Hurricane Katrina Aftermath

I don't really feel like writing any of the entries I planned for this week. They all seem trivial and unimportant; ego-flogging.

My thoughts right now are with the people who have been devastated by the passing of Katrina, especially the coasts of Mississippi and Louisiana, and particularly my beloved New Orleans. Hopefully our friends who live in Metarie are safe.

Even though I know the bobblehead newscasters go for the big headline moments and dramatic footage, it looks unimaginably awful. We are probably not even hearing about the most terrible things - because no one can get there, water is too high.

The people who have lost everything in this storm are really going to need some assistance in the next few months.

The Red Cross is a great place to donate money if you want to help.

Makes me think about not taking the life I have for granted.

The Back to School Entry.

Something about the end of August incites me to commit back-to-school activities. It doesn't matter I haven't been to school in 23 years. It's time for clothes shopping, buying school supplies, pursuing knowledge.

There is a clothes (and shoe) shopping trip in my immediate future. Never at the mall, oh, no, but it's time to look for a few items - black is back, and life is good. Not that black is ever absent in my closet. I am planning a small online expedition as well. It wouldn't seem like the end of August without a new outfit or two.

Next stop; office supplies. My favorite, Renton Stationary, closed at least ten years ago. In addition to business supplies they stocked a vast array of pencils, papers, and erasers for architects, engineers, artists, and school kids. The store shared space with the printing press for the Renton Record Chronicle . The faint, astringent scent of printers' ink always drifted through the aisles. Wedding invitations and personalized stationary were printed on-site. An elderly typewriter repairman had his own corner, with racks of typewriters to be fixed, and a few antique machines displayed. When I was eleven, he fixed my green garage-sale typewriter for three dollars. I enjoy trips to any office supply store, but I still miss that store particularly.

This time of year also inspires me to take stock and plan to continue my education. Dig through my disc storage and find the Spanish course I keep meaning to start. Unfold the King County Library System Megalit list, wondering which title to tackle. I'm considering Fool's Crow, by James Walsh. I seem to read a lot of non-fiction in the fall, and usually have a small burst of interest in the family genealogy.

I think back-to-school behavior becomes ingrained. But now we buy outfits we like, even if they are for work. Silly Post-its instead of pens and rulers. The knowledge we pursue is for our own interests, not graduation requirements. We experience all the back-to-school pleasure without having to open those heavy school doors and walk inside - unless we want to.

The absolute cuteness of this picture cannot be denied. Of course, that is why it was taken.

Like any person who lives with animals, we have various and sundry digital and pre-digital images of pet cuteness. I am not normally a fan of cute. But real-life animal cuteness is difficult to deny.

Actually, this began as an image-posting test. Looking through the few pictures on my computer (most are on The Saint's computer) this was one of a few, semi-decently composed, personally owned images I could find. So I went with cute.

I started thinking about other cute pet images. Somewhere in a dusty box labeled 1973 is an 8mm film of our three family dogs playing. Gypsy, the St. Bernard, Binker my oversized Sheltie, and my sister's Papillon. Papillons, if you are not familiar, are about the size of a Chihuahua, but with long fluffy hair, and "butterfly" ears. The three of them often played a dog version of crack the whip, holding onto each others' tails. Sometimes Max the Papillon would fly through the air like a growling white bird, with teeth.

Even today, the thought of them playing together makes me smile. Max was a feisty little dog.

I was certainly smiling as I took this picture of Suzy and Cocoa, and hoping the flash wouldn't wake them up. It still makes me smile now.

No, this is not going to be the "cute pet picture of the week" blog. I'll leave that to someone else.

But still.

Awwww.

Awwww 

Beatles or Stones? Part 2

In an effort to understand the whole Beatles vs. Stones thing, I took it to the street. Okay, maybe not "the street", but I took a highly unscientific and unofficial survey of people I knew.

I didn't tell them anything except I was doing it for my blog, and their names would not be mentioned. I didn't tell them if it was about the music, or something else. I also did not state my preference until after the survey, and only if they asked.

The results surprised me. Most of the people under 40, and virtually all of the men chose the Beatles.

Almost all of the women who chose the Stones were 40 and over.

There were several who could not choose at all.

Discussions became heated. Lines were drawn. Even The Saint and I got into a debate. The Saint stating, "The Beatles were, by far, the most muscially influential rock band of all time."
"Hah, what about NIRVANA!" I snapped.
Well, I admit it isn't quite the same, but...nevermind.

Even people who don't listen to classic rock had an opinion. Most of them chose the Beatles.

There are people out there who don't like the Beatles at all.
I thought I was the only one!

Now, one of the survey takers suggested the question "Dog or Cat" was more important, as a make or break relationship question.
And another survey taker added "Or even Animals or No Animals."
I may have to explore this in a future post.


STONES!

Beatles or Stones?

Is this question really a relationship breaker?
If so, I don't get it.

Yes, I know it's really a joke question.

Any music fan knows the history of the bands, so I won't go down this road.

For non-music fans, I will explain, in the 60's, the Beatles were the "good" guys, and the Stones were the "bad" guys.

I think the real question is;

Are you conservative and sweet, somone who enjoys strolling on the beach, and holding hands by the fire?

OR
A free-spirited skinny-dipper, who lives for long motorcycle rides, and a bear-skin ( okay, faux bear-skin) by the fire?

So, why don't they just ask that question?

Of course, most people are both, in innumerable variations. So questioners want to refine it to the basic elements.

Are you "good" or are you "bad"?

Which might be a little too basic, so they couch it in terms most people would get right away. Even if it is a joke question.

So, Beatles or Stones?



In case you were curious about me - STONES!!!!!

Although, just to prove it doesn't really matter, The Saint is a Beatles man.

Hair and Haircuts

I'm pretty sure most women have issues with their hair. Crowning glory, and all that. I know men do too, but I'm not a guy, so I don't know anything about that perspective.

Lately I have been getting my hair cut at one of those no-appointment hair shops. Not the most glamerous, or even fabulous, or sometimes even competant places to go. Luckily I have found a guy at one of them who does a decent job on my hair. He's also funny, which is good - I prefer a stylist with a sense of humor.

Aboout two years ago my favorite stylist got married to a rich guy, moved 60 miles away and no longer cuts anyones hair for a living. Good for her, but it hasn't helped my hair much.

Right now, my hair is super-short, shorter than a lot of men wear their hair. The good things are;
It looks okay
It's very fast to fix in the morning with 0 minutes left until I need to go catch the bus

The bad things are;
I don't think it's very flattering
I have to get it cut about every 5 weeks - really every 4

I used to have very long hair. It ranged between butt length, and shoulder length. The cool thing about long hair is that you can do a lot with it - I used to curl it, braid it, do all kinds of things with it - you can be as elaborate or as simple as you like with long hair. In my extreme period aka "when I was skinny" I even travelled with a butane curling iron to make sure it was always correctly styled. Yes, even when camping. I would sometimes perm it, which was fun.

However, when I got to a certain age, my long hair wasn't flattering anymore. It betrayed me, the hair I always loved, by starting to change color, and making me look, well, like I was trying to look young. I resisted for a year or so, but finally I chopped it off and dyed it blonde. Honestly, I haven't found a style I like since the big chop. They have all required either major amounts of work every morning, which is so not going to happen, major amounts of upkeep, or keeping it very, very short.

For my younger self, hair was a big part of my self image. If I was having a bad hair day, I almost didn't want to go to work. Now when I'm having a bad hair day, I slap a little more gel on it, and call it good. I'm not quite sure what that says about my current self image.

I didn't really care when it started to go grey. I'd never colored it, because it was always a good color. Now I could try new things, like color, and frosting, and tinting without worrying I was going to wreck my already good hair. It was sort of fun being blonde. I was also a redhead, a reddish-brown head and I even tried jet-black once. (Most people didn't notice the jet black stage.) But color requires upkeep. Which I am not into.

And why is it that;
Unless you have really short hair, you can never recreate exactly what the stylist did
It usually takes at least a week to get your hair back to normal after a cut
The haircut never looks as good on a real person as it does in the magazine
(well, I think we all kind of know why, but still....)

I need to start looking for a new stylist one of these days; someone who will, once again, have ideas about my hair. One with a sense of humor. Who understands the concept of "I have 2 actual, real time minutes to spend on my hair when I am getting ready. Unless I have 30 seconds."

Wish me luck.

I was going to make this entry about why I love living in Seattle (which I do) but then I started thinking about fun places we've visited so far, and decided to make it about my other places. You know, those places that you say, "Hmmm, it would be really fun to live there.....or stay there for a few months..." Except, of course, I love Seattle.

New Orleans. . I absolutely love this city. It's not just one thing; it's all the little things together. The people are friendly and love to talk. The food - well, I could write an entire entry on the food alone. Even 99.9 percent of the dives have fabulous food. But it was the spirit of the city that got to me. Laid back, with an interesting past. Modern buildings, and a few blocks away, one of the oldest buildings in the US. City, but with the country not so far away. I could see why so many writers stayed there for a time - it made me wish for a few months to just hang out and soak it in, and write it down.

Hawaii. There is nowhere quite like Hawaii - part of the US, and yet apart. Like visiting a living jewel in the ocean, lush, exotic, fabulously beautiful. Utterly laid back - you go on island time when you are here - there is no hurry. There is always something to do, but you can also just relax, and kick back on the beach with a book and a cool drink and that's as much a good time as anything else. And the feeling that, with all the tourists, there are also real things too - the roadside shrines, and the even older placeds.

Oregon Coast. Beautiful beaches, not too crowded. Another area that makes me long for a few months to just rent a house on the beach and write, write, write. There isn't a lot to do, but it's a great place to unwind, walk on the beach, watch the surf, hang out.

Vancouver B.C.. I would put Vancouver in my top three favorite cities. It is vital, diverse and an altogether fabulous place to visit. The people are friendly, and polite. It is one of the most beautiful places in the world - even prettier (I hate to admit it) than Seattle. And it's also more hip (oh, I hate to admit that too). What can I say, my mom's parents were both Canadian citizens. Great food, interesting nightlife and places to go during the day, both for tourists and the people who live there.

Eastern Washington. My dad's family were pioneers here, as well as in Oregon. There is a part of me that loves it over there, the bare hills, the fields, the smell of mint in the air and the crickets at night. The way the lighting moves over the valley during a storm, and you can see it for miles away. Now the area my dad grew up in is becomeing a bunch of chi-chi wine appellations - and it's a good thing for them.

Northern California. There is something about it that is mesmerizing - the sea, the beaches. Farther inland the history - the old mining camps and dusty little towns that make you want to stop and get a cool drink and hang out in them for awhile. The real towns, not the tourist towns.

Now, these are places I would want to live, or at least stay for awhile. I'm sure there will be more - I plan to travel a lot in the next 40 or 50 years.

Is there anything more luxurious than staying in bed until 1 PM? Well, I'm sure there is, but it doesn't feel like it this morning. Instead of getting up to paint the house we stayed in bed, snoozing, mostly. (We've been getting ready to paint, or painting, since last October...)
Although you can sleep in anywhere, it's more satisfying to sleep in when you like where you're sleeping. I love my bed. It's a waveless extra-king waterbed. For those of you who have visions of the 70's style "balloon" waterbeds, with the mirrored canopy, and the automatic disco-ball strobe going as Barry White plays, our bed is nothing like that. Although, it would be fun to do that as a joke....
Long ago, we decided since we spend 8 hours (well, with luck) a day there, we should get a bed we liked. The current matress is our fifth one - not too bad in 23 years, pets mostly allowed. Waterbed technology gets better all the time - if you tried our matress out you wouldn't know it was a waterbed unless you looked under the sheets. I also like being able to turn up the heater a few degrees in the winter, so it's nice and toasty when we crawl in.

Our bedroom set is solid oak. Not laminated oak - very important to The Saint (aka my husband) , who is from a family of woodworkers. The bed is on a pedistal with drawers where I keep extra blankets, heating pads, and a few other items. The headboard is tall, the upper part has lighted glass shelves displaying my pig banks; the lower is wood, with a night stand top, and drawers. Sufficient room for piles of books, a flashlight, and numerous other things. On each side there are electrical outlets. On my side The Saint installed a power strip; so I have outlets for my laptop, recharging Game Boy, etc. There is also plenty of room for alarm clocks, phone, etc. He gets the side with the phone, because I am known for having phone conversations while asleep - and no memory of them later.

I spend a lot of time on the bed. I am a lay-down reader as opposed to a sitting-up reader - and my favorite place to read is on the bed.
I mentioned pets are also allowed. The cats, of course, sleep wherever they choose to sleep, and mostly it's on the bed. Our big dog gets on the bed a lot too, although technically he is not supposed to be on the bed when we are both in it. You would not think a 180 lb dog could sneak onto a bed with three cats already arranged in their respective spots - but he can.
It is very funny to wake up, pinned in bed by a dog on one side, and two or three cats in various positions. Well, I find it funny, The Saint not so much. The cats are very particular about where they lay, and it can be disconcerting to wake up at two am as a dispute breaks out. I will say, the dog does sometimes detract from sleeping in, when he clambers over us to escape the feuding cats.

Back to the luxurious side, we discovered higher thread count sheets a few years ago, and they really DO make a difference. They are well worth the extra money, although we don't get all crazy. I recently read an article that said those ulta-expensive 1,000 thread count sheets are misleading, that the manufacturers count the threads in each thread. I'm not paying that much for sheets anyway.

Still, there are some days when it feels good to indulge; waking up at six-thirty am, looking at the clock, smirking, and going back to sleep. Waking up at eight, reading for awhile, and going back to sleep. Some people (those wierd morning people) would say we have wasted the day, but I think it's good to be wastefully luxurious once in awhile. At least when it comes to sleeping in.

As the Queen (or perhaps the Empress) of Procrastination, I have been thinking about starting a blog for quite awhile. In my usual fashion, I decided to get started today to avoid doing something else. I am very, very good at finding ways of avoiding things I don't want to do. It's a gift, I tell you.

I have my own website, which I update sporadically, but a blog seems much more interesting somehow. Much more twenty-first century. Plus, there is a slightly greater chance that someone will read this blog, since my website gets about four hits a month, two of which are me, one is probably my husband, and number four is someone who most likely got there by mistake.

Like all blogs, the purpose of mine will be expose my opinions to the world, or my random thoughts, (hmm, connection with the name - nah!) or my mental wanderings - and I tend to mentally wander a lot. So, here it is, Joy to the World and all that.