Tomorrow, [9/22/12], my lovely friend of many years, Miss Lindsay Morgan Lockhart, will be getting married to a guy who loves her for much the same reasons I do: she is a wonderful, crazy, goofy, geeky, awesome person that is adorable beyond words. It goes without saying that I am extraordinarily bummed I can’t attend – finances weren’t there, then when finances were available it was too late to request time off of work.
Morgan and I at a wedding in April 2012
This girl and I have been through many crazy adventures, and she helped set the foundation of the person I am today. She has saved my butt numerous times, and will always be a person worth knowing. Morgan is made of adjectives that haven’t even been made yet, so it’s a good thing she writes lore, because she can make them up. Yes, you can click all these photos to make ’em bigger, so do that.
At a Havasupai House party somewhere in the neighborhood of more than five and less than ten years ago.
We went to a lot of clubs, and had a lot of good times. If there’s anyone that can be counted on to keep the party going, it’s Morgan. I love her bunches for it.
Club Sabbat in the Shooterz days
She was able to make it to my wedding and spent the whole time dancing her face off with her now-almost-husband, Matt. They are both great dancers, which is a requirement of my Super Homies. 😉
#DSB2011
disposable camera shot, woot
I got her invite/RSVP/artistic awesomeness in the mail and it was A GOLDEN TICKET, y’all. No, seriously! Epic design win. If there’s one thing I love more than a good friend, it’s a good friend who knows design and typography. Yes, I am guilty of not returning the RSVP because I wanted to keep the whole thing in my SoCal scrapbook. [Sorry!]
Basically the best invite I’ve ever gotten.
She’s having a quirky, fun, robotic, colorful, steampunkish wedding ceremony in Seattle at Gasworks Park, with a reception following at a yacht club. Her dress…. oh man. It’s gonna be awesome. This is gonna be a great, great time.
She just did a blog entry about this madness; go look at it. GO NOW! What’s not to love? Look how happy they are. 🙂 I’ve seen this in person; it’s not just for photo ops. Her guy really does make her happy, really and truly, and it’s the sweetest thing ever. I’m super happy for her and wish her nothing but the best.
Matt, you got a winner. Trust me on this. 🙂
Morgan, thank you for being a fantastic friend all these years. I’m going to steal a line I heard at a toast: “May the best day of your past be the worst day of your future.” Cheers to both of you, and may all your quests give only epic rewards.
Last week, right after going to my specialist to do a followup on my weird ear condition – which might be Meniere’s disease – I got pretty sick. Most of February has been spent being exhausted (from the ear stuff), but last week I got the plague again, which happens usually twice a year. Unfortunately right about this time last year I caught the same style of plague which is why my ears are all messed up to begin with.
My college classmate used to call me “squirrel ears”, and I’m okay with him doing that. Only him though.
Anyway. I’ve basically been asleep since last Wednesday, and it wasn’t that fun. I’m ready to be healthy again. I’m well out of sorts but am trying to not sound super loopy or medicated. Finally getting better but am pretty ….eh.
Here’s what I’ve been getting my paws into lately as well: Fight Back San Diego – Artists Against Cancer. I really want this to happen. I really want awesome artists to be involved. Like Craola. Please help me make this happen. If there was more energy in my body right now you guys would hear more about it, but I spent almost 36 hours straight making the website and all the other stuff AND promoting the crap out of it. So tell someone; I’m still here but am on a break from that for a sec.
What else. Well, below are some things, and yes the photos are sort of stretched out but you can click them and they’ll be normal size. So do that if you want.
Um, I helped my friends Jim & Linda adopt a puppy named Jack.
My friend Joe turned 40 and his wife, Jen, threw him a really fun birthday hotel soiree last weekend. There was a lot of drinking and hugging and debauchery. This is me and Jen; she is awesome. I put on a very good drunk face, even though alcohol is not – and has not been – in my cards. No booze for this chick anytime soon.
Look at us, we are Lovely Ladies!
Jen & I love hugs 🙂
That was last Saturday. Last Sunday my friend Maria threw a birthday/graduation party for her husband, Trent. It was down at Mission Brewery, a very cool building that tortured me because… NO ALCOHOL. I did have a sip of one of the super-dark porters just because I really miss that taste, but just a sip. It was delicious.
Here’s a photo of some of our crew – from left,
Sean, Rod, really unflattering shot of me, Maria, random girl, random guy, and Dylan.
I love when the Phoenix crew comes out:
Sunday was also my buddy Shinn’s birthday. I had to go from Maria & Trent’s thing to Steve’s thing.
From left: Jason, me, Rob (behind), Steve-o 🙂
From there, last Monday was the doctor’s appointment, after which I didn’t feel awesome, and then Wednesday morning woke up with crazy fever chills and now we’re to today. The coughing is subsiding slowly, my appetite is coming back slowly. Life is a little weird right now; I’m sleeping through most of it and drinking lots of tea. I’m also closing in on the final chapters of Game of Thrones (book 4) and also just starting to watch the episodes. It’s good.
First of all, I’ve been working on this post for at least three days, and that’s what happens when work gets in the way of life. 😉
WOO!
Can I get a fist pump, at least? Maybe an air-five? I’d do it for you.
This year marks what (to the best of my knowledge) is my sixteenth Internet Birthday. That means that roughly two hundred moons ago (oooh, moon math) I first heard everyone’s favorite static-y noise: boop beep boop boop beep boop boop beep beep beep boop brrrrrrrrRRRRRPPPPp eeeeeEEeeeeeep zzzzzsstt eep eep ding ding! Spell it how you like, but dial-up changed the face of technology. The best was when someone picked up the phone and disconnected you from your access, especially if you were on some late night chat marathon.
The Internet at that time was a big place, a much safer place. People were excited about the prospect of just talking to other people by clicking into a room and typing. We had “handles”, we had avatars, we had animated gifs of cartoon devils.
There were a lot of sites that used this.
We were UNSTOPPABLE (though we probably should have been stopped when we had the red text on the black background of flaming tiled skulls). Angelfire and Geocities unleashed a plethora of Writers and Poets, and don’t get me started on all the Usenet groups.
For fear of sounding even more like I’m asking you to get off my lawn, I’ll divert and ask that you bear with me. Those were the golden years of being online; years ripe with angsty poetry, too much eyeliner, and all the text files you could stand. You sent your words off into the ether with nary a thought or concern that they might come back to haunt you.
It wasn’t just before google was a verb, it was PRE-GOOGLE, for chrissakes. (Cool kids used Dogpile.)
One of my frequent e-hangouts was Chathouse.com. It was there that I made one of my first Internet Friends, an awesome Cajun guy: Dr. Ken. We talked daily, he helped me figure out what exactly that ‘src’ in ‘img src=’ meant, and eventually that led to me posting up horrible photos on horrible tiled backgrounds. It was the epitome of Awesome Web Design. If you really have nothing better to do, google ‘1999@usaor.net’ and get ready for some good laughs. There is precious little out there, but it’ll give you an idea of how things used to be.
Dr. Ken and I are still friends – we’ve lost touch now and again but we are still Facebook buddies. We’ve never met in person but I always hope to find myself a good Cajun dentist. He once sent me a king cake and a little Mardi Gras care package. Before him my first friend-I’d-never-met was a German pen pal named Daniella Meineke. I can’t recall how we ended up becoming pen pals, but it was a genuine exchange of words on paper. We kept in touch through most of the 90’s but then dropped off. I hope she’s doing well.
You probably didn’t come here expecting to sit around the cyber fire, listening to me spin yarns from this rocking chair. It doesn’t really rock, FYI. You found me caught off guard, because (and I said all the above to say this) I’ve been online a long time, but writing even longer. Paper journals, diaries, poetry submitted, contests entered, newsgroups joined, e-newsletters sent betwixt (ooh!) my schoolmates and college colleagues (which turned into online journals and joint blogs)… all of that, and I’ve always wanted someone to notice my writing. There, I said it, despite this terrible fear of sounding presumptuous.
You know how the Internet is – it doesn’t care. It doesn’t want you to put yourself out there, because you will get chewed up and spit out and stepped on. For all of that though, I have just wanted someone to read my writing and get the same feeling *I* get when reading something good. Something memorable, worthy of bookmarking or even RSS-ing. To think somebody would subscribe to the madness that comes out of my head is just …I don’t know. You guys don’t know this, but I have three novels sitting in various formats on various hard drives, and that means they’re not getting written. Partially out of lack of information, partially lack of caring to *find* information, and partially fear of rejection.
Do you remember Vox? When Livejournal was starting to grow into less of a community and more of a big pain in the butt, Vox was my go to. For some reason the flow of words came easier – my epic posts were small novels, and stupidly I forgot to export my data when it got shut down. Bummer. Anyway, *this* blog has been around since early 2006 (maybe even a smidge before that), and for such a long time I wanted it to fit into a certain box or label. Now I realize it doesn’t, and it seems to be flowing better. My posts (when left unchecked) can get pretty lengthy, but the same holds true for my emails and ‘quick notes’ to people. There are a lot of words.
Since my rediscovery of how awesome WordPress is, I try to write as often as possible, but get sidetracked by things like life and work. Health gets in the way. Lack of a computer gets in the way. I own a Droid but sure ain’t writin’ 1500 word posts on it. So you see how it goes. Some days my thought process only allows for just enough energy to get me out of bed, through work, and back home to bed. Things are a bit weird with me, but I’m still around.
Okay. With ALL of that being said, I was super-ultra-mega-mega delighted to see that anybody nominated me for *anything*, because the days of communal fun on LJ are long since past. A new awesome blogger I’ve just discovered, Miss Cristy from Paltry Meanderings of a Taller Than Average Woman was sweet enough to nom(nom nom)inate me for The Versatile Blogger Award. Woot! She put it well: As with the 7×7, these awards are essentially the chain letters of the blogging award industry. Still, I never win anything. Even my husband dissuades me from buying lottery tickets because my luck is abysmal. So, secretly, I’m thrilled. 😉
It's a major award!!
THE RULES
1) Add the Versatile Blogger Award to your post. Done
2) Thank the blogger who nominated you and provide a link back to their blog. Done
3) Share 7 completely random pieces of information about myself. Done
4) Include this set of rules in your post. Done
5) Nominate 10 fellow bloggers for The Versatile Blogger Award in this post. Done
6) Notify each of the nominees by posting a comment on each of their blogs. Done (after I publish this post)
—-since you asked—-
Seven completely random pieces of info about myself. Hmmm. Well, I already talked quite a bit, so you’ll get some randomness, that’s for sure.
a) I moved to San Diego from Pennsylvania on August 19, 2001, and managed to have crazy times in Tijuana that first year WITHOUT going to TJ Jail. Awwww snap!
b) It really really really really really REALLY pisses me off when people date someone, get into honeymoon phase, and promptly forget about their other social obligations and/or friendships.
3) I want to have my work displayed in Juxtapoz before I’m 35. It would be nice if the ideas I had stuck in my head long enough for me to put them down on paper.
d) I have a tough time finishing things I star— ooh, look! A goldfish!
cinco) There was a point in life where I was fluent in both German and Spanish, but not both at the same time.
6) I recently lost my best friend to religion. We still talk a little via Facebook/text, something for which I am very thankful, but there is a lot going on and we can’t hang out anytime soon. Maybe not for years. It’s really painful.
L) People often tell me they don’t realize how short I am until they’re standing right next to me, and I’m in flip flops/tennis shoes/bare feet.
—-Nominate ten peeps in no particular order—- Ivonne, aka Beans&Ink. Mexi-mama, snarky, awesome. She takes amazing photos, amazing enough that she did wonders with my own wedding photos. She’s one of those artsy people who I’ve known for …ever, and she’s wonderful. Very inspirational. Sandy Eggo local, recent Philly transplant.
Anne Soffee, aka Parental Rites. Ex bellydancer, supermom, great writer, good peep. I don’t know her IRL – only through Livejournal – but wish I did. Her child (and family) are the stuff of legend.
Morgan, aka Morgan Writes. My lovely crazy wonderous imaginative storyteller friend. A lot of me is her fault. 🙂 Sandy Eggo local, not-so-recent San Fran-then-Seattlite (not satellite).
Denice, aka Our Daily Feed. A client-turned-friend, she came into my office one day and just wouldn’t leave. It was awesome! Nutritionisty-sciency-girl, follow her and change your life for the better. Not only can she cook, she can write, too. Sandy Eggo local.
Meredith, aka MeredithElaine. This broad is what we call “outgoing”, the good kind of crazy, and overall a very nice person that makes good words. Just put a mic in front of her and she’ll explain it all. I love Meric. 🙂 Sandy Eggo barhopping local. 🙂
Eric, aka That Guy With Some Shit To Say. No, for real, he does have some shit to say. Read it! Other half of Sandy Eggo local Meredith.
Alle, aka Alle Malice’s Special Feelings. Eye candy that knows how to write? Count me in. This one is worth it to add to the list, and here are some nice keywords to suck you in: Australian, medical textbooks, AbFab, Paris, glitter, unicorns. GO NOW. Someone newer I’ve found via Ivonne’s blogosphere.
Cristy, aka Paltry Meanderings of a Taller Than Average Woman. This is my new addiction. If you’ve found me through her, you already know. And if you don’t know, get going! Super new blogosphere find.
Stacie, aka Gemini Girl in a Random World. I like people that can write, especially if they’re talking a little smack to Mr. Wynn. Plus she’s a big fan of Rajinkanth, and that gives me hope. 😉 Haha! Super new blogosphere find.
Allie, aka Hyperbole and a Half. This is the original blog of win. Do you like grammar, babbling, MS Paint, and a nice dose of THE FUNNIEST BLOG IN EXISTENCE? I’m pretty sure you do (or should), and that means you need to go over there right now. If you don’t already know about it, you’re a loser. So there. I hope wolves get you. Oldschool blogosphere find.
Thanks, you guys. 🙂 I feel special.
Very special. Special enough to wear my Superhero Mask that might have been cut out of a greeting card.
I check my snail mail once a week. Sometimes more if an item is expected, but usually once a week. Generally it is full of circulars and ads that immediately go into the recycle bin after being sorted to make sure nothing of importance to me is in there. You know what ads I mean – the flimsy paper ones for nearby grocery stores, or the Pennysaver.
Please tell me how to NOT get this stuff in the mail.
I felt like it was about time for the mailbox to cough up something good. After sorting through today’s mail – at least 30 circulars and various bills – my hunch was right. Score! Officially renewed zoo passes, September’s Juxtapoz issue, and a postcard from La Familia de Carley. AWESOME.
Ding ding ding!
Who loves non-standard postcards? I do, I do! 😀
It really is the little things. Anyway, after that thumbs up, I headed to the Tax Assessor’s office to get some files assessed, and then off to Balboa Park. Mmmm, Balboa Park. I’d forgotten how much it reminds me of a labyrinth.
Today wasn’t crowded, but it was fairly warm, so that gave me an excuse to walk very slowly and take lots of photos for future painting references. At some point next month I hope to start work on a mural, so I’ve been collecting resources and references. The biggest of my projects currently is 2.5′ x 3′, so the side of a house (about 25′ x 20′) is going to be a serious challenge. Not to mention stucco has a way different texture than canvas, so things will get interesting quickly. My friend has offered to cook me some gourmet dinners in exchange for artsying up her wall, which is a nice bonus.
The park was quiet and provided me with about 50 photos – just snapped them with my phone, so the quality (depending on if I remembered to change the setting) is sort of everywhere. Here are six of the shots.
Overall, it was a nice day. Things were all gravy, until I saw the girl in the wheelchair.
She was having some sort of fit; some sort of breakdown. Not the kind where you’re pissed off because someone took your parking spot or the shoes you thought were on sale actually stopped being on sale *last* weekend, but the kind with huge eyes and the hysterical weeping just about to happen. She was mumbling something and shaking. There was a man in front of her, bending down to put his face close to hers and holding onto the front arms of her chair so she couldn’t get out. I’d like to think he was trying to comfort her or talk her through whatever, but a horrible feeling crept up my spine and made me think he was hurting her. Maybe he met her while she was alone, having some episode and was trying to help. There was a clinic and also a police station nearby, so maybe she was having a panic attack just before going in or leaving. Maybe he knows her really well, and she throws fits just to get attention. I don’t know.
I do know that a close friend of mine very recently had a uh, technical difficulty involving a psychotic episode, and I know that after researching what the hell that even is, there are no words to describe how awful it must be. Said friend isn’t able to be visited or contacted quite yet so there is still a lot of sitting here feeling sad, frustrated, worried.
I hope both the girl and my friend are okay. I hope I can do something.
Right now though I can’t do much of anything except make art, so that’s what I’m going to do.
Retention 
