the Willie Nelson Specials......

We came upon this pub before the concert and stopped for a Willie Nelson Special...burger and beer. The bar was packed with concert goers, with one server, a birthday celebration going on, overwhelming noise and we thought we wouldn't make it out of there on time... I don't think Tony Soprano would own this Karoake and Sports Bar, BUT, it was close to the concert site and nothing else was, except White Spot, and really, just the name of that place bothers me! I had borrowed my friend's little camera because I thought I might smuggle it in. I didn't know what the security would be like at the Save-On Memorial Centre, though, and after I picked up the tickets at Will Call, I was a little hesitant to risk getting my friend's camera confiscated.

I guess no one else could read that part about no cameras, though. So I shouldn't have worried. I could have taken in just about anything. No security check. No ushers in a darkened arena. I could not even read the row and seat numbers at all. Weird. Like no other place I have ever really been to a concert. Anyhoo, cameras were flashing all over the place and I found it annoying...hey, you folks, you do know that your flash is really only good up to eight feet or so, right? Duh. If you want to photograph, turn off the flash!!!!

And? When Willie sings "Blue Eyes Cryin' in the Rain" and "Always on my Mind?" If you don't have a lighter to pull out, DO NOT use the light on your cel phone. Totally innapropriate. Really. Lame.

We missed the first opening act, but the second was three gals from Newfoundland, Labrador, called the Sheas. They were lovely. I liked them very much...beautiful voices.

Willie opened with "Whiskey River," just as every Willie Nelson concert does. He was GREAT, although I am not sure the Victoria crowd was completely with him. I think they all wanted to hear him sing the standard Willie Nelson hits in just the way they have heard them on their CDs. Or maybe they were all up past their bedtimes. Well, hell's bells, folks. That just isn't what Willie Nelson is all about.

The crowd was so freaking sedate that it was creeping me out a bit. I have never been to a Willie Nelson show where everyone stayed in their seats and politely applauded at the end of each song. We jump up and hoot and holler when he's belting out "Me and Bobbie McGee." We all join in on "On the Road Again." We cry and laugh and sing and WOOT WOOT WOOT...but I guess I am not in Texas anymore. Or the Gorge. Or Tacoma, for that matter. Or Seattle....it's not just a U.S. thing, is it?

Willie is not set in his sound. Every time I hear him sing "Whiskey River", it sounds different. Every time he sings "Crazy," it is different. Every time he sings "Me and Paul"(my dad's very favorite), it is different. That's one of the things I love about him...I think it's one of the things this crowd didn't get about him.

And he sang all of those standards, and many, many more. He sang new stuff of his I hadn't heard before...he sang with his kid on a song they collaborated on. Great song, by the way, but it was funny how hard his son, about 20 years old or less, was wanking on his electric guitar and Willie comes up with half the notes on old and trusty Trigger and sounded so much better. Sorry, kid, you got a ways to go...but great songwriting. I hope that song is on the next album.

He has been singing to me my whole life...not just the same songs, new songs...old songs made new. Seeing him live is like coming in to cheer a dear, treasured friend. I love you, Willie. Thank you for the music.

Hell, yeah, I wanna bring Willie home...and Bobbie and Paul and Mickey Raphael....and everyone else on that stage....

C'mon, load up. We'll convoy to my house.

Oh yeah, Bay-beeeeeee... that is me and the Honeysuckle Rose. So close to my dream right there. If only there hadn't been a security guard...I would not be here posting now.

Woot woot. On the road again....call me, Willie. Please?

My Hero Has Always Been Willie

According the the paperwork I received from beaglepaws, today is Emma's fourth birthday....Happy Birthday, Little Bean! To celebrate, we are going to(wait for it, now).............go for a WALK!!!!!!! Yayayayay!!!! A WALK!!!!!!!!!!!! Such gifts in the world! It's true, it's true.

A walk by the river, among the flowers and the scents....

where she can snuffle up the lingering aromas of raccoon.....

...and deer..... and, of course, RRRRAAABBBBBBBIIITTTSSS!!!!!!!

Maybe she'll go for a swim with Yuko, though she isn't quite sure what that whole swimming deal is about yet. She's gonna have to figure it out one of these days. Once we have a warm spell long enough and hot enough, we're all in there, dog and human.

She'll have both her boys with her. Bez is coming along today. My car is going to be full, full, full.

And, of course, the love of her life, this roguish fellow with the devil-may-care-but-I-don't attitude, Duke. In fact, she will be spending the night with her love after dogwalkies today. Is it awful that Michael and I are leaving her alone on such an important day?

Too bad. So sad. Because you know what tonight is, don't you?!?

Oh yeah. Willie Nelson.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=7sXGT0WhFnU

grey

Ominous, isn't it? Like Stephen King wrote this sky. We had thunder and lightning storms all day, off and on, Sunday. The skies were spooky...but in a cool way.What is also ominous, is the amount of cleanup going on at Spanglish, including J, who used to run it. I don't like to see her around. I hope it is just for insurance purposes. I hear that she is now entrenched in another "convenience store" owned by the same guy who owns this one...it's just around the corner and up the street. One of the neighbours there says that her end of the neighbourhood is "chaos" now. How can she keep getting a business license to ruin peoples' peace? I just don't get it.

I've been a wee bit uninspired lately....don't know what I want to write about. I thought that change in seasons, my trip, Michael's trip, would help with that. I guess I stopped taking the St. John's Wort a little too soon. Of course, the change in seasons just means it's warmer. It's still been a wee bit grey for my tastes...and it seems like many of my friends out there, my blogging friends, and friends a little closer, are in such hard places at the moment. You are all beyond the reach of my arms. It is frustrating. I feel ineffectual out here. But Willie Nelson is tomorrow night....and a bocce tournament this weekend. Should be a rousing good time. I started the St. John's again today, have been exercising this week for the first time in a very long time. So we'll see how it goes. I hope that everyone is feeling good today, better today, stronger today.

And that's all I've got to say about that.

For now.

For Biddie.....

1 WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Nope....I am all original...although my dad wanted to name me Tracy and was vetoed.
2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED ? Today, watching this...http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=646496&fr=yfp-t-501
3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Yep...and if I hold it up next to my brother's, I can't tell the difference.....
4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE LUNCH MEAT? smoked turkey every day!
5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?Nope...I require too much quiet time.
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? I don't know....in person, I am awfully shy so meeting another Me might be difficult. Who would talk first? What would we talk about? Does she really like Me? Is she just being nice....we'd probably never strike up a conversation. And if she held her sssssss asssss long assss I held mine in sssspeech, I might get annoyed talking to her cuz I would think she wasssss making fun of me!
7. DO YOU USE SARCASM ALOT ? Just to quote myself...." Can you hear that dripping sound? It's called sarcasm!"
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes..but not my Adnoids nor other various parts of my sinuses.....the doctors took out lots of that stuff when I was a kid.
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Not for a million dollars, but I would sky dive! Go figure.
10. YOUR FAVOURITE CEREAL? Grape Nuts(geek, eh?)
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Only if they have shoestrings.
12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Physically? No. And I am emotionally fragile in the Short Term...but in the Long Term, I do overcome, so yeah.
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ICE CREAM? President's Choice Key Lime Sorbet.
14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? Guys or girls?
15. RED OR PINK? red lipstick, pink Starburst
16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVOURITE THING ABOUT YOU? my insecurities
17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? Maggie, Grandma, Onery
18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? Send what?
19. WHAT COLOUR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? always blue jeans, always levis and corduroy brown Roos with hidden pockets...sweet!
20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? Chips and salsa(with a beer)
21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Michael talk to Eem-er and traffic outside.
22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOUR WOULD YOU BE? Periwinkle blue cuz I love how that sounds......
23. FAVOURITE SMELLS?Puppy, orange blossom, coffee and ginger
24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? Emily
25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Of course. Would I do this for just anyone?
26. What is your favorite TV show? Criminal Intent.
27. FAVOURITE SPORTS TO WATCH? Now that Andre Agassi has retired, none.
28. HAIR COLOUR? brown
29. EYE COLOUR? also brown
30. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? um...Lasik surgery when it was fresh and new.... and very, very scary.
31. FAVOURITE FOOD? bbq burgers
32. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Either though I do prefer no gore...cuz I am fragile.... eek.
33. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? At home? Um, let's see....Willy Wonka(the original, last night) and the theatre? Walk the Line. I hate theatres.
34. ARE YOU SUPERSTITIOUS? No, but I am OCD!!!
35. SUMMER OR WINTER? I don't mind winter if it is sunny but here in this part of the world, I have to say SUMMER!!!!
36. HUGS OR KISSES? Hugs.
37. FAVOURITE DESSERT? Key Lime Pie!!!!!!!
38. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Respond to what?
.39. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Respond to what!!!!
.40. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING? The Murder Book by Kellerman(I love, love, love detective books, sad but true), 100 Years of Solitude, and Spaceship Earth.
41. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? Um, my mouse? oh, and my hand!
42. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT? Willie Wonka with Gene Wilder....LLLLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOVVVVVEEEEEE him!!!
43. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE SOUND? Willie Nelson
44. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Oh crap, this always comes up...if I can listen to other people COVER the Beatles, then I pick the Beatles. I know that is ssssssssssssoooooooooo very uncool. Sorry.
45. WHAT IS THE FURTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME?Mostly when I am somewhere, I am moving there, so eventually it becomes home. So I would have to say, I am always home.
46. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? Wouldn't you all like to know?
47. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Olympia, WA , at the old hospital on the West Side.
48. WHOSE ANSWERS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GET BACK? Everybody...I am a terrible snoop!
49. ARE YOU MARRIED?Legally common-law and we even wear rings!
50. IF MARRIED...AND YOU WERE WIDOWED WOULD YOU EVER CONSIDER REMARRIAGE? Um, who knows? I doubt it cuz I think we'll be old together. I want to go like June and Johnny....
Then again...if Vincent D'Onofrio were also widowed....hhhhmmmmnnn.

One week......

and counting...................

Again with the Highest Tide?

You ask....well, just briefly. I wanted to take a bunch of photos from places in this book to share with you. But, as usual, while I was home, there was too much to do, too many people to see, not enough hours in the day and not enough days to visit...and it was hot, hot, hot...and have I ever mentioned how absolute Eem-er(Emma)'s seperation anxiety is? No? Well, remind me sometime. It doesn't make travel very easy. So some landmarks from the book and some landmarks that are just landmarks....

Capitol Lake.

The old brewery...Olympia Brewery.

Best. Bookstore. Ever. Forever.

The Eastside...(not my photo). Good beer. Good beer specials. Air Hockey.
Sweet....don't you love Air Hockey?!? I have been both tipsy and drunk in here. Once, apparently, so drunk that I don't remember being asked to leave. My roommate(s) and I were singing "Nothing Compares 2U" by Sinead O'COnner and "I Would Walk 500 Miles" by the Proclaimers long before the days of Karoake...and no, I can't tell you how old I was then.

Sylvester Park.

In the book, this was called the Sisterhood. I got ONE of my tattoos at the place next door. And yes, I have been drunk in this bar, too. Suprise.

Honestly, that's it. No big story tonight. If you want a story, read the Highest Tide. Okay, that was my last plug for that. C'mon now Heidi, get published so I have a new book to plug!!!

One third of a city lot....

That's how much room we have to work with...throw a house in there and there isn't much left. Not really. But magic works in small places, too, and when I see these treasures bloom(treasures we were a part of because you should have seen this yard when we moved in) I am thrilled! No need to chase back and forth like the waves.
The same water which ebbs is the same water that flows.
No point turning back to get water
When it's flowing around you in all directions
The heart of the Buddha and the people of the world...
Where is there any difference?

Heart Of The Buddha - A Poem by Hsu Yun

Did you know that Columbine are wildflowers that grow like weeds in some places? I have to buy mine here, though they did make it over the winter...I feel triumphant! And? I have found some wild ones out on my dog walks this year!

We didn't plant these, but they started coming up in bunches this year. Foxgloves are one of my favorites and have always reminded me of growing up around the rainforests of the Pacific Northwest.

I took so many photos I didn't know which ones to use...so check out flickr later.

We have a few colours of daylilies planted around the pond, but so far only these yellow ones have shown their faces.

This is the pink flowering dogwood that I got Michael for his birthday last year. Last year it had only a few small blooms but this year is delighting us no end. It's gorgeous.

And the roses....there were several untended rosebushes when we bought this house. We had to remove some, but left three because my Grandma loved, loved, loved roses. She had a large rose garden outside her little cabin by the water. I can remember her tiny form among the tall, thorny bushes, talking gently to them about their beauty and how special they were to her, each flower on each bush a blessing.
She grew up substainance farming, living off what came out of the ground. I think she took great joy in just growing beautiful things in her later life. She could make anything grow. She was magic in a small space, too.

It is good to remember these important details before they fall away, like so many petals. Hello, out there, Grandma. I miss you.

My favorite this year has been the snapdragons. Some seem so elegant and lush, saturated in richness, grand....

and others just look like someone tie-dyed my garden.

Of course there is neighbourhood news, and I still haven't finished my trip to Washington, yet. There is still Seattle to cover, a lunch with friends, some odds and ends of Olympia, but I was so delighted with my front garden that I had to take some photos and share some "good stuff" with you all. Hope you don't mind.

much love

Isn't it ironic....(don't you think?)

...that the same people who will stop you for a sobriety check, lead you away in handcuffs for drinking and driving, will tow and impound your car, also have a commemorative shot glass? I thought it a bit a ironic....a little too ironic, if you will. But here, take a closer look.

Yep. The Mounties. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police. A shot glass.

Then again, it's all about perspective. Vancouver Island Health Authority is handing out crack pipes around this neighbourhood. I wonder if their logo is on them?

(thanks for my present, Barb)

PS....did you just read in my comments that DIABETICS STILL PAY FOR NEEDLES AND NEEDLE TIPS(even low income or disability NOT due to drug addiction) and we are giving away free crackpipes!!!!! Tax dollars at work, people. It is said the crackpipes are given away for harm reduction. That the gerry-rigged pipes they make are dangerous. What about the harm the CRACK is doing to their bodies? They are still killing themselves and you(VIHA) are helping them. What about the harm you are inflicting handing those out in my neighbourhood? I was walking downtown yesterday and COULDN'T get around a HORDE(no joke) of crackheads converging on the nurses handing out crackpipes...ON MY STREET!!! They can't hand them out inside or outside of the Salvation Army Shelter but CAN hand them out on my residential street? Asshats. I'm sorry, but HONESTLY!!! Asshats. After all the press about Spanglish and crackpipes and the outrage and strife...could you not make a more intellegent decision? Really?

Thanks for being so very, very understanding to this neighbourhood, VIHA. Can you hear that dripping sound? Yeah? Wonder what it is? It's called sarcasm.

Maybe you need someone else in charge of things, VIHA.

AAAAAAAAAAARRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!

hometown musings

Mount Rainier was a backdrop to the scenery of my childhood. A landmark so engrained on my mind that a single glimpse of it can make me play back a thousand and one different memories of growing up here..they come tumbling out en masse, intermingling and tangling all the good stuff with the bad stuff.... maybe something akin to seeing you whole life flash before your eyes in a moment of great danger or fear, but far less scary.

Olympia is changing so fast, becoming something really unrecognizeable to me. And, let's face it, I couldn't get out of there fast enough or stay away long enough, once upon a time. I don't get very nostalgic about my hometown...but it helped raise me, too. It got me here. My family and friends are still there. It will always have it's moments.

Moments like these, walking around Capitol Lake. I can say things like "When I was a kid, they raced hydroplanes on this lake." Who would believe that now? Nobody! But it's true.

Once, it froze and my uncle cut a hole in the ice and went scuba diving. Who would believe that now? Maybe not even me, but I recall seeing the photo on the front page of the Olympian. I think I do, anyway.

My friend's parents(mom and stepdad), who where My Parents-Away-From-Parents, got married on Christmas Island in this lake. Christmas Island isn't there anymore, but MPAFPs are still together, so we know that some things do last.

And? "When I was a kid, you could SWIM in this lake." Yippur. That's a fact, too. Now, it could kill you. Maybe. Maybe not. But it could make you sick! Really sick. So there.

This was the Sleater-Kinney I knew as a kid. And yes, this is where the name comes from, for those of you who may know who I am talking about.

I was on this street when Mount St. Helens blew on May 18th, 1980. We saw the plume of ash all the way up here. It is one of the most detailed memories of my life...as if it just happened yesterday.

The best burgers. EVER. Are still made right here. Worth the drive. I promise you.

And for all of you out there who think that Starbuck's is the end-all, be-all of Pacific Northwest coffee companies. Think again. Until you have danced with these goats, you haven't had the best.

Wait, did that even make any sense?

Most of the time....

we spar...verbally. We know secrets about each other. We know the soft spots, the old and awkward wounds ,but choose to let them go. What use are they anyway? We have a lifetime of things in common...and we love each other anyway. One of my oldest friends decided what he wanted to do for the rest of his life and went back to school three years ago. That's quite a decision for folks our age. We're not college-age kids...he's raising college-age kids, for goodness sake(well one college age kid but the other just keeps getting older, too!) that, despite the years and the miles between us, I consider family, just as I consider all his family as mine.

Every one of us should have a friend out there that means this much... maybe you are lucky enough(like me) to have more than one... one person who doesn't make you cringe when you think of the pain of your growth in adolescence, who made you think you absolutely were worth something... who may have, once, saved your life without even knowing it.(thank you).

I recall grown-up feelings for my friend from teen-hood, childhood. I knew, even then, that he would be important in my life. I didn't know how. I just knew... and I hoped we would know each other forever. I thought we already had, in fact. So far, I have been lucky enough to have that be true.

So, when I received that invitation to his Graduation from Lewis and Clark's Law School this Spring, how could I do anything but make my way down? How could I not cheer on the accomplishments of a true, good friend? How could not appreciate the effort of himself and his family to overcome the everyday trials to merit something so important and fulfilling? How could I not come down to stand up for someone who has done so many important things in his life...some of which he may not even be aware of?

I am so thankful to have been there. Thankful for the invitation. Truly. The pride I felt. The love. I adore him. I cannot imagine where I would be in this life without him...

Good luck and much love to you and yours.

Hope to be seeing you soon....just after your Bar Exam!!!! Drinks on me!