had a good time. It turned out that the sneaky little thing hadn't mentioned to us that Saturday was her birthday! T and I took her out to dinner at a Romanian Food Festival where she promptly ordered hot honeyed brandy, which turned out to be very very strong! We both enjoyed the hot honeyed wine though, while T had Romanian beer. The food was good, different, interesting: cabbage rolls, something sauerkrautish with meat, weird sausage, a polenta-like dish that B thought was bland but that I liked very much. We brought home a pound cake with sour cherries in it for Sunday's breakfast.

Sunday B & I headed out early to the race; got caught in some traffic on I-35W so it took us a while to get there. It rained a bit as we were arriving, but they got out the jet engines and dried the track so the race wasn't too late starting. It was a typical race - spin-outs, wall-crashes, a blown engine and a blown tire. B's favorite driver, Tony Stewart, totally dominated the race and then won, so it was a nice birthday treat for her.

She and I always have a good time together, and we went ahead and planned another adventure while she was here. In February, we'll fly to Chicago for a Josh Ritter concert! No, she has not become a stalker! B's never been to Chicago and wants to see it, so this seemed a perfect opportunity. *smirk*

when I wear it she crosses my mind

2006-11-06T20:13:00.000-06:00

In looking back, I see that I have mentioned my Afghan hat project, but not explained it. So:
a few months ago (May? April?) I decided that I wanted to take up crocheting again. I knew that I'd end up making things that I couldn't use, so had to figure out what I could make that someone else could use. After trial and error, I figured out how to crochet hats. Beanies. Skull caps. Whatever one wants to call them.

So, I started crocheting every night and was soon able to make at least one hat per evening, while watching an hour-long TV show. I had been checking out the anysoldier.com website and found a sailor stationed in Afghanistan who wanted caps for Afghani children, so I've been sending them to him. Lost count, but I've made and sent over 100, for sure.

Crocheting has been therapeutic: keeps hands busy so I can't nibble while watching TV; provides stimulation via colors, textures, motion; soothes and relaxes; provides a useful item for someone.

Some of my online pals asked for hats for themselves so I made and sent them some. Then there were suggestions that I make and send hats to people I admire. Hence the previous reference to alpaca yarn for a hat for Josh Ritter. I mailed the hat to him, hmmm, in late-ish October. Saturday, I received a thank-you note in the mail. Rarely do we see hand-addressed envelopes in the mailbox, since it's usually full of bills and junk mail, so I noticed immediately that there was a personal letter for me. When I saw the return address, I was shocked. "JR" at a post office box in Idaho. Inside was a lovely card with a quote from William Morris on the front: "Believe me, if we want art to begin at home, as it must, we must clear our houses of troublesome superfluities that are forever in our way, conventional comforts that are no real comforts, and do but make work for servants and doctors. If you want a golden rule that will fit everybody, this is it: HAVE NOTHING IN YOUR HOUSES THAT YOU DO NOT KNOW TO BE USEFUL, OR BELIEVE TO BE BEAUTIFUL."

The gracious note read, in part "Thank you so much for the beautiful letter and the (very) beautiful hat. It's gorgeous, and that's a word I rarely use. I'm profoundly proud and happy that my music has found you." Finally, "Until I see you again, I hope music keeps you as warm as your hat is keeping me!" A charming and kind note from someone whose mother has taught him well.

watch the decline from a hazy distance

2006-10-29T12:48:00.000-06:00

So, what have I done? A coworker has to make a blog for a class she's taking, and I blithely said "Oh, you can look at mine" before stopping to think. Not that it matters. It was just kind of nice to pretend anonymity here. But it's okay.

What's been going on?

Friday night I went to my first-ever ice hockey game, Dallas Stars defeated by Detroit Redwings. It was kinda fun - better than watching hockey on tv, no doubt. Was with a group of ten, including AA and SS from work. On the way home, AA said something that pretty much confirmed a suspicion that I had had, disappointingly (sort of), about someone else at work. Overall, it was interesting to hear some talk about various people from work. I don't get to network much, being in the library all day.

Things are not going smoothly for Z, so now I'm spending energy fretting about her. I don't know the solution. Don't know what to do or say or suggest. Some things defy reason and logic, they just are what they are.

Sometimes it all seems too hard. I was thinking about that yesterday, about how I felt in 2004.

This blog entry is going downhill fast. Enough. Never mind.

Stinky Cheese Author

2006-10-22T19:12:00.000-05:00

Thursday night I went up to Denton with two of the Culture Club kids to meet author Jon Scieszka. I was tired and didn't think I wanted to go, but I'm very glad I went. Scieszka was entertaining: hysterically funny at times, inspiring at times, definitely interesting. He was happy to sign Z's copy of The Stinky Cheese Man. I also enjoyed visiting with the students who went along. The young man noticed my IRS Years CD and knew what it was!!! He said he likes R.E.M., mentioned his favorite album. Wow. I knew he was a cool kid. On the way to Denton we listened to the Belle and Sebastian CD he had brought; talked about music.

I've been really tired this past week. Going back after the break was hard, always is, but I didn't expect to feel this wiped out. I slept in a bit this morning at least, so won't start the week too tired, I hope. Had no big events going on this weekend, so just visited with friends, did some housewifely tasks, went shopping.

Interesting to hear from people who have discovered this blog. I haven't mentioned it to any school folk yet. May. May not.

the bonnet wears a wire albatross

2006-10-18T21:25:00.000-05:00

Crud but it's hard going back to work after a week off. In addition, we're all mourning because this is the last year we get our beloved Fall Break.

So I've been overwhelmingly sleepy this week and not able to force myself to go to bed early. Too many things to do, not enough time to do them. Want to read, crochet, post, read, play. Oh well.

Too tired to write a long blog this time. Just wanted to moan a bit about the misery of work. Hubby and I both need to retire. Wish that were a possibility.

This afternoon I attended a baby shower for an expectant new grandmother. Great fun, a bunch of 40 & 50 year old ladies oohing and ahhing over baby things. I didn't get my gift made in time, so sat at the shower crocheting ruffles on both ends of a prefolded diaper to make a burp cloth. It was fun, a conversation item, and provided the opportunity to talk about my hat project. One of the ladies mentioned that her church sponsors an orphanage in Kenya, at a fairly high altitude, and the kids wear little knitted skullcaps or short beanies. So, if I lose my contact in Afghanistan, I can make hats for the Kenyan orphans. They're required to shave their heads, girls and boys alike, so need little hats for warmth. Sounds like a fun project.

Off, perchance to bed. Perchance to dream.

but sweetness follows

2006-10-14T19:17:00.000-05:00

Friday: B & I went to a nice yarn shop; found gorgeous alpaca yarn, got teal to make a hat for JMS, other yarns to make hats for friends. Did some shopping, running around. Went to dinner at Applebee's in Irving. Got to Nokia Center by 8 p.m., found our seats - good ones! Completely enjoyed Josh's set; only about 35 minutes, since he was the support act. Dang, he sounded great. After his set, we went to lobby to buy CD for BS and tshirt for me (brown short-sleeve with starling on the front). Went to ladies room, came out and spotted Josh near the sales area, talking to some women. Got into line behind two other gals who were waiting to talk to him.

When our turn came, we told him how much we enjoyed his songs. I explained about learning of him from AM in Ireland. B told him about us seeing him at SXSW last March. He totally gave us his undivided attention, just as he had done for the people before us. What an amazing young man. He signed B's CD, posed for pictures with me. It was just a beautiful evening.

Saturday: went back to the yarn shop for dark green alpaca yarn to make a hat for Josh. I'm now an alpaca addict. That yarn is soooo soft. Also did more running around with B; went to lunch at Thai Tina. T has gone to Chicago til Tuesday, business.

dogging the scene

2006-10-14T18:44:00.000-05:00

What a Fall Break I had. Very busy, some fun, some pain, some amazing things to see and hear.

Chronologically:

Monday: met EW for dinner - sushi, very good. Went over to the new Borders store just to browse a bit. A good evening. She brought me some yarn for my Afghan hat project, which was very very sweet and generous of her.

Tuesday: rain in the early morning, then went with AQ to the great State Fair of Texas. Since it had been raining, not many people were there yet. We got a perfect parking spot on the street just across from the main gate. Immediately got ears of corns to munch on. Went to the pig races, then hung out in the childrens barnyard patting adorable animals. Went through the Food & Fiber Building - saw Elsie and Beauregard. Bought emu oil soap. Ate cotton candy. Ate a gordita.

Wednesday: Went to the dentist at 7 a.m. for tooth extraction. T drove me there and back; I remember very little, thanks to the medication. Slept the rest of the morning, messed around online in the afternoon, took pain med.

Thursday: BS came down for the Wilco concert! HG was supposed to come but was unavoidably detained due to stupidity/carelessness on her part. B & I made lovely sandwiches and soup for dinner, headed out to Will Rogers Auditorium. Arrived to find a sea of twenty-somethings clutching Miller Lite bottles. Went inside - opening band was playing but no one was listening, they were all wandering around drinking and talking as if they were at a frat party rather than a concert. Wilco took the stage - crowd stood for the entire show, lots of shouting, singing. the four guys beside us were smashed, apparently, kept shouting "Jeff Tweeeeeddddyyyyyyy" and "Jeff Tweeeeeedy is a godddddddd", dancing, and singing way too loudly. Had a good time anyway.

her earlier incarnations

2006-10-10T11:06:00.000-05:00

Girl Scout Party

It's mid-October, just about, and thoughts turn to Halloween, which brings many memories. The year when I was very small and dragged my paper treat bag on the damp ground, resulting in a hole through which most of my candy trickled out. When we got home and discovered that, my brother actually shared his goodies with me. I was very very young, so I do not know if he was generous or merely under duress. I think I was a clown that year; Mom often dressed us as clowns when we were small - she had made the costumes and of course they were baggy so we could keep wearing them for a while, and then I could wear my brother's, so I probably was a clown for even longer.

And Halloweens with my girls. Jessica's first Halloween was so warm - I had made a little overall thing from grey velour with a mouse embroidered on the bib part, and she had a pink checked shirt to go under it, but it was too warm for the shirt so she just wore the overalls and I painted whiskers on her face. Such a simple little mouse, and that was only the beginning of year upon year of Halloween costumes. I remember a 4-year-old witch with a green face; Thing 1 from The Cat in the Hat; a Popple; Mrs. Potts from Beauty and the Beast; a clown, of course; Rose from Titanic; this continued on for years and years, because even when she was too old to go out, she dressed up to stay home and hand out the treats.

speed it up a notch

2006-10-08T10:16:00.000-05:00

Last night cousin C came over to visit. We went to a new store, looked around some, brought barbecue home for dinner and ate with TX. I kept thinking he would go to bed so she and I could visit, but no, he stayed up the entire time she was there. I know she enjoys him and it was good for him to socialize, but selfishly, I wanted some time with her to myself. I feel better about it today, looking back on it, because he doesn't talk to my friends often enough.

That over to the left is the two of us a couple years ago, around Easter. We used to have time to be partners in crime together, but now she has grandchildren and weekends are spent with them, often. I wish we could get together more often.

I'm looking forward to this Fall Break week and am sorry it's the last one we'll get to have. Stupid state legislators, forcing us toward a uniform start date. I'm in favor of local desires taking precedence. Anyway, I have plans to clean out the fridge and some cabinets. I want to scan some pictures, and transfer Family Treemaker data from the old computer to this one; also transfer scanned pix off the old one.

Here I am

2006-10-07T23:23:00.000-05:00

Okay, after having pretty much given up previous blog attempts, I'm starting over here. No links to anything associated with my job. Freedom to write what I feel. It could get ugly. It could get funny. So, this is the beginning. This may be messy as I figure out how to upload and post pictures, but I'll get it straight sooner or later.