slow recovery or "linkfest"

To the few of my freaky darlings who still have the metabolism to get up from a party without limping-- I salute you. Okay Punkin Day '07 was tremendous. (I have the sinking feeling I am going to run out of juicy descriptors before I finish this post.) The party was Saturday night and I am still licking my metaphorical wounds.

The three newest things about this year were in order of importance--1.) Roxy (Matt's new lady friend)--2.)the band who mentioned us on their webpage* and of course Warren who planned on simple ipod playlists and immediately segued into floor manager extraordinaire as he disco balled us into a dance frenzy. Warren you are the shit! 3.)the pig. The mouthwatering aroma of which is still swirling around the house.

I need to extend an adjective laden hug of gratitude to to both Clan Ullman and The Andelcrag Constituents. In the past we have learned that Petey needs to take the day off after Punkin Day. This year because of the amazing help of The Breakfast Club--clean up was mostly done my about noon on Sunday. I just stood around pointing a plastic sword and sipping a cold (VERY COLD) one. Well I did sit down while Maria brushed out my tangled mess o' been dancing and throwing spears all night..hair. But Monday was actually just like--sorting dishes and folding tablecloths. My friends are amazing. Especially Garth. You Sir are a god. I love you.

It was so awesome to see so many beloved friends--Tarrach and my girl had mentioned on his myspace page that they might have come in sadly they lead the list of missing guests--NO ONE represented clan Gohsman!!All is forgiven. Begg stepped up to bat for ya'll dancing with me in a most smutty way. It was wierd seeing Brian but no Ivory.... We knew Lisa & Paulie couldn't--but we missed them anyway. Eric claimed he was gonna show--even called to get directions but apparently got lost. No comment. Rick (work) &Tim (Yale) were missed but we understand. PunkAmy however has yet to explain her absence and Arianna was apparently overcome with an evil virus none of us really wanted to meet. S'okay--Movie plans are in the making. Hey..did anybody see Midair & the dancingqueen??? Um Pace?? thought you were coming?

I did see babyCelia who is the sweetest cutest little bundle of three month old in the state and her Mommy & Daddy are pretty cool too!
So... tonight is trick or treat and I am gonna be the Lost Vampirate of Northshield. We are going back to Normal Park because that neighborhood has a well deserved rep-- and eat pizza at Stacy's--thank god she is feeding us because we are all getting sick of the hodgepodge of party food leftovers.




*
They were a last minute thing...Melisant brought them and they literally sang for their supper. They had originally had a gig in Canada but did not realize they needed work permits and so were shot down at the border and when they...seeking refuge... phoned Melisant the Scrabble goddess; she said--"Let me call Daye." All's well that ends well!! Yay for us.

sooo tired

Punkin Day '07. The barn was properly initiated with punkin guts and beer. Crazy dancing and black martinis. Pig roast, spider pinata, zombie hunt, blood sacrifice, sugar,surprise live band, a Tuchux!--waaaay too much food, gorging and feasting. Bonfire finally got peed on at 3 am. The dog only got away once. Spear chucking, and then Huevos for breakfast (which was really lunch cuz nobody was moving too fast) If it was a mastercard commercial I think it would be sumthin like

100 lbs of pork
1/2 keg of LaBatts

party with awesome friends: Priceless

minimal photos here

fast food

I heart The Ugly Mug. I know most of my *peers* hang out at Bombadill's. I do love Peter and Leslie very much, great coffee--sweet art. But the kids at The Mugg don't necessarily want me to talk to them. You see dear one, at heart I really am a sour old curmudgeon and I want my damn privacy. If I walk into Sidetrack I want to drink my beer-- eat my damn cheeseburger and maybe hold hands with my honey. No politics, no city issues--just beer thanks. When I walk into Bombadill's I feel like I am in Rod Serling directed episode of "Cheers!". I am always greeted and called out to regardless if I can remember the callee's name or not-- So when I want to write--or just quietly grab a "Killer Everything" Bagel and lg black java to go--cuz I really should be grading papers...I like the quick get away.

I like it. Too bad nothing local--

This seems like a good idea.Gee what could I do instead?

GO Blue!!

Ha! I'll bet ya'll are freaking out. Cuz *YOU* know we are Sparty peeps here at Belly Acres. Ah! But you see I am not referring to the U of M nor any of it's ridiculous tentacles invading my life. No I am referring instead to a darling human being. Mr. Blue Way of Depot Town's Blue Sky Carpentry (who is a wood working god..I shit you not) Our custom designed and "built in" hand rubbed cherry bookshelves are getting installed. I have been very patient. This was the first project we conceived upon arrival here at the new house. The books are still sitting in the boxes from several weeks ago. If you see Blue ask him about the spiffy dove tailing tool he got in Holland. I am ecstatic that the shelves are getting placed. They are beautiful but they will be even better when the books are on them. My li-berry is finally taking shape. Here are some pics of what Blue achieved yesterday.

Bye bye crappy fake brick--hello quality craftsmanship. OOh now I have to choose a color for the library walls...carmel?

SCARLETT IN THE NEWS

Zoli's new school lives up to it's rep. We love school! he loves Chess Club. He loves French class. His Language Arts teacher tags new releases for him. If I could just convince him to ride the bus...

izzy

the clipboard

BARN!! CHECK!
keg check
bonfire check
salamander heater ...Arrives w/Garth & Kassia
tables&chairs check
cheesy decor check
disco ball--Warren on saturday morning
zombie hunt check
pig check!!
punkins -- this afternoon
side dishes--as the week progresses
glo sticks... hmmm could be an issue
cups check
plates & plasticware pretty much check
napkins--see glo sticks
black vodka..gotta find that

I will never pass for Mrs. Dalloway.

why cook yer own when you could just hit the Fleetwood?

This blog post is stolen from Miss Shela who cited her source at the bottom--and right now I am getting in the car---

A LIL INFO ON THE FAMOUS FLEETWOOD DINER:
"Hippie Hash"
It's true. The sheer, boundless possibility that is dining in downtown Ann Arbor can be daunting sometimes. Within a few city blocks one can take a world-tour of cuisines, and explore a span of epicurean styles from fancy to plain and back again. But when it's three in the morning and you want some eggs or a burger, the choice is clear: you go to the Fleetwood.

The cooks at the Fleetwood Diner have been slinging hash at the corner of Ashley and Liberty Streets since 1949, when construction was completed on this steel and porcelain "kit" diner trucked in from Ohio. Back then it was called the Dagwood Diner and it's easy to picture the farmers in their overalls staring furtively at the bobby-soxed U-M coeds and their athletic dates as they all tucked into their restorative all-American greasy spoon fare. The good thing is that over 50 years later, not much appears to have changed at the Fleetwood (the name was changed in 1971).

A meal at the Fleet is a quintessential diner experience-something that's increasingly difficult to come by. Open 24 hours a day, every day (with the exception of the occasional holiday), this is more than a restaurant, it's a social hub for a huge variety of people. Go there on a Saturday morning and it'll be packed with couples reading the paper, families, budding or grizzled hippies, academic types sitting up at the counter reading Nietzsche, and everyone doing some serious eating. Go there on a Saturday night, late, and the age bracket drops considerably as students and the elite of Ann Arbor's black-clad, spike-haired artist-ocracy put in their orders, chatting with the occasional trucker.

Food at the Fleetwood Diner is, as one might expect, is no-frills, hot as blazes and delicately flavored with whatever else has been on the grill all day. This is a good thing. Come here for all manner of eggs, bacon, sausage, etc., burgers the way you want them, greasy fries, BLTs, tuna sandwiches and more. Don't miss the Fleet's most famous meal, Hippie Hash, a dizzying fry-up of shredded potatoes, onions, tomatoes, and broccoli all bound together with feta cheese and some kind of meat if you want it.

Have we mentioned that this place is tiny? This makes for some great eavesdropping opportunities and a chance to strike up a conversation with some of Ann Arbor's most colorful people. If cigarette smoke gets to you, then (weather permitting) get a seat outside under the awning-the service is just as good. The waitstaff will even bring a bowl of ice for your dog on a hot day.

The Fleetwood Diner is located at 300 South Ashley, at Liberty, 734-995-5502. It's always open.

© Ann Arbor Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, 2003. All Rights Reserved.

coyote poop

How big is coyote poop? It would look like dog poop right? 'cept maybe not so "uniform"? I think we saw some coyote poop when we were walking this morning. Two big reasons I think it was coyote poop. 1.) the guy who is mowing the park said that Monday when he was working he saw a coyote. 2.)If this was a domestic/pet dog poop somebody needs to reassess their kibble.
Also--the Metro Parks area has been reporting coyote sightings more and more frequently.
I hope it was coyote. Predators mean the food chain is intact.

well ya learn sumthin every day

Today I learned there is now CARPET being made from recycled soda bottles! I knew about the various garments (the fleece is pretty groovy) and I have touched the yarn...but I admit I was surprised to find out the Mohawk has a corn based (instead of petroleum) carpet! How cool is that?

virgin lust

Virgin --snort--yeah and I am a demure and ladylike super model.

I enjoyed a very nearly perfect Friday evening. Ya know what?? I am trying to think what made it not perfect?? Um...think think... we were a couple five minutes late for dinner because of traffic (a seemingly constant state of affairs) and we misjudged the busy/loud factor of Ashley's Pub and so ended up walking up and down the same block twice to find a place for the post flick dessert discussion. Nummy Cosmo place Truly dear one, it was my idea of a perfect night out. Dinner at Red Hawk w/Himself and Arianna--a couple absolute & tonics and then we boogied around the corner to gorge our eyes on the Elizabeth: The Golden Age. It wasn't great-- but I would give it a strong 8 outta ten. The costumes were deliciously spectacular. John Dees was awesome, admittedly I was hoping that Roger Ascham would make an appearance. *sad fan girl* Also...Despite Eli's clarification-- I stand by my opinion that the Mary Queen of Scots story line was distracting--tho when they pulled the Iron Maiden off her cousin's face --that was pretty cool,

I could make a list to sum up the evening-- that would be quick & easy--but I am toying with doing a longer piece on Cate Blanchett and her interp of Elizabeth. alas--that would be a separate issue. And so without further ado--the "I watched too muchLettermanasakidnow I am obsessed with Lists" response to my perfect Friday night

1. Eli has great taste in lingerie.
2. Pete made the right choice skipping out on Dylan.
3. The Michigan Theatre is the most beautiful theater in the universe.
4. Queens riding astride in full plate are inspirational even when their speeches are insipid.
5. "semi-freddo" is Italian for yummy chocolate hybrid dessert thingy
6. I can't get the image of Arianna playing beer pong outta my head.
7. it is officially scarf season
8. I like conversations with people who use complete sentences, have intriguing vocabulary at their disposal and still laugh at fart jokes.
9. Ann Arbor is pretty cool.
10. literally.

haiku

darjeeling hot tea
white china mug, thanks-- no cream
double honey warm dry socks

on Walden Pond

okay--so there is a tire and a rusted out dock frame.

I am happy because I took the doggies for a proper walk today (it has been a while) and we were very pleased to find that Kevin's dad's old golf course is BEEEE U TEA FUL!. It was obviously part of our family's property. There is a palpable feel of functioning farm. The 1920's gas pump. The decrepit out buildings (Our barn was def. the "big barn") there is a very dangerous looking old well head. It seems that Between Crane Rd & Munger Rd is 47 acres of massive oak, chestnut and beech trees that marked the field lines--it all butts right up to our property. If can envision our farm house, plus the adjacent "son's" farmhouse-- heading up 180 acres of farmland. I am desperate to find out the family name. I shall start the research after I finish this sandwich.) Rolling greens and a pond!! complete with critters. The doggies got to dig in the bank after some sort of mammal that lives in a den. Bree did not want to leave the little pond to explore the rest of the property.So we stayed until there was no way you could tell she just had a bath yesterday. I admired the reflection of the huge willow tree. I met the guy mowing the "back 40" that's what he called it, I swear. And he shared what litle he knew about the imminent "improvements" apparently the TWP plans for what we had heard was gonna be a "play park" is going to be closer to Lilly Park with trails and "natural" areas. I am quite content.

Matty likes Stumble

But I am kept pretty busy just scanning my google news alerts; I found this little gem this morning.

“You can’t divorce the plays from their historical context or the present, Michael Boyd told The Times Cheltenham Literature Festival. “But for me you get less juice out of the plays if you set them in the present.” Giving a play a modern-day scenario can encourage the audience to draw simplistic, distracting links between that and Shakespeare’s words, he said. It had benefits “if you are alert to the pitfalls. The gain is immediacy and availability. The problem is, you are stuck with the contemporary references.” Referring to the National Theatre’s setting of Henry V in today’s Iraq, he said: “I don’t think we have gone into Iraq ‘to busy giddy minds with foreign quarrels’ ”, as Hal is advised to do in Henry IV, Part II.


Now I won't argue about HV in Iraq. It is hard for me to reconcile French civil war with W's lying about oil profits. BUT I do beg to differ with The Times' Ben Hoyle, who wrote the snippet up top. I will argue dear one because I immediately recall the excellent productions of R3 in Nazi garb (that was Ian McKellan ('95) if I remember correctly) and most especially Michael Almereyda's Hamlet 2K. Hawke is brilliantly moody. Anything with a nakey Kyle Maclachlin catches my eye, but Bill Murray and Julia Stiles portray THE BEST Polonius/Ophelia combo I have ever seen. When he pulls her little disco sneaker up on his lap to tie her shoe??? THAT!! completely sums up their relationship. It is stunning. I love it. Plenty juicy. So in my wishy washy mood this morning I suppose I'll go with "which play?" I have seen some good modern dress Othellos, West Side Story is pretty good--Kevin Kline is having fun with the comedies--eww... I do recall a live production in Lansing in the late 80's. LCC did a horrible version of Winter's Tale in Native American Indian garb. That was blecko. What thinkest thou my pet?

Janet Leigh's bra

That is what we were all focused on. This old poster sums up the subject pretty nicely. I have seen some prominently displayed titties at SCA events , but dude..I have NEVER seen a re created Anglo-Saxon Princess with Madonna cones. How can you NOT look at them???

We DVRed the 1958 film "The Vikings". Finally got around to watching it last night and it was actually quite fun. Occasionally my inner snark couldn't control herself and I had to make some bitchy comments about the costumes,esp. the line about the corset--that was just too much for me to take-- but we all sat there (Ok Petey was reading The Subtle Knife) and enjoyed the story. Apparently there is a novel by Edison Marshall. I'm sure I can find it at the AADL. I hope so. I want to read it. The plot of this movie was intricate and well-written. The cast was impressive, (Tony Curtis, Janet Leigh & Ernest Borgnine and Kirk Douglas--wow!) & the acting was spot on. Richard Fleischer's direction absolutely solid. Norway was beautiful filmed (I was pining for the fjords) and a great score. From the very beginning (the credits are like an animated Bayeaux Tapestry), I was sucked in. Lovely. just lovely.

Boondocks

Tomorrow night Boondocks is back! Have you got the "itus"?

E.

Well the trip up to Hurley was far more pleasant than anticipated. That was the first time I left a hospital visit NOT completely depressed. His hand isn't shredded!!--persay...What my darlinks? You have no idea of what I type? Pete's oldest friend, the closest thing he has to a brother,Eric, is a painter--the whole apartment kinda painter not the artist kinda painter. On Tuesday morning he tried to unclog a power sprayer by smacking it around and managed to shoot 2800 psi of (ironically enough) "Safety Yellow" paint into the palm of his hand. (She mutters "dipshit" while shaking her head.) So his buddy at worked rushed his ass to the ER up in Flint and within four hours they had his hand flayed open and had irrigated the tendons. HOWEVER--last night they went in the back of his hand and did the same thing. Pete is worried. I am worried.

vaguely creepy today

I am in a very odd mood. We are gonna go visit E. and his fillet o fish hand tonight. I feel like we are on the cusp of a new era...engaging the clutch as it were...

so let me wax all personal and emo.

Call Me
by Frank O'Hara

The eager note on my door said "Call me,"
call when you get in!" so I quickly threw
a few tangerines into my overnight bag,
straightened my eyelids and shoulders, and

headed straight for the door. It was autumn
by the time I got around the corner, oh all
unwilling to be either pertinent or bemused, but
the leaves were brighter than grass on the sidewalk!

Funny, I thought, that the lights are on this late
and the hall door open; still up at this hour, a
champion jai-alai player like himself? Oh fie!
for shame! What a host, so zealous! And he was

there in the hall, flat on a sheet of blood that
ran down the stairs. I did appreciate it. There are few
hosts who so thoroughly prepare to greet a guest
only casually invited, and that several months ago.


~fin~

okay enough morbid romance

just to mix it up--now for something completely different

new pics

Daddy & his new puppy

Meet Little Fred.

maple syrup

and butter. warm oat waffle. scrambled eggy. black coffee. mmmmm foood

RIP Moneypenny

"you never take me to dinner"

Lois Maxwell....growwwwl

14 Bond films!! She hung out longer than ALL the guys!

fair food

Gotta get this book-- it is entitled "Nobodies: Modern American Slave Labor and the Dark Side of the New Global Economy" by John Bowe -- "brilliantly reported."

The USA Today review (9/17/07) is even more effusive: "Nobodies' is investigative, immersion reporting at its best... Bowe is a master storyteller whose work is finely tuned and fearless." The review wraps up with this:

"Something must be said of Nobodies' final chapter, a masterwork and mixing pot of ideas, spiced by the anger of an intelligent man who has witnessed too many instances of the Latin proverb, homo homini lupus: man is a wolf to man.

There's a chill in the air when he writes: "If you can read this page, you are on top of the world and billions of people are beneath you. Your ignorance and your lack of a program will likely equal the squalor of your grandchildren's existence."