12/22/03

My wonderful friend Tom has a new home for his artwork online: www.tommcnease.net

12/21/03 Cruise Pictures Continued

I had a chance to scan a few pictures. I'll be scanning them a little at a time-so bear with me. (Some pictures will be 2 at a time.)

Bruce on the deck of the boat in Cozumel

Ginger and I in the Schooner Bar with our uber cool girls rule matching musclewoman shirts

Me acting like an ass with my new shoes on (disclaimer-this is the WORST picture of me in existance, and I AM woman enough to post it here, but that is ONLY because my cool shoes are in it.)

The best picture of Gene ever

Picture of Cozumel from the boat. Colorful, huh?

Frank and Janet at the Viking Crown Lounge

Me before I started acting like an ass

2 pics-Gene & Bruce at the resort in Grand Cayman

2 pics-Gene & Ginger at the Viking Crown; Bruce & I being silly

Ginger & I hanging in our cool shirts

Ginger being a viking (I love this picture!)

2 pics-Bruce & I at the resort

2 pics-Me & view of the resort

one of the towel things our stateroom attendant Leery made

My turtle tatoo drying

2 pictures of Bruce with the dolphin

12/19/03 Air mail and Christmas Pawties?

Go to Grand Cayman, its beautiful. However, if you are staying for less than 3 weeks, don't bother to send off postcards. (If you are staying for 3 weeks, better mail your cards the 1st day). Why you ask? I was there December 2nd and mailed 2 post cards that afternoon. They were delivered today, which means it took them 17 days to get here. The Grand Cayman post office apparently floats their mail over in little bottles with cork stoppers.

We also got some of the pictures back from our vacation-so I'll post them soon. I think I'm making a goofy face in just about every single one.

Last night I went to Hubbard Construction's Christmas Party at Messina's Restaurant in Kenner. Cinder-Tab-erella was having so much fun schmoozing at the ball she forgot that she told her Bruceee that she'd be home at 8pm. Thank goodness Gertrude Von Snackenburg didn't turn into a pumpkin.

The guys at Hubbard are great. Pipe foreman and North 'Bama native, Buck said that he has some quail lined up for me (real live quail!-he says they are as much fun as chickens and they taste better if you get tired of them. Buck is one of my most favorite people in the universe-he understands my facination with domestic fowl and hooved critters). I was also asked to dance by one of Hubbard's newer employees, Dan, a cowboy hat wearing equipment operator who was about as spastic of a dancer as I am. The song that we danced to was quite possibly the longest song in the history of bad dance music. (Bad dance music has a VERY long history....and its getting longer). Oddly enough-I think this is the very first time in my ENTIRE life that I've ever been asked to dance by a complete stranger. Must not get out enough. On second though-maybe I should stay in more.

The highlight of the evening had to be watching old Boo, Hubbard's concrete foreman, do the "Bump" with his wife. Boo is too funny; he's a good looking man in his mid 60's, a sharp dreser, about 5'-6" tall, has a highly polished bald head and wears dark sunglasses. (Boo gets the "Damn Near as Cool as Unc" stamp). In lieu of remembering anyone's names he just calls everyone boo, and after he gets to know you, his greeting is "Where ya' at, booootie?" After years of hearing him do this, people started refering to HIM as Boo. What a great nickname.

So, to my buddies at Hubbard-thanks again for inviting me to another wonderful party. You guys are the best. Oh, by the way, please don't tell Dan what I said about his dancing.

12/16/03 Malene

Ms. Malene sends this amusing picture from Iraq. As a caption she added "must be a problem around here..." I just wonder who it is urinating on the Sadam's head-the Soldiers or the Iraquis? One guesses its both since the sign reads in English and (apparently) Arabic.

12/12/03 Busy-ness

Its been an intensly busy week at work. I didn't have to work late tonight, so I'm kicking back now with an Abita and I think I'll write down some random thoughts about the past few weeks that I neglected spout. (and the Bruce-ster is doing a side job right now, so I ain't got anything else to do anyway)

The Saturday that we were left to go on the cruise, Bruce wanted to hit the mall early and look for a new pair of boots, so we went out to Macy's at the Esplanade at some absurdly early hour. Didn't find anything there, so we stopped for a greasy breakfast at Denny's and then went to Lakeside Mall. Remember-this special excursion into pre-Christmas Mall Hell was specifically to buy Bruce some new footware. To get to the store that he needed to go to, we had to pass Nine West. (It still wasn't quite 9am yet-and nothing opens in Lakeside until then). Out of the corner of my eye I see the coolest display of ultra sexy super fine red, black and cream slinky slingbacks. Those babies stopped me dead in my tracks. I made a valliant attempt to pretend like I didn't see them and to walk away.....

I really did.

Even went with Bruce to go look at the boring man shoes display at Dillards. While he was trying them on, I slipped away and had the saleslady get me a couple of pairs from the display to try on. She tells me they are brand new to the store, and they haven't sold a single pair yet. They were every bit as wonderful as I thought. Bruce finds me in the store. I sheepishly tell him that "SantaBaby" really should get me these shoes for Christmas. He tells me to get them now so that Santa doesn't screw up and get the wrong size. The saleswoman smiles. I leave with new Supersexywoman shoes. How much do I like these new shoes? I rode home from the mall with them in my lap. After 2 Guinnesses at one of the nightclubs on the ship I made Bruce take a picture of them on on my feet. I made them a spot on my already full shoe rack where I can see them every time I go in my closet :-) .... I love new shoes, but these shoes RULE! These are the the Bruk shoes on Nine West's site - but they don't show the exact ones I have - mine are the Bruk but they have a red heel and the strap that goes across the foot is red. Ok-enough. You now know that I understand Imelda Marco's little footwear problem.

Ginger told me that she had purchased for us matching shirts for the cruise. She presented me with mine on the first day. They were a hit with the women on the cruise, particularly the older women. Ginger has a great sense of humor-and she digs teeshirts that have an edgy silliness about them. I had so much fun with the goofy shirt thing, that purchased her and I matching tees for Christmas. (I'll tell you whats on them after I give hers to her-but they are hot pink and have a famous 80's female rockstar on them....)

12/11/03

I get a regular hit on my site from someone with an IP address of krakint2gw.krak.dk. I'd like to know who you are. Please e-mail me. Thanks :-).

12/10/03 Awww Nuts

I've worked 12 to 13 hour days since Monday in a futile effort to catch up so I haven't finished talking about the cruise. And dangit-I forgot most of what I was going to say anyway. Soooooo what I'm going to do is wait to have my pictures developed and hopefully that will jog my memory so I'll be able to give the rest of the details. In any event-on the last day of the cruise, I caught a sore throat and was running a fever (so I slept the entire day). Its just now starting to get better.

I'm also suposed to be studying for two more tests I need to take tomorrow: Profilograph and Sampling and Testing of Concrete (yes how exciting) but I don't feel like doing it so I'm going to do something ELSE I said I'd do here, and that is finally put up some pictures of Tom's glass sculptures. You've been reading about them - here they are for you to finally see:

Picture 1

Picture 2

Picture 3

Picture 4

Picture 5

Picture 6

Picture 7

Picture 8

Picture 9

Picture 10

Picture 11

Picture 12

Picture 13

Picture 14(my favorite)

This is where the pictures taken by Tom end, and the ones my sister Amber and I took begin. The pics I took were done with Tom's very nice camera, but I'm focus delayed or something. Amber is much better with a camera than I - the pictures that look good from the following are ones she shot. As you can see, Tom's pictures came out great; of course-he knows how to use that bazillion dollar camera he has.

Picture 15

Picture 16

Picture 17

Picture 18

Picture 19

Picture 20

Picture 21

Picture 22

Picture 23

Picture 24

Picture 25

Picture 26

Picture 27

Picture 28

Picture 29

12/07/03 Back in Cozumel...

On our way to Grand Cayman we experienced 13' seas, and now, leaving Grand Cayman, same thing. You've probably heard that you don't feel the boat rocking because its so big-but whoever told you that didn't experience really big waves. Plenty of people didn't make it to dinner on the nights that the waves were really rolling (but it sure didn't stop our crew from eating!)

The Captain got on the intercom about an hour after leaving Grand Cayman to announce that we wouldn't be going to Costa Maya due to very bad weather in that area. Instead he had arranged for us to go back to Cozumel and spend the next day and night. This was fine with me because I felt we didn't have enough time there to really see anything anyway. I had wanted to do some more snorkeling at Chankanaab and to have a chance to see more of the island.

So, when we got to Cozumel, we decided to rent scooters (25 American dollars for the day) and go to Chankanaab. On the way we were stopped by a policeman who explained to us in hesitant English that we needed to stay on the "scooter/bike" road and that all roads that run like the ocean have the right of way, and all roads that run perpendicular to the ocean must yield to traffic. The scooter road doesn't follow the main road very far-it veers off by the ocean and is a much more scenic route to Chankanaab. It costs 10 dollars to get into the park, 6 dollars to rent a mask and fins, and for 4 dollars you can buy your own snorkle. So we snorkeled for a few hours. The water is gorgeous there and the fish are incredible. You can hear the dolphins "talking" to each other underwater with their little clicks and long whistles. After we finished snorkeling we explored the gardens in the park for a little while. The park has some of the biggest Bird of Paradise plants and Ficus trees I've ever seen. Gene remarked that the largest Ficus trees he has ever seen are at Lakeside Mall in Metairie, and the ones in Chankanaab absolutely dwarf those. We ate lunch at La Laguna - octopus and conch ceviche and quesadillas. Their ceviche is wonderful, quite possibly the best I've ever had.

After we finished up there we decided to take the scooters back to town to shop for a bit. The scooters had to be returned for 5 pm, so we took the 20 minute ride to town from the park, walked around for about a half hour and then brought the scooters back. After that we went back for a short while to the ship to shower and change. It costs 6 bucks to take a taxi to town, so we did that. The cab driver let us off at the main square area where we did some shopping. After wandering around a bit we realized that the farther away from the ocean you go, the less touristy the area gets. It was in this area that we found a restaurant named Sonora where we decided to have dinner.

Sonora turned out to be a wonderful choice. Very authentic feel, and some locals were dining there. Everything we were served was delicious (their mole sauce was great!) and the entire meal for four of us cost about 33 dollars with a tip. There were two guitarists that went from table to table playing requests (we heard 2 Santana songs, and several Mexican Christmas tunes). The restaurant, which was on the second story of the building, had large windows which were all opened to a wonderfully warm December evening. We all got a kick out of watching the crazy traffic go by on the streets below the restaurant.

Aparently there isn't much in the way of traffic laws in Cozumel; its not uncommon to see a family of four (YES 4) on a scooter. After dinner, we did some more shopping then took a cab back to the ship. I bought a new perfume which I just love-Devotion by Gabriella Sabitini, a really nice handmade orange and blue glass vase, some black coral earrings and an elaborate sterling silver bracelet and a 1 liter bottle of Kahlua (9 bucks a bottle!). Shopping in Cozumel is a bargain too-all of those items (after dickering on price with local merchants) together cost less than 100 US dollars. We were whipped after all this, so we just went back to the ship rather than trying to make it out to Carlos and Charlies for the nightlife. Maybe next trip, eh?

Interesting piece of information. My "sun" necklace which most of you have seen me wear was apparently made in Mexico. Just about every silver shop we went into, someone asked me where I had gotten it at, and then proceeded to tell me that they were made in Mexico. (I bought it from a guy in Vancouver on E-bay.) Oddly enough-I didn't see a single piece that matched it exactly, but I'm sure they knew what they were talking about.

Once again, I've been typing too long, and I'm tired, so I'll leave the rest of the cruise for tomorrow. HOPEFULLY I'll be able to finish the damned "book" I'm writing here by then.

12/06/03 finally an update!

Gee-where do I start?

Tripod has been booting me off since the 21st of November. Couldn't update the site at all. Theeeeeennnnn..........we left for vacation for a week. Gene, Ginger, Bruce and I went on a 7 day cruise abord Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas. Originally the ports of call were to Cozumel, Grand Cayman and Costa Maya, but due to bad weather, Costa Maya was canceled and we returned to Cozumel for the final port. The ship itself was incredible. Very well appointed, nice furniture, original artwork of almost every style, beautiful pools and a solarium, the dining rooms were gorgeous and the staterooms were very nice. Everything is detailed-wood trim, nautical themed bars and theaters, a nightclub with a "viking" theme, beautiful marble staircases, a casino (the floor in the entry to the casino was plexiglass encasing a "pirate skeleton" surrounded by "treasure"), and plants of tropical proportions just about everywhere. Even the gym was fancy (it had a nice steamroom, a sauna and plenty of first class equipment). Bruce and I have never cruised before, but this was Gene & Ginger's 2nd cruise-according to them this ship was much nicer than the Carnival ship they took their 1st cruise on. The only thing that was inoperable was a large rock climbing wall at the rear of the ship.

Our first day of the cruise was nice-we left out of New Orleans after the manditory "Muster Drill" which is where you walk out to an outside deck with the rest of the herd and put on the bulkiest life vest you've ever seen, stand around for a half hour, listen to the ship's emergency signal and then file back inside. The ship left port at 5pm Saturday; it was almost cold, and quite breezy but we weren't about to let that deter us from hitting one of the four outdoor hot tubs. (Gene's mantra for the entire trip was a little song "Hot-tubbin...") That night we went to dinner in the main dining room and met our table mates, Frank and Janice who were from Grimsby, England. (picture of Gene, Ginger, Bruce, me, Frank & Janice). They were wonderful-completely laid back, and Frank had some great jokes (our favorite was an "interactive" one where he slapped Bruce in the head).

The first day was an "at sea" day-the weather was still plenty cool, but we discovered that the outdoor pool are maintained at 82 degrees so we went swimming (both pools are saltwater!) We also ate quite a bit. Food is available almost 24 hours a day on the ship. There is a huge casual buffet available for breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack and dinner, and fancier meals are served in the main dining room at normal hours. There is also pizza, burgers, fries and hotdogs available in the solarium from 11pm until about 3am each night. Almost every evening around midnight there was some sort of "fancy" buffet with a theme. One was a chocolate buffet featuring large scale carvings, and there were several others featuring ice sculptures and fruit carvings served in various locations on the ship. Deserts were amazing-if you are a desert eater, you'd particularly love cruising. The regular food varied in quality-most of the fish was frozen, and the only "real" coffee you could get was in the main dining room. Oddly enough, the food I was most impressed with was the soup varieties. All were good and there were plenty to choose from. Every night there was a "cold soup" choice along with one or two hot soup choices. (yeah, I like soup....how boring.)

Monday: Cozumel.

We had prebooked an excursion to Chankanaab National Park to "Swim and Snorkel" with the dolphins. The park's dolphins are rescued/injured dolphins which have been trained to interact with the visitors. Our tour package included snorkel gear which we used to follow the diver into the center of a large penned in "reef" area on the coast of the park. There we were able to watch the dolphin swim around and pet her as she made her way around us. We also took dolphin "belly" rides where you hold the dolphin's fins and she pulls you. After the tour was over, we had free time in the park. There is a nice restaurant/bar there on the beach named "La Laguna" - we hung out there for awhile and then caught our taxi back to the pier to catch a little shopping.

While we were shopping we all got henna tatoos. I got a block print turtle on my lower back, Ginger got a sun in the same place, Gene got a sun with some scroll work on his arm and Bruce got some German Phoenix looking thing on his shoulder-our tatoos are still quite visible...and I like mine so much I'm seriously considering getting a "real" one. (I couldn't resist joking with everyone about "not touching my turtle.")

Tuesday: Grand Cayman.

Today's port was at sea so we had to "tender" which means that you catch a little boat from the ship to get to the shore. We had an early excursion planned so we caught the first tender. Our excursion was to Spanish Bay Reef Resort, which is an all inclusive resort on the North side of the island. Since the winds were quite high out of the north, the resort brought us to Cemetary Reef (named because there is a cemetary in front of it...) on the west side to snorkle. It was drizzling, but the snorkling was wonderful and we saw plenty of beautiful fish very close to shore. Spanish Bay itself is beautiful, and would be a great place to revisit for a vacation.

Grand Cayman is a neat, clean, well laid out and colourful little town. The main industry appears to be off shore banks (Bank of Scotland and several other European banks have branches there) and tourism, particularly geared to snorkelers and divers. There were also plenty of jewelry shops, and the famous Tortuga Rum & Rumcakes are sold there. The island's language is English; aparently its a Brittish colony and full of expatriots who have come there to live for whatever reason. There is very little poverty and most of the citizens are middle class. (Its a beautiful island-exactly the type of place I could picture myself retiring to.)

Ok-I've been typing for about an hour here and I've had enough. Next stop-Back to Cozumel....which I'll continue tomorrow. But before I sign off-here are some of the "formal pictures" we took on the ship.

Bruce & I in front of the Ship's picture

Bruce & I by the Christmas Tree in the main lobby

Bruce & I again....

11/20/03 Thanksgiving fun

The Nan & Tab Show courtesy of his Majesty, that Great Bald Budda Belly guy, Edit.

11/16/03 Weekends

I wish there was some sort of way of extending weekends-they always seem to go by too quickly. Friday night, Bruce & I hung out with Burke at Keystones until the "Hard Rock Kareoke" crowd started pouring in. Saturday I went over to Tom's house to hang out with him and try my new fly rod. I caught 5 bluegills; also hooked my first bass! It was fairly small, and it did manage to shake its way off of the hook before I got it into the boat, but dangit-I did hook one. Thankfully, Tom was nice enough to clean my fish. He keeps the little buggers alive in a bucket of water in the bottom of the canoe. When its time to clean them, he grabs the wriggling little fish out of the bucket and scales them with a spoon. I was really squeamish about that part because I know its got to hurt to have your scales taken off while you are still living. So, I stood there like a moron makeing "oh poor little fish-eees" noises as he expertly scaled and gutted each fish. (Also told him Nemo would be pissed at him for doing that.) Tom does all this right on his little dock and tosses the fish guts and heads right into the water for the turtles and gar fish to eat. No waste. They were tasty too, Bruce and I had them for dinner tonight.

Saturday night we went to Shangri-La's Coronation Ball at the Fairmont Hotel. This year Gene's fabulously gorgeous 15 year old daughter Brooke is a princess for the crew. I've heard that some of these "court" galas are a drag, but we had a great time at Shangri-La. It was a fairly easygoing event, black-tie, but not as stiff and formal as you'd expect from the larger Mardi Gras crews. There was a great band and Bruce and I danced until my feet wouldn't take it any more. (We are terrible dancers, but it never stops us from going out there and making a complete and total spectacle of ourselves; but we do have fun, dammit all.) I drank a bit too much red wine....

.... and paid for that today. Bruce and Big Bruce, (Bruce's dad) decided to finish wireing our downstairs room so they can get the rest of the sheet rock up next weekend. Since I'm the smallest of the three of us, I volunteered to crawl under the house, run the wires and attach them to the floor joists. Its taxing to get under our house with a clear head, but its downright hellacious to do it with a hangover. I amused myself while I was under there by thinking, geez-just 12 hours ago I was all dolled up in a ballgown at a swanky Mawdi Gwaw Pawwwty, and now here I am slinking around in the dirt under my house dodging cat turds and a big gigantic -cough- palmetto bug. I think I only uttered 3 cuss words under there too. Must be learning patience in my old age.

11/13/03 Brownie Girls

Last Friday night, Ginger and I worked for Ms. Cathy and her friend Ainsy passing out brownies for the LA SPCA's Howling Success Event at Gallier Hall. Ms. Cathy makes the most wonderful brownies, and every one that we set out was snatched up by the well dressed animal loving crowd. Fortunately for us, we were strategically positioned in the front of the bar - the barmen took a likeing to us and gave us whatever we wanted to drink. (Not everyone thinks I attended the "Attila the Hun School of Charm," Tom ;-) .) Needless to say, we had a great time and courtesy of Ms. Cathy, I've got pictures! Ginger, Ainsy & me, Ms. Cathy the Brownie Queen, Ginger, Ainsy & me again, The Taibo Girls: Ginger, Ms. Cathy and me, Ainsy & Ginger.

Bruce has been diligently working on our bedroom closet, totally redoing it to add more bars for clothes. Its one of those jobs that he thought would take one evening but turns into a 4 evening project. Its been well worth it though; we probably have the smallest "walk in" closet in the universe, and between the two of us it was busting at the seams. Now that we have all of this space, I feel the need to go clothes shopping. :-)

11/09/03 lots of pictures!

Some more pictures as promised (but not all of them-I'm going to put up Tom's glass sculpture pictures later this week-I have one more roll to get developed.) Bruce's party pictures were scanned two per page to save server space and time.

Bruce's Party:

Picture 1 -Bruce totally Surprised

Picture 2-Bruce, Unc.

Picture 3-Cathy & Ginger; Burke & Heidi

Picture 4-Vernon & Tab

Picture 5-Madie & Mr. Bones, The Taibo Crew-Cathy, Tab & Ginger

Picture 6-Party shots; Bruce's beautiful cake courtesy of Ms. Cathy

Picture 7-Bruce the Redneck

Picture 8-Dutch; Tab & Daniel

Halloween 2003:

Picture 1-Bruce dressed up like Maurice

Picture 2-Ginger and Carrie @ Toni & Bruce's Party

Picture 3-Ginger

Picture 4-Tab & Bruce (no I was not trying to lick his eyeball)

Picture 5-Carrie, Ginger, Cathy, Tab; Bruce & Carl

Picture 6-Carrie & Randy with Bruce in the background looking like a spook (and not meaning too)

Picture 7-Nan & her daughter Linda

Picture 8-"Net" & Linda

Picture 9-Randy and Phoebe the Meatball Eater

Picture 10-Cathy & Tab

Picture 11-Randy

Picture 12-Carrie, Ginger, Cathy & Tab

Picture 13-Ginger & Cathy

A few random pictures, some old, some fairly new:

a pic of my mom taken a few years ago for a bellydance shoot. The other lady in the picture is one of her students.

My old '74 MG Midget (yes-I installed the interior, and it was nice.

Me at 22 in DeSoto National Forest near Fort Payne, Alabama.

Another of me at 22

Pickles and that little meatball eater, Phoebe

a few of me flyfishing

11/05/03 proof

Here's proof that I work for one of the more laid back engineering firms: Scooby Doo papertowels in the restroom. Tell me engineers don't have a sense of humor?

11/04/03 deja Flu?

Halloween came and went without a hitch-and we managed to hand out almost 50 pounds of candy and trinkets. Somewhere in the process of all this activity, I must have picked up a touch of the flu from one of the little neighborhood "snot gobblins" as my dear friend Tom so blithely puts it. But as of tonight, I'm feeling much better. I actually brought ALL of my film to be developed, including the long overdue pictures from Bruce's birthday party, Tom's yard, and of course, Halloween. My neighbor Carl and Sandie (mother of my most favorite person in the universe) also took pictures, so as soon as I sort through them (yes-I'm starting to do that tonight) and get them all sized, I'll put them up for your viewing pleasure. In the meantime, here is the latest Edit creation-the frog trio.

10/30/03 Working for Halloween

Last night, Ginger and Randy came over to help us with the last of the Halloween preparations. Randy and Bruce were handling the outside; Ginger and I were making "finger" cookies for the party my neighbors are having on Halloween night. As soon as I got home I made a huge plate of curry meatballs with a coconut sauce and set the plate on the table in our dining room so that everyone could eat when they had a moment.

At about 7:30 or so, Bruce and Randy decided that they needed to go to K-Mart to pick up some juice for the fog machine. (Bruce has never used the thing other than to play with it, yet he's managed to crank it up enough times to go through a whole bottle of fog.) Randy had brought his adoreable little dog, Phoebe over to our house, and I told him it would be fine if he left her with Ginger and I while he went to the store with Bruce.

So Ginger and I are in the kitchen about 20 minutes later, yapping away having fun making finger cookies, when I heard a small metalic clink on what sounded like china. Ginger and I ran into the dining room to find Phoebe on top of the table getting ready to eat the very last meatball on what was a plate FULL of meatballs. We are still not quite sure how she managed to eat so many-there was easily enough on the plate to feed several hungry adults, and she's a small dog, about half the size of a basset hound. And yes, I have a picture of her on the table.

If you know where we live, you really should come by either tonight or tomorrow night and see the Halloween decorations. Bruce will have them all lit up tonight-and they look great.

10/27/03 BIZZY!

Everyone please keep Malene in your prayers. Over the weekend she sent out an e-mail to everyone letting them know that the place where they were living was bombed, so as of this weekend she was "homeless" and living on M.R.E.'s. The Corps has probably found them a place to live, but it must be pretty sobering to know that every moment you are there, you are a target. Heck-she's there with the Corps of Engineers; they are there to rebuild Iraq. Ultimately the terrorists and people still loyal to Sadam don't care about that though-all Americans are the enemy.

Had another busy weekend. Friday night Gene, Ginger, Taylor, Bruce and I went to Sheriff Foti's haunted house in City Park. Haven't been to a haunted house in years; it was a real hoot. (we are going to try to go to Chinchuba or House of Shock this week...) Saturday, my sister Amber and I went to Tom's house so that she could spread a friend's ashes in Porter's River. We wound up hanging out with Tom most of the day; helped him build another very large glass sculpture. She got the grand tour and now considers Tom to be one of her "most favorite people." (a true honor coming from my sister, because she only seems to like really cool people.)

Sunday Bruce and I went to watch the Panthers spank the Saints (I love you Jake Delhomme!!! The Saints were Fools to let you go!-Did that sound appropriately "groupie-ish"? I hope so.) Bruce had scored us some tickets to one of Benson's suites in the dome-of course it was everything I could do to NOT cheer the Panthers, although I think it was pretty obvious by my facial expressions that I was rooting for the boys in blue and white. Later that night we went to the Bucktown Seafood Festival with Amber, Unc, Aunt Cindy and her husband. We were all worried about the weather, because the local weathermen were swearing up and down that it would be cold and rainy Sunday evening-but everything was fine. A little breezy, very cloudy, but not a drop of rain. Amber and I went down some huge inflatable slide with a bunch of 8 year old kids. Adults, particularly women, think this is very bizarre behaviour for grown women...we got all of the appropriate "grow up" looks. Amber and I decided that they were just jealous....Hey-just because you hit "adulthood" doesn't mean that you can't have fun any more. Amber and I are definitely of the same mind about that.

Quick raise of the paddle to my two long distance paddling buddies MRCMAN and CliffJrs-haven't chatted with you all lately (yeah-I've been lazy), certainly haven't done much paddling, but I hope you both are doing well and are getting some skinny boat time in before it gets too nasty outside. If you get "out there," slap the water and make a wish for me :-).

One final thought: those of you who are familiar with Elliott Smith were probably as stunned as I was last week to hear that he had committed suicide. I'm still in shock over this news. He was my favorite "new" musician. Everything about him oozed "laid back cool" all the way down to his Ferdinand the Bull tatoo. His music, his style, his lyrics and his voice spoke to me in a way that no other musician has managed to do before with the singular exception of Cat Stevens. Dammit, Elliott, you were great.

10/22/03 Aimless mental wandering...

Don't have anything really coherent to write about, but I feel like babbling so here goes. Last week my cat Puck joined the underground. I think the neighbors are as sad about it as I am. Even though he wasn't much of a pet, and he certainly wasn't very friendly with anyone but small kids (go figure that), he had this great "I don't care because I'm cool" attitude that everyone liked. Old Puck has been around for 6 years or so. I picked him up from the SPCA back when I lived on 22nd Street. He was rotten to the core-hissed at everyone, scratched people on a whim, beat up other cats. Good looking and he knew it. He used to sit in our across the street neighbor's window every morning and aggrivate their inside cat. He was fed at at least 3 different neighborhood houses. He hated Ms. Pickles with an obsessive passion. Puck loved the little boys down the street-they called him "Tiger." A very good name for him.

I couldn't handle burying him, because I didn't want to actually cry, and I knew I would if I touched him, so Bruce unceremoniously scooped him up with a shovel and buried him in a hole in the back yard. I watched the proceedings from the window here in the blue room. It was almost unreal watching him getting chucked into the hole. Now every time I go in the back yard I think about him. I don't like thinking about him being dead.

On a different note, had to travel across the Huey P. Long Bridge again today on my journey to Bridge City to take the "outdoor" portion of my Embankment and Base Course Certification. I passed it and now I'm a certified inspector. Also took the first of my concrete tests the other day and passed it. Naturally because I'm a woman, I had an "audience" out there watching me perform the Proctor test. I guess its strange for them to see a youngish woman in there doing what is usually an older man's work, but I hate feeling like a circus side show every time go over there to do lab work. Did get some interesting info on the Huey P though-did you all know that it is NOT owned by the State of Louisiana? Guess who owns it: the Railroad! Know what that means? Its not inspected by the state for saftey. That scares the hell out of me. Mark my words, one day that old rusty bridge is going to fall into the Mississippi. I just hope no one is traveling on or under it when it does.

Next topic. Bruce got the remainder of his wisdom teeth pulled today. He looks like a cute little sleepy dago chipmunk. Should go and take a picture of him, but he'd probably throw something at me.

Last Saturday I went to Tom's house to help him erect a very large glass sculpture in his front yard. Towards the end, we had to get his neighbor Dave to help us lift the last levels into place. Each level of the sculpture weighs about 90 pounds and in all it is about 8 feet tall. I have pictures of it as it was getting built. As soon as they are developed, if its ok with Tom, I'll post them on the site. Hopefully he'll let me-the sculptures are amazing. He's been putting them in different areas around his yard. When you walk through them, they have a presence; each panel is highly reflective and collectivly have a disconcerting ability to make you think that you are walking amongst ghosts. The oddest thing about them is that initially they have a hard, linear look, but in their environment, become just as organic as their surroundings. I wish I could describe it better to you all but my words just don't do Tom's work justice.

A quick commentary and then I'll shut my trap. Shame on the media, both local and national for making such a big deal about the national release of the "Columbine shooters" home video. It was completely irrelevant, and quite painful I'm sure, for the families and people who's lives were forever changed by these two looser freaks. Whoever thought it was "necessary" to show these scum bag punks shooting guns is a sick bastard and the media should be ashamed of its collective dirt digging self for airing that crap.

10/20/03

Malene sends another picture from Iraq. This one is of her and April standing near one of Saddam's swimming pools at a palace where the Corps has their office. ( That pool is more like the size of a small lake...)

10/14/03 a little later

It was so pretty outside when I left work today that I knew that I had to be outside. There was a front pushing through this afternoon, but it didn't seem too windy so I just made up my mind to go kayaking. So when I got home I put on Gertrude's kayak carrying equipment and loaded up my big red girl. As I was driving up to the launch, I noticed that the lake was a good deal choppier than I had expected. (Should have known better-stiff north wind whips up the Ponchatrain to a frothy, white capping mess like nothing else.) Somewhere in the back of my mind I was envisioning a nice quiet paddle for a couple of hours-nothing really rough.

So much for that fantasy.

As soon as I got out the car, I knew it was going to be a hard paddle. All of the (cute!) windsurfing guys were out there, along with the guys that do the "windskiing" thing with parachutes. The wind coming off the lake was pushing 18 knots straight from the north. I knew that if I didn't at least get out there for a little while that I'd be dissapointed with my chicken-assed self, so I unloaded Big Red, which is quite a challenge in high winds. She's 17.5' long, and about 50 pounds, and cumbersome for one (gimp-kneed-work-weary) person to handle.

Managed to get her off and in the water without incident. Getting away from the launch proved to be an issue though, because I had to enter the boat broadside to the wind to avoid scratching her on the concrete launch. I literally had to push off the bottom of the launch with my hands and then paddle furiously to turn her nose towards the wind. Approaching the end of the jetty, I realized that what I thought were 2-3' waves were actually more like 4-5' (stupid me, I KNOW BETTER-waves, like troubles, always look smaller when you are above them.) Having not paddled for more than a month due to the old person knee thing, I was nervous about hitting those big, white capped waves. I literally had to remind myself to stay calm and not overreact to the waves crashing over the back of the boat. It took every ounce of my concentration to keep the boat upright and going in the direction I wanted to go in. The wind kept trying to push the nose around, and the waves made for a bumpy ride. Having large waves wash over the boat and hit you in the back is a wild and exciting experience, but its also uncomfortable because you can't see them coming. I did have to low-brace several times to keep the boat from rolling; it was the first time I have actually had to do this in a "real-life" situation. The waves in the lake aren't very wide waves, so when you head directly into them the front of the boat tends to fall into the next wave. (it makes a really loud slapping noise!) Naturally, I tried to go at an angle to the waves as much as I could, but at some point you have to turn around, and thats probably the hardest part in choppy water and high winds. Kept having this image in my mind of an errant wave flipping me over, me not being able to recover, bailing out, and the boat going crashing into the rip-rap on the shore, little fiberglass splinters floating away like bits of red driftwood. Not pleasant thoughts. Today's jaunt was good Gulf of Mexico training, but it was foolish of me to go out there by myself. (I desperately need a local partner to boat in Lake Ponchatrain with-hello out there? Anyone?)

Paddling in conditions like today's leaves you with no time to think about anything BUT the art of paddling. You use every ounce of skill that you posess, all of your strength and most of your nerve just to stay out there. Its exciting, its frightening and a bit crazy-but its exactly the sort of experience I live for. I felt so alive coming back in. Like I had really accomplished something.

10/14/03 Fun time!

Nan, ever a good sport, has allowed me to put up this funny "Edited" version of herself for Halloween.

10/14/03

My mom came out of surgery just fine; her doctor says that they were able to remove all of the parathyroid that was causing her problems. Thank you all who kept her in your thoughts and prayers, and to those of you who sent her "get well" messages. She and I really do appreciate it.

10/12/03

For those of you out there who pray, please remember my mom, Karen, in your prayers tonight. She is going to have surgery Monday morning to have her parathyroid removed. There are no doctors in Utah that perform the minimally invasive procedure that she would have liked to have, so she has to have the old type of surgery performed.

10/10/03 Melene!

Melene sent me a picture of her "living it up" in Iraq.

She writes: "This chair is in Saddam's Airport Palace. It faces the most gigantic ballroom I've ever seen. It's more like a loveseat! Then there's this gigantic pitcher next to it. I don't know what's that's all about. This palace is on a big lake with other small palaces all around for all his kids. Soldiers and locals have taken those over. I think with him gone, the Italian marble market is going to see a big crash. Oh well."

Well, Melene, Daniel and I miss you, (I think about you every time I see him dissappearing towards the back of the office-I'm not kidding-its like we all still expect the phone to ring whenever he's "unavailable"... :-) ...), The Big D says that you are missing out on some excellent stout he's made *- I'm still waiting to taste it; he says its "better than Guinness" -* and Rahman sends happy greetings in Arabic and Urdu. Come on home soon lady, safe and sound.

10/07/03 crawling under rocks

I really wanted to go kayaking today; the weather was so beautiful. But once again, I've lost the battle with Bruce about keeping the kayak rack on the car. Every time I get it on there, he finds a reason to take it off. It takes me about a half hour to put the damned thing on, and by the time I'm finished, I don't feel like loading the boat up or I don't have enough daylight left. So-no kayaking today.

Since I haven't talked to my sister Cheynay in a while, I called her. She is not doing well-doesn't like living in Texas; misses home; rheumatoid arthritis is still keeping her down. The doctors have her on a coctail of drugs, and she only seems to be holding steady with no real improvement. I tried to be cheery through the conversation, but was almost in tears when I got off the phone.

Went and helped Bruce put up Halloween decorations-hung out with Randy and Dutch for a bit. Came back in the house feeling a bit better.

Then I got a phone call from my mom, who has just celebrated her 46th birthday. The doctors tell her she needs to have her parathyroid removed. She is having trouble finding a surgeon in Utah that does the minimally invasive parathyroid surgery. There seem to be tons of surgeons that do the surgery she needs in the southeast, but none that she can find in Utah! The minimally invasive one takes less than a half hour and does not have as many complications as the regular surgery for parathyroid removal, which can take as long as 3 hours.

So now I'm worried for my mom and my sister and feeling really helpless. Being cheerful just isn't enough and being separated by such a huge physical distance makes it even worse. So that's why I'd like to crawl under a rock. I'm aggrivated, sad, tired, physically in pain and emotionally worn down to a nub. I don't think I'm going to write until I have something happy and good to write about, so you all will have to forgive me if I just create silence for a few days.

10/03/03 latest funny quiz

Barbie Got Back! Go you! You're the closest thing
ever to a true black Barbie. Shake that fat
ass of yours.

If You Were A Barbie, Which Messed Up Version Would You Be?
brought to you by Quizilla

10/02/03 Vote Saturday!

The Amendments to the Louisiana Constitution on Saturday's Ballot. There are a whole bunch of them; you may want to read through them before you go in to vote.

For those of you who liked Fleming's Litterbox Flash animation, he has a new one out. The "tune" is definitely better for this 3rd Cat Music video, and I dig the ending!

10/01/03 Little later...

Edit strikes again

10/01/03 Ok-toe'-ber

October-the Month of Change.

October has always been a strange month for me. Every time it rolls around I can guarantee something signifigant in my life will change. Generally its been for the better, so I've come to look forward to it. Never have been able to attribute the changes to anything in particular, but sometimes I wonder if I unconciously wait until October to make changes. Perhaps its easier to make changes when Nature herself is going through a big change, shedding her leaves and hibernating in preparation for a New Year. Whatever the case may be, I am ready.

Confidential to Henville: Take care of yourself in Iraq-you are in my prayers and on my mind. It was nice to hear your voice today. Come home safe and soon!

09/30/03 Good Causes

For those of you interested in helping out the Charity, Friends in Need, volunteers will be working on a home at 3814 Delechaisse Street on Saturday's October 4 and October 11. Volunteers will be there from 8AM - 5PM but any time you can make it, whether it's all day or just for an hour will be greatly appreciated. Beverages will be provided all day long and there will be pizza around noon.

If you have any questions, contact Robert through his email.

-anyone interested in riding with me to work there on this Saturday morning for a few hours can email me. I can take up to 3 people in Gertrude.

09/29/03 blah.

Went to the doc today for the MRI results. He says that I have arthritis in my knee, the cartlage on my femur is damaged, and that my patella is pushed out a bit. He gave me an exersize to do to try to get the patella back into place so that some of the pain will be alleviated. If this doesn't work, he thinks we should do surgery to cut a ligament to get the kneecap back in place and to clean out the damaged cartlage. No more running or jogging EVER. Thankfully I can go back to Hop's karate aerobics, lift weights and kayak again in about 10 days. (of course he also said that if in 2 weeks I'm not feeling better, time to think about surgery.) Doc also gave me some medicine for inflamation that the MRI shows.

Can I tell you all how floored I was when the doc said that arthritis is in that knee? For once, I was at a loss for words. But shoot-I'll get past this, just like everything else, and I'm still going to have fun and do the things I like to do. Just have to face the fact that I'm getting older and I'm going to have aches and pains just like everyone else!

In other news, Bruce did not have to shave his head, much to the dismay of many of us who were looking forward to it. The Saints absolutely stink so far this year. Glad I don't own season tickets. Sorry Derrick and Dutch and Randy-they do. They completely stink.

On to more interesting things. A little while back I had asked anyone if they had any ghost related stories, and LJ submitted a good one which she said I could share with everyone.

Here it is:
Oh, yea, I believe in ghosts!! I always have. I used to think it was because of my Halloween birthday and all that, but now, I'm pretty sure I'm living in a house with at least one ghost.

Our former roommate was in the restroom one afternoon and someone was jiggling the doorknob trying to get in. Only problem was, no one was near the door. Another time Robert and I were in the den and heard Pyewacket (the cat) up in the living room playing with her plastic jingle bell balls. Neither of us thought much of it for a minute or two till Robert pointed out that Pye was fast asleep by the side door, far, far away from the upstairs and the living room. He then proceeded to tell me his mother used to have house slippers with bells on them.

At this point, I had chill bumps on my arms and legs. I told him his mother was still in the house (she's passed away 2 years ago) checking on him to make sure he was behaving himself!!!

09/26/03 MRI

The MRI was much different than I had imagined. Originally, I thought that it was a short process, like an X-ray. Go in, listen to the beeeeeeep, and its over. My MRI actually took 35 minutes to complete. The actual machine, a Toshiba (do they make EVERYTHING??), is huge-almost the size of a small automobile. It's the "open" type, with sides you can see out of. It was that funny plastic putty colour that most computers come in, and all of the edges are very rounded, giving it an almost soothing appearance, like some new gigantic musical instrument. (perhaps the Blue Man Group could use it?) The room, which was grey with a few pieces of cheap garbage art on the walls, has a constant pumping sound coming from somewhere, like a mechanical bilge pump. The technician put my leg in a big clear cuff and asked me if I wanted to listen to the headphones. I declined. He warned me it was going to be loud, which was an understatement. The machine itself, as it takes the images, makes a sound that is somewhat like a synthisized jackhammer, operating at different frequencies. Occasionally there are breaks in the noise, but I'd say that the actual volume is probably near the level of noise you'd experience inside of a large airplane at takeoff. I'd be willing to bet in the older, non-open MRI machines, the noise in combination with being more closed in is what makes people have a claustrophobic feeling. It was a strange, disconcerting experience, even in the open machine. The office staff were quite nice and accomodating, and managed to make the process as comfortable and quick as possible. Now I'm just looking forward to seeing the results. More on that Monday afternoon after my appointment with "Doctor Cool".

09/25/03 Dammit

All I gotta say is, dawlin, I'm happy that I have good health insurance. The doc scheduled me for an MRI on Friday morning, and then another apointment with him on Monday. He thinks something is wrong with both the meniscus and the cartlage on my thigh bone in the left knee. He told me I can't do anything in the way of exersizing that involves the knee because I could mess it up more. (guess this is a good excuse to do upper body weights and crunches). In any event, I've always been curious about the MRI machine, and now I'll be able to experience one first hand. Plus, it'll be intersting to "see" inside my leg. Just wish it wasn't the prettiest time of year, with all of this happening. Now is the time to really enjoy being outside.

09/24/03 Weirdos!

And Europeans say Americans are weird.

09/23/03 Men and Football

My husband Bruce has just announced to me that he has a bet with someone at his work. The bet? That if the Saints win this weekend, he will shave his head. Lovely. At least he didn't promise to shave off his eyebrows. Then again, the chances of the Saints winning is slim against the Colts anyway, so I guess it was a safe bet. Should the head shaving commence, I'll be sure to post pictures for your viewing pleasure.

09/22/03 Fly Fishing

Due to my crapped out knee, Tom and I couldn't go kayaking this Saturday, so instead Tom took it upon himself to introduce me to the world of fly fishing. Initially I was hesitant to let Tom get himself involved in this endeavor, because he is a self-admitted impatient person and I am a self-admitted ungraceful woman. As it turns out-Tom was extreemly patient with me-we fished for the better part of the day from his canoe and I managed to catch over 30 fish! Toward the end of the day, I (mostly) had the hang of things, and now I can honestly say that I love using the flyrod. Top water fishing is very exciting and there is something really "artsy" about flyfishing. Hopefully I'll buy my first flyrod soon; I can see this sport cutting into my future kayaking time. So the bad knee didn't turn into a boring time-I learned something wonderful and new, and Tom paddled my lame butt around Porter's River like I was the Queen of Sheeba. All I had to do was fish and listen to Tom chide me to not be so lazy about my fishing technique.

Tom and his neighbor, Dave, use the smaller fish they catch fly fishing for bait for their trot lines. I knew what trot lines were, but had never seen how they were set before, so while we were out there they showed me how to hook the fish onto the lines, and also some of the things they catch. Trot lines are used for catching catfish, but often they hook garfish. The trot line Dave pulled up to show me actually had a 2' garfish hooked on it. According to Tom, that was one of the smaller ones they hook. In Porter's River, there are garfish well over 8' long. The teeth on that little two footer looked mean; I can't even imagine what the eight footer's teeth would be like.

09/19/03 Fam'bly

Talk about a weak moment. My beautiful little sister Shannon just sent me some black and white proofs of some pictures that we took together in Utah the last time I was up there. Makes me realize just how much I miss them. My sisters, mom and I have been through so much together-and all I really want to do is keep them close to me, but damn, thats hard with them 1500 miles away. I literally can not even remember the last time I cried, but seeing those pictures just about kills me.

I've always found it hard to "associate" myself with a certain group. I've never really had strong feelings about my school, or an association with a group of people involved in a sport (even though I've been active in several.) But pictures of my "people" - I really see myself there - I feel like I belong to them, like my Unc, and my Mom, and Sisters. They are mine, and I am theirs, and that just feels so right to me. Sometimes I fell like an outsider in groups, even with my closest girlfriends, and obviously, with Bruce's family. Even though I'm very outgoing and friendly, I don't usually get close to others. Its always been a bit easier for me to hold people at arms length, because I feel like I'm so easy to hurt. (not as tough as I look or act, eh?) But with my sisters, Mom and Unc, its different. With family, its just a whole different connection; something so much deeper, that it transcends familiarity and blood. Its something embedded in our souls, and its a wonderful experience.

09/18/03 Da' Bees Knees

As long as I can remember, I've had a clicking noise under my left kneecap. This Sunday when I was exersizing, it started to feel a little sore, and now it just plain hurts. I've experienced pain in that knee before, but it always went away. This time, it ain't. So, I've given in and made an appointment with an Orthopaedic surgeon-and now I'm completely terrified that I may actually have to have surgery. Talk about cramping my style. Guess I shouldn't jump (hahah) to any conclusions yet, but what the heck else could they do but go in there and fix the problem? My uneducated guess is that I have a spur or something.

As it is, walking buggs me and I may not even be able to go kayaking this weekend if it doesn't stop bothering me. What a bummer. I was really psyched about getting out there and enjoying this beautiful weather we are having, and its suposed to be even more nice by Saturday. :-( !!

09/15/03 Almost finished

Just got news that I passed the "written" part of the Embankment and Base Course final exam. (by the skin of my toothseses, but passed none the less.) The test took me every bit of 4 hours to struggle through; A little less than half of it was engineering equations. Long equations are not one of my strengths, so I'm terribly happy to have passed it the first time through. Next week I take the "field" portion of the exam, which I'm quite confident about.

It is odd the path my education has taken me down. Originally when I was persuing my drafting/engineering technician associates degree, I figured I'd be doing pipe work or something of that nature. I also figured that I'd be working behind a computer, and that would pretty much be "it" until I figured out what I REALLY wanted to do and finished a bachelor's degree. Instead, I wound up in Civil Engineering, and then got put "outside" doing construction inspection a good half the time, because our firm was short on inspectors. Now that I'm getting these certifications, I'm more valueable as an inspector than as a drafter, so I'll be inspecting full time. It also turns out that I really love doing inspection work, and can't think of anything else I would like to do more. (well, maybe doing guided kayaking trips would be sweet, but I'd be broke doing that.)

So here I am wondering if I should even bother to go back to school. I certainly don't need to go get a degree to get a good job because I have one. I'd just be getting one for "me" and I'm not sure I want to devote the time, energy and money to that cause. I'd rather spend the time and money kayaking and traveling. On a different note, I am embarassed to not have at least a bachelor's degree. I hate it when people ask me what my degree is in, and I have to admit that I only have an associates degree. Nerds usually DO achieve decent degrees, right?? Just not nerds like me, I guess.

09/15/03 Surprise!

We had two very close calls, but Bruce's surprise party ultimately went off without a hitch. He was completely shocked, and I was rewarded with a "thanks for the best birthday ever" statement. Cathy made one of the best birthday cakes I have ever tasted (and it was huge.) She also brought over some wonderful food. The party would not have been possible without Ginger, who helped organize the whole event, picked up the food, arranged the house and got everyone in. Thank you both for helping-I couldn't have done it without you. Also, thanks to everyone who came-we had a great time, and Bruce is still smiling about it.

Bruce and I have a little "tradition" of taking each other to a fancy restaurant for each other's birthday. The restaurant is always a secret until we pull up to park; we have lots of fun dropping hints about where the restaurant is and what kind of food is served, and neither of us have ever managed to guess the name of the restaurant the other is taking us too. Of course, in New Orleans, it IS hard to guess which restaurant, because there are so many great ones here. This time I took Bruce to chef Susan Spicer's, Herbsaint on St. Charles Avenue. It was wonderful, and I'd highly recommend it. The menu isn't exactly lengthy, but everything we had was first rate, and not overpriced. Tables are a bit close together, but other than that we were very comfortable. I highly recommend their duck confit and the frog legs; both were the best examples I've ever had. (And for those of you who haven't tried frog legs yet-frogs don't taste like chicken-frogs are better.)

09/11/03 Photos of a Real Stud Muffin

A little birdie sent me some super secret pictures of one of my favorite Bald Men as a younger, studlier version of himself (note the flowing curly locks, ladies....) The Half Dressed Waiter and (this is my favorite, because he really does look cute here) The Biker.

That Ed Kirkley was just cheek pinching cute when he was a young man-now he's just a sweet OLD crazy bald bachelor with a big screen tv and lots of empty Popeye's boxes laying around...."BUTT" still cute in his own weird Eddie/Urkle way.

09/10/03 A Beautiful Night

Full harvest moons are rare and beautiful-and there is a fantastic one out right now. I caught a few glimpses of it peaking out from the top of a dark cloud bank on my way home from Hop's class. Cat Stevens was a very satisfying and peaceful accompaniment to the whole scene.

Also want to wish my wonderful friends Ginger and Nannette a VERY Happy Birthday-you are both such beautiful people, and are a very dear and positive influence in my life.

09/05/03 30 Years OLD?

Happy 30th Birthday to my husband Bruce (who hardly has any gray hairs but still has all of his good looks and charm)!

09/04/03 I ain't 'fraid of no ghosts

Check out this intersting story about "ghosts" haunting a police HQ building in Kentucky. Question: Do you believe in ghosts? If so, why? E-mail me, and if its ok with you, I'd like to post replies on the site.

09/02/03 Dirty Girls (and boys)

Gene, Ginger, Taylor, Brooke, Bruce and I went to Seminary, Mississippi for the Labor Day weekend to camp and kayak the Okatoma Creek. Most of you know that the Okatoma is the only river in Mississippi (and anywhere near New Orleans) that actually has "classed" waterfalls. (A really easy Class I, but nonetheless-it does have a few nice drops.) The campground that we stayed at had only one other group camping out, and they were on the other side of the property, so we had the entire beach and back of the campground to ourselves. On the first day we were there, we got an early start and kayaked down the river to the final waterfall, which really is the best one because it empties into a big pool and has a nice beach area on the side where you can pull up and watch the chaos of boaters making their way down the fall. Its also a great place to swim. We body surfed the fall and hung out on the beach for several hours before going back to the camp.

It seems as though rain kept most of the crowds away over the weekend, so it felt a whole lot more secluded than it really is. The rain also helped keep us cool-which is really an unexpected treat at the end of August. That afternoon I joined Taylor and Gene in climbing a tree overhanging the creek and jumping in. Haven't done that since I was a kid; it was a complete blast, although I do have to admit that I almost chickened out when I got to the top and saw just how far a 10' drop into the water is from up above. (funny how when you look at it from below it doesn't seem like that much of a drop.)Oh-and did I mention that with the sole exception of Miss Brooke, we all managed to convince ourselves that we didn't need to shower for the entire loooong weekend. I felt (and smelled) more like a kid than I have in years.

Its sad to think that Summer is almost over. Even as an adult, it still seems to go by too fast. Here's to hoping for a mild winter and many more lazy, fun filled camping trips.

08/29/03 It's Not Unusual

The neighborhood grocery store that I patronize has really great shopping mood music. My personal favorite is Tom Jones "Its Not Unusual." Amazingly, it comes on every time I'm in the place. There is nothing quite like walking down the fruit and vegetable aisle, grabbing a big banana as a microphone prop and walking around singing along, making up my own words as I go. I'm generally able to make it all the way down the ethnic/canned foods aisle before something by the Beatles comes on. Of course, I try to do this ONLY when no one is looking. The store cameras are always on, but who watches those things anyway? Saaaay....I wonder if they cue old Tom Jones up when they see me come in?

08/27/03 don't play with your food

Remember how ya momma always told you not to play with your food? You'd think I'd have learned that by now.

Brought this big box of blueberries with me to work today and most everyone had left for lunch except Darrell. So, in my infinte wisdom I decided I pack a bunch of these blueberries between my top teeth and lip and waltz into Darrell's office to make him laugh.

Well, wouldn't you know, right as I was managing to get the last possible berry stuck in my lips like a chipmunk, some junk salesman comes in the door. I was so startled that I spit blueberries everywhere. Poor guy had no idea what was going on. I didn't even try to explain myself-was laughing too hysterically. He just looked at me like I had 5 eyeballs, turned around and left. At least I didn't have to tell him "we're not interested."

08/25/03 Round Island

Left early Saturday morning to meet my paddling partner Tom and head off to kayak in the Gulf of Mexico. This weeks plan was to hit Round Island and then press on to either the eastern tip of Horn Island or to Petit Bois. We put in at Shepard State Park in Gautier, Mississippi, which is about 6 miles north of Round. (Round is only 3 miles from Pascagoula, but Tom says there is no decent place - ie. clean area - to launch from.) We put in at "campsite #12" in the park and meandered through the marsh down to the Gulf. Once again we had several dolphins playing around our boats for almost an hour. The tide was high and the winds were low so we got to Round in good time and without incident.

Round Island is not part of the National Seashore; aparently its owned by the City of Pascagoula, and therefore isn't very well kept. Its easy to see why Tom refers to it as "poor little Round." Rednecks have made it into a campground/garbage dump, particularly on the east side.

The sand is not as white as the sand is on Horn because it is closer in to the mainland and is protected from the more cleansing waters of the Gulf by Petit Bois and Horn. The Island is home to Brown Pelicans, Ospreys and Seagulls, those cute little Hermit Crabs (Hermies, I call them) as well as a blackfly population that could carry away Jumbo the Elephant.

We decided to walk around the island-it is so small that one can literally walk at a leisurely pace around it in about 40 minutes. When we came to the south side of the Island we were surprised to find a very large dead male alligator. Tom speculates that the gator was probably shot by some complete moron back in the Pascagoula River and the carcass floated out to Round's shore. (soapbox time: I have no problem with hunting, so long as its not wasteful-shooting a huge beautiful creature like that gator and letting it just float off was such a waste of life. Gators are peaceful, and not "man-eaters"...they tend to just duck out of site and leave when people come into their habitat.)

Anyway, on the west side of Round there is the ruins of an old light house and a sheltered area that thousands of birds use to hang out and clack at each other. By the time we made it to this point we were noticing that some mighty big storm clouds were building up to the east and headed our way. We went back to the boats and contemplated moving on to Horn or Petit Bois. Tom's vote was "for" and mine was "against." I was really nervous about the approaching storm, and had also (like an IDIOT) forgotten to bring my spray skirt. I talked Tom out of pressing on to the next island - and they sure look far away after you've just paddled 6 miles and know that the return is going to be another 6 in the sweltering August heat. The storm did let loose on us for about 45 minutes or so, but it sucked all of the energy out of the atmosphere making the Gulf water as smooth as glass for our paddle back. (and no, I didn't bring a rain coat either-and was pretty cold by the time it stopped raining.)

Round does have many flowers in bloom right now, most noteably "peas" in yellow, blue and purple. There is also a trumpet vine with orange flowers and some sort of orange and black daisy. The trees on the Island are pines, some small oaks and Chineese Tallow. Birds and bugs are rather abundant but unfortunately so are old beercans, bleach bottles (go figure), and any other plastic junk you can imagine. Round is still worth a visit, its a sweet little guy-you just have to look past the garbage that thoughtless folks have left laying around.

Here are some of the pictures I took on this trip:

Red girls on the north side of the beach where we landed.

Another shot of my pretty red boat.

Me by the ruins of the light house

Another shot of the light house showing the impending storm.

A Brown Pelican.

Tom looking for chocolate in that endless supply of junkfood he carries around.

The dork before the storm.

Tom, who amazingly never gets sunburned.

Ever wonder just how much room there is in the cockpit of a kayak?

Check out how smooth the water was after the storm.

Another shot of the Gulf.

Tom paddling back (that is Pascagoula in the background).

Paddling in the marsh of Shepard State Park.

08/20/03 a nude moment

Ok-the moment you've all been waiting for. I've decided to post a picture of myself naked online. Its not the best picture of me, but what the heck! (warning-this is rated r, so don't you dare look at it if you are under 18!) Here goes: ME NAKED!

08/20/03 a bored lunchtime moment

Went to Davezilla.com and played the "Your Porn Star Name" thingie and my results are as follows: