It was a hoot

I was standing on the patio last night, looking at the basketball-sized full moon over the water when an owl flew over my head. It was creepy in a good way.

Wildlife Encounter

I love living by water, trees, and woods but someone needs to remove the damn wildlife and take it to a zoo. I just heard an encounter I could describe with a series of protracted vowels ("aaaaaawk!") but I'll let it suffice to say it sounded like a giant frog vs. a duck. Or a coyote strangling something, probably a poodle named Fifi- if anyone names poodles that anymore.

Life Events

I now live in Blaine, WA. I can see White Rock, British Columbia from my bedroom window, much better than Sarah Palin can see Russia from hers.

My father died May 30th. That's part of why I'm in Blaine- to be with my mom.

Everyone

Everyone is writing a book, has written a book, is thinking of writing a book, or thinks they would write a better book than those who are writing or have written.

Everyone thinks they have ADD or ADHD. It's in style.

The few who don't identify as ADD or ADHD think they have OCD.

Everyone over 40 thinks they look ten years younger than their age (except  me. But I just found a Groupon for half-off Radiesse...).

Everyone thinks women over 40 should lighten their hair.

Everyone believes a happy, long-lasting monogamous marriage is a right, not a freak occurrence.

Everyone who reads this will think I'm overgeneralizing.



Lament:

I am sad that pantyhose are now against fashion law. "I can still wear them!" I said to myself in defiance recently (though I haven't- I've worn a skirt once in six months, with black tights, which are still ok), then I saw a woman in a floral dress, pantyhose and square-heeled pumps and realized how dated and old she looked. I have a stylish friend, older than me, who wears leggings under skirts in the summer. She always looks great. I don't know if I could get away with the look, but at least my inner thighs wouldn't chafe to combustion.

Into the Clouds

The Bright Side

THERE IS NOTHING CLEVER ABOUT BACON

You are not special, whimsical, delightfully irreverant, or dashingly rogue because you love bacon. Bacon jelly beans, National Bacon Day, and bacon shaving cream do not in any way increase your likeability.

Sorry to be the one to have to tell you.

Laser Shows

In the 80s and 90s I went to a lot of laser shows. Laser Dark Side of The Moon, Laser Stones, Laser Rush, to name a very few. I haven't thought much about them in recent years. Tonight I did, and the longing I felt almost brought me to tears (Yes, really. What do you think you're reading here, a political blog?)Those shows were wonderful in an all-encompasing, completely enveloping way.

The earliest laser shows I went to were at the Miami Planetarium. I lived and worked close by, so I felt no remorse in going to Laser Rush not just a second time, but a third. This was in 1984. I wasn't a Rush fan at the time. I didn't get Geddy Lee's voice then. But as the loud music filled my ears and beautiful patterns danced across the domed 'sky' I was more settled, more content than I'd ever been.

The shows started with the room going dark and then pitch black, revealing a perfect night sky of twinkling stars. In that moment I felt home. No, that's too trite. All I can say is it was a soul-satisfying experience.

Laser shows were 90 minutes of pure heaven- except for one Laser Zeppelin show when a near riot erupted over warring factions of "STAIRWAY!!!" and "SHUT THE F UP!!", but never mind.

In the world I'd like to live in, there would be laseriums with movie theater hours. One could choose from a variety of laser shows any day of the week.

I don't remember if I ever saw Laser Moody Blues, but that would be awesome. Laser Quadrophenia would be great too. And of course Laser Rush would be a must.

Then

Click on the collage to enlarge it.

Some people are going to squint at the photos - the ones of me in my early twenties- and go "OMG! Is that you?!"

Please don't do that in front of me.

Thanks.

Old Friends Weekend

Last weekend I reunited with two friends; one I've known since 1977, the other since 1992.

Let's start with the first one. Look at that number again, the one with the sevens in it. To state the obvious, that was a long time ago. No personal computers. Eight dollar concert tickets. Seventeen year old me.

Seeing friends from decades ago activates a dredging process. Once in a while something upleasant is exhumed. Something stupid that you forgot for a reason.
And then there's the really random things you remember that you had forgotten for 30 years but can summon again in an instant. "Yes, I remember her! The one who used to smoke pot for her menstrual cramps, right?" There's a lot of remembering how much fun you used to have.

In a post from 2009 I briefly described how I met Mike, but the memory has come back more vividly so here it is: I met Mike in May of 1977, at Crandon Park beach in Miami. At night. The beach AT NIGHT. Going to the beach AT NIGHT, in all its primordial, mystical, moonlit, warm-sand wonderfulness was a frequent pastime back then. Wistful sigh. If I remember right, I was there with my friend David M. I was...well, er...uninhibited (there we go) and walked up to a picnic table four guys were sitting on.I wanted to see if they had anything good to, er, talk about. Yeah. Talk about.

In my heart I also wanted to have an inappropriate encounter with an inappropriate man (perhaps that renders the encounter appropriate, but whatever). I fancied myself a wild and crazy girl; one who was eager to swim uncharted waters.

A roadie for a rock band would have fit the bill nicely. A long-haired, tattooed, not-Jewish, blue-collar worker would have sufficed too. Anything could have happened that night as I approached that table of men on the dark, desolate beach.

One of the men looked me in the eye.

and...

that's how I met Mike. Nice, intelligent, sensible Jewish Mike, who was home from MIT for the summer.

I mean, really.

Flash forward Thirty five years. Mike is married and has a successful career as a research physicist. He's still nice, intelligent, and sensible. I'm much more sensible and responsible than I was back then. Life is not as much fun now. Just being honest. It's not. But it was fun to see Mike again. We'd last seen each other in Denver around 1992, so we weren't jumping across quite so many decades, but still. It had been a long time.

I'm sometimes feel that I have a tenuous hold on life; like I have a fluctuating inventory of family and friends (yeah I know, boo hoo). Being connected with old friends like Mike and Nanice makes me feel more grounded. Big bonus that the chemistry with both was unchanged from the old days.

I really, really want to go to the beach at night.

Back then it was pure joy. Now it's a need.

Ok, here's exactly what I want: I want to be on the coast of Iceland at night in winter, with a cold wind blowing and ice near the shore. I want an insane display of northern lights; swift-flying swirls of manic electric green.

Let's throw in a bonfire and a Scandinavian husband and I'll be all set.

Autumn on Mars

First Fall leaves and a serious hue layer.

Fave Pic from Puyallup Fair

Water Aerobics

Welcome to My Nightmare

I rarely remember my dreams. This means I may be missing out on some great stuff like these gems from last night:


Dream #1: I have painted my living room Pepto Bismol pink and accented it with large tropical fish decals from Target. I walk in the door and try to convince myself its cute.


Dream #2: I have a date with Alice Cooper. He walks in wearing a yellow shirt. I hug him. He tells me I have a small piece of gum on my lower lip. I don't question this. Instead, I go to sleep on the living room couch while someone cooks him a steak. When I wake up he's gone. Alice Cooper, why did you leave?


I think Alice Cooper's Welcome to My Nightmare album is phenomenal. I used that word a few weeks ago to describe a bag of yogurt pretzels I'd gotten from a vending machine. My use of the word phenomenal in both cases is deliberate and sincere.

Strike

Bird Watching

Ok, so I got a little carried away.

Mid-Summer Renaissance Faire

Ren Faire- Gypsy Horse Show

Some Assembly Required

Launched

If you don't think this is a cool image I hate you. No, really. Although I am thinking of turning the rest of the background white to enhance the graphic effect. Edit 8/27: Actually, now that I look at it I don't think this is a very strong image. It's not bad, but I think what excited me about it originally, was that this was a photo of a man in a cherry picker washing the windows of a church. So the tsuanmi looking wave to the left is actually a church that's been put through the distort/ twirl filter. Church of the Twirly Jesus? Now we're talking.