Friday, September 30, 2011

starting to fall



just barely 

Thursday, September 29, 2011

stool samples on ice

why are there two pieces of poop in an ice-filled styrofoam cooler on the front step, you might ask?

nacho & eli have their yearly checkups today and the vet said we have to bring in a stool sample. 

when kevin & i were talking about the logistics of this ridiculous task (shouldn't the vet do this?) yesterday, i said "i guess i will take them on walks after their breakfast and pick up some poop in a ziploc bag with their name on it. and put it in the refrigerator until the appointment."

he said "NO! not in the refrigerator! you know taste is 75% smell!"

i said "you have to refrigerate it so the parasites don't die, i will put the bags inside a tupperware which i will then throw away" 

he said "can't you put it in one of the extra styrofoam coolers in the basement?"

and so it was done.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

smiles!



smiling is the facial expression that lets you inhale the most air because it gets your upper lip out of the way
 

do men with bushy mustaches take in less oxygen or inhale more forcefully? 

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

why it's okay to rent part 75



somebody's gotta come fix this and i don't have to pay for it.

(if i don't break my neck first)

(just kidding, it's not as bad as it looks)

(and most of that ivy is gone, in an afternoon fit of garden shearing frenzy)

Saturday, September 24, 2011

castillo de pene?



back at el chapala - poquito arte, muy sugestivo, no?

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

happy 90th birthday grandpa wallace



my grandpa wallace turned 90 years old last friday.

the picture above is when he opened my present of asheville bear poop.

on saturday 18 of his family members spanning 4 generations gathered to celebrate at noon in the card room of the palm beach condo highrise where he has lived for the past 50 years.

he made his grand entrance fashionably late using ski poles as canes and playing 'happy birthday' on his harmonica.

he grew up in providence, rhode island, as one of 5 boys raised by a single mother whose father abandoned the family when the youngest was 1. he was in the air force during world war 2, and then had 3 kids (including my dad), and spent his life drawing and doing architectural delineation, which he continued to do until very recently when his eyes and hands stopped cooperating. he worked very hard, and very well.


he has a great sense of humor, and great love for his wife margaret, who was so classy and chic that we grew up calling her 'lady margaret.' he is a very snazzy dresser - palm beach resort style - wearing white pants and white keds every time i've seen him in the past 35 years.

grandpa wallace & lady margaret

we spent a lot of the party looking at amazing old photos and newspaper clippings. his younger brother john brought a picture from the providence journal of his senior prom.  lady margaret was cool with it.

lady margaret checks her out

one of the most touching parts of the day was when he played a few songs on harmonica for my nephew willie. willie was entranced. he would finish one song and willie would say, "more!" 

grandpa wallace plays harmonica for willie 

what a life! 90 years - can you freakin imagine?

Thursday, September 15, 2011

i was issued some art


Monday, September 12, 2011

i'd climb a tree for a date with you



i love dates. 

this is no secret. 

i try to eat one a day at least. i eat them plain. i stuff them with peanut butter. or cashews. or goat cheese. 

i bring them with me to almost every potluck i attend. medjool dates are so sweet and smooth. if you don't like them, i bet you've never tried them.

dates with destiny

my friend betsy is trying to use all the extra food in her pantry, and had a half bag of dates and featured my 'recipe' on her awesome betsylife blog last week. 

if you close your eyes and chew long enough, these things taste just like the old hostess funny bones. 


Sunday, September 11, 2011

twin towers march 1998


this photo isn't black and white, it was a cloudy day.



this was also new york in '98, but on a much more sunny day.

Friday, September 09, 2011

i love my brain


i am glad i'm not bald because my head is lumpy and soft. thank god i have hair to cover it. it's like it never hardened when i was a baby. or else i am slowly growing devil horns on the back. i've tried googling 'soft skull adult' etc. and can't find anything. i should probably ask a neurologist or something. in the mean time i should probably wear a helmet 24/7.

but, instead, i have decided i don't really want to wear a helmet ever again. i don't need that big of a rush that sports requiring helmets give a person. i fell off my mountain bike 15 years ago and dislocated my shoulder and decided i don't need to do that anymore. i don't miss skiing or want to learn to snowboard. i don't really want to do intense whitewater rafting. i don't want to jump out of a plane again. never say never, but i think i'm done with helmets. 

i love my brain!

Wednesday, September 07, 2011

colorado for labor day


i spent the past 5 days in colorado, and it was glorious.

on the first day kevin's brother teddy took us on a hike to diamond lake - which is not a dammed river, but a true mountain lake. good lord there's a difference.

we had great lunch and beer in boulder and listened to a barefoot hippie play classical piano in the middle pearl street.



we went to breckenridge and hung out with kevin's parents and his incredibly cute niece and nephew, piper and jack, for the weekend.



this is an actual conversation i had with piper:

(after hearing that rose, the 13 year old black lab bed hog climbed on piper's air mattress and slept with her all night, eventually pushing piper's legs off the bed)

me: it was cold last night, so rose was probably keeping you warm, and you were keeping her warm.

piper: yes, and she was keeping my heart warm!

i walked around the astonishingly beautiful breckenridge golf course and witnessed kevin's dad chip in from out of a bunker that was over his head. it was incredible!

i played no fewer than 50 games of hullabaloo.



we went to the phish show sunday night. it was my 3rd time seeing them and BY FAR the best. there was much platypus slapping and dance party USA. one strange coincidence was that they covered for the first time 'the way it goes' - gillian welch's new song that we heard her play (better) a few weeks ago at the orange peel. but cool of them to try! the whole night was a blast.




we flew back across the country on monday straight into a tropical storm and other than a few in-air and on-runway delays, we got home close to schedule. this lady was rolling this girl around the charlotte airport like so. not sure of the safety implications here. 



i hope your labor day was labor-free and even 1/10 as much fun as mine.