*Pre-note: I wrote a witty post and lost it. This is my feeble attempt to capture my original witty post.. but frankly, my dears, I doubt I can capture my coffee-infused first post. So, here’s goes nothing…

*TWO WEEKS? Life has just been too much fun lately, with a solid dose of work, too. Plus, how much do you really need to / care to know about me? ME ME ME! Well, here’s the short list:

-WE FINALLY BOUGHT CELL PHONES! Teeny little things, aren’t they? Lefty, I’ll be texting you soon… ah, once I learn how to.

-We went to a GREAT PARTY on Saturday! (For me, a great party = GREAT PEOPLE, GREAT FOOD, GREAT MUSIC. CHECK on all three.)

-We’ve had two weekends in a row of fun visits from good people, including one “newbie,” our old friend and band mate, Kevin, who made us laugh and wowed us all with his 12-string acoustics and singing.. More checks on the people/food/music thing.

-I’ve been playing my guitar with more conviction than ever lately. I mean, who cares if you hit a wrong note now and then, right? Just SELL the damn note!

-Our garden is EXPLODING with green beans and zucchini and cherry tomatoes! It’s wonderful. Perhaps I will make some zucchini bread… (Yeah, right, that’ll happen.)

-I’m feeling pretty darn good about myself lately. Which sounds slightly conceited, but I’m just saying! Those who know me, KNOW what I’m talking about, right Jill? Jill?

-Don upgraded all my “stuff” on my little laptop, so I can now see my “MyBlogLog” again without it crashing. I guess it was just me after all.

-I’ve been getting contacted by a lot of people from my past lately. Which is cool, but it’s a little tricky deciding what to share in the time apart, not without boring someone to tears.

-My latest “crush” local band. Sweet harmonies, banjos and mandolins, and all that loveliness!

The Intergalactic Yurt Band

I don’t have much time… But Dwight left a little while ago after a 3 night visit, and we had so much fun.  I had so much fun playing disc golf with D and D this weekend.  I was keeping up!  Well, my score was pretty pathetic in reality (+12 on day 1, +4 on day 2), but I did manage to crush them in a new game called “Johnny Match Play,” which is a two basket game made up by our friend J.  I feel physically stronger now than ever, and my shoulder and arm are not even sore today! (Maybe tomorrow)

 I’ve been really inspired to play out since my weekend in Damariscotta.  However, the opportunities are hard to come by.  I’ve got a couple of new people I’ve met interested in getting together to jam for a potential gigging out band… but, it’s been so hectic this month between Don’s gigs and our weekend guests and oh, yes, then there is regular work (BAH!).. I’m paranoid that if I wait too long, these two new folks will get snatched up by somebody else and I’ll miss my chance with them.  I feel like I could really get something good and new with these peeps (a wonderful, but green, singer, and a drummer with tons of enthusiasm, who happen to be married!), so I don’t want to miss my chance.

Meanwhile, the weather is holding out.. No sunshine today  yet (after a week of solid rain, then the two days of the weekend with sun), but it’s looking like we might have sunshine coming again soon.  Our tomatoes in the garden are begging for it!

The mushrooms, however, have really enjoyed all this rain.  They are strong! 

My neighbor likes to stroll over just before his dinner hour and visit our garden.

He’s an odd feller, but he’s harmless enough.

Off for another 2 days “UP NORTH” (not really “true north”, but north from here..)
DAMARISCOTTA. What a wild name, fun to say.
See you on Monday.

Those of you who know me are aware that deep down, I really don’t give a rat’s ass about professional sports. Some of you may have even been present to hear my anti-sports rants against the players, the money, and especially the fans.

HOWEVER:

I was born in a hospital in Boston and raised in Massachussetts. With three insanely popular professional sports teams (that would be the Boston Celtics, the New England Patriots, and the Boston Red Sox) permeated in my existance ever since I was born, there has been no escaping it. My younger brother could never understand why I had no interest in pro sports, and even my mother is a fan. Next thing you know, I meet, fall for, and live with a guy who is a sports fan.

Like, about, um, 99.8 percent of the men on the planet.

I’ve even met women sports fans. Woah.

With the games on nearly all the time (though Don is very kind about “sharing” the tv viewing during games, bless his heart), I can’t help but begin to at least feign interest in the personalities of the characters involved. I’ll ask Don silly questions, he’ll patiently answer, perhaps hoping, some day, maybe I will care and find passion for the game. (Yeah, right.)

Because baseball is on all summer, and not much else, I tend to get the most involved with that sport. Even I can admit the lore of the Boston Red Sox is, um, kind of interesting. And yes, I’ll admit it, I have a soft spot for a few of the players on the team. I even have my own nicknames for some of them. Cat In JV. The Youke-ster. Big Poopie. Coco Crispies (we even wrote a song about him, “Coco Crisp In June..”)

I was bummed when Pedro left, that little primadonna. He was amazing to watch. I felt a little snubbed when Nomar Garciaparrarrarrarrrararrarra left us, mostly because I miss seeing his pre-hitting neurotic hand motions while he stood at the plate to bat. I felt a bit heartbroken when Johnny Damon went and cut off all of his beautiful hair and double-crossed us by joining the Yankees.

But MANNY? He was my all time favorite. Why? Because of his hair. Because of his baggy pants. Because of his speaking voice, with that sexy accent. Because of the way he stood so casually in the outfield. Because of the way he threw his hands up in the air when he knew he hit the ball out of the park. And he hit them out of the park all the time.

I didn’t pay much attention to his “antics”…. Apparently he was a real pain in the ass, but I just loved the whole “Manny being Manny” thing. A rebel. An individual. A free spirit. Rock and Roll!

But, apparently, Manny had had enough and Manny wanted out. So, because I love him, I’ll let him go, just like a butterfly. Honestly, I know he’ll be much happier as an LA Dodger. Boston is too rigid and uptight for him. He’ll have so much fun living in Los Angelos, no doubt about that.

Plus, there ain’t nothing I can do about any of it anyway.

So, Thanks for the memories buddy. I don’t care what they say about you, I’ll always have a soft spot for you in my cold, anti-pro-sports-heart.

Holy crap, I haven’t written a blog in a while.
Overwhelmed by life the last few days.
Questioning.
Second guessing.
Dreaming.
Walking around.
Reading.
Worrying.
Ah, the perils of being a Pisces.

Back from our little excursion up north for the weekend! Camping was fun, and the blues festival was mobbed again! Don played great with the band, and I kept busy during the two gigs by being the CD-seller girl.. That was kind of fun and made the night go by faster!

I met some new friends and was invited to play a song or two with one band, but I declined, because I hadn’t brought a guitar. It’s a little strange playing somebody else’s guitar, especially as I don’t even know the guys. However, it was nice to be asked!

I took a bunch of photos, so if you’re interested, hop on over to my flickr page. However, I took one photo especially for my Irish blogger friend Dragonstar! We had stopped on the way home at a roadside gardening place, and I saw these garden sculptures and just had to snap a pic for you Ms DS! So here it is:

(click to see larger!)

xo

The title of this post comes from something Don heard Nat say on our discgolf course one day. Also, this post is mostly directed towards Nat and Dwight, but feel free to read on if you are not one of them.

The new off-shoot game of Putz is called PUTZ AROUND.

Each player gets their own three discs. Par = two on each round. First tee is from the porch. If you get zero discs in the basket, your next round starts from the porch again. If you get no aces but get all three discs at Par Two, you move to the next position. If you get an Ace, you skip ahead to the second position.

There are 6 positions.
Porch = #1
Garden = #2
Poplar = #3
Birch = #4
Pipe = #5
Hill = #6

The goal is to finish first. The last round is played from the porch again.
No points.

We gave it a test run last night and it was pretty fun! Moves along fast, and gives you a chance to practise your putting from different locations besides just the porch.

First game, positions go to the right.
Second game, positions move to the left, and so on.

Can’t wait to try it out with a bigger crew!

Hello, it’s the lazy bloggerette again! We’ve had a lovely stretch of hot, sunny days again, and the three cats have resorted to looking like dogs, stretched out and lethargic. Spooky seems to have settled into her “non-womanhood” nicely, though she is a bit more vocal! She’s always got something to say.

Having a roll in the catnip on July 4th.

Well, this is first time in four years that on Independence Day we did not have the usual gang up for the weekend! Everybody had other plans, and with the cost of gas these days, it makes perfect sense to skip the three hours drive up to the Hill! Don and I made the best of it anyway, with some yummy grilled meals, cold drinks and our game of “Putz” with the flying discs. We managed to invite Mom and Dad and their dearest friends, John and Mary, who had been visiting for a couple of weeks from Holland, over for cocktails on Friday evening. We tried to get them to stay at our place for a “shmorgeshborg” dinner, and they tried to get us to go with them to the local tavern for a fine meal, but we both declined (me, because I was too tired from a busy week at the market… last thing I wanted to do was go back downtown and see PEOPLE!), so, cocktails it was, and that was nice. At least it gave Dad and Mom a chance to rehash a few “Kate as a 6 year old in Holland” stories….

So, the nice hot weather couldn’t come at a better time.. after all, it’s either WINTAH or JULY up in Maine! NEXT weekend, Don and I head up north to Rockland for the blues festival, where he will be playing Friday and Saturday night at a bar, and it is always a RAWKUS affair! The best part, however, is we bring our tent and camp at the state park a few towns away. This will only be our third time camping, and it’s beginning to get easier. This year, we will bring our new portable tent gazebo for extra bug intervention, as well as a blowup air mattress for extra sleeping comfort. Because of the gig timing, there is really no need for us to bring much food, as we will just dine at the bar, and we intend to try and squeeze in a boiled Maine LOBSTAH somewhere on the trip, or perhaps on the journey home. We always try and get a boiled lobstaH at least once each summer! After all, we are in Maine.

Meanwhile, we’ve been indulging in lots of salmon, swordfish and large grilled shrimps and prawns.. Combined with a fresh tossed salad with lettuce and herbs from our little garden, and some baby red potatoes and perhaps an ear of sweet corn on the cob, and that pretty much takes the cake! (Ha ha, sorry for the pun.)

Musically, I am still in a slump.. waiting for a new muse to pop into my life.. or something! It’s a shame, but meanwhile, I’m slowly working on my tapes-to-digital project (which will probably take me the rest of my life..) Here’s an oldie from 1991, me playing back up guitar with my dearest friend, Jill, who wrote a batch of songs back in the day. The recording tops the crappyness scale in quality, but, I’m such a sucker for good time past. Here we are playing in one of my livingrooms in one of my old apartments in Cambridge, Mass.

So Sorry
By Jill S.B. H. 1991

Well, I just know you’ve all been holding your breath, waiting to hear about the outcome of my beloved dryer… SHE’s BACK! And we owe it all to my better half, Don! Now, if only he had his own BLOG, because when I got home from work yesterday, he had a wonderful story about his adventures in replacing the dryer belt. However, Don remains somewhat of a mystery man, as he just doesn’t have any desire to clutter up the internet with his ramblings..

You see, he MAKES the internet, so to speak, for a living, and it is not in his character to showcase his thoughts. You’d have to speak with him in person. He receives designs from website designers in another state (well, our old ‘hood, back in Massachussetts), and then he’s the smarty pants that CODES the things.. making it all happen. These are big sites, with all kinds of fancy features, however, with all of his brilliance, there are still things he admits to NOT knowing. Like making a Flash site.

One of the many things I admire and respect so much about Don is his abilty to teach himself how to do stuff. He’s always been the “go -to” guy in all of his careers. He’s been an art director for an independent film magazine, and a video editor. Video editing back in the days that they used TAPE… pre-digital. Meaning he had to sit through hundreds of hours of raw footage, painstakingly document by hand every key point, than go back again and find those moments and splice them together. I, for one, could NEVER have the patience to do all that!

This is why he is a good side man in bands, as well. He’s never been the one to be a front man. He loves being the sideman, the back up, a team player. This is why he enjoys playing the bass now. He’s the middle man and the root between the front person (singer), the guitarist, and the drummer. The glue.

I don’t know where this came from in him… He never finished college, yet he really didn’t need to. Back in 1995, when the internet was just being born, he decided he wanted to learn how to make himself one of them new fangled concepts, a web page. So, he went to the book store and bought a book about HTML. And he read it. The whole thing. Then he made a web site.

He called it “The Cyberspaceship,” and it was brilliant. The first page loaded (and back then, do you remember how long it took for a webpage to load? AH HA HA!), and it appeared as if you were Captain Kirk sitting in your chair on The Enterprise. There was a view screen, and on the bottom of the page were little buttons that linked you to different space scenes, like space ships floating by or views of planets and stars.

This project took him months to do, and it “won” all kinds of “internet awards” (remember those silly things?) At the time, nobody really knew “what to do” with the internet, but soon enough, those greedy, money-hungry exploiting people in the world realized the potential of the internet. Don took his coding knowledge that he learned and continued studying and turned it into a career, in that back-door way that he tends to fall into things. Ironically, his brother does some similar work, too. It’s pretty cool.

These days, Don has to constantly keep up to stay in the game. When he’s not working on coding a web site, he’s researching the daily changes to the web coding world. Like last year when Windows decided to try and corner the browser world with their Vista/Internet Explorer7 thing.. arg.. what a nightmare for him. And trying to please the “suits” who have no idea about anything… trying to explain to them that the color and look on YOUR browser doesn’t look the same on a different brower or computer..

Meanwhile, I’ve lucked out, because he’s also good at fixing things. And he’s not afraid to admit when he can’t. That’s a good thing, too. So, he went on to the internet, made a few calls, ordered the new dryer belt, it arrived in two days, he looked on line to learn how to install it, and by golly, I’ve got a working dryer again!

Yeah Don! I’m a lucky girl.

Lucky
(A little ditty by my “basement” band, Krush Truck. That’s DiscMan Dwight on vocals, brother Nat on drums, DON on bass, and me on guitar…)

Friday we had the old junk car hauled away. Scooter has been sitting in the driveway since we moved here four years ago! We hope to purchase a newer second vehicle this fall.. Gulp.

Sunday morning, Nat and Craig helped us haul a nasty, stinky old refridgerator and a giant, broken upright freezer out of our basement and into Craig’s giant truck and leave them at the transfer station (dump.) Wow! I’ve been wanting those useless space hoggers out of my basement since we’ve moved here.. uh, four years ago! Man, that felt good.

(Nat and Craig… “Getting the job done.”)

Yesterday, after doing a load of laundry, I discovered that my dryer was broken.. ARG! I knew Don shouldn’t have put Nat’s sneakers in there to dry! Ah well, it was just a broken belt, and we’ve ordered a new one on line and it should be here by tomorrow. Hopefully Don will be able to replace it.. he’s confident he can, thanks to finding a very detailed description ON LINE. Who here doesn’t just LOVE the internet??