Saturday, June 16, 2001

I think I remember a little of my dream...I went to see a podiatrist and he told me my foot had been broken. He was laughing about the fact I'd been walking around on it like that for so long.

I am having anxiety dreams about my appointment in July.
posted by Ann-S-Thesia at 5:21 PM || link it email me

Rented some good movies last night..."Quill" which was about the latter years of the Marquis de Sade while he was imprisoned in a madhouse, and "The Eyes of Tammy Faye," which was documentary on Tammy Faye Bakker. After seeing both of them, I've decided I'd much rather spend time with the Marquis than Tammy. Not that she's a horrible person, in fact, in a strange way I gathered a little respect for her after seeing the film. But how I would be driven crazy by her voice and perpetual perkiness, not to mention the pain I would experience thinking about eyes encrusted in perpetual mascara like that. Ick. There was a film about Jim Bakker several years ago...I think Keven Spacey starred as the Rev-rund. I don't know...I think it would've been a perfect role for Tim Robbins.
posted by Ann-S-Thesia at 5:20 PM || link it email me

Friday, June 15, 2001

Hey, a dream addendum. In my "embarrased to be American" post below, I mention speaking to British Rock Stars. Well, it's not like I've spoken to dozens of them...just a handful...a small handful (and it was in my past too...long time ago). But I remember thinking in my dream last night with Ron Woods, "Yeah, I speak to British rock stars all the time!" Also, I might mention that Jerry was wearing a long sleeve dress shirt (the colorful one with the dingbat patterns)...it wasn't a t-shirt lest the reader get the wrong mental picture.
posted by Ann-S-Thesia at 8:57 AM || link it email me

Amusing dreams with special guest stars Jerry Seinfeld and Ron Woods. In the first dream, I was talking with Jerry Seinfeld like we were old friends. I was confiding in him how Stan and I are avoiding someone from our past, and why we think that person has severe mental problems. Ironically, IRL, this mental person sort of reminds me of Jerry...like his expressions or manners or something, however in a much more psycho way (Jerry's not psycho). I remember Jerry was wearing a colorful shirt with a unique pattern that reminded me of some of the dingbat fonts I'm working on right now. In the other dream, I was seated at a large table with a bunch of other people, possibly celebrities or musicians. I was sitting on the long side of the table, and Ron Woods was sitting at one of the short sides, to my right. There was another person between us at the corner...I have no idea who it was. We were eating Chinese food, and it must have been Szechuan because Ron got this weird look on his face like it was really hot, then he left the table to drink mass amounts of water. When he came back he hugged the person to my right. Then I said something to him, but forgot what it was. Ron Woods is one of those old rock stars I hardly ever think of. Weird.
posted by Ann-S-Thesia at 8:34 AM || link it email me

Thursday, June 14, 2001

A snippet of my reoccurring dream last night...the one with the "Fort Collins that doesn't really exist." In this vignette, Stan and I were driving around the northwest side of Fort Collins amongst old houses and streets. Possibly something else involving the area up north and a motel. Unfortunately, I can't remember much else, but at least I'm still having this dream.
posted by Ann-S-Thesia at 7:38 AM || link it email me

Wednesday, June 13, 2001

Sometimes I'm embarrassed to be an American. Scratch that. I'm embarrassed to be an American. Today I spoke on the phone to someone in England. This is the first person I've spoken to with an English accent who hasn't been:

1) My late grandfather
2) A rock star after a concert
3) Just a random person (like in a store or something)

All the time I'm thinking I must sound like a nasal mumbling hillbilly, even though I

1) Speak very clearly and don't mumble
2) Am not nasal
3) Have no accent other than a pure "American" accent (i.e., I have no regional accent)

and when I watch the news I'm embarrased even though I

1) Didn't vote nor support Bush
2) Do not support the death penalty
3) Don't dress like a tourist

The morning that McVeigh was executed and Bush was about to embark on his European visit, I was lying in bed in that midmorphic sensation between sleep and wake. I had this weird feeling, like I was trying to tell the rest of the (non-American) western world, "I'm sorry I'm an American, but I am not like them."

When I was speaking to this person, I was trying really hard not to break into an English accent myself, as that would be totally embarrassing. I do that spontaneously, sometimes...think Mandy Slade from Velvet Goldmine. I don't know why I do it...it started out long ago as something to do because I liked the sound of it and because I *could.* Then it became sort of spontaneous, like I'll do it when I'm drunk and not thinking. In my conscious attempt to speak very Americanly and not to sound British, I became acutely aware of how American I was sounding. It was painful.
posted by Ann-S-Thesia at 12:33 PM || link it email me

Now for the moment of truth. I guess I'm a good liar...no one guessed the falsie, in fact, it's the only one that didn't have at least one guess! Maybe it seemed too obvious of a "truth." To see the final votes, look here

I have never camped in a tent
True! Never had a tent. My parents camp in a tent, but they got the tent after I was too old to camp with them. Stan and I don't have a tent. Once we were going to go camping, so we slept in the van. I didn't get any sleep. It was motels for the rest of our vacation.

I've been featured on radio shows several times
True! The first time was as Guest DJ on KAZY 107 (I think) in Denver back in 1978. The next time wasn't until 1990...I was featured on some sort of morning alternative radio program on WORT 89.9 (Madison) for an hour regarding an art show I was having. I didn't plan it...the gallery owner did. I hated it....the interviewer was a jerk. The next time was in 1998...I was interviewed by John Gordon of Future Tense (produced by Minnesota Public Radio) regarding Grey Day.

I don't have a record, either criminal or traffic
True! Never been arrested. I did get a traffic ticket in 1984 when I had a car accident, but because it was my first offense (wreckless driving...it was snowing), and because I attended a "safe driving" class (it was horrid) and because I didn't get any other tickets after that, it was dismissed and struck from any record.

I have tried psychedellic mushrooms.
True! And that's all I'll say about that.

I have never been under anaesthesia (heh heh)
True! As of this writing, I've never had any surgery.

I have no idea what my SAT scores are
True! I have absolutely no clue. They may not have counted the SATs anyway because my GPA was high enough and I got into the university anyway. I just never found out.

I can't stand Brussel sprouts
True! At one time I ate some frozen Brussel Sprouts in cheese sauce. For some reason, I prepared the whole package, but it was too much. I got way too full, and ended up feeding the rest to our pet rats at the time. They didn't even want them. It totally turned me off of Brussel sprouts for perhaps the rest of my life (especially having to dig the uneaten, rat bedding-covered brussel sprouts out of their cage). Ironically, I love turnips, rutabagas and cabbage.

I've never ridden on a train (other than a novelty train)
False! Although I haven't ridden on a train for a long time, my mom and I would take Amtrak trains from either Indiana or Massachusetts to Wisconsin back in the 1960s. The overnight (Massachusetts) run was incredibly fun...we had our own little room (with a sink and toilet!) and I got to sleep on the top bunk...much fun for a seven year old! One day I wish to take a cross-country train trip. I love trains, too bad it's such an expensive way to travel (not to mention they don't allow dogs!)

I never changed my own oil on my car
True! I'm a moron with cars. I'll leave that maintenance part to Stan and I'll deal with the computers, thank you.

I once slept on a city sidewalk at night
True! I camped out for Kinks tickets back in 1981. Had to sleep on a city sidewalk with a bunch of other fans. Weird experience. I was like 2nd in line and only got 4th row. Damn ticketrons.
posted by Ann-S-Thesia at 8:40 AM || link it email me

Tuesday, June 12, 2001

What a night.

We had some bad storms come through here last night. Severe Thunderstorm Warnings and Tornado Watches while we were watching the 10 o'clock news. Large gusts of wind blew through the front windows as I reclined on the loveseat working on my Tangerine. I turned the iBook off, and closed the windows. They weren't as bad as I thought, at least no water started coming through our roof as it usually does during these sorts of storms. They eventually quieted down enough for Stan to take the dogs out for the final pee mission at night, sometime after syndicated Seinfeld, sometime around Nightline. "You want to see something weird?" he asked as he was about to let Hieronymus out. What weirdness could there be, I thought. The Pacific Giant Delphiniums were probably blown down or something. I reluctantly went to the back of the house, fearing the damage to our flowers that were just about to bloom. Stan held the door open, Plato stared outside, being an incredibly good dog not to charge outside without a leash.

A gigantic mass of branches and leaves lay on the ground right outside the back door. It took me a while to realize what it was. Our apple tree.

"As Johnny Carson would say," Stan said, "That's some weird stuff." I was speechless.

Stan had estimated our apple tree to be over 100 years old, probably belonging to the first farmhouse on our hill that our neighbors across the alley own before it was developed into a post-Victorian community about 90 years ago. In the last several years, it has become diseased with fungus. We've had to remove a limb a year, until the last couple years it has only had one limb clinging on to dear life. It put out a remarkable amount of apples this year, trying to quickly reproduce itself before it died. I guess it was a mercy killing, and I knew that eventually we would not have the apple tree anymore, but it's sad nonetheless.

Each year as the major limbs of the tree have been amputated, our backyard has been getting sunnier and sunnier. Now since the windstorms happened, we will have to start moving the shade plants out front which is now the shadiest area. We used to have a huge hosta collection out back...now it'll be too sunny for many of them. The toad lilies will have to relocate too. In its place, we will probably get either a Redbud or a Harry Lauder's Walking Stick...something ornamental and fairly compact.

Ironically, as were watching the news last night, they showed a picture of the UW's Corpse Flower, which finally collapsed today post-bloom. I somehow think that these events are cosmically related.
posted by Ann-S-Thesia at 10:36 AM || link it email me

Monday, June 11, 2001

I can't remember much of my dream except that Plato was in it, and there was someone else, an older woman, with a Boston Terrier too, but one younger than Plato. Plato was being his usual misbehaved self. He started started playing "mouth games" with the younger Boston; it was rather cute.
posted by Ann-S-Thesia at 12:34 PM || link it email me

Sunday, June 10, 2001

Can't remember the sequence of the events in my dream Saturday night, but I do remember the events themselves. One was I was in a large antique mall or department store with Stan and I had to use the bathroom, so I found a restroom that was quite nice. I remember someone trying to get in while I was in, and the door was unlocked, but they didn't enter. Then I was in the inhumanities building at the UW on one of the art dept. floors. Stan and I were sitting on a bench waiting for something. The Lone Gunmen were there, walking in and out of rooms. I was talking about wanting to teach a class called "d-efiance in Art," the "e" being like an e-mail "e" if that makes sense. Have been having a hard time remembering my dreams lately. I think it's because our bed is uncomfortable or something. We need a new one really badly...this one we've had since 1987.
posted by Ann-S-Thesia at 8:58 AM || link it email me