2004-06-22

* * * I was awakened at 6:45ish this morning by a loud scream and then a stream of profanity. I woke up, listened for a moment, and then grinned and went back to sleep. It appears that Fred found the cup I left upside-down on the floor last night. When he picked it up, he found the big-ass spider I’d covered with it.

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From my comments: I don’t get playboy. Did they print your letter exactly as you wrote it or did they pick and choose from what you wrote? I once wrote a letter to one of my favorite magazines and they cut and pasted my letter and made me look like a complete jackass. I hope that didn’t happen to you; although, if it did, i know you’d raise enough hell to make them think twice about doing that again! They did some editing, but kept the spirit of the piece. Of course, the question is, will I really show my mother a letter I wrote to a national publication, wherein I used the words “plastic fuck dolls”? You can read what they published of the letter I sent, over at OFB. It’s about halfway down the page. robyn, i love that mostly pink quilt that the kitties are so often lounging on. is it homemade, or did you buy it somewhere. i truly feel like my life would be complete with a quilt like that. That quilt is almost as old as I am. My mother made it when I was, oh, three or four, and used scraps of material from clothes she’d made me. She thinks it’s absolutely hideous – I think it was one of the first quilts she ever made – but I adore it. It’s the perfect weight, it’s very soft, and despite the many times I’ve run it through the washer and dryer it’s holding up very well! Robyn, I’m going to Waikiki the second week of August, but just for 6 days. I know you have the swim suit situation fixed, but what about regular clothes? I don’t wear shorts in public (5’2″, 215 lbs), and I will also be there with family, some that haven’t seen me since 105 lbs, so I’m a little freaked out. Anyway, I went to Wal-mart and bought Just-My-Size stretch denim capri pants (no wide leg or flared for me) in 4 colors. I also hate hate hate to wear bras, especially in horrid humid weather, so bought spagetti-strapped tee shirts that have the built-in bra thingy. Then, I ordered 3/4 sleeve stretch button down the front shirts from Chadwick’s in great colors to wear over the tees. I already had one in white and because of the seams on the front and the back it looked so much better than the camp shirts I was going to wear. And then sandals without ankle straps. Not so good for hiking, but a short stubby girl needs all the leg length she can get. I have a bathing suit, but was wondering about the swim skirt Land’s End had in their catalogue. Did you happen to try it on? What did the spud pick out? I got a video postcard from my mother, and in the message area, she said the following: Tips: You won’t need jackets or sweaters, except on the plane. Shorts are best (even I wear them all the time). Jeans are too hot. Light weight “crop” pants or pedal pushers 2nd best. Shoes to wear in water, especially for snorkeling – walking shoes – sneakers are good but get hot – Teva’s have worked for me – sandals are okay for short distances. The wind blows a lot, so something to tie hair out of way. With that in mind, I bought a couple of pairs of shorts that are comfortable and look okay. I’m going to bring the shorts, a couple of pairs of capri pants (capri pants and “pedal pushers” are the same thing, right?), and a variety of t-shirts to wear with them all. I got my ugly board shorts from Junonia to wear with a t-shirt on the beach, and I’m going to bring my water shoes for wearing in the water, and sneakers for the rest, because my feet won’t put up with anything else when I have to walk for more than ten feet. I don’t know what I’m going to use to tie my hair out of the way, since it’s too short for that. I may have to just put up with my hair blowing in my face! The spud ended up getting the Women’s Sport Tankini, with the shorts. She looks really cute in it, but I had already decided that I was going to get the board shorts from Junonia, so I didn’t think about anything from Land’s End for myself. With all the books you give away on your giveaway page, are you a member of BookCrossings? I am actually registered with BookCrossings, but I had actually forgotten about it! I think I’ll put up a note to remind myself to register the books I give away with BookCrossings before I send them out. It’d be neat to see where they end up. (Regarding the pictures in this entry) Just wondering what that creepy looking yellowy goo stuff is crawling up the structure in the first underwater photo? It looks all slimy. Is it? And I was AMAZED that there were so many fish!! Are those the “bream”? That creepy looking yellowy goo stuff is… slimy goo stuff, of course. I have no idea what it is, but it’s all over the place under the water. I do my best not to touch the stuff, because it’s icky. And yeah, those fish are the bream, and there are some carp in there as well, and probably some other kinds of fish I don’t know the names of. They all look the same to me – the only fish I definitely know are the catfish because of their “whiskers”. Ugh. How’s The Crimson Petal and the White? It’s on my wish list, but I haven’t given in to temptation yet. It’s DAMN LONG, is what it is! I’ve been reading for days and days, and I’m just now halfway through it. I’m enjoying it more than I expected I would, though there are some slow parts. Michael Faber’s really good at the details of what life in 19th-century London was like, and I’ve actually found myself holding my breath when he talks about the smells rising from the gutter (so I can’t smell those smells, you understand). At this point, I’d rate it 3 1/2 – 4 Poos. Where did you get the collapsible cat carrier? I need to get one for my mom, well, not *for* her, but you know. Whatever. She has 2 cats and needs a carrier but doesn’t have a collapsible one. I think we actually got it when we adopted either Tubby or Miz Poo, but I know that I’ve seen them at PetSmart. It’s definitely easier to get the cats into top-load carriers than the plastic end-load carrier that we have.
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We went to the quarry yesterday. There were a bunch of people set up on the piers at the close end of the quarry, but at the far end there was no one, so that’s where we went. We swam around for a while, watching the little fish watch us, so that Fred could try out his new snorkel. After half an hour or so we headed back to the pier and stayed in that general vicinity. “Hey, watch me!” Fred said. “I’m going to swim down under the pier and touch the rope!” It’s very dark and creepy under the pier, so it’s like a test of his manhood to go under there. I pushed off the pier so that I could watch him, he took a few deep breaths, and dove. He was not quite under the pier, when he suddenly froze, ran in place, and then swam back to the surface of the water as fast as he could. Since he is not a man prone to freak out about inconsequential things, I was pretty sure we were about to be eaten by something the size of a car, and I all but ran across the surface of the water to join him. “Holy crap!” he gasped. “Did you see that fish?” I looked back down into the water, and a few moments later a big, fat two-foot-long carp drifted into view. He eyeballed us angrily for a few seconds, and then swam away. The fish in that quarry are going to be the death of me, I swear. One of these days I’m going to look down and see a ten-foot carp glaring up at me, and I’m just going to keel over from a heart attack. Fred’s going to have to tow me back to the pier so that the bream and carp don’t nibble at my cold, dead toes.
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