Category Archives: Life

Although these last few weeks have been stressful and hectic, they’ve also been incredibly rewarding. I am eternally grateful for the time I’ve had to spend with family and friends and would like to think that I spent it well. I’ve done a bunch of new things that I’d never done before, things I didn’t really have a chance to do while I was married. It all serves to remind me to be grateful for where I’m at.

Two really significant things happened to me in the past week or so, however. The first is that I had a chance to meet James O’Barr at Comic-Con. For those who don’t know, he is the creator/writer/artist of The Crow, the graphic novel behind the cult classic. I originally saw the movie but it didn’t take long for me to acquire the graphic novel, even though it was already out of print.

I believe my copy is from 1994 and it was already pre-loved when I bought it. Since then, it’s followed me across the world and country so it’s definitely well-loved. I packed it up, anyway, when I accidentally discovered that the man himself would be at Chicago Comic-Con. When we set out for the convention center, I slipped it into Wendy’s satchel, even though it barely fit.

I present it to James O’Barr almost sheepishly. He’d just sold his last copy of The Crow: Special Edition which was all shiny and new and mine.. was not. I apologetically asked if he’d sign my well-loved copy and he said that well-loved it just how it should have been. I could not imagine a more redeeming, relieving comment. I felt completely validated as a fan.

I took a picture of his signature that’s on Facebook. Exciting stuff.

But it really gets better or, at the very least, remains just as awesome. On Friday, I finally was able to see Pat Benatar live in concert. We drove a couple hours to the Wisconsin Dells and piled into one of those formal-ish, assigned-seating theaters. We arrived when some cover band was doing a bunch of classic rock. Not bad but not nearly as awesome as or appropriate for Pat Benatar. We were among the younger people there which made me sad. I don’t know why other people don’t love her more!

Everyone stood when she came on stage and she started in one a popular song. I can’t remember which one, except that she played most of the songs from “Best Shots” minus “Outlaw Blues” and “Painted Cowboy” for sure. She also added “Sex as a Weapon” and “You Better Run,” both of which I knew but I wasn’t super familiar with. Guess who is now?

Even though I was sick, I sang my freaking heart out all night. I’m sure it bugged other people and I only got more into the music as the night went on. One thing I noticed was how much harder, rockier her music sounds in person. Perhaps some of the dynamic-ness of the guitar and drums are lost during recording but while she may sound poppy on the radio or CD, there is no mistaking that she is a rock goddess in person.

We snuck down to the front of the aisle to take some pictures. Unfortunately, we were off center so I didn’t get so many amazing pictures of her but I did get some great shots of Spyder. I appreciate him even more as a guitarist now. He would definitely rock in a blues band, I think. Pat also loves it: she was air guitaring most of the time. Her attitude indicated that she was having fun, she was informal and silly. All in all, she seemed super personable, even flirting with her husband a bit.

I sang along until the very last song which was an awesome version of “Heartbreaker” with some “Ring of Fire” mixed it. I don’t know if she usually does it but it sounded great. The concert flew by and, before I knew it, I was covered in sweat, hungry and walking out the door. We finished up the night with some fast food and finally hit up a Dunkin Donuts because Captain America runs on it, don’t cha know.

I thought I’d see her once and feel satisfied but, now, I just want to do it all over again.

I’ve jokingly said that my life is now complete and I could die happy but it’s sort of true.

That’s my busy bee sound and I absolutely have been one these last few weeks.

At the end of July, my best friend came up to visit from Texas. This included her two little girls and husband. Unknown to the folks around here, our friend/my best friend’s sister-in-law also came up so it was a throwback to middle school. I hung out with them a lot as we caught up and spent too much money as it was the week of the fair. I played games, went on rides and even saw Styx play. Somewhere in there, I went to a birthday party for my cousin’s daughter. I caught up with my older cousins, played with the younger ones and saw my grandparents for the first time since Christmas.

There were a lot of conversations and introspection and too many insides jokes to laugh. I missed them all terribly and I’m so glad that I was able to visit with both Ashley and Christina. I definitely feel closer to both of them. Christina left early Thursday afternoon and I was soon on my way, with Robyn and Wendy, to Chicago. We spent Thursday through Sunday at Wizard World Comic-Con and it was fantastic. Highlights include:

• Awesome costumes
• Hugs from Nicholas Brendan
• Hilarious panels
• Autographs from James O’Barr
• Talking with Chad Lindhberg
• One seriously nice hotel room!

It was far better than my first convention experience and Wendy and Robyn decided I need to hurry up and have kids so we can take them to cons. I took a few pictures and posted most of them to my Facebook in real-time. On Saturday, Wendy and I went as Desire and Death, respectively. Her costume was pretty awesome but I didn’t get a picture of me because mine was full of fail. I’d grabbed some Manic Panic in Raven to temporarily dye my hair black and did that Thursday morning before we left. Unfortunately, it just didn’t take and I had neither the time nor patience to try again. Boo.

I bought some awesome things, including bookmarks, a pillow and a poster (Batman). I spent far too much time on my feet and got far too little sleep but it was pretty exciting. We finished up on Sunday and, for some reason, my ass kept being kid-height and they kept running into it. LOL

We returned home on Sunday evening and I spent Monday relaxing for the most part. Tuesday I tried to but couldn’t get any sleep so I was exhausted by the time 8:30 AM rolled around. I was expecting my mother to shower up so we could head down to Memphis for a couple days. She showed up at least an hour late and I crammed into her friend’s tiny sedan. The five of us barely fit and I seriously considered asking them to turn around so I could go home and to sleep but figured it would make my sister sad.

The car was covered in dog fur and smelled like it too. I tried my best to live with it. Unfortunately, my bad feeling was right on target. We headed South and so did.. everything. I started out tired and nothing was horrible.. until we got to Rockford or so and my sinuses opened up and my eyes and nose just started pouring. Every time we stopped, I’d steal toiler paper or paper towels from the rest rooms. By the time night rolled around, I was pretty miserable, my throat was hurting and I was ready to get out of the car.

Unfortunately for us, the “twelve” hour trip took more like fifteen. We ran into a lot of construction and a 40-mile detour so by the time we got to Memphis, to the hotel, we were all in piss poor spirits. Illinois just didn’t want to let us go, then we hit a storm and it was 1AM by the time we checked into the hotel. The hotel in itself was pretty disappointing. It was old and falling apart at the cracks–literally. They were performing construction on the floor above us and I heard the bumping and grinding all morning. Every employee had a hard hat. It was all ghetto-iffied.

I stayed in the next morning while everyone went out for breakfast because I felt awful. I enjoyed some timed to myself to shower, dress and check my email. I snuck downstairs for leftovers of breakfast and we all packed up when Mom returned. As it turns out, I had no reason to rush. We wound up waiting around for everyone to get their act together. I am pretty impatient when people are poking around. I like to know when something is happening and to do it at that time but my mom has a clock that runs at least 45-minutes later than everyone else’s.

We were out of the hotel by noon and on our way to Graceland–the point of the trip. My mom is a huge Elvis fan and this had really been a dream of hers for some time. I enjoy Elvis but was mostly along for it to be an enjoyable experience. I can’t ever remember my mom taking a vacation or traveling someplace for something other than a family event (wedding, funeral, etc)–we’ve never been on a family vacation–so this was a HUGE deal for her. She was all fan-girlish when we got to Graceland and taking pictures all over the place. I was in control of her camera and took a bunch of pictures before the batteries died. I hope she likes the ones I took (as I speak, I’m Bluetoothing them to the laptop).

We bought tickets to tour the mansion/ground itself, the airplanes and the car museum among other things but we only did those three. The “mansion” tour is interesting because the house isn’t that big and you only have access to the bottom floor. Elvis’ bedroom and office upstairs, as well as Lisa’s room are off limits. What I did see was tacky and dated. Green shag carpet on the ceiling kind of stuff and too many mirrors everywhere. There were a lot of TVs and other appliances, which just speaks to his wealth and success. Some of the grounds had been converted to showcase his wealth and success and there were flowers and memorial signs all over. It was over pretty quickly and I left feeling disappointed.

The car museum was interesting and another testament to his wealth. If owning a Pink Cadillac is no sign of your success, then having two airplanes certainly is. I think that really struck me because airplanes weren’t common back then and this guy has two and holy crap! one of them was fancy. But it was only a few hours and we were off, back on the road. The trip was just as frustrating back, involved some doubling back and ended, for me, just shy of six o’clock yesterday morning.

I’m sitting here, sneezing and blowing my nose, and really wishing I hadn’t gone. But I’m so happy that my mom did get to go. The excitement is not yet over. Tomorrow, I finally get to see Pat Benatar perform. That will be awesome!

A month or so (or more) ago, I decided I needed new bedding. I’d had mine for almost three years and had decorated my room around it. While I had loved it muchly, it was dry-clean only and has seen better days. I decided to switch from red to a purple theme and began browsing the Internet. This involved sending tons of links to Thas for her input and we both enjoyed a set I’d found from JcPenney. It was reasonably priced but, the indecisive shopper that I am, I wasn’t sure I was going to buy it after all.

The very next night, I got their newsletter in my inbox and it was all “OMG Cole, crazy sales! Check it out!” And I did because who can ignore that?! The sales were indeed crazy. Reduced prices meant I could buy the comforter set, a pillow and sheets (black satin!) and get free shipping for just about $100. So I did.

After some mix-up where my stuff shipped to the store instead of to home (why would I use that free shipping coupon then?), I was soon requesting the help of my sister to make my new bed. It’s a pretty sweet set-up and feels fairly luxurious. Satin sheets definitely kept me cooler during our recent heat wave (and remind me to keep my nails and skin soft LOL). The cats like the new comforter better than my old one. I just need to have the old stuff dry cleaned so I can tuck it away in a box.

Oddly enough, the roommate thinks my bedding matches my (red) lampshades better than the old stuff. I quite like it either way.

AKA a list of non-toy-things that the cats effin’ love

• Q-tips
• Chopsticks
• Milk hug rings
• Chapstick
• Batteries
• Bugs
• Feet
• The mattress
• Ties/strings on my shirts

These are just a few of their favorite things!

According to “The Internet,” you should include photos in your blog, possibly at least one photo in each post. Now, that sort of seems like overkill to me but you know I’m all about the words (AKA I’m a wordy bitch) but I figured it couldn’t hurt to improve your day with some cat shots. After all, my friends looove when I send all sorts of cat images to their phones!

So, this is Phantom’s box. I call it Phantom’s box because Phantom loves it. I’m so creative, I know!

Phantom’s box originally contained a shipment of Pure Romance goodies for review. The packaging was pretty and smart, consisting of crimped strips of paper and tissue paper. I temporarily left the box on the floor and, before I knew it, Phantom decided it was his bed. When I’d go to bed, he’d come into the room and crawl into his, a tiny ball surrounded by pink.

It remained Phantom–and only Phantom’s–bed for a while until Goliath discovered it. Then it became sort of warped, the sides flexing outward at the weight of his bulk. Goliath will sometimes sleep next to the box when Phantom is in it or they’ll have a licking-turned-fighting moment where Goliath will take over the box.

Phantom hasn’t been in his box as much lately. He likes my new bedding but, last night, I woke up and he was there again so I think I’ll keep it around.