Is This the Place That I've Been Dreaming Of?

So, the weekend kind of got away from me and I didn't get on the computer much at all. Coadster had a double header for soccer games on Saturday and that took us away from our house most of the day.

Which is going to be my big lame excuse for doing the Saturday Scavenger Hunt late once again this week. The word this week was pink. At first I figured all those beautiful Spring blooming trees would be perfect for the word, but then when I thought about it some more, it seemed a little too wholesome for me and I went for something WAY more raunchy.

You know how some drunk guys are always trying to get girls to lift up their shirts for them? Well, I like to turn that around and make guys show us girls their goodies. Is it so wrong of me want to objectify men every once in a while?...Okay, all the time. Whatever.

On Friday night I found some guys gone wild and had them show me what they had. Some boys were shy, or had more class or maybe weren't so insanely drunk, but for whatever reason, they weren't down for exposing themselves. But luckily for me, I was still able to find some shameless souls and I appreciated them very much.

So, if you are offended by the pink things I'm putting up for the hunt, this is probably your first trip to my blog. It's okay. There are thousands of other blogs and many of them have much more class than mine. I won't be hurt if you're offended by my images and choose to read those instead. I've always been well aware of the fact that I'm not for everyone.

See How It is, They Want You or They Don't

Here's what I see when I look toward the downtown area on my way to work in the morning.

Hey, guess what happens when you blog drunk and try to get all earnest about dating and shit? Well, if you read last night's post, you know that you ( and as usual, when I say you, I mean me) fuck it all up and then have to clean up your internet shit the next night. That being said, this post is going to have to serve as an answer to all your comments from last night. 'Kay? 'Kay.

The tough thing is figuring out what the hell I was even trying to say. So, lets see....I'll just start by saying I hate dating. I am such a relationship girl and went from one to another, straight from the time I was 19 until I was 37. Then I had that 4 year stretch when I wasn't in a relationship and wasn't dating and last year I tried to start dating again. The good thing is that dating now is so much better than it was when I was in my late teens because I don't care as much and I'm a lot more confident than I was back then (which still isn't saying much). Dating definitely isn't my thing, but it's what I got right now, so I might as well just try to figure it all out. And I think that's what I was trying to do last night - however sloppy and disjointed it was.

So, when I was talking about what men wanted and honesty and whatever other bullshit I was spouting, it wasn't about relationships, it was more in the dating or "trying to get with someone" world. As I recall, the guys I was hanging out with were saying that they always think they want every pretty girl they see, but really they're much happier and the sex is much better when they're in a relationship with someone they're really attracted to and have a connection with. There. Does that make more sense?

Two of my girlfriends are in great, super positive, super sexy relationships and a couple of weeks ago, we were talking about how much better sex is in a committed relationship than when we're just out there "dating". So, in my drunken stupor last night, I think I was trying to say that it seems like men and women want the same thing, but for whatever reason, it's kind of tough to get there.

As for the honesty portion of last night's post, I understand it can be tricky when trying to hook up with someone. I think if I actually had a point, it was just that, I hate feeling like I'm being played. I would rather have a guy tell me how he feels and what he wants, rather than tell me what he thinks I want to hear. Which isn't to say, that I want some guy I don't know to come up to me and say, "Hey, baby. What's happenin'? Let's go in the bushes and do that thang." It's more like I'd like to talk to someone and have them be real, and if there's some chemistry, then we can talk about what we want to do about it. The guy who was hitting on me on Saturday was talking in such weird circles, it made my head hurt. And just in case you were wondering, nobody is sexy when they make you want to stick forks in your temples to stop the throbbing pain.

Okay. I think that's enough back pedaling for one post. Does this answer your questions a little better than last night's messiness?

Well They're the People That You Meet When You're Walking Down the Street

Here's me being obnoxious and sticking my tongue out at you. Now there's something you don't see every day...Or maybe it is.

I was sitting around pondering what to write about tonight. It's Tuesday and I gave myself a night to relax, since for the next two weeks I should be running around like a crazy(er) person. I was kicking around the idea of writing about the dangers of texting, because Coadster told me one of her friends was texting a boy she liked and accidentally sent him a text that was intended for her girlfriend where she gushed about how excited she was to be texting said boy. I also wanted to say that I RSVP'ed my friend Libby's husband R.'s 40th birthday party with this:

Hey there honey bunches of oats. I'm officially RSVP'ing for the bowling party on the 16th. I checked with my daughter, and for some reason she doesn't want to hang out with her mommy on her 16th birthday party. Who knew? Apparently, though, I am allowed to give her money so she can party with her friends. Awesome.

I will warn you that I haven't bowled since junior high, so the comic factor should be really high.

Okay. See you at the alley.

Churlita

She responded thusly:

I love you.

Which made my extremely boring day at work that much better. If you knew Libby, you would totally understand. I run into her sometimes in the mornings when I'm on my way to work and she's walking her dogs. When I ask her how she is, she always responds with, "I'm just a little bit better than everyone else." And it really is true. Oh, and she swears a lot. See? Now you can like her too.

So, I guess that's all I've got to say in this post. Feel free to tell me about one of your favorite people in the comments.

But Everybody Else is Overwhlemed By Indifference and the Promise of an Early Bed

Just so you know, my post has nothing to do with Scarface. I just found this amongst my other pics and I have no idea what the hell I was thinking when I took it. I just think it's funny that I did.

This will be a mercifully short post. Thanks to everyone for all the great suggestions in the last post. It gives me so many things to check out on the web now...You know, because I'm sure I couldn't find anything (cough, Youtube, cough) on my own to obsess over on the lovely internets.

Tonight, the girls were at their dad's house. Now that he's done with his play, I actually have a night or two during the week to myself. (at least after 7, that is) It's kind of nice not to have to hear about what girls in eighth grade are sluts and which boys are stupid players and who broke-up with who and blah and blah. Okay, it's not that my friends don't still talk about that stuff, it's just that with my girlfriends, I at least know who the sluts and the players are so I can join in.

Anyway, I met the supper club gang out for Mexican food and margaritas. It was great, and there was a new woman there who cracked me up and I was so glad I met her. Then I went to the Dublin for one beer with my friend K. and her boyfriend A. before I went home and they went to see the Mekons. I decided not to go to the show because it was late and expensive and the food and the couple of drinks were just enough and the promise of a halfway decent night's sleep was a little more alluring to me. Hey, maybe I am capable of being responsible every once in a while after all.

And Ooh, Won't You Take Me There

This weekend of Erik's visit was wonderful and fun. The days were mellow and relaxing and the nights were social and entertaining. Of course, that means I'm kind of wiped out tonight. So, instead of a weekend recap or of doing the Saturday photo scavenger hunt, I'm just going to do a quick and dirty post about our date last night.

First we went out for sushi at Takanami. It was very, very good. We had some shrimp tempura and eel and avocado roll, some spicy white tuna, another crab meat and salmon roll and lastly we tried salmon roe with a raw quail egg on top of it. Seriously, it was quite an amazing taste sensation and as always with Erik, great conversation.

We then headed over to The Dublin Underground where some of Erik's friends were supposed to meet us. Like most of his friends, they were fun and interesting to talk to.

Then the other, regular cool kids showed up and we had ourselves a blast.

Just when I thought it couldn't get any better, people started seeking me out to let me know that my girl crush and her fiance were on their way into town. Hooray!

We went straight into dance party mode, and danced to Michael Jackson's PYT. My favorite bartender S., called me POT (pretty old thing). Which made me laugh very, very hard - after I hit him, of course.

I even got to dance with my girl crush and Erik at the same time. I could have died and gone to heaven (or wherever I'll end up) right then and there.

But after all that fun, it was obviously time to go home. Erik called us a cab...

...And my girl crushes fiance, picked her up, threw her over his shoulder and took her home too.

The end.

Open Up Your Mouth and Feed It

I'd like to think of me and Erik as being happy in general. There is one way to make us even happier though, and that is to feed us. We are HUGE food eaters. So, you don't have to even try to convert me, because I've already accepted food as my personal savior.

As you've probably already guessed, I'm milking my weekend trip for another blog post. Hey, cut me some slack. I don't get out much, so you may have to hear even more about it, until I go to the fun girl dance party that was postponed until this Saturday. Sometimes the weather actually works in my favor.

Okay, yeah. Whatever. The guy in the photo is Emilio and he made all of our food - very well. He never stopped smiling. Even on Sunday when the torrential rains washed all the roads out. We asked him if he was able to get his truck through it and he said, "No." But he had a huge grin on his face. How fucking awesome is that?

This photo is kind of hard to see, but Emilio made all the girls heart shaped pancakes for breakfast on Saturday morning. The boys were a little put out about only getting round ones, but we just told them to suck it up and deal with it. The important thing was, that he fried enough bacon for all of us.

Here is a photo of the peppers and onions he cut for fajitas for Saturday lunch. Emilio was so great that he made the fajitas with not only beef AND pork AND chicken...

...But tons of shrimp too. Just in case you were wondering, there were no vegetarian options. I don't suppose many vegetarians hang out at hunting and fishing lodges, do they?

The great thing about food, is that sometimes it is fruit and you can blend it up and mix it with vodka and put whip cream on it. Then after you've had a couple of those drinks, you think it's really funny to pretend to do one of those totally dork-ass "got milk" mustaches. Yeah, I just made you glad you weren't there, didn't I?

Yeah Yo Situation is Serious

Here is a picture of me and Erik toward the end of the night when I was looking a little on the demonic side.

Erik's here so this will be short. He picked me up from work which was perfect because it was cold enough to make me whine. When we got home we got food ready for our friends K. and H. I had already made potato leek soup the night before, but Erik still had to make his awesomely awesome leek casserole. Our Leek Fest 2008 was such a success that we put both of our friends into food comas and they went home instead of going to The Dublin Underground with us.

At The Dublin, my friend D. said she thought it felt like it was one of those "full moon" nights where all kinds of craziness (both good and bad) could happen. And she was totally right. Luckily, it was all good craziness. My favorite bartender S. was wearing a shirt that snapped up the front, and once we figured that out, we all took turns ripping it open. He said he learned his lesson and would wear an undershirt from now on.

Because one of the ex-bartenders, L. was there. the dance party started early. By the end of the night, we were pulling out every single one of our cheesy 80's and 90's dance moves to Michael Jackson's PYT and Bell Biv DeVoe's Poison. Which, incidentally has one of my favorite lyrics of all time: "Never trust a big but and smile. That girl is poison..." Truer words were never spoken.

Basically, the night was fun and perfect. I can only hope that tonight is half as fun.

Where the Kisses Are Hers and Hers and His

Hey, remember how I promised you I'd take a photo of the rubberband ball I've been working on? Well, here it is. It's WAY more impressive in person.

Today was birthday day for a few different people I know. It's also the reason I'm going to make another HUGE drunk girl disclaimer. Judging from my behavior earlier this evening, everything I say can and will be annoying. Consider yourself warned.

My co-worker John turned 13 years older than me today. His special day made him hyper and even harder to take than usual. I know I've already told you that I walk a mile to work and when it's seventy degrees and sunny I have a hard time looking very glamorous, but when it's cold, I'm kind of laughable. So, today it was probably 102 degrees below zero in the morning. I was wearing several layers and a hat and my big puffy coat - the one that my girls tell me makes me look like a gigantic purple marshmallow. Well, when I wear the hood up on that jacket along with my hat, I look more than a little bit on the "challenged" side. When I got to work, John's wife was dropping him off and he had the gall to stand in front of me and laugh at my dork-assedness (another imaginary word brought to you compliments of drunken Churly). So, I did what every self-respecting girl would do, I flipped him the bird with both hands. Of course, I was wearing mittens so it was kind of dumb, but John knows me well enough to know exactly what was going on under the fabric.

Tonight I met some friends at George's for my friend K.'s birthday. Among other things, we had an enlightened conversation about which chicks in what seventies TV shows were hot. I used to date a guy who thought Joyce DeWitt from Three's Company was hot. The guys at my table definitely begged to differ. Then somehow we got on the subject of whether Whoopi Goldberg was attractive and there was a little discussion between one of the guys and one of the women about if Whoopi sucked or not. I offered up my usual suggestion - that they take off their shirts and wrestle over it, but they weren't into it. Damn.

Okay, kids. I think that's quite enough bullshit for one post. Come back tomorrow when I'll dispense a ton more.

I'm Tired of Making Out on the Telephone

Oh, look. Another icy tree pic. What a surprise.

Okay. I, er... um, well...I think I'm going to start having a fun fling with this one guy. There. I said it. I don't know if it will develop into anything more than that, because, ironically enough, he lives in St Louis. Yeah, that place K. and I joked about making a pilgrimage to in order to meet a man who will actually pay his share. Life can be funny like that, huh? It's about a four hour drive there and neither one of us are opposed to meeting in some town halfway. There will have to be a lot of effort made on both our parts, and I guess time will tell whether we think it's worth it in the long run. Right now, it feels like it could be.

He is fun and generous and affectionate and conscientious and hott as hell and has been really good at making me feel like I'm worth his time and energy. How refreshing is that? He's also my exact same age. I haven't dated a guy my age or older in the last ten years. And it's not like I'm some scary cougar lady either, it's just that in my town, single, datable men in their forties are an urban legend. So, as many people have pointed out, sometimes you have to import them.

Again, we'll see where it goes, but flirty daytime texting, sexy evening calls and the promise of an actual meeting in person in the next two weeks are really helping me get through all of this weather and the holiday season. And right now, that's enough.

In Fact It Was a Little Bit Frightening

This weekend was long. It felt like more than two days and now I need even more time to recover. It was totally worth being tired, but I'm going to try to go to sleep as early as possible tonight.
The drag part about last night was that I ran out of batteries for my camera about an hour into it. So, I got some fun photos from the Load of Craft event at the Picador, but none from the Santa Crawl itself. My friend Erik said he might try to get K. some pics tomorrow before he skips town, but if not, this is what we got.

I didn't get to the Picador until the tail end of the craft show, but I was just in time to witness my first craft death match. Apparently, it's a timed art competition. The one I saw, was drawing. Four people sat around and drew and then when time was up, their drawings were judged and the best one won a $125 gift certificate for a tattoo. All of this art was made to the soundtrack of Killed By Death playing metal records. There were different craft booths set-up all over the upstairs of the Picador. I didn't buy anything, but K. bought some cool earrings and some awesome cream cheese mints made by Libra. They came in very handy later in the evening after we drank beer and didn't want to ruin any potential making-out opportunities should they arise.

After about an hour or so, we headed over to the Dublin Underground to start the Santa Crawl. I think I'll end this here, and continue on tomorrow. I'm hoping I'll have some more photos of later in the night, because I know you'd all be so sad if you couldn't see just how scary I look when I'm drunk and screeching and wearing a Santa hat trimmed in fake leopard skin.

Style is Surely Our Own Thing

Here is a photo of some hanging speakers.

Hey, has anyone noticed that they are getting tons of google image searches that are leading people to their blogs, or is that just me? I used to get one every few months, now I'm getting like ten or so a day, all from different ISP addresses. Has some new search thing opened up recently?

Lawdy-lawd, how fast the pace gets after one whole day of doing nothing. I'll probably be paying for my get out of jail free card day for the next week or two. Sunday I did all my chores for the weekend and then went to my friend James's house to watch the Steelers win again.

Tonight is supposed to be my night to myself, but my ex needs new tires on his car and can't drive over ice. Plus, the girls needed new stuff for all their activities and my ex prefers not to contribute financially. So, I spent my "me time" taking the girls to different stores and bleeding money all over the mall. Stinky starts basketball on Wednesday and we got her a pair of high tops that even I think are cool They are Adidas and they have this thing where you can switch out the stripes with about twenty different colors. Awesome, huh?

I also ran into my favorite neighbor B. who I haven't seen in forever. She used to work at 126, where I could go hang out and drink wine on her nights there and she lived kind of across the street from me and I could just walk over and pester her entire family. Now she and her twin own a house painting business and she moved further down the street. How lame is it of me that I haven't walked that block over to see her new house since June? Really lame, that's how.

Tomorrow night, I plan on going to the rec building to run. I purposely took a few days off from running when I was so sick, and now the sidewalks are all iced over and I can't safely run on them in the dark without breaking something. So, Coadster and I will go run on the indoor university track. Luckily, Coadster doesn't like running with the iPod, so I don't even have to feel selfish when I hog it all to myself. I love it when my daughters make me look like a better person than I really am.

Tell Me What They're Wearing This Year

Here are some snapdragons that are getting choked out, but still hanging on this late in October.

So, you know how sometimes Friday nights can be hectic? What with returning from work and then running for an hour and getting home with a thirty minutes to spare before all of your daughter's friends are supposed to come by and you still have to do a little cleaning and go to the grocery store, so you skip a shower? You hair has that whole frizz halo thing going on and you're wearing a pair of old faded jeans and a thermal that you must have spilled something on, but you don't change, because after all, you're in a two bedroom apartment with 15 eighth graders and it's so loud, that no one can see anyway.

The doorbell keeps ringing and more and more smelly teenagers enter. Finally, when the bell rings, your daughter yells, "Mommmm! Someone's here for you." Your first instinct might be to hide under your bed, but you go to the door, and there stands your good friend, fresh from NY with her husband. Your friend doesn't have any smelly teenagers, so she looks amazing. Her hair is all styled and highlighted and she's wearing the cutest plaid dress ever made, along with a pair of totally kick-ass boots. You expect to see some look of disappointment when she catches you looking like you've been wrestling hogs all day, but all she has is love and hugs and her amazing laugh.

You ask her how she found your place, and she apologizes for barging in, but she said she must have written your phone number down incorrectly, and she was so worried that she would miss you, if she didn't hunt you down. She and her husband went to the restaurant you suggested when you messaged over Myspace and then they went to a bar and asked the bartender if he knew a woman named Churlita. Of course, the bartender happened to be a guy named Brad, who, not only knew you, but could tell her how to get to your place.

After a half hour, you get to know her husband and are so happy that he seems really wonderful and in love with your friend. It always gives you hope to see that, especially when you know that your friend used to date the same kind of emotionally retarded guys that you have.

Then your other daughter calls and needs a ride for her and her friends from Blackstone where they were eating dinner, to another friend's house. You have to go, but you make plans to meet up for a drink the next night, and you know for damn sure, that you are going to clean-up and dress-up and defrizz and defunk yourself just for the occasion.

I've Been Held Back By Something

Kids, I really tried hard to find a bug to photograph today for Evil-E's photo scavenger hunt, but it was hectic and I didn't have a lot of time. This pic I took of our garden last year, while lame because a moth isn't really a bug, will have to suffice.

Now, on to me fulfilling my promise. I got my hair cut today at a real live salon for the first time since I was seventeen. Back then, the woman in Ottumwa didn't know how to cut curly hair and she tried to layer it, and long story short, I left there crying. This time was so much better. They offered me something to drink, but I said, no thanks, because I didn't know how that all worked, and I figured it was best to keep it simple. The woman who cut my hair was really cool. She had curly hair too and knew just how to cut it. She straightened it so she could be sure to see all the thousands and millions of split ends and eradicate them.

Since my hair doesn't look all that much different than it did before - except it's not quite so damaged now, I have posted some photos of the results. Ready?

Here is me trying to be serious, but I forgot to turn the fan off, so it blew my hair all around my face. If I had been thinking, I would have turned around and finally done my Stevie Nicks impersonation that I spoke of in an earlier post.

Oh, and I do realize that I don't exactly possess one of those even, all over tans. I have an unseemly, runner's tan. On the plus side, I also don't have a strangely orange hue and I haven't cooked my insides like someone who uses a tanning bed.

Like everything else respectable that I try to do, this little photo shoot turned into a complete dork fest. Here is me making my monster face. My girls really loved this one when they were about three. Now, they just say, "Mom. Stop."

And this was supposed to be my fish face, but I had to use my hands to hold the camera, so I couldn't use them to put on each side of my face to make fins. Damn it.

I did take these on my bed, but all you can really see of it, are the purple sheets that Stinky said I should buy.

How Could I Leave This Behind?

Here is some eggplant. It is very purple.

Let's see. We might be a little scattered and random today, but you shouldn't expect any less from me by now. Tonight was what it was. I found out some things that didn't matter and I was stupid to react to, but I had had a couple of beers and I'm a girl, so I let certain things bother me more than they should. Anyway, by the time I met my friends, I was in kind of a weird space. My girlfriends were great as usual and talked me down. My friend A. even told us about the game she and some of the women she works with played the other night. They would name three guys and they would have to say which one they would push off of a cliff, which they would have sex with once and never see again and which they would spend the rest of their live's with and why. Hey, now that's just some fun there. While we were laughing about that, my friend S.'s husband leaned over and said, "What? isn't there anyone you would want to set on fire?" And that REALLY got our wheels turning. That is, until we started making plans for Saturday night (after Stinky's party) for the Bijou where they will have a Guitar Hero tournament at 11 pm, right before the midnight showing of This is Spinal Tap. It could be just about perfect.

Now, as I promised, I will totally change the subject and tell you some things I saw downtown this week during my lunches and breaks.

Yesterday I walked by the Java House and realized that I knew pretty much every person sitting outside on the little patio. My first thought was, my friends are a bunch of slackers who don't have to work all day like I do. I'm so jealous. My second thought was that once it starts getting cold and I can't go outside during my breaks, I won't have much of a social life unless I start getting better about going out more. I'm really going to try harder, because I think I'm about ready to try to start dating again, and just think how much fun it will be to read about how uncomfortable I am during that whole process?

On Monday I was passing my favorite homeless woman who sits in front of what used to be Hills Bank, but is now a Cold Stone Creamery. She was having some kind of altercation with a gray haired, heavily bearded guy who had parked his bike right in front of her. She told him to get lost and he said, "I can be wherever I want to. I'm an American citizen, damn it." To which the homeless woman responded:

"No you're not. You're a pothead!" If you have to choose between being one or the other, I have a feeling I know a lot more illegal aliens than I thought I did.

The last quaint little thing I saw downtown yesterday, were two people trying to light a cigarette with the sun and a magnifying glass. What kind of a smoker, doesn't have a light, but does have a magnifying glass?

Wave On, Wave On

Just by having a blog, I'm at least flying my geek flag at half-mast. When I start talking about how much I love comic books on here, I'm essentially raising it all the way up the pole. So, you know, what the hell, I may as well enlarge my geek flag and dress it in neon lights by talking about video games...Again.

I took the plunge this week and traded in all of our Play Station 2 stuff for an XBox 360. It's part early birthday present for Stinky and part fun, new toy the whole family can enjoy.

I initially went to the gaming store in the mall downtown to see what kind of credit I could get for all of our PS2 stuff, but the guy I talked to was absolutely no help at all. Every question I asked him, was answered with, "I don't know." So, I took my business out to a store in Coralville, where the guys were very knowledgeable and and they didn't even look annoyed when I asked stupid question after stupid question. I'm sure they were just polite enough to wait until after I left the store to laugh their asses off. Plus, they gave me tons of in-store credit that I applied to our pretty new toy. And our new toy is really, really pretty. It's amazing how much better the graphics and the controllers are on the XBox.

Originally, I was going to get Guitar Hero for Stinky's birthday, but a new one's coming out in October, and it seems way smarter to wait until then. For now, we did the "buy two used games, get one free" deal at the gamer store. Stinky wanted Burnout Revenge, of course, and a Tony Hawk game. For me, I got the geekiest of the geek games. It's called The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion and it's full of magic potions and knights and shit, all mixed in with kicking demons' asses. I watched Mr. Dateman play it a while ago, and it was pure escapism at it's finest.

All day today while I was totally bored at work, after I did my PeeWee Herman impersonation to amuse my co-workers, I just kept thinking about how awesome it would be to go home, eat pizza and start playing my dork-ass game. Which, I know makes me twelve years old, but I don't care. So, now I'm off to geek-out. You can just go run along and feel superior now. Scoot. Shoo!

When There's No One Else in Sight, In the Crowded Lonely Night

I can't believe what a good sport Stinky was being here. She's about as afraid of clowns as I am.

Well, kids. I made it through today - barely. It was as bad as you'd think the first Monday back after a week's vacation would be. It was also the girls' first day back to school. When I got to work, it was apparent that my computer was once again crawling with viruses. The IT guy was out of ideas, so he just wiped the system clean and I had to start all over again. That meant remapping my keyboard and reloading every program I had on there - not to mention I lost all the music I ripped onto Windows media player. Wah. It probably wouldn't have been so bad, had I gotten any sleep the night before. I got so off of any kind of sleeping schedule during my vacation, that I didn't fall asleep until well after two. Wah, again. I was even too tired to want to shoot hookers when I got off work, so I'll have to wait until tomorrow for that.

The last week or so, I've been trying to just spend some time alone and do my own thing and clear my head a little... Or a lot, would be ideal. I've discovered that it's nearly impossible in my life right now. I was thinking Saturday night would be good for that, but I found out at the last minute, they were having a block party. I haven't been very good about spending time with my neighbors this Summer, and they all comment on it whenever I see them. So, I figured I better make an appearance. When I walked over the first time, I only recognized a few people. We seemed to have had a ton of people move in and out this year. Since I wasn't in the mood to meet a bunch of new people, I just kept on walking. When I got closer to my house, my friend K. called me. I told her that I only felt like talking to about three people in the world right then, and unfortunately for her, she was one of them. I stopped by her house until Stinky called to tell me that the neighbors I actually knew had shown up at the party.

When I went back, it was pretty fun. I only drank one glass of homemade sangria, but that didn't stop me from making an ass of myself. I did checkity check myself after I did some poppin', and before I started break dancing. One of my friend's husbands was trying to goad me on by threatening to find me a board, but I was smart enough to know when it was time to go home...At least that night.

I'm still looking for that alone time. Although, I'm not counting on it anytime soon.

It's So Easy When You Know the Rules

Here is a picture of the alien commander getting ready to send his Dora The Explorer army out to take over the world, one toddler at a time.

So, here's kind of a weird thing. You know how when you start hanging out with someone, you learn about their world through their interests? Sometimes you aren't all that interested in their shit, and that's okay, because if you were exactly the same, you would get very bored. Other times, you find yourself becoming more and more intrigued, and sometimes you realize how much you miss it after it isn't around anymore.

That's what I found happening to me the last week or so with video games. I played them a lot in high school and then kind of stopped when I got older and worked several jobs and went to school and then worked several jobs and raised children. The girls had a PS2, but I didn't get all that into it. Then when I started hanging out with Mr. Dateman, I discovered a whole new world of shooting people's heads off, and crashing into cars and blowing shit up, that frankly, appealed to me. Video games were like comic books, but better because they were interactive, and did I mention you could crash into stuff and blow shit up?

I didn't play them around Mr. Dateman, because he is very good at them and, of course, I sucked. Last week, in the privacy of my own home, I started playing Galaga again. I started out pretty sucky, but the thing about video games, is that you get better really quickly and I shore do loves me some instant gratification. Today Stinky and I went to look for Centipede for PS2 and had absolutely no luck finding it. Since we were standing in front of all the games anyway, Stinky asked if we could get a few. She told me she thought I'd like a game called Burnout. It turned out to be a game where you not only race cars, but you get points for crashing into them. Once you hit several cars, the word "GOOD" comes on the screen to give you some positive reinforcement. We also got that one game. You know the one that is so violent and misogynistic, and where you drive around and shoot hookers? That one. I haven't played it yet, but I think after my first day back to work in a week, I'll be all ready to shoot me some hookers. Hey, it's way better than shooting my co-workers, and what's so wrong with displaced aggression, anyway?

We'll see where all this takes me. Seein's how I'm single now, my girls are rarely home and hibernation season is a stone's throw away, it could be just the thing for me. I worry a little bit, because I tend to have a bit of an addictive personality. (running, anyone?) And when I talked to my friend J. about it last week, he told me once you play Guitar Hero, there's no going back. Is there some kind of 1-800-GAME-OFF number, just in case? I guess it could be worse, I could have dated a crack head.

Colors Crash, Collide in Bloodshot Eyes

Last night Stinky had an end of the Summer sleepover. Originally, I had big plans of hiding out in my brand spankin' new room and solving the world's problems or at least my own. (although mine might take longer) Do you want to know what I did instead? I went into the girls' room and drank beer and played Galaga. Do you want to know what I was thinking while I was doing that? Well, let me tell you. I was thinking that if someone told me in high school, that as an adult, I would not only be able to drink beer out in front of god and everyone, but that I wouldn't have to pay each time I lost at Galaga and wanted to play again, I would have thought that was as likely as me getting tired of playing it. And I did get tired of playing it, but, of course, it took a while. Now that it's a new day - er - night, I think I'll go back and play it some more.

These things here were at the State Fair, but I'm not sure exactly what they were or why they were everywhere. All I really know, is that Soy was apparently on parade.