Tiki Tattoo

Yesterday, I went to the Miami Tattoo Expo. I had an appointment with my friend Pooch, who I recently married to girlStacy through the powers vested in me. I’d been wanting a tattoo to cover up two old tattoos that I had on the outside of my left leg, a blue flamey flower and the word “dork”. I wouldn’t mind still having dork tattooed on me. I still feel it, but this particular tattoo was done very poorly. Maybe someday, I’ll just get dork again in courier new which is how I should have had it done in the first place, but I digress.

Earlier in the week I sent Pooch a tracing of my leg and a photograph. I thought it was possible that he would say that it wasn’t possible to do what I wanted. Friday morning he sent back his sketch. He said it was based on a tiki that they saw in Hawaii on their honeymoon. I was beyond pleased and spent the whole day excited about actually getting the tattoo!

The whole process and the finished product inside »

Old School TV

I’ve been watching old television shows on hulu.com.

I started with One Day at a Time. I remember watching it as a kid, but it must have been in syndication because it started in 1975 when I was only one. The clothes and hair are so funny. The show makes me wax nostalgic about my sisters who were older than me and close to the ages of the girls on the show. Mackenzie Phillips was wild and so were my sisters. Anyway the show, as outdated as it is, still works. I miss the days when the actors on television looked like real people, not that they were unattractive, they just looked like actual people you’d see at the supermarket.

Now I’m watching Silver Spoons. I had forgotten that the premise of the pilot was that Edward didn’t know he had a son and Ricky just showed up. I’m not up the Alfonso Ribeiro years but Jason Bateman as Derek is ridiculously good. He plays the sleaziest character and he was only 13. Within the first 8 episodes there have been guest appearances by Mr. T, Gary Coleman, and an orangutan. Gary Coleman played Arnold, his character on Different Strokes. I always thought it was cool when they would do sitcom crossovers in the eighties. You’ll never find Barney Stinson on The New Adventures of Old Christine.

I had a huge crush on Ricky Schroder back in the day. When I was 8, I went to a Girl Scout Father/Daughter banquet and we had to fill out these cards to give our dad. It had fill in the blank information like, “My favorite subject in school is…” and “My favorite color is…”. The last one said, “In the year 2000…” and my answer was “In the year 2000, I’ll be married to Ricky Schroder!” Sadly, that time came and went and he was already married for 8 years at that point. Also, he’s apparently a Republican so it never would have worked out between us anyway. Que Sera Sera!

The best part of watching these old shows is the featured technology. Here is a screen shot of One Day at a Time when Ann went to the telephone company to complain about her bill.

Here are a couple from Silver Spoons. The second one is the episode where Ricky broke into a military database. Ah, the common themes in eighties entertainment are so comforting to me.

Next on the roster is Doogie Howser, MD. The original blogger.

The Efficient Officiant

I have two Stacys* in my life which is really only confusing when it comes time to write about them.  One is my boyfriend and one is one of my oldest and dearest friends. I will call my friend girlStacy as to not confuse anyone. Though, she can clearly remember the days when she was just Stacy and the other one was boyStacy. Times they do change.

On December 21st, I had the honor to officiate girlStacy’s wedding! When she asked me to do it way back in January I was nervous but said yes. How could I not accept this grand role in the wedding ceremony of my closest friend? I’d never married anyone before, so I became a notary public which is all you need in Florida.  I was lucky that the couple prepared the ceremony so it was exactly what they wanted.

I spent the night at the hotel with girlStacy the night before and I was amazed at how she wasn’t nervous about getting married. The next day we prepared ourselves with the help of my hair stylist and several mimosas. Before the ceremony, I was standing near the men folk awaiting my cue to go to the gazebo. girlStacy’s dad was there and he was going on about how proud he and his wife were of what a wonderful person girlStacy has turned out to be. Then he told me he was thankful that she had me for a friend for so many years. It was quite touching, but I had to tell him to cut it out because I didn’t need to get more choked up right before I had to go and talk in front of 90 people. He gave me a swig of his pomegranate martini and I headed into the gazebo.

During the ceremony,  I got choked up and emotional when I started to ask her fiance if he took her to be his wife. Luckily, this was a surprise to no one. I get choked up and emotional watching episodes of Designing Women. The best man put his hand on my shoulder and I was able to get through the rest without additional tears.

The pictures were done right after and it was interesting to see their families watch them. They all were just emitting love and happiness. Both families were so nice and complimentary to me. After the cocktail hour we moved onto the reception which was a lovely area that included inside and outside tables. The band played Gypsy Jazz and everyone ate delicious food. Then we danced. There was so much dancing.

Everyone was so positive. I don’t think there was one negative thought conveyed the entire time. The whole affair was filled with so much love, fun, joy, and happiness. I wish the Mr. and Mrs. a lifetime filled with those things.

with girlStacy

with Stacy

*My sister’s name is Stacey, too, but she has an E.

hot chocolate has mail

This morning it is chilly so we have the windows open and I am enjoying a cup of hot chocolate and trying to write posts for my blog, which I’ve been neglecting since we got back from Disney World last week. A neighbor of mine just had a baby so there are a ton of people over there and with the windows open we can hear all that’s going on. On top of that Toca is barking up a storm. Stacy is working in his office with his music blaring. I am sitting in the living room surrounded by noise, none of my choosing. So, I reluctantly turned on the television to at least have some say as to what I’m listening. And the winner is You’ve Got Mail for the millionth time. I’m not proud. I enjoy a Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan movie. Now I’m not going to write any new posts because I’m entranced.

I just realized this movie is 10 years old. If not for the title of this movie would anyone even remember the phrase “you’ve got mail?”

Finally

(note: this post has been fixed to allow comments again, have at it!)

I grew up taking pride in America. I lived in Texas until I was 12 and they are a proud group, bigger and better. I got emotional when the flag was raised and soldiers saluted. I learned that one’s country is worth being emotional over. During the Gulf War, I was just finishing high school and registering to vote. I registered Republican because that’s what my parents were. I hadn’t met anyone or done anything. When Bill Clinton was elected President, I’d voted for Ross Perot for some reason I still cannot explain, I was just ejected out into the world. I was on my own and I met different kinds of people and learned what is important to me. People are important to me. Social issues are important to me. Love of country and hope for more are important to me.

For the last 7 years I have experienced an underlying feeling of sadness. For what was being done to the country I had been so happy to live in. That there were millions and millions of people who were content to let it happen. Content to keep people in power who let it happen. I am not saying all of our problems are Republican born, I am just saying that I felt a weight. A heaviness that made me wonder if we’d ever be able to get to a point where the American people wanted and demanded progress.

Last night, as we watched the results every time a state was projected for Obama I remained apprehensive. I did not want celebrate. I wanted to be sure. After CNN declared PA for Obama, we switched to Fox News to see if they had different results. They had PA for Obama, then declared OH for Obama. My hope index was rising exponentially, but I wouldn’t allow myself to go there yet. We switched over to Comedy Central for Indecision ’08. When Jon Stewart announced that Barack Obama was elected President tears just started flowing. I didn’t move, I didn’t talk, I didn’t blubber. I just sat there and let the tears roll down my face. It was brilliant.

I respect John McCain’s concession speech and I do feel like he will be willing to work with Obama now that he isn’t under the thumb of the RNC to win, win, win. I feel like they can make great strides together and I hope that they do.

People are saying that Obama has work to do. This is true of any President-elect. It is their duty to go and work to achieve the goals they set out in their campaign. I have faith in Barack Obama’s intellect, hard work, and common sense to make good decisions.

I am proud. I am happy. The weight has been lifted and I see light.

Oh yeah, and he’s black.