It's been a while, but we're starting to kick in to high gear with DCI 2006 "Can't Quit You Tour" almost upon us (8/9-8/13). The emails are flying and plans are being made and it looks like it'll be a great time "going home" to Madison. The icing on the cake will be seeing AJ march....our baby's growing up! DCI 2007 in Pasadena is well on its way too. The ticket order is in; WOO-HOO no more wasting the better part of a day at DCI HQ! Let's just hope that we will get decent seats. All we need to do for 2007 is the hotel!!! Yay!! So, people, get your plane tickets in hand, don't end up in Madison, AL, pay Kyra, Liz, or Heiko (if you've not already done so) and get ready for the BEST DCI EVER!

i carry your heart with me

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

ee cummings

The Comfort of Titus Pullo

I don't know about y'all, but I did get caught up in HBO's series Rome; sharply written, highly interesting stories, and, of course, very nice eye candy. So, finally Tivo'ed the whole first season and I think it might really end up saving my ass. It's been really tough around here lately; it's not pretty to be in the midst of a gasping, last breath, on it's last legs marriage, and I've just really been in an ugly place (and behaving pretty badly while visiting it, thanks very much). At different stages, different movies and shows, have been constant companions to me. I'll watch the same one over and over, very OCD, but I love the small nuances in some of my favorites. Captain Wentworth's hand on Anne's waist in "Persuasion", Joel being the only one to find Maggie's chair comfortable in "Northern Exposure", Bud and Lynn's fight scene in "L.A. Confidential", Randolph and Cristabel's one day less scene in "Possesion", Karen and Denys's porch scene in "Out of Africa". These and more have provided for me a strange solace and comfort at various times, and so it is with Pullo and Rome. I can watch, over and over, how he bull in a china shops his way through his life; he's a good man at heart, but, boy, some of the things he does....well, makes my behavior look like a church picnic, but he has the character and strength, the need and desire, to make a decent way for himself, and it looks like, in the last episode of the season, he may have a shot at it. I'm sure he'll always make wrong and violent mistakes, but the passion with which he loves and lives for the people he cares about, well, it just gives me some hope. Thanks, Pullo, for holding my hand through this bad time and thanks, too, to those of you in my real life who've held my hand and gotten my back. You've talked me down from the roof many a time and it's a comfort more than you know.

Last Run Through Before The Next One.....huh, huh, huh. (Steve Posen, 1980's rehearsal at the South Florida State Hospital)
Katrina came and went with barely a dent, thank heavens. It was a good rehearsal for what is sure to come. I got the joy of figuring out how the new accordian shutters work; sure kicked in the OCD in me, though. I kept going back to ones I'd already closed JUST to make sure they were really screwed together.....next I'll be combing the fringe on the rugs just so. I also realized just how much stuff we have in the yard. Cheese and Rice, just what do you do with two trampolines in a hurricane? And I will just have to stop staging clever seating vignettes throughout the yard, as trying to cram all that fucking furniture into the house is a major pain. Less charm, people, is the call of the day. Hurricanes drive me nuts and not because of the storm; that I can handle. Having to deal with the husband.....well, that's just another matter entirely. If you hear of murder when the storm is blowing, that'll be me having done him in. The husband tends to get severely torqued about the fact that things JUST AREN'T GETTING DONE in the speedy and efficient manner that a Good Austrian Burgher would do it. Well, HELLO, 13 years later and he still doesn't realize he married an easily distracted meanderer; one of us needs some help, I think. I may be in denial, but at least I know the characters in the play; try looking at it sometimes, you may like it. Oy. Well, off to try to figure out what the hell to do with the 8 extra loaves of bread, gubmint cheese (non organic Kraft grill cheese sandwich crap, yikes), and gazillion extra gallons of milk (drink up, all organic, from happy cows). Remember: "Every Drama Requires a Fool". Which player are you?

Well, the emails have been flying back and forth, just like before tour and we still can't get through the frickin' bologna song! I don't think that our DCI trips can ever be "the worst", since we do get to be together; sure creates a lot of fun and drama and good times trying to cram a years worth of living into four days of together time. I wouldn't trade it for anything. Like Mike G. says "It's like we're 18 and straight off the bus...." Here's some more things to add to the list!

• "Dad, where's Mom?" Brian Miller's devious prank on his brother....way to go!
• Sierra Mists and Vodka make Kyra and Liz super happy.
• Liz still needs more ice, though.
• I guess it takes a village to help Mitch, Kyra, and Tim H. to buy gas...
• Get on the bus! It's a classic!
• Next year, let's all try to pick up George Ho's girlfriend; everyone needs a ho of the mo....
• 'Cause I ain't no Hollaback Girl!
• Thank God for the Jumbotron or we'd never have seen ANY drill....thanks Erik!
• Liz farts really loudly and still has the cooties.....nice!
• ....the only reason why im writing is because Spoolie was TOO caught up w/ his GIRL FRIEND....hearts and flowers from Bianca.
• What is that Spoolie thing about, anyway?
• Brian Miller has his brother's back in supplying us with the "NICE's" that we need....NICE!
• Missing my speck of salt cohort Sue Pena :( and especially missing Ray's laugh.
• We sure didn't stay at the Microtel Hell, though! (maybe next year in Madison, home of the Microtel)
• And Mitch, well, he STILL doesn't like The Cadets' show...must be the door....
• 222!

• Oooh, Filene's.
• Marsha......Marsha......put your flag down! Classic Artism.
• Poopin'? Poopin'! 'Peating me! Thanks Auntie Kyra and Trey!
• Cheesebutt...stylish wear for Madison 2006
• Evacuating the stadium on the hottest day evah.
• DCI 2006.....done! Don't forget to bring your date.
• How to get locked in your room.....with the security guard.
• 3 a.m. fire drills hosted by Kyra and Mitch, all the best people are there....the rest of us are burning to a crisp!
• 2:30 a.m. grease truck visits....where ARE you going AJ?
• How many times can we lose valet tickets?
• Going to the "wicker" store...Tim Miller thinks Jim H. needs to ride on the guard bus.
• It takes a village to get us to DCI...thanks Mitch!
• 8:45 a.m. vs. 8:45 p.m. in the wrong city anyway...adding another "natural" blond to the group.....go Erik!
• Black and Tans. Call it the 27th Lancers drink.
• No turds.
• Is it a cupola or a chimney cap?
• Ohhhhhh.....massages for Miracle and Liz that become something we have to do every year!
• Abercrombie & Fitch fix.....we don't have these in England...sorry Mitch, Jim doesn't like dress shorts without holes.
• Hemenway's Key Lime Martini and Raspberry Mojito with sugarcane swizzle stick....YUM!
• Camera limit on group picture.
• Jim H and Liz.....the blond leading the blonde....
• Complaining about slow valets......yet looking right at the rental car for 20 minutes.
• Brie Puffs.
• New ways of singing bologna songs.
• German drinking songs courtesy of Heiko and Liz.....Ein Prosit!
• The Japanese really are it, Alain!
• This is a test; 10 useful facts about The Breakers please, Bianca.
• Jim Lussier frantically looking for music to hum to.
• 4 pound buckets of wings....no, honey, you go ahead and spit that gristle right back in the bucket....
• Is it a courthouse or a post office?
• Will the air conditioning ever work? Moving out and taking the furniture that we like with us! We're going to need that...
• Flat screen televisions and foot and a half tall king mattresses; we're never leaving!
• Boston bakeries.....yum....oh, look Mitch, a green cookie!
• Lemon poppy seed scones....crack or wallpaper paste?
• Jim H. shopping cart thief!
• French pedicures.
• Fish mouth pucker lemonade....needs more vodka, um, yeah, that'll help.
• No bag check at the stadium....Woo-Hoo, bring the Tatoo!
• Missing Mike H. and Michele.
• It may be his 25th anniversary, but Art's not having a hot dog.
• 10% discount on 3 bottles of wine....sold!
• Room service cheesecake....the best ever, sooo creamy!
• More guys than girls this year.
• $14.00 chicken ceasar salads.
• Ernie the waiter...thanks for the bottle opener!
• 1 million people leaving the stadium....I-95 down to one lane.
• "Hi, what exit is the hotel at?" "22" "22?!?!?!? Is that possible?!?!?!? We're at exit 2" "Are you in Rhode Island yet?" "Never mind."
• No, Alain, it isn't Federal Highway, it's Route 1. Those silly Yankees.
• Laughing 'til you cry.
• Starbucks in the hotel; let's go in our pajamas.
• 2,124 emails.
• The best DCI ever....well, maybe next year.