sir updatius mcupdatatorium

1. The kitten is still here. Please give her a home. She's bigger, cuter, and tamer. Everybody wins!

2. I agreed to play fourth book in the Three O'Clock Lab Band. The Three! It's fun, but jeazy creezy, I didn't need another ensemble. Plus, I was actually getting accustomed to just playing tenor, and feeling good about my chops and my endurance. Oh well- looks good on the resume.

3. Can anyone recommend a humidifer? It's balls dry at my house and I wake every morning with a scratchy throat.

4. Talking is good. You should talk to people if you are stressed about something. Just sayin'.

5. My halloween costume is going be all kinds of awesome irony this year. Just you wait.

6. I have been riding my bike to school, but not swimming. Shit! I really want to go, but I can't find my goggles AGAIN- am too cheap to buy a new pair and too embarrassed to bum another lost-and-found pair off the lifeguards again. Good thing I know a lifeguard...

7. Bones Apart is coming! Here! October 9th. Last time, I couldn't stay out drinking (even with the invite from the girls themselves) because I had to drive back to San Diego. This time, dammit...

Also- Hullo, Lorna. I, um...well...*shifts feet* Gee. You're purdy.

8. I am playing John Stevens' Sonata in departmental next week. Huzzah!

9. Kinky Friedman is speaking at UNT today, and I am going to see him.

10. The internet is eating me. I need to practice, go to the grocery store, and shower.

feel the love. or at least see it

Gatsby's spreading his legs for you over on the photoblog. Plus, Nikolai shows off his halloween costume: Evangelion Kitty!

i call on you in class

First off, I'm feeling shitty and worn out after taking one for the (drinking) team this weekend, but I had a great time. Last night we started early and held a little Oktoberfest at our house, replete with delicious German beer and the playing of tuba music on the stereo. I did this even with a scratchy throat and rampant dizziness because not only is Oktoberfest a tasty holiday, we were also venturing out to the Mingo Fishtrap show to get our awesome live music quota filled. Seriously. Go see this band. (Thes first time I saw them...oh man. I love that story.)
[Edit: This was yesterday, Sunday, but I didn't get around to posting it because I couldn't finish it. I kept having to go back to bed and nap. Arrgh.]

Okay, on to your requests!
Jerry:
1. You twitch in your sleep like no one else. It's like all that dancing you won't do at concerts has to get out somewhere...
2. Read Pamie's new book and tell me how it is.
3. Navy blue/ dark greenish-blue (look at our first SAI dance picture)
4. I love how everything good I remember about our time together is associated with music- how feelings still get evoked for me because of a certain song or album. I owe that to your outstanding, varied, and uninhibited musical taste.
5. PMA and SAI helped with a new music student picnic, and I noticed you were cute. Beatriz kept challenging me to grab your ass. She's an evil one, that Bea, but not without foresight. :)
6. You want a mineral, huh? Okay...uh...calcium. You're good for me. And also that Andrew Bird song I quoted before.
7. I have so many questions to ask you, but not one appropriate for a live forum. So I'll just ask, What's on your mind, sweets?

Jason:
1. I think I've seen you in your undawears more often this summer than even people I've been sexually involved with for longer periods of time. I feel I should get some kind of reward for that.
2. Try a new recipe to add to your cooking repetoire. I have plenty to suggest.
3. Badger cardinal, of course.
4. I like that you are always ready for an adventure. I'm glad too that I'm feeling more up to joining you on them this semester, because so far it's been a blast.
5. You invited me to a party at the Wilson house my freshman year, but I declined to go because it was snowing and I was still a wimp about those kinds of things. You looked so disappointed I wanted to go out and rent snowshoes just to get there and party with you.
6. A raccoon- because you like to dig through trash. heh heh.
7. So if I win the Dirty Bird for August, do I get the trophy in my room?

B-dogg:
1. One day I came home to find you and Emilykins laughing about eating what appeared to be little hedgehog turds, but what ended up being some sort of carmelized sugary confection gone wrong. To this day, I still laugh at your cooking adventures.
2. What kind of music are people listening to in Germany? Make me a mixtape (it doesn't have to be real, just a list).
3. Charcoals and warm tones- like purplish-red (which for some reason I can't think of the proper name for).
4. I like how you always manage to get the truth out of me, even when I'm lying to myself, or keeping something from being a reality for me. You are perceptive and you read people extraordinarily well.
5. We'd already been friends for a while, but my clearest memory is when it was just the two of us in the Henry house and we had no furniture to speak of, so we rolled around on my desk chair and played with toy tractors. Good friggen times.
6. I hate this question...it's too hard to take seriously. Um...you remind of honeydew melons...you were always looking for a good one.
7. Do you think you will stay in Germany indefinitely, or are you making plans to move elsewhere?

Kris-to-pher
1. I think you might like Ani Difranco even more than I do, which means you like her quite a friggen lot.
2. Get that bicycle, or a bicycle. I already know you want to. Just do it. :)
3. Michigan blue
4. I can always count on you for conversation and for learning something new. I like that we can help each other through our drunken Tarot card readings even though they're shitty fortunes.
5. Earliest cleariest memory, hmm? I think when we went to see Brokeback Mountain in Plano. I'm pretty sure I laughed the whole trip down even though you scared the hell out of me with your Michigan driving.
6. Sweet potato
7. Are you happier with your new job, even though your schedule is very full?

Manoj:
1. I am eternally grateful for being introduced to the Clay Pit in Addison by you. Yum. :)
2. Blogging.
3. warm tones- brown, green, blue
4. I like that you are so matter-of-fact. There's no bullshitting you, you simply just won't let me.
5. Hmm...sitting in Borders drinking chai, talking about how you went to see the Vagina Monologues, and other intriguing topics.
6. arrrgh. I dunno. a carrot?
7. Just where in the hell are you living now? Are you still in Texas?

Day:
1. You have a knack for strange situations that turn out to be a blast (see: going to A Woman's Touch with Ben and Jason and me to pick out vibrators).
2. Go see one of Ryan Smith's shows in NYC, and tell me how it is. You can google him or the band Scattershot, I think.
3. purples
4. You look for knowledge in everything, and you expand the knowledge of the people around you just by being so enthusiastic about it. You think about things carefully and yet you still listen to your heart.
5. Was the party where we talked about hair dye at Issac's? And you and Heidi argued with me that you couldn't see the purple in my shirt? That was an interesting party.
6. A cat, of course.
7. What's your favorite thing about NYC so far? What do you think it will take you ages to get used to?

Sheena
1. You remind me of all the things I like about the midwest and the people there. Therefore, it's very refreshing to see you when I get back to visit. :)
2. Find some good bars in DC. I will be there in March with an Alaskan, and Missourian, and a Texan, and we all like to drink.
3. Sunny yellow
4. I like how you are sensible and organized. I am so impressed at your recent move- I think it's one of the bravest things I've had a friend do. I hope you are enjoying it so far.
5. Helping you pledge (join? member-in-trainingerize?) SAI was when I first got to know you well. Sitting in the lounge and chatting and seeing you get excited about what you were joining.
6. a panda bear. I don't know why.
7. What do you want to do with your arts management experience?

Gabe the Girl Wonder:
1. You have all sorts of random things about you. I think it's neat.
2. Take some time to get out into nature, when you have lots on your mind, and learn to enjoy it.
3. Green, of course.
4. I think I've seen a lot of change in you since we first met. It's good stuff, too.
5. Halloween 04 staying up late playing the question game, and getting annoyed at each other. :)
6. an apple- even though you're allergic to them, maybe that's why.
7. When are we ever going to find a friggen quartet name??!?!

Phew. That took forever.

raise your hand if you're sure

If you comment on this post...
1. I’ll respond with something random about you.
2. I’ll challenge you to try something.
3. I’ll pick a color that I associate with you.
4. I’ll tell you something I like about you.
5. I’ll tell you my first/clearest memory of you.
6. I’ll tell you what animal,vegetable or mineral you remind me of.
7. I’ll ask you something I’ve always wanted to ask you.
8. If I do this for you, you must post this on yours.

As posted by Day, my partner in music-blogging crime.

all of the pertinent information about my love life in one convenient song

*ahem* Do you own any Rilo Kiley? Why not? You asshole! They are the best band....evar.

So, 'Portions for Foxes,' what do you have to say? Well it starts....

There's blood in my mouth cause I've been biting my tongue all week
I keep on talking trash but I never say anything

True so far. Go on...

And the talking leads to touching
And the touching leads to sex
And then there is no mystery left...

Yep. Right on.

And it's bad news, Baby I'm bad news. Just bad news bad news bad news

Christ. If anything is bad news in my life right now, it's complications of the romantic/sexual sort. Jeebus.

I know I'm alone if I'm with or without you

That hurts it's so true.

But just being around you offers me another form of relief
When the loneliness leads to bad dreams
And the bad dreams lead me to calling you
And I call you and say 'Come here!'

If only I had the courage to do this and still deal. Maintaining my ability to deal is top priority in my life right now, and I'm afraid of falling apart.

(chorus)And it's bad news, Baby I'm bad news. It's just bad news bad news bad news
Cause you're just damage control, for a walking corpse like me
Like you
cause we're all just portions for foxes
portions for foxes

I don't know what that means. I suppose I could look it up. Hello, Google.

Hmm. Anyway.

There's a pretty young thing in front of you
And she's real pretty and she's real into you
And then she's sleeping inside of you

And the talking leads to touching
And the touching leads to sex
And then there is no mystery left

And it's bad news but I don't blame you
I do the same thing I get lonely too

Ah, controlled jealousy. What a double-sided sword.

And you're bad news my friends tell me to leave you
that you're bad news
you're bad news
I don't care I like you
I like you

Not smart enough to leave it alone, but not strong enough to let it go.

There you go, that's all out of the way. Let's not speak of this again then, shall we?

is it still 15 minutes of fame these days, what with teh internets?

We're all famous these days, aren't we? The internet helps us live forever and acheive greatness. I myself am still waiting for the book deal based on my wacky life adventures as originally catalogued here on my blog.

(and why is it that this laptop is claiming that it is 8:26 pm on December 31st, 1969? I am about to ring in the outrageous 70s? Where are my bellbottoms and doeskin vest? I demand roller skates for these festivities, followed by LSD-spiked punch and consequence-free, emotionally unbinding sexual relations!

Or is Andy Warhol here, watching me type this post, and shaking his head at it's ultimately very disappointing conclusion? Oh Andy, I'm sorry. What little I know of you, besides your iconic fabulousness, is that line from Basquiat where you're asked why you yourself do not drink the beer and pee on your canvas, and you reply with a bewildered sneer, 'I don't like beer.')

What I mean to say, and it's really nothing very special, is that I am now worthy of UNT's public image. See for yourself!

Also, I have reclaimed my camera after its vacation at Ross and Jeremy's house, and posted some of the silliness from the UNT/SMU game on September the 9th, 2006. I am such a time traveller!

aarrr me hearties!

Ye may or ye may not know, but today be Talk Like A Pirate Day! Avast!

In other news:

Hello, Tuesday.

Arrrr.

crazy shit happens, i deal with it calmly (sorta)

So today was yardwork day for me. The front yard here at Skelton House has been perking up of late, seemingly due to the rain we've gotten. I went out to mow the shiny new green grass only to discover that it was still wet, so I put the mower down and started weeding. Round about the time I made it over to the house's water connection, I noticed that things were getting awfully swampy. Grass was coming out of the mulch easily because of the soft earth, but something was definitely wrong.

And then I realized that the whole yard was soggy, not just wet from dew. It was genuinely, really-truly full of water.

Great, a plumbing leak. How long has that been going on?

City of Denton comes, checks it out, tells me that I'm running a half a gallon of water a minute (holy shit, that's going to hurt on the next bill), and turns off the water. The guy gets a pump and we start suctioning water out of the hole where the valve is, and eventually discover that the connection between pipes has split and is spewing water everywhere.

Apparently this has been happening around here a lot lately, which means either shitty craftmanship, shitty Texas soil, or both.

Luckily, everything's under warranty. Two hours later the plumber is digging a huge hole o' mud out of the ground and fixing the pipe.

Hurray for home-ownership!!!

----
And then I cleaned EVERYTHING.

First I started with the kitchen. I did my dishes. I took everything off the counters and washed those. I cleaned the stove top and the microwave. I emptied the toaster of crumbs. I rearranged the counters and got rid of everything extraneous that's been collecting there over the past year. I swept and mopped the floor.

Then I picked up in the living room and my room and vacuumed, with an empty and much happier vacuum cleaner than the previous, chock-full-of-dust vacuum cleaner.

Let's see how long that lasts.

----
At the grocery store, Clif Bars were ten for ten dollars. I bought a lot of them.

And chips, and veggies, and preparations for my delicious breakfast party tomorrow, to which Kristopher and Ross are invited and you if you ask nicely.

----
And...Evangelion. Lord, I love the Japanese.

hail to whatever you found in the sunlight that surrounds you

I'm in this place lately that I'm really loving. It's happiness even on top of stress, it's joy in little things and the ease of moving freely through the world.

It starts like this:

I wake up, it doesn't matter what time. Lately it's been earlier in the morning and the first thing I notice is the air. It's cool and crisp, the sun is just coming up, and there's a breeze. I'm under the covers and there's a cat or two or three (sheesh) at my feet (or if it's Gatsby, in my face purring and getting cat snot all over me). I have time to think casually about what I need to do during the day.

Cats continue to follow me around, tripping me up, knocking over my deodorant and moisterizer and whatever else in their path to greeting me with the new day. After I shower I can make breakfast. Vegetarians: isn't it awesome? Do you ever look at what you're eating and think, 'this is amazing, and good, and healthy, and I made it. I made this'? I get that feeling a lot. Today I made: scrambled eggs with black beans and green chile (authentic New Mexican!) salsa and cheese to top it all off. It was delicious. Friggen delicious.

And then I get all ready to go and I ride my bike to school. I ride my bike four miles, and it's awesome. Not only am I saving gas, I'm exercizing, feeling the power of my body and the flow of air through my lungs and coming alive, bit by bit.

And maybe that day I have class with my favorite professor and there's jokes and information and intelligence and the flow of knowledge is like the flow of air, it makes you come alive in new ways, and you start to tingle a little.

And you like your friends and your trombone and your life, and it makes you giddy. Maybe you think of something sad, like I did this morning. A realization that something's not the same or something is lost. But the tears are real too, and they are part of the joy.

But you're giddy and silly and no one can stop you. What's the term? Fearless and unstoppable. Open and free. Extraordinary.

It's those little things that are getting to me. The good food, the exercise, the knowledge. They're bigger things, grander things because I grant them importance and feeling. I like it. I'm not waiting for the other shoe to drop, or life to twist around again.

I think it's the weather. Hullo September! Nice to see you.

'are you made of calcium, or are you carbon-based?

(cuz if you're made of calcium/ i'll have to take a taste/ calcium is deadly/ but tender to the tooth/ but it's one sure-fire way to know if you're mx-missle proof/ or if you're just aloof' --Andrew Bird)

In other words, it's time to make the blog more career-friendly.

The trombone powers that be at school like to rail against blogging. 'If you're not careful, it can haunt you. Don't do it. Do it under a pseudonym, if you must, but don't do it.'

But I've had this blog for so long!!! < /whine >

And I'm not ashamed of anything I put up on here. It's usually done for your entertainment and mine- if I bitch or moan I keep it impersonal and political.

But who knows. Someone else might not feel that way, so I am asking you, my dear readers, to give me some advice. Is there anything on Buddha Stew that screams 'Good Lord! She'll never get hired now!!!' or would you rather have your name removed from a post, or a particular incident go undocumented? What would you do?

I've made it so you can't search my real name and come here. Most of what you'll get on Google is references to trombone playing, which is good. I'll take out my real first name wherever it appears and replace it with 'Lorn', which is what I ask you to refer to me as here on this site. If you find something in your searches that leads here and shouldn't, please inform me.

And I'm going to start paring down the archives, leaving just the good stuff. Now mind, I'll have it on my hard drive for my own personal reference, but most of it's going to be inaccessible to teh internets.

I will still post pictures, but probably mostly at the photoblog, and I'll probably take down the ones where I look like a big drunken idiot.

In the meantime, I will continue to post (when I have time- holy semester!) and be discrete about it. Viva La Stew!

And please...your suggestions, below. Spin the wheel for me.

key to my heart? a working lock on my mcfriggen locker
or
welcome back to school, and other updates

Albuquerque was really awesome. Really. Great lesson, great hiking, great food, great friends. I wish I were still there! More pictures to follow soon as they're all online.

Sheesh, all that green chili has fried my taste buds. Everything tastes weak now.

Tuesdays= day from hell. Part of that is my fault, for coming up with the idea of swimming in the morning with a friend who'll keep me honest about it. Swimming in the morning means having enough time to 1. swim 2. shower 3. warm-up/practice trombone before 4. class at 11.

So it's an early morning.

Then I have class basically 11-3, and a lesson at 4, and 8tet at 7. Eeesh.

Quartet should be awesome. Brass 5tet is still in the works. I hope it's awesome.

Parking at Fout's Field= NOT AWESOME.

And...I'm out of ideas to write about. Let's give a big welcome to Back-in-School Lorn, who is too busy both in terms of schedule and mentally to really write in her charmingly offbeat fashion.

Apologies. Got a lesson in a half hour.

on my way home



I'm heading back today, but unless it looks as nice as this does, I won't be happy about it. Le sigh. Time to bury myself in trombone and musicology!