The collage for Gentleburrito.

BNO Minutes, April 29th, 2009

In attendance.  Spitfire, back from abroad.  This one specifically:

Rumor has it he presented her with an iTunes gift card worth twenty-five clams.  He neither confirmed nor denied.

Also present, Dali Wally and JT.  Not totally sure what's going on here, but JT seems happier about it than DW.  

And happier yet.

Nude Dude, protesting that he's not that photogenic.  Nobody's buying it, ND.  

Also Cobra, and Skippy, who arrived a bit late but always a sight for sore eyes.  Not sore for lingering upon Cobra, I might protest.  But still.

Important topic of conversation:  is paleoanthropology worth studying?  Correct answer: sure if that's your kink.  Dali Wally gives it some thought.

No.  He prefers pole dancing and acrobatics with flaming accessories.  Surely there's place for both in this big world!  

This message has been brought you you by The Ad Council.  

Other items of interest:

*Leonard Cohen, stud.

*Susan Boyle, stud.

*Alpha males.  All in favor?  Motion carries.

* Cobra has new glasses which were met by great acclaim immediately after Nude Dude was instructed to deliver it.  Surely the rest will come, meted out evenly over the next several weeks.  

* What damage did Skippy's pet inflict upon her carpet?  Tune in next week to find out!  Hang on--Skippy's got something scheduled.  Two weeks, then.

Cobra out.

Oh, wait.  There was something with Nude Dude being bought in a golf game but winning his liberty with a splendid performance on the links.  JT and Cobra are pretty sure this was a put on, but the rest of the table nodded, praised and pretended to understand.

Shades of the Black Dahlia?

Anybody else think the rest of Minnie Mouse must be around someplace?

Take Your Little One to Work Day

It's true.  I amuse the HELL out of myself.

BNO Minutes, April 22th, 2009

In attendance:  easier to say who wasn't.  Spitz (still abroad--and you can thank me again for not posting certain photos), Nude Dude in Temecula (I think there are vampires there), Skippy nee Sue (working late), and Cobra (also working late).  Cobra was certainly planning to attend, but having uttered the fateful words, "This will be done before I leave" to somebody who against all odds ended up staying almost that entire time was otherwise detained.  Better luck next time.  

In lieu of onsite photos, here's an anteater from an email Skippy sent.  

I could learn a lot from that anteater.

Cobra out.

It's an Epidemic!

This is getting weird.  In an unrelated note, the meat pies at the local shop are much better than they were.

Family Reunion

The Pace clan met, ate, and discussed this past weekend.  Here's proof.

BNO Minutes, April 15th, 2009

That's right, Tax Day.  And this is how I spent it rather than attending a Tea Party, or (heaven forbid) actually filling out my 1040EZ.  I sort of regret the former. Being rather the passive type I'm not much for protests, but these are worthy.  Not that I mind chipping in.  I love this country and the excellent benefits of being a citizen (except maybe jury duty--I'll get back to you on that next week).  Still!  The budget this year is nuts.  

Anyhoo, in attendance Nude Dude (presiding), Typhoon (formerly Dr. Victor in these minutes), and Cobra (late, having underestimated the nuisance of a printing job--but hey, gotta pay those taxes).  Dali Wally was very weary and begged out; Spitfire is abroad.

Not this one specifically, but you get the idea.  Both excuses were deemed acceptable.  

Topics of discussion included the ease with which older single women can find male companionship.  Typhoon and Nude Dude didn't think it much of a problem.  Motion carries, with one dissenting vote.  Fries are superior to kettle chips, though the chipotle ketchup is pretty tasty.  That wasn't a topic of discussion, I'm just sayin'.

Later.

BNO Minutes, April 8, 2009

BNO Minutes, April 8, 2009

In attendance:  Spit...Hey!  Where's Spitfire?  In San Francisco, presumably collecting his heart.  So, presiding, JT.  Also attending, Dr. Victor, Dali Wally, Cobra, and Nude...Hey!  Where's Nude Dude?  The assembled are bereft.

See?  

Perhaps that's why the conversation turned to postmodernism and dadaists (in which Dr. Victor won the lightning round and named Duchamp as the perpetrator of "Fountain" ).  Oh, here's Nude Dude!

And there was much rejoicing.  

Or perhaps they are just delighted by Dali Wally's plans to take up pole dancing with one of the art's most notable practitioners in the southwest.  

Either way, a grand time was had by all.  See you next week.

There is trouble brewing on my lip.

Our family reunion begins in two days.  The pustule on my upper lip began last night.  I am using aggressive chemicals on it, but should it all go wrong (meaning when I inevitably squeeze and manually torment it), I want to go on the record and tell the world it is not a cold sore and I do not now nor have I ever had herpes, no matter what it might look like to posterity looking at family photos from April 2009.

Thank you.

FOUR Missing Cats?

Neighborhood Violations

The white specks above are plastic forks sticking the ground in two different yards in my neighborhood (sorry about the top one--it was taken rather early in the day, but you can see a little reflection in the irrigation water).  Why?  Who can say?  Also, shoes in a tree: 

Again, not sure why.  But I'm comfortable with the level of respect for nature this demonstrates.

Separated at Birth.

Dead Ringers indeed!

Alas, Poor Yonic.

(For Gentleburrito.)

BNO Minutes, April 1st, 2009

BNO Minutes, April 1st, 2009

In attendance:  Spitfire (presiding), Nude Dude, Dali Wally, Dr. Victor, JT, Cobra, and (later) Sue.  

Recap of last week's meeting.  Look up one or two posts, criminey.  

Minutes:  Cobra arrived to find the fellas attired in various shades of blue and found their sartorial harmony charming.  They in turn found the arrival of Cobra charming because she made the scene seem that much less gay.  Will Spitty ever host an absinthe party?  Dali Wally is still lobbying for it, having been favorably impressed with the liquor's effects in the past.  On the other hand, according to personal testimony and internet accounts collected by Spitz, absinthe has no affect that differs from any other alcohol.  Actually, it is a lot like ouzo though a bit herbier and involving a lot more ceremony to prepare.  Ouzo gives an excellent buzz but has a miserable after effect, and I expect absinthe is similar.  Anyway, it's still an open question about the party.  

Sue arrived looking gorgeous and the table was suddenly full of chair sized gaps.  She settled in the one between Nude Dude and Spitfire and told the assembled about her friend whom she hopes to bring into this good company.  Should she bring her next week?  Motion carries.  

Dr. Victor gave Cobra an important medical opinion re her aching feet ("You're getting old").  JT is headed to Telluride to take advantage of Late Season skiing.  Dali Wally runs a green ship.  

Meeting adjourned.  

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.

"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.

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!

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.