Troving With Macy Gray

A couple of days ago I went troving with Macy Gray. Yes, THE Macy Gray--the one with the really groovy voice and great lyrics. Okay, she wasn't actually with me in body, but she was with me in spirit and song. We were on a mission: The Orange Twine Mission. She sang; and I drove, stopped, got out, photographed twine evidence, picked it up, threw it into the back seat, got back behind the wheel, and continued on. I followed these steps for two full hours. And Macy, bless her heart, just kept on a singin' the whole time. What a trooper.

All of this time out on the highway gave me time for pondering, which is actually one of the things I do best, because I have so much experience. I've come up with a theory about not only the twine, but about all of the other trashy treasure that is so commonly seen in our landscape here. Here's my theory:

Our state, and especially this area up here in the north, is absolutely gorgeous. SUBLIME. Now, all of this beauty could cause a person to go crazy, and run amok*, and chaos would soon ensue. To PROTECT THE CITIZENS of New Mexico, the good citizens of New Mexico are only doing their part by throwing trash out of their windows as they cruise along the highway. This trash has the effect of diluting the sublime--thus bringing it down to tolerable levels.

Don't you just love hand painted signs? They Rock!

*From Fundamentals of Abnormal Psychology: Amok is described as "A disorder characterized by sudden, wild outbursts of violent aggression or homicidal behavior in which an afflicted person may kill or injure others."

Okay, now. We can't have any of that, can we?

So, anyway, getting back to The Orange Twine Mission . . . Macy and I cruised the highway for two hours, and the trove of twine slowly and slowly grew. We even found a couple of other really cool things: a piece of corrugated metal with spray painted words on it; and a colorful, plasticy thing (I think it's a mouse pad, but I can't be sure) covered with blocks of color. Who needs shoes and jewelry when you can go out along the highway and find cool stuff like this? Huh? Huh???? Point made!

Northern New Mexico Rest Stop

I even got the added bonus of having guys in trucks honk, wave, and wolf whistle at me while I was out there photographing evidence. Twenty years ago I hated that (animals! morons!), but let me tell you--when you're nearing the big 5-0, it feels pretty darn good! You just gotta love the people here--doing their part for humanity by diluting the sublime; and men going out of their way to nurture the egos of middle-aged women. Life is Good. You couldn't PAY me to live anywhere else!

And, so, I came back home--back seat filled with bright orange treasure, ego inflated, and feeling good about my fellow citizens. I even have a really groovy idea for a large art piece--one involving those little tiny liquor bottles that you get on airplanes and hotel mini-bars. But I'll save that for another day.

662 Days Until George W. Bush Leaves Office!
663 Days Until the BIG PARTY!!!!
WOO-HOO!!!!

The Very Full Life of an Empty Nester

Ever wonder what the average, normal person does when they become an "empty nester"? Well, I don't know any of those people, but I can tell you how I'm dealing with it. Picture: deep depression . . . [fast forward] . . . swinging from the chandeliers . . . [fast forward some more] . . . and then we got Miss Frida, who is like a daughter to me. The 3rd daughter that I never had. You know: the one lacking opposable thumbs, and--thanks to modern medicine--won't ever be interested in dating. Well, one of the things I love most about having this little girl in my life is dressing her up.

And then she runs off to show Daddy how pretty she looks . . .
Wanna know what else us we do? Well, some of us, anyway? We scour the Earth for treasure. Why, just today on my way home, I spotted blobs of bright orange scattered throughout the land. Having recently stripped & unwound many yards of electrical wiring (to weave a basket from the copper wire within), I was JUST SURE that some electrical contractor's truck had accidentally dropped little piles of wire along the road--perhaps from some gaping hole somewhere in the back of the truck. And this electrician was either too rich & successful to fix that hole in his truck (wire for the needy!), or too focused on his driving to notice that his inventory was being scattered all over northern New Mexico. So I stopped, jumped out, and scooped up that precious plastic twine.

Okay now, the average, normal person (who also doesn't care about the environment) might just throw that plastic twine back where they found it. But since I'm not that person, and since I love our Earth, and because I see potential in even the lowliest form of twine, I shook the sand out of it and tossed it into the back seat. The truth is, this bright orange plastic twine is JUST THE THING I've been looking for. Alright, I probably would have been happier with piles and piles of electrician's wire--laden with copper--but I assure you that this twine is going to serve a greater and higher purpose (to be revealed at a later date).

Twine . . . . . . . . . . I . . . Need . . . More . . . Twine . . . . . . . . . . . . .

665 Days until George W. Bush Leaves Office!
666 Days until the BIG PARTY!!!!
WOO-HOO!!!!