liar liar pants on fire

Are you ready to be bored?  Because apparently I *need* to write.

I was at a store where two men had a display up and were hawking therapeutic pillows.  I accidentally made eye contact, but I had a migraine (what a surprise) and wasn't in the mood to be sold.  One asked me if I was ready to get the best sleep of my life.  I looked him dead in the eye and said, "I already do."  That confused him for one whole second, but he was a consummate salesman and responded with a Big Gay Al "Fantastic!"

LIAR!

But I'm 99% sure it isn't lack of scientific pillows preventing me from sleeping well.  I have a GIGANTIC pillow graveyard of previous pillows which were the second coming of the Sleep Messiah. They all failed.  When I have a migraine, my pillow needs to be flawless.  No lumps.  Not too flat.  Not too thick.  Not too hard.  Basically, it has to be the Goldilocks of pillows.  I have different sizes on my bed for different moods and different sleep positions.  I probably could have asked Pillow Dude for a job selling pillows, for how much I've studied pillows and sleep.

Ahh well, off to watch Formula One Singapore Grand Prix qualifying.

uh oh, having a fangirl moment

Yesterday, I tweeted about reading Luther Campbell's book.  And he re-tweeted me.  Squee!  Twice.  Squee, squee!  Okay, I'm done freaking out.  (It's just as exciting as when Steve Gibson wrote a lengthy reply to my DM on Twitter.)

I went digging through my old CDs (sigh, yes I still have a bunch) to look for my 2 Live Crew one.  I remember having to drive across town to a special store to buy it because it was banned in most stores.  This was pre-Internet.  Oh, the horror!  I couldn't find it amongst my other classics like Metallica: Ride the Lightning, so I texted my brother to see if he had it.  He said he only ever had the cassette, which he may still have packed away in a box.  Hehehehe.  It was a hot commodity back then, so I'm guessing someone 'borrowed' mine, and I never got it back.

I also remember when Luther's club on South Beach first opened, and I had no female friends to go with.  I happened to be dating a really, really white guy at the time who was super nice and offered to take me.  I think we were the only white people in the club, but I sure had fun.  :)  I dressed up in my hot-pants and thigh-high boots and grooved to great dance music.  I got a little nervous when I went to the ladies room and accidentally interrupted a drug deal.  I played it cool, did my business, washed my hands, fixed my mane of hair (black women, even drug dealers, understand that shit), and left with a quickness.  No one gave us a hard time though, which is more than I can say for the black clubs in New York City.  Not that it stopped me from going to those.  Because I was young and didn't care.

Reading Luther's book is similar to watching Billy Corben's movies -- experiencing the real Miami that I grew up in, not the hoity-toity South Beach shit depicted today.  Miami was raw, raunchy, and fkn terrifying at times.  It was also exciting and an adventure every day, where I learned more than I did from my so-called formal education.  I probably can't list most (any?) of what I learned on my professional resumé though.

I stayed up too late reading last night, and Kitten woke me very early this morning (same as she always does).  I can't lie around reading all day because I have chores to do.  Also, I need to keep myself from full immersion in the book, so I don't trigger any childhood PTSD.  He does a pretty good job of depicting how it was when the Cuban boatlift came over, and the blacks and whites ended up as unlikely allies, in many, many turf and cultural wars.  Except now I get to hear it from the black perspective.  I'm still amazed that anyone was left alive, on any side.

Maybe I can play some 2 Live Crew to make me laugh (and dance) while I do my chores.  Such a hard life today lol.  ;)  After I watch the season finale of Formula One, of course.

kaffeeklatsch

Sooo tired.  I stayed up too late, talking to both of my sisters on the phone.  Separately.  It was nice to catch up with each of them, though.  Somehow it's different on the phone than in email.  I still managed to get 7 hours of sleep, somewhat interrupted when Kitten kept coming up to snuggle.

And that was after workout class.  My legs are aching nicely.  Fuck you, squats.

I'm about to drink my Wendycoffee while watching F1 Qualifying, taking place at the Russian Grand Prix.  I put extra cocoa powder and 2 eggs in my coffee this morning because my body needs fuel.

Hmm, after stirring up my coffee, I think my arms are aching nicely, too.  I always forget exactly what we did in class.  It never feels like we did much because we always laugh and talk.  It's more like a kaffeeklatsch than a workout.  Minus the coffee.  It's very misleading.  When we get new people or visitors, they underestimate it, until the next day when they're practically crippled.  I barely remember more than 2 exercises we did.  Fuck you, squats.  I do remember those because I have a love/hate relationship with them.  I love what they do for my body, but I hate the aches and pains.

I skipped dinner afterwards with everyone because I wanted to get groceries before it was too late and I became too tired.  Although it's never smart to buy food when you're hungry, I did avoid buying anything bad for me.  I do admit to being tempted by the peanut butter cupcakes. 

Watching the ultimate race-cars speed around the track and each other is not helping me wake up.  It's not as if I'm feeling the adrenaline rush behind the wheel.  The coffee isn't helping either.  Maybe I need a nap before I start my day.

I battled one of my demons all night and lived to tell the tale

To be honest, though, the tale isn't that interesting.  ;) 

I had my sword and my shield in hand, otherwise known as my willpower, giant ice-pack, and a double dose of triptans.  Fuck you, migraine.  Bring it, mofo! 

Actually, please don't.  That sucked a lot.  I put my phone on Do Not Disturb, wrapped my head in numbing goodness, and listened to podcasts and audio-books all night.  Kitten came up later on and wanted snuggles, which isn't typical for her.  Not sure if she knew I was barely hanging on or if she was battling her own demons.  In either case, she was a not unpleasant distraction.  Haha, don't you hate when writers use double negatives like that?  Me, too.  But it kind of works here. 

I didn't completely vanquish the migraine, just knocked it down from an 8 (out of 10, with 10 being please let me slide my head behind your car tire while you run over it) to a lovely, lovely 3. 

I'm watching qualifying of the Belgian Formula One Grand Prix now.  At very low volume naturally.  I can't help remembering when I was there four years ago.  I had a special garage tour of Mercedes, where they brought me up close to their cars, introduced me to the mechanics, let me eavesdrop on the engineers talking to the drivers on track, and fed me a fancy lunch (menu pictured below). 

Blast from the past

I happened upon my old blog posts, from 2000 through 2008, and have slowly been importing them into this site.  I find it both interesting and embarrassing what I used to post.  My naivete was disconcerting, but the web still felt so new back then.  I laughed reading about my two-way pager, my first cellphone (it was the Motorola flip with the antenna you had to pull out, if you're curious), and my dial-up Internet access.  Many of my entries were Twitter-esque in nature.  I guess I was ahead of my time.  ;)

Plus, I was a terrible writer back then.  I'm glad my writing style has (I hope) matured, along with the Interwebs.  Movie website links were pre-IMDB, so they were tricky to find at the time, and many didn't survive.  Quite a few broken links can be accessed via the Wayback Machine if any catch your eye.

I also had some bittersweet memories reading about my former partner.  We had amazing times, and I'm happy to have had 20+ years with him.  Now, it's on to my next big adventure and perhaps one day another 20+ fantastic years with a different wonderful man.  Could I be so fortunate again?  Especially considering my exceptionally high standards.  Factor in how high-maintenance I am, like a Formula 1 car (with great performance comes high maintenance or some such), and the probability starts rapidly decreasing.

Or maybe I recapture my fierce independent streak and go it alone.

Ice cream works in a pinch

A friend of mine recently told me to try ice cream in my coffee when I ran out of cream.  He even said it would work when freezer burn had set in.  I decided to try it this morning, sans freezer burn.  It's actually quite good, although I did leave out the Stevia this morning so it wouldn't be too sweet.

While out in my backyard a few days ago, I found a men's dress watch, still working.  Creepy.  I texted my landscapers to see if one of their crew lost it, but so far nothing.  Creepier.  If I suddenly stop writing here, you'll know I've been murdered by a man (or is that what she wants you to think??) missing a watch.  Sounds like a case for Encyclopedia Brown.

I have BIG plans for my extended holiday weekend.  If the weather cooperates, I plan to read and get some sun.  Otherwise, I plan to read and chill in the AC.  I just finished book three (800+ pages) of the Outlander series and am debating starting book four (1,000+ pages) or taking a break.  They're incredibly good but prodigiously long.  Also, Ernest Cline's new book is coming out soon, and I want to read that, too, and not be caught in the middle of something else.  Because I also have an audible book that I listen to when I'm too tired or in too much pain to read.  So many stories, so little time.

I'd rather get whisked away into a fictional adventure than to turn to what most people call entertainment these days.  The movies are all remakes, with shaky cinematography.  The news is all depressing and perhaps manufactured, unless one puts in the effort to discern the truth.  And that truth is usually even more depressing than the infotainment which is churned out. 

Anyway, enough of that, time to tune into the British Formula One Grand Prix practice session at Silverstone and daydream about my need for speed.

Saturday, September 25, 2004

I woke up bright & early and full of energy after my class as usual.  The soreness & fatigue would kick in later.  I turned on the TV and saw that we were now under Hurricane Watch and a major storm was heading right for us but might veer.  I woke Galahad up in a panic and told him we had to get busy cuz we were supposed to get hit in 8 hours or so.  The poor guy was sleeping so peacefully, too.  I started calling relatives to see if everyone was okay and actually aware of this.  Hurricane Jeanne became a threat to us so fast.

Galahad's mom asked if we would come over and help with the shutters.  They had taken them all down last week.  *grumble*  We did some preliminary work outside of our house then drove down there to start that.  I was so tense that I burned through the food I had eaten as we walked out the door and arrived there hungry.  Laugh.  Lucky for me, she's used to my ways and made me a quick snack.  Feeder bands started hitting us at about noon and we got soaked fixing up her house.   Afterwards, we ate again and then left to get home before the strong winds and rain became more consistent.

Of course, me being me suggested we sneak onto the beach first.  Galahad being him thought that was an excellent idea.  =)  Last time (Hurricane Frances) we tried it using a major thoroughfare and were thwarted.  This time, I remembered a smaller access road, which wasn't blocked off.  We parked in an empty parking lot since everyone had evacuated and walked onto the beach.  The surfers were out as usual even though we were in a Mandatory Evacuation Area.  They seemed kinda chicken to me, but what do I know.  There were several paddled out, but they were very finicky about which waves they would ride in on.  Finally, I was so cold in the driving wind & rain, that I was happy to leave.  We drove North to the next major road to cut over to the mainland.  The police in all of their infinite wisdom had both ways blocked off and told us to turn around and go back the 15 miles to the smaller road.  :(  Sigh

By the time we got home, the feeder bands were constant.  I ran inside to take my last hot shower before the power failed.  It was like the last dinner of a condemned man.  Galahad cooked up a giant pot of dumplings and we feasted on the living room floor using a cardboard box as our dining table.  I naturally brought out the place-mats.  No reason to live as barbarians.  =)

We finished up all of the inside stuff that needed securing and wished that storm North.  At one point when it was still aiming right for us and they were saying it would be a category 4 hurricane, I panicked and brought out the Lucky Goat Milk.  It had the desired effect of breaking up our somber mood (and perhaps a side effect of sending that storm north :p).

Jeanne did start veering north although we were still in line to catch the outer edges of the hurricane force winds.  It got a bit scary at times listening to the winds whine & howl.   The power flickered and blinked off at one point.  That freaked us out cuz they had been repeating that if we lost power, it could be 3 weeks to get it back.  I was on my laptop chatting to several people all over the world attempting to remain calm & distracted.  Thankfully this storm was moving much faster than Frances so we had only about 8 hours of really intense wind & rain.  It's amazing what you get thankful for, huh?

I was way too tense to sleep so I was up most of the night holding our house together with the power on through sheer willpower.  =D  I woke Galahad up at 2am to watch the 1st ever  Chinese Grand Prix.  I finally shut down my laptop and we moved upstairs to watch TV in bed, where I fell promptly asleep.

Monday, June 10, 2002

I watched (on TV) the Canadian Grand Prix yesterday, migraine and all. I love the singing whine of the Formula One race-cars.