cough cough

Like Camille up there, I've been coughing for a month or more, but not as well dressed.

It's run the gamut from delicate Camille-like coughs, to hacking up chunks of lung.
I began today coughless, but by nightfall I was coughing up an invisible hairball. You never quite know what kind you'll get.

It all started sometime around Christmas, just in time to ruin my holiday. It's an annual occurrence, this, so I can't say I'm surprised. It usually comes at the same time. It's prompted by my allergies, and aggravated by the constant change of temperatures here, literally snowing one day, and needing the AC on a few days later. Each time the weather changes, my cough seems to return with a vengeance.
It has gotten better, but it just won't go away quite completely.
In the meantime, I've been taking everything I can think of, from Mucinex to Robitussin to bags of Ricola to Off-brand-i-tussin to Echinacea tea...to the precious gift of purloined Codeine (a gift from my father).

And it's helped, but not enough to be completely free of it...yet.

My mother, being the helpful loving nag soul she is, has pressured and pressured me to go to the doctor, but I have thus far resisted. Yes, I'm childish and neurotic, but in my (weak) defense, I'm not without some reasons for resisting:

Reason one: years ago, when I first went to the doctor for this same annual ailment, he told me he couldn't do anything for me, but write a prescription for codeine (which didn't help much), two: it is getting better, albeit slowly. 3: I'm scared of doctors. They weigh you.

Since her efforts to get me to the doctor haven't succeeded, she did the next best thing. She asked one of the women at her beauty parlor.

Betty is a stick thin, leathery, slightly hunch-backed, spry 65 year old.
She has an flair for clothes a 40 year old truck stop hooker might wear, perfectly spiked blonde frosted hair and lungs that are just as perfectly spiked and frosted with nicotine, I'm sure.

Apparently, according to this sibyl of the smoker's cough, Delsym cough syrup (chased by a shot of gin and a cig, no doubt) will "cure you right up."
So that's what I'm on now.

I'm almost finished the bottle. Wish me luck.

twilight world

I think I wore this cassette out from overuse, rewound and played and rewound and played until it was a tangled mess.
I'd sing along, trying to get my voice as deep as Corinne Drewery's.
Never worked.
Anyway, it's nice to hear again.

chicken box

Write your own joke here.

Another picture from the Lower Ninth. A NOLA instituion, sadly missed by many.

"I have okra..."

One of the joys of living in my neighborhood are the sounds I get to hear, from the church bells every morning to the ice cream trucks to this new and wonderful one:




For the past few weeks, each afternoon, he's been slowly tooling around in his hand painted car, selling his vegetables and singing his hypnotic song.

Prospect 1

Yesterday, I drove down to the Ninth Ward to see some of the art installations that have been put up for Prospect 1.
While there, I took a few (bad) pictures. I hadn't been there since I'd seen Waiting for Godot, out in the desolation a few years ago or so.
The exhibit really stretches throughout the city, so I haven't seen but a tiny portion of it. Unfortunately, it's ending soon. It's really quite something, with artists from around the world providing art.

One of at least two huge boat like structures. This one indoors, with a sort of tidal pool inside of it which made an eerie noise.





Inside the still gutted Battle Ground Baptist Church, a large sculpture made of found items.

Bingo!

(click to enlarge...and play!)




Shamelessly stolen from ladybunny, but it's too cute not to share.

i-l-l-i-n-o-i-s

In early honor of Obama's inauguration (ok, not really, but it sounded good), I drove myself home through the rain tonight listening to Sufjan Stevens' "Illinois"
I usually skip forward to "They Are Night Zombies..." however. I'm impatient like that. I just love the chanting, and it always seems perfect for creepy weather.




It's just kind of a shame there are no new or better videos for this put up in nearly a full year

Petticoat Injunction

June Flowers


Jennifer


Audrie Dove (1999 Pinup winner)


Ronni

See all the pretty girls here.

Many thanks to Salty Miss Jill for leading me into this fabulous wonderland of crinoline and razor burn.

Die Nasty

I was reminiscing today about my worst year of teaching (oh, about 17 years after 1989 or so).
The first day, I remember looking over the rolls.

There were two Krystals, one Alexis, one Fallon, and no less than
three Dominiques.

I should have seen it coming.

(If there had been a Sammy Jo, I probably wouldn't be here to type this.)

Orange Julius, anyone?

I'm not sure if you know or not, but "Mimosa" here has been decided as the color of 2009 by the color gods at Pantone.

Please recolor your walls, cars, wardrobes, lives accordingly.

2008's color was blue iris, but then you all know that already, right?


(By the way, I'm embarrassed to admit, but it took me a while to realize how mimosa got its name, since I'm thinking of the flower and not...apparently...the drink...whatever, it still looks more like an Orange Julius to me.)

Five minutes of my New Years day

I went to the mall today, thinking it would be less crowded than it had been before Christmas. I was right.

While there, I stopped into the men's room.

I went into the stall. A few minutes later, a guy came into the next stall.

(and no, this is not going where you think it is by the way...sadly).

I heard him put the toilet seat up and close the door.

Then, two feet from my feet, just under the partition he set down on the floor a black handgun.

Three seconds later he set down a silver one right next to it.

I tried not to breathe. I got up as quickly as I could, gave a cursory wash to the hands, (I'm not dying with germs on my hands, sorry), and nervously hustled my way out of the mall.

On my way out I tried to find a mall security guard, but couldn't, and frankly I didn't want to be there any longer than I had to be.

I'm sure he'd left the bathroom by the time I'd gotten to out of the food court, and I have no idea what he looked like. I only saw the two handguns, and that's all I needed to see, so there would be little info I could tell anyway.

I haven't heard of any mass killings at the mall today yet, so I guess it turned out all right, but it does make me wonder.