He should come to me! My house has no steps, is all tile, and I don't mind slobber! No, I'm glad he has a good person already, and yours will find you.

Hot, Tep!

Smokin', Teppy.

I am driving back from my aunt's 70th birthday party. I stuffed my belly full of lobster and clam chowder.

That sounds like much yum was had by all.

My dad's home from the hospital, yay! He had to go back in overnight Friday for blood transfusion.

Except for that part. It would be more recreational and less "Oh gosh, I hope that doesn't need to happen too often" if he were a vampire, but that would have its downsides, too. (sorry, I plead exhaustion from doing my taxes)

Thank Harvey for the validation. It's nice to hear from the kitty caucus.

Ya know, sometimes I joke about it, but this time... I started typing and suddenly there was purring cat in my arms. And he excused himself rather quickly after I hit post and kissed his forehead a few times. That purr was not about me.

I hope this works. For BillyTea. [link]

(Limping Penguin in Santa Barbara)

The Mardi Gras shindig was a lot of fun. There were 2 bands (one all strings, with a singer who sounded a lot like Squirrel Nut Zippers); a magic act (with a real! live! chicken!); a sword-swallowing, bed-of-nails-laying sideshow act; and can-can dancers (who were really, REALLY good).

And the costumes people wore -- oh my god. People really went all out. Although, honestly, out of about ~150 people there, I think there were about 30 dudes wearing top hats with goggles on them. Steampunk may have jumped the shark. I'm tired of goddamn goggles.

The women were mostly in corsets (Tim's comment: "I had no idea there were so many corsets in the tri-state area! This just makes my heart swell!" [My reply: "Right. Your *heart.*"]) and short skirts and cool stockings, although there were some women rocking a zombie theme pretty hard. Men were generally steampunk-y or pirate-y (ranging from vaguely pirate-y all the way to Hi, Go Back To Your Ship Now), although my favorite guy was wearing a military green utilikilt and ruffled tuxedo shirt...and a Darth Vader helmet. (Pictured with one of the uber-pirates.) Awesome.

although my favorite guy was wearing a military green utilikilt and ruffled tuxedo shirt...and a Darth Vader helmet. (Pictured with one of the uber-pirates.) Awesome.

I'm just going to have to say it -- it's not a Darth Vader helmet, it's a stormtrooper helmet. Albeit one of Darth's personal storm troopers (I think it's the ones who flew the X-Wings with him behind Luke in the attack run on the Death Star. You may remember Darth saying "You two. Come with me" and stalking away with a dramatic cape swirl)

I am slightly embarrassed by my geek and pedantry.

No, now that you point it out, I see the difference (although I don't remember the scene you described at all; it's been too long since I've watched any of the original trilogy). The color just immediately made me think Vader, and it stuck.

I'm with you, I did a double take myself :) It's the original trilogy or nothing for me. My friend J is distraught that his son likes Jar Jar Binks. I keep reassuring him that the kid is only 4 and he will grow out of it.

Having a bit of insomnia and a midnight snack, so I'm around for a bit, Maria, if you're out there reading.

Went back and read about sixty posts, since I was kind of skimming today on the phone.

Teppy, looking hot!

I am slightly embarrassed by my geek and pedantry.

Vortex, looking hot!

Nora, I did pass your greetings on to the parade crowd. They say hi back.

Man, I don't love how some riders just pelt people with beads, including full bags of them. Our neighborfriend S dressed as a cowgirl bear today and people were just hauling off and whipping things at her. It gets a little scary. That's one reason Muses has been my favorite big parade so far (all female riders). Also, they had Patricia Clarkson as their honorary Muse!! I went all stupid geebling fangirl when she rode by in a giant shoe.

Also, dudes give the best throws to 1) kids and 2) hot chicks on guys' shoulders. @@ Not that I'm not drowning in beads at this point, but it's kind of annoying when it happens again and again and again. eta to be clear I do not begrudge the kids. Duh.

Aaand I'm still up. I left my hip belt in a house we're rebuilding and ten hours of standing today has totally messed me up. I took Flexeril, naproxen, and Tylenol with codeine an hour ago and did the trigger point thing, and it still hurts like a bitch. I might have to see if I can go get it tomorrow, and I will be wearing my Fuevogs for the rest of the parades.