The last thirty-six hours have been full of lots of little bits of delight I’ve been rather too tired to string together into my normal winsome anecdotes. Last night, travelling up to Olympia with Liights while Flo and I had a hen-cackle-fest in the van you probably cannot imagine, as bonus we elucidated the men (my husband and new drummer Steve, a boy man I’ve known since childhood old-school HQX) on various topics of film, cuisine, and vaginal upkeep; fun times. Flo told me she told her boyfriend how much she loved me because I was “just like [her], but white, with good manners.” This made me laugh pretty hard although I am very sad to be described as “good manners” (I’ve previously written on the subject) which is at odds with my occasional guilt over my crassness, my unmannered-ness, my tendency to love the word “fuck” so much I can’t stop wanting to say it regularly, and I rather do, especially with ladies like Flo, who are in general a delightful influence.
This was Steve’s (drummer) first show and he did really well. It was fabulous to hear some drums again (esp. loud ones). At one point he removed his shirt (yay!) only to put a different one on (sadkins). Ralph botched the videorecording so, oops. We also got to watch our friend (differently-spelled but also named) Steev in his one-man performance for the first time – incredibly fun. The “crowd” was something like two wives (hi!), the other bands, a few completely random drunk people who at least did not get violent. Let me just say that venue (second time playing there) sucks. It isn’t the worst show I’d been to (audience/venue-wise) but then again, I mean have you ever followed a band around, do I even need to explain how it works.
Today our kids raised themselves as per their usual lately and I somewhat sadly drifted around doing a minimum of cleaning and cooking. In the afternoon Ralph and I ran into friends visiting from their home in Hawaii. A total coincidence as they’d stopped to see us but we hadn’t been home; we saw them moments later while grocery shopping (I am glad I disrupted our stated flow of errands). Ralph and I had a late lunch out together (at the new Italian place which is still rather nice and classy, gotta eat there before the Grays Harbor infects it into something undesirable) then came home to the kids: Phoenix has a new girlfriend S. and we had this girl with us the last 24+ hours; staying the night Friday, drawing pictures, going to soccer this AM (Phoenix’s team won), teaching one another Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift, playing at the not-really Lion’s Park (and getting incredibly muddy – I approve), then roller skating deep into tonight: in general running the town. What a wonderful thing for Phoenix. I remember friendships like that as a girl.
While the girls skated Ralph and Nels and I went to the 7th Street Theatre’s showing of Mamma Mia! In a surprise coup of awesomeness there were actually hundreds of people there and the atmosphere was lively. Nels got very affectionate toward the end of the film, feeling deeply moved by the subject matter and songs. He rested against Ralph and I under the starlit high ceiling until we came back home to a warm house, hot baths, waiting beds.
