jMcJohnson

The G.I Joe Dancers!

The defend our country, preserve our freedoms and…DANCE!

Regrettably, after all that dancing…

Mustache Guy couldn’t resist Camo Dude!

Blame it on the seductive power of DANCE!

Great, a few hours after I post a lavish entry about how fantastic Lost is, they run possibly the most boring and pointless episode ever. Nice flashback, Lost, but WE ALREADY KNOW THAT MICHAEL GIVES UP WALT. A little Korean mumbling at the end? That’s all we get? WTF?!

********************************************************************************

I am embarking on a craft frenzy in the next month…the craft store down the street is having a sale Saturday where everything is 33% off! A random doscount, to be sure, but I will be taking advantage of it. I may even buy a glue gun. I’m out of control!

********************************************************************************

Today is Misty Bell’s birthday. Misty and I were high school friends who never realized that after high school, friends don’t stay friends. I have an ENTIRE box devoted to cards and letters she has sent me over the years. When I was 21, I even lived with Misty for a summer, while I went to community college (to make up credits that I missed while I spent so much time doing…umm, other stuff) Pretty much all we did was eat Taco Bell and watch that show on PAX where Dick Van Dyke is a doctor…needless to say, it was one of the best summers of my life. Misty is a writer, an intellectual, a teacher, and my favorite artist of all time. Three of her painting hang in my house, and I am still in awe of them. Many miles separate us now, but she is never far in my heart. Happy Birthday Misty Lee Marie Bell (soon to be) Stiers.

I hope all your birthday wishes come true.

I didn’t really watch much TV during the beginning of the summer, I never really do because of Lovewell, but by the middle of August, I was ready to go back to picking out a few shows to devote a few hours each week to watching. The problem was that there was NOTHING to watch. Dancing with the Stars? So You Think You Can Dance? WTF?! Joe, Carrie and I decided to start renting movies instead. We then found that there weren’t all that many new, good movies to see. We then came upon a brilliant idea. Let’s rent seasons of TV shows! I was already a big Nip/Tuck fan, so I decided now was the perfect time to draw C & J into the show. We watched both previous seasons in about three weeks. No commercials, no waiting a week for the next episode, it’s pure genius. A couple weeks ago, we decided that we could maybe fit in one more season of a show before the new episodes started. We decided on Lost. My life has been changed.

This show is all manners of ass kicking. It’s a drama with rich storylines, it’s sci-fi and sort of horror movie-esque (filling my need since Buffy is no more) and it is sort of creating it’s own mythology which I LOVE. Granted, some of the airplane crash flashbacks where the plane cracks in half and people fly out the back? Yeah, I could do with out that. But the rest of it rules. We had to finish season one before season two started (duh) so we would have marathon Lost-watching sessions-one Sunday we watched like, nine episodes back to back.

So, yeah, if you’re not watching it? You really should be.

Other current TV devotions? Nip/Tuck (even though this season has been very weird so far, I am not giving up) and last night we watched Commander in Chief which was suprisingly not horrible. It’s like having this great dream where Bush Jr. never existed, and some kick-ass woman is president. Yes, I believe even second rate actress Geena Davis is a more convincing leader than Bush. That’s scary. Finally, I am ADDICTED to My Super Sweet 16 on MTV, even though I am way past their target audience. If you haven’t seen it, do yourself a favor, watch it!

…I finished knitting this scarf just in time for the long, bitter Florida winter. Where frosty winds of below 79 degrees will whip at our faces, and you can still get a tan in February. Where natives wear COATS when it is 68 degrees and place Christmas lights in palm trees. It is not unlike living in a foreign country where everyone speaks Margarita.

Behold…scarf modeling:

Distracted by a bug I thought I saw on the wall. Could I kill it with this scarf?

After the Chiefs get their asses handed to them, Ryan enjoys some scarfy goodness.

I also made chili tonight. What crazy domestic thing will I do next?!?!

I’ll cut to the chase. I need some new musical direction. I just refilled my Ipod a couple days ago, and I’m getting sick of my new stuff already. What are you listening to right now?

I’ll go first. Blue Merle is really quite amazing (thanks, Nathan) At first listen, they sort of sound like a Coldplay knock off, but they actually are quite good. Aqualung: yes, very good, piano based, mopey, yet uplifting. The new Nickel Creek is much darker than the last album, but totally worth it when you get into it.

So that’s what I’ve got. What have you got?

This is my mom and her best friend, her dog Wilson.

Yes, my mother drives around town with the dog sitting behind her head. Wilson is very cute, VERY yappy, and thinks my mom hung the moon. She drives about 28 mph down any street she happens to be on (which isn’t that big of a deal in Salina) and is constatnly either messing with the dog or chatting on her cell phone or brushing her hair. She also loves to stop at green lights and cruise through red ones. She is a danger to herself and others. She is the ultimate Distracted Driver. She’s also very funny when she’s in a good mood (gee, that reminds me of someone,) works taking care of elderly people in their homes, and enjoys anything leopard print.

Now you’ve met my mom. If you see her, say hi.

Wow, I’ve been away for a while…sorry about that. During my blog vacation, Ryan and I got to see Sir Paul in concert in Miami! Amazing is an understatement. Yes, the tickets were out of this world expensive, yes, we were in the nosebleeds despite that fact, yes, parking (in some places) was $40…despite all of this, the show was fantastic. He did a good variety of songs (Beatles, Wings, solo stuff) and pretty much played all the big ones you wanna hear at a PMcC concert. Watching him perform “Let It Be” at the Magical Mystery Tour piano with just a candle onstage-wow. If you had to explain what God was to someone who had never heard of the concept, I think that’s the song I would play them. Ryan and I even scored a couple of sweet “No More Landmines” t-shirts, (the concert ones were weird looking) and now we are the proud owners of a small space of land where mines will be removed. Not bad.

Here’s a few crappy camera phone pics, I couldn’t bring my camera in (although the lady in front of me got hers in). There’s one of the inside of the arena (I felt like we were sitting on the side of a mountain), one of the banner outside arena, and one of the stage before the curtain parted.

If you get a chance to see him, spend the money and do it. You won’t regret it.

These past few weeks I have been having this recurring nagging thought. It is the realization that I don’t have many friends. Of course, I know quite a few people, have had some really fantastic and fun friends over the years, but right now, I feel like I could count my actual friends on two hands.

I have a couple theories on this. First, we moved to Florida, away from basically everyone I’ve ever known. So, there’s that. It has been especially hard to deal with the fact that I haven’t made ONE SINGLE friend since we’ve moved here. I mean, I’ve met and hung out with a few people, but no one I’d call on a Friday and be like, “Hey, wanna go bowling?” So, that’s been hard to deal with, especially now that I’m finally really coming out of my like, 4 year depressive “I don’t wanna do anything, ever” phase. Second, I’ve been a pretty crappy friend to a lot of my good friends over the years, thus alienating them and subsequently driving them away. I was overly critical (privately) of everyone in my life, and thought I wouldn’t miss/didn’t need anyone. I went a very long time with really a few (like 3) good friends that I actually hung out with and I lost MANY other friends in the process. I literally NEVER returned calls. To almost anyone. Maybe some of you are reading this and are going “Yeah, bitch, you’re talking about me, and all my unreturned calls” and I probably am. This means nothing until I call/see you in person, but I am really sorry. I hope when/if I see you again, you’ll give me another chance. I’ve changed alot, and you probably have too. So, yeah. I suppose am reaping what I have sown.

I’m working on being a better friend. It’s my goal for my 28th year.

That, and to keep growing out my hair.

Dear Mom and Dad, (I mean, My Human Friends, I know you hate it when I call you Mom & Dad)
This camp you sent me to is pretty cool. I like it so much I haven’t even barfed. They feed me Fancy Feast, and I daresay I’ve grown accustomed to it. My only complaint it that that skinny guy is a bed hog. Jeesh! Here’s some pics of all the fun activities I have engaged in. Miss you guys, but these losers are OK too.

Ciao,
Jackson

Slept

Ate

Slept

Begged to go Outside/Practiced My “Annoying” Meow

Slept In A Basket

Begged For Love

Snoozed

Mysteriously Lost Two Toenails

See You In September!

P.S. I also pooped SEVERAL times, but never when Jamie had her camera out. Ha Ha, bitch!

There was a point in my life that I would have FREAKED OUT to have this t-shirt. Slaughter was my favorite of all the cheese metal that I so enjoyed in my youth. I saw them in Salina with Firehouse (back when I wanted “Love of A Lifetime” played at my wedding) and it ruled. Me and my (then) best friend Kristy went to see them in 1990 when we were in eighth grade. When my mom and I showed up at her house to pick her up we discovered to our HORROR that we were both wearing our fake Hard Rock Cafe NYC t-shirts (the coolest thing in either of our closets. Can you imagine someone thinking we had been to the HARD ROCK CAFE? In NEW YORK CITY??). We had both bought them at the flea market the weekend before. So, she changed, we went to the Bicentennial Center and we proceeded to get ROCKED by Slaughter. It was seriously one of the best days of my life (at that point), and during their AMAZING ballad, “Fly To The Angels,” Kristy and I both CRIED. Like little hair-metal loving BITCHES. Again, it ruled.

About four or five years ago I saw them again in Salina, playing at Randy’s. The only reason we went was because Carrie’s rock star brother was in a band that was opening for them (the legendary Bitter Sane). It was the saddest thing. Their guitar player had died, and they looked really old. Their drummer still twirled his sticks like a PRO, though (jealous, Lance?) and we got to see a chick dancing on the upper level with no underpants. So, all in all, it was totally worth it.

Special thanks to Jay Hammond, giver of this fantastic t-shirt. And also for the Zeppelin “Houses of the Holy” shirt that is at least one size too small for my husband. He will be wearing it anyway.