further response to a tag, sort of

Belladonna's entry here caught my eye, because we all know that I read so much that my eyes should be squeezed shut into tired little slits by now. Guess all of those times my da caught me reading after bedtime by the streetlight shining through my window (and threatened that it would mangle my eyesight) really didn't ruin my vision, eh?

1) Total number of books I’ve owned.

Oh, jeez. I have three overflowing bookcases of books right now (and we're talking double-rows of paperbacks, and everything, here). Basically, I tried selling some of my books before to make space, but as a serial "book-craver" I couldn't deal with NOT HAVING THE BOOK I WANTED when I wanted it. So now I just hoard them. I could probably craft a small domicile out of the ones I have already, and I just bought some more today. Heh.

2) The last book I bought.

I just bought Melissa Bank's The Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing and Patricia Cornwell's Trace (I love me some Kay Scarpetta) on amazon.com today, after buying more stuff for my da for Father's Day. And yes, he's getting books too, since he's just as voracious a reader as I am. We trade stuff, so that we have TWICE as many books to read!

3) The Last Book I read

I'm currently in the process of re-reading Stephen King's The Stand. And for all of the people out there who write him off as just writing crap-horror (which yeah, he sometimes does), I just want to say that this book has some of the best 'visual imagery by written word' that I've ever read. And the subject matter is completely relevant today...no matter how often I read it, I still find this book completely compelling and sad and contemplative, all at the same time. Yeah, I like to read "crap" (aka fun, fluffy stuff) sometimes, but this isn't it. This book has teeth, and it makes you think.

4) 5 (plus one) books that mean a lot to you…

1. She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb
2. The Lovely Bones and Lucky by Alice Sebold
3. The Silent Miaow by Paul Gallico
4. The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
5. The Illustrated Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

5) Tag 5 people and request they fill this out on their journals

Like Miss B, I can’t just choose 5. So if you feel so inclined fill it out on your blog and let me know in comments.

thanks for being so you!

Today is a pretty special day. Thirty-five years ago, my parents were busy being all adorable and getting all married:

Not to say that it's always been easy. I doubt that it ever is for any marriage. But I feel very lucky to have two of the most loving, silly, and special people I've ever known as my ma and da. I try to live up to being their daughter every day.

I could be all sappy here, and post some sweet, normal picture of them as they are now. I have 'em, you know. But that would be denying how crazy-fun and cool they are. So instead, you get pictures (which I LOVE) of my parents being silly at the wax museum in Vegas:

Anyway, 35 YEARS, people! That's pretty neat. I love you both to pieces, and am so honored to get to be a part of your lives. You hear about parents "trying" to be friends with their kids, but I really feel like we have that. I love that you treat me like an adult and respect my decisions, but still spoil and adore me like your kid. I get the best of all worlds really, so no wonder I'm so happy, eh? Cheers! :)

this piscean was wet, wet, wet!

This past weekend was so, so fabulous. In honor of Tina's birthday, a group of us went camping at Possum Kingdom State Park for a weekend of swimming, 'Earl Campbell' hot link and 'deliciously melted rice krispie treat' eating, and relaxing sweatily in the shimmering Texas heat. It was awesome.

Want to know how hot it was? After I got home Sunday night, the nightly news said that the high Sunday was 99 degrees, the highest temp for that day since 1980's record high of 100 degrees. Don't believe me? Check it out:

I took that pic of myself, standing at our campsite Sunday afternoon, and I didn't photoshop it into doing this. I have two or three more pics with varying degrees of squiggliness and mirroring. Neat, eh?

The water...man. I'd still be wading, had I not had to come home and be a responsible working stiff and all. It was gorgeous, and so blissfully cool that you wouldn't believe it.

And YEP--I took pictures of that, too. Check out my being all productive, yo!

maybe it was the jewelry

Man. I put on a little eyeliner and darker lipstick today, and was hearing ALL DAY about how "pretty!" I was. Have I been disappointing you people all of this time? I may have to get a complex!

Heh. So weird. Not as weird as the strung-out looking, 'Whoopi Goldberg'-double, lady-fella that's been yelling his/her crazy life story on the bus all week, but still. Weeeird.

In other news, I wrote to Clay today*. Anyone else want to?

(*He is probably going to get completely teased for what I wrote on that envelope. BECAUSE I CARE. Also, that address is easier to read if you click and make it full-size. I'm just too tired to go back and resize it. 12-hour days, yo!)

the tears were from love

My mom gave me a videotape this weekend of my cousin Richard singing Roy Orbison's "Cryin'" at some karaoke place years ago, before he got sick.

It's awkward and it's lovely. I asked her how she could just give something like that up, and she said that she knows that I'd appreciate the tape more than anyone else.

I think that's the most beautiful gift anyone's ever given me.

we love looking at us! we are so fine!

I know that being out of town for two weekends in a row has left me lacking in the posting department lately. What can I say--I've been busy flaunting my sassy hair here and there, and hanging out with people I hadn't seen in a while. My day was too full of forensic and decorating shows, pizza, and quality time with my ma and the evil Squeak (aka 'the dorky little munchkin cat who is currently playing his way towards asphyxiation in a plastic grocery bag--that I just took away, because I'm a cat-life loving killjoy--and whose mighty jaws of death earlier saved us from a giant, crunchy waterbug) to pull myself away. He's giving me such a dirty look right now, and a decided lack of the kitty lovin'. Alas.

Since I was travelling down memory lane the other night while going through my photo gallery (which never fails to make me smile), I thought I'd leave you all with some photo filler to tide you over until I a) actually have something of interest to say, or b) finally get off of my duff and/or stay home on a weekend long enough to retouch and post the hundred or so (at LEAST) pictures that you still haven't seen yet. That's fair, right?

Come along with me on a trip...a trip through some pictures that completely made me laugh my ass off recently. Pictures of YOU:

--THE BEST ROGER AND ALEX PICTURE EVER, PERIOD.
--Tina is always interested in a bit of the fine literature.
--Erica, indulging her secret inner wish to be an effervescent and stylishly clad lunchlady.
--Because, really...how often does a girl have a popular 80's PBS icon up in her toga?
--I had always heard that men have two heads, but this?
--I'M AM NOT DRUNK! Seriously, you guys!
--Observe this obscure 'forest' creature in its natural habitat!
--Jefferson Starship and inflatable goods NEVER go out of style.
--It is the time for the "OMG, don't eat me" calesthenics!
--I think I saw this in a porno once.
--We already totally knew that this was his thing...
--This looks like the prelude to some serious WWF action. Or maybe some stabbing.
--I don't think you heard Hauself. In the next room. In Japan. DO YOU HEAR THE 'WOO' THAT THE HAUS IS COOKIN'?

I love you guys! Thanks for all of the laughs you've given me over all of these years. And for not throwing my camera into the pool in exasperation by now. Your patience with my visual documentation is admirable.

it's always the way

No matter how fun any 'vacation' is, you always come home feeling like trodden-upon death. Man. But I had the GREATEST time--Heather and Holly were fantastic, as usual, and I went consumer-whore crazy and bought all kinds of media-related goodness.

I also bought THIS:

There's lots more to tell, but I'm tired as hell (and a budding poet, quite obviously). Suffice to say, it was one RAD weekend, with the exception of 'gritty Greyhound' and 'bad'cabbie' business that it's not even worth going into.

For anyone that's been trying to e-mail me, btw, go ahead and send stuff for now to my gmail address: start it off with beegrrl73 and @, and you should be cool. Also, Matt is one of the most awesome people ever. Thanks so much for helping me migrate this mess of a site and get it cleaned up!

(EEEEEEEE! I finally got my sewing machine, people! OMG. I'm still processing.)