I think I'll call her Pink Lady

Christmas was goooood.

Now I just have to learn how to play this thing. This rockin', awesome, slammin' pink burst guitar. Lucky for me I live with an amazing guitar player. Plus, he's cute.

Everybody gearing up for the new year? I think I'm going to resolve to learn more than a G chord by 2008. You?

2 solid weeks of good

It might be a miracle. If those exist, that is. I've had 2 solid weeks of good stuff. Good feelings, good times, good thoughts (the occasional bad one has crept in there, but not super duper bad ones - I see that as progress!). I'm not thinking this as the light at the end of the tunnel, I'm way more realistic that that (read: cynical). However, even if everything is cyclical and things are bound to get drab again I know, at least, that there is hope for bright days now and then. That's got to be worth something, no?

I took a business trip to San Francisco and met my new clients. They're great. They're demanding and a bit high pressure, but they're great. Kristie came up for a weekend. MT went to visit his parents so we had the whole weekend to just be the silly chicks we are together (see 2 posts ago for more details). Being with her always does my heart and soul good. Then last weekend MT's sister came into town. I'd not met her before and was a bit nervous... we got along swimmingly. She's lovely and we had a grand time. This weekend we have a birthday party and then its off to Providence for Christmas with MT's family. The entire extended Italian lot of them! I'm a little nervous about that - but even the prospect of meeting all those people and always wanting to make a good impression isn't getting me down.

I'm up. I'm up for more than an afternoon for the first honest-to-goodness time in months. It's glorious and I'm basking in it.

P.S. The pic is because last night MT took me to Handel's Messiah at the historic Riverside Church on the Upper West. Gorgeous, old, amazing place. I'm not big on the whole Christ/God part (long story) but the music was beautiful and the mezzo-soprano blew my mind. She was fantastic. It was a really wonderful evening. It was also the first time I'd felt well enough in 3 days to leave the house. I've had the flu and been working from my bed in my robe. Thank goodness for remote desktop access. The good stuff continues...

I left my heart...

At the San Francisco International Airport. I also left my patience and my sanity and a bit of my decency there. Aw hell, I'm still there. Well, I guess right now it's here. I'm still here. At the airport, I mean. It's 1AM my time, but 10PM SF time and I'm waiting to board the sold-out red-eye flight back to JFK. Awesome.

Please enjoy random photos of the day:

This was the view out the wondow of the train from San Francisco to San Jose most of the way. Notice it's pretty dark. I was up at 5:30. Good times.

It got progressively lighter, as most days do, what with the sun and all... and I saw some interesting graffiti. Seeing the low buildings with tags all over them and the occasional palm really reminded me of Miami. It was a tense train ride. I kind of felt like I was travelling back in time to Miami and all the negativity of that place. Weird.

I have a cute pedicure. Black polish. Nothing to do with my trip or with CA, but my toes are cute. Wish the pic wasn't so blurry. Should've taken it when the train had stopped. Oh well.

Most Unlikely Thing Uttered This Weekend

**WARNING: this post is of an adult nature, if you think you may be offended you probably shouldn't read it. If you want a good laugh, then read on, my friend!

"Wow, you just tried to pick us up... in a dildo store. Hmm. That's a new one."

Yep. Kristie said that to the guy who asked if he could take us for a drink while we were standing at the counter at a store in the West Village that sells, well, ahem, they sell various intimate relations wares. So, we're standing there in the sex toy shop and the guy walks up, is obviously a little taken aback at the sight of two pretty cute chicks shopping together for what I'm sure he thought were playthings we were going to use on each other... not the case, but more power to him for his teensy weensy fantasy. The guy then proceeds to make pathetic small talk - in the sex toy shop - and says, "So, what are you girls in here for?"

OK, now I understand that it was probably difficult to overcome the awkward moment just before he struck up the conversation with us - in the sex toy shop. However, I don't understand what ever gave him the indication that asking that ridiculous question was a good thing to do in the moment immediately following the awkward one just before it.

I responded the only way I knew how, "Um, really? OK, vibrating cock rings. Yeah." He went white as a ghost. Hilarious. Listen man, you ask a question like that you better be prepared for the answer. I mean, c'mon! You gotta know your audience, buddy. You'd think that would have stunned him into silence, but noooooo no no, it only got better.

He asked if he could take us for a drink. He did. He asked. And then Kristie followed up with the zinger at the top of the post. Completely straight-faced and everything. It couldn't have been more perfect.

That about sums up my weekend. It was filled with all sorts of other fun and interesting things, but that was by far the crowning cherry on top of the proverbial sundae.

The funniest things happen when that girl is in town. It's awesome. She's the best.

Doggie style

He's so slick. He's styling. He's too cool for words. Duke is a slave to fashion. I have no idea where he gets it. Hmm.

I resisted being one of those people who clothes my dog, but the poor guy needs some insulation. Rather than shelling out big bucks in a pet boutique for some doggie schmata that looks like every other doggie schmata (where's the fun in that? I don't want to wear the same coat as every other chick on the block!)

I decided to make one that suited Duke. It's waterproof camouflage lined with denim. It's even got a cargo pocket so he can carry his own poop bag and my keys. He already gets loads of attention. It's almost impossible to take him for a walk in under half an hour because inevitably there will be people who stop us and want to talk about him. What kind of dog is that? Will he get bigger? That kind of thing. Add a cammo jacket to the mix and it's pretty much a Duke love-fest all the time.

Yeah, that's a fire hydrant he's sniffing. Cliche! Although a slave to fashion, he hasn't yet heard that hydrants are very last season.

Unrelated: This is our fireplace. The details you can't see in the picture are the gorgeous marble tiles from the mid 1800s and the handcarved scrollwork on the columns and mantel itself. And yes, those are boot stockings. I made those, too. *grin*

Hide & seek

I found something this weekend. I had been missing it for a long, long time. I was afraid that it had left me for good and I'd not get it back in time to save my sanity. But it's back. I hope it stays for a good, long time. But, even if it's only fleeting at least I know it can come and go and I don't have to fear it's permanent absence.

I found my creativity again. We got reacquainted. We had coffee, watched leaves blow down the sidewalk, saw rays of light fall on Duke's apricot fur, ate sushi, read books, went for walks, talked to strangers, ignored a lot but embraced a lot. I sat down at my sewing machine and made two things from start to finish in one day. I saw the pieces in my head and I sat right down and got started. I didn't give myself time to overthink it to death, to ruin it with my mind. I simply did it. It probably seems trivial, but for me it was monumental.

I hadn't sewn in a long time. It's been months. I thought I had lost "it". But "it's" back. To make things even more delicious, I've got a plan for these things I created. There will be more of them. They'll be a nice project for me. I'm comforted. I've found the driving force of my revolution again.