An Aries Knows (this site is more fun when people read and comment)
Just in under the wire… I feared I would forget mary919‘s birthday today. I’ve been so busy taking care of extra dogs and doing my design for LJ Runway Monday that I almost did. Mary, I told you I’d pull a fortune for you from the fortune cookie box. This is the one you got:
Happy birthday!
Now back to stabbing myself with a needle.
Summer and I won the second week’s challenge of LJ Runway Monday! I’d like to thank judges Michelle Hors, Miranda Priestly, and TJBTimmy, boss-of-us Heidi Gunn, the other designers, Mattel Top Model Figarunt for behaving so badly, Mattel Top Model Nikki for breaking her hip, and all the people who read and commented.
I’m that much closer to the $100,000!
What? There’s no money involved?
Dang.
Figaro models Mark G. Harris‘s design.
Nikki models Timothy J. Lambert‘s design.
In our other lives, we are all writers.
You can read what the judges had to say right here.
It’s Wednesday, I know, and I’ll get to your bit of happiness. First, I want to share some of the good things about my week. I don’t have pictures of the sight that makes me smile from ear to ear, and that is Rexford G. Lambert and EZ running The Compound grounds together. They don’t play with each other yet, but they are able to enjoy being outside, unleashed within the fence, acting like dogs who’ve become part of the same pack.
Current Photo Friday theme: Flight
I don’t usually use my camera when I’m flying. I’m too busy gripping the armrests or the hands of the nearest friend or stranger. Nerves might explain the blurry photo, but I will admit that this was one of the happier flights of my life. James and I flew to Manhattan, where I met Tim and Timmy in person for the first time. While the jet was backing away from the terminal, James, knowing how I fear flying, said, “If we die, at least we’ll be together!” That wasn’t exactly comforting–but his presence and his bear were.
Hello, readers. I’m Mattel Top Model Summer, and I’ll be appearing on this LJ every Monday over the next few weeks. Maybe you’ve heard of the fashion reality show Project Runway, which begins its fifth season tonight (9/8 Central) on Bravo. With the help of Becky (or “Becks” as she’s frequently called, not to be confused with the Becks who married Posh Spice), I’ll be part of the LJ Runway challenge described in this announcement from LJ’s own Marika “Heidi Gunn” NOLA.
Becks will be my designer as we complete each week’s Project Runway challenge. You don’t have to watch Bravo’s show to enjoy Becks’s unequaled sense of fashion or what she calls my FEARLESS runway attitude. You can even be a celebrity judge one week (find out how to apply from Marika’s post, linked above).
Oh, there are some other designers, too–this guy and this guy, along with two additional Mattel Top Models. There’ve been rumors that you may see some of the workroom tensions and model drama on days other than Monday. That’s why the Clorox Wipes in the workroom are as big as the designers’ egos–things may get messy.
See you on Runway Mondays!
I can show you some photos from Craft Night now. We were all making cards to send with a surprise box of one-month-early birthday presents to Mark G. Harris. The presents have arrived at Mark Manor and are connected to an announcement Marika will make about a LJ challenge she issued. Only Mark can show you what his presents are, if he chooses, and Lindsey’ll have much better photos of the end results of our crafty labors. All I have is people. People in darkness. Darkness because MY FREAKING CAMERA is at Nikon, and the flash on my Kodak sucks.
By the way, I glued two fingers together because of a Super Glue malfunction.
Lindsey deftly wielded scissors.
Tom made a geek card–he and Mark speak the same language.
Tim knows that crafts require serious concentration and a cigarette.
Rhonda checks out everyone’s efforts.
I suppose this could be one of the highlights of my week:
Hushpuppies are a reason, like grits, that I’m glad my parents had the good sense to be Alabama and Mississippi natives.
What was one of the low points of my week? I finally forced myself to take my beloved camera back to Houston Camera Co-op so they could send it to Nikon for repair. Lindsey picked me up Thursday (for a different and more fun errand), and I sucked up my courage and asked her if she’d take me to the camera store first. She did–and was GREAT moral support. Afterward, because she said I was A Very Brave Girl, she bought me a Starbucks Venti Mocha Frappuccino. Heaven! Then she, Rhonda, Tom, Tim, and I got some sandwiches from Jason’s Deli before working on a project, the details of which can’t be revealed for a few days.
I’m already missing the camera. I have a Photo Friday challenge to do, and I keep looking at my Kodak point-and-shoot and saying, “It’s just you and me, kid.” And it keeps replying, “Remember how you loved me when I was new? REMEMBER THAT FIRST PHOTO SHOOT and how everyone enjoyed the results?” I do remember it well. I’m sure Mr. Kodak and I will be fine for a few weeks, as long as I don’t have to shoot in low light.
I’ve been rewriting parts of A COVENTRY WEDDING based on editorial comments from Kensington. Nothing severe, just trying to smooth out some awkward transitions between chapters. Sometimes I feel that I was really off my game when I was writing this novel, but I have to give myself a break because of the past year’s turmoil. I’ve had so many good times with friends and family and had such fantastic visits from out-of-town friends as well as wonderful visits to New Orleans (twice!), that it’s almost impossible to believe that over the last year while writing, I took two contract assignments for major corporations, had home remodeling done, had a seriously ill/hospitalized writing partner/soul mate, lost a lifelong friend in January, helped close up my mother’s apartment and disburse all her belongings, helped take care of my mother through two hospitalizations and two hospice visits before her death–and did much of this with two fractured vertebrae and a slipped disk that required numerous visits to doctors and physical therapists.
The thing is, I don’t think my life is that different from most people’s. These are our realities–good, bad, stressful, wonderful, full of events that uplift us and devastate us. Yet we go on, hopefully with a bit of grace and dignity, and if we’re smart, with a willingness to let those who love us bear our burdens with us. My life is rich with the love of good people–and I’m grateful for you every day.
I just can’t take a decent photo of you for a while–hey! Don’t think I can’t hear the sarcasm in those “sympathetic” comments from some of you.
Back in February when MGH and Lisa visited The Compound, we had movie nights with great snacks provided by David. I was supposed to post specific photos from one of those evenings, but other things happened and it slipped my mind. (Much like those before and after photos of my kitchen remodel–maybe I should do that on the one-year anniversary?)
Tonight I received a strongly worded e-mail about the popcorn pictures from a certain demanding someone whose initials are Mark G. Harris.
In between helping Tom grill and prepare enough meals to take us through the weekend so I can finish my copy edits, I took a trip through my photo archives to see what photos might relate to July 4. Most of these were taken by me, but a few were taken by my mother, Lynne, Tim, my nieces, and a couple of other folks.
My stint as high school Color Guard Captain may not be a great claim to fame, but it’s mine. That, and the fact that I’m an Army brat, mean I’ll always honor the U.S. flag. Many of these photos show Margot, Guinness, Rex, and EZ posed with a particular flag. I call it the “rescue flag.” In December 2001, when everyone was flying flags, Tom and I were visiting my sister. She saw this one blowing down the street and had no way to find its owner. When I asked for it, she gave it to me. Because all The Compound dogs, including the late River, are rescues, this is their flag–and no dogs or flags were harmed during the making of this video.
Happy Independence Day weekend. Peace.
ETA: Embedded video has now been made private on YouTube. Sorry.