I need to remember this

I love Barry Hannah's writing, and I'm really sorry I didn't take the time to read his stuff before he died. Sorry! He slips things in to otherwise ordinary paragraphs that just jab you in the ribs and make you wonder why you didn't think of it first.

Like this:
"In this state [Mississippi] live men and women nostalgic by age eleven. For things rambling, wooden, rain-worn, wood-smoked, slightly decrepit. The heft of dirty nickels. They flee to lakes from hateful pavements, concrete and glass. They are certain the great wars were fought for cheap fishing licenses."
- from Yonder Stands Your Orphan, which I am reading now.

Also, he describes nursing home residents as "convicts of time." Brilliant!

Anyway, I enjoy the heck out of his books, and so I am trying to take it slow and savor each one, since I know he won't be writing any more. I started with Geronimo Rex and then read The Tennis Handsome. Geronimo Rex was really awesome - his debut novel and a great way to start reading Hannah. Bonus points for me because I went to Mississippi College and so did he, and the novel is loosely based on his experiences while a student there in the '60s. I never felt like I really fit in at MC, and I don't think he did, either. If you know anything about the school, you'll understand why.

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I keep saying that I'm tired of all the cool people leaving Jackson, and it's true. There are still lots of cool people in Jackson, but it seems like every other week or so someone else announces that they are moving away. I do get it; I left once too and thought I'd never come back. But I guess I just assume since I got my sh** figured out and have decided Jackson is the place for me, that everyone else has also figured that out. Of course, that is ludicrous.


The latest ex-pat is Johnny Bertram and his wife, Emily. The two were so beloved around town that it's hard to believe they weren't actually from here in the first place. Johnny's musicianship permeated the Jackson scene, to the point that he was playing with a few different groups of people before he left. The Bertrams are heading back to the Northwest, to Portland, from whence they came. Do I blame them for leaving the 100+ degree heat for the deliciously cool, laid-back Portland? No. I wish I had a summer home there, myself. But Jackson sorely misses them already. It's funny, the connection between PDX and JAN. Many Jacksonians have moved outhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif there and stayed, or moved out there and returned, and Johnny & Emily were the first that I know of who moved from PDX to JAN with no prior ties to the place. I'd love it if there were a direct expressway from here to Portland, really, and we could all visit each other from time to time.

The picture above was taken at Johnny Bertram & the Golden Bicycles' last show in town on 5.29.11. It was at North Midtown Arts Center -formerly known as 121 - and I'd never been outside for a show there before, but it was pretty sweet! One of those "This doesn't feel like Jackson" moments. Which hopefully those moments will eventually evolve into "This is SO Jackson" instead. It's people like Johnny B. that have helped make transform this town into the blossoming arts community that it is today. So I am okay with people like him and others leaving Jackson, just as long as they leave something good behind. Or - even better - come back eventually, and bring something good back with them.

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I have a new member of the family now. It happened a week or so ago, completely at random. This little pup appeared in my sister's back yard, and my sister couldn't take care of it along with her 3 dogs and small child, so she and my bro-in-law called me to see what to do about it. It had a hurt leg, and one of the local shelters (that is not a no-kill) had already said they would probably just have to put her down because of the leg. So I caved, went and got her, and took her to my vet the next day. She is scheduled to have surgery this week to see if they can save her leg, but even if they can't, she will be ok with 3 legs. She already runs around as if nothing is wrong. I have named her Lula Belle (after my great-grandmother, HA!), but call her Lulu 90% of the time. She is sweet as can be and gets along great with Sally. I have felt a bit guilty and worry that I am not showering Sally with as much attention as she usually gets, so I have been overcompensating big time. The BF feels the same way. We're constantly saying, "Oh Sally, you're a good dog too, we love you, blah blah blah..." I think she is really fine, though. She seems to like having a playmate, even if Lulu is 1/10 her size. I don't think Lulu is going to get very big, and this is weird for me. I've never owned a dog smaller than 30 lbs. or so. But it's been fun so far. I don't think I need kids now; I have 2 already. And I will try REALLY HARD not to dress Lulu up in ridiculous outfits. I can kinda understand why people do that, though. I keep wanting to put her in bags or boxes or anything small that she can fit in. I don't think she enjoys that as much as we do.

Here's Lulu and Sally, both sleeping after a hard day of playing together.

Random Doo Dads

There used to be a snack mix called "Doo Dads," do you remember that? That was my favorite snack in preschool.

We were rehearsing "All We Like Sheep" from "The Messiah" at choir practice the other night, and I couldn't help but wonder, why don't adults have to dress like sheep and angels and whatnot in church plays like kids do? I think "The Messiah" would be more fun if I could wear a sheep suit.

I have been waiting for a while for the grocery stores to start selling those colorful plastic balls that they keep in the big bins in the aisle. Sally is pretty athletic so I figured one of those toys would make the perfect little soccer ball for her. Tonight I was picking up a few things at the Krogers, and I heard this little girl saying, "Mommy, I want a BALL!" over and over. So I rounded the corner, and lo and behold, a big bin of colorful plastic balls! Much to the chagrin of the little whiny girl, I plucked one out and brought it home for Sally. She loved it, kicked it around awhile, and about 5 minutes later this is what I found:

It was the saddest thing I have ever seen.

That's the fastest $1.50 I've ever spent.

Down with the Sickness*

So Sally and I have both been a bit under the weather this weekend.

Friday night, I filled in for a friend and "hosted" the Singer/Songwriter's Showcase at Sneaky Beans, and the BF and his friend Bill joined me. I put "hosted" in quotations because I really did not have to do much - just introduce the artists and let them go to it, which to me is the best kind of "hosting" there is! Sherman Lee Dillon, Taylor Hildebrand, and Drew McKercher (who for some reason I wanted to call "Jeremy" all night, he looks like a Jeremy I guess,) played some really good tunes. Kudos to my friend Anna Kline who put the whole thing together. Next month she is doing an all-girls' singer/songwriter showcase, so check it out.

I had to go to Oxford Thursday for work, and I stayed with my good friend Emmy, who has two cats. I am allergic to cats, and Emmy does a good job of keeping them out of the spare bedroom so I won't be too affected, but I still had a pretty big allergic reaction, in the form of sneezing, wheezing, and itchy/watery eyes. I used my puffer (I have mild asthma) multiple times over the two days I was there, and by Friday my chest was hurting a little bit. I figured it was just because of the overuse of the puffer. Nonetheless, I went to the most awesome breakfast place with Emmy on Friday morning, Big Bad Breakfast, and had my fill of scramby eggs, ho-made sausage (they make it fresh on-site), home fries and a biscuit. I have been telling everyone I know about this place - go check it out if you are in O-town.

So I had to board Sally until Saturday morning. The BF and I picked her up and took her home, and I got to making lunch, which was Pad Thai with tofu and bean sprouts. We noticed Sally was not her usual spry self, and shortly thereafter she decided to puke on my carpet. After that (and I made the BF clean it up), there was a series of horks and gacks, dragging her to the linoleum floor of the kitchen, only to have her barf on the carpet when we weren't looking. Every time I took her outside, she would graze like a little moo cow. For those who don't know, dogs eat grass when their tummies are upset - it makes them barf. I don't know what they fed her at the vet's, but next time we are taking our own food, that's for sure!

Later on that night, I started having mild chest pains again. I didn't want to scare anybody, but it was rather annoying. I told the BF, and he made me lie down with my feet up. We had a healthy dinner of seared tuna over mixed greens with strawberries, goat cheese and pecans, and I took a couple of BC powders, which made me feel better. We took my blood pressure, which was a bit high, and I went to bed at a reasonable hour. I slept until about 10:45 this morning.

Today has been okay - Sally has still been a little under the weather, but she did eat some kibble and just a few blades of grass. We totally missed the snow, or at least I did. BF said Sally tried to eat it when he took her out early this morning. I managed to do some yoga this afternoon, and wanted to take my BP afterward, just to see the effect, but my stupid digital sphygmomanometer (how's that for a $5 word?) wouldn't work right. So I really have no idea what my BP is this evening. I'm going to the doctor tomorrow to get it checked out. I need to lose some weight - that much is obvious - but only like 10 or 15 pounds. I think that will get me back to normal BP and everything, but until then I might have to take something. I want to be able to continue my running (which was going pretty well until this happened), but I don't want to be found lying in a ditch somewhere, either. I can just see it now - the headlines would read, "Pudgy woman found dead of a heart attack on her pathetic less-than-a-mile running route."

On the money-saving/making front, I went to the grocery store for the first time in a week on Friday, used coupons which saved me like $20, and should have enough food to get me through until the next weekend, or even the next paycheck, who knows? Also, there is this event going on next weekend at a local hotel where you can go sell your gold, so I may go check that out and see what I can get. I actually have a little more money than I thought I would at this point after paying bills and stuff, so maybe I am saving a little bit? Stay tuned chickens!

*Sorry for the reference to a pretty lame hard metal song - I don't remember who does the song but I did rock out pretty hard to it whenever it used to come on the radio. So there's that.

Granny's snoring

I feel like I talk about my dog a whole lot, but dammit, she's a pretty interesting creature. Sally is still just a puppy -- 7 months old -- but she has the sleeping habits of an old lady. She goes to bed early, like 9:00 sometimes. And when I say "goes to bed," that often means curling up on the floor here in the living room to sleep, but more often than not she literally clop-clop-clops back to the bedroom and gets into her bed to sleep. By the time I go to bed, usually an hour or two later, she is wayy deep into Level 4 REM sleep, stretched out with her head under my bed and snoring loudly. It's hilarious.

I am just happy she doesn't keep me awake all night with whining or anything. She really is a good dog most of the time. I have to be away from her this week while I'm out of town for work, and I really think I'm going to miss her!

Before I get ahead of myself, I wanted to do a little self-back-patting. I have a new column with the local alt weekly, a monthly deal, and I am pretty proud of it. My first entry is here, and I got a great deal of feedback on it! A few comments on the actual story, and a couple of emails too, including one from someone who had submitted a mix tape to http://www.cassettefrommyex.com/. She encouraged me to submit a tape of my own, and I may just do that if I can find any of the good ones. At the moment I have no idea where all my tapes are. I blame that on moving no less than 8 times in 8 years.

I just finished up this month's column, and I'm pretty happy with it. I'll wait until it's published to post a link and give away the topic. I will say that I have been on a sort of nostalgia kick lately, so that explains a lot. I don't know if it's being in my 30s or what, but the nostalgia just happens. I know people say this all the time, but time really does go by faster the older you get. I look back over the last 10 years, and I'm really not sure where all that time went.

This week is going to be so busy for me. Actually, the next month or so is going to be nonstop madness... even the weekends will be full. I see a massage or two in my future!

Lastly, I have to say that I hope this is the last of the hurricanes for a while. It was sort of fun the first go-round with Gustav, but after Ike I am tired of people freaking out about gas prices, I'm tired of rain, and I'm tired of worrying about where the next one will hit. That's enough for this year mmkay?

White people clapping

So I couldn't stomach much of the Republican National Convention this week, but no matter, because it still got shoved down my throat anyway. I didn't watch Sarah Palin's speech the other night, but I read it. After hearing her voice later on, I have decided to put my closed captioning to good use the next time she gives a speech. That nasally voice has got. to. go.

I keep hearing people say they are scared about the election, and most of the time the people I'm hearing are saying they are scared of Obama being president. But to me, this hockey mom thing is a lot scarier. I could go into a diatribe, but I won't -- suffice to say that I'm not voting for her or McSame. I'm happy to see that a female can get recognition for a slot such as VP, but I am still waiting for the day that a progressive, reliable female candidate becomes President.

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This week I played hostess for a couple of nights. I had some guests on their way back to NOLA after Gustav on Wednesday, and Thursday one of my good buddies who now lives in Portland came to crash before she flew back the next morning. I don't mind having company at all, but I have to admit it's kind of nice to have the place to myself tonight. Sally is crashed out on the floor next to me, I'm drinking some good but inexpensive red wine, I had a nice steak dinner, and Comedy Central loves me. Daily Show--Colbert Report--Chapelle Showx2-- just what I needed after a ridiculously long/short week.

Sally's latest thing (that annoys me) is to dart out the door before I can catch her, and then she runs around the parking lot, eating garbage or whatever. When I get close enough to catch her, she takes off. It's fun for her, embarrassing for me. I see a weekend of obedience training in our future... or I may have to call that doggy dominatrix -- I hear she's living in the US now. She kinda scares me a little.

Don't Think Twice

For several years now, the movies that topped my All-Time, Worst Ever list, were really just two, and they came out around the same time: A.I., the science-fiction poopfest that Speilberg had to finish off for Kubrick (which explained a lot, really), and The Talented Mr. Ripley, just a poopfest all around. It makes me think there is something about having Jude Law in a movie. I'd dare say that most of Jude Law's movies stink, which is unfortunate because he is hot. Or at least, he used to be -- I think he's losing his hair now, and it's not a great look for him.

But fear not, lonely duo, for a third flick is joining your ranks. This weekend the BF and I slogged through all 17 hours* of I'm Not There, the amazingly craptacular "biopic" about Bob Dylan's life. I am not a big Dylan fan or anything -- I actually think that his songs are best done by another aritst -- but I wanted to see Cate Blanchett play him, and I just thought it would be a cool pic. Oh well. From start to finish, I'm not sure I understood anything that anyone said. It was English, for the most part, but from what I could tell it was mostly bullshit, which apparently was all that ever came out of Bob Dylan's mouth in the '60s, or since. The movie portrays the different "lives" of Bob Dylan with different characters. The one that made the least sense was Richard Gere, who was playing some sort of hermit from a Western movie that winds up confronting "the man" at a little county fair. But I will say that the best part of the movie occurred during one of these random Western scenes, when there was a surprising performance by My Morning Jacket. Those guys saved me from slitting my wrists at that point, let me tell you.


I could go on, but I won't, because I already lost enough hours of my life just watching the thing.


*It was really only 2 hours and 15 minutes, but that was the longest 2 hrs/15 of my life.


***BREAKING NEWS***

Mid-blog breaking news today... the BF and I have acquired a new pet. As I was literally typing the above rant, someone knocked on my door and offered me a puppy. A little back story: we had some neighbors who were fond of domestically disputing in public, and so the Flo-Po were constantly coming out to deal with them. A while back, they got the cutest black and white puppy that they would leave out sometimes for way too long. I was always worried about her because they never used a leash, and a lot of cars come through this parking lot. BF, being the friendly talker that he is, struck up a conversation with the lovely couple one day and found out that they were probably going to need to find a home for the dog because the landlord (a different one from ours) didn't want them to have pets. This was several weeks ago, so I thought maybe they had worked it out. But today, dude knocks on my door saying that the chick finally R-U-N-N-O-F-T and left him with the bills and the dog. He was moving, couldn't take doggie with him, and wanted to know if we still wanted to take her. BF was sleeping, but of course I couldn't say no, so.... here she is, meet Sally!





She is the sweetest. We think she's some kind of Border Collie mix, and she is smart as a whip. Now, I must go and play with her! But expect more pictures in days to come...