Kirby's birthday, part 1

Another batch of people are here. Some had to leave for Friday night obligations, work shifts, etc., so Kirby cut the smaller cake, which is carrot cake. The big one will be saved a bit. It's nearly his birth hour/moment. But he's involved in big conversations about games and costumes and things they've all done. There are people here who used to be over here once or twice a week (or more), and it's interesting to see them as grown men, not teenagers--more confident, better dressed, muscular. :-) Facial hair that's intentional rather than awkwardly accidental. Kirby has some very nice friends.

These are the photos from the set above that I like best:


Jeremy cutting; Kirby, Joey, Holly and Katie watching.


Mikey Hale cutting; same audience.


Holly, Katie, Mikey


Elijah, Holly (behind), Marty, and Bo, acting out some celebratory thought.


Elijah Trujillo, Kirby's four-months-older cousin, cutting water. Josh watching.


Keith, Elijah with beer, Kirby in front, Bo, Marty, Ashlee

New blog template, and what I'm doing

My blog hasn't opened well for a week or more, so I stripped it down gradually. Nothing helped. Following some random suggestions in discussions of blogs-gone-slow, I changed the template. I'm sorry not to have the "minima lefty stretch" I was used to, but it's no longer offered as a new option. This will do for a while, then.

Tomorrow is Kirby's 25th birthday. I've been a mom for a long time now.

Things I've been doing online lately are Just Add Light and Stir and information on several pages (still building) about the ALL Unschooling Symposium here in December 2011.

This afternoon, Brett Henry, Kirby, Keith and Marty Dodd at Dion's on Montgomery:

Sights, no sounds

Today Holly and I went on errands and I picked Kirby up from the airport. He's the out-of-focus guy in the black t-shirt. The bicycle is a descanso. Holly in the chiton is from yesterday.

Birthday report

I'm fifty-eight years old, as of yesterday. The "party" unfolded thusly:


Just before midnight Saturday, Holly and her boyfriend Will picked me up at the airport and took me to the Waffle House on Yale, where we sat and talked for a fairly long time and then took me home. I looked at e-mail enough to know there was an overwhelming amount of Birthday stuff, and so I went to sleep, 2:00 a.m., and slept until 8:30.




That's a photo of Will and Holly taken by Will's brother, Doug, when there was a forest fire in the Gila that was smoking up Albuquerque. Will has shorter hair now.

8:30 a.m., I turned on CBS Sunday morning, a favorite show I haven't seen since May, to watch what I thought was the last half hour of it. Happy Birthday to me! They've changed the broadcast time so now it starts at 8:00 and ends at 9:30! I got to watch it an hour's worth.



Got up and came to read birthday greetings. There were some very, very touching wonderful sweet things, and some plain ones from people I really liked seeing in my box, and both were wonderful. Keith brought me two actual-paper-in-the-mail cards I had received. Holly got up, and Will. She hadn't taken him home. So in discussing what was up for the day, I said nothing for me; just be. (Daniel Wooten, nice guy but not always a great speller, created the greatest phrase. He wrote "Happy be day." And now I want that to be IT, what birthdays are. I'm 48 and I still am being.)

I said to Holly that we maybe go and see Justin Timberlake pretend to have sex with the chick from "That 70's Show," and she seemed interested, so turns out Will was willing to go to the movies with us, too. "Check the High Ridge," Holly said. The High Ridge is close, and tends to have little old ladies at many of the showings. It's less expensive and less fancy than some other theatres. It has eight screens, but not the giant, theatre, new-carpet 24 screen extravaganza that young adults in Albuquerque usually opt for. We joked about that, but I was already looking, and the next showing was in eight minutes. They were willing to grab and go, and we made it, WITH popcorn and a soda to share, before the previews were done.
It was fun. I really liked it. And it was peaceful, and calming, and I really liked that. We took Will home on the way, came back, Holly said she was going to sleep, I read birthday greetings until I fell asleep, and that was most of my birthday. I woke up at 7:00 p.m., ate two hotdogs, and read e-mail and facebook until I FINALLY caught up, just before midnight. Posted to Just Add Light and Stir, and went to real bed.

There was more I didn't know about.

This morning when I was straightening up around the bed, I picked up the jeans I did NOT wear yesterday, to put them up somewhere, and they were oddly heavy. My phone was in the pocket. That means that my WHOLE BIRTHDAY (after 2:00 a.m.) I was without my phone, and didn't even notice. :-) Two months in the UK without the phone got me out of the habit. And there was a sweet message from Kirby in there. I get to see him Wednesday night.

And that was my birthday, and it was a good one, even though maybe the quietest one ever. Marty was at Rebecca Tynker's birthday. She's had the same birthday I have for her entire life. She might be half my age about now, but when I first knew we shared a birthday, I think she was six or so. :-)

All photos are lifted from other sites. I didn't take any pictures yesterday. The good photos I found of Rebecca were rudely copyrighted and blocked, but she's pretty and you would have enjoyed seeing a photo of her. Sorry.

Albuquerque sights today

Spider warning.

Some photos are out and about, and others are in our yard. A sunflower grew in our compost pile. There's a trompe l'oeil bunch of cars (with interesting cars near it, today) right behind our house. An interesting spare tire cover on a jeep.

The theme seems to be yellow. :-)



I left the fuzzy spider image so you could more easily distinguish the shadow from the equally black spider, in the better photograph.


In the video below, when I said "him" I knew it was a female but just said "him" because it was big and dangerous. I had killed eight of them, and decided to let this one go so you could see it move (you who watch my blog). One I killed was a small male. One was nearly as big as this one (and is in the photos above, but didn't get away). The others were smaller females.



Mostly I was out stepping on and swatting the big black water beetles (cockroaches, they call them, but they're not the little brown cockroaches that live in houses sometimes). Lost count of those. Fifty or seventy. Each one will fail to reproduce from tonight on.

No one in my family does these late-night raids on obnoxious fauna, so the population was up because I was away for two months.

The moon out back, the dawn in front

About 5:30 this morning, the moon from my back deck:

Half an hour or so later, in the front yard:

The importance to me today is that it's so familiar and dry and warm and so unlike the skies I saw in the places I've been since May—England, Scotland, France, Northern Ireland.

For others now, and more in the future, the cars might be the most interesting part. They'll get older and older as long as the video survives in a viewable format.

Some of Holly's friends

Last night I went with Holly to a show at The Gasworks. It would have been at the old Amped, but they closed before the month was up, so it was moved. The space is still being set up, but some of the sitting-around stuff was interesting, too.





Will on the left, David in the middle, and Holly.











The rest of my photos and two more videos from last night are here:

(The other video; sorry I left it out before:)

Home in Albuquerque

12:40 p.m. Thursday, July 14; home in Albuquerque for the first time since mid-May. NICE!!

Don't stop 'til you get a duck

(I'm going to add to the to of this list until I get tired of it.)

---

♫ Silver threads and golden needles cannot mend this duck of mine.

[In Alan-Rickman voice:] By Grabthar's duck, you shall be avenged.

♫ Hey! Teacher! Leave them ducks alone.

♫ And the rocket's red glare / the ducks bursting in air

♫ I would stay young and chipper / And I'd lock it with a zipper / if I only had a duck

Be gone, before somebody drops a duck on you

♫ Changing my duck with a wave of her hand

♫ St Peter don't you call me 'cause I can't go / I owe my duck to the company store
or
♫ You load fifteen ducks, whaddya get..

Shortest verse in the Bible: Jesus ducked.

♫ Happy trails to you / until we meet a duck

♫ Oh what a beautiful morning / Oh what a beautiful duck

♫ Started swearin' to my god and on my mother's duck / that I would love you 'til the end of time

♫If you've got the money, honey, I've got the duck

♫ I got married to the widow next door /She's been married seven times before / and every one was a duck

(♫ ABBA, "Fernando* ♫) And I'm not ashamed to say the roar of guns and cannons almost made me duck #replaceawordinafamousquotewithduck

---

Nasty ducks, back room, beaded curtains over it, must be 18 or older to enter: Don't even look.

Ducks in the air, on the phone

After we left Portstewart, Julie and Sarah texted back and forth their best and some of ours. I was taking notes, too, and thought of some more in the plane. Obsessions end, eventually. Or they become the collections of eccentrics. Oh. DOH!!!!

Enough duck, let's fight.

An unexamined duck is not worth having.

There is no "duck" in team.

♫ All we are saying is give peace a duck.

♫ Fat bottomed ducks they make the rocking world go round.

♫ Get on your duck and ride.

Sooner or later you end up with the duck you deserve.

♫ Mama, I just killed a duck...

No woman, no duck.

♫ Get up, stand up, stand up for your duck.

Blessed art thou amongst ducks.

When one duck closes, another duck opens.

♫ Ruby, don't take your duck to town.

A man loves the duck in his youth that he cannot abide in age.

Live duck, die young.

Don't let your duck take you from behind.

I am the god of hellfire and I bring you... duck

♫ The biggest kick I ever got was doin' a thing called the crocodile duck

♫ Don't stop 'til you get a duck.

Eyes on the duck! Eyes on the duck!

♫ Raindrops keep falling on my duck.

With this duck, I thee wed.

Once upon a duck

♫ Then I saw her face now I'm a duck
Not trace of doubt in my mind.

Once a duck, always a duck.

The further adventures of Ducks

Explanation (if you think that would help) is here.

The spirit is willing, but the duck is weak.

♫ Yesterday———
all my ducks seemed so far away
Now it looks as though they're here to stay...

Red duck at night, shepherd's delight

Bring out your ducks

♫Imagine there's no heaven / it's easy if you try
No hell below us / above us only ducks

♫... but Mama said, 'You can't hurry ducks, no you just have to wait...'

♫ A kiss on the hand might be quite continental
But ducks are a girl's best friend

Look like the innocent flower but be the duck under't.

I don't know a symbol for finger snapping, but imagine one here.
♫ When you're a duck, you're a duck all the way...

♫ I see a red duck and I want it painted black

♫ It's a hard-knock duck for us

♫ So good-bye yellow brick duck
or maybe better
♫ So good-bye yellow brick road where the ducks of society howl

Though that might not be a good one, as we made guidelines here last night. If not funny, if not bird, if not "dog" or "dock", then duck (maybe). But the one above has been adjudged an allowable exception.

Elementary, my dear duck.

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ducks.

It ain't over 'til the fat duck sings.

---

In case of a sudden loss of cabin pressure, ducks will drop from the panel above you. Pull the duck toward you, place it over your mouth and nose, and breathe normally. Please insure that your own duck is secured before assisting others.

Notice that the nearest duck may be behind you.

In case of an emergency landing on water, your duck is to be found underneath the seat in front of you. Take the duck out of its container, place over your head, pass the straps around your waist and secure with a double knot in front. Ducks for children and ducklings for infants are also available. Do not inflate your duck until you are out of the aircraft. If your duck does not inflate automatically, blow through the tube.

---

Duck jokes

On Twitter, people are replacing words in famous quotes with "duck." That's fun, but Twitter isn't easy to search or read, and repeats started coming quite a bit. Those I saw the most were good ones, and obvious, and fun, though:

I did not have sex with that duck.
Houston, we have a duck.
   and
You want the duck? You can't handle the duck.

My favorite was "Don't cast your ducks before swine." (Craig Good had contributed it; I don't know him.)

I played some I liked.

Send her victorious / Happy and glorious / Long to reign over us / God save the Duck

Out in the west Texas town of El Paso, I fell in love with a Mexican duck.

For the benefit of Mr. Kite / there will be a duck tonight / on trampoline

What's in a name? That which we call a duck, By any other name would smell as sweet.

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his duck for his friends.

But here at Sarah's house, at dinner we were brainstorming others. If you want to see what's happening at Twitter, it's here:
http://twitter.com/#!/search/%23replaceawordinafamousquotewithduck

Things from Sarah, Conchur, James, Julie and me, in various combos and singles:

If you can keep your duck while all around you are losing theirs...

♫ Don't you step on my blue suede duck

Joseph and his technicolor dream duck
♫ I wore my duck of many colors...

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's duck.

Be but sworn my love, and I'll no longer be a duck.

I'll get you, my pretty, and your little duck, too!

♫ Ding dong the duck is dead...

♫ There is a green duck far away

♫ You're my brown-eyed duck.

♫ I will not cease from Mental Fight / Nor shall my Duck sleep in my hand...
(goes with:) How do you solve a problem like Maria/how do you hold a duck in your hand?

A medium-dry duck—shaken, not stirred

[We considered equal-time in potential offense of religions, but... gave up.]

Blessed art thou, oh Lord, who has not made me a duck.

There is but one G-d and Mohammed is his duck

For God gave his only begotten duck...

In the beginning was the word, and word was with God, and the word was duck.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the duck.

Rise, take up thy duck, and walk.

Give us this day our daily duck

Take, eat, for this is my duck

It is harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven than for a camel to pass through the eye of a duck.

We hold these ducks to be self evident...

...life, liberty and the pursuit of ducks

Duck will out
out, damned duck

I find you curiously attractive, young duck.

Music hath charms to soothe the savage duck.

We few, we happy few, we band of ducks.

♫ When the night is over, like a duck out of hell I'll be gone, gone, gone

♫ Hey (hey), you (you), get off of my duck.

♫ Baby, baby, where has our duck gone?

♫ Billie Jean is not my duck

♫ Oh daddy dear, you're still number one, but ducks just wanna have fun

The boy stood on the burning duck...

A fool and his duck are soon parted.

Do or do not; there is no duck.

If the duck fits, wear it.

For the want of a duck, the kingdom was lost.

♫ You change your mind / like a duck changes clothes.

♫ Blue moon, you saw me standin' alone / without a dream in my heart, without a duck of my own

♫ I don't care too much for money / Money can't buy me ducks


(I was taking notes by hand. There are more, but I need to go to sleep.)

Little errors big differences make

Found on facebook:

Gluten free at the market :)


An insult that wasn't:

You have a brain the size of a moron.

Breath taking beauty

watch the thunder clouds
rising into the night skies
breath taking beauty

Small World Coincidence

In a charity shop in Stroud, I bought a hat.
I came back to the house. Bartek said someone had skyped, and so I called Holly, in Albuquerque. She said what are you wearing just as I said look at my new hat, I guess, or something like that, and she left the screen and came back with HER new hat. I tried to get an image of it, but I don't show well. Here's Holly, though, and the black outline of me:

The reason Holly went so quickly to get her new hat is that this is what MY new hat looks like: