dogearedgirl

tulibu dibu douchoo

So, I say there has been entirely too much sadness and tragedy of late. 

Way. Too. Much. 

I know so many people, (myself included,) standing up to face incredible situations right now... many of those situations untimely, heartbreaking, and just plain wrong. My friends and family, though, continue to affirm for me that, damn, do I know some strong people. I scored in the human department. I am constantly amazed at the grace and stamina of the people in my life. 

The ability to keep on kicking with big tough boots, even when life is trying its best to pull us down to the mat, and start the count, that is what I hold on to. No matter the opponent, no matter how they might play a little dirty sometimes, just keep kicking.

We are tough. We can handle these things. We will get by.  

In the meantime, I hope that this brings you as much laughter as it did me. Soon, I will share with you a candy that brought me as much, if not more, joy than the above. 

Grandpa Chris

One of my most fond memories from childhood, is being perched atop your green and yellow John Deere tractor. Holding on to you tightly as we rode up and around and back and two more times, bumping along through the endless rows of pear trees in your orchard. The thrill of my young life. A girl-sprout and her grandpa. I adored you.

Today, a tractor tore gently behind the rows of chairs at your grave site, just as the first words of the service were uttered. I knew that that was you in the universe.

I love you so much, grandpa Chris.
Bless you on your way.

Ever feel like this?

Todays ponderance: Is it a great crossroads, at which I can gleefully, and with pride, exercise my freedom of decision? Or is it a big metal pole that I am gonna smack right into, if I don't look up?

beautiful haiku:

Oh, metal lamppost
confusing metaphor for
my everyday life

The sentimental gift of Engrish

On Thursday, when it was so lovely and rainy, I was lucky enough to get a ride home from my last job of the day. Wifey just happened to be getting off work around the same time as me, and our jobs were in the same neighborhood. (That almost never happens.)

I was extra grateful for the ride, as I had already been on three AC Transit buses that day, going here and there between jobs. I had the same bus driver on all three trips. When I boarded the for the third time in six hours, she gave me a smile that could be read as either, 'haha, you again, how funny,' or, equally likely, 'you just might be a little bit touched,' (Remind me to tell you an unrelated bus story, one in which I am cool for a moment... maybe that will be the next entry.)

When Wifey pulled up to the curb, I hopped into the truck and out of the rain, and the first thing I spotted, (after my beautiful wife, of course,) was this:

Which is part of this:

I was instantly in love.

It was a gift from our good friend, ML. ML is one of the most thoughtful people that I know. The bag was only the beginning- Wifey said there were goodies inside, as well. I waited until we got home to look at the rest.

A lovely little utensil travel case, with sufficient space for seasonings, napkins, and the like. Soo cute. Wifey and I shall be fighting over it. We are pretty good about sharing.

The orange triangle on the package reads:

"V COLOR- cooking and meal are happy by a vivid lunchware
FOR LUNCH
Made in Japan"

There was also a lovely book for Wifey in the 'Spickly Ball' bag.

The part that really got us choked up, though, was the sentiment- best expressed here, on the bag that the utensil kit came in:

What more can one say, really?

Thanks, ML. I so love this gift of Engrish. You are the best.

SolstiChristmaChannuKwanzaa and the year of the Rat will soon be upon us...

Have you noticed? Suddenly the holidays are around.

How I know:

Thanksgiving is over. Wasn't the table at my Aunties' house lervely? I have very fancy aunties. We had such a nice Thanksgiving this year. Lots of family gathered at the table...

The other night, I went to the NaNoWriMo TGIO party, with The Knitter, and her sister- posse. We had a lovely evening in San Francisco- socializing with other writer- type folks. We went to Taqueria Cancun for vegetarian burritos, and the were as delicious as they always are.

Isn't the wall of Saks on the square fancy? Purdy...

Also festive, was the tree on Union Square. It is huge. Absolutely huge. If you don't think about the tragedy of such an old Mama- san tree being sacrificed for the occasion, it is a lovely scene to go and sit near for a while in the evening. Sip cocoa, and watch the people go by. You might even catch sight of The Matrix there. We did. Nope, not the movie. THE ACTUAL MATRIX. He's blonde these days, and his hips grew out a bit, but don't be fooled. He's definitely around.

Here at home, Wifey thoughtfully adorned our Ficus in the holiday spirit.

I'm dreaming
of a whiittteee trassshhhh Christmass.......

I bought these Airstream lights up at the general store in Mineral, CA last June. (That's where we go camping on Mount Lassen every summer.) I lerve them. When I saw them in the store, I could not put them down. I have been dying to use them, and was, therefore, delighted to come home and find them put up, and glowing their inviting, Airstream glow.

Homey, no?

Next summer I am springing for the Coleman lantern lights that compliment the Airstreams. The year after that? The Bass lights.

White trash Christmas never looked so good.

Holy Cow

What a crazzzy few weeks I've had. I have missed all of you out there in blogland.

About two weeks ago, my work schedule went abruptly from a snide, "if you don't buy gas AND groceries, you might just swing rent, maybe. But don't get your hopes up, and for God's sake, don't even think about recreation, or those new socks you need," to a mocking, "oh, it's work you want? WORK? Alright then, here are fifty two thousand gigs, most of them fun, all of them paying actual money. See how many you can juggle before you crumble and go insane."

While I defiinitely prefer the latter, I now have no time. In fact, no money, either. That's where it gets tricky. I am working like crazy, but being a contractor, won't see a dime for any job until thirty days later. With working so much, and lots of said work being far away, Wifey had the smarty pants idea to rent us a second vehicle for a month. We have two vehicles! So novel, so handy, soo on the credit card til the checks start rolling in.

So, that's been fun. I feel a teenage sense of freedom- I have my own car, and can go where I want, when I want. It's kind of a sassy feeling, after so many years of the lesbianic sharing of our one, beloved, gas-guzzling pick-up truck. (Which in a month, I will return to, and be very happy about. I generally love our only having one vehicle, it just requires tons of coordinating all the time.)

The work is fun, too. I have one job that will go for several weeks, at least, working with the younger set. I love that. Yesterday I had one job with an adult, and one with a consumer under the age of ten. Today several adults. Tomorrow, young 'uns. The balance is nice.

So, there's more than you probably cared to know about the mundane topics of another person's job and transportation.

In other, more exciting news, we had a convention of superheroes at our house the weekend before last. Our super-friend Sha Blau turned thirty, and we had the honor of hosting his celebration. Whoop whoop! It was quite a time. There were superheroes, sidekicks, villans. Capes made from towels, and cod pieces worn over pants. Super underoos and haiku. Scantily clad heroes with super powers. Fierce drinks and good folks.

The helmet of Mysterioso Sha Blau.

Sha Blau's sidekick- Sha Blaze. He can only be shown from the back...superheroes don't disclose their identities so easily...
Note their matching capes.

It was a limited guest list, so if you felt super and you weren't there, I am sorry. It was fun, maybe we can recruit more heroes and villans, and make it a yearly soiree. It will have to be in the evening, as my personal kryptonite is the sun.

Then, Wifey and I went to Monterey for three days with the in-laws. Wifey and I saw dolphins! It was crazy- we snuck away to the beach for a bit, and a pod of playful dolphins recreated right in front of us for half an hour. It was a neat moment to catch. We were the only ones on the beach paying any attention. A few times, others walked between us and the shoreline, toes diggin into wet sand. When we motioned at the dolphins, or hollered, "Hey!! There are dolphins RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU!," to the passersby, all fins went under water. The people passed, the dolphins came right back. Way cool. Wifey's Dad saw a few towards the end, when he wandered down to where we were jumping around, cooing at the sea. So, if you think it was all in my head, you can check with him.

Then, we had the in-laws, and the brother in-law sleep at our house for a few more nights.

Now, I work all the time.

The Hawaiian and I went up to Lake Temescal yesterday. We walked twice around the shady loveliness of the park, just minutes from downtown, but still far away from the city. Twas lovely.

Concurrent to all of the happenings of late, Wifey and I have undertaken a big, top secret project. More will be revealed soon. Wish us luck. We are excited.

Tomato madness

So, last Saturday, (I am behind on blogging...) Wifey, the Hawaiian and myself day tripped up to Sebastopol to visit my grandparents. They are the best grandparents, let me tell you. I just adore them. The purpose of our visit this time? Tomatoes. Mission: can two lugs, plus the half lug laying on the table, leftover from the backyard garden. Lots and lots of tomatoes. About five big, single layer boxes.

From the grandparents' backyard.

From the yummy produce place down the road.

More on grandma's bake cabinet. She's had that piece for years and years and years.

There were loads more that I didn't shoot pictures of. Tomatoes. You get the idea.

First, you blanch them, in order to skin them with ease later on.

Blanched, hot, and ready for action.

Grandma's hands do this in their sleep.

Our Hawaiian is a natural.

Wifey, also a pro.

Peel, chop, squish. Peel, chop, squish. Peel, chop, squish.

Mass production. I kept the blanched maters coming, and those three kept on filling jars. So many jars.

Time for vinegar- anti-botulism agent. Hooray! No botulism!

One half teaspoon per jar.

Then, while you are making sure the rims of each jar are clean with a hot, moist dish towel, you heat the lids.

One up, one down...keeps them from suctioning to each other. Grandma's pressure cooker holds seven jars at a time, so there are seven lids heating there.

When the lids are soft, Grandma grabs them with the tongs, and pops them on the waiting jars, fast as lightening. (Just because she's zippy, not because there is any weird time constraint or anything.)

Into the pressure cooker.

Aren't they cute in there?

My Grandparents bought this pressure cooker when they got married. A generous uncle had given them one hundred dollars, and they wanted something that they could use and keep forever. Here it is, sixty some odd years later, and the pressure cooker is still going strong. Awesome, no?

More jars soldiering towards the bath.

After the steam bauble pops up, we close the steam vent, and the pressure begins to rise.

Six pounds is the magic number. When it reaches six pounds, extinguish the heat, and wait for it to slowly return to zero. (This particular pressure cooker's gage starts reading at one, so six pounds is really five pounds. Five pounds is what you need.)

First jar out- soo hot!

We set them on a towel on the bake cabinet, so they can cool. As they sit, they randomly start to POP.... POP.. POP. POP. POP. It's a great noise- the sound of the lid seal forming over the jar.

I love canning. It is such a nice way to spend a morning with family. Not to mention how happy I will be making tomato sauces and soups and things this winter.

While we rallied the tomatoes, Babba played a few chords on his concertina.

After our canning was complete, we walked across the street to thew community garden, and picked pink and yellow raspberries. (To die for. Not even kidding.) Sungold tomatoes, and some basil for later.

We also brought home a zucchini tht must have weighed about sixteen pounds. We made tons of zucchini bread, and took the remaining three quarters of the zuke to our friends' dinner party the next day.

I can not wait to have my own garden. Absolutely can not wait.

A fun day was had by all. I am so thankful to have my grandparents to do things like can tomatoes with. The best.

Special Selection - SSSS

So, yesterday I took our Hawaiian back to the airport. (He has returned to the islands for a week or so.) I walked with him up to the counter, to check-in and such, and a nice, big lady set about getting our Hawaiian into the computer system. She asked if I would also be flying.

"I wish." I smiled at her.

She offered to give me a gate pass, so that I could go and hang out with my Hawaiian until he boarded the plane. Who knew? I accepted and thanked her. After checking my i.d. she handed me a ticket-like stub with "gate pass" written across it. Hawaiian and I proceeded to security.

At the first security man, (you know how there are always four to six folks who want to check out your ticket stub along the way?) I was pulled out of line.

"Maam, you have been specially selected for a heightened security check this morning."

WOO HOO! shouted my cranky inner voice.
"What does that mean?" croaked my sleep deprived outside voice.

"You see this "SSSS," here in the corner of your stub? Special, random selection. Please make your way up the side to the special screening area up ahead. There, you will need to remove your shoes, as well as blah and blah and blah from your person. You will be patted down, and your bags will be hand searched."

But I'm not even flying....

I marched dutifully into the groping arena, and placed my sock shrouded feet into the guilty yellow outlines on the carpet. A nice, somber lady patted up and down the outline of my person. I was cleared, as was my bag, though my shoes had to be triple scanned. I got myself together, and found my Hawaiian. He had had to open up his laptop in the other line, so we'd both gotten through at almost the same moment.

We wound our way up the walkway to the gate, and grabbed seats behind a girls water polo team. They were trying to name every country that started with an S. They did pretty well. Hawaiian and I sat quietly, chatting once in a while, but mostly being quiet together. Over the intercom, they called his row for boarding, and we squeezed each other hard. Another squeeze, and we parted ways. I watched him hand his ticket to the attendant at the gate and disappear. I walked toward the exit.

"Maam! Maam! If you go out through there, be advised you'll have to come through security again!" A concerned security attendant cautioned.

"Thanks," I said, "but I'm not flying today."

Nothing like special selection on a Monday morning. SSSS.

Smorgasbord

Well, here it is, a lovely Tuesday morning. (Well, early afternoon, by the time I post...)

"Why isn't that lazy-ass girl at work?" You might be wondering. To which I say, "Meh. Easy come, easy go."
Here's the thing- I had this gig- ten hours a week through the summer, which, when pieced together with various other freelance work, equalled a decent schedule. Then, I got the email. Nice Deaf person out there up and changed their plans. All fine and good in the one sense- the staying in your jammies til noon sense. (Which is actually often when I turn out to be productive- noon in my jammies. Go figure.) Less good in the other sense- that whole, paying bills, making rent, eliminating debt in order to achieve our virtual dream house, eating multiple times a day, bleh bleh bleh sense.

Anyhow- that is how I find myself at home midday, midweek. Fear not, however. I have a job at 7:00 p.m. this evening. Which I must say is a tad bit more appealing when one is already working from 12-5 in the same city. Somehow, being off til 7:00 kinda throws me off. Productivity in the meantime, however. Ohh, yes.

So, to summer work, I say- "mmmehhh." That is, of course, unless you want to offer me some.

In other news-

Wifey and I had a fun fun time at family camp a few weeks back. (One of those weeks when I wasn't blogging- ahem.) It is always rejuvenating to frolic in the meadow with the trees, the hippies, and the cows. Twas wonderful.

I tweaked my back bending over to get something out of a cabinet, and it hasn't been right since. Erg.

For my birthday, I partied with my grandparents, Wifey, aunties, hermano, and sister-in-law-to-be...(no pressure, guys. Heh) It was over one hundred degrees in Sebastopol that day. We were all troopers. It was a fun party. We are most happy that potential-sister-in-law has moved to the city- Pennsylvania is a long ways away.

I was officially dubbed a superhero over the weekend. I can't tell you about it, though. Top secret stuff.

We get to go to Bunko on Friday, and get silly with our girls. I heart girl's weekend. Plus, there is the potential to win fabulous prizes. Wahoo!

Possibly the best news- we are getting our very own nineteen year old Hawaiian boy next Wednesday! We get him for a couple of weeks, at least. We are quite excited. His upcoming arrival also prompted us to do a complete cave overhaul. We spent most of Sunday moving, removing, dusting, re-organizing all of our cavely possessions. Some of which do not have permanent homes, yet, but all of which are out of the cave, which was the ultimate goal.

I am currently listening to The Devil Makes Three, and they are quite good.

As Lala pointed out, there is a distinct lack of jaguars around, since Wifey took up blogging. That in itself is cause for celebration.

Putzmeister

Look! Somebody had the good sense to name their company after me!!

I was walking along, and there was Putzy, parked right in my way. I had to stop and snap his portrait. Looks like a little pooping truck, doesn't it? It was leaking liquid from underneath quite significantly. That doesn't show up in my shotty cell phone picture, but trust me. One wonders what purpose the Putzmeister serves, doesn't one? He was parked in front of a gas station, so I am guessing he's fuel related. Whatever his purpose, I felt a kind of kinship with him, so I thought I would share him with you.

In other news, I went to THE BEST WHORESHOES SHOW last Friday. You should really really go and see those ladies. They are rocking especially hard these days. (Not to mention, I am friends with the band, and they are rad, and I say GO!) After the show, I got a big four hours of sleep, then Wifey and got up to host a wee little Sunday brunch. It lasted for seven and a half hours. Good friends, good food, lots of coffee and mimosas. It was a lovely day.

Happy Monday, with love.
-Putzmeister