Sometimes, even though Fuzzy and I have been married for twelve and a half years, I like to browse the web for exotic wedding locations. We eloped, and then had a funky family reception a few months later, where all of our friends brought traditional wedding foods from their culture of origin, which we had as a picnic pot-luck. And that’s cool, but sometimes I wish that instead of eloping in Brookings, South Dakota, we’d gone someplace amazing.

Someplace like Spain.

My idea of the Perfect wedding location in Spain is the Palacete Cazulas, an Andalucian villa that you can rent for weddings, or even just family holidays (it has a capacity of 24, and they say the average group staying there is around 16 people). Looking at the pictures, it’s easy to imagine a morning spent sipping sangria by the pool, followed by an evening wedding surrounded by mountains and starlight. It’s not the beach, but it has drama and flair, as well as a backdrop of mountains, and tropical weather.

While only limited staff services are provided – a gardener, and basic maid service in the communal areas – the management company will arrange for more maids, as well as a cook, for an hourly rate paid directly to the staff. Having grown up without regular maid service, I have to say that sometimes I’m a little creeped out just having Merry Maids in my house, but I’m sure in a villa it’s a bit different.

Besides, the whole point of renting a villa in Spain is to step outside your own life, and live in one of the castles in the air we all dreamed up during childhood.

According to the website at http://www.cazulas.com, Palacete Cazulas is rented by the week, though three-day rentals are sometimes available between November and April, except on holidays. There is free wifi (bring your own computer) and phone and fax can be provided on request.

I’ve spent a week in a house in France…now I’m dreaming of spending one in a villa in Spain.

I’ll even share the sangria.

They stare up at me, waiting, their luminous eyes large, and tracking my every move. Every flash of my knife makes their heads twitch a little bit. Every time they hear the blade contact the wooden block they flinch slightly, moving one foot just a little bit, then easing it back into its starting position.

Small worried noises escape from their throats though they are clearly trying not to whimper. They are anxious sounds, loaded with need, hope, excitement, fear. When I glance at them, their eyes seem to bulge, as if it takes all their effort to be quiet, to remain still.

Finally, preparations are complete. I put down the knife, wipe off the wooden block, pick up the matching blue plastic containers, and cross the room, uttering a quiet but firm, “Stay,” under my breath.

To their credit, they obey, until I have placed each container on the floor. Then, almost gleefully I announce their fate with a single word, “Dinner!”

They scramble to be the first to reach a container, gulp down food as if their last meal was far longer in the past than twenty-four hours.

You ask me when I feel powerful? I have power coursing through my veins all the time, but it’s the strongest every day at five.

Why?

Because they are dogs, and I am the Keeper of Food Bowls.

Have you ever fallen in love with a complete stranger…and had a whole affair in the space of maybe three sentences, and one fast moment? Have you ever glimpsed the alternate reality, the limitless possibilities, in an encounter that lasted no more than fifteen or twenty seconds?

They all laughed at Christopher Columbus
When he said the world was round.
They all laughed when Edison recorded sound.

Sometimes, I think I was born in the wrong decade, and would have been much happier around the era when the Rat Pack was in their prime. I am constantly humming tunes from that period, the ones that we now refer to as “standards,” and three of my favorite modern-era musical performers are Harry Connick, Jr., Michael Buble’ and Diana Krall.

They all laughed at Wilbur and his brother
When they said that man could fly
They told Marconi wireless was a phony
It’s the same old cry

I appreciate a singable sort of song. Oh, I like to bop around to pop and dance music as much as anyone, but give me a big band and a melody with equal parts scat and swing, or the encouragement to belt (I do love to belt) and I’m not in my living room any more, but on stage at the Tropicana Las Vegas, wrapped in satin and torch-singer red lipstick.

They laughed at me wanting you,
Said I was reaching for the moon
But oh, you came through,
Now they’ll have to change their tune

It’s good to have a rich inner fantasy life and a musical vocabulary that lets you explore many different dreams. Espresso in Havana? Sure! Tap dance down 42nd Street? Why not. Inhabit the world of a nightclub chanteuse, if only for a couple hours? Absolutely!

Yes, it’s completely geeky. But it keeps me happy. And relatively sane.

They all said we never could be happy,
They laughed at us and how!
But ho, ho, ho!
Who’s got the last laugh now?

Wintersweet at LJ (who I’m not linking because I never remember who is friends-only and who isn’t, mentioned this the other day, which reminded me that I hadn’t mentioned it.

Museum day is a national event that Smithsonian Magazine sponsors. This year, it’s co-sponsored by Hyundai. If you click the image above, or go here, you can fill out and print a card that gives you and a guest free admission to any of a number of museums around the country, this Saturday, September 29th.

(Apologies to my Canadian readers, this only applies to museums in the U.S.A. – though if you live near the border, and feel like driving…)

Fuzzy and I have plans to go to the Frontiers of Flight museum at Love Field. Where will you go?

I’ve been writing a lot about insurance for work this week, which, I have to be honest, is a refreshing break from cars. I’m now an expert, by the way, in how to reduce your premiums. Just ask me.

Because of this, it seems only natural that when talking with my mother about my hope to spend May writing in France, and her wish to spend the same spring exploring Italy with my stepfather, that the conversation eventually got around to traveler protection, and specifically travel insurance for people over 65 – like my parents – or rather, like my step-father.

We also had a lovely laugh about the “instant Mexico insurance” that people used to buy before any trip across the border. It doesn’t exist any more, but really traveling to Mexico is safer than traveling from New York to San Francisco, as long as you’re reasonably aware of your surroundings.

Speaking of travel, I found that the Ethan Hawke/Julie Delpy movie Before Sunrise was one of the free videos on demand on Uverse last night, and had it playing while I was writing. I love that movie, and it’s sequel, Before Sunset because really, they’re just fascinating conversations set against amazing scenery. It’s like a walking tour, with someone else doing the walking.

Movies like that always make me feel like writing.
Yes, I find inspiration in odd places.

An early payday from a paid blogging service I work with has been translated into a new order from Black Phoenix.

Here’s what I’ve ordered (italics are BPAL’s descriptions):

Bottles:

Beaver Moon:
Traditionally, Beaver Moon is named thus for a very obvious reason: during this time of year, beavers are hard at work building their dams and preparing for the onset of winter. However, we at BPAL rarely let an opportunity for sleazy campiness pass us by! For your pleasure and amusement, we present this year’s incarnation of Beaver Moon: wild cherry with vanilla cream accord, and a hint of strawberry.

Samhain 2007:
Truly the scent of autumn itself — damp woods, fir needle, and black patchouli with the gentlest touches of warm pumpkin, clove, nutmeg, allspice, sweet red apple and mullein.

Also imps (sample tubes) of:
Black Phoenix
Blood Kiss
Catherine
Kill-Devil
Nocturne
Windward Passage

which descriptions I won’t post.

I find that the descriptions of their scents inspire me as much as the actual scents do, if not more, and I like having options so I can pick a scent – or scents, some layer really well – to change or enhance my mood.

I spent most of my life not allowed to wear perfume because my mother is allergic.

I might be overcompensating now.

But only a little.

I am a beach baby, and I come by it honestly. The day before I was born, my very pregnant mother spent the day at the shore, floating and paddling in salt water until the lifeguard asked her to come in, telling her, “Miss, please come back to the beach now. Your mother is worried, and frankly, so are we.”

My first word was “beach,” and while I did have blocks, and play with them at a young age, my first toy was sand, my first structure a castle that looked suspiciously like an inverted paper cup fashioned from wet sand, with a sea gull feather as a flag.

I don’t live near enough to a beach to indulge in making sand castles all that often, but part of me still has that urge, which is why I was interested to learn of moon sand.

Moon Sand is technicolored modeling sand, softer and less messy than clay, and not dependent on water to make it stick together the way beach sand is. It’s non-toxic, contains no peanuts or wheat products, and you can get a sample kit for less than $20 (tax and shipping not included).

The folks who make Moon Sand also have come really cool sand castle molds, and an inflatable sand box that can hold enough sand for an entire model of Carcassone, or merely accommodate a collection of small hands. Even better, it doesn’t absorb water, and it floats, so if you wanted to build a moat around your castle, you totally could.

I’m really excited about ordering some moon sand.
Sand castles, here I come!

Thirteen Things about MISS MELISS Things that Begin with T Tackle Boxes My grandfather used to take me fishing from the pier in Atlantic Highlands, and we would sit on tackle boxes. Later, after he died, I liked to explore his tackle box, playing with the hooks and lures and all sorts of masculine treasures. Tangrams: These “dissection puzzles” are made from seven geometric shapes. You’re given an outline, and have to arrange the shapes to form the design. More fun than it sounds like, really. Tank Tops: I wear tank tops all the time, either under v-neck t-shirts, just layered, over bathing suits, or under button down shirts. They are a staple of my wardrobe. Tap dancing: My favorite kind of show dancing because you cannot tap-dance while being upset or angry. It’s just not possible. Tap-dancing is joyous, freeing movement. Taxis: I am a city girl. I like the luxury and ease of cab rides. Taking a cab up and down the hills of San Francisco can be as exhilarating as the biggest roller-coaster, by the way. Tea: I love coffee, of course, but I love tea as well. It can be soft and soothing, vibrant and stimulating, or deep and mysterious. Lapsang Souchong and Earl Grey are my favorite writing teas, and mint blends are my old stand-bys when I need something refreshing. I live on iced tea in the summer, and hot tea and soy chai lattes with honey in winter. Tesseracts: Madeleine L’Engle used them to demonstrate space-time concepts in A Wrinkle in Time but tesseracts have actually been around longer than that. You may know them by their other name: hypercube, although, just as all squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares, all tesseracts are hypercubes, but not all hypercubes are tesseracts. You can’t really DRAW a tesseract, but…it’s sort of like cubing a cube. Texture: I love the way things feel. The cool softness of fresh sheets, the crisp brittleness of a fallen leaf, the moisture of drizzle, the plushness of Miss Cleo’s fur, the more wiry but still soft feel of Zorros, the slickness of ice, the way velvet changes texture depending on which way you brush the pile…I could go on forever. Theatre: There is something completely cathartic and marvelously magical about live performance. All other forms of entertainment lack the visceral connection between performer and audience, and the necessary level of willful suspension of disbelief. Tights: I hate pantyhose, but I love tights. Cotton, colorful, and not just hosiery, but a fashion statement in themselves. Also? Extremely comfortable when wearing boots. Tomatoes: My favorite way to eat them is just to pull them from the vine, brush any dirt off, and bite into their sun-warmed succulence, but, like Harriet the Spy, I’m a fan of tomato sandwiches as well. A little mayo, whole grain bread, and slices of tomato – cheddar cheese if I’m feeling particularly self-indulgent, sprouts if I’m trying to be uber-healthy – and I am a happy woman. Travel: I love experiencing new places and different cultures, though I like coming back home also. I like train trips more than planes, and would love to spend a summer on a wooden boat, but mostly, I just want to go and see and do. Trowels: My grandfather (it’s fitting that I start and end with him) kept a special set of gardening tools just for me. Petite sized handles with cushy foam, for digging beside him in the garden. The trowel is my favorite. Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants