Everything I Tell you is Hearsay

it was a good one this year!

i always like to see my birthday as the ultimate opportunity to indulge myself. as such, i went to some effort to have all of my favorite things. it became my twitterproject for the day…

birthdays are all about favorite things; 1st favorite, stumptown mocha!

favorite thing #2 bacon squash galette from grand central

favorite thing #3: LOTS AND LOTS OF ATTENTION. it may be the hat…

favorite thing #4 shopping! favorite thing #5 being sung to!!

favorite thing #6 singing “Favorite” by Neko Case

favorite thing #7 PRESENTS!! borders gift card, @lyzadanger w/ the LibraryThing subscription. pegged as a bookworm i guess

favorite thing #8 leaving work early!! only 2 hrs to go!

favorite thing #9 bacon & blue cheese potato salad. mmmm. lunch

favorite thing #10 surprise blue sky out my window!

favorite thing #11 wardrobe change!

favorite Thing #12 TBIL #13 MORE PRESENTS: bottle of patron

for symmetry i would have liked 31 favorite things, but as the day wore on, i got a little distracted and couldn’t keep tweeting as they came up. long about 4pm i was talking to my Uncle Ed (who’s birthday it also was) and having a rousing discussion about politics and love. so, that was amusing at any rate. then it was on the road (the back road at the behest of TBIL) to seattle.

we ended up going to Freak Night at the WAMU theater. it was quite a spectacle. costumes everywhere. it was sort of amusing to see certain trends in the room; there were tons of pirates, many slutty versions of cartoon characters (although my favorite was seeing 1) standard Rainbow Brite 2) Slutty Rainbow Brite and 3) ULTRA Slutty Rainbow Brite all within like 5 minutes of each other) and a veritable SWARM of bumblebee costumes. i was jessica rabbit. looked faboo if i do say so. did not get photo on my own camera (doh!) so proof of such will have to wait.

the lineup was pretty wicked: we had Crystal Method, Moby, and Paul VanDyck. it was dancetastic. at some point i gave in and took off my beautiful but patently cruel high heels and started prancing around barefoot. good times.

slept over at my cousin Khava’s place. and i do not exaggerate when i say she has the MOST COMFORTABLE BED I HAVE EVER SLEPT IN. man ALIVE! we got in after 4am and were up by 9 and i still felt more well rested than i have in ages. i gotta bust ass over to costco and get me one of them mattress pads post haste. had breakky with Khavs and her boyfriend at Jax in West Seattle. potato pancakes. mmmm. little Pike Street market action wrapped up our time in Sea-town. i swear i never feel such a vital intrest in produce as i do when i am walking through that market. i talked TBIL into buying an avacado that i’m pretty sure is larger than the head of my child. i don’t even LIKE avacados. it was so shiny, and green, and alien-head-looking i simply could not resist. we also bought a giant red pear.

later that night it was time for all the silliness i didn’t get to on the birthday proper: $5 steaks at the Acropolis, lap dance, and karaoke. i was sad to discover that Hollywood Bowl no longer has the kick-ass dive bar style lounge anymore, because it was my favorite place to go sing. alas, no more. they have re-modeled in a “Grand Central” style i like to call “drywall chic” which is wholly shabby and utterly disappointing. i liked the laid back atmosphere and boy’s club quality of the old lounge. and just for the record, there was literally NOT ONE PERSON in there on a saturday night. might have been a tactical error folks. so, we were forced to go with karaoke plan #2: The Galaxy. i have no specific problem with this place, although i did have to step over vomit on my way out the door. i also enjoy that one of the waitresses looks EXACTLY like Caroline Jones. my singing was less than stellar due to slight cold and/onset of drunkness, but i had an enthusiastic audience in my cohorts, so it was grand nevertheless.

finally on sunday, it was time for the last event of the birthday-stravaganza-weekend. brunch at Meriwethers for Chicken & Waffle. oh, daddy. the general consensus around the table was that no one needed to eat again all day after that. we were a full and tipsy crowd after all was said and eaten. dee-lish.

it was lovely, i felt very loved. i’m glad it’s all over for another year. next, VEGAS!!

ELECTION2008 Hot Political Topics:

Cheney, Gobama, Vote OBAMA, Michelle Obama, Chavez, NObama, Bush, Dems

went with friends lyza, david, and brett to the Armin VanBuuren show last night at the Roseland. i haven’t been to a dance show since seeing John Digweed @ the crystal back in 2002? woah.

danced the whole set. was bathed in other people’s sweat and excitement. overcame my usual crowd terror to follow lyza right up to the edge of the stage. was struck by the contrast in this show vs the multitude of other shows i’ve been to in recent memory…

crowd, though sweaty, smelled good and this is crucial. i was far less anxious being surrounded on all sides by people who didnt smell in a way that distressed me. people were generally polite and trying to take care of each other. stage hands tossed water out to the crowd and generally seemed to be trying to make sure everyone was feeling included. dj looked HAPPY. like he was genuinely enjoying himself instead of the faux-torment put upon by some musicians attempting to convey the seriousness of their art by dint of a glower.

there was jumping. there was smiling. there were various stages of undress. it was good times.

that the contents of my purse say something about me. i think i like what it says…

obvious things like wallet and keys aside, we have;

Heidegger: Basic Writings
tin of dice
string of pearls
matchbook from favorite steakhouse
fuzzy socks for friend lyza
burt’s bees lip shtuff
bust magazine
graphing calculator
laquered hairstick
extremely fancy log book with which to track expenditures (the irony therein not at all lost)
wine country chicken salad with cranberries and pecans from TJ’s + wheat thins

feeling smug about how awesome i seem to myself this morning. :}

contents of your stachel? come on, i showed you mine…

went tromping around some of the scenic spots in the SW Washington gorge area yesterday. weather cleared up in the afternoon and turned lustrous. went in the drink a bit at the river, but managed to dry out by the top of beacon rock.

Ahh Stardom
Current mood: satisfied

oh, it went so well.

i liked the venue, cozy but with a reasonably good room sound. lots of spectators. very polite crowd. including many of my besties. could not make the AV equipment work, so there’s no record of the event. but on a scale, i’d give the experience a 9. and that was with the voice being a bit unreliable.

and in my general spirit of self-indulgence as form of congratulation i went and treated myself to all sorts of goodness yesterday. new tattoo; turned out AMAZING and really gave the spine totem a sense of cohesion it had lacked previously.

lunch with les @ clay’s. mmmm pork loin. little bit of sitting in the sunshine watching hodie ride her skateboard of doom. head shrinking and then thai food with excellent company. all told, an grand day indeed.

when certain things go missing from your life, you realize their true place in your heart.

it’s been like six fucking months since i had an internet connection at my house. praise be to jebus that has finally been rectified.

i shudder to think how much internet porn i have missed out on!

that’s all behind me now. back to compulsive messaging, rambling blogs at strange hours, management of internet stalkers, and scouring the missed connections to see if i’ve made an impression on some random stranger who might offer me some validation! it’s a wonder i survived.

finalized set list for show next week. voice is slowly returning. excitement growing. audience expanding. hoot.

Mine was merry this year. Instead of opting for the tradition of the last 4 years which amounted to “spend christmas alone and crying at the movies” I went over and had the holiday with my sisters and their families. T’was grand.
We invented a new tradition this year which I am as yet undecided about; hide the pickle. Yes, that’s right, we took a tiny shiny replica of a wee koser dill and hung it on the green green tree. Then whoever was able to find it first amongst the piney boughs was the designated present passer-outer. I opted not to look for the pickle and instead focus on my amaretto to become the official couch passer-outer.
I messed with the mind of my small child in amusing ways to make her think I had given her 5 video games for a gaming system nobody had. Then plopped said system into her lap. Watching the arc from disappointment to giddy delight is far too entertaining for me. My poor poor offspring. I totally set her up.
Merry Merry Christmas y’all.

it is naught but the nuance of language that stands between me and the brink.I am chased and chasing words and implications; distinctions so fine as to be illusory, when this chimera is the best comfort to be hoped for.

and yet, i am comforted, by these faint and futile particularities. by the refusals transmuted to avowals. by a glance, by clasping, by tones and timbre.

and thus the dazzling dark is pierced.

Current mood: contemplative