A Likely Story!

Did You Know??

This article in Slate had some pretty interesting figures.

Take this factoid, for instance :

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has data on the price of human husbandry. According to the latest estimates, depending on your income, it costs anywhere from $139,110 to $279,450 to raise a child to age 17. And that doesn't include college, or graduate school, or help with the down payment for a starter home. Phillip Longman argues that these are lowball estimates, because they don't account for the forgone wages of a mother. "For a middle-class couple in which the wife works, but takes some time off, I came up with a total per-child cost of $1 million in direct and indirect costs."

Yikes!

Happy Birthday, Part Two

I'm not sure how many years ago it was  that I was sitting at my desk in my home office in San Jose and I'd gotten the phone call that said you'd had a heart attack. Actually, several heart attacks. And you died. Then came back to life. Died again. Then came back...for good this time.

I might forget the actual date, but I will never forget the feeling of hearing that news. All time froze. I froze. To imagine a world without you in it was/is impossible. I was overwhelmed with sadness and disbelief. I called your wife who was so brave and so kind. Always so kind to me. She told me that she'd urged them to use TPA...I think I remember that correctly. Her suggestion saved your life.

The anniversary of your first death is this weekend.  It's been ages since we've talked. I don't want to say December when I was in Denver buying my house was the last time we spoke real-time, but I think it might be. For sure I've left you voicemails since then, but we've never spoken since then. You're really busy, I know. Or at least that's what I tell myself when I don't hear back from you.

The couple of emails have been nice and greatly appreciated. Better than nothing, so I'll take them.

Stuff's been going on lately that takes me back to the issue that swirled around us right after high school graduation...the timeframe that I call 'the beginning of the end'...maybe that's the dramatic side of me coming out, but for me it was the end of what we'd had together for quite a long time. And without giving away too many details, the feelings I experienced then are back with me...didn't like then then, equally hate them now. But at least it's making me think of you, so that's a good thing. Always gotta find a silver lining.

So I've been thinking about decisions that were made back then and how they affected so many people. One of my close friends is making the same type of life changing decisions you once made, and it looks like he's going down the same road you traveled. Scares the hell out of me for his sake. It's hard when you share experiences of what a faulty decision can do, and your advice is ignored. You see the writing on the wall and it scares the crap out of you...but they can't see it...or maybe refuse...or maybe think their situation will be 'different'. Yeah, maybe.

So this is for you, my dearest of dear friends that I haven't spoken with in too many months. Happy second-go-round at life.

I'm glad you're still with us and I hope you'll be with us for many many more years. And it would really be nice to talk with you one day soon. It's your birthday, but my birthday wish.

Hawr!

STILL Ringing...

This time last night I was sitting in the front row at the Gothic, sipping my Red Bull & Vodka and listening to the pre-show mix tape...which was pretty good.

The Gothic was deserted...I was the 3rd one thru the door. Eventually it held a semi-respectable crowd, but nothing close to capacity.

The BloodArm , an LA-based band, opened for Charlatans UK .

Lead singer Nathanial was pretty goofy/funny/out-there! He definitely made use of the open spaces where fans would normally stand and meandered in and out of the crowd at the close of the show. A high-energy band, their music was fun, peppy and I liked them enough to buy two of their CD's.

By the time Charlatans took the stage, I was front and center.

See???

They opened with new stuff, played some oldies...here, Tim is singing 'The Only One I Know', my all time fave CUK song from 'Something Friendly'. My buddy Howard got me stuck on CUK and this song in particular, so OF COURSE I had to call him during the song. 1:15 in the morning his time but what did that matter? It was the thought that counted! (Who loves ya, buddy??)

Some of my newer faves off the recent release 'Simpatico' were : 'Road to Paradise' <freakin' LOVE that song>, 'For Your Entertainment', 'Muddy Ground', 'When The Lights Go Out In London'...really , give it a listen. Don't think you'll be dissapointed.

Got home right before 1 am and had to #1-shower (people still smoke even tho no smoking signs were all over the place...WTF??!) #2- check out the Blood Arm website #3- check out the CUK website #4-play the CD one more time #5 fall asleep listening to hail on the patio and 'Road to Paradise'.

Finally, it's 8:40 Tuesday night and my ears are still ringing!

My Ears Are Still Ringing

Great concert night @ The Gothic.

The Bloodarm opened for The Charlatans UK.

Pix and more words to follow later today after I wake up.

But first, I gotta go to sleep.

Drifting off to dreamland listening to 'Road to Paradise'. If I was gonna write a make-out song, this would be it.

NNSD.

And my ears are still ringing.

Happy Days Are Here Again

The last two weeks have been horrible. Depressing. Totally shitty. Fucked.

Went back and forth as to should I totally bare all (figuratively speaking) and decided not to. Some things are just too personal to discuss with the internets. And sometimes even over a beer or Jager or 10.

So let's just say two weeks of being pissed, depressed, angry, despondant, not listening to any iPod tuneage, eating a cereal bar a day (had no appetite...none - except for the Nancy Drews show which was so the highlight of the last 2 weeks so help me God you have no idea), crying repeatedly at work (which I never do) and being a total bitch to my buddy T (I'm normally not a chick that gets into bitch mode)...all that crap is finally over and done with. I'm back to normal...or at least as normal as I can be...and normal is good. So very very good.

So back to blogging and music and laughter and feeling like I'm alive once more. Apologized to those I felt apologies were necessary. Tomorrow is Charlatans UK (I have my tix this time) and tomorrow is also a holiday! YAY...good timing.

Plan to get up, take sunrise pix and be on the go all day. I don't want to waste a second of tomorrow.

It's really good to be alive.

If...

You like cute kitty pix, darling doggie digitals and tasty political commentary, then ya gotta visit the one, the only Dohiyi Mir.

Pretty please?

He's also a kick-ass photographer and one of his photos proudly hangs on my living room wall.

No Reply

My personal Yahoo account isn't letting me send or reply to email since this morning...thanks Rosie, Bex and HDW for the Dentist leads. And yes Bex, would LOVE to do that!

Rosie and HDW, have tried posting on your blogs several times today and Blogger was having none of that posting silliness...urggg! Happy Blogiversary HDW and Rosie, I think the fact that you write every day...even if it is 'just a blog' is remarkable. You've gotten the hang of the HABIT of daily writing and for writers that is half the battle. I love it that you have a MA in Communications (I have a BS and want to get a Masters in Specialized Blogging and am in the planning stages of how to accomplish that goal).

For every one else that visits Kathyland, the concert last night never happened cause the show sold out between the time I left my house to the 20 minutes it took me to reach The Bluebird, wound up grabbing something to eat at the 'smokiest bar in Denver' (cannot fucking wait for the 1 July smoke ban...came close to strangling the guy that stood next to me while ordering a beer and couldn't resist blowing smoke all over the place while he ordered...idiot!)... the 'other' thing I wanted to happen didn't happen cause he had to work late, so my night ended up by hanging out with my buddy Hop-A-Long and going with him to pick up a kitchen table and chairs...gotta love Craigslist.

Literally crashed on top of my bed at 10:45 and woke up at 4:30 in the am fully clothed (hoody, clothes, shoes) on top of my bed all smooshed among my pillows cradling my laptop with all the lights still on...and I've been awake ever since.

Work day from beyond hell. Wanted to quit 4x, cried 3x ( Work NEVER makes me cry...never!) and have a headache like you can't believe.

Not the best of days at all.

Gonna shower, head out, and be a hermit for the rest of the night...no phones, no internet, no people. Jillibean, will get back to you tomorrow, k??

First...

...time I turned on the A/C...right now...it is 88 degrees downstairs so figured what the hell.

...Wolfmother concert will be tonite.

...time I'm going to attempt something I've thought about doing for ages but have never done.

Not that I'll tell you about it, of course!

Finally, GO SUNS!

If ya wanna text me the score since I'll be at the concert, I'll consider you my 'forever friend'!

WTF??

Seems every time I go to King Sooper, they play an announcement of a smarmy-voiced woman urging shoppers to donate money to families that have newborns that may not have the financial resources to care for a new baby.

What the fuck?

Common sense suggests if you can't afford to have a kid, you shouldn't rely on the kindness of random shoppers to subsidize a gift basket for your 'new addition'.

Sheer stupidness.

Last 24 Hours

Lotsa fun.

Cliff notes version - hung out with T yesterday during the day. He sprained his ankle pretty badly at softball Weds night, so he's totally in hop-a-long mode with crutches. He moved into his new house last Tuesday and hasn't had access to internet the whole week (I woulda been a basket case if that happened to me) so I drove him to Panera where we ate, internetted, he downloaded music and all was right with the world.

Then on to Costco...his first ever trip. FUN! His Rascal driving skills are impressive. The final bill did give him a heart attack, tho. Silly Costco Virgin....he thought he could get out of there for less than $120.

A cool place to check out is the Habitat for Humanity shop. They have a ton of used goods (paint, furniture, stuff for your next home improvement project) at rock-bottom prices. VERY cool place and we spent close to an hour just checking things out.

Time was running short by now, so I dropped off Hop-A-Long and raced home to get ready for the Nancy Drews at Kokopelli's.

WHAT A COOL EVENT!

For those of you that missed it, you missed a really great time! Cool bar...very cool...the buffet was fantastic (the mini-Gouda cheeseburgers to die for), the opening act rocked and if you have ever seen the Drews, you know what I'm talking about!

No  song limits here. They played new stuff, old stuff, Ween stuff and my new Nancy Drew's favorite was their rendition of Elvis Costello's 'Radio Radio'. And yeah, Ocean Man...I'll always love that song.

Pictures were taken (don't worry Ami, I'm not putting you on the internet!), drinks were consumed, new friendships were forged and we had Lemon Drop shots in honor of Holly's birthday at midnite.

I crashed around 3am  and now I'm starving and gotta go hunt and gather cause there's nothing here.

Pretty way cool 24 hours in Denver.