Transience

June 26th, 2005, 7:11 PM by Dawn

Subtitle: ‘Perfect’ waste

I should have gone to see “Betwitched.” But, alas, riding high on my reaffirmation of my “I’m the best date I’ve ever had” theory, I opted to let myself choose the movie, and the choice was “The Perfect Man.” It was perfect, all right. Perfect shit.

Going into it, I expected it to be formulaic. So with that out of the way, I could try to get past the fact that the best cinema I saw was in the “coming attractions.” Like, try to hold me back when “Pride and Prejudice” comes out! I’ll tell you what — MY perfect man would take me to see that one (potential suitors, take note!).

Anywho, I was kind of inspired that Hilary Duff’s character was a blogger with a beloved little iBook. And I was sort of chagrined that I identified more with her character than Heather Locklear’s (given my awe of Heather and general disdain of Hilary) — the movie ended up reminding me of my mom and me. The mom dates losers, as does mine (Exhibit A: Scumby) — not to mention that these otherwise fabulous women hang on to these obliviots until there’s nothing left of themselves.

And Hilary’s character chose to not get attached to anything or ANYONE because it’s so much easier to walk away when there’s no reason to look back over your shoulder. They moved around a lot — and I did too, growing up (and still do).

Don’t worrry — I’m not giving spoilers. The movie will spoil your will to live, though, so be warned. ;)

But back to the moving-around-a-lot scenario. I was at a fabulous party last night, surrounded by fabulous people that I thank my stars every day for giving me the good fortune to meet and to know. And I had half a bottle of tequila lodged in my brain (generally a good thing), but I was trying to keep quiet and not embarrass myself much because I am a fun drunk and I don’t know if people really need to see my version of fun, which often includes mounting things and people — and not everybody would think it was as cute as did the men I met in bars in my 20s, I presume. ;) I would like to, after all, CONTINUE to know these people!!!

But during one of my lucid moments, I remember thinking how I’ve often wished I had a home to go back to — that my family would have owned a house and we would have had a home base — a touchstone — a place to go to remember one’s roots or even from which to go back to start over again. Hell, something to pass down through the generations to either keep or sell.

And maybe that’s why I waste so much money on so much shit — I don’t stay anywhere very long (two years max — I’m coming up on two years in my current place and am starting to crave a new setup — it’s in my bones, I suppose) but I cram my places full of crap to make it feel like I’ve been in them forever.

Yesterday, I looked around at this wonderful family home with this wonderful family and wondered what it would be like to have roots — to, instead of wasting money on moving every couple of years (and fixing/replacing all the shit that the fucknut movers manage to break — fuck, I’m still working on that one), reinvest that money in adding something fantastic to the house (like a hot tub. Oooh, they had a hot tub. *drool*).

But back to the movie: While it was cutsey-wootsie and all that fun stuff, it wasn’t a terrible way to spend an hour-plus (although, with previews, that made it a solid two hours). My mind was wandering most of the time anyway, so I enjoyed the air-conditioning on this 94-degree day, in any event. After being spotted by Old Spice at my beloved park and running like HELL to my car before he could get to me (fuck fuck fuck fuck FUCK — now where am I going to go to write?!?!) and avoiding his follow-up call, I was looking to hide from the world for awhile. And to indulge myself, just for a spell, to think about what I was trying NOT to think about when I accepted the initial offer.

So, all in all, yes I believe the “perfect man” exists and that’s why I spent the money on the movie. And the fundamental lesson I learned is that you just “know.” And maybe I’ve never had a true *home* up until now, but maybe that’s something I’m going to find — and help to make — when the time is right.

On iTunes: Gina Rene, “U Must Be”



Scumby

June 25th, 2005, 9:01 AM by Dawn

I don’t get lots of comments around here, but when I get folks contacting me in person to learn more about the story behind an entry, I am only too happy to oblige.

Yesterday, I told you about Scumby, the poster child for abstinence.

*pauses to thank God that Mom doesn’t read this page, or she’d kick my ass* Mikey, don’t tell Wobin or I’ll kick YOUR ass!

During the trip from hell that I descibed, let me mention that Scumby had sold the trip as “a week at my cabin in the woods. And we will go boating!”

OK, right on. Although I was mortified when he pulled up in his beat-up, rusty tomato-red van (my grandmother called it the “Tin Can”) with a camouflage-painted canoe attached to a hitch. A CANOE!!! The hell? No boat? No motor? No little fridge full of refreshments for a hot summer’s day?

And, as I mentioned earlier, NO CABIN. A tiny trailer clinging to shaky ground was more accurate. And no hot water. Cheap bastard. Never felt so icky in my entire life. Hello Matt Foley!

Oh, but wait — there’s more.

Like no seats in the VAN.

Oh, the humanity.

Now, I am a prissy girl. Don’t get me wrong — I drink and swear like the boys and, thus, have always had a harem of straight male friends because they liked my low bullshit tolerance and my appreciation of swinging brews, throwing darts and watching football, even if I don’t understand a minute of it but what girl can’t appreciate hot asses in tight pants?

Where was I? ;)

Oh, OK. Priss. Anyway, I like girly things. I appreciate what makes me different from my beloved boys and do my best to appreciate those parts of me and enhance them in any way I can.

Suffice to say, I was expected to flop out on the van floor for the ride. HAH! We ended up buying a bean bag chair for me on the way, and lemme tell you, if I ever end up with a guy with one of those chairs, I will set fire to it. And then kill him for good measure.

I tell you all of this to set the stage for the return trip. Mom was forced to drive the Tin Can twice, with equally abysmal results. First, she had to back the hitch into the water to get the boat canoe (no, we never got into it!) and it’s HARD to judge a piece of shit without sideview mirrors, so she almost annhilated the Scumbalicious one himself because she couldn’t SEE him. Oh, he was hopping mad — I was entertaned.

Let me explain something about Scumby — he was a skinny (ugh — we like big boys, thanks — what was she thinking?!?!) and tall thing who let his beard grow scraggly. I think it weighed more than he did. And remember I told you how he fell in the pond and decided to rot in his own filth? Well, the irony is that he LOVED to wear ballcaps — in particular, an orange cap advertising Surf detergent. So, I turned around to see this orange-cap-with-a-beard literally hopping up and down in the water, swearing. Drunken asshole.

Anyway, once we made the pilgrimage home (and I was completely seasick — I get carsick in backseats, oftentimes, and I get carsick when I’m the one driving, too. And shut up, it’s from the truck exhaust and not from my driving, thankyouverymuch), the adventure wasn’t ready to end.

Mom had to drop Scumby off somewhere (probably at the bar — that two-hour drive must’ve killed him). Although he did enjoy tormenting me by playing Tanya Tucker cassettes and cracking the same joke 40 times: “Tanya Tucker — I’d love to fuck her!”

Oh, you clever rhyming bastard you. Die.

All right, so Mom and I took the Tin Can on the highway. We were chugging along the interstate when …

… oh this is too fucking funny …

… the front seats collapsed!!!

ROFLMFAO

I shit you not, the seats came loose (they were probably lodged in place with chewing gum in the first place — I swear it wasn’t our asses that did it!) and I went SAILING into the murky depths of the Tin Can.

Mom is a goddamned miracle worker — she always has been and remains my heroine. I don’t know HOW she did it, but she clung to the steering wheel and managed to drive STANDING UP while I found the seats and tried to push them back into place.

We got to our destination as safely as humanly possible, and I called my grandfather to come pick us up.

And thus ended the Summer of Scumby.

On iTunes: Emiliana Torrini, “Ruby Tuesday”



‘Blinded me with science’

June 24th, 2005, 1:14 PM by Dawn

Tom Cruise kills Oprah.

I want to kill Oprah myself for starting the TomKat phenomenon.

On iTunes: Better Than Ezra, “Lifetime”



Insipid? Duh! You expect anything else around here?

June 24th, 2005, 7:25 AM by Dawn

Friday Five. And I’m feelin’ chatty this morning. ;)

  • Can you share a tale of a favorite summer cookout/get together?
    I can tell you about the worst vacation ever and the funniest thing I have ever seen in my life.

    Mom dated losers, one after the other, my whole life. Suffice to say I do not tolerate loserdom in my own life and reject someone at the first sign of uselessness (Exhibit A: The non-date from last weekend who won’t get the HINT that I am not IMPRESSED — lost your chance, bud. NEXT!)

    Ahem.

    These really are supposed to be short answers, aren’t they? LOL

    Anywho, so Mom was dating this god-awful guy I called Scumby. Yeah, like Gumby, only less green and more filthy. Once he fell in a pond and, instead of SHOWERING, he got on the phone to tell Mom what happened — wet, dirty ass sitting on the couch and all. I refused to sit when she dragged me to his house.

    He was quite addicted to beer. Seriously, if you went to sleep over at his house, the only thing happenin’ was SLEEP — fucker passed out and left us stranded in the swamp where he lived quite often. Mom took me along for company — I was 15.

    So, Scumby wanted to take us on “vacation” which ended up being at a pint-sized trailer in the woods of Pennsylvania. *sigh* I actually documented every moment of said trip and wrote it up as a novel. I think Mom found it and burned the evidence. ;)

    My favorite moment? Scumby needed to light the stove. Now, I am standing in the doorway — the stove is on my left and the refrigerator is right in front of me — watching this debacle unfold.

    Best seat in the house!

    Whatever Scumby did (seriously, it does not take a genius to light the freaking pilot light), the stove BLEW UP and sent him FLYING into the FRIDGE!!!! Flying, I say!

    Holy shit, I laughed and laughed and laughed. I can’t imagine him hitting his head and back could possibly have hurt him — there was not a whisper of a breeze toiling around in his head. But he was projected a good 12 feet.

    Mom has been apologizing for the last 16 years for that trip. All I have to say to that is:

    Bug spray: $4
    Notebook to record trip: $1.25
    Years of therapy afterward: thousands of dollars’ worth
    The memory of the Amazing Flying Scumby: priceless!

  • What is a favorite summer ritual of yours?
    I’d say cooking out but that tends to require COOKING. I used to throw parties pretty regularly, but I can’t really justify the expense and, honestly, most of my friends have moved away or are hiking out deeper into Virginia to try to find quasi-affordable housing, so few people are in the neighborhood.

    But I think I owe some folks a nice dinner (and I have salmon, and I love it with wasabi teriyaki sauce. mmm…) — now I just have to clean the house, as the cats like to trash it while I’m gone. And I’m ALWAYS gone.

  • After a long hot summer day, what is your favorite way to quench your thirst?
    ‘Tis the season that my blood is replaced by peach iced tea.

    Oh! I can’t find the link but I think it was the WaPo that reported that fish in the Potomac River are being found full of antidepressants and shit. Apparently people are flushing pills en masse into our nation’s waterways and our fish are drunk and stuff. So, perhaps I will be doing my best to drink more water so I can feel all shiny and happy like the fishies. ;)

  • The 4th of July is coming up, what plans, if any, do you have?
    Dare I travel to see the family during holiday-weekend hell? I’m sure they’d love it, but lemme tell you how SICK I am of sitting in traffic right about now. I got home ONCE this week before 8 p.m. ONCE!!! I dunno — anybody wanna adopt me for a cookout? ‘Cause I’m too lazy to do one this year. :) I might just toil around town and make fun of the tourons — I’ve been wanting to hit the Visual Music exhibit.
  • What are you looking forward to doing most before the summer ends?
    Let me dream and think about what if I had enough free time — I promised myself that I’d try to drive up to Baltimore and hang out and even try to go to some of the beach communities around here. I’d love to go to Virginia Beach again — haven’t been there since I was 6 years old. But I need a road trip partner — any good conversationalists out there who want to be my co-pilot (requirements: must have a death wish. I drive FAST). Anyone want to travel with, or maybe even host, a gal on an expedition?

    On iTunes: Bo Bice, “Freebird”



  • Offa my chest, damn it

    June 22nd, 2005, 10:39 PM by Dawn

    Things I’d really, really love to say but for some reason cannot.

    Idea swiped from Swirl and Lach.

  • I wish you’d Google me and write — even if just once — to let me know you’re OK.
  • I know I am a good date. You, in fact, are NOT. Quit wasting my time. And you are DELUSIONAL if you actually think I’d accept a subsequent offer to do nothing and go nowhere with your funky ass.
  • Make up your mind already.
  • No, in fact, I DON’T miss you. Really.
  • Try to call once in awhile when you DON’T need something. My stomach churns when I see your name.
  • I’m sorry — I don’t mean to neglect you; I don’t even have enough time for me.
  • Stop being so impressed with yourself. You’re the only one who is.
  • Thanks for dropping out of my life when I needed support the most. Poke your head back in the door and I will slam it in your face. I promise.
  • I’m so scared that I am going to fail you in some way.
  • I have questions that I really want to ask, and I’m terrified that the answers will be exactly what I think I am hoping to hear.
  • I meant every word I said. I am sorry that you got hurt, but I am not sorry for letting you know where I stand. Grow a set and get over it.
  • Some days, I am sick of always being the better person. I wish YOU would give it a try sometime. Karma is gonna anally rape you someday.
  • I really am happy. Honestly. But I’m overdue for a meltdown and it isn’t going to be pretty. Please forgive me and don’t let me beat myself up over it when it happens.
  • So I had this dream about you. … (update: Ted, how’d you know?)
  • When I get pee-shy, I think of your head in the toilet and suddenly, I have NO PROBLEMS letting go. Splish splash!
  • I am going to set up college funds for your babies and surprise them with it when they’re ready to go to school. It might not be much, but I want to honor the amazing friend you’ve been to me by helping them in any way I can. Anything they (or you) need, I will be there.
  • You were good to me when I probably didn’t deserve it. And I will have your back for life.
  • Thank you for giving me back my most cherished possession that I lost for a long, long while — me. You breathed life into me — into my belief in humanity and in the universe working as it should. And I’m writing again, here and there. It’s a start. You have no idea, but you saved me, and I am grateful that we were able to cross paths in this lifetime.

    On iTunes: Lori Carson, “Snow Come Down”