shit is happening

I just figured out that life is a lot more complicated, difficult, painful and messy than I had ever let myself believe.

February Starts Now

It's OK that January got away from me. It was a rather thick month - as it usually is. Did I tell you already how Amy is going to switch birthdays with me next year? That or I decide to only celebrate my 1/2 birthday. I need a fricking pool party, that's what I'm saying here, people.

Except, the second I express angst on my dearest of months I am reminded that a prairie sunrise at Redpath in January is truly a winter wonder. I got one this year! And an hoot owl serenade to boot.

So here's to the garnet!

Day 1 of February: I think there is a big game today. I really don't support the NFL, but in honor of Pete's concussed head, we'll probably watch. Even though he shouldn't be watching TV. It was a curling incident a few nights ago that was not likely handled properly. So I give it to the NFL - at least they have standards and protocols. I just checked his pupils, confirmed he didn't feel sick to his stomach and we went to bed. Room for improvement on the emergency situations, right? Hopefully he got some rest last night and escalations are kept to zilch today. I have some jalapeno stuffed mushrooms I'm gonna make and maybe some wings. Lazy Sunday Is In Order.

In other news: I got a Smith-Corona!! I am merely the custodian of my dear Aunt Lezlie's old typewriter. It's glorious! The g and w stick a bit, but I will figure that out soon enough. I've already gotten a few letters out the door and it feels great. One thing about typewriters: You screw up, you gonna start over? Or you just gonna make it work? The editing, re-editing, and uber-editing are eliminated from my insane message dispersal process. It's awesome!

I have some sun lined up for my bad self. Mexico and Florida for sure. Maybe another Florida and an Arizona mixed in there too. Lots of work anxiety continues to permeate my everyday life, but here, we write, we purge, we take steps towards corralling the concern and moving through it. Eat that Mars.

phono

t'was an old vinyl christmas and all through the house not a people was sitting, not even a mouse!

berger hooked up kk's old turntable a few weeks ago and these here 70s kids got a lesson in how to stack n spin! dude, it was so fun. dad had a BUNCH of old 45s, got even more from vicky lynn and then pete and i brought a batch of jim eliason's LPs and liddy gave them some too. lester young was a HIT! it was really something special.

and just like conan says, it makes me realize that there is no room or reason for cynicism. cynicism gets us nowhere. so the hipsters are grabbing vinyl off the shelves and it's new old cool and whatever whatever. it's fucking awesome is what it is. to hear the needle drop and float - and to listen, to actually listen to what someone put together for our enjoyment - in it's entirety - and then to be so engaged that it's a pleasure to flip it.

thanks to kk and to the lovers of music in my family and everywhere.

just ask the axis - he knows everything.

mars is in retrograde

no, it's not. i don't even know what that means. and i am sure it's not true this time of year. i guess we made it to mars? good for us. as stated in previous posts, i am all in on space travel. i think Sir Richard Branson would meet me and like me and be like duh, of course you're coming with. you're rad, rachel.

pandora! do you love how i am always like 10 years behind? yes, yes you do. duuuuuude! i got an iphone! omgomgomg steven was like, "give your sister her phone back!" classic. it's real. i haven't upgraded to the new ios (even pete has!) so i am still going slow, but better than qwerty, right?!
anyway, streaming pandora today's hits. i just love it. it's like yer my mirror, we live in cities, lately i've been i've been losing sleep, girls chase boys, i mean they are hits because they are catchy, yo. it's just simple music-industry-over-engineered-craftsmanshit but it's fucking catchy. im dancing in my chair.

in other news - first post of 2014? oct 5? yipes. let's just say it wasn't a good year? i dunno. i had a lot of weeding out to do. it was overgrown. life and the blog. but what did jose always say? throw it over the wall, man. throw it over the wall.

so here's your debut, Senor Blog. make the best of it because you ain't gonna pay the billz but maybe it'll be fun. well that's guaranteed.

sunRISE

there really is nothing like watching the sunrise. and good thing. it's nice to have events in this world that are like no other. note em, mark em, appreciate em.

i have been trying to learn to sit still. i pull out the bleacher chair onto the stoop and watch for about thirty minutes while the sky goes through an awesome transformation. slowly the black turns to midnight blue and streaks of magenta and dark orange appear on the horizon. it all happens so fast as the cirrus clouds go from grey to pink to white. it's difficult for me to sit and just watch and be present. i am always thinking about what's next...an email, this blog, work....i use the idea of a border collie around my thoughts - circle em, bring em in. stay HERE.

once it's up, its nice too - but dawn! don't miss it next time you have a chance.

fair game

granted, the minnesota state fair is not for everyone. there's a lotta noxious smells, there's a lotta ill-fitted clothing and there is a LOT of unhealthy food.  but if done properly, you've got a fighting chance at makin some great memories.

new to us: we took an express bus from the burbs. one, we aren't huge fairgoers. we like hittin the music and grubbing a bit - but two, we sure as shit have never ventured into the human abyss that is  first saturday evening at the great minnesota getagether. but we gave it a-go and parked at kmart, downed a few cans of sierra nevada and hopped on for a ride "there and back again." well, presumably "back."

the comfy cruise took us west on 94 in a roundabout way, flying past a brainless cyclist (i support biking but this dude was hiiiiigh! millimeter flyby miss by the maybe-a-little-aggressive-but-sorta-justified bus driver) coming to a slow motion crawl towards the cattle lot that was "the metro transit loading zone." talk about mmmooooo. we departed the bus with pleasantries and when we finally snaked around the bodies at every community's "stop" we found a huge line for tickets. screeeeech on efficiency. luckily pete doesn't handle lines well and suggested we walk a few feet east to a completely empty entrance. goodbye cows, hello....fair.

much to my surprise, pete then headed straight into the miracle of birth barn....only discovering his misdirection when he looked up and saw video of an emerging placenta on mounted tv at the entrance! yes! placentas rule! I was totally pumped by at least getting to cut through the barn cause I knew i'd have a solid chance at seeing some piglets - no matter how brief. that'll do, pig. that'll do.

first food stop? poutine! our pals are from ottawa and this didn't compare, but reminded us of the time four years earlier that we hit the fair with them and there then four-month old son who did NOT like the horses neighing. "no, we don't need to try it again, lou! he's just gonna screeeam again!" neeeeeeeeigh.....waaaaaaahhhhh!

next up, a wander towards judson and nelson, my free outdoor news (maybe just a hug says the sportsman in the booth) and then off to corn. gotta get the corn. famous daves ribs, a cold beer (finally) and some blues, baby!  it was dry and it was windy so ya hadta cover yer cup if it wasn't to your mouth. but the tunes were nice and the crowd was friendly.

but our real destination (at this point in the evening anyway) was dear old heritage village.  pert near sandstone was playing soon and we wanted to go get a spot and catch up with our pals. EVERYtime i walk into that subculture i love it even more.

slow moving vehicle

things here took a hard left turn into wrongtown, usa not long ago. i said this wasn't a dream journal or a hope diary - but when there are so few outlets and so much oozing, shits gotta come out somewhere. thank god for draft status, that's all i have to say.

"don't forget to go outside" means get off yer duff and go check out life. but it also means go lay on the hammock and watch the clouds float by. don't have a hammock? go buy one for god's sake - they are stupendous!

i think we move too fast. i think we also use collective pronouns when we are really just talking about ourselves.

winter, spring, summer...labor day is around the corner. and i think i blasted through all of it in 5th gear. which, i must admit, just stripped out a few weeks ago. stripped out hard. karma police - airbag deployed and i am checking out the wreckage right now. a year in omaha has taken a solid gold dump on our lives - but i think in the end, for the better. my innate ability to juggle other people's wants and needs while looking so casually casual needs a hiatus.

slow 'er down. just go for a walk. lay in the yard. picnic at the beach. notice people and birds and bugs. there is nowhere you have to be except right here, where you are. and whilst this slowdown, be sure to keep writing about your dreams and your hopes. just not here, pal.

in related news: woot woot! shopping for a new car! "new new?" you ask? probably not. let's not get crazy here. but new-to-me is good enough! my dream car is actually a toyota tacoma with a topper - preferably green. buuuuut, it's looking like it'll be a sedan. practical, logical, and utilitarian. those are my adjectives, unpacked and on display. sports car? convertible? mini-suv? nope, nope and nope. the only real problem with sedan is how boring it is. snore. but i will say this: i don't really care. i mean i have never been a car person, really. i loved my gramma sunbug, already mentioned the pickup, but other than that? to and fro, yo. to and fro.

and after a year of dashing, i will be moving back to the slow lane, thankyouverymuch.