.hot dogs.

.hot dogs.
Originally uploaded by tEdGuY49.

Not just 'hot dogs' people - Genie's Wienies!

This is a photo taken by one of my flickr contacts tEdGuY49, who I'm pretty sure was put on this earth to drive around Michigan and take pictures for my enjoyment. Which sounds like as good a reason as any to exist right?

Anyways, yesterday he posted this photo of Genie's Wienies in Detroit and my heart was filled with happiness (which looks like rainbows, unicorns and matches in the shape of hotdogs). But my happiness was short lived. Someone made a comment that there was an article on Genie’s Wieners (it’s just fun to say isn’t it?!) in the Detroit Free Press that day so I looked it up. And now I curse the internet. Genie’s Wienies is closing at 6pm on September 3rd! Sadness fills my heart (see: deserted wasteland with no coneys, chili-fries or matchbooks full of happy hotdogs in sight!). I sent an email to Sain’t to get us some plane tickets right away but I think he is ignoring me.

I had to buy a six-pack of Vernor’s to cheer myself up.

It's a boy!

My old roommate Clem (named changed because it’s funny) and his beautiful wife had a baby boy on Aug 10th, Max. I am so happy for them.
Here he is in the arms of his lovely Aunt Julie.


I met Clem in a painting class at the local college a million years ago. He had a Kurt Vonnegut book sticking out of a Guatemalan bag and I knew he would have to be my friend. Little did I know that Clem was a package deal. I got his whole family! I’ve vacationed with his brother, worked for his father and claimed his sister as my own.

Julie rocks. Look at her! She is the best right-hand man a girl could have. And she wants to cook for you! But she can’t right now because she is moving at the end of the month. Moving sucks. You should send her food. Better yet – send her brownies! Wait. Send me brownies!

What other news have I got? Let’s see…
Sain’t kissed a girl. But he doesn’t want to talk about it, so don’t ask.
Kyle started 4th grade today. He is in desperate need of another haircut. Hippy.
I’m pregnant. I can say that cause nobody is out there.
Chris has 2 boats for sale. You should buy one.

So, not too much going on around here. I could really use some brownies.

How did I get here?

As Sain’t Christopher posted last week – he’s lived in San Francisco for 16 years now. That means that I’ve been in California almost 15 years. Ouch. Remind me sometime to tell you why I hate math.

I got the idea to move to California in 1990 while my aunt from Sacramento was visiting my folks. Hmm…California... Nothing was going on in Detroit so why stay? What cool city is near Sacramento? Hey, I’ll go to San Francisco! Why not?! Sounds like fun.
Surprisingly, the Sain’t didn’t tell me I was nuts for wanting to move across the country on a whim. (At least not to my face) In fact he was going to drive out with me and then fly home – a vacation of sorts. But it didn’t take long for him to decide to move to San Francisco too!
Now you might be inclined to say I am the reason we are both here in CA – but that would be wrong! I didn’t have a plan. I’m not sure what I would have done if left to my own devices. But the Sain’t is an industrious sort and once his decision was made he immediately started doing research - and this was before you could just Google ‘I want to move to San Francisco!’ He did all the leg work. He went out there first and found us a place to live and got a job. 2 weeks after he left, I packed my stuff, said my good-byes and got the hell out of Detroit.

That first move didn’t stick. I was back in Michigan within the month. And for a guy. When I finally left Detroit again in the fall of 1991, we (me and the guy) moved to southern California. Of course me and the guy didn’t last. And I’m not going to list all my moves up and down the state, but I somehow ended up in Sacramento. Imagine that. And the Sain’t has remained right were I left him. So, who can you blame?

Happy Anniversary Christopher. And thanks!

But you are worth the effort

I have been trying to cut back on my caffeine intake this week. I’m sure there was a perfectly good reason for doing this but I’m too tired to remember what it was. I'm too tired to do much of anything.

I’ve wanted to post a new entry all week, but eh, typing. It’s such an effort. Actually I don’t have to worry about the typing; I can’t even organize my scattered thoughts into cohesive sentences.
Hmm, I was able to pull out “cohesive” so maybe all is not lost.

Last Wednesday I took Kyle to the dentist because he cracked a tooth while on vacation. It was a rather pointless trip as the cracked tooth is a baby-tooth that was already loose, but I am one of those concerned and caring mothers so off we went. And it was worth the trip across town just to see the look of newfound respect on the dentist’s face when Kyle told him he cracked his tooth surfing in Malibu. That’s right, Kyle is that cool. So then the dentist gets all excited and asks him what kind of board he was riding etc. Funny.

Of course I volunteered to pop Kyle in the jaw to ‘help’ knock the tooth out. Remember my ‘smack down’ reputation! But I’m afraid I might have light-heartedly offered my services one to many times; I think I saw a CPS van circling the neighborhood last night.

Some people have no sense of humor at all.

Fort Bragg revisited

Aahhh. Another lovely weekend camping in Fort Bragg. This time we stayed in Pomo Campground at the south end of town. And this is good for you because it means we were nowhere near McKerricher State Park – so no repeat ocean shots. In fact, I think I only took one picture of the ocean.
Hmm, what are those 254 photos of anyways?

On Saturday, while Chris was diving, Kyle and I went down to Noyo Harbor and roamed around with the cameras. Kyle was quite pleased to find a bunch of seagulls eating fish heads. Gee, can’t wait to download his photos.


And Sunday morning Kyle and I went to Jug Handle State Reserve. But instead of hitting the beach, we hiked back into the woods in search of the Pygmy Forest. Well, we didn’t make it the 2.5 miles inland to the tiny trees – we should have packed provisions. Maybe I'll sign Kyle up for the Boy Scouts. That boy likes to hike. And one of us should know how to recognize poison oak. It’s just not a skill I learned on the streets of Detroit. The best I can do is to tell him not to touch anything green - ha!


The rest of the weekend was spent at the campground just kickin’ back.


Perfect. And now we are home and no one is itchy so I guess my ‘Don’t touch anything’ strategy worked. Although it could have been the thick layer of dirt that protected Kyle. I’m afraid to look in the bathtub after last night’s bath. I’m sure it will take a big strong man to scrub that ring away. Hi Chris!
Thanks for taking us camping.

The eagle has landed

Kyle is home. He’s very tan and at least 5 inches taller.

Uh...

Well. I’m so tired I can’t think of anything else. Apparently what they say about the elderly is true – you sleep less as you age. And now I officially feel old. After a late night of fun fun fun birthday revelry*, my plan was to sleep in nice and late Sunday morning. Only I couldn’t do it. I tried. But it was not working and I finally admitted defeat and got up with less than the minimum 8 hours of sleep. And then I spent the rest of the day on the verge of a nap. And I don’t do naps. At least young me never did. You’ve seen those old people – the ones who get up at 4:30 in the morning and then nap all day in their rocking chairs? That is going to be me. And I will have officially become my dad when I start falling asleep on the toilet!

Last night I couldn’t sleep at all. I tossed. I turned. I got up at 4:20 and did some yoga. I must have finally fallen asleep because when Chris woke me up to kiss me goodbye - as he does every morning at 6:10am - he’s lucky I didn’t pop him in the nose!

So. I’m tired. And the coffee seems to be broken. And I’m feeling snug from the extended forward folds done in the dark. This must be why a number of old people are so irritable. “Hey! Keep the racket down you whipper-snappers!”

And I mean it!

Cranky Old Lady (formerly elfini)



* I had a lovely birthday dinner on Saturday night. Even the legendary Sain’t was there! Chris and Cynthia prepared the food and it was fabulous. The wine was flowing, the conversation lively and I couldn’t have been happier! And I managed to get one great shot with my new lens


Of course there are more on Flickr. But be kind, it’s going to take some practice to get the hang of the 50mm f/1.8. And I’ll tell you about the experiments with the new Lensbaby after I take a nap under my desk.