Let Live Postscript

We had a ton of fun at the Let Live benefit, we ate vegan donuts and bought a quality Elvis Costello print, rife with album references. My high point was when I was playing some Gang of Four, and I looked up and there was a baby in a baby sling, and it was rocking out. I rocked a baby. I thought the party would wind down after 10, when the auction ended, but it went until 12, because they had not run out of free PBR yet and hipsters are cheap. The auction raised $9000 for the nice fellas on trial. Below is a glitter Morrissey piece that went for $205 to a mildly embarrassed gentleman, but I confirmed for him that I had never seen a finer glitter Morrissey, and I haven't since.














Here is kind of a cute action shot of the Beloved Spouse rocking records.

Bulldog Hospital!

Spouse noticed some labored breathing in wee Hazel last week, and he took her to Dove Lewis to have her checked out and she was diagnosed with puppy Pneumonia! She had to spend the night in a lil'puppy oxygen tent, and game back home with a piteously shaved foreleg from where her IV was installed.

When Chico was asked if he missed his sister/roommate, he commented that it was nice having the lion's share of the bed to himself, and remained fairly unsympathetic. When he had to accompany her to the vet's to get her checkup, he was visibly shaken and kept repeating "They took my balls...my balls...they took them."

She's back home now, feeling better and being spoiled with mashed potatoes by her dad. The kind folks at Dove Lewis have comped her stay in exchange for a good word on this internationally read blog. I have heard tell that Donna Karan has her chocolate Labs on a plane to Portland for a checkup already. This is of course a lie, but it is a lie that makes me feel better about my little girl's healthcare costs.

New Rotic at Let Live, Friday the 20th

There will be a rare DJ appearance of Mister and Missus Dones at this party on Friday- we will be spinning some veg-friendly new wave, punk, and post-punk. It's a benefit gig to support a group of animal rights activists during their trial, the Shac7- so if I've never been on an FBI watchlist before, I am now! C'mon down and check it out. There are more details at Let Live's Myspace account.

Survived 33.

Thank you to those responsible for the violent decorating my office suffered this morning. Most of it was very amusing, but the drawer full of confetti was just plain mean. I wore one of the hologram party hats for several hours this morning, but took it off when I realized that no-one asked me if it was my birthday or what the hat was about, and I guess the other office people assume that I have mental health issues.
I did have a nice birthday, having received from my spouse the only gift I have ever really wanted, a Roomba Discovery. I am once again in posesssion of a robot to clean my floors, and it is magical.
Since I share a birthday with Dr. Martin Luther King, I take total credit for the holiday. To those who stayed home on Monday, you're welcome and I hope you enjoyed it.

It's A Small World, After All

Here's a picture of me and the Beloved Spouse and our doggies, Chico and Hazel. It seems snotty to refer to them as Fr*nch B*lldogs, but that's exactly what they are. Snorting bastards.
I was on my way out the door to tap class last night (http://www.vegadancelab.com) and the Beloved Spouse noted that the window in the office was open. This is interesting, because that means that Crazy Dad opened a dang window in my house, and that we've been heating the great outdoors for two weeks. I felt compelled to complain about my crazy-azz houseguests at the end of tap class, and when I explained that my sisters are dating two brothers and this was the brother's crazy British dad, another girl from class looked up and said "You're Laura's sister!" and that's exactly who I am. She's my sister's friend Kristi's sister, Kristi being a resident of Portland's sister city, Austin. I love Portland.

Xmas family fun

Here's a picture of my cutie-pie friend Andy with a knife-wielding Santa skeleton, that kind of danced and shook back and forth.
I have survived hosting my two sisters, their British-brother-boyfriends, their boyfriends' parents, and my mother and my brother from San Diego in my tiny house. It was. An. Adventure. Their dad wandered onto the tarmac while waiting for their flight out from Austin, and was detained for being a terrorist. He claims that no-one told him he couldn't go walking on the airstrip. He also liked to splash himself with water in the bathroom instead of taking a shower, which has the overall effect of washing the whole bathroom, including the mirror. He is obsessed with Boddington's pub ale and hot chocolate, but refuses to pay more than $1.50 for anything.
We had a little party after Xmas so that Laura's friends from Portland could come visit, and this was my first family party I have ever been to that went on past 3 AM. I went to bed at two to the sound of my future father-in-law swishing soy milk around in his Egg Nog bottle to get the last dregs of whiskey and milk out, and my sister Laura singing to the detuned piano on the back porch, and my spouse singing as Tom Waits in the front room.
Laura Ryan: Oh, I was playing that piano last night, it is sounding so creepy and awesome.
Me: Yes, I heard you.
Laura: You could hear that?
Me: It's right outside my bedroom. There's not, you know, any kind of soundproofing out on the patio. You're just a drunk person outside.

I love family time.