Five Things on Friday - Parties To Which I Was Late

I am a geek of the highest order (where the word "geek" connotes a person who gets really excited about a certain thing, i.e. "geeks out) and there are many things I really love. Unfortunately for me, I came to most of these things a day late and a dollar short.

Five Things I Wish I Had Caught Onto Sooner

1. Nirvana - So, now, I have the Kurt Cobain journal, most of their CD's and still have the words to "Smells Like Teen Spirit" memorized. When they were at their heyday? I was too big for my britches and didn't understand what all the hoopla was about. It wasn't until after KC died and there was no more new music to come, did I truly understand the genius that was lost. And the flannel. I'm still mourning the flannel.

2. Buffy the Vampire Slayer - BtVS is probably my biggest obsession. I am crazy for those pesky kids and their demon-slaying ways. My kids know all the words (except the dirty ones, of course) to the songs from the musical episode and I still manufacture mini-marathons for myself (which I can do because I own all seven seasons on DVD). But my dirty little secret? I didn't fall for Buffy until she was in her sixth season. And then, I didn't get the channel, so I had to wait for it to go to syndication.

3. Doctor Who - I blame my parents. I didn't grow up on the good Doctor and when I heard that they were going to reboot the series, I kinda thought, "Huh. That's the one with the scarf, right?" I have vague memories of Christopher Eccleston, but I didn't start watching regularly until what I like to call, "The Season of Many Specials," which is, of course, right before David Tennant went on to the great big Tardis in the sky. (Hmm. That analogy didn't quite work.)

4. Adele - Hey, have you heard this chick, Adele? Lungs like an angel and the most amazing lyrics and she is so gorgeous and amazing and... What? She's been around since 2008? Really. Huh? Millions of Grammy's? Well, she deserves them. And um, I'll be over here.

5. Smart Phones - I spent many years in the "I refuse to pay good money for a phone when the phone company will give me one for free" camp. And then, I got my baby, my angel, the love of my life - the HTC 4g Slide and I'll never be able to figure out what I did before I could Twitter and check email and play Words with Friends (Hello? Anybody still playing WWF?) and take better pictures than with my real camera and etc., etc. I guess I like, read or something.

What about you? Miss any parties lately?

Semi-Wordless Wednesday

Have you seen my board?
I just found it. It's a lovely board.
Just my size too. I love this board.

Um.. I mean it's not that great.
Not great enough for you to sound so interested.
Like, it's a totally normal board.
I'm so over it.

Yeah. I'm not even sure what you're talking about.
I don't have a board.
No board here. Just me.

Oh, Um. Hi. Yeah.

If you're wondering where I went when I wasn't here - I got nothin' for you. I've been right here, staring every day for a while at this same stupid white box and wishing I had something to say. Anything. Because it's just like the words left my head and went somewhere else.

You know, I don't believe in writer's block. Don't know what to write? Write anyway. Even if it is pure, unadulterated crap, from the great crap-mines of some distant planet, at least you have a starting place. Something that's not a blank screen. And usually - it's not as bad as you thought.

This was not writer's block. This was something else. Something that had mainly to do with motivation and a desire to curl into the fetal position and pretend to not exist until everyone forgot I was here. That is so not me, y'all. Imma a babbler, a rambler, a storyteller and for a while there, I quit being those things.

I know this sounds like the premise to a bad 80's movie, but I'm trying to find myself. If this was a bad 80's movie, I'd go to Tibet and climb a mountain or something. I'd talk to wise people and then I'd come back all fierce and driven and I'd say something gloriously witty. Here are the problems with that scenario:

1. Despite my deep longing to be a world traveler, I have a deep fear (born primarily of bad movies) of foreign prison and hospitals. I'm certain that no matter where I go, I'm going to inadvertently smuggle drugs or get hit by a bus and then what? I was really worried about the bus half of that scenario when I went to London. And I don't know, I was scared I would be subjected to superior medical treatment? At least my common sense could reason with my gut instinct, but in this case, I know nothing about the health care system in Tibet. And isn't that one movie where Claire Danes goes to jail for like forty years but looks exactly the same when she leaves set in Tibet? (Nope, Thailand.)
2. I have no money for Tibetan travel expenses.
3. I have this little thing called responsibility. I have a job and kids and a mortgage and I don't believe in movie magic.
4. I'm not really your mountain climbing sort. I'm more your Sky Lift riding sort.
5. I'm never witty. Maybe that's just because I've never climbed a Tibetan mountain, but I'm doubting it. 
6. That's way too touchy-feely crap for me.

So, no mountain for me. It's for the best really. 

Five Things on Friday - Purse Edition

I've never met a mom who didn't carry a lot of bizarre things in their purse. Tiny toys, diaper wipes, tissues... At a birthday party this weekend, I watched a friend of mine whip a wet wipe out of her purse like it was the most natural thing in the world.

That got me thinking about the weird stuff I carry. I've actually pared it down quite a bit since I recently moved into a (much smaller) old purse. And I thought I would share.

Five Strange Things in My Purse Right Now

1. Four Tubes of Lip Gloss - You'd think I was some sort of weird lip gloss addict, but I almost never remember I have any. I've got a tube that's Coke flavored that Santa brought me, a tube of cherry Carmex and two tubes of Burt's Bees. One's never been opened. I just realized that.

2. My Kid's MP3 Player - Brynna recently lost all of the cords to everything she owns. We're down to sharing a Nook cord and I guess I'm going to have to buy a new cord for her DS and oh, yeah, her mp3 player, because I can't charge it without the cord. And whenever she finds it, she whines about how she wants to listen to it. So I put in the little zipper pocket in my purse. Yes, I'm hiding her stuff from her. It's for her own good. Who am I kidding? It's for my own sanity.

3. The Case to a Pair of Lost Sunglasses - A couple of birthdays ago, my baby brother bought me a pair of Oakley's for my birthday. If you've ever owned a pair, you just sighed with joy. They are my favorite things in the whole wide world. The frames pop apart so kids can't break them! Anyway, I lost them in the fall and after months of weeping, I've finally given up and decided to buy another pair. But, in the meantime, I'm still carrying the old case. You wanna know why? They make their cases out of the microfibery stuff you're supposed to clean glasses and electronics with. That's why.

4. An Entire Card of Giant Bobby Pins - I don't know. Except that it has a thing on the card to help you open the bobby pin and I guess I want to keep them together. Maybe.

5. Mardi Gras Beads - I have two sets. They are orange and black and have great big things hanging from them. They're a giveaway from something my boss went to and I'm saving them for bribery. Except they are so ugly I'm not sure they'll work.

Okay, so what's the weirdest thing in your purse, ladies?

After the Storm

Monday night we had a storm. It was a doozy. The lightning lit up the sky, the hail pummelled my poor little roof, the rain came down in sheets, the sirens wailed. It was the kind of storm that I imagine will herald the end of the world. The whole house shook and sighed and after it had cleared, I walked around the house in the dark, looking for the damage that couldn't wait until morning. Finding none that dire, I finally headed (damp and chilled) to bed.

The worst of the storm was over, but it rained all night, coming in waves, harder rain fading to drizzle and back to the big fat drops that make you cold even inside.

Tuesday morning, I rose, showered, dressed and took a deep breath. I would have to go outside and do a more intensive evaluation of the damage. Starting at the front door, I turned right and began walking around the house. There was not much new, which is not to say that there wasn't much. The gutter that's draining into the wrong spot had caused a bit of a mess... There was more soffet missing from that spot with all the missing soffet. Yada, yada, around the house I walked, hoping and praying that there was nothing serious. Rounding the last corner, I found this:

I have had these irises for years, but never got one to bloom. And there, after the storm, was my payoff, my very favorite flower on earth, open and gaping and trembling under the weight of the water. Not bowed or broken by the high wind, but encouraged by it.

It occurred to me that the most beautiful sights are always right after the storm. Whether it's because truly lovely things happen then or because we are most open to beauty after the fear and trepidation that thunder leaves behind, I don't suppose I'll ever know.

Sometimes, a storm is needed, to soak the roots or unearth the root or whatever. Sometimes you don't know what you've got until after the storm.