I'm almost afraid to go check on my newly grounded plants at the space for fear that they've either been washed away or drowned from all of this rain. This rain is craziness. Anyway, the herb garden already had tons of basil sprouts all over. I just added the basics: cilantro, rosemary, sage, lavender, jalapenos & tomatoes. I'm thinking of adding another pepper & tomato plant to round it out. We still have a couple of wooden ammo boxes to put things in, too. Flowers? More herbs? Decisions, decisions.

Mother's Day is on nigh. I guess this is a reminder, but I'm thinking out loud, too. I think me & KMHD are going to take mum out for a bowl of pho. Not sure what we're gonna do for Mayumi; it's hard since she lives in Ft. Smith. KMHD hilariously suggested that we seek out a card that plays Danzig's "Mother". I WISH. I need to email her and see if she can visit soon, it's been awhile.

Not that I don't love our current get up in the living room, but I've wanted a large size Sonic Youth poster (from Daydream Nation, featuring Kim Gordon's legs) on this wall since I've moved in nearly eight years ago. Well, I finally made it happen and it's gonna go where the current photo exhibit is. One problem that has arisen from this move is where are we going to put the photo exhibit now? Thinking caps are on.  Here is SOLO layin' on it:

We went to Starving Artist Cafe for lunch today. It was good! It's now located on Main Street Argenta, so it's close to home. The building is airy, spacious, and they have a killer patio area. Ha, when we first heard of S.A.C. (when it was located on 7th St./LR), we thought it was an affordable place to eat, as the name implies. No. We (and our pocketbook) learned the hard way that the name is misleading. But, the food is good. Sometimes they will have an artist doing his/her thing LIVE! Last time we stopped by, our neighbor Jerry Colburn (of Bloodless Cooties fame) was doing some collages.

I've gone and planted this seed in my mind and I will definitely need to speak with the fellas about it, but should we plan a little event at Vic. St. space for Memorial Day weekend? Nothing huge, just a friends-only soiree? Yeah? Call it "Spring Roll"? Eclipse Glasses to play? Maybe a DJ? Speaking of Eclipse Glasses, they are playing Riverfest this year. I've already consulted the line-up schedule and I'm glad that I don't have to choose between watching E.C. v. The B-52's. I'm stoked to see Heart and Buddy Guy, too. Last year, we tried to see ZZ Top perform -- didn't work out, although it was nice to sit at the river's edge to watch drunk ladies grind each other on flat-bottom boats while broheems shined flashlights on them. Too, it was amusing to see a lady jump out of a boat and swim to land for no apparent reason. I'm pretty sure she smelled gross for a month. Too, it was the best view of the fireworks show. Also, it was just bitchin' to sit there and hear ZZ perform "Tush". I just don't want to do that ever again. With E.C. playing, I'm pretty sure I can score backstage area passes. That's right! I can eat my smoked turkey leg in peace!

More photos from the last campin' trip. The guys played a trick on me & put the campfire in my seat!

Here is Zach, lightin' up:

How does your garden grow?

There's a lot of work to be done, but we are happily mending and making our own the space on Vic. St. I love it! I love working on it! I can't wait to go back there!

It is structurally sound, but there are some things that need working on. The roof in the entrance room leaks, but with all of the combined skills that we've got running rampant, it should not be a problem. Much to my relief, I've been told that it's a priority fix. Until that room is fixed, I can't do much inside. I DID clean the toilet room, though.


Zach took out the ceiling tiles and the ickle wood paneling:

Looks much better!

They took down some paneling in the main practice room, too. There's Kyle!:

The makeshift food/drink table:

I need to take better photos for posterity. I'll work on that this evening.

For this evening, my plan is to continue work on the herb garden and to set up the ammo box gardens from home. I'd like to plant more cilantro, in addition to rosemary, sage, garlic, tomatoes, jalapenos, and strawberries. Just the basics, that's probably all the room we will have anyway. I'm going to try to take advantage of this dreary weather we've been having. At least it's cool and the weeds are coming out of the soil w/ complete ease. I'm afraid that once it clears up, it's gonna be hot and muggy! Need to get this garden set in now! After the garden is set up, I will turn my focus to an outdoor seating area.

Ooooffff, I'm dually preoccupied with moving into the Vic. St. space and the planned float/camp trip. If all goes well, me & the Eclipse Glasses fellas will start moving in this weekend. Me & KMHD have agreed to be the official cheerleaders. We will set up the grill and make homemade strawberry ice cream. Hopefully, I can scope out a little corner of the building and see what needs to be done. I'll have to have a discussion with Zach & Co. What should I start referring it to? VicSt? Victor? TBA.

I've also been thinking about the float trip. It's been awhile since I've gone, so I have to remember things like wet shoes, dry bags, and NO GLASS. Too, we'll have to reduce the amount of gear by over half to fit in the canoe. I wish we had a doggie to sit in the middle!

It's only Tuesday!

This camping trip was fantastic!  I came home relaxed, not ragged.  Zach met us; it is always so great to have company.  My favorite part was when we had a fried chicken dinner.  Like so:

Woods view:

Awesome people:

Close to midnight, we saw some um...glow worms, for lack of a better term.  ATM first noticed them in the corner of his eye.  He took a flashlight over to the tiny light source and discovered that it was a larvae-lookin' worm thing.  It was the size of a maggot.  The light it produced was as bright as an LED light!  Of course we marveled at this for a good solid 10 minutes.  I wonder where we can even begin to find out what kind of insect (?) it is.

I've got some "big ticket" plans up ye olde sleeve:  a potential Buffalo River float/camping trip with pals AND the moving into the Victory St. space!  I actually need to talk with Zach about details, but I'm hoping to secure a tiny corner of the building that I can use and maintain.  I would love to have potlucks, cookouts, a herb garden, a biergarten, and maybe do something like produce real soap.  And possibly play music?  We'll see!

Yogurt-dill biscuits I made for camping:

Happy Earth Day? (a.k.a. How I learned to love the Mom)

When I was younger, celebrating Earth Day was awesome and something to look forward to. We'd do things like make paper, pick up garbage, learn about compost, reduce/reuse/recycle, and raise money for whales or the rain forest. Nowadays, no one gives a shit. (Pardon) Well, not that I'm aware of. Me & KMHD got "scared straight" about the environment in grade school. It really sunk in (and has since stayed) with us because we went home and immediately hounded our parents to start a recycling program at home, walked & biked more, and became vegetarian. With the exception of being strictly vegetarian, I still do those things, but we've upped the ante. There are things my household does to try to save money and not be wasteful. Instead of just turning off unused lights, we unplug appliances and cellphone chargers that aren't being used. I'm still unsure about those spiral lightbulbs, even though we have switched over to them. We always use reusable shopping bags and not just at the grocery store. Some stores give tiny little discounts for using reusables, so eventually they will pay for themselves. Obvs, we recycle & reuse, but we actually try to reduce by not buying junk that will only be Goodwill-bound later. I try to "vote with my dollars" by not shopping at places like the Dollar Tree and buying local as often as possible. Me and ATM live in a house that is less than a thousand square feet, which is perfect for two. You won't believe how much it helps with heating/cooling bills. And it's less to clean. I've learned that quality is an important factor in choosing certain products; if it costs a bit more, than there's a likeliness that whoever made it is getting compensated properly or the product is longer-lasting, etc. The best gifts to give are perishables! Don't gift candles or lotions, et al. Unless you know exact preferred scents and brands or whatever, you'll probably miss your mark, right? I guess my point is, this is not fly-by-night or a trend or phase that we are going through, this is a part of our lifestyle. Me, ATM & KMHD have worked hard to incorporate these tiny things into our daily lives. When we have the responsibility of homeownership, we'll probably take it further with solar panels and rain collecters, among other things. Some days, I don't know why I care so much; some days, I wish I wasn't burdened with the knowledge of how wasteful people are because I actually suffer a little anxiety about it. I just want to shake people and ask them to care about something just a little. I cannot even think about shrinking forests or endangered animals or I will get hysterical.

I guess everyday should be Earth Day, but this is THE day to really get your green, blue & brown on, amirite? How can one celebrate this holiday w/o making a wasteful mess anyway?


I love this lot:

One Night In Bangkok

(Apologies if that awful song is now stuck in yr head, hee.)

I'd say the Thai potluck was a success.  There was a curry, sauteed noodles, spicy curry noodle soup & a fried banana dessert, amongst other things.  Y-U-M-G!  Seth made Thai-inspired bread; it had cilantro, chilies, coconut milk and spices.  Delicious and creative!  I'm thinking of making our little gang "customer reward cards", but for potlucks.  Say you go to 10 potlucks and then you get a free ____________.  Well, I don't know what, but it would just be fun to be a member in a potluck group.  Too, I have a star-shaped hole puncher.  It's so silly, so it's naturally up my alley.  The next potluck is going to be brunch, I think.  

I got to introduce my Nintendo DS to my friends.  Thanks to the photo-merge feature, we got to have ugly kids. Here's Collin & Rett's baby:

Rett & Zach's baby looks like Rett & Zach:

KMHD & Collin's baby:

Collin & Zach's baby:

Keiko proposed that some ladies get together and craft.  I'm all for it!  Our first project is to make an apron, which is PERFECT.  I'm envisioning us going to the fabric store and giggling and being the coolest people in the land.  Hopefully, one of the crafting projects we do is make soaps.  I've got some really cool soap molds that look like sushi and origami paper cranes.  

The rain insured that we stayed in and got things done.  Just check out our new photo project!

SOLO helped, natch.

I went to the cul-de-sac by Collin's house to take pictures and pick flowers -- nothin' but red clovers and bachelor buttons!  And bees!  And ladybugs!

ATM haircut:

Friday, I'm in ____________.

Yesterday evening, me & KMHD went to Hot Springs and dined at Rolando's. Then we engaged in some retail therapy. She scored a Le Creuset French oven & I scored a Le Sportsac weekend bag designed by Stella McCartney; both items were purchased at massive discount prices. In order to justify the big bucks spent, we will henceforth refer to these items as investments. I don't know what I'm doing spending all of this cash, we're trying to save some to buy a house!

This evening we are having a Thai potluck @ Collin's. I've got this great spicy curry noodle soup AND this fried banana dessert thing that I will be sharing with the people. There has got to be photos, I know. It will be so good to see friends! It's been a minute.

We have no plans this weekend as our plans to hang out with my mum fell through. I think we're gonna do something crazy like hang around the house and do things there. The bummer part about this weekend is all of the rain we're supposed to have. But, maybe it'll make for some proper Saturday sleeping-in.

Word on the street is that the space on Victory Street is a go. I guess I need to speak with the fellas to see if there is still room for me on the lease and in the building. I hope so, I need a hefty project. I want to learn how to make real soap (anyone else want in on this venture?), bake, and have dinner parties as our house is too little. I have flirted with the idea of playing music again, too. Hee.

[Yay, the boss just left for the day!]

Since I last posted, KMHD bought a new car , my cousin (from Fort Smith) stayed @ our home, we had a cookout, I dutifully paid my taxes, we had a life/death issue with Hot Dog the cat, we went camping for the first time this season, I randomly bought myself a Nintendo DS (FUN!), I was administered more dentistry, ATM's grandmother passed away, so we went to Mississippi for four days and three nights. While there, we also celebrated his brother's birthday AND Easter, but before we left (N)LR, I celebrated KMHD's birthday with prezzies & strawberry cupcakes. Did I forget anything?

I think it's safe to say that I'm "going through something" a.k.a. "getting over winter" right now. But, I'm feelin' a major turnaround and I blame the newly arrived baseball season. Opening day means a lot more to me than just baseball (Sorry, JhnMrk!) -- it's spring spring and camping season also begins. 75% of the food we eat will be grilled. Hanging out on the porch will increase 100%. Being outside becomes our #1 objective. Basically, we get to enjoy a few weeks of the best weather Arkansas has to offer and I plan on taking full advantage.

Today is Day Two of my return to work. It's been alright -- yesterday, we were so busy, I just delved right into the work bits, which is the kick in the rear that I need. I hate sitting here staring at piles on my desk.

We've been w/o the work car for a couple of days now. ATM's co-worker needed to use it to go to Atlanta for some conference. He's been dropping me off at the courthouse and I've been walking over to KMHD's office for lunch. I usually just walk home.

This evening, we're taking a 'wild hair' jaunt to Hot Springs to eat @ Rolando's and maybe do a bit of retail therapy. Really looking forward to this!

The Hot Dog, being forced posed:

Freestyle:


We saw a Caddo dance exhibition on 3/28 @ that Historic Arkansas Museum:


ATM's mum & nephew:


This is our niece, Charlie:


I fed a baby for the first time!


ATM & his nephew:


Karla & Daniel & Cade. And Zooey. And KB, in the back ground.

On Friday, Mum dropped off some food from Seattle that my cousin My Tam sent home with her.  Why can't we get hand-crafted tofu w/ rice noodles & onions in it here?
Also, this tempeh we got was made to look/taste like meat; me & ATM were pretty sure we were eating flesh, warning KMHD (a "vegetarian") away from it, we were THAT convinced.  

Very tasty, om nom nom nom nom!  In the unlikely event that I ever own a pub, I will serve that tofu as a late nite bar snack.  It's so perfect!  You don't have to cook it & the only condiment you need is Sriracha.

How long has it been since I've been to Jon Thompson's parent's house?  10+ years by my estimate.  I had to type it into my GPS to locate it.  How pathetic is that?  I love going over there, it's so beautiful & amazing.  His mum is a master gardener; if you stepped into the back yard, you'd gasp.  I did!  Too, his folks have found & collected so many pretty things to fill the house with.  Lots of art.  Unfinished projects here and there, which proves that I will probably not finish everything ever & it's o.k.  We met there before having a fantastic dinner @ Layla's on Friday evening.  The night was cut short, no thanks to my damn tooth ache.  Got to see Shawn Miller!  I commented that I'm glad that I didn't have to wait until New Year's Eve to see him.  

Here's me & "Big Benjii"

Colln, KMHD:

J.T., Shawn & ATM:

Imagine dreading a Saturday.  I spent the morning chastising myself for being so negative and hard on my old man, but I felt I had good reason to expect the worst; he's let me & KMHD down numerous times.  Well, shame on me.  Our visit was nowhere near awful.  It bordered on being o.k., if not somewhat nice at times.  Highlight?  Taking him to 5tarbucks.  He's never been to one!  He's never heard of the place!  He said to me, "Well, this is a nice little place."  Hee!  That willfully ignorant S.O.B., I love him.

On Sunday, I spent the majority of the day in bed, no thanks to this excruciating toothache.  But, having poked around in there with my finger, I'm starting to believe that it's not THE bad tooth, but the one next to it.  Expletive!  Like I need this!  I've made my dental appointment for tomorrow, so, hopefully, this era of whining will end soon, Inshallah.

Looking forward to the weekend.  Without consulting any weather-predictions, I'm banking on the perfect Saturday.  We're gonna drag out ye olde grille & make grilled food.  We will be hosting my cousin from Ft. Smith, too.  Casual Saturday.

A) Do you have a dishwashing machine?  B)  Do you use it?  I've been wondering if it's time for us to start using ours.  Currently, it is being used as storage, but I've been worrying about wasting water.  "They" say that no matter how conservative you are, hand washing is wasteful whereas a machine uses less AND it uses the same amount every time.  I guess you'd have to be sure to do FULL loads to make it worth it, right?  That means that I'd have to get more dishes and utensils, right?  Advise me!

I'm demanding a very good day.

I'm goin' mad with this bad tooth of mine. I'm in pain, but this time it's different. Instead of soreness from tooth grindin', I feel that I may've breached a layer and it's a direct nerve pain. Do I need a new dentist? There are times when I'm just tempted to knock the damn thing out of my mouth by my own hand. I've already called the dentist, but I think I won't be able to get any relief until Monday. This means a steady diet of soft food, including and maybe limited to ICE CREAM.

I'm working a half-day; KMHD is treating me to Amruth. After that, we're headed to Conway so KMHD can look at some cars. She's been in the market for awhile now, but she's feelin' confident! If her mission is a success, I'll be driving her old car back. After that, I'm going on the longest walk in my neighborhood again. It's good for that. THEN, we are to phone Jon Thompson for some serious hanging out. Apparently he is house sitting for his folks, so this will be kickin' it, IN STYLE, his words. There's a pretty good chance we'll be having supper @ our beloved Layla's. This will be a good day/evening, Inshallah. This is great, it'll help me get my mindset right for tomorrow's visit with dad.

Little things

* ATM & Solo
* Adding rosemary to pizza dough makes it boss
* ATM brought home a copy of The Onion from D.C.
* My neighborhood
* Open windows
* Espresso Dopio
* Boss is away (hee)

If eating too much pho is wrong, I don't want to be right!

Can you guess what these ingredients are for?

Mmmmhmmm, it's for pho. Ya'll, I have a pho problem. I went to Saigon w Keiko, Rett & Collin LAST NITE, but it didn't stop me from making some for brunch today. ATM isn't the biggest fan of it & is still in D.C. anyway. I had the day off, so I figured today was the day to make it at home. I just REALLY wanted some.

Plate of fixins:

The result:

It was so close to being restaurant-good. I think I need to cut back on the fish sauce, it was a smidgen too salty. I asked KMHD to come over for lunch to test it for me, she recommended the same -- less salt. I didn't add any beef or tofu, but I think I'll use these live mushrooms next time:

Good day off, so far! We're having that kind of weather that affects people so profoundly; it's warm, sunny, springy and fresh. Of course all of the windows are open, I've gone on a little run/walk jaunt, I've swept the porch, and I've done a bit of housework and cooking. I really need to save energy to pick ATM up from the airport AND make homemade 'welcome-home' pizza.

Turns out our father will be here on Saturday. The good news is that it doesn't appear that he'll be staying the night. One day. I can do this. Plus, KMHD and ATM will be there. I really shouldn't be so negative! I'll work on it.

Weekend Update

I forget that when we have a liberal president, all of the hacks come out of the woodwork. We drove Mayumi to the Statehouse Convention so she could pick up her marathon registration package and there were protesters outside of the building taking advantage of the LR Marathon crowd. Their signs read "BLANK CHECK LINCOLN" or "BLANCHE LINCOLN, QUEEN OF SOCIALISM". They are so far off the mark, it's shameful. For those of you not familiar, Blanche Lincoln is one of Arkansas' U.S. senators. Now, I'm not a huge fan of the senator myself, but I wouldn't call her a socialist. UGH, I hate fear-mongering!  To me, it's harassment.  It's disgusting & rude. Also, to me, they really come off as not knowing what they're talking about. Too, if you're going to go after Blanche Lincoln, why not Mark Pryor, too? He is equally lame. I'm sooooo playing the sexism card here. Draw four & skip a turn. If I had the time (and the stones), I would've protested those protesters. It would involve cupcakes somehow.

Mayumi did quite well! So proud of her:

So, I've been tweeting more than I need to, but I'm just trying to get the hang of it. Pardon the transition.

Well, ATM is in Washington, D.C., so I'm a-takin' care of the homestead by myself. I was excited because I figured I could do "whatever I want", but I'm so busy, things don't feel different. The biggest difference is that I have more leg room in bed because SOLO sleeps on his side when he's away. Oh, I have noticed that I don't cook while he's gone. I'm hoping to correct that this evening because I am so tired of eating pita chips and hummus and peanut butter toast. Guh. Thankfully, this arrangement ends Wednesday evening.

On Saturday, me & KMHD made Mayumi a last-meal-before-the-marathon dinner. It was AWESOME! There was an egg scramble with corn & a whole package of Gimme Lean & some Monterey Jack cheese. We also had refried black beans & homemade corn tortillas. Top with cilantro & salsa and wash down with freshly juiced juice and GO TO TOWN. Yes, you DO wish you were there.

KMHD taught me how simple it was to make corn tortillas:




I gave General Change a grape tomato resulting in cute photos. I don't think he really liked it, but everytime I "threatened" to take it away, he'd quickly try to gobble it up. He ended up eating it.:

Eclipse Glasses/Velvet Kente on Friday:

This is a shot from the "stage". Too, it's my best photo of Zach, who is hard to get a good shot of otherwise:


Tomorrow eve, Jay Barth is kicking off his campaign. I'd like to go, but we'll file this under "We'll See". Maybe at Heather's birthday soiree this evening, I can score a date. BTW, Jay is running for Tracy Steele's position. Mr. Steele will be unable to run again due to term limits. It's good to get into and stay involved in local politics. I'm just sayin'.

Random end bits------------

I made a carrot cake & ATM actually ate some!  He is one of those non-sweet-tooth-havin' people.


Does anyone know how to make the shoes by the door less ugly?