stuff is cool

I did my hour on the treadmill tonight and DURING the hour I began to feel pain up and down my back and in my shoulders. But I sucked it up and finished it out. Now I am miiiiserable. My muscles up and down my spine are freaking out at me, Maybe it was too soon after the spinal inflammation to try this. I am going to call my doctor first thing tomorrow because I am in paaaaain. Crap crap. All I did was walk at a 2 mph pace while I watched an episode of CSI! Oh, it hurts. DAMN THIS ARTHRITIS! I will NOT let this defeat me in my goal to lose weight and get fit. Dammit dammit dammit.

Jeff Buckley

November 17, 1966 - May 29, 1997

A HUGE influence on my teenage years. Others of my generation were shocked when Kurt Cobain died. I grieved when Jeff Buckley went missing and was later found drowned.

I have had issues with bodies of water and drowning ever since. I mean, it really, really bothered me.

I was 16.

Of course it did.

My scrapbook quickly filled with the reports surrounding his disappearance and death. Little then did anyone know how much a simple swim in the Wolf River could end a life and skyrocket a career.

In spite of all the cashing in on his cult status, all the posthumous albums that have been released year after year, even the article “Die, Jeff Buckey, Die” in the Houston Press, I still love Jeff Buckley. I’ll never get sick of him or his memory. He wrote beautiful lyrics. His voice arched and glistened like a cathedral. He made covers his own. His music still haunts me.

And yet my fondest memory of him will always be the times when Carrie and I are in the car, music turned up loud, practically screaming along with Last Goodbye. It’s the song of my coming of age. It’s the song of my greatest friendship. It both riles and calms my emotions. Jeff Buckley always does. And always will.

Elise Grace and her Godparents.

Danny with a baby in his arms looks handsome, doesn’t he? Maybe in 2010!

Gotta get married first. Unless, of course, you listen to my 10 year old cousin Sammy who has his own ideas about the order in which grown-ups do things . . .

THIS FUCKING SHOW

Ok, I was the first in my viewing party to utter “this is not a flashback.” Shannon backed me up on that.

EDIT: We all discussed the fact that Jack somehow had a RAZR phone during the supposed “flashback” (which would have put it sometime before Sept 2004) but we dismissed it as a goof. We were so DUMB!

It is either Ben or Locke in the coffin. There are many arguments for it to be either one.

Also, all four of us were a little curious about Jack’s “Go upstairs and get my father and if I am drunker than he is . . .” line. But we think it was just a) Jack being fucked up on pain pills and making a strong point and 2) the producers’ intent to make sure we didn’t suspect it wasn’t a flashback.

I also called that Hurley would somehow save the day.

Love that Hurley.

RIP, Charlie. I cried for you.

And yes, my mind is sufficiently blown. The next seven months are going to be realllllly tough. But I have wedding planning to distract me.

SPOILER ALERT: If you are for some reason not watching LOST this season but saving it up to watch on DVD in the future, do not read this. Mild spoilers ahead.

Ok, so Heroes: Chapter One didn;t end with a bang, nuclear or not. It kinda fizzled. So now it’s up to LOST to CHANGE MY LIFE.

In anticipation of having my mind blown tonight by the two hour LOST Season Three Finale, I wanted to share with you moments from my favorite episode of the season. Some would say it was a throwaway episode, but it had me smiling from ear to ear near the end as it was one of the most uplifting moments of the entire series. Oh, there were good episodes, especially those focusing on Desmond, or whenever Ben started wigging out, but this, this episode made me feel really good. Skip ahead to about 2:30 if you want to just see my fave part. The rest is plot build up.

I also just noticed Vincent was with them. BADASS!

I said goodbye to my Grandmom last night. She died surrounded by her family.

My grandmother Lucy Whitmore has been ill with cancer for many months and has been in hospice care, safe in her own bed at home. My Aunt Elsa has been caring for her for years, and my brother and I would “grandnothersit” every Sunday afternoon. We would watch British tv mysteries and read to her from her mystery magazine. She loved to drink Coke. She called it “something cool to drink.”

On this past Sunday she took a turn for the worst. My mother, Elsa, and I spent all afternoon by her bed, talking about my wedding plans to marry Danny at the Rice Chapel and celebrate at Cohen House, and looking at Elsa’s wedding album from her own wedding at Cohen House. I even tried on Elsa’s wedding dress (too small.) I don’t know if Grandmom even knew we were there, but it was a wonderful afternoon.

Monday morning the hospice nurse told us she had less than 48 hours. My dad, Elsa, my mom, and my brother Ben all gathered at the house after work. We sat in her room and talked while stroking her hair and holding her hands and telling her about things we remembered.

At about 7:45 I noticed her fingers had begun to turn blue. My aunt climbed in bed next to her and held her in her arms and I held Grandmom’s hand. We all gathered close, even the dog, and we told Grandmom all the things we wanted her to tell Grandad when she saw him in Heaven. We named every pet she ever had, every boyfriend she ever had (that we knew of), the favorite meals she would cook . . . and then at some point between 8:08 and 8:15 she left us. We waited for the next breath, holding our own, and hers finally never came.

It was very very gentle and peaceful.

I am still struggling with witnessing death, even a beautiful one. I go from being fine to uncontrollable sobbing.

When a friend from St Louis once asked somone who my Grandad Bill had married, he responded, “She’s small, smart, and pretty.”

That is perfect. I cannot find any other words right now, writer though I am. I need some time. But the words will come, I know.

The visitation will be from 5:00 until 7:00 on Thursday night at the George Lewis Funeral Home. There will be a short graveside service at 9:30 a.m. on Friday at Washington Cemetery, followed by the memorial service at 11:30 at the chapel at Brookwood, out in Brookshire. Then lunch at the Brookwood Community’s cafe at 12:30.

My dad said it is time to celebrate her life, and we are.

PS- Any potential criminals out there should know we will have friends housesitting at each of our homes while we are at the services, so don’t think about trying to rob us thinking nobody is home. We’re onto your little sneaky moves.

SNL Digital Shorts are little gems of hilarity. Absurd hilarity, but that’s just the way we like it.

I used to love music. I used to take good care of my cd collection because they actually cost me my heard-earned money. Then mp3s came along and my cds gathered dust as everything existed on my computer. But that college computer has long gone kaput (even though a friend rebuilt it for me sometime right after graduation) and now I stick with the laptop Danny lovingly got me. My cds from my teenage years are long gone. Scratched, fallen between the bed and the wall, tucked away in a forgotten cd case. So every one in awhile I remember a particular cd I used to love but hadn’t throught about in a decade. Today that album is:

Travis
The Man Who

They were the Scottish band that was truly good, before the dainty, dandy Franz ferdinand came along and annoyed me. I might have liked FF, if not for their 12-year-old fan base. But Travis: very relaxing. Great to listen to while writing.

Mary has been YouTubing on her blog, so now I want to as well. I don’t visit YouTube harldy at all, but I was thinking of making a post about the music I’ve been listening to lately, and its so much more effective when readers can hear it if they want to.

When I was in high school and college I was very very into popular music. I watched Crossroads every night. I loved, in particular: The Replacements, Ben Folds Five, Lyle Lovett, Dave Matthews Band, Better Than Ezra, and the Jayhawks. I have also long been a fan of “One Hit Wonders” and became enamored with: Sunshine Anderson, Nikka Costa, Josh Joplin Group, Rufus Wainwright, Barenaked Ladies and so on. Then in college it was time for Tori Amos, Ani DiFranco, Get Up Kids, Saves the Day and blh blah blah. Basically, I like to listen to music that sounds good.

So now I am all moony and nostalgic for the days when I was obsessed with Robin Thicke’s first single, “When I Get You Alone” from, like, 2002. Thicke as in Alan Thicke’s son. Instant cool factor. Anyhow, I see from MTV snooping that he’s slowly gaining real cred, and I wanted to show you guys this awesome song that got overlooked. Also, he is totally going to be confused with JT. And maybe that’s why now is his chance to get famous. But here, this song is funky and it makes me bite my lip and jerk my torso and head around awkwardly in an attempt to be funky-fresh:

Back around 2002 I also predicted the eventual superstardom of two artists who were just emerging: John Mayer and Remy Shand. I got one right. But I still like skinny white boy Remy being totally soulful. He’s like Robin Thick, who is like Jamiroquai.

I don’t want to overdo the YouToobing on this post, but next up: the comparison of the SNL Digital Short “Dear Sister” to the OC Season Two Finale where Mariss shoots Ryan (omg, oops, spoiler!)

I am thrilled that this summer’s big trends are tunics and babydoll tops. One makes my hips look excellent, and one hides my belly. And everthing is comfy and Meg-like. YAY!