OOJ: leaf lust

while the trees aren't bare yet, i've been more fascinated by the leaves on the ground. i can't name any of them, but they come in so many shapes + shades, even within a single leaf. so now i subject you to my obssession:

notes from the field: larry h. miller toyota dealership

2:04 PM
camped out in the only sunny seat i could see in the showroom. it also happens to be right next to the coffee table (no donuts! budget cuts or they already got eaten?). surprised by how full the place is. i picked the day after tgiving to bring in my car (got a recall notice in the mail) b/c i have the day off + my parents are in town + i wanted an excuse to escape for a couple hours. there's an older gentleman in a faded blue jacket + tweed hat pushing his feet forward in slow, steady laps around the showroom- makes me feel like i'm in a kind of purgatory, except that i'm pretty content here in my sunny chair w/a full pack of green apple hi-chews + free wi-fi. there's a college football game in the background and once in a while someone bangs a gong, which i'm guessing means someone just bought a car. what else would be gong-worthy at a car dealership?


guilty pleasure of the week: katy perry's "the one that got away". it's pure cotton candy, refined sugar, everything that rots out your brain, but at the same time oh so satisfying. "in another life/I would make you stay/then I wouldn't say you were/the one that got away". 

running to stand still

this is my sleeping bag after 5 years of sleeping in it every night. apparently i tread water in my sleep or something because these holes are at the bottom of the bag, where my feet go. i flipped over the sleeping bag so now the holes are on the top side- good to go for another 5 years.

the sleepless night continues...

time for another list! this year i am thankful for:

• color
• scrambled egg sandwiches
• amy poehler- damn, i love that woman! 
• living 15 min. away from the smatters
• being able to move my body- dance is my AA + it saves me over and over again
• utilities! indoor heating, running water- amazing
• my scarf + fingerless gloves
• friends who make time to keep in touch w/me
• living in a place w/such big sky
• homemade jam from the farmer's market
• raspberry scones from java joe's
• being able to eat when i am hungry
• my PR
• my car

another sleepless night

woke up around 3 am thanks to someone re-enacting the fast and the furious on a nearby street- relentlessly assaultive engines revving, tires squealing, the works. either that or it was someone who was rushing someone to the hospital in a souped up car, following a route with lots of turns. here's what i think about these days when i can't sleep:

• parent teacher conferences next week (in abq public schools, conferences are scheduled all day for 2 days + the kids don't come to school on those days. weird, huh?)
• what am i gonna get my parents for xmas? (prolly furry boots for my mom- i seem to gravitate towards giving her some form of footwear every year: down booties, fleece slippers, non-slip clogs)
• did i pay rent? oh wait, it's only the 18th (now technically the 19th), i still have time
• i can't believe thanksgiving is next week. this year i get choose the food! i think we'll go out to a brazilian churrascuria. yay no white ppl thanksgiving food!
• do ppl take vacations anymore? i can only think of a couple of friends who've traveled for non-holiday/non-family reasons this year. (family-mandated travel doesn't count as a vacation to me). i keep checking last minute airfare sales + fantasizing about flying somewhere for the wkend (nothing fancy, i'd settle for austin or denver), but all the sale priced tickets require you to fly back on a mon or tues, which is a no-go for me. 
• i miss amtrak- some decembers i ride the northeast regional amtrak route, which lets me visit friends in philly + maryland. i like trains.
• i should start making books again
• i need to find some fences for my sand tray
• has every possible thought already been thought of?
• did i pay rent? oh wait...
• somewhere in the world, someone is having really hot sex right now
• i miss sleeping on my stomach- chiro says it's bad for my neck :(
• i have too much stuff

modern art

i thought my brita was dishwasher safe...

some days i love my job

silver surfer squinky

this, my friends, is a squinky wearing lego girl hair.

squinkies are squishy, shrunken incarnations of beloved characters (marvel heros, disney princesses, hello kitty, etc.). this fine squinky specimen is none other than marvel comics superhero silver surfer. wearing lego "girl hair"- a significant improvement, imo. 

this morning, one of my kids brought me lego "girl hair" because one of my girl lego figures (defined by this kid as a girl b/c it has red lipsticked lips) has no hair. for those of you who haven't played with legos in decades: there are female lego figures now. in addition to pink lego bricks, lego harry potter, and glow-in-the-dark legos. see below for a pic of a lego girl.

this gift of lego girl hair made my day. the fact that a 9-year-old boy noticed i had a bald girl and gave me his own girl hair to fix the situation makes me feel all kinds of sparkly glowy hopeful. 

later, i was working with another kid. the topic: things that annoy us. for her, it's when her little brother won't quit talking.

me: so what's an ok way to ask him to stop talking?

kid: "please can you stop talking? i'm getting a headache."

me: and what's a not-ok way to ask him to stop talking?

kid: "stop talking before i hit you!"

it was a good day.

let me count the ways

things i love about abq:

• crisp mountain air
• smell of burning piñon firewood drifting through the crisp mountain air
• strangers make eye contact and say hi (took me a while to get used to this)
• snow on the sandia mountains
• thick clusters of bright orange + yellow trees (cottonwoods?) lining the rio grande (i get to drive by it every day)
• univ. of new mexico's continuing education course selection, which includes: playing the didgeridoo; pet behavior issues: cats ("If you feel that you've 'tried everything', this class is for you."); black madonna sites in europe; and resin... for the fun of it
• airport parking for $4.98 a day- and that's the expensive company
• no traffic! there's not even that much honking, though one long-time resident told me, "I can tell more outsiders are moving in to abq because I'm hearing more honking now." i admit i'm one of these honking outsiders: i'll tap my horn if the light turns green and the car in front of me hasn't moved after 10 seconds... or 5 seconds...

OOJ: first frost!

loving this weather: crisp air, clear skies- this is how fall is supposed to be.

this next pic is not frost, but it looks kinda like it. i cooked pasta + didn't wash the pot for a couple of days + then i looked at it one morning and found this:

cool, huh? kids, try this at home!

dia de los muertos

dia de los muertos is a holiday even better than halloween b/c the kids aren't all wired up on sugar + everyone just hangs out in the cemetery all day w/lots of food (well, in mexico they do). it's like thanksgiving in a graveyard. families set up temporary "altars" to deceased relatives + decorate it w/the dead person's favorite things. then that person's spirit comes back + enjoys the stuff you put out. it's like leaving milk + cookies for santa. except santa's not real.


i like that it's a very public + accepted communal celebration of ppl you love and miss. in the U.S., grief is painfully private; most ppl don't like to hear about death. they don't know what to say + then they are uncomfortable. if you ever want to end a conversation quickly, try mentioning someone who was dear to you who's now dead. 

"so do you have any siblings?"

"i have a brother, but he's dead."

"oh." [cue crickets: cheep cheep cheep]

to celebrate, i went to the south broadway community center to check out their dia de los muertos art exhibit. skeletons galore! my next tattoo will be of a grinning dia de los muertos calavera.

some of this art is for sale, so if you desperately need to own it, i can try to connect you w/the artist.

pumpkinpalooza!

ABQ's got some dope pumpkin artists. Having never carved a pumpkin myself, i'm in awe of what ppl create. maybe it's just the wonder of my first halloween in abq, but i don't remember seeing this many interesting carvings before. though as a kid, i only had eyes for candy + hitting up as many homes as possible. 

i'm especially fascinated by how the pumpkin's aging process improves its expression, at times adding to the horror, but also possibly adding a certain kindness to its features: