SlybootsAndAlly

All-in-All, a Good Summer...

2007-08-12T08:58:00.000-07:00

Jan (aka Junie) and Jeff (aka Barker) just drove off in Jeff's (newly waxed and shiny) Lexus--a very comfortable car to ride in. Anyway, they stopped back in at our place for coffee/tea this morning, before driving back up to Longmont where they're meeting Jeff's son, Kyle, for lunch. What a good time we had--I'm so happy that they decided to drive down to see us.

We had a delicious meal at Alys's Fireside Cafe, the only *good restaurant in our town--but if you have to only have *one, this is a good one to have. Thankgawd Jeff was there, he knows wine, and he chose a wonderful pinot noir, David Bryce, or something like that, from the Russian River region? All I know is it was a perfect pairing with our meals. (Junie, the designated driver, and John, for medical reasons, not partaking). Jeff had rack of lamb, Jan had this awesome ravioli, done with some sort of mushrooms and port--the bite she gave me tasted fantastic. I had quail, roasted perfectly, a hint of teryaki sp? in the glaze. John had the grouper. Soup was called Italian Onion, and it was also delicious. Of course there was Alys's bread, baked daily, by herself, and I always feel I could eat a whole loaf of it (but don't, of course). For dessert Jeff had espresso and some kind of strange-named confection, something with chopped nuts, a word like Panucho, but that's not quite it. Good, whatever it's called. Jan had cheesecake w/blueberries. The blueberries were small as caviar, and we talked about that, how blueberries seem to have gotten so BIG, these days, but these seemed out of the old days. John and I split a brownie sundae w/amaretto-fudge, and all of our desserts came with freshly made whipped cream. I openly swooned eating my half. YUM!

Anyway, before this sumptious meal, we'd hung out for a little while at the lake, called Lathrop, a State Park, but it was hot and kind of muggy, so feeling melty we soon piled into Jeff's Lexus, and went to their room at the Rio Cucharas Inn, to play games and get out of the heat. After Jeff finished renegotiating the price of his room, for which I can't blame him, as he was told they'd have a King Suite for only 75 dollars, and what they got was a standard room with two queen beds, nothing fancy, so the guy at the desk changed the price to 50 bucks. Can't beat that! The room was big, if a little dimly lit and dated, but 50 bucks, and just outside the french-esque doors was a terrific view of the Spanish Peaks and other mountains. We munched on grapes and sipped on beer and wine, played this game I'd made up, called "Who Said That?", which involved quotes and marbles, while we waited for time to go to our dinner at Alys's. It worked out, we laughed a lot, got a little bit buzzed but not too-too, and Jan drove us in the Lexus to dinner, John sitting shotgun and Jeff and I lolling in the back seat, which seemed right because we were maybe 3/4 of a sheet to the wind. We proceded to add more sheets at the restaurant, where I became pleasantly tipsy and by the end of the meal, downright drunk. It was fun. So, we went back to the room, played a little trivia pursuit. After some lazy dice-rolling, some hard to see and grasp questions, (Junie brought out a little flashlight), all of us scrambling for our cheater glasses, John pretty much won the game. Junie, once again the sober chauffeur sp?, (Jeff and I almost catatonic in the back seat) drove John and I home, and we were all in bed by midnight or so. Mostly, it was just good to see them, laugh and kibbitz around like we always do--a fun day and evening.

I was telling Jan that I had a good feeling, a feeling of satisfaction about the summer, so far, since we'd been lucky enough to have visits by many friends this year. David and Evelyn, and their son Kenny visited for a few days, and Darrol visited twice, and we got to see Jan and Jeff twice, once when we took the Royal Gorge train in Canon City, and again this weekend. I went to San Diego for a week to see my kids, and my sister, and her two daughters, and meet Mike, who is Nikki's love interest, and where all-in-all I had a GREAT time. Since John's family is here in our town, we got to see them quite a bit, too. The only plan that didn't come about was a trip down to Roswell, to see my mom and brother. With the VW acting up, we'll see. If it is less to repair than we suspect it will be, then perhaps we can still get in a visit to them.

That's about it. Oh, John has a newly-found half-aunt, named Susan, from Georgia, who is coming to CO with his other aunt, Janet (she comes out almost every year), who lives in St. Pete's, FLA, to meet John's mom. Janet and Bev have never met this half-sister of theirs, child from their father's second marriage, and it's a long story, but Nana, the first wife and mother of Janet and Bev, had told them their father was dead, something like 20 years before he actually did die. Weird. So, for Janet and Bev, this will be a big deal. For us, and John's sister and brother, not so much, but I'm sure we'll end up spending time with this Aunt Susan.

Das es alles! I'll probably post again around the time the snow begins to fly. Heheheh.

I'm at the Stage

2007-06-20T11:39:00.000-07:00

And I don't want to go up the stairs and walk
the floor boards to stand in the center,
and nor do I especially desire to take a seat
in any row, not even the balcony, to watch,
(okay, maybe I want to do a little watching)
and applaud the myriad of players doing the show.

I've traveled a distance, but leaving the car
in the lot, milling around in the lobby, nodding
to the face or two that seem familiar or seek mine out
with a friendly smile, seems almost pointless to me,
and I know I must be depressed,
but I don't feel particularily depressed,
so I just don't know.

I guess that's a poem of sorts. And the way I feel right now. Dudly. I don't want to do much of much, and summer is here so I should shake myself out of this rut, enjoy the warmth (well it's actually near friggin' hot) before the snow flies again, and it always flies sooner than we're prepared to greet it. Old friends are passing through here in 2 weeks, stopping for the night on their way from San Antonio to Sacramento, so that will be nice, to catch up and spend some time with them. Then I'm off to CA, myself, for a week, to San Diego, to see the kids. I'm sure this mood will pass.

2 movie reviews & a rant for The Food Network

2007-06-05T11:21:00.000-07:00

We've viewed several movies lately, and off the cuff, here are a few: The Departed, Ghost Riders, Epic Movie, Deja Vu, Borat, The Illusionist, The Queen (seems like anything that begins with "The" is "the thing", right now) and I'll admit I don't know when a movie becomes a film and when a flick is just a flick, but 2 of the movies we viewed did seem rather more filmish to me:

The Painted Veil and Babel both offer what I like to see in a film, a story or plot, and a director/producer with the balls to show it to the audience at a pace they chose and not knuckling under to the wants and whims of an A.D.D. culture that we seem to have become. I should probably continue to come at this review from the negative, to say these films offered less of what I don't want to see in a film: gratuitous sex and nudity, or sex and nudity scenes not germane to the plot, with a rinse and repeat of gore and violence. These films did not offer a compromised vapid plot, the tone and time-line all jacked-up for the sake of a lot of exploding cars, buildings and bodies. The Painted Veil and Babel, did NOT feature any bionic body parts, souped-up vehicles or weapons, or any other Terantinoesque features--not that I'm saying Terantino hasn't contributed to the general excitement of movie-watching with Pulp Ficiton, Resevoir Dogs, Kill Bill, etc., because he certainly HAS, and I am a huge fan of some of his flicks.

The Painted Veil was definitely slow, but it was also very pretty, both performance-wise and cinematic-wise. It's true, The Painted Veil couldn't get out of its own way, the plot unfolding with the speed of the last of the Heinz Ketchup making it to the mouth of the bottle held upside-down, but I have to think in the end, it *was, mostly worth the wait.

Babel, now this film is certainly interesting and thought provoking. Yes, it does have violence, and sex, and nudity, but all of these elements seemed necessary and appropriate to the plot. The film takes place in three countries, Morocco, Mexico and Japan, and the United States by proxy, and is somehow very compelling to experience. However, again, if you're looking for frenetic and pumped-up, you may be disappointed, but if you're looking for unique and unusual, stimulating and even poignant, you may be pleasantly surprised.

As for my rant for The Food Network? I ask, has TFN lost its mind? If you happened to see their newest "The Next Food Network Star", (second season?) which began anew the other night, which, if you're not familiar, yet another of their reality elimination concepts, so ubiqutous these days, I'm not sure there is anyone left who has not seen one show or another like it. YadaYadaYada, a dozen or so contestants are chosen, presumably from video material submitted, to compete for a slot as a regular TV host on the network, (last show's winner I think is doing a Dives and Drive-Ins show, and I don't think he is doing a whole lot of 'cooking' for that particular segment. Anyway, the new show offers the winner a cover and article in Bon Appetit, a chance to be seen, to become a culinary *STAR*, whatever the case. Well ! I think Mr. Tushman and his crew must've eaten a few too many MaryJane brownies out of the Food Network ovens when they formulated the vision for this series. It would seem they got this series mixed up with another of their series, the one called "Top Chef". This latest "The Next Food Network Star" starts out as a joke. Bobby Flay, Tushman and a woman (I can't remember her name or title right now) pit eleven 'cooks' against each other for the winning title and their own show. Some of the contestants are referred to as "home cooks", some are caterers, some are line or sous chefs, you get the idea, they're food people in some capacity. But watching this newest show, what got to me was this--the network came up with some of the most ridiculous and unrelated to Food-Show-hosting ability tests and exercises imaginable, like cake decorating under the eye of the Ace of Cakes guy, or breaking into two teams and preparing a wedding feast, a la Dinner Impossible, under the eye of Chef Robert Irvine, tasked to provide food for a vegetarian bride and groom and their 100 guests, shopped for and prepared and presented, all within 6 hours. Somebody tell me how these contestants are able to prove themselves camera savvy or television kitchen personalities by teaming up with 4 or 5 other contestants, frantically shopping and chopping and cooking in the kitchen of a reception hall? Frankly, just how does any actual degree of culinary skill equate to being the face and voice for a Food Network Segment? I'll compare it to fashion modeling. A runway model vs. a magazine model. Does a magazine model need to know how to posture, walk, stand, turn, vamp to a live audience? No. The photographer and "people" do all that for a photo-model, and the model just has to have the ability to wait for long periods of time in hair/makeup/outfits/duct tape, and then do the shot when the shooter says "Go". I'm thinking this: if a Food Network Chef/personality knows the basics about food preparation and convection, knows a spatula from a whisk, a sauce pan from a wok, how to use small appliances and gadgets--AND, can string a sentence together and has hair and all of their teeth, and display them with a ready smile, have a fair amount of charm and cool under fire, then by all rights, they should be able to perform in whatever capacity is required for the Networks' desired show and its outcome. Everyone knows on a T.V. cooking show that they also have *people* to do most of what the viewers at home see happen. These personalities simply need to be able, if need be, to scoop out a mound of Alpo onto a Triscuit, make it look appealing, sell it to the viewers, and they've done their job! If I were either of the two contestants who got told they were eliminated in the part II of the first segment, I'd be having a pow-wow with the network VIPs, accusing them of head-up-tushness, questioning the fairness of the criteria they were judged by, and demanding they review the theme of the contest, and reinstate me on the third season show. I'm sure these eleven contestants, especially the 2 eliminated so far, are saying to themselves, "WTF ? if I had wanted to be on "Top Chef", I'd have tried out for "Top Chef"!

Where would most of the non-chef current FN stars be right now if they had had to jump through the same hoops that Flay and Tushman and that very kind woman (sorry, I can't think of her name) are setting before the current contestants. I would LOVE to see Rachel Ray or Robin Miller or any number of the current Food Network show *stars* submit to these same trials set before these wannabes--I wonder how nifty-looking a wedding cake Rachel could construct--or let's see Duff, the Ace of Cakes guy, lead a team turning out an entire wedding banquet in 6 hours--and not just the cake!

If you saw the (2 hour!) show, the other night, and feel the same way I do--perhaps Mr. Tushman and his crew should be shown a link to my blog. I think the guy--Patrick?, and the Brazilian girl, Vivien ?, got robbed and ripped--they never had a chance to show their abilities in front of a camera--all they got to show is that they may not (in theory) be a winner on "Top Chef".

BTW, I'm going to come back and edit all of my spelling mistakes--but only after I get rid of this crazy headache that has attached itself to my head and neck. It has been one thing after another today. What gives? Is the planet wobbling? Mississippi River still flowing from North to South?

I'll come back to this tonight

2007-05-08T11:30:00.000-07:00

placeholder=wahhaaaaaa

Laundromat Magazines and Penthouse Suites

2006-09-26T11:00:00.000-07:00

First you need to understand this town. We're small, very small and poor and backward. Perhaps backward is harsh, let's just say there's a pervasive and comfortable inertia that exists here. That's why I was so surprised to walk into our local laundromat and find all new and shiny computerized Maytag washers and dryers. It had been at least six years ago that I'd used this facility and back then it looked a scare, ragged carpet wherever there WAS carpet, dinge and grime enveloped you the minute you entered-- to the point you felt like wearing plastic grocery bags on your feet the whole time you had to be there--which was LONG because the dryers pretty much charged you a fortune for cool air--but you just knew there wasn't enough bleach in your arsenal to combat the military of germs that had set up their base there.

So, here we are, near the end of 2006, some six or seven years later, and our circumstances have brought about the need to once again do our laundry at the laundromat. I'm happy to say that the improvements made on the place (some inertia break-through has occured) make it a lot more pleasant place to perform the task of keeping our clothing in a somewhat clean state. So, anyway, yesterday was laundry day and I didn't bring any reading material with me. I mean it's hard enough to get all the quarters, detergent, wet bleach, dry bleach, dryer sheets, hangers, plastic bags, purse, water bottle (I get so thirsty in there!) plus all the trash bags of dirty clothes together that I ended up cussing 'Shit, I forgot to bring a book with me'. So I pick up this magazine (there's a vast array of all sorts of churchy or religious pamphlets and magazines to chose from) called "The Liguorian", http://www.liguorian.org/ which says it is 'The Catholic Compass in a Changing World'. Well, I thumbed through it, read an article or two, read a fiction piece, and I have to say, I was quite impressed with the quality of the magazine on the whole.

I don't know what that has to do with the price of petrol or stopping the war in Iraq, but I guess that's what this particular blog is about, just reports on whatever inane or far-out, either one, stuff I run into during the course of my consecutive days breathing on this planet. And I just figured it was time for a new blog entry.

So what else to say? God, sometimes life is strange. We're moved into the top portion of this old building we own on Main Street. I've taken to calling it the Penthouse Suite, and it couldn't be farther from that at the moment. In time we hope to fix it up all nice and modern and sleek and smart, but right now it closely resembles a NYC tenantment slum (minus the fire escapes) or a floor out of The Projects in Chicago. We've owned the building for a few years but had lived elsewhere, in a rental house that was fairly comfortable, but to save money we've decided to install ourselves on the upper floor of our fairly dilapidated building. Half of the 5000 sq feet, the downstairs, is zoned 'commercial', where we have had our businesses going all along, and the upstairs half is zoned 'residential'. Well now it has residents. John and me and our three cats, Ozzy, Sparky and the new feline family member, a kitten named Mojo. We're actually only living in the last third of the top floor, for now, because the windows in the front need major repair/replacement and trying to heat all of it in the winter would be ridiculous, so we've cordoned off what I'm guessing amounts to about 750 sq feet, 3 rooms, plus we've temporarily walled in a closet-sized hallway bathroom, which makes it a total of 4 rooms.

So we do have walls and windows (they'll need to be weather-proofed come winter) and we have a sub-floor that I've put a couple rugs down on, and we have a toilet that flushes, a tiny shower (only cold water right now--and we tried taking a shower in it but it was TOO cold for me) and a bathroom sink. We ripped up the nasty, skanky carpet that was in that bathroom and now we have this layer of foam from the underside of the carpet that even acetone and scrapeing isn't taking up too well, but we chink away at the hard cement-like layer so we can put down some tile--right now it looks like wonderboard or white plywood plastered with this stubborn layer of cement. We have electricity and our refrigerator is plugged in and working fine, but the oven/stove can't work until we run a 220 line. We have cable t.v., computers on DSL, so that's very good, and we have running water, just not running "hot" water, but John thinks he may have that going by this weekend. I hope so. To be able to take a hot shower at home will be nice. For the last few weeks we've taken our showers down at the Acorn (truckstop) or at family members' homes, and as I already reported, we do our laundry at the local laundromat.

Last night I boiled a dozen eggs in the crockpot. Worked like a charm. We'll have fish sticks tonight, cooked in our little stand alone convection oven. We're doing allright. This weekend the projects are getting some hot water going to the shower and putting down that cheap stick on tile on the bathroom floor. This bathroom is temporary so I don't care if the tile is good--just clean. We'll be renovating (who knows when exactly) a decent sized room in the middle of the floor to someday be our real bathroom and laundry room. We've totally designed our tricked out future Loft/Penthouse suite, now to be able to turn that design into a reality. I expect it will take 3 years looking at our income. One good thing for John...NO YARDWORK...not that he did much of it before because he hates it so much.

So, Home Sweet Home is a little less than sweet, but we have lived in much worse conditions and trite but true, we have our health--for which I never cease to be grateful.

Visionary Impressions

2006-05-21T00:54:00.000-07:00

I've decided not to visit the eye doctor, even though I'm blind as a dizzy kid holding a baseball bat under a pinata. I see everything about as well as I need to. Viewing life through an impressionistic lens has its upside:

1) I'm accurate with the time, give or take 6 hours.

2) Now and then I feel the coffee table; if the top feels fluffy--I dust it.

3) I'm friendlier blind than sighted, I just wave at everyone, cover all the bases.

4) I'm good-looking--wrinkles and blemishes are absent and my eyebrows look neat enough.

5) I've become more trusting in life. I can't tell keys apart so I leave all doors unlocked. When I hand a bill of currency to a cashier, it's with utter confidence he or she will honestly give back the proper change, or politely ask me for more money. When this happens I hand them my wallet and sweetly say, "Just take whatever you need." Since I'm not sure how much money I started with, it's rarely a problem. I'd rather use my plastic, and I do, but it gets a tad embarrassing when I attempt to swipe my card in everything from the receipt printout machine to the stapler.

Well, you get the picture.

Kicking (Roundhouse) into Spring

2006-03-18T10:10:00.001-08:00

For over two months I've been taking a martial arts class. I am working on receiving my yellow belt, right now. I don't know how many belt colors I'll be able to get, but I'll try my best to gain more of them, as long as my Sensei is here to teach me. I began the class with little to no big interest or attachment to the discipline or culture. I mean, sure, I'd heard of Bruce Lee, but the whole K(g)ung Fu thing hardly registered a blip on my radar. Because our town is small and has no dance classes, which I DO have a big interest in, I signed up for these Karate classes that ARE offered nearby, in hopes of getting in shape and losing these stubborn 35 pounds which have attached themselves to me, like a leech, and won't let go. I've come to think of these pounds as a separate and alien being, an evil (almost twin) who must be destroyed in order to let the slimmer (good) me, live in total happiness. Anyway, as so often happens in life, without seeking it out with any strong purpose, I've begun to become interested in the teachings and mindset behind these arts, not just in the technical aspects, but the spiritual ones, the core from which it springs (like a tiger!)

However, still the humorful type of person I always was, this morning when I decided it was time to add a blog entry, I thought of my recently memorized 'Creed of Karate' and "Isshin-Ryu Code'.

I looked at the stark, blank page and thought:

I come to you with only munashii maindo, empty mind. I have no acumen, but should I be forced to defend myself, my honor or my principles; should it be a (gray) matter of life or death (complete brain) , or right or wrong, then here is my weapon, my empty mind. (Sai!)

What else has happened?

Oh! My son, Nate, has come to Colorado. He lives in Colorado Springs, 2 hours north of me, and is staying with his dad and step-mom, right now, but is working to get a small apartment near the college, so he can walk there. He is very bright but disabled by mental illness. He takes his meds, sees his doctors when he is supposed to, but leads a very childish and sheltered existence with his dad and step-mom. He lives on a small disability check each month, doesn't drive, but he and I are very excited that he is finally feeling able to take the (somewhat scary for him) steps to go forward, get his own place, his own life (away from his controlling dad) and may finally become the autonomous adult that he's always been able to be, but either never felt he could be, or was not encouraged to be, whichever. The main thing is that now he feels strongly that he can do this. Yay!

My daughter, Nikki, took her real estate exam and unfortuately didn't pass it, but she is undaunted, says she'll take it again, and again, if necessary. I've heard that it's an extrememly difficult test, so there's no shame in not passing it the first or second time around.

What else? Hmmm, looks like David and Kris are going to be parents again.

Talked with Ann and Gary last night. They are still in California, although they'd expected to be in Kansas by now. It may be another year before they can move to their Kansas house (no damage from recent tornado in the area) they purchased last year. Hinges on the outcome of a court hearing regarding their grandson, now living in a foster home, because his parents are unfit (drugs). We're sending our good thoughts to them, that they can gain custody of Niles and begin their retirement the way they'd hoped, in a new home and state.

Heard from Penny and Tony, our friends who moved to Roatan Island, off the Honduran coast. They've been there an entire year and feel they've mostly adjusted and are very happy in their island life.

Junie and Barker just purchased a home in Wisconsin.

Everyone making some changes.

That be about it for the moment.

Check out our internet radio station--well, mostly John's baby--The Butte Radio--link on the right of the blog.

Over and out.

Doing Our Bit to Usher (Blast) in a Mini Ice Age

2006-02-19T22:58:00.000-08:00

If Trica, (Not a Finger) or as my mother keeps referring to her, Little One Finger, can make a reentry to her blog with talk of wet pants and urinary situations, then I'm going for a conversation about GAS. Not the kind we pump into our SUVs or smaller compact models, no, I'm talking about the sort of GAS that comes from human combustion--or in our case, lately, perhaps human mal-combustion.

Allright. Like this has never happened to YOU. Something tells me though, it hasn't happened on the scale of magnitude as has been happening in our house. I'm literally waiting to be contacted by NASA, or an ecological division of NASA, whoever monitors the holes in the ozone.

High fiber diet is not for sissies, let me tell you. I mean, some nostril hair is good, isn't it? It seems unhealthy to have a completely naked inside of the nose. Germs and whatnot can just zoom right in, straight to the old bloodstream. We have nostrils devoid of any follicle activity. It all has been singed away.

Broccoli, cauliflower, lentils, seeds, beans, nuts, apples, bananas, strawberries--and hummus in vast quantities. Vats of hummus are being consumed at our address. Aussie bites, too. Little tastey morsels of rolled oats, sunflower seeds, wheat flour, raisins, cranberries, almonds, and some secret ingredient that acts to blow up in the intestines. I know the higher altitude you exist at, the more compression or expansion--or something like that--I know all this--but we're only at just above 6K feet, here.

Now, in addition to clearing the ozone naturally, (cattle ranches are registering less emmissions, folks!) I am probably making matters worse because of needing to go to our little five & dime, Duckwalls, to buy a shopping cart full of Glade Air Freshener spray. In the office, I type in a few entries, reach for the Mango or Berry or Country Spice spray, and fog the room already fogged, wipe the moist dots from computer screen, with my sleeve, and continue typing.

We go to sleep groaning in agony, holding our bellies. Before we fall asleep we play Lawrence Welk and say, 'ah one and ah two and a three', and commence to break wind in concert, he takes the higher trumpet part, I take the tuba, then we switch. It's winter and I swear we've managed to blow four layers of covers right off the bed!

Okay, that's quite enough of this gassy reporting. Reporting. Yep.

This is the mandate: We either lay off the fiber or buy ourselves an island to move to.

And what do you say to this blog entry? Why, you sweetly say, "Thank you for sharing." And I reply in the famous words of Steve Martin: "Well, EXCUSE ME!" I'm so damn tired of saying, EXCUSE ME, PARDON ME, OH MY, SORRY, GO BACK TO SLEEP, IT'S NOT THE SWAT TEAM BUSTING DOWN THE DOOR.

March air will be much more pleasant. I promise.

My best conversation today was with Saber...

2006-01-18T21:49:00.000-08:00

I suppose if they call the guide dogs for blind people, 'Seeing-Eye-Dogs', then the beautiful Alaskan Husky I talked with today at the VA clinic, attached by leash to a deaf man, would be called a 'Hearing-Ear-Dog'. I wonder if Saber answers the phone. I should have asked for his number.

Dontcha love Gocha?

2005-12-06T15:46:00.000-08:00

Since the series first aired on TLC, Friday nights, in October, I think it was, I've been following Ballroom Bootcamp. The show features the same three dance instructors, each week, Gocha, Chris and Susana, who are assigned a new (average Joe/Jane) student who has never danced before, and have just 5 weeks to train them well enough to dance in the Yankee Ballroom Dance Competition in Boston, or Baltimore, I forget which place. Gocha, the striking and flamboyant Russian fascinates me. At times he's a hardass, at times he seems like a moody, petulant, hot-headed drama queen, and at times a soft-hearted sweetiepie. His Russian wife/dancer, Shorena, is also on the show.

@@@@@@@@@

Did you read that someone stole Gregory Peck's star from Hollywood's walk of fame? They did it using a cement saw--just cut the star right out of the sidewalk. How was this not noticed? Any time of the day or night there should have been someone around to have seen/heard this happen. Strange. Atticus Finch, (Gregory), star in or star out, you'll shine on!

@@@@@@@@

Missed a month of posting to this blog. Nobody but my anonymous spammer will have noticed. :)

Thanksgiving dinner was marvelous. Nothing else to report. One word. COLD. It has been freaking cold this month. I can remember a couple of years ago when it was almost HOT on Christmas Day. I don't think so this year.

Over and out.

Thanks, Larry Harris, for the Merlot, the backpack, and the mini Tai Chi lesson!

Slyboots and Ally

Thursday--Yom Kippur

2005-10-13T13:41:00.000-07:00

My! Where does a whole month just fly off to? And what has been going on? We've endured hurricanes/mudslides/earthquakes on the Mother Nature front. We've seen indictments and appointments (Harriet Miers?!!OMG) on the political front. The war front changes little, as we've come to expect. On a personal front not much new either. So, what to talk about?

Books? I just realized that the Harry Potter book that Jeff & Jan gave to me for my birthday is a First Edition. Well of course it is--Jeff & Jan are just that way.

Movies? We watched an older one, Cold Mountain, the other night. Disappointing. Slow and single-faceted. Rene Zellweger sp? put in a damn good performance, though. The book was so good that I'd hoped for more from the movie. Oh well.

Cosmetics? Nah, I don't use them. I rely on my natural beauty and my constant respect for my elders to keep me blessed on that front. :)

Fashion? Come ON! This is southwest Colorado! It's fleece and more fleece. I do my nails and get new earrings and a haircut every 2 months, that's the whole fashion scene, here! But, or is that butt, I did zip up a pair of size 12 jeans, this week--last year I was in 14s, so some small progress has been made in the ongoing fat-zapping/zipping struggle.

Local weather? We had the first snow here in So. CO, late Sunday, Oct. 9th. It's warmer today and actually perfect out, sunny with a cool breeze, cobalt blue skies, trees still have leaves that are turning. Gorgeeeous!!

Food? Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming up and as per usual, John and I will host Thanksgiving. It will be traditional fare, but this year we may wrap asparagas in procutto, and we think we'll do a little seafood souffle thingie, for each person. I'll make my Yankee salad--using the orzo from last year. My sister-in-law, Eileen will make her breads, always good, and my mother-in-law her famous chicken soup. Mondo will bring some homemade wine, again. What berry was that? I don't know, but it tasted too much like ethenol that someone waved a berry over--hope he's perfected his brewing technique a little better this year.

Travel? No immediate plans.

Money? Just checked out our lotto tickets. Zilch.

Sex? Nope.

Kids? Nikki, my youngest, turns 25 in a few days. Wow. Nate is enjoying the philosophy class he's taking. I continue to harp on them both, living in So. Calif., to update their earthquake kits.

Pets? Both our cats are in the doghouse. We don't know what made them do this but they both pooped in the middle of our bed, last night. They've never done that before. They've been toilet trained (real toilet) for months without incident. I was planning on throwing out that bedspread anyway, but come on, what gives?! Bad, bad cats!

Local events? The Celtic Festival was a great success or so Steve and Lana told us today. I was supposed to have met a friend, Sydney, there, last Saturday, but could not find the festival. Okaaaayyyyyyy. Sorry Syd.

For those of you familiar with Howard, our friendly neighbor with alzheimers--he finally got his back house roofed. Not by Brian, who we recommended when asked--OH NO, Brian's bid was too high for Howard, but someone else did it and thank you, whoever it was! Now maybe this Sunday I won't walk out into my living room in my nightgown, to find Howard standing there, popped over to discuss his roofing contract.

We continue to play our online game, EQ2, but I don't know how much longer we'll be entertained by it. John has his guitar, and I have a nice, new artist's paint set to break open. I'm sure we'll find something to whittle the winter hours away with...

As Porky Pig says, 'Budeebadee, thhhhtheeethaa...that's all folks!'

ALRIGHT! SO I LIED!

2005-09-15T11:37:00.000-07:00

About rewinding the video. Halfway,
a half-truth. About my weight at the DMV, I fudged
a FrAcTion. To the IRS about donations. I gave a little
less than the box reveals. To the health insurance, I smoke
screened a habit or two. To my dentist, the gloss
ing of daily flossing (like he can't tell, so why do they ask?)
That scrumptious pasta salad I brought and you thought
was homade? I can't get over the quality stuff
a corner Deli can spoon from a tub. Alright! So I fibbed,
deceived by omission or by outright and glib.
Just because you can't wholly believe what I say,
doesn't mean I won't also speak truth any day.

Dale Chihuly's Incredible Glass

2005-08-24T10:19:00.000-07:00

Dale Chihuly's exhibit was recently shown in Colorado Springs. If you've never seen this amazing glass art, view some of it here. Especially check out the Persians and the Seaforms:

http://www.chihuly.com/chihuly.html

Check out these bloggers I know:

2005-07-28T09:41:00.000-07:00

I don't know how to show a friends list, so here is one done manually until I figure it out:

Jeffery is: http://www.whimsyspeaks.com/

and Tricia is: http://not-a-finger.diaryland.com/

Frank is here: http://moving-platform.blogspot.com/

Claudia, too!: http://relegated.blogspot.com/

If you want to be added to my list, just let me know and I'll be happy to do the honors. Or let me know if you know how to make them show on a directory all by themselves instead of in an entry like this. Thanks!

Slyboots&Ally

Whoops, missed almost two months entry

2005-07-26T14:10:00.000-07:00

Here, middle aged, in the middle (ish) of the year, only a micro-inch into a new century, we find ourselves (or I do) in the middle of a strange echo chamber. I keep looking for something striking, something to knock me on my ass, take my wind from me, but feel while I'm looking down for it, I should be looking up, and now flip that around, etc. Due to poor memory for actual sequence of events (and there are few) I'll just toss the last 10 weeks out there, willy-nilly.

We've been working on the electrical system for the restaurant, beefing it up I guess. I got to shimmy on my back (John could not fit at 6'3" & 235 lbs) dirt and dust falling into my nose, mouth and eyes (did I think to wear goggles ? NO!) into a rectangular tunnel about 2 feet wide and 2 feet high and maybe 14 feet long, cut into the west wall of the basement, about 7 to 8 feet up on the wall, to do something with pipes and glue and ping-pong balls, fishing line, rope and cables--the whole time wondering if an black widow spider and her newly hatched brood of children were eyeing my longish locks as a possible new venue. I struggled out (easier going in than out) unbitten and seemingly free of arachnoid passengers, only to later, above ground and picking up bits of litter and trash around the alleyway, clock the top of my head, really HARD, on the big, metal thingie that sticks out of the front of a garbage dumpster. I think I spoke in tongues. I know I saw stars. I believe the pain transported me to another plane, that unseen chamber of space where my guardian angels hang out, when not doing their jobs, playing cards or flipping through comic books, or something mildly amusing and DISTRACTING. I could hear them speaking. Chit-chatting, tossing angelic barbs back and forth. Yes, apparently I've been assigned two guardian angels, both of them males, I think, or they sounded maleish. Are all angels male? I think I read that they are, once. If you believe in the creatures. Who cares--
the point, besides the one emerging from the top of my skull at that moment, is they were NOT on duty. I suppose I should take some part of the blame, as picking up litter and pulling weeds in the back of our building
is definitely not my usual behavior. I'm sure they thought I was safe in my little office, fat ass firmly in the seat of my computer chair, doing accounts payable and accounts receivable. On the other hand, how did they not notice just 10 minutes prior I was wiggling in spider territory, inside a square hole in the basement wall? I am not the begrudging kind, no doubt they've saved me from countless mishaps and calamity, and perhaps they thought a good whack on the head was just what I'd been needing just then. So, that's what we're doing, messing around with the electrical system. If anyone is electrocuted, I will be looking for a way to file suit on those winged dudes.

What else? A brief and strange trip down to Roswell, home of the alien landing of 1949 or whenever, to support my mom and brother through a trying time. The trials seem over, everyone back to normal, whatever that is.

It has been hot as Hades in the last couple of weeks, major fires all around us in Southern CO, probably seen on the news, but cooler now, had some rain and cloud cover. Decent sleep (no a/c in the house) has been possible now, breezes coming through the windows.

Sporatic calls from the kids, Nate and Nikki, in San Diego, but they seem to be doing fine.

Mother-in-law, Bev and husband Dan returned from their two month road-trip across the country. They had a good time, brought back gifts and enough pictures to fit into 4 photo albums.

Drew, my sister Ellen's daughter, came back from her second European trip in a year and a half. Lucky girl. She loved Amsterdam--does any kid NOT love Amsterdam? Seems a given.

Work goes along about the same, gain 2 customers, lose 1 customer, something like that, a dance that keeps us one nostril above the waves of poverty.

The latest little trip made was up to Colorado Springs, aka The Springs, a half-way point for both parties, to meet with Junie and Barker, (literary nicks) Junie doing a short stint in CO, this time, but I hope she was happy she came. Of course she was, she got to see beau Barker, to use a Victorian term, even if boring old us was just a sideline event, not the main event, and good thing, too! Anyway, it was great to hang out for a couple of days with them, as always. We browsed the shops in historical district of Old Colorado City, lunched in an Indian place, drinks in an Irish Pub. When we walked into the just opened pub, the strong scent of Pinesol hit us like a wall of bricks. At least Junie, Barker and I said, "Pinesol". John, the dissenter, said "Puppydogs". So the rest of the day we referred to the place as the Pinesol and Puppydog Pub. Later that evening, Barker, in his customary kind and generous way, treated me/us for my recent birthday, to an outstanding filet of steak (he had halibut) at Outback. All in all, we shot the breeze, John and Barker talked some shop, Junie and I hightailed it to the ladies room at that point, and talked quickly of purses (?) (I was carrying a new and weird one) and the joys of watching t.v. shows and movies with our growing-more-adult children, as opposed to kid films and cartoons. Not that they're all bad. We got a little buzzed, lamented the country music playing on the patio, but found a way to enjoy that, too, went to sleep in our fine Holiday Inn rooms, also courtesy of Barker, his airline miles points, got up at dawn the next day, had some breakfast and waved bye about 9am, all heading to homes and airports, Junie having the longest travel day, to hit home about 7pm that evening.

Okay, up to date I think.

A major lightning and thunderstorm, rain blowing in thick sheets, like a small hurricane but mixed with hail, just opened on the town! Not unheard of in July, but definitely weird enough to remark upon. The hail has stopped banging the windows and door, but the rain is still pouring down, rising up over the curbs, little ice floes sailing along in the gutters. All in a matter of 10 minutes. The old adage is true, "This is Colorado, Kiddo, if you don't like the weather, wait 10 minutes and it will change!"

Asta Pasta,
Slyboots and Ally

2005-05-16T16:39:00.000-07:00

Well, as you will see, I have nothing uproarously funny or exciting to report, so you get the boring old diary format, again:

My son will be visiting from San Diego for a few days. Ozzy and Sparky are doing well on the toilet training. We've made zero to little progress on the restaurant, but spring is here now, so maybe things will pick up in that area.

My mother-in-law and her new husband will be going on a 2 month road trip in Dan's new monster van, (the thing looks like a friggin' school bus) back East to visit family on both sides. I can't even imagine what that adventure will cost them, but hey, they ain't gettin' younger, in their seventies and Nana, Bev's mother, is mid-eighties I think. They better go now, if they wait for the gas prices to go down they might as well wait to see people in the hereafter. Hope they have fun and bring back some salt and pepper shakers for my collection.

Bill Maher off until August and Deadwood's last episode is this Sunday. Whaa! Still catching up on all the West Wings we missed.

A trip to NYC to see Spamalot seems out of the question...

We'll be giving the Ren Fair a miss this year--can't spend the dough right now. I better order my Garlic Lemon Garni over the internet. What was that chick's name, now? It was on a lime green paper--I'll find it.

Ohhhh, speaking of knowing where stuff IS, we did a massive spring clean and organization of the house. Whew. Hard work but feels good to be de-junked and less dusty and musty. I got rid of about 7 hefty bags of outdated clothing, groddy shoes, purses and a ton of funky makeup. A monitor box full of crap we didn't need to hang on to. Not a total clean sweep but a good amount done.

Holding with tradition we'll be spending part of MDW with our friends, Junie and Barker, up in Longmont (near Denver). It will be fun to see them.

I have a poem titled 'Go Fish', coming out on Melic Review this month. Cool!

Medical problems for John continue--medical appointments a good part of this month. We're hoping it's nothing too serious. (of course we are--what a brilliantly stupid thing to say--as if we'd be hoping for bad news or surgery, etc.)

Thunderstorm season begins soon--nice to watch the fireworks from the porch in the evenings.

Das es alles fer now, volks!

Slybootsandally

Okay, I've decided, enough of this boring diary stuff...

2005-04-16T21:39:00.000-07:00

Any reader, no matter how mistakenly or innocently they may have stumbled into my blog, should not be met with this drivel as punishment for careless clicking. From here on out, my IRS Tax Day Promise to YOU, I will only post bemusing, amusing, anectdotal or outright hilarious and OUTrageous entries. I didn't know what these blogs were about, before. In my clueless and creatively stunted state, I could only revert to the old Journal or WHAT I DID ON MY SUMMER VACATION sort of documentation. Viva y Apprende!

COMING SOON TO A BLOG NEAR YOU--UNKNOWN AND UNHEARD OF: ALLY'S HYSTERICAL WIT AND HUMOR. DON YOUR DEPENDS, FOLKS, IT MAY BE A WET RIDE!

ALLY

Two months later...

2005-03-30T13:54:00.000-08:00

I just realized it has been almost 2 months since I updated this blog. And nothing too new to report.

A new baby in the family, that's something--Kera--6lbs8oz--healthy and pretty, born 2/17/05 to David and Kris.

What else? My daughter, Nikki, is studying for her real estate exam. Good luck, Nikki!

My son, Nate, is going back to take some more classes at university to fill out requirements for his Bachelors. Is that spelled right? Bach-o-lors, Bach-e-lors, Bach-o-lers, nah not the third one. I could look it up but I'm lazier than usual right this minute.

The cats are fine. Ozzy very, very fat now. Not sure what to do about that. Sparky is not a pig, he's still sleek and svelte.

John's blood-sugar levels are coming up terrific after we majorly changed our diet. We've both lost some much needed to lose weight, too.

Cheyenne to have tonsils and adenoids out in another week. Good, maybe we can finally understand her when she talks. I think all the swelling is what is causing her speech to be muffled sounding.

Darlene moved into yet another new rental. I saw it. Yikes. I'd love to take even a thousand dollars and play interior decorator in there.

Eileen and Jim bought a car on Ebay. Being shipped from Oregon. Black. Vanlike. Good deal. Hope it is as good a deal as it appears when it gets here.

Tony and Penny made it to Roatan after a long and trying ordeal getting there.

Junie and Barker are doing fine. Sorry we missed being able to get together last weekend.

Frank starts a new job and in a new house near Printer's Row in Chicago. Good luck there!

Claudia is getting to be a more famous poet each day. She and Jeff, Frank, Wem, Tricia--all but me and Gracie, we better get on the stick.

Should be able to lay the tile in the restaurant soon. Hope. Been waiting for warmer weather and some extra money to hit. It is snowing again today, but a light snow, so far. Has been expensive to keep warm this winter. But soon, we hope the money we've had to spend on heating bills can go to fixing up Fedoras.

My Ex is getting married in Laughlin, in July. Her name is Linda. Hope 3's the charm. Laughlin is closer drive than Calif, so maybe I can make it out there (I could skip the wedding, thanks) but a chance to spend some time with my kids for a day or so.

Martha, the wine was great, thank you. And I wear the fleece jacket every day.

That's about it for now...

Next time will try for book and movie reviews. Hope to be able to give a review of Camille Paglia's latest book.

Cats and Counts

2005-02-09T11:37:00.000-08:00

Not much new. Got Ozzy and Sparky declawed and neutered. John is doing well on his diet to keep his diabetes under control. His numbers are looking very good so far. And, he's lost 10 lbs and I've lost 5. Figures! Men lose weight easier, it seems. Hope everyone is keeping warm this month. The heating bills are taking their toll, but this town does look better in snow. :D

Two From Philip Larkin:

2004-12-19T15:40:00.000-08:00

Water - Philip Larkin

If I were called in
To construct a religion
I should make use of water.
Going to church
Would entail a fording
To dry, different clothes;
My liturgy would employ
Images of sousing,
A furious devout drench,
And I should raise in the east
A glass of water
Where any-angled light
Would congregate endlessly.

Philip Larkin - Ignorance

Strange to know nothing, never to be sure
Of what is true or right or real,
But forced to qualify or so I feel,
Or Well, it does seem so:
Someone must know.

Strange to be ignorant of the way things work:
Their skill at finding what they need,
Their sense of shape, and punctual spread of seed,
And willingness to change;
Yes, it is strange,

Even to wear such knowledge - for our flesh
Surrounds us with its own decisions -
And yet spend all our life on imprecisions,
That when we start to die
Have no idea why.

Coasting into 2005

2004-12-16T11:26:00.000-08:00

It snowed again last night.
Christmas shopping is DONE.
Cards are mailed.
All that's left to do is wrap
a few presents, and cook
our part of the family
cooperative cooking event
for Night Before Christmas,
held on Badger Court.
Aunt Janet, from Florida
will be there, in addition
to the usual clan members.
Next year, I'm hoping
my two, Nate and Nicole
will be here as well. Enjoy
the season, everyone,
however you celebrate!

Chilly December Day

2004-12-02T13:58:00.000-08:00

Today is a pink-ink-pen day.
I write in pink while the snow melts away.
I haven't seen a bird, a rabbit or a squirrel,
they're snuggling in nests and warrens, all acurl.
I walk from and to my home, stepping in between
small continents of ice, sidewalks all asheen.
Charm of winter found in how we all each must
focus on the now--keeping warm or bust.

Be back on Tuesday the 23rd

2004-11-19T13:18:00.000-08:00

Have a great weekend, anyone and everyone! John has a big physical, up north (probably down south, too) on Monday, 9am, so I won't be online until Tuesday, I'm sure. Supposed to snow a bunch between tonight and when we drive up, so wish us driving luck against these crazy Coloradoian drivers.

So what's all this blogging about?

2004-11-18T11:15:00.000-08:00

Some of my friends are doing this: blogging. I thought I'd try it, too, even if it does sound like a sport performed in the snow by a four-man-or-woman, team. Whee! Here we go!