the queen

A week after her birthday the family finally got together to shower Anita with gifts and go to the Wild Animal Park. I think she might be spoiled. Just that day she got moccasins, a Bill Murray t-shirt, a Nina Simone t-shirt, a guitar, Pink Converse, Red Keds and a kind of creepy looking baby doll. But I had also been inspired by Sweet-Juniper Woodcraft to make Anita a crown for her birthday. With some goading from good friend ExP, I screwed up my gumption, finished my Final ahead of time and dove head first into the project. And by that I mean, I called my good friend APT to help and guide me. We followed the amazingly easy instructions from BalancingEverything.com. It was so simple and, at the risk of losing whatever street cred I had with you, fun. APT was wonderful and accommodating. She is a logistical wizard who foresaw possible obstacles and potential solutions. AND SHE MADE DELICIOUS MEATLOAF FOR DINNER! Can you believe it?
So I meticulously cut the pieces and she ironed, sewed and coordinated pretty much everything else. And while we were crafting, my great old friend EMT, husband to APT, celebrated "Craft Night" by watching . . . The Craft, a movie which he owns. The end results for the crown were about 100 times better than I expected. Anita seemed to love it. She had a wonderful day as you can tell by the last picture up above. So did we all (except those of us unfortunate passengers in the back of my dad's car - 'scared' as Anita would say).

Do your friends help you out in this way? Do your friends do fun stuff like watch The Craft while "crafting"? Do you even know one person who owns The Craft? Are they total weirdos? Seriously, I'd like to know. . .Ok, total tangent and I'm not joking here kids: PacificBirds contest time! In honor of our craft night we are having a The Craft: Original Soundtrack giveaway. I kid you not. Just post here in the comments section why you bought The Craft DVD. Or if somebody gave it to you, then please post your reasoning for not throwing it out. I'll choose the winner based on realism and humor. Let's set the cut-off at Saturday April 3rd at midnight. Include your name and email address. I really only expect to get one response to this, but I've already laughed myself silly by actively searching for The Craft: Original Soundtrack and then purchasing it, so it's totally worth it.

Fine Print: Employees of PacificBirds Corp. ("Sponsor"), each of their parent companies, subsidiaries, affiliates and advertising or promotion agencies, and members of the immediate families (parent, child, sibling and spouse of each) or households of such employees, are not eligible to participate.

Wanderlust

This post makes me want to pack my bags pronto. I am ready for adventure!

Ah, the French...

As if I needed another reason to wish I lived in France. How amazing is this french school lunch menu? Roasted duck with haricot verts and chocolate cake? Um, yes please. And a baguette and dark chocolate for snack! I wonder if the little frenchies look at our school menus and drool over the frozen pizza and microwaved chimichangas. Probably not.

Anita's Dance Party

We had such a fun and perfect time celebrating A.O.K's 2nd bday. It all started after she woke up from her afternoon nap and I had the house decorated and her presents out. One of her presents was a bean bag which she immediately jumped on and giggled. Then we had popcorn and licorice (her favorite snack) while opening the rest of her presents. For dinner, I made her favorite meal of pizza and we had her absolute favorite treat, ice cream, for dessert. We ate all of this picnic style in our bed, which is her favorite place to be, while watching Fantastic Mr. Fox. Which is fantastic, of course, and she adored it. She was laughing and excited and dancing.

While opening her presents we played a compilation of Anita songs. We started a file when she was born of songs that we noticed she seemed to react to or particularly enjoy. Obviously, the list is heavily influenced by my hubby and I since she is at this point only exposed to the music we listen to (and in my case it is pretty repetitive since I definitely listen to my favorites a lot.) But she loved hearing all of her favorite tunes, one after the other, and was dancing and racing back and forth and enjoying her bday dance party. Since early on she has enjoyed music and has let us know it with either her spontaneous dance moves or by just requesting we play a song again (and again and again) which is how we ended up with the list below...

Anita's Songs

Two Weeks Grizzly Bear

1901 Phoenix

Here Comes My Baby Cat Stevens

Whole Wide World Wreckless Eric

I Think I Need A New Heart The Magnetic Fields

Soldier Boy The Shirelles

Gin Soaked Boy Tom Waits

Baby It's You The Shirelles

Ride On Josephine Bo Diddley

Spotty Grotty Anna The Kinks

White Riot The Clash

Rockaway Beach The Ramones

Nervous Breakdown Black Flag

Sweet Jane The Velvet Underground

Queen Of The World Claudette

Sweet Thing Van Morrison

Little Bird The White Stripes

I Burn Today Frank Black

Apple Blossom The White Stripes

Vicar In A Tutu The Smiths

X Offender Blondie

Here Comes Your Man Pixies

You Don't Own Me Lesley Gore

In Transit Albert Hammond, Jr.

I wish I had pictures to share with you but I am currently having technical difficulties loading pics.

Not So Happy Meal

Want to know what happens to a Happy Meal if you leave it on a shelf for a year? I imagine it's pretty similar to what happens when it's inside of you too.

looking for a way back

I've commented recently about my lack of motivation for blogging. Well, to be honest that dearth of motivation applies across the board. For all my big talk I just can't find the hope, the optimism, the "wide-eyed enthusiasm," as CLK might call it. I wondered if it was lost, never to be found. I wondered if I should continue blogging if I had nothing to say.

A few days ago I read a blog post by Josh Wilker over at Carboard Gods. His post was like a game of catch with my dad on a warm Sunday afternoon. Don't be intimidated by the initial baseball subtext. You'll soon find some familiar names and places, especially for some of you former hell-raisers. I was inspired but still without motivation. Then, while reading his blog, as I do nearly everyday, I decided to check out his older posts and found one on the recently deceased Willie Davis (RIP). His characterization of Willie's smile was some much needed sunshine through the fog of my brain. Josh Wilker certainly "gets it" as he describes his own journey towards finding what's not lost. After reading these posts, slowly but surely I began looking for more things to get excited about.

I haven't found it yet, but I did find another momentary break from the fog. On Saturday afternoon, my brother and I, itching for some outdoor activities went to the park to play baseball. In the past we would pitch to each other for about ten minutes and then spend at least ten minutes looking for those precious baseballs. The rain made the weeds thicker and higher than usual so after losing two of our first three hits, I had an idea. From then on we turned the other way, away from the open field and toward the canyon. Instead of baseball we used golf balls and instead of screaming line drives we hit towering home runs that seemed to travel several astronomical units only to land softly among the mustard and the sage. It certainly isn't the most environmental activity to loft balls into a canyon. It was child-like and immature and very nostalgic. We cheered each other on as we cranked ball after ball into oblivion. We stood slack-jawed, watching until they disappeared. When we returned home for dinner my mom commented that we were acting like two kids who'd just had a ton of sugar. Then we went to dinner and had a ton of sugar.

Just as kids do after they've had too much sugar, I seemed to crash. The excitement could not be sustained. The energy could not be sustained. And although in recent weeks I had patted myself on the back for my mind-over-matter approach to some very difficult tasks and situations, I just haven't rebounded from some of those situations. But I'm trying guys. Today for the first time in a while I had an idea for a future post, as opposed to sitting down and forcing myself to dig something up. I'll start it tonight and hope it turns out well. I'm optimistic that it'll re-spark my interest in blogging here. I'm enthusiastic at the prospect of re-discovering my energy. Gosh, I hope it turns out well.

In the meantime, check out more of Josh Wilker's blog at Cardboard Gods. I can only dream of writing as well as he does. His writing has often been an inspiration for me to write here. He also has a new book coming out for which I am immensely excited. With such endorsements as Bill Lee, Wally Lamb and David Cross ("I should note, though, that Canadians will like it too. But probably not Mexicans”) it has to be good. It is available for pre-order now through Amazon. Buy it for yourself or your closest baseball-loving loved one.



*****
Happy Birthday Anita-bird. You are my favorite.

Terrific Two

Two years ago today we met our little bird...

It's true what they say about time flying when you are having fun.

Happy Birthday Anita Bird!

RIP alex chilton

Congress? Health care? They know where the priorities lie.


I'd also like to add my own personal experience with Alex Chilton and one of my very favorite bands, Big Star.
I was living in Portland Oregon and I was so sick of my crap job at a photo shop that was a 50 minute bus ride to and from work everyday. It was a cold fall. I couldn't find a new job. Then finally, I got an interview for an entry level carpentry position. I had to take an hour and a half bus ride to the Columbia river for the interview at a boat repair shop at 7 a.m.. I couldn't have been any more out of place and the owner of the shop let me hear about it. It was frustrating and humiliating. I walked out of the shop with the dim prospect of having to go straight to my Fotomat job on the bus, this one a two hour ride. Big Star's 3rd/Sister Lovers was in my CD player and on my headphones. Although I was wearing long underwear and two pairs of pants, a shirt, sweatshirt and jacket, I was still freezing. So after I caught the bus, I settled into my seat, I stared out of the window and Nightime came on. My brain could hear the music but couldn't comprehend, just as my eyes reflected the bleak horizon without recognition. But through my malaise broke the words ". . . get me out of here, get me out of here. I hate it here, get me out of here." and that was it. Those were the only words I wanted to hear for the rest of the day. After rewinding the song a few times just to hear those words, I put the song on repeat. The bus coasted on toward oblivion while the chalk outlines of the morning landscapes smeared, smudged and dripped their way past the rainy windows that were my eyes.
That night, when I finally returned home, it was to a freezing cold house. My sister couldn't be reached by phone. My friends weren't immediately available. I wanted to tear the whole place apart. But all I could do was lay under the electric blanket, on my palette on the floor, to get warm. It was the last place I wanted to be.



So long friend.

five dollars

I love this website idea. Fiverr.com lets you post or purchase any service for just $5. My favorites include:
Personal Training Advice for a Month
Cheer You Up When You're Sad
Create a Three Course Meal Menu
Help You Fix Your Bike
Tell You the Meaning of Life
Are you serious? Just $5.

I'm sorry the paucity of posts lately folks. Aside from my recent vacation, family hardships and work difficulties, for whatever reason, I just haven't had the motivation to write lately. Life's funny and just when I really should be writing about it, I can't. Sorry. I considered early retirement. We'll see where we go from here.

Hells Yeah...

So I heard Martin Scorcese was making a show for HBO starring Steve Buscemi forever ago and I was naturally intrigued. My husband has the book, Boardwalk Empire, which it was based on and he has urged me to read it, but 2010 was a long way away, and I said I was intrigued but I wasn't peeing my pants with excitement or anything, and as my husband likes to say, I completely ignore all of his reading suggestions. Last nite, however, I saw a preview for the show and I maybe peed my pants just a little. Well, not really, but it looks good and I am super jazzed for it. I guess, I may have to finally listen to the old ball and chain and crack open one of his books. But not because he told me to. Because Marty and Steve told me to.

* For the record his characterization of me ignoring his book suggestions is completely not true. I may not pick up the book immediately upon his finishing it but I do read the books he gives me. And I definitely do read, so please don't get the impression that I am book averse either. I would hate to give that impression. Think what you will of me - just not that.

Awesomely Bad

I think I have written previously of my love of Awesomely Bad Movies. If not, well now you know. I dig them. Watching an Awesomely Bad Movie with friends is my most favorite past time ever. And for several years now that is exactly what I do to celebrate my birthday. Now, don't worry this isn't a post about my birthday. It's way to early to be talking about that. At least that is what everyone keeps saying. But I was doing some "research", we'll call it, of movies that I may be overlooking on my current list of must watch Awesomely Bads and these write ups made me laugh out loud. This one and this one, I found particularly spot on. Don't even get me started on The Notebook. Don't. But if you know me personally, you've heard it already and this writer said it way better and funnier then I could.

Shout Out to my favorite Miss S.C. who was by my side to witness both these flicks. No one better to watch an Awesomely Bad Movie with, intentional or not.