Woo hoo! I got an e-mail today saying my mandolin has been shipped, which is all exciting because I thought it was back-ordered and therefore weeks away. Why, I could get it as early as tomorrow. Yippee!
Very boring day in Stacyland today. Which is OK with me. Busy days off are OK, but lazy ones are good, too. It was too cold to go outside anyway. Best news of the day is they arrested two yay-hoos who are probably the sniper(s). Normally I am not at all in favor of police brutality, but in this case, if some very large policeman were to, oh, I don't know, "run into" the guys while accidentally pumping his fists very hard, or -- ooh! -- happen to fall into the two while carrying a bat with a rusty nail in it, I wouldn't be so upset, really. Lately I have been questioning what I think about the death penalty, and I'd almost come to the conclusion I was against it. But this is a case where I can't even imagine these guys deserving anything less than a painful, drawn-out death. They certainly can't be rehabilitated, and they should never be allowed to be free, so, yeah, fry 'em. Disclaimers: The above is all assuming these two are tried and convicted and proven guilty beyond shadow of a doubt. Also, they are, unfortunately, being charged in Maryland, which currently has a moratorium on the death penalty. BUT! They have federal charges pending, too, and there is a federal death penalty (that's how we bid adieu to Timothy McVeigh). Anyway, greater moral issues aside, hooray for the sniper(s) being caught (again assuming ...). It makes me physically ill to even see their photos on TV, but I think everyone around here feels like a huge weight has been lifted. Now we can all get back to noticing how our president sucks (sorry, Sara) and how, oh hey! There's an election in a week and a half that will decide who controls the House.
I did some "conceptualizing" for my novel today, and much to my surprise came up with something that might just work. What helped me was (1) listening to some songs I like that have good stories and/or characters to them and toying with fleshing those out, and (2) doodling with pen and paper as I listened, not writing but drawing a diagram of potential characters and plot. For those interested (hello Carlton), the songs I listened to were the first two on the Kim Richey album ("Girl in a Car" and "Place Called Home"), which I think kind of go together. I thought I could make something from the character, plot, and mood of those songs, but what I ended up with kinda took a different direction. A-OK. The songs gave me a needed kick in the pants, though, and I think the mood will show up some. The plot is too convoluted (for now) to describe here, but the main themes include: only child vs. sibling relationships, big city vs. small town, strained family relations, loyalty, men who have weird relationships with their sisters (NOT inspired by anyone I actually know ... partly inspired by a roommate -- not mine -- named Bitch, for those of you in on that) and why we make the life decisions we make. Might actually be enough to spend 50,000 words on, eh? Here's hoping.
LISTENING TO: KIM RICHEY/Rise, as discussed above. Also have been falling in love with RYAN ADAMS/Gold all over again. I'm also thinking of pulling out some Lyle Lovett later, to help with more "conceptualizing." You could probably write a novel about any one of his songs.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: Happened just now, folks ... I bring it to you live:
GEOFFREY: You know that "Mafia" [video game] you looked at at Target the other day that was $50?"
STACY: Yeah ...
GEOFFREY: Best Buy has it for $40.
STACY: DON'T CARE.
Stacy - 10:18 PM
Tuesday, October 22, 2002
Johnny Cash is SOOOO cool. I say this just after watching an old Austin City Limits rerun with him on it. Can that man do a bad song? No he cannot. I dearly hope to see him live someday, but I'm not holding my breath. Same with Willie Nelson. The moral? Gather ye concert tickets while ye may, for the greats are surely dying. Sigh.
Shout out to Marcus, who made the coolest looking T-shirt ever for our band, the illustrious Stacy and the Sugar Daddies. Geoffrey received the only known copy of this T-shirt for his birthday, which has got to be the coolest gift ever. Way to show me up, Marcus. For the rest of you, don't worry. I'm sure you can get copies of the T-shirt at our shows once we kick off our world tour, dates and venues TBA. Mention this blog and get $5 off.
The bike ride is behind me now, and it's on to a new project/obsession. I've told many of you about this, but I want to make sure everyone knows: I am writing a novel. In 30 days or less. And it will be bad. Very very bad, my friends. It's a neat little idea you can learn more about on this site, for National Novel Writing Month. The idea is you write a novel (at least 50,000 words) entirely from Nov. 1 to Nov. 30. Just dive in and write crap, and don't worry about anyone reading it or about whether it's good. No self-doubt or second-guessing allowed. I'm all signed in and everything, and I encourage everyone who is interested in writing as a means as creativity (or who just wants to be able to sit around and chat about "my novel") to do the same. Let me know if you do, and we can all help each other. Oh what fun!
Finally, a great big middle-finger wavin' shout-DOWN to my little mama's crap-ass doctors. She has a sinus infection and asked them to call in some meds for her. Which they did. Meds that (1) aren't for sinus infections, and (2) she is allergic to, which is in her chart. So she had to spend all day, feeling yucky, going back and forth to the pharmacy only to discover that the meds the doctors were trying to give her were bad for her. Luckily, her pharmacist was on top of it all and helping her straighten it out. I happen to know Big Alice can take care of herself and will give these shithead doctors the tongue-lashing they deserve, but next time I go home I am going to find these idiot doctors myself and beat them up, or at least poo on their desks. Jerks.
Stacy - 11:51 PM
Sunday, October 20, 2002
It is several hours after the Tour du Port, that 22-mile bike ride in Baltimore I've been wringing my hands about. My butt is sore and my lungs hurt from gasping for breath all morning, but ... I MADE IT! So I'm officially a biker-mama bad ass. Or a tired amateur with a new T-shirt. Whatever. It was really tough and I definitely had a few minutes of wanting to die (due to the fact that the "flat" route described on the brochures was anything but), but I got through it, with much encouragement from Geoffrey and Sig and Melissa, two friends from work who also did the ride. We saw some neat stuff on the ride -- Baltimore's Inner Harbor, Little Italy, um, the docks, Fort McHenry, some nifty neighborhoods, and a burned-out housing project. We were afraid it was going to rain all day, but it was only cloudy and a little nippy -- nothing we weren't dressed for. So it was fun. Will I do something like this again? Don't know. Ask me in a few days, when my butt is a little less sore.
An added bonus from finishing the ride is that I promised myself if I did, I would buy the cheapie mandolin I've been looking at online. I was hoping to place the order tonight, but I couldn't figure out how to get a case with the instrument, so I'll have to call tomorrow. But soon I will have a mandolin, and then Chris Thile will fall in love with me.
Nothing much else to report from today. After we drove home from Baltimore, we hit the showers and immediately took a nap (we had to get up at 4:30 a.m. to get to Baltimore on time, so we were a wee bit tired). Once we woke up we were too tired to do much more than sit around and watch TV. We did manage to play chess, though, and it just so happens that I WON. It's my first time winning, so I'm allowed to brag.
Geoffrey turns 26 tomorrow. What an old fart. Maybe I should trade him in for a younger model? Nah. ;)
LISTENING TO: A Japanese newscast. SO entertaining.
Stacy - 11:39 PM
