Well. Southern Brit is basically done with his epic trip of visiting the 48 continental states. It has been a true joy reading his updates. Does anyone else feel that way, that when you are able to bop by someone's blog or get a Tweet,  it just lifts your spirits a little (or a lot!)? There are some folks who influence change in aspects of your your life, in a lifetime of knowing them... others, in the space of an instant.

 It was that kind of a trip, and that kind of experience. And now he's done... and I can't help but to sag a little, and wish that it wasn't over... or that I was traveling & doing my own epic adventure now! However, he still must be so very exhausted-- it's like being on a helluva rush for weeks, and then having it end; only it sort-of sneeks up on you, no boom crash thud to announce the arrival or departure. Then it slaps you silly & leaves you reeling.
 I will miss his travel posts, that is for certain.

And now... Autumn is coming, and my bones are resigned to settling in for the winter... and I've just pronounced "settled" properly-- with a "t" instead of a "d" sound.

Viva Geoff Marshall!

So long, my friend, and thanks for all the fish.

Screw Band-Aids, they have no place in my life.

Well, not really. It would certainly be something, if they could fix the stings, bumps. bruises, crashes, bashes, smashes & various forms of "Ouch!" that life provides. Ah well. 

 My heart is sore, I miss Harvey & I am confused as to why there has been no notification of any kind in the newspapers or online. So of course the best medicine for that, for me, is to go driving.

( Follow the Winding Road )
 </div>Note: I may have the highway/county road name wrong. I'll have to look it up, later. WHY am I not surprised??

 Oh Lawd. This is dangerous. No, really. It is.

So I was fiddling about, "planning" the initial stages of my imaginary someday-trip... Oh, wow! Why o' why was I thinking that I could "just" visit a museum or two? I love me, sometimes I'm so charmingly unrealistic...

A simple search just now, using "major art museums" is causing me to go bananas. I am missing out on so much art.  POOPIE!
I am in love with an installation at The Museum of Fine Arts in Montgomery, Alabama. I want to see it now! I want to see it 3 months (and so on) from now. Will somebody, anybody from the area please do a monthly photo shoot of those outdoors wood sculptures and post them (errm, and let me know you're doing it)? Please?

Oh, goodness. Arrrrrrt. It be in my bones. Somewhere in there, I dinna have marrow, I have art supplies of various forms. Yes, they most certainly have been shrunk to a minute size.

 And now... I'm tuckered out. Stressful day. Auditor is coming 5th/6th, and one of the managers is gravely ill. *sigh* 

 Time for something else.

Cheers & All

 Ugh. Now I remember why I hate getting my pictor taken. Bleah, argh.  Just goes to show a person how difficult it can be to adjust to a new body/image.

 "Hell w' dis!" (she said, putting her hands on her hips and shaking her head defiantly). I'm gonna get my hair done tomorrow.  I may not be able to do any immediate action for my three chins, besides get off my ass (which means I need to get off the computer and move said ass), but I can get my hair follicles disguised. Yeah!

 My fun mystery guest has left... I was very happy to have his company. His sage advice was to take a week off or so, and to go to some random place I've never been to, before.  No wonder I like him. 

( Mystery Guest Revealed )

April 20th 2009 8:52 am


Resonance
reflection of light
and
oh she was broken, wasn't she?
that glass heart and writings as if she was still only 16
didn't make her any less want
didn't make her any less want

could have scraped herself raw on that sand
tarnished inside like metal
can it be polished?
forgotten, too late
and she's got breakable bone
oh she's broken, isn't she?
spills and falls and still holds her hands up
just like she was young

older, and aren't you any smarter, girl?
you walk to that water, now
and put yourself in
tie, tie tighter
dressed nice so they won't have to bother

pinch your cheeks for colour
for feeling
yes you are still here and
you never thought you would be

everyone left you
except the one who hurts you
and you can't forget
you can't go back
you can't have them back
no one left to carry the memories except you
and your back is weak

echo the music and it takes you somewhere else
where you don't have to claw
no, don't show your bitter teeth
clever girl, hide it now

and they will love you for who you never were






( More Bad Poetry )

   Didn't go to Transformers 2 last night,  d/t bad tum-tum from food. *sigh* Had to leave work early, it was so upsetting.
 Feeling much better today, but am not 100%. I think slowly but surely, I am giving up on some types of restaurants. I don't know about you, but I don't ever want to look forward to symptoms of botulism. Ugh.

 Am visiting my mom today, to belatedly celebrate her birthday & give moral support. She isn't doing well at all... Whatever disease processes are going on, they are kicking her ass... *sigh* AND it's raining. I know we need it, but sheesh. Day off= rain on me. Thank you very much.

 And that's enough of that. I am doing laundry for tomorrow & having more coffee. Waiting for the right moment.

 I dreamt I was living in the Smoky Mountains, living in quite the luxurious cabin, with burled oak flooring. Whenever my moods shifted, as I walked across the floor the burl patterns would change, too. The kitchen cabinets were made of cherry, the main bathroom floor was made of Italian marble, and my bedroom was more or less the Outdoors. My 4-poster bed was nearly overtaken by Engelman's ivy, English ivy and something that looked like hibiscus. Hummingbirds were darting everywhere to eat, and it was quite relaxing. There was a small pool of water nearby, and it turned out to be a heated pool. There were flowers everywhere-- some exotic stuff that I didn't recognize. Lots of iris & roses (which don't normally bloom together, I realize), and tulips galore. Ahhhh, good dream.

 And now...  I need to rescue my laundry, shower up, and glare out my window at this rain. Makes for very sloppy & somewhat dangerous driving. Pffft.

 Cheers & All

 Well.

 After reading more of the continuing adventures of Southern Brit , I think I have hit upon what I personally would do, if given (or made!) the opportunity to take a 10-week roadtrip of the continental (hah! I was about to type "contiMENTAL") U.S... 

( The Blathering Road )

 So I went for a 2-hour drive last night/early this morning, tooling around the Twin Cities' area for no apparent reason other than to have all windows down, and to smell the Great Outdoors. 
Oh, and to have Weasel stare meaningfully at me a few times, have me ignore him, and then have him poop on his blanket in the back of the car. Eeew! *guffaws roundly* At least it was easy to get rid of, and the blanket washed up just fine. Dammit dog!  You wake me up with your whining every fricking morning to pee; can't you figure out a better way to tell me you need to poop? Bah.

 Anyway... That was the most awesome thing. I overslept a nap by a lot, woke up far too early, and did something good with it.
I let my car "do the driving," as it were. I zigzagged around so much, I thought for sure I was going to get hideously lost-- but wait! I still trust the very basic part of my peculiar gift of getting lost & finding good things. Along the way, in a residential part of Mpls., someone was making waffles/pancakes, bacon and some of the best-smelling coffee ever... so I pulled over & just kept on smelling it. Gawd, it was good!
 The house had ivy growing all over the veranda, and generally seemed very inviting. I wanted SO MUCH to get out, knock on their door, and offer to buy some of their food for my breakfast. However, I figured that would be a bit weird & scary for them-- and just a plain-old bizarre notion on my part. *sigh* So I made my own version of pancakes, bacon & coffee for breakfast not too long ago... not the same, but still very good.
 And the smells, that early-on? Well. Besides the insult left by Weasel, my car definitely knows where to go. Such richness. Something sharp & spicy, something sour & like vinegar, marshy, wet rocks, water... Ahhhh. I needed that.

And now... Now it's time for work. We shall see if anything was fixed... And then eventually I must sleep again. Hrrmm.

Cheers & All

 Now I really, really, want to rent an RV... 

 Cruise America is one business that has RV's to rent for round-trip driving, as well as some special one-way 'Hot Deals" (say if you are in NV & they need the vehicle to be in MI, and that just happens to be where you want to go, they'll give you 50% off the rates to have it there within a certain timeframe-- the savings are significant!). Hell, I'd do it! 
 
 If I wasn't so miserable on airplanes, I'd fly to point A just for shits & giggles, stay a few days & then drive the RV back to point B, then fly or drive somewhere else.

 Oh, hindsight is so VERY 20/20. *sigh* 

 Oh Well, it's still very fun to think about.
 

 Holy Mackeral Fishies, I had a damned good time Up Yonder!

 I dinna have the urge to blog about it right now-- I will blog later. I am far too happy just thinking about the fact that I have another blessed day off, so I am going to sit on my ass in another part of my house & eat pot-popped pawcorn with butter & watch a movie.
 Weasel will snuggle up (which is good, it's fricking cold in here-- it was 56 degrees when I got home, and I had to hunt down my EdenPure heater, to begin to heat the  place up. Argh, damn MinneSnowTa!), and all manner of humans & beasties will be at peace.

 I am so happy, it almost hurts.

 Cheers & All

 Oy
 My feet are in pretty sad shape. First I got glass lodged into my right foot on Saturday night. Then when I was putting out my garbage this morning, some dumb ass had left a broken beer bottle on my lawn, and I didn't see it until my other bare footer stomped right on top of it. Arrrgh, you big jerks!  Just  lovely. So my feet have been hurting all day, and the most recent injury keeps on wanting to swell up, but I've been putting ice on it. I hope I got all of the glass out.
 It would be my sort of fortune to spend part of my lovely vacation at hospital. *sigh* *rolls eyes*

 On the upside, when I called to tell M. that I'd be coming up tomorrow morning instead of tonite, she asked if I had everything ready for the ribs. Ribs? What ribs? "Raineth, you forgot again?!" Uhmm, oops, yes I did. That would have sucked. Badly! I can't very well make my "Famous, Not Really" rib sauce if I forget the ingredients. M. simply doesn't use most of the spices I use.
 I even get to make the sauce for someone who's never had it before. Oooh, ahhh. I admit to being quite excited about that.J. is a fantastic cook apparently, so no doubt he'll be swiping a sample. This is good! Folks can tell me what else they want to taste... My sauce never turns out the same, twice--- that's just the way of it. Rafe & I did it that way, and it became a tradition of sorts, tossing a pinch of this and a smidgen of that into the sauce bowl-- and that's the way I've done it since. Oh, crud, I forgot to pack the tea thingy. I'm going to try an infusion of hot things, this time. A couple of peppers, some ginger, etc. We'll see if that starts a fire under their britches!

 And now... I think I'm fully packed up & ready to go, besides my makeup bag, which will be put together in under 5 minutes tomorrow morning.
  It almost doesn't seem real... I really get to do this? I don't have to go back to either job until next week?!? I'm going to hyperventilate. No, wait, I'll shriek. No! I'm going to put on sassy music & dance, that's what I'm going to do... Hmmm, wait, my feet won't like that. Eh, I'll think of something!  Time to celebrate (at least for one more hour, then it's serious beddy-bye time).

 So, tally ho, off I go. Until next week...

Cheers & All

 Don't ever ask me to make a list and actually remember to complete doing the things on it.

1. I forget what I'm doing halfway through
2. I think of things to add or subtract
3. I make a new list and
4. Promptly loose new list, and in the meantime,
5. Have mysteriously not witnessed the original list running away, or
6. Cannot read my own handwriting.

What I Must Needs:

1. Air mattress 2. Pillow 3. Blankies 4. Uhm, clothes. That's right. I need clothes. Gawd, I love me. Oooh, I'll need my hoodies, too. In reality, I won't need a whole lot of clothes. That's the beatific part of camping. I can change undershirts a few times, leave the top fairly clean, and bring a bunch of bottoms. Because I am a dirty girl! Hmmm. Aluminum foil & stuff is already part of my perma-camping gear... 5. Crap, almost forgot about the cordless drill that my mom needs. Better charge it first. *dashes to secondary spare room & does thing*
6. Camera. Hmm, I wonder if the batteries need to be charged? Better find out. Spare batteries, just in case. 7. Phone charger for car... crap, where did I put it? The charger, not my car!  8. Finish dishes. 9. Work clothes ready for next week. HA! I love being able to type "next week!"
10. Check to see how many ice packs I have, for cooler. Oh, damn, I have to go get my cooler out of the storage shed, grrr... 11. Gather garbage for garbage day. 12. Fudge, don't forget to put the damned rent check in the Park Office. That would really not be good. 13. Towels off line? Oooh, my camping pans that I usually don't use will probably come in handy 14. Towels, paper towels, little washcloths, etc.

Aw, crap. I have to get some stuff together, still. Pbbbllthht.

OK, going...

Cheers & All

 I've been listening to Beirut, & finding myself smiling (and humming out-of-tune, sorry Weasel). I am quite sad that I won't get an opportunity to see them live; I was going to take it upon myself to travel to Toronto, in July,to see their show at the Phoenix. However, it appears that the show is sold out. *sniffles & pouts* Well, this is not unlikely, as the tickets went on sale back in March-- and the more I listen to the music, the more I feel like beaming brightly. People need to see their show! Good stuff.

 Anyway.  Before I discovered that the show was sold out (anybody want to sell me their ticket?), I went to fetch my passport--  I was quite shocked to discover a Very Important Thing: for reasons unknown, I never finished sending back the pile of paperwork & such to get get the name on my passport changed. Holy Crap! Here I thought I had take care of that, already. It's been almost two years since I've been divorced... I can't believe I overlooked something as important as that! Ugh. Plus, seeing that name again... kinda makes my tummy tumble. Oooh, yuck! I never liked his last name, and I didn't want to change it in the first place. I should have listened to myself! Bleah!

 OK, done ranting. Sort-of.
 You know, I am tired of being told I can or can't do things. It never ends. You are told what your guidelines are when you're young, when you're an adult, and finally as an elder.

 If I'm lucky, when I'm in my dotage I'll be one of the few who doesn't read the damned obituaries first thing in the morning, and I won't live somewhere that there is no privacy. Maybe I'll be fortunate to be able to take of myself into my 80's. I don't want someone else wiping my butt!
  My mum's stories are getting worse... she, who values her privacy above all else... saddled with the Senior Gestapo & Hall Monitors from Hell at Geezer's Palace. We need to write a short story about this... Anyway... I can't think straight, my mind is really racing today. It feels like I'm nowhere near being ready to focus on a workday... I am already off on my vacation, ready to shift gears & be amongst my dear friends. I will be someplace safe to think & express myself 100%, once more. It's a complete downer, to force myself to be someone I'm not, all fucking week. Day in, day out. Job one, job two. I tamp down the joy & exuberance. I tamp down the playful doofusness (after all, it's just not the thing to act like I'm 25 instead of 36, apparently), I tamp down my thoughtfulness.

 No wonder I feel like I'm going insane. I'm crazy nuts to begin with; at least when I have people to talk to, my brainpan spins less. Lately... Well, whatever, now I have to get ready for work. Having a job is great-- having 2 jobs is great. Until I begin to feel that I have no idea who I am, because I'm at work all of the time-- and I can't be myself, at work.

 Fucking ducks, I need to stop while I'm ahead, here.

 MUST send in paperwork for my passport! I have to write out a new check (old one is way too dated), but I absolutely must do that. Arrrgh...

 Cheers & What All

 Oh fudge.

 I am not, not, not going to think about the fact that I am the only manager on duty tomorrow-- during a flipping huge sale day, AND regular processing is still going on. I can understand the whole deal about H. being ill & all, and I like the fact that the rest of the managers trust me to be able to do my job, but... oh fudge.

 *faints delicately* Eeek!  OK, all better now.
 So what's open tomorrow morning? I want to buy my staff some chips, chocolate, something. They know they're going to have to work hard... They ought to have a little something-something as a reward... hey, pizza is always good. What time is it? Do I have time to make something? Hmmm. Two hours. Let's see what sort of mischief I can get myself into...

  In Other News, Southern Brit continues to plot...( Looky Here! )
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