a day of music

it was a crazy day. i had been out the night before at the black crowes/tom petty concert and felt as though i had just gone to bed as it was time to get up. it was an early morning call...lolee was going to cut my hair when she arrived, and we had to get to the stadium that was two hours away by 1:30pm so the stump girls could see their band. oh the rushing!!! it's just not my style, but neither is running late. i am usually on time...but trying to coordinate multiple parties and actually get out the door can be very difficult.

my shado drove my car, he has a certain confidence behind the wheel even when he is not in a place he knows that i just can't pull off. lolee was next to him. they hadn't seen each other since before her trip to europe...so they had much to catch up on. we played loud music in preparation for our day of raucous boys in black screaming into their mics...we hit traffic trying to get on the mass turnpike...we stressed about time...and lolee and i wrote a story together. i have given the story to my shado to publish on his blog. for your viewing pleasure go to www.shadolight.com/blog.html and read your heart out.

it was a day that flowed even when the music didn't. heavy metal is great, don't get me wrong, but it can get mundane when you know a band has musical talent and it seems they are just all trying to out scream each other instead of playing good music. i did get to see my band of the month, clutch, and they kicked ass! and i got to spend some quality time with lolee and my shado.

when we got home my head was still buzzing as i tried to find a calm and allow my eyes to close. i wish that catfish would have been there...he would have appreciated the boys in black with the piercings and the scraggly beards. but he would have also appreciated the boys who were still teens...finding their way...finding their style...finding their voice as he did when he was that age.

thank you my shado for the day. a day of music. a day of meeting new people. a day to spend time with old friends. a day of no stress. (once we got there that is...) a day to have no particular place to be.

i'm just not sorry...

yesterday i was supposed to see robert plant play with my new friend kerry...there was a phone call and the show was canceled. catfish was supposed to see the black crowes/tom petty that same night with kerry's husband john. there were two extra tickets to the black crowes/tom petty show and so the four of us ventured.

secretly i think it was what i wanted to do all along. i love going to shows with catfish...brings me back to days when life was simple and music could move mountains. we had seats in the pavilion, but i am a lawn girl all the way. the grass was wet, but i didn't care...my shoes were off and my toes squished the mud and dug into the ground. and i danced. i have to say, i didn't think the show was going to be all that great, i've never been overly excited about the black crowes or tom petty. But...it was so much fun. tom is such an old time rocker...he was about big lights, big sound, and big applause! and he changed his guitar between each song which just made for interesting conversation. But...he played good songs, some fast, some slow, had amazing energy, and put on one hell of a show for such an old timer!

i'm not sorry about the phone call...

the best 30 seconds...

the best 30 seconds of my day, everyday...

that moment when i walk thru the door at daycare to pick up audrey. when i can walk in and she doesn't see me yet so i get to watch her unaffected by my presence...watch her being herself with other kids. then she sees me and no matter what she is doing, she smiles from ear to ear, her eyes light up, she throws her hands in the air and yells, 'Mommy!!!' then she runs across the room, arms outstretched, and jumps into my waiting hug. it's the best 30 seconds of my day, everyday. and knowing that i have that to look forward to, everyday, gets me thru the day.






song of the day: if i close my eyes forever - ozzy osborne & lita ford (i know i know...sshhhh...don't tell, but i love this song. it's just that lita ford is so bad ass and that mixed with ozzy. come on, do i need to explain further?!

sing it loud

...today i've got bluegrass in my heart...

his life so far...

my God it’s a beautiful day. peanut is sitting outside with me, every once in awhile getting up to strut his animalistic maleness. he is 6 1/2 years old and he has never really shown much interest in going outside. he has occasionally ventured out in different places we’ve lived, mostly in vermont, but for the most part he has been spoiled by the comforts of couches and carpet. but this spring, after almost 3 1/2 years of living in this house, he has suddenly decided it is time to go out and mark his territory. there has been another cat spotted in the yard as of late, and peanut just isn’t having it.

he stayed out late one night, even though it was wet and raining...waiting. (peanut has never been one to shy away from the water.) when the other cat came around, peanut took his stand in what became his 2nd ever, real catfight. his 1st was when he was only about a year old, if that. he just wanted to be friends, but the other cat had different plans. burrbutt we called him, mangy, orange tabby cat – and he bit my baby.

peanut ended up needing stitches and an overnight stay at the vet. it was horrible, we had no money, i was sick and we were in the middle of a move – me back to ohio, catfish to massachusetts for a summer movie shoot. we had only been married a year and we were going to be apart for three months. my mom paid for all of peanut’s vet expenses, sent me to the doctor and made me well with food and love. then she and my dad took off on an 8 week sailing trip and left me home alone.

it was me, peanut, and my parent’s cat packet. and we did great, just the three of us. i found myself a job. i’ll never forget the night i was putting together a presentation for the interview process. the job was for a youth educator, and it was to become my first ‘real job’ in my field. i was set up in the kitchen with my sheets of paper taped to the windows, marker in hand, pretending i was in a room filled with 8th graders, teaching them about HIV/AIDS. i had put together a week’s worth of lesson plans and i was going to present my favorite at my 2nd interview.

at some point while i was setting up, the boys walked in. when i turned around to face my pretend audience seated at the table, there they were, both laying on the table looking at me, their heads perched at attention. and so they became my audience – and i gave them a full 50 minutes of HIV education. both of them mesmerized, following my hands as i gestured or wrote on the pages as if they were a chalkboard. at some point during the lesson, when i asked a question, (i’ve always been an interactive presenter.) i could have sworn peanut meowed the answer.

the night peanut stayed out late, i heard the fight. by the time i opened the door, the fight was over, and only one cat remained standing.



FUCKING STUD!

juxtaposition

'hey there emo kid. i know you.' she says to him when she finally catches his eye. back pressed against the building, cigarette in her hand. his eyes ask, 'who me?' 'yes you' she replies. as he moves closer she continues, 'i remember you. from the other night. you probably don't remember me, no one ever remembers me.' and as she finishes her words, a tiny smile steals across his yet unmoved lips. he reaches out, cups her face in his rough hands. his thumbs caress the softness of her cheeks and she can feel the day's work in his touch. he presses his hips into hers. leaning toward her, eyes never leaving hers, he takes her breath with his. when their lips finally meet, soft and slow, a warmth takes over her body as she suddenly remembers to breath. and she knows she is home.

valediction

so the best boss i've ever had has decided to move on...not just to another job, but to another state. was it something i said?! this is my farewell to you...

"what can i say except...”wonder twin’s powers, activate!...” you know i wouldn’t be me if i didn’t send you off with some parting words of wisdom...(cuz you know that i have so many years under my belt that i could actually offer some wisdom. but, i digress with that one...)
* ‘you need chaos in your soul to give birth to a dancing star.’ – nietzsche
* ‘beware of all enterprises that require new clothes.’ - thoreau
* ‘duct tape is like the Force. it has a light side and a dark side, and it holds the universe together.'
* ‘a true friend is one that stabs you in the front.’ – oscar wilde
* ‘be who you are and say what you feel, because people who mind don’t matter, and people who matter don’t mind.’ – dr. seuss
* ‘don’t let your mouth get you into something your ass can’t get you out of.’

so, as you begin this new journey in your life, know that you will be missed you old salty dog you. and i will leave you with the words of richard bach, ‘don’t be dismayed at good-byes. a farewell is necessary before you can meet again. and meeting again after a moment or a lifetime is certain for those who are friends.’ see you on the flipside brother."

THE ROAD NOT TAKEN
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

- Robert Frost