Notes From All Over: Long Overdue Edition

please forgive my absence, my lovelies... it's been a busy couple of weeks.

but i'm happy to announce that today's entry comes to you straight from my brand-spankin' new laptop. it feels good... i'll explain the need for the purchase shortly... first, kudos to my little brother for assisting so much with the purchase and set up of the laptop.... it's been wonderful.

anxiety trifecta
the other week i attended a wine tasting with my dear friend vicky. the event was held at one shell plaza in downtown houston.

for those unfamiliar with me... let's review my laundry list of phobias: heights, small spaces, large crowds and several others too intimate to confess at this time.

the wine tasting was on the 49th floor of one shell plaza... you have to take THREE elevators to reach the 49th floor. there i entered a room full of wealthy individuals who were all looking out the windows that stretched around the entire room from ceiling to floor.

so let's review: 49th floor...nothing but windows (i could see the tops of other skyscrapers). three elevators from the parking garage to the 49th floor...very small space. for a time no numbers lighted so i had no idea which floor i was on. and a large group of wealthy individuals - only two of whom i knew.

not a good time for my neuroses.

oh! then i had the opportunity to witness one of the lasting traditions of misogyny...the belly dancer. three belly dancers entertained the crowd between the first three and last three bottles of wine.

i'm certain the first was the teacher (turned out she was) and the other two were her students. but why the belly dancing? i have a theory.

the tall brunette - the one who started off stiff and never looked fully comfortable - is in desperate need of a self-esteem boost and this was recommended by her therapist.

the shorter blonde dancer was secure in her moves. she's writing her masters thesis on various forms of female objectification and she feels she needs to experience them all in order to fully develop her paper.

just my theory.

black hole of humanity
i've been shopping for furniture and i'm happy to announce that i finally have some grown-up furniture in my living room. the blue ikea is now in the bedroom as a reading, lounging area... and i've taken the long-loved black futon down to galveston... where i set it out to sea ablaze in proper viking fashion. actually - it's on my curb... but it deserves something better. we've been through a lot that couch.

but...in my search of the furniture... i'm here to tell you, my friends. i have looked into the abyss and it has looked back into me. and it's name is mattress mack. i swear to vishnu...the guy looks like the fucking crypt keeper.

i had hoped i could go to my grave and proudly proclaim to st. peter: "i never stepped foot in gallery furniture." but i have... and i feel dirty.

and mattress mack looked at me as i entered and i saw all the evil and bile i know encompasses this man's soul as i looked back into his dead great white shark eyes.

evil, i know thy name.

p.s. i did not purchase my furniture there. they have shit.

a dingo ate my baby
actually...they're coyotes. and apparently they're attacking small children in california. crazy, huh?

stop intruding on the land that belongs to this nation's wildlife.

fuckin' yuppies.

hell on earth
a.k.a. the baby section at target.

i went to pick out a gift for my brother and his preggers wife... i was going to see them and i thought i should find something.

i know not from babies... never held one. never changed one... never thought much about breast pumps and binkies and other shit i really have no clue about.

so there i am.... staring into the depths of the baby section. lost. slightly afraid. but more scornful. i sneered as i looked through the registry list.

"what the fuck is that?" was my most common thought.

i probably scared some of the other customers.... but i was overwhelmed by all the little pink and blue and green and purple plastic things that go in here or attach to that or make sure... what? i'm not really sure.

i found a plush alligator. they live in louisiana...i figured she'd better get used to it. oh - and some cute bibs. green and yellow. fuck gender specific ideologies. not on my watch.

the trip
as you can probably tell by the fact that i sit here typing... i made it to baton rouge and back without the bridge over the atchafalaya basin crumbling beneath me. but i did think about it... actually, i thought about it every bridge i crossed.

i have issues... what do you want me to say?

the trip was nice... somehow i was able to remain a vegan in louisiana... it took some effort - but i managed. this included a delicious thai meal saturday night. good green curry. yummy!

my mom was there and i presented her with the short story i had written for mother's day. she cried... so i assume she liked it. (side note: it's been awhile since i've composed a short story... felt good. not sure how great it was but i liked it. it recounted a nice evening my mom and i had drinking and listening to jazz at an old restaurant i worked at. a good night.)

the baby shower was sunday in mandeville...which is on the north side of lake pontchartrain. you can still see damage from katrina. nothing like in NOLA, i'm sure. they've built up nicely... but there are still empty lots. only remnants of the houses that once stood.

while the women opened gifts and discussed baby names (for the record, i like ilya and brooklyn) my brother, his father-in-law and i went to look around the lake and have some beers.

the father is a good ole cajun boy who can become hard to understand the more he drinks. but he's full of good stories and good humor. he showed us the spot jazz musicians used to play at when they left NOLA. late night jam sessions just down the street.

my brother and his wife scored at the baby shower... i believe they now have four car seats and two high chairs. they liked the alligator and they bet it will be the one toy their daughter always carries around.

for some odd reason... that thought makes me smile.

the name for the little girl seems to come down to leah, allison or katharine. i'm hoping for katharine. katharine elizabeth. but we'll see....

baton rouge to houston: 9 hours
when i drove to baton rouge... it took me four hours. i drive fast, i freely admit this. i used to make it from denton to sugar land in four hours and 15 minutes. so... when i tell you it took 9 hours to get from baton rouge to houston on monday... you'll understand i was not happy.

i was making great time... sailing through beaumont at the three hour mark when suddenly, my gas friendly toyota corolla starts freaking out on me. then...i can't accelerate. i look at the gauges. there was a simple reason: my car had died.

somehow i'm able to glide off I-10 onto the shoulder and string together the most lovely tapestry of profanities.

i went through a lot of shit with my last car so i bought the corolla for two reasons: great gas mileage (if i couldn't afford a hybrid - the next best thing) and nobody has problems with toyotas.

so there i stand... somewhere in fucking beaumont. i enter a pest control joint and the very nice woman helps me find a towing company. i tell them to take me to the nearest mechanic.

there...they find bulletins posted online about 2005 corollas with VIN numbers less that whatever.

this is my luck, my lovelies. if anyone was going to purchase a toyota that would crap out of them when it's only three years old and has only 37,000 miles (i bought it used) - it would be me.

somewhere, however, ganesha was watching over me. the bulletins stated they were having difficulties with fuel pumps and computer parts on my particular corolla. thank buddha, both parts carried a 6-60 warranty because of these defects (six years or 60,000 miles). so it was another tow to the nearest toyota dealership where i sat. and sat. i took five hours... but my car was fixed and it cost me nothing.

so nine hours later...i pull into my drive. the worst part of all: my good friend sally had found us tickets to hear tony kushner at the alley monday night. it began at 7:30. i pulled into my place hungry and tired at 7:05.

we missed tony.

this week
i've taken this entire week off from work in order to write. i hope to complete the full-length play that has been gestating in my head for over seven years. i've had a lot of hurdles since i first thought of this play. years with roommates in my one-bedroom apartments. i have to be alone when i write.

i worked two jobs for over a year.... simply no time to write when you're working all the time.

but over the past couple of years my work load has lessened... i find myself secure in my one bedroom apartment. alone with my new furniture and fabulous laptop. i bought the laptop so i wouldn't be stuck looking at my bedroom wall on the desktop computer. i'm sitting in front of my laptop in my dining room... surrounded by windows and natural light.

i'm switching between jazz/big band and classical music.

last night i completed the outline for the play. i'm surprised at how happy i am with it. i've also completed 23 pages of what i expect to be about a 100-page play.

it feels good....

once i'm done... i hope to hold a reading and get some input. i'll keep you posted on that, as well.

okay - i'm off to write. i promise not to neglect you so long next time.

if i don't talk to you... enjoy the upcoming memorial day weekend.

e.