jes visit #1

ok yall

jes just left on a jet airplane back to crooklyn
we had a great time and got to hang out with a lot of folks
we got to play some dominoes with sarah and kim and i think sarah won every game. here is the result of one of the games:



and here is a look at the smokin hot players:



we also got to meet up with angie and elin at this bowling alley outside the perimeter for elin's bday. it was huge and fancy and played amazing videos from the 80's on screens right above the bowling pins. I saw criss cross and lionel richie, and most important, michael jackson's "beat it."

last night we had dinner with jes's folks at taqueria del sol and jes ate herself just short of uncomfortable with all the chips and dips and this morning we got breakfast at ria's. what was really great is we got to see our friend mel, who was in a real bad accident several months ago and really should have died. he was spunky as ever and i am excited because we made plans for me to bring some food over every once in a while. i think i am going to start with italian wedding soup. simple, but delicious.

i also am ready to post pictures of our tattoos. i really wanted to get a picture of mine and then juxtapose that with jes's. the image is of a little blue ghost, his name is mr. fangs and he is a tag (graffiti) that you can find in a lot of the neighborhoods we hang out in here in atlanta. i love him and he makes me happy so we decided to get him for our six year anniversary. jes also got a little chicken leg on hers b/c that stands for how delish southern food is. mine totally looks like crap and is scarred, jes's looks great and is solid. you judge for yourself:

here is mine:



and here is jes's:



and here is one of them together:



i think when she comes into town next time we will go and talk to the tattoo place and see what they can do for me. all i know is i don't want the same guy touching it up.

so that is that for my weekend. its just me and the cats now. em has finally descended to the first floor from her blue blanket heaven upstairs, and the boys are meowing at me for food.

here is a pic of me and jes from right before we left for the airport. i miss her already:

you can run but you can't hide...

soon you too will fall in love with mexican train dominoes.
here are some pictures of us playing last weekend

doesn't it look like so much fun?

i moved to the south to get away from this shit

happy saturday yall
i woke up this morning (thanks to larry) and went down to feed him and here is what i found:





now i am not sure if the mouse was set aside to make way for the cat food
or if the mouse is also eating the cat food
either way, i thought it was a cute juxtaposition
that is a fake mouse, by the way.

after eating breakfast and putzing around i looked outside and lo and behold: it was snowing
like, for real. big wet flakes.
since jes has moved to brooklyn it has not snowed there even once
it has snowed here TWICE
what the f yall?

here is a picture of the snow in georgia:



after going out this morning/early afternoon to work out and run some errands, i have spent the remainder of the day watching tv and talking on the phone. the kitties have been LOVING IT. speaking of kitties, i need to give them their pills.

hope your long weekend is great and filled with rest.

FINALLY a cute picture to post

check it out
its my sister and my nephew
my sister is the pregnant one
:)

just kicking it

this is how bad tv is tonight:
i am watching the E True Hollywood story about Jenna Jameson.
Pathetic? Yes.
They are interviewing her and I think she is drunk or high.

Anywho, this past weekend I had some fun. On Saturday, I went to Joe's coffee house with Emma and worked on school stuff
Then that night we met up with Angie and Elin at their place and I introduced them to the joy that is Mexican Train dominoes. Everyone was completely hooked after the first round. And each of us won a couple times, so that was good too. What was totally weird is that we were all Midwestern. Emma is from Indiana, me from Illinois, Elin from Wisconsin and Angie from Minnesota (or vice versa-- i should know). Anywho, the midwest was representing at that game night for shizzle.

On Sunday I went to another party/game night at our new neighbors Leah & Katie. No dominoes here, we played apples to apples, but they did love my veggie dogs in a blanket. Usually Jes makes these, so I didn't know how many crescent rolls I needed, so I didn't bring many and they were gone pretty quick. It was a fun time, I met some new people and we talked about all kinds of stuff.

After that I headed over to Kim and Sarah's to watch the L Word. That show sucks so bad I can't stand it. I mean really, its so poorly written and acted I don't even want to go into it. It's unacceptable with as many good queer women writers and actors as there are.

My tattoo is getting better slowly, but now that the angry crusties are gone, the skin still feels kind of weird. Jes will be here next weekend and I am going to compare it to hers and then see if I should go to a dermatologist or back to the tattoo joint or what. the color is so horrible. i mean really it looks like someone colored it with a blue marker that was running out. i am still glad we got them, i just wish they would have turned out better.

that is about all i have to report. larry let me sleep through the night last night for the first time since jes left. i slept for seven glorious hours. hoping we will get a repeat tonight.

today is my sister's bday. happy birthday kath!

hi peeps

well i wish i had more to report, but life has been pretty slow.

my tattoo is still healing, and it looks pretty gross so IF it ever heals, i will post a picture of it
i have set a deadline that if the gross crustiness is not gone by sunday i am going to go to the doctor
it is still pretty red and very tender to the touch and after reading about cellulitis and staph infections from tattoos i am a wee bit freaked out. i am sure it will be fine, but i just wish it would HEAL already. it double sucks that jes has the SAME EXACT TATTOO and got it at the SAME EXACT TIME and hers is healing better so i can't really play the "what if" game, b/c i sort of have a direct thing to compare it to, you know?

tv tonight is SO BAD i turned the fucking tv off. pathetique.

my weekend was pretty slow too. watched nanny diaries on saturday night (cuz i am cool like that) and then on sunday went to sarah and kim's for the lword premiere. what a disappointment. totally over the top and ridonkulous. why do i watch it? no fucking idea. its like a car crash, i just have to look.

monday night i went back over to kim and sarah's (b/c really they CAN'T get enough of me) and we watched the LSU vs. OSU football game-- the BCS championship. it started out pretty good for OSU but quickly went into the shitter. i was so tired that i left a bit after half time b/c i was afraid i would fall asleep on the drive home. i am quickly realizing how much i benefitted from jes driving everywhere: didn't matter how tired i was b/c i could always fall asleep in the passenger seat. kim was pretty gracious even though her team (LSU) spanked the hell out of my team (OSU). ruthie also kept her farts to a minimum, which i appreciated.

on friday night i am going to taqueria del sol with angie, so that should be fun. i will probably spend a greater part of the weekend preparing for my class (it starts on January 17th!) AAAHHHH! where did the holiday break go? i also use the weekends to run errands and tidy up some. for the record, the joint is much cleaner. i am not saying its BECAUSE jes isn't here, but it is a coincidence, don't you think? ooh snap, i am certain i will get some comments on that one.

another exciting thing is that i registered for this continuing education or evening class. its a dance/martial art/yoga class. see, i have wanted to take a dance class for some time now and i thought that maybe ballet would help me get in shape, work on my core and balance and grace, so that is what i was going to take. then i found out the class i was looking at (discounted through my employer) was held in BUCKHEAD at 6:30 pm (rush hour) and i was like "hell no." this one i found is in avondale estates, just a hop skip and jump away. i hope it doesn't suck and more importantly, i hope i don't suck at it.

in preparation for my american studies class i am teaching, i read the first chapter of barbara kingsolver's book "animal, vegetable, miracle" and it was so fascinating. i am going to teach some of it in my class. jes is completely entranced by "kite runner." she found a used copy at one of the bookstores in brooklyn. i am excited to read it when she is done.

i have spent much of the time since jes left for brooklyn developing routines and patterns that bring me comfort. i have pretty much got the feeding, pilling, watering, and cleaning litterbox schedule down. i was worried about taking on all the cat responbilities by myself, but really they are not that bad. except the wake me up in the middle of the night one.

normally jes would get up with them at like 2am or 4am b/c if i did, i can't go back to sleep and i am a zombie all day. then i would get up with them around 6am or so. well now i am it, so they wake me up both times. luckily last night, i rallied until about midnight and set my alarm for 6am and larry did not wake me up until 5am and then let me sleep until 6:30 or 7, which was nice. my hypothesis is this: the later i give them their pills (closer to 8pm instead of 6pm) and the later i stay up, the later they wake me up to be fed or pilled or to just hang out with them. this, is in some ways, killing me b/c if i could, i would finish this blog and be in the bed by 10pm. but i have to try and soldier through.

oh, also have three new years resolutions:

1. floss every night. i know most of you already do this and its just good hygiene, but i get so tired at night i often skip it. not in 2008. i am flossing every night AND gargling with listerine. it burns my mouth.

2. breast exam once a month. prolly on the 11th depending on my menstrual cycle. also, i know i should be doing this anyway, but i am COMMITTING in public to do it, for the health of my boobs.

3. do cardio at the gym at least three times a week. i went on sunday and today and i am going to go tomorrow and at least once this weekend. someday soon i will add in weights too. then i will get real buff.

that's about it yall. emily is asleep next to me on the couch curled up in a tiny ball. larry is on his favorite chair in the dining room and horace is prolly upstairs on the futon in his room. i am so tired, but i think i am going to try and read.

happy wednesday yall.

flying solo

good morning yall:

well i made it through my first night without jes.
the cats only woke me up twice: 2:30am & 5:30am
and now emily is laying next to me, larry is on a chair in the dining room, and horace is running around the house playing "crazy cat" (up and down the stairs, across the back of the couch, through the living room and then back up the stairs).

it has been a pretty slow weekend. i took jes to the airport with her two huge bags and two carry ons and she got on her plane to brooklyn around 3pm. she is finishing her last semester of law school back at brooklyn law school. after i dropped her off i went and got some more heart pills for larry and then hung out with my friend angie's cat lois. i spent the night on the couch with the cats, chillaxin and watching "nanny diaries." it was surprisingly more critical than i thought it would be. and scarlett johansson and alicia keyes are not bad to look at AND the little boy was super cute, so it was pretty good overall.

today i have a bunch of errands to run: recycle, work out, hang with lois, and meet someone at thumbs up to talk about getting in the ILA, the department i got my ph.d. from and then tonight is the L Work Premiere! I get to watch it with Kim and Sarah and Ruthie, while Jes watches it with Kim and Glennda and Bambino. And then after that (yeah right!) I am going to try and video conference with supper club (including jes in brooklyn) to discuss how heinous the premiere was.

It looks like the sun is completely up, so I should get my day started. I hope your Sunday is outstanding!

feliz ano nuevo yall

so its 2008
how do you feel about that?

i feel pretty good, overall
i was having a bit of a hard time yesterday, REALLY unmotivated
but today i have accomplished more, so b/c me accomplishing = happy in my life, i am feeling pretty good today
first of all, it is nice and sunny but windy and coldish here in the atl
not loving the cold, but luckily i have some flannel pj's, smartwools and a chicago bears sweatshirt on, so i am toasty
the rosebowl, featuring my alma mater, university of illinois is about to start: HOW EXCITING!
and i am going to make a delish cayenne rubbed chicken breast with avocado salsa for dinner. nice way to start the year, no?

i finished my book today while taking care of my friend angie's cat lois
it's called "A Map of Ireland," and my friend Stephanie Grant wrote it. Its about a young white girl in south boston in the 70's and her experiences with the desegregation of her school and the Black Power movement in Boston. I loved Steph's first book "The Passion of Alice," and I loved this one too. It's not out in stores yet, but when it is, pick up a copy.

Today Jes and I finally unpacked our shit from Mexico and I did some laundry. We had a nice big breakfast of eggs and toast and white gravy, and I even changed our sheets and towels and kitchen towels. so the household is CLEAN yall. well, mostly clean.

ok the coin toss of the game is about to happen and the players on each team are holding hands. i like that. ok so usc won the toss and they are going to kick off first. Jes loves juice williams and I think i might too. all the kitties are on the couch with us, cheering on illinois (except horace, i bet he is cheering for usc just to be contrary-- such a teenager)

anywho the last thing i wanted to post about yesterday but couldn't get to b/c i was knee deep in intervention episodes is our trip to mexico. like last year, jes and i headed to sayulita, mexico to spend some time with mary, dusty, shoshana, and her sweetie laurel. it was a lovely few days filled with a little bit of sun, lots of dominoes, puzzles, paint by numbers and, of course, margaritas and guacamole. when we got there on tuesday, these are the lovely faces we saw:



so the good news upon our arrival was that it was warm and sunny, the bad news is that dusty was fighting a cold or a flu or something. i brought her some benadyrl sinus and flu or some shit and i think that, along with lots of rest, turned her around. the first few days they were there, dusty was hurtin for certain and had quarantined herself and the puzzle she was working on. jes wasn't skeered, and got on that puzzle with dusty asap. here is a picture of the 1500 piece puzzle when we arrived:



along with puzzling, we also did a lot of paint by numbers. dusty had these paint by numbers made from photos she took. ours is of the pool at casa brava. i didn't do too much work on it, but jes did. it was hilarious, at one point, all the kids were working on their paint by numbers. crazy bunch:



most days we got up, drank coffee or juice, ate a little something, read our books, checked email, shosh studied for her nursing test, mary wrote, you know, whatever floated our boats. then we headed into town to hit the beach. the weather was not the greatest, lots of clouds and a cool breeze. the ocean, though very calm, was cold as hell. here is a picture of jes and me while walking through town:



oh shitballs. usc just go their SECOND touchdown. its early. its still anybody's game. i got to believe.

back to mexico. shoshana's gfriend laurel arrived a couple days after we did. she was super bonkers on the evening she was coming. by super bonkers i mean really excited to see her. here is a picture of her waiting in her booty shorts:



and here they are that night with shosh's favorite town dog she named "bambi":



and here they are on the beach:



after much dedication and concentration, jes and dusty finished the puzzle. it was a joyous moment. here is a picture of the puzzle completed:



we introduced mary, dusty, shosh, and laurel to a wonderful new game we recently learned: mexican train dominoes. i am not sure why the train is mexican, nor do i know if that is a defamatory name, but what I do know is that mary fell in love with the game. she really could not get enough of it, AND though she loved it, she did not become a crazy competitive person like she *sometimes* does.

WAIT: Illinois just intercepted a pass. it was brewtiful.

anywho, the bottom line about the dominoes, we played a lot and it was hella fun. thanks to sarah and kim for introducing us to the game AND for getting us our own set of dominoes. loves ya.

the best day weather wise was friday. it was warm and sunny enough early on that we spent a few hours at the cemetery beach (our favorite beach in town). i even got into the FREEZING cold ocean b/c it was my last chance. i got a few good pics of mary and dusty with the water behind them:






aren't they pretty?

and finally, here is a picture from our last night in sayulita. it took us a minute to get the timer to work, but it finally did:



it was sad to say goodbye to the gang on saturday, both b/c i was already missing them and because it was the first sunny and really warm day. perfect for the beach. but instead, we packed up and headed to the airport which was filled with rude fucknut americans who were all more important than us and therefore could push, cut off and/or stare at us incessantly. i was happy to get on the plane and get to watching "dexter" on my ipod. i was also happy to get home and get some serious kitty loving.

ok i am running out of battery and i need to get to preparing dinner. illinois is not doing so well, but its still the first half, so i am not going to get too worried.

happy 2008 yall.