N11J9T, You Are Cleared For Takeoff Runway 31

Take that, Blogger! Be difficult about uploading photos; I'll find a different way to get around you... mwahahahahahahahahaha!!

Welcome to Go Girl Aiation! We hope you enjoy your flight today.


You'll be flying a homebuilt aircraft...


But don't worry, it's been preflighted extensively.


N11J9T is certified for single pilot operations. Your captain today will be Katie Kelly. She may look young but she has extensive time in type.



So buckle up and thanks again for traveling with Go Girl Aviation!

I Will NEVER Do THAT Again

I should warn you right now: I feel a rant coming on. For a rant-free zone, see the last entry (Harriet's Music Meme).

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I should have known better. I felt it coming -- like fall creeping in around the edges of summer, a hint of flame at the edges of green leaves whispering of crisp days and windy nights. A friend whose desperation to find a "man" became so palpable that I ignored a long-standing rule: Never, EVER hook anyone up (The Rule).

Now, in general, this isn't an issue for me. Basically, I know very, very few single guys and most of the single guys I know I wouldn't hook up with a friend even if it wasn't proscribed by The Rule. Single Friend is 41, divorced, a person for whom sex is almost an overriding concern. She complains. A lot. About being single. About how all men suck. About how she never meets any decent guys. So, when I'm another friend's jewelery store and meet her UPS guy who seems very nice and is single, I get his email addy for Single Friend and pass it along with what information I was able to gather in the 5 minutes he was in the store.

She contacts him by email, he emails back, she emails back, he calls. She complains to me about him on ICQ (while she's still on the phone with him): he seems nice but he's not this, he's not that, he's cheap, he lives with his parents, yada yada yada. For cryin' out loud, if he's not for you, just tell him so gently and excuse yourself. Don't bitch to me about it while he's still on the phone; that's just tacky.

The kicker was when she cast aspersions my way for telling her he was tall when he's only 5'8". Well, excu-u-use me!, he looked tall from where I was sitting! And as for living with his parents, so was John when I started dating him. You know, I understand and accept that people I hook up may not hit it off; it's to be expected. I don't care if you don't want to date him! But don't beg me to hook you up and then beat me up because the guy isn't a cross between Warren Buffet and Hugh Jackman!

I am beginning to realize that her being single has nothing to do with her not meeting guys and everything to do with not taking responsibility for her own happiness.

And I find that very depressing.

Because I can introduce her to guys (although I won't anymore) but I can't change who she is.

Harriet's Music Meme

Alrighty, I read so I got tagged and it does seem like an interesting sort of expose so here it is. Bear in mind, though, that I don't have a whole lot *in* my iTunes yet so there is a significant "skew" factor here.

IF YOUR LIFE WAS A MOVIE, WHAT WOULD YOUR SOUNDTRACK BE?
1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play.
4. For every question, type the song that's playing.
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don't lie and try to pretend you're cool.

Opening Credits: Kingston Trio: The Tijuana Jail -- Oh dear, guess I'm not getting off to a good start here, huh?

First Day At School: Mighty, Mighty Bosstones: 1-2-8 -- "They did something which meant something and that got them some attention..."

Falling In Love: Peter Gallagher from the New cast recording of Guys and Dolls: Luck Be a Lady -- Hmph.

Breaking Up: Chicago Soundtrack: Billy Flynn -- I suppose one might need an attorney when breaking up, even in high school these days.

Prom: West Side Story OBC recording: Tonight "Today, the minutes seem like hours, the hours go so slowly and still the sky is light..."

Life's OK: Cassandra Wilson: Solomon Sang "And when he stood up in the temple, Solomon sang." A beautiful song from a stunning album.

Mental Breakdown: Scully's Vision of Mulder from episode 8x14 This is Not Happening, Mark Snow, composer. Very, very appropriate.

Driving: Ella Fitzgerald: Our Love is Here To Stay... ok, nope, except that I do love driving and don't really see that changing.

Flashback: The Proclaimers: What Makes You Cry -- I can buy that one.

Getting Back Together: Mighty, Mighty Bosstones: You Gotta Go! -- ROTFL!!! "... you lost my cat and broke my TV! " You really have to hear this one (YouTube video on the link above), if only to appreciate the incredible inappropriateness of it - that and it's a very funny song worth listening to.

Wedding: Nick Cave: Red Right Hand -- That would certainly have made an odd sermon... "You're just a microscopic cog in his catastrophic plan, designed and directed by his red right hand."

Birth of Child: 3 Doors Down: Loser -- Well, Katie being born did rather make me feel inadequate to the task of being a parent...

Final Battle: Heather Dale: Tarnished Silver Pretty song. More of an "after the battle" kind of thing though.

Death Scene: Wicked OBC recording: Dear Old Shiz -- Note to self: avoid falling houses

Funeral Song: The Proclaimers: The Light -- Actually, not half inappropriate.

End Credits: Mighty, Mighty Bosstones: Riot on Broad Street -- "Another ruthless battle in a useless holy war. Handed down discrepancies and tensions that will never ease." Doesn't say much for what I accomplished by death, does it?

Alllllllrighty then. Guess the makers of this movie will be taking some significant creative license...

Tag, you're it!

semper crescis aut descrescis

I buried Norm's ashes this past weekend. I sprinkled him amidst the loose dirt in a hole I dug to plant the tiny maple tree I grew from seed on my front steps. He's guarding the property now, at the back lot line, as he did when he was hale and in his prime. And, thus, the family decreases.

Yet, the family also increases. We are expecting another baby in June. This child was conceived only a day or two before Norm left us. I can't help but wonder at the timing. Was he here to help us through until our family was complete? Did he hang on until he knew we would be alright? Or is it all merely coincidental?

Fortune wheels us down and up in her capriciousness.

Dire Predictions

I was talking to the girl that sits next to me in choir tonight. She's 22, an administrative assistant for a local manufacturer. She's had 7 or 8 traffic tickets. 7 or 8!! In what can't be more than 7 years!! Holy, freakin' sh*t!!

And I thought my husband was a leadfoot.

(Of course, *he* believes that speed limits are unconstitutional. His argument? "If I can safely drive 85, I should be allowed to." The impracticality of this argument seems to evade him (probably deliberately). Everyone who drives that fast thinks they're driving safely. And, clearly, from the state of our roads today, they're not.)

Her latest ticket is for doing 50 in a 30 zone. She claims she couldn't possibly have been going that fast as she was following a minivan (or an SUV, she wasn't quite clear on which) that was farting along at the speed limit. She claims the officer was headed the opposite direction, saw her talking on her cellphone (sans headset, of course), pulled a u-ie, and followed her for a bit (whilst she was still following the mommycar) before pulling her over.

Her indignance at being nabbed for speeding when she was really breaking another law altogether was really very funny. It scares me though. This bright, and very, very talented, young woman will probably be dead before she hits 30.

I wonder if her mother knows she drives like this. I wonder if she worries herself sick.

Survival of the Fastest... or Most Fashionable

Depending on whether you are Katie's age or mine!

I ran around yesterday morning - where are my good jeans?? I need my good jeans!! John, can you watch the baby for a second while I find my other shoes? I need to get some makeup on!! Crap, my hair looks dorky like this -- I guess I'll have to do the mommy ponytail thing. Where's Katie? Oh, ok, she's chewing belts in the closet. Damn, where is the back for this earring?! Mascara, mascara...

John stood there, tying his tie, a look of complete bemusement on his face. Aren't you just going to town hall?

But this is Connecticut - people are very obsessed with appearance here and I don't want to look like a complete dork.

John: You're not a dork.

(patiently - or, rather, as patiently as I can manage whilst imitating a decapitated chicken) Doesn't really matter if I am, only if I look like I am! Katie, please stop chewing the humidifier cord! Now!

~~~~
As sad as it is, I'm glad I took the time to put makeup on instead of going out as the sloven I usually am. I'm glad I took the time to find my nice shoes instead of wearing my sneakers and the nice jeans. The other women were nicely dressed for the most part and they *all* - even the mother of a 2 year old and a 3 month old - were wearing makeup. Connecticut seems much more obsessed with appearance than anywhere else I've lived. I don't know why. I decry it's superficiality and egotism but, ironically, in trying to ensure my appearance conforms, I am just as culpable as the fashion arbiters.

~~~~

The place was a madhouse of small children running rampant. Katie didn't know quite what to do - a lot of stimuli for an only child that stays at home all day with a somewhat taciturn mother. I think she liked it though. By the end she was willing to crawl away from me for a toy she had her eye on. Katie was one of the youngest (indeed, she's barely old enough to be in the class) and the craft was a bit beyond her but she seemed to have a good time anyway staring at all the other kids.

We have 7 more classes or something like that. I believe she'll be a lot more into it by the end of the session. I also think it's good for her to be exposed to other kids and maybe have to learn to share and take turns with other children.

Fear of Fridays

It's not a fear of Fridays in general, mind you -- I like Fridays. Just a fear of tomorrow.
Why, you ask? Ok, you didn't ask but you're still reading so I'm going to assume you want to know.

Morning Munchkins
9:30 - 10:15
Mortensen Community Center

That's why tomorrow is filling me with trepidation. What? You don't think a room full of rugrats and their keepers is scary?

Those of you who (thank you!) have been reading for a while know that social situations involving either large groups of people or people I don't know make me uneasy at best. Tomorrow, I'm faced with both. I can't show it either because I don't want Katie to pick up on my nervousness.

I can do this. I can do this. I can do this.

I think.