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Romeo
Originally uploaded by heathervescent.
On this day last year, the boyfriend and I welcomed a squirming bundle of licks into our home. It's hard to remember how easy and clean life was before Romeo. The year seems much much longer. We've had our ups and downs. Lots of ripped squeeker toys, chocolate bars and avocado encounters.
Thanks for all your licks and love, my little Romeo.
I've always thought you have to do a lot of work to get to the starting line. I've spent years in school. Practicing in the dojo. I've wondered why they've kept a thoroughbred like me in the back pasture, far away from the starting line. I've run the rat race. I got out. I dreamed my dream life and then I created my dream life. I don't have anything to prove. The world is at my feet, but I'm looking up into the wind. I don't run with the dogs, but I have one. I infiltrate cliches & cliques and then break them. I start fires on the mountain and build the cairns to help you find them. I have been known to stir the pot.
-- an auspicious story--
I picked up my first handgun at the beginning of this month. It is a Walther PP - James Bond's gun. Mine is not new. It's from West Germany and was crafted 17 years ago. It has a smooth blue black finish and a nice heft. I saw it in the case and knew it was mine.
I was an excited teenage girl on her first date when we went to the range. I filled the magazine, hung up the target and put it in place. I slid the magazine in place, racked the slide, raised my hands to aim and pulled my finger to shoot the first bullet.
My silence was fixated on the bullseye. The explosion, there was no kick. But I couldn't believe what I saw. Bullseye!
My very first shot on a clean target - Bullseye. Let me say that again - My first shot with a new gun = Bullseye! BULLSEYE! BULLSEYE! Unbroken target except for the center.
It was not a fluke. I proceeded to empty the magazine in the center circles. All fears I had about owning a firearm dissipated. It's not about politics or aggression or protection or posing to be all bad ass - it's about listening. It's about paying attention. It's the silence before the dive. It's the intention. It's about going someplace you've never gone before.
Welcome to 34 Heather. Here's to a whole year of going someplace you've never gone before: The Mainstream. And doing what you do best there.
Here are two more stories for the dogs and avocados category.
Part 2
The boyfriend and I went out to sushi earlier this week. We've done a good job of ordering and aren't left with much after sating our appetite. There's one avocado roll left. I am very tempted to pop it in my mouth, but before I do that I have a gem of an LA idea pop into my head. Let's take it home for the dog!
There are so many things that delight me about this idea. It is completely and utterly absurd. Feeding sushi to the dog? Well, if there is one place on earth you could get away with that, it would have to be LA. To prove the stereotype, we decide to wrap it up and take it home. It's partially an experiment. Will the dog eat sushi?
Part 3
A couple days after the sushi incident. (Which we video recorded so you'll be able to see the results!) I came home to a bunch of leathery pieces of avocado skin on the bed. There were no bits of avocado flesh and no pit. I use my deductive powers to figure out the dog must have gotten the avocado out of the fruit bowl. But where was the pit? The boyfriend found the pit in a pile of laundry. It was licked clean.
My earlier assumption about the dog not liking avocado has been proven incorrect. I think he was confused by the skin on his first attempt. I have to admit, that I like the idea of giving him avocado as a treat more than the processed dog treats. He still loves his pig ears (and I do love giving them to him), but avocado is an excellent alternative.
Pls. hold for the dog eating sushi video.
So every year I take the 30 days between Jan 1 and 30 to finalize my goals, plans, ideas to execute and kick ass on. You see Jan 30 is my birthday, and this year, I am turning my birthday into the Official Kick Ass day. It's the day to celebrate your ass-kickedness (or at least, that is what I am going to do on that day.)
I'd also like to take this moment to invite you to celebrate the day of ass-kickeningness, although a few days later - on February 2nd. I don't really have time or inclination to plan an extravagant birthday party (not like the naked sushi or flaming cake @ Ground Kontrol). This year I am going to perform a little dance on stage and eat cake at my favorite dance club - Bootie LA.
So come along if you are so inclined. I won't be wearing a banana suit. ;)
The theme for 2008 is the lion with a bucket of water in the spotlight aka going mainstream. I know that might sound a bit strange but that is what my 2008 meditation is going to be about. Probably in reality I will have this pegged in May, but we'll see.
I also have big plans for kicking off/revitalizing two very different communities in Los Angeles. Neither is related to the LA Tech community. Let's just say "the only way up is down" and I'm going "down down underground" and I like to stir the pot. Instead of a magic wand, I carry a wooden spoon, which can be used in much the same way.
I'm very excited to take on this, the biggest challenge I have thought up this far.
I've been watching a lot of westerns recently. Last week I saw The Good, the bad and the Ugly. I had never seen early Clint Eastwood and I loved this movie. The silent dialog. The long sweeping panoramas. Character development. Journey adventure. It reminded me of Sargasso Manuscript, where one story leads into another. Double crossing, impeccability.
Last night I saw Unforgiven. More sweeping views of the plains. Blood sunsets, dusty towns. It made me miss the midwest. Fields and forests, rivers and mountains. I dream of my farm, my ranch in the sierras. I ran into Mike Jones from Userplane at Twiistup and we were talking about consulting. One of my goals of consulting is to make enough to buy my ranch and have goats. Three hours from LA, on a plateau overlooking the mojave I will sit on my porch and watch the mountains, the clouds and desert. I will disappear into the mountains to explore and discover. My workspace will be filled with shop tools, a kiln, plasma cutter, welder and materials.
At that point, perhaps I will be ripe enough to produce art. The stories with have inspired me with expression.
I could not have scripted this better. The opening intro to this TV segment on Twiistup an LA's Tech Scene is what I have been planning. The time is now. Check it out.
Are you excited? I'm excited. Tonight is going to be a really fun geek dinner. We're having a blind date with dorkbot. Do you have butterflies in your stomach? I do. I've been preparing to make sure everything is just perfect.
We've got some great prizes to give away, a white-elephant for those of you who bring something, and some really great catering that has omni-vor, vegi and vegan offerings for only $15.
Dessert is brought to us by SK Telecom. Machine Project will have the floor bar open. You won't want to miss this. There is a hole in the floor. You push a button, and a silver hand comes up. You put $3 in it and it goes away. Then it come back with a beer. Totally cool!
I know there are going to be other surprises, so join the 50+ of us for dinner tonight, down at Machine Project.
<3,
-Heather
Last night as I was slipping off into sleep, I heard a word, plaintive on the breath, a tiny voice saying hello, remember me, my passion, my soul, you used to care, you used to play, you used to feel, you used to......
I said the word aloud. I remembered my passion with words. I remembered the feelings, the unfathomable expressions that somehow got captured in letters and stanzas. I remembered the muse, the architecture, the foundations and free-form. I remembered the discussions about the your death, your revival in rap and your fractal patterns in free verse. You were an old love of mine. You have gone neglected, I admit. But I do not know, when I will pay attention to you again. However, for the moment, I remember the sweet goblin fruit and the sun and the interplay of magic with words and Iowa landscapes and meanings that reveal themselves eventually or not.
It was a dream. There were lots of teeth. Sharks, fangs, things coming at me. Ready to devour me. I was not terrified. A friend and I went walking through the valley of the slithery things. They were peacefully sleeping. Our walking did not disturb them. I was not disgusted. We were not afraid. We realized that they have every right to be here as we.
Just as everything has every right to be here. It is not my job to slaughter the slithery things. In fact, as I walked through them, I felt affection, love for them. I no longer fear them.
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