18
June
2009
I can’t believe I’ve experienced a quarter of a century go by. It’s a little depressing to think about how fast time goes by, but I am excited to think about what wonderful things are still to come.
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So what, one might ask, am I doing to commemorate the 25th year of my life? Why, I’m going to a tranny show, of course! There are many reasons why I am super excited to go to the show! And the reasons will, of course, be put in a list…
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1.) When my Mom and I were cleaning out my Grandmother’s apartment, we found a wonderful collection of photos of my Grandmother and my Grandfather sitting at a table, drinks and cigarettes in hand of course, looking like they are having a grand old time. The back of the photos all had “Finnochio’s” printed on the back. My Mom said it was a drag bar of sorts that put on elaborate drag shows. I guess my Grandmother adored these shows. I never knew. At any rate, her fondness for men in drag inspired me to see a show for myself. I figure, I’m 25, I ought to be having as much fun as my Grandmother did!
2.) The show is called “The Golden Girls: The Gay Episodes,” or something like that. Yet another thing that brings up sentimental feelings of my Grandmother. We used to watch that show all of the time! How perfect! And you know, come to think of it, Dorothy (played by Bea Arthur) was pretty manly to begin with! It really won’t be that much of a stretch.
3.) (Non-literature nerds can tune out now.) The concept of gender has always fascinated me, and a few semesters ago I was able to do a little bit of research on Renaissance literature and gender studies (and by extension feminist studies). It was really interesting to see how male actors playing women on the Renaissance stage illustrates the fluidity and constructed nature of gender. The transvestite really is an emblem of how gender binaries and definitions do not hold. So it will be fun seeing men dressed as women, and thinking about how the definitions we hold and value about gender are completely fabricated by society/culture, and in no way are natural or innate. And you can count on me to actually be thinking this when I’m there. (End nerd thought.)
4.) It’s just going to be loads of fun. All sentiment and nerdiness aside, I know that it’s going to be a blast. Especially since I’ll be in good company!
Well Grandma, I hope you can take a few minutes from whatever you’re doing and watch a little bit of the show with us. I’d sure like that.
Posted under Uncategorized
22
May
2009
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Pidden got a visit from the groomer the other day! I found a really great grooming service in Davis. This woman has a trailer that is a full service grooming salon. She actually comes to your house and grooms your pet in her trailer. This works really well for us because A) after Pidden got sick, she developed quite a dislike of leaving the house (can you blame her?), and B) it saves me a lot of time! I don’t even have to leave the house. The woman just swoops in, takes Pidden away, and I can still do homework or whatnot. So it saves us a lot of time and unnecessary stress.
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While it may seem odd that we get our cat groomed, we actually have some pretty valid reasons we go through the trouble. First of all, Pidden’s fur is super long and thick, and since her body is pretty rotund, she can’t quite comb out all of her fur. So she’s developed quite a few knots on her lower back, and the knots are pretty painful for her. Rather than trying to comb them out (which is in fact impossible) we have the groomer shave them off. Â I’ve finally realized that I need to be combing her fur more often, so the knots don’t develop to begin with. But the main reason we get her groomed is to have her ass shaved. Again, her fur is so long that poop and pee get stuck in her fur, and let me tell you, it freaking reeks. I suppose we could shave her ourselves, but we don’t have the appropriate kind of razor, and quite frankly, we are afraid of what Pidden would do to us if we attempted to shave her ass. It would be a blood bath of sorts I’m sure. So, instead, we send her away to the groomer in hopes that she won’t sever the groomer’s carotid artery. We’ve done this twice now, and it seems to go relatively well. This time the groomer did complain that Pidden kept pissing on herself every time she tried to dry her off!
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At any rate, Pidden came back smelling and looking good! Her fur looks so pretty and it feels nice and soft. She looked a bit traumatized when she came back in, but after a little snack she was back to normal again.
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Posted under pidden
30
April
2009
My Grandma left this world on April 9th, 2009. Among the things she left me was a wonderful contrast of old and new: her decades old adjustable bed and her brand new mattress. Kyle was very skeptical when he found out that we were taking the bed. He was surprisingly okay taking a mattress that my dead Grandma slept on, but for some reason he was hesitant about taking the adjustable bed. A couple of times he tried to talk me out of it by insisting that it was a fire hazard (this thing is seriously old), that it was too heavy, etc., etc. He caved once he realized I was adamant about keeping it.Â
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Now, it might seem odd that a 20 something would want a bed that apparently is designed for and marketed to those over the age of 65. The reasons I want it are really two-fold. First of all, the bed brings back wonderful memories of my childhood when we lived with my Grandma and I slept with her at night. She would be reading her trashy magazines (i.e. Star, Enquirer, etc.) sitting upright in her bed, and then she would lower the bed when I came in to go to sleep. She would always let my brother and I play on it. My brother would have me sit on the foot of the bed, and then using the controller, he would make the foot go up and down. To us, the bed was an incredible robot bed from the future. I also have fond memories of doing my brother’s hair* while watching Guns N Roses music videos on MTV** on that bed.
All nostalgia aside, I also wanted the bed because, let’s face it - it’s freaking awesome. Yesterday I went to our room equipped with Life of Johnson and my laptop. I moved that bad boy to an upright position, and did my homework in blissful comfort. This bed really needs to be marketed to students who are tired of reading in uncomfortable positions all day. So basically, I get to enjoy the comforts of the bed while doing homework, as well as remember how much I love and miss my Grandma at the same time. It’s a pretty good package if you ask me. And by the way, Kyle is thrilled with the bed as well.
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* Yes, you read that right. My brother used to let me put clips and other hair accessories in his hair when we were little. I think I even had a squirt bottle filled with water that I used before I combed his hair. Actually, come to think of it, my brother is almost seven years older than me, so he couldn’t have been THAT young. HAHA!
** Yes, you read that right. MTV actually used to play music videos.
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Posted under Uncategorized
14
April
2009
Katharine Theresa Winters
May 25, 1930 - April 9, 2009

“Peace, peace! he is not dead, he doth not sleep,
He hath awaken’d from the dream of life;
‘Tis we, who lost in stormy visions, keep
With phantoms an unprofitable strife,
And in mad trance, strike with our spirit’s knife
Invulnerable nothings. We decay
Like corpses in a charnel; fear and grief
Convulse us and consume us day by day,
And cold hopes swarm like worms within our living clay.
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He has outsoar’d the shadow of our night;
Envy and calumny and hate and pain,
And that unrest which men miscall delight,
Can touch him not and torture not again;
From the contagion of the world’s slow stain
He is secure, and now can never mourn
A heart grown cold, a head grown gray in vain;
Nor, when the spirit’s self has ceas’d to burn,
With sparkless ashes load an unlamented urn.
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He lives, he wakes–’tis Death is dead, not he;
Mourn not for Adonais. Thou young Dawn,
Turn all thy dew to splendour, for from thee
The spirit thou lamentest is not gone;
Ye caverns and ye forests, cease to moan!
Cease, ye faint flowers and fountains, and thou Air,
Which like a mourning veil thy scarf hadst thrown
O’er the abandon’d Earth, now leave it bare
Even to the joyous stars which smile on its despair!
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He is made one with Nature: there is heard
His voice in all her music, from the moan
Of thunder, to the song of night’s sweet bird;
He is a presence to be felt and known
In darkness and in light, from herb and stone,
Spreading itself where’er that Power may move
Which has withdrawn his being to its own;
Which wields the world with never-wearied love,
Sustains it from beneath, and kindles it above.”
-From Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “Adonais”
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Posted under Uncategorized
25
December
2008
Well a lot has happened since I last posted.
First of all, I’m an auntie to another boy! I’d like to introduce you to Jared James:

Here’s the kickass outfit I got him:

I also finally finished up with school just in time for the holidays. I did some last minute decorating this week. Here’s Piddy enjoying the tree:


We got our tree pretty late so we decided to get a smaller one. I cut the top out of the frame because it looks ridiculous (we didn’t trim the top, but I decided to put our star on top anyway).Â

I got these half off at World Market. I guess I’m supposed to take a glove/hat/stocking off every day until Christmas, but I thought it was cute as is:


I stayed up all night the other night making chocolate chip hazelnut cookies. They were pretty tasty if I do say so myself.

I also made a chocolate hazelnut tart. I’m bringing it to Ashley and Devin’s tomorrow night, so I haven’t tasted it yet (those are heath bar pieces on top).

Well, I’m going to enjoy the rest of my eggnog and head to bed before Santa gets here!
Good night, and Merry Christmas!!!

Posted under Holidays
5
October
2008
I need some shoes I can wear in the rain. I love these boots, but Kyle’s not digging them. Am I crazy?
Posted under Fashion