Lot's o' Bikes

This picture was taken while driving down Mission, 10am.

Fayetteville Under Siege, or as it's commonly called...Bikes Blues & BBQ

Many thanks to Possum for submitting these pictures from Bikes Blues & BBQ, right before he Got The Hell Out Of Here. I probably would have left town too, if I wasn't obligated to be here this weekend. The plan is to stay as far away from the fray as possible, though. Fayetteville has more than it's fair share of astonishingly stupid drivers and traffic is a pain in the ass around here on a good day; add over 300,000 bikers and we are talking scenes from a NIGHTMARE. A 10 minute drive from Downtown to South Fayetteville morphs into a 35 minute battle to suppress violent road rage. Not to mention the constant roar of bikes from one end of town to the other, which I can hear through my open window now. I'm not even ANYWHERE NEAR ground zero, either.

In years past, I have looked forward to BB&BBQ as an excuse to go out with the girls at night and an outing with my son to see the bikes during the day. But, this year the traffic and the quest for parking just seems like too much of an obstacle. My boy wasn't even interested in going.

God, I'm sounding like all those Fayetteville snobs, endlessly whining about all the things that "Keep Fayetteville Funky". Au contraire, I'm all for it! I love that Fayetteville is such a shiny happy town that you can mix thousands of bikers and countless drunk locals in a confined area and it's still called child-friendly(at least during the daylight hours). There are very few problems given the magnitude of the event; it's one of the largest bike rallies in the country! I do realize how lucky I am, despite the inconvenience to my routine once a year.

I'm just going to opt out this year, that's how I'm feeling now anyways. If for some reason I do find myself down there...I'll be sure to have my camera.

Life's Too Short for Sensible Shoes

"Shoes turn you into someone else. You can't be a dominatrix in a sneaker. If you are in a high heel, you are in pain, and you are going to make someone pay for it."
Natacha Marro, maker of custom fetish boots in London

There's an article in the September National Geographic about shoes. The pictures by Mitchell Feinberg are so cool they make me want to strut around in all those over-the-top shoes. What I really found interesting though was the quote from June Swann: Shoe Historian, at the beginning of the article. "Shoes are the best indication of how people are feeling." So, that made me wonder what my shoes, stacked Abu Ghraib style in a corner by my closet, were saying about how I'm feeling. (I think they are saying I had a busy week.) The right pair of shoes can make all the difference, though. After a particularly trying week, I once had a boyfriend give me a pair of "feel-better-shoes", and it worked! You never have to worry about shoes turning on you and becoming too snug if you slack at the gym or hit the chocolate a little too hard either. Not like those bastards, blue jeans.

I'm not a big fan of the sensible shoe; they just aren't any fun to shop for. But, there is a time and a place for everything and if Moses had been a woman he would have insisted on an Eleventh Commandment...Thou Shall Dress for the Occasion. So, as I've gotten older I have come to terms with the fact that there are times when the Nikes and even the Tevas are necessary. Conversely, there are times when only a 3 inch stiletto will do. It's all about adaptability. And shoes, like hair color, allow you to easily become someone else. At least for a little while.

Nerdy in the extreme and whiter than sour cream...

Weird Al is back with a new video called "White & Nerdy". You guessed it, parodying Chamillionaire's "Ridin'". I don't know about y'all, but whenever I think about Weird Al I see a montage of various people from my past singing their own favorite Weird Al songs. I'll spare you the gory details. I'll just trust that Weird Al holds as dear a place in your heart as mine.

Just in case you haven't had enough, or you doubt the cleverness that is Weird Al...check this out.

Note to Possum: I love you even if this did hit a little close to home. Let's just never speak of the Star Wars Holiday Special ever again.

New Hair, Just in Time for Fall!

If you're a fly gal, then get your nails done.
Get a pedicure, get your hair did."
- "Work It", Missy Elliot






I've never been a brunette before! The four hours that I have been though have been lots of fun, you know...scaring myself when I walk by a mirror and such. My stylist is a hoot and we had fun doing something different for a change. In the past, I have been pretty experimental, running the gamut from a platinum blonde Mia Farrow/Rosemary's Baby 'do to hussy red to a rather regrettable yellowish/purple striped atrocity. So yeah, there have been mixed results but overall I'm grateful that God saw fit to bless me with the type of skin tone that if I ever have to run from the law or join the Witness Relocation Program I'll do just fine. Lately, I have kept it pretty tame and blonde; partially out of consideration for Possum's rather refined and conservative sensibilities. Also, because I have noticed that anytime I stray too far, for too long from my blonde "roots" I start getting sorta depressed. I just start feeling not quite myself. But, that's what makes it so much fun right? It's like being incognito or playing dress-up(which I also still like to do). Make no mistake though, I'm a blonde. There won't be any going over to the other side. I predict fairer follicles by spring.

E-mail8Ball

I absolutely love everything about this!


Speaking of relinquishing all control over your own life...I had an idea the other day in the shower....Life by Consensus, the politicians have been doing it for years. How about instead of letting fate or a CD decide, you let your friends? Who better? Everyone has a sh*tload of e-mail contacts, folks who know you from different places and know different aspects of your personality, so the next time you are puzzled by life...just poll everyone in your address book. Or better yet, why not let your friends make EVERY major life decision....hell, even minor life decisions? The word's out that kids these days are vacillating to the point of ineffectualness anyways. So, give up soul- searching, logic and quiet contemplation. Where the hell has that got you? Just Dear Abby your friends, they actually know you and you'll have a variety of answers to choose from. Better yet, make it a yes/no either/or type question and majority rules! I couldn't do it, I'm entirely too hard-headed and opinionated. Here's a list of qualifications for the candidate we need for our little social experiment:

1) Must have extensive e-mail contact list. Friends must not be too squeamish or preoccupied with their own life to play along.

2) Must be impressionable enough for this to seem like a good idea.

3) Must have an affinity for statistical methods.

4) Must have already F'd up things enough all on your lonesome.

5) Ability to condense every life choice into a yes/no, either/or question a plus.

6) Must be connected enough to be able to drop everything and e-mail your group anytime you are indecisive. (Should I take that job? Should I go out with that guy? Is it too "Fall" for flip-flops?)

7) When the majority speaks, you must listen.

So basically what we are looking for is a wimpy nerd with no life, who's online all the time. Are you picturing someone right now? So, if you or someone you know wants to try it...DO IT! And, for goodness sake tell me how it works out! Could be interesting.

Who, me??? Bipolar???

My many moods this week. (Is it really only Wednesday?)

Frazzled: Work, errands, bills, half-assedly working out, and all the other usual stuff has proved daunting this week.

Ecstatic: I saw the greatest goal ever scored! Live and by my favorite soccer player of all time :-)

Amused: Here's something for my redheaded friends. Just don't get carried away, unless you are fed up with being Caucasian.

Excited: I get new hair on Saturday! I'm thinking of doing something REALLY drastic. I think I'm going to go much darker(because I'm fed up with being Caucasian..uh, maybe just blonde.) A lot of this is speculation and depends entirely on the mood of my stylist at the time. She pretty much does what she wants and because she's fabulous, I let her!

Aggravated: The more I write the cheesier this sounds and frankly that just makes me pissed off.

Highlight of the weekend: Eating ice cream with Possum by the train tracks; watching an ambulance, fire truck, AND police cruiser respond to a passed-out drunk on the street. Don't ya just love this town?

I Still Love wikiHow!

I really wish I had read this a few weeks ago! ;-)

Let's all cheer...Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink!

Last night, Possum and I watched the Champions League game between Manchester United and Celtic that he had TiVoed. It came on at 1:30pm, so I had to avoid the computer and any possible online spoilers for the rest of the day...hence, no post yesterday. This was a really fun game. The guy with the coolest name in soccer scored a goal, so we got to hear the commentators say Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink a bazillion times! I think they got as much joy out of saying it as I did out of hearing it. Yes, I am easily amused and yes, I did partake of a little wine during the game. Ah, good times. While I appreciated all the JVofH, I think it was pretty clear the commentators weren't rooting for ManU. That goalie's "brush" of Ryan Giggs looked more like a hug to me...and the ref ;-) Now, Giggs is out for a couple of weeks and Possum has to scramble his Fantasy Football lineup. It doesn't affect me, I can't seem to pick anyone who will do anything interesting. If only JVofH would have come to the EPL!

Worth Repeating

OK, so I finally broke down and watched some 9/11 coverage. Tuesday night I watched the TiVoed "Countdown with Keith Olbermann". I hadn't heard anything about his speech at that time and it completely floored me. I had to go back and watch it a second time, then read the transcript Wednesday morning. It's that good! This is the most intelligent, articulate commentary I have heard on TV in a long time. So, watch it if you haven't already. Sorry it's taken me so long to share.

If you liked that...you'll love this!

A typical conversation with co-workers...

Sadly, eating is one of the highlights of our workday.



E: I'm gonna eat this last petit four.

L: You should eat that last petit four.
(note: said petit four is over a week old)

E: I microwaved it.

L: You heated up cake?! That's just gross sounding.

Me: C'mon, the microwave will rejuvenate anything. Throw a wet paper towel on it and it's good as new!

E: **garbled talking with mouth full** four thousand **more unintelligible mouth full talking** man.

Puzzled looks from me and L.

E: **mouth empty now** I said...they should microwave that four thousand year old man they found.

L: Of course you did!

E: You know...like in National Geographic.

Me: Are you talking about the peat bog people? Are you saying that they should take the bog man, cover him with a wet paper towel and microwave him? To rejuvenate him???

E: Well, it may take more than one paper towel, maybe like twenty.

fin

E has earned the reputation for being "random" and we love her for it. Only the truly brilliant can appreciate the tenuous link between petit fours and peat bog people.

Escapism

An old boyfriend once said that he had lived in Madison County for six months before he met anyone with a full set of teeth...All of the pictures in the previous post were taken while on a hike in Madison County. I didn't really have any up close encounters with any residents while on the hike, but some of my best friends have lived there at one time or another so I can assure you they are not all periodontally challenged. That being said, I did see an assortment of wormy dogs! (See the previous post and say hi to one of 'em!) I also saw lots of folks riding their four-wheelers on the main road! So what do you do in a situation like this...When for a brief moment you find yourself outside the constraints of traffic, busy-body locals and pesky city ordinances and find yourself in the glorious white-trash freedom that is rural Arkansas? You shoot off fireworks in the middle of the road, of course!



C'mon, don't y'all all carry fireworks on hikes?

Today has been a day and I'm about to call it. I left home at 7:30am and didn't return until after 7:30pm. The good thing about being busy all day is that I hardly had a moment to even realize The Date. In fact I've been able to avoid the media entirely. It's not that I don't care that it's 9/11, or that I wish to forget what those three numbers will forever be associated with. In fact, I thought about it several times today and over the past couple of days. I've just been able to reflect on it without the media ipecac of patriotic songs, boys choirs, moments of silence and rhetoric. I'm afraid that would have only made me angry.

Good night, and thanks again to everyone who made the arduous journey over from MySpace to see me:-) Thanks for the comments, y'all. See ya around.

Deliverance-NWA

Here We Go Again

Why howdy-doo everybody. This is my new blog ...Just for all my loyal friends who have expressed their profound sadness at my MySpace departure...uh hum. Seriously, I do appreciate the fact that so many of you actually read the darn thing and I do hope that it's not too much trouble to just bookmark this page and check in occasionally...Just to keep in touch. So if you are interested, this is where I'll be!

Here's what's going on...

Soccer and lots of it. The EPL season is back and in full swing. Let's not talk about my fantasy football team tho...It sucks ass.

Cooler temps means hiking! The picture above was taken on a hike last weekend. I'm about to go on a hike with my neighbor in a few minutes, once it cools off a little bit. Maybe I'll get some cool pictures to share!

That's all for now. Thanks for stopping by!