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I had two stainless steel bowls that stuck together when I unpacked them after moving in. It’s been almost the riddle to solve around here – no one has been able to pry them apart. We’ve tried freezing them, heating them, banging them with a mallet, a hammer – nada. I handed them to Roy last night and he put them on my front porch this morning – WALA – separated. 

My doorknob fell off in my hand again – it’s old okay – antiquated like the house – and he came by this morning and applied some scientific putty to it and fixed it. 

The world needs Roy. We all need Roy. How did we get by without Roy before? How did people get bowls apart, knobs to stay on, marathon runners to smile, and a haystack on Halloween? 

Check this out – this is uncanny – precisely where I’m at right now and the read for Taurus today spilled out of my own mouth:

Today marks the beginning of a very independent period for you — you can expect to start feeling a lot more interested in doing what you want to do and less interested in joining up with your gang of friends. Dinner alone now suddenly seems like a wonderful idea instead of an exercise in trying not to look lonely. Going to a movie by yourself will enable you to fully engage in the action onscreen instead of hushing your friends. Enjoy your solo time — without apology.

When Steve and I got married, it was to be my third wedding so we opted to get married on Telegraph Hill at sunrise on New Year’s Eve – new beginnings was the theme. We walked from our North Beach apartment up the hill much to the chagrin of family and friends (one who came in her curlers). I broke the glass symbolizing the destruction of the temple. Elderly Chinese men and women did tai chi in the background. The sun rose over the bay. Maria Moscoso, an insurance agent from the Mission District, who was about four feet tall, read the vows I wrote in a nice Spanish accent. 

Yesterday, my Pilates teacher invited me to her wedding on Mardi Gras day – she gave me her url – pretty cool. 

Someone I love dearly called me in a little bit of a confused state. She had recently come out and had fallen in love with a woman, who then moved away to go to medical school. She had just received a phone call that the woman had fallen in love with a man. I told her love hurts and that I’m not much of an advocate for it these days. You’d think getting older would make your heart more resilient and less susceptible – except I think the opposite is true – the feelings are more pronounced as finding love grows more rare with age. 

Am I addicted to love? Inquiring minds want to know. 

One of my girlfriends is addicted to men. Another is addicted to cigarettes. Another is addicted to pot. And still another loves her some pills. One friend is addicted to success. I have a girlfriend that is addicted to shoes. And yet I know another friend who is addicted to alcohol. One girlfriend loves money and is addicted to men who can provide it. A long time friend is addicted to exercise. A new friend is addicted to her dogs. My mother is addicted to everything – cigarettes, men, alcohol, pills, and sleep. 

We all have our little addictions that we can’t seem to shake or don’t want to – where would we be without our props? 

I missed the first parade but am going to see Barkus this Sunday in the Quarter – the parade made up a krewe of dogs. But first stopping at Lafitte’s to get a voodoo daiquiri and see if they will make some for my party on Endymion Saturday. Jamabalaya, mini muffelatas, stuffed mirliton and voodoo daiquiris – then a parade – what more could you want?

If you haven’t looked at the line up, then you should because it is amazing. And to think just blocks away from my house the likes of:

The Neville Brothers, Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel, Jimmy Buffett, Tim McGraw, Santana, Maze feat. Frankie Beverly, Sheryl Crow, Widespread Panic, Dr. John, Al Green, Diana Krall, Keyshia Cole, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, The Raconteurs, Irma Thomas And Thousands More Scheduled to Appear

So basically I get to spend my birthday with these people (and this is just one day of it):

Friday, May 2 – Art Neville, Stevie Wonder, John Prine, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Richard Thompson, John Butler Trio, John Hammond, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Ave., Marva Wright & the BMWs, Terence Blanchard & the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, Papa Grows Funk, Sunpie’s Tribute to Clifton Chenier, Zigaboo Modeliste, The Jackson Southernaires, The Lee Boys, Bonerama, The Bad Plus, John Boutté, Soul Rebels, Ingrid Lucia, Coco Robicheaux & Spiritland, Theryl “Houseman” DeClouet, Chubby Carrier & the Bayou Swamp Band, Bluerunners, Wanda Rouzan, Driskill Mountain Boys, Ann Savoy’s Sleepless Knights, New Orleans Jazz Vipers feat. Sophie Lee, Stoney B & Grampa Elliot, Gina Forsyth & the Malvinas, Clive Wilson & the New Orleans Serenaders feat. Butch Thompson, New Wave Brass Band, Tuba Woodshed feat. Matt Perrine and Kirk Joseph, Belton Richard & the Musical Aces, Eve’s Lucky Planet, Larry Garner with Henry Gray, Ritmo Caribeño, New Orleans Jazz Ramblers, Louisiana Repertory Jazz Ensemble, Betty Winn & One A-Chord, Lyle Henderson & Emmanuel, Kid Simmons’ Local International Allstars, Pinettes Brass Band, D.L. Menard & the Louisiana Aces, Legacy – the students of Alvin Batiste, Greater Antioch Gospel Choir, New Orleans Mardi Gras Rhythm Indian Section, Ebenezer BC Radio Choir, Loyola University Jazz Ensemble, Casa Samba, The Smooth Family, Eulenspeigel Puppets of Iowa, Original Big Seven and Original Four SAPCs, McMain High School Gospel Choir, Fi Yi Yi & the Mandingo Warriors, New Orleans School of Circus Arts and ISL, Gospel Inspirations of Boutte, Rosedean Choir of South Africa, Scene Boosters and Old N Nu Fellas SAPCs…

I went to my duet last night and my partner cancelled so I had a solo class on the reformer – good god it was tough – I don’t think I’ve done any other exercise that has challenged my body like Pilates. It really is all that but you really need a good teacher. I’ve been lucky to have been through some of the best in this city so far. Joni and Alexis at Uncle Joe’s, Thom when he was teaching at Salvation, Erin and Catherine and Elizabeth at Romney, and now Jennifer at NOAC. 

I’m in some short-lived vortex of incredible extra-sensory perception [read: let them eat cake in terms of friends and lovers] as well as acute “things to do” [a work load that is short of psychotic] and let’s not forget a consumer electronics vibe that is defeating [reamed by a nonfunctioning IPOD converter, a camera chord swallowed by a vacuum] not to mention hardware that slips off in your hands [a door knob rigged by Roy that now fell off in my hand as I tried to get the dogs to go pee in the rain this morning and then had to leave dogs on porch and go in side door wherein I stepped in dog poop] and a mother who can’t stop crying but won’t leave her dark hovel of an apartment no matter how I try to coax her out. 

For this, for everything, I am out of tune. GREAT GOD.

I just want to say that I live a charmed life. Really, I’ve had conversations with people today that make me think I live in an ever expanding universe where every day is new and different and yet it all contributes to this wide web of knowing. 

It’s pouring outside and Loca couldn’t walk this morning so she ripped two stuffed animals to their deaths and now is lying prone on the floor – snoring. 

A dog’s life for sure. 

Here is my horoscope:

Just like email attachments often contain viruses that make your computer sick, some of the attachments in your life could be making you sick! So today, let go of one of the vices or people in your life that is keeping you in less than optimal health. Upon closer inspection, your diet isn’t as great as it could be. And that person you have been avoiding might need to be finally be cut loose once and for all. You don’t need the extra strain on your mental hard drive.

I had two friends stop by independently last night – after I chatted with the first one about some current issues, I realized the absurdity of offering my heart up to someone incapable of offering anything back. 

The next friend came to do an intervention on me – said he has been thinking about some issues a lot and wanted to broach a few topics with me to consider – 1) people are taking advantage of me, 2) be more selective in your associations, and 3) don’t answer to the crowd. 

I’m blessed that people care for me – now, I’m resetting my hard drive: so go away! – I need to time to think, to rest, to recalibrate, and then to flourish.