Cut the dickens out of my finger

I was actually looking for Tim Meadows doing his Ladies Man sketch. Clips from the Ladies Man movie are around - but I want the SNL stuff. I found an SNL video library and the Julie Child clip still makes me laugh. It reminds me of watching bad Saturday night TV with Dana, from Love Boat, Fantasy Island and SNL. I can remember repeating this show over and over. And stupidly, last weekend, I did cut the dickens out of my finger and it still hurts. But only when I laugh.

Toys in the Attic

Toys in the Attic
Originally uploaded by ddnlj.

Which is a funny name for a song because at my parents house, I do have my whole collection of childhood toys - in the attic. It's a hideous mess. And some in the secret room,too. The lever to open the secret room door is well a secret and nearly impossible to find. This is not my picture - but a great shot of what it may look like. Or Toys in the Attic by Pink Floyd is a depressing song about being crazy

Crazy.
Toys in the attic, I am crazy.
Truly gone fishing.
They must have taken my marbles away.
(crazy. toys in the attic, he is crazy.)

Crazy.
Over the rainbow, I am crazy.
Bars in the window.
There must have been a door there in the wall.
For when I came in. . .
(crazy. over the rainbow, he is crazy.)

Sometimes you worry no one NO ONE is listening to you and everyone thinks you're crazy. If feels like you're wasting their time. Then one magical day, you finally find someone who listens. Really listens. And maybe there's an answer. Just because they listened. Then it's time to clean out the attic and maybe the basement as well.

Institutionalized

Monday, Monday.

Days go by

I yelled at the sky
Made an Indian cry

And the days go by

You are still a whisper on my lips
A feeling at my fingertips
That's pulling at my skin

You leave me when I'm at my worst
Feeling as if I've been cursed
Bitter cold within

Days go by and still I think of you
Days when I couldn't live my life without you
Days go by and still I think of you
Days when I couldn't live my life without you
Without you
Without you

Lawn Doctor

My lawn looks like crap. This was a long hot summer and I didn't water it. Oops! When I moved in, twelve years ago, the people who owned the house before me told me that they had tried seeding and putting in sod. And had no luck. I was told to get my soil tested at the University of MN. I've kept meaning to. Yes for twelve years. I had my back yard redone two years ago (because it looked like crap) and it's all dead again. At the State Fair there was a Master Gardener booth - stump the gardener with you questions. I tell them my lawn it crap and they tell me to get my soil tested. Geez, the soil lab is so hideously far from my house (three miles.) So I finally did it. I downloaded all the forms and went digging in the yard. And I paid for three tests - the standard, salts and lead. I joked with the lady that if my lawn was so terrible would they call, tell me to sit down and that my lawn was nearly dead and it was best to put it out of it's misery. And to asphalt the whole thing. I made her laugh. What if I do have the most diseased lawn and I do get the call? I hope it's Calvin who make the call and he'll have to get the saw. And the asphalt!

Sabotage

I was driving past downtown St Paul and this song came on the radio. With the RNC in town, nearly every exit near downtown is closed. There've been angry protesters, urine throwing and cross dressing. Listen all y'all it's sabotage. By everyone.

Litter is a slap in America's face

Litter is a slap in America's face
Originally uploaded by Debora Drower.

I was at the fair today. Yes, the now closed Minnesota State Fair. No food, no people, no rides. But I needed to shoot some stuff. And it was great - because one thing I wanted to shoot had some obstructions a few days ago - and now they're gone. No crowds to block the French Fry stand, or to block the shot at Steichen's. And a whole empty parking lot of these crazy garbage cans -all 4 flavors. This is my all time favorite. "A slap in America's face". So I reshot them with the digital camera. I filled up my cards, said my goodbyes to the fair and went home. It's really closed and I'll have to wait until next year. The garbage can is empty along with my heart. Good night fair.

Good bye State Fair

In usual fashion, the fair ends and autumn arrives. No lie. I have gone to the state fair on a sticky humid day and wanted only cold foods and then walked home in the rain while a cold front moves in and had soup for dinner. Yesterday, Labor day, it was the last day of the fair - sticky humid. Yucky. And today, the cold front and the rain has moved in. Weird. I am in withdrawal. No more mini donuts or cheese curds or neon midway rides.

Until next year.

Slice and Dice

Slice and Dice
Originally uploaded by Debora Drower.

James has some college friends who all used to play those nerdy games like D&D and Magic the Gathering. Not my cup of tea. Me - it's MST3K. It was one of these nerds birthday.James stops by his favorite magic store, Eagle Magic, and buys some dice. I decide to make a Magic the Gathering birthday card to go along with the dice - and I find an actual card called Slice and Dice. So I find the Magic the Gathering font and symbols and write my own copy. The best part was the party was this hilarious girl, Amanda, with no prompting asks something like, "What is this - a Magic the Gathering party?" And there's the lead in for the present. Priceless. Luckily there was much less chatter about World of Warcraft and their nerdy games but more goofing around with an iPhone - much cooler. Yet Al, (a Phil Collins look alike) could not hang up (I'd keep yelling at him "hang up") with the texting and leaving voice mails. To another member of the party. Endlessly. You give them a cooler toy and DOES become a Magic the Gathering party. Oh well.

State Fair

State Fair Shadow Box
Originally uploaded by Debora Drower.

My state fair. I love you. I love the food, the garbage cans, the people, the smells, the neon, the signs, the rides. I love the guys hawking their products - sometimes with decade old spiels. I've heard them all. I own brooms and mops and knife sharpeners purchased from the fair just so I have little reminders the other 355 days of the year. My shadow box only covers so much. I love hearing the fireworks (sorry Sass) every night. I only thing I don't love is that it heralds the end of summer.

Once I went to the fair, it was hot and sticky. A storm came up and as I walked the mile home, it got colder and grayer. By evening - it was 50º and I was eating soup to stay warm.

Iocane Powder

In the movie "Princess Bride" (for me it's the book - NOT the movie)

Vizzini: You only think I guessed wrong! That's what's so funny! I switched glasses when your back was turned! Ha ha! You fool! You fell victim to one of the classic blunders! The most famous is never get involved in a land war in Asia, but only slightly less well-known is this: never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha...

Vizzini: [Vizzini stops suddenly, and falls dead to the right]

Buttercup: And to think, all that time it was your cup that was poisoned.

Man in Black: They were both poisoned. I spent the last few years building up an immunity to iocane powder.

When I bought this rum I swore it WAS Iocane. I still think it is. And if you drink enough of it - you do build up an immunity - to pretty much any liquor.

Amy and Todd 8/22/08

Amy and Todd
Originally uploaded by Debora Drower.

I love this picture of you guys. Off on one of your adventures. I have no idea who took it.

I keep the photo in my address book in case I want to call you and tell you of the funny thing I saw at a store. Or that I have gossip. I think about how long it's been since I talked to you. Then I remember. That the photo was in the funeral program five years ago. Everyone thought I was nuts saying, "It's a joke, right?" "They'll pop up and say "Surprise!" You guys didn't pop up. It was real. Both of you in a horrible plane crash.

I will toast you kids with ice cream and Captain and Coke. And wish you were with me. I miss you tons, love, Debora

Nurse Sass

Sass on the floor
Originally uploaded by Debora Drower.

My Sassala, was the best nurse. I loved that when I would get out the digital thermometer, she'd growl at every beep. But each growl would get softer. Beep. Grrrr. Then she got used to it. Damn that was cute. When you'd take a sick day, get a bunch of DVDs and get all comfy on the couch by the tv. She'd get on the floor right by you. Every few hours she'd get up and dead check you. She'd make you pet her by putting her nose under your hand. The response to that was, "Hi honey, I'm not dead. Yet." If someone was worrying about you being alone, at home and on NyQuil - you know Nurse Sass was there to dead check you. That cold wet nose could wake you from a double dose of the Quil.

I was out sick yesterday and I tried to will my nurse there with me. I tried to imagine her wet nose. And how she'd stand up on the frame of the couch and bark as other dogs dared to walk by the house. I only got a faint glimmer and a few dog hairs in the wuss blanket. But no actual real live dog.

Mumph.

Abode Motel, Winthrop Harbor, IL

Abode Motel, Winthrop Harbor, IL
Originally uploaded by Debora Drower.

On the weekends, what I did for fun after college was go on mini road trips. I worked at a camera store so my film processing and film was at cost. Sometimes friends would be dragged North to towns like Pleasent Prairie or Winthrop Harbor. Or I'd go to Chicago and watch Harold the Fried Chicken King go after that neon chicken - until my friends pulled me away. See more here.

Boombastic Jazz Style

More boombastic talking style. Wait - who talks like that. I. Don't. Know.

Boombastic Jazz Style

Who do I know who talks in a bombastic style? I don't. Know.

Waiting For You

Yes, you know who you are. I am waiting for you. FOR YOU.

Happy Birthday Amy E.

Amy modeling
Originally uploaded by Debora Drower.

I met Amy Currier at UW Stout in 1983. I swore she spoke with a New York accent. But actually, she was from Nicollet MN and couldn’t really say her “R”s. Currier became Cuweeyou. She liked punk music and weird clothes; a was a kindred spirit. As a little girl she’d write her name as Amy E. She thought she had to write out the “E” in Amy. She was one of the reasons I moved to Minneapolis after college. She had a house in St Paul and she was always rehabbing it. She went from clothing designer to computer programmer. It’s her birthday today and she was a big fan of Captain Morgan and Coke. One memory I have of her is drinking ice cream drinks at W.A, Frost in St Paul. I always toast her birthday with some liquor and some ice cream.

MN State Fair

Flamingo Shadow Box
Originally uploaded by Debora Drower.

Come see this guy at the Minnesota State Fair Fine Art building from 8/21 to 9/1.

Yay!

Powderhorn Art Fair

This weekend in Minneapolis. Come check out my work. Love to see you.
The details are here.