This post should be locked into the top of my journal. Thanks, author_by_night!

( Ahavah's Emergency Contacts )

Hello!

I'm posting to you from my very own house and my very own internet connection! I've caught up on emails and hope to catch up on the rest of LJ/FB/twitter/etc. sometime in the very near future.

For everyone who has asked and wondered about our new coordinates, thank you so much! I have an 'Emergency Contact' post that is permanently linked in the top of my journal, and my personal information is linked from there. If I know you in real life, or know you for a good while online and you've requested it, then you should be on my 'Emergency Contact' filter and have full access to my address, phone, etc. If you can't see that link and would like to, please let me know.

I have pictures of our new house linked up on a facebook album. I'm not sure if you have to have a fb to access it, but there's the link. Let me know if you can't see it and want to, and I'll either upload some to flickr or just make a proper picture post.

Slowly but surely, we're coming together.

Also, if you'd like to have some posts or phone calls from us, feel free to leave your own personal info in this screened post that is permanently linked in my sidebar.

I miss you.

I just posted to my new finances filter. If you can't read that post and would like to be able to, please let me know.

Tomorrow through Saturday, circletpress will be having an author chat with Elizabeth Schechter.

I have read Circlet Press and I have read Elizabeth Schechter. Good stuff! I can even happily claim to have written with her, and she is loads of fun. Check it out.

Go, ladysmith!

This weekend, my good friends tru2myart and moonstone_fae are Blogging for the Cure.

Sunday, several folks are going to be blogging every hour to raise money for Relay for Life. Tru and her daughters will be doing a charity walk next month.

Please check them out. They're both awesome writers and a day full of their insight promises to be fun all around. If you can spare a bit for the cause, that would be awesome of you too. If you want to participate, better hurry! I'm considering it, but we'll be having a first slumber party so it may just be the wrong weekend for me.

I finally started that cut I've been talking about since New Year's-ish. Mostly I cut a bunch of communities, but also a few friends who seem to have left LJ. I haven't gone through and cut all of the dead journals, but I do plan to. I'm basically dropping anyone I haven't heard from in the past year or so, especially since mom's death.

I've enjoyed the time I've spent with everyone. If I drop you and you wish I hadn't, please let me know. If you feel like moving on, feel free to go with my blessing.

Thanks!

I started listening to the Grateful Dead when I was fourteen, right after Jerry died. I was sad that I never got to go to a show and hear them live, although I did go see Bob Weir's band Ratdog back in 2001. I like Warren Haynes and I thought he did a great job filling in on guitar and vocals. I just wanted to hear the music live, and I was not disappointed. (Well, except by the seats...)

We drove down with our friend Keia, and started by first meeting my dear friend sneezythesquid for dinner. I think the Squidman was one of my earliest livejournal friends, so it was nice to get to meet him in person. We didn't get to hang out too long, but we did snag some pics.



After we left him, we found a lot across from but not at the coliseum, and we parked up. I wish we'd had more time to do the whole lot thing more too, but maybe I'll get a next time at that too. We did find some ladies who were giving away free tapes, and that was really cool. We snagged a couple of those. That's why I love the Dead and deadheads – it's all about sharing the music.

Now here is what I always expected a Dead show to look like:



While it wasn't quite a psychedelic as I might have hoped, I will admit that I had the best darn vibe I'd had in many years. We saw quite a few families together, and I never would have brought my kids to a Dead show at that age. Even if you didn't come with a groove, the sheer overwhelmingness of standing in it assured that you left with one. There was a teenager behind us with what was presumably his parents, and I heard him exclaim at one point, “Wow, this is so intense!” It was cool.

I thought I'd get better seats, but we ended way up in the nosebleeders. You couldn't even see their screen all the way unless you ducked down (and I did for a couple of shots). I was there for the music, and it was awesome. Some bitch tried to pick a fight with me at the bar, and that kind of sucked. We had some loud and obnoxious drunks squeeze us in a bit during the second set, too. That was disappointing, but for the most part it was a very nice atmosphere.

The opened with The Music Never Stopped, which was an awesome choice, then flew right into a Jack Straw (which is a favorite of mine) and a very bitchin Estimated Prophet. Phil Lesh had this awesome bass that glowed an electric blue color. I didn't get very good pics. I'll share mine, but some much more awesome shots can be found here. Another wonderful thing about the Dead – the show went up on the Live Music Archive by the time we got back to Asheville.



( Pics )

Even better was the tangible Jerry-love that settled over everyone as they broke down into “He's gone! He's gone, and nothing's gonna bring him back! He's gone...” It was very moving. I held a lighter up as my candle for Jerry, and I think that's the first time I did that at a concert.

Then they played Touch of Grey, which I remember as the very first music video I ever saw.



They rounded out Set 1 with I Need A Miracle and then a very awesome Truckin'. The first set was really something special. The energy was fantastic.

Set 2 was pretty good, although I do admit to being peeved by the pack of drunk kids. One of them wasn't a Dead fan, I guess. She just wanted to yell talk the whole time.

The boys opened with a jam that went into Shakedown Street, then All Along the Watchtower and Caution. The Drums>Space portion was pretty cool. I'm usually not a big fan of the drum part, but there were some really exceptional portions. Especially when Mickey (I think? I couldn't hardly tell from where we were) played this huge thing in the back. They had a space theme going on the projector, and from what I read they were trying to conjure The Big Bang.

After that, they played Cosmic Charley – another favorite of mine that I completely knew I'd hear that day. Then New Potato Caboose, Help on the Way, Slipknot!, and ended with Franklin's Tower. (Very good live.) Then they did their fake exit, and we cheered them all back. It took a bit longer than I expected, but they came back out and did Samson & Delilah for the encore. I had hoped they might pick a longer, jammier song (okay, I did have my hopes on Terrapin Station at some point), but it was pretty good.

At least the good thing about nosebleed seats way in the back is that we were in the first of the swarm to escape. We actually got out of there pretty quickly, but we still didn't make it back into Asheville until about four. It was a wonderful concert. I've just either got to get closer next time or get a better camera.

( More pics )

STATUS: Lost
TYPE: hatchling
BREED: Pebble
CODE: *3H6
TIME: 10:35-ish EST
SENDER: ahavah_ehyeh
RECIEVER: sprtwrid

Found a good home, but the drop fell through! Did any of you by any chance catch this hatchling? We'd really like to have it back. I'd be glad to breed you something else.

My dear buddy miintikwa is doing a One Card Tarot Draw in memory of her beloved kitty, Ginee. You should check her out. She offers readings professionally, but sometimes she'll just do something cool like this for her readers.

Since there was a whole lot of response to this post, I went ahead and started the community fitfriends. If you're interested in working together towards a healthier life, please join up. Feel free to invite your friends.

I'm continuing my cyber clean-out. Soon I'll be hitting Facebook and LJ, and I'll be dropping anyone that I never really hear from anymore or anyone I just don't gel with anymore. If you'd like to leave first, please feel free. If I end up dropping you somewhere and you're not happy with that, don't hesitate to email me or something. Just doing internet maintenance.

For those of you who honor me by voting for my therealljidol entries, I should warn you that there will not be a vote this weekend. Mysterious folk called the Gatekeepers will be deciding our fate. 14 people are getting the boot this week.

I'd just like to say thank you for reading and commenting all the same. I really do hope that those of you who have NO interest in LJI still take the time to read those entries. I jump off of the topics (when they're given), but I do consider my readers when I write them.

Thanks again for all your support!

I'm a little nervous about how I'm doing in this week's therealljidol poll. We're losing ten people this week. I was nervous last week, because it was eight and I really thought that was my weakest entry yet. I was actually pretty pleased with this one, and it seems to be sucking a lot harder than I expected. So if you liked my Coloring Outside the Lines post, please go cast your vote.

My new Kushiel RPG is finally off the ground, and I'm quite excited about it. Not everyone has submitted a character yet, but several folks have been talking to me about theirs. My buddies katrina_elissa and dominanefret are helping me moderate. And I spoke with Jacqueline Carey, and she's going to add our rpg to her website at the next monthly update! She's very awesome.

Also, my buddy lessthan90sheep and her hubby have asked me to collaborate on a project, and that has me really excited. Steph and I have collaborated before, but I'm double excited that her husband wants to. I'm always kind of afraid that the spouses (spice?) won't care for me when they meet me, and I know I was at my absolute worst when Scott met me. I am hoping I do a great job and don't ruin their hard work.

I'm just really glad to have some fiction projects again. It feels good to be creative.

I have been trying for days to catch a tiny paper dragon or a dinosaur. I've been like lightning, so I don't know how I can never ever catch one. I came close to a dinosaur egg but accidentally refreshed and caught an orange instead. Booger. I was so close, just clicked with the wrong finger! I bred a sweet little green thing, though. :) I'm musing over a few names for that one already.



Edited: Because the wicked awesome brightflashes gave me a golden egg!

roina_arwen also did a Pick One Poll. Check it out!

Merry Christmas!

I got pearl earrings, which I think is my first Xmas jewelry as well as my first pearls! I'm very excited. I've always wanted some pearls. Josh is such a sweetie. He even said he looked for black pearls, which are my favorites, but he was not happy with the ones he saw. That's okay; I'm happy with the ones I got!

Steph is a sweetie, too! She is weetastic to the extreme. Not only did she get me Keller Williams, she got me KW's Stage. I've wanted that for so long! Two discs, baby, and both live. Hooray!

My family is currently lost to me. Somewhere along the way, Santa snuck in a Guitar Hero game. Josh is supposed to be teaching Eden, but I haven't seen her get to touch it yet. :P Ivy is eating her healthy Christmas apple from the comfy seat of her very own Jeep.

Pictures later.

I hope your seasonal holiday of choice was spectacular!

Edited: because, hey, I didn't know both disks were live. Awesome.

I did not do any Christmas cards this year, and I only got presents for my family. I'm sorry.

You have my love, though!

:)

I also haven't contemplated Christmas dinner. Josh got himself a little ham. I better figure something out before the stores close early. I need to make a new fake fireplace, too. Josh made me throw the old one away.

Super thanks to lessthan90sheep! You provided the first presents that are under the tree. Presents, hooray! ♥

I made it home safely, albeit much later than we anticipated. Then I ended up sleeping most of the day! Wowza!

I'm going to try to post the rest of our fun from both trips. Both lessthan90sheep and I *and* the family had loads of fun. I'm still glad to be home, though.

I know you're dying to learn all about the Museum of Sex & Equus, and I'm dying to tell you about Strawberry Fields on such a day like today. I'll try to at least post that one, if I can wake up enough. (RIP John!)

In the meantime, feel free to peruse the anonymous entries for Week 1 of ljhaikuidol. There are only nine competitors, so it looks to be a short season...and it only takes about 5 minutes to read and vote! The polls close Friday.

See you soonish!

After arriving in NYC and checking into our hotel, lessthan90sheep and I decided to walk on over to the Empire State Building and pick up our NYC Passes. We got to go up to the observatory & have an audio tour that we didn't really finish because it was way too freaking cold. We got many good NYC pictures though, and even managed to commandeer a couple Brits to take our picture together. We met so many Brits in NY! And Germans - Possibly more than New Yorkers. We were both so glad to get out of our little Southern towns (NC for me, AR for Steph) and into an actual diverse city!

There, I bought the best damn snow globe in all of NY for Eden, and a Big Apple gorilla for Ivy. The first picture I took, a big old pigeon came and landed right in front of my camera. He stayed with me for quite a while. Now, I realize that NYC has an abundance of pigeons, but I really felt like he was my travel totem for this trip. He was very friendly to me. Actually, with the exception of one bitchy hotel lady and one smart-mouthed ho, everyone was so extremely nice and helpful. I'm not sure why everyone was warning me about the city. I had such a delightful time and was really impressed by all the friendliness. No one even sent us the wrong way when we asked for directions. It was swell.

So our very first stop was technically Times Square, as we looked around trying to figure out how to get to the Empire State Building. All the sudden I was like, “Hey! This is exceptionally shiny and electronic everywhere – do you suppose this is Times Square?” It was! Right around the block from our hotel. We ended up spending more time running back and forth through there than anything else, I think. We don't have nearly so many giant movie adverts in Asheville. I was kind of afraid of the giant Jim Carreys and Britney Spearses that I saw everywhere, but I guess I'm just too darned sheltered. Still, some people's faces just weren't meant to be that darned big. P. Diddy, I'm talking to you, too.

We stopped at Macy's afterwards and had to go all the way up to the top. Boy, they sure are festive there! However, since it was officially December, I didn't really have any problem with the abundance of Christmas everywhere. It was fairly cool. I even bought a pair of shoes at Macy's, since my tennies had broken just before my flight and all I had was my pinchy boots. Macy's shoes were actually little better, but hey, I bought NY shoes! Woot woot. I've come a long way from Asheville's K-Mart keds (thanks, mom).

After that it was pretty late, so we just copped a squat in the nearest restaurant and had dinner. We went all that way to eat at Ruby Tuesday's, but it was actually much nicer than the ones we have in NC. Everything was so fancy. I tried my best not to stick out like a big, pulsating, lost sore thumb, but I don't believe it worked. Everyone kept stopping us, asking us if we wanted show tickets or a ride or a souvenir. We realized we made pretty easy marks, so we started cultivating that, “We're local, don't stop us, got some place to be” vibe. Steph quickly realized the importance of linking arms so we didn't get separated in the throngs, and I quickly realized the importance of sticking out that other elbow so the sheeple would quit knocking you out of their way. It worked wonders, especially when coupled with a sharp jab in the ribs.

( Thus endeth day one. Here there be pictures. )

I'll continue posting the rest of our excursions, which include the Museum of Sex, Strawberry Fields, my review of Equus, our failure (or is it?) at getting Daniel Radcliffe's autograph, & why Richard Griffiths is my new hero. Oh, and my very first real-life mob!

Also, for those of you who don't listen to voice posts...I'm back in NYC again with the family! You'll be hearing about that too, but first things first.

Me? I'm just chilling here at Charlotte airport, waiting for my buddy lessthan90sheep to get in. Then it's NYC or Bust!

Gonna try to see Lady Liberty today, and I've promised to find the best snow globe in NY to bring back to Eden. She's a snow globe fanatic, and her last one busted a couple weeks ago (she was sleeping with it & it fell out of the top bunk...)

If you don't mind, I'd be so grateful for prayers and reiki! I'm a nervous flier. Just wrap our planes, pilots, and cute little selves in a bright ball of safety.

I should be able to post pics tonight, and then you'll see my new hairdo.

This is my entry for Week 10 of therealljidol. Remember to vote for me this weekend so I don't have to beg and plead, which is lame. Now, in order to more fully encompass the true drama of the misunderstood Livejournal post, I've decided to throw back a couple stout margaritas and do it meme-style. That's right, an LJ triple-play.

A Bunch Of Things I Wish I Could Tell My F-list & Fellow Contestants, But In Passive-Aggressive Cowardice Decide to Post Anonymously, Under the Pretense That It's All Just A Game, But We All Know How Very, Very Real It Actually Is:

1. You know, I'm like 99.6% certain that the rant you posted was about me.

2. I think you're unbelievably hot. Really. I always read your posts just to gaze at the icon of you.

3. I know who you really are, and some of my posts were just to screw with you.

4. I only keep you on my f-list because we've been friends for so long and I don't want to deal with the confrontation I know would come from dropping you. I'm too stressed lately as it is.

5. And you – I'm so glad you're gone. “Put your grief behind a cut, because some of us are trying to keep positivity in our life”? My mom died, you callous ass. If you don't want to read, scroll on by or unfriend me like this “friend” did. The scolding was unnecessary.

6. Speaking of which...my mom died. Slowly, during the course of my wedding AND Mother's Day. You were my ultimate bestie for a long time. Where the hell have you been when I needed you? You're worse than the ones who at least gave up pretenses and just turned tail.

7. White Space. Do you know what white space is? It's those little breaks that you'll find all through this post; they come after paragraphs and numbered items. They are imperative for ease of reading. You have interesting things to say, but you say it all in one HUGE block of evilly unrelenting text, and I literally, physically, cannot read your posts. It makes my eyes burn. See this:

[White]


[Space]



Can you dig it?


8. Stop using all of the following phrases: I can haz, lulz, kthxbai. It stopped being cute looooong ago. And while we're at it, don't you dare ever vocalize in my presence: "Oh-Em-Gee". You may say, “Oh my God”. I know it's taking the Lord's name in vain, but believe me, that's the lesser of two evils here.

9. Um, don't post something on the internet if you don't want to discuss it with people. Stew in silence in your living room as you pat yourself on the back, but once it's posted publicly, don't you dare delete/censor/freeze comments. Wanna tell me how much this posts sucks and you'll do whatever the hell you want while you're online? Go ahead; commenting is allowed. You can even call me names if it makes you feel better. I might point and laugh, but I won't skew comments in my favor. Your responses speak well enough for themselves.

10. I would totally be trying to fuck you if you hadn't been such an ass that one time.

11. I wish I'd never opened up to you.

12. I have the sneaking suspicion that you don't like me very much. That's okay; I can't blame you.

13. I have the sneaking suspicion that you're crushing on my husband. That's okay; I can't blame you.

14. Your whineyness is why I didn't vote for you, not the size of your friends list. If it's a tie-breaker and I think both entries are equally strong, I'll still only vote for one: the one who has whined and pimped less on their journal. Let's face it, in a competition like this, whining does not win you fans. Sorry. I'm a newbie and I get votes...because I rawk*. My friends don't even pay attention to this shit.

15. Vote for me this weekend. I know you do, like, half of these things, but you know I wasn't talking about you. I love you, baby.






* Technically this & it's "hawt" counterpart fall under #8, but you can always flub the rules with snark. Or pure awesomeness. I'll leave it to you to decide which I'm going for here.