here I am

I'm here and here and here .

Come say hi.

"Death is always on the way, but the fact that you don't know when it will arrive seems to take away from the finiteness of life. It's that terrible precision that we hate so much. But because we don't know, we get to think of life as an inexhaustible well. Yet everything happens a certain number of times, and a very small number, really. How many more times will you remember a certain afternoon of your childhood, some afternoon that's so deeply a part of your being that you can't even conceive of your life without it? Perhaps four or five times more. Perhaps not even. How many more times will you watch the full moon rise? Perhaps twenty. And yet it all seems limitless."

Paul Bowles, The Sheltering Sky

So it's only 4 months later..

When Mike met Sam, Part I

I think it unnecessary to admit there may not be regular posts, it's apparent.
Anyway,

Following the car/truck show/swap meet, I continued to be a sucky recruiter and Mike continued to do whatever he was doing at the time. We met up again in April I think. He was playing hockey one night during the week in Toms River of all places, which is at least 100 miles from here, but only about 20 minutes from where I lived in Jersey, so I stopped by after work and hung around for a little while. Again, no sparks. He did buy me a chicken sandwich combo from Wendy's. What a chivalrous man, I know.

So we trudge on to May 2004, and the infamous (kidding) Memorial Day weekend. I was presented with a rare holiday without work and he was planning to go to Atlantic City later that day to give them some of his money, so after a casual invitation I figured it would be a change of pace. He followed me back to my apartment to bring the dog home and change clothes and we headed down the Garden State Parkway. Twenty minutes later we turned back and I retrieved my wallet.

After a false start we made it to A.C. and spent the next 6 or 7 hours wandering around, pretending not to be attracted to each other. After nearly four years, he's still one of the most polite considerate people I know. He has his moments, but who doesn't. As we walked through the casinos we chatted about various, inconsequential things. What I remember vividly is getting into an elevator at one point. I decided to kiss him and thankfully he kissed me back. It could have been the other way around, but the point is a few minutes later I tried to be clever and said it was too fast. He thought I was referring to the kiss being to forward of him, I was referring to the elevator ride.

We ended up spending about 36 hours together that weekend. And yes, by the way, if you're wondering. We got to know each other pretty well in a day and a half. I'm no preacher and I challenge anyone who thinks they are. Almost a year later we were trying to determine an anniversary date and decided that we couldn't use May 31st because it wasn't really the day we declared ourselves a couple, it was just the day we spent a day and a half together and he discovered I put out. So our anniversary is June 20th, Father's Day 2004. Not an arbitrary date, but not a fascinating story either and it works for us.

Maybe that's why we've never had a day pass without seeing each other, making a phone call or sending an instant message since May 30th 2004. We made it work for us.

I'm a hooker.

Crochet, that is.

As a unsolicited favor to my fellow craftsters, here is the dream catcher pattern (with corrections):

Dream Catcher

12 inch square

By Sherri Welch
Copyright December 2001

**I'm not familiar with copyright rules, so I don't want to break them.**

Here's archived link from 2004:

Dream Catcher 12" Square

Here's the current link:

Dream Catcher 12" Square

Words of wisdom, courtesy of the movie "Elf"

"There are, like, thirty Ray's Pizzas. They all claim to be the original. But the real one's on 11th."

"Oh, by the way, don't eat the yellow snow."
"Oh, I know that."

"You see gum on the street, leave it there. It's not free candy."

"And if you see a sign that says 'Peep Show', that doesn't mean that they're letting you look at presents before Christmas."

NY Times Op-Art: Service Advisories

Click to view full-size since you probably can't read it (my picture embedding skills are lacking).

Save the Ta-tas.

Yesterday was the fifth annual cut-a-thon at Elaine Hayes' salon Special Effects in East Hampton, in honor of my fiance's mother. We broke all previous records raising $30,000, bringing the 5-year total to over $102,000. All proceeds go to Breast Cancer Help, Inc. We had a great time selling raffles and helping the stylists, and I'm very proud to be a part of it.
This year: $30,000
2006: $27,000
2005: $20,000
2004: $15,000
2003: $10,000

Greener.

I think it's fitting that I spent yesterday helping people and this morning discussing the environment. I've read a bunch of feeds this morning discussing creative ways to be more mindful of the environment, so I'm going to take the elementary route.

1. Conserve water. Whether you turn the faucet off while brushing your teeth or wait for more dishes before running the washer, every little bit helps.

2. Recycle. We're all consumers. Take your old stuff and bring it down to the Goodwill or whatever you have in your neighborhood. Someone will appreciate your old sweatshirt.

3. Buy local. If you have a farmer's market or co-op, use it. Not only are you supporting the local economy, but your purchases are made at locations where a gas-guzzling delivery truck didn't have to sit in traffic for hours on end to deliver your vegetables.