The b.h. has just informed me that his band got a really shit gig for really good money at a sports bar in Alphafuckingretta in a couple weeks. Hilarious! I kind of want to go just because the idea is a bit ridiculous.

I started The Fortress of Solitude and Neil Gaiman's children's book Coraline. That movie is either just out or about to be, so I wanted to read the book first. I'm enjoying them both.

I know that talking about the weather is a bit of a copout, but right now it is 24 degrees ("feels like 10"!)outside. I would guess it's about forty inside. I am sitting under a dog and a giant blanket with the heat blasting and I am freezing my ass off.

Friday the high will be sixty.

Watching the end of the new Tom Petty documentary Runnin' Down a Dream. It is two discs of genius. I have always loved the man, but now I am beginning to understand what a badass he truly is. I have to go to work at the LLS in a few minutes. As it will surely be even colder there, I am not looking forward to it. Hopefully Lynn will call and need my help at her store so I won't get stuck. We need to collect some firewood before we come home tonight, too. Damn. Think anyone will notice if I just stay here and hunker down?

Shit. Alright, gotta go.

Brrrr.

The weather has turned cold again, and now suddenly I've remembered that I need to order firewood. Every year it gets to this time and I fool myself that because it is sixty degrees on my birthday we are out of the woods - Spring is in the air and all that. Not so. Never the case. And now it's fucking cold, and I haven't put up the heavy curtains or put the plastic insulation on the windows. And now I have an hour to kill before work and I'm freezing.

Another terribly Exciting Day.

Today I got a birthday cake from a friend. It was devil's food, three layers, with Kahlua frosting and chocolate chips. Fucking fantastic. So that was breakfast. I was smart enough to pass it around or I would surely have eaten the whole thing by lunch.
It was a long and boring day. I don't even have a good idiot story. It was windy as fuck, and a bunch of empty boxes blew all over the parking lot and I had to chase them down, but that was seriously as exciting as it got. Now I'm at home on the couch trying to decide which beer I'll have. I really want a Bell's, but it's not cold yet. Hmmmm...
The b.h. was kind enough to leave a loaf of bread on top of the fridge last night, so our resident rodent didn't have to wake us in order to get a meal. I'll try to remember to post a picture of the bread tunnel at some point. It's comforting, at least, in it's smallness.
Oh, now I hear geese. Between them and the daffodils that are sprouting up in front of the house, I can't figure out how it is possibly January right now.

Saw Dave Marr and Holly Golightly at Tasty World last night. Dave sounded great. I wish he would play more. Holly was cool. I had no idea what to expect, but she was recommended to me by several friends, so we gave it a shot. We didn't stay late because we were both tired.
It has been raining for a day and a half, which is great. it is supposed to rain for the rest of the week. Of course, that didn't stop the idiots at the office complex in our neighborhood from running their sprinkler system. I called the water department and they said that the complex in question is on a well, and they are allowed to do whatever they want. Hmmm. I guess I know where I'm going to steal my water from when ours dries up.
In other news, Kilgore just got back from the vet. He is happy and healthy, if a bit wider than necessary. Now that the temperature has fallen below a hundred degrees I guess we can start walking again.

Two days until The Hold Steady. Yay.

Thanks, Asshole.

Dear Neighbor:
I just wanted to tell how happy I am that your yard looks absolutely lovely. It seems that all of the sacrifices everyone else is making have really paid off.I'm glad that I have been turning off the shower while I soap up and watering my plants with used dishwater for three months so that you could run your fucking sprinkler in the middle of the night, soaking your whole front yard and half of the street, without guilt. Never mind that river running down the curb. Never mind that we're struggling to have enough water to keep everyone's toilets flushing. Sacrifice is for poor people, right? I mean, what the fuck? Anyway, thanks. I think my faith in fellow humans was just starting to return. That's not really convenient in the middle of football season. And hey- nice magnolias.
I hope your house burns down,
HB

Dire.

That's the only word to describe our water situation. According to local officials, we have around five weeks' worth of water left in our reservoir. I can't remember it ever being this bad before. There is an outright ban on watering outdoors. I gave up on my flower garden months ago when i realized that it just wasn't practical to waste water on it. Kept watering the tomatoes and peppers as long as I was allowed, though. And they seem to be hanging on despite not having been watered recently. It keeps looking like it might want to rain and not quite getting there. Very discouraging. It makes me wonder how much water we would save by canceling the rest of the home football games. I assume that not having an extra 100 thousand people in town for three more weekends might help our situation. It certainly couldn't hurt. But don't let my boss hear me say that.
Last night, we came home from the utterly fabulous Okkervil River show at the 40 Watt to find that the sprinklers were on in the office complex behind us. It had been cloudy all day, and there was rain predicted for today, and we've been on a watering ban for quite some time now. But there they were, at least two sprinklers, spraying with all their might. Made me wonder how often this happens. We're usually not home yet at 2am, and I would think that most of the folks in this neighborhood are long since sleeping by then. I called and reported them, but what I really want to do is find the people responsible and beat them. Seriously. Our local government is trying to figure out how to keep the waste water treatment plants working with such low water levels and some asshole is fucking watering the GRASS. Ugh. Stupid.

In other news, Okkervil River still kicks ass. I heard a guy remark last night that he had been made gayer by watching their set- I can only assume he meant that he was in love with the band, but I'm not sure. All I know is that a night off and an excellent rock show were exactly what I needed. Now I want to move to Austin so I can see them more often. I actually recorded a song on my camera, but since the quality sucks I will refrain from posting it here.
Instead, here's a photo:



This was taken during a break in the set where somebody had to change Will's string. I guess he can't change his own string on account of being blind as a bat and without glasses on stage. So he played a song on the keyboard instead. It was great. They played almost everything I wanted to hear. A.J. was in town for the show. It was great to see him and we actually got to talk for a bit- not over the bar, but actual face-to-face adult conversation. Amazing. I will have to try to do that more often.

My friend T is rapidly approaching total insanity due to his job, and may move down here soon. That would be great. K is leaving for New York in just a couple weeks, and I haven't quite figured out how I am going to manage without her.

One Oh Five

Can't blog... too... hot...
Currently 96. "Feels like" 105. Really.

Chilling Out.

Literally, I mean. The temperature is dropping quickly, which means I only have time for a quick catchup. Gotta walk the hounds before it gets too cold.

Have finished bringing in the seedlings and covering the plants that are already in the ground. Waiting on a batch of organic pomegranate jelly to finish processing. Last night I made some fizzing bath bombs and lavender soap. Tomorrow I hope to bake some cookies and dog biscuits, and maybe, just maybe, make some ancho chile hot chocolate. Hell, if my first farmer's market is gonna be in the cold, I might as well make the best of it.
Here's a nice shot of the very weird sunset we had last night.