Uh - Oh !

While wandering downtown Richmond my observant brother in law pointed out that Social Security is looking to lease out their space. We're all in trouble come retirement age.

Handsome Fortune

As soon as I receive that handsome dose, I'll be just ducky.

(Click to enlarge)

Happy 74th

Dad going topless
Originally uploaded by Kiki Marcus

I admit it. I'm a daddy's girl. And today is Dad's 74th. Doesn't look 74, does he? It's the car. Hot cars make old guys look better!

Just for grins and giggles (and as a total rip off from the NY Times) a list of today's date in history:

1781 The planet Uranus was discovered by Sir William Herschel.

1852 "Uncle Sam" made his debut as a cartoon character in the New York Lantern.

1884 Standard Time was adopted throughout the United States.

1901 Benjamin Harrison, the 23rd president of the United States, died in Indianapolis at age 67.

1906 Suffragist Susan B. Anthony died at age 86.

1925 A law went into effect in Tennessee prohibiting the teaching of evolution.

1933 Banks began to re-open after a holiday declared by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

1938 Defense attorney Clarence S. Darrow died at age 80.

1947 The Lerner and Loewe musical "Brigadoon" opened on Broadway.

1964 Thirty-eight neighbors ignored the screams of Kitty Genovese, 28, as she was stabbed to death in Queens, New York. The case came to be a symbol of urban apathy and fear.

1969 Apollo 9 returned to Earth after a mission to test the lunar module that was used in the moon landings.

1980 A jury in Winamac, Ind., found Ford Motor Co. innocent of reckless homicide in the fiery deaths of three young women riding in a Ford Pinto.

1988 Gallaudet University, a liberal arts college for the hearing-impaired, chose I. King Jordan to become the school's first deaf president.

1996 A gunman opened fire on a class of kindergartners at an elementary school in Dunblane, Scotland, killing 16 children and one teacher before killing himself.

2005 Robert Iger was named to succeed Michael Eisner as chief executive of Walt Disney Co.

2009 Happy birthday, Dad.

Things that inspire me

Or, more aptly, people who do.

The few and small amounts of time I've spent with Zack Arias, I've left wanting to be a better person. His quiet strength of spirit inspires me.

I'm not a photographer. And though Zack filmed this for a guest blog post on Scott Kelby's site, I don't believe for an instant that you need to be a photographer to be inspired by this, either.

Reading in Bed

What do I do the first month of the year? A lot of this:



And yes, the dog is old so he does a lot of what is pictured as well.

Saturday at the firehouse

I've written about Weird Neighbor Kid before but not his littler brother, Loud Kid Who Likes to Climb Out 2nd Floor Windows To Crawl On The Roof. Hereafter known as Little Rumpelstiltskin cause he's short, wizened, and stomps his foot when yelling. He also gets very worried when our friend in Animal Control stops by the house for a visit during shift, fearful she's trying to take our dog away. In other words, a typical 7 year old.

Today was his birthday party.

At the Hanover County Volunteer Fire Dept.

They know how to put on a show, lemme tell ya. Starting with a video on fire safety (voice of Gilbert Gottfried as Seemore Smoke, smoke detector had all the adults laughing):



Followed by a full dress-out of a fireman for the kids:


The kids got to play at being a fireman (Birthday Boy pictured here, and can't you just see him ready to stomp his foot?):


And they even got to sit in the firetrucks (Weird Neighbor Kid AKA birthday boy's older brother pictured here):


All culminating in watching the ladder go up on the "big truck" that's pulled out behind Sparkly Punk Mama. (Who has certainly been nominated for coolest mom of the year award.)



Had it been warmer, the kids would've been allow to shoot off the fire hose. Alas, it was bit too chilly and it was time for cake anyways. Firehouse birthday fun was had by all. Including these two goofy oddballs:



Happy birthday Little Rumpelstiltskin. And no more climbing out the window giving me a heart attack, okay?

Weird stuff from our back room Part 1

Do you know what this is?


It is the heated up version of this:


I love lava lamps best when they're just warming up. I got this purple monstrosity in my tweens; we were all desperate to put our own twist on the 60's to build up our courage to smoke a little dope and see if we could, indeed, make love and not war. All that fumbling in parked cars and the woods behind our parents houses were a far cry from making love. At least I can say I've screwed in a snowbank, though. And in a tree. A few other odd places I'd rather not think about for fear I'll start getting jealous of my teenage self having had sex in wonderfully awful places that I wouldn't appreciate until I was too old to try again for fear of going to big people's jail. Lewd in public is not a charge I care to carry around at this stage in the game.

I do still make out to the Doors, though.

Decontruction to Reconstruction

Before I start anything I give this disclaimer: I'm lazy and took these photos with my phone so I could just e-mail them around instead of download and then e-mail. See? Saved myself a step. I like saving steps.

Also? Kinda forgot to do a before shot. This once screen in porch, transformed by the previous owner into a fake wood paneled cave with a wood stove, all set on a huge and cold concrete slab was, uh, something we liked to pretend didn't exist. We were able to perform said ignoring by filling it with weird and worthless junk thus completing the hideousness to such a level one's eye refused to rest on any point when traversing through the space.

But I do have pictures of during. Shall we proceed?




That window? That's where the wood stove USED to be. We no longer have cave like surroundings. What we also don't have: fake wood paneling.





Now with WALLS. Also? INSULATION - no more cold. The other thing you can't see but that I'm pleased about: more then 2 outlets to the room. That means we can plug in the laptop AND lamps. Will wonders never cease.





Today, the horrid green cement slab was covered with gorgeous laminate flooring and the window was trimmed out. Still have painting and painting and more painting to do.

But that's in the days to come. Right now? Right now I'm still sorting that weird and wacky stuff we had stored for years. Anyone interested in a velvet last supper painting?

New York New York is a helluva town

Been MIA for a few months. Apologies all around. Dad was hospitalized for the better part of July. I spent the following 6 weeks taking care of him at home. (His, not mine. Which makes it even more difficult.) And though the old man has internet connectivity, I doubt stories of the medical would amuse and entertain.

Dad got healthy enough for me to leave him just in time to spend a week with the most supportive man I've ever had the privilege to love. We went back to his own home town. New York, New York.

Steve went to the last Mets game at Shea stadium. You can read about his day here. I think he had fun. He sent me off to Guerlain Spa, which just opened this month at the Waldorf=Astoria. That was my thank you gift for giving my seat to his cousin's wife. I owe Lisa, anyway. She convinced me to get my first manicure the day before I got enganged and didn't even tip her hand as to what was really happening. Tell me I haven't married into a fab family and I'll clobber ya.

We did a lot of the touristy things we never get to do when heading up to Westchester to stay with the family. We hit Chinatown, Little Italy, took a carriage ride in the park. As a matter of fact, our carriage let us out in the background shot of something that Carson from Queer Eye for the Straight Guy was filming. If you happen to catch an episode of something with Carson in Central Park and a guy playing hacky sac - I'm the gal with her back to camera petting the horse. His name is Jimmy.

We ate some good food. Club 21, Russian Tea Room, Bull and Bear. And a couple of memorable evenings with the family gwaffing it up at a back table in various parts of the city. (Getting drunk with my brother in law is highly recommended. He tells unbelievable stories when buzzed.)

Mostly, though, we reconnected after spending a scary couple of months taking care of my father. And now I'm back. Recharged and ready to rock.

Hugs to everyone who checked in on me during that rough time. I'll be calling you shortly - I'm buying the first round!

Picking Mulberries

Picking Mulberries
Originally uploaded by Kiki Marcus

So the other day Weird Neighbor Kid (the one who likes to pick wild onions from my yard and eat them) and I decided to pick the last batch of mulberries growing on my tree out back.

See Weird Neighbor Kid? See the container in his hand? See the tree? See the mulberries on said tree?

Yeah.

We ate through about half the container before realizing the batch we picked two days earlier was the last good batch. Cause these berries? The biggest, darkest, juiciest one at end of season? They were all filled with bugs.

Guess we got our protein for the day.

UG.

Back from Vegas

The gals partied a bit...



While the guys watched from atop their high perch...


I managed to clear myself from the casino $70 up. And there was a late night wedding at the exact same drive thru chapel Steve and I got married 5 years ago.

I think that means the company Christmas party was a success. However will they top it next year?

Elvis Presley - Viva Las Vegas

Heading off to the city where we got married... for the company Christmas party. Don't know how we manage under the strain but we muddle through.