The Vacation Entry

Due to the lack of wireless internet at the Heartbreak Hotel in Memphis, TN, this vacation will be covered in a retrospective manner instead of a daily report format like I had intended.

One word: AWESOME. We had a blast, no major glitches combined with Southern hospitality and clear blue skies for 5 glorious days made for a great vacation. Our pilgrimage was successful in every sense of the word. Elvis lives in Memphis Tennessee, as the billboards around town remind you frequently.

The photo is a montage I scanned of our tickets and maps, etc. We did Memphis in three days, and our heads were full of music and images until our brains hurt. Soul, Blues and Rock and Roll permeated our senses at the hotel, museums and gift shops.

Graceland was glorious and serene. People who say it is gaudy and touristy have corn cobs up their butts. Sure there are lots of tourist traps, but we did our share of buying trinkets: shot glasses, sun glasses, purse, key chains, trays, coasters, guitar tabs, stickers and even a zippo lighter for the 9-year-old. Yes, I'm an excellent mother.

My husband loves Elvis, so this was a perfect vacation for us. He was happy and aside from having heart attacks at how expensive everything was, he lived a dream in a sense. He's been rocking to Elvis music since he was a small child, and truly worships his memory. We learned so much about the man behind the music -- now hubby can really be a Cliff Clavin about Elvis.

And returning home was as remarkable as the vacation. I love the feeling of relaxation after a good vacation -- one that cleanses the soul and refreshes the body.

Enough waxing philosophical: we had a damn good time.

84 Pages

We submitted 84 pages today! Woo Hoo!

We can use our original cover, if we sign our lives away! Woo Hoo!

We have a plan for kicking the asses of those who are not showing up to help! Woo Hoo!

Ah, the glamorous life of a journalism teacher.

Hope

Ranae and I are going to kick ass today and submit over 70 pages to the plant. All I gotta do is get off my butt and take a shower and get there. That is much harder for me to do than one would think: I hate showering. I'd rather sit around in my own stench than hop in the shower. I like being clean; I just hate the process of getting there. In the winter, it's too damn cold when you get out. In the summer, I'm just too damn lazy.

Well, I have hope for the day. We heard back from the card company and I am sending them the artwork today with the hopes they let us use our cover, that has been designed for 8 months now.

I heard yesterday that several seniors are refusing to come in and help; this frustrates me to no end -- it is THEIR book, not mine. I'm just thankful that Ranae is dedicated and works whenever she can. And I hope that next year our online software makes it so we can meet deadlines and I don't have to work all fucking summer.

Hope springs eternal.

The More Things Change...

...the more they stay the same, is how the old adage goes, I think.

I've been going through old photos and scanning them and making these little movies with music and credits and everything. I'm applying what I've learned on the job the past 3 years and actually doing something productive.

I've restored old photos, and preserved many memories well into the future. It feels good.

But I've noticed that even though I appear to be aging rapidly when I look at photos from ten years ago...I feel the same. The same insecurities I had when I was in high school; the same hatred of my body; the same longing to be loved. But I guess I've been lucky -- damn lucky -- in that department. I'm happily married which is more than I can say for most people I know. I love my husband and he loves me.

So I guess I hope that I age gracefully, and can document the day I stop dying my gray hairs with aplomb.

Here's Son #1, newborn, and Sydney Vicious, the wifed haired fox terrier. I took this photo with my old black and white manual camera, and scanned it yesterday. It had a big rip in the middle, but I fixed it as best I could.

I've made progress. I should celebrate. Go Me.

Hey Baby, It's the Fourth of July

That is an excellent song by the band "X" if you ever get a chance to check it out. I tried to find it on youtube to include it here, but the name is impossible to search.

I found it!!!! Well, an excerpt of it anyway.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=6N-c0tnasTE

OK. Now I can relax. I'm into making movies too. . .as of yesterday. Here's my cow Phoon video:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=-oWBum4PtYw

Ok. That's the technological end of this fourth of July holiday. I got sun burnt, is the non-technological story of the parade we attended in a suburb of the capital city of this fine state. Son #1 plays the bari-sax, and he marched in this parade; and niece-in-law did gymnastics in it, so we had the motivation; but the parade sucked. I didn't feel it. We are not going to see fireworks tonight, so I don't have my usual fourth of July routine.

Bah humbug.

So what is this holiday about, I was thinking to myself as I was talking to my cyber-friends from around the world whilst playing games...should I bring it up? Is the US' name mud after Bush and his shenanigans? I opted to not. I'm embarrassed to be an American now....we need help, and soon.

"On the stairs I smoke a
cigarette alone
Mexican kids are shootin'
fireworks below
Hey baby, it's the Fourth of July
Hey baby, it's the Fourth of July"

Too Much Coffee

I'm peeing every 5 minutes and I'm all wound up with no place to go...I know better than to have two cups of coffee. I'm a one cup gal: except for sometimes when I'm feeling a little ornery.

I have an addictive personality, which one may have guessed from reading my innermost thoughts. Caffeine and uppers don't agree with my natural hyperness. Once, I accidentally overdosed on anti-depressants and I swore I'd never drink coffee again. I HATE being wound up and I need help calming down most of the time. Thus, the recent wine binges. Self-medicating is my middle name.

Actually, this pseudonym has no middle name. Just Delani Bleu. Period.

Didn't go into work today. Fuck it. No kids have shown up all week, except for the editor-in-chief, so why bother? I think a Christmas delivery on the yearbook is a nice, attainable goal.

Anybody up for a quick role-playing game? I'm up to level 67 in Mob Wars and level 57 on My Heroes Ability on Facebook. Yup. I'm a geek. Learned from the best. I still keep in touch, almost daily, with Pi, Shownarou, Jedi and Steakboy, plus KFin, MegaDick, Mexi-Boy and Rachmo...those kids will always have a special place in my heart.

Miscellaneous musings of an over-caffeinated brain.

Chapped Lips and a Canker Sore

Ah sheesh. I went in today and nobody showed up. Nadda. No one.

Some yearbook this is gonna be. We might break our old record of October 4th at this rate. I remember because it was my birthday. Sorry Ranae, I know you read this. Kiwi will have to finish it up on Marvin and the gooseneck.

What we've done is good, but this setback with the cover is bugging me. I've written to the company that we need copyright permission from, and I've emailed, and I've called, and all dead ends so far.

DAMN. FUCK. SHIT. PISS. HELL.

Sorry for that turrets moment.

And to top it off, I've got really chapped lips and a canker sore on my tongue. It's not fun, but I keep thinking I have tongue cancer like my step-dad. The odds would be against that, I figure. Maybe I'll go buy a lottery ticket.

Today I've been making music; burning CDs, downloading songs, lightscribing artwork on the CD....a little Foreigner Greatest Hits and Bodeans' Outside Looking In never hurt no one.