Hey Eliza, I heard you needed a distraction

Too bad you're not here or you could spend some time with this nice guy.  

I actually tried to take a video of his antics today but it was too sad to just stand there filming him when he so desperately needed nice pets followed immediately by a treat.  

In some ways I feel like the action shots give you a pretty good idea of what the routine consists of:

It's all in the head.  The feet remain firmly planted while he just throws his whole head in to each bark.  And then he give you that look like, "treats now?"

He's such a nice guy, I really hope he gets to meet the detective someday. 

I want this as my ringtone

Thank you Jonathan for sending this to me.

I picture him listening to this and his head exploding at the end haha.

Now all I want to do is listen to every one of those songs.

Gina's got some balls on her

I just feel like if I drove a car that had my name on phone number on it I would be hesitant to act like a crazy asshole while out and about.  It never ceases to amaze me though.

I had a guy one time who was driving insanely through this residential area near my dad's.  At some point, after he flicked me off among other things, I got behind him and noticed that he has a company logo on the back of his truck.  I called the number and, it being the weekend, I got an answering machine.  I left a message just saying something to the effect of, "hey I was just in traffic with one of your vehicles and the driver flipped me the bird, besides his general aggressive driving".  She ended up calling me back on Monday and gave me a lot of attitude.  I don't even know why she bothered calling me back, I don't recall her apologizing on behalf of the driver or the company.

I assume a similar scenario would go down if I called Gina to ask why she felt her groceries were more important than the four other people who could have parked in the spots she was blocking with her obnoxious work vehicle.  I mean, it's one thing to be so completely self absorbed that you think this kind of behavior is ok, but why would you do it with a vehicle that advertises your business?  Why would I ever want to work with somebody so oblivious and self important?

It's not like this was out of the way and she was doing the best she could with a cumbersome vehicle.  She was parked in the very center aisle closest to the doors, and as you can see only a few spots away from the grocery store.

Maybe we should all call Gina and just ask her, "Hey Gigi, what up with your nutty parking?  You think you're better than everybody else?"

Please please call her and ask her that.

(941)  922-2066
Gina Richardson's
Pool Management & Bad Parking

why?!

I took my grandfather to get an MRI yesterday and this was hanging in a random display case of things about the hospital.

I don't get it, like you would come to the hospital to have surgery just for fun?  Or like you've got a couple hours to kill before the movies so why not get a colonoscopy?  You can never be too safe!

Looking at it now it occurs to me that maybe they are talking about volunteering but I think that could have been a little more clear up front.

Anyways, my grandfather is doing ok, it's been a turbulent past few days but things seem to be falling in to more of a routine now.  It makes me feel better about what the future will be like.

I'm starting to go a little stir crazy being back in Sarasota.  I wish I could go somewhere for a couple days but I don't feel comfortable with that yet.

But you're welcome to come visit me!  That rude cat needs somebody to hang out with him during the day when I'm out.  The other day I picked him up and he put his paws on either side of my neck, looked me in the face and just yelled really loud.  Doesn't that sound nice?

Call me and we'll arrange your travels.

still handsome

The other day I wanted to give him some kisses on his cheeks so I looked all over the house in the places I'm used to finding him but to no avail.  I finally gave up and decided to make myself popcorn.

As soon as the microwave started he appeared from his napping place...behind the microwave.

He has an entire house full of places to sleep and that's where he chooses?  WHY?

a great dream

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Last night I dreamt that I was hanging out with Kim Cattrall and some other people when we decided to do karaoke.  I asked Kim if she would do Mariah for me and she did.  I SADLY awoke from my dream just as she was finishing her stirring rendition of "My All".

As Jon always says, "under a waterfall, dreams do come true", so I am going to begin my quest for a dream granting waterfall that will help me turn this scenario in to a reality.

In the meantime I can still hear her voice faintly in my head, and it's a wonderful gift on this rainy monday morning.

corgis playing tetherball!!

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You should definitely go to Mikey's blog and look at the other gifs of these nice guys.

Also check out Mikey.  I like him.  I like that he is hardcore and likes hardcore things and then has a page on his blog dedicated to corgis playing tetherball.

I think Mikey and I could be good friends.

Thank you Jonathan for sending this to me.

I'd like to see this go to #1

Thank you Jonathan for sending this to me.

It's the perfect jam to listen to while I'm hanging out on the lanai.

How could I have forgotten about this?

Having my entire itunes library on shuffle is fun sometimes because I'm reminded of songs like this.

I think my having this cd is a result of my freshman year R.A., but I still have to take responsibility for keeping it in my itunes this whole time.

"some kid spilled juice on my mom's new cushions!"

I guess my ducks are in a row

I find it extra delightful that they are all adults.  I didn't realize ducks continued to walk single file even after they'd grown up.  How do they choose who the leader is?

It's too bad my phone auto focused on the rain drops on the windshield instead of on the ducks.  It's times like this that I think I should just invest in a real camera.  So often there are pictures that go untaken because I either can't get my phone ready in time or I know it won't be able to capture the image anyways.  Maybe I am ready to kick it up a notch and become that guy who walks around with a camera all the time.

I don't think I'm ready for that yet.  You are going to just have to keep suffering with blurry pictures of ducks.

his beauty amazes even him

Right after I took this pic he went in to this:




No joke.

raining sunshine

I've decided that dusk is the best time to drive from Ft. Lauderdale to Sarasota because you get to watch the sunset for most of the drive.

The only downside was that it was night by the time I got to Sarasota and I guess the darkness in tandem with me being distracted on the phone meant that I missed my exit and went one town to far north.

But otherwise it was a most pleasant drive.  Now I have all the things I could possibly want or need from my place down there so I can camp out up here until things are back to normal with my grandfather.

The good news is that he has been busy busy with rehab for the past few days.  I've actually gone to visit him and not even seen him as he's been so focused on his studies.  Well I saw him but he didn't see me, but it's fine anyways.  I have had more free time during the day to get some things done for myself and for his home.

It's kind of fun living in suburbia.  I felt very 'desperate housewives' when I was mowing the lawn shirtless, to the apparent approval of the older ladies that drove by and stared me down.  I would be surprised if there was anybody under the age of 50 that lives in my grandfathers neighborhood so I get looks no matter what I'm doing.

Today's agenda includes washing the cars, I'm sure it will turn in to a spectacle.  Maybe I'll make some friends...

 

Brilliant

Ignore the ghostly image in blue, it was a drawing from the other side that leaked through.  That was Nathanael's drawing of our teacher for the latin american history class.

But I want to talk about the pencil drawing.  I had completely forgotten about all of this and I seriously cannot stop laughing as I look at these comics.

At this point in college Nathanael and I were both going to Boston fairly frequently and would often coordinate our travels together.  If any of you have ever taken the Fung Wah you know that it is notably better with a travelling companion.  If for no other reason than because the seating is done in pairs so a partner guarantees you won't have to spend the 4+ hour trip sitting next to some undesirable.

I guess the halfway point between New York and Boston was a Roy Rogers restaurant somewhere in the middle of nowhere so that's where the Fung Wah stops once every trip.  Nathanael and I decided that Roy and Fung must have been in cahoots which developed in to a whole storyline about the two of them.

I think that is Fung Wah on the right and then his brother Chung Wah on the left.  Chung is clearly the one responsible for turning their ragtag bus operation in to the booming enterprise it has become, but always under the watchful eye of his big brother Fung.

Add Roy Rogers to the mix (with his glass of liquid gold) and you've got yourself the makings of an unbeatable business.  And it's true too, what's the first name you think of when planning a trip to Boston?

Fung Wah.

Happy Birthday Meghan and Ariel

Dear Meghan and Ariel,

Happy Birthday.

I am watching...waiting...plotting...

yours truly,
the detective

some stuff I found in the junk drawer

"Releeeeeaaaaasssseeeee meeeeeeeeeeeee, releeeeeeaaaaaaasseeee my body"

I will never be able to get away from this song.  In case you don't remember, here is a post explaining the significance of this song.  I had no idea that I kept the actual cd, and I don't know why, but there it was in the miscellaneous junk drawer.

I'm so glad that I decided to go through this drawer that time forgot at my Dad's place, I found so many amazing things.  Many of you have already received personal messages regarding certain things but I decided to put my favorite items up here for all to enjoy.

And oh Agnes was only the beginning, truly, it was the most recent item in the drawer.  A lot of it was paperwork that was important at one point in my life but is no longer relevant, like documents regarding when my license was suspended.  Seeing all that stuff made me instinctively want to just throw away all of the contents of the drawer and be done with it.  As I picked up the first stack of papers I noticed a thick cardboard envelope with my name on it.  I decided to see what was inside, which began my journey down memory lane.

It was my college degree which, up until yesterday, I had no idea if I actually had or not.  I mean, sure, they called my name at graduation but at my college that didn't necessarily mean much.  One semester I had my class schedule picked out and submitted on the first day available and was given my schedule shortly after.  You can imagine my surprise on the first day of classes when none of my teachers had me on their roster for their class.  I went to some admin office and asked why and they said that even though I had a printed out schedule from them, I wasn't actually registered for any classes.

That was a pretty terrible semester.  I got a few of the classes that I had wanted but most had filled up weeks prior and I got left with the bottom of the barrel classes.  I will never forget walking in to the history of revolutionary Latin American literature on the first day and seeing nathanael sitting front and center of the class.  He might as well have had a bright red shiny apple on his desk for how enthusiastic he looked.  Apparently my bottom of the barrel class was one of Nathanael's first choices because he thought it sounded interesting.

Well imagine my delight when I found, in the junk drawer, my binder from that class.  This was tucked in to the clear plastic cover:

The class actually could have been interesting (especially if it was taught by that guy) but the teacher was really...special.  It's hard to describe in words, you kind of have to see our impression of her.

I actually found tons of notes from college which raises the question of what is wrong with me that I can't sit in class and learn, I have to be 15 years old and pass notes all day long?  Each note I found was amazing though and I'd so much rather have them than notes about a dumb lecture.

I guess that's why many people (ariel) find it so delightful that I could have had my degree in a junk drawer for the past 4 years and not even know.  Or that I won the most prestigious award you could win and I wasn't even at graduation to accept it.  But look I found it in the junk drawer!

Doesn't it just look like the kind of presentation you'd expect from the most prestigious award the school can give?

"Ooooh that must be heavy!" you're surely thinking.  No worries, it's just plastic.

In fact, as delighted as I was to find the golden key, I was no where near as happy as when I found this award:

Eliza and I both remember these being from a party at her house but we can't remember who it was for. I remember we put together prize packs, and that Andrew got the "clean teeth" award.  I feel like I picked out the awards with Jojo and that we both saw this one at the same time and knew it could only be the perfect award for me.  I'm glad that I stowed it in what I now realize wasn't so much a "junk drawer" as a "treasured keepsakes" drawer.

And when I say treasured keepsakes I mean exactly that.  I found my sisters tape collection:

What more could you really ask for in a tape collection?  My grandfathers car actually has a tape deck and I want to try them out but I'm scared I might ruin them.  I guess it's not like they are really collectors items or anything but I just think it's too good to mess up.

There were a few other things in the junk drawer of note that I have not yet decided what to do with.  I found a video I did in college for a project that I really want to get on the computer but that's going to be a separate project.  I also found the script I wrote for an episode of the Simpsons for a writing class in college.  It's ok, I haven't decided if I want to post it or maybe just excerpts or something.  I also found the play I wrote junior year (shudder) as well as the play I never finished from senior year.

So I'm glad I didn't just toss the junk drawer.  I didn't realize it contained some of my favorite things.  A lot of it was stuff I knew I had somewhere but had forgotten where I put it while other things completely surprised me and brought back a ton of memories.

For example, my freshman year i.d.:

I remember that I was angry but I don't remember why.  I know they didn't tell me they were taking my picture so I was just sitting there glaring straight ahead of me wondering why I was called down to this weird office.  Subsequently this picture became the stuff of legends because of the mysterious woman's face coming out of my left boob.  It was just the folds in my shirt but somehow it made this really distinct face that creeped everyone out.

Now that i've catalogued the items in the junk drawer I need to figure out what I want to do with them. I guess it's time to start a new junk container.  The junk closet perhaps?  I'm going to go scope out locations.

19 days late

I figured it would take longer than this to get it so I'm actually proud of myself.

I feel like this is Elizabeth Taylor going to Michael Jackson's Gone With the Wind themed birthday party.

And once again I feel like the artist has some body proportion issues.  How could her foot possibly be there unless she has the longest legs ever?

Or maybe it's Michael's foot and her bewildered expression is a result of a riotous game of hide and go seek.  That dress is certainly large enough to hide Michael, Macaulay, and Bubbles.

when God closes a door...

I thought I could make it out to the beach to see the sunset and I did kind of but didn't make it close enough to get a good picture before the sun passed below the horizon.  I was disappointed but enjoyed the evening walk that took me in to night.

Little did I know that my ill-timed sunset walk would cause me to be in traffic on my drive home with one of my favorite Disney villains of all time:

I can only imagine it was Glenn Close

tyler

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The resemblance is uncanny!

In case you missed the saga of Tyler you can read it in this post but basically he is apparently wanted by the police and they are uncertain of exactly what he looks like.

I mean, we are both white, we both have two eyes, two ears, a mouth, and a nose, but I feel like that's pretty much where the similarities end.

After reading his stats (here) I feel like I could never be as cool as Tyler.  The cops should have realized that right off the bat.  I bet Tyler wouldn't have handed over his i.d. so willingly, he would have shanked them, shanked them good!

When I told Dan that Ariel and Kim had found Tyler the first thing he asked was, "on facebook?".  It hadn't even occurred to me to facebook him but that is my next order of business.

If nothing else I feel like I should warn him that the police are hot on his heels.  And by hot on his heels I mean they were driving around one neighborhood for an entire afternoon stopping people who look nothing like him.

everything exists for him

It's not a sink, it's a drinking fountain.  You are foolish if you thought otherwise.

At least he is drinking water here, as opposed to Ft. Lauderdale where he just sits in the gigantic sink and stares at himself in the mirror all day.

He's always been finicky about his drinking water so I'm relieved to see that he likes the super exclusive water at my grandfathers.  The neighborhood he lives in has their own water treatment plant, and anybody who has tried the water here agrees that it tastes really good.  Including kitty.

I just wish I didn't have to stand and watch him drink.  He likes to lock eyes with me and not stop staring until he has had his fill of water.

He's so weird.

Here are some more pictures of him looking disgruntled:

he's like, "oh, no thank you"

"please stop looking at me"

I cried like 8 times over this

Thank you Ariel for sending this to me.

If I were her I would have been a little more excited about meeting Howie Mandel, but I guess I can excuse her for being overwhelmed with the whole scenario.

I wonder what they would have done if she had said no.  Or if she had gotten upset about the girl in the beginning and stormed out.  I guess they just wouldn't have aired it, but I wonder if they have footage of other less fortunate couples that were to be flash mobbed.

I guess they probably try to make sure ahead of time to avoid any awkward scenarios.  Kind of like how I made sure that Meghan would say yes to Sam back in June.  That's right Meghan, you just thought it was another brunch on St. Marks but I was actually doing some investigating while you ate your salad.

I just wish I had known about this show, I would have suggested it to Sam.

yesterday

It was the 14th anniversary of her releasing this album.  You can read the article here.

I wish I had been in to Mariah back then so I could say that I remember this album coming out and being in love with it but sadly I was late to the Mariah train.  I knew of her but The Emancipation of Mimi was the first album of hers that I ever bought.

I can never decide if I like the original of this song or the remix better.  They are both just so good.  Not to mention Babydoll, or the Beautiful Ones.  The whole album is amazing really, I'm glad Jon shared that article with me this morning as it caused me to listen to it all day.

all caught up

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I missed the actual event but I have surpassed my self required 365 posts for the year, which is a relief since my posting has been so spotty the past week.  I could just stop posting for the rest of the year and be ok...with myself anyways.  But I know you all would miss me.

yeah...

Anyways, my grandfather had his first day of therapy today and it went really well.  The best part is that he is being worked hard so now he is as exhausted as the rest of us are.  It makes us not feel as bad if we are leaving him sleeping so we can go home and sleep.  The weekend will also be nice as I won't have to worry about making any phone calls during my time when I'm not with him.  I can hopefully tend to some of my chores around here like mowing the lawn and whatnot.

I will also hopefully be able to focus on writing something here that is not quite so all over the place.  In the meantime enjoy the image I found when searching for "all caught up".

at least he gets plenty of visitors

I can't believe the last real post I did was just about the accident, it seems like so long ago now.  So much has happened.

As of this afternoon my grandfather was transferred to a rehab center where he will spend the next few days getting back on his feet and ready to be sent home.  All things considered he is healing and recuperating very well.

I took that picture this morning while we were waiting for the transportation from the hospital to the rehab facility.  The woman asked at the door if he wanted a visit from a service animal and my grandfather (not hearing her) assumed she was there to take him to rehab so he motioned for her to come in.  My brother and I could both tell that he had no idea what was coming and the woman didn't know what was going on so she just did her normal routine with him.  All of a sudden she lifts that handsome guy up and puts him down next to my grandfather, much to his surprise (and delight, as you can see).

But really, who wouldn't feel better after a visit from that guy.  He looks just like the dog from the dog food!!

So anyways, my grandfather continues to do well and in the meantime my brother and sister and I have been splitting up the paperwork.  And there has been a lot of it.  Those of you who have talked to me on the phone know what I'm referring to.  It continues.

At least I am feeling better now that I went down to Ft. Lauderdale to get my stuff:

He was SO upset when I put him back in the car in Ft. Lauderdale.  I mean, he was upset that I had left him for two and a half days to begin with and then when he saw me packing up more of my stuff he was thoroughly pissed off.  You can imagine the production when I grabbed him and put him in my grandfathers car.  He howled until at least alligator alley.

You can imagine my surprise when we got here and he immediately took to my grandfathers house like he'd lived here his entire life.  Every single new place I've ever taken him to the first thing he did was hide behind the toilet for 12-24 hours, but not here.  He just stomped around from room to room for a while before flopping down.

He really likes the lanai (as do I, it makes me feel like Blanche Devereux), I think because there are a lot of textures for him to lay on.  You know how he loves to lay on the least comfortable looking thing possible:

And you can tell that he is fascinated by what goes on beyond the screen.  In all the times he was outside at Scott's he never ever cared about birds or bugs or squirrels or anything, but watching him here reminded me that he used to stare at the pigeons outside my window in nyc too.  Apparently he is only interested in birds when he knows there is no threat of him having to actually hunt them and most likely fail to catch them.

But boy is he interested.  I think that corner is his favorite spot on the lanai.  It reminds me of a shark cage or something, like he is immersed in nature but not really.

Besides being glad he is here with me because I don't have to worry about him starving to death I am really glad he is here with me for company.  Especially because I am staying at my grandparents house all by myself.  It's really surreal.  I can think of only one other time in my life that I have been in this house completely alone and it was earlier this year when I came to get something while my grandfather was out for the afternoon.  I have certainly never spent this much time here alone and it is freaking me out.

While having kitty is nice it's also one of those mindfucks where I look at him and think, 'when you walked in to my store on the lower east side if somebody had told me I would have you at my grandfathers house with me I would have told them they were nuts.'

Oh man, I just thought of a really good quote from the book I'm reading that I wanted to add but I left it in Ft. Lauderdale.  Curses, just know, it was good and totally fit in here really well.

Anyways, I'm typing this to you now from the table on the lanai.  I'm sitting in my grandmother's seat.  It feels comfortable but not quite right.  Kind of like when I go in to the garage and instead of seeing this i see this:

My car certainly fits better there than the van did but its just not quite right.

Thankfully I have been incredibly busy all day and then so exhausted at night that I just fall right asleep.  Otherwise I think I would be getting wrapped up in the existential.  Better to just focus on each day and the things we can do to help him get better.

I've been telling him that you guys have been wishing him a speedy recovery and he appreciates it very much.  And I appreciate your texts and calls too.  <3

clarification

I didn't realize that you couldn't read what it says on this car.  On the top it says, "Hawk Hill Psychic" and on the bottom it says, "Good Girl".  The picture is of a small girl in a snowy field beckoning to a wayward horse.

Does it make more sense now?

Mayhem and madness still abounds.  It's 1:30pm and I finally have time to take a shower so that is what I am going to do.  Will hopefully be able to update more tonight now that i've figured out how to hook up to the wireless here.

Thanks for all the messages <3

update

You know when you get to that point where each new thing that's piled on top of you really doesn't even seem like a big deal because you've become numb to reality.  That's where I am right now.

Just thinking back on the past few days I can't believe all of the craziness that has happened.

The biggest event (and main reason for my absence from posting) is that my grandfather was hit by a car on saturday afternoon.  You can read the newspaper article about it here if you're interested.  The good news is that he is doing better and better each time we go to check on him, although he is still in the I.C.U.  If it were up to him he'd be back on his bike riding around town, thankfully the nurses recognize that he is a 90+ year old who got hit by a car and are making him rest and taking good care of him.  Of course as his condition stabilizes it means that our attention has to turn from him to all of the terrible details that you have to deal with during times like this.  I don't even want to get in to that all now, just know, terrible.

So I drove up on Sunday morning, which is when I saw this:

What does it mean?!  I don't understand.  I would appreciate somebody (ryan) researching this and getting back to me, thanks.

Besides being in and out of the hospital, Sunday finished without too much further drama.  I spent the night with my sister which was like a super fun slumber party.  Especially because I got to sleep with this handsome (and fragrant) guy:

He pretty much just decided that he would be spending the night with me and then plopped himself down right in the middle of the bed where he remained for the rest of the night.  It was very nice and made me feel better since I guiltily left kitty in Ft. Lauderdale with several giant bowls of food and water but no company.

Which is why I had decided that I'd try to stay until my grandfather got transferred out of the I.C.U. and in to a regular room, which they said would happen at some point on monday.  Little did I know what adventures waited for me on Monday!

We visited our grandfather in the morning and then my sister had some work to do so I headed over to my dad's to collect some things I had left there.  I was walking from his place to the garbage area when I heard a car coming up behind me.  I didn't think anything of it until I noticed that it slowed down considerably as it got close to me.  This being Florida I assumed it was some old person that got nervous around pedestrians so I was surprised (and grossed out) when I looked and saw that it was two rather portly gentlemen in a grey sedan who were both staring at me.  As soon as I saw them they slowed down even more and I gave them a grossed out look and continued walking.  They kept creepin' alongside me so I turned to give them a dirty look again which is when they stopped and the driver opened his door and said, "Tyler!".

I said, "nope" and continued to walk away when he told me to hold on and I could hear him coming up on me.  I turned around again and he was flashing his badge and saying that he was the sheriff.  He asked me if I had any idea on me so I gave him my drivers license.  As he scrutinized it the other guy, who had gotten out as well, asked me how it was going.  Oh you know, fine, just in town visiting my grandfather in the hospital and now i'm getting harassed by the police, how are you guys?

But before I could say anything the original officer asked me if I had another form of i.d. that corroborated I wasn't the much ballyhoo'd Tyler.  As I handed him my credit card I asked them what was going on.  He glanced at it and then said, "We are looking for somebody who looks like you, I guess you're not him, have a good day" and then they got back in the car and proceeded to drive around my dad's neighborhood for I don't know how long.

SO WEIRD!!

I felt like I was being stopped by the gestapo to show my papers.  I am slightly curious about this Tyler character and what he did.

'Wow' I thought, 'what other craziness is going to happen to me?'

The answer, this:

After leaving my father's I was tooting down the road when I heard a funny noise.  Thinking it was a weird part of the song I was listening to I kept driving.  About a block later I noticed I didn't have any power steering, followed by realizing that like every single emergency light was on.  Huzzah!

Apparently one of my belts broke, and when it broke it whipped around the engine like willow smith and broke several other things.

For the second time in as many months I had to watch my car get loaded on a wrecker and towed away:

It looks so sad and small.

CRAZINESS!!!

My sister picked me up from the garage and we went to visit with my grandfather for the afternoon.  I told him about my car and he very generously offered to let me use his car since he's not using it anyways.

So last I drove my grandfather's oldsmobile intrigue down to Ft. Lauderdale to check on this precious angel (seen here in simpler times):

He barely ate any food or drank any water, but definitely seemed like he was glad that I was home.  I don't know what's going on with him, and now I need to figure out if I'm bringing him back with me or leaving him here again.  This is why I need friends in Ft. Lauderdale.  Well that and friends are nice in general.

Driving around in my grandfathers car I realized that I've gone from this:

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to this:

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and I'm ok with it.  I mean, it does speak to MI6 having a little more style than the F.B.I. but Mulder and Scully don't need to impress anybody, they have each other... and the aliens.

And there you have it, (most) of the crazy things that have happened to me in the past few days.  Those of you with a way to contact me directly feel free to, I don't know that I'll be able to talk but texts are nice.  Otherwise you'll have to wait until I get another chance to update.  For now I've got to shower and run errands here before heading back up to Sarasota.

And remember to watch for cyclists!

I'm comin' to ya lize!

The street I live on dead ends at the Intra Coastal, as seen here.  The very same Intra Coastal that we swam in here when I was in Charleston last summer for Sara's wedding.

So whenever I want to go to the beach, or go to a1a for a run, I have to cross the intra coastal, and every time I look down it and think, 'what if I just got in a boat, I'd get there eventually'.  I mean, it couldn't be that hard, just stay in the middle of the channel, never stray, until I see the friendly shores of the lowcountry, and (I assume) Eliza on the dock, margarita in one hand, dog tranquilizers in the other.

What's even more bizarre than the idea that I could boat up to Charleston is how I went for a drive the other day and before I realized it I was about to head in to Key Largo.  I didn't go because I wanted to save the occasion, but knowing how close it is is so tempting.  I really REALLY want to drive down to key west but I want to do it with a friend in my passenger seat.

So, who wants to come and visit me?  It's only going to get more and more beautiful in the coming months...

haha you're so RUDE

Thank you for sending this to me Jonathan.

It makes me excited for halloween!

It also reminds me of when Jonathan and I went through the haunted house at madame tussauds in Las Vegas.  Thankfully we didn't have to go through alone, actually I had a fabulous woman clinging to my back and screaming the entire time.  I wish we could have taken a picture with her but instead it was just Jon and me:

The guy counted down from 3 and said to make a "scared" face.  I was convinced that he was going to do something to scare us so I was bracing for that and not thinking about anything else.  Apparently Jon got caught up in my panic as well.  The end result is that we both look way more scared than the situation really called for.  I mean the guy was standing exactly like that for his entire countdown from 3.

Our picture is so good and seeing the video on Ellen it makes me wish we had a video of us too.  Maybe we'll have to go back and take one...

talk about a hood ornament

I almost didn't notice him at first, he had his galaxy black camouflage working pretty well.

I like having a car friend but it makes me wonder what ever happened to my house gecko.  I saw him that one other time but that's it.  I thought maybe he'd turn up as I was clearing everything out but I guess he was in hiding.

Unless he hitched a ride with me and I've just yet to find him in my new place.  I hope that's the case.

In the meantime at least I have outdoor friends to keep me company.