rabbit rabbit rabbit

The most unsettling part of realizing it is November was turning over the calendar page and feeling the end so close.  I've been looking forward to the next two months though, as I am set to make some serious commission at work.  The shoppers do not kid around at this mall.

Skylar and I both have to open this morning so neither of us did anything fun for Halloween.  He did come up to Ft. Lauderdale to have lunch with me though, and I even coerced him in to playing a game of pool.  UNfortunately he won too.

I told him to write our names on the chalkboard and he goes, "our real names or our fake names?!" which such earnestness in his voice.  I asked him what my fake name was and he said Goldielocks, which I approve of.  When I asked him what his fake name was he replied without hesitation, "Taylor".  I asked him if that's the name he gives at Starbucks when he doesn't want to deal with his real name and he goes, "no, I just like that name".

So I guess I will cling to the fact that I didn't technically lose to Skylar, I lost to Taylor.  He was a fierce competitor.  Perhaps I will stop by his store this morning and bring him a congratulatory tea.

I will not be taking any fashion cues from this month's Barbie though.

So much brown.  It's like sexy evening wear UPS delivery person.  No bueno.

I like Mike

Jon and Joe finally made it past Deb's deluge and arrived in South Florida.  I took them on a tour of Ft. Lauderdale before finding our way to breakfast.  We encountered Michael in the parking lot.  I assume that's Michael anyways.  He certainly seemed to take ownership of that box.

At breakfast we were visited by three ghosts:

All three bill holders were delivered by our waiter who most decidedly did not look like an Ariel.  I guess he just wanted to remind me of her.

After breakfast the boys needed to sleep so we went back to my apt for naps.  I actually ran errands while they snoozed the morning away but it was just as well since Deb still hadn't released her grip on South Florida.

By afternoon they were ready to go again so we headed to Sidelines to play pool.  I'll just put this here and let you all decipher how it went:

Since Jonathan lost he took us to get ice cream afterwards which made it all better, I assume.

On the way home Joe asked if we could stop at the beach since he still hadn't been.  I had to oblige so I pulled over on A1A and we managed to make it to the water and back before Deb realized that we were trying to have fun on her watch.

We didn't even make it back to the car before Deb pounded us with her ice rain.  No bueno.

Last night was spent in doors playing video games and watching movies.  Though we've already had a freak 5 minute deluge this morning it looks like we might get a nice day for the beach after all.  Showers are being taken now, we will be heading out shortly.  I'm excited to finally see the sun again.

an afternoon with Auntie Suzanne

Heather asked me if I wanted to see Auntie Suzanne one last time before she heads up north for the summer.  She also wanted me to help bring things down from the attic but it was way more fun to just watch Heather do it.  Especially when she would be standing at the bottom of the stairs saying something smart to me and then get hit in the face with an exercise mat.  It only happened once but I keep replaying the memory in my mind.  It went something like this:

source

After all our hard work we spent the rest of the daylight by the pool.  It was really beautiful and apparently all of the flowers and plants were put there by the neighbors who own the pool.

I like I like.

Except hibiscus always makes me thirsty for this:

source

which in turn makes me miss nyc and Meghan.

But then I remember that in nyc I wouldn't be lounging by a pool, being visited by these two nice guys:

I loved them, they were both so happy and just wiggling their little butts.

The boy stayed on the edge monitoring the situation and taking sips of water (it's a salt pool) while the girl  swam all around and took a bath.  They dried off together in the sun : (

I know there were a lot of good quotes from last night but I can't necessarily remember them right now.  I also know there were several things that I was sworn to never repeat to anyone.  I don't remember those things either.

It was a good afternoon.  Thanks Auntie Suzanne, I look forward to your triumphant return come winter.

beer and billiards

Scott met me at Shakespeare's to play pool, and so I could knock a few beers off my list.  I liked the name of this one, and then I liked the bottle even more.  Katy and I were just talking about how important the cover of a book is and how the image can make or break the book before you even pick it up.  This of course flies in the face of the whole, "don't judge a book by the cover" thing, but we both agreed it's true so get over it.

And talk about a well named beer, I can think of no better way to describe it than robust.

I needed to eat before I could play pool so I was already on to my second beer before we even started.

Sticking to the theme of picking my beer by the name I went with "old engine oil".  It wasn't bad, it was supposed to have a chocolate flavor that I didn't get quite as much as with some of the others I've tried, but it wasn't bad.  I would get it again if I saw it on a menu somewhere, mostly because I'll remember the name.

Anyways, I blame the beer (and the racking) for the travesty that occurred on the billiards table that evening...

I guess I forgot the part where Scott was some kind of pool hustler.  If the games didn't cost a dollar each, and go by in a matter of minutes, I would have stayed longer and tried to improve my craft.  Unfortunately this blood bath was over before it even really began.

I'll redeem myself next time.

missing beau fleuve

It was somewhere between Batavia and Swormsville that I fell in love with Beau Fleuve and it's strangely named areas.

As I gushed Dan would always be quick to point out that it was only beautiful because I was visiting during the month out of the year that it's not cold and overcast, which I understand, but it didn't change my feelings.  Maybe I should just spend every July in beau fleuve.

I could hang out with this nice guy:

who was very nice and only bit me a little bit.

And I'll spend every afternoon playing pool with Dan.  Apparently I need to brush up on my skills anyways since I'm losing to somebody who is barely ever paying attention

research at Target

Sometimes when I'm at a place like Target I browse through the pool/backyard fun area and look at the pictures on the boxes.  It's always been one of my dreams that I would be in the photo shoot for the pool floatie box, or the floating basketball hoop, or the slip n' slide.

Of course once I start down this path I get lost for hours looking at all the crazy things at Target that I usually breeze right past.  Like this highly unsettling quote from Kevin, age 11.

Or this woman who I am convinced is that girl from Rock of Love who I can't seem to find on any google search:

Was she one of the brandi's?  I don't remember, I think she was on I Love Money and Charm School though.  And now apparently she's posing for the outdoor water castle box.  I want her career.

Also in the pool section I found this boy:

Ok, he's excited about slippin' and slidin', I get it, he's good.  Then I walked down a few boxes and saw this:

Is it the same picture photoshopped to look different?  Or is this kid just that good?  He gets a call on saturday morning, "Hey Johnny, we got a shoot for a new pool toy today you in?"  He's got a pair of board shorts in green that have yet to grace a box so he goes for it.  Just gotta stretch my hamstrings first, gonna be a day of heavy squatting.

Winding my way through the pool/outdoor section meant that I transitioned seamlessly in to the toy section which captivated me for quite some time.  I mean have you seen some of the lego sets they have these days?  I wanted everything.

But I wanted nothing as much as I wanted this:

If they had had these when I was little I woulda bought the shit out of them.  WHAT COULD IT BE?!  I was going to buy it but then I decided I'd rather let the mystery live on.  It could be anything.  It could even be my car!  What if it was my car, omg now I have to go back to Target.

thommy can you hear me?

Friday night Dan and I went out for a night on the town.  My phone was on low battery before I even met up with him so this was the only picture I managed to take before it died completely. 

I was getting my hair cut before I met Dan and got out early so I decided to go visit the always charming Garrett at the not always charming Phoenix while I waited.  I ended up striking up a conversation with Thommy (he really did spell his name like that, I saw when he entered it on the high score board of Erotic Photo Hunt) who I think was only using me as a life preserver to save him from the weirdo sitting on his other side.  Either way I appreciated the distraction while I waited for Dan.

Once Dan arrived we played a couple games of pool, all of which Thommy won, but only because of technicalities. 

We ended up at Eastern Bloc where I did NOT run in to Anderson Cooper sadly.  I feel like it's only fair for me to have lived here this long that I should get to run in to him once by now.  But I haven't.  I guess it's just as well, I probably would end up embarrassing myself like the time that Ariel and I saw Alan Cumming there. 

I feel like Dan and I had several zingers from the night that were supposed to make it on to the blog but I can't remember what they were.  We ended up getting trashed and going back to my apt to play wii.  I got motion sick and threw up before I passed out, then was of course up and ready to go by 7 the next morning while Dan slept on the couch with a pillow over his face.