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do you think we have an inner musical instrument, for lack of a better way to explain it... for example, for me, it's the cello. The sound frequency of a cello must just speak to me, because it affects me more, hits me deeper, than other instruments. I must be connected, on the inside, with cello strings.
What musical frequency are you on? [because I can't think of a better way of saying 'what musical instruments gets it done for you?']
Ever since Ces from Drink at Work posted three songs on his birthday, I have not been able to get this song out of my head. Or even my playlists. It's one of the rare songs from my past I had not heard on the radio in the last ten years. So it was a real trip back. Lucky for us, someone did a cover in 1996, allowing us to enjoy it twice today, on Then and Now. Plus, I gave Mr. Moon a list of songs and covers to chose from, and this is the one he picked. That is not to say I am not going to sting him with a cover from that blond pop princess he so fears, at a later date. [mostly because it sucks so hard and would make me laugh].
Good Girls Don't (But I do) - The Knack 1980
First of all, how can I not like a band called The Chubbies? Second of all, it seems appropriate that this song be covered by girls, especially punk girls. I think I am going to make this song my theme song. One of them. I also really like "When you Wish Upon a Star" by Jiminy Cricket. I'm multifaceted.
Good Girls Don't (But I do) - The Chubbies 1996
Hello and welcome to week 21. Do you think we should have a 1/2 year celebration when we reach week 26? This week's theme is the number 3, in honor of my baby blogs birthday on Saturday. Awwww... three is such a cute age. It walks, it talks, and now we can cut back on the meds because it spends half the day in preschool! Yay!
Turn Signal
She adjusted the mirror and glanced over at her passenger.
"Don't worry, you know what they say..."
"What's that?"
"Third time's the charm!"
He looked up from his clipboard.
"Unfortunately, Ms. Douglas, this is your fifth time."
"Wanna make it an even six, old man? Buckle up!"
that I might not be the best fit for a corporate environment. Today I got a hot dog for lunch at this specific hole in the wall food stand, just so I could come back to work and say to everyone "Hey... you guys, look what I have for lunch! I got a wiener from the Fun Hole!!"
What do you think? Would you hire me?
I'm not much of a pc gamer, as you all well know. I've played some play station in my time, and enjoyed it very much. But there is one pc game I used to play, way back in my early computer days: Doom.
Naturally, I sucked. But once I learned the all weapons cheat, things evened up a bit. Lord I love me some plasma gun. But it's not unsatisfying to use the chain saw on a baddie, either. Bloodthirsty? Sure...but you and me baby ain't nothing but mammals.
In addition to loving cartoonish violence and plasma guns, Evildeb and I are both fans of The Rock. Unapologetically, with our tongues hanging out, hearts palpitating and knees weakened, fans of the Rock. He makes us swoon. So the combination of both Doom, and the Rock, in one glorious movie? Well, the Debil and I have just two words for you. Awwww yeah!
Good hunting, soldiers!
Last Thursday night I decided to go meet strangers in a dive bar. And I took Louise with me. Because if anyone can charm potentially strangers in a dive bar, it's Louise.
Truthfully, they aren't complete strangers. Cam and Lara, who comment here, and author they occasional 50 word fiction, invited me to their monthly "have drinks in a dive bar with a whole bunch of people we know some of whom we just met." The first thing Cam did was give us each a dollar for the juke box, as it was the best juke box ever. I played Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, Neil Diamond, Cheap Trick and the Violent Femmes. I was able to prove that Louise is not just a little character on my blog, and she really does have a Scottish accent. Well, at least I was able to prove it to Cam and Lara. We met lots of really nice people, including one woman with whom we chatted for quite a while, and yet she was not insulted when we told her we couldn't remember her name. Lynn. I remember it now. I'm horrible with names. The second you introduce someone to me, I will instantly forget their name.
So Cam is affectionate and touchy, and Louise is not, and I think that if I were to arrange them at a table again, I would definitely put them next to each other. Just to watch Cam try not to touch her [she is really so very adorable, it's hard not to want to just pat her arm at least] and Louise try not to yell "bad touch! bad touch!" And Lara knows all the words to "I Want it Now" [aka: bean feast] from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Which just so happens to be a favorite song of mine to sing. Because, it really is my bar of chocolate, you know.
Anyway, you know you are having fun when you lose track of time, and soon it was 1 am on a school night. As Louise and I were walking back to the car, we passed a club, across the street, with loud hip hop streaming out. Three fine young gentlemen in very saggy trousers were hanging out on the side walk. As we walked past them, Louise was doing that talking thing you do, when you don't want some stranger to talk to you or ask you to sign their petition or give them a dollar. Nonetheless... one of the Fine Young Gentlemen with Saggy Trousers asked if we were sisters. To which I replied, politely, "Oh no... no we are not sisters."
He was just surprised that I would actually answer him, and thanked me for the response. As we passed, one or more of the FYG w/ ST yelled out to us. "hey... you got something fine following you!"
"Louise, we have something following us... do you think it's a puppy?"
More yelling from the FYG w/ST that indicated it was indeed not a puppy, but rather it was a booty. I don't know which one, maybe both.
"No, it's not a puppy. I do believe he is referring to our fine posteriors."
"Hmmm... I wish it was a puppy."
But when we got in the car, we broke into a rousing rendition of "Baby Got Back" anyway.
I'm still waiting for my bean feast, by the way.
Today is my eldest brother's birthday, so let's all say Happy Birthday to my big brother, lest he think we don't care. Because we do. If we didn't, would it hurt as much? I doubt it. Cheers to you, big bro.
After admitting my new love of all things Eel, Chris suggested that I try their latest release. And so I have, thank you iTunes music store for addressing my immediate needs, immediately. The way they were meant to be addressed. This is a double cd release, so I am working my way through it, but in a day or two, I'll post something good for you to hear. In the mean time, you can hear a new Eels song every day at their My Space site. But then you have to venture on to myspace. And so far, with the exception of a couple of people, myspace.com kinda scares me. But go there today, before the day before yesterday's song disappears "I'm going to stop pretending that I did not break your heart." Because so far, it is one of my favorites on this new album.
"Blinking Lights and Other Revelations"
Oh, look at me, the music reviewer. How cute.
The New Kid was moving into the cube next door to me today, so I hauled everything of mine that was left in there, over to my own desk. "Hauled" makes it sound like there was a lot. There wasn't. I waited until the last minute because I so enjoyed the constant reminders from various people that I was getting a New Kid soon, and had to move my stuff. What? You are kidding? A New Kid? I did not know that! Sarcasm does become me, trust me.
So, when I was getting ready to leave for the day, I hear Dr. Stevil and EvilDeb talking to the New Kid about my desk. Now, even tho he is New, he is not really "new" to us. He used to work with the three of us at the vendor. Then he left, and made us cry. Now he works at my POE, but not on my product team. Anyway, I heard Evildeb say something about how they threw away all their trash and crap, when we moved to the new part of the building, but that I just brought mine along with me. Which is true. I didn't have time to go through all that crap! I thought I would do that when I unpacked. But then, I haven't finished unpacking yet. [April. we moved in April, in case you are wondering.] Now, Evildeb and Dr. Stevil are both freakishly neat. And Evildeb was explaining how she didn't really need her second set of drawers, but her things "bring joy to her life." I tried to point out that it was hypocritical to make fun of me. But that's like comparing a tiny orange to a room full of apples running amuck. Golden Delicious, tho they may be.
"Yeah, but Jodi... JODI. Come on... Jodi."
"Yeah. ok... but you should see the back of my car!" It's worse than my desk.
"Not to mention your house?"
Now, I resent that remark. She has not been in my house since last fall! She has no idea what shape it is in! Besides, I don't have time for housework, I have sims who need me to get them into private school, and teach them to cook, and to put them into situations that allow for public woo-hoo! I have to keep their houses clean, damn it!
I managed to eat entirely for free today, there was complimentary food galore at work. That's a good day, in my book.
I got something fun in the mail last week, the US mail even. It wasn't a bill, or junk, or a catalog, or someone insisting they could me another credit card or solve my tax problems. Drink Jack sent me some cd's of cover songs, but originals and the covers! I got music in the mail. So this week's Then and Now is brought to you by DrinkJack, who invites you all to drink more Jack. Daniels that is. I picked this song mainly because I was in the mood to hear some Dire Straights.
Romeo and Juliet - Dire Straits 1980
And here is the cover from the Indigo Girls. About which I have nothing witty or clever to say. Except that when I was looking at their discography, to see when their version was released, I was skimming through song tittles and I thought that they had a song on their April 2005 release Prom that was entitled "Penises on a Track." That's odd, I thought. Turns out, it was pennies.
Romeo and Juliet - Indigo Girls 1992
I've been having super vivid dreams the last few days. Not only vivid, but exciting and fun, as well. Weird, but never scary. One night I dreamt that I was walking from one house, to another, at night. And I had to walk through a bit of forrest to get there. The moon was full, but it was otherwise dark. My friend, Spanky, was in my dream, and he did not want me to walk alone, so he took my hand and walked with me, which I remember thinking was terribly sweet. I told him about the dream and then we had a fascinating chat about the subconscious. [forests or woods are supposed to symbolize the subconscious, and if you are lost in the dream, if may indicate a lack of clear direction. I was not, however lost.]
In last night's dream, I went to a big BBQ picnic at a friends house, a labor day party. They had a really big house, lots of land, a pool, even a lake bordering their property. I thought it was just a party for friends, but then, soon, I noticed there were all these bands there. Including the bad that has been in heavy rotation for me lately: The Eels.
At work, I am listening to The Eels: Beautiful Freak. Every third time, I cleanse the palette with either the soundtrack to Whale Rider or the soundtrack to Twin Peaks, and then I am back for two more rounds of Beautiful Freak. Currently, at home and in the car, I am listening to a playlist I call "Matilda." [which I will probably explain tomorrow, when I do the Then and Now] This playlist features the title track from Beautiful Freak, which is a song I can just not get out of my head. I think it is probably one of the sweetest love songs I know. And I am ever so hopeful that it shows up in tonight's dream as well.
The Eels: Beautiful FreakFor sentimental reasons, my favorite star is Thuban. By no means the brightest star in the sky, Thuban is the third, and brightest, star of the constellation Draco, the dragon, third star from the end - on the tail. In fact, Thuban is one of the dimmest named stars in the sky. But looks, and positions of importance on the tail, can be deceiving! Because our planet, and this is my favorite part, actually wobbles on it’s axis. It suffers from a phenomenon called “gyroscopic precession, the slow movement of the axis of a spinning body around another axis due to torque. Because of this, from about 3000 to 1900 BC, Thuban was the closest to the North Pole. It was our polestar. Until it was replaced by Kochab, which held court until 1100 BC when our current polestar, Polaris, in the Little Dipper, took over. However, sassy little Thuban sat north during the times of the Ancient Egyptians. Astronomers discovered that apparent air shafts that bore out from burial chambers inside the Great Pyramid actually pointed to Thuban on one side, and the belt of Orion on the other.
Thuban’s time of importance is not over. The earth continues to wobble on it’s axis, true north will continue to shift and everything changes. By AD 12,000 our polestar will be Vega, of the constellation Lyra. And right behind it, Thuban will be waiting in the wings, ready to take over again, the dimmest named star in the sky, third star from the end of the dragon tail.
that my favorite time of day, year round, is twilight. An ambiguous moment, impossibly lit, when the whole night of possibilities lays out before you.
When's yours?
Didn't anyone notice that I failed to include the volume number last week? How come no one told me. Oh, I'll fix that tomorrow. For once, I am not fudging with the date of this post, to make it appear on Friday. It really IS 1:38 am, and I just got home. And I was wracking my brains for a theme the entire drive home. And then I saw the beautiful sorta pretty much maybe full moon shining on the still waters of lake washington, and I said, there you go, that's the theme. The moon. And then I said, i am not writing my story tonight, for I am going to bed. I will write my story tomorrow, when I am supposed to be working. Like a respectable blogger. And then I said, I'm only kidding, I would NEVER blog during my work day. Never! And then I told myself to quit while I nowhere near ahead.
So, yeah... the moon. Words from me later ....
goodnight, moon!
EDITED TO ADD:
What Lies Below the Surface
The sun is showy, it's a star and it knows it. Accept it's heat or run away, those are your choices.
The moon shines down upon you, sinking into you, filling dark corners with cool reflection. It shows the depths. Giving you this is the only reward it needs.
Amelia: what are you doing? why are crying?
Jodi: *sob*
Amelia: Stop it! I find that noise unnerving. Combined with all the non-stop chatter that goes on here.
Jodi: *rolls her eyes* I just can't win. It's my serenpidity.
Amelia: Don't you mean serendipity?
Jodi: No, I mean serenpidity. The occurrence and development of events by chance in a stupid or pitiful way.
Amelia: Did you make up that word?
Jodi: Evildeb did.
Amelia: And what are they doing in the cube next to you?
Jodi: sigh, getting ready to move someone in.
Amelia: Wasn't this supposed to be the outer Mongolia of cube locations? Isn't that why you picked it?
Jodi: CUBE RAGE!!
Amelia: Settle down, killer.
Speaking of rage, I think we experienced a near melt down here over the last couple of days, when they quit restocking diet soda pop in the cooler. The diet pepsi was the first to disappear, my drink of choice. I transitioned smoothly over to diet dr. pepper. Then the caffeine free diet coke went, and the CFDC people started drinking regular diet coke and things became a bit tense. But when that was gone, and all that was left was diet 7-up and diet dr pepper, people got mean. Louise said someone was snippy with her because she took two diet cokes out of the cooler at the other end of the building, leaving only one behind. I couldn't blame them, she took two.
"I was really thirsty!"
S'ok, now. The appropriate beverages have been restocked. And everyone can just calm the freak down! Ok? People?
Kids, if you are planning to wear some platform mules that are already kinda slippery on your feet, you might want to take it easy on the after shower body lotion. Otherwise, your feet may slide off the shoe, causing you to do that twisty ankle tripping thing, and you'll be forced to use your head, with assistance from the wall, to break the fall because most likely your hands are full, but you'll probably end up dropping anything anyway. At the very least, you'll look like a spaz.
.. do you think that things are inherently, and hysterically, more amusing when you you have a full bladder and no available bathroom?
What do you think?
Chris tagged me to identify five idiosyncratic tendencies that I posses.
Me: I don't think I have idiosyncrasies. Everything I do makes perfect sense.
Mr. Moon: The fact that you think everything you do makes perfect sense is number one on your list of idiosyncrasies.
Of course, when you put it that way, I have far more than five. So I just went with the first five that came to mind.
1. The Food Thing - I don't like my food to touch. Each individual foodstuff should exist in it's own protected sanctuary, unsullied by the flavors of other entrees. Casseroles? Don't like 'em. That's just a big dish of food touching. Some food can touch. For instance, turkey can touch stuffing, but not mashed potatoes. Some foods I know need to touch, and I've come to terms with that, and accepted it... like salsd. My mom has old fashioned school trays at her house. With little compartments for the different dishes, she always puts that at my place setting. So when I have brunch, and we have Norwegian pancakes, my syrup will not touch my eggs or my bacon! It's genius.
2. The Vegetable Thing - I don't like vegetables. The only ones I like are lettuce, spinach [raw], broccoli [raw] and carrots [raw]. I like no cooked vegetables. No, I don't like corn on the cob. Yes, I mean it, I really don't like corn on the cob. Even with butter and salt. My mom told me I would like vegetables when I grew up. Either she's wrong, or I haven't really grown up. You be the judge.
3. The Parking Thing - I'm a very competitive parker. I'm also a fairly consistent parker. I have a certain area in which I park my car, every day, at work. And it doesn't vary, until I switch to a new area. I also have a favorite parking spot. And even though there is zero chance of me not being able to park my car when I return, I am loath to leave the garage at lunch, because that means I might lose my parking spot. Keep in mind, I don't have to walk blocks and blocks from the parking garage, or take a shuttle. Even if I parked in the most remote spot of the garage, it would take less than a minute to get to the door. it's just that that is MY spot. And if I am lucky enough to nab it in the morning, I'm not giving it up!
4. The Feet Thing - I'm not overly fond of feet. Baby feet are cute. Kitty feet are cute. But people feet, especially grown ups, blech. I don't want to see feet and I certainly do not want them touching me. I used to be even worse. I've gotten better. But you know that movie, My Left Foot? Couldn't watch it. First thing you saw was a close up of a foot. Ick. When I was a little kid, my family would put their feet on me, just to aggravate me. And my mom would ask me what happened when I got married, what would I do then? And I told her I'd know it was true love when I could tolerate his feet. Tolerate, not appreciate or adore.
5. The Spelling Thing - I'm not unintelligent, but I have real issues with spelling. I simply cannot be bothered. Back in the beginning of the überbrain, when we'd have marathon chat sessions, Arifa coined the phrase "Jodespeak," which occurs when one simply cannot be bothered to even attempt to spell a word, but rather just enough for the reader to figure it out due to context, using random letters to fill in the rest. Idiosyncrasskithieties, for example. As a side note, my language is fairly fluid, and I will combine words as i see fit and not even recognize what is wrong.
Honorable mentions go to The Memory Thing, The Sleep Thing, and The Total and Complete Lack of Physical Coordination Thing, which did not make it on the list. Maybe some other day. I'd love to see what you guys all come up with for your own lists.
You guys, the whole time I am looking at the pandas, and constantly updating Evildeb in a baby voice, about their activities, I had no idea... none.
Until this morning, I had no idea that someone under all that pandaness was As of Yet Unnamed Baby Panda Cub. Born Aug. 3rd, 2005. I've been looking at the birthing den.
Congratulations, Bai Yun!
Today's Then and Now features Doris Day. Which is the epitome of swell, I think. This song is from Strictly Ballroom, which I've seen about 582 times. And each time it is as delightful as the first day I saw it.
Perhaps Perhaps Perhaps - Doris Day
I had no idea Cake sang this song as well. I have most of the Cake albums, except Fashion Nugget. I was discussing a song on this particular album with someone [Friend is a Four Letter Word] when I noticed it. I do love the Cake.
"Whooo-hooo!" I said. "Next week's Then and Now... done and done!"
Perhaps Perhaps Perhaps - Cake
A few weeks ago, Chris wrote that grocery stores in his area were not longer just playing "vapid soulless" music, but rather brand new no-name versions of vapid soulless music. I told him this must be an east coast thing, because here on the west coast, I was still hearing the original, delightful recordings. Especially in the am/pm I visit every morning. I'm always walking out singing some lyric I have not heard since I was a kid, like "My name's not Lisa.... My name is Julie." I don't know what they play in there, what station, but they play some seriously great crap. And I think I've John Denver in there more than a few times.
I wanted to share with you Friday mornings aural gift, since I sang it for most of the rest of the day. How can you not love a duet like this?
Well, since all I seem to be doing lately is going to office parties, we'll make "parties" this week's theme.
Rubbermaids
Holly munched on crudités as she watched the hostess unpack her wares. She stared at what she was seeing, unbelieving. All different lengths, widths, but only two colors. The hostess handed her one of a medium size and girth. She choked on a carrot.
"I thought this was a tupperware party!"
come one... guess! That's right, we are having another party! It's been a week, after all. This one is cool. It's a 10 year anniversary party for someone and it's off site. It's a wine tasting party and, in the end, we each get to take a bottle of wine home with us. I know ... I know... I live in some kind of dream world, but it's true! Evildeb left early to work from home, so she is missing it. Now she is angry with me because I will not give her my bottle of wine. I have a party to go to on Saturday, and taking a bottle of wine with you is a very grown up thing to do, I've heard. So I'm keeping my booze. You go home early to snooze, you lose.
I can't wait to sip wine and spit it out at someone. Spitting is fun!
1. I'm getting the t-shirt. Perhaps today, Tessa wants one as well. Consider it done, kids.
2. For Jack:
a. they rocked! we had a great time, more about that later. I only paid $20, so I definitely got my moneys worth.
b. see above comment about shirt.
c. I do not believe the widgets slow things down, they are pretty small aps. I was having a performance issue one day and tried turning them off... didn't make any difference.
3. Parents of sticky and loud children: The kids were practically the highlight of the show, sticky or not. More on that later.
4. Christine and Lloyd, if it didn't annoy Deb, it wouldn't be any fun! By the way, the panda? "da panda is sweeping! hims paws are under hims little fuzzy head."
5. Josh, get anything you want tattooed on your inner lip, you beautiful freak. [vegan? that's just weird. vegans are weird] Speaking of which, you are freaking out the mom again, time for me to reassure her that you are ok, albeit strange. Also, not just your clothes, but any bedding you have will need to be washed. And all of your clothes. Everything.
I enjoy searching out new widgets for Dashboard in OS X 10.4: Tiger. I have a tournament poker one, from the maker of iPoker. Currently, as a Libra, my day brims with romantic potential, this year my birthday falls on a wednesday, the closest free wi-fi is 1.0 miles away at the Thai Kitchen on Queen Anne, it's supposed to be 74 and sunny tomorrow, and La Banane is french for The Banana. But my favorite new widget is one that let's me look on different web cams. Currently it is set for the San Deigo Zoo Panda Cam. I periodically go into Dashboard and check up on the pandas. They sleep a lot. For some reason, I feel this need to constantly update Evildeb on the status of the pandas. And, to do it in the voice of a toddler. I don't know how this started. Maybe I was just overwhelmed, at first, by panda cuteness. We'll be sitting in a meeting, waiting for it to start and I'll get Deb's attention, she'll think I am going to say something intelligent. Or at least funny. And instead I say "Deb... the panda... hims slweeping on hims back and you can see hims tummy! It's so flwuffy! widdle panda!" This seems to annoy her, so now I can't stop. Cute widdle panda! I imagine she wishes I would switch to the Vancouver Aquarium Beluga Cam. I do check on the whales periodically.
Today, Louise and I went to Fred Meyer, because my headphones are seriously broken. One of my phones just snapped off. It's dangling by the wires. They were dying anyway. Now I officially need new ones. So we were wondering around the electronics section, and we weren't being quiet at all. It's not like we were being sneaky. Louise said something funny, and I laughed out loud. I scared the clerk over in the next aisle. He jumped. My laugh made him flinch. It's not a bad laugh, it's just an enthusiastic laugh. As in common in the maternal line of my family. I'm easily amused and I like to laugh, it's fun. And, apparently, it's good for you as well. But the fact that he jumped just made me laugh harder. I couldn't wait to come back to work and tell everyone that the power of my amusement startled the Fred Meyer clerk. Serves him right, the selection of headphones was sad indeed.
Tomorrow I should have stories involving Louise's horror at finding herself surrounded by children at the Zoo concert tonight. She sees children and the first word that pops into her mind is "sticky."
Tomorrow is Louise's birthday. But today she brought cupcakes to work for everyone. I learned two British things today. Apparently, when it's your birthday, it's tradition that you bring the cake for everyone. So Louise ordered dozens of lovely cupcakes from Cupcake Royale. When we went to pick them up today, she got an extra dozen "babycakes" so as not to run out of cupcake goodness. We, of course, had to sample the babycakes as soon as we got back to the car. I sampled chocolate with chocolate frosting. Awesomely delicious. You could taste the cocoa used in the frosting. Not cheap crisco frosting, I'll tell you what. They had a t-shirt there that said "legalize frostitution" and I wanted it bad. But I have, like, 973 t-shirts already. But it was a pink ringer T! Oh how I want that shirt. I'm pretty sure the happiness derived from that shirt would change my entire life. Right?
The second thing I learned is that, in Britain, they call cupcakes "fairy cakes." And x-mas lights are called "fairy lights." I guess that the UK is the land of the fairies. Later, during the Official Eating of the Fairy Cakes, I had a lemon drop cake. Second to chocolate things, I like lemon flavored things best. Yummmm.
Tomorrow, Tessa, Louise, Louise's BF and I are going to see the Violent Femmes play an outdoor concert at the zoo. Where we plan to eat thai food and sit on blankets and listen to the monkeys. Surprisingly, it's not even expected to rain. It should be quite pleasant, in the mid 70's. I'll let you know.
Since I post my yahoo and one of my AIM ID's on my blog, I sometimes get chats from people I do not know. And they are mostly really great, very nice people giving me compliments on my blog and talking blog type things with me. Last week, I had a couple of, what could only be, teenage boys, pestering me with some of the lamest sexy chat I've ever received. This went on for several minutes, because I start out too polite, and it take me a while to move from "hey now.. I am not interested in talking with you in this manner" to just blocking them. These kids had 2 or 3 different ID's, which I eventually blocked. And then I shared their prowess with my friends, because it was so funny. I don't feel bad about this, because I asked them nicely to leave me alone and they would not. Their vernacular now peppers all chats between Evildeb and I. They have a lot of work to do, if they really want women to talk dirty with them. [to post some of the gems here, would take up entirely too much space.]
But Deb? She is better than me in so many ways. Today, she received a chat, out of the blue, from a complete stranger.
Complete stranger: Hello Deb
Complete stranger: How'z it going?
Complete stranger: you wouldn't be interested in sharing some secret intimate encounters with a young married guy, would you?
Evildeb: no
Complete stranger: I figured that out.
Complete stranger: Thanks a lot for replying at least
Evildeb: no problem
to me -
Evildeb:it must be my online profile where I say I'm very interested in sharing some secret intimate encounters with a young married guy,
Evildeb: and then a little bit further down I change my mind
Evildeb: I think that's how he figured it out
Jodi: i think so.
Jodi: or maybe it was the 60 seconds it took you to reply.
I laughed about this exchange for several minutes. Sigh, she's so tuff!
From blog of a bookslut, I got this fabulous link to somethingawful.com. Evildeb can hear me laugh, when I do, and is usually curious as to why.
Jodi: I'm reading something on "something awful"
Jodi: and it's making me laugh.
Evildeb: it does that sometimes
Jodi: it's a cliff notes interpretation of an r. kelly song called "locked in the closet"
Jodi: glossary:
Jodi: Y'all ass is crazy: Your entire ass is crazy.
Jodi: I'ma: I am going to
Evildeb:I want to tell someone that there entire ass is crazy
Jodi: me too
Evildeb: it should be easy enough to find someone around here that would fit the bill
Evildeb: Whiskey tango frank, my brother. Your entire ass is crazy~!
Evildeb: there isn't one inch of your ass that is not crazy. you are insane in the ass
Evildeb: no
Evildeb: that doesn't work
Evildeb: the whole of your ass has lost it's marbles.
Jodi: your ass has lost touch with reality, my brother
Evildeb: yeah
Evildeb: sit down my brother, you ass has totally lost touch with reality
Jodi: Just sit your ass down on some reality.
So, a couple of weeks ago, we featured Phil Collin's heartbreaking story of love and loss and crap like that. I believe I mentioned that that song never really did it for me, and, back then, I would have turned to Depeche Mode, if my heart was breaking. Back in the mid 80's, this song was the song of romantic love. At least if you were a teenager. I'm pretty sure that I remember transcribing the lyrics into a notebook, so I could further absorb the passionate longing. My favorite part, comes at the end:
"Though things like this
Make me sick
In a case like this
I'll get away with it"
So put your best moony face on and enjoy.
Somebody - Depeche Mode
"For the Masses," a Depeche Mode tribute album was released in 1998. But I had totally forgotten about that. I just happened to trip over Veruca Salt covering "Somebody" while browsing around. It makes sense to me that a woman should sing this song, since it meant so much to the girls back in the day. And there is cello! You know how I love the cello*.
Somebody - Veruca Salt
*a lot, in case you don't know.
Some of you are receiving a failure error when you try to comment. Some of you are not. I just wanted to let you know, that I will look into this today. I'm not getting the error, so it's wonky.
I'm still drawing a blank on the 50 word fiction, but the day is young. Friday is not over. Maybe it's the theme. If the theme is causing you, too, to draw a blank, chuck it... write what you want, consider it a fill in the blank theme.
Meanwhile, until I fix things, here is a picture of me eating an ice cream sammich. Since I seem to be at a loss for words.
You know, I have absolutely no idea what to write. I just finished reading "The Historian" by Elizabeth Kostova, after several days of reading. My brain is so full of someone else's prose right now... I'm a blank. And so there is your theme. Something to do with blankness. Blank in it's roll as a noun or verb, it does not matter. You know the rules are lose. Except the word count!!
As for me, I'm going to have to sleep on it. I'll have something in the morning. For now, I got nothing. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Blankness.
EDITED TO ADD:
Princess Naomi's Unmentionables
She couldn't believe the damage. Chairs overturned, broken glass, books dumped everywhere, clothes hanging from the ceiling fan, it would take days to clean everything up. She made way to her dresser and opened the top drawer. Sure enough, they were gone, all her panties were gone. Dirty thieving unicorns.
Did I fail to mention that I won yesterday's poker game? I think I did. Shame on me. Let's just take care of that now. I won yesterday's poker game!!
Today, at work, we had a luau. I don't know why. Just one of those things. No reason was stated, I guess it was just one of those summer party things. There was volleyball, lots of food, some hula contest, Hawaiian band, drinks in coconuts [plastic] with really high alcohol content., and robo-surfing. And wading pools, and henna tattoos and things for the kids. I don't drink and drive. At all. So I was not imbibing. But Evildeb doesn't drive home, Lloyd does the driving. So she was imbibing nicely. As were other people.
At one point, word is, Evildeb threw an inflated ball at the back of Tessa's head. I did not see this. But I saw retaliation. Tessa thought this was worthy of dumping a bottle of water down Evildeb's back. I don't think Evildeb agreed. She was contemplating an ass kicking.
Now, if the two of them went to war, it would be bad. Neither one would give up and both would escalate it to the next level. Knowing this, I happily stood behind Deb's lawn chair and encouraged her to kick Tessa's ass. Tessa was standing a few yards away, her back towards us.
Evildeb: i'm going to have to kick her ass.
Me: I think you do, your pride is at stake. I mean, it was just a beach ball! And now you are completely soaked!
Evildeb: well... i don't know if I am comp...
Me: YOU ARE TOO!! Don't let her get away with that.
Evildeb: I'm not. Lloyd, go kick her ass!
Lloyd: no way, man.
Evildeb: The Man, go kick her ass!
The Man: No way, not my fight.
Me: he's afraid of her, you are going to have to do it, Deb.
Evildeb: grrrrr...
Now, in truth, I do not believe it would have been a literal ass kicking. Nor did I really want Tessa to get her ass kicked. That's why I told her that she had better quit shaking her ass at Deb, that she should just turn around and face her. And keep an eye on her. The two of them were eyeing each other warily, ready to attack, if necessary.
And, with a job well done, I headed home!
Yeah... I'm a little stinker.
Miss Kitty [Tessa], Boss, Ace Barracuda, and I, Miss Conduct, played poker out in the sunshine, in the courtyard at lunch today. I was on fire! Of course, for someone who was on fire, I was awfully cool. I went into a hand with pocket ace's, and ended up with a full house. And I made everyone pay BIG TIME to play that hand.
We had an audience for bit, watching the game. Someone from the shipping dept. At one point, when I was dealing, I slapped down the river and said something like "POW!" or "BANG!" Shipping dept. guy deadpans, "whoa. that was a thunderous boom. that's quite a voice you've got there. it echoed." He wasn't joking, he really thought it was a thunderous boom. It was just my outside voice. I was just having fun. But that brought Tessa and I to that stage of laughter where no sound is coming out, and you are clutching your stomach. Maybe my thunderous boom is one of my super powers.
I'm going to an my friend's gallery opening tonight after work. I thought I'd try to be all classy and shit, so I wore a shirt with buttons and a collar. No text or graphics. And, unfortunately, it's white. And sure enough, it's got Wendy's Frosty on it now. I don't know why I even try. Yesterday I was telling the artist that I was going to be there.
"Louise and I are coming over after lunch... I mean after dinner... I mean after work! sheesh."
At that point I laughed at myself, but I was also about to take a sip of water, I had the bottle to my lips, but didn't notice how close to the rim it was filled, and ended up spraying water all over myself.
"That was perfect!"
"Thanks, I try"
It's not that I am a spaz, it's just that I have special skills.
Earlier this afternoon, Evildeb sent out an email, alerting us that she had been broken.
Yep, I'm a broken woman.
It started on or around June 8 when I sent an impassioned plea to the ...
ok, none of your business.
Then we talked to them about it.
Then we gave some feedback on it.
more nothing you need to know...
So, you can probably understand how it hurts me to see the following ...
blah blah blah
If you need me you will find me under a tree in the courtyard weeping.
Deb
Being the concerned friend I am, I sent her a chat:
Jodi is it possible for me to paste you back together? with superglue?
Evildeb: no
Evildeb: well, maybe with the help of all the kings horses and all the kings men
Jodi: could all the kings horses and all the kings men put you
Jodi: oh
Jodi: my
Jodi: god
Evildeb: you scared me
Jodi: you scared me!!
Evildeb: I hate it when that happens
Evildeb: we have c.S.P
Jodi: csp?
Evildeb: Chat Sensory Perception
Jodi: AAAAACKK!
We do this all the time. Type the same thing to each other in chats. Really weird random things, as well. I'm wondering which one of use should be more concerned. Which one of us is in who's brain? Exactly.
"..... "
Amelia: Do you hear that?
Jodi: Hear what?
Amelia: the silence, coming from over there. I don't hear a toadying sales pitch.
Jodi: I know! He's gone, my brother.
Amelia: Gone?
Jodi: he's moved. The monkee has been caged in an office and the door is shut.
Amelia: Shut up!
Jodi: Would I lie, my brother?
Amelia: No, my brother, about this you would not lie. Hmmm.... now what am I going to do?
Jodi: I don't know. You want to learn javascript or something?
Amelia: Maybe. Hey... let's talk about boys.
Jodi: Only if you have some secret divine boy understanding you care to share.
Amelia: Oh forget that, then. By the way, does that new guy behind you ever stop talking?
Jodi: sigh
We join Tessa, Louise and I in mid conversation at lunch.
Jodi: Dallas maybe?
Louise: Maybe
Jodi: yup, lived there too.
Tessa: wow, you really get around
Jodi: that's what they say about me.
Louise: So have you ever been to Lukenbach?
Jodi: Where?
Louise: Lukenbach Texas... you know, like the song.
Tessa: What song?
Louise: The song! You know.. that one song.
Tessa and Jodi: yes, of course, that ONE song.
Louise: [in a hesitant voice, sings, with no discernible melody] ...Luckenbach Texas.... something.
Tessa and Jodi laugh hysterically. Because we're fun like that.
Tessa: Do you know any other lyrics that might help us out?
Jodi: Who sings it?
Louise: I don't know, Johnny Cash maybe? It's confusing because there is also that place Lubbock. [pronounced as loo-BOCK.]
Jodi: loo-BOCK? You mean Lubbock? L-u-b-b-u-c-k? [pronounced as luh-buck]
Louise: I don't know! I don't know how it's spelled, Waylon Jennings is from there or something?
Tessa: We are not going to be able to help you out on this one. You are going to have to google it.
Jodi: yeah, you are going to have to do some sassy detective work. Regardless, no, I have never been to Lukenbach, to the best of my knowledge.
Frankly, I'm surprised a Scottish girl new that much about country music, and musicians from Texas. Turns out, Waylon Jennings sang the song. He is not from Lukenbach. She is right, tho, he did live in Lubbock. I can barely remember the song, now that I have seen the lyrics. Some information about Lukenbach:
"Hondo Crouch, local rancher and regional folk hero bought Luckenbach in 1970 when he saw an ad in the paper "town- pop.3- for sale." Luckenbach became this poet - sage's stage where he held the first Women's Only Chili Cook-off, a World's Fair (because he proclaimed Luckenbach as the center of the Universe) & Return of the Mud Dauber Day (as do swallows in Capistrano).
After Hondo died in 1976 his music making friends penned the song "Luckenbach Texas" which was recorded by Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson in 1978. The song, now a classic, became a number one smash hit all across the nation and beyond putting Luckenbach on the map for good."
Oh come on, you know you wanted to know! If I have a son, I am seriously considering naming him Hondo.