pistachio, chrome oxide, avocado, olive drab, melon rind, dark olive, terreverte, lawn, chartreuse, pickle, forest, sap green, leaf, honeydew, dark sea, pale green, hunter, forest, lime, pine, parrot, wasabi, viridian, seaweed, mint, spring, old money, pesto, aquamarine, cucumber, neon, emerald, mint cream, pippin, turquoise, green copper, teal, apple, beryl, moss, kelly, caper, eucalyptus, sea green, chard, cypress, holly, fern, everglade, pea, frost, limeade, spruce, mallard, metallic, mineral, palm, verdegris, turtle...

which one is your favorite?

Japanese Sticker Photo Booth, Wishbone on Irving Street, San Francisco, California, 2001 (booth no longer there).




I know that I talk about PickleBoy quite a bit here. It makes sense to me because he is basically the Center of the Universe and all, but just to me. But, alas, Photobooth Friday has arrived again and he is in nearly all of my photobooth pictures. This because he has been my constant sidekick.

It has been just the two of us for over eight years now. I sincerely have no regrets but I do feel the tides turning for both of us. He is becoming so much more independent - getting himself off to school, girls starting to call, sleepover camp for the first time this Summer.

And as for me? Well, I have carried anger for a long, long time. It has been an anger of protection and dismay. I have been angry for these years at a man who I chose. Angry at him for not being what I needed when I could not even identify it myself - for something I needed before he ever appeared. When what I needed all along was love for my self.

So it is time for me to let my own tides turn. To accept that I am the one who has been getting in my way all along.

Time to make room for a grand happiness to come my way.

To stop worrying so much about every little thing that I have no control over and start enjoying this rollercoaster of life, oh, so much more.

Time to let go of the safety bar and lift my arms defiantly over my head and up towards the sky, laughing and screaming with happy tears streaming down my cheeks, enjoying the wind whipping my hair straight back as I take these wild curvy turns and loop-d-loops.

It seems that the seat next to me is vacant. Would you care to join me?

it's SUPPOSED to be Knittin' Wednesday but I can't help myself. I am WAY more into this new camera and the shots that it has allowed me in the last six days than the yarn and needles at the moment.

So I am hijacking this post and letting the images take over.

Chapter 1: PickleBoy Was a Rockstar on Saturday

Chapter 2: Macro Mode, Will You Marry Me?

Chapter 3: THE PEONIES ARE IN at Trader Joe's, YEAH!

I think I must lie down now from all the excitement. Please chat amongst yourselves while I rest...

I had yet another somewhat dark "introduce" post all prepared for today's self portrait challenge and decided to scrap it. I mean, come on, I'm not all gloom and doom. And as difficult as it is for me to toot my own horn I'm just gonna. So hold on to your hats...

I crack myself, and those who matter to me, right up.
I am gutsy and tenacious yet mostly gracious.
I can carry a tune in the car and the shower like nobody's business.
I love my knack for decorating a room and my sense of color.
I love to cook deliciously and decadently and each time things come out a bit different than the last time I made them.
I've got me some seriously luscious lips and thick dark wavy hair that shines.
My eyes turned from blue to green around the age of sixteen and I couldn't be more pleased.
I am a fiercely loyal friend and mama and lover.
I have an amazingly diverse, solid, supportive smattering of gut-level friends who are close and far, female and male, and lovely each and every one.



(Also, for your perusal - I was long overdue for a sidebar update and have rectified the situation.)

Music Monday again! Yay! Let's get right to it...

Artist of the Week
Teddy Thompson

Album of the Week
Separate Ways

Song and Lyric of the Week

Separate Ways
“Come rolling into town unaware
Of the power that you have over me
And what am I to do with "hello, how are you?"
Nothing's ever said that should be.

And I don't care about you if you don't care about me.
We can go our separate ways if you want to.
The ties of love are strong but they can be undone.
And we'll go our separate ways if you want to.

I'm turning into me, not you.
I can change my mind not my blood
and not all who love are blind.
Some of us are just too kind
we forgive too much and never speak our minds.

(repeat chorus)

I'm giving up on you
And I'll turn my heart to something new
and we'll go our separate ways if you want to.
Yeah, if you want to.

I stood out in the rain,
holding my breath,
waiting for you.
You never came.
You broke my heart.
You broke my heart.
I know who's to blame,
You're to blame.

(repeat chorus)
if you want to...if you want to...if you want to......”

Music Memory of the Week
Eons ago while living in Los Angeles and working for a record company and being married pre-baby we used to go to the Tower Records on Sunset Boulevard. Don't know if it remains this way but it used to be so great to hang out there. The people-watching was fantastic, the employees always had hidden gems that they would share with you and they hosted little live in-store gigs several times a week.

My ex is a guitar player and adored Richard Thompson. I learned of Richard's guitar virtuosity through said ex. On one of our visits to the store I noticed a cardboard box with entry forms attached to win 'tickets' to a live in-store performance to see Richard. I busily filled out forms with each of our names and slipped them in without being noticed. Several days passed and while I was at work, our home phone rang and announced to the ex that he had 'won'. Can you imagine the points I scored for this? We were among a crowd of maybe 30 people sitting at Richard's feet while he played and played. I will never forget it.

Now fast forward fourteen or so years...I head out to the mailbox and find my first subscription copy of Paste Magazine, immediately pop in the included mix disc, and get back to work. But what is this? This song that is tugging at me...hmmm...who IS that?...must find out. So I head to this Teddy Thompson guy's website only to find that he is the prodigious offspring of one Richard and Linda Thompson (yes, his mother sings as well - and check out the t-shirt he wears above). Now, how's that for full circle?

I promptly downloaded the album Separate Ways from iTunes and it has played over and over and over since last Friday inducing goosebumps and watery eyes and bursts of singing from my lips.

And I have decided that I like the Son better than the Father...

...when her kid comes home all teary and sweaty from the duress of 'misplacing' his bike helmet at school? Well she forces him into the nearest vehicle and straight to happyville (i.e. 31 Flavors) and lets him get THIS:

...ahem. Yes, I fully subscribe to the 'Bribery Works' school of parenting.



And now I'm off to total geek heaven because the Crack Fairy (otherwise referred to as the UPS driver) visited this morning. Ya, he brought me THIS:

Oh joy of joys! Get ready for photo overkill around this joint! Woop!

Have a most excellent weekend type experience you all...

"I've accomplished more in the last month than in the 3 or 4 months prior. I feel more focused!" - Big Joan, Hudson, WI

"Coach BJ's coaching services have greatly benefited my private practice. Their experience in the field, combined with their excellent coaching skills greatly helped me. I did loads of research to find them and it was all worth it in the end!" - Andi, Lansing, MI

"If I knew I only had 6 months to live, I would want Coach BJ to coach me to my last week. I mean that." - Mildred, Bend, OR

"CoachBJ has a great tool that helps you keep your head still and eyes down at contact." - Edie, Tampa, FL

"There are not enough great words in the dictionary to describe Coach BJ, my personal coach/private cheerleader. Her intelligent, insightful manner combined with her patient care, guidance and "hand-holding" have changed my life immensely! Thank you muchly, Coach BJ!" - Jane, Pittsburgh, PA

knitting book.

For oh so many reasons but especially because of this

You can see it being assembled by the author's Dad here.

Heck, maybe someday I'll even make it.

They say it is genetic. You can either curl your tongue (flip it over, on it's side) or you simply can't. I certainly can. Does that tell you anything important about me? Not really.

Maybe it tells you more about me that I have difficulty putting any of my ugly photos up here.

And that leads me a step further into thinking...do I really want you to know me? Do I really want anyone to know me? What if when you find out the truth you turn tail and run?
Away.
As fast as you can.

Then, THEN, I'll know that all those harsh self assessments that have bashed around inside my head for as long as I can remember are really true. I'll finally have proof that I've had everyone fooled all along.

Just as I suspected.


more spc here

Artist of the Week
Brazilian Girls

Album of the Week
Brazilian Girls

Song and Lyric of the Week
Sirenes De La Fete
Allons-y!
Faisons un tour á la tour eiffel, á rencontrer cette japonaise, tres tres belle.
Dans la main une camera en plastique, ces chaussures dernier cri, On lui dit, You're tres chic.
On l'emmene, sûr une isle au millieu de la seine, virtuelle de cette nuit,
Cette nuit mortelle, on la prend,
On la prend par la main, et on commence.

Laisse rentrer la lumiere dans ta tête, sors tout-ce que t'as dedans, dis-moi quelque chose de Grand, concentre-toi, t'entends les sirenes de la fête? Tu sais c'que j'en pense, moi?
Je veux me reveiller, me reveiller avec toi!

On va danser á poile dans les rêves des tous les garçons, voler d'étoile en étoile, sur le dos d'un dragon,
Dans les bras de la lune, on peut tout oublier, mais dans ce paradis, on
Risque de s'ennuyer... t'endends les sirenes, les sirenes de la fete,
Tu sais ce que j'en pense....
Je veux me reveiller...

Music Memory of the Week
As you may have intuited from the picture above, I saw this band Saturday night (with my girl B). Wow. I will start by telling you that I chose the song Sirenes De La Fete because the lyrics are in French. The songs this band sings in English are, shall we say, somewhat suggestive? In fact, the band chose their name in part so that people would get some crazy google hits when searching for them (use your imagination).
There is only one girl in this band.
They are not Brazilian.
They sing in five different languages.
And they are great. Really great. I think the thing that is most disconcerting to me is that they are tagged as a "lounge" or "chillout" style which is fairly accurate with the album.

But live?

Well live they are LOUD and intense and surprising and exhausting and fantastic. Sabina Sciubba (vocalist) performed the entire show with a thin white cloth over her face (see below). She drank white wine through the cloth. Applied lipstick to her 'mouth' over the cloth. And mascara to her 'eyes' on the cloth. And wore all white. And danced seductively with that beautiful rig of hers. She did want a little too much audience participation - she couldn't make it through a few lines without pointing the microphone at us for a sing-a-long. But overall - highly recommended.

Honestly, I think I am enjoying the show more and more as I think back. It has been a while since a show has just flat out surprised me.

Hoora, Brazilian Girls, hoora!

The Bay Arcade, Balboa Peninsula, Newport Beach, California, July 2005.




...and you close your eyes for just one moment and then the photo strip spits out and surprises you with what has been in front of you for longer than you are willing to admit. It has been staring you in the face more in little bits day by day but you just haven't wanted to see it quite yet...


...your beautiful little baby has become a beautiful young man.




Go visit our hula for more photobooth fridays.

1975 - les & candy

she taught me to wear big hoop earrings and lipstick.
she taught me how to cook.
she taught me how to throw a really good party.
she taught me to laugh loud and hard.
she taught me not to be afraid of the ocean.
she taught me how to speak my mind.
she taught me how to stand up for myself.
she taught me how to cuss (but admittedly, I have taken this to a whole new art form).

happy birthday, mom.

2002 - candy & her grandkids

maybe someday we will really know one another.
because i love you.

i really do.

This little hat uses the same concept as the woofy hat I posted a few weeks back except instead of the in-the-round-seam-at-the-top of that version this is the make-rectangle-seam-up-the-sides version.

This a VERY simple and widely used idea. I really like to play up the "ears" and have embroidered a little flower here for full effect.

SIZE:
variable (shown, baby size - 16" circumference total)

MATERIALS
Jo Sharp Silk Road Aran(85% Wool/10% Silk/5% Cashmere) in Alabaster, less than one ball total.
also, minimal amount of complimentary color yarn for ears and embroidery (optional)

any length straight US #8 (or circular needle if you prefer to work that way)

tapestry needle

embroidery needle (optional)

DIRECTIONS
Figure out how many inches around you want the hat and then do the math for your yarn/gauge. When you know the total amount of stitches you will need to get the circumference - halve it and cast on that amount.
NOTE: To make seed stitch easier, always cast on an uneven number of stitches. That way you will always start a row with a knit stitch and will end up with seed (or moss) stitch.
Do five rows of seed (moss) stitch and then continue in stockinette stitch for approximately 10 inches from the beginning of the work (for baby size).
Finish with 5 rows of seed stitch and then bind off.
I blocked mine at this point because stockinette curls in on itself so much and makes seaming more difficult.
Fold the piece in half lengthwise (seed stitch will become the border) with RS facing you and mattress stitch up the sides.
Then, duplicate stitch the pale pink triangles at each front top corner for 'ears.
Embroider a flower for some sass.
Voila!

(this is a particularly good way to get out of the last minute "Sh*t! I've got a baby shower in two days and no present!" dilemma. Like the one I was in. Ahem.)

xmas eve.
sayulita, mexico.
solo.



















Several years ago I agreed with much trepidation, and on a trial basis, to try an every other xmas plan in regards to custody of my boy. The first year was blissful as I shared every magical moment with PickleBoy at my side.
But ,
then ,
as the second year of the arrangement began to loom,
heavy clouds of anxiety gathered around me.
However would I make it through?

My Sister started in on me and didn't let up until I hit the 'purchase' button for my airplane ticket to Mexico. Just 1 ticket. I had been to Mexico many times before and I speak just enough of the language to get by, but,
alone?

I boarded the plane on December 22nd. Melancholy music poured into my ears as I stared out the little oval watching the world speed away beneath me, a few tears. Three hours later my taxi driver sped me the thirty five miles north of the Puerto Vallarta airport to the little village and we chatted about all sorts of things - he spoke no English. "Hey, maybe I know more than I think I do!" ran through my head as he popped open his trunk and showed me the toys he had bought to give to his children for xmas and beamed at me with a big beautiful smile...my bungalow had an outdoor kitchen and living room with a hammock...I walked through an old cemetary to get to the gentle beach...I bought handmade shrimp tamales off the back of a happy, wizened old man's four wheeler for lunch and ran into the ocean to wash my hands...I sipped tequila con hielo y limon that I'd bought at the liquor store as I watched the sun sink into the Pacific...I hiked forty five minutes through the jungle to find a huge deserted beach I had heard about...I made friends from Canada that I will visit someday...I ate 'street' tacos from the stand on the corner...I dozed away several afternoons lying in the sand and letting the salt dry and crystallize on my arms...and so much more.

I found some of me that I had not known before.
I liked what I found.

more spc here...

Artist of the Week
Bitter:Sweet

Album of the Week
Mating Game

Song and Lyric of the Week

Mating Game
“Dance with me across the ocean floor
Sail away to heaven's open door
Step right up you're the next contestant
In this sweet charade
Take a number, wait while I twist your fate

On the mating game
Mating game

Hold me close enough to drink my rose
The devil in my pocket turned to gold
Sorry to warn you, you're in a daze
Tonight I'll love you, but tomorrow go away

Step right up who's the next contestant
In this sweet charade?
Take a number, wait while I tease you sane

On the mating game
Mating game"

heh.

Music Love of the Week

They sound like a hybrid of Zero 7 and Pink Martini – yum. But, more importantly, I found this band through Nic.

Ah, yes, Nic Harcourt.

See, being a self-admitted music junky it is increasingly hard for me to get a good fix. You know, find some tunes that are new and inspiring to me and give me the juice. Nic is my best pusher and he never lets me down. He plays a lot of the stuff I already love but then slides new great stuff into the mix every day.

Nic Harcourt puts together a live program called Morning Becomes Eclectic weekdays on KCRW out of Los Angeles from 9a to 12p PST. They have a live performance by a different band at 11:20a during each show as well. This man broadcasts the best damn stuff being put out right now and yes, you too, can listen via online stream. But there’s more! KCRWmusic.com has most of the archived shows. You can subscribe to the show via podcast on iTunes and even get the free Top Tune of the day subscription via iTunes. They have made it easy for you to get hooked so, please, do yourself this favor.

If you are interested in a good reference book, well, Nic has written that, too. It is called Music Lust and is filled with excellent suggestions. Buy it.

But maybe Beck said it best when he said, "Nic is a rare, forward-thinking voice in radioland...One still feels they will run into the unexpected or stumble onto some loose jewel with his broadcasts."

Damn, I wish I'd said that.

The not-so-goods:
1. I paid SuperDale $150 to find out that there was nothing wrong with my laptop. I had the cord plugged into LAN1 instead of WAN on my router.
2. I got a letter about PickleBoy from his school that said he had been naughty.
3. My new camera didn't come all day yesterday.
4. I had to go to the grocery store and deal with a bunch of bozos.
5. It is cloudy-grey-&-cold-windy outside.
6. I have to meet with my accountant and do my delayed and expensive taxes tomorrow.
7. I'm not taking part in Photobooth Friday this week.
8. The blog has been pathetic and sucky this week.

The antidote to the not-so-goods:
1. There was spyware that needed to be removed from my laptop anyway and the real reason that I plugged the cord into the wrong jack was that the living room got painted all fresh and clean last week and when I put everything back together - well, I did it wrong. But the living room looks fantastic and has made me feel as if I have a whole new room.
2. Turns out PickleBoy sorted out the mix-up all on his own. I received an email from the affected teacher that he was quite talented and that everything would be just fine. He made me a Greek scramble for breakfast this morning.
3. The camera was waiting for us at 9 pm on the front step when I picked PickleBoy up from swim practice. That FedEx driver was out super late but came anyway.
4. I bought armloads of fresh tulips and orchidiolas and renunculas from Trader Joes and on my way home stopped at the Salvation Army just in case. Can you say vintage handknit sweater from Italy...
and vintage typewriter (that I have been searching for months for) in perfect condition???
5. The sun is trying really hard to poke through - I just know it's gonna.
6. My accountant is cute and funny and he always makes me feel better - not to mention the load that will be taken off once this is done.
7. Not a direct antidote for this one except that my heart is winging it's way over to Our Lady of the Photobooth today. She's having a rough one. Please go visit her and give her some of your love.
8. Next week is gonna be awesome around this old blog because I'm gettin' back in the swing, babies!

So, from me to you on this wacky yet hopeful day...have a truly good weekend and do something unexpected and nice for yourself.

You deserve it.

(I, personally, will be making some of my yummy made-from-scratch margaritas and heading off to good friends for their homemade battered fish tacos with cabbage and lime juice and and and...viva Mexico y Cinco de Mayo amigas y amigos!!! Hasta la vista!)

So my formerly foxy laptop is coughing and sputtering with a wee virus at the moment. And on the day my new fantabulous camera is due to arrive no less. And, and, and...sh*t.

Everyone pray SuperDale the Computer Guy will drop everything just for little ol' me today and get me back in the game.

So the cranky old dial-up desktop will have to do (with no photos - hey - you try uploading photos on dial-up!) for now. Don't abandon me yet kids. I'll come back blazin' as soon as Dale is possible.

poot.

Three Things I Really Like About Myself:
1) I am single.
2) I cuss like a truck driver.
3) I am loud.

Three Things I Really Don't Like About Myself:
1) I am single.
2) I cuss like a truck driver.
3) I am loud.

Now go see more Self Portrait Challengers here

...due to technical difficulties (damn comcast) and just plan "too busy to fix the problem", Music Monday for the week of May 1st is canceled. See ya NEXT WEEK!

(edited to disappoint those who checked in yesterday and then again today only to find - no music this week...poot.)