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Places to Go:
New Theme & TV shows I love
um…so much for sporadic! Let’s just say that realistically I can only do about 3 consecutive hours of work & then I must stop and regroup. Not that any of the work I am doing is exhausting in a physical sense. But there is something taxing about going through 9* years of accumulated stuff.
* I say 9 because I never really went through all of my shit from LA. The closet in my office here is full of boxes that are from my life once removed. Things that were too tough for me to go through before I moved here and all this time later are still kind of hard. But I am forcing myself to go through it all & get rid of most. Because, let’s be real, I really do not need to hang on to old call sheets from films I worked on.
In the end I think all this purging will have been very good for my soul. Who knows what sort of places I can go now that I have let go of all of the dead weight that I have been dragging around.
At night, once I have gotten GM settled into bed and cleaned up the supper dishes, I allow myself 2-3 hours of television watching. Yes, I am aware that this is still a shit load of tv viewing- but I really love tv. Plus it makes me feel connected to the outside world and some days I just need that.
I won’t say that everything I watch is groundbreaking. But there have been a few programs that have inspired. So for you, a list:
1) The Hill- this is a show I just ‘discovered’ on the Sundance channel. It follows democrat congressman Robert Wexler as he battles the issues in 2004. It is very, very eye opening & I urge anyone that gets riled up over politics to check it out.
2) 30 Days- this is Morgan Spurlock’s series on the F/X channel (Morgan is the genius behind Super Size Me). In this show he tries to open people’s minds to opposing points of view. He does this by having a person with one point of view move in for a week with a person or family with another point of view. But the issues are HUGE. Recent topics explored include an agnostic woman having to live with a born again family.
3) Love Soup- now this satisfies my romantic sensibilities. It follows two people that are clearly made for each other on their separate dating disasters. Each episode has you hoping that the two will finally meet. Plus I adore that the main female character is quirky, not a typical beauty, and smart.
4) Life on Mars- yes I do love my BBC. If you like smart cop shows this is a MUST see. The premise is so out there, so creative, but if you stick with it, it is extremely rewarding. The gist is that a modern day police officer is in a coma and then wakes up in the 1970’s. He is still a police officer- but now in a world without modern conveniences and WITH the horrid sexism, bigotry and racism. Oh & the soundtrack is awesome.
I guess I could come up with a number 5, but really, those are the shows that have me at hello.
Now let’s get down to a theme. I know we’ve got a holiday weekend coming up so let’s have this be a 2 week theme.
Show me your politics. How have you tried to change the world? Let’s see photos of rallies, marches, sit-ins, boycotts. It doesn’t have to be politics in the traditional sense. Just something that shows how you got involved.
(& as usual, if you think the idea sucks let me know)
Dog Shit
have just found out that the new house & new house community requires pet owners to immediately collect & dispose of their pet’s shit. I have never lived in a shit free zone. This is now the issue that is climbing to the top of my ‘Things to Stress About” list.
Do any of you pick up your dog’s shit? What is the least gross way to do this? I am not a spazz about poop, but this will be something new for me & I don’t think I am quite at the “just pick it up in a plastic bag” phase. I would rather not feel warm turds in my hand. But that’s just me.
Any suggestions?
Sporadic
So the next couple of days (& week) are going to be nuts for me. I didn’t sell as much stuff as I had hoped in my lazy girl garage sale- but I did have fun hanging out in my carport this weekend.
But now I have to figure out what to do with the stuff I didn’t sell. I think many donation places will come to your house to pick up stuff- I hope so!
GM will be going on her “get through the move” pills today. Her agitation has not been horrible, but it has been a factor. I hope that this new stuff will calm her down and mellow her out a bit.
Mom is supposed to fly up here on Friday- if weather permits. I will be VERY screwed if she can’t come up to help me.
Forgive me as I pry myself away from the internet for a while. I will try to keep tabs on everyone.
Protected: Photo Friday & the angst
The theme this week was MUSIC. I looked for a favorite old photo of mine: one of Mother trying to teach me how to play her guitar when I was around 5 years old. But it is buried deep within the boxes of photos.
So instead I present you with two very different music experiences.
The first is a photo taken while I was getting my groove on at a George Clinton concert in NYC. The concert went on for ages- it was the year of the super Mothership Connection so there were loads of guests stopping by to join GC. During the night it began to pour down rain, but everyone was either so out of it, or so into it that nobody left. We all just sat there in the mud and vibed out.
This second photo is a favorite of my Mom. She is 8 years old performing her first recital. She can still play every single recital piece she ever was forced to endure. My Mother was of the era of mandatory music lessons. Almost every home on the block had a piano in it and if there was a kid living there s/he had to know how to play it.
Since my Mother actively raised me in every contrary way of her childhood I was never forced to do much of anything. I actually asked if I could take piano lessons- I desperately wanted to know how to read music- but was told that I would hate it. Some day I would love to spend time learning how to play something.
The angst is fierce at the moment. In less than 2 hours Uncle, etc. will be storming over to pillage the house. Hopefully he can keep to himself. But just in case I already have back-up. Dr. Molly is coming over soon to help me set up for this weekend’s Lazy Girl Garage Sale. My hope is that with a guest in the house Uncle will curb any notions he has for being a full on dick.
Talula, jungle kitty
After much internal debate I opted to take Talula to the groomers again this morning. I am SO glad I did as it was a completely different staff and vibe.
For starters- no cigarette smoke wafting about. & while the radio was on it was the sweet charm of NPR. Yay. The woman that took Talula was very kind and I felt very confident. Much better then yesterday’s scene.
I was told that they would groom Talula first and if she was not too freaked they would bathe her. Ha! Fat chance they could bathe her, but I signed off on it.
The call came around 11am that Talula was ready to be picked up. The report was shocking: my kitty was a “perfect angel” and she “enjoyed her bath”. The only thing that she didn’t like was the hair dryer. Um, yes, I could see how that would annoy the bejesus out of her. But who IS this cat that they were speaking of? I even asked if they drugged her or something. But the phone person said, “Oh no, Lori just has a way with cats. The just love her.”
Thank you Universe for Lori!
Talula is home and strutting her stuff. You can so tell that she feels a million times better. She still has a bit of dander- but she is already bathing herself again so I expect that to clear up with time.
Protected: Brick by Brick.
So this week has been a bit brutal on me. I have been pulled in many different directions. In charge of things that I usually run away from. & trusted to deal with one of my biggest fears: other people’s stuff.
I really hate being responsible for dealing with cherished family things, my Mother’s things, GM’s things, things that belonged to my GF. As for my stuff- as long as I have Talula, my computer & my Shakespeare collection I am solid.
Ten years ago- back when my Grandfather was still alive and very much well- he decided to go ahead & ask the family to claim the books that they would want from his masssive collection. That way there would be no after death battles over who gets the 1st edition of such & such. Mother claimed all of the Civil War books, Uncle claimed a bunch of biographies & I claimed the five Shakespeare books (oh & some Lewis Carroll books on religion).
After GF passed away we (the family) donated over 3,000 religious books to a University. Yes 3,000.
We still had a lot of books left. One of the big things that GM & Mother decided was that they wanted to donate a very (VERY) large collection of the books to a library within a rural school that is upstate. The books range in subject from war to religion to geography to politics to history to biographies to rare fiction gems.
I have arranged for no other than the state president of the D@R to collect the books for the rural school so that they can be donated in a way that sort of honors GM. I have spent at least three hours a day since this past Sunday boxing up books and arranging them by subject. This includes typing up the list of what books are in what box. I am SO not a person with library skills- so this is kind of tedius work for me.
Well actually it has been fun or rather interesting to see some of the stuff that my GF had within his collection. I won’t get into specifics, but I will say that on my GF’s graveside marker it lists that he served in two wars: WW2 and the C0ld War. So some of the things that he has are rather, um, alarming to little ol’ me. Strategic stuff. Prepared stuff from some people high up on the food chain. You know, the reason GM gets holiday cards from the Wh!te H0use. um, stuff like that.
Obviously that stuff I am not donating but boxing up so that Mother can decide what to do with it. I am just a little worker be. Working all by self without any family help. dum de dum.
So I guess it should come as no surprise that I got a really fun phone call this evening that started like this:
AUNT: So, what are you doing?
Me: Packing, watching GM eat ice cream & trying to keep up with Murder she Wrote.
AUNT: What are you packing?
Me: Books. The stuff that is getting donated in a few days.
AUNT: What books?
Me: The stuff that has been in the den.
AUNT: Not [GF's] books!!!
Me: Well yes, the books that once belonged to [GF].
AUNT: hold on
(muffled sound, then the sound of some yelling, then-)
AUNT: You just can’t do that. Those are [Uncle's] books!!! He is entitled to his FATHER’S books.
Me: Well sure. But didn’t he already go through these books years ago?
(seriously- I was in college when the great book dole went down. I made my selections via a very funny letter and was sent an equally funny letter back from GF saying that the books I requested would be mine. I assumed everyone had worked the same way.)
AUNT: [Uncle] is sitting right here TELLING me that those books are his. He is [GF's] SON. Those books should go to him. He wants to come over & go through every box.
I explained that I had a typed up list of the books (see! it did come in handy!) & that I would e-mail it to her & that whatever he wanted I would pull for him. She relayed that to Uncle & then-
AUNT: No. He doesn’t trust you. He wants to see with his own eyes what books you are throwing away.
Me: I’m not throwing away any books!
Then I pulled the Mother card. I basically said that I was not going to get involved in another war with [Uncle] and that I would have Mother call him to sort through this.
AUNT: fine. And don’t forget to set my silver aside.
(yes. she went there.)
Me: click (that was me hanging up the phone.)
Then I dialed Mom. Pulled her out of a meeting (whatever- I needed some HELP) and told her what was going down. She went off on [Uncle] and said she would call him & then call me back.
(are you following all of this?)
Ten minutes later she called back laughing. [Uncle] is all kinds of crazy and she literally did not understand 60% of what he was screaming at her. What she did make out was that he was calling her a “grabber”. As in Mother was “grabbing” all of the “gems” of the family and hoarding them away. Then he told Mother that I was a “lazy bitch” & that I was just complaining because I didn’t know what “real work” was.
um. & how do you REALLY feel, Uncle? Honestly he is so long ago written off in my mind and heart. But I would be lying if I said that hearing that (in as gentle a way as Mother could repeat it) didn’t make me burst into tears.
Mother says I am to move all of the boxes of books into the living room and let them take whatever they want. I am to hope that they will cross off the title on my lists. I am to stay the fuck out of their way. & I am to point Aunt to the cabinets where the silver is kept, give her a hefty bag & say, “help thyself.” I am to let them take anything in the house they want. I am to offer to help, but not hover. I am not to ask them for any help with anything related to the move.
An hour later and things were kinda sorta smoothed out. Aunt called and apologized saying that everything she said she had to say because Uncle was going off. That doesn’t quite justify it. Nope. Not even a little bit. oh, & I was reminded that I am overly sensitive and need not to be so emotional.
Within my body I feel the little mason men busily working on putting more bricks around my heart. I realize, yet again, that because these are the sort of men that I have been exposed to in my life(GF being the exception), I basically don’t trust men. & the reason why I am perpetually single becomes less & less of a mystery.
Talula’s day. UPDATED
So this morning Talula & I got up at 6:00 so that we could get ready and go to her scheduled hair appointment. Finding a place that would groom a cat is surprisingly difficult. The one place that our family has used before is affiliated with our vet. We love those groomers- they always let GM play with the dogs when we make our weekly stop to get fancy wet food for GM’s ancient cat. I really, really wanted them to be the ones to groom Talula as they all seemed so gentle and calm. But, alas, they were booked up until October 1st. (I am still shaking my head over that.)
I called all of the other places in the phone book plus some names of unlisted groomers (yikes) before I finally found a place that, while they didn’t advertise that they groomed cats, would certainly be happy to take care of Talula. I was told that I had to make an appointment and arrive at a specific time. I was given a price quote. I was told that everything would be fine.
So this morning I made the 25 minute drive to this groomers- Talula HOWLING the entire time. (She is not a good car rider- which while I hate that she was in distress- it did remind me to inquire about something to calm her down for the 12 hour drive to Florida in a few weeks.) We walked into the massive grooming place & immediately I start to get a weird feeling.
For starters the place was thick with cigarette smoke. Then there was the blasting music. And all around me there were islands of kennel cages with dogs- barking. Loudly. I think Talula peed her pants. Poor girl.
A teenaged girl came to the counter. (um, why aren’t you in school??) But she took one look at the beast in the cat carrier & said, ‘Oh we don’t do cats no more.’ I corrected her by saying that yes they do do cats & that I had an appointment. She then retaliated by turning her head & screaming, “Mooooooo-ooooooo-oooooooooom!” (gotta love a good Alabama diphthong.)
So Moo-oo-oom came to the counter & told me that the gal that runs the place is the gal that does them cats. She said that she don’t know when [owner] will be back in town as she had to take care of some urgent law stuff in Mississippi. (somehow I managed not to raise my eye brow too much.)
So here is where I feel guilty- I begged, actually begged, this woman and her teenage daughter to shave Talula.
See the thing is- I have nearly every moment of every day scheduled between now & September 1st. I have three different moving companies coming to the house this week to give me quotes, I have scheduled play dated for GM & her friends, I have people from the realtors office coming, shit to do for the lazy girl garage sale. I panicked. I knew if I didn’t get Talula groomed today that the chances of her being groomed before we got to Florida would be nil.
They agreed to “try” to groom her- but warned me that it may not be pretty. Forgive me, but I don’t care if it is pretty- I just want her dreadlocks to be taken care of. Talula is so matted that she has stopped bathing herself. It is a very bad situation when a long haired cat just gives up.
And now she is there, in the hands of these strangers, with awful 2nd hand smoke, awful music, and the thing she hates most: loud dogs. I cried on the drive home and berated myself for leaving her. I have fears that something horrible will go wrong and she will die. Granted- that is not a rational fear, but I am still quite emotional over Admiral’s death and not very steady when it comes to things regarding my pets.
I hope Talula can forgive me. She may not- especially when she finds out that she has to go to the vet on Friday to get shots.
U P D A T E.
So I just got a call from the scary groomers & they are not able to groom Talula as she is “too scared she will hurt the kitty.” They offered me the option of boarding Talula for the night (hell no) or bringing her back tomorrow when the cat whisperer will be able to groom her. I am so fucking torn about what to do. Mother says that she can try to get the matts out once we are in Florida- but I am trying to figure out the levels of misery for Talula. Could she deal with being gross & (very) matted for a couple of weeks or should I go ahead & let this other groomer take care of her tomorrow? (that would be another 6:00am wake up call) Fuck.
Tribute Tuesday & musings…NOW WITH THEME
There ought to be a drumroll intro every time one ventures to the land of Estelle. The full name of her blog is Faggots on the Third Floor. That alone should tell you what sort of fierce woman runs things over there. I will say that I have been privy to a few sides of Estelle & I am certain there are a million more sides that we won’t ever see- at least not within the boundaries of the blogosphere. I am amazed by her sweetness, her kindness, her loyalty. I laugh (when appropriate) at her rages and insight. & I am empowered by her passion and her convictions. Soon I will be living in the same state as Estelle & I can not wait to know her for reals.
If you haven’t met Estelle go introduce yourself & if you already know her go give her some warm mushy internet love. She is the tribute site of the week!
M U S I N G S:
1) Why is it that every book I own suddenly calls to be read when I should be packing it?
2) How come people want to see me now that I am leaving the state? Where was everyone when I was falling apart months ago?
3) Would it be bad to try & convince Dr. Molly to move to Florida just because I can’t imagine doing much of anything fun without her?
4) When good friends say that they will visit- do they? Even if they live all the way in California & Philly?
5) Is it bad that right this very minute all I want to do is get in my car and drive away? Just away.
6) Am I going to be able to deal with living with my Mother again? Why couldn’t we have found a place with a guest house?
7) Why is it when you go to T*rget to buy toilet paper & ice cream there is a cute man in line behind you buying frozen dinners? & why is it when such a thing happens you are wearing a ses*me street t-shirt, ripped pants, no zit coverup & deodorant hasn’t touched your body in three days?
Did I just gross you out when I admitted to not wearing any deodorant?
9) Did I tell you that Talula is getting shaved on wednesday?
10) Why do I become imobilized at the exact time that I should be raring to go?
11) Is it me or does everything taste good on a r!tz cracker?
12) How does one pack up one’s sex toys? How do you label the box?
13) Are sex toys legal in Florida?
14) Will I ever have a good hair day in Florida?
15) Will alligators eat my dog?
bonus: Why doesn’t the blogger spell check recognize the word “blog”?
N E W T H E M E:
Music. Whatever that means to you- whether it is a photo of a cool summer concert you went to (I know that will apply to many of you!) or a photo of your current favorite cd or a photo of your Great Aunt playing in the marching band. Let’s see those band camp photos or those air guitar moments. Feel free to include lyrics or song titles. Rock on.
Pick one thing & work towards it.
That was advice that my Grandfather would always give me whenever I went crazy and felt pulled in a zillion different directions. He was a big list maker (as am I). However I am finding it extremely difficult to keep streamlined in regards to this move. Sure “move” is the one thing to work towards but to that there are so many hurdles to jump through first.
So I am picking one thing to work towards: I’m going to have a garage sale!
Ok, to be honest it isn’t a real garage sale. I am calling it a “Lazy Girl’s Garage Sale” as there is no way in hell I am lugging all of this stuff outside in this weather. Instead I am going to lug everything into the den and invite people in (that may later bite me in the ass) to buy things. I am doing a big purge & getting rid of tons of books, dvd’s and have even been allowed to sell lots of Mom’s things. Hurrah!
The other thing that I am working on, that seems to be done except for some paperwork, is renting a dumpster for when Mother is in town over labor day. Did you know you could rent a dumpster for just over $100 and that includes the dropping off of the dumpster & the picking up of it & taking it to landfill? As a lover of getting rid of things- that just warms my heart.
And of course Talula wants to remind me not to forget to pack & take her.
I hope you guys don’t mind that this blog has morphed into a moving blog. I have to put ttc on the back burner until we get settled in Florida. It could be as long as January before I get back to it. But lawd knows it is at the front of my mind. I will understand if interest over here dwindles, but I will try my best to keep things interesting. Just hang in there.
Photo Friday Button
It may not be swank, but I think it is kind of cute: The new photo friday button!
I’ve put the image up in the pool if you want to grab & use it or you can e-mail me & I will send you the exact code for you to put into your sidebar so that it will link to our photo pool.
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