Hey, we actually finished something!

We went to the annual pumpkin party hosted by our good friends Janet and Bob and did all the eating and chatting and carving needed to get the newhallowthanksmas season started. There were lots of goodies to eat. This is Sharon's pumpkin. She drew it and I did some of the carving due to her healing shoulder. (Coming along nicely, thank you!)

Then today we got off our butts and did some work. We got the salmon bay pebbles (above) and filled in around the flagstone. This was easy compared to putting in the stone.
So now it looks like this. Note the furry black inspector with muddy paws.
Close up it looks like this, which we really like. :-)

She runs like a girl

Hello my adoring readers. If you don't want to know something about how I think (or if parenthetical asides bother you), do not read this post. If you have a thought on how I think, post a comment.

Having a great morning doing almost absolutely nothing... had pumpkin pie for breakfast (the perfect breakfast food) and mindlessly surfing the internet. Ran across a site while browsing for tame pictures of, um... (. )( .)s. It captivated me, and I read what seemed like half of the site. And no, the site has NO nakey pictures.

There are a zillion "lifestyle" sites. This one is aimed at women, with a pink home page no less. When I run across lifestyle sites, I often browse them a bit and move on, unmoved. The Men's Sites always seem to have a sort of sweaty Maxim magazine sort of thing (NEW HOT pictures of Alicia Silverstone like you've NEVER seen her!), or a too geeky college guy thing whining on about DRM and downloads. I tend to like the sites that are aimed at women (magazines too). Some sites are just to effing edgy, with harsh pictures, bad language, and too much implied narcissism for my taste. Then there are the sites that are just too earnestly wholesome for my taste. (I like salt AND pepper in my soup.) I think there is a large segment here.

That's why (I suppose) I like and read blogs that are written by women (but not gurlz!). They tend towards edgy or a bit sexy, but they retain their dignity and try not to take themselves too seriously. Yet at the same time they ultimately reveal the human feelings of fear and desire that drive us all. Men tend to hide these feelings (deeply!) and write about them even less. In this sense, I identify more with women than men, and more of my close friendships are with women than with men.

Like Goldilocks said, this one was just right. So, to put it plainly, if you want to know ONE dimension of things that I find intriguing and interesting, visit the site.

Oh, and Happy Halloween too (if I don't see you before tomorrow night (that's probably all fifteen of you (wishful thinking on readership numbers)))!

Travels to Foreign Lands

Sharon and I actually left our house today and drove the 25 miles to San Francisco. (shocking, I know) We proceeded to go shopping at Britex. After finding the perfect woolen cloth for Mr Brownlow's bottle green coat we looked at the price, um... $125/yard. A little too much, eh? The very helpful Douglas Davis (what a nice guy) suggested we look in the remnants section on the fourth floor. So we did, where to our delight we found some very similar cloth for $49 for 2-3/8 yard, just enough for my frock coat. Yay!

Then we found the perfect houndstooth wool silk blend for the pants I need to make. Only $125. Okay the pants will be a bit pricey, but the stuff feels like buttah, like buttah do you hear me!?

We got the buttons on the third floor from the very helpful Louise, whose husband is really tall like yours truly, except she's kinda short. She says, "What's the deal with real tall guys and short girls?" I told her it was a family friendly sort of store so I couldn't really tell her the answer to her question. She seemed to understand.

Then we needed a spot of food cause we'd skipped lunch and it was like 4:30 or something. So it was up the elavator to the top of The Macy*s to The Cheesecake Factory. They took good care of us.

Then we bopped around a bit, then went to Coit Tower and saw the really cool 1934 era frescoes and looked out over the big ships in the surrounding bay as the sprinkling started. We then headed for home since it was getting dark and our fleeting plan to see Twin Peaks was dashed by the setting sun and mean icky traffic.

Now all I need to do is sew a pair of Victorian period mens trousers out of beautiful expensive fabric, and a Victorian frock coat out of somewhat less expensive fabric. This should be a cinch since I have sewn exactly one garment in my life. I have four weeks. Since Sharon just had The Surgery on The Shoulder, she'll be able to give helpful hints but not much actual sewing. If you want to help, (and you can really sew) give us a call.

Unrequited

The days tick by
Flurry of nothings
All time flies

Love pours
From a gaping wound
Flowing from my heart

To yours
I hope
In times dark
I doubt

Astonished
I see my love
I see you accept it
Unreserved

I am in awe
My love
Is not
Unrequited

Two, two, two mints in one

More like three fillings in one sitting. Now my mouth feels numb and it feels like I sound like a stroke victim, though the family tells me I sound normal. (Ha!) I just tried eating a snack. It was difficult, though when I say it, it sounds like dithiculth.

Now you might think that three fillings in one sitting is an indication that I have let myself go dentally speaking, but two of them were to replace many year old fillings that were wearing out. It seems that they are more like tires than anything else, they have a 20,000 meal lifetime. I chose to get them all done today so I only had one anesthesia to get over. It sucketh to have to replace 20 year old fillings because it doesn't seem like 20 years but you are reminded that it really is.

But enough toothy news. Healing from surgery continues apace. :-)

We all went to the big rehearsal for the Coventry Carolers and sang lots of songs that I didn't know. Also, since a bass almost never sings the melody, I had to try to remember how to read music, which I was never very good at. It was, um... fun. Eventually I got tired and then we stopped and we all ate soup and stuff. That was good too. We have another rehearsal coming up and then mopre rehearsals at workshops.

I am hooking up with the carolers this year to get more time with my sweetie and away from the Temperance Union. I actually like singing a lot more than the Temperance stuff, which was lots of improv in a character and story I didn't really like. The TU also suffers from dimunition from the Fair honchos which was harshes my mellow.

I'm looking forward to Fair. The atmosphere is unlike anything else and all of the people are like one giant circle of friends. So many people have known each other for so long and been so close that the whole experience is really intimate feeling. It is also such a safe place for the eclectic behaviors that everyone feels the freedom to be very open with each other. More than that, the general tone is supportive and celebratory so it is really easy to have a very good time. Hugging friends is encouraged.

The only downside to the whole "everybody seems to be on ecstasy" feeling is that there is a heightened possibilities for "drama". This usually manifests itself in the "I don't talk to them, EVER." sort of thing. Other times there is an actual outbreak of "words" which frequently leads to the "EVER" situation above. But as a wise man once said, "It isn't little theatre without a little drama."

Last but not least, I still need to make a costume (Frock coat & pants). We have a pattern but have not bought fabric, or anything alse... We have a ways to go.

Hope to see you all at Dickens Christmas Fair 2005 starting November 26th at the Cow Palace in South San Francisco, weekends 11 AM till 7.

Amy, what you gonna do?

Hi Amy. I heard that Amy song in the car parts store today. I never realized that I liked that song so much. I sang the whole damn thing. (Don't worry Amy, it isn't creepy at all. I liked the song way before you were born.)

We bought a car.
We needed a automatic transmission thingy for the boy to drive, plus it'll come in handy for Sharon's gimpy arm. We got some new front tires for it.

We are all healing up, and we realized today that we have lots of Vicodin left over. Oh well, we entertain a lot at the holidays.

My new boss finally shows up at work on Monday. Maybe we'll get to talk.

We helped pick up after the renfaire today. At one point there were about sixteen people working, three of them were men. (that means roughly 13 women for those of you who may be math challenged, and remember we are talking renfaire women here) Then the 'fearless leader' Lisa stood up and said that we all might go to the Collier's to go hot tubbing. Then she called for a show of hands as to who had forgotten their swimsuit. About fifteen hands went up. The other group leader turned to me and said, "Wipe that grin off your face." I'm all like, 'what grin?'. (. )( .)

Thank you sir, may I have another

Well, as it turns out my surgery was not the last for October for the household. No more icky pictures but my sweetie is snoozing on the couch after a little long needed work on her shoulder this morning. Hopefully she'll be right as rain in a few days, except they sent her home with more meds than I had, which I think means they expect her to need them. :-|

Plus she got a cooling contraption that pumps chilled fluid through a pad thingy applied to the shoulder. It's made out of a lunchbox cooler! The instructions are to use this continuously for like three days. Hmmm. :-|

So, send good thoughts our way.

Of course we did get lots of "inside the procedure" pictures for both of us. Her's are better and there are more of them. All of them are fairly surreal. Essentially if you don't know what you are looking at you say, "I think that's the um... I don't know." If you want to see any of those you'll need to come over and sign the release forms.

That's a bit better

Well the weekend has been quiet recovery time. Most of the family is away at faire.

The little one and I saw the new Wallace and Grommit movie. I can recommend it even for grown ups. There are lots of subtle jokes and little things to look for, and the characters are really funny indeed. It runs an hour and a half but it is as rich as each of the first three 30 minute movies.

I'm off pain meds now and most systems are returning to normal, though I'm still a little uncomfortable. It is actually quite a feat what is possible to fix and how quick the recovery can be even for a semi-geezer. (alas, I'm not 20 any more)

I'm looking forward to this next week being lots better than last week.

Bleagh

OK well there is precious little to report other than I am feeling either in pain, or stoned on Vicodin or somewhere in between while the stuff comes on or wears off. So I feel good for about a couple of hours at a time. Coming down off the Vicodin is crappy. I suppose I'll eventually recover.

PS it hurts to laugh so if you want to torture me this is the time to tell bad jokes.

Surreal

Surgery went just fine, though a wee bit late. It was scheduled for 2:00 but they transferred me to the operating table at 3:00 amid witty banter. I was a model patient. Dr. Conner told me the anesthetic was going to be like a really tall beer on an empty stomach. It was more like; I was normal, then 20 seconds later I was getting sleepy/woozy, then 20 seconds later I was waking up in recovery with three little bandages and a bit of a sore throat.












They gave me three juice boxes and some Nilla Wafer cookies, two Vicodin, and sent me home with orders to pee before 8 PM or I would have to come back for something that rhymes with "painful rubber thingy that gets put into somewhere you would rather it didn't".

Now I have a couple of days off to look at my beautiful flagstone patio. Ha ha ha.

Filler

Well Grace did this quiz (which is very silly indeed) so I thought I would too. I got a dumb answer (dumb = I didn't agree) but I liked the cute bunny picture anyway. I hope you do too.
which happy bunny are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Almost finished

The flagstone project is almost done. No picture since it looks just like the last set. The next to last part was the cement in between the stones to form a crust over the sand base. Our hope is that this will keep down the weeds and keep the gravel from getting just mushed into the sand.

It really looks great and we're thrilled. The gravel will have to wait a while as it comes from beyond the gulf region and transportation of the stuff was held up due to the hurricanes. Once that's done we'll take pictures of us with our heads lying on the flagstone smiling. You can print them out and frame them if you like.

PS tomorrow is the surgery to correct the Unfortunate Condition. Wish me luck.

Ow...

And now I have a $%^&# sore throat. I hope you all feel very sorry for me. I know I do. At least I have some vitamin G (Bombay Sapphire) to ease the pain. Plus today I got my scrip filled for the vitamin V in advance of The Procedure. I certainly hope I don't need all 30 of them. Wheeee!

Not so fast lady

Well the procedure will be next week, not this week. They are giving me some mesh plastic parts stitched in place to hold the muscle wall together. I had a nice long talk with my surgeon, a pretty lady named Karen that seems extremely competent, and was completely unfazed by the sight of what will from now on be referred to as "The Surgical Site".

It is easy to tell if you have this Unfortunate Condition. Take off your pants and look down at The Surgical Site. If you see bulges in the forested portion of the landscape, go directly to the doctor, do not pass go.

Luckily my Unfortunate Condition can be fixed using laparoscopic surgery. Three little incisions instead of two large ones, and um... far less shaving. Whoopee.

Everythingy

Welcome back.

Just about everything has been happening since my last rocky post. We put in more rocks. Kate helped. Our friend Lisa G helped. Eventually we got done. Somewhat unsurprisingly, I got an injury that sounds a little like "hyena". Surgery is planned for this week. No, I'm not kidding.

Then there was Renfaire on Saturday. There was ye olde climbing wall. The boys stayed at home. (That's Jessamy in the costume she made) There were lots of people there since the weather was nice and stuff. (That's Sharon as Lady Hundston) This nice little gal was demonstrating the method he husband showed her for eating a "Monkey Tail" which are sold at the faire. (I'm not making that up they really call them Monkey Tails.) These gals were representative of the beauties that seem to flock to the faire. They sell delightful things to eat at the faire.
This one is for you gRace. (. )( .) Two more beauties showed up in front of the camera, but one turned as the shutter opened. This fellow was the epitome of, um... minimal costumes. And there was this lady. Hard to know where to start here.
And there was this "art object" in a shop. Look closely. I don't think this functional, but with some imagination... Well let's just say there was lots to see at Faire.

Then I went and helped at strike for Skyscraper. Then the cast invited me along to help them party at a local dive bar. There was karaoke, drinks, karaoke, drinks, a couple of lifted shirts, laughing, and some cast members kissing. I escaped without making a fool of myself.