Mind Vomit by the ikss

did norm bruise this easily?

What kind of 40 year-old woman comes in to work with like five hickies on her neck???

This one, that’s what kind.

OK, granted - the only person I know who bruises more easily than I is my 81 year-old mother…

And actually, I also have bruises all up and down my legs. They mysteriously appeared while I was in Vegas over the weekend and I have absolutely no idea where they came from. One would think I’d remember, like, running into things and whacking my shins and knees repeatedly, wouldn’t one? I didn't even drink all that much! Well - not as much as usual anyway. Not so much that I whacked my shins repeatedly and don't remember...

But still…so embarrassing…like gee - I wonder what the ikss was up to last night!

Ah, well. We had a lot of fun. :)

So Las Vegas…also lots of fun, although not the sort of fun which results in a multitude of hickies on one's person. I do have the myriad of leg bruises, though, so that's something. I got no sleep and won no money and traffic getting home on Sunday was the worst I have ever seen (and I do not exaggerate this point in the slightest); but I danced a lot, ate a lot of good food, saw some dolphins and some lions and tigers (no bears, oh my) and met lots of cool peeps at various Black Jack tables. In my book, that’s a win.

Plus, apparently the dealers at the Hard Rock all know me by name. I walk in there and it’s like I’m f’n Norm from Cheers.

Dudes, I haven’t even been in the Hard Rock in like a year! Seriously…it was nice and they were all super-cool people, but I really do wonder just what I have done there to have made such an impression.

Knowing myself as I do, that’s a very scary thing to ponder…

turn left at greenland

Wow. So it occurs to me that, aside from writing book reviews, I have not updated my blog in quite some time.

I’ve been busy, yo.

(And obviously spending all of my free time reading badly written books about vampires, werewolves and the humans who love them.)

So let’s catch up…

A couple of weekends ago, The Old Man and I spent some quality time in Sequoia National Park. It was so very lovely! There was lots and lots of snow on the ground everywhere, but the weather while we were there cooperated in a most delightful way. Here, allow me to share some photos…






We spent Saturday hiking around the park on snowshoes. It was awesome! Throughout the places we explored, ours were the only human foot prints in sight.



We went sledding (kinda...really, we sat on large pieces of colored plastic and road them down the hills).


We had a picnic in the snow:




We saw a coyote on the road:



I would show you one of the umpteen photos I took of The Old Man peeing in the woods, but he may not appreciate my exposing so much of his person through these internets…

So I shall instead show you a photo wherein The Old Man is falling on his butt:



Anyone need to make a call?

the alaska experiment

Did anyone watch The Alaska Experiment on the Discovery Channel? I did. Aside from thinking it was far too short, I highly enjoyed it.

Here is the premise: Four groups of people were sent off to live for three months in little cabins in Alaska, to see if they can make it out there on their own. See the web site for additional details.

I loved this show. The whole time I was watching, I was thinking, “Where was I when they were casting this show?” The Old Man would be great on it – he is strong, he can fix anything; when you give him something which is not working, he will figure out how to make it work – even if he doesn’t have the tools he needs, he will jerry-rig something up. He’s handy to have around, is what I’m saying. He would be ideal in a survival situation.

Me? I would just look good and take lots of pictures. And probably supply the comic-relief by falling down a lot.

Sure, after only a few weeks of being cooped up in a cabin the size of my closet one of us would most likely be killed by the other – but that just makes for good tv, right?

Anyway, I figured this show was a one-time experiment. I was bummed I missed out.

Well…They are now casting for season two of The Alaska Experiment!

So yes, I applied. The Old Man has no idea I did so, but I figure if they actually call us in I’ll tell him then. Sure, if we get cast it will mean we have to take 3 months off of work and we both just started new jobs and are actually in the process of moving in to a new home, complete with a new lease. These are just technicalities, folks. I would find a way to make it work, if it meant 3 months living in Alaska.

All joking and job-related concerns aside, I would seriously LOVE to challenge myself in this way. That’s why I was so excited by the show in the first place. The notion of pushing our bodies and our mental capacity to that extreme is quite attractive to me. Not only do you have the obvious physical challenge of hiking long distances with packs, hunting for your food, chopping wood endlessly for days on end; the isolation and having to live with one other person in a tiny space – even a person you like to have sex with – would push you to the max. And what would it be like to totally disconnect from society - from our cell phones, the constant clamor of the television, from the internet; even from our families?

I like to be pushed.

Well, I like to be pushed when I know there are survival specialists off camera who will try to make sure I don’t die...