To Slither or Not to Slither? That is the Question.

The annual event of the Derby Eve Schnitzelburg Slither is this Friday night.  My brother in law and his best friend host this annual event.  What it all means is this.  50 to 70 of their closest friends gather in the area of Louisville know as Germantown.  At the appointed hour and place, they eat pizza and drink a few cold ones to loosen up.  The money changes hand, the tickets and passes are issued and the whole brigade takes off walking the tiny streets of this blue collar area following a guide as we march from one neighborhood bar to the next.

This takes all night.  Or at least until the last bar is reached usually around 2 to 3 am.  Actually, this is a blast.  Drinking rot gut beer (can you say Falls City?  Can you say Pabst Blue Ribbon?), staggering down streets to the tune of barking dogs and people muttering, "What the Hell?" to find the next small bar.  And they are small.  And our group will overwhelm a bar in no time.  My favorite are the karaoke bars.  Not that I sing, but I sing along.  We have been known to climb on table tops and dance to Princes' "P***y control".  We are rolled down the sidewalks in shopping carts.  We cry, we laugh and then we all come back to do it again the next year.

My problem...My dilemma?  I laid on the couch the whole next day feeling like I had been run over by a Mack Truck.  I consumed an entire pot roast and the fixings trying to make myself feel better.  It took three days. I began to feel like myself on Tuesday. Then my gall bladder began to ache, and has not been itself ever since.

I want to go.  I don't want to miss out.  I want to sing along with "You never call me darling, Darling, you never even call me by my name" at the top of my lungs.

But maybe, just maybe.....I've outgrown that type of fun.    Nah!

P.S. The above picture is from last years "crawl".  My sister Omega is on the extreme right with her husband, K.

 

Postcards from the Edge

I traveled the 50 some odd miles to Louisville yesterday and spent the afternoon with Bridget.  We went to the Cherokee Triangle Arts and Craft Show.  We ate lunch at a little cafe on Bardstown Rd.  We went to a book store on the corner where I found this pack of post cards.  I love post cards.  I mean, I  LOVE postcards!!! I collect them.

This one is from a set of 30 by Anne Taintor.  Vintage art work with a saucy twist.  Bridget and I were going through them at the restaurant, passing them back and forth and laughing way too loudly. 

It was so calming to spend time alone with her.

Thank you John! Assignment #2

1) The movie? Would have to be (changes all the time) right now Multiplicity with Michael Keaton, and Michael Keaton and Michael Keaton and finally Michael Keaton.  We watched this movie last week for the first time in ages and laughed hysterically all the way through it.  New line around the house, "I love pizza.  I  LOVE pizza!!!!!!!!!"

2)  My second favorite book would have to be The Wizard of Oz.  I remember my mother reading it out loud to us as kids.  We would pile on the bed together and read a chapter a night.  Me and my three bothers. (my sisters were born later, kind of like a two generation family).  

 3) Second Favorite album would be EAT A PEACH by the Allman Brothers, 1972.  Duane Allman'a last.  I will say no more.  

 4) Father Schumacher.  Taught us Latin in high school.  I took it for three years.  An absolute hunk! Drove a black camero and smoked.  Once took a misbehaving student outside the class room into the parking lot (the class could see through the glass window) and slapped him. That was that for the entire sophomore year.  

 5) Peppermint.  Like it with a little crunch in it!  

6) The only sport I pay any attention to (other than baseball and that is only because you can drink beer at the park and horse racing but that does not count as a team) is basketball.  I love UK.  I mean, I LOVE UK.  But, the only time I hold my fingers and hope the other team wins, is when they play the University of Louisville.  

7)  Is beer a food?   

8)  Okay, it's Don Johnson aka Sonny Crockett.  He was so hot!!  

9)  I'm not sure.  I only really like the Bugs.  

10)  Would you believe laying out in the sun!  You'd think I would have learned by now.

My World

Of course, now that I comment that I am uninspired the past several days, I have a resurgence of thoughts. Finally , something to ramble on about in Alphawoman world.

After writing my 25 things and reading the comments I realized so many people have a perception about me that probably is .....for lack of a better word, "cultivated" by my choice of journal entries. 

I am going to step back and think of myself as my co-workers, Joe, and family view me.

Yesterday I call David, a co-worker. (we are out of the office "selling" all day long)  "David, do you know what I really, really, really, reeeeaaaaalllllyyyyyy want?"

"I haven't a clue, but I bet it's going to be good."

"I want one of those bourbon oak barrels.  Could you ask your "Girlfriend" (I always refer to any women that the guys run across in the "market" as their girlfriends) at Woodford Reserve for one."

"Honey", (everyone in the South, male or female, calls everyone else "Honey") they use those things for making furniture!  They're scarce. Why don't you go to PDQ on New Circle. They sell them there."

"Because I want one for free!"

"What do you want one for anyway?"

"I want to put it under the gutter run off and save the rain water for my garden!"

"Honey, the barrel will be soaked in bourbon!"

"Well, so much better for the tomatoes!"

"It must be so much fun being Mary."

"Sometimes."

"I swear I think you are blond and dye your hair dark."

It was raining something fierce the beginning of last week.  My hair was ruined and I resembled a wet rat.  When it continued to rain the next dday, I yanked all my hair up in a ponytail and made a tight little bun on top of my head. (Bridget does this all the time and looks so cute).  As I check it out in the mirror, I notice my bangs are horrendously uneven.  So I grab the sissor and trim them, then singe them into a nice little roll with the curling iron.

I make my entrance to our weekly staff meeting 1/2 hour later.  My boss takes one look at me and says, "Glad you could make it, Gidget."

Everyone laughs as I get seated.  I turn to him and coo, "I wouldn't miss it for the world, MoonDoggie."  I receive high fives from everyone.

I am Curious (Yellow)

This has been one of those weeks where I just cannot find any inspiration.  I did write an entry called "An Open Letter To The AOL Editor's."  I canceled it after reading so many eloquent statements regarding the injustice surrounding one of our best journalists, Mara.  There was nothing I could add.  Except this.....there was only one person left in the world who had not heard the "f" letter, J's Aunt, the nun.  Well, she does not need to be shielded any longer! And that is thanks to Chris Rock and not Mara.

There are so many absolutely great journals out there that will never be featured on the Walt Disney Editors Top Five List.  I say Give me Home Box Office!  

And that's all I have to say about that.  

See my tulips?  I have a new digital camera.  My other one was a premium that I was awarded at work and it was very limited.  This one is great.  I have to practice for the Ireland trip.  

John Scalzi's Assignment

In answer to John Scalzi's challenge the following are 25 facts about Alpahwoman.

  1)    I was born in the same hospital as Mel Gibson in Peekskill, NY.

  2)    I was a champion swimmer in my youth.  I was a finalist in the state High            School backstroking event.  

 3)    I have never been married. I think I may be one of those "quirkyalones."  

 4)    I considered giving up Bridget for adoption before she was born.  

 5)   I was taking calculus in college when I realized I had a real gift for math.             I never missed a question. I scored every point on the bonus questions..  

 6)    I had a crush on my calculus teacher.  

7)    I flunked out of Murray State University in 1972.  

 8)    A week before finals at MSU, I took off for Arizona for two weeks.  No one           knew where I was.      

9)    I have smoked on and off since I was 12.  (presently, have not had one since          June 2003).  

10)  I am a day dreamer, time waster.  

11)  I sold cars at one time in my life!   

12)  I've been fired only once from a job. 

13)   I talk too much. 

14)   My front tooth was broken in half when I was 12. My brother threw a fast ball          at my face because I was beating him in a one on one baseball game in the                 backyard.

15)   I have only two close girlfriends.  Both live in Florida. 

16)   I am a huge procrastinator.  

17)   I am very generous.  

18)   I went to Catholic schools for 12 years.  

19)   I was black balled out of a sorority  

20)   Then I was asked to join a  fraternity as a Little Sister.  It was much more fun.  

21)   I am neurotic. 

22)   I lost the first love of my life. 26 years ago.  I have never gotten over it.  

23)   I have extraordinarily great physical reflexes.  I catch something falling before             I even realize its falling.  

24)   I barely shave my legs in the winter. 

25)   I drink too much and say it's my Irish heritage.     

Did you ever see an uglier dog?

The picture above, albeit strange, relates to this entry...just hang on.  I first want to explain why I love this old postcard (I collect postcards!!) The dog reminds me of "Pogo" who is the yappy toy terrier that was my Nana's companion. She brought the dog with her when she moved to Kentucky from NYC in 1964.  She dressed Pogo in little knit sweaters too.  But check out those SHOES!

I have been going through my closet bringing the summer/spring clothing from the back of the closet to the front. While doing this I became nostalgic about some of the clothing I have owned in the past.  I had relationships with several of them.

I had this velvet dark red jacket that I wore with everything in my hippie days.  I have numerous pictures of myself wearing it.  I loved it.  My Mom took it upon herself to replace the worn out, ripped up lining and it never hung right again.  I tearfully moved it to the back of the closet...and I think it may still be at my Mom's house.

I had this super green knit skin tight long sleeved jersey shirt that featured red, blue, gold and silver shiny glass studs that formed a star burst.  Also in my hippie days...I loved that shirt.

My First Communion Dress was hand made with little pink and blue flowers embroidered on the collar.  First I wore it to the crowning of the Blessed Virgin at the May Celebration.  I was the lucky first grader selected to carry the crown!  Then Mom cut the length and it served as the First Communion dress.

I had a pair of platform sandals...also in my hippie days Do you all see the pattern here? They were that expensive Aigner red leather.  I loved those too, I was about 5-11 in them.

The cloth sandals I wore all summer, while I was a hippie, were bought at a place called "Roses" in Murray Kentucky.  I have never been able to find them anywhere else ever again.  I purchased them by the gross, in black, in navy blue and in a cute flower pattern.  They looked remarkably similar to the sandals on the feet above.  Only I had 19 year old feet.  I loved those sandals.

I may not have the clothes or the hats or the sandals, but when I remember those items that I loved and became such a part of me also come the memories of those magical times in that Never Never Land.