In which it is revealed that I don’t deserve a nice color.
I believe I mentioned I had my hair cut and colored in Denver, yes?
Well.
While I was getting my hair washed, the stylist talked me into getting my hair colored because it was so very straw-like and icky. She used something she called demi-permanent hair color, and explained it was a little like an old-school cellophane in that it would coat and seal my very fried hair (two box jobs, a highlight, and a lowlight in the past 9 months) and make it all shiny again.
Yay!
And it was. She was right. It was smooth and shiny and all one color!
At the Super 8 in Nebraska, Bread and I soaked in the spa and swam a few laps in the pool. Afterward, he took a shower but I didn’t. I just let my hair dry with all those chemicals in it, and I didn’t wash it until the next day.
It ate through my color, I think, because it’s lightened noticably every time I’ve washed it since then.
I’m an idiot.
In which I’m late for work. Again. But there’s a mix for you to download!
I neglected to change my PPC clock settings from ‘travel’ to ‘home.’ This means that when my alarm went off this morning, it wasn’t a quarter to eight. It was a quarter to nine, and I, as always, was late to work.
Oh, yeah, and it was below freezing outside. With snow flurries.
~+~+~
On our drive home last Sunday, I took control of the noise situation in the cab for awhile and played the following mix. Since we were tired, and it was grey and overcast and gloomy all day long, I made it a mellow mix. (Truck said, “If I was driving, I’d make you turn it off. But I’m not, and I dug it.”)
Behold, my Iowa 80 Rainex Mix, for your downloading pleasure:
- Let’s Stay Together ~ Al Green
- Lover I Don’t Have To Love ~ Bright Eyes
- Woman King ~ Iron and Wine
- The Way We Get By ~ Spoon
- Getting Closer ~ Hird
- Keep You Kimi ~ Hird
- Drawing Curtains ~ Buck 65
- Promise The Bite ~ matt pond PA
- Prototype ~ Andre 3000
- Feels Just Like It Should ~ Jamiroquai
- Lucky ~ Radiohead
- Aganjú ~ Bebel Gilberto
- Moving On ~ Hird
- Can’t Get The Stuff No More ~ Tampa Red
- I Want A Little In My Bowl ~ Nina Simone
- I’ve Been Thinking ~ Handsome Boy Modeling School
- Don’t You Worry ‘Bout A Thing ~ Stevie Wonder
- I’m Still In Love With You ~ Al Green
- Oh! Darling ~ Beatles
- Just The Two Of Us ~ Bill Withers
- Lover, You Should Have Come Over ~ Jeff Buckley
Special thanks for some of these tracks to Squirrelville and The Sean Show, both of whom have caused me to buy CDs because of MP3s I’d gotten from them. (Which is proof, to me, that filesharing makes money. So if you really dig any of these tracks, go buy the music. Or see a show. Or have sex with that geeky drummer who never gets any. You know, contribute.)
If you use iTunes, downloading the XML file should enable you to import the playlist easily.
Oh, to download all these tracks at once try the super trick downTHEMall plug-in for Firefox.
~+~+~
In other news, if you haven’t listened to this little slut of a track lately, you totally should because, holy shit, what killer production values!
Huh. I guess now I really do need a latest gen iPod so I can watch TiVo’d shows on it.
In which vacation, like all good things, comes to an end.
We left Laramie and went back to Boulder, taking I-25 this time since the highway we’d taken up was an eternally long strip mall. We went to BearMountain’s house to get Truck, but his luggage was all up at Ron’s. Mr B bitched and moaned about it, but drove back up so Truck could get his luggage.
We stayed in a Super 8 in Nebraska that night because by 8 pm Mr B had been driving for twelve hours and was fucking done with it. The motel allowed dogs in for $5 per night each – I simply adore hotels and motels that take dogs! Mr B and I enjoyed the spa and the pool briefly while Truck lounged in his room, then the three of us went across the street to a Mexican restaurant and sat in the entirely leather bar for dinner and drinks. (The table tops were leather, the chairs were leather. It was bizarre. It was Hannibal Lecter bizarre. It may have been the bizarrest thing I’ve ever seen. I’d have taken pictures but I didn’t have my camera and my phone was dead.) After our meal, we couldn’t resist the tavern just up the street with the martini glass-shaped sign so we waddled up there. The women’s restroom in that bar was the tidiest, nicest, neatest restroom I’ve ever seen in a bar: there were rugs on the floor, the walls were tiled, it was spotless, and on the back of the commode were three fresh rolls of paper and a container of antiseptic wipes. On the counter near the sink was a tray containing lotion, matches, and a can of hairspray. Trust me, it was strange.
The next morning we rolled out a smidge before noon.
We arrived home Sunday around six. The Amazon Blonde came out to collect Truck. I unpacked, made sandwiches, ate, and went to bed. I’d have gone immediately to sleep too, but Mr B nagged me until I ravished him. When he wanted to cuddle I snarled, “If you wake me up one more time, I will poison your meatloaf!” He chuckled and rolled away until only our feet were touching. “Will that do?” he asked. “Yes. Now stop twitching, for God’s sake, I startle awake every time you move,” I said, and was asleep within 45 seconds.
Truck was coming down with something on the drive home, and by Sunday had almost no voice. I spoke with him on the phone today, and he’s got pneumonia. No shit.
In other news, I went to Farmer’s Telephone today to pay my landline bill, and learned I can now actually get 256k line-sharing DSL at my house! For $30 per month. (And a $115 modem and a $60 setup fee.) Yes, that’s outrageously expensive. Yes, I’m totally thinking about it. I mean, 256k is 200k faster than the 56k dial-up I’m on now.
In other other news, on my vacation I bought the coolest sunglasses ever and a pair of new moccasins.
In which vacation ends. Sigh.
It’s Saturday, at a quarter to eight in the morning. We’re drinking coffee at the dining room table and hoping my mom will get up to see us off. We’re driving back to Ron’s to pick up Truck (since he decided not to stay in Colorado for a few weeks after all), then we’re driving back home today. Mr. B is thinking about only going half-way, and stopping at a motel tonight, which could be fun, but once he gets driving he’ll probably want to go the whole way.
Yesterday we slept in, got up, had breakfast, lounged around… and in the afternoon, Mr. B and Jay-rob and I went to see Walk The Line at the local theatre. The movie was pretty good; I thought Reese rocked in her role as June Carter. Afterward, we stopped at a bar for cocktails and food. I have half of a small wood-fired pizza in the fridge.
When we got back to my mom’s I decided to lie down for a bit… and didn’t get up until six this morning. Since we’re leaving today I wish I’d hung out with my family more instead of sleeping.
I probably won’t be back online ’til Tuesday when I’m back in the office.
In which we celebrate the holiday like typical Americans: by overeating, sleeping, and watching million-dollar movies on high-end entertainment equipment.
Jay-rob and Mr. B slept most of the day yesterday.
I sat around in my pajamas with my mom; she did embroidery, I knitted, we talked. I finished a skein of wool and was going to start another when I realized I’d brought the wrong color with me – I guess I won’t be finishing that particular knitted sheep this weekend.
Dinner was around four and we all over-ate. (This is the recipe we used for the turkey.) I didn’t eat any turkey, of course, but I had mashed potatoes (and I even ate gravy, because it was my mom’s gravy and one eats what one’s mother makes) and a massive salad… and most of the contents of the munchie trays – I could probably survive on olives and celery and radishes for days.
Mom declared she’d cooked and wasn’t setting foot back in the kitchen again, so Mr. B and Jay-rob and I got most of the dishes handled. And then the movie marathon began: Willie Wonka, War Of The Worlds, and Batman Begins. Mr. B and and three pillows and three dogs and I held the floor down throughout. We stopped every so often for drinks or snacks or smoke breaks. The TV here is pretty huge and the stereo system doesn’t suck. Is there anything more lazy and comfortable than your mom’s house?
Doug & Mom during the Turkey Day film festival
This morning I slept ’til half past ten, then Mr. B came and woke me up for the third goddamned time since the sun came up. I hate him. So I got up out of that nice heated waterbed, put on my slippers, and made a beeline for the coffee maker. (They don’t drink coffee here – it’s a tea drinking house – so we’re using this little dinky 4-cup Mr. Coffee coffee maker which basically makes 2 mugs at a time.) Then, miracles of miracles, Mr. B decided to cook breakfast for me. (An English muffin with veggie sausage, scrambled eggs, jack cheese and a slice of tomato, and a side of hash browns. Fuckin’ A, can I get a hell yeah?)
I’m almost out of vodka, might actually have to leave the house today.
(Sin: Eragon was okay – I liked it. Eldest is pretty good, maybe a little better than the first book. I doubt it’d make your Top 100 Books of the Year list or anything, but it’s worth the time to read it.)
In which I continue to drink. Like. A. Fish.
So far I’ve done nothing but overeat and drink like a fish. I think I’ve gained ten pounds and I haven’t even been presented with Thanksgiving dinner yet.
Yesterday I did nothing but sleep. Well, except for the twenty minutes I spent making eggs and potatoes, and the hour I spent in the spa reading Eldest, that is.
Last night we celebrated Ron’s birthday (which is on Friday) by going out for sushi. We sat in the tea room. There were eight in our party (Ron, Truck, Brett & I, Marc, Ivi and Ryan, and Josha) and we paid a $450 check. It was awesome. I ate so much sushi! It was so good! (Brett even ordered a roll called – wait for it – Smokey and The Bandit. It was delicious; smoked salmon or something.) There was a rather large Fairfield congingent in the restaurant; Truck said it was surreal but I find they’re (we’re) everywhere.
Truck and Mr. B at the sushi restaurant in Boulder, CO
After sushi, we went bar hopping: Ron, Brett, Joe, Josha, and Marc and I. They all drank cocktails with Red Bull in them and were wired. I spent a nice stretch of time doing the Where Are They Now roll call with Ivi; she seems to think that Slick is still in Cali and is married! We stayed out ’till last call. I count myself lucky that I didn’t actually have to accompany them to a titty bar. We drove back up the mountain and passed out.
Today we back to Sundance for brunch and had two rounds of their delicious Bloody Marys with our food before going up to Josha’s in Ned. The guys hung out, and my full belly and I held one of the couches down.
After visiting with Josha, we went back to Ron’s and packed and split for Laramie. We looked at the map and thought 287 looked like a real highway… it turned out to be 45 MPH through strip mall-land for nearly two hours, but eventually we made it to my mom’s house.
We got a $75 speeding ticket for going 40 in a 30 within moments of entering Laramie.
She bought vodka and cranberry juice. DOES MY MOM ROCK OR WHAT?!? So I’m drinking a cocktail and blogging and it’s so fun to be holidaying in my mom’s house for the first time in years and years and years. (She’s hugged me about nine times. Ah, mom love – so neato! AND SHE BOUGHT ME VODKA AND CRANBERRY JUICE!) I showed her my knitting; she showed me her quilting room and half a dozen quilts she’s made. She also gave Mr. B and I our wedding quilt (we’ve been married four years, mind you) and it’s gorgeous. She’d also made a quilt for our niece Parker, which I look forward to giving to Kris when we get home. And Jay-rob is here! HOW COOL IS THAT??!?!?
The back yard here is fenced for the dogs and sports yet another spa – I’ll be spending some quality time soaking my ass in that puppy tomorrow, you betcha. How cool is a two-spa vacation, I ask you?
The only thing that could possibly make this trip better would be GETTING TATTOOS.
In which I blog from someone else’s computer. IN DENVER, CO.
I’m in Denver with Mr. B. and Truck. It’s Monday evening, I’ve just had three cocktails at a biker bar called BoBo’s (where Truck almost overheard a drug deal in the men’s room and had The Fear).
Truck, Jeffro, Mr. B – Bobo’s – Denver CO
My hair looks fantastic (I got it cut and colored some random place at the 16th Street ped mall –
16th Street Mall in Denver, CO
– where Mr. B and Truck also got their hair cut), and I really have to say that alcohol and altitude make me feel way drunk. We’re at Jeffro’s house, listening to blues and hanging out drinking water.
We drove out here Saturday, and have been enjoying Ron’s hospitality to the utmost. Last night we had killer pasta at Pasta Jay’s and I ate way too much – and the food I’d eaten expanded in my gut when we drove back up the hill to Ron’s house. Oh my God, food coma from HELL.
All in all, vacation so far has been about great food and alcohol. And it’s been good. I love vacation!
I’m so excited to see my mom and brother on Wednesday. Whee!
Haven’t been in Ron’s hot tub yet, though, due to drinking too much. Hah. I love vacation!
I got India Cafe take-out for lunch today: dhal makhani, saag paneer, rice, kabli chana, naan, curried cabbage and peas, some potato salad thing, pakora. Yum. (And the boy that works the register? Still cute. Love those long-lashed big brown eyes.)
I spent some quality time playing with iTunes this morning, particularly the new Just For You section (which offers recommendations based on purchases, like Amazon.com) and their super amusing Celebrity Playlists.
Can I just say that Bill Maher is gay? I love him no matter who he sleeps with, but if he’s trying to out himself by putting the Bee Gee’s How Deep Is Your Love and Divinyls’ I Touch Myself on his playlist… well, that’s certainly one way to do it. Chick Corea’s first selection was a Bela Bartok concerto, which is so wonderfully dork I can barely stand it. My favorite celeb list, oddly enough, was David Duchovny’s, because I own or want or at least enjoy every track on the whole damn thing. I almost couldn’t relate to Ben Folds’ playlist at all, which made me feel like a dork, except for his brilliant inclusion of both Harry Nilsson and ELO.
The Just For You section recommended to me a whole lotta of stuff I adore but no longer own, and considering that yesterday was payday I almost went nuts and bought it all (can I point out that when you have a BIG FAT CONNECTION AT WORK BECAUSE YOU WORK AT THE INTERNET, you can download entire albums in MOMENTS?!?!) but I didn’t. Not yet, anyway. If I had any sense I’d boycot the Apple music store altogether. (Except all you have to do to break the DRM is burn the tracks to CD and then re-rip them, it’s not any more labor intensive than driving one’s ass to the music store and back.) But when you want a song and you’re me and you’re at work, damn but it’s easy to iTunes that fucker right into your iPod before you even notice you’ve done it. I did it yesterday, and it was so easy I almost neglected to put the debit into my checkbook register.
And at least when using iTunes one doesn’t have to fear Sony’s evil rootkit… yet.
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4 random books from my Library!
