Saturday Nite at the Opera

I spent my Saturday nite at the opera. Never expected a nite at the opera would produce so much fun.

Update: h/t to Skippy, who featured this video on his Saturday Nite Music Club - I had forgotten this song. The party going on is what it felt like at the opera.



And just to prove that I do have some couth , one of my favorite hits from the 1600's:

Merry Christmas

From my sty to yours, with the warmest of wishes that all your Christmas dreams come true. I had thought that the little cottage by the creek in the redwoods would have sold by now and I would be living up in the Pacific Northwest celebrating my first Christmas there. Instead, I was blessed to have been able to enjoy one more winter here on Bear Creek. Now that we've had a semi-decent rainfall totaling more than 8 inches to date, the spawning steelhead should be returning to the creek fairly soon. I am looking forward to watching them spawn in the gravel beds in the pool under the wood bridge that leads into the park. I have to admit, this is my favorite time of year up here and I am enjoying it immensely.

Merry Christmas!

photo from KPIG, of course

Stevie Nick, live, Edge of 17.

Has been a cold day here at the little cottage by the creek in the redwoods. At 3pm Friday, it was a whopping 43.3 outside. The storm system that moved through yesterday left 1 and 1/8th inch of rain, bringing the year to date total up to 8 and 1/2" inches. Now we have the cold air coming down from the north and its currently 30.4 degrees outside at 3 in the morning. Still haven't reached the coldest part of the night yet. Good thing I moved all the plants in pots indoors this week. Cold enough to snow but no snow. Doesn't seem fair.

Raining

Temps rising tonight, up to 49.1 from 47.6 two hours ago. It's raining and I just finished my shift at the lake. Tonight, I announced the winner of the Late Late Nite We Fight Back protest song-fest. I'm posting there on alternating nights at 10pm (Pacific). We had over 160 videos submitted and it was hard narrowing down the list to the final vote. Finally had to break down the list into Current; 60's; and Solo Artist. Tonight, the fest closed with the winner of 60's, which also received the most votes.

We are currently sitting at 7-3/8th inches of rain so far this year. The last storm night before last have us 2-1/2 inches and was our biggest rainfall so far. Season is young. I've gotten 6-3/4 inches in one 24 hour period up here and the creek pushes that water downstream pretty darn fast. Starting to come down at a pretty good clip - 1/4 inch so far. Got a big yellow cell sitting over me right now according to the NWS radar.

Super-sizing The Media

I found this over at Crooks & Liars, who found it at United Hollywood, an unofficial blog started by a group of strike captains of the Writers Guild of America (their contributors are both writers and non-writers). Lots of video clips over there - check 'em out.

It really does say exactly what is wrong with the media today and was glad to see clips of Bill Moyer's PBS piece on the FCC in there. If you get a chance to watch Bill Moyer's Journal on PBS, please do so. One of the few places where news is news, not infotainment.

Supposed to maybe get some rain tomorrow. It warmed up a little bit tonight and only got down into the high 30's a little before midnight. Last night, we were approaching freezing by that time. Cloudy skies finally and there is a wispy kinda Scottish moors foggy isolated feel to the park.

Baby, Its Cold Outside

It is 29.6 degrees outside and we are just now getting to the coldest part of the night (or is it considered to be early morning) here at the little cottage by the creek in the redwoods. If it is going to be cold enough to snow, I should at least get some snow (whine whine). Our last rain was a week ago and we only got 1-1/4", bringing the year to date to only 4-1/4". That's a Thanksgiving kind of total and not where we usually are less than two weeks before Christmas. Our high yesterday hit a whooping 47.9. Brrr, baby, its cold outside.

Bailey is all tucked into a circle sleeping on the quilts and comforters on my bed. Token is sleeping in his bed in the chair next to mine, snuggled up to his blankie waiting until we head off join Bailey. Have been staying busy working at the lake, trying to find gifts for those I love, looking for wood at a price I can afford for the fireplace insert, and staying warm. For the first time since I moved up here, I put up a Christmas decoration - a door swag on the front door that I got from the Boy Scouts in town. Tis lovely - made from cedar and pine with frosted tipped pine cones and a big red ribbon and must be 3' long.

Bo Bice and Joan Osborne, Baby It's Cold Outside

White Trash Christmas

What are your favorite Christmas parody songs? This one is one of my favs, alone with this:

Rodney

I did promise ya some Rodney.

I would embed this one but its disabled so ya gotta go over and watch Its Hard To Kiss The Lips At Night That Chew Your Ass Out All Day Long.

I'll be doing another Rodney later this week over at the Lake.



Here's some Ray Wylie Hubbard to tide ya over until my Late Late Nite tonight.

Rockin In The Free World

A. Here.

Q: Guess what I spent my Saturday night doing?

Spiffying Up

Spiffied up the place a wee bit - finally updated my blogroll on the right hand sidebar.

I bet ya'll thought it would be weeks or even months.

Sad Goodbyes, Hello New Beginnings

My buddy TRex has left FireDogLake and has shiny new digs of his own now. I've moderated his posts at the lake for almost a year now and my first reaction to hearing the news was to loudly cry Noooooooooooooooooooooooo.

Now that I have gotten my selfishness out of the way, please stop over at his new place and say hi. I'll be updating my blogroll as soon as I get off my lazy tush and dig into it - its way overdue for culling and additions.

Here is a picture cookie from the FireDogLake Bear Creek Meetup that took place at my place on the 17th - we called the cookie TRex, naturally.



Here are some pictures, taken by TeddySF, who posts Sunday nights at the Lake of the pups and I at the little cottage by the creek in the redwoods.

Songs From The Estrogen Palace

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to figure out who would be playing what song: jen-the-bride-to-be, babygirl or little ole me.

This post will not self-destruct in 10 seconds.

Day After Thanksgiving

I warned ya (laughing) what always follows Alice - The Chipmunks.

While looking for that one, I also found this classic:



For those of you who overate yesterday, let me offer up some Lime In The Coconut.

Happy Thanksgiving

A family Thanksgiving tradition back when my girls were still at home (and we were known as The Estrogen Palace) was the playing of Alice's Restaurant Massacree on the phonograph.

My girls are grown and moved out of the house - and we had individual Thanksgivings this year instead of a family one - but I still blasted Alice's Restaurant on the stereo - its been playing every 4 hours on KPIG all day.

For those of you who do not listen to KPIG online (gasp), here's a video of Arlo doing it live. I was going to embed the UTube but embedding has been disabled by UTube for that.

:(

Those who just wanna listen or can't do UTubes, head over to FireDogLake where Jane has Arlo up on the music player. I gotta figure out how to do that here for those of you who can not do UTubes - as I was until I gave up the dialup and went to DSL.

Happy Turkey Day.

Time to dig out the Chipmonk's Christmas cassette.

Bear Creek Songs

This song is late summer nights, all the windows open, listening to the gurgle of the creek outside, and the breeze rustle the leaves. Except for the Desert Skies in the title, it is what living up here is all about; I'm living, I'm happy and I'm free.

Speaking of Bear Creek, here is some John Prine doing Up On Bear Creek, where the water tastes like cherry wine. It isn't the best audio but it is the only UTube of this great song.



That video references Johnny Cash, which means I get to share this:



I'll save my Rodney Crowell videos for another night. Three is my self imposed limit and I Walk The Line.

I'm A Fast Woman

*surfacing from utube land* I got DSL the first of the month and have been spending all my time enjoying all the things on my to view list over at UTube. I'm gonna be posting several of my favorites so ya know what I've been enjoying.

I had a friend tell me tonight that there is a new UTube 12 step recovery program she found suring the web - it is a series of 12 UTubes (laughing).

Let's start the evening with some Paul Thorn.

And another.

Hippo Birdy To Me

Happy Birthday to me
happy birthday to me
happy birthday dear meeeeeeeeeeeeee
happy birthday to me
(and many more)

This is my joker year (deck of cards plus one) - but next year is the year that I will be the same age as the year I am born. That will be easy to remember and involves no math!

UPDATE: gosh oh golly gee wiz, lots of visiters but no one left a comment

New Hair

Today, I had my hair cut. Short. It had been down to my waist. When I was married to ex #2, I was prohibited from trimming it more than 1/4" - women's hair was to be long. The ex did measure to make sure that 1/4" only rule was not broken. After I found out about his adultery with our next door neighbor, I cut it short as a visible sign of my independence from him and his rules.

I then proceeded to grow it long - because I wanted to - not because I was told that I had to. I long ago proved my point - my hair reached my waist. I would occasionally whack a couple inches off it with my scissors but kept it long, always pulled back into a bun or a ponytail - and I started to think seriously about cutting it several months ago.

Yesterday, I did a consult with a beautician in town - we went over the hair books - and came up with a style and made an appointment for today.

It is a long shag in the back, to shirt collar length, with layers that flip up at the ends - and then cut shorter around my face - I can finger comb it back and make it look shorter or can just let it fall where it will. The cut requires no products, no styling techniques - in short, it is the perfect kinda of hair style for me.

My computer for some reason is not speaking to my digital camera (or visa versa - I'm not sure of which) but when I get their differences mediated, I'll put up a picture. For the time being, think of a cross between Halle Berry and Twiggy with a little Dorothy Hamel tossed in.

Less Than One Month

My birthday is less than one month away which means it is now socially acceptable to say what I want, need, desire, and/or covet.

Bakeware. When I moved up here, an entire box of my kitchen things disappeared. All my pots and pans, cookie sheets, cake pans, pie plates, bread tins, muffin/cupcake trays - poof. Mixing bowls. Rubber spatulas. My grater. My rasp for grating nutmeg and cinnamon (and is also great for creating lemon zest). An offset spatula for frosting cakes. A springform pan for cheesecakes, tortes, and other goodies. Wood spoons. Thank goodness I only had a cheap handheld electric mixer to be lost instead of my yet to be acquired dream mixer.

Lets face it, the replacement 7 piece cookware set I got at KMart for $39.00 is not even close at being sufficient.

Slippers and heavy socks. They seem to appear on every list in direct proportion to the increase in my age - I get older and my toes get colder.

Flannel jammies. Ditto. Last year I got two sets of scottie dog jammies - this year I'm thinking plaid. Jammies with pockets get extra brownie points.

Cookbooks. Especially baking cookbooks.

Potholders - mine are pretty ratty looking.

Coffee bean grinder - so my fresh cup of coffee is really fresh.

Other than the whole staying warm bit, looks like 53 is going to be the year of the kitchen.

Token

Got an email today that reminded me of this picture of the cutest dog in the world sleeping on my lap - was taken in June of last year.

He is getting his summer crew cut this week and will be looking like a dog instead of his usual furball with legs. He has been picking up a bunch of burs and stickers and since he walks with his nose to the ground, his beard and moustache will be much shorter. Giving him the crew cut now because we have another two months before we start getting rains, which will end the bur and sticker problem.



My mom and step-dad are coming up tomorrow for a visit this week so I'll be offline until this weekend.

On Getting Old

I got this in an email from my mother -- 'splains it all. There was no attribution in the email of who wrote it, but who ever did, surely took a peak inside me, and I send my thanks for saying it so well.

The other day a young person asked me how I felt about being old. I was taken aback, for I do not think of myself as old. Upon seeing my reaction, she was immediately embarrassed, but I explained that it was an interesting question, and I would ponder it, and let her know.

Old Age, I decided, is a gift.

I am now, probably for the first time in my life, the person I have always wanted to be. Oh, not my body! I sometime despair over my body, the wrinkles, the baggy eyes, and the sagging butt. And often I am taken aback by that old person that lives in my mirror (who looks like my mother!), but I don't agonize over those things for long.

I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, my loving family for less gray hair or a flatter belly. As I've aged, I've become more kind to myself, and less critical of myself. I've become my own friend. I don't chide myself for eating that extra cookie, or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly cement gecko that I didn't need, but looks so avant garde on my patio. I am entitled to a treat, to be messy, to be extravagant.

I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging.

Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4 AM and sleep until noon?

I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 60&70's, and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love ... I will.

I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body, and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from the jet set. They, too, will get old.

I know I am sometimes forgetful. But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten. And I eventually remember the important things.

Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when somebody's beloved pet gets hit by a car? But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.

I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turning gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face. So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver.

As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. I don't question myself anymore. I've even earned the right to be wrong.

So, to answer your question, I like being old. It has set me free. I like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. And I shall eat dessert every single day. (If I feel like it)

Reagan's Take on Bush

From YellowDogJim in the comments section at FireDogLake:

May 17, 1986:

'A moment I've been dreading. George brought his ne're-do-well son around this morning and asked me to find the kid a job. Not the political one who lives in Florida. The one who hangs around here all the time looking shiftless. This so-called kid is already almost 40 and has never had a real job. Maybe I'll call Kinsley over at The New Republic and see if they'll hire him as a contributing editor or something. That looks like easy work.'

~ Ronald Reagan diaries

Ronnie sure had George W Bush pegged - too bad Nancy didn't release the diaries until after Bush was in the White House.

UPDATE: From a comment left this morning:

Anonymous said...

Hoax

http://www.snopes.com/politics/satire/kinsley.asp

Bush Dissolves Congress

Bush has essentially dissolved Congress with this

Read it and weep for America, 1776-2007. All hail King George 43, who has the power to declare you an enemy of the state, disappear you, and confiscate all your assets.

Thanks, DoverBitch for letting me know.

Put Impeachment Back On The Table, Madam Speaker

If you were not watching Bill Moyer's Journal Friday night, please try to catch in on re-runs or at the above linked site. Here is the transcript PBS provided of the show.

Bill Moyers had on former Reagan Administration Associate Deputy Attorney General now constitutional scholar Bruce Fein, who wrote the First Article of Impeachment against President Bill Clinton, and The Nation's John Nichols, author of The Genius Of Impeachment.

Both Fein and Nichols agree that impeachment proceedings need to be initiated now against President Bush and Vice President Cheney.

John Nichols said this:

“The Scooter Libby affair gets to the heart of what, I think, an awful lot of Americans are concerned about with this administration and with the executive branch in general: that it is lawless. That it can re-write the rules for itself. That it can protect itself. And you know the founders anticipated just such a moment. If you look at the discussion in the Federalist Papers, but also in the Constitutional Convention, when they spoke about impeachment one of the things that Madison and George Mason spoke about was the notion that you needed the power to impeach particularly as regards pardons and commutations. Because a president might try to take the burden of the law off members of his administration to prevent them from cooperating with congress in order to expose wrong-doing by the President himself. And so, Madison said that is why we must have the power to impeach.”

He further said that Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi is wrong for having said that impeachment was off the table. Impeachment is the cure for the Constitutional Crisis we find ourselves in with the Bush Administration and that Congress was being derelict in their duty under the Constitution for not fixing the great wrong that has been done by this Administration.

Here is some of the transcript showing Mr. Fein's view (keep in mind he drew up the Impeachment of President Clinton and was a Reagan era DOJ lawyer):

BRUCE FEIN: Well, this is an unusual affair of president/vice-president, where the vice-president is de facto president most of the time. And that's why most of people recognize that these decisions, especially when it comes to overreaching with executive power, are the product of Dick Cheney and his aide, David Addington, not George Bush and Alberto Gonzalez or Harriet Miers, who don't have the cerebral capacity to think of these devilish ideas. And for that reason, they equate the administration more with Dick Cheney than with George Bush.

BILL MOYERS: Bruce, you talk about overreaching. What, in practical terms, do you mean by that?

BRUCE FEIN: It means asserting powers and claiming that there are no other branches that have the authority to question it. Take, for instance, the assertion that he's made that when he is out to collect foreign intelligence, no other branch can tell him what to do. That means he can intercept your e-mails, your phone calls, open your regular mail, he can break and enter your home. He can even kidnap you, claiming I am seeking foreign intelligence and there's no other branch Congress can't say it's illegal--judges can't say this is illegal. I can do anything I want. That is overreaching. When he says that all of the world, all of the United States is a military battlefield because Osama bin Laden says he wants to kill us there, and I can then use the military to go into your homes and kill anyone there who I think is al-Qaeda or drop a rocket, that is overreaching. That is a claim even King George III didn't make--

BRUCE FEIN: --at the time of the Revolution.

Put Impeachment Back On The Table, Madam Speaker.

Token

Token, the cutest dog in the world, laughing at me trying to take his picture.

Favorite Pic

This is one of my favorite pictures of me as a kid. I remember it pretty well. My dad was stationed in New Orleans at the time (shore duty). We were living in Algiers in a double barreled shotgun. I can recall my mom setting my hair the night before with socks instead of rollers because they were easier to sleep on. I recall disagreeing with that assessment that next morning.

If I remember correctly, this was first grade. The fetching outfit I am wearing was one my mother made. Love the pintucks on the bodice.

Dance lessons - tap, ballet and acrobat (now called gymnastics). Mrs. Roebishaw lived in the other half of our shotgun and she made squash that I loved. Have yet to find a recipe like it - imagine a 6 year old liking yellow squash. My little brother was born while we were in New Orleans. Being able to walk down to the corner store for the first time, like the other big kids. Getting the measles - 3 times in one year and giving them (accidently) to my little sister (3) and my 6 week old brother.

Just some memories I wanted to share along with the picture.

Happy Birthday Sis

Today is my sister's 49th birthday. Sherry lives in Tuscon, Az and told me that I had to say something nice since it was her birthday.

Something nice.

She says new experiences are good for me.

This is a picture of her when she was only a month old. I believe this was taken right about the time I discovered turning over her crib - with her in it - was lots of fun.

Sherry and I have fought since the day mom and dad brought her home from the hospital and I tried to convince them to take her back and leave her there. They would not - so I did the 3 year old equivalent of "let the war games begin".

But through all our fights, our slammed doors, the ripped off outfits, the love between us has endured, deepened, and grown stronger. I know that she is just a phone call away and if needed, she would be on the road to me , where ever I am, no questions asked. Ditto for me to her.

Happy Birthday Sherry. Next year - the big 50 awaits and you only have a year to plan that party.

One Year From Today

One year from today is when Jennifer and Mike marry. Here is the link to their wedding website. Jen has put together a fine site, complete how they met, pictures, details about the wedding, and, of course, a guestbook for visitors to the site to leave comments (hint hint).

Not much new at the little cottage by the creek in the redwoods. Bailey the cat is shedding gray fur everywhere she goes. Token and Goldie still split their time running back and forth between my house and next door, where Goldie lives. Did a preview today for an agent who is going to show the cottage this weekend. The various websites listing the house are still getting a lot of hits. Fingers and toes crossed the buyer is found soon.

Baby girl is not going to be able to come visit - she wants to come but needs to save for college expenses. She will be attending Dixie State College in St. George, Utah, getting certified as a paramedic and is looking at eventually becoming a fire fighter/paramedic with a degree in Fire Science.

May Daze

My goodness, May is almost over and June is just around the corner. My oldest baby girl turns 30 in June. Time seems to pass faster the older I get. I've been keeping the house poifect and have what seems like a gazillion showings - in reality there are 37 real estate agent business cards in the basket and several agents have not left cards. Puts me in the range of 50 showings. My mother keeps saying it only takes one but the one I'm looking for is a cash buyer - due to it being a stock cooperative traditional mortgage financing is not available.

Memorial Day - I keep thinking of my father's 20 years of service in the Navy, my sister joining the Navy when she turned 18 and how fearful I am that youngest baby girl will join the Air Force. For now, she is saying she is going to go to college first but I still worry. She graduated high school this week and just returned from the Senior Class trip to Disneyland.

I'm enjoying the eye candy while I can. I took picture about 20 minutes or so ago - from my deck looking towards the bridge.

Egad

Egad, I must be suffering from a case of empty nest or something. Token fell asleep on my lap while I was online. I carried him into my bed, tucked him in with the covers up to his cute little chin, kissed him night-night, and, while walking out the the room, realized what I had just done.

Sigh. Perhaps I need to get out more.

More Peony

The biggest bud has opened all the way and is glorious to both the eyes and the nose. Some pink is starting to show on one of the two (and smaller) unopened buds. I expect it will start to open in the next day or so, shortly followed by the third.

A fish has taken up residence in a pool created by the downed tree on the other side of the bridge. Haven't been able to get a good look at it, mainly seeing tail flops in the water. It hides in the nooks and crannies created by the tangled web of branches that has accumulated there.


Have only gotten 1/3rd of last year's rain total so far. No big water to push the debris downstream which has been good for the fish and the birds. Lots of birds and ducks hanging out around the downed tree feasting on this year's bumper crop of insects.

Should could use some rain. Only got 5/8ths of an inch in March, bringing the year to date total to 25 and 7/8ths inches.

Peony In Bloom

My peony is blooming. I bought this at the end of winter a year ago. Last year, I had only one flower. This year, there are three buds and the largest is opening up.
I took this sequence of photos over about 2 hours as it opened. I know nothing other than it is a peony but I sure do love it. Has only a hint of fragrance now but there is promise of more to come.





I am enjoying spring here at the little cottage by the creek in the redwoods. Token and Goldie are spending a lot of their days lounging in the sun on the deck. They sat still for the picture at the top of this post, but Token refused to look at the camera. That is the peony pot they are posing next to - their size is why they will always be called puppies.

Spring Has Sprung

Yeah, I know, this post is yet another overdue one. I'll just say keeping the little cottage by the creek in the redwoods looking like no one lives here (and exactly as shown in the pictures several posts below), well, that is hard work as bushie would say.

But, in addition to doing all that dreaded housework every fricking day, I've also been taking some pictures of what will be my last spring here at the creek.

Here is the maple tree off the deck as it blooms.



Here is some eye candy of the creek in the redwoods springing back to life.

Nothing Much - Just Got Engaged

That is what my first born, Jennifer, said last night on the phone. She called a little after 8pm, unusual for a Wednesday night. Her response was to my asking what was up. Mike proposed during dessert after they had dinner at Jen's Dad's home. Mike brought her desert plate and, instead of dessert, there was a box from the jeweler's. Mike got down on one knee and in front of her father, asked her to marry him.

Awwwwwwwww. Makes me tear up just thinking about it.

Of course, I asked for details and pictures so here are the camera phone shots. She says of the pictures:

My phone can only take semi-blurry pictures. Dad took some pics but I’m sure I wont get them until he learns how to download them.

You can describe the ring to whomever you are sending to: ½ carat center stone with ¼ carats as side stones with 2 more diamonds in the band on each side. 7 total.
This one is a little better. You can see the 2 diamonds in the band



I once described Jennifer as being born with a hairbrush in one hand and a telephone in the other - which she was using to plan her wedding. In response to the buttload of questions I fired off to her in an email this morning (I was too happy and surprised to think last night) she says:

Ok, so this is what I know.

We are getting married in May 2008, no specific date yet. That all depends on the girls last day of school next year.

The wedding will semi-formal with green and orange as the colors. (pastels). It will have an Irish theme & bag pipes. The wedding will be outdoors with the reception indoors. We are thinking of having it in a hotel but that is just an idea. We aren’t sure of the time of day but we are thinking that we want it around sunset. Getting married during the day and the reception will be at night.

So I immediately asked the obvious question and this was her response:

And NO Mike will NOT be wearing a kilt.

Dang.

Token Tuesday

It has been several months since I have done a Token Tuesday. With thanks to Jacqrat for help with the picture selection, here is the cutest dog in the world in full grump mode. I took this yesterday afternoon out on the deck - he was not cooperating is a polite way of describing the process.




Since Jacqrat does not have Bravo's picture posted anywhere (for quick linking when we are all comparing animal companions), I've included Bravo's picture here for Jacqrat's linkage. Bravo is a chow/pit mix and Jacqrat describes her as adorable. Just look at those eyes!



I think Bravo's head is bigger than Token. Bravo is a chow/pit mix and Token is a mix of toy poodle and lhasa apso (mom) and scottie and yorkie(dad). Bravo weighs 65 lbs and Token weighs in at 8 lbs.

For Mrs. K8

Mrs. K8 lives in the Arizona desert where spring bulbs do not bloom and is missing the spring eye candy they provide.

Mrs. K8, these are for you.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Busy, busy, busy. Between showings, previews, and open houses for the sale of the little cottage by the creek in the redwoods and working backstage as a moderator over at the lake in the evenings, I've been a busy little bee.

It has rained several times since I last blogged - my year to date total is 25 and 1/4 inches. Token, the cutest dog in the world, turned 2 on February 27th. He certainly enjoyed his birthday ice cream but I'm sure he had no idea why he was getting such a fine treat.

Took this from the bridge. It is one of my favorite views - tied with the view from my deck looking toward the bridge. Eye candy I'll miss when the place sells. Lots of activity but no offers. Am getting lots of positive feedback from other agents and their clients but until I get an offer, I'm keeping my expectations very, very low. I refuse to get caught up on that emotional roller coaster that the real estate market can create, hoping each buyer is "the one".

Have the short notice routine down to about 15 minutes and am keeping the house in 15 minute notice condition. Totally sucks. It is comparable to doing the once a week and the once a month cleanings every day. Last chores before bed every night are dusting, chasing spiderwebs, sweeping and then moping floors. That way, I can get up, make my bed, turn on all the lights, light the candles in every room, put on classical music playing softly, and be out the door with the kitchen trash bag.

That's what's been happening in my corner of the world. What's been happening in yours?

Ready To Go

Busy week here at the little cottage by the creek in the redwoods. The real estate photographer came Saturday to take the pictures for the MLS listing and virtual slideshow that accompanies the listing.

Here are a few of the photographs and here is the link to a preliminary version of the slideshow. The slideshow takes a bit to load up because there is music that plays in the background. The slideshow also shows the picnic area near the clubhouse.



The great room - showing the fireplace with insert, plantation shutters, and vaulted ceiling (also in both bedrooms). This picture was taken from the kitchen.





This bedroom is at the rear of the cottage and has views of the deck, the wood bridge and the creek below.

The creek. This was taken at the junction of the creek and the river - the view is looking up creek towards my deck and the wooden bridge.

The front bedroom.


The kitchen and my computer area. The window on the left with the shutters overlooks the deck and creek. The kitchen sink window has views of the creek and the wood bridge. The window over the glass dining room table on the right also has shutters but is not visible in this shot.

Tomorrow is the pre-listing tour for all the agents in my agent's company. It should hit the MLS later this week and next Tuesday, the little cottage by the creek in the redwoods will be visited by the Santa Cruz County Brokers tour as "just listed".

Fingers and toes crossed for a speedy sale - hey, a girl can dream!

The Squirrel Did It

Squirrels are nothing but rats with a bushier tail. They are always eating. If they are not actively eating, they are on the hunt for something to eat. It appears at least one had a close encounter with my phone line some time before the wee hours of Monday morning.

Haven't posted anything because my phone line became filled with static. I am on a lowly dial-up and the amount of static on the line kept booting me off line. I could barely get to email, much less be able to surf on the web. I totally missed Monday and Tuesday's real time Libby trial coverage over at FireDogLake.

Called the phone company and informed the call taker that based on previous experience, this happens when a squirrel has chewed on the phone line. Right now, the static is intermittent - but if it rains again, I'm off line until the repair guy comes. The phone company assures me it will be before 5pm Friday.

Oh, the joy of waiting for the telephone repairman.

Speaking of rain, my year to date total is 19 7/8 inches. I was at 12 3/4 inches at the start of this last storm system.

The photographer is booked for the listing photo's for this Saturday morning. The little cottage by the creek in the redwoods will officially be for sale and on the MLS and I start the next phase of my life. When it sells, where will I go? I think it will be Oregon but it may be Washington State. May be on the coast or it may be in the coastal mountains. Time will tell.

Still Raining

Still raining up here. Creek is rising and that is finally pushing out some of the debris from last winter's fallen tree. As you can see in the above picture, there is only one debris pile just past the wood bridge where there used to be two. I heard and saw the now displaced pile as it made its way down creek to where the creek normally narrows on this side of the wood bridge. I know that at least part of it is snagged on the rocks at the narrows because I can see the tail of a large log poking up above the water. It didn't show up as well in the photo, where it is at the bottom - the dark spot to the left of center bottom. More of the pile is snagged on the rocks directly below my deck but they will move easily downstream from there.

I've put out slices of Oatmeal Pumpkin bread that is scrumptious for those visiting from Skippy's place. I didn't add the pecans due to concerns about those with nut allergies.

Make yourself comfortable, feel free to go though my achieves - especially those looking for more pictures of the temperate rain forest I live in or for pictures of Token, Bailey, and/or Token's sister, Goldie, who lives next door. There is political stuff here too.

So far today, we have gotten 1 and 3/4 inches of rain, bringing the year to date rain totals here at the little cottage by the creek in the redwoods to 17 and 1/2 inches. Finally on our way towards last year's 75 inches.

Fast Clean Up

Skippy, our favorite 'roo round these parts, not only has added TwoTon to his blogroll, he gave me a very nice shout-out to boot.

As soon as I finish picking my jaw up off the floor, I had better get busy cleaning up around here. Haven't posted much lately but gonna have to have something for the nice folks who visit from Skippy's. Decisions, decisions - where to put the plate of welcoming cookies?

Been raining up here - an inch yesterday and 2 inches so far today. That brings the year to date total here at the little cottage by the creek in the redwoods to 15 and 3/4 inches. The fallen tree segments are finally starting to move now there is more water in the creek. Rain kept getting on the lens of my dying digital camera - no pretty picture of the creek.

Besides, with all the work I've been doing getting ready for the big real estate showcase tour - a feather duster is certainly more appropriate to what my reality has been lately.

Again, thanks Skippy.

New Week, Same Ole

New week

same ole

Bad Week At Black Rock

I could not find a picture of a green slimy one so this will have to do.Yeah, it was that kinda week.

Update Part Deaux

T was discharged from the trauma center Monday afternoon. His right elbow is broken and he is scheduled for surgery Thursday to put in screws. He is nicely doped up, sleeping in the guest room. He looks terrible. I can't tell how many stitches but there is a whole slew of them from the outside corner of his eye into the hairline. No washing of the face until the stitches come out (next week) and there is still a lot of dried blood on his face - hopefully it looks worse than it really is. The CAT scans found no facial fractures but his cheek sure is swollen enough to look like it is broken. Getting a beaut of a shiner too.

He saw the ophthalmologist before being discharged and his vision is intact (woohoo). The docs were surprised that the eye socket bone was not broken. Hopefully, his concussion isn't too bad and he recovers quickly. The scar, however, is gonna be a nasty looking one.

T said the van did not roll - it went into a turn too fast, left the roadway, and center punched a big tree. This was after both T and the other passenger (the van's owner) had told the driver to slow down, that he was going too fast.

I'm sleeping a whole lot. T said that when he had the cold from hell, when he was finally starting to get over it, he came down with the tireds but that only lasted a few days. After that, he was finally over it. Fingers and toes crossed that I'm finally on the downhill side of this nasty cold.

Haven't had any measurable rain since the day after Christmas. Things are looking a little worse for wear - the redwoods are looking a little droopy and we are expecting another freezing or below night tonight. February and March are the months when we usually get the most rain - we sure could use it. Only 11- 3/4 inches year to date - last year's total was 75 inches so there is a lot of catching up to do. Fingers and toes we don't try to catch up all in one storm. That would not be a good thing.

Updates

I still have the cold from hell.

Jane successfully underwent 8 hours of surgery Thursday, recovered in ICU, and was released from the hospital today. Still thinking warm, positive thoughts for her. She has a tough road ahead but she sure is a fighter. How many people do you know that undergo 8 hours of cancer surgery and are released from the hospital less than 72 hours later?

On the home front: The stager was here Friday and I have several pages of notes in the binder about how she wants the furniture, where specific pictures go, etc.

T, my handyman, and I were going to have it all finished today but...

He was a passenger in a roll-over accident last night - was airlifted to a regional medical center with a broken arm and a pretty bad laceration on his head. The driver was drunk from what I hear. Poor T - that man has been working so hard to turn his life around and this kind of bad luck is not what he needs. He has been a good friend to me, helping me out around the little cottage by the creek in the redwoods.

No pictures because its still too friggin cold outside. Has warmed up some during the day but we've been below freezing most every night.

PGE is gonna like me - but they are really just interested in my wallet. I've been using the heater more in the past couple of weeks than I have in the 3 years preceding. The gas bill is gonna be ugly.

Sad News

From Jane's post today:

There just didn't seem to be any other way to explain why I'm not going to be present for the first two weeks of the Libby trial so I decided to resort to the truth.

As someone who has devoted years to building this blog around coverage of the CIA leak investigation, its going to be really rough to sit on the sidelines for the first two weeks while Marcy, Christy, Pach and others cover the trial in person. I've been working for months now to obtain a press pass and set up the "Plame House" in Washington DC as a central place for bloggers to stay and share information amongst ourselves as we cover the trial. When I received (with the help of Arianna Huffington and Rachel Sklar of the Huffington Post) the only press pass awarded to a blogger to be in the actual courtroom, I was blown away. And as you might well imagine, it would have to be something pretty serious to keep me away for even a moment.

In mid-December I was diagnosed with breast cancer for the third time. It's a bit more serious this time and treatment is going to have to be more extensive.

Go over and give Jane some love.

No, Yes, Better, Thank You.

Is the little cottage by the creek in the redwoods listed for sale yet?

No. Met with Mary the Realtor Tuesday and set the appointment for the stager to come over for Thursday. Wednesday, naturally, I came down with the local cold from hell.

Yes, I have rescheduled that appointment until Tuesday.

Better, thank you. Still under the weather but my head hasn't exploded yet (contrary to what the blinding headache suggested).

It got so cold last night that Bailey got under the covers.

Spocko's Brain Is Back Up

As Spocko would say, hailing frequencies are open. Enterprise to signaler on planet's surface. Identify self. Spocko has the blog back up (with a different server I presume) Go over and check out why Disney/ABC went after the logical one.

The phasers are set to stun and Spocko is beaming information back from the trail of the KSFO/Disney rats, letting the advertisers know how the KSFO crew makes fun of their products and advocates using their products for torture.

Since Spocko began contacting advertisers, several have pulled their accounts from KSFO, including Netflix, Mastercard, Bank of America, and most recently, Visa.

Federal Express, AT&T and Kaiser Permanente are weighing their departure as well. Disney/ABC/KSFO are up in arms at the effect of Spocko's outreach is having on their bottom line.

Logic and practical information does seem to apply here. I've added Spocko's Brain to my blogroll.

Spocko vs The Disney Rat

It is almost as if I grew up with KSFO Radio. We moved to the SF Bay Area when I was going into the 5th grade, 1964 I think. I remember being in the station wagon, mom and dad up front, us three kids in back, listening to baseball on KSFO. Or music. Going to the grocery store. To visit family up in Auburn. We could listen to it in the Central Valley on our way down to LA. The last Bay Area station we would lose and the first station we could get on our way back home.

It was a family radio station. My dad would listen to the game while working on the car or tinkering in the garage, or inside the house, listening on the transistor broadcast one game while watching another game on tv. It was a "neutral station" in my household, a station we could all listen to, unlike my dad's country station and my rock station.

Disney, a family marketed brand name, owns ABC which owns KSFO. KSFO is now a hate spewing talk radio station. Spocko took on KSFO by contacting their advertisers and advising them of the type of garbage that immediately proceeds or follows their respective ads, in case they were unaware.

In Spocko's words, here is what happened next:

ABC Radio Lawyer tells Spocko to Shut Up

Two days before Christmas I got a Cease and Desist letter from ABC regarding my use of audio clips from KSFO radio hosts Melanie Morgan and Lee Rogers on my blog, Spocko’s Brain (see attached PDF).

KSFO is a Disney affiliate whose radio hosts broadcast violent rhetoric directed toward journalists, liberals, Democrats, Arabs and Muslims all over the SF Bay Area and to the world via the Internet. I commented about the content of these host’s broadcasts on my blog and informed KSFO’s advertisers about what they were supporting by letting them listen to the exact audio quotes from the hosts.

Spocko's ISP caved under the Disney lawyers' threats and shut down Spocko's blog.

El Gato Negro and Mike Stark have been all over this story. If you are not familiar with this story, first read this first story from Mike Stark on 01/03/07, then head over to El Gato Negro!'s place and read the several posts up there, just keep scrolling down and you will find the links to the actual audio clips that Disney shut down Spocko over.

Included are audio links to these nuggets (and many, many more):

Melanie Morgan regarding Nancy Pelosi: "We've got a bulls-eye painted on her big laughing eyes." and calling for the hanging of the New York Times editors;

Brian Sussman demanding a caller say "Allah is a whore" and his wanting to cut off the penises and fingers off detainees;

Lee Rogers saying the AP should commit suicide and this little nugget when talking about a black man from Lincoln, Nebraska, "Now you start with the Sear's Diehard the battery cables connected to his testi*les and you entertain him with that for awhile and then you blow his bleeping head off. "

Mike has some suggestions on what we can do at the bottom of that first post, as does El Gato Negro! on his blog.

Mike followed up the story here, with several more action steps that can be taken.

Read what I've linked to and then write letters to the advertisers (which are listed at the bottom of Mike's follow up post). Or call the advertisers. Let KGO know how you feel about what their radio station KSFO is doing. Let ABC know. And, of course, don't forget Disney. Let us not forget that the bogus Path to 9/11 movie was brought to us by ... Disney/ABC.

Disney - now just another corporate rat.

The photo at the head of this post is from Skippy, our fav 'roo, who has also blogged about this, in addition to many other sites, including Crooks and Liars and The News Blog, links to which are available on the right side of your screen in the "Links" section. There are some fine folks listed there - be sure to check them out.


Spocko's Brain will not be silenced.

This photo from FireDogLake and TRex's magnificent post on this last night entitled Spocko Vs. The Rat. Spocko and El Gato Negro! update in the comments so don't forget to read those too.

Tonights latest update from El Gato Negro! :

More Spocko Update for the interested.

Spocko wrote me last night that he weel have a new website up ASAP, he has ppl working on eet.

As soon as the new Spocko’s Brain ees up, he weel repost all the KSFO files and Disney weel be back to square one, except for all the bad PR. ;)

The really good news ees that Spocko had interviews weeth reporters for the San Fran Chronicle, and the San Fran Weekly, wheech are, respectively, the largest paper een Northern California, and the largest independent weekly in Northern California.

Sorry for not posting all this last night when I should have but I have been like. uh, busy, uh, working on this blasted little cottage by the creek in the redwoods since my last post.