Mrs. McFriendly

I got this at no school, just learning from someone who is so sweet. He loves bunnies, unicorns, kittens and puppies.....in a blender.

You Are a Good Friend Because You're Supportive

You are almost like a life coach for your best friends. You give them help when they need it... but you also know when to give them a push. People tend to rely on you for moral support and advice. You've probably always been mature for your age, so this is a role that's you're comfortable with. A friend like you is one of the rarest kinds. You are both a good mentor and companion. Your friends need you most when: They are confused or worried You really can't be friends with: Someone who only wants to complain Your friendship quote: "The only way to have a friend is to be one."

What Makes You a Good Friend?

A Long Time Ago, In a Galaxy one Zip Code Away

There lived a spoiled little boy. Now the boy has grown up and is selling his old toys on ebay. The kids didn't even touch these Star Wars figures- weren't even curious. What the heck is up with my kids?!

She..... (ahem)...... Sings.

This may look like a roller derby post, and this afternoon, I thought that this evening would end with one. As you know, I love to attend the roller derby when it's in town, since I have some homeschool homies that participate, and they deserve loud praise. I also have some friends from the "way back days" who now I find in the roller realm.

One of those wayback friends knows me as a singer. And I am. But today I am an extremely talented shower singer. Every water droplet sends me waves of applause as I belt out vocals to the glass doors at least once a day.

It used to be that I was a singer for people. That was many years ago. Without fear, I could get up in front of a crowd, put on a big smile, and sing just about anything. I always had the anxiety that comes with excitement, that optimistic feeling that I would do well and they would like me. Then somewhere along the line I dropped the delusions of grandeur, had a couple of kids (one that was particularly troubled by my singing voice for a time), and took up grumbling, barking, declaring, lecturing and praising. I also have an obsession with seeking that elusive animal called silence.

Tonight one of my wayback friends came up to tell me that the person that was supposed to sing "The Star Spangled Banner" was a no show and would I please sing it? I said yes, naturally I would sing, it had only been more than a decade of course, and it was only a notoriously difficult song, and those weren't water droplets out there. I asked her if vomiting was allowed on the rink, to which she replied "no". She showed me to a room where I could warm up for 3 minutes (or vomit, I'm not sure). So I had a hair's breath of time to get adjusted to the fact that I was singing, then adjust to the fact that it was the freaking "Star Spangled Banner", then to find myself a starting note so I would be able to hit freeeeeeeeeeeeeee in a more or less respectable manner.

3 minutes later, I was holding myself up by grasping the edge of the counter in the "soundbox", holding the mic like it was some kind of limb to keep me from falling to my death, and I quiveringly squeaked out our nation's anthem. My voice broke once. It failed a bit in the middle. But I did hit freeeeeeeeeeeeeee. It was all done in the same breathy way I sang "Over the Rainbow" when I was eleven.

Thing is, I sang the "Star Spangled Banner" in the shower recently, and I really impressed myself. It helped that I was prepared for the audience, I knew them well. My sweet little droplets.

After the show there was a knot in my stomach like I hadn't felt since the night I downed two Guinness and a shepherd's pie then took a flight from Boston that experienced engine failure after hitting a flock of birds.

After sitting with a dear friend who attempted to calm me down, I ran into another wayback friend, who is a musician, and the hubby of the other wayback friend that got me tonight's "gig". He fortunately missed my stellar performance. He asked me if I was still singing, I told him I sang tonight and sadly he missed it. Other than that I hadn't sung in public for about 12 years. Then I did something really surprising in light of the fainting episode I had just narrowly avoided. I told him I would love to sing again. (?????) He knew a few people who could help out in that department and we started talking about doing some music.

I came home a bit wired, and sat down to check my email. Another old friend had written me, telling me to learn some Blondie, which would somehow earn me a fine brew at a future show. Yeah, I'll Gitcha if I don't have an anxiety attack first, baby.

(By the way, I would love to sing the national anthem again. I mean that without the sarcasm that the previous paragraphs may lead you to believe is there. Just give me a few weeks prep time with my droplets though. Then I'll tear the house down.)

On the derby end of things:

I would say the ladies played hard, it was a good game, et cetera, but I spent most of my time socializing, so that would be insincere. Next time I'll watch the bout. I do want to say that the Icearium is a great venue, although the crowd seemed a bit more tame than the other roller rink. There seems to be a lot less cheering and involvement from the people. Maybe it's the bright lights that inhibit the rowdiness. I missed that. The bar area was classy looking with a good beer or two on tap. The bathrooms were clean. The floor of the rink was strange. It was made of a rubber mat-type material that was designed in a repeating pattern of tiny octagonal holes. I think it would be a very bad place to lose your lunch. There would have to be special equipment to clean it.

Catch the Rainbird

Do you remember your basic geometry? We're learning about triangles right now- eqilateral, isosceles, scalene, and right. We are also learning to make rainbirds. There are some indians in New Mexico that put the image of the rainbird on many of their items of daily use. A rainbird who is "happy" and full of water is made with a right triangle for a body. One who is drinking water is made from an isosceles traingle, and it looks like it's tilted in a downward angle. A "dancing" rainbird is made from a scalene triangle. A full rainbird is equilateral.

The kids made cards from their drawings of rainbirds. Originally, I was thinking we were going to make a mobile from our drawings. The kids held on to theirs while I went back to the computer to make a triangle quiz. I was a bit worried that the test would be too hard because they hadn't had enough study time.

When I went back to the living room they were playing a game like "Go Fish" with their pictures. I heard Josie call it "Catch the Rainbird". Josie was asking Jake for a happy rainbird. He said "which?" She said "the one with the right triangle." And he would pass it too her. Then he'd ask for a dancing one, and she would say "scalene?" and he would say yes.

They didn't even know they were studying. This is homeschooling at its finest.

She Can Afford the Coke and the Rehab

Why can't she afford to get a driver?

You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth

Jake to Furbie:

"Hey Furbie!"

"Hey Furbie!"

"Hey Furbie!"

"Eh...Looo...."

"Hey Furbie! Tell me a story!"

"Hey Furbie!"

"Eh....Looo..."

"Tell me a story!"

(tick tock....)

"Eh....Looo..."

"HEY FURBIE!"

"Eh....Looo..."

"Hey Furbie!"

"Hey Furbie!"

"Hey Furbie!"

"KILL YOURSELF!"

(I hope that thing doesn't go all Chucky on us in the middle of the night.)

Thought You Might Like to Know....

For clarity, if such a thing exists in my universe, I advise you press "play" and then read.




I've been looking to try out a little parlor guitar with nylon strings. My guitar is very nice and I like it, but I find that I want to capo it at the third fret for everything. I think it's because at that fret my fingers are closer together, and the strings have more tension and they don't get all buzzy.

I went down to Pick n' Grin last Tuesday and found that it was closed. I like Pik n' Grin because it just seems to be staffed with friendly people who like to play instruments. How simple. Suddenly there was a little knot in my stomach. My other choices in my area were Rik's (ugh, as lame as it sounds), and the Guitar Center. You see, I'm a girl. There's not a lot to swing around down there, and that's what you get into at these places. A bunch of guys playing How Big's Your Johnson, and not a lot actually playing music. Humility is a rare thing among those who call themselves musicians, almost as rare as talent. Just 5 minutes in one of those places and you'll hear some punk blasting out the sounds of a cat passing slowly through an undustrial shredder amplified to 11. He's usually got a little entourage of slack jawed mouthbreathers, dreaming of parties and groupies, who think he's Jesus H. Clapton, and want to be sure to stick around for when he hits it big.

A funny thought...there's a lot of young fellers out there who seek to meet chicks by hanging out in places that are full of dudes, doing things for the approval of other dudes, playing songs that, in general, are mainly loved by dudes. What they don't know is that while they are all congregated doing their dude-stuff, all the girls are congregated somewhere else, usually in the company of some guy who's figured it out.

But I digress.

(Don't you think that would be good engraved on my tombstone? I'll live forever though, cause I'll be dying, then I'll forget what I was doing, and get up from the hospital bed and walk out in the hall and go "I know I went in there for something," and if there's no nurse to remind me that I'm supposed to be dying, I'll just go on forever. Kind of like this post.)

Anyway, I hope in 400 hundred years when I'm a blind old bald man who forgot to die, I will be able to play for my friends at least one joyful little arpeggio as beautifully as Andres Segovia did.

....and now you know.

Some Pictures From My Travels

Had to sneak on private property to get this picture.

Big fat cornfed New Harmony squirrel. I didn't zoom in either. He was ready to take me on.

Cute little outhouse on my folks' property.

Their magnificent koi pond.

This is What I Look Like When My Cable's Done Broke

I suffered like a fish out of water for 15 days. Bumming computer time from friends and family for only about five minutes cumulatively. I'm happy to say it's fixed now and that I did live.