from my father

Or Robda, or Boughta!

I will say that as much as I've grown to love my name there will always be a part of me that wishes my initials were BEN.

missed one

When I left for work this morning I had the sneaking suspicion that I was one love song short.  I was right!

So this is love song #9, which I know from my dad playing it in the car when I was a kid.

veterans day

My tells a handfull of stories about his time in Vietnam, one of my favorites is about how he would play Aretha Franklin's record for the guys in his unit.  I think about this whenever I hear her voice.

Thank you to my father, my grandfather, and my grandmother for their service.  And to everyone else who has fought for our country.

I completely understand

In the long list of reasons why today SUCKED BALLS was included the fact that my battery on my phone was not cooperating with me.  I could tell it was up to no good right away, I had it plugged in all night and didn't unplug it until right before I left the house, but it had already lost a sliver of charge by the time I reached my first destination.  I didn't use my phone at all today, only to check the time, but still I lost it by the beginning of my break.  So besides the other terrible things that happened, I didn't even have my phone to distract me and lift my spirits.

My intention, per my facebook status, was to go to sleep as soon as I got home and forget this terrible day ever happened.  But I decided I should do laundry so I could wear clean clothes to work.  I think remembering dumping iced coffee all over myself this morning was what made me feel a load of laundry was in order.

Anyways, the point that has to do with Elvis is, I'm glad I ended up having to do my laundry because instead of going to sleep I decided to check the internets and have a cup of tea (hot toddy) while I wait. Had I not I wouldn't have seen this email from Kim:

So every time I listen to Elvis now I have to listen to Mariah Carey right after. Because she beat him.

And had I not read that email I would have never watched that clip of Elvis performing Teddy Bear, which will always be my favorite Elvis song after Blue Christmas.  Teddy Bear makes me think of my father taking me to school in the 2nd grade.  As I've probably mentioned before there are only a few cds I remember my father playing in the car.  Elvis, the soundtrack to Pretty Woman, and Whitney Houston's I'm Your Baby Tonight album.  I think that pretty clearly explains my musical tastes.

I had never watched that clip of him singing it before though.  He was pretty fantastic.  Oh and Kim, the two girls in the audience clapping with each other are obviously you and Ariel.

And I get your point, I feel compelled to watch Mariah too.  It's just so interesting to compare the two and the things about each that made them each so unique and incredible.




The best part is that listening to these songs and watching these videos has completely made me forget what a terrible day I had.  And isn't that what you think they both would want to hear?

from my father

My dad sent me this in an email and said, "I thought the part in her interview where she talks about being invited to the White House was amazing".


For those of you who haven't had the pleasure of meeting my father I hope this sheds a little light on him, and consequently fills in a piece of the puzzle that is me.

he found me

As you may recall I had a gecko friend living with me at my dad's.  You can refresh your memory here.

Last night Heather spotted this guy hanging out on the ceiling in between our front doors.  I am going to believe that it's the same one and it just took him all this time to creep his way down to Ft. Lauderdale.

I'm glad he did!  I hope he will come and live inside with me.  Summer is fast approaching and I would prefer to not be overrun with sugar ants.

I know I can count on little salvador.

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!

haven't heard from this precious angel in a while

I barely even see him anymore, this was a rare moment.  I have been using the closet in my dad's guest room as a personal junk storage area for the past several years, so recently it's started resembling a hoarders home.  Of course this is the only place kitty wants to spend time.  The problem is that it's so overflowing with junk that by the time I realize he's gone in there I can't really do anything besides listen to him stumble and crash around.  He's really the least graceful cat I have ever encountered.

If he's not in the closet his other favorite place is underneath the dining room table.  Basically anywhere but with me, so I was shocked when he spent some time with me the other day.  Of course this picture was but a moment in time in between aggressive biting and kicking, so I guess he's still the same little guy deep down inside.

And in that I can find comfort, when nothing else seems to make sense, at least I can count on the detective for biting and kicking.

at least there's this

Having to share a car with my father is kind of a buzzkill, but the 90's on 9 makes it better.  Between the matchbox 20 and b*witched I had a great drive to starbucks this morning.

Of course I had to bring my coffee back home before my father woke up and started sending me panic texts about where his truck is and when I will be bringing it back.

I will find out tomorrow if I get a rental or not.

birds!

Every morning my father has told me about how the entire lake was overrun by birds but then they all flew away before I woke up.  I have to admit I only partially believed him, and even so figured it was just a bunch of birds.

But this is like some Alfred Hitchcock shit.  I mean there really were hundreds of birds all along the edge of the lake and then several flying across the lake with murder in their eyes.

I'm just thankful my Dad got me parking under the carport, otherwise I would be coming back to a polka dotted car.  Blech.

he doesn't want me to leave

If he wasn't so angry I could take him travelling with me.  Unfortunately he is EXTREMELY angry.

I kind of like the detective and my father together.  My father sings and talks incessantly to him, as he does with everyone, and the detective just stares at him blankly, as he does with everyone.

They are best friends.

two more down

My father and I had dinner plans yesterday but he forgot.  It wasn't until I smelled whatever deliciousness he had made for himself that I realized he wasn't going to be eating with me.  Thankfully Scott was available and wanted to meet me at Shakespeare's so I could work on my beers around the world.

I chose this first one based entirely on its name.  I felt like I needed a skull splitter yesterday afternoon.  As I was drinking it Scott asked me if it was one of the high alcohol content ones.  I said I didn't think so, then looked to see that it was like 8.7% alcohol.  It certainly tasted smooth and refreshing.  I don't think I realized how tipsy it really made me until much later when I was halfway through a frozen snickers bar wondering why on earth I would ever eat a frozen snickers bar.

Regardless the beer was quite good.  I wanted a second but couldn't muster up the strength to think about what I should get so I picked the second one based completely on number.  I chose a number on my card that seemed sad and alone and needed to be punched out of it's misery.

I actually quite like this beer so it was a pleasant surprise.  Besides reminding me of the german place on 86th street that I used to frequent, it also always reminds me of Emma and her parents who always had a six pack of this in the fridge.  They are the only people I know who kept hoegaarden on hand.  I can understand why though, it's really light and summery, actually a perfect charleston beer.

I need to tally up how many beers I have had and how many I have left.  I always think I'm further through the list than I am.  It's because these foreign beers have such high alcohol contents and I'm such a lightweight.

I know what you're thinking Jon, 'you are so white'.

a test in patience

source

I love my father, I do, but it's the way he starts talking as soon as I wake up in the morning and doesn't stop until he passes out at some point in the evening.

I mean, even when I'm not around he is still sending me so many texts that I usually can't even respond to them.

I appreciate it and it makes me feel very wanted and loved but it is also a bit overwhelming.  To think there were days in NYC when I didn't even hear another human voice (except maybe mariah) seems ridiculous compared to my life when I'm down here.  Just constant chatter.

Of course once my father finally does go to sleep he is replaced by that OBNOXIOUS cat who has been stomping all over my head all night and then yelling in my face.

I need a life.

I'll be anika noni rose

I accept my role in life.  I'm ok with being the Kelly Rowland, just as long as I'm not Solange.

The time has come, the winds of change are upon us.  I have heard the call and I am answering it.  I've no idea where I'm headed or what's to become of me, but I am ready to move onward and upward.

In the meantime I've got to gear myself up for a day of fun with my father.  I'll need to watch a few more clips for dreamgirls before I'm even ready to yoga.

You know, in case any of you are sitting around at 8am wishing you had somebody to call and talk to while Jennifer Hudson serenades you in the background.

big changes at the aquarium

My dad's salt water tank was like a whole new world when I saw it yesterday for the first time in a while.  He's trying to get more live coral, like the weird bubble thing in the back, so he got rid of some of his animals.

But not all of them, one of my favorites was front and center, although he was apparently trying to hide:

He is so cute!  He digs under rocks and things to make a little cave home for himself where he sits and you usually just see his little face poking out.  Apparently when my dad was adding sand the other day he covered the jawfish's home and he had to relocate to this corner over here.  He is obviously not pleased.

Most of the time he would sit perfectly still like this, but then all of a sudden his cheeks would start puffing out and he would frantically start digging while at the same time filling his mouth with sand and then spitting it out to the side.  I wish I could help him but this seems like a job for him and him alone.

he's like, "why oh why do you keep taking my picture when i'm just trying to live my life"

He's just like lindsay lohan!!!

tornado safe

The past few days I've been at my dad's a lot painting his bathroom.  Long story, it was horrible, the end.

Anyways yesterday when we were on our way back from Home Depot for the second time the skies opened up and unleashed their fury.  I guess it's been a while since I've spent a winter in Florida but I only remember it raining like that in the summer.  I mean it was a torrential downpour.  I was eager to get back, finish painting, and get home for several reasons.  Mostly I was curious to see if my roof leaked or not.  It rained decently hard right after I got my car and the roof leaked right where the window rolls up in to the rubber lining around the door.  You could see that there was a place where the rubber was torn so I figured that's where it was and pointed it out to them when they were fixing everything else that was broken.  So this was the first time that it had rained hard again and I was anxious to make sure the job worked.  I also wanted to get home before the weather got any worse because that car does not handle puddles well at all.  It actually makes me kind of nervous for the summer, but I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

Of course the roof still leaked all the way home.  I also noticed that the passenger side leaks in the same exact place, so I don't think it's necessarily anything to do with anything besides the roof being janky.  It did seem to let up after a while of driving so I thought maybe it was just all the water that came in when I opened the door to get in but then why would the passenger side have had a drip in the same place when I hadn't opened it all day?  Janky.

But back to the point.  I finished at my dad's and then hurried out and headed home.  Apparently shortly after I left my father saw on the news that there was a tornado warning in effect for the next several hours and they were telling people not only to stay off the roads but to stay away from the windows in their homes!  I of course missed all this because I was talking on the phone with Jon the whole way home.  So I walk through the kitchen door and find the detective laying here.  I could not figure out what his deal was until I saw the texts on my phone and realized that he must have sensed the tornado and was trying to go somewhere he thought was safe?  Scott said that the kitchen is the safest room in the house because it's completely enclosed by heavy brick, and that he must have just been trying to get as low as possible in there.

But I mean really kitty?  Your head barely fits under there and your entire backside is just hanging out in the open.  I think this would be the perfect example of how sometimes he's just a little dramatic.  Yes, there was a lot of rain and lightning and thunder, and there was a tornado warning in effect, but Scott and I still went back out and got Chic-Fil-A during all that.  There really was no need for the theatrics.

I guess it's reassuring to know that in the event of another weather emergency he will let us know by acting completely ridiculous.  It's like living with Al Roker.

just like battletoads

How fun do these games look right?  I like the nice poodle with the star glasses on.  Reminds me of a certain poodle who's name rhymes with "umbreeeellllaaaaa".

But the point of this story is about video games and how my brother always manages to pull a con job on me.  When I was like 10 years old my dad said that he would buy me whatever video game I wanted for my birthday and the game I wanted more than anything else was Super Mario 2.  You know, the one that was all a crazy dream where you rode around in rocket powered shopping carts and fought against egg shooting dinosaurs.  As opposed to the real life mario where you eat mushrooms and try to avoid ravenous man eating plants. 

But when the time came and we got to the store my brother pulls some scam on me as usual and convinced me to buy Battletoads.  If you're not familiar here is the game played through in its completion, though you can skip around and pretty much get the gist of it.  Go directly to 1:35ish to see ariel.  I swear it's her. 



Now anybody who knows me knows, 'fool me once shame on you, fool me twice, not unlikely either...'

So here we go again.  What I really wanted to get was the new Donkey Kong game for the wii but my brother talked me in to getting the new Epic Mickey instead.  Now I'll admit, so far it's no battletoads, it's been pretty good, but I have a feeling that I'll still yearn for that great ape's warm embrace. 

I guess the only option is to play through it quickly, sell it to my brother, then use the money to just buy Donkey Kong myself.  Must get back to work then. 

s'mores

The day after christmas is my fathers birthday and as much as we try to do fun things for it a lot of times we don't plan anything until the last minute.  Like this year.

The one thing my father asked for was for my brother to make a fire in his fireplace.  We came up with the s'mores and roasted chestnuts, and it ended up being really fun.

I mean, when was the last time that you actually had a s'more?  I couldn't think of my last one.  And they are delicious!  Although actually I was plenty happy with just the roasted marshmallows.  And the chestnuts?  Have you ever actually had chestnuts that were roasted over an open fire?  They are amazing!  They kind of have the consistency of bread pudding.  It's very strange and satisfying.  And each one has an entirely different flavor than the one before it.  Some are sweet, some are savory.  Very very strange.

Of course there's always the absurdity of us gathered around the fire in shorts and flip flops on the day after christmas.  Then we all go out and get in our convertibles and roar down the street with the wind in our hair.  That image definitely goes hand in hand with chestnuts roasting on an open fire.

it's all gravy

Source

Word to the wise, don't do a google image search for "gravy".  Also, wtf, I assumed this was a joke but according to the site it's from it's all too real.  As I said before I try not to read the content from the page an image is from, but I saw enough to realize that this is no joke.  This man is serious about drinking gravy.  

Anyways, I just wanted to say that my postings may be sporadic for the next few weeks.  As I've mentioned my internet accessibility is limited at my father's, and I'll probably be doing festive holiday things in the coming weeks as well.  

I'm well over my 31 post mark for the month so I feel no pressure to keep up with posting for the rest of December.  I still intend to take pictures and keep up with posting but just wanted to say that I might be slightly MIA. 

As for now, if you need me I'll be having my nightly glass of gravy.

Snowbird

Good bye New York City, I'm sure I'll be back soon but for now I'm retreating to the warm embrace of the sunshine state. 

Yesterday did not go as badly as it could have gone, kitty was actually a precious precious angel for most of the trip.  I was the most nervous about taking him out of his carrier to go through TSA but he did fine.  I think he was a little overwhelmed but he basically just looked around at everyone while I held him and went through.  He did get compliments left and right, and even melted the icy hearts of two different stern faced TSA ladies. 

The Detective is definitely a lightweight, I learned that from this trip.  The Vet gave me extra drugs to keep him quiet in case I got stuck at the airport for a long time, but the dose I gave him at 10am before we left actually lasted the entire day, to the point that I was getting worried about him on the way home from the airport when he still seemed totally out of it. 

When I first let him out of his carrier at my Dad's he seemed pretty freaked out.  He went straight behind the toilet to hide, which was ridiculous because he didn't fit at all so his big fluffy tail was still sticking out in the middle of the bathroom.  When you looked around you could just see his little face staring straight back at you.  I felt bad. 

But it didn't take long for him to acclimate to his new surroundings.  Once he came out of the bathroom the first thing he did was climb in to the closet in my bedroom and start breaking things.  And today he's been even worse. 

I had to go to the airport to get my luggage (It was sent to Sarasota though I ended up flying in to Ft. Meyers) and my dad sent me a text message while I was away saying that the cat was aggressively purring and rubbing against his legs and if he didn't pet him right away, or if he did pet him briefly and then stop, he would hiss at him.  Now I have never EVER heard the detective hiss so this comes as a surprise to me.  Especially from wanting attention?  That just seems unusual. 

But it's true, he even hissed at me for no apparent reason when I got home.  I guess it's just retaliation for the drugging.  I hope it's not because he's upset that I separated him and Weezie.  Ariel said that Weezie is depressed : (

As for Florida it's fine.  It's of course rainy and gross today but at least the temp stayed above 60 for the entire day, even going in to the 70s.  Much better than the 20 degree (feels like 10) weather that was New York for the past two weeks.  I already made my first trip to Whole Foods and stocked up on tons of fruits and veggies so I'm a happy camper now.