Everything At Once

Yesterday was Halloween 2017, and we did something different this year. The kid said he wanted to stay home and hand out candy and "scare people" in his spooky costume. So I took him to 2 places (we really don't know enough people around here to take him to) and brought him back home. However, he wasn't feeling like himself so he took his costume off and laid low. He'd gotten a tooth pulled earlier that day.

The kid and I's 2017 jack-o-lanterns.

I'm currently working as a bartender two days a week at a local bar for veterans. (Though it's open to the public.) I enjoy it. While the older clientele doesn't always tip the best, it's better than having the dramatic, troublesome younger crowd.

My sister's cat got outside one day a couple months ago and got herself knocked up... Hee hee... So we said whatever she had, we'd take 2. Well, lucky sis... mama had 6 kittens. Six! Wow. We videochatted a few times and I picked out the two we'd take. A boy and a girl. She took them with her on a visit to our mom's 3 days ago, and I met up with them to bring them home. They turned 8 weeks old yesterday, Halloween. Cute thing. I named the girl Frigga (Thor's mom & Odin's wife, at least in the comics. In Norse mythology, her name is Frigg) and my son named the boy Fire "because it rhymes"....okay.... But he just wanted the same letter. If I'd've known that, I'd've named em Luke and Leia, but my husband says there would've been weird sexual tension later as they grew up... haha.

Fire (left) and Frigga.

We went on our family vacation about a month and a half ago. The three of us and my mom. We'd planned on going to Florida, but that exact same week (which we booked 8 months earlier), that whore Irma decided to spread her love all over the poor state. So we quickly improvised a Plan B. We went to Kentucky, stayed at a cabin on a lake for 2 nights, which was quite nice. Relaxing. Though what was left of Irma - just off and on rain - began to hit us late into that first night. Oh well. After that we went to Nashville TN, which was about 2 hours away. The first place we went was the Johnny Cash museum, but it was in the heart of downtown, which was crazy. And it was Wednesday. The hotel we stayed in was a ways away, directly across the parking lot from the Tennessee Titans NFL stadium. That evening we went to Opry Mills, so Devon could experience a Lego store. There was a restaurant in the building called the Aquarium, which had a huge saltwater tank full of fish and rays in it. Pricey but awesome. That night Mom and I went out on the town. I'd looked on my phone for places with live music but didn't find much, and discovered that there was a music festival going on that required a $45 wristband to enter the participating bars. Nope. We'll just hope for the best. So we get downtown, find a bar with an artist performing, sit down for a drink, and I look at Maps on my phone. Jackpot! There was a goldmine about 2 blocks away. Broadway street, from 4th to 5th avenue, was Nothing. But. Bars. We get there and every single place was live music, no cover charge. But man, we drank bottle beers and each round was around $11. Nonetheless, a good time was had. We started at Rippy's, which had an AMAZING bartender, and worked our way down the street. One side, then the other. One bar had 3 stories. Live music on the first and second, and a DJ on the 3rd, which was a rooftop bar! First rooftop bar I've been on. Pretty cool, but better if the music was live. After wandering around the 2-block length of honky tonks for an hour and a half or so, we end up at Rippy's again. The bartender, who has been serving a busy bar all by herself, recognized us from earlier, greeted us, and brought us the exact beers we'd been drinking the first time we were there. Friggen awesome. I wish we'd gotten her name. The next day, we got to the science center in town for the kid, and then realize we have 2 more days of unplanned vacation. We end up going up to Evansville, Indiana for a brief stay - which included a Mongolian BBQ dinner and a Chuck-E-Cheese trip for Mini Me. Then we headed home, a day early. While it wasn't the beach, it was still enjoyable.

The view from our lake cabin.

Fifth and Broadway, Nashville

I get to see Elbow again! Next week! I'd hoped that John Grant was touring with them again, but it's someone else. No problem, maybe I'll like him too. But I'm pretty pumped. I haven't listened to their latest album - Little Fictions - enough to have it memorized, but I'll know the songs when I hear them played. Bottom line, I GET TO SEE ELBOW AGAIN!

Well, I think that's the majority of recent happenings. Vacation... Halloween... Kittens... Upcoming concert... Yep. Y'know, I used to be able to type like this on almost a nightly basis. Not anymore, obviously.

Ta, dahlings.

Low Point

Isolation has its advantages. But every once in a while, the desire to reach out and establish communication with someone overtakes you. When you receive no alerts, no messages, no attempts at a simple check-in via phone or in person, it may start to build up without your knowledge. Then you find yourself sending a simple message out to a few people. A question, a hello, a gif.

But when they don't reply, you realize - too late - the abyss that you've slipped into. And it hits you, hard. "Who will truly be a constant in my life?" "What have I done for this to happen?" "Am I really that irrelevant to those in my life?"

And you feel truly alone.

Slave to the Sound

Another extremely talented musician is no longer with us. Chris Cornell. Throughout my years of listening to music, his voice was one I could identify easily. Maybe not which era or band he was fronting, but I knew it was him. While he wasn't in my top favorites, I knew he was tremendously talented and considered a rock god by people who follow the grunge and/or rock genre.

Now, while I say he wasn't in my top picks, there are still songs that I absolutely love and will always blare when I play. Those are:

1) Like A Stone by Audioslave. The first song of his that I fell in love with.

2) Be Yourself by Audioslave. Such a great mellow rhythm. 

3) Say Hello 2 Heaven by Temple of the Dog. His one-album project created as a tribute to a friend.

4) The Day I Tried To Live by Soundgarden. Shows his amazing vocal range.

5) I Am The Highway by Audioslave. My sister can attest, I played this song on repeat for a good length of time. Probably my favorite of his. I won't share a video because it's best experienced without any visual additions. To this day, I stop what I'm doing and close my eyes when this song comes on. Now there''ll be a pang of sadness mixed in.

As you can probably tell, these songs are the more mellow side of Chris Cornell. And apparently, I was more attached to Audioslave than I was Soundgarden.

Definitely a tremendous loss. Hugely unexpected.

One more to follow up this tribute post. Seems a bit fitting, perhaps. Another favorite Audioslave song, and a fantastic music video. Mashing up the band's car chase with the movie Vanishing Point.

Audioslave - Show Me How To Live

Goodbye Chris.

Consistently Inconsistent

Hello! I'm still around. (ound... ound...)

Ah, echo. It's just as empty here as before I took my unprecedented leave.

Jolly good.

So, my last post was... October! Wow. Four months ago.

Over the holidays, we received enough money to give our kid the choice between a train ride into the city, or a short vacation to a beach. He chose the latter. So we're combining this year's family vacation with Eric and I's wedding anniversary and all going to the gulf.

Still at my house cleaning job. The schedule is great, and time off is almost always given when requested. But, a lot of times, it's difficult to work with basically a girls club, all of whom are younger than me, and not fitting in. It's gotten a bit better, but not entirely.

Also, five months of being the bathroom bitch is about 2 months too long.

Ah, an interesting development. Assuming plans don't change, I'll be officiating a wedding in October. Looking forward to it, since it's a) something I've never done before and b) helping out someone I work with. I'll do the proper arrangements to be their minister soon - getting certified and all. Ha, and the other day, another girl I work with came up to me asking if I'd be willing to do her sister's wedding. I said I'd prefer to get to know the couple I'm binding, but I could probably do a cold ceremony. (Y'know, like a cold open, yeah?)

I've been binge watching Falling Skies now that it's over. Enjoying it. I like Noah Wyle, and I think he fits his character pretty perfectly.

Something else I've done in the span of my unnoticed absence, I painted a couple things as Christmas gifts. One for someone who loves otters...

And the other for someone who practices Reiki (a healing technique based on the principle that the therpist can channel energy into the patient by means of touch, to activate the natural healing processes of the patient's body and restore physical and emotional well-being).

They were pretty well received. Pleased, was I. Been wanting to paint something else now, but not sure what. Maybe it's time to get back to Poison Ivy, to match the Harley I did.

If you need new-ish music to listen to, try Post Pop Depression by Iggy Pop, The Getaway by Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Act One by Marian Hill. The Marian Hill album isn't my usual flavor, and isn't my favorite, but I appreciate it for its artistry. (Also, the artist name comes from the two main characters from the musical The Music Man.)