It doesn't hurt to ask

My Friday night dream brought me into a store talking up the sales-lady on sweaters or drinks or I don’t know what she was selling, but I was buying.

We were admiring the red sweater held in suspension between ringed fingers. She kneaded the fabric in slim hands but I only saw pizza dough and an agreeing stomach to a slice of Abbot Kinney pesto spinach chicken something something yum. Jeweled watch hands read past noon thirty and that my dear pepperoni is the only thing that will make sense in this dream.

"I heard that if I told you I was a blogger I could get these items for free."

She turned her head downward, shoulders angled away from the storefront and whispered.
"Oh you blog too?" A smile appeared for a second,
"Yes that's true. Here you go."

Now that just started off the dream right and why not find myself hanging out at a bar next with a cure girl, a cute girl and things were going along great.
It was our first date that wasn’t a date.
Hanging out. Chatting away.
Connecting (sweet!) then it started to get out of focus and I realized I was waking up.

The ceiling was in clear view in front of me.
"Damn it."
Cottage Cheese didn’t care.
"I bet I woke up because my body thinks it's time to go to work," said out loud and sure enough the clock said 6:08 AM.

Fuck. So I rolled over and didn’t dream another thing.

Tiny Feet and Baby Heads

Strange dreams and a ton of work I'd brought home kept me busy for most of the weekend, save for brief evening of flyering on Santa Monica Blvd.

continue boring weekend recap


Ashley signed me up to help hand out flyers and promo CDs for the upcoming Kiss or Kill show with the lure of free beer and a spot on the guest list. (Hey 5 bucks is one Martha Stewart at Pinks). The meet up was off Beverley at Siria's with only this girl Emily, Colin and Paige (Copaigin? Paigolin?) and her friend whose name escapes me but had super tiny feet no bigger than hamsters, hidden under jeans that scraped the floor.

I hear that makes you look taller - the long jeans - not by standing on hamsters.

Had a beer, chatted with the kids before Corey (a little drunk) and Ashley piled in to flyer at the Troubadour. We spent about twenty minutes looking for parking, eventually kicking out Corey to flyer by himself. Within a minute of turning onto Melrose a spot opened up so we had no choice but to help.

Would've be happier hanging out with Paigolin and her friend with the itsy feet and no I don’t have a small foot fetish but the odds were good that "Wow, you have tiny feet! They’re like little hamsters" would’ve come out of my mouth after a couple beers.

Richard Swift? was playing that night, so a decent mix of music lovers started to flow out into my flyer giving out hands. My approach was respectful and simple, always giving them to those who reached out, served with a smile and a thank you.

Corey technique on the opposite side was to yell "See live bands this Friday at the Key Club" over and over which somehow degenerated into "The band that came fifth in the Punk Rock Bowling is playing this Friday at the Key Club."

Like anybody cared; we could’ve yelled "Baby Heads! All you can eat baby heads!" and received the same response. Trust me, we tried.

The best reaction to me offering up a promo CD:
"Oh I don’t have a CD player"

Corey joked later:
"What you don’t have a CD Player??? Well, I don’t think you have a soul Lady!"

I don't have an ending for this post. Oh we ate an In'n'Out and it was yummy.

Yesterday was a horrible day.
Today work has treated us to all you stuff in your mouth pizza.
It just showed up.
All is well for the moment

Pre-tipping?

I was hanging out in Silverlake with Ashley and had dinner at a place that will remain unnamed but has the words Coffee and Table in it.


Now forgive me for not realizing this, a virgin to these ways, but if you eating at an establishment where you order and pay at the counter first, are you expected to pre-tip?

Very much like I would do in a Starbucks, I placed my order and paid with a credit card. I looked around while Counter Guy runs it and take note of thee big communal tip jar and skim past the tip line on the charge slip Counter Guy gave back to me to sign.

Like I’m going to pre-tip I think filling out the slip as Counter Guys watches closely .

Now with a number stand in hand I take a seat at our table as Ashley fixes her coffee, wondering if that strange look Counter Guy gave was for a what I thought it was for. When I ask Ashley about pre-tipping, she confirmed that she did on her charge slip and felt it not surprising for a first timer not knowing to do so.

About five minutes later Counter Guy turns the corner with my food and sees that it’s for that guy who didn't pre-trip. Oh how I could’ve shoved that more than obvious sneer up your pre-tip or die ass, stupid Counter Guy.

You know what?
I had already planned on dropping my tip into the shared jar on the counter. I could've left. I could've not tipped 20% but I did because the food was good and you didn’t drop it and the fact that you sneered was just amusing to me.

Did you acknowledge my monetary gratitude drop into the mighty tip jar? No, you were looking in the wrong direction, thus missing my post-eating tip.

Now I’m forever branded as one of those “non tippers.” Oh well.


[Pre Posting Update: I was googling reviews before I posted this and found this comment on The Coffee Table, and like that customer, the fucker charge a 20% tip without telling me also. Hmm. How much of an asshole I'm going to be about this?]

Funky

So this Sunday you'll might be sitting on your couch flipping through the channels in search of intellectual stimulation from Fear Factor repeats (or the Mexican rip off "Gana la Verde" or "Win the Green." and the green is a Green Card).

All of a sudden you'll sit up, spilling your Diet Pepsi, arms reaching out to nothing in particular with thoughts of low budget music video shoots in a hard to get to bars in Thai Town with fluorescent wigs and at least one drag queen.

But where will you go to get such a fix?
Well you're in luck! (cue game show music)

This Sunday at The Stone (citysearch profile) 5221 Hollywood Blvd. 90027 Sounds of Asteroth will be shooting the second portion of their video for Fluorescent Lighting.

Call time is 10 8 pm - If you have anything funky to wear, bring it.

The only time I've been there to The Stone Bar was to see Seksu Roba, My Barbarian, with Ariel Pink opening up back in late 2003.

Besides a serious lack of parking in that area, I just remember Cortney exclaiming "When the fuck is this guy (Ariel Pink) going to get off the stage?" to a bartender who understood the universal language of "Oh my God this guy sucks" better than English. This was before he (Ariel Pink, not the bartender) put a band together (which I heard still sucked) and was simply singing over a boom box, with his shaggy hair covering his face, looking up long enough to drink his Heinekens.

It looked as hard for him to be up there as it was for us to watch. Weird thing is that when I heard his recorded material it wasn't all that bad.

[This might actually be real boring come to think of it, but the bar itself is pretty cool inside]
View from stage

Fever

Written 25 Days ago:

Happy New Year as its 13 minutes into 2006 as I start to write this.

These weepy, mopey thoughts come only with the trim option called "Fever of 103 degrees". The Moon Roof is not included but feel free to try out the full fetal position shivering, I think you'll like it. Throw on some more blankets and wear your woolly socks! Notice how the shivering never fully stops?.

continue


That's quality built in!
They just don't make them like this anymore, you know.

Let’s walk into what I call "My Office."
Yeah it looks like a bedroom with flimsy walls, not like anything has been going in there to make your roommate turn up the TV volume, you know what I mean?

Oh sorry.
I didn’t realize you slapping your back like that would bother you so.
My apologies.

I see you’re all lightheaded from not eating, and tired of waking up every few hours to drink. Ha, oh man I sooo know what you mean! My vacation was just like that! Picture yourself with saturated lawns of ultra green blades, plastic cups on dew soaked beaches, palm trees shaven for the Olympics, cafe smoking conversations with two second strangers, and fluffy bunnies blanketing your body in warmth.

You know, the usual fever induced hallucinations.

That noise? What was it? Oh that's just the heater coming on.

Heating a near empty house - alone without burglars to thwart. Questionable hallucinations of missing arms of a person I thought would still be here New Years after New Years.

10 years ago:

Morning coffee is all I'll consume on the third day of a 102 degree fever. She's worried about me but this is the first morning I've felt alright.

"I think it might break today," I tell her.

"Well your shivering woke me up last night," she started, "and the only thing that made you stop was when I curled up around you. It was weird how your whole body relaxed when I did that."

I realized now that was something she hardly ever did.

Sliding

I love talking to strangers (Hi Caroline) online because in the real world my natural shyness keeps me at arms length and to be honest I either come off as a snob or total airhead, like you know, totally.

While those traits are real I contain a little more substance than a jelly doughnut while still remaining low in sodium. Or not, whatever. Huh?

Speaking of Caroline, You People (Sorry that just sounds funny saying out loud - You People! :: Shakes fist ::) should read her adventures at Caroline on Crack and do what she does because she drinks and slides down slides and how fucking cute is that?

Recap:
Strangers = good
Strangers not reading myspace messages sent 10 days ago = frustrating
Saying "You People!" = always funny

Would you believe there are moments of perfect stop and go traffic on the 105?

I drove home yesterday as always listening to mix cds over my scraped to the bone brake pads screaming bloody murder to the bumper in front of me. A favorite song ends and a better sad one starts to play as I roll to a near stop on the concrete grade.

On the forth overpass (or is it an undercut?) my eyes followed three little girls as they jump off their bikes to wave to the traffic below. Riding on their way home dressed in mandatory blue skirts and white blouses, laughs and giggles passed to each other - their silliness and smiles glow from above.

Glancing back in my mirror, the strawberry blond afternoon wished me goodnight as I covered my mouth to sing the sad song words again.

Giant Drag, Troubadour 1.22.06

How could one not be in love with Annie of Giant Drag by the third song last night, especially when she would look over to the drummer Micah and smile. I keep picturing her in the blue light the Troubadour uses onstage that makes ever band I've seen there look good.

Inconceivable not to be at least in heavy like (Sorry I was watching The Princess Bride this weekend) with her silly banter between songs. My favorite remark was about their song This Isn't It that had been played on the NFL preshow earlier that day. Their new plans were to go out and start raping people...like football players do.
[From Corey: She asked if anyone heard their song on the NFL game today. She went on in her deadpan 6-year old humor voice to say "That validates it all, now we can go out and rape people and get away with anything we want cause were in with the NFL. This is that song" She played the song and at it's conclusion exclaimed "Touchdown!"]

Random:

Some girl, who Corey and I believed (convinced since checking pictures and height online) to be Rachael Leigh Cook, kept walking back and forth through the crowd, up the stairs, then back down again. I'm talking about 10+ times.

Seriously make up your mind! Oh and will you be my girlfriend too?

While we waited for the crowd to leave after the show, we saw a couple girls from The Like making faces up to the band in the dressing room above us. Apparently Charlotte the bass player of The Like and Annie are sisters - did not know this.

End Random

Missed the band Monsters are Waiting because we thought the bands started at nine but the first one actually had an 8.15 set time.
Seriously wtf, right?

We did catch Dirty Little Secret who were alright to listen to except for the singer that Corey called whiney, to which I agreed, thinking in my head that if you combined a castrated Tom Petty @ age 19 with the Cure....

Yeah, I'll just leave it at that.

Place your bets

I'm going to NOT log onto myspace until Monday.

12.13pm Starting now.

2.30pm Starting now for reals

This is just a test

BEEP - BEEEEEEP BEEEEEEP - BEEP

Dear live journal:

I'm in a bit of mood today.

I saw it coming last night after that so-so episode of Lost and between my first dinner of a fried egg sandwich and later a tuna fish sandwich before I went to bed.

They were medium size eggs.
Next time I'll buy large.
I did remember to take my Centrum, Omega 3 and Vit E d-alpha though. Good Boy

Oh so healthy.
Oh so annoyed with email.
...or the lack of it.

I only have spaghetti to eat for lunch like I do everyday.
Wow, I really want a hamburger.

BEEP - BEEEEEEP BEEEEEEP - BEEP


If this was really a Live Journal entry, you would have seen something more like this girl's LJ I randomly found today.

~~~~~~~~~
I have to admit as much as I diss most of the crap on LJ, I've become a little fascinated by this other person since stumbling onto her journal. Especially so after I saw her (I think)parked in a car by the IHOP on Sunset/Orange a week after finding it.

Small world I guess.

yes, but still

She started to pull imaginary stars from the air with both hands, fingers grasping at tiny invisible firework explosions. I even believe she added sound effects to her motions.

"What are you doing?"

"The music sounds like it's shooting out stars."

"Ah" I said with raised eyebrow
and a smile that hid my thought:

Do you stiil have to be so damn cute sometimes?

Random Rot

Many, many months ago on Friendster I'd requested friendsterness with Kelly of The Dollyrots, and she finally added me this morning. I'm talking almost year ago - long enough that I don't even remember doing it.

So this random event brings you a little dolly update:

According to musicplustv.com, they are performing "Kick Me To The Curb" and "Goodnight Tonight" on a future episode of CSI: New York. It airs Wed 2.1.05 10 pm.

Hopefully it is more than a minute or two 'cause that Kelly is so damn adorable. Just look at their new video for "New College"

See! Damn adorable (along with rocking)

Damn You

Tony Pierce's post about The Replacements last night frustrates me.

Now I have to go home and break out my cassettes and hope the tape player still works on my stereo. Yeah, I have some of Paul Westerberg's stuff on CD, but I'm frustrated that haven't already replaced these tapes with CDs when I should've done it years ago.

My friend Maria got me interested them during my freshman year in high school after Tim came out and I remember driving to the mall singing "Waitress in the Sky" on repeat because we thought ourselves cool in the tragically uncool suburbs of Pleasant Hill.

God I'd forgotten how much I love this band.

I was too lame to see a show before they broke up, much like all the times my other friends invited me to Operation Ivy shows**, but thanks to Corey I did manage to catch Paul's first solo tour at the Fillmore back in 1993*.

Anyhow Tony has linked to some live footage back from 1981.
Well worth checking out.

*Could only find the 1996 poster - the 1993 one was kind of lame anyhow.
**This is part of why I try to see so many local shows these days.

Trapped in Hollywood

[This post blows]

My plan was to slug my way home through Friday night traffic crawl into bed and sleep sleep sleep and dream of a Whiskey Girl conversation. After three nights of four hours and ten items or less bouts of sleep I needed it.

Well that was the plan until Emily from Midway IM'd me with news of impending sellout of the Get Set Go/Midway/NMD/UCP lovefest. Great I thought as I slugged over to Hollywood, side-tripped to the ATM near Arclight, dosey doe'd back west to the KF to buy tickets and finished with a bow to my partner. In this case a very confused Asian tourist.

continue


It would've been a two hour drive home but Ashley needed breaking out of home office arrest in Silverlake and I reluctantly accepted Corey's suggestion of meeting him at Pink's. Though just walking up to stand in line I knew we made the right choice even down to our matching Martha Stewarts (mustard, relish, tomato, onion, sauerkraut, bacon, and sour cream).

As we ate and talked about food, music and stupid bands names (Monsters are Waiting. Waiting for what??) I was getting a little bratty with such little sleep. It was typical funny only to me stuff.

Saturday drove back out to Hollywood for the show at the KF Alterknit Lounge slash Easy Bake Oven. Even though it was GSG's big night, I have to be honest and say that New Maximum Donkey was easily my favorite set. Nothing against GSG, I was just more in a rocking mood than GSG's new mellower (more indie - still great) material these days.

Oh let me tell you a little story (to collective groans): At the Kiss or Kill CD Compilation way back in May (also at the KF) I meet this girl...hmm no, more like we kept turning to each other throughout the night smiling, but the mutual friends we stood with never introduced us, so actual talking was not involved in our first encounter. Now let’s jump back to Saturday now eight months later: She's walking by and I jump a foot over to block her path and told her I must find out her name because I couldn't keep referring to her as the Knitting Factory Girl in my mind forever.

Not sure if she remembered what I was talking about but she did say it was a cute story before walking away after a few minutes of chatting.

I think that was a nice way of saying I'm not interested.

She makes me smile, trip and stammer
and I like that feeling.

Dude!!

Just got the email:

Lebowski Fest LA
March 3rd and 4th, 2006!

Tickets for Lebowski Fest LA - 2006 go on sale this weekend! You can buy your tickets 24 hours before they go on sale to the general public beginning Friday, January 13th at Noon EST. To buy your tickets early, go to TicketWeb.com and enter the super-secret code: logjammin

Last year did sell out in advance so please plan accordingly. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Saturday, January 14th after which no secret code will be required.

Tickets for both events will be on sale:

Fri, March 3rd - Pre-party - Bands, screening of the film, celebrity appearances [Jeff Bridges was there last year! ] and what-have-you. @ The Knitting Factory - 7021 Hollywood Blvd. Suite 209 - 21 and over - 8 PM to 2 AM. $15

Sat, March 4th - Main Event - Ticket includes general admission bowling, shoe rental, costume, trivia and other contests. @ The Cal Bowl 2500 E. Carson St, Lakewood, 90712 - All Ages - 8 PM to 1 AM. $25

http://www.lebowskifest.com

Clap on

Last night I was cooking spaghetti and hamburgers, TV blaring in the adjoining living room, oven range fan um, fanning the steam and seasoned meat smell filling the room.

I was alone - my roommate was gone (or so I thought) - so I wasn't making an effort to be quiet. Like most moments alone I started commenting on the tasks at hand.

I should put in more pepper.
And a little of this too.
This is going to be super D duper yummy

I'm having fun bouncing around, with pots a banging, dishes settle on grease splattered counters, singing that Nair/The Clapper mash up jingle found only in my head:

I got short shorts - dunna dudda nunna dun **
You got short shorts - dunna dudda nunna dun
We got short shorts
The Clapper.

Yes, I'm slightly retarded


Tonight, even though I'm so frigging tired from less than four hours of sleep, I'm making it out to the LBC for this great line up (anyone coming with me?) .

Jessica Dobson always puts a smile on my face when I see her play with hopefully her band backing her up tonight (might be solo). Amazing artist on Atlantic, who will someday put out her album out this year.

Also been reading up on the headlining band Space Mtn, learning tidbits like that Dina Waxman played bass on the last Lemonheads album.

Space Mtn tracks can be had at this 3 hive.com post.

**Yes I know the lyrics are wrong

Yes you

Get Set Go 11 pm
New Maxiumum Donkey 10.15 pm
MIDWAY 9.30 pm
Underwater City People 8.45 pm
The Electrolites 8 pm

Everyone should go to this on Saturday, including you Jane.

Sweet Heather

Dear Heather Graham,

As I was eating my second attempt at dinner, after ditching on my friend Ashley and skipping the hot girls in Rocket, I realized something while watching your new show Emily's something or another Reasons Why Not.

I realized I loved you.

It started with your blue eyes and quirky expressions in that highly under-rated James Wood movie Diggstown and then solidified with your part as Rollergirl ::omg:: should've been Dream Girl, but I have one of those already.

Heather, sweetie, honey, lover, wake up next to me and let me kiss you all morning breath stlye - eyes closed, hands sliding down your belly, yanking pajama elastic waistband closer.

If we were In'n'Out our receipt would called us animal style*.
I would call you yummy.

Marry me.
Cook me dinner one night this week, and I'll do my best making the rest. Fried egg sandwiches and pancakes with smiley faces made out of chocolate chips.

Just for you Heather.


*I could've sworn my receipt said "granimal" one time.

Finally some shows again

Monday 1.9.05 -- Free -- 21+
Viva K with ROCKET @ Spaceland
(Viva K every Monday in Jan)

Wed 1.11.06
The New Fidelity @ USC Campus- Ground Zero Coffeehouse -ALL AGES!
with Fielding and Mike Vavak, all ages

Thur 1.12.05

Jessica Dobson (@ 9ish) at The Prospector in Long Beach. -- $? -- 21+
w/ Space Mtn (10.30), Brad Linsay (10pm)
Watch Space Mtn video - "Oh"

Mellowdrone every Thursday @ Spaceland
To get on the guestlist email the band
(New album in March - good hype on it already)

Download from their site: Fashionably Uninvited
Myspace page ---- band website

Fri 1.13.05
8-bit w/ Mormons, Ninja Academy @ Kelly's Pub, Arcadia $5

Sat 1.14.2006

Get Set Go (record release party!!)
with Midway, New Maximum Donkey, & The Electrolites
@ Alterknit/Knitting Factory $8 All Ages

~~~~~~
Did you know they (?) are opening another Key Club at Casino Morongo" out in Cabazon (@ Palm Springs)?

January, 18 2006 (since the local shows are sold out)
She Wants Revenge with Monsters Are Waiting
$ 13+ sc -- 18+ [update: This might have been postponed]

All Ticketmaster listings for Key Club At Morongo"

Grandma's Boy

Okay this is not the free all you can eat wings at Hooters talking, but I saw a screening last night of Grandma's Boy and it was actually funny if you have low expectations for a pot head movie.

It's no Harold and Kumar go to White Castle (Hello, riding the Jaguar and coke snorting Doogie?), but silly fun with a couple decent of moments of absurdity after a weak beginning and a medium strength ending.

Basically a simple plot of a 36 yr old game tester taking up his grandma offer for a room to stay in after getting evicted. He smokes a lot of pot. He gets the girl. Grandma gets baked. There's Grandma sex and everything will be alright in the end thanks to pot. Should mention the little sub plot about a Neo from Matrix wannabe, real genius, game designer who slips into robot mode as a self defense mechanism which is amusing and I loved the High-deas (termed coined by Lindsayism.com) of the pot dealer in his quest for home security.

Walking out I heard a couple people say it was one of the funniest movie they've seen this year, one guy saying it was more satisfying than Wedding Crashers. My friend Corey said it was better than Half Baked which I haven't seen so whatever, sure.

Afterwards the whole audience was invited to the Hooters across the street for free food (2 types of wings, salad, small sandwiches = yum) and a small portion of the cast was there too. Sadly no Linda Cardellini ("Freaks and Geeks" + "ER"), but the ranch dip was tasty.

Good for: Renting, smoking pot to, and not a total waste of time while sober.

Lessons learned last year

I've been chatting to my Old Friend about our respective New Years and her birthday (saw Greg Proops and Patton Oswald @ Cobbs) yesterday. I've known her for 18 years and totally forgot that she was only three months younger than me.

So this tidbit started heading into an explanation of how she was responsible for the robert dean nickname, which almost brought out my urge to talk about the high school near obsession I had with her and how it affected me*, but thought best not to.

I've learned that girls don’t like to hear about things that rhyme with pobession or Iran-Contra-gate.

They also don’t like to hear that they were only third best in the bed department by the way. This was a different girl’s question I’d mistakenly answered with bruising honesty. Okay I know that was the dumbest thing I could’ve done but get this, I continued with "multi-orgasmic" and "bendy" as to why to she lost out.

A true and hopefully funny to her now story (she does read this). Anyhow she proved me wrong and I stand corrected; She is officially number one, though I feel I won out in the end.

I’m a winner! Yay!

So back to this New Year's resolution post.
That’s what this post is actually about so here they are:

• Go to more Comedy shows
  (Cort/Corey remember the Comedy Underground?)
  
• Pay more attention to others - less about me
  (constant struggle sadly)
• Ask somebody out
  (I have all year - could happen, and yes her)
• Be less shy
  
• Kill Make love to a Canadian (friggin' no good Canucks)
• Learn not to faint at the sight of blood (see above)
  
• Finish the three posts from last month
• Finish my miniature model of the USS São Paulo [NCC-75633]
  (No, not the NCC-74205)
• Go indoor rock climbing
  
• Go to a batting cage for the first time
• Go to a strip club for the first time ( I know! )
• Make out with a girl (No, not for the first time)
• Most importantly, learn when to lie.
  

*I wasn’t a stalker or anything like that and we always remained friends so chill with the restraining order thoughts okay? I was shy and awkward and kept apologizing for everythinga nd it's a long boring story.

The Zoo

My achy legs circled the giraffes today.

The tall one whispered that normally the bamboo strands screen and hold their thoughts.


"This is your life at another year’s end."

Funny, I thought their voice would be higher - a squeaky teen voice streaming from stem throats.

continue


"Yes and another and another; they never seem to end," I spoke from atop the coin operated viewer just to meet eye to eye. Giraffes are especially keen to such direct connections.

"Why are you so down? Sure today is going alright, but you are like these branches: alive but sparse of foliage. You my pal, are in no Eric Estrada mood these days."

"Eric Estrada? Poncherello from Chips?"

"Sorry he was here last week. I just saying you've fallen into a real depression it seems. You've been blogging about your holiday pissiness for months now."

"You're online too??"

"Dude, I'm web 2.0"

"It's not so much I'm in a depression, my weepy layer peels off easier under the holiday bristle. Not the shorter days, not the thunder, nor the rain. I'm from the Bay Area, give me fog every day!"

"Moist concrete mornings and all."

"Yes exactly!" This beast, highlighted with rounded corners, gets it.

"I'm happy go lucky, optimistic to a fault. I'm Los Angeles - 75 degrees in December, but you have to understand, while December’s tail brings child birthdays split by the morning joy of the 25th, some of this weepy wallow is self inflicted.

I'm no New Year’s kiss alone by choice, by fear. I’m stressed by money, annoyed by greed, affected by my father's death on Dec. 20th 1989. Nothing different from years past. Same old, same old, but the lonely part does get lonely sometimes."

I twirl the binoculars to the right to watch over joyous New Englanders swarm the opposite end of the pen, where kid and mom giraffe are eating.

"Ah yes. Those do linger, don’t they?"
Mr. Giraffe starts again with an empathetic smile, "I’ve always believed in new starts for the new year. Little doubt I have on reading about yours this month, so I imagine you’re going to be okay my boy."

"I’m always okay Mr. Giraffe, that’s the way I am. Anyhow the kids are bugging for over priced nachos, I should go." I jump off the peeling green foot stand. "Thank you for listening."

"Anytime Robert. Anytime.
Oh and do me favor and tell Jane we said Hel-lo"

How to make a cat float

I'm back at work on this Monday holiday, a trade off for having the whole week off last week you see. Sucky work life continues, but I did go to the zoo [ya!]and none of the shows I planned on going to during my vacation [sad face]. Oh well.

I would've told you strangers, friends and ex-lovers all about life in general [what do I know about that anyhow?] but the nasty flu I've been dealing with since Friday morning has kept my eyes away from flickering computer screens, flashing commercials, and don't let me start on the quick edits that the kids love these days.

Half drafts to be finished soon.

This illustration makes me smile.