A horse by my house

A horse by my house
Originally uploaded by daradactyl.

Back in the day, photographers traveled around neighborhoods and took pictures of kids sitting on old ponies. You paid them and they sent you photos later. This could never be done in this day and age for so many reasons. I mean can you imagine if a guy and an old pony showed up on your doorstep?? I remember this so well, except that I was three, so my reality was skewed. I remember the guy being really old and the pony not moving at all, which was disappointing. I wanted it to take off, after all I had boots and a hat!!! The old photographer gave me his hat to wear, which he had to prop on the back of my head so it wouldn't fall over my face. I wanted to hold the horse by the mane, but he told me to hold the sadle. Made sense, because that's the part I held onto at the grocery store 10 cent horse. i can't for the life of me now figure out why that was ever fun.

Anyhow, I am pretty sure I kept saying, "giddy up, horsey!" And I'm pretty sure my Mom was telling me to sit still. And I'm pretty sure I thought I was really going to get to ride the horse. But when the photo was over, the horse and the man left, with his hat. I still thought it was fun.

All my cousins had horses as did my first set of in-laws. And yet I never rode a horse until I was 22. And that was also the last time I rode a horse.

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365days-day121-Teri Nunn

365days-day121-Teri Nunn
Originally uploaded by daradactyl.

We went to see Berlin tonight. I dyed my hair for the occasion.

It was at the Starlight Bowl in Burbank. First off, I thought for 10 years that the Starlight Bowl was a bowling alley. It's an amphitheatre. It's about 1/4 mile from James' house. He'd never been either, but at least he knew you can't bowl there.

I knew it was going to be a good evening when I saw my real estate agent giving away fans at the entrance. The opening act was Naken Eyes. The audience was still trickling in so he played bravely to a crowd of maybe 1000. There was one song in there that I haven't heard since 1983. I only remember the video. desaturated blonde girl wakes up.... "at night she calls your name...'. Then Promises, Promises...my favorite. And Always Something There to Remind Me was the finale. It was fun and somewhat tragic that the "mosh pit" was filled with people with toddlers on their heads.

Then came Berlin. I dragged James down to the now crowded "mosh pit." It was wonderful. Teri sang beautifully, fully defending her title of number 11 on MTV's top female rock vocalists. She did the complete Berlin Greatest Hits, including our favorite "You Don't Know," which is a deep cut. Even she said so, but it is her favorite song. She sang 2 songs for her mom who passed away 4 months ago including an emotional acoustic "Ordinary World" from Duran Duran. We were all in tears. Her husband carried her on his shoulders all around the amphitheatre for 2 songs, allowing me to high five her. Her fake last song was Sex, always a crowd pleaser. And of course they came back to do Take My Breath Away as the finale. She dedicated it with a wonderful story of trying to have child. being around the same age, I feel for her. She said they tried for a long time and she finally knows why it never happened. And then she introduced her adopted daughter, Natalie. i was so touched and felt a certain peace in my nagging bio clock. She made her rounds of the theatre again on her husband's shoulders, and this time, James lifted me up on his. When she came back to the stage, we had a great "moment" of - hey! You're my size, with my hair, same build, on some guy's shoulders! It's like a mirror!!! We looked at eacjother and laughed. And for a second, I felt like I was Teri Nunn's best friend.

Being Burbank, the concert series must end early. So we were home by 9.

365days-day120-hangover

365days-day120-hangover
Originally uploaded by daradactyl.

I had a karaoke party at my house last night, mostly to exorcise the sadness of Duncan's passing. It was small and very fun. I also allowed myself to drink what I wanted. I have cut WAY back, mostly because of the lexapro. But I feel so much better. Except this morning. I don't feel better. I remember why I don't do this anymore. I haven't been hungover since Christmas.

Didn't help that we sang until 3am and police heliopters started circling at 7am. They were actually circling my house. 3 kids robbed the 7-11. After 3 hours of circling, they caught all 3 plus recovered the gun and the money. No one was hurt. And no one slept in. The copters are loud. And that constant cycle of getting louder, getting softer. Getting louder...getting softer...is so annoying. No one can sleep through that. I picked the wrong day to start drinking.

Uploaded by daradactyl

Tachometer

Tachometer
Originally uploaded by daradactyl.

Tachometers have a very special place in my life.

The first time I ever heard that word, or was in a manual transmission car, was in high school. I was in a band with David Tune. His father ran the airport and a Saab dealership. David had a Saab something or other sports car. It was his life. And he explained to me how to shift gears and how one never wants to let the tachometer get higher than 4 (x1000rpm) in normal driving. When it does, you should shift. He was kind and generous and a great drummer. We were the Electric Brains, formerly Gray Matter. We were the smart kids who had a garage band in high school. Years later, he gave me a job at his radio station and when I moved to LA, he shipped my stuff from that same Saab dealership at no cost to me.

Just after high school, I met an actor who I later married named Edward. He had wanted to drive race cars at one point and even crewed for Formula 1. He taught me how to drive manual shift. In Chicago. In a foot of snow. He yelled a lot. But I learned.

My first car in LA was a stick. A 1982 VW Cabriolet. I was clumsy at first, but loved driving Mullholland, oft the scene of car commercials for its winding, tree-lined road. My next husband has a 1970 VW bug. I don't recall if it had a tachometer. I couldn't drive that car. The pedals were strange and freaky. His next car was a Mini Cooper. That, I could drive. When he let me. Being a turbo, one has to give it a little more gas than usual.

This tachometer is Marlon's. He borrowed James' car to move stuff. James can't drive manual. So he borrowed my car. And then I had Marlon's. It was good to be back with the friendly tachometer. Not a turbo, so I didn't have to try too hard. And I never let it go over 4. David Tune would be proud.

Scrub Jay

Scrub Jay
Originally uploaded by daradactyl.

This guy was trying to eat a grasshopper. I support that since the grasshoppers have eaten half my garden. But he was just picking at it while it was alive. That was kinda gross not to mention the possibility that it was a Jay that ate a baby dove out of the nest on my porch 3 years ago. So, as pretty as they are, I think they are vicious. I watched this dance go on for a while, with the bird grabbing the insect and it jumping away. Finally, the bird took it up to a branch and started pulling it's nasty insect flesh off. The grasshopper fell straight down into this rubbish bin. The bird was very unsure about diving in to get it, so he sat on the edge and barked loudly. Finally, I went to see if the insect was alive (it was) and the bird flew off, I assume thinking it had lost it's meal to a much larger competitor.

That was Saturday. Today I checked back and the hopper is dead. So I pulled it out for a possible snack for the Jay. Unless he only eats wiggly things.

365days-day116-wax poetic

365days-day116-wax poetic
Originally uploaded by daradactyl.

Waxing is very expensive. It adds up since one needs to wax on a regular basis if one is going to wax in the first place. So I decided to start home waxing. Sort of like home schooling with less children. Very cost effective and not too messy, it seemed like the solution I was looking for. There is however a very important step in the waxing process which is to apply a light layer of oil to the skin part. That way, the oil which is very sticky won't stick to your skin, only the hair it is meant to pull off.

I forgot that part.

And so, the sticky wax is REALLY stuck. It's not going anywhere. I was late for work, so I decided to just deal with it later. And I spent the entire day stuck to my clothes.

I'm going back to shaving.

Uploaded by daradactyl on 14 Aug 07, 9.35AM PDT.
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