Posts from — May 2006

A year ago, I would have been affected by this: “Power Failure Snarls Commuter Traffic”

A year ago, I would have been one of those poor bastards shuffling along for a MILE to get to some other mode of transportation, cursing the whole way. A year ago, today’s latest regular dismal failure of the northeast corridor railway system would have likely hatched a profanity-laden tirade about how shitty my day was, followed by several gin and tonics.

But today, I rolled out of my house and took pictures of the goats (yeah, that’s right, goats) trimming the field across the street from my house, and arrived at the office 5-10 minutes later after dodging prarie dogs on the bike path and watching the occasional hawk.

So instead of complaints, you now get gloating. Sorry about that.

Well, this past weekend was a bittersweet reunion with the Land of Enchantment — Santa Fe, New Mexico. It’s where I fell in love with the mountains of the southwestern United States, and, in the summer of 1990, working as an electrician for the Santa Fe Opera, it’s where I fell in love with my wife. And it’s where Brenda is right now.

Brenda’s been doing freelance projects both at home and in Denver for the last few months, but had an offer to go to work at the Santa Fe Opera as a draper for part of the 2006 season, and seven weeks doesn’t sound like a long time when that seven weeks is eight weeks away, so.

The weekend was spent visiting old haunts, and old friends in new arrangements.

The burger joint “Dave’s not Here” is still, uh, there, and the 9oz burger with grilled onions and pickled jalapenos still the Burger Benchmark.

The restaurant at Rancho de Chimayo is not anything at all as I remembered, but the fact that I arrived there sober and during daylight hours may have something to do with that. Not sure, though.

There’s something about working in a building an average of 80 hours a week for a whole summer that paints an indelible mark on your brain, because as I walked out of the costume shop after dropping Brenda off and saying goodbye, I was mesmerized by the matte black cinder blocks that formed the foundation and walls of the lower floors of the theatre. Sure, the roof was redesigned a number of years ago, to allow for the enclosure of all seating, but the rest of it looked very much the same way it did in ‘89 and ‘90.

Brenda’s in charge of a crew of seven, and back in a high pressure situation. As compensation, she’s left a detailed care & feeding instruction list for the many plants we have here, which carries a certain expectation that the plants will remain alive for the seven weeks she’s gone.

Six years of marriage today, and closing in on sixteen years of being together! Happy Anniversary to us.

May your marriage bring you all of the exquisite excitement a marriage should bring, and may life grant you also patience, tolerance and understanding. May you always need one another, not so much to fill the emptiness as to help each other know your fullness. May you want one another, but not out of lack. May you embrace one another, but not encircle one another. May you succeed in all important ways with one another, and not fail in the little graces. Look for things to praise, often say “I love you” and take no notice of small faults. May you have happiness, and may you find it in making one another happy. May you have love and may you find it in loving one another.
—Reverend Ellen

Whoa, I’ve never seen Molly Ivins so pissed off before! Read her latest op-ed piece about the so-called lobby reform bill, and then start yelling at your congresscritters…

I’m sorry these creeps in Congress have so little sense of what they’re supposed to be about that they think it’s fine to sneer at ethics. But they work for us. It’s our job to keep them under control until we can replace them. Time to get up off our butts and take some responsibility here. Let them hear from you.
—Molly Ivins

Go get ‘em, Molly!