this is the first time I've been able to sign in here in 2 years! Yikes!!!!

TRF is coming

TRF is opening next weekend, and as usual, I'm not ready. No shortage of reminders though - - - idiots rolling up to ask DH to 'touch up' their signs (bought in the past but they couldn't be bothered to take varnish, maintain, or in a few cases, even bother taking down for the ten months the show isn't open), other idiots wanting new signs (hello, assholes? We open in 6 days . . . where were you in July when there was time?), and the rest of the fools brigade of people seeking passes, part time work, full time work, or favors. For the most part, anyone I'd do a favor for wouldn't be asking NOW, and I have no patience for the hanger-ons who think these shows are just a way to avoid any effort or work in life. Go away losers, we are busy.

There are things about the start of the show to look forward to:

The tiny Prince next door is even more of a person at nearly 2 than he was last year, and no doubt still ruler of both parents and extended family, not to mention cute as a fuzzy bug!

And my very favorite BFF will be in soon, for the most extended time of easy visiting in all the year.

Neighbors gone for summers work will return and settle in. There will be time to plan for winters fun.

And news, from loved ones and aquantances far off, who no longer return each fall, will come in abundance with those who do return. Success and failure, birth and death, hooking up and coming undone; the updates of a scattered yet strong community that always serves to remind me of why we started out, in joy, on this path in the first place. And of why it still is our path, for all that.

Dancing for my dinner, and another Comet loss

Ok, I guess I'd rather just be losing from the start than be winning until the last quarter and then see it all slip away. Neither one is an optimal choice, but then, an 0-whatever start for the season leaves so much for improving on . . . *sigh*

I was pretty much exhausted when I arrived at the Toyota Center for this game. I'd been traveling, my plane landed at 5 and I dragged my darling husband to the game with me. As we made our way through the concourse, he told me some escapade my animals had pulled off while I'd been gone, and it made me laugh out loud. Some Comet staffer in a headset came up to me and asked me if I wanted to 'Dance For Dinner' . . . at first I was sort of confused, and then he went on to remind me of a time out promotion that started last year when we had Kostaki, from Greece, on the roster. The sponser is Niko Nikos (best Greek food in Houston) and the way it works is three randomly selected fans are brought out onto the court to dance, and then the crowd chooses a winner by applause. Winner gets $50 gift card from Niko Nikos, and I knew there was no way I could win - - - I am not a dancing machine - - - but then headset dude told me every one who plays gets a meal from Niko Nikos, $35 for each of the two non winning dancers. OK, I don't embarrass easily and I love Niko Nikos, so I signed the release, agreed to meet the headset dude at the half and went off to find a stout margarita and get my nerve up for the dancing. As the first two quarters ticked by, Sacramento leading all the way, and the Comets from behind had several disconnected moments of beautiful basketball (wonder if they will ever string 40 minutes of that together this year? At least there is the hope of Candace Parker in the '08 draft )

Anyway, soon enough it was time to head to the meeting spot and meet the other dancers; both season ticket holders I'm familiar with from various events over the years, and thankfully, both adult women so no cute kids to compete against! Headset dude took us all down to the tunnel the opposing team uses, and we got a chance to observe all the M's heading towards the floor. Once they were out, and the Comets dancers, Team NRG, were all in place, we were all lead out to a waiting area on the floor where the tunnel meets the floor to watch the third quarter until the first time out. That made it all worth it - - - such fun to see any part of a game up close like that. Soon enough though, it was time to go onto the court. I stood right on the C in the Comets logo, at center court, with a tv camera basically in my face, and did what can only be described as a white girl shuffle. All that trepidation, and it was amazing to be out on the floor, look up at the crowds, etc., and before I knew it was all over and I had my free dinner at Niko Nikos to look forward to planning. Since my DH was with me, I brought the camera to the game and he got photos. Haven't downloaded the disc yet, but will share with you when I do.

Monarchs won, game crowd downhearted, Coach Jenny fun to watch, had autograph session after the game and realized I didn't have my 07 hat or anything, really, so DH and I got my ticket and an arena roster card signed by Latasha Byears and Barbara Turner.

Whew, long time, no blog

I've been busy with work (can you say Harry Potter eats my life?) and my darling nephews wedding in Florida, and, most satisfying of all, moving into my new studio space! I'll be back soon with photos!

New cupboards and big plans

I've been thinking and planning this cabinet since we built this bathroom, back in - - - wow! Could it really have been 1995? 98? that long ago? - - - Just goes to prove my point, which is that home improvements around here are not speedy, and they are worth waiting for! When finished, these will have lovely colorblock doors.

An added bonus of all this is my DH has come up with a great new studio space outside to move all my weaving paraphernalia into, and it is big enough to actually work in, not just store the mountains of materials. I might finally get some of thos projects out of my head this summer, too. I'm feeling catered to and excited and inspired, and all that leads to a particularly happy brain!!!

Thankful, grateful am I

Thanksgiving is always such a busy time . . . getting ready for the big holiday gatherings - always the first one of the season, right? - and the grocery store is packed with people and samples of yummy things, and all the traditional things. It is so easy to get caught up in the holiday season too soon, working in retail. I was putting up the Christmas displays in October, right after Halloween came down. Renaissance stretches to the week before the big feed (this year, anyway. Next year, we will include that big holiday weekend in our show with a three day stretch - something I'm really not looking all that forward to, in truth.) and between that and my regular work, there isn;t much time left for holiday prep. Lucky for me, DH's favorite holiday meal is a big juicy ham, and I find that sooooooo much easier to prepare than a turkey, so the bird(s) are in the freezer and DH is feasting daily on the left over ham.

My point here, though, was to refect on the sadness so many people feel with the coming holiday season, For so many, Thanksgiving (and even Halloween) represent the begining of that season of amplified aloneness that no amount of holiday decor, lights or food will reach. I had an aquaintance - a bright woman of only 51 - who picked this week before Thanksgiving to end her storied life. She was staying with neighbors, and was living, sort of camping out, in a new structure on their property. They had plans for many happy family gatherings to take place there in the new building, which they weren't yet moved into - might have been even planning to gather their large and loving family in that building for a first thanksgiving holiday since it was constructed. A couple days before that, though, this sad lonely woman swiped a rope, prepared a noose, and slung it over the still exposed roof rafters in this two story place. She hooked her noose over her head and took that final leap. Her action has colored that place for the neighbor's family, and it will be a while before they can exorcise the ghost of her actions in that structure, which was meant to shelter and contain the large and loving family into the future.

Many neighbors and aquaintances talked of how selfish suicide is . . . how the person who took the final leap didn't have to be the one who started his day out finding her cooling remains and who spent the rest of the day dealing with police and self recriminations about what he (they) might have done differently to save her. I will admit to agreeing with this genral premise a first, but then I started thinking about the dead woman - alone in life, without (or estranged from) family, facing her later years wondering if her looks would continue to provide for her, generally down hearted - and I can't help wondering if she picked that spot so she wouldn't be alone, so she'd always have loving family events around her, there in the home of the loving family.

I hope two things from all this: That the family, full of love and hope and laughter, will continue to use their new home as planned, and that the spirit of the sad woman will rest easy, there in the heart of one of the few loving familys she ever knew.

15th century musings . . .

In my other job, I work renaissance festivals, and there is one going on now. It's a big show, and draws a fairly large size crowd of revelers. However, I have never understood why some folks determine that because it is a costume event, they should parade their deepest sexual fantasies for all to share. This weekend, the theme is fantasies and fairies, and I lost count of all the fairy sluts I saw. What are they thinking? Are they thinking at all? I think not . . .