Yep, That's About Right
Anybody who's ever had a big crazy ass dream needs to run, not walk, to see the new documentary "Man on Wire". It's the story of Philippe Pettit's 1973 wirewalk between the two towers of the World Trade Center. Part heist story, part portrait of an artist, it's a gripping film that's near impossible to watch without accompanying jaw dropping.
I don't think that running mates, even if they are of opposite sexes, should kiss. There's more than enough puckering up in politics people, how about a nice firm handshake instead?
I have been ODing on the political coverage this week-like the Olympics I love the DRAMA of it all. I love the convention people all in a bother in their funny hats and the cable TV press teams all stumbling over themselves to make their points. And I love it today that I feel like I, the Hoyden, have a special insight. Not only have I actually heard of Wasilla, Alaska I've been there. I lived in Alaska for 2 years and can say, as a person who worked retail there, that Alaskans, native, Native or transplants, are independent thinkers with strong opinions. That's why they are attracted to and love such a wild place. As a people they speak plainly and aren't afraid to take a stand. So for that reason I say if a 'maverick' is what John McCain was looking for, picking an Alaskan almost guarantees you'll get one.
So I was driving back from KY yesterday (and yes, I do feel like I need my own mile marker on I-75) in my new thrift store shirt. It's a Fang one, chocolate brown with the words SPICY in orange sequins on the front. Yeah, it might be a bit young but I only had to pay the child's tee price for it (that's $1.50 for those of you keeping track at home) and I am still enjoying my recentish weight loss enough to like the way the snug shirts look. Plus, "Tight Tee Shirt" is my declared summer song. But after the third or fourth rest stop (yeah, it was one of THOSE drives) when the senior citizen WITH A WALLEYE leered at me and said, in what I assume he thought was a rogueish voice, "Is spicy really your name? Heh, heh (cough)" I wished I had worn something else. For pete's sake I was going for sassy not stripper on a day off. (Like that would ever be a likely mistake.) After all, the rest of the line from the song is "tight tee shirt/on a real sweet girl".
I love Rick Bragg.
Sometimes, when the big stuff is too scary or just too much to contemplate-it's the little things that save the day. Like discovering that Ryan Adams' blog is back (it's wacky yeah, but never not interesting) or that they're making Alpha bits again. (I love Alpha bits!).
A Meditation on Jeff Black's "Sunday Best"
I have been applying for jobs like mad in the last month or so but of the 17 jobs I have applied for through Craigslist (yeah, it's so 21st century) the one I was most intruiged by was one I was least qualified for. Last week in the etc category (the etc jobs are always the best) there was an ad for a ring girl. You know, the girls at a boxing match who walk around the ring in a bikini between rounds with the round number signs..yeah, them.
Well, it has been a trying week to say the least. In case there was any doubt it got erased quick when my best friend said, "What's next? A plague of locusts?" and I could only agree. From the late night emergency visit to the animal hospital 2 hours away to the flooded apartment, it's felt like the Bataan Death March of petsitting. Extreme coping skills were the order of the day.
I am a total Olympic nerd. I pretty much love everything about it. The "we never met a heartwarming story we didn't like" coverage, the tearjerker commercials-I love it all. I'm especially fond of the Parade of Nations. I like bearing witness to these athletes' Olympic experience knowing that for most of them this is their Olympic experience. I also like the parade because I get surprised every time by some new country I never heard of. (Timor-Leste anyone? Gabon? Tuvalu?) It makes the world seem smaller in the best possible way.
From Ryan Adam's website:
So the part I left out of my previous post was Friday's unpleasantness. I was busting my hump moving furniture around the store getting ready for the party when a customer standing by the front door was greeted by another customer walking in. They moved quickly through the pleansantries and then got to the meat of conversation which was some of the worst racist talk I have ever heard in real life, all delivered as casually as discussing the weather. I won't get specific except to say this was straight up bile, so caustic it could peel paint.