The Muddy Rudder in Yarmouth, ask if Millie’s working, because she’s a kick-ass waitress.
Things I want to do in Maine in 2004:
1. Go on a Bailey Island or Portland Cruise
2. Walk around the Back Bay in Portland (I never have!)
3. Walk the bike path in Brunswick (I never have!)
4. Go to Boothbay or Bar Harbor
Things I do not need to bother packing when I’m packing for Maine in 2004:
1. Blowdryer or any kind of hair styling things (curling iron, etc.); you won’t use ’em, and if you need a blowdryer there’s one on the premises
2. More than 5 pairs of pants or 5 shirts. There’s a washer, y’know.
We saw a license plate that said “IMI UBU2”, and I thought Debbie was going to pass out, she was laughing so hard as we discussed the possibility that rather than it meaning “I am I, you be you, too”, it was someone’s name. “Ibi Ubu!” she giggled all the way home. “Ibi Ubu!”
Maybe you had to be there.
And lastly, while we were at The Christmas Tree Shop in Portland, I picked up a paperback, read one paragraph in the middle of the book, and decided that it was probably the worst book ever written. Blood Posse, y’all. I’d even rank it below that fucking Mulvaneys book.
* * *
So the spud has decided that she’s interested in collecting coins, this interest probably brought about by her visit with her paternal grandparents earlier this summer. So she wanted a certain kind of envelope to keep said coins in, and I ran her over to Staples last night so we could find them and buy them and she’d shut the hell up about them.
As we drove home, the spud sitting in the passenger’s seat, happily clutching her box of envelopes to her, I reflected upon just how BORING the act of collecting coins is. I mean, the only thing more boring is collecting stamps, I’m sure.
And then I remembered that when I myself was just a tad younger than she, I collected bottle caps. I had hundreds of the fucking things, all kept in a coffee can, and every time someone in my family found a bottle cap, they were all “Hey, do you have this one?”, and I’d get excited and say “I do, but this is in MUCH better shape!”, and I’d hold it happily to my heart.
One day I realized what a freakish thing it was, to collect bottle caps for no reason, just the sheer act of collecting them, I decided I was lame, and I tossed ’em in the trash.
They’d probably be worth a fortune these days.
(Hee!)
* * *
And amen to this:
Ex-Smokers are not ex-smokers, they are the televangelists of QuitWorld, and do they have a story for you!
I’ve never smoked (except for that one week when I was 19 and didn’t actually inhale. The first time I did actually inhale was the last time I ever put a cigarette to my mouth. But I think I’ve told that story before), and I’m far more tolerant of smokers than many ex-smokers.
See, I’m a big fan of “Say it once, maybe twice, and then keep it to yourself, because NO ONE is interested”, whether it’s about smoking or drinking or failing to clean the bathroom in a timely manner.
* * *
The sunset from our back yard.
Miz Poo hanging out in the back yard.
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heh, I used to collect the plastic clips that come on bread packages, to help keep them closed. No real reason comes to mind for why I chose those… but it irritated the shit out of my mom which amused me… God. What if my kids are like that?!
If you never exhaled what the hell did you do with the smoke that you inhaled?
Okay, I’ll have a nice cup of shut the fuck up now.
Allison – I had actually forgotten it until this very minute, but the spud used to collect the tabs from the top of soda cans. I have no idea what she planned on doing with them, but for a while they were all strung on a piece of yarn and hung from her headboard. Heh.
Nance – Inhale, exhale, same diff. Is it obvious that I never proofread before posting? 🙂
My first collection was matchbook covers. Booorrring. Also, I smoked for about 25 years and finally quit in 1999. I don’t comment to people who still smoke because I know how difficult it is to break that habit. Its an addiction that you have to be ready to end–no amount of nagging or pleading can convince anyone to stop smoking. 🙂
I only smoked for like 5 or 6 years and quit 2 or 3 years ago, and the fact that I’m an ex-smoker coupled with being in the nursing profession REALLY makes me want to “show people the light,” but I remember how stubborn I was to all the talk and how I had to come around to quitting by myself, so I’ve since learned to just keep my mouth shut & thoughts to myself. The only thing I reallyreallyreally resent, though, is when I have to walk through a cloud of hazy smoke simply to walk inside a building in front of which smokers huddle. They can reek if they want to, but damn, why do I? That’s part of why I quit to begin with.
Believe it or not, when I was a kid — way, way, waaaaaaaay back in time:-)– youngsters could get in at the summer afternoon movie matinee for a certain number of bottle caps! (Okay, so I forget how many, but it wasn’t a lot.) Since I live in the South, I’m not sure if this was just a local town thing, regional or what. But it sure was fun, and we had a good REASON to save those bottle caps — providing we were willing to part with them for a movie.
What is scarier is when I actually hear my mother’s opinions spouting out of my mouth to my kid. I swore THAT would never happen!! I am gonna remember the “nice cup of shut the fuck up now”. I am still giggling to myself.
Just came across your blog this weekend (again, I think?) and wanted to say that I love your bit cup of shut the fuck up comment 🙂 I need that one for my mom once in a while. Oh, and as a former smoker, I don’t give a rat’s ass who smokes, LOL.
I never smoked because I’ve almost always been allergic, but my fiance smoked the first time I met him. Thank goodness (for both of us) he quit before we started dating. Smoking issues are one of the few things we argue about because he always compares it to people eating too much and I say how that doesn’t affect other people. I do try not to bug people about quitting because I know what a hard time my fiance had with it. I always try to encourage those trying to quit though.
BTW, Robyn, glad to be reading your journal again. I’ve been blocked at work for quite a while, but regained access recently! Woohoo!
I am not sure which is funnier “IMI UBU2” or “”Have yourself a nice big steaming hot cup of shut the fuck up and get over yourself.” That wasn’t very nice of you Robyn……now your nephew is following me around asking why I can’t stop laughing:P And have you ever thought of saying to HER…….”She probably would’nt run outside on a regular basis to smoke if you would just shutthefuckup”……?
Deb – Sh’yeah, right. LIKE I WOULD! Well, I might THINK of saying it, but y’know I never would. 🙂
I love that friggin’ Poo. She looks like she is saying get yourself a nice big steaming hot cup of shut the fuck up! I gotta remember that one!
Hey – is the Spud interested in US coins or foreign coins? If she’s interested in foreign currency, I think I have some South African and Kenyan coins (and probably some British ones, too) that I could send.
Ya’ know, if you are stoned on Vicodin, Miss Poo looks like a furby.
Fitchypoo – she’s collecting the US coins, the quarters with the states on them. I think in 25 years, they’ll be worth, oh, about 25 cents each, so that’s a very good investment. 🙂
Kate – I am frightened to say that I can see that! Does that mean my brain is naturally Vicodinned?
Hey if da spud isn’t interested…..the nephew is! He has collected foreign coins for awhile now=o)
My hubby collected Playboys till our second child was born, I used to help him find the old ones. He sold them during a fit of “gotta set an example for the kidlets” He kept a few, the ones he had gotten autographs on, and sold the rest for three times what he had paid for them! LOL! There is always someone who thinks that your junk is their treasure!
I love the picture of the sunset it’s beautiful, I wish we could see the sunset like that. The way our house sets down in a bit of a dip like area we don’t see the sunset and it sucks!!
I smoked for a week when I was 13. I thought it was stupid and quit. If only I could apply the same impenetrable opinion to eating high calorie foods…