Enchantment

Indigo Girls and Girlyman performing together

The Indigo Girls played the Barrymore Theater in Madison last night for me and several hundred lesbians. Saw a few guys, some clearly fans, some clearly looking for a guaranteed lay after accompanying their spouses/girlfriends to the show. Saw at least a few versions of myself. It was the 20-something crowd of Seattle's Bumbershoot Festival, twenty years later. Compared to most, I was surprised to be in the minority when it came to grey hair. As for the rest of me, I think Emily and I have put on about the same amount of weight over the years. I think Cornell is the only musician touched by LOST's Jacob, immune to ageing.

I was enchanted by the harmonies of these women, carried away to another time and place, 20 years back and all the way through to today. And places I've never been but hope to see someday...

The new songs that didn't do much for me on the CD I recently bought came alive on stage in their capable hands. They bring music to life in a way no other duo I know can. Maybe I shouldn't have waited 19 years...

I am always blown away by Amy's strong baritone, then carried away by Emily's soft melodies. Their guitar/mandolin/banjo playing just adds more sweetness to it all, and Amy invoked images of Dylan as she seamlessly handled her guitar, harmonica and vocals.

I was touched my many songs--and thrilled no end by Closer to Fine, which they sang with the opening group, Girlyman (also a great harmonic group)--but this is one that stuck out for me, so I thought I would share it.

One they didn't play was Ghost. Maybe they knew it was for the best.




Second Time Around Indigo Girls [written by Amy Ray]

The second time around, you know it really got me down.
Sister don't you judge it, just keep it to yourself now and if
You ain't got nothing good to say don't say nothing at all.

I got bitten by the bitter bug, and now I just can't get
Enough of ill will and my own conceit
I'm weary of the world it seems. I'm weary of the world,
Weary of the world it seems.

It's sort of always gone my way I'm just a little bit off
These days like I've had hard knocks all my life,
Like I'm a Bible belt wife. Like I didn't see it coming,
Like I didn't walk in willingly.

See, I never want to sing again la la la like a butterfly
Without my wits about me, without my heart in line.
Third time's a charm and this is mine.

You said you heard Loretta sing and felt the loneliness
seeping in, the cowboys made you uneasy, you're a
God-fearing lesbian so you learn not to yearn and you
Take it on the chin again.

Here's what I find about compromise--
Don't do it if it hurts inside, 'cause either way you're screwed;
Eventually you'll find you may as well feel good;
You may as well have some pride.

Come August we'll go to Cherokee and hear Loretta do
Her thing, pack it into the Indian Casino and make the
Hillbilly scene, kick up our heels and join in.

Are you my ally or my enemy? Do you have
Self-loathing or empathy? Can you keep me in your
Prayers, sister, can you keep me in there somewhere?
And sister if you ain't got nothing good to say...
Don't say nothing at all


Just a reminder NOT to drink too much (water, beer, whatever) when you're at a concert venue with one bathroom and an audience which is 99% female. Read more!

One Year Anniversary

Of SodaPop's untimely passing. I miss you, sweetheart, and dream of you often. And only ONCE did you ever get scared enough to blow your sacs on me--and that guy scared me, too! ;o)

Last day with my baby... so sick, so fast

We made a damn good team.
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A Party to Remember, by Dickens

The Wee One celebrating 28 dog years on planet Earth

So yesterday my human, gracious, yet not best left with important decisions, decided I was to accompany her to a birthday party for the Wee One, Jordan. She turns 28 in dog years next week, or so I am led to believe. Ironic indeed that she is older than I am yet can barely contain herself in public. The slightest bauble excites her beyond belief, which would be endearing to most if *I* weren’t considered one such bauble. It would appear that humans must attain far greater dog years than we do before they learn how to behave in company. I would later have to underscore this point in a most unfortunate manner.

Human Sarah, sibling of my human and my favorite dogsitter--though I hate that term...

Upon arrival at said soiree, my human wasted no time in handing me off with barely a word to her sibling, the one with red fur on her head. She smells good, and does indeed do well protecting my from the Wee One (not that I need protecting, mind you) but I must admit I was fairly unnerved not only by the ratio of humans to dogs (8 to 1!) but the fact that the domicile, occupied by my human’s mother and her mate, was not the same domicile I was heretofore accustomed to. Accordingly, I was uncertain of necessary exit routes and safe havens. Therefore I do believe I trembled—ever so slightly—in the arms of the red furred one. As usual, my human overreacted and felt the need to “rescue” me (really, I do intend to buy her a guide to codependence before the year is out) and transported me around the place in the dreaded “football” position that I have heard the humans refer to on more than one occasion. I am not entirely sure what this “football” is, but they do like to laugh amongst themselves when making this reference, so I venture to presume it cannot be anything good.

Human Steve (Husband of my human's dad) and Human Jeff (Husband of my human's sibling)--BEFORE the incident.

Soon enough my human is distracted by food (we do share that trait) and sets me on the sofa next to Human Steve—a relatively safe human, I have decided. I even allow him to scritch my ears—when no one is looking, of course. Though I am fine watching television while pretending to be invisible, my human apparently mistakes me for a doll and covers me with the Wee One’s pink(!) blanket. What am I, a Cabbage Patch Dog? Really. She is too much sometimes. Yet I find the blanket oddly comforting, and have greater ease in my quest for invisibility. My human’s mother, not to be outdone, adds yet ANOTHER pink(!) blanket. I am only glad that Ginger was not there to view my undignified condition. (And I'm not even referring to the blasted rabbit ears!!)

Nice... Bastards!

All was going swimmingly until the Wee One decided she needed her blanket back. I was okay with that--truly. Wasn’t even my idea in the first place. Yet suddenly I am over-towered by large Human Jeff. Good human when sitting—WAY too large when towering! I have no choice but to make a mad dash for safety, fearing he might be thinking about “footballing” me. Quite unexpectedly, I find myself on a table you can look down and see the floor through (?!) mixed up with several pictures and one larger-than-it-looked-a-minute-ago lamp. Not good. Instinctively, I spin. The situation quickly degenerates following this ill-advised move as Human Jeff reaches for me. The “football move!” I knew it!! I swear on a stack of biscuits I had no choice but to let loose with the coup d’état of all proud Chihuahuas—my oversized (if I may say so) anal sacs. Both barrels. AND managed to swing around for a little tooth action, as well. And let me tell you—that large human started crying like a baby! I regret to admit I did enjoy the crowd reaction, albeit a rather negative one. I mean really, my sense of smell is 100 times greater than yours, and *I* can easily handle a little anal sac action. You would have thought from the commotion that the house was on fire! Humans are such simple creatures, one can’t help but have a giggle at their expense.

Okay, no one was giggling when my overbearing human came after me with a soapy washcloth. Well, actually, everyone was giggling, just not me. Thank God she had the decency to shut the bathroom door before humiliating me with that smelly piece of cloth. Now my tail hair was all wet. How embarrassing is that? Does my human care? Oh no, not only does she not care, but in FULL VIEW of the rest of the humans, she sprays my posterior with GLADE! What am I, a moldy sofa? She is incredibly lucky I emptied all my rounds on Human Jeff, or she would not have gotten away with this!

So, and go ahead and enjoy the pun, yours truly was the butt of every joke for the rest of party—which lasted at least a week in dog time. I vowed never to attend another human party. EVER. I shall retain my dignity in the future—once I have regained it from yesterday’s unfortunate events, of course.

Happy Birthday, Wee One. Next time, I am simply sending a card. But maybe a scratch and sniff one. :o)

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Angel and Sunny

If you want to get hooked on the cutest live cam ever, two 5-day old twin foals and their mom are on one at Helen Woodward Animal Center in San Diego, CA. (Live) Twins in horses are VERY rare, and these are on watch 24-7. And they are friggin' adorable.

Normal birth weight is 80-90 lbs., and these were 40 and 50 lbs at birth. There is one filly named Angel (with the full blaze), and one colt named Sunny, with a star on his forehead. Their blankets are HUGE on them. Did I mention ADORABLE??

Watch Angel and Sunny...

There are also some short videos from earlier posted just below the live feed. The first one, with Angel getting x-rayed, is really sweet, and the one with them playing and running around is great. If you can't see them tonight, they are behind a "wall" of hay bales where they have heat lamps set up. Angel has already jumped the "wall" once!

I TOLD you it was adorable.

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New Stories Published in Mused's Spring Issue

I've been a little busy so I'm a bit late posting this, but two more unbelievably cheerful, non-fiction stories of mine have been published in the latest issue of Mused--the BellaOnline Literary Review.

Read them at your own peril.


I tried sending them some light-hearted work--I really did. Maybe next time.

Read more!

Ghost, by the Indigo Girls

I sure hope they play this at their concert on the 23rd. I'm counting on it. The first time I heard it was live in Seattle in 1991. I was there with my just-ex-boyfriend, and they said they had a new song to try on us. It destroyed me. Pretty sure the ex regretted coming along for that one. Poor guy. He should have invested in the Kleenex company when he started dating me.

But still a beautiful, haunting song...




Ghost by Emily Ann Saliers

there's a letter on the desktop
that i dug out of a drawer
the last truce we ever came to
in our adolescent war
and i start to feel the fever
from the warm air through the screen
you come regular like seasons
shadowing my dreams

and the mississippi's mighty
but it starts in minnesota
at a place that you could walk across
with five steps down
and i guess that's how you started
like a pinprick to my heart
but at this point you rush right through me
and i start to drown

and there's not enough room
in this world for my pain
signals cross and love gets lost
and time passed makes it plain
of all my demon spirits
i need you the most
i'm in love with your ghost
i'm in love with your ghost

dark and dangerous like a secret
that gets whispered in a hush
(don't tell a soul)
when i wake the things i dreamt about you
last night make me blush
(don't tell a soul)
and you kiss me like a lover
then you sting me like a viper
i go follow to the river
play your memory like a piper

and i feel it like a sickness
how this love is killing me
i'd walk into the fingers
of your fire willingly
and dance the edge of sanity
i've never been this close
i'm in love with your ghost

unknowing captor
you never know how much you
pierce my spirit
but i can't touch you
can you hear it
a cry to be free
oh i'm forever under lock and key
as you pass through me

now i see your face before me
i would launch a thousand ships
to bring your heart back to my island
as the sand beneath me slips
as i burn up in your presence
and i know now how it feels
to be weakened like achilles
with you always at my heels

this bitter pill i swallow
is the silence that i keep
it poisons me i can't swim free
the river is too deep
though i'm baptized by your touch
i am no worse than most
in love with your ghost

you are shadowing my dreams
(in love with your ghost)
(in love with your ghost)
(in love with your ghost)

Read more!