A few weeks ago when I asked Homer if he'd go see Josh Rouse with me, his response was, "I don't even know who that is." But being the good sport he is, he agreed to go any way.

We had dinner at Grill and once again, I had the most health conscious item on the menu.

Looking at this photo I took of Homer last night, I realize he's wearing the exact same thing he wore the last time we ate at Grill in April. Weird.

How is it that I've lived in Arizona for ten years and never been to Club Congress? I've been by it plenty of times and attended a few concerts across the street at the Rialto, but never even set foot in the door. What a shame that is, because I now have a favorite venue for seeing concerts. The show was awesome. Small, intimate but not dive-y or gross. And the stage is beautiful. Josh and his band did a great set of songs and played all of my favorites, including Love Vibration.

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And the love/hate relationship I have with what's left of my hair continues.

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Today, the mighty sun god decided to be kind to the peoples of Phoenix and give us a reprieve from his balls-stuck-to-the-legs-hot temperatures. (Thank you Wayne for that new descriptor.)

Today was gorgeous! Just the right amount of sun and the right amount of breeze. I just walked outside and a wall of nighttime heat didn't smack me in the face. I need to check the tires on my bike. Me thinks nighttime bike rides are in order. (Don't worry. It has a light on it.)

After being cooped up all summer protected by ice cold A/C and the greatest invention of all time, the ceiling fan, it was such a treat actually WANT to be outside.

Thomas and I took a walk around Tempe Town Lake. Many other people had the same idea. The cutest couple asked us if one of us would take their picture for them. They were adorable.

It's days like these that make the horrendous summers worth it.

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My maternal grandmother died this morning. She was my last living grandparent. She and I were not particularly close, not for any specific reason other that distance. We've always lived very far a part. Growing up my family had no money to travel, so I rarely saw my mother's family in the east. I saw Granny, as she liked to be referred to, only three, maybe four times ever. The last time was when I was in high school.

The second time I saw her, I was in junior high. My mother and I took the bus across country to visit her family. After picking us up from the bus station, we stopped at a restaurant to eat. After dinner, the waiter brought the dessert cart over and my grandmother said I could have anything I wanted. I picked a slice of carrot cake. I'd never had carrot cake before and it looked interesting. After I devoured it, Granny asked me if I liked it and I told her it was delicious.

Two years later, my mother and I took another bus trip to visit her family again. At my grandmother's house, she was busy preparing a big meal in our honor. She took my hand and said she wanted to show me something. We walked into the kitchen and she revealed a freshly frosted carrot cake. She told me she made my favorite... just for me. I looked a little confused — my favorite was chocolate cake with cinnamon — but said thanks and told her I was looking forward to having a piece.

Later, I pulled my mother aside and asked about the cake. She reminded me about the carrot cake two years prior. Even though that was the only time I'd ever had carrot cake, in my grandmother's eyes, it was my favorite. Since I was her only grandchild that didn't live near to her, therefore not knowing well, she clung to whatever she could from those few and far between moments we had together.

After that and to this day, carrot cake is one of my favorite desserts.

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Permalink | File Under: Nostalgia

After The Greg™ shared with me the site icanhasderbygirlz.com, I mentioned that one day there will be a LOL site for everything. My current faves are LOLpresident, I Can Has Fug and LOL80s.

The Greg™ responded with, "I'm still waiting for the LOLbrian sites to start cropping up. Attached is my contribution."

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I ran across a notebook I used years ago. I bought it on clearance after Halloween at Old Navy. It has glow-in-the-dark witches on it.

I used it for general note taking. There are some notes from my job two companies ago. A VERY specific grocery list; I didn't just list "potatoes" but "Alexia Natural Potatoes." Some guy's phone number. A few random doodles.

And then I found a page of quotes which puzzle me. I'm not a quote person. I don't actively seek out quotes or use them a lot, unless I'm quoting YouTube vidoes. ("LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE!") I can't remember where or why I wrote these down. Judging by them, I must have been in a healing phase.

"The only journey is the one within."
-- Rainer Maria Rilke

"Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does."
-- William James

"Nothing can bring you peace but yourself."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Wow. Do you feel reaffirmed? I know I do.

It's weird seeing this page, because it's SO unlike me. I wonder what spirit stole my hand and forced me to write these. But then I turn the page and find one more quote and realize otherworldly spirits were not at play. It really was me who wrote these down.

"Even if the voices aren't real, they have some pretty good ideas."
-- Unknown

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If you are reading this via an RSS reader, then you aren't seeing the fruits of my web design labor this weekend, so do me a favor and pop on over the the site proper and take a gander at the new site template.

When I redesigned the site last time, my intention was to change up the cassette tapes in the header with new music and spruce up the logo graphic every once in a while to mark the seasons.

Obviously, that never happened.

The problem with the old template was it wasn't a blank enough canvas to ever inspire me to change it much. It was just so...blue, which has been the overall theme for four of the five previous site templates. There just wasn't enough there to really work with. That and I had a lot of Doctor Who to watch.

White is a pretty blank canvas, wouldn't you say? I drew inspiration for this layout from a few designers I like who do very clean design. Looking for the side bar? It's waaaay down there on the bottom now. The biggest improvement is one you won't see directly. Instead of nasty tables (which I secretly love), this layout is entirely built in CSS. Can I get an amen?

As for the current banner, I used these awesome Photoshop brushes for the design. With Dia De Los Muertos just around the corner, I thought it would be a nice theme to start with.

PS - If you see something that doesn't work or looks screwy, let me know.

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Permalink | File Under: Banners, Blogging

I called Homer this morning to sing "Happy Birthday To You." I've always thought that song was public domain, but Homer pointed out it is in fact protected by copyright.

WTF? It's the effin' birthday song? And people are making money off it? Inconceivable!

Any who, be sure to pop over to Homer's World and wish him a happy (non-copyright infringement) birthday.

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I sit with my back to the entrance to my cubicle in the corner. Usually I am listening to my iPod while I work so people are constantly sneaking up behind me. (When I'm working of course. NEVER when I'm reading Mo Rocca's blog. I would never do that.)

So I installed a highly sophisticated security system to alert me of approaching visitors. Here, Korina demonstrates how fine-tuned this surveillance solution is.

Caught in the act!

Now to find some Windex to take care of those fingerprints.

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Last month marked a decade since I first set foot in the Valley of the Sun. Taking a prompt from page 49 of No One Cares What You Had for Lunch: 100 Ideas for Your Blog by Maggie Mason, here's my last ten years.

1997: Moved to Arizona in a car with no air-conditioning or windows that rolled down. In August. What was I thinking?

1998: Bought a car with air-conditioning AND working windows thankyouverymuch. Julie moves to Phoenix. We will be roommates for the next nine years. Began volunteering at the GLBT community center.

1999: My father dies. My only concern not attending his funeral is possibly offending my grandmother. My grandmother, one of the sweetest souls I've ever known, says she understands and it's okay.

2000: Received an award for volunteer work at the GLBT community center. Had to unexpectedly hug a large, sweaty lesbian on the stage of the Orpheum Theater.

2001: Started this blog.

2002: Visited New York City for the first time. Minor fender bender sets off major depression.

2003: Started therapy with the biggest quack. Had the good sense to flee. Julie and I move from our modest crack pad in Tempe to swanky new digs in Old Town Scottsdale. My mom visits during Christmas.

2004: Nothing sends you running back to the therapist couch faster than your mother visiting during the holidays. Worked out some major stuff and took some not-so helpful medication. Tripping the blog fantastic and meeting bloggers Adam, Dyanna, Kacy and Homer.

2005: My grandmother dies. After two days in Oklahoma, I was never more happy to see the desert skyline. For the first time in a long time, I felt like I was home.

2006: Started a new career that I love, love, love. Named Roller Derby Fan of the Month. Oh, and produced the hottest dance track ever. (See Thomas. There was a time when I publicly mocked other people.)

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OMFG you've got to be kidding me! It's stories like this that make me hate people. Since when do airlines have dress codes for passengers? You know who should have a dress code? The flight attendants. When Adam and I went to Portland, the sole male flight attendant wore shorts and a knit top while the female flight attendants wore button-down shirts and slacks. Guess who looked more like a professional and less like a valet at the Cheesecake Factory?

While I'm on a roll, here's some shit I want to outlaw.

• Babies on planes. Children, aka germ-carrying noise makers, should not be allowed to fly until they are old enough to fear adults and sit down and STFU.

• Don't believe in science? Fine. No medicine for you. Let's see how long you last.

• What is up with podcasters checking their ringing cell phones while recording? How rude. Focus people.

What's pissing you off today?

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Homer took time away from his busy schedule of ferreting out fake bloggers to let me take him to lunch for his birthday. His birthday isn't for a couple of weeks, but I wanted to give him his gifts early so he could start baking.

We had Indian food for lunch.

Then we went to the Sweetwater Wetlands which is a fancy way of saying "sewage treatment plant."

Then we went to the Presidio Park, which I saw two years ago when Homer was excavating it. It looks a little different now.

Afterwards, I drove back home and crashed, enjoying having the house to myself by watching the Doctor Who marathon on BBC America.

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