darkitysnark

Snarky knows y'all must be getting tired of her waxing all faux-philosophical and all and why can't she just get back to posting pics of the house, dag nabbit? Well, she does have a few pics, but of course she doesn't have them ready for you yet. On a lark she just looked up a former classmate from her architorture school days and has found out that she is now the happy mother of two wonderful kids. Snarky shouldn't be surprised, as she was one of the bridesmaids at this friend's wedding which took place as soon as they possibly could manage it immediately following graduation. The W's were an exclusive couple very early into the whole collegiate experience (from Snarky's held-over High School Sweetheart phase, through the embarrassing experimental Rugby moment, all the way to meeting The Mister online). It was almost a given that they were going to be married. They just complemented eachother so thoroughly and well. Still Snarky can't help but feel a bit of shock. Someone who has been frozen in her mind for the last eight years just got suddenly ultra-fast forwarded to being a Mommy twice over. The same happened a couple years ago when she got in touch with an old high school roommate who had also gone and had two kids. The shock was a bit lessened by the fact that Snarky knew about Child #1 (though #2 was a complete surprise as they had lost touch by then). The Snarks are still very much on the fence about this whole child-having thing anyway, but somehow Snarky is feeling like she missed the boat somehow - that she's in a moment of suspended animation just spinning her wheels, not really doing anything. If she decided not to have children, then surely she must be on some upwardly mobile corporate ladder or carving a bold new niche for some previously undiscovered marketable need. Right? Only... no. Snarky hasn't done that either. Snarky really hasn't done much at all on either the family or career fronts. Is Snarky a Slacker? If not children and not career... then what will be her legacy? (According to this week's issue of the local freebie paper, Portland is a city of slackers. Perhaps this is why Snarky feels so attuned to the place.)

It only gets worse! One of The Mister's old college buddies is expecting their FOURTH child. So far, there has only been one divorce (and re-marriage)... though there might be a second on the horizon in their circle of friends. Snarky finds some consolation in the fact that they have two cats and are in their second house. Then again, the "having babies" window is always getting extended further and further into our Golden Years... so there's always a chance... (though Snarky is beginning to seriously doubt it. Plus who wants to be sixty when their child graduates high school?) (Not that there's anything wrong with that.) (Mostly.)

DarkityMa didn't get married until she was 29, and had Snarky when she was 32... so Snarky shouldn't be feeling any kind of rush (in fact, the Darkity'Rents have been very supportive about the possibility of the Snarks being Childfree (so long as there's still hope with DarkityBro)). But sometimes she still does have a weird "left behind" guilt... which feels a lot like survivor's guilt for some reason. Snarky is happy with her home and her marriage... the job thing is still being tweaked... sometimes she feels resentful and boorishly American for identifying herself and others too strongly with what she does for money. Then again, it is a rather large chunk of her life... Perhaps she will try to gain ownership of the term "slacker" just as she has been trying to rehabilitate "bitch" and "chink".

Last time I read a drama thread was that whole LJ Wank debacle. I've learned my lesson. I suppose there really is a thin line between love and hate for some folks. I'm just vicariously happy for everyone! ( and might eventually partake of the CN myself... maybe. I've been really stingy about my perfume lately, which has nothing to do with the price increase... just general housiness and unsure employment circumstances... but again, not begruging the Lab for what I think is a necessary business decision.)

There are so-called "young souls" and "old souls" and all the souls in between. Snarky has often surmised that she possesses a "middle aged soul" - old enough to know better (she entered her teenaged years with a deep breath and a "well, here goes nuthin'") but still young enough to make all the same stupid mistakes (oh, it went alright). Her best friend has a teenaged soul. She is impulsive, headstrong, and unable to take the right path until she has exhausted all the wrong ones. Snarky used to refer to her as her "Drama Friend" (we all have at least one of those, even if we are typically the DF in our relationships), often with a bit of condescending affection/scorn (weird how some friendships are so close to antagonistic symbiosis). Last night Snarky was on the phone with her friend for over two hours - most of it was spent with DF venting and unloading and Snarky listening. Two years ago such a conversation would leave Snarky exhausted and resentful. It would make The Mister grouchy for stolen time. And worst of all: nothing would have changed for her friend. But today, Snarky feels fine. Rested, even. It's not that Snarky has disconnected herself from her friend and doesn't care about what she is going through (in short, two words: "emotional incest" Snarky always learns new terms/concepts from her acquaintances that open her eyes and make her extremely grateful for her own dull and boring existance that does not require the aid of therapy speak in order to be defined) it is that Snarky finally had an a-HA moment a few crises ago and realized that in order to be a good friend, she didn't have to live through the experience with those friends. She could just listen and observe and support. Small epiphany as far as epiphanies go (surely "brightly colored mushrooms are bad for the eatings" ranks higher) but an important one for Snarky, who used to be an empathetic walking open wound for everyone. And The Mister was really quite OK with not having a wife for two hours. The Snarks are cultivating an appreciation for the concept of "alone time" and have experienced the added bonus of more enriched "together time" for it. Best of all, Snarky's best friend has really broken through to some new, exciting territory. Of course right now it's scary and overwhelming, but she's calmer now and is finally, finally able to really work toward something better. So, Snarky feels compelled to give a small for emotional maturity both for herself and for her friend. Snarky always knew she would finally begin to feel more comfortable in her skin (on the personal, bodily level as well as the larger socio-political sphere) in her thirties and is relieved to see that bit of middle-aged soul prognostication come true. But she will try very hard not to pull a muscle patting herself on the back about it.

Curmudgeondom gets a bad rap. Those old crochety people grouching around must've gotten something right in order to still be around and have enough free time in which to gripe, right? Snarky can't wait to be the crazy old lady that just speaks her minds and doesn't care what other people think. Snarky surmises that Cordia's previously old soul probably got fed up with always being right and is now indulging in some cathartic temper tantrums, which seem pre-teenish, but Snarky doubts Cordia is capable of the thundering self-absorption necessary to be truly upstartish. Snarky thinks Cordia should indulge away while continuing to keep an eye out for the toes of her loved ones.

"I left my money in my other (man)pants!" -Pimptastic D. Sweetness PS Oooh. My other name gives me Stealth Maestro M. Schmoove. Can't decide if "Stealth Maestro" trumps "Schmoove" on this one, though.

Bus commuting is awesome! I love it! Except for when fights happen. But that doesn't happen too often! I've read so many books in the last year... and knitting! Yup. I'm a huge cheerleader for bus commuting. My old co-habitation rule was to Never Live with a Friend. Unfortunately, when The Mister and I started living in sin I had to kind of throw that rule out the window. And it was tough for a while... but eventually we worked it out. Then again, I didn't also have family and other friend(s) co-habitating with me. Hope you get through it!

Make sure they shield you from both MVA and MVB rays. While most gold cuffs are good at deflecting the short-range MVB rays, not all are attuned to handle the longer-ranged MVA ones, and those are the ones with lasting side effects like reddened neck skin and a proclivity for t-shirts with tasseled, beaded fringe.

Yay! I can see!! And.... daaaaaaw. Y'all are so cute in this picture!

Well, poop. My work internets does not care for the Bucket o' Photos... I'm gonna hafta remember to check this out when I get home. Can't wait, though!

Ack! You're a tease! I was all and everything.

Fireproof Panties!

"Mullet-Bait"?

Taken from the Bright Lights film journal Perfect title!

Just put on a happy face (dammit)! Snarky has been in a three day Very Bad Mood that has been interrupted by bouts of happiness, contentment, and countless uncomfortably sweaty naps. She's sure things will turn around soon, but just wanted everyone to know she's avoided updating her blog in order to minimize the bleed through of her psychic pollution. On a slightly better note, she's really starting to fall in love with her (mangy, crispy, slug-infested) garden. Carry on. (Snarky :heart:s Tim Gunn. Just so you know.)

"Carnal" is the perfect way to describe le Bourdain. +

True that. The Snarks absconded to their cooler basement last night for cheesy pizza and glass after glass (after glass) of boxwine sangria. Snarky doesn't want it to become a crutch anytime soon (and it shouldn't given her "Asian Flush" type allergy to it) but the alcohol combined with the cooler climate and scatalogical ramblings of Anthony Bourdain (another member of her fantasy himem - manly harem. Geddit?) did much to elevate her mood.

Crusty heels?!?!? I wasn't even eating anything and I think I threw up in my mouth just a little. At least that image (shudder) was balanced by yummy Vargas goodness.

Aw, that photo (and the bigger one before) gave Snarky a smile too! What a great expression of angelic mischievousness. She knows things will come around eventually. Just as she is prone to swooning fits of blissful fancy, she has to deal with these jagged moments of self-doubt and supposition. Part of the fun of struggling to be more self-aware. Thanks, dear and likewise. That's one of Snarky's favorite smileys evah! Well... there are the knitting posts too, right? That'd be, like... four... five posts tops, yeah? If anything, Snarky surely could spin some sort of far-fetched analogy between pond-slugs and encroaching middle age or ... something... damn. She almost had it. Snarky was just thinking this. It's almost tolerably toasty enough in the evenings to allow for some artful camera work. Her 'maters aren't nearly as far along as Antimony's, but they are all starting to show signs of bearing fruit! Very exciting. Snarky might just break down and fry up some green tomatoes in about a week or so.

I know it's not this hot all over the world, but I totally blame the Pacific Northwest heat wave. I didn't do jack all weekend and most certainly didn't feel like doing any forum browsing (let alone speculative bidding/shopping). Just... laying there, in a little puddle of me on the basement floor. Glad you got some bites! Gonna run over and take a look-see m'self. And who knows, maybe some more folks will snap out of It and get over there before the cut off too. :crosses fingers:

That's the cool thing about approaching Crone status... we get thicker skins and become more headstrong about what we want. I say go for it!

I am loving Dawndie's suggestion. (And I do remember that rarely aired Tex Avery cartoon. Why I ever thought the Warner Bros' stuff was appropriate for children, I'll never know... but it sure does explain a lot about my formative years. ) Now I want to create a blend that exemplifies other cartoonish phrases like BOING and BADA-DIDDA (the sound of Shaggy and Scooby winding up to run away), and of course YOINK.

You know, I have that movie on DVD and I still haven't seen it all the way through. Sacrilege, I know! But you are correct. "Asses of Fire" is the movie within a movie... and now I've got a heliumed Canadian voice saying it over and over in my head. That and the "Uncle F***er" musical number.

You know... "Flaming Anus" (or maybe plural? "Anuses"? "Anii"?) would be a great band name. I'm just saying! Also, it amuses me more to image you running around with a Bic lighter rather than a flame-thrower for some reason... maybe because it seems more personal and precise, and the sound effect is amusing: Chkt! Chkt! <--- 'tis the mileadingly gentle sound of impending dooooom! So apparently my mood is: absurdist misanthropy.