Ahhhh! Octo-Obsession sets in, courtesy of Etsy

This says it's a squid wallet, but come on--that is clearly an octopus. An octo-wallet! Oh, a girl can dream, can't she?






This little guy is just adorable!



























This bag just kills me. Will I forgive the person who mis-spelled 'Octopus'? You bet.

Back in Vermont

Christian and I went down to North Carolina, went to church at my dad's new church in Robbins, NC. Then up to Raleigh, where we did a seven-course meal for my parent's 40th anniversary, then out to Hickory to get some more work done on my tattoo. New photos soon, I promise. The lower back is almost done.

I think we both really enjoyed the trip but it went so fast!
I'm glad to be home. The raspberries are ripening--it finally feels like summer.

Don-Lee Memories

I am in this photo. 1997 was a cracker summer for me. I got to be support staff to the Leaders In Training (also pictured here). This is where the magic of facebook comes in. Lately, we've almost all connected up and are talking. It's really pretty great. This was also the summer I was head lifeguard and trained all these people to be lifeguards. I also got to lie to many many little children. When a water moccasin got in the water I'd call a buddy check, get the kids out of the pool (ha, you don't often hear it that way, do you?), obtain possession of the snake and then assassinate it. Usually by chopping off it's head and then disposing of the remains. Then everyone back in the pool!!!! Swim time is fun time!

This part of the job gets even funnier when I admit that now I am a jumpy, screamy, tightly wound woman.

True story, after watching "28 Weeks Later" I was bragging to Christian and my mom that the movie didn't scare me all that much. Then I noticed Christian's brother Josiah was standing behind me, somewhat zombie-like, and I screamed the sounds of a woman about to be killed.

I then apologized to Josiah. It's not nice to scream at people.

But anyway, I have many good memories of Don-Lee. A big kiss--mwah!--to everyone here. I hope I see you soon.

The New Phobias

I can't imagine that an image of a monkey would be tightly copyrighted, but I felt like I needed to list my current phobias:

1. Ticks
2. Bears
3. Bedbugs
4. Leftovers (of more than 48 hours of age)
5. Wild parnsips
6. Films in which animals may be harmed (artistically, not in a PETA-kind of way. I still haven't finished "Bambi" for this reason).
7. Silvio Berlusconi's Sardinian grotto and ex-Czech Prime Minister's Mirek Topolanek's penis
8. Japanese Knotweed (such a horrible name)

Thriller

Unfortch, I did this way before MJ passed on (sing on, MJ!). This was at Heather's wedding shower and we took a trip to the bridal store. I could not resist the mirrors. Trish kept doing this part of the thriller dance all weekend, so I needed those mirrors to also do the dance.

You can dance, You can dance
Everybody look at your pants

So please, everyone, make a note: If you have a hall of mirrors, I will be dancing in it.

Habitat for Hunanity, Bennington Edition

Good news!
It looks like Im going to be involved in the Bennington Area Habitat for Humanity. They call it Bennington "area" because they have a pretty wide area in which they work. They're currently only doing about one house a year, but they have the skill set, materials and volunteers to do more--it's just about creating the infrastructure.

I don't know exactly what form my help will take--building or PR or fundraising, but it was FUN!
Here is a link:
http://tinyurl.com/lwgeyl

I learned that Hazel has an 81 year old brother with a glass eye who flies his plane around. She's worried he might crash it. Paul has a crazy sense of humor. And I met Zach too. He needs to find a way to get down to Massachusetts and Connecticut to visit some friends he met on a cruise. I'd lend him a car, but he doesn't have his permit yet.

I'm really looking forward to getting to know these peeps better. God, I love eccentricity.

Spy in the City

There are a couple things I love about these photos:
1. That Neil is wearing a white silky scarf. He looks like a WWII pilot
2. My beret
3. How easily is was to get secret information from his PDA.
4. How innocent I look in the first photo

Yes, I collected many many secrets in those days. Many secrets indeed . . . .

I'M BACK!!!!

So I live in Pownal, Vermont. In case you didn't know, Pownal is the gateway to Vermont. It's just over the line from Massachusetts and New York. It's a little hamlet full of arty, eccentric people. I have a writing room, a coupla acres, a raspberry patch and so much more.

I took a long break for personal reasons: my ex-husband and his mother were tracking me through this blog.

But now I'm back! The ex is a real ex. His mother has probably moved on to cyber-stalking Gavin's new girlfriend and we can all move on with our lives.

So, to update:
I miss all my Dirrty D peeps: C-Dub, Erica, Jenny Woodruff, Lindz, Layla, Matt, Andy B, and tons of other people. Ohhh. I miss you guys.
I'm meeting new people!
I'm writing!
I'm reading tons of stuff! (what do you think of "The Piano Teacher?")

mwa, thats all for now. Hopefully I'll be blogging daily.
Love love love
Hannah

Such a Dick Move

The Obamas have been told they cannot move into Blair House until Jan 15, meaning Sasha and Malia can't start school on time.

The official reason is that there are guests that cannot be displaced, but I don't think anyone could be more important than the president-elect. Good move, Bushies. I suppose you'll also be removing all the "o"s from White House computers as well.

Can we just have our bike?

Japanese Subway Manners Posters

So the Japanese subways have started a campaign to help people stay nice and polite on the subways. This being December, and the traditional start of the end-of-year mind-numbing drinking parties, this month's poster has to do with drunken behavior on the train. The can of beer, the vomit, the shoe removed and ankle akimbo are all too much for our bug-eyed, freaked-out regular-joe salaryman. He even has to look the other way.

The funniest thing? The plea to "Please do it at home." Um, I think a few million Japanese housewives would disagree. Do it on the train! Do it on the train! Nobody like a drunken vomiting husband with his shoes off. It traumatizes the whole family. Behavior like this is much better in a place where the bug-eye dudes won't even look at you.

You Will Be Missed, Bettie

The Notorious Miss B passed away recently. May she rest in peace. 

We Went to New York

Christian and I went to New York to see a taping of the Daily Show and also to see Maggie Z read. Both were excellent events. We stayed with my cousin Neil in Long Island City. It was fantastic spending time with him but it was also great to see the city lit up and ready for the holidays. At the Daily Show they don't allow photographs, so there isn't any from that. I took some at Maggie's reading, but it was too dark. I guess she likes it moody. (DO you Maggie, Do you really?) But I got these from our adventures out and about in the ci-tay.

I Love Tabla

It's near Madison Park, and it is exquisite. They really commit to their desserts. This is their crepe pie--layers of pie, with some apple butter in between. To the left you'll see their churned cinnamon ice cream, some white rum sauce, and a brown sugar wafer and whipped cream on top of the pie slice. It is so goddamn good. Oh me, it is good. So go to Tabla, and learn about committing to desserts.

Got Some Christmas Shopping In . . .

We walked all around and saw the big storefront windows and everything. We went to Bloomingdales too.

And I Will Leave You With This

Neil, worried about his puffy eyes.

We stayed up late the night before and being a publishing professional, he needed to look fresh for look. Fresh, indeed. I'm waiting for this look to catch on around the world.

Thinking About a Puppy

I have some news to report: Billy and Blossom are mousers! It took them forty-five minutes together to catch a mouse and force it to submit to their will. Not bad. Blossom is now posted by the bathroom door, and Billy is re-tracing his hunting steps to search for any other mice. I think they have probably caught the only one here, but it's nice to see them get work done.

In other news, we are thinking about a puppy dog. Any ideas? Sal would like a Bernese Mountain Dog, but they are expensive, hard to get, and have really short life spans (less than seven years, more like four).

Canada, Rife with Strife

While I hate Canada so much that I don't really want to get into their politics, I'm pleased to hear there is some sort of parliamentary crisis happening there. Rheir conservative leader Stephen Harper is apparently putting together some coalition to subvert the will of the people, blag blah blah (it's a typo, but it stands). If you care about these idiots and their frozen wasteland that so many consider to be some kind of shangri-la, you can read about it here. But remember, the Canadians have perfected passive-aggressive mind control, and you may get sucked into their vortex. Just saying, is all. 

This is What I Want for Christmas

The tiniest, wee, darling baby octopus. Look at her! She is so cute I can't stand it. I bet she lives on a diet of rainbows and happiness.

Me and Billy Chillin' Like Villians

Me

Him

We Like Windows

Margaret Moose's New Tattoo Shop

While I was in NC in November, I got a little more work done on my tattoo. My tattoo lady, Margaret Moose, moved into her own shop and this is the front of it. The magic happens in back. She has tables, so I don't have to be in a chair anymore. Yay! And she is still so cool and nice. If you want to get a tattoo, I'd advise to check her out. You really couldn't do better.