Yes I am finally writing about the trip, I will try and keep the gushing to a minimum so as not to make all of you totally sick. Also, I am very tired so I may not make sense at all times but if you squint it should be fine.

 

So, last Thursday at two a.m. I left my my house to drive to Buffalo to catch my flight out to Houston. At the border the guard wasn't quite sure about me. I made the mistake of being truthful when he asked what I was going to do in the states (I said sing!) this made him worried that I would be making money. Also, I do have a nose ring which indicates I may in fact be smuggling drugs. After beating the inside of my already empty trunk he seemed satisfied that they were safe with me in the country. The getting there flights all went as they were supposed to and I ended up at my destination on time. Stacky was there to meet me though I did need to call her (after walking for ten minutes) to assure me that they were going to let me out of the airport as there were no exit signs (can't imagine the chaos there would be if there were a fire) just long corridors leading to more corridors leading to more terminals and restaurants and such. Luckily, as Stacky had promised, a corridor spit me out into humidity of the outside world and she and The Dude were there to greet me. Stacky quickly drove us home (that is the only sort of driving which she does, that I saw (not that I'm complaining, I like going fast)). The Dude eyed me for the ride home and I let him be. When we got home though I couldn't help but chat with him about what was going in his life. He was very happy to tell me about anything I asked. In great detail. The boy has great linguistic ability (and I actually know about such things, I went to school for that or something) and it is easy to forget how old he is (he's also tall like his daddy). Also he's a cutie patootie. 
Here is a picture of my lovely hosts. 

 

Houston has people in it who all look the same. Well, at the airport and in the areas we went anyway. That is, they are not all the same colour or shape but they all wear EXACTLY the same clothes. Generica to the extreme. It's so strange to me because where I live different sorts of people where different sorts of clothes, not always of course, but there are some obvious cultural trends across different ethnic and economic groups and there are so many more alternative type people (in that they actually exist outside of music shops).

 

On the Friday atreides and Welsh girl and the Despoina came over. It was SO nice to see atreides again. I really like that guy and I had been anxious to meet his family. 

His family are so lovely. Welsh Girl is so pretty, and smiles just, all the time. I love that so much. She is one of those people who you could almost fool yourself into thinking isn't paying attention or following along (because she's so serene, happy and so not pushy) and then she quietly turns around and cracks the wittiest sharp remark (with that serene smile still on her face) that just makes you reel with laughter. Then she'll turn back to her baby with a smile and carry on. She's way too cool. Of course we know atreides, he's, atreides! My best horseshoe partner yet. And their offspring is absolutely edible. Check this out. 

 

 

She had many introspective and insightful comments for me regarding the dog;  "Pooppy" she said insistently  pointing at Stacky's darling, loving Rotti. Also she's got a will of steal and springs back from upset very fast. I love kids like that. Dog knocks over, fall down cry. Stand up, play with dog, learn to hold on to table or crouch down for stability next time dog comes by. Absolutely tolerant of the licks of love. They are lucky I let them take her home. Also, I fear for atreides and Welsh girl as parents because that girl is going to be something special to look at I think, that often attracts… attention. Stacky made us yummy Texan food, the etouffee of crawfish. It was super yummy, would eat again.

 

Stayed up too late, (though not insane) chatting with my lovely hosts that first night. I wanted to know all the stories about the hows and whens of their courtship and the birth of their first child and whatnot. So, they told me all the stories. They are good stories, especially their courtship. It's harlequin romance novel material. I enjoy very much meeting couples who are still in love. It's really so delightful. 

 

On Saturday I awoke to the sounds of a giggling child. It is my most favouritest sound to wake up to. The Dude was in his parents bed waking them up in the nicest way possible. I sat in my bed smiling at their shared joy, remembering when our little people were much littler and did such things with us regularly still. Luckily for me when he popped out of their bedroom he had hugs for me too which I took advantage of quickly. Clock and the Dude made pancakes for breakfast which was very delightful. I told you people were going to make food for me! They did!! It was SOOO cool, and you bet your asses that I loved it. 

 

Well this is where out story takes it's only downturn. Stacky took me out into the world of Houston shops to try and procure an iPad for my sweet man. I really, really wanted to be able to bring one back for him as he works too hard and needs nice things to play with. I love being able to make him smile the excited smile of getting a new toy. And, because they are selling out in the US the ones slated for Canada have now gone there and we won't get them here for a month or more. So, it was so perfect, or it could have been had any store actually had them available. The Apple store had TWENTY-TWO of them on display. But none for purchase. Really? I can play with one of them on the three giant tables set out with 22 of them, but I cannot buy one for real. Gah. So that was a bust and I must say I was very disappointed, but such is life. 

 

When we got home from the shopping excursion technician and his wife had already arrived to the house. Not only that but the coffee table had been converted into a sound board and the room into an accompanying studio. Here's the pic that proves it. 

 

 

Technician and his wife are absolutely the nicest people ever. They are both quiet and smart, so when they say stuff you should listen. They both smile a lot and laugh easily. I've mentioned it before, but I love people who smile and laugh easily. I seriously like a good sense of humour. Once we were all introduce and chatted a bit (the Dude was hiding in his room) Stacky brought out one of her special purchases just for me. The Texan Tortilla!

 

Hilarious. Loved it. Interestingly I didn't really get to eat many of those chips becuase at some point in the recording session the Dude slunk out of his room, into the kitchen and pretty much ate the whole giant bowl. Evidently he sat listening to us record eating chips for about an hour. Hahahaha… funny little man. There was a huge circle of chip bits encircling the table afterwards, it looked like a chip explosion, and he just sat there grinning covered in tortilla. 

 

So, then we sang. First we sort of sat around not knowing what to start with, then we looked at 256's lyrics. Tech had already sort of worked out a bit of music for it so we went from there arranging, changing, changing back, speeding up, slowing down. Then we got a bit frustrated with that. So we did something else. We threw around a lot of different ideas throughout the day only four of which we did. I absolutely loved it. I loved being able to sing with technician. I love singing with men. It feels so good. And don't get dirty on me. It's more metaphysical then sexual, (and any good harmony makes me feel this way, but with men particularly (no doubt cause I'm a chick), I remember well the first time I heard Ladysmith Black Mumbaza live - took my breath away) it just feels so right when the sounds are SO right. I imagine it feels like purring. That's sort of what I've always thought. Because we were just figuring out what we were singing there and then it didn't always work out that we all knew the chosen song but luckily the internetz gave us all of the tab, lyric and youtube versions we wanted to get all of us on the same page. I look forward to studio time so that perfection can be achieved on my parts.
Here's a pic of clock doing his thing (really well I might add).


As we continued recording into I finally got a picture of me with the Dude cause he was sitting behind me during recording and I asked him if I could get a picture to take home. He said ok. Here it is.



That Saturday night I stayed up till stupid o'clock chatting with Stacky. She's like, really swell.

On Sunday I taught the Dude Skinamarinkee Doo. He loved it. I hope he still remembers it cause there is nothing sweeter then your kid singing to you, I love you!! 

It took WAAAY too long to get home. I took three planes. It was a bit stupid. I had to spend a night in Philly and was delighted by this reminder in the bathroom;

Just so as you know, if you're mainlining in the bathroom in Philly, they'd prefer if you didn't use the female napkin disposal unit for the old needles. It's important info, and I'm sure drug users would be the types to really listen to such advice. 

So, that was my little trip, two weeks ago. My life is a little bit insane and just writing this not very detailed report has taken that long. Ridiculous. Besides that things are well here. Popsicle returned from her week long Colorado vacation very happy having spent much of her time on horses and adventuring in the wild. Now the world continues to spin too quickly and I have to figure out how the hell I'm gonna finish school on time and keep all of the other balls in the air. Tra-la-la!