Just in time for Halloween, I have two VERY disturbing nuggets to share:
- The song that’s been stuck in my head since Sunday morning is from Smokey and the Bandit
Eastbound and down,
Loaded up and truckin’,
We’re gonna do what they say can’t be done,
We got a long way to go, and a short time to get there,
Eastbound just watch ol’ Bandit run.
Horrifying.
Now, I have to admit – I used to have a crush on Jerry Reed. I even had a little pin that said “When You’re Hot You’re Hot,” but that was, you know, 30 years ago and I haven’t really though much about him or his songs since then. I haven’t even HEARD Eastbound and Down for probably that long. Where did it come from? Why won’t it go away? Won’t somebody please help me???
- My second story is a true tale of mortification. I was in 8th grade. It was my first perm. Instead of going to the very nice salon where my mom had taken me to for the previous 4 years (Tom, my stylist there did a mean Dorothy Hamill), I rebelled and went with my friend to some woman who was a friend of a mother of a guy who sat behind her on the school bus. (Remember, this is a TRUE story.) My first perm seemed to go ok. At that time, perms weren’t really that advanced…she just took my very VERY straight hair and gave me a helmet of poodle curls. Exactly what everyone else looked like too. The problem started a month or so later – I had hair (very straight, coarse hair) growing straight up on the top of my head. My hair was still curly from the perm, but this new appearance of hair – straight. Straight Up. Straight up on the top of my head through the curls. I was stymied. For a while I kept cutting it off and brushing the curly hair over top of it (Which I found out later is EXACTLY what the “hairdresser” did when she realized that she had broken off an ENTIRE ROD OF HAIR DIRECTLY ON THE TOP OF MY HEAD). Seriously, take a moment and think about a head of curly hair with a two inch section of hair standing STRAIGHT UP, like a sideways mohawk. On an 8th grade awkward geeky girl. I got to the point where I could no longer cut it off. As the perm grew out, and my hair flattened on my head, the two inch section of stubble was JUST a bit too noticable. So I finally bit the bullet and did what had to be done – I let it grow out. Hey ladies, ever let your bangs grow out? Pain in the ass, isn’t it? This process wasn’t so much a pain in the ass as it was a battery acid enema. My hair (if I haven’t mentioned it enough times yet) is very straight and very coarse. It stuck straight out for, oh, two inches or so before it finally got heavy enough to lay with the rest of my hair. While those two inches grew in I tried covering it with other hair (great plan until it started to look like a combover over a dunce hat), then I took to hairspraying it down. Lots and lots of Aqua Net. It would look ok in the morning, then I’d get from school and look in the mirror and see this…this PLANK of hair standing up at a 45 degree angle from my head.
Oh, the mortification of 8th grade.
Filed under: General
The VIM and I spent a nice low-maintenance kind of Saturday. A little driving, a little shopping, a little cooking.
In between there was a beautiful fall morning
some blazingly colorful leaves
some funny looks from the music guy as I took cellphone pictures of the Gretsches ( I couldn’t help it…they were pretty!)
a dangerous cave
a fort
and finally, a beautiful fall evening.
Quiet, colorful, peaceful.
Perfect.
Filed under: General
Old job ended, new job began.
It was a rough couple days as I went through the emotions of leaving friends and a great office, then waiting the weekend in limbo, then to being “the new girl”. My first few days were spent settling in – finding the coffee pot and bathroom (in that order), getting stuck in the parking garage – and now I’m starting to actually WORK. I like it (I think). That’s all I really have to say about that. Oh wait, actually I have one other thing to say about it – it’s damn cold in the office. The building is old with marble floors and walls and REALLY high ceilings. I certainly understand that it would be next to impossible to heat well, but geeeeeeeeeeeze. The first day even my eyeballs were cold – every time I blinked I was reminded how cold I was. I’ve learned to dress appropriately (turtleneck, heavy wool sweater), but what am I going to do when it’s actually WINTER?
The VIM and I are laying plans for some roadtrips. We’ve got the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in our sights – there’s a new Clash exhibit opening. Egads, we’re geeks.
Because Gerbera daisies aren’t pretty enough to make me cry by themselves, the minute I put the vase on the windowsill, the sun (which has been hidden behind thick, rain-spitty clouds all day) made a brief but dazzling appearance. Yet another way I know that life is good. Really, really good.
Filed under: General
A few weeks ago, the VIM and I went to see CSNY. He was most interested in hearing the “Living with War” songs. I like Neil Young, but honestly, I was there simply and purely to see them do Suite: Judy Blue Eyes. Or maybe Helpless. They didn’t do either. They did, however, do Southern Cross, which is one of my all time favorite always forgotten songs…one of those songs that I’ll hear once every 2 or 3 years and think “ooo. I love this song” then forget about it again until the next time I hear it. Since the concert, I’ve heard Southern Cross everywhere – on the radio, in the convenience store, at work – and it has this amazing calming quality for me. As soon as I hear it, I’m reminded of the concert – drinking too-sweet wine from coffee cups in the parking lot, putting a blanket down on a hill far away from the stage, far away from the crowds, people-watching till dark, then snuggling in against the chill and damp for several hours of stargazing, music listening, and (who knew it was possible??!?!?!?) freedom from stress. My thoughts – the ones that have been racing and bumping against each other for months – actually shushed.
Who knew that all it would take was a little Southern Cross to get me back on track?
Filed under: Happiness is...
It’s been a little shallow around here lately. I’ve been sort of standoffish and superficial. I didn’t even realize it until I got an email from a friend (Hi Heather!) congratulating me on my new job.
Yes.
My. New. Job.
The new job I’ve been wanting…LONGING to write about. The new job that I took after much conversation with the VIM.
Remember the VIM? Yeah, I don’t write about him much anymore either.
Why?
Because it’s all happy stuff. Good stuff. Stuff that makes me smile and want to twirl around under a bright yellow umbrella in the rain.
And I feel guilty being happy.
My friends are facing health issues of their own, of their parents, of their children.
But hey – I have a great new job!
A relative just passed away, after several months of very obvious and severe grief over her husband’s passing less than a year ago.
But hey – the VIM gave me a beautiful rose…for no reason!
School shootings. Again and again. And again.
But hey – I’m in love, and I’m loved back!
The good things in my life are SO GOOD for me and so good TO me. There are days when I am practically brimming over with love of life, love of family and friends, and (finally!), love of self.
But God (and I don’t mean that blasphemously…this really IS a prayer), I feel guilty about the good. I don’t want to talk about the good, for fear that the bad is stronger. How DARE I talk about a rose when children are being shot. How dare I write about being told, “I love you” when there is an Election Coming Up, People…an Election that needs to change the COURSE OF HUMAN EVENTS. Why can’t I think about the important stuff, rather than selfishly thinking about my OWN life? If I hold on to the good in my heart and in my head and not share it, no one else can be mad at me, or jealous of me, or angry that I’m celebrating the good – big and small and insignificant to anyone but me good.
So how are things here? Good.
Things That Make Me Happy:
- Cat Whiskers
- Naps on rainy Sunday afternoons
- Evaporated milk in my usually black coffee just for a treat
- Big fluffy pink bathrobes
- CSNY:Suite Judy Blue Eyes
- ITunes
- Finding one of my all-time favorite books when I was unpacking in my new apartment.
- Willie Nelson
