If I were a Thanksgiving turkey I’d be on the cover of a cooking magazine right now. Why? Because my face, arms, chest and upper back are burnt to a crisp.

It was too nice a day to work indoors this morning, so I dragged the Zen, the Mac, and the Razr out to the deck, sat in one of the cushy deck chairs at the glass topped patio table, with the glass doors behind me, and the shiny blue pool in front of me, and settled in to work.

I had, in fact, slathered on sunscreen before going out. I mean, I don’t generally burn at all, but I’m not stupid. Apparently, I didn’t slather on enough, though, and I didn’t realize I was getting crispy and red because there was a lovely breeze and I didn’t feel hot.

When I was forced to move inside because of a software glitch I needed to test on another computer, I noticed myself in a mirror, and thought, “Ooops.”

Two hours of work, a coldcold shower, lots of aloe-laced lotion, and three bottles of water later, “ooops” became “ouch!” My skin is glowy red – nuclear plant red – from the first knuckle on each finger to the where the chair reached on my back. And it’s still throwing off heat, which means I’m feeling both chilled, and rather tempted to claw the skin off my arms.

Fuzzy got off the plane at 5:30, and I crashed about then, waking when he came home to present me with an orange Jamba Juice and a kiss. “My god,” he said. “You’re really burnt, Lovey.”

Fuzzy is really good at stating the obvious.

The good news is, I work from home, so if I’m in too much pain to put a bra on for the next couple days, it’s not a big deal.

As for tonight? We had a tornado warning, and are having a dramatic rainstorm, and I’m hungry, and wanted a cheeseburger but that would mean putting a bra on, and, for that matter, something other than a soft cotton eight-sizes-overlarge shirt. So I’m thinking cold cereal more water, and a vicodin are in order.

First, a recap of the weekend:

Friday was a dark and stormy night, and since Fuzzy didn’t even get home til eight, there was no way we were going to make it to CSz. We made a brief, waterlogged, run to Blockbuster, Steak-and-Shake (which is no longer open 24/7), and Starbucks, and came home to snuggle on the red faux-suede couches with the furry storm-freaked dogs.

Saturday saw blue skies, cool weather, and happy faces. Fuzzy went off to get a hair cut and do some light grocery shopping, and I puttered on the computer, never leaving bed, but sitting with the windows open and fresh air curling around me. We left the house around 3:30, and went to Panera for soup and salads, and then to Barnes and Noble where I picked up MacFormat and MacWorld and a bunch of writing magazines, and some books. While Fuzzy looked for a plane – book, I sipped a Raspberry Italian Soda, which was actually a Raspberry French soda – if there’s no cream it’s Italian, if there’s cream it’s French – but was light, summery, and tasty, and really, that’s the point.

We got to the Arena (the ComedySportz theatre is referred to as the Arena) in time to help with final clean-up, had teams assigned, with one rostered player being replaced on the liners because he was stuck in traffic. (He showed up just as we were starting the show, and played in the late show.)

Warm-ups were interesting – we’ve started making our pre-show (but not pre-workshop) warm-ups a little crazy by beginning with Woosh-Bong, as always, but then, instead of clearly stopping one game and moving on, someone will just change it to another game at random, so, standing outside the circle, you’d hear, “Woosh, woosh, woosh, bong! Woosh, woosh, Zip!” and the use of Zip would morph it into another game called Zip-Zap-Zop, and we’d play that for a bit, then go back to woosh-bong which we’d interrupt with FuzzyDuck, so that by the end, your brain explodes from trying to remember not just what comes next, but which game you’re even playing. It sounds confusing, but it really builds energy and concentration. We played a bit of Finish the Word, and then did our counting exercise – we stand in a huddle, and close our eyes, and count to ten, one voice at a time, and if two people say the same number, we start over til we make it to ten. It’s a quiet exercise, and it takes all that energy we just built, and sort of tucks it inside each of us so we’ll have it on the field. Finally, we do the beep circle – passing the word beep around the circle, faster and faster until we’re all chanting it, at which point we put our hands in the center of the circle and shout “Comedy Sportz!”

In the first match tonight, a sold-out show for the Knights of Columbus and their wives, I was on the Blue team. We opened with Beastie Rap, which we lost, though I think the red team really rotated more than we did, and then Red played 4-Headed Broadway Star with a drunk audience volunteer. They were funny, but the volunteer really didn’t get the point of the game. After that, we played Dinner at Joe’s with a volunteer who wasn’t quite as sloshed, though he was a bit unwilling to ring the ‘no’ buzzer. In the second round, we played SlideShow, with two audience volunteers (one of whom was more interested in flirting with Von than being in the game) and Red played Forward and Reverse, which was hilarious, as always. One of the guys from my audition group – hard to believe it’s been almost a year now – is getting so GOOD. Red played Five Things, and guessed three of them, but then Big E, who was reffing, accidentally gave away one of the things they hadn’t successfully guessed in the fourth thing, so he had to give it to them.

At half-time, our troupemate, Craig, who teaches percussion, did a half-time show. Most of us had no idea this was going to happen, but he was amazing, revealing talents we hadn’t previously seen – he did a beat poetry number, and then some singing and playing with four mallets on the xylophone. And then a drunk guy from the audience threw a beer can at him. J2, who was watching the show, immediately went to intervene, but when Drunk Guy got testy, J2 backed off and got our director. Director and Von – who is 6’7″ tall – went to handle the situation. Craig, meanwhile, kept going as if nothing had happened. I’m impressed by that as much as by his talent.

Blue played Blind Line for our catchup round, and then, because it was late and we had a second show, we went right into the last game, 185. I went out before the whistle once, anticipating too much – the refs don’t always blow the whistle for each round – It was a great show, overall, and I’m not just saying that because Blue won the match.

Second show, the audience was mostly kids – including a youth group from Wisconsin. I was on the Red team for that show, Rob reffed, and Big E was our team captain. We won Beastie Rap – going forever on the names “Bob” and “Anna,” it seemed. We then played Changing Emotions and styles in which, again, our refs have started to make it a little harder by combining suggestions, so while we get stuff like “UPer” and “Surprised” in the beginning, they’ll give us things like “Depressed redneck” as the game progresses. Blue played Forward and Reverse, and J2 did this amazing fall as his entrance, which meant that, of course, the ref would keep making him do it over and over and over. I’m surprised the kid could walk afterwards. We played Blind Line for our second game, and they played Dinner at Joe’s, and the kid who was “Joe” was laughing so hard he kept forgetting to “ding” or “buzz” the actors. We played Five Things, and it wasn’t the worst game ever, but I think by then we were all kinda tired, and ADD-ish, and then, when we were writing the sub sheets, our pens were fading, so I had a hard time reading stuff. We got four out of five, though.

Craig did his music thing again at half-time, and no one threw anything, but we weren’t watching from the wings, so I’m not sure what the audience reaction was.

After half time, Blue played Dance party, and then we played 185, eliminating the 2nd half refs challenge because we were all nearly unconscious (this time) instead of merely short on time. Blue won, but it was a good match.

What I loved was that after both matches audience members were arguing over who should have won. This is cool because it means they were totally into the whole concept of comedy as a competition.

We didn’t do notes. We all went home. Fuzzy and I stopped at Denny’s on the way to eat dinner without being molested by small dogs, and then we went to bed. Which is where I still am.

Fuzzy, otoh, is getting ready for his trip.

The Apple Store (U.S.) – MacBook

My friend and fellow geek Ms. Eclectic turned me on to some really cool software that, alas, is Mac-Only. I’ve been a pc baby since dirt, and I resisted, feeling like I was somehow crossing to the dark side, but Windows Vista scares the hell out of me, and I do recognize that Apple has long been the leader when it comes to tools for writing and publishing, so I talked to BossGuy and he fronted me the money for a 15″ MacBook. I got the mid-range model, with an 80 gig hard drive, and added an extra gig of RAM, and about a week after I placed the order, it showed up at my door.

I’m not using it as much as I should, because so much of my stuff is still on my Vaio laptop and my self-built desktop (which, I must add, has a cool green mod-light), but for the most part, I do like it. The box was cute, well, designed, and something to save. The laptop itself still strikes me as a bit toy-ish, but I’m getting over that. I do like the fast response time, and the hardly ever having to reboot.

It has been a week of grey rainy weather, punctuated by thunder and lightning, with last night’s finale being spectacularly dramatic. By the time Fuzzy got home from downtown Dallas, it was too late to go to CSz, and though we did brave the weather, for a quick run to Blockbuster, Steak-n-Shake, and Starbucks.

We came home and sat in the dimly lit living room, and ate juicy cheeseburgers while watching Eragon on DVD, and I have to say, the flashes of lightning beyond our window only enhanced the experience.

Earlier I wished for a good horror movie, or thriller, to go with the weather, and ended up catching up on Lifetime TV’s Blood Ties series on TiVo, which is based on Tanya Huff’s series of novels. Christina Cox is excellent in the lead role, and my only wish is that every episode was two hours long.

Today, the sky seems unnaturally blue, the kind of blue you generally only see in the mountains of Colorado, where the air is thin, and you’re above the smog. I suppose it’s not actually any bluer than usual, and just seems like that in contrast to the previous week – rather like the TechniColor portion of The Wizard of Oz after the black-and-white Kansas scenes.

Tonight: 2 shows at CSz. Tomorrow: I put Fuzzy on a plane to Rochester, NY.

Multimedia message

Originally uploaded by Ms.Snarky.

…for Zorro, an eight-pound chihuahua mix, is NOT the brown bed in which he was photographed yesterday (that one really belongs to Miss Cleo), but my backpack, shown here on my desperately-in-need-of-sweeping-and-an-area-rug office floor. Do note that he’s got the strap over his hind quarters.

I often wonder if he chooses his nap spots because he knows it’s far more pathetic to be curled up on a bag, or a pile of folders, or whatever, and therefore more likely to catch my attention.

In any case, he’s an able assistant, and does really good job of keeping that backpack on the floor.

Friday’s zoo trip sent me down a meandering path of websites. As often happens, I first looked for further info about the lioness we’d taken pictures of, then about Bluebonnet the elephant, which sent me to various conservation sites, and then to the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus website, which in turn lead me to the Boss Clown Diary, a two-year almost-daily journal of the head clown from 2000-2001’s “blue” tour.

The clown in question David Solove wrote wonderfully engaging notes about each city he visited, via train or car, his feline traveling companion, Monkey, his clown friends, and general circus life.

As a result, not only do I want to go see the circus when it comes to town just in time for my birthday, in August, but I also have a new respect for clowns as performers. I never really appreciated their roles in either theatrical or American history before, but doing improv for almost a year has really changed how I look at a lot of things.

Solove has an email link on his website, so I sent him a note.
I hope he doesn’t mind.

Most people, I think, celebrate anniversaries with fancy dinners and elegant gifts, or at least jewelry. We did not. We talked about it, but decided it would be more meaningful just to spend time together, and so we did.

Yesterday morning, we drove to Fort Worth to meet Rana for brunch at a place she recommended when I asked for something “more foodlike than Starbucks.” The place was Yogi’s Deli & Grill, but it’s more of a bagelry than a bistro. Food was excellent. Company, even more so. We’ll definitely go back.

After that, we went to the Fort Worth Zoo, which we’d never visited. (We’ve not yet been to the Dallas one, either, but today at the salon my stylist, the pregnant but still perky Natalie, told me that she was at the Dallas Zoo last week, and found it to be depressing, and thought the animals seemed unhappy.) The animals at the Fort Worth Zoo, did not seem unhappy.

Here are some highlights. Pictures can be seen at UnCommonPlace:
Primate World was our first stop and the chimpanzees greeted us with happy tumbling and shrieking. One of the family groups was separated from the rest, and could only be seen from inside – the female was very obviously in heat. They waved through the windows and little kids waved back. The Silverback Gorilla was really the big draw. He sits in state like a zen master quite obviously passing judgement on all who enter his domain.

From there, we wandered past the warthog and the zebra to see the cheetahs, who were, as is typical of every cheetah I’ve never seen, stalking the perimeter of their enclosure. Most of the time, they were in the trees, so pictures didn’t happen, but we did see them, at least.

We visited the rhinos, briefly, also, then went to see the giraffes. I like giraffes. I do not like ostriches, which share the same living quarters as the giraffes, because ostriches are evil. Evil, I tell you. But giraffes are cool.

After that, we hung out with the elephants, who were all very happy and pleasant. One was merrily sand-blasting itself, also twirling its trunk and bobbing his head, as if dancing to that tune, “Da Da Da” by Trio – the one that Volkswagon used in their commercials in the late 1990’s.

We meandered past several other animals, mostly smallish ones, until we came to the muntjacs, which are tiny (Cleo-sized) barking deer. Imagine a large chihuahua with horns and hooves, and that’s a muntjac. Apparently they can be kept as pets. Fuzzy says that while this is true, we have two dogs already, and adding a prey animal is probably unwise.

The Sun Bears next captured our attention. Imagine something with the head and mass of a chow, the coat of a rottweiler, and the claws of Freddy Krueger, and that’s what a sun bear looks like. Also, they’re this wonderful chocolatey color, with a sun-shape in lighter fur on their chests, like the superman insignia. “Sun Bears to the Rescue.” The two we were watching were having a tiff, and kept growling at each other.

After the bears, we met the great cats. First was the white tiger, who was hiding at first, but then came out to pose, basking in the sunlight for all admirers to see and adore. Next a more usual orange tiger, who was extremely focussed on eating grass. And then, my favorites, the lions. The lion and lioness were separated, but while we were watching the lioness, who was also totally posing, sometimes being very kittenish, and other times completely in charge. We were drawn next door to the lion because he was being extremely vocal, roaring in a woof-ing kind of way, then chuffing loudly. (We noticed he’s directly across the road from the antelopes and deer, and I said it was evil to set up the zoo that way, so they can see and hear each other, but Fuzzy said it makes the animals feel more at home. BAH!) I had never seen a lion roar before – the power in those lungs was AMAZING. Then he went all catlike and scratched at his treestump and stretched, before turning his back on the humans. I have to comment, also, that the tigers were the only animals (other than the snakes and lizards) that had full-height cage bars. All the others had waist/chest-high walls to keep you from falling in the moat, and a moat with sheer sides.)

After the African animals, we took a snack break, nibbling on corn dogs and sipping soda, while black swans floated on a nearby pond, and a turkey struck up conversations. Turkeys are LOUD.

We then wandered through Raptor Canyon, at one point passing under a harpy eagle who was gnawing on a dead rat, in the center of the fence atop the tunnel. I put my CSz bandanna over my hair for that walk. We traipsed through the Great Barrier Reef exhibit, smiling at the blacktip sharks, and then watched the kangaroos taking in some sun – one was a nursing mother – and then we hung out with the Komodo dragon, before touring the herpetarium. We turned around at that point, as it was almost closing time, and walked back toward the exit, forgoing Texas Wild, and completely missing the Thundering Plains.

We drove slowly home, napped, ordered pizza, and finished out the day, though I did have a box of FLOWERS from Fuzzy waiting for me at the front door. Enough irises and red tulips to fill three vases! I think my mother helped him, but I’m not sure.

Today, we slept late, and then I had a salon appointment to refresh the red in my hair, and have the ends trimmed. Afterward, I sipped a frappucino in Barnes and Noble, while puttering on the macbook. While I was there, a guy came up to me and said, “Seriously, I don’t know which is cooler, your hair or your pink computer.” We chatted a bit about the techshell, and then he moved along, and Fuzzy met me about then.

We’d discussed a movie, but instead we went back to Fort Worth to CompUSA – all but two of the MetroPlex stores are closing, and there were deep discounts. I played with an iMac (I think I want one – they’re so CUTE) while Fuzzy shopped for monitors – he bought two – and then we went to Edohana, which is totally a Benihana wannabe, for dinner. Groups ahead of us were being told there was an hour wait, but there were only two of us, so we were seated with two couples and their adorable kids, and one of the mothers kept apologizing for her children, but really, they were well-behaved. The food was good, and it was a nice ending to a nice day. We’re both now puttering on our own computers.
And that, my friends, is how geeks celebrate their wedding anniversary.

Giraffe Reflection

Originally uploaded by Ms.Snarky.

Carmi is always showing off his photography skills in new and amazing – and often inspiring – ways. I don’t have his camera savvy or his eye, but when I saw the reflection of the giraffe in the pond water, I thought, “That’s the kind of shot Carmi would take.” So I tried it.

It was a cloudy overcast day, the water was murky, and Fuzzy was busy on a phone call, when I took this. Fuzzy has a much better eye than I do.

Rana introduced me to this nifty site called TUMBLR which is part of the new microblogging phenomenon. We discussed it, and determined that it’s lack of comment features is a good thing, as it forces tumblr sites to act as aggregators, or indices, rather than stand-along sites.

Many of you know that I have this blog, my book blog, livejournal, and a new blogger account, as well as twitter and flickr. Driving content to any one of those sites is difficult. Giving family members who may not be net-savvy a location where they can find all my stuff is even trickier. And notice, even I forget my own sites – I didn’t mention my fiction blog at all.

So, here’s the deal: please add Commonplace.MissMeliss.com to your bookmarks. When you visit that site, you’ll be able to see headlines from ALL my various blogs, and then some.

As to the name…a commonplace was a sort of notebook used for jotting down notes, thoughts, quotes, etc, for later remembrance. Sort of half-way between a datebook and a journal. Because tumblr is designed for quick posts, and headlines brought in via RSS, it makes an excellent digital commonplace.