it's sept. 11 and i need a drink

Is it just me or is Hank III looking more like Ted Nugent these days than his granddaddy?

And believe me when I say this is not a compliment.

 

S’OK. I still love him. I don’t know that I would want to, say, take him to Sunday dinner with my folks; but I totally dig his music. I’m looking forward to the long-awaited release of his new album…CD…whatever, I’m old-school.

 

I was going to go see local dudes David Serby and West of Texas at a dive/honky-tonk bar tomorrow night, but I just received word that the gig was cancelled. *sigh* Guess that leaves me with 1) Shopping for my niece’s upcoming bridal shower and wedding and B) Going to a Pinot-Wars wine-tasting Saturday evening.

 

Now, I’m all for both shopping and tasting some fine Pinot Noir, but I was also looking forward to going honky-tonkin’. Let’s just say that’s it’s been quite a couple of weeks in the life of the ikss and I feel the need to hang with some rowdy friends and drown my sorrows in an adult beverage (or seventeen). Lately, there seems to be so much live music going on locally that it’s hard for me to decide which gig to go to; of course, the same can not be said for this weekend, when I so desperately need it. The hell?

 

(*edited later to add: 50 Cent Haircut is playing Saturday night. Huzzah!)

 

Oh, well. The Old Man will be happier if I stay home.

 

Maybe. It’s hard to tell these days, quite frankly.

 

So, this past weekend…I hung out Saturday night with Dr. Niece and her BFF Mimi, as well as my Brunette sister. We went to see my bro-in-law’s band play, then ended up at Ferns – a punk bar in Long Beach. A good time was had. And who knew Mimi played such a killer game of pool?

On Sunday, the fan-damily got together to celebrate the return to So. Cal. of Number One Niece, her hubby and their new baby. Aside from being the tiniest baby in my family’s history, this kid is quite possibly the most peaceful, serene baby ever born. Such a sweetie-pie. I am not a baby-person. I am not one of those women who have the magic baby touch where babies just love them and cuddle up to them in a feeling of safety and warmth. So for me to be able to hold a little critter for literally hours on end without said critter bawling hysterically for his mommy and wriggling to get out of my arms as quickly as possible? That’s quite a feat.

 

Aside from the tiny guy, I also got to spend time with The Adorababy, another niece’s baby boy. He is, as you may have gleaned from my nickname for him, simply adorable. He still hates me, but whatever. There’s no accounting for taste.

 

I’m generally better with dogs. All dogs love me. I am The Dog Whisperer.

 

And, you know – once kids grow up a little and learn to love the charm of my inappropriate burping and the fact that I can do magic tricks with my tongue and teach them how to play poker, they of course come to the realization that I am The Coolest Aunt Ever.

 

You just have to grow in to my charms, that’s all. I’m an acquired taste.

 

On a final note: We all know what day this is, what anniversary we should all be commemorating. I have been thinking about it all day and about just what that day in 2001 has meant to this country and to us as individuals. I can not really write about the day in an eloquent manner; I don’t have words sufficient in weight and meaning. Suffice it to say that I am aware; that I care; that I remember. That I hope we all do.