happy halloween, sugarpies!

evening update:

this is the best costume idea i've heard of today:

posted in the comment box by have the t shirt:

If I were going to dress up for Halloween this year, I'd put on one of my best suits, tasteful pumps,and lipstick, with my hair done in a Palin-esque do....

And walk around with a foot in my mouth.

Happy Halloween!

October 31, 2008 8:30:00 PM EDT

the elegant universe on an inelegant day

the wheels came off the moving wagon today.

every possible bump in the road was felt, examined, investigated, evaluated, scrutinized and discussed. over and over and over again. i spent the majority of the day on the phone or searching for documents or finding documents and then scanning and emailing them. in between all of that i was fielding calls from a little old lady who shall remain anonymous, but whose initials are the MITM's mother. she's leaving on saturday to visit her other son who lives in the land of enchantment. now, how are these things connected to the wheels falling off my moving wagon? she will be here on wednesday night until her plane leaves on saturday. yeah, so, not only am i packing up a 2 story house and trying to close on another house, but i have to make sure that on wednesday dinner is ready at 6pm and not when i feel like eating. that at midnight when i feel like packing yet another box of dishes or glassware or widgets i do so quietly. thursday and friday will be the same, only worse, i know. no big deal, right?

oh yeah, tomorrow painters are coming here to give the next occupants an estimate on painting. that got sprung on me this morning at 9am. that was three and a half hours after i'd received 2 sms from the MITM that required me to call him. (he's ok, just some stuff that didn't happen that was supposed to happen). i had fallen asleep at 12.30 or maybe it was 1am. as i write this it's 10ish. tomorrow will be pretty much the same i'm sure. except that at noon i have a meeting with a design group. it's business, not personal. when this meeting was scheduled i wasn't packing up a house or buying a house, the anonymous lady was not closing the selling of her house and going off for a visit to her other son, the MITM wasn't calling me at 5am and yes, a host of other things were not scheduled, planned or even considered. no big deal, right?

did i mention that my bff came by to help pack up the kitchen, but ended up helping me search for missing documents. we ended up, after there was no possibility of yet another problem surfacing, taking down all the window treatments on the first floor and packing them. this isn't as easy as it sounds, the windows are very, very tall and there are quite a few of them. so, guess what happened at her house while she was here? her lovely, but ancient dog, chole, got sick. very, very sick. all over the upstairs carpeting instead of the downstairs slate tiles. a shitty end of the night doesn't even begin to sum up her night.

now here comes the balance to all of this inelegance.

a man who has served his country for a few years and in the course of this service did many brave and good things had surgery today. he had suffered a few injuries over the years, one of which has plagued him for a long time. today this fine man came through his surgery and is now in recovery. he will be fine. he is the type of military man we want in service. he is a thinker, an honorable man and a good man.

nothing is ever certain in this life, but i swear, hearing that last bit of news made the entire lunacy of today fade away.

be kind to each other.

and put your social security card in your important documents file!

happy birthday, super nana!

*last year she dressed up as one of her students for halloween.

today is super nana aka la petite creole aka bean aka our little girl! she's no longer blogging, but does read this one (and many of yours btw), so please join me in wishing her a lovely and delicious birthday!

thanks to A.B.

...and michael franti and spearhead




thanks for the good wishes, things are moving along...i'm feeling better and i'm off for a little while longer. (but i have tried to drop in and say hey when i can!)

how i wonder. . .

taking some time

lots going on here (besides this terrible cold), so i'm taking a break.

thanks for your kind words and visits. i'll try and get around to say hello as i can, but forgive me if it doesn't happen any time soon.

this might be a week away or maybe just a few days or it might be longer, i don't know.

but i promise, there will be pictures when i get back!

and of course, my personal favorite:

i should skip today

that's it for today.

1. #2 son aka not fredo and his lovely dancing lady just left on their tour across america.
2. i'm sick again! (damn lousy change of season cold!)
3. the MITM arrived safely in deepest, darkest africa.

i'll be back tomorrow.





i think

this is for you! ;)

this was taken for YOU (and you know who you are) at LAX.

a month is a long time

~~~~~~~
and now, never mind the bollix jimmy is gone, super nana has quit, too...what is going on? ok, i know, things change.

everything is going to be fine...

for #2 son aka not fredo & the lovely dancing lady!

~~~~~~
10:00am
here's a good morning read from our good friend, scout!

have a good weekend and keep some good thoughts for the MITM, ok? he's leaving tomorrow.

~~~~~~~~~~~
5:37PM update:
the MITM is going back to deepest, darkest africa for only a month this time! and yes, he already voted! go georgia, go obama/biden!!

protect your right to vote!

States’ Purges of Voter Rolls Appear Illegal

Article Tools Sponsored By
By IAN URBINA
Published: October 8, 2008

Tens of thousands of eligible voters in at least six swing states have been removed from the rolls or have been blocked from registering in ways that appear to violate federal law, according to a review of state records and Social Security data by The New York Times.

read the rest here.

here we go or things i think about the day after...

margaret and helen spot on blogger

that one courtesy maureen dowd

politics of attack op-ed piece new york times

palin's kind of patriotism courtesy thomas l. friedman

even the right thinks mccain blew it courtesy tom harshaw



and one more for governor palin

tell me why...

something just floated across my screen and i have to ask why is this not news? why aren't people asking what the fuck is happening in our country? and please, for the love of all things good, why is this person still on the republican ticket?

bill maher on his october 3rd's show featured a bit about gov. palin. it starts around the 2:16 spot. and remember, this woman could be only a heart beat away from the presidency.

back home and i like it

so, there it is.

i was up in atlanta at a 2 day conference. for the first time, in a long time, we did NOT go into the city center. this was strictly business. we didn't even bring the camera, so no pictures this time. and then sunday finally arrived! brunch at babette's cafe. even though it was out of the way and in the opposite direction of I-75 and the way back home, this was the reward for an intense 2 days. so, if you're ever in hot-lanta, head over to babette's, you'll be extremely pleased. my other indulgence was a drive over to trader joe's for a bit of shopping. tj's is one of those places that speak to me of california and the life i left behind. way back in the day when organic and healthy foods were still looked at as the province of dope smokin' hippies and/or the newly emerging baby boomer 30-somethings (hey, we even had our own show!) tj's was were i found so many of my foodstuffs. so, yeah, trader joe's is in atlanta, but not savannah, when i'm in atl, i pickup a few things, ok?

(same hat, but this pic was taken in chalreston, not atlanta)
the MITM sat outside smoking a cigar and reaping compliments about his very cool panama hat!

i'm not sure how much blogging will be done this week. #2 son aka not fredo and his lovely dancing lady are arriving today from tampa on their way across country to lalaland. and then on saturday, the MITM leaves. *sigh* i might post some pictures from jazz fest and also some pics from charleston, sc, or not, i'll try.

for those of you who've been dear readers for any length of time know how busy the last few days before his departure are around here. so, if there's nothing new here for a few days, don't despair, i'll be back...eventually!

p.s. e@l has moved over to blogger finally. check the witty fecker out!

update and explanation:
called out of town unexpectedly. back sunday night. it's business, not personal, so be not fearful.

mid-week madness

1. just back from charleston, south carolina.
2. working on saturday jazz festival post.
3. working on awards post.
4. planning trip up to atlanta on friday.
5. going out for drinks with the MITM.

one of these things isn't really happening. care to guess which one?