Tuesday, May 31, 2011

purple hearts



nevertheless, highlights of this weekend included:

  • planting herbs
  • marcos pizza
  • getting a new tennis racquet that is bigger and wider and therefore easier to hit and playing on har-tru court
  • dozens of dog barf episodes
    • both dogs
    • eating grass
    • in the car
  • walking through clouds of flies in the woods past beautiful rushing water
  • economy size wine

Monday, May 30, 2011

andrews not geyser

while in old fort over the weekend, we followed signs to 'andrew's geyser.'

wikipedia sayeth:

A geyser is a spring characterized by intermittent discharge of water ejected turbulently and accompanied by a vapor phase (steam). Generally all geyser field sites are located near active volcanic areas, and the geyser effect is due to the proximity of magma.

i was interested to see what kind of phenomenal natural water spout could possibly be found around here.



something like so? -

Beehive Geyser Blows off Steam, Yellowstone National Park



or like so? -


Strokkur


?

?


?


or how about something more like so:

andrews not geyser


this is andrew's geyser. it's a hose. a fountain that was made by the hands of men. it makes me want to cry.

Friday, May 27, 2011

may showers


we don't get real tornadoes in asheville but we do get huge thunder and lightning storms.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

new orleans house bursting with plants

dangling tornado wreckage





When a tornado warning has been issued, you may have very little time to prepare.

How you respond now is critical. And how you react depends on where you are.

In a Frame Home

  • Make sure you have a portable radio, preferably a NOAA weather radio, for information.

  • Seek shelter in the lowest level of your home (basement or storm cellar). If there is no basement, go to an inner hallway, a smaller inner room, or a closet. Keep away from all windows.

  • You can cushion yourself with a mattress, but do not use one to cover yourself. Do cover your head and eyes with a blanket or jacket to protect against flying debris and broken glass. Don't waste time moving mattresses around.

  • Keep your pet on a leash or in a carrier.

  • Multiple tornadoes can emerge from the same storm, so do not go out until the storm has passed.

  • Do not leave a building to attempt to "escape" a tornado.

In a Mobile Home

  • Leave your mobile home immediately and take shelter elsewhere.

Outside

  • Try to get inside and seek a small protected space with no windows.

  • Avoid large-span roof areas such as school gymnasiums, arenas, or shopping malls.

  • If you cannot get inside, crouch for protection beside a strong structure, or lie flat in a ditch or low-lying area and cover your head and neck with your arms or a piece of clothing.

In a Car

  • Ideally, you should avoid driving when tornadoes or other kinds of dangerous weather threaten, because a vehicle is a very unsafe place to be. If, however, this is not possible, stay as calm as possible, and assess the situation.

  • Your best option might be to get out of the car and lie flat in a ditch or other low-lying area that is sufficiently deep enough to protect against the wind.

  • If you do so, beware of water runoff from heavy rain that could pose a hazard; get as far away from the vehicle as possible and shield your head from flying debris.

  • Or, if possible, take shelter immediately in a nearby building.

Monday, May 23, 2011

baby fresh roll


all my friends' babies born in the past year all have giant blueberry eyes. it's uncanny!

you don't need teeth to eat noodles.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

happy birthday drezza & rose


since the world hasn't ended, i will keep blogging.

yesterday was the birthday of my awesome grandma named Drezza.

it was also almost* the birthday of a sweet ebony bitch named Rose.

they are both lovely and very pleasant to be around and i wish they lived closer to me.

* rose turned 13 on 5-10.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

dogwood


there's a tree on the side of the house that hasn't bloomed since we've been here. but from the bark and the leaves i thought it was dogwood.

dogwood is the state flower of north carolina.

since the 10 giant dead carolina hemlocks were cut down 2 weeks ago, the dogwood started getting hours more direct sunlight and it bloomed. it's blooming now. this excites me.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

i can't be the only one



this giant phallic symbol rock is situated on probably the 'nicest' street in all of asheville - evelyn.

big old houses, manicured lawns, back yards on the grove park country club.
i would like to know who put this rock here and what they were thinking.

Monday, May 16, 2011

mountain laurel mexican skirts under a glass dancefloor

will turned 1 year


amidst all the travel and bustle i neglected to mention that my amazing little nephew Will survived his first year on this earth.

we sent him the book "DOG" on recommendation from the mappy camper.

angela sent this phone-photo the next day saying "Will took his doggie book out totally independently and is reading it while I fold the laundry!"

not only is he an animal-lover, and super intelligent, would you just look at how balanced and graceful he is in his reading stance! i predict big things for this one. happy birthday Will!

Saturday, May 14, 2011

winky


a fish will not eat another fish's eyeball on a hook as bait.

our unbelievable fishing streak (first cast teddy caught 2 on the double hook of the one line) was disrupted after an unfortunate unhooking incident (we threw all the fish back) in which one fish (winky) left an eyeball dangling on one hook of a 2-hook rig. even with good bait (sand fleas/shrimp) on the bottom hook, the fish did not bite this line again until the eyeball was removed.

Friday, May 13, 2011

nicest beach i've ever seen

i was back in the so-called redneck riviera this week.

i was there last year exactly when the deepwater oil spill started. there were no visible effects whatsoever.

in fact, i said it's the most beautiful beach i've ever been to. i've been to many beaches in

rhode island
long island
palm beach
puerto rico
outer banks
wrighstville
down to
kiawah
key west
los cabos
sea island
nice
marbella
kaikura
bondi
ventura
san diego
santa barbara
santa cruz
kauai
cadaqués

and the powder sugar sand and clear coke bottle glass green water and uncrowdedness of the beach at watersound on the gulf of mexico in the florida panhandle makes it my favorite.

we caught some relatively big fish variously referred to as whiting and ladyfish. saw a shark and some rays. dolphins playing because all dolphins do is play. somebody saw a killer whale but he was only 4 so...

it's a fantastic place to have a fantastic vacation.

i flew back to asheville direct on vision airlines. my ticket cost $59, but if you book early enough fares are $39 one way. the plane had relatively big leather seats, and two rows of three. it left on time and they gave us big bags of pretzels. full size bags like at supermarket cash registers. i was impressed and would fly with them again in a second.

Friday, May 06, 2011

kisses scoobs

if you put your face up to the screen he will licky you.

("i must licky you" asheville police department scandal explanation in mountain xpress)

Thursday, May 05, 2011

asheville chainsaw massacre


next on the agenda in the never-ending house rental repair saga: chopping down the half dozen giant dead carolina hemlocks in the back yard.

this involves cutting down the power and cable lines for 3 days.

this involves making me crazy.

thank you wooly adelgid.

i am trying to be flexible and flowing. instead i feel like a scabby bitter clot of anger.

i am thankful for public libraries and their free wi-fi.

please note the paint peeling off the house, bare wood exposed. also the piece of wood the roofers nailed to the clapboard last week and didn't remove.

these tree guys are amazing. they have no fear of heights or falling. or lightning. 10 minutes after this photo was taken a HUGE thunderstorm rolled through. it was already gusting hard and starting to hail at this point. and they were up there in the sky just chopping away.

crazy people lined up down the block for pieces of fried dough at cafe du monde

cafe du monde.

i mean really! they're little donuts! all hours of the day there was a block-long line.
we went at midnight and walked right up.

Wednesday, May 04, 2011

new orleans

we left the house at 230AM thursday night (or friday morning depending how you count), drove an hour and a half to the greenville, SC amtrak station, and at 5AM boarded the crescent bound for new orleans. i woke up 4 hours later pulling out of the atlanta station.

sleeping

we had a roomette which was nice because you can lower the seats and put on a bedroll they provide and completely lie down, also can close the door and curtain. there's a toilet in there, which is too close for comfort for me.

dining car carnation

in the dining car they sat you with strangers if you didn't have a party of 4. they ran out of things like nobody's business. the service took forever. the coffee was piping hot. the salad had dark green lettuce not just iceberg. the meals were extremely overpriced, but free for those who were traveling in the roomettes.

broken trees lost roofs

the train slowed way down through tuscaloosa alabama. there were neighborhoods completely leveled by the tornadoes 2 days before. so many snapped trees and then 100 year old trees on their sides - their red roots unnaturally perpendicular. factories a heap of twisted steel and cinder blocks. people in neon yellow shirts handing out water. old men in their backyards surrounded by shredded belongings watching the train go by. (slide show of the destruction)

black jack

there is no open container law in new orleans and no last call. (or seemingly). there's a casino. where you can't take pictures of the blackjack table. you can take bloody marys and walk down by the mississippi river while an old lady plays the pipes on top of the natchez paddle boat, it's so windy the pipe steam cloud is blowing right back in her face.

alo + josh clark

tipitinas uptown is a legendary venue and i loved seeing two of my alltime favorite bands share the stage there and also some old friends on the dancefloor. the show was supposed to start at 1, but instead doors opened at 2 and it was sunrise when we stumbled out. my time's coming but it's not tonight.

jama jama fricasse plantains

the food at the fairgrounds of jazz fest is worth the price of admission alone. ingested included: giant strawberry lemonade with chunks of real strawberries, chicken fricassee, fried plantains, and 'jama jama' (spinach) from the african food court. to die for. a bowl of shrimp and grits. perfection.

mardi gras indians

old timers playing the blues and some mardi gras indians. sunday morning. can you beat it? no.

mr b's bistro best meal ever

as a last hurrah, later that night mr. b's had the best dining experience of my life. perfect service and timing and not too stuffy and awesome AWESOME food.

blue nile floor

the floor of the blue nile has the arabic patterned tile. waiting for the show to start a man asked us "did they find his body?" which is how i found out they killed bin laden. the hippie next to me said super sarcastic "a trillion in war debt and how many thousands killed? mission accomplished! yay america! are the troops on their way home?" i tend to agree. watching teenagers rejoice in front of the white house on tv later i didn't feel like celebrating and i didn't feel any safer.

sidewalks could use some more improving

the train left new orleans at 7am. we got to the station in a cab whose driver had lived in the city for 4 days and had to plug the train station into the gps. he moved to new orleans from charlotte where his wife and kids still live because he couldn't find work in charlotte.

mooning the train

we got back to greenville at 1130 monday night, back home at 1. we got mooned in mississippi.