Tuesday, December 18, 2007

I Don't Want Pictures of Your Kids

I love getting Christmas cards from my friends, especially the ones who live across the country and I don't get to see very often. I like their brag letters telling all the wonderful things that happened to them this year and I like the cards with photos of the whole family.

Let me repeat that.

I like the cards with photos of the whole family.

So far I have received three photo cards from friends or family who live in Kansas and Minnesota. I got one from my cousin Brian and his wife - it's a totally adorable picture of them out in a boat wearing silly hats or something (I'm not sure exactly what's on their heads!) I love it. I hadn't seen Brian for years and years until Grandpa's funereal last year. We got a chance to reconnect and it was cool. It's nice seeing the photo and I'm glad he's keeping in touch. (Now I just need to do the same!)

I also got one from a friend in Topeka and one from a friend in Minneapolis...both just photos of their kids. Swell. I don't get it. Why would you send me a picture of your kids and not yourself. You are the one who is my friend. Your kids are adorable and all that - but YOU are my friend. I want to see a picture of YOU. What - you think you take a bad picture, that your smile is weird or you have a double chin or you're going bald. I don't care. It's not that I don't care about your kids, if all of you are in the photo that's the best. But honestly - if it came down to it you could take them out and have it just be you (and spouse or whoever if you have one.) You're my friend, if you're going to send me pictures - send me ones of you. I miss you.

Thursday, December 13, 2007

A Little Somethin' About Me...

I got tagged to do this...so why not?
The ones in bold I have done...

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said "I love you" and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped

11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game

16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby's diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne

24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment

27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can

32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and didn't care who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer

40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched whales
45. Stolen a sign

46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach

50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football

61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater

66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an "expert"
83. Gotten flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date

89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
98. Passed out cold
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn't have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone's heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper

129. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one "important" author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ

148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone's life

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

A Bit of Holiday Cheer

Sent to me by my friend Jennie...

"Straight No Chaser - 12 Days"

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Dance the Night Away

I’m a little slow in getting this down…but it’s been in my head for a week now. After bowling last Thursday I bolted over to the Doug Fir and met Julie to see VHS or Beta. Julie knew the opening band - Moving Units - and they were pretty good – but I was most stoked to see VHS or Beta. I wasn’t aware until they started their set that they, or at least the singer, were from here. He mentioned that he’d grown up in Eugene anyhow – so close enough. We’d had some beers at bowling (and I’d wandered into the men’s room without having any clue until I came out to see a guy giving me the stink eye as he walked in and Violet about to walk into the women’s room laughing at me!) and of course we had some cocktails at the Doug Fir. By the time the night was over I had a nice buzz…but the drink wasn’t what was keeping me so pumped.

It was just such a fun show – and it was the type of show that I really hadn’t been to in a long time. Sure – Noland and I go see lots of bands, and I love them. When it’s the stuff I don’t like – I don’t go, he heads of with Bill or Ian. So I do really have fun at the shows I go to – but Noland doesn’t do this type of show, and since I’ve moved to Portland I haven’t been friends with anyone who does. The band is a bit reminiscent of 80s techno-pop…New Order, Duran Duran, Pet Shop Boys…but not a retro-rehash. Very unique actually. But it’s the type of show I would have gone to with Anita or Susan or Jennie…and we would have danced through the whole thing – not just stood there and watched. During their set I was thinking that I need to send all of them a CD of some of their music in case they don’t know it (so if by chance any of you read this – act surprised when it arrives!) But that’s what Julie and I did – we shook our grove things! I didn’t realize how much I’d missed that. I know that Kelly or Violet or even Steve like going to those types of shows as well – but between V needing a sitter or K’s travel plus things like bowling, shows that go see with the guys, and just general life – when it comes to deciding on which social things to do and which to skip, this is the stuff that always gets back burnered. But for Julie – these are the front burner things – so I’m glad that she’s here to kick my butt into gear and do some of them!

After the show we were in the bar hanging out with a friend of hers up from Atlanta and some other folks until almost 2 am on a school night, so if I hadn’t gone – I might not have been so wiped out on Saturday and we may have made it out to Satyricon or Dante’s….and that would have been fun. But I typically leave a show at Dante’s ready for bed. When I left Doug Fir, if I hadn’t had to work the next day I could have gone all night. That’s a much better feeling.