Taking presents in a totally different direction...

I would also love, love, LOVE one of these as a present, too. Valentine's, birthday, Christmas stocking, 'just because'...whatever works. They're SO useful. And we use 'em all the time on-event (work).

I just want to be cool like the other Lot Kids.

Remember my ORIGINAL birthday party idea?

Lookit what someone sent me...how fun, fun, fun is this???? Anyone love me this much for Valentine's Day?

And, no, I'm not sorry I went with Burlesque instead. Each has their own time and place.

Growing old...watching silver turn to gold...

The days of listening to Sean Kelly and the Samples are long gone and so are silver rings. Right now, I'm wearing a gold ring. Not a typical 'Hannah' ring as gold isn't one of my "things." But it's a Grandma ring.

As my Grandma was in the final stages of her life, she spent some time deciding which rings of hers us gal cousins would be honored with. The one that was bequested to lil' ol' me was the sapphire...and, I have to admit, I really AM honored to wear it.

As estranged from parts of my family as I am/was, I also have an odd passion for my super immediate family...and value it incredibly highly. Family *IS* important. And, as silly as it sounds for ME to be saying it, I really love wearing this ring. It's not a rock; it's not something Melanya would be seen wearing, but there's sentiment. Knowing that she bequeathed it to me - all the rings to all 3 girls - as she was wheelchair-ridden in the final days of dealing with a hideous brain tumor and all her energy should have been spent living certainly softens the hardest of hearts...mine, too.

Wearing it, I remember the way she would toy with her rings. The seemingly absent-minded way she played with them...was she remembering the moment Grandpa gave them to her? Was it simply habit? Regardless, it reminds me of the love they shared - 54 years worth...til the very, very end.

Family's difficult, but so very, very worth it.

Re- or dis-?

A profundity occurred to me recently. Maybe I'm just slow...maybe it's occurred to many a folk and just not me. There are occasions in many a life, I would assume, that cause folks to stop and assess. Whether it's life in general or perhaps a single moment, there are moments that make one 'pause'...as an Ally McBeal follower might say.

In moments like this, do you, dear friend, re- or dis-? That would be reconnect vs. disconnect. In times that make you think on deeper levels, do you choose to further disconnect from life? Disconnect from life for the first time perhaps? Do you choose to feed into being a 'victim' or blam others for whatever your current state of discontent may be?

Or...do you choose to reconnect? Does a period of contemplation make you realize that you do have so much MORE life to live? Do you remember that regardless of how full and well-rounded your life may be that there really is more?

I'm in that moment. I made a choice at 15 that I was never going to be a victim; that I was never going to let 'him' win. Why would I begin now, 15 years later? I choose to reconnect. To remember to not get caught up in the minutia of bullshit that can present itself in the process of daily living. To stay out of my head and to reconnect to my heart. Why stray from instinct?

My promise to myself - there's more...why wait for someone to present it to me. I'm gonna go find it myself.

I know there's life out there to be lived and *I* want to live it. Don't you?

'Typical guy'...

I was asked the other day by a very interesting friend what my 'type' of man is...good gravy. Most folks that know me well know that there isn't really one type that I'm attracted to - they've run the gamut. Yet, I'm not one of those women that can list 37 things they hate before focusing on what they WANT.

So, what was my answer? Of course, I mentioned that I'm a height-ist; being a tall girl, I do prefer a man who's at least my height with, hopefully, a larger waist-size...I do love 'boyfriend jeans.' I think, unfortunately, that I might have gotten distracted by shiny objects and not continued the conversation...and, therefore, making myself sound much more shallow that I typically am. Hey, I had Saturday Brain...

Here's more:

I want intrigue, mental stimulation.
A multi-dimensional man.
Creativity, however it manifests in your life.
Truth. Spoken and emotional honesty.
Indpendence.
Parallel lives.
Interest in the world - traveling, cultures, books, food, art.
Open-minded and -hearted.
A man that wants to dig deep inside o'me - goals, passions, fears, what makes me tick AND tock.
Someone who'll say 'NO' to me if it's necessary...no pushovers, please.
Inner strength.
A hand-holding, Saturday afternoon couch-snuggling, kisses in the morning, noon, and night kinda fiend.
A man that will let me in and not only feed himself to me piecemeal.
Someone who wants it all, too, and isn't willing to settle for less.
No members of the 'plaid shirt & khaki brigade.'
The kind of guy that'll chase me down the street to toss snowballs because I nailed him with one REALLY well...and laughs the entire time.
A Saturday-night-Scrabble-player who moonlights as a NYC pubcrawler, too.
Did I mention multi-faceted?

Essentially, a man that loves coffee & all types of food; that is convinced 'sexy' is an attitude, not a body part; that prefers no make-up and lip balm to fake nails & spiked heels; and that always considers dog hair an essential part of my wardrobe.

Everything's negotiable 'cept ethics, morals, and values. Ok...maybe not. ;-) I also require the amazing rolls in the hay that all Harlequin novels proclaim to be 'normal.'

Taking time to smell the roses...

We're in the middle of another topsy-turvy family time - truthfully, I guess I'm upside down in all facets of my life - and it's yet another reminder to stop and smell the roses. Tell people what they mean to you. Be honest with yourself. Follow your heart...personally and professionally. Don't waste time on bullshit. Stand up for yourself.

You don't know how long you have...don't hold back on being the best you that you can be.

Cliche, cheesy, but always true.

sticks and stones...

CBLong74 (3:48:12 PM): then i'd be blong
nannerli74 (3:48:31 PM): not as funny
CBLong74 (3:48:54 PM): no.
CBLong74 (3:48:58 PM): blong water
nannerli74 (3:49:29 PM): dumb
nannerli74 (3:49:31 PM): not funny
nannerli74 (3:49:35 PM): not makin' me giggle
CBLong74 (3:49:43 PM): that's because you like dick
nannerli74 (3:50:16 PM): how on earth do the two compare?
CBLong74 (3:50:23 PM): heh
CBLong74 (3:50:32 PM): "clong duck dong"
nannerli74 (3:50:37 PM): there's no parallel ANYthing there
nannerli74 (3:50:41 PM): that's giggle-licious
nannerli74 (3:50:50 PM): blong water? notsomuch

Fave silly sign - Bahraini style

I've heard of curbing your dog, but rarely, oh so rarely, is it actually depicted...

Happy birthday to me...

I'm having a fabulous birthday weekend! Mercury might be in retrograde, damn planetary misalignments, but it's still gonna be G-R-E-A-T!!! Mon's flying in, Cass is driving up. There'll be all my NYC favorite-est folks - Alice, Jenny, Audrey, et al - coming out to play.

'The Girls' are gonna have a class - this kind of class...check us out. Then, we get to meet up with the rest of the gang(s) and go travelling through the LES and East Village. I can't wait!!!

Jackrabbit Slims really does have a pole, right? Geez, I can't wait to be 30!!!!

Sometimes it's best to not remember what you said...

Every once in a while, I'll Google myself just to see what come up. Tonight, some REALLY new stuff appeared. Argh. How is it possible for everything to not come up every time!?! Oy vey.

Tonight, I found this...and, no, it's not the best "from the horse's mouth" I've ever emitted. Ick, ack...blech!

My favorite New York moment

There's this fabulous man that hangs out on 24th Street in the mornings. He stands there, quietly, as he's munching his breakfast (there's nothing like egg'n'cheese on a NY bagel) with his stereo blasting jazz. He's got a wonderfully kind face. He's there for his and OUR pleasure - to maybe give us a little lift before heading in to work for the rest of the day.

I always smile and say hello, but today, I finally stopped to let him know that he's my favorite New York moment.

Anchors away...

Musical anchor of the day:

Kelly Willis will always remind me of learning how to drive stick shift. Driving around in a - thank GOD! - easy-to-drive little Toyota Celica 2-door, listening to good tunes. Thanks to Cat & Russ, the owners of that fabulous car and their generosity. That was about the only good thing in my life - post-accident, post-Todd, post-123raleigh.com. We had such a great time - 2 apartments, lots of barbeques and beers, lots of friends in and out, lots of plants.

Good times. Thanks memory road...

Crawford, dear Crawford...

nannerli74 (2:43:17 PM): that's weird
CBLong74 (2:44:27 PM): uh huh
CBLong74 (2:44:52 PM): i'm going to preemptively hush you
CBLong74 (2:44:52 PM): but
CBLong74 (2:45:01 PM): a one-handed typing device would be very nice to have.
nannerli74 (2:45:17 PM): careful
nannerli74 (2:45:19 PM): that's bloggable

This is what we were talking about. Weird, right?

I (heart) NYC

Oh lordy, lordy, lordy....(to be spoken aloud with a thick, Southern drawl)

I knew NYC was open to just about any and everything, but this just takes the cake. What will "They" think of next??

Check this out...

I'm in love with an outlaw...

Ok, so maybe, just maybe 'love' is a strong word...but WOAH. (I'm showing my age - total TV product of the 80s and 90s, Joey Lawrence!) I finally got sucked in by the show 'Monster Garage' last night - I told you cable would be the death of me! The Firetruck Brewery was pure genius!!!

Jesse James is HOT!!! Not just cuz he's a big, strapping man - just my type. Not just cuz he's ruggedly handsome and tattooed - one of my types. Not just cuz he's got charisma and people jump just as high as he asks (mmm...power) - just my type. But the guy can weild a blow torch like nobody's bidness. Hot diggity damn! I love, love, love men that can build things. I love them even more if they can make something outta nothing. Builders with brains, not just brawn. (I should make a t-shirt out of that!) Brings out the blue collar in me...

Mom, would you mind if I learned how to weld?

Blue collar men que j'adore (like my franglais??):

1. Jesse James
2. Eric Stromer
3. All the TLC carpenters - scrumptious! Faber-licious.
4. Chris Heinz...oh wait, he belongs on a different list.
5.

...alright, so my Top 5 Blue Collar Men has some room to grow. But I had to start it; we all know just how much I like my Top 5 lists.

Sparkles should happen to everyone!

I'm in the most fantastic mood today. If I was anyone but me, I'd be annoyed by me. But, seeing as I am me, wow...if I'd known sparkles and sequins could make me this happy, I'd have started wearing them years ago! No wonder pageant princesses are so smiley - they've got ULTRA sparkles.

Ok, so maybe having a day of nothingness helped. As did the pluot and then the baklava. But the sparkles are the main reason I'm so sunshiney!! My co-workers hate me (Liz), but even that won't stop me. I like not being Crackhead Crankpot. So there all you crabapples!!!

Just to explain: I felt like being "ethnic" this morning. And just how could a 5'10" incredibly blonde, blue-eyed Anglo like me EVER be considered ethnic, I hear you asking. Well, I decided to wear an impulse buy from India that I got last Christmas (try not to sing the Wham! song, please). It's a beautiful blue shirt, cheap (it was India!), that's embroidered and has SPARKLES, commonly known as sequins, sewn in. I have to admit, I was almost intimidated by the sequins and nearly didn't buy it.

But now I LOVE them!!! I'm going to wear sequins every day!

Ok, maybe I won't. It takes a lot of energy....

Stupid space invaders

I hate people who take up too much space on the bus. The kind of man who spreads his legs wide - I know he doesn't really need to - so that he's taking up half my seat, too. Why do you sit on the inside seat, Mr. Huge Cajones, if you need more room? Dumbass.

Or the chick who's boyfriend is taking up so much room that she's, literally, taking up half my seat. And then proceeded to roll with every movement of the bus INTO me. On a "don't touch me" day. On a bus with no air conditioning.

Or then there's the aging, NOT cute guy that paid half price to stand on the bus because there were no more seats. He's the one that decided to stand next to the pre-pubescent, scantily-clad females about half-way back...the ones sitting in front of me. Mr. Old Man decided that he'd be best positioned if he was hovering over them - like they would really be interested - and leant on the back of their seats. Which meant his ass hovered in front of my face for nearly 20 minutes. And he stepped on my toes. Twice. Ass.

I'm not typically a bitter person. But, damn, does the bus make me irrationally angry at stupid, space-invading, don't realize they're "close talker"-type people. Grrr.

I knew I was never a bus person.

Yoga galore

Fabulous, fabulous evening. I really didn't want to go, but I'd already shelled out $20 for a yoga workshop. A sunset yoga class on a rooftop down in Greenwich Village - sounds dreamy, doesn't it? Of course. Just not on an 85-degree day with 10,000% humidity (ok, ok, that's an exaggeration, but it was *really* hot!). But I went...

And I'm sooooo thankful I did. It was phenomenal! The breeze, the cloudless evening sky, no traffic noise...being able to lie on my back and look up into the sky. I can't even remember the last time I did that.

Ok, so it was hot and I got sweaty. But I left with a superb sense of calm. Wanted to play on the jungle gym and pick out shapes in the clouds (if there'd been some); a complete retroversion to the kid in me.

Y'all should try it...

Boo hoo

My second roomie is gone. We've had such a fabulous time. Drinking too much, eating too much, catching up on all kinds of stories.

Sitting on the front stoop talking and reading the newspaper - in our jammies, no less. (Sorry Hudson Place!!)
Keeping my 'real' roommate up while we wined ourselves in the backyard with the dogs.
Flirting with the jitney dispatcher after too many martinis.
Brooklyn til the wee hours of the morning...and the Gate's bouncer's card.
IMing at work even though we're in the same cube.
Smoothies in the morning.
Monsters in the closet? Gotta shut the door.
Did Kali steal your watch again??? Damn doggie thieves.
Our 250% diplomatic, rational approach to choosing what - and how many! - movies to watch on a Saturday afternoon.
Keeping the wine merchant in business.
Drunk dialing. Cute boys in Oregon tonight? Or firemen?
NY office wins. Hands down.
I'm sure there's more that I'm missing....so I'll have to update sometime soon.

But we'll always have 'dance like no one's watching.'

Who said I'm not normal?

crawfordblong (5:01:01 PM): you
crawfordblong (5:01:02 PM): are not
crawfordblong (5:01:05 PM): even remotely
crawfordblong (5:01:06 PM): normal
crawfordblong (5:01:27 PM): except that you have breasts and consider yourself a hetero female

I love Crawford. He makes me giggle.

My feeling is hurt. ;-)