Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Like a bird on a wire...

Or the remnants of a Dos Ecces bottle on the sidewalk...

I have tried in my way to be free.  
Well, it's an economical way to spend the morning.


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Tuesday, March 24, 2009

"My sister wears too much eye make-up. People think she's a whore."

"My sister wears too much eye make-up.  People think she's a whore."  

Okay, identify that quote.  Any if anybody says "Partick," you're wrong.  Also you don't have any idea how terrible my eyesight is.  I'd do something about a new prescription, but a) I'd have to make an appointment, and b) have a premonition that 2009 will be the year of bifocals and I'm just not ready.  Besides, too much eye make-up is easier to see from a distance of absolute inches and pops from behind glasses.  So there.

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BNO Minutes March 24, 2009

BNO Minutes March 24, 2009
In attendance: Spitfire (presiding), Nude Dude, Sue, Sue's Bob, Cobra
Recap of last week's meeting:  Jet brought BriBri for an audience with the Burning Men (Spitfire, Nude Dude, Dr. Victor).  BB investigates airplane accidents, including the Great Goose Crash of '09.  He and Spitz lionized Cap'n Sully.  Nude Dude was rugged and unshaven having spent the that day and the day before digging up his lawn and fixing a leaky pipe.  Dr. Victor cracked a circumcision joke.  Nobody's car got towed, so the evening ended happily.  Yay!  
Minutes:  Cobra arrived to find Spitfire and Nude Dude in animated discussion they refused to share.  Fine, then.  We did find common ground in dishing about Jet's farewell party the previous party.  It was good, was it not?  Motion carries.  
Sue's Bob arrived and reported on the airshow at Luke AFB this past weekend.  As I kid, I saw numerous top flight airshows at Edwards AFB and others.  Here's what I remember:  They were too sunny, too hot, too loud, and there was nowhere to sit.  Sue's Bob, Nude Dude, and Spitz discuss the airshow and aircraft; Cobra waits patiently for a change of topic.  
Or, better yet, the arrival of Sue!  Who was wearing a killer dress.  Yowza.  Perhaps that's how the discussion turned to Brazilians.  You heard me.  And no more here along these lines at this juncture?  Motion carries.  
Sue and her Bob left in order to arrive at the theater in a timely fashion.  Nude Dude, Spitfire, and Cobra hash out some custody issues surrounding some cds.  
Meeting adjourned. 
See you next week!

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Monday, March 23, 2009

Memory Lane

I've decided to resurrect this blog with an introduction to the street where I used to live and where my good friend Gentleburrito currently does.  Today, I wandered down and snapped a few pictures of the place to give you an idea of Cobra's humble beginnings.
Our family moved to Phoenix and stayed with Mom's mom (who lived around the corner from where Gentleburrito and Barbara the Astonishing now reside) for the summer and a little into the school year (eighth grade for me).  Dad had retired from the Air Force, so we were newly arrived from Loring, Maine.  (Where we had moved to in the dead of winter, naturally).  (I haven't blogged in a while, but promise to get the parentheticals under control.)  
Lauren was in college and Buddy was on his mission, so we were Mom, Dad, Partick and your Cobra.  Still, that was a pretty big invasion as far as Grandma was concerned and fairly tight conditions in her little house.  So at some point (if anybody who knows cares to fill in the gaps, please feel free) we took up residence in the beautiful Knight Apartments, pictured below:


Isn't it something?  The only significant change is the color of the place, which used to be more like its neighbor:
Wow.  
You know, eighth grade was a pretty good year for me.  For the first time, I made a good impression academically--finishing assignments and whatnot.  Not that this was a conscious decision, an effort to recreate myself or anything.  Just that I was doing it and making an impression of being smart rather than not and coming off as...I don't know.  Baffling, maybe.  
I liked my classmates and had a group of three friends.  One was called Dancing Bear by our homeroom teacher Mr. Law.  He was a big old guy with graying red hair, famous for once throwing a student out of the classroom and onto the sidewalk outside, desk and all.  No idea why she was Dancing Bear--she was scrawny and blond and certainly the most worldly of the four of us (she seemed to have the best handle on Billy Squire lyrics, for example).  I get the feeling there had been other Dancing Bears in the past for Mr. Law and she somehow lucked into the title for 19__.  I don't remember the second friend's name.  I do remember her nickname, once given by a smart alec from a lower grade who somehow made it stick (that's also how I became "Fuzz," this being the era I looked like Albert Brooks and all), but it's unkind so I'll refer to her here as TB.  The third was from a Vietnamese family and named Thuy.  I don't remember a nickname for her, but her grandmother wrote her name as "Tee," which makes a lot more sense phonetically.  
Anyway, since I was happy Knight Apartments seemed a fine place to live.  But upon revisiting them I do understand why Mom couldn't wait to get the hell out.  Here's the entrance:

In fairness to my childhood memories, the pool used to have water in it.  Also, there were a couple of big olive trees in the yard.  I remember climbing one of them once and getting black marks on my clothes from the squashed fruit.  Which also stained the sidewalks.  Maybe I'm not so surprised the olive trees are gone.  
One of these is the front door, number 16 maybe?
I remember little walled in porches, but who knows.  Here's the back.  Partick and I shared a room that faced this parking area from which emanated the sounds of amorous cats.  
Finally, here's a view from across the street; significant because our science teacher lived there:

We thought he was the very most awesome thing going because he was young, looked like Magnum, PI, and called the girls "Princess."  After we moved away, I heard rumors that TB had taken to spending lots of time at his house and that his marriage broke up.  No idea if the two are related, or even true for that matter.  
And thus ends this trip down memory lane.

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