There's No Place Like Home

"The Badger simply beamed at him. 'That's exactly what I say,' he replied. 'There's no security or peace or tranquility, except underground. … No, up and out of doors is good enough to roam about and get one's living in; but underground to come back to at last - that's my idea of home.'"
- Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows

It is one of those perfect lazy, rainy Saturdays when you don't have to be anywhere but home and you can loaf around in your PJs all day long. Days like this keep me ticking and bring me back to center. I am away from home so much during the week that I need to have some down time with no people, distractions or activities to clutter my brain. Rainy days give you a good excuse to hole up inside and recharge your battery. I get to pretend I am the Badger from Wind in the Willows and the outside world no longer matters or even exists to me.

Enjoyed a lovely chat with the family during a late breakfast of berry pancakes (heavy on the berries - blueberries, raspberries, mango chunks and strawberries - yeah, we love City Market's frozen berry selection!), chicken apple sausages (yummy) and steaming hot, creamy tea (Russian Caravan - thanks Uncommon Grounds!). Weekend family brunches are just about my favorite time of the week and they remind me how glad I am that I moved back to VT to be with my family. We can't brunch every weekend as we rarely converge at the same time but when we do, ooh the fun topics we cover.

"[The swallows] fell a-twittering among themselves once more, and this time their intoxicating babble was of violet seas, tawny sands, and lizard-haunted halls." - Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows

The rain has finally come and despite the fact that I should be sad to have a rainy weekend, there something cozy about being forced to spend the day inside, recovering from a night of heavy drinking, chatting with the fam, rubbing the kitty's tummies, eating sweet syrupy things and surfing around youtube where I found this fun video by some girls lip syncing Britney Spears in their living room.

This is what makes me love youtube, despite all the haters and the flamers and the assfaces - youtube is essentially a way for kids to tell the stories they want to tell or lip sync the songs they want to sing and open up their lives to the world. If youtube had existed when I was a girl, I can’t imagine the fun I would have had. In fact, The New Yorker has an article called "Me Media" about the youtube and face book phenomenon (including an illustration by comic artist Adrian Tomine) which looks like perfect reading material for today. Hurray, I get to catch up on New Yorkers, 7 Days and maybe even indulge in a Sunday Times tomorrow! Joy!

The rest of this perfect homebody day will be spent underneath many thick blankets watching Asian horror movies, SITC, The Office, Peep Show and perhaps my ultimate favorite Saturday afternoon flick, Evil Under the Sun. I used to watch this British mystery movie over and over again on weekends when I was kid thanks to our pirated HBO which came in free through our VCR. This movie is like a heavenly vacation to the Mediterranean and it always makes me calm and happy although I am not sure why a murder mystery would affect me thus…?

"'Once well underground," he said, 'you know exactly where you are. Nothing can happen to you and nothing can get at you. You're entirely your own master, and you don’t have to consult anybody or mind what they say. Things go on all the same overhead, and you let 'em, and don't bother about 'em. When you want to, up you go, and there the things are, waiting for you.'" - Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows

Another childhood favorite weekend treat was lying around in bed all day reading books like Wind in the Willows, Watership Down, The Little Princess and Peter Pan. I have been rereading these books recently and they are just as good as I remembered. I wouldn’t mind taking a year off to read books. I never seem to have enough time for reading these days, especially with all my various computer addictions.

I am also in the midst of finishing one of my many video projects. This one is for work and I am burning 50-60 dvds which will take most of the day. It means I have to run downstairs every 5 minutes to switch the dvd-r. This will be good exercise, provided I do not fall down the stairs and twist my neck, but it gets a little tiresome after the 20th dvd. I wish I had one of those multi-disc DVD burner creatures that burns 10 DVD-Rs in a single sitting. Dreamy.

Last night with the gals was fun times for all. Again, I was out on a Friday night which is unusual for such a homebody as I. The ladies came over to consume many mojitos (avec fresh mint a plenty mind you) and various crackers and cheeses before we headed out to Higher Ground to see Speilpalast. The show was amazing from what I can remember through my fuzzy memories. The deadly combo of mojitos and beer that Lesh kept providing us were enough to plow me over. I might have eaten all of those sweet potato fries by myself? Does that explain the sticky mess everywhere?

We must have been ranting like lunatics as some lady politely asked us to shut up. Ooops, but I thought you were allowed to talk during a cabaret? The show was really amazing and not to be missed. Glamour puss Lois danced up a storm with her pregnant belly overflowing. What a lady! What a lucky kid to have her for a Mommy! Sultry Sarah Dawn sang some beautiful songs and a bunch of girls from my dance class wowed a packed crowd. If I look like a raving lunatic in the pics, it is because I was/am. And I have a close to empty bottle of rum to prove it (yes, sigh, the big size).

'Well, well,' [Toad] said; 'perhaps I am a bit of a talker. A popular fellow such as I am - my friends get round me - we chaff, we sparkle, we tell witty stories - and somehow my tongue gets wagging. I have this gift of conversation. I've been told I ought to have a salon, whatever that may be.'
- Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows

Then we were off to the Monkey Bar to catch Nest Material who had a special guest appearance from Mr Tanner Moore (the crowd goes wild) McCuin. They sounded swell but again, by that point we were flagging and had trouble keeping our heads upright. Tanner was kind enough to drive our tired butts home and many greasy foods were consumed in a post-drunken haze. All in all, a swell Friday night on the town and an even better relaxing Saturday to recover. Wish the weekend would never, ever end…

"The weary Mole was also glad to turn in without delay, and soon had his head on the pillow, in great joy and contentment. But ere he closed his eyes he let them wander around his room, mellow in the glow of the firelight that played or rested on familiar and friendly things which had long been unconsciously a part of him, and now smilingly received him back, without rancour. He saw clearly how plain and simple - how narrow even - it all was; but clearly, too, how much it all meant to him, and the special value of some such anchorage in one's existence. He did not at all want to abandon the new life and its splendid spaces, to turn his back on sun and air and all they offered him and creep home and stay there; the upper world was all too strong, it called to him still, even down there, and he knew he must return to the larger stage. But it was good to think he had this to come back to, this place which was all his own, these things which were so glad to see him again and could always be counted on for the same simple welcome."
- Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows