Rollins

(kidnapped from axstv IG page)

 

Ice Cream Giant

I was so excited to be driving around PA and come across another Giant! This one was outside an ice cream joint called The Inside Scoop.

photo snapped 3 December 2023

Tape #13

Growing up, Aunt Berne would come over to babysit sometimes, although not nearly enough for my liking, and when she did she would bring over her VCR and hook it up to our TV. She'd ask what VHS tapes she should bring for us and it was invariably Star Wars and The Black Stallion. When she was downsizing and getting rid of things, I managed to snap up the copy of Star Wars. I'm about to part with my old TV/VCR and (if it still works) I'm gonna see if the tape still plays!

Texting with Kenny, Kay, & Bella!

A couple weeks back I was at Kay's place, eating Goldie Falafel and gabbing with her and Kenny. we somehow got on the topic of all the postcards and stuff I sent out to friends and loved ones during  Corona Lockdown. Kay wasn't with Kenny at the time and she turned to him and said, "You missed out; Dan got all the goodies." That night I went home and gathered up bookmarks, silly pages, my last Fortune Teller fish, stickers, and some temporary cat tattoos and sent them all to Kenny, who really is one super terrific fella. It took soooo long to get to him but finally it arrived over the weekend!

Kenny and Kayla's kitty-tats!

On Saturday Bella and I had lunch and talked about going to Boston/Concord together in early 2025. I'm trying to part with stuff at my house that I don't need or never gets used and so I wound up having a boot (trunk) full of clothes, blanket, kitchen goodies, and puzzles for Bella. The next day I sent a message with our selfies and here's her reply:

(How stinkin' cute is Samuel L. Catson?!?! So chic and regal.)

Out of the Clear Blue Sky

Barbie Krispy Kreme

I Heart BJK

This gal is the very essence of fabulous, inspiring, and unstoppable. Most recently she's gotten on a Wheaties box and is the raddest Barbie doll ever. Go Ms. Billie Jean!!

(photos kidnapped from Billie Jean King's IG page)

Weekend Lunchies!

Yesterday Bella and I met up in Phoenixville for some El Burrito yumminess and today I went to LesbiVeggies with Bishop. I stuffed my guts to the breaking point both times and don't regret it one bit. Bish has an appetite like no other and when we go to LesbiVeggies we always order tons of food and share everything. This afternoon we went with Breakfast Tostadas, Zucchini Corn Fritters, the LesbiVeggie Breakfast Bowl, and Strawberry Cheesecake Pancakes. As always, the food was sublime and Noely was our waitress. (Ha! And they were playing 311 in the background. I'd completely forgotten about that band!!) She even asked how Jackson was after the last visit and wanted to make sure he would be coming back. It was great to catch up with these two fabulous creatures and Bella and I are hoping to go on a mini-road trip in March of 2025, possibly to Boston! More on that later.

Back to School

Lucy was so excited to start back to school this week and picked out the coolest first day outfit. She even FaceTimed with me on Wednesday to show me what she was gonna wear for Thursday. 

Why Travel?

Famously, my father once hollered in to my mother, "Rose! Rose! C'mere and look at this." On TV was a travel advert for Ireland - all sweeping green hills, rock walls, and ocean cliffs. My mother instantly became excited, thinking he'd want to go abroad together. "Oh would you like to go!?" He turned to her with, I can only assume, his usual look of disgust and replied, "Go there? Why would I need to go there, I just saw it!" 

Many people in my life wonder why I travel and especially why I return to the same places, most of them cold and rainy. "Why are you going to Ohio??" "Dublin? Again? Why?" So here's a few reasons:

• to escape

• to go somewhere where no one knows me and therefore no one places expectations on me

• becoming exposed to different languages and culture

• seeing art that I could see nowhere else - such as Bernini's sculptures - standing before them in-person could never compare to merely viewing a flat version of them on a page

• relying solely on my own wits when travelling alone and coming home with just a bit more confidence in myself

Travel can be like the evening news - you only really hear the negatives. Here are my positive experiences:

- "Maria" in Tuscany. My first time abroad I managed to miss our bus stop in Piombino. I looked out the window at the stop and thought, "this looks like the Google map image of the train station at the end of the road to the resort..." I felt in my gut that I needed Nicole and I to hop off but I ignored it and managed to get us to the end of the line which was a 20 minute car ride past where we needed to be. We had all of our god damn luggage, which was way too much and I had no idea how we could get back to the hotel. The driver spoke next to no English but there was one woman, "Maria", who spoke English and said she would help. I told her the name of the resort we needed to reach and she left us standing at the train station depot and told us to wait while she searched for the driver of the taxi that was parked. We waited and waited and I started to really panic. Then Maria came walking up the road with a woman. She found the driver! Maria whispered to me that she told the cabbie that I was a friend of hers that was staying nearby and needed a lift. I can still see her lovely face as we drove away and I hollered out the window "Thanks again - see ya later!" and winked. She beamed back at me and I have loved her dearly ever since. She hooked us up with a wonderful and honest driver who got us to the resort for about twenty-five Euro and Maria helped us, getting nothing in return. 

- various train attendants who helped make sure I got on the right train

- Flemish man who stopped me from giving money to a beggar at the train station and then read the guy the riot act because there is no begging allowed on this side of the Scheldt. I then looked at the beggar and said annoyingly, "Thanks, you just got me in trouble." But how nice was it for that man to have my back and also stop and make sure I knew the rules. 

- the gals on the train in Belgium who, when hearing that I thought KSP and I were on the wrong train looked up everything on their mobile, told us the next stop, the platform we needed to be on for the train back, and the time it would depart as well as reach Brussels

- nearly every single person in Dublin: 

the fella at Carroll's who recommended locally filmed TV series Love/Hate

the ladies at Retro

the folks at Blazing Salads

all the cabbies especially Mr. Sullivan and Mr. Hanway

my neighbours on SLP: Michael, Bairbre, Sam, Steven, and Annie

- being told of a play starring one neighbour and directed by his wife and having a spectacular time

- becoming friends with Barbara, Michel, and David beyond them just being a host to me on Airbnb:

Michel messaged me from Eurovision, months after I arrived home - then would send me photos when he traveled to Madrid, Finland, and more recently, Washington DC and Dublin. At one point Michel said that the next time I came to stay with him, he would give me a spare key to his apartment. That way if he was travelling and I was able to fly over, I'd be able to let myself in and leave some cash on the table for when he returned

Barbara trusted me so much that we went off using Airbnb and I would pay her entirely in cash

David gave me his personal business card and told me to just reach out to him directly if I ever wanted to stay at his place again. All three would hang out and chat with me when I visited.

- chatting with Steven about Indy Rock music

- the bus drivers in Edinburgh

Everything in life is stressful for me. Getting in the car, fighting through traffic, getting to my destination (like the supermarket), not finding a parking spot, it starts to rain, the cart I choose always turns out to be the one with a wonky wheel that clatters and makes a racket. I go to self checkout in order to avoid a rude cashier or a bratty child in a cart in front of me, but the scanner doesn't work, I have to flag down a sullen worker who shuffles over to "help" and silently lets me know that I completely disrupted them. Then I haul all my shit to the car, battle through traffic home, drag it all into the house, letting bugs in because one of the bags slips out of my hand right in the doorway as my neighbour across the way comes out, says hello and reminds me that I'm not getting any younger and that I need to settle down with a man soon. I close the door, unpack it all, get into my jammies, sit down, and the beyotch upstairs decides to work out and stomp around her floor which is my ceiling and now I am spun into an anxiety attack and debate getting dressed again and leaving but where can I go until she goes to sleep and I can find a moment's peace? And that scenario is only 2 hours total of one part of one day in life. When travelling, going through TSA, since I know what to expect in advance, can be pain-free. Once through I can then sit in a seat in the airport and read until I get on a plane in a seat that I selected and eat my own snacks while listening to an audiobook and poof! I soon find myself in a totally different place and instantly feel the weight of an everyday nightmare that is my life just slip away. So in answer to the question of "Why travel?", for me it is most definitely, why not travel?!

The Gabrielle Office

It's seriously criminal that Kate Gabrielle's fabulous home is no more. It's still listed for sale but all the magic and pink-ness has been stripped away to make it sell-able. How fantastic was her office, though?!

Strength

12 July 2002

Turn of the Century Me

In an old journal from probably just after 9-11 into the first few months of 2002, I wrote a list of things that made up who I was. The people I loved and relationships that shaped me, the artists that moved me, and the things I dug, from childhood up until that day.

Sid

Toy Story

Jacinda Barrett 

Neil 

Amy

Rachel

Cole - Ash - Matthew

Emma & Me

Me & Donna

Me & Autumn

Me & G(rand)parents

Blues Bros.

Sylvia Plath

Henry Rollins

Morrissey

David Bowie

Anne Sexton

Jean-Michel

Jean-Michel Basquiat

Italy

SARK

me in bubble gum shirt

shoes from Kathleen

Hawn

Kurt

the moon

stars

mothballs

purple

the hair (from mullet to black to blue to blonde to purple)

Ann Jillian

Judy

Pier 1

Hayes

pictures

Keith Haring

AIDS

Brendan Sexton III

Plymouth Horizon

Depeche Mode

UB40

Ani

butterflies

concert ticket stubs

Alice in Wonderland

Joy

June

vacation to Williamsburg

Snoopy

My Snoopy

my bed

my Army hat

my Army jacket

Disney World w/Aunt Berne, Aunt Gina, and Jenny

tix from laser shows

trip to North Carolina

the café

Bruce Campbell Day

MASH

Moonlighting

Seinfeld

Secret Lives of Men

Bosom Buddies

Krispy Kreme 

Virginia

Rugrats {merch, mostly}

Ewan McGregor

The Black Stallion

horses

Star Wars

purple chair

brownies

Margherita pizza

Madonna

Carla

Eddie Vedder

Flea

daisies

snowglobes

trees

graveyards

Angelina Jolie

castles

chocolate 

Rocky

Philadelphia

Jericho Road

dance

art

Nick at Nite

fashion

Isaac Mizrahi

David Lynch

records

Twin Peaks

airplanes

Tom Waits

gay rights

August with Lucy

Last month I got to spend loads of time with Miss Lucy. I spent four days at her house and then she was at Mum's for three days. We crafted, watched Taylor Swift's Eras Tour on Disney+, coloured, and snuggled watching Love On the Air. She is so clever and sneaky; she kept wanting to stay up til midnight and when Nana Rose told her it was time for bed at 10:30 she coyly asked, "Don't you like to watch Hallmark movies? We can watch one now." Then when Mum acquiesced, Lucy dashed over to me and whispered, "A'n Lisa, it's two hours long!" She's such a smart little cutie-pie.

Nitro Girl

A year ago today I was out with Jackson looking for local Giants to pose with. Nitro Girl was one of the coolest!