My World is Beginning

I am a sufferer of depression and it gets progressively worse during the winter months. But one thing that keeps me going: Rankin/Bass Christmas specials. To date, I own all the ones available on DVD. I'm still waiting for The First Christmas Snow, Little Drummer Boy Part II, Jack Frost and The Life & Times of Santa Claus to be released. FINGERS CROSSED FOR NEXT YEAR!

Obviously, most people know and love "Rudolph" & "Santa" but included on my compilation DVDs are some lesser known productions. "Little Drummer Boy" is awesome because it includes a death by stabbing and fire scene.

"Nestor the Long Eared Donkey" isn't bad but the ending is ridiculous. The story goes that there was a little donkey w/ ears so long they drag on the ground and he trips over them all the time. The only thing protecting him from being euthanized is Nestor's mother. A bunch of Roman centurions come and take all the donkeys except for Nestor. But he gets the boot because his owner has lost money and help on his farm. Nestor miraculously reunites w/ his mother and then she promptly dies during a snow storm. Nestor and his guardian angel, Tilly, travel to Bethlehem so that Nestor can carry Mary, Joseph and unborn baby Jesus to the stable. Nestor's ears even act as sail on the water! Then, for some unknown reason, Nestor goes back to the farm and he's treated like a hero. What the what? How would his former owner know about Nestor and baby Jesus? Why do the other animals no longer despise his very being?

"Cricket on the Hearth" just plain sucks monkey balls! Marlo Thomas is "Bertha" and she has the world's most annoying voice EVER. And for some reason a shifty eyed sailor shoots a crow. Not to mention it has nothing to do w/ Christmas at all. Hans Conreid is the only saving grace.

Check out my awesome bookcase.

The Burgermeister Meisterburger is crashing the Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer party. And Yukon Cornelius is letting him know that BM is not welcome!

Santa is trying to wave his dick around the two Bumbles but they're going to rip his head off. And I found out why Bumble has been so persecuted.

Love is Love

I had the queerest summer ever!

You too can purchase this lovely design @ here....she's an amazing talented artist w/ fantastic taste.

Swag

As I've previously mentioned, getting married was fucking awesome! Mostly because of the presents & cash.

With all our gift certificates, a few returns & a 10% off anything on the registry, SB & I scooped us a Dyson w/ the pet hair sucker upper. It's a $600 & we got it for $70! The suction on this bad boy is amazing, it even removed parts of the old nasty indoor/outdoor carpeting on our sun porch. And even better than that, you can push a button & use it on the bare floors. Bare floors! I'm not sweeping again!

We also scored a butt load of gift certificates to Macys & got some awesome shit for "free". SB finally got the food saver he's been coveting for months. At first I thought, oh great another appliance to the home furnishings graveyard. BUT upon seeing the mighty bounty in SB's garden & how fucking cool it looks when it sucks all the air of the food saver bag, I quickly changed my mind.

Also, we now the proud owners of a Dirt Devil, handy for cleaning out the tent.

And best of all, I got a super duper pimped out foot bath. I got shamed at the salon on my wedding day by the manicurist because I don't slough my feet daily. Now I can soak, slough & moisturize every night of the week.

And in case some people think I'm a selfish bastard, yr still mostly right but I did donate all our previous kitchen & bath stuff to the local domestic violence shelter.

Good Enough to Eat

In the summer, SB & I are rarely at home on the weekends. (which has resulted in a messy mess of our house!)

Anyways, as a traveling fool I have my handy dandy necessity bag for my razor, deodorant, etc. The problem is the soap, SB has sensitive skin & those soap container things are ridiculous. So, I use the top o' the line liquid stuff The Body Shop. However, I got an awesome X-Mas present from SB's aunt & I might I have to switch it up. C.O. Bigelow Lemon Body Wash. It's the tits, ladies & gents. It leaves my skin soft and fresh, the smell is killer diller, just like lemon scones & not drying in the least. I was freaked out because I couldn't figure out there was no suds. Duh! Non-foaming soap.

Highly recommend it, go out & get some today.

Weenie Butt

As some of you may know, Independence Day = Nathan's Hot Dog eating contest. Joey Chestnut snarfed down 62 dogs in 10 minutes. It was freaking impressive!

However, I am fucking pissed because the lady gurgitators were segregated in their own mini contest...."The Pink Belt". Fucking sexist bullshit! Those chicks can throw down w/ the best of men! Especially my favorite competitor, Sonya "Black Widow" Thomas. If she had been allowed in the real contest, she would have come in third.

Hitching Post

No one ever prepares you for the cold feet. I wanted to run away, elope, fast forward through time.

100 people were going to be staring at me. I would cry in public. My guests would be miserable at the reception. Possibly a fight would break out.

None of this happened. There was a small snafu w/ the entrance music & my mother tied the wedding bands too tightly to the pillow but other than that it was a joyous day.

I smiled, I beamed. I oozed happiness from every pore. We stood in front of the JP holding hands & I thought, "I get to fucking marry the best person I've ever known! How fucking great is that?"

Marriage has also been very profitable for us as well. With all the gift cards and discounts, we got the top o' the line Dyson for $95. Plus, we have a small joint savings account.

Honeymoon next year to Costa Rica!

The Rule of Four

http://sundaystealing.blogspot.com/2011/04/its-all-about-four-freakin-things-meme.html

Today we ripped off a blogger namedMejis from the blog Southern Discomfort. She explains the she was tagged for the meme from Miss Angie over at My So-Called Chaos. But, it was probably stolen there as well. So, of course, that will be as far as we go. Tracing back our theft's thieves might take some time. Link back to us at Sunday Stealing!

Sunday Stealing: The "It's All About Four Freakin' Things" Meme

Cheers to all of us thieves!


Four Places I go:

1. My porch

2. Farmer's Market

3. Liquor store

4. My mind's eye

Four Crushes I Have:

1. Hugh Jackman

2. Eric Stoltz

3. Peter Sellers

4. Leisha Hailey

Four Smells that I Love:

1. Bacon

2. Grass

3. Campfire

4. Lily of the Valley

Four Favorite TV Shows:

1. Doctor Who

2. The Simpsons

3. The Office

4. The L Word

Four Favorite Movies:

1. Breakfast at Tiffany's

2. Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory

3. Pulp Fiction

4. Juno

Four Recommendations:

1. Live yr life on yr own terms

2. Laugh all the time

3. Drink lots of Vivanno smoothies

4. The small business always kicks ass over the big box crap

Four People that I'd love to read their Fours: meh whatever

Four Things about me that you don't know:

1. I'm the youngest of three

2. I had my left nipple pierced for 5 years

3. I lived in Mexico for 3 months

4. I'm highly ticklish

Four bands that I love:

1. The Clash

2. Stereolab

3. They Might Be Giants

4. Devo

The Usual Stuff

Oh hey, Phairhead how did you celebrate New Year's?

I went up to Benson, NY to be w/ my family to play games, eat too much & generally have a good time.

Oh yeah, we also blew up some soda & modeled some tacky 1980's ski glasses.

Compare & Contrast

OK, peeps, this week's Metroland had staff picks of the best of the Capital District. For those of you who don't like the Albany/Schenectady/Troy area of NY, the Metroland is the free weekly alternative newspaper.

Here's their picks & my commentary (not all of them, the post would be 5 years long if I did that):

Best American Restaurant: New World Bistro Bar
My mother has been there and RAVED about it. It's on my "to eat" list

Best Steakhouse: The Bears'
My in-laws had their wedding reception there & I am planning on going there in the very near future. Gotta get me some of the chateaubriand!

Best Vegetarian: Antipasto's
I gotta say, I'm very intrigued as Antipasto's also snagged some other best of honours

Best Pizza (Sch'dy County): Fireside
Hell yeah!!! Great pizza, sandwiches and wings. I've been going there since I was 5. Highly highly recommended

Best Pizza (Renss. County): Red Front
Planning on a lunch date there in a few weeks

Best Fusion: The Hidden Cafe
Still can't figure out why I can't seem to get over there

Best Polish: Muza
SB says we don't need to pay for Polish food because we can get it for free from Nana. I say different!

Best Mexican: Salsa Latina
Bright, fresh flavours, love love love. It has now edged out Pancho's as my #2 Mexican joint. It's hard to top El Loco.

Best Indian: Karavalli
This is my families preference. I would rather go to Taj Mahal in downtown Schenectady. If I've got coupons, then we go to Sitar.

Best Thai: Capital Thai
Nope, Bangkok Bistro is sooooooo much better!

Best Vietnamese: Van's
You better fucking believe it! Hmmmm summer rolls :D

Best Chinatown Chinese: Emperor's
Holy Jesus, yes! Porky ball goodness

Best Suburban Chinese: Plum Blossom
I've always liked the name, maybe it's time to try it out.

Best Japanese Steakhouse: Koto
Everybody likes a good show w/ their food. Just don't order any cocktails unless you want to be embarrassed by gigantic fruit and day glo colours.

Best Brew Pub: Brown's
Yummy raspberry ale and totally cozy.

Best Barbecue: Capital Q Smokehouse
I'm reserving comment until I've tried The Pig Pit. But my southern grandfather in law makes some pretty kick ass Tennessee 'cue

Best Lunch: Iron Gate Cafe
I pass it every time I have to take someone to Social Services. It reminds me of the book The Secret Garden.

Best Deli: Gershon's
Their knishes are delicious

Best Subs: Andy's Imports
They use a whole loaf of bread & pounds of meat. And they do roast beast the right way, w/ Russian dressing, not icky mayo.

Best Burgers: Oliver's Cafe
SB's family fave but they're only open until 2 pm & I'm a busy gal on the go. Considering putting it on the list.

Best Tacos: Bros. Tacos
Nope, Badass Burrito all the way

Best Cheap Eats: Bombers
Eat there when you are not in a cranky mood.

Best Coffeehouse: Uncommon Grounds
God damn right! Chai, hot chocolate, iced tea, YEAH YEAH YEAH. Bagels, soup, salad, OMG YEAH.

Best Ribs: Jose Malone's
Good nachos, not had an opportunity to try the ribs

Best Restaurant Transition: Debbie's Kitchen
What? Debbie's not there anymore? When? Who wants a brownie the size of Toronto? Me, please.

Best Hard (hee hee!) Ice Cream old school style (whatever that means): Stewart's Shops
Bring back Tinny Roof! I loves me some Stewart's ice cream and it's always on sale.

Best Soft Ice Cream: The Snowman
Not usually a soft fan but this is tops.

Best Gelato Villa Italia
That honour belongs to Crisan. I spit on Villa Italia!

Best Desserts: Crisan
Yes and also my mother's bakery The Pastry Pantry

Best Beer Store: Oliver's
On par w/ Glenville Beverage

Best Food Co-op: Honest Weight
Too pricy, I prefer Niskayuna Co-op. Best burgers ever!

Best Farmers Market: Troy
Agreed, Schenectady is getting there.

Best Neighborhood Market: Cardona's
Great selection of import items

Best Butcher: Rolf's
You can't beat their knockwurst. Sol's in Schenectady is really fucking awesome too!

Best Bakery for Bread: Perreca's
Obviously

Best Bakery for Confections: Villa Italia
Ick! Yuck! Pastry Pantry all the way

Best Kitchen Supply Store: Different Drummer
Too bad I'm not rich. If only...

Best Booktique: Open Door
If I could move in there, I would.

Best Used Bookstore: The Book Barn
I had no idea this place existed! Hurray!!!

Best Record Store: Last Vestige
Oh much money I have given that place

Best Commercial Radio Station: WEQX
Is there any other station worth listening to?

Best Refuge from the Upcoming Zombie Apocalypse:
Oh geez! Not you too!

Best Albany Bar: Wolff's Biergarten
The boot, the boot, the boot. Yup yup!

Best Troy Bar: Ryan's Wake
Great atmosphere.

Best Schenectady Bar: 20 North Broadway
Ever since my bartender left The Grog Shoppe, I need a new place to drink.

Best Neighborhood Movie Theatre: Madison Theatre
Sorry, Bowtie is oh so much better!

I promise photos of the garden and lawn furniture is on the way.

The Good Doctor

When I was 19, I saved up enough filthy lucre to purchase my first pair of Doc Marten's. Doc Marten's, so mysterious and British and had awesome street cred. I shoved on black 8 eyelet boots and I felt whole. Of course, at the Jeans West where I bought them, they only sold men's size shoes. But I didn't care. I bought men's size 6, only to realize that it was European sizing. Long story short: they were GIGANTIC on me. But I wore them everywhere w/ everything for about 6 years.

My first job out of college was for Planned Parenthood & several people complained about my Doc's because they were, for lack of a better word, very care worn. But I was not defeated, I got a pair of navy blue 8 eyelets WOMAN'S boots. I wore them consistently for 4 years and then, and then, I don't know. I lost weight, I wanted to stop being angry and hiding.

So, now I have silver/blue Doc Marten "hush puppies", black Mary Jane Doc Marten's, brown Doc Marten dress shoes, and Doc Marten sandals.

But I keep thinking there something major missing from my life. I need some bad ass boots.

Red, White and Blue

I got totally screwed over by the idiotic regulations for vacation time @ work. SB went to Liberty, NY by his lonesome to hang out w/ our friends for 4 days. All alone :( Absence makes the heart grow fonder, I suppose. Blah, blah, blah. Cliche, cliche, cliche.

I took my pathetic ass up to the Adirondacks to my parents' log cabin, The Misfits blaring loudly from my iPhone. Last time I was up there, my mother was completely awful to me. This time, I had a really nice time hiking and swimming and sleeping. Lots and lots of sleeping. Bedtime was 9 am.

The absolute highlight was watching the perennial favourite, the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Challenge. Every year I pray that Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas will pull an upset and kick all the boys' asses. She is ranked #6 in the world for competitive eating. And she weighs 90 lbs. 90lbs! This year seemed slightly off, for starters Kobayashi "The Tsunami" chose not to compete over a contract dispute. Then winner Joey Chestnut could only eat 54 dogs, the humidity really created a major barrier for the gurgitators. But the mustard on the dog was Kobayashi showing up to Coney Island anyway and storming the stage, held w/out bail.

How was yr holiday?

Weekend Hijinks

So Sexybeast and I just got back from a weekend trip from Hadley/Amherst Mass area. We go to Trader Joe's a few times a year but I got sick of the 2 hours of driving JUST to get there.

I booked a hotel room from hotels.com, Holiday Inn Xpress. Queen sized bed, swimming pool, a gym and free breakfast w/ complimentary paper. It was great for the price, however, we didn't know there was darkening shades on the window sooooo the parking lot lights shone in our room all night. And the toilet clogged because it was a shitty low flow. And the breakfast was really really average.


This is the best tasting seltzer ever! Sexybeast and I stopped at little organic pizza place on Route 9, they even have gluten free and vegan/vegetarian choices as well. Sexybeast had a pepperoni pizza and the pepperonis were HUGE, like the stuff you can buy at the deli. I had a yummy turkey pannini.

We checked into the hotel and much to our dismay, there was no mini fridge. Sexybeast ended up having the rest of his pizza around midnight. Hee!

After check in, we wandered around the quaint New England town of Amherst. I wasn't really feeling the used books at the school bookstore. But I got some great finds at Newbury comics; a ton of new postcards for the fridge, a Kimya Dawson CD, a book about the Brat Pack movies and 2 new buttons for my Pixies hoodie. Even though, it was a beautiful spring day, it started to get cold as the sun went down. We settled into the Monkey Bar for drinks and quiet time before dinner. And as it turns out, parking meters on not free on the weekends. I ended up w/ a $10 parking ticket. Boo!



As we were leaving, a nice older couple suggested a really great upscale Italian place, Carmelina's. I had most of huckleberry "martini", until it accidentally spilled to the floor. Oops! We skipped the apps because of the drinks. Sexybeast had shrimp scampi over linguini. The shrimps were GIGANTIC. I had the lamb shank, braised so long that I didn't need a fork, with saffron risotto, and mixed veggies. Delicious!

After a quick swim in the pool, I forced myself to stay awake to see one song of Vampire Weekend performing on SNL.

We got some great finds at Trader Joe's, low fat queso dip and a sack of blood oranges (amongst many other delicious things).

Can't wait for our next mini weekend get away.

You Can't Afford Me

My weekend was full of sex, sex, sex. Now before yr dirty minds jump to a very obvious conclusion, I'm actually speaking of all the movies I watched recently.

I was really excited to check out the latest from Steven Soderburg, "The Girlfriend Experience". The big buzz surrounding the film was that the female lead was being played by real life porn star, Sasha Grey. There were many things I liked about "The Girlfriend Experience", the fact that the viewer is thrust right into the lives of this call girl and her boyfriend, the gorgeous cinematography, the naturalness of the dialogue and weirdly enough, for a film about sex there was no actual sex scenes. And it works.


That being said, I have a big BUT w/ "TGE". Sasha fucking Grey! Ugh! Other than her looks, Grey has nothing going for her. She's boring, flat and uninspiring. And if you haven't seen "TGE" and you want to, please disregard the rest of this post. Basically, Grey becomes attracted to one of her clients. I despised the casual way she tells her boyfriend that she 's planning 0n spending the weekend w/ another dude (client she's suddenly become smitten w/) and then gets annoyed (I think it was annoyance, very hard to tell when you can't express emotions. Maybe Sasha Grey is a cybernetic being) w/ boyfriend for being "selfish". And, get this, the character is obsessed w/ numerology/astrology bullshit. Oh, yeah, nothing says high class call girl like following some crack pot hokum.

For a really great look at the prostitution game, check out Billie Piper in the Showtime/ITV show "The Secret Diary of a Call Girl". The show is based on the blog/memoirs of real life London working girl "Belle du Jour".

Off to bed now....

Bean Town

God, I love 3 day weekends!!! And as I have an all day training today, I have a 3 day work week. HUZZAH!

I had an ass ton of flex time to use this pay period, so Friday I went to the office for an hour. Then dropped by a wake of one of my favourite clients. It was a completely unexpected death. And now I have another client in the hospital. I honestly don't know how much longer I will be able to work for AIDS Services any longer.

Sexybeast and I had lunch at the new house for the 1st time ever while the cable guy came to set up our modem for the high speed interwebs.

And if I hadn't been on the weirdest, stupidest job interview of my life, we would have been able to get on the road earlier to get to my brother's house in Medford, MA. There were 3 accidents on The Pike, 2 hours worth of idiots rubber necking and LOTS of breaking. Seriously!!! What the fuck, Massholes? You never break on the interstate, that's how accidents happen. Needless to say, we did not arrive until a little after 10 pm after beginning our journey at 4:45. And it's only a 3 hour drive.

But going to IKEA more than made up for the shitty drive. IKEA. IKEA, I love you!!! We got a great wooden silverware organizer, a simple Swedish plastic napkin holder and the best, a thick, heavy wooden GIGANTIC cutting board w/ blood catcher AND and and if you flip the board, it has a hook to clip onto the counter top for non-slippage. Now, normally I would not entertain thoughts of eating at IKEA cafeteria. I have weird visions of expiring milk and bologna sandwiches. But boy, I was sadly mistaken. What a great eatery!! I had meatballs w/ penne and marinara sauce and steamed veggies. Sticking to the diet. Sexybeast had the roast chicken and gravy fries. It was a half a chicken!!! The seasoning was nice and the fries were crisp.

Because the boys (my bro bro and Sexybeast) hate shopping we compensated by going to Castle Island by Logan Airport. I had on my sexy black hooker boots which was a poor choice for walking long distances. I took off the boots and walked in my stocking feets. My niece and nephew ran around, played on the swings while the rest of us got knocked over by the wind. On the way back to the cars I realized, I locked my keys in my trunk. Along w/ my phone. Can't get much safer than that. Thank God for Geico Road Side Assistance. They used a blood pressure cuff to open the car door. Don't that beat all?

The net day we went to The Fells for hike. Sexybeast pretended to be a panther and scared the kids.

For lunch, we went to Yangste for the weekend buffet and DIM SUM. For whatever reason, the dim sum was heavy on the shrimps. Everything had shrimps in it; shrimp balls, shrimp and corn balls and shrimp and pork balls. I had sticky rice wrapped in some sort of leaf, sweet pork buns and diced marinated pork ribs. I also really hate buffets but this one is exceptional. The food is plentiful and very warm. If yr ever in Arlington Center, go to Yangste. It will not disappoint.

And of course, we had a obligatory stop at Trader Joe's. Chili dusted mangoes are my new fave snack.

Monday night, it was official. We spent our 1st night at the new house.

Pictures in another post.

Meow Meme

http://curiousasacat.blogspot.com


1) Are you an early bird or a night owl? I like the night life. I like to boogie.

2) Have you ever blown up at a stranger? Yes. Mostly because I'm an angry driver,

3) Are you a good parent? What qualities make a good parent? I'm not a parent. I have no intentions of ever becoming one. I am a kick ass aunt though because I think toys and candy are the corner stone of living a good life.

4) Show and Tell. What comes to mind first when you see this picture? Or, tell a story if it reminds you of one. "Rocky Mountain high!"

You like me! You really like me!

So the gorgeous and talented Cheeks at http://alltheleatherkidswereloud.blogspot.com gave me this special and awesome award! I feel really honoured that you thought of me 1st. Thanks, lovey!

My mission upon receiving said award is to create a top 10 list of my choosing.

I'm a big geek and rely on others' wittiness to make me appear more so. And I present to you my Top 10 List of Favourite TV and Movie Quotes I Repeat Ad Nauseum:

10. "I don't know you! That's my purse!" -- Bobby Hill "King of the Hill" Ah, Bobby! He's such a clueless schmuck. He spent an entire episode kicking people in the junk. Comedy gold!

9. "A Royale w/ Cheese.." --Jules Winfield "Pulp Fiction" I don't even remember what a Quarter Pounder is anymore. When is the US gonna wake the fuck up and switch to the metric system?

8. "I am Batman!" --Sheldon Cooper "Big Bang Theory" I adore this show. All the stupid sci-fi and uber geeky references. SQUEE! Plus Jim Parsons, who plays Sheldon, is oh so fuckable. In this hi-larious epi, Sheldon is conjecturing about why Batman isn't a real super hero. "Anybody can do it!"

7. "I'm positively cuckoo for him!" --Holly Golightly "Breakfast at Tiffany's" Oh tragic and beautiful Audrey Hepburn trying to break it off w/ pre A-Team George Peppard.

6. "Give it on up to Homelessville!" -- Justin Timberlake "SNL" He was dressed as a cup of soup. Need I say more?

5. "Help. Police. Danger" -- Willy Wonka "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory" One of the many great one liners in one of my all time fave movies ever of all time. Gene Wilder and his fucking dead pan delivery.

4. "You google too" --Willow Rosenburg "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" Damn, Alyson Hannigan! You are too precious for words. Willow had so many great story arcs during "Buffy"'s TV reign. And secretly, I think I am Willow.

3. "I said no salt on the margarita! NO SALT!" --Milton Waddams "Office Space" I am the ultimate at imitating Milton. Don't even try.

2. "OK you big, funny gal. I'll be right back w/..... a hammock full of cake?" --Peter Griffin "Family Guy" At any given time, I will stop what I'm doing to watch "Family Guy". Peter isn't my favourite character but he's definitely the most fun to quote.

1. "Eat. My. Shorts" -- John Bender "The Breakfast Club" I even own socks w/ Judd Nelson's brooding face on them.

I must now pass the mantle of greatness onward. And I have to give it to Eternal List at http://theeternallist.blogspot.com. He's one of the most amazing and funny writers I know. And I simply adore him.

Thanks again everybody, for reading my crazy ass drivel.

Our House" Part I

As some of you may or may not know, Sexybeast and I purchased a home of our own. And by "we", I mean Sexybeast 'cause I make 2 cents an hour. And if I may go off on a tangent, why the hell did The Man remove the cents symbol from the keyboard? I love that symbol! Fuckheads!

Anyways, we own a modest 2 bedroom home in a quiet suburban neighborhood. I love it, it's a great 1st house. But it was a looooooong road to get there. Here's a journey down memory lane of the dogs we had peruse before finding THE ONE.

1. (I'll be talking about places in my area, hope y'all don't mind)A 3 bedroom in Delmar. Hmm, that sounds swanky. That's kinda of posh area, wonder why it's so reasonable? Oh, right! It's in a shared driveway behind a bank on a busy main street. The acreage around the back of the house was basically an embankment that may or may have been used by the mob to dump bodies. Well, maybe the inside is workable. Hmmmm..... no, not so much. As Sexybeast cannot stand upright in the 2nd floor of the house. Not to mention all of the bedrooms were so tiny they looked they were furnished w/doll house furniture.

2. We thought #2 would be our new home. It was perfect, in a remote part of Albany County (West Berne), lots of usable acreage and the right size to the interior of the house. Sexybeast, "Hey, what's this crack in the foundation?" Upon closer inspection, we saw that in the basement, there was buckling and bowing on the walls. And lots of lots of wet spots. Sexybeast took that one hard : (

3. Lake front property in Schodack. This was rental being sold. And the renters were hanging around while we were looking around. It stank like an ass tray! There was an 8 y/o Down Syndrome child running around nude. The older kids were smoking weed in the upstairs "bedroom", which was just a larger sized loft. And the basement looked like a make shift crypt.

4. Another Berne home. Gorgeous property. And there's a VERY large hole on the back side of the house.

5. 1 1/2 bedroom in Rotterdam. If they had taken out the walls, it would have been a very large studio apartment.

#6 was the charm!

More to come....

Here's Some Stuff

I've been Rutty Rutterson lately. But in an effort not to wallow in my self pity, I've put together a list of new shit I really dig.

1. Sally Hanson Face Wax, why pay more at the salon to be that sexy non-hormonally challenged mamacita, when you can wax cheaply and in the privacy of yr own home.

2. My lovely and talented friend Wicked Messenger at http://13stepsunder.blogspot.com turned me onto Laughing Cow cheese. The Babybel Chedder flavour is the tits, man! Especially on Kashi "triscuits".

3. My renewed interest in ska. I had the honour and privilege to see The English Beat live last week. Dave Wakeling still has his voice, they were amazing and they played "Save it for Later" last. My fave! And yes I did wear black and white.

I'm going on vacation to Lake George. Lots of swimming and drinking abound. And healthy snacks, can't forget those! I'll be back next week.

Happy Hands at Home

I've been feeling uninspired about the blog-o-verse lately. I believe it has something to do w/ procrastinating w/ my short story I've been working on. And trying to publish my completed story (which is still untitled!).

But I am making a much more concerted effort in becoming more disciplined w/ my writing efforts.

In order to keep my creative what-its going, I have decided to be a little more crafty. I've always been envious of peeps who can paint or sew or make purty stuff. When I was 5, I tried drawing a witch w/ my 64 box o' Crayola (jealous, bitches?) and it was NOT coming out right at all. My stubby little fingers were not doing what my brain had envisioned! My mother said to me, "Well, some people weren't meant to draw." Ow.

I spied a book entitled "Generation T" by that sexy crafty mama and editor of Bust magazine, Debbie Stoller. You can re-purpose yr old T-shirts and make them into awesome stuff for little to no money. Except for the outrageous cost of the book of course.

Pictures to follow....

The Free Wheelin' Phairhead/ Sue B.

As I have stated previously (and please note I don't know how to do a fancy clickable link to an older post of mine, so just pretend like you know what I mean), this is to be The Summer of Sue. I am going out of my way to put myself into uncomfortable situations or doing things I've been afraid of doing.

Last week my office had a staff retreat. It was bitter sweet as 2 of my co-workers are leaving and the 2 AWESOME nuns that run the Transportation for the Sick program are becoming part of the main branch of Catholic Charities. In addition, we all worked on our panel for the AIDS Quilt and spent a lot of time remembering clients we lost.

Good news though, eating vast amounts of food kills grief! Hmmmmmm......... grilled wieners.

The second half of the day was considerably more light hearted. I played a game of Frisbee, even though I suck and am horribly uncoordinated. I said to myself, "Self, nobody gives a fuck that you can't throw a Frisbee. Have fun!" Then we broke into our groups for a mini agency challenge. My team came in 2nd. And I was quite proud of myself as I volunteered to get into the freezing cold drink and kayak. When I was a kid, I went to Girl Scout camp and was pathetic at the row boat and never bothered to learn how to canoe. Seriously, what the fuck is the point? For the test, you HAD to tip the canoe over intentionally and then paddle back to shore w/ a flooded canoe. I pronounce thee, LAME. Anyways, I choose a kayak and a life jacket that fit over my boobs and got to paddling. To my dismay, we were in open kayaks. Basically, I was in a piece of teetering plastic, praying to God that I didn't fall out of the stupid thing. Then I remembered Miss J from Top Model, "grace and posture, grace and posture." I came in an admirable 2nd.

I am now addicted to kayaking. I love love love it. And thankfully enough, my parents have 2 kayaks and I will be forcing Sexybeast out on the lake every weekend this summer.