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”



  • Sometimes, the blog entries write themselves

    June 22nd, 2005, 8:08 AM by Dawn

    However, when I am not quite sure whether I should actually TELL the stories, you get tunage, like a nice Thunderpuss club mix.

    And if you’re going to face the day with one eye open, then choose it very, very carefully. 😉

    It’s a big one (file, you fools)!

    Don’t worry — the song’s instrumental so it’s quite SFW. Just don’t stream your playlist, mmmkay? LOL



    ‘I enjoy being a girl’

    June 20th, 2005, 8:28 PM by Dawn

    This is your brain after a 2.5-hour commute.

    Ah, the punditry that happens when you’re confined to a small space with yourself. The problem is, I don’t even remember any of it. 😉

    But I was thinking about how much effort I expended to get ready to go out Saturday night. I mean, I do a LOT of crap — not just then, really, but every day.

    The amount of personal-care products used within a half-hour? Mind-boggling:

  • Softsoap for Men (the blue soap — I love the scent and it sticks with me longer than any perfume).
  • Strawberries-and-cream shampoo.
  • Peachy, fruity conditioner.
  • Raspberry shaving gel.
  • Apricot facial scrub.
  • Dry off, spray honeysuckle body dew all over self.
  • Witch hazel on face — best astringent ever.
  • Tea tree oil on blemishes.
  • Deodorant, powder, etc.
  • Vanilla body lotion on non-body-dewed areas.
  • Comb wet hair, spray fruity hair gel.
  • Dry hair, spray coconut-lime body spray in strategic areas.
  • Attempt to force hair to behave. Nuke with 10 kinds of spray — various cornucopia of scents.
  • Choose outfit, nuke with anti-allergen Febreze. (Fucking cat fur.)
  • Starch everything, iron.
  • Brush hair out and start over. More sprays.
  • Apply war paint.
  • Put clothes on. Find vanilla-ish perfume. Spray. Delay. Walk away.
  • And that’s enough of the products. That doesn’t include grabbing scissors and hacking off an inch worth of split ends, plucking eyebrows, trying on four outfits, running around the house with one shoe because the other cannot be found, etc.

    Don’t get me wrong — I love every minute of it and I’ve just described a typical morning routine in general. It would be nice, though, if when you go through all the effort, it would be met with a similar standard of excellence. It’s amazing how, when it’s time to impress, so many people think they can skip that valuable step.

    Of course, like I figured, it’s better than getting to know someone and then they turn out to be a dud after you’ve invested even more energy — might as well figure it out up-front and conserve your energy for the classy people and events that you deserve.

    On iTunes: Britney Spears, “Don’t Let Me Be the Last to Know”



    June 20th, 2005, 6:56 PM by Dawn
    this is an audio post - click to play


    June 20th, 2005, 6:45 PM by Dawn
    this is an audio post - click to play


    The Not-Quite-Friday Five

    June 20th, 2005, 12:00 AM by Dawn

    Friday Five. Shut up, I know it’s Sunday. 😉

  • What do you wear to bed?
    Usually shorts and a tank top or a T-shirt. Tonight it’s black-and-white shorts and a black T-shirt with “The Lube” embroidered in tiny white letters. And no, I’m not advertising the side business that I have officially been kicked out of due to inactivity (hah — irony!) — it’s from this place.
  • What side of the bed do you sleep on?
    Right. Although lately I’ve been parking my ass in the center. Might as well enjoy the whole bed!
  • Do you sleep with a stuffed animal?
    I have two stuffed cats, although they’re real. Maddie always parks her ass near my head (ugh) and Kadi jumps up on the dresser, coat rack, windowsill, etc. and belly-flops onto me, howling all the way. A good night’s sleep? Not in my house. Never.
  • Blanket/bed hog?
    Need blankets. Gotta be completely covered. I get irritated if I somehow kick a toe out during the night. And I’m an infuriatingly light sleeper, too, so I notice these things. And I need about four dozen pillows, too.
  • Do you make your bed everyday?
    Really, I am just using a sheet right now, so it’s not that hard to straighten up and make the little haven look presentable. I like getting into a tidy bed at the end of the night.

    On iTunes: Zero 7, “Home”



  • Drunken blogging!

    June 19th, 2005, 2:25 AM by Dawn

    And who doesn’t love a drunken Dawn?

    This is moment No. 3,648 (this week) that I’ve wished to be private-blogging again. Because there was a date tonight and I want to dish.

    Let me put it this way — it’s less a dish than wanting to hurl the fucking plate off the top of the Grand Canyon.

    Oh, fuck it — I’ve been out drinking for hours. All bets are off tonight!

    Apparently “8 p.m.” and “date” mean different things to different people. And if this just means that I’m another step closer to meeting Mr. Right, well then, let’s keep rocking.

    Seriously, nice guy, but I am apparently a horrible judge of age. This made the Tom Cruise/Katie Holmes mindfuck seem like a couple of weeks’ age difference.

    Dear God, for the love of — well, you — help a girl out here next time, mmmkay?

    Earlier tonight, I had written on a scrap of paper tonight that, “If he’s a good guy, please let me like him.”

    That was before I took my own happy ass out on a date with ME instead of wasting my night.

    Fast-forward to the bar, where I went to ALONE. I’d left the scene and decided I was way too cute to sit home tonight (or to wait for the follow-up call that came).

    Seriously, no night wearing scandalous underwear is a waste of a night, and thus, I wasn’t about to take them home when they just weren’t yet ready to retire. Damn it, SOMEBODY was gonna take me out, even if it had to be ME!!!!!

    So I ended up at Bennigan’s — where, as those of you who have been with me since Caterwauling know, Shan and I LIVED when she was still on the East Coast. So I needed comfort, familiarity, friendliness tonight, and I knew where to find it.

    I was not disappointed. Slainte, people.

    So, OK, met this HOT guy named Tony. No numbers exchanged, but lots of hugs. I still smell like his cologne, whatever it was. And he bought me some Hennessy — amazing how good a “non-date” can be to a lonely gal. 🙂 At least he had balls enough to approach — most other guys were losing their eyeballs in my cleavage, but nobody else was brave enough to say hello.

    Actually, in great news, I made a friend tonight — Michelle. She asked if the seat next to me were taken, and we proceeded to talk for hours. And it didn’t feel the slightest bit strange, exchanging intensely personal life stories and dreams like it were nothing. Again, that’s why I love Benny’s — it’s that place where everybody DOES know your name … and the drinks keep flowing. And she’s a regular, like I used to be. I foresee lots of drunken nights ahead — w00t!

    Oh, and OF COURSE I had to include Shan in the imbibing — we were text-messaging across the miles. If only she were here in person, it woulda been perfect.

    Anyway, I know that I am going to have the hangover from HELL in the morning, but I am one buzzy bee right now. *grin*

    On iTunes: Ludacris, “What’s Your Fantasy”



    Confessions, redux

    June 18th, 2005, 9:01 AM by Dawn

    (Editor’s Note: Oy — what they didn’t tell us when we started celebrating anniversaries of our 29th birthday is that mornings after alcohol consumption, well, suck. Even if that consumption only amounted to one or two Yuenglings. Jeebus.)

    I was just lying in bed with my head throbbing, thinking about the conversation that inspired this entry.

    And while I’d never be a bad girl — OK, let me rephrase that: While I’d never kiss and tell (that’s better) — and reveal details, I will admit that I asked said counterpart, “Do you think they discuss us the same way?” And she’d said, “Is there any doubt?”

    And it occurred to me that I’d be pretty damn bummed if we weren’t the topic of their conversations, at least once in awhile. I’d rather be discussed (in a good way, thanks) than to go completely unnoticed. I mean, I don’t go to any lengths to attract anyone, but I wouldn’t mind if (generally speaking) they appreciated the lengths I go to for me.

    I was chatting with one of the girls at work about bad dates in general — we were kind of outdoing each other with the horrific memories that just won’t go away. I remembered a long time ago, in high school, a bunch of us were tooling around with “The Book of Questions” and one asked whether you’d want to be the smarter person in a relationship. I’d said yes given that I wasn’t a slouch academically and that I’d be intimidated by someone smarter.

    Enter the “Feed Him or Fuck Him Guy.” Like, dress him up (or undress. Whatever.) and make sure he always has a busy mouth to prevent him from TALKING. These guys are great if you’re not into, um, intellectual stimulation. (And if he doesn’t go on a smoke break with two of your exes at the same party and they are appalled that that is what you moved on to, but I digress.)

    With the FHOFH Guy, you’re clearly the one making the money and, while he’s a great “hobby” to have, he’s not a long-term prospect, especially if you’re like me and just couldn’t bear having a stupid kid with him (and, ultimately, used about seven birth control methods — CONCURRENTLY).

    I already have a slow-witted cat — here she is picking a fight with my old vacuum cleaner:


    Boo! Hiss! You suck!

    Anyway, enough with the kids-who-ate-paste crowd. I need someone to talk to who will respond with something that will teach me something and inspire me to think more about the subject. Of course, he would also need to know that a brilliant way to shut me up and pull me out of my cerebral coccoon is to throw me up against the nearest wall and. …

    Sorry — guess who just woke up from a sex dream? 😉

    And who got interrupted from said dream by psycho kitteh pictured above? 🙁

    Anyway.

    The point I think I wanted to make earlier is that no matter whether we’re single, attached or downright ball-and-chained, we all hope someone, somewhere out there is thinking of us in a pleasant way. Like we might be doing about them. But are any of us ever brave enough to admit it? Or are things like this better left unsaid?

    On iTunes: Zero 7, “You Can’t Turn Me Away”



    Free Katie!

    June 16th, 2005, 9:55 PM by Dawn

    Because my brain is FRIED and will be for the foreseable future, I leave you with the lamest blog post I could possibly come up with.

    Speaking of lame …

    It’s time, America, to Free Katie from the clutches of the Sultan of Scientology (aka, her gay boyfriend Tom Cruise).

    Seriously, why he was jumping up on Oprah’s couch that he’s dating her is beyond me, but then again, if I were doing her, I am certain I’d be exploding with joy myself. And in all fairness, I’m pretty sure that I’d know my way around a bit better than ol’ Tom. We need to slip him some Ecstasy and drop him off at the nearest boy bar and let him twirl around like a little girl in a more appropriate environment.

    Seriously, I was never into him — and yeah, I saw “Risky Business” and “Top Gun” (and “Cocktail” — sweet weeping Jesus, what a waste of vodka) and all the other movies from when I was a wee lass. There are certain men who are “too pretty” to be straight, and Tom is prettier than most of the women I know.

    Anyway, I was instructed to come home and do whatever I need to do to relax. So I went shopping for shoes and scandalous underwear … and found NOTHING. Argh — why is it when you WANT to spend money, you can’t, yet when you’re broke, everything catches your eye?

    Oh, unrelated, I totally got busted speeding this morning. And I kept on speeding — figured it couldn’t hurt to get the hell away from the scene of the crime, and really, what are the odds of being nailed twice on the same trip? 😉

    On iTunes: Nappy Roots, “Awnaw”