Adventures with Dr. Lady Cutie Troublemaker

Every morning way too early, my cats (who sleep in my bedroom with me) wake me up for food. The normal routine is that Maggie claws the covers off of me and meows in my face, and Jeep sits at the end of the bed staring. If I reach for either of them, they race towards the door. Last night, after arriving home from Murphy’s, where there was a Scenestars party at which Mr. E.J. was "spinning," I changed clothes and hung my bra (it smelled like a smoky bar) on the doorknob of the door to my bedroom to air out. This morning, when I opened the door to let the cats out to feed them. Maggie didn’t race past me. She stopped. She’d raced through the strap of the bra hanging on the inside of the door and was stopped dead in her paw tracks. As cats do, she just tugged. I figure if I hadn’t released her, she would have slingshotted back into the room. I usually don’t laugh out loud that soon after waking up, but it was a priceless scene! I was honestly surprised Jeep wasn’t laughing out loud, too! She saw the whole thing and seemed very confused.

Ever feel like life is moving too fast for you to even stop and ponder it? That’s now for me. I’ve been working like a dog recently. Long hours, lots of reports. No rest for the busy. Then Friday night was amazing: the QAC meeting, followed by an amazing performance and a little socializing. Then yesterday, I met Aaron’s son for the first time, and we spent the day at the zoo and teaching the boy’s boy about Memphis barbecue. They ended up spending the night because it all took a long time (plus, Zach was really enjoying the Wallace and Gromit I was sharing with him). They got the bed. I got the couch. Man, my couch is pretty, but it’s just a terrible place to sleep. This morning was the downtown Blue Plate then the Peabody Ducks and a brief tour around downtown Memphis. Millions of pictures were taken. Many thoughts were had. I’m not sure I’ll ever finish writing about it all, and no way I’m leading them to the "Future Posts" graveyard over there on the right. The short version is that I have had a few great and exhausting days. I haven’t been to the grocery store or the gym in a week, and I am more behind on paperwork than any human should be! The take-away points I would have liked you to take away from reading the numerous entries I was planning to write but probably won’t are thus:

• Your good deed for tomorrow is to go to the Queer Action Coalition’s protest at 4:30

What: Queer Action Coalition Rally at Love in Action Head Quarters
When: 4:30-5:30pm Monday June 27th,2005
What you can do: Attend the rally and/or publicize this event to your friends and family and get in touch with your local politician here.

Queer Action Coalition invites all interested members of the public to show their support for the youth going through the Love In Action program Refuge. Refuge is a program that aims to change the sexual orientation of youth and adults through "Bible based reparative therapy". Come and show your support on Monday for open and honest dialog and for all people affected by this issue. This rally will be fun!! We also encourage all those that couldn’t make it to the previous rallies to come to this one. The more people the stronger the message.
4780 Yale Road, Memphis, Tennessee, 1.5 miles north of I-40 on Austin Peay Hwy. Click here for directions.

• Peterson Toscano’s Doin’ Time in the Homonomo Halfway House was amazing. I just went because it was relevant. I didn’t know it would be such a high-quality production. Peterson is a great communicator, a great storyteller, and he seems to have a great understand of the culture from which people come. He sees the intention behind people completely unlike him. He’s struggled, and so he has compassion. It’s a rare thing to see, and I thank him for sharing that with me and the rest of the audience. EJ wrote a proper review. I am hoping I will find some time to do the same later this week.

• The Memphis Zoo is MUCH more excellent than I was expecting (except the aquarium, which is lame). I had no idea there was so much there, and I can’t believe I live so close and hadn’t been.

• Nine year-olds tell a lot of long stories, and I’m not used to listening to them! Aaron’s a great dad.
• There is a limit to the number of times I can watch those ducks do their THANG!

I know I’ve been overblogging the past few days, but there’s been a lot of silly stuff to share. I promise I’ll slow down soon. These things come in waves.

So this dog-sized cockroach was on the wall in the kitchen. It was the second of its kind I saw tonight. I got a broom to kill it, and it took flight into the other room. I, of course, screamed. I hate those flying fuckers. Eek! I really do. So anyway, a little while later, I see Jeep very interested in the bathroom floor, and the little bugger is upside-down, kicking its legs into the air. She is interested but also scared. I mean, she backed away from it. It was, after all, the size of a dog. I got a magazine and THWACK! It, like the guy from earlier, was dead in an Abby-instant.

Please let there be no cockroaches in my bedroom while I sleep. Please oh please. I’m not cut out for this heat or these creatures. I’m really not. 

In the beginning, there was Monkey:

and it was good.

This past Sunday, I dropped my laundry off at Do-Duds. When I went to bed on Sunday night, I realized that Monkey was not in my bed. Hmmm.

On Monday morning, I called Do-Duds and found that Monkey had in fact, stowed away in a sheet and had taken a trip to Do-Duds.

Later that day, it was clear that not only had he gone along for the ride to the laundromat, he’d also taken a spin in the washer, and then in the dryer. He’s very clean, but a little misshapen. I hope he had a nice time.

The reunion:

Welcome home, Monkey!

Abby: Me and my tech problems.
Aaron: Tell me about it. My next girlfriend’s gonna be Amish.