A Beautiful .....moth?

To tell this story, I have to go back a few weeks to a hot day shortly after we arrived here in our fair city. Littleman and I were taking a bicycle ride/ walk in the absolute swelter of the morning sun, this was to my mind a great idea for exercise and to hell with the inevitable sunpoisoning. As we drag ourselves along my little guy notices a wooly caterpillar and shrieking with glee grabs it up to bring home to die. Now I say this because we have a long and painful history with caterpillars, we love them....to death. We give them leaves and sticks and little caterpillar houses, we check on them daily, we take them out to crawl on our joyful hands.....we kill them. Every time.

So, when I saw this unfortunate wooly, I thought..."Not This Time" and promptly took Littleman to the store to get a new caterpillar house. We took great care with this guy; fresh leaves dipped in pool water every morning. New and fun sticks to climb daily. We shook all the poop ( there was a lot!) out of the cage every day to give Wooly a clean house. The kids were obsessed....I was obsessed.

Two weeks ago, Wooly went into a chrysalis (cocoon) and we all got nervous. The cocoon stage is were we lost our last unfortunate friend. The days are slowly ticking by, we are getting more and more nervous and the butterfly fails to appear. Mr. K and I are exchanging looks that mean " should we clean out the cage and say it flew away in the night?". Then, yesterday as I finally decide to just clean out the cage and get it over with, I notice in the corner...A BUTTERFLY!




Wait, a MOTH!


who cares, really? At least we brought it to the end of its life cycle without killing it this time! It was quite pretty actually, a delicate orange color with soft spots, Big and thrilling to the kids who hollared and tried to hold it and gave it copious amounts of new wet leaves for the singular accomplishment of surving.

Hooray for nature!

Wine Fairs and Promethazine

The full story of my sudden and inexplicable illness is long, dramatic and confusing, even for me who lived through it.

In Short:
( a day by day play by play)

Sun Night: start to feel both nauseous and faint, throw up and go to bed.

Mon Morning: Wake up in horrible pain, centering in my belly and back area, freak out and go to ER, where they give me a contrast CAT scan and morphine. Neither makes me happy, both make me cry.

Tues Day: Home feeling better until I am suddenly struck with a blinding headache. I go rapidly to bed.

Wed: Having not slept all night due to headache, I am grouchy and still in horrible pain, I call a doctors office, get rejected thanks to my stupid ny-only insurance and am advised to go directly to the ER....again.

I go and get more CAT scans, more drugs leaving this :



Then my loving and hapless father who happens to be in town comes to pick up my sad self and return me to my bed of pain.

Overall Diagnoses:

Headache...Virus.. I-Have-No-Idea

Either way the next several days have consisted of my taking Tylenol and Motrin in rotation along with my prescription for nausea and drinking plenty of Ensure since solids having been disgusting me.

Today I do feel much better and so My Roomi J and I journeyed out to the Annapolis Fairgrounds to engage in a $22 wine fair. The fair itself was rather sad, with many a redneck and a few soggy, made-in-china nicknacks for sale. the wines were mostly local, and a decent assortment but mostly people were chucking them back like it was water in the desert, not a lot of "wine tasting" going on.



Either way, we tasted and gossiped and then typically, the heavens opened and decided for us that we were done with our foray into 'fancy' wine. Oh well, at least we got out of the house.

Upon our return to our den of doggiesmell and brown furniture, we made some mac and cheese and curled up on the couch for Office Space.

yay sunday

ER X2

What a hideous week!

and its only Thursday! The mysterious stomach virus is making a second pass at my body, this time involving symptoms strong enough to send me to the ER not once, but twice in the span of 3 days. My arms are black and blue, I've had more IV drugs than like to think about, flashed several patients and nurses due to those damn gowns and had 2 CAT scans. I'm exhausted.

What is the diagnoses?

uhmmmm, a virus? maybe?


Fantastic.

On the upside, I had some very nice people taking care of me and my dad came and got me from the ER yesterday and took me home. Hooray for dad's.

Also, I have learned that I could never be a iv drug user, as the feeling of receiving drugs intravenously is so awful that I'd rather be in pain. No joke, it's as if someone just reached in and stopped your heart.

Either way, I'm in much better spirits today and tomorrow I will go back to work! YAY!

Blinded by Barbie

I embarked on what has turned out to be an extremely foolhardy venture; sewing a miniature wardrobe for Barbie. What was I thinking? Firstly, Barbie has changed her shape in recent years, so all patterns made before five years ago do NOT fit her, also conversely old Barbie will not fit into new clothes. NOT AT ALL. Her breasts are simply too large, and her hips? forget about it. I busted an adorable pair of capri's on her fat ass.

This is what i have so far:



Five outfits and hopefully a few more tomorrow if I can go get a Barbie that they will actually fit. BUHHHH


SO now, I will take myself off for martini's with M and a strange group of older people who apparently really enjoy her company. I really enjoy the company of a martini.

OH NO!

I get home yesterday, starving and all wiped out and ready to just curl up with my sewing machine, a bottle of wine and CSI. OH, and some PIZZA. SO, i walk all the way down to the joint where i can get delicious slices of thin cheesy pizza ( which also happens to be next to the liquor store!), get some wonderfully hot and tasty pizza slices and walk back home.

Now, I will note I was carrying my box properly, even tho I was not paying attention because I was on the phone.

The box failed, the pizza went slipping right out the side, into the dirt, cheese side down. I grabbed it up as quick as I could but too late....the cheese was filthy. Seeing as I was starving and desperate,, I brought it home, peeled off the dirty cheese and attempted to eat the slices anyways but to no avail, it was all gritty and I kept worrying about bugs. I would never make it as a homeless person.


It was tragic so I went right to the bottle and sewed and drank my sorrows away.


Now I am up at the crack of dawn...ugh...to engage in a full day of sewing ( I ambegining to think I should have started this project much sooner) and then maybe a wine festival with Roomi J.

Too Early

It's 6:30 and I've been up for an hour already....and by that I mean I woke in a PANIC at 5:30 because I remembered that Mrs. K wanted me here early today. At 6:00. CRAP.. So I put on clothes and hopped into my car and away I went, only to wait on Mrs K till 6:30 as par usual.


sigh


Plus, I hear the little man in his room making noise, which usually means he is dressing himself and this usually means I will find him in several shirts, all of which will be backwards, insideout underwear ( also backwards) and jammi pants. Lord only knows why this is the outfit I find him in every morning, but there it is.


So I will sit here with my coffee and struggle to wake up and wait until get-up time ( 7:15) and then enjoy the tragedy of clothing on him.


In other news: I started fashioning Barbie a wardrobe of 50's dresses last night for the LittleGal's birthday and damn but those old patterns are complicated. I spent three hours and my entire outer shell of a dress is wrong. DAMN rickrack. I will try again with another piece of fabric. The upside is that because the clothes are so small, you can make them fast and with very cheap amounts of fabric. Hopefully, if I have enough time, I can make her a matching dress. Her birthday is only 5 days away.

I also need to find a teeny suitcase for Barbie to put these clothes in. hmmmmmmmmmmmm....



Yep, I have interesting things to say at the wee hours, don't I?

I rode a CAMEL

It's true! I really did.




I took the kids to the Baltimore zoo and I have almost entirely good things to say about it. The habitats are huge and thoughtfully constructed. The animals are healthy and living in packs along with other animals that would live with them in the wild. They have separated animals by continent and also created large learning areas arround certain animals. The only con is the cost. Everything cost money and it was A LOT. I spent 80 on just tickets ( entry, camel ride, carousel) plus I left our packed lunch on the counter in the kitchen so I spent more on food...and ice cream.

The entire park was larger than I like to think about really, with a tram that takes you from the front gate to the actual animals and habitats so large you need binoculars to see some of the animals. This, of course, translates into some very tired babies by the end of the day. They slept happily in the back seat while I endured rush hour alone and listened to Lemony Snicket play to their unconscious bodies. Lovely.

BUT, we had a great time and I GOT TO RIDE A CAMEL.

I also saw this sign on the side of a Police station, aparently their solution to car theft and murder:

Don't get DEAD beacuse your battery is.

I locked the doors and took a picture with my cell...because really.

Yachts, Tempers and Coconut Rum

Yesterday was the end to a long week, and so my roomi J asked me to join her and Co. on a yacht ride from Baltimore to Annapolis. Naturally, I said yes without even stopping to ask any pertinent questions such as what time will we be back or who's coming.

Who's Coming:

M: previously mentioned RedHead who is buckets of fun most of the time and only occasionally grumpy.

R: M's boyfr---er---special guy. He's a male model ( yes, seriously) and a law student. and he wears Polo shirts and insists on wearing sunglasses after the sun has set and also posing around the yacht even though no one is taking pictures.

B + L: A similarly dressed couple who seem to be upper class and enjoy the sort of relationship that is defined by the guy doing whatever he wants while the girl sits around twirling her hair and mixing him drinks.

C + N: A lovely boating couple; he's Dock Master at the Baltimore dock, they live on their boat with an exhuberant puppy and a lot of love.

and of course my roomi J + G ( her man)



so yes, you've figured this correctly, it was a couples cruise plus me. Altho, with the amount of nonfunctional relationships on board this actually turned out to be less awkward than one would imagine.

The sail itself was amazing. 5 hours of just trailing along the water, watching the sun set, stargazing, wind blowing through our hair and the gentle shushing sound of water as we go. Really, every cliche is true. It's incomparable. I want to go again. NOW.

Tragically, I forgot my camera, but J and G promise we will go again soon.

Now, all the joy of the sail was slightly marred by a very pitfalled docking, in which people got angry, shouted, threats were made and eventually large groups of people stormed off while I walked home with a dog feeling more than a little confused.

I refuse to let this mar the memory though, so I will pretend it was two different experiences. They were, really. One languid and dreamy with nothing to intrude on me but black, thick water and constellations I haven't seen in years. The other full of typical bullshit, people taking out their frustrations on eachother and acting like little children.

Either way, its sorted out now and J and I are going to breakfast because we are way to frazzed to cook.

Children say the darndest things

Yes, well I am back to work full time and the kids have yet to be their horrifying versions. Instead, they have been all sweetness and light and yes'. I'm in a parallel universe, I'm sure.

My little gal is enrolled in a summer camp where she is learning about Japan. There are about 5 other kids in this camp ( some friend making opportunity!) and only 1 little girl her age. When I questioned her about their potential friendship, she gave me a longsuffering look and said " Keziah, its way to soon to tell! I spent LOTS of time with B ( her best friend in NY) before I knew we were friends" She told me.


Otherwise, life is good, HOT but good. It does make motivation low, this intense wet heat but yesterday it rained and thundered and the kids and I spent the afternoon in the treehouse, dry and cool and practicing reading with a large magnetic board and alphabet letters. I heart phonics.

Dyke-i-licious

Yes, I'm home renovating....I know. I'm waygay. We all know.

But, I couldn't stand the tremendous cracks in the walls in the bathroom one day longer, the walls looked like they might, at any minute, simply give up on being walls and decide to be the floor instead. So, I chipped, I scraped, I spackled and I primed. So far I'm about 1/3 of the way into the job and already i feel both victorious and depressed. The wall will only get to a certain level of repair, it will NOT look 'good as new'....ever. It will look bumpy and dented but relatively flat when compared to its previous state of huge fault lines and holes. I think once the color is on, it will look lovely and homey and admittedly, its age.

i am all fumey tho, the bathroom is small, with one thin window and the primer is T-O-X-I-C! So, i'm taking a break and laying in my room with an airconditioner and paint taste in my mouth.


nice.

This is Lovely

Firecrackers and Drag Kings

Fourth of July...

yes yes it was that, and how does a little northern queer such as myself spend this oh-so-holy of patriotic days? Why with booze and women of course.

Firstly, I arose late in the morning and shuffled about my house with fresh coffee and a beleagured feeling. Why I felt so shuffly, I'm not sure but there you go. Then as I'm chatting away with BestBoy over his current walk of shame, my roomi J realizes that she is out of tortilla's. This is earthshattering because she is already in the process of making a quesadilla, the pan is heating, the veggies are cut, its all ready to go but WHERE are the tortillas? So I get off the phone and help J root through the kitchen in what we both know is a vain but earnest effort to locate said tortillas. They are nowhere to be found.

J leaves the kitchen in a fury ( holidays are not her favorite time and when a girl wants a quesadilla, a girl should get one), so I settle in to making scrambled eggs and coax J back to the table with the lure of hot breakfast.

We then bum around for a while, doing not much of anything and then finally manage to get ourselves together and over to M's house for our patriotic duties of sunbathing and drinking.



We mill about on M's roof, laughing, gossiping ( it seems this is our primary activity around here) and discussing important novels such as 4 Blondes by Candace Bushnell. After a few cocktails we are drowsy and head home to nap. J leaves for work shortly afterwards and I settle in for a long solo evening of the Sims and beer.

NOT TO BE

Instead, I receive a phonecall from a chick I met on myspace who I've hung out with once in DC and with whom had a generally good time. She asks me if I want to go into the city (DC) and watch these guys perform. Of course I do.

So I quickly pretty myself up and head into the world's biggest traffic jam, known as fireworks in DC. The streets are blocked by people who have simply stopped driving and gotten out of their cars to watch the fireworks.....fantastic, people. The sidestreets are full of packs of people throwing firecrackers at cars to watch them swerve and then laughing uproariously. There are three year olds with popcans full of bottlerockets, laughing and tripping over the forties that are clogging the gutter. People are roaring down the streets and spinning out only to crash and be driven past as though nothing has happened.

unreal.

I finally get to the show, gulp down my beer and proceed to enjoy one of the finest performances of Drag I've ever been privy to. It was nuanced, clever, playful and sexy. The performers had a wide range and while making clear statements about gender and sex, they also riled the crowd up and poked fun at themselves and society at large. I had a grin on my face from ear to ear, thoroughly enjoyable. At point I was so amused, I started to bellylaugh out loud.

so the moral is:

even though your life may be in danger, drag is always worth it.

Oh You Know

Lets see here....

What did i do with my wonderful day off yesterday, you might ask, and the answer is...not a lot. Which was nice actually. I hung out with J until she went to work, then I wandered around town getting sweaty and taking an occasional photo until I became so uncomfortable that I began to look as though i was planing to blow up the capitol building. So I went home. I did run into M on the way and we chatted for aminute and planned to get together for cocktails later that night.

I then spent the next several hours finishing a book ( Leaving Dirty Jersey), watching Kyle XY and dorking around on the internet. This made me happy. Then I got myself together and made myself pretty and met the girls out for cocktails at a bar called The Sly Fox. We had much fun laughing and gossiping and receiving comp shots from the bar owner. Then we moved along to another bar called Stan and Joe's which was crawling with DOUCHEBAGS, so we stayed for one beer and hightailed it home.

Today we are planning to sit on M's roof until there are fireworks...or we pass out due to too many cosmo's. Either way.....should be fun.


Out of chronological order of day is this:

Yesterday morning I walked over to the Italian Cafe, which had fantastic coffee and yummy croissants and an appropriately bitchy barista, and then i wandered down this dock:


and chatted with my bestboy on the phone. Lovely.

Acme

So, I met my roomi at a little dive named...ACME...last night. Yes, its true, Annapolis has an Acme, thank the lord. We were there to watch a band, Plasmagora, with whom J is friends.

Overall:

good band, good live performance and interesting songs. Yes, they do covers but also mix in their own stuff and the crowd keeps dancing. Members seemed pleasant and full of pep, came right over, chatted and laughed with us. Good times.

The bar itself was nice in its divey-ness, and J and I had many laughs and gossips. A little while after the band was through M joined us with her new roomi and we all set to some serious gossiping. Then J and i went home and porchsat for a while and talked about life, kids, frustrations, etc.

i had a good night.

Other news...

Well lets see here,

besides it being a stunning example of a day outside, I do have other things to talk about.

I went into the bigbad DC last night to venture into random little clubs and bars in search of 'the cool kids'. That had mixed results, mostly leading into situations where i was involved in one of two conversations. Either i was busily informing an insistant gay man that i was NOT in fact jackie, and no he can't buy me a drink, no really, look at my arms...do they look muscular? OR I was engaged in what i like to refer to as the Hunt-By-Proxy in which a man insists he either knows someone perfect for me...where did they go? or that he can find someone by the end of the night for me. I don't understnad this behavior, why not put all this effort into your own hunt? Why are you, a total stranger, suddenly rabbidly involved in my dating life? I could not convince these do-gooders that i was actually not looking, that all i wanted was a beer and casual conversation and actually having to be witty and interesting was more than i was really capable of for the evening.

silly men.

Other news: I talked over the SG issue with Savine and she is ready to push forward with the sets. Now i realize i haven't discussed this issue here so here's an EXTREMLY shortened version:

We shot a set and submitted said set to SG, waited and when it was rejected we were shocked. We put it up for Second Chances and the primary feedback is not enough nudity. Now, on one hand that is true since we shot in a public park and had about 3 minutes to do the full-nudity shots. On the other hand, who cares! It shouldn't be all about total nudity...i think sexy has many definitions and total nudity isn't the only one, or even the most important one. W/E. We decided to go ahead with the other two sets we shot and if the nudity level is still an issue, we are backing away with our hand in the air and our underwear on.


I did review the work from our 3rd set, Sunday Morning and Lord but its lovely.

Stunning

It's just amazing how absolutely gorgeous this place can be.




I took a walk with the very patient puppy this morning and grabbed the camera, since i am trying to shoot daily as an exercise for my art. Somehow, everything i saw was just bursting with color and promise of an amazing shot. Everywhere i look today, its beautiful.