aint nobody got the shine like you

Over the fence

I was talking to my neighbor the other day. She has a 5 year old daughter who is a very active, very imaginative little girl. She said Madison 'tested positive' for ADHD and they were working on medicating her so that she could go to school. That sort of made me sad. Any comments or thoughts on this issue?

down with O.C.B.?

tonight we took the kids to old country buffet for my dad's 55th birthday dinner celebration. the same OCB we used to go to after church during my junior high/senior high years. i hated it then, as i hated most foods that weren't spaghetti, waffles, or PBJ-ish. the things i used to like there were very, very flavor-hidden: white fish covered in butter/pepper, macaroni & cheese, & the cinnamon rolls. sometimes i would try the green beans. and when i went up to the buffet to get some food tonight, i was laughing out loud: the foods offered looks the same, they smell the same, they're in the same spot on the buffet table, and i had the same apprehension about slopping any particular item on my plate: this WILL make me feel sick later.

gregory hemingway

strange.

stranger.

check this out

click on the link in the title. go on. do it. you won't regret it. this lil music video came to me via my friend, emily. vaguely european, vaguely reminiscent of abba. ah yes. or maybe bacarra's "yes, sir, i can boogie." a barrel of laughs, but deadly cool. my favorite part is where they drive off into outer space in that sweet convertible.

o-town

i heart omaha.

and my omaha people.

Free fonts

This is the best free font website I've found. They have a fun "logos" section of fonts that is fun to check out. We ripped off the Superman logo and made a t-shirt for Linus yesterday.

goodbye targhetto, hello j. crew

i received an email today from j. crew stating:

start spreading the news...
we're opening our newest store atVillage Pointe in Omahain just under two weeks.(we couldn't think of a more perfect place)

GRAND OPENING AUGUST 1st*
Village Pointe
17255 Davenport Street
Omaha, NE

when i moved to omaha, i could hardly believed that a city this size and with the demographics it has, did not have a j.crew. someone must have smartened up...

hail to the chief

hemingway's birthday today

the recipe for the "papa doble," a drink invented for him at his favorite havana hotel, the floridita

2 ounces grapefruit juice
2 ounces white rum
Juice of 1/2 lime
splashes of maraschino cherry juice
lime twist
crushed ice

So be it.

Who Cares B'fast
Tues., July 25th
6:30-10ish
4206 Davenport St. (1 block N of Dodge & 42nd)
children welcome, pajamas encouraged
Bring something to share if you'd like.

Who Cares Festival Week?

In Nebraska, do they call the week of fund-raising for PBS the 'Festival Week'?-- anyway, they did in Iowa.

So, Caron is in town this coming week. Darby is throwing a party on Fri. Wanna have another Who Cares Breakfast and make it one Festival* of a week? Would people be available to have breakfast at my house on Tuesday? You know, really early, like we used to.

*we will not be fund-raising for anything

goodbye targhetto: the picture version

bienvenidos a miami

remember that will smith song, "miami"? i loved that song. so catchy. "party in the city when the heat is on, all night on the beach til the break of dawn...."

we are leaving in an hour to pick cathy up in st. louis. then we move along into the time of our adult lives. fun fun fun in chattum!

stella awards

Time once again to review the winners of the Annual "Stella Awards." The Stella Awards are named after 81 year-old Stella Liebeck who spilled hot coffee on herself and successfully sued McDonald's (in NM). That case inspired the Stella Awards for the most frivolous, ridiculous, successful lawsuits in the United States.

Here are this year's winners:

5th Place (tie): Kathleen Robertson of Austin, Texas, was awarded $80,000. by a jury of her peers after breaking her ankle tripping over a toddler who was running inside a furniture store. The owners of the store were understandably surprised at the verdict, considering the misbehaving little toddler was Ms. Robertson's son.

5th Place (tie): 19-year-old Carl Truman of Los Angeles won $74,000 and medical expenses when his neighbor ran over his hand with a Honda Accord. Mr. Truman apparently didn't notice there was someone at the wheel of the car when he was trying to steal his neighbor's hubcaps.
5th Place (tie): Terrence Dickson of Bristol, Pennsylvania, was leaving a house he had just finished robbing by way of the garage. He was not able to get the garage door to go up since the automatic door opener was malfunctioning. He couldn't re-enter the house because the door connecting the house and garage locked when he pulled it shut. The family was on vacation, and Mr. Dickson found himself locked in the garage for eight days. He subsisted on a case of Pepsi he found, and a large bag of dry dog food. He sued the homeowner's insurance claiming the situation caused him undue mental anguish. The jury agreed, to the tune of $500,000. In my opinion this is so outrageous that it should have been 2nd Place!

4th Place: Jerry Williams of Little Rock, Arkansas, was awarded $14,500. and medicalmexpenses after being bitten on the buttocks by his next door neighbor's beagle. The beagle was on a chain in its owner's fenced yard. The award was less than sought because the jury felt the dog might have been just a little provoked at the time by Mr. Williams who had climbed over the fence into the yard and was shooting it repeatedly with a pellet gun.

3rd Place: A Philadelphia restaurant was ordered to pay Amber Carson of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, $113,500. after she slipped on a soft drink and broke her coccyx (tailbone). The beverage was on the floor because Ms. Carson had thrown it at her boyfriend 30 seconds earlier during an argument.

2nd Place: Kara Walton of Claymont, Delaware, successfully sued the owner of a night club in a neighboring city when she fell from the bathroom window to the floor and knocked out her two front teeth. This occurred while Ms. Walton was trying to sneak through the window in the ladies room to avoid paying the $3.50 cover charge. She was awarded $12,000 and dental expenses.

1st Place: This year's runaway winner was Mrs. Merv Grazinski of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Mrs. Grazinski purchased a brand new 32-foot Winnebago motor home. On her first trip home, (from an OU football game), having driven onto the freeway, she set the cruise control at 70 mph and calmly left the driver's seat to go into the back & make herself a sandwich. Not surprisingly, the RV left the freeway, crashed and overturned. Mrs.Grazinski sued Winnebago for not advising her in the owner's manual that she couldn't actually do this. The jury awarded her $1,750,000 plus a new motor home. The company actually changed their manuals on the basis of this suit, just in case there were any other complete morons around.

whocares after dark

we're so good at the early morning meetings. we're probably even better at night.

come over for a midsummer night gathering.

friday, july 28
8:00 pm
my house (actually the whealy's - email me if you need directions)
drinks and dessert
maybe games
caron will be there

rsvp
and if you can't come, remember, it'll hurt us more than it hurts you...

farewell targhetto

daphne just told me that targhetto closes today. farewell, nasty old store. many a night did we stroll down that long, really long lane from the snack bar to the electronics department. where i bought my first nursing bra on clearance. i recall your snow-packed parking lot that no one bothered to plow. you were a meeting ground for the mid-town. a place of refuge for the newly bored stay-at-home mom. i became friends with your employees. i squandered money on your goods. when i think of you, i will always smile & shake my head: what a place!

foiled

we took the kayak out last night after supper. there is no better way to spend a stinking hot evening than floating on a lake with your family nearby. this may be the one purchase i've ever made that i have had no second thoughts about. when jason went out, he took annabelle with him. she sits so low in the kayak that it's hard to see her in there unless you're up close.

i got up early this morning, again. earlier than i had wanted to, but figured it was all worth it because i was going out on the lake for an hour and a half before jason leaves for work. and as soon as i opened the door, i saw lightning, heard thunder, & knew my plans had been foiled. so i went up to the gas station, got a coffee, listened to NPR, & drove around the lake. aah, and it's only 6am.

farewell

bye, bye, my little friend. i loved you. i hated you. you were a blessing...and now you are the sacrafice for a new computer. have fun in texas.

the miracle of life

so i've had a little box called "Basil Mini Pot" for years. maybe 3, 4 years... ever intending to actually open it and plant the seeds and grow my own basil. i've moved it from my first apartment in Omaha (on Cass) to the Glen Arlo and then to Julie's house... it somehow made it through the nearly 2 years at Julie's house and became a part of the many boxes that joined me here in my own, new house in Peoria, Illinois. it was unpacked, put on my kitchen counter, and left there for me to see daily for several weeks. one day last week i was seized with "i must just plant these stupid seeds!" and stop toting them around from house to house.
skeptical that these small seeds in a plastic packet would actually grow now, after 3 or 4 years, i followed the instructions, put them in their "Mini Pot" and left them on my window sill.

AND THEY GREW!!! little sprouts, pushing up soil, still able to spring to life after years in a plastic packet - without nourishment, light, attention, soil, water... their potential remained.
this gives me hope somehow. that seeds planted in my soul, and not attended for a while, are still capable of growing and bringing forth life with even the smallest amount of overdue attention. may it be!

old tricks

i heard a baby stirring at 4:45, and then couldn't go back to sleep.

i confess: since moving to illinois, i've been trying to sleep *later. so the days won't seem so long. and because i have so much less to do. but this morning i am here with the dark monday morning & the early ABC news & i can honestly say that i feel at home in this hour, in this place, with my family. finally.

I'm back.

Just pulled in from a week long trip to my folks house. My brother was in town with his wife and kids (wasn't he just in high school? where does time go?) from Michigan. We had fun catching up. My Dad bought my son a funny GI Joe tent with this funny logo on it. My brother is a fisheries biologist. Here's the caption for the picture. "Keith Tollenaere: Member of an elite government program to rid the world of terroist fish who are part of the Axis of Evil."

In other Dyer news: I have been accepted to my very first art fair-- Village Pointe's "Art on the Pointe". I'm so excited. It will be in September. I'll keep you posted.

wise blood

i just finished reading "wise blood," flannery o'connor's first novel. it's wonderful. she calls it a comic novel in her preface, but you have to be able to laugh at things like a shrunken and mummified man being stolen from a museum by a crazy child. if you're sort of hearty, i recommend it. and best of all, caron! it features a stolen gorilla suit! and true to what you always say, it's sort of a liberating, joy-giving thing. but gorillas aside. again in the preface, she writes: "'wise blood' was written by an author congenitally innocent of theory, but one with certain preoccupations. that belief in christ is to some a matter of life and death has been a stumbling block for readers who would prefer to think it a matter of no great consequence. for them hazel motes' integrity lies in his trying with such a vigor to get rid of the ragged figure who moves from tree to tree in the back of his mind. for the author hazel's integrity lies in his not being able to. does one's integrity ever lie in what he is not able to do? i think that usually it does, for free will does not mean one will, but many wills conflicting in one man. freedom cannot be conceived simply. it is a mystery and one which a novel, even a comic novel, can only be asked to deepen." man. she's the coolest.

dog and house

would anyone like to adopt my dog and house for the weekend of aug. 4th?? fri. morning thru sunday morning?? it's easy as cake and you'll get a prize - waddya say? anyone?

how can you say no to a face like that?

pandora.com

last fall our friend aaron showed us this website, which will create a virtual "radio station" just for you, for free, to stream whenever you want. just give them the name of one artist or song, and they create a playlist of simillar music you might like. it's beautiful. and helpful if, like me, you're on a summer campaign to find new things to listen to. yesterday, among the stacks of an otherwise abandoned library, i remembered this website, typed in "sufjan stevens," and listened all day. found a lot of great new music. all the while taking inventory of the library's collection.

a word of warning: if you try to make a playlist by typing in "feist," you'll get a few eva cassidy songs in the mix. so it's not a flawless system. it's just a computer. it can't perceive irony.

i miss you all. time for a summer reunion. more on that later...

PEDS

i saw kate's badge. she wears it inside of her white coat & when she walks into a patient's room, she opens one side of the trench coat, allowing her badge to shine officially & says, "dr. venable, MED-PEDS".


good work, kate. you're so official.

and also: when i was little & we'd go try on shoes & i wasn't wearing pantyhose or tights, my mom would say, "yeah, we need a ped or two". did anyone else's mom say that? it's not her fault...but for some reason that bugged me. ped.

hello

caron called from her show while i was changing into my orange mumu. so i sat against the bathroom door jam to listen -- braless and in my underwear -- and held the phone hard against my ear. i think it was peak at thirty. but i wasn't sure. there were cheers and applause. and a guitar. and of course her slow voice. each had to take its turn, crackling through every third beat or so. then there was a 'see ya sucka' and the hangup. what a pal. thanks car. you had me at hello.

garage sale???

so i have been collecting things in our basement that we don't use. old clothes, old furniture, knick knacks... i have been collecting to have a garage sale, and i think i have enough to have a sale on my own.

BUT - i was thinking how grand it could be if we all collaborated in this effort. i am sure some of you have some things to get rid of, eh? and we could all use a little extra cashola in the pocket, right? if we combined and decided who has the best location for a sale we could be countin out our benjamins, baby.

so who's in?? any takers??

emote

i wore a baseball cap the night of the show. it was in august & i had just had my appendix removed 2 weeks previous...and learned of a subsequent miscarriage due to complication related to medication & whatnot. only god knows. and we had scheduled a show at mick's, adam, austin, & i. that night i sat at the far end of the bar & watched those fellas sing songs. i still felt sad. i remember hearing, for the first time, austin's cover of "stations", by denison witmer. i pulled the hat down low & cried hard. i remember cheryl was sitting next to me then, with kyle. i always think of austin when i hear that song. i wish i had a recording of his rendition. he owns that tune.

i've been sitting at out card-table kitchen table for 2 hours, practicing songs & listening to familiar melodies, trying to revise as i see is needed. tonight i'm opening a show downtown. the girl i know from the video store in town is coming. she's cool. she has cool glasses & likes movies (duh).

i've been practicing "stations" as a tribute to austin/becky, way out in california. it's stupid...i'm in springfield...they're in california...but somehow i want them to know how much we miss them...so, if you're reading this, we love you guys. god bless you, preacherman. and preacherman's wife!

Got the book?

Hi all. I'm leaving town tomorrow morning (Tues.) and am curious to ready "Shopgirl" by Steve Martin. I don't want to buy the book and there are hardly any libraries open on Monday-- arg. Does anyone have it? Let me borrow it?

TWLOHA

check out this myspace, click in the blog section READ THE STORY HERE...

this page has reminded me of how minimal my problems really are, and how so many people out there really need help to be rescued from their addictions.

summer rain

our first summer in omaha was spent living in caron's basement. it rained so much that summer. i came home from work one day, only to find caron and justin running up and down the stairs heaving water back outside where it belonged - away from the basement, our home. and this was not an isolated event. i don't remember a lot about the precipitation last summer as i was busy working. but this summer... this summer just seems so dry. it will storm in the evening for about thirty minutes, but there has been few, maybe not any, down-right dreary days.

until today. and i have to say that it has been one of the best days ever. people say that sunshine is good for the soul. that may be true, but a cloudy, rainy day has to be just as good for you. when else can you feel good about staying indoors, watching a movie or reading a book. summertime always seems to be "go-go, fit in as much as you possibly can." and days like this encourage me to slow down and just enjoy life.

i hope all of you are enjoying today as much as i am.

A Purposely Picture-less Post: Part I

A picture is worth 1000 words, and there are limiteless images I could attach to this post, but I would prefer for you ladies to picture this in your minds-eye.

Nate leaves for Los Angeles early in the morning. My mom comes over to keep Isaac and helps me pack the last of my few meager belongings for the trip. "Oh Honey, just take your swimming suit. It is California for Pete's Sake, and think about it, it isn't like you are going to see any people again!"

She has a point. I put it in the bag.

I have a relatively uneventful flight-out and call Nate from the cab as I am approaching the hotel. He will meet me in the lobby. As the cab pulls up front my husband steps out to the curb. I quickly realize I cannot easily get to him due to all the camera crews in the way. When I dodge and weave my way through to a very heartfult and welcoming hug, Nate informs me that not just some, but ALL of the Ms. Universe 2006 contestants are staying in our hotel for 2 weeks. (ha ha!)

It isn't like laying by the pool with meerly Ms. Georgia or Ms. Rhode Island (intimidating enough), but this is the cream of the crop! Ms. Venezuela, Ms. Denmark, Ms. Sweden. I think not. Needless to say, I have a fabulous farmers tan from happily spending my time aimlessly wandering through downtown L.A. in my t-shirt and jeans.

A Purposely Picture-less Post: Part II

Nate leaves for a morning at the convention center around 8am. This is a business trip for him. I take my time leaving to wander a few hours and grab something from one of the endless 50,000 Starbucks' crammed in the 10 square block area of downtown L.A. As I stand in the foyer waiting for the elevator, I can hear chatter as the lift approaches. The doors open and in a very clown-like-circus-fashion, it is crammed full of potential Ms. Universes. I immediately respond with a polite response of "I'll catch the next one", only to receive an equally pleasant-toned response of "Oh No dear, we have room for one more" out of the mouth of the older chaparone (about my mothers' age). As the doors close on the corner of my messanger bag in such close quarters, I realize two things: #1) I am by far the shortest person in this elevator and #2), these ladies are on their way to the swimming pool. (why not). Some are modestly covered in hotel robes (with their pagent sashes of course) while others are simply in their bikini's alone, and ALL are wearing some form of stillettos. Everyone wears stillettos to the pool - duh.

The doors open and the stay-at-home-trying-to-be-semi-trendy-mom-from-Nebraska piles out of the elevator first (camera's flashing, again, of course) followed immediately by nearly 15 contestants.

It just occurs to me as I type this. The sign in the elevator was a max. capacity of 1300 lbs. I wonder if 15 or 17 of us even maxed it? Probably not :-)

farmer's market

just look at the spoils from today's mid-morning trip to the farmers market. ali, anne marie and i decided to shop for our food and then cooked a delicious brunch. for obvious reasons i have titled this photo 'laden with vegetables.'

ANYONE ANYONE!!!

this just in: sufjan stevens is touring again! more info here.

Coffee with Colleagues

So Voices for Children is doing a little something to raise awareness within the community in terms of what is happening in the lives of Nebrsaka children. This is our first of many to come. If any of you are interested, it would be great to see you there. Each community meeting will focus on a different topic. This meeting is just a general overview of child advocacy ... what does it mean, how does it work, and how can people be involved? We will focus on a few current issues.
Should be interesting!

caffeine song

listen to ken jensen's caffeine song. we sing it all the time.

cabin fever

here are some pictures from our trip to minnesota. there'll be more posted at the family website. they are pretty funny. we had a fiesta night (good idea, corrie), complete with mustaches & a pinata.

My carpet, my idol.

I love a clean house. It makes me feel at peace. This is an unhealthy obsession at times, I admit. (Funny how if you stop by rarely is my house THAT clean.) Anyway, the condition of my family room carpet was driving me nuts so last week we rented a Rug Doctor and went to town. Ah! It felt so good! That was last Thursday. On Friday, I walked into the family room to discover Linus had scribbled all over our off-white carpet with a bright red Sharpie. Kyle was scrubbing furiously trying to get it up before I saw it. Monday, I walked into the family room to discover that Linus had tipped over a full cup of coffee-- hours prior-- on our carpet. Today, after a nice bike ride Linus and I strolled into our family room to watch an episode of 'Max and Ruby' only to hear Kyle yell: "He's goin' to get sick!" and watch Linus vomit (color: bright red-orange) all over the carpet. *sigh* I feel as if I'm being spoken to by Someone.

7:08 pm

just a few more hours left of the day ladies. i have recipes from daphne and cheryl. additionally, i intend to include caron's breakfast recipe as well as ali's scone and beets recipes. any more takers before we start the cookbook-making process???

hope you all had a fabulous 4th of july!

Probably old news to you...

Ky and I watched the 4th of July Praire Home Companion special on PBS last night and really enjoyed the Wailin' Jennys. Anyone else?

Is anyone ready for these again?

On sale at the American Apparel store.

Calling all Who Cares Cooks

This is just a reminder of the JULY 5 recipe deadline. I haven't really received any recipes yet so the cookbook might be rather slim ...