The Latest Scoop

Because I KNOW you all live vicariously through me...

"The Lego Movie" = total fun. And how the heck did they film that?! Amazing.

Enjoying the "Circles" album by Mike Doughty. Formerly of Soul Coughing. "El Oso" is one of those CDs I never get tired of. Like Neil Finn's "Try Whistling This".

Saw this necklace (Sticks Together) by Erika Strum last weekend in the Eno Gallery in Hillsborough; sat in the car for twenty minutes trying to talk myself out of it.

Don't need it... Don't need it... Don't need it...Okay, just go try it on.
Maybe it will look bad and you can walk away. Such a cunning plan I had!

Then she told me it was reversible. Ergh.

It makes a lovely tinkling noise, like a little wind chime at my neck. And it's ART dammit.

Speaking of art - I L.O.V.E. the marsh paintings by Jacob Cooley. I can practically smell the brine.

Really like the paintings by Larry Gray too. They are so much more evocative in person. Could look at them forever.







My Durham skyline necklace by Metamorphosis Metals is finally complete! Major the Bull added today at Vespertine.

Also bought this adorable Bitchy Resting Face bird print: 

Enough of art. (As if.)

Now on to the world of dating.

Had a very nice date Wednesday night. Funny, nice looking (like a white haired Mark Ruffalo), proper usage of both English and utensils. Two sweet kisses on the lips at the end. Text yesterday that he would be back in town in a couple of weeks and we'd do it again. Well okay then. Just remember those cowboy boots, Mister.

On the same topic: 

A "friend" had an interesting dating experience recently...

It's Date #2. While driving/showing him around town (he's from another city in NC), a hand was laid on the thigh while driving, sans permission (if it's not obvious, he was the hand layer). Later he went in for a kiss, not once, but twice, calling for the cheek deflect move. There were more dating crimes, but these were the most egregious. 

She politely explained the lack of spark in an email, but now he is begging for forgiveness, to the tune of four to five groveling emails. My "friend" is torn between salvaging a friendship (same profession), or cutting her losses. 

What say you readers? 

Line crossed, no going back? Will he take forgiveness as a sign of hope? Will she be fighting him off for the remainder if she does extend the olive branch? Or should she stick to the initial lack of spark email and call it a day (meaning, don't respond to any of his groveling)? 

Y'all have a good week, free from hand layers...unless of course, you want that.

Zoos and Tattoos

Last weekend brought a trip to the NC Zoo in Ashboro.

Confession #1: My expectation was pretty low.
Unfairly, the expectation was something along the lines of a gas station zoo with pacing cats, poo flinging monkeys, and bear baiting on the side.
But I was so wrong. There was not one cage. They don't have a plethora of animals, but the ones they have are all in quasi-natural environments, or as close as the North Carolina countryside  can come to a savanna (or savannah) in Africa or the forests of Madagascar. After walking close to seven miles, we still had not seen all of the North American portion of the zoo.
All four gorillas were out; the silverback was a particularly handsome and noble looking fellow. Hanging out in the sun with his three girls.
There seemed to be plenty of zoo folks around to stop ijits (there's always at least one) from annoying the animals with dangling bananas and such.

Confession #2: Some folks don't know a monkey (baboon) from an ape* (gorilla, chimpanzee). Fair enough. But how about someone telling their child to look at the monkey - and it's a LEMUR!?
You know what? I judge them. (okay, I judge those other people too.)

Dear god in heaven - at least read the sign. Don't pass your ignoramus-ness down to your children.


The aviary was fantastic, plus we had a break from hearing about "monkeys". These pictures are from the interwebz, but we saw each of them in the flesh:

Victoria Crowned Pigeon

Scarlett Ibis

Red Capped Cardinal

And these little brilliant green birds:

Blue-winged Leafbird

I would love to go back in the fall when the weather's cooler (and it's not Earth Day) and do the whole thing.

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On the tattoo front, I finally! got in to see Kathryn at Dogstar Tattoo last Tuesday. Paid my $50 drawing fee and go back in a month to see what she's come up with. A raven on a white oak tree branch is the plan.
I am really excited about it.

Tattoo'd Girls by Wylie Hunter & The Cazadores
http://www.myspace.com/music/player?sid=86514321&ac=now

"Oooh Lord you know
I love me some tattooed girls
Between their inkstained skin
and their mischievous grins
You know they're givin' my head a whirl"

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* Did you know the gibbon is the only ape with a tail?

Weekly Roundup

First, let me 'splain about the whole email blog post thingy.

Following me does not mean you will get the posts, it just means you like me and I like that. It makes me happy to see all those little square faces to my left. And it's important to keep The Sock Monkey Hat happy!

To get the posts automatically you have to do one (only one) of these things (starting with biggest pain in ass factor):
- Bookmark the site and remember to check it every day (okay, every week), 
- Sell your soul one more time Sign up for Google Reader and add this blog to your subscriptions
- Add your email address in the space marked "Email address" under the title of the blog (see it? very faint gray writing in a white box), then click the SUBMIT button alllllll the way to the right of the white box.

Hope this helps.

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Oscar spotted him a Yellow Shafted Flicker this morning.

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Two people I know had their appendixes out last week and both of them had a bit of a scare because of it.
My darling niece was medi-vacced from Juneau to Seattle because of hers. They are both on the mend now though. Whew!

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Invited into the inner Drag Queen circle last night (which was our first anniversary of volunteering). We were asked to join The Queens for a drink after Drag Bingo. Seriously exciting.

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I had a norovirus (milder version, but still ewwww) on Tuesday and lost 6 lbs. in one day. Thanks for helping me over that plateau  I'd been hovering on for weeks. Haven't wanted to eat anything but tuna salad since. Weird.

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