The original author of the Nancy Drew Mysteries, Millie Benson, is dead at 96. Several toted the name after she stopped but she was the original. She defined the rest. She defined the character everyone else would use. No one even knew she wrote them until about twenty years ago.

I was never a huge Nancy fan but it was a piece of my life. My mom’s childhood friend (actually named Nancy) was a fan, and while I was growing up every birthday and Christmas till I was about 12 I got a Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys book from her. (Yeah the prized blue covers mentioned in the article later.)

I tried to read them, especially during the summers. I even tried to make it a reading challenge to read them all in a summer, I think I read one. I tried to read more, but the language was so dated and the situations so preposterous I just couldn’t stomach it with all the “gee wilikers!” and such tossed around.

But I knew what they were. They were what we’d call “Girl Power” today. Back then I’m surprised they didn’t burn them. But, anyway, growing when I did, we already knew you could be anything you wanted so Nancy Drew didn’t really sing the same message as she did to say my mother’s friend.

But theres’s a few cool stories about Millie all the same. Sounds like she was a fun dame who we all would’ve liked to have known sooner, and appreciated as a character all her own long before she died.

Just when you thought it was safe…
Chapter Seven: KoolAid can make you go deaf.

At least if you mouth off to mexicans with switchblades. In this hilarious knee slapper about a drunk trucker (I’m sure he’s a trucker) who gets his cumuppence. And on the day he forgets his “knife-proof muffs” no less.

You don’t go deaf if someone cuts off your ? The hearing bits are internal? Don’t you worry your pretty head over it, Old Red never let science get in his way of a good story.

Not much to say so I’ll post another swanky song…

We had a long flight Thursday. A hour layover in Phoenix, and another on the tarmac waiting for a computer replacement, then 3.5 hours in the air and 2 hours hours in the car from t he Columbus Airport to find… A house reeking of cat urine.

We can’t find a source till we get near my IKEA couch. I had covered the couch in a blanket so we didn’t see the immense area will we removed it.

Sophie hit TWO of the three cushions, in the r, which also got the back pillows. Yeah the cat ran like hell when we called her name. She’s stupid, but she’s not that stupid. We had done a litter box system swap a few weeks before the trip, we guessed Sophie was not taking it well, but gave her credit for being OK with it. Stupid stupid furbag. To top it all off she only peed on the side of the couch *I* sit on. I feel so loved.

After the long trip, a beating migrane, a sore hip form being on the plane too long, now I have to go into odor management. My entire next two days was dunking and squishing out cushions and washing slipcovers in this enzyme stuff a friend HIGHLY recommended and I luckily found at a local pet supply.

Good news, the stuff worked. The slipcovers have NO scent now, I asked a complete stranger at the laundromat (since my washer isn’t big enough for the entire set)

The cushions are almost completely dry after numerous bleach dunks and stomping with towels and cycles in the dryer. The back pillows get a enzyme bath here next.

One calico, 15 pounds, beautiful, but dumb as a door post - free to good home. Anyone?

Andy Warhol, Coffee, Picasso, Trackballs, Jazz, Modern Art (post 1900), Interpretive or Modern Dance, Ice Dancing, Mountain Biking, Coucous/Hummus, Vegetarianism/Veganism, Philip Glass, Laurie Anderson, MS Windows, Sparkle Gel Pens, Socks, Owning a pair of shoes for ONE outfit only, Quark, Iced Tea, The cult of Barbara Streisand, Platform tennis shoes, People who don’t own a TV…

The fact that coffee refills are free and soda refills cost, when coffee is more costly.

Why it costs more to call in-state than out-of-state.

PBS and NPR (What does “The Chubb Group” do anyway?)

Why they can’t raise postage to 50 cents and leave it alone at least 5 years.

So I got my hair cut at the ever-so terminally trendy salon. Boy, was I a fish out of water. For you men out there reading this, you would have enjoyed the eye candy candy parade. I think a large portion of the clientele are strippers, “escorts”, or just Vegas Hotties. I, however, am built on the circus elephant model of chassis. It was hard to feel comfortable in Pretty Twigland.

I was much larger than anyone there, staff or clientele. In fact I was sometimes three, or four, of those skinny women. When I say skinny, I mean Valley of the Eerie Skeletor women. I think my arms were bigger than their thighs, not one of them was over a size 3. A few of them were about size 0. Seriously. I wondered if they wouldn’t break in two in a stiff wind. On top of that, they all had so much long hair that they looked like they were top heavy and might fall over at any minute if pushed ever so slightly.

I knew it was going to be costly when I was greeted by Doug who introduced himself as “David’s assistant”. While Doug shampooed me he was telling me how fabulous David was and how he is one of Paul Mitchellâ??s top ten designers and he moved to Las Vegas just to study under him.

David was rather interesting. Bald, tattooed, both p”bd” and thick Elvis Costelll framed glasses. He wore , doc martins, and a blue plaid short sleeved shirt that was neatly rolled over the biceps to reveal his tattoos. Further down his arm a he wore a couple motorcycle studded leather bracelets. He had a rather light English accent, if he was really English I have no idea. Was he gay? Hard to tell. I think maybe.

When David was showing Doug how to color eyebrows, Doug whispered in at to me “like watching one of the great masters painting”. Down boy.

I got washed, semi-dried, clipped, colored, rewashed and semi dried, final clipped and styled and semi-dried. I looked pretty fabulous leaving. For me at least. (And relaxed; Doug gives righteous head massages as he shampoos and rinses. Woooo baby did he.)

I made my way out of the cutting area to the register. David leaned over and gave me that euro trash cheek smooch as I passed with a sincere sounding, “Thank you, darling” The kind I see on all those TV shows. It was kinda weird getting it myself.

How is my hair $150 later? A lot shorter than it was (before it was waist length) and now just brushes the back of my shoulders. It’s darker now too. Instead of a light strawberry blonde they colored it a couple shades darker, veering towards auburn red. Some who know me may not notice a difference, but I do. He really did know his way around a head of curly hair. It moves now, something it did not do before, I like it.

Real clouds are not nly as impressive and realistic as painted ones on the casino cielings.
Any place you can aquire 24-hour breakfast, lunch, and dinner is A-OK by me.
Are ALL the women here dancers?
Asian dealers are NO fun at all.
What was with that guys hair?
Only in vegas can you walk around looking like a 70â??s pimp and have it work for you.

In Sin City baby! We paid $200 more and upped our tickets at the gate to first class. This butt was MEANT to ride in a first class seat. It was nice not having people IN my lap. Wow. It was intersting how sitting there no one would look you in the eye as they passed by filing into coach.

We watched A Beautiful Mind, Didn’t see the appeal. So sue me. Just didn’t like any of the characters enough to care if they were crazy or not.

Mr. Howard, I love ya, but this year you stole that long deserved Oscar from Peter Jackson and you know it.

I’ll have some pics later on, today though this is it. YAWNNNN, need to go gamble some more, red 36 baby!

Today I get a note from a little indie film producer asking if I would be interested in designing a website for a film they are doing - a “mix of John Waters meets the Valley of the Dolls” type film called “Three Barbecues” set in the retro past. They of course have no cash really to pay with… They found the main page of this site or my PixelDecor site. They know I do retro stuff and want that look.

So, we’ve been emailing back and forth and I settle on asking for: a unnamed pittance of cash, a t-shirt, a poster, and an end credit with my name as “trange Woman” - JUST so I can be listed in IMDB. Am I a or what?

HEHHEHEH, it’s going to be a tiny little movie, with a tiny little retro site but I had to share - I’m gonna be a movie star! (in name only) It looks like a go.

I might get to got to the local premiere too, if there is one, since these folks just happen to be down the road in Cincinnati. And it sounds lik they are using a lot of local names/bands.

They WILL be at Sundance though… Woo wwoo! So if you go to that, say hi to them.

Haven’t posted in a few days, been busy packing up for the trip and getting lost in Indiana and committing random crimes… I wanted to get some songs out to make up for my absence the past few days and certainly a few days lapse coming up before I post from Las Vegas.

I got lost in Indiana and defiled a rural Grammer school. You?

RAGING HORMONES MENOPAUSAL PROZAC BARBIE

For Robin

Some songs for you, your last post and comments made me think you’d appreciate these by Christine Lavin.

Just achieved Adobe Photoshop 7.0… Hehehe, the tools turn all kinds of ‘purdy colors! OOOH! File Browser! More later… have to go play now! Oh Daddy… I need a cigarette. Bye!

I couldn’t agree more!

I’ve never mentioned it, but I was a theatre . A big one. In highschool I was the set person. This led to doing set work at the arts festival in my hometown, still the largest free arts festival in the state. This is where I met a Wittenberg Student who told me about this repertory theatre in Califonia he’d done a summer with and thought I’d be perfect for with my paint skills.

The next summer I was there as a one of two painters at the Summer Repertory Theate in Santa Rosa, CA. and BOY HOWDY was I worked. SRT did on average six shows a summer, in two theatres. One on the campus, and one in the high school theatre next door (it was the high school in “Peggy Sue Got Married”. The Summer of 1988 is when I was there and we did: The Wizard of Oz, Corpse, Inherit the Wind, Ah, Wilderness!, Noises Off and my favorite - Cole Porter’s Kiss Me Kate.

The next summer for the arts festival they did Kiss Me Kate and I lobbied to do the set for that one too, and damn single handledly had to paint it. I love this show. I actually have a *original* cast album laying around somewhere. My favorite version of the show is still the 1953 Movie version. Howard Keel was hot.

Anyway, I was looking for some more swanky hits on Limewire and came up with this one of my favorite numbers from the show. Go to blockbuster and rent the 1953 version starring Howard Keel, or look for it on TCM I think that’s where I caught it last time. It’s classic camp, and kinda dorky, in alot of ways, but it’s really fun. And of course Howard Keel ws skintight hosen - he was hot I tell ya!

I dig this, and I get worse the more I play, but I can’t stop.

One week till I possibly cut my wiry tresses.

I have naturally curly hair which falls into wringlets most people pay big money for. In a week I’ll be in Vegas, and am still trying to decide if I will go to the upscale Hollywood style salon in the Mandalay Bay or not.

After having this hair so long I know I can’t trust just anyone with it. I’ve had my share of bad stylists who just lop it like normal hair. It’s not like normal hair, you can’t wet it own and cut it, it lies to you. It’s sneaky.

Normal people don’t have a surprise wating everyday they dry their hair. My hair comes out different every damn time I wash it. The same lock of hair is never the same twice. Sometimes it can look like Shirley Temple’s tubular wringlets, some time they look like flat zigzags like SF’s Lombard Street. Sometimes half and half.

Normals don’t have to plan around thier hair like “Okay, I want my hair nice for the wedding in the morning… so… I’ll wash it tonight and go to bed with a towel wrapped around it so it dries nice and slow and doesn’t get all messed up and frizzed out from sleeping on it. Tommorrow, I’ll use a sopping wet warm wash cloth to wet it down on the surface only, (but not comb it, becasue it’ll go to shit and frizz to high heaven if you comb it dry), and use spray-in conditioner to work out the extra curly and sticky up bits and smoooth out the frizzies from just touching it, and pray it comes out ok because you don’t have the time to wash and air dry it in time, and you can’t blow dry it otherwise people think you are a cast member for “HAFT”. Welcome to my world. This is why normally I keep it pulled up in a half knot all the time.

This is life with naturally curly hair, want it now? I’m not sure I do either but I dont want it straightened, I got enough problems withot adding chemicals into the mix that could burn it and make it worse. I know I’ll never keep up on the treatments and I’m too cheap to keep going back. I get my hair cut once a year so it’s not something I like doing. But I want a change, I want somethign new.

I wonder if the folks at the big upscale salon would be offended if I brought these “How to Cut Curly Hair” and The Art of Cutting Curly Hair”articles in with me… they seem to know what of they speak. I wish I was going to NYC instead of Vegas. Hell, I wish I was going anywhere but Vegas. Sigh.

To particiapte in “Referral Happy Fun Time”, once it falls off the front page entry time is over, and then I have to go refind the prize and declare a winner.