Random tidbits

1 hard boiled egg
1 slice of slightly moldy yogurt cheese
1 orange
2 dates

That's all I was able to scrounge out of the fridge for dinner tonight.
Ah, the life of a single woman... No need to put dinner on the table for anyone but me. It's a small freedom that I try not to take for granted.
So, yes, it's time to go grocery shopping; however, I leave for ILLINois on Thursday, so grocery shopping will have to wait. "What?!" you say, "ILLINois?!" Yes. I'm heading off to Peoria, of all places, for a family reunion. I haven't seen some of my relatives since before my dad died 13 years ago. This ought to be interesting... Look out, here comes the wacky West Coast branch of the family! I figure it really doesn't matter where you have a family reunion, since it's pretty much all about sitting around swapping old stories, sharing a few new ones, and eating and drinking a lot. Oh boy, that reminds me of a story... Here we go...

I rarely drink alcohol anymore, but when I was younger I certainly didn't shy away from it. I remember the last family reunion my immediate family attended together (before my parents' divorce). I have 2 brothers and 6 male cousins, all of whom are bigger, if not older than me, and I, for some crazy reason, had decided to keep up with them, drink for drink. We were drinking whiskey with beer chasers. We started at the home of my Aunt & Uncle, who still live in the small Midwest mining town where my dad and his siblings grew up. We then moved "downtown," where there's a bar on every corner, and drank our way through, bar by bar. I wouldn't re-live the following morning for ANYthing. I couldn't move, but the bed felt like it was moving plenty, if you know what I mean. My father had kept up with us pretty well the night before and was in almost as much pain the morning after as I was. Ah, family reunions... I can hardly wait!

Did you know that today was Bob Dylan's birthday? Dave Morey at KFOG keeps me informed of such things. I think he said it was his 64th today. He played an all-Dylan "10 @10" set. I quite enjoyed it. "Tangled Up in Blue" is definitely one of my all-time faves... Such fond memories of my college days... We listened to a lot of Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Grateful Dead, Elvis Costello, Harry Belafonte, Harry Nilsson... I love how music can just take you right back to a certain time and place. How it can evoke emotions... lift you up when you're feeling down... bring you to tears when you're feeling melancholy. There's just nothing that moves me like music does. It is my favorite drug, my best friend, and my greatest expense. I'm fairly certain I spent more money on music than clothes last year. That would be true for this year too, if I hadn't just gone on a bit of a shopping spree last week, for my upcoming trip. C'est la vie!

Well, that's all I've got for now. My trusty laptop won't be going with me to Peoria, so you probably won't be hearing from me until I return.

Miss me...