Update of a Sort

So. It's 11:46 on a Monday morning.

My angel-girl has headed off on her bike, bound for NYC (she'll be making a stop-over in - I think - Saratoga Springs tonight, and getting home some time tomorrow. I hope she doesn't get rained on. (Or at least that she doesn't get rained on much).

This morning, she packed while I (more or less) put the living room back in order. (We've been sleeping on the floor for most of her visit, as we typically do. The plan - should our relationship continue to blossom and grow - is to rig up some sort of a futon situation. Maybe I give my shmancy matress to my sister (who also has a queen-sized bed and will be due for a new matress in a year or two, I'm sure), and get a set of futons, one in "medium" (or whatever) and one in "extra firm" to fit the split box spring.
That's a ways in coming, though. (For a start, it involves me having a large wodge of disposable income and her having more chances to come up to visit me).



We're going to spend two or three days in Ithaca for our anniversary in late August. The plan is to meet in town on the 22nd, spend about three days with my Fabulous Aunties, and then road-trip back up to Ottawa on the bike. Which will be my first more-than-twenty-minutes ride. WAH! ;-)
I will need to get a backpack, I think. I'm eyeing the little 35L SealLine waterproof backpack from MEC, just because: Hello. Waterproof?) Also hit a second-hand store and find some sort of a high-necked under-jacket thing and some wind-breaker pants. Cheap and waterproof (or at least water-repellant) are key. Black would be appreciated.

All that being said, the first part of the plan may have to change slightly -- I've been looking at the bus-schedules and, pretty much, every bus shows up in Syracuse between 2:00 and 3:00 in the morning on the 22nd, and then I'd have to wait around for 14 or so hours to take the 1hr bus the rest of the way to Ithaca. So I may just see if she wants to meet me in Syracuse at Stupid O'clock in the Morning. Like... If she'd get into Syracuse on the Friday evening, book us a hotel, and then meet me at the bus when it gets in, and then we'd head on to Ithaca around 10am or something.
Maybe.
We'll talk about it when she's home and safe. :-)



In other news: Facebook Drama! Whee! [EDIT: I think it's sorted out now. <*phew*> /EDIT]



Anyway. I've got a kitchen that is (no surprises here) once again full of dishes. I've got compost in the freezer which I'll have to bring by Umi tomorrow night on my way to Voices of Venus. I'm going to wear my spiffy new shoes, I think. ;-)



In still other news: I've got a grocery list to fill, a book I want to get (The Artist's Way -- anyone want to lend me a copy?) and no job.


Yes, that's right. I have no job.


The place I was working at still wants to re-hire me, but due to weirdness with Maxsys summer rates (dammit!!) and such-like, it's proving more difficult than expected.
My boss says they'll totally take me when I'm available, and suggests that I go ahead and find something else in the interim as she has no idea how long it's going to take to sort out.

So I need to badger my agencies. Again. :-P


(On the plus side, this *did* mean that I got to actually *spend* the week with my girlfriend, rather than just spend the evenings with her. Which was wonderful).


Anyway. I'm inclined to thaw some turkey-wings for dinner tonight, and then head out to Mother Tongue books (and other spots in the Glebe) to throw up a few more posters for tomorrow. (I've got *so many* left over posters, oh my *god*!) Then, I think, I shall scribble. As I'd like to have two or three more poems to read tomorrow night.



Oh. And, in still other news: Writing tailor-made erotica for my girlfriend is (A) loads of fun, and (B) very effective. :-) Despite not having a clue about what it's liked to be flogged *at all* (let alone to any kind of climax), I still managed to write something that was really hot and that she really liked.
I rule! :-D

Must do some editing/re-writing on that one, and then I shall email her a copy and post a copy to my writing-journal as well.
Which reminds me: Must get Arndis over here to set me up with Chocolate With Cherries on Top (the website she and Tchang want to give me so that I have an "offical" erotica website for my writing. ;-)


Anyway.


Lots to do. (If only I were independently wealthy. ;-)

Blues Fest Redux

So.

We went to Blues Fest.

We saw Devrotchka -- which was AWESOME! -- on Friday. Three cheers for rockabilly gypsy fare! :-D
We had a fabulous time and danced like amazonian fiends! It was great! :-D
I totally want to pick up some of their music! :-D


On Saturday, we went to Loreena McKennitt -- I danced like an amazonian fiend and fretted that my girl was not enjoying the show. As it happens, she was just being her musician/composer self and was listening intently to the textures. She slow-danced with me through a song or two, though, just to make me feel good, which was really sweet of her. :-)
A gal who I nearly smacked in the face with my flailing arm responded with "Hello, beautiful dancer," and gave me a hug. Which was, I think, remarkably good-natured of her considering how we met. ;-)
Some guy, late in the show, told me that I should be up dancing on the stage because I was so into it. I told him I'd freeze right up - which is true enough - but it was nice of him to say, certainly.

We *also* saw the Brian Setzer Orchestra on Saturday.
*THAT* was the most fun of all the shows, I think. I large part because (A) I love that rockabilly/swing/jump!blues style of music, and (B) Sara loves to swing-dance.

So she and I cut a rug (and a couple of amazons doing make-shift swing dancing do tend to get noticed) during the show.
I'm still trying to learn how to partner-dance, though I'm getting better every time I do it.
But it was a lot of fun and we didn't fall over, so hey! :-D Mission accomplished. :-)

We are thinking of taking dance lessons together, though that may or may not actually happen, given the long-distance thing. ;-) Still, if anyone local is moderately-versed in salsa/fox-trot/really-basic-swing/tango-esque/waltz/etc and feels like teaching me some moves, they can go ahead. ;-)



ANYWAY.


Sunday we went to see Neko Case -- who is, unfortunately, not the greatest as far as live shows are concerned (she's great on the CD-player as background music during a conversation, or as part of a mixed CD, or what-have-you, but live? Kind of dull).
So we left early and went to stake out a spot near the stage for the Ani show.
Which was, not surprisingly, fantastic.

My gods, she's so TINY! :-)

She did some new stuff, she did some old stuff that I didn't know, and she did a few of my favourites (which, apparently, were the entire audience's favourites, 'cause absolutely everyone sang along).

Hex was there. As was IClysdale. Sadly, we didn't see Skylar. Or my sister and her friend, Sarah, but c'est la vie. Saw someone from my slasher brunch in the distance, think I saw Jessica Ruano (<*cough*> our VoV feature <*cough*>) across the crowd, and definitely saw one of the burlesque-esque belly-dancers from the YWTF launch standing near-by. :-)

It was fun.

I think it would have been more fun if I wasn't seriously running on totally exhaustion, but it was still fun.



Anyway. My young lady has called to let me know that she's in The Heart of the Adirondacs, getting some food (YAY!) and managing to stay just behind the rainfall and, as such, dry (so far).
Hopefully this will last.


I'm hungry as all get out, and have a few errands to run, so I think I'll mosey on up into the Glebe and see what I can do in the way of putting up a sign or two and snagging some groceries from Somewhere or Other.



- TTFN,
- Amazon.


P.S.: Two links:

Lads in Latex: Why Hetersexual Young Men Don't Use Condoms about how masculinity and/or masculine sexuality is defined and why those definitions are likely to result in young (insecure) het-cis guys not practicing safer sex (and, as such, AIDS prevention).
Interesting.
Infuriating, but interesting.

AND

Vampire Sluts and the Virgins Who Love Them. Okay, slight no-brainer here about how vampire stories are all about sex, and it *is* posted on DoubleX. But it's written by the editor of Racialicious, and it's a decent read.


- TTFN,
- Me.