Not dead yet.

I realize this is all vanity but..
Yesterday I went to a Texas bar and grill and while I awaited the arrival of my darling family for the grill part, I had a drink in the bar part.
A man - a complete stranger - bought me a drink.
Yes, my friends. This 35 year old mamma's still got it. :)
And then I introduced Ken (yes, that was his name) to my fantastic husband and beautiful son. All were very gracious.

British v. Texican

British people say, "I hope you are well."
In Texan we say "How the hell are ya'?"

KT Tunstall - Uummannaq Song

Listening to this song as I sign my contract! You're my muse of the mo, KT! :)

Letter to my family

Hi,
A lot of folks asked me if I was going to watch the royal wedding, some with their tongues in their cheeks, others as serious as coronary angioplasty. The answer to that question is yes. Of course I watched it. Not in real time.. I did have to work the next morning. But I TiVo'd it and watched all of it, including the balcony kiss ( correction: kisses! scandalous)!

There was tons of British patriotism bandied about leading up to the glorious day in several communities, including celebrations at my new school. Here is an article from one of London's papers, The Guardian, a more liberal publication. ;) Look for the ACS Cobham section here.

If you want to hear the accompanying song by students from my future school, check it out here. Love you,

g

What to Pack

What to Pack:
Books.
First and foremost.
Books.
And Winter Clothes, Linens, Photos,
Nostalgia.

What to Sell:
Everything else.
Except for the things I can't imagine leaving.
Most of my stuff.
Furniture?
Fake plants?
The mosquito repellent backyard torches?
Indecision.

What to Store:
Mimi's blankets,
Nana's quilts,
Pictures and albums from yellowed college days when I fell in love and began this adventure.
Who I am, the folks who graciously contributed to who I am,
and the girl I will be.

What to take:
Summer clothes
A warm hoodie (in case)
Music,
Poetry.
Benodryl.
A pot and pan to get me started.
A passport.
Cash.
My best friend on the next flight over.
A sense of adventure,
and the notion that all will be well..

All will be well!

Yes.

"Right. Yes mam. I see. That is now confirmed. The box is ticked in the affirmative. Here we go. Onward to the next question," UK Michael said.

The original question was simply, "Upon arriving in the UK, will you be purchasing a car?" My very short response was "Yes." Every question was confirmed in this way - a rambling affirmation on his part to my very brief "yes or no" response.

I think this may be something I'll have to get used to when I move to England this summer, the ratio of ten minutes of proper English to one second of my crude American vernacular. So...

OH MY GOD. I'M MOVING TO ENGLAND THIS SUMMER!!!

Thought you might want to know.

Truths

I remember waking up, a smokey dawn coming through translucent light in the kitchen. My grandmother- Mimi we called her- sitting at the bar, her gin-legged breakfast cocktail near the ashtray that already held three Marlborough butts smoked to the quick,. She sat perched on her bar stool in her flowing morning dressing gown, her nails perfectly sculpted and varnished, her jewelry sparkling in the smokey haze. She wore slippers, one with a lift for her shorter leg, a result of her childhood polio - the disease that didn't keep her from dancing. In complete silence, I ate my cinnamon toast beside her as we watched "our show", thinking it a privilege to have not been shooed out of the house like my irritating cousin who was ironically named Shadrach by my whisky-stained, rattle snake wielding uncle. Mimi was beautiful to my unassuming eyes. I sat with her in silence, drinking skim milk - her kind of milk - not that awful whole milk that the boys liked. I never told her that I liked whole milk better. I wanted her to think I was just like her. She died several years ago, but I think of her often, this memory of a morning kitchen imprinted in my mind. Recently my mother, in a gushing moment of sincerity, said of Mimi, "You made her sweet, Ginger." "Did I?" I wondered. "My unemotional, solid-as-steel Mimi. I made her sweet?" Maybe I did.

Anis Mojgani at The Seattle Grand Slam 2006