What a Restful (Ahem) Weekend!

What am I in for for the rest of the week. I woke up at my regular time, 5:30am. I debated sleeping longer. I didn’t; I pulled myself out of bed. I took a shower. I put coffee on. I started reading my Bible (I’m reading Jeremiah right now). I also started falling asleep! I dozed through five chapters. I put on the news. I didn’t get coffee. I fell asleep. Yup. I fell asleep for a half hour on the couch after I’d just woke up and showered! Yowza! Let’s see if the rest of the week falls in line with this AM. If it does, I may be in for a heap of trouble!

Friday Fill In #97

1. My blueprint for success includes two bottles of Elmer’s glue, a live guppy, and two Whopper Jr.s from BK.
2. Junior Mints were the last candy I ate.
3. The best facial moisturizer I’ve ever used is apparently still on the store shelf somewhere. I don’t moisturize.
4. Coffee can be good therapy.
5. I’d like to tell you about my King. Do you know him?
6. Humor  is my strongest characteristic.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to a night home with the boys, tomorrow my plans include two gigs, and Sunday, I want to play a benefit for elderly people and oil relief!

The Couch

As I mentioned a few posts ago, I finally found a couch for us. Last year, I thought I’d get Susan a Christmas gift: a new couch. We bought a red flowered couch about the time the boys were born. About two years in, we had to replace the cushions. At three years in, we were using a slipcover to hide the holes. Four years now, and it was really embarrassing and annoying. I really needed to find something.

The hard part is that Susan and I like more formal looking furniture. And that sort of furniture doesn’t take kindly to four year old twins. And, apparently, there’s not much call for it in midcoast Maine. I looked and looked. We found one we both loved, but I really didn’t want to spend $900.

So this week, while on vacation, we went to four different furniture in Portland. Nothing. On Saturday, I went to two more furniture stores. Still no luck. On a whim, Julia and I went to Prince’s over on Rt. 90.  Finally! Something in stock, and a decent price, with a more formal look.

Here’s the old sofa, without the slipcover. Remember, that’s just four years old! And, here’s the new one. I hope I can get three years out of this one. We’ll see.

Vacation Wrap Up

I know, I know. Not a lot of updates from me last week. I spent the week (mostly) getting the house ready for winter. I put some plastic up over the basement windows and doors, raked leaves, moved an old freezer, and insulated some pipes. We also took the kids down to the children’s museum one day, and had lunch at the Macaroni Grill. (I had Carmela’s Chicken: grilled chicken, mushrooms, caramelized onions, fresh basil and Parmesan cheese tossed with imported rigatoni pasta and creamy Marsala wine sauce. Yum!) I also spent a morning putting fresh drum heads on my Starclassic kit. They sounded sooo good, I switched out my road kit. Big Pink is now in the basement, and the Starclassics will go back on the road for a while. I also finished a web site for a client: Rockland District Nursing. What else? Well, breakfast at the Brass Compass one morning. A sofa was purchased after about a year of looking. (It gets delivered tomorrow night.) I think that may be all the highlights. All in all, it was a nice vacation; I got a lot done, and didn’t stress out over anything.

Friday Fill In #96

1. My favorite food seasoning is pepper.
2. Tasty jazz is music to my ears.
3. Lucky is the name of that leprechaun on the cereal box.
4. Drum tuning is something I take very seriously.
5. Many people kid me about my obsessive drum tuning habit.
6. Winterizing window shrink film was the last thing I bought at the store.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to “trunk or treating with the kids, tomorrow my plans include sleeping late (but it hasn’t happened so far this entire vacation week),  and Sunday, I want to lunch at my Mom’s!

Vacation, Day #1

I’m taking a week off from the office. The goal is to use the time to get things around the house ready for winter. I need to put some plastic sheeting on the basement windows. I need to get the yard cleaned up. Today, with the help of Barry from the office, I was able to move a 6′ chest freezer out of my basement. It’s been down there for nigh on 10 years, and it never worked. (Note: if someone gives you a freezer that “probably” works, make sure you test it before you move it into the basement!) Today, though, it went to the dump. I also stopped by the office to do a few little things. Gina, since I’m not there, lunch at Kiwanis was chicken picata, rice, asparagus, and blueberry pie. (I ate every scrid!)

Interseting Epitaph

I was searching for some new, somewhat macabre desktop today (as many of you know, I have a bit of penchant for the dreary), and I came across this epitaph. Sally Pond died in 1774 at age 31, and was buried beside two daughters (one died at 20 years, the other at 21 days). Sally’s epitaph reads (in my somewhat modern translation):

Under this stone confined doth lie
Three subjects of Death’s tyranny.
The mother who in this close tomb
Sleeps with the offspring of her womb
Whereby we see Death’s cruelty
In cutting of both fruit and tree
Yet all his malice will prove vain
Both tree and fruit will spring again.

A “rubbing” of her stone is here. I dig it!

Ringo Wants Peace and Love, and No More Fan Mail

Check out Mr. Starr here.

Does Ringo owe his fans anything? No. Does he have the right to stop signing things? Absolutely. Did his announcement make him come off as a total jerk? Um, Mr. Starr, there’s a Mr. Rich asking for you on line #2…

Ringo, man, stop with the whole “Peace and love” bit. It only sounds that much more insincere, especially couched in your announcement to “toss” requests for an autograph. While you have a right not to be hounded by fans, your request makes you sound like a pompous, well, you know.

I’m not an autograph type of person. I have one autograph, and that’s from Toy Caldwell after my band opened up for him in Camden 15 years ago. I have never written to a star for an autograph, and never plan too. But Mr. Starr, your video really made me change my view on who I thought you were.

Now, what’s Charlie Watt’s address?

The Scooter Contest

Yesterday, Jim thought he saw my scoot parked at Wasses Hot Dog Wagon. It wasn’t me! Someone in town apparently has a blue Honda Metropolitan just like mine! I’ve been thinking I need to Billy Rhythm-ize the scoot, and now I know I have to do it. But how? Skulls? Flames? Wire wheels? I’ve been thinking some kind of sticker might be in order. So here’s the contest: find the perfect accessory for my scoot, so everyone will know “That’s Billy Rhythm.” Leave me a comment, or email me, a link to the product. If you’re the winner, I’ll accessorize the scoot with your idea, AND you’ll win a prize. Cool?