Category: Friends

Church this am

LOTS OF SINGING.  This is a goooood thing, especially around Christmas.  The vein of gossip at church this morning was solid gold, with hinted deposits of platinum and neodymium.  Let’s just say that if you hear me snickering with nothing in sight worth laughing at, it is because my thoughts, so recently dark and sad, have been transformed into joy, mirth and mild self-derision at my not having faith in my long term prospects for happiness.  I really do carry happiness, sanity, and the ability to assist others in their pursuit of happiness and sanity, around with me. If I am occasionally self-serving in this regard, it’s only because I wasn’t crazy to begin with.  As daughter Katie remarked, I am right more often than I am wrong, but I need more patience in waiting for results.
And I’m working on a new song… the chorus runs

Be wary

Be wary

Be wary of the fury of a patient man…

Odessa Havana

Just cleared the door from an amazing Afro-Cuban-Klesmer concert…. I just wish ta hell Peggy had been there, because in half a century on this planet I have NEVER heard the like of that bassist.  He mopped the floor with every other bassist I have ever ever seen. Awe inspiring and marvellous.

Then in the car on the way home I worked up a tune

One time I was beautiful

There’s not much left to see

But the inside’s still as much fun

As it ever used to be

I’m not asking you to love me

I’m not asking you to lie

But you sure could make me happy

With one kiss before I die

I don’t think that I’m a cougar

I don’t spend much time in bars

I do not hail from Venus

We’re on Earth – you’re not from Mars

I’ve read some books, written some tunes

I’ve been around the block

But you sure are easy on the eyes

C’mon, let’s take a walk

I’m not asking you to love me

I’m not asking you to lie

But you sure could make me happy

With one kiss before I die…

And that’s why I like driving…… I get to work up tunes.

Many thanks to Katie K for the concert; I am very happy.  And I actually had fun clearing a foot of snow off the car.  When I got back, somebody had run the bobcat over the mess of snow and I had a real parking space…

Deep Fried Mars Bar email

Into each life, a little saturated fat must fall.  You have been carefully selected as possibly being the kind of wild and crazy (redacted company name) employee who might want to eat a deep fried Mars bar.  Our talented chef Chris has agreed — with some misgivings — to deep fry Mars bars for us, but only if at least ten people sign up.   As this is a rare culinary delight, I urge you to vote Yes, Please!    Please be advised that they are almost impossible to finish, so consider sharing it with somebody.  Please be further advised that in the tradition of Scottish cuisine (almost a contradiction in terms), you order it with a side of fries.  Your best bet is to plan on eating nothing else that day, and possibly not for 24 hours on either side.  I’m going to draw the line at requesting a doctor’s note, though.  Please be further, further advised that costs will be announced when we have enough people signed up.  Please be further, further, further advised that my distribution list may have missed people who have been dying (possibly literally) to eat a deep fried Mars bar, and that no ill-will is intended if you were forwarded this by someone other than Allegra.

Power shop

patriciaandallegra2007.jpg

Pic is of me and Patricia at the party. Hey nautilus3, recognize that jacket??? (honk, tweet, snicker).
So, between 12 and 2 today, I:

Booked the car and ran downstairs and threw a bag of to-be-recycled clothing in it; drove to Planet Bachelor (having phoned and ascertained that Paul wasn’t there and Keith was) and hung with Keith for about 20 minutes, also unloading two books of Paul’s that ended up over here, taking back Katie’s bag and cleaned clothes and Harry Potter VI and VII AND her volume 2 Strangers in Paradise and a couple of free movie tix for Keith AND Paul’s mickey of Ron Superior which I picked up for him in Santo Domingo; then went over to Highgate to the Liquor Store and picked up Saint Ambroise Apricot (I had no idea it was still available), Stella Artois and Lion Winter; dropped off the clothes at the Value Village on Edmonds and picked up a 20% off coupon; went into the store and picked out 4 dresses and bought 3 (all very frou frou, and one is Allegra brand, so that was a giggle – I had wanted to buy it in Costco 4 years ago and here it was for 6 bucks….), then drove like the hammers for the Bay where I ran up the escalator, located a coffee maker to replace the one I broke (set it on a stove burner and turned the wrong burner dial on, quelle morone), paid for it (and some unscented laundry detergent as an impulse buy at the checkout) and drove home.  I really don’t think all that in two hours is too shabby.

Last night’s party continues to resonate.  They said “eat first” but there were boatloads of food, all really nice substantial appies.  Katie K and I wandered around the Georgia O’Keefe exhibit – the party was at the Vancouver Art Gallery.  She was a remarkable artist, and a remarkable woman, and I think I’m going to look around for a decent bio of her.  I think of all the stuff I saw last night that it was her cityscapes which I found most compelling. I have been trying to think of a word for her style, but I’ll have to use two words instead of one:  recklessly beautiful.

Snide note.  That fecking DJ couldn’t sync a beat worth beans.

The weather today is simply glorious.  I was thinking of continuing cleaning, but I think I’ll go for a walk instead.

Tonight, orchestral music at the Orpheum.  Katie K keeps exposing me to Kultur, and I trot meekly behind, trying like hell to look intelligent or keep up.  Here she is at the party looking glamourous.
glamourgirl.jpg

Great party

Katie K and I had a lovely time at the party, and while we were not technically the last revellers out the door, we did just about close it.  Thanks to the company providing taxi chits (!!??) we got home in decent time, too; I cleared the door at 12:21 this morning.  I danced in high heels and now feel much as expected.
Last night I dreamed that I was a human motorboat, and I could zoom around these amazing crumbling islands full of nesting seabirds at about warp factor five while dolphins and other human motorboats tried to keep up with me.  The worst part was not being able to see where I was going (I could only see where I’d been) but I managed not to hit anything. I suspect this has something to do with my trip to Saona Island.  Happy sigh.

Work work work

I used to have a picture of Kung Fu Mike, figleafed by a laptop but otherwise starkers, which had that title.  I suspect it’s on the old computer back at Planet Bachelor; I must recover it at some point.

I had a very productive day yesterday, having drawn some of my bile during my long conversation with Patricia, and then I had a very pleasant evening with one half of the Minions of Loki, since we ate at the Penny, which is more or less halfway between her place and mine on Hastings.  The Penny is the very model of a Chinese greasy spoon.  I had sufficiency of leftovers for another two meals, yay.

I need help from a Mac geek to figure out why I am having problems with making my RAR or avi files run.  I suspect a compression issue.

Saturday is the company Christmas party…. Katie K and I are going.  She is planning on wearing a dress and getting an updo, which is a lot like saying Eddie Izzard has given up on high heels.  I am trying to figure out how I’m supposed to acquire a second hand tux between now and then; I think it’s more likely I’ll just wear what I wore last year.  It makes me look immensely fat and I have to take the whole thing off to take a whiz, but it’s comfy and dressier than what I normally sport… as Catherine once remarked, “Oh, Allegra, you dress like a grad student” which, considering I was raised by grad students, seems no stretch.  As for the tux, I can picture the William Hamilton cartoon with a woman sporting a tux with no difficulty, which is probably why, besides the expense, I am resisting.  There are apparently going to be Engineers in Tuxes at the Christmas (oh hell, the Company Holiday Cheer) party.  The following Saturday we’ll be going to Katie K’s company holiday buntoss, the biggest difference being there are TWO free drink tokens, and people will be bringing dogs.  I am OBVIOUSLY working for the wrong company.

Daughter Katie’s 19th passed without incident; Dax gave her a handmade plaque with her name on it, so it sounds like he was doing something to improve the shining hour while she was gone.

It’s been quite frosty up here in the mornings; walking to work has been an adventure.

By copy to Chipper, on the subject of Christmas songs, have you ever heard Dominic the Donkey? I think you have to be Italian to be familiar with it; Gianna at work exposed me to it and now I can’t get the little beggar out of my head.  It’s all about how Santa has to deliver prezzies with a donkey because reindeer cannot climb ‘the hills of I-ta-ly!’.  It was a new one on me.

Saturday will be a busy busy day for me, because the Dunnettfolk will be Spitting over at Jan’s that day.  And Spits, as I must explain, are the names those events where Dunnett fans gather and eat and talk and drink and show slides of their trips to Dunnett places (like Iceland and the Orkneys and the west coast of Africa and Cairo and the Crimea and Russia and Bruges).  My father’s eyes glazed over at gather.

Tasteless captions and other stuff

Patricia was over last night.  I tried to feed her, but she resisted!  Garn!  Instead we drank plunty beerz.  And whined.  She has less to whine about than I do, at least in the boy department.  Tonight I see one of the Minions of Loki, and we’ll probably whine like the whiny whiners we are.

Herewith tasteless captions (link removed for security). Not all of them are funny, but there are some gems in there.

Feast your eyes on the pictures

Science and other pics.

Last night I had the privilege of introducing Mike McG to Katie K and it’s always a pleasure to introduce two smart funny nice people to each other…. then Mike had to split and Katie and I hung out.  As always, she inspires me to actually COOK so I made…. ta da!  Tortillas, with tex mex seasoned meat, cheddar cheese, red pepper, purple onion, romaine lettuce, tomato and cucumber.  I was under the impression that you had to have a cast iron pan to cook said tortillas, and was pleased that non stick pans work just as well.  I’ve only had that bad of corn flour for two months, it was about time I cracked it open.  Then, evil creature that I am, I said, and for the first time since I moved in – there’s chocolate ice cream in the fridge!  I sure know how to haves me some fun.

Except that I am now migraining.  I’ve popped two T3s and I’m about to get some coffee, but I learned in the DR that if I think happy thoughts and stand up straight, I can actually get rid of a migraine before it starts to hurt.  This morning’s visual sign – it’s different every time because I have (wtf else) ‘atypical’ migraines – was a question mark made of accordioning rainbows which occupied the right upper portion of my visual field before dancing ceilingward and vanishing.

Weird you want, weird you get….

The first thing I watched on my new used TV was Happy Feet from King of Jazz.

No vegetarians need apply

This is a hard bloody place to be a vegetarian in.  They serve meat with every meal.  If you’re a vegan, you’d have to pack your food in – it would be virtually impossible to live here otherwise.

Today, more collapsing gently and beaching.  Plus eating and drinking.  The weather has been gorgeous with the exception of a very well behaved rainshower yesterday.  Katie got a magnificent picture of a jewel green lizard yesterday which I hope to post on my return.

I read her the last 5 chapters of Harry Potter VII and we both cried like idiots.  What’s wrong with me??? I’ve read it already, it’s not like it came as any surprise.

A certain age

I can’t believe how much a simple chat with a friend can cheer one up.

If you are a certain age you will get most of these references (the alphabet in pix). 

Now people want my tapioca recipe. This is terrible, because I don’t have one.  I just stand there stirring, and staring dreamily off into space, thinking about cabana boys.

I have started on the first season of House.