List style

I've been doing a lot of thinking.  And dealing with a lot of different people and issues.  In doing so, I came up with these lists.  Proceed with caution.

Things I Cannot Stand:

- intolerance.  REALLY?  This is surprising?  It shouldn't be.
- stupidity.  That pretty much speaks for itself.
- skinny jeans.  That shit should not have made a comeback.  
- people who can afford to shower, but don't. If I can smell you from across the room, you're gross.  Period.
- delusions of grandeur.  Come on.  If you don't know your subject well, you aren't fooling anyone and you look and sound like an idiot.
- denial.  See comments above.
- laziness.  Seriously.  If you can't find a job to support yourself, don't expect someone else to.  And don't try living off the state just b/c you have a bazillion kids.  You're an asshole.  A lazy one.
- women who think men should support them when they're perfectly capable of working.  You choose not to.  This is also called "laziness" and makes the rest of us women look bad.
- bad grammar.  GET A DICTIONARY AND TAKE A WRITING CLASS, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD.
- people who say they're soooo old at 30.  FUCK.  YOU.  You're not old.  You're gonna pay for my retirement, bitch.
- people who don't pick up their dog's shit.  Imma gonna chase you down w/ one of my little blue bags if you don't pick up after your pet.  
- infidelity.  Pretty sure I don't need to explain this.
- Sarah Palin.  'nuff said.

Things I Heart (besides my family):

- my friends.  You all have unwittingly enriched my life, and for that, I'm thankful.
- my man.  Because he loves me even when I'm a complete dork...and then some.
- Boston terriers.  The world does not have enough of these!
- Boston terriers in sweaters.  *giggles*
- rainbows.  And double rainbows too.
- tea.  100+ flavours...yesssss. 
- gouda cheese.  *swoon*
- fire.  DUH.
- boots.  All of them.  Except for ankle boots from the 80s...GO AWAY.
- movies.  Netflix is my BFF.
- Olympus Spa.  *sigh*
- liberal, open minds.  As if you didn't know this already.
- Burningman.  It's like an amusement park for people like me.
- clothing swaps.  You know I love them!  I love trading clothes w/ my friends!
- Portland.  Of course.
- riding my bike in a skirt.  I wear padded shorts underneath, but it's still so freeing.  All I need is a big sun hat & a mint julep in my hand!  Oh, and a basket w/ flowers in it.
- Mexican food.  I could eat it everyday.  But I don't.  But I could.  
- smart people.  You know why, you geeks & nerds.  It's sex-ay.
- petticoats & bustles.  Perhaps I should've lived in a Victorian era of sorts.  Hmmm...maybe not.
- music & dancing at music festivals.  I'm currently rocking out right now on Pandora and dancing in my seat.
- freedom of choice.  Of course.  Thanks Devo!


What about you?  You haz some to share?

**photo by yours truly.  B'man 2010.

The last teeny tiny bits o' summer

Well, summer is almost gone, even though there's blue sky outside and temperatures hovering around 73 - which works for me!

We had our last bit o' outdoor summer fun'in this past weekend with Decibel Festival happening.
Friday was spent inside a club with no ventilation (you can bet I'll be mentioning that part in my review), listening to Emancipator and Beats Antique, while trying to keep from passing out from the humidity inside.  It was jam packed with about 50% of the people dancing and the other 50% trying to get to and thru the bar for a drink.  You know it's hot when the walls are sweating (blech!).

Saturday we ventured out on the scooter to meet some friends on the front lawn of the Seattle Centre for dB in the park.  When I say "a few" friends, I mean an entire lawn full of people.  It kind of looked like this.  It was a sunny day, the lawn was full of people dancing, laughing, hooping, or just gathering on blankets to hang out.  

It was the perfect end to a not so perfect (weather-wise, that is) summer.

I look forward to more outdoor events come next spring/summer & I'm sure my friends do too!


**Look at how happy we are!  Pic courtesy of my dear friend, Playapixie.
***PS - MY MAMMOGRAMADINGDONG IS CLEAR!  WOOHOO!





 

Mammogramadingdong

Good times, good times had by all.

And by all, I mean me.  

And the chick that was manhandling muh girls.

If you're wondering, yes, I had a mammogram.  Why?  Well, I turned 40 this year (obviously, if you couldn't tell by the title of this blog), so my good ole gynie made me make an appointment to get my boobs smushed. 
It wasn't as horrible as I thought it would be.
Basically, I had to stand two ways (for both sides) - so 4 "pictures" taken. 
Of me boobies.
I have to wait a week for results, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that nothing turns up.

If you're 40 or about to turn, you should make that appointment too!

 

**photo courtesy of the internets.

My Swan Song

Another burn come & go.  
Another amazing time in the desert, the harsh elements - first rain, then a double rainbow (!!), then the heat, then a dust storm (of course), then freezing cold temps at nite/early morning.
I love(d) all of it.  

My friend Jessica says Burningman is "the most amazing place on earth."  Quite frankly, I have to agree with her.  It's not for everybody, definitely not for people who can't handle being dirty ALL THE TIME or need certain amenities to get thru the day, but for those of us that don't mind, it really is the most amazing place on earth.  You will never see art in the real world that's created just for this event.  You will never see costumes in the real world that are created just for this event (or maybe you will if you live B'man all year round, I suppose) - while Halloween is my favourite holiday EVAR, it just doesn't hold a candle to what I've seen out there.  You will never be around every walk of life beaming with creativity and love...TOGETHER.  You just don't.
You also won't have super fine dust in every crevice of your body all day everyday like you would when you're out there, but that's besides that point.

This was number 6 for me.  Every time I go to B'man I come back wondering what the next year is going to be like.  I'm like a little kid out there - I ride my bike around staring in wonder at "all the cool shit" and everyone that's made the trek...with a big smile on my face.  
I love it.  I really do.
This year was fun, but also hard for me.  
As you may have read from my earlier post, I took my friend's ashes down to be placed at the temple.  I was an emotional rollercoaster that day.  We got to the temple, walked in, and I immediately walked right into this little nook which I knew Cristal would've loved and placed her there, cried my eyes out, then blew her a kiss and told her I'd see her again someday.
From there we rode past the man and back to camp, got ready, and headed out to find some good beats to dance in hers & Shura's honour.  It was a good night.

I named this post "My Swan Song" as this is most likely my last year heading up a fire conclave and (possibly) fire performing in general.  I no longer want to be in charge of rounding up fire performers & hoping we make it into the Great Circle to spin.  No more 3 hour meetings on the playa when I could be running around or hanging out with my camp mates.  Next year, I want to come back as a spectator.  Or, join an existing conclave as just a performer and not as their shin.  Things are changing quickly - we're all getting older, people are getting married, having babies, and there is a younger, hungrier group of performers out there.  I'm content with just watching.  This isn't to say I won't pick up a hoop or a stave and spin it, but for now, I want a break.  Maybe a permanent one.

In any case, if you haven't seen them, here's the public gallery on FB of my pics:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=524609&id=681175190&l=551ef32f20

Enjoy!

Here I Go Again...

So.  Here I am again.  Getting ready to head down to Burningman.  Yet.  Again.

I'm in a bit of a frenzy right now - as we've been out of town a lot, so preparations have kiiiind of gone down the shitter.  NONETHELESS, I will persevere.  I always do.  This is how we do it...and not in a Montell Jordan kinda way either.

This year is going to be especially tough for me as I'm bringing down Cristal's ashes.  You may recall a post from my other blog about Cristal - she was a dear friend of mine that was diagnosed in 2008 with cervical cancer and a year later, passed away.  
She went to the playa with me in 2007 and had the time of her life.  I know she had a ball b/c I hardly saw her out there - she was too busy running around the desert creating her own adventures.  She made tons of friends, connections, and worked part time in accounting while attending massage therapy school (sound familiar?  It should).  She was a beautiful person, a loving being, and cancer took her away.  She was only 32.  

The week before she died, we were hanging out - both her and I on her twin hospital bed - talking about how we were going to go to Burningman together again.  I knew, but didn't expect it to be in this capacity - me taking her down in a tiny little box.  But here we are.  And here I am, getting ready to take (part of) her to the temple this year.  

At dusk, a group of friends will be taking another friend's ashes to the temple on Wednesday.  Another friend taken away by cancer.  I will join those friends with Cristal and we will all walk over together.  We will silently pray, meditate, and send our love to both of these amazing women.  When the sun finally sets, we will go wherever we are pulled to go and dance the night away in honour of Shura & Cristal.  They will be with us in spirit. 
...
As above
So below
...

**photo for Cristal, she loved mushrooms

Eeeeeeeeee

I've been trying to take better care of myself as of late - biking more, yoga more, taking Loki on frequent walks around the neighbourhoods - that kind of stuff.  

I realize that my stress level has gone way WAY down since I left my former job.  It was to be expected, I get that - I just didn't expect it to be as low as it's been these past couple of days.  I think I've halted the hair-turning-white-thing for a little while (PHEW!) and I'm much more at ease.  Spending a few hours at Olympus Spa probably helped, as well as the amount of sleep I'm getting - which has been heavenly.  It's like catching up on a year's worth of sleep!  My body is still freaking out a little bit - wondering what I'm doing ("what is this sleep thing?") and getting used to NOT sitting in a shitty work chair.

Currently I'm on stay-cation right now - dinking about town, seeing friends, and taking care of me, til I go back to the working world next Monday.  I'm avoiding cleaning out the garage, even though that's where I should be right now...oh well.

I should be ready to go back to work by next week - til then, I'm gonna do whatever I damn well please!

Enjoy the sun - cuz that's what I'm gonna do!

Goal

Must.  Stop.  Biting/chewing.  Cuticles.  

If you see me gnawing on my cuticles please slap my hand away.

Thank you.