huge pink

huge pink, originally uploaded by skippy haha.

i just had awesome dinner with two fantastic friends, tomorrow i'm going to new orleans for jazz fest, all's well and i am highly grateful.

made by different writers

different writers, originally uploaded by skippy haha.

my birthday is coming up, and i've gotten some very nice cards in the mail. i am pretty sure my mother thinks my birthday is today, since today was my due date.
i find it amazing that my aunt jojo and my mom have almost identical handwriting. they are both very neat and classically beautiful letter-formers. their other sister writes nothing like this, and neither do/did their parents.
is penmanship nature or nurture?

farmers market

farmers market, originally uploaded by skippy haha.

this weekend has been excellent. other than when there were 5 dogs in the backyard and holden the mad scavenger took the opportunity to sneak off and run away down the street. i walked down yelling his name and a guy came on his stoop and said "black dog?" i said "YES!" he said "eating the compost in back?" i said "YES!"

please take a second and wish my mom luck in her bridge tournament today. she won a big tournament last week, in her own words:

"It was a regional tournament at the Sheraton in Smithtown, We won one of the bracketed (handicappped) knock-out competitions. It was so much fun. Will play again all day Sunday in a Swiss team event."

go bridgemaster joycie!

eating spotted dick

i just had to eat cold spotted dick for work.

it wasn't so bad.

watch dogs

watchful, originally uploaded by skippy haha.

using the automated mailing machine at the post office on sunday while two little buddies kept a lookout.

creek (april 2009)

creek, originally uploaded by skippy haha.

after the rain of the last couple months, asheville has pulled itself out of its 2 year drought. they're warning the summer will be hot and very dry but i'm hoping they don't know what they're talking about.

either way, it's refreshing to see everything green and flowing.

dried up creek (august 2008)

dried up creek, originally uploaded by skippy haha.

Susan Boyle on Britain's Got Talent

yes she makes that audience rock.

"i dreamed a dream" from les miserables

I dreamed a dream in time gone by
When hope was high
And life worth living
I dreamed that love would never die
I dreamed that God would be forgiving.

Then I was young and unafraid
And dreams were made and used
And wasted
There was no ransom to be paid
No song unsung
No wine untasted.

But the tigers come at night
With their voices soft as thunder
As they tear your hope apart
As they turn your dream to shame.

And still
I dream he'll come to me
That we will live the years together
But there are dreams that cannot be
And there are storms
We cannot weather...

I had a dream my life would be
So different from this hell I'm living
so different now from what it seemed
Now life has killed
The dream I dreamed.

tailfoot

tailfoot, originally uploaded by skippy haha.

tulip

tulip, originally uploaded by skippy haha.

if i were i bee i'd be attracted to this too

My Vacation (4th grade)

My Vacation (4th grade), originally uploaded by skippy haha.

i guess i never liked that first "r" in febuary.

UNCA - walking the labyrinth

walking the labyrinth, originally uploaded by skippy haha.

graffiti on top of the sign reads:
Meditation = listening to your mind and not a sign

the road ends here

the road ends here, originally uploaded by skippy haha.

it wasn't the most exciting championship game, but the good guys won. frasor makes me nervous, the heels fall on the floor drawing charges too often, and hansbrough may be a robot in a family of robots, but other than that, they were the perfect team. ellington and danny green and and ed davis and ty lawson with his low center of gravity were so much fun to watch all season.

Fish Dinners Sale flyer in the mailbox

Fish Dinners Sale flyer in the mailbox, originally uploaded by skippy haha.

i'm sad to say i didn't order anything.

also wondering what the health department would think of this.

broken toes

broken toes, originally uploaded by skippy haha.

people are funny.

this photo i took of someone's toes in a cast is the second-most clicked-on of all 3000 of my flickr photos by a mile. (the first most clicked-on is this of unc-asheville's giant basketball player kenny george last year).

last week i got email from mike52fun about it:

Leg Cast

Hi,

Was that your foot in the cast? If so, did you enjoy the attention you received while wearing it?

Have a GREAT day,
Mike

to which i replied:

Re: Leg Cast
hi MIke, no it wasn't my foot, i was at an outdoor concert & it was the foot of a woman sitting in front of me. i'm very glad to have never broken my foot or ankle or leg.

then he wrote back:

Re: Leg Cast


Thank-you!

Would you like to wear a cast for fun for a couple of days and see how much attention you would receive?

Have a GREAT Weekend,
Mike

i countered:

Re: Leg Cast
i don't think so, since i do all i can to AVOID attention. i'm more of an observer than a performer. and i like to walk instead of hobble.

and finally:

Re: Leg Cast


Thank-you for your reply!

I wish you much success!

Mike

so i got that going for me.

The Sound of Singing (3rd Grade)

The Sound of Singing (3rd Grade), originally uploaded by skippy haha.

newark

newark , originally uploaded by skippy haha.

i took this photo sunday morning at newark airport thinking about all the sensory overload presented there, and just noticed the woman in the vest is the very same woman who sneezed on me twice after our flight landed in asheville and we were waiting at the gate to retrieve luggage.

i guess the new thing with sneezing is to NOT contain your germs with your hands, thinking you'll soon touch things with your germy fingers and spread your sick. instead you're supposed to sneeze into your elbow and contain the germs there, since you hardly touch the inside of your elbow to anything or anyone else.

there were about a dozen other passengers tightly clustered at the gate waiting for the bag cart to meet us. she was less than a foot away from me. when she sneezed, she turned her head toward me and sort of raised her bent arm to shoulder level and sneezed, containing none of her germs in her elbow, instead spraying me with them.

i sighed loudly and rolled my eyes and turned my head away and covered my mouth with my scarf to breathe.

within 20 seconds she did it again.

i said, 'are you kidding me?!?' and walked out of the room. she mumbled something like 'oh i'm sorry.'

if you're going to sneeze into your elbow, please put your elbow up to your mouth, not 6 inches in front of your face as you sneeze all over people around you.

i now have swollen glands and blame her.

orange peel update

i got a sincere, thoughtful response from Dana, manager at the orange peel, after my bitching about the recent invasive bag search i encountered there at the ozomatli show:

Hi Heather,

I'm sorry to hear that you had an uncomfortable experience with our door staff at the Ozomatli show. I actually took the night off to attend the show and, you're right, it was great. We really try to encourage the staff to be considerate of both the customer's experience at a show and the security of the club. It is not an easy job and sometimes, in efforts to protect the club, a staff member can go overboard. We have reminded all of the staff that the thoroughness of pat downs/searches, unless otherwise dictated by the band's management, do not need to be quite so extreme and we think we have come up with a policy that is clear and noninvasive.
... I appreciate you emailing us as we are always trying to improve and constructive criticism is always welcome.

Sincerely,
Dana Redfield
The Orange Peel, Manager

i am happy with this response and plan to go back in the next couple months, and will bring my bag like i normally do and report back on the depth of search.