april is the wild card.

As you may have noticed, I am not participating in the A-Z blogging challenge. Sweet relief! There's no way I was gonna pull that off.

And since I've developed a false sense of no-one-can-see-me, I've switched to a font that does this blog absolutely no favors. The words are difficult to read, but they also LOOK WHIMSICAL, and let's not forget our priorities, here.

Also, no guarantee on the background. I am in IDENTITY CRISIS MODE.

MORE NEWS:

I'm in Martha's Vineyard. This morning I woke up in Boston. Yesterday we went to Maine. This weekend we'll be in Manhattan.

And I've forgotten what day of the week it is (Wednesday. It's Wednesday).

random cat picture says,
"how productive can you really be on this thing?"

Perhaps I will post something that makes more sense tomorrow (now that we have internet again).

Until then, here's some unadulterated nonsense, for all you phone-puter gaming fans:

Ah, Whale Trail.

the champion drooler makes friends in real life.

Notice anything different? Fair warning, my friends: I may like consistency elsewhere, but on the blog, j'aime le change... ment. My previous hold of five months was a record. {On the Xanga page I had in college, I changed the look more often than I posted.} And so, if this blog starts to look different every time you visit, my apologies. For now, though... you like?

Mmm, new things. I am a champion drooler* over new things. And I don't mean material things, necessarily, lest you harrumph at my covetousness. This is not a post about my covetousness {that one will involve shoes and iPhone apps and books}. This is a post about the rosy cusp of possibility, where the best outcomes still seem the most likely. Ahh.
*ick.

We are back from our 15 days of America-hopping madness, and it's got me feeling... new. Like, there was my life before going to Yellowstone/meeting Jeigh freaking Meredith in person {and sleeping on her comfy couch for a weekend}, and now there's my life AFTER.

Here, have some Tang {Orange! Great for Breakfast! Possibly Flammable!} whilst I list {am I the only person who likes Tang? With lists? And whilsts?}:

1. It is, perhaps, not as creepy as I once thought to make writer friends on the internet. Fancy that. Of course, you're all like, "Derr, isn't that what the Campaign is FOR?" Yes. But I was once hesitant.

2. Something changes when you meet a blog buddy/crit partner/story cheerleader in person. You notice things you could never pick up from emails or phone chats, like the color of her hair {kind of reddish! did you know?}, or her piano skill level {much higher than expected}, or the fact that she actually is a mom, with real live children and stuff. Amazing, I know.

Towely is watching you.

3. Also wonderful is that, when meeting with a writer friend, you can leave the saucy minx of book-shame at home. It's not the same as telling a new, unaccustomed friend that you're writing a fantasyish novel-or-something for young people, or maybe grown-ups, if they like to read stuff for young people, stop looking at me like that. Jeigh already knows. Our friendship was catalyzed by the fact that we are BOTH writing fantasyish novels-or-something for young people, etc. It's liberating to not fear the knee-jerk, sideways glance, you know? {Is that just me?}

4. Sleep is for later-times. Five AM is for giggling.

5. If you've been following Jeigh for a while {what's that? You're not a Jeigh-follower? Well, you'd better get on that {she totally knows a short-cut}. I'll be here when you get back}, you've probably seen something about her freakish reading speed. It is {...going to be?}, as one Barney Stinson might say:

Truth. WELL. I got to experience the legend first hand, and let me say... what, 350 pages, Jeigh? Yeah. In five hours. I have a lot to learn from this woman.

6. In other news! Remember this picture from our adventures in Gatlinburg?

Yeah? Yeah? Any last guesses? No? Well, here--from 6:40 to 6:57--is what it immediately made me think of:

And that's two Phineas and Ferb clips in a month. At least this one was in English.

Alas, this post is not as much about the rosy cusp of possibility as I'd planned, unless you count that I am so excited to be back in my own home after half a month, it makes me want to be *productive.* I might even exercise.

This has potential to be STELLAR.

Or, perhaps... legendary.

{Y'all watch How I Met Your Mother and Phineas and Ferb, right? A perfectly logical combination.}

7. Huh. Y'all.

mid-week update. with drops of all sorts. and pictures!

I am so busy these days...
(How busy are you?)
I am SO BUSY these days, that I drove all the way to the library just to write a blog post. It hasn't been working for me at home, lately. I have been too easily distracted by such things as food, destructive cats, re-watching Firefly and Serenity (so productive), rekindling a lost love for Anime (even more [i.e. less] productive), that stupid doll dress-up site (still, I know), and, oh. That blond-headed boy I married. But I'll keep that one. He's warm and cute and knows how to cook.

So, here I finally am, and I figured it was time for a little update. Life is fun right now. The weather is nice (though it's bordering hot). We went home to Louisville for Derby Day, wherein my 83-year-old grandmother cleaned us all out with Animal Kingdom. Never mind that we pick at random in my family. She was all funny and gloaty-gloat over her $38 winnings. You go, Pa.* We drank Ale-8 mint juleps (Ale-8 with mint sprigs--no bourbon this year), ate strawberries with chocolate sauce and powdered sugar, and cried at My Old Kentucky Home. Oh, how I love Derby. It's a bonafide holiday, like Christmas, around here (here meaning Louisville. Knoxville doesn't care quite as much).

[*Yes, I call my grandmother Pa. No, she is not a man. When I was teeny-tiny, it was all I could say. By the time I mastered "Grandmother," the former had already stuck. So, Pa she is. I always wanted to spell it with an H at the end, though. Pah. Because, as I mentioned, she is not a man. But then the spelling stuck, too. Ah, well. At least it's unique.]

Animal Kingdom, for the win.
Beautiful shot pilfered from this site.

The Saturday previous to Derby is also worth mentioning. We drove up to Botetourt, Virginia (pronounced "Bottetott," I learned) for a wine festival, which is code for "to see our friends Laura and Kagey (The Honey Dewdrops) open for the Carolina Chocolate Drops!". Two Drops in the bucket, as I keep saying to myself. It was immensely fun.

Kagey, Laura, and their good buddy, Barry.
They make pretty sounds together.

We met Laura and Kagey* a couple summers ago when they played at a funky little place in Knoxville called the Time Warp Tea Room. A time warp it was, a tea room it was not. I ordered a grilled cheese with tomato soup, and got, straight up, two practically-fried slices of white bread hugging a melted Kraft single, with a bowl of Campbell's condensed tomato soup. It was the real deal. I shouldn't hate on it. The place really did seem like a lot of fun, and their website makes it sound promising... perhaps I'll go back someday. They did have neat fountain drinks. I digress. On the night THD played, we were two of, like, five people there. We got to talking with Laura and Kagey after they played, and just... became friends. Simple as that.


[*Pronounced kind of like Keggy, by the way. Or maybe... Kayggy. Sorry, Kagey, I'm pretty sure I pronounce your name differently every time I say it. At least I know this: it is NOT pronounced "cagey."]




After that, Joshua and I had a comically bad habit of going to see our friends play at the strangest shows ever. First was the TWTR, which, btw, was also full of sneering biker chicks. The December after Joshua and I got married, we went to see Laura and Kagey play in Lexington at a really neat place called Natasha's. Embarrassing fact #1: we had told them about this venue in the first place, which made embarrassing fact #2 (that no one but us and a transvestite named Marjorie showed up) even worse. But we still had a good time, right guys?

A few months ago, we drove up to Etowa to see them, and the entire auditorium was full of sweet, little blue-hairs who looked about to keel over at the slightest touch. Or, more rather, cover their ears in discomfort if the music got too loud. It wasn't a bad show, by any means. It was just... odd. Thus, imagine our joy to see The Honey Dewdrops at this festival, with a real, responsive audience! One that actually cheered! Laura told me once, "We really do have fans, I promise." And they do, and it's no surprise why. I could, perhaps, gush further about how nice these two are, and how awesome it is that they took the time to get to know us. The fact that they did speaks for itself.

Hit 'Em Up Style, y'all.

Anywhoooooo, they also play really great music! Music that gets stuck in my head at work. And, the icing on the cake for April 30: the Carolina Chocolate Drops. I mean, how could we not go to this show? Our friends, plus these guys? Granted, it was four hours away, but it was a blast. If you haven't seen CCD live, go do that. Please. And, while you're at it, go find The Honey Dewdrops, too. We could all use a few more Drops in our lives, you know?

Here's a picture of Dom Flemons, makin' me laugh. He cracked me all the way up during this show, especially during an exchange with Hubby Jenkins (a new--and incredible--group member) about where Hubby learned to play Cornbread and Butterbeans. The answer: a Carolina Chocolate Drops music book, of course. Dom asked, "Now, where'd you get that?" Hubby said, "I picked it up in a dumpster somewhere," which was funny enough, but then Dom said, "Well, I put it there 'cause I knew you'd find it," with the most hysterical, old-timey comedian face. I wish I'd known that expression was coming. I would have taken a picture of that.



All in all, after a month of non-stop go go go, this was one of the best Saturdays we'd had in a while.

Us and our friends, complete with Laura's Zoolander face.

I'm pretty sure I intended to write about some other things, too, but this post has gone on long enough. But keep your eyes peeled (ungh, terrible figure of speech) for some exciting things to come in the near future. There may or may not be prizes involved.

In closing, since I like to brag, this happened:

Dom Flemons, me, a signed LP,
and Kagey in the  background.
It was a good day.

greetings from new england.

Once, in the sleepy island town of Nantucket, Massachusetts, there lived (temporarily) a girl of 25 who did not entirely know what to do with her life. Retail was getting her down, and vacation was making her antsy. She had spent nearly a month weary with both. Uh, she thought, I probably shouldn't complain. Luckily for her (but not so luckily for her pocketbook), she had discovered a lovely, independent bookstore, only two blocks from her room at the lodge.

The girl's husband was less fond of this proximity. "Aren't you ready to leave, yet?" he'd had to ask, multiple times, on both visits. The answer had been no, of course. But, he'd let her roam for so long already, and done so well (2:45:58) in the race that brought them to New England in the first place, that it seemed unfair for her to dig her heels into the floor, tempting as it was. Graciously, he did let her buy the handful of things that had stolen her heart. To rephrase: she was going to buy those things regardless. Her husband was gracious about it. "But next time," he added, "we're setting a souvenir budget."

That evening, while her husband slept off his prime rib and beer (men), the girl redid the look of her blog, and then wrote about herself in the third person. It wasn't quite as delightful as buying new books, or fantasizing about quitting her day job (and forgoing all future day jobs) to be a successful novelist and actress, but it would suffice until then. She hoped.

The girl found this photo on the internet. It is, surprisingly,
the exact view she'd had while eating lunch the day before.

this one's going to be a rambler, featuring sponge art and snow.

Since I last posted, I've changed states. And timezones. Not permanently, of course, just for a few days. We cannot let a winter pass without skiing in Colorado, it would seem. And by we, I mean my husband. It's okay, he has an excuse: he actually enjoys it and has copious amounts of skill. I, on the other hand, am only so-so, and cannot ski with a clear conscience unless the slope is labeled green or (maaaaybe) blue, and there are NO other people around. It will still make my knees hurt. It will still make me want to throw up when I start going too fast. I am not the best at skiing, even though I've been doing it for half my life.

The view. Blustery, no?

Don't get me wrong, when all those requirements are met, or I am somehow able to trick myself into believing they are met, I do have a good time. I'm not skiing today, so Joshua can go do all his double black diamonds and junk, but I am determined to ski tomorrow. Determined! We didn't drive halfway across the continent for me to sit and read and blog and write the whole time. Then again, these are my only days off before another caffeine-slinging round of eight-days-in-a-row at work, followed by ANOTHER long trip, so I'm allowing myself a little free time. Is that so bad?

I digress. The best part about coming out here is the road trip. I am a sucker for a road trip, but maybe that's just because I'm so lazy. I love the excuse to read and listen to music, write a little, nap, maybe burn through an audiobook. Fun fun fun. As long as I'm not driving. Then, it's just driving.Yesterday, between Kansas City and Denver, we listened to all of Girl, 15, Charming But Insane, by Sue Limb, and it was delightful. "Pretty girly," as Joshua pointed out, "but also really good." His words, almost exactly (Aha! Success!). Funny, sweet, and very British. Good times. Speaking of funny, sweet, and very British, I also finished Howl's Moving Castle. More on that later. Because, first I want to tell you about some other things.



Before I go on and on, check out the t-shirt I wore the other day:

I like how my necklace gives Perry forehead bling.

I got complimented at the gas station. Oh yeah.

So, I'm no stranger to the City Museum in St. Louis, but, as one might expect, I see something new there, every time I go. It helps to have to get all the way to St. Louis first. I'm sure if I worked there, or lived in the same town, it would get old hat, just like anything else. [Weirdest thing, while Joshua and I were poking around, I heard my name and thought, Surely that's not for me. Of course I turned, since it's physically impossible not to, and a girl I went to high school with was there. Buhhh? She had gone to college in St. Louis, stayed, and now works at the City Museum. I don't know if I should be happy for her or not. The place gets insane.]

We went late at night, a first for me, and it made for a very different atmosphere. Actually, scratch that. It wasn't that different. During the day, there are large groups of small children making a ruckus. Late at night, it's just high-schoolers and college kids, doing the exact same thing. There was even a prom going on. A prom. Who has prom on the first of April? It was practically still March, and all the girls were wearing short party dresses instead of gowns. Is that how it is now? Maybe my school was just weird. [Insert embarrassing picture from senior prom (that I do not currently have) where my date and I meant to go as Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers (Youth Performing Arts School, what?), but ended up looking like a bride and groom. Sigh.]

Anyway, I did see some pretty cool things, and I'm about to go all travelogue on you, so buckle up.

I look like I'm drooling, or perhaps like I'm wearing vampire teeth. In reality, I was earning a
righteous bruise on my knee while climbing through a petrified tree-tunnel.

In the "caves."

The only visible picture I could get of the ten-story spiral slide.
Which is much more popular with the night crowd. We waited in line for 20 minutes.

This guy was right outside the room that contained the particularly boisterous prom. Hilarious. 

And old, working, carnival game. I won't deny it, this sort of gave me the creeps.
It was moving, doing its thing, and all the parts were creaking, but no one was there. *shudder*

And here is where we went into the giant building blocks room.
Or should I say, building sponges?

This was a definite highlight: the sponge room. Little dirty, but it was great. You can see that dad in there, supervising his son's masterpiece. I overheard the little boy say some pretty spectacular things, but I think I'm going to save it for the next post so I can put my free day to good use and get some writing done. More to come!

7 things to love this week.

one.

Our new landlords, Don and Donna (yes, those are their names), brought us fresh, homemade applesauce earlier today.  It is the best applesauce I've ever had.  In fact, I'm tempted to say that it's the only applesauce I've ever had.

two.

Next week, our friends The Honey Dewdrops are coming to stay with us for a night as they pass through.  Is this the coolest thing?  Yes.  

three.

Adelaide.  It surprised me how much I missed the cat when we were away.  This is one of my favorite pictures of her, being a rascal in our old apartment.

four.

Coolato Gelato.  It just has to be my favorite place in Knoxville.  We played Settlers of Catan for hours there last night.  I guess that means:

five.

Settlers of Catan.  It took me a while, but I finally came around.

six.

The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer.  Technically, it's the second of a trilogy.  I enjoyed the first book (Life As We Knew It) as well, and I have yet to read the third one, but The Dead and the Gone just blew me away.

seven.

Our entire trip to the D.C. area was amazing.  We got to see friends, eat amazing food, and experience D.C. from the local perspective for the first time.  We went to church in a movie theater.  We ate fresh, delicious food from Eastern Market.  

And, you know, I got to see the dinosaurs.  Rawr.

on vacation, i:

1.  Swam with fish.  I was way more into it than they were.

(not my photo.)

2.  Discovered that a chocolate cream frappucino with hazelnut (and no coffee) is my new favorite thing at Starbucks.  Yes, Nassau has Starbucks, and it's on every street corner, just like at home


3.  Ate Italian food, Greek food, and what Lucille Bluth would call "pool food," but surprisingly little Bahamian food (two bites of conch fritter was enough for me).


4.  Devoured Till We Have Faces by CS Lewis in less than three days.

5.  Got jabbed in the ribs by a rogue flamingo at the zoo.  No, I'm not kidding.


6.  Met my first serval, also at the zoo (is this thing a cat or a freaking deer?).

7.  Experienced "Sky juice," a Bahamian drink made from rum and coconut water.  Yum.


8.  Got a sunburn.  Of course.


9.  Watched the series finale of LOST on a tropical island.  That was pretty cool.  Naturally, I bawled.

(I suppose I could have used a more iconic image-- 

and you know the one I mean if you've seen it-- 

but I didn't want to give too much away, just in case.)

10.  Watched the series finale of 24, also on a tropical island.  Not that it held any significance in this case.


10.  Did not run at all.


11.  Went to a museum and learned about Caribbean pirates.  The moral of the story:  if you're lazy, like to drink, have flexible standards and know how to clean a gun, hop on board!  Oh, but you'll probably get hanged in a few years.  Just try to ignore that part.  "A short life, but a merry one," indeed.

(This is a display from the Pirates of Nassau museum.  

The creepy tour guide said this was supposed to be the real Jack Sparrow, after he was marooned.  

I kind of doubt that.  There were no labels that said so.  

Plus, Jack Sparrow was invented by Disney, I'm pretty sure.  

I will concede that it sure looks like him, though.)  

13.  Had a very strange, amusing experience which involved a busted pipe and trying to get out of an elevator without basically going under a waterfall.

14.  Spent a dollar on a slot machine and got a voucher for 46 cents back (which we never cashed in).

15.  Was asked repeatedly if I wanted my hair braided and said "No, thank you," every single time.  Can't you see I just came out of the ocean?  It would take you an hour just to untangle this mess.

(ouch.)

16.  Failed to post from the Bahamas because it always cost too much money to use the internet.  Hope I've made up for it now.

reintroducing myself.

Well, that was a long break.  In the car last night, I thought up a delightful, clever way to reintroduce myself, but I have forgotten it now.  No surprise.


Last week my friend Jesse Myers wrote to me saying that he enjoyed reading my blog, though I hadn't written anything lately.  I responded:
     "It has become a battle recently between writing on the blog, writing emails, writing for fun, reading novels, and reading the Bible. Sadly, the blog usually ends up at the bottom of this list. Even more sadly, reading the Bible isn't very high up, either. I've always struggled with that. It's like, once I'm reading it, I don't want to put it down, but it takes forever to motivate myself to open it up. Sigh."


Apparently, it has been this way for writing on the blog, as well.  I feel like I have to devote a ton of time to a post, and always find myself wasting that time doing something else.  BUT!!  Since I was a big girl this week and successfully read from my Bible, I figured I could go ahead and tackle this as well.  Also, I enjoy writing and I miss it.


Living in Knoxville has been just fine these last six months, but I must admit, pretty dull in the middle of the day.  There was that one month when I didn't have a car and walked to the grocery store or to McKay's for entertainment, or the month after that when I did have a car again, and just drove to the Greenway to run all the time...  Freedom is nice, but so is variety.  So, to my great happiness, I FINALLY got a job.  A fun job.  The sort of job I've always wanted.


Believe it or not, I actually applied at Mast last summer, six months before I even lived here (I applied again at the end of March).  Ohh... I think it'll be fun.  I know I see the whole thing in a rosy fog right now, though.  I am learning that my co-workers are just as imperfect as I am, even though I spent ten minutes telling my grandmother about how awesome everyone is (before I'd even met half of them).


It makes me a little nervous to know that they've talked about "the new girl."  I haven't been a "new girl" in a while.  Or had a job.  Come to think of it, I haven't worked since September.  I had no idea I'd be taking eight months off.  Jeez.


I'll admit, I was a little hesitant to work again.  Since moving to Rockford, I had really started to enjoy my days a lot more.  It's nice to be able to step outside and run any amount you like, whenever you like.  I had also really gotten used to reading and writing a lot, and I remember thinking, "If I get a job, I won't be able to run and work and read and write, all in one day!"  I have a feeling this will be true.  I will have to learn true motivation to accomplish all of these things.  For example, I woke up at 5:00 on Tuesday to run before going to work.  I did it, but I'm still exhausted from it.  How do people (like my husband) get up at this hour every single day?  Will I ever be able to train for this marathon if I can't even pull myself up out of bed?


For those of you not in Chattanooga at 11:00 pm on Thursday, May 20, you may not know that it is thundering like mad outside.  Joshua and I are in his parents' basement guest room, and he's already out cold, curled up under the covers.  We're here for two reasons:  first, today was his mommy's birthday (yay!), and second, we're driving to Atlanta tomorrow morning to fly down to the Bahamas for four days.  Yes, the Bahamas.  I don't think either of us have ever been there.  Joshua's had this trip up his sleeve for several months, now.  I knew we would be going somewhere beachy, but I didn't know exactly where until recently.  Surprise!  Wouldn't it be fun if I could post while we're there?  I may very* well do so, if we can ever find cheap-as-free internet.


*Sidenote:  I recently came across an excellent list of quotes (mostly writing advice), which included this hilarious one from Mark Twain:  “Substitute “damn” every time you’re inclined to write “very;” your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.”  So perhaps I should edit my above statement to read, "I may (well) do so..."


My favorite on the list was one I'd heard before from Madeleine L’Engle:  


     “You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children.”


:)