kelsey in a chair

it is with sad fingers i report last week's passing of mappycamper's sweet, smart, calm, submissive, beautiful, faithful companion kelsey dog of goleta.

she lived a FULL 15.5 years and gave much joy and peace to all those who met her. she was a princess but not fussy. she sat in chairs and observed while the riff raff sniffed butts.

2010 was a tough year for furry friends. i believe kelsey is now running through a heavenly field with holden and yoshi. according to the very wise trevor garrod of tea leaf green, if that's what makes you happy, it doesn't matter if it's true.

at the same time, i have to welcome to the world SO MANY new babies! there have been 6 new arrivals in the past 2 months, and all the babies are healthy and thriving and adorable. and all the moms are healthy and thriving and adorable too.

i love the sweet unusual girls' names my friends have used - there's twins keira and marla leen, leila sacks, and selah raleigh. aren't they just lyrical wonders?

then there's the boys - emmitt glidewell and yesterday's addition jack radey. maybe not as lyrical, but definitely catchy. and catchy names correspond to success in life.

cocoa dregs

coffee + cocoa powder + honey = something almost worth getting out of bed for

i need a lot sleep. at least 9 hours. NEED it. always have. i could sleep 12 hours a night no problem.

i am at my meanest and nastiest if i feel like i am being woken up too early for no good reason. i was always the last one to get up at slumber parties. kids would be running around at sunrise and i'd put my pillow over my head and silently curse them all. luckily i am a very heavy sleeper.

i am not hungry in the morning and don't care about missing breakfast.

now that it's dark so early, i feel like going to bed at 7PM, and i am so grateful that i can do that sometimes.

maybe i'm just a chronically depressed brat, but really i feel a million times better when i've slept half the day.

happy national peanut butter month!

gonna have to face it - you're addicted to peanut butter

the forest glen inn

the forest glen inn was my house.

i was 9 years old and had been living in new york - huntington, long island, for about 2 years and we had many many visitors friends and family from rhode island stay in the guest room during that time.

it was mainly my grandparents - flops & drez - and the revens. 

i painted a wooden sign and put it in the driveway when guests were coming. i made that flyer on print shop and colored it in. i made comment sheets and did turndown service. this was the first comment sheet that i typed on my dad's old real typewriter.

drezza easter weekend 1986:

after this, i typed one and my dad brought it to work and made copies for me.

revens 1987:

at this point i seem to have charged my grandma for some lavender crap someone gave me: 

i never worked in a real hotel

nun on a giant bike

i took the lazoom purple bus tour of asheville for the third time this weekend and it's always a great time.

you learn a lot of asheville trivia, this time they gave out prizes for people who could answer questions.

i answered this one:

asheville has more art deco buildings downtown than any US city other than ____.

(miami)

i won a can of powdered mountain gorilla for answering this correctly. i haven't opened the can but it sounds like soup.

the most enjoyable part for me is probably waving to strangers on the street and seeing them wave back. it was a gorgeous afternoon and everybody on the street (and on the bus) was smiling.

we also saw a guy get hit by a frisbee in montford.

the tour starts in front of the french broad food co-op, and you are allowed to bring drinks on the bus. the FBFC sells serving-size bottles of screw-top prosecco (italian champagne) for $2, and i thought it was a great combination.

what would cause your carpal tunnel?

i do not have carpal tunnel. and for that i am grateful. my MOM had tendinitis in her thumbs that required surgery from playing so much bridge and shuffling cards. if i did develop carpal tunnel, it would most likely come from opening roasted peanuts. i can't get enough of these things- it must be part of my squirrel heritage.

another possible cause of my nonexistent carpal tunnel would be the game minesweeper. i have gone through phases where i played that game 8 hours a day. usually while procrastinating from studying. 

air kicks

kick the crap out of your day!

heee ya!

nothing's ever gonna stand in my way again!

purple mountains majesty

sunrise this morning. daylight spendings.

dishpan boobs

don't call what you're wearin an outfit

in honor of "day in the life of one girl" and all her cute, creative outfits - here is what i wear on a daily basis during the winter. 30 year old hoodies, 10 year old sweatpants. usually for 2 days at a time. and usually matching the banner of this website.

i feel clammed up about things to post here lately, so instead i'll direct your attention to other sites i find fun to visit.

betsylife has good recipes and upbeat musings from sun diego. also cute dogs.

the bugg blog has dramatic heartfelt posts about local asheville bloggers and politicos. also cute dogs.

the blue blog has descriptive and insightful posts about friends on a journey adventure from santa barbara to find their place in the pacific northwest. i am living vicariously through tyler's words as i also entertain the notion of moving to portland, seattle, and bellingham during some future era of my life. 

hyperbole and a half is completely freakin hilarious. that's not hyperbolic. 

here's a link to the drive-by truckers song "outfit" - link

You want to grow up to paint houses like me, a trailer in my yard till you're 23
You want to be old after 42 years, keep dropping the hammer and grinding the gears


Well, I used to go out in a Mustang, a 302 Mach One in green.
Me and your Mama made you in the back and I sold it to buy her a ring.
And I learned not to say much of nothing and I figured you already know
but in case you don’t or maybe forgot, I’ll lay it out real nice and slow


Don’t call what your wearing an outfit. Don’t ever say your car is broke.
Don’t worry about losing your accent, a Southern Man tells better jokes.
Have fun but stay clear of the needle. Call home on your sister’s birthday.
Don’t tell them you’re bigger than Jesus, don’t give it away.


Six months in a St. Florian foundry, they call it Industrial Park.
Then hospital maintenance and Tech School just to memorize Frigidaire parts.
But I got to missing your Mama and I got to missing you too.
So I went back to painting for my old man and I guess that’s what I’ll always do


So don’t try to change who you are boy, and don’t try to be who you ain’t.
And don’t let me catch you in Kendale with a bucket of wealthy-man’s paint.


Don’t call what your wearing an outfit. Don’t ever say your car is broke.
Don’t sing with a fake British accent. Don’t act like your family’s a joke.
Have fun, but stay clear of the needle, call home on your sister’s birthday.
Don’t tell them you’re bigger than Jesus, Don’t give it away.


Don’t give it away

chub rolls

miracle cure for all that ails you.

ooey gooey roots of jealousy

i want you to love
me and only me
forever and today
and forever
only me