Come Rock Out With Me

Some of you feared I had met some unfortunate end. Most of you - generous, kindly souls that you are - assumed I've actually been engaging in something called "having a life".

Well, I wouldn't exactly go that far. It's not like I've been getting laid or anything.

Things have just suddenly gotten insanely busy. Deadlines at work. Pretty insane there. But mostly my advocacy group has pretty much exploded into activity. Too much to write about, but suffice it to say we're getting a taste of some minor fame. Not fortune though. Damn. Interest from the state superintendent (I got to be on a conference call w/ her), upcoming presentation to one of the WA state House committees, 2 upcoming award ceremonies and rumors of a third, requests from surrounding school boards, even an invitation to co-sponsor some community forums with established ("real") community organizations. Which will mean our name on flyers and posters, and more connections. Pretty cool. Best of all, though, all that means people are listening, which means better things in store for the kids.

So yeah. Either we're friggin' geniuses and the Obama campaign should snap us up and start paying us the big money, or, more likely, there is an incredible heretofore unmet need for what we're doing.

Yeah. The latter. I know.

Anyway, I've been breathing this stuff lately, so I'm not writing more about that. And I'm feeling the brevity tonight, people. Shocking, I know. So, in keeping with that rare event, here are a few bullets from the last few weeks of my life:


--- My gutter was finally felled by the heavy, wet issue of a freak snowstorm, trapping my car in the garage. We tried to cut it down with a branch trimmer, but couldn't get the leverage. Male Offspring wrenched it out of the way so I could get the car out. Our house looks like an ad for that "You might be a redneck if..." deal. I haven't had time to research finding someone to fix it who won't rip me off.

--- The Bohemian is considering becoming a drag king.

--- The first issue of my group's joint newsletter with the district will be coming out in May. You should've seen all the editing going back and forth on that venture, let me tell you. Our side had to go out for margaritas after final approval. It's going out to all district parents as an insert in individual schools' newsletters. Shit, meet fan.

--- Teen Demon broke up with her boyfriend. A couple of months ago.

--- My house looks like shit.

--- OK, I was up late computering into the wee hours one night, TV mindlessly blaring in the background. The Bodyguard came on, you know, with Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston? I know. It was either that, religious shows, or FOX. Anyway, something weird happened: Kevin Costner seemed so goddamned appealing to me. WTF? Seriously, not a Kevin Costner fan, here. I mean, I don't hate him, but just ... meh. So what the hell? I finally figured it out. It was the whole superman thing. Whitney did not have to worry about one goddamn thing with Kev around. The man took care of business. Didn't make a big deal about it, just took care of business. He had Whitney's back. Was prepared for every possible contingency. That's hot. I have too much shit going on. You can bet Whitney's gutter wouldn't stay wrenched over onto her porch, looking like hicksville. Not with the Bodyguard on the job. Hell no.

Anyway, that freaked me out. Kevin Costner now, people. Weird.



--- Teen Demon cleaned her room. I may post pictures. You have no idea how huge that is.

--- Male Offspring is becoming a Guitar God, thanks to Guitar Hero. I suck ass at it. It's a weird society we live in, when you're working away out in the living room and you get a text message from your son. Who's in the next room. Playing with a toy guitar. "Come rock out with me." I think that might be Teenspeak for "I sorta like, love you, Mom, I guess." He also kicked my ass at Guitar Hero. I don't actually "rock out", per se. It's more like a frenzied plinking.

--- Teen Demon's prom dress arrived today. She tried it on, complete with accompanying jewelry. She looked stunning. Like she walked out of some 1940s movie. Her girlfriends got dresses the same day. They haven't settled on dates yet.

Me: You girls could just all go together -- you've done that before, you always have so much fun doing that.

TD: (looking down at the dress) Yeah right! A date is an accessory that this dress needs.

--- I had to file a tax extension.

--- The Bohemian made it into the Chicago Tribune. For protesting the IRS. They quoted her full name, the fact that her mother, a former soldier, was fully supportive of her protesting the war in Iraq, and that she was even wearing her mom's Army pants. Fuck. If my broke ass gets audited, I'll grow a long arm and choke that child.

--- I'm dangerously close to bitchslapping Hillary for her antics. I'm seriously getting sick of it.

--- An old army buddy we hadn't seen since Male Offspring was 6 months old came to visit another old army buddy whom we hadn't seen since before Male Offspring existed, and who, it turns out, lives less than an hour north of me. We all had dinner together the night of the freak snowstorm. They live in a tiny Georgia town. They brought their 3 kids, only 1 of whom existed last I saw them. The kids had never before been on an airplane. It was great to see them, but very weird.

--- I am way too fucking young to be saying shit like, "It's been almost 20 years since I saw Albert," Aren't I? That's the kind of shit my parents say. Fuck.


So anyway, that's a snapshot. OK, fine, it's not brief overall, but considering that normally I could drag any one of those tidbits into a fullblown rambling post, I think it's pretty goddamned impressive. OK. I think I'm going to bed "early" for once, though.