F-Word Friday: Fan Club

So there's this awesome dog named Max.

How awesome, you ask?

Well.

This was him as a puppy.


Could you resist? I don't think so.

At a year old he was chasing me around the tree whenever I visited, playing keepaway (his favorite game still, incidentally). Also, he had gotten even cuter.


Can you believe this was only 6 weeks later?

Then he got a baby sister, Greta.


He's an excellent big brother.

After an exciting cross-country move from Chicago to Tucson, he also found himself with a brother from another mother, Buster.


Three enormous dogs, and clean carpets. My parents are amazing.

But now? Now, he's a local hero!

From Wednesday's Marana (it's Tucson, only quieter) paper...


Click to see it better, but that says "Winner of the 2009 Pet Paparazzi Contest"

When he tilts his head, you just want to hug him. He'll let you, too.

Boy I hope he doesn't forget his roots, though... next thing you know, I'll be having to schedule an appointment to visit!

*psh* Celebrities.

Family Friday: The Roaring Sixties (Also Panic! On A Thursday)

This group knew how to party, you just know it.



Pictured are my grandmother (bottom left) and her various siblings and their various spouses, plus my grandmother's dad and step-mother Elsie... most are gone now, but none are forgotten.

So yesterday, I just have to share... I had a terrible panic attack. I get them sometimes, they're horrible and debilitating and painful and make me think I'm going to die, to to the point where I start writing wills and goodbyes and letting key members of my friends and family know that just in case... Terrible!

When I first started getting them I actually went to the hospital a few times, sure I was having a heart attack, but nothing at all was wrong with me...just an adrenaline rush, which brings on hyperventilation (not as dramatic as you'd think), and finally over-oxygenation of the blood which causes you to think you're about to buy it.

They are thankfully rare for me, and I've learned how to control my breathing and mentally calm myself, but man I could really do without them.

I'm not sure what brought this one on, I don't have anything in particular on my mind (you'd know, because I love sharing!) but I seem to be okay today; no caffeine for me though I desperately want coffee and I took a vow to avoid decaf long ago... it just seems like cheating. I was also going to call Verizon today and bitch some more about their stupid policy, but I think I'll give my poor bod a rest from stressing until next week, because clearly I was overloaded this week.

I plan on this weekend being full of sewing and crochet and movies and riding my exercise bike and reading. Maybe I'll give myself a pedicure.

I definitely won't be watching regular TV, at least not news shows, because frankly Michael Jackson, at least the one I loved and admired, has been gone a long time now - I mourned him years ago. I hope he's found some peace at last.

Special thanks to TR for unwittingly talking me down last night...calm is a good thing and he's got it by the truck-load.

Usually I do too, and can usually use it on myself, but sometimes I need to outsource.

Family Friday: Men of Action!

I've mentioned that I have 3 uncles (well, 2 uncles and a sort of uncle-brother type creature, but I digress) who all do interesting and varied things with their lives (naturally, they *are* Birrens after all).

Today's their day to look awesome on my blog, because seriously, check these pictures out!

Birren sisters, be assured your day is coming, and it will involve your many, many bad perm decisions.

(Thank you Facebook, my new lazy-post friend.)


Peter hang-gliding. He wrote a book about stars and once brought home carved wooden talismans from Southeast Asia that my aunts all have in their houses to this day.


David channeling Hunter S. Thompson. He had the best collection of Legos I've ever seen (David, not Hunter, although you never know) and is one of the most peaceful people I've ever met.


Don on a bike, though there's a Jeep somewhere nearby I can assure you. He grows his hair out and cuts it off for Locks of Love on a regular basis, has a thing for Frank Zappa, and can clear a room with a mere lift of a butt-cheek. It's an art.

Family Friday: There Are No Words

Doesn't this picture just BEG for a story? I think so.

I particularly love the albums in the orange crate...that was so the way to go then!

I'd like to thank the subject of the photo, my lovely Aunt Susie who is off to Niagara Falls even as I type, as without her my mother & I may never have come to Colorado when I was a kid, and subsequently I wouldn't be here now or be the person I am! It's the little things that shape us.

Happy Friday!

Family Friday: She Who Smelt It

I'm getting sea-sick looking at this.

I used to stare at that china cabinet from the dining room table a lot... I wonder where it is now? Hm.

From left to right...

• My cousin Genni the Lawyer, looking either guilty or like she'd rather be elsewhere.
• My other cousin Jenny the... well I'm not sure, we lost touch, but she sure looks tickled doesn't she?
• Yours truly in a bitchin' and very stretchy dress, glasses that covered half my face, and what appears to be a comb-over.
  
• My Grandma, looking dishy yet disgusted. It was probably my dress. Or Genni farted. Maybe that's why she looked guilty and Jenny was laughing, who knows? I wouldn't have smelled it, due to those glasses cutting off the circulation to my olfactory nerves.

Happy Friday!

Family Friday: Happy Birthday Mom!

It was always a problem when I was young... my mom's birthday is exactly a week after Mother's Day.

Never one to get all "one present for both" lazy, this meant double shopping and cards... which of course I had fun with and gave me an excuse to hone my shopping skills.

This year she got a coloring book for Mother's Day and I'M NOT TELLING for her birthday, although it's all handmade crap just like when I was 12. Boring, but I know she likes it and that's what counts!

So HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMY! Have fun at the movies and don't let your dogs drool on your cake.

Go to her blog (and enjoy the Pickle Surprise) and leave her notes!


(Because she liked this one best.)

Oh, by the way? I am now the mother of an 8th grader. OMGWTFBBQ.

Family Friday: Before and After

Oddly enough, the before & after pictures have them pretty much in the same order (at least where there heads are placed in the first one, if you were to mentally photo-shop them into a line), minus the left-hand sister there, who wasn't at the party.

I do have a ridiculously attractive family, don't you agree?

Well, not counting the "perm years". But it wasn't their fault... the 80's were cruel to everyone.


Andie, Julie & Susie in the back, David, Don & Peter in the front.


David, Don, Julie, Peter & Susie

I love that picture.

When did my mom end up the short one? Nobody knows. I think it's all the jostling around on horses... compressed her spine or something.

Happy weekend! Go spend time with your family!

I'll be at Elitch's, getting a sunburn and being bitter.

Family Friday: Mother's Day

Well since I can only tell you so much about my family without having you decide you might need to alert the authorities, I've decided that Family Friday will be dedicated to posting a photo or two with my family *in* it, and then maybe tell you a tale...

But then again, I might just post a photo and let you be confused.

I'm such a bitch.

Happy Friday... and Happy Mother's Day!

Naturally, today's photos are of my mom. What can I say about her that isn't glurgy or obvious? We have a unique relationship, that's for sure... she's definitely the most interesting person I know, and in my adult life I find that I want to be more like her, and have managed so far.

You always hear people saying how they hope they don't turn in to their mothers but in my case? I'm slowly cultivating it, and look forward to the day when I can look around and realize that I'm my mom.


I totally want that shirt.


Our dogs Bobo and Murphy. Bobo was stolen before I really remember him, but Murphy was a big part of my childhood. She'd come clean up crumbs on command, and I still will yell for her when we've made a mess on the floor... it's just habit.


Dressage is one of her favorite things; she's really good at it although she doesn't get to do it much anymore, but she's got a decade and more of knowledge. That's pretty damn cool.


One of my favorite pictures; please to be noting the shawl, which she (of course) knitted her very own self. She's a ridiculously good knitter.


See? (Click em' for more glory. You can also see her stuff on Ravelry if you have an account there, along with some more cute pictures of her, or over on Flickr if you don't!)

She's really cool. If you happen to know her... lucky you!

Happy Mother's Day mom, wish I could be there to have brunch with you.

Family Friday - Grandparents Make The World Go Round

Okay, so she's going. On the big expensive trip to Washington and NY. Why?

Grandparents.

The child decided she really wants to go, and although I still really REALLY don't agree that the price is right or that they should offer this kind of thing without making it available (or at least offering fundraising opportunities), it *is* a trip of a lifetime, quite possibly the only time she'll ever see these places, and she wants to go not because her best buddy is going (well not *all* because of that), but because she really wants to see the things in person that she's heard about on the news and in history, like the Hiroshima Museum (she studied that in Social Studies) and the Vietnam War Memorial (Colorado Alternadad is a Vietnam vet).

So I told her, if she wants to go... it's up to her to ask the grandparents. I can kick in a little, but she had to be willing to give up Christmas & birthday gifts for at least a year and all those other little extras, and explain why she wants to go, etc. Plus... chores. Many chores. I don't want her feeling like these things are just being *handed* to her... she has to work at least a little bit, and part of that work was to cowboy up and ask.

She was nervous, she didn't want to make those phone calls, but I told her, the worst that happens is that they'll say "I'm sorry honey but no", and she'll be out exactly nothing. But what if they *can* help? Then she's got this awesome trip to go on. Lucky for her, both grandparents were willing, and so despite my lingering ick about the way it was done, she's going next year!

Pretty cool.

So yeah... Family Friday's subject is grandparents, and all I'm a-gonna say is that they rock, and the kid is lucky to have them.



Thanks guys!

Family Friday: Moms Make Birthdays Better

It's my birthday this weekend (totally not a ploy for birthday wishes, but if you feel so inclined I won't stop you), and my mom, as always, made a point of making it happy!

And so my Family Friday today is just a thanks to her... I may have had a slightly unconventional childhood, but she always made a point to make it as conventional as possible, and created many traditions that I've continued with my own clever girl. Nothing that you don't probably do with your kids (or did with your family as a kid), just the normal stuff** like Easter baskets and Halloween costumes, but that stuff means a lot to a kid.

Being that I'm a perpetual 12 year old, my mom still does these things for me, and it means a whole lot.

Of course, since it *is* my birthday shortly, she sent me a box of stuff, and I cheated and opened it upon receipt (this was not unexpected), and so I will share with you the spoils of my... er... spoilage? Yeah.

Awesome bird paintings, which totally go with my living room:



Awesome bird paintings in place! Congratulations, you're blind now!

Many, many beads, purchased at the Tucson Gem Show:


I have no idea what I will do with these, but it may just involve running them through my hands while I make little cooing sounds at them. You would too!

Awesome paper mache box, which contained half of the many many beads:



Plus, of course, a card to follow via mail, which is one of my favorite things... I love lining them up on my kitchen table. Narcissistic? Perhaps. But you love me anyway!

THANKS MOM!!

** Okay, we had one kind of weird thing, but it's family-wide... when eating your birthday cake, your first piece (that two-word combo says a lot about us, too) must be eaten in TOTAL SILENCE. This silence, if broken, will result in you having to sit under the table to finish your cake. How can the silence be broken, you ask?

By any means necessary. All's fair in love and cake-eating.

Look, I didn't make it up, I just go along for the ride!


Just following tradition, honey!

Family Friday: Blood May Be Thicker, But You Can't Mix It With Koolaid

Gross title, right? But there's a point, I promise. And yes, I'm posting this early, because tomorrow's going to be NUTTY NUTTY NUTTY, and I won't have the chance. Plus, I couldn't think of anything for Thursday, I'm tired from a late night combination of the kid's orchestra concert (videos to be on Webshots soon) and making baskets. I'm obsessed.

Today's Family Almost-Friday is about those family members you choose all by yourself. They're not related to you by blood, but they might as well be, because you can fight with them and get drunk in front of them and they can show up at your house when you're sporting scary hair and PJs and you won't be embarrassed, and in fact you'll be even *better* friends with them later.

If you have even *one* of these, you're very very lucky... I'm lucky enough to have several, and I'd be lost without them. They've helped me raise my daughter, listened to my advice and sometimes even taken it even though they think I'm a pushy knowitall (which I am), stuck with me through thick and thin, and even gone away for several years, only to come back like no time passed (the true mark of a lifelong friend, I think). I can't even name them all for you, and how f'in lucky am I to have that?

And lest you think this an estrogen fest, this includes two very awesome boy friends (not boyfriends, just friends who are boys), who I will name here because they deserve to be recognized as Model Males who have been absolutely vital to the child in keeping her from later deciding that assholes are totally the way to go in boyfriend/husband choices. She has proof in them that there are fantastic men out there who are everything we hope they will be. (Kevin & Kelly, that'd be you.)

Kevin has been my best friend who's a boy for many years, and the child adores him. He gets a special award for Model Maleness for rescuing the kid from her stupid father's house last Spring for a day. It was, she said, the best day of her entire vacation. Plus he always sends her awesome birthday cards and is diligent about following up with a call on her birthday. He plays games with her patiently, but without letting her cheat, and he lets her pick the restaurant. The man sat through the Spaghetti Factory. If that isn't awesome, then I need to check the definition.

Kelly has been a husband-of-a-friend friend since his wife Nova & I renewed our friendship some years back, but has since become a my-friend-because-he-is friend. Still with me? Great! Like you didn't already know I'm insane. Anyway, he gets a special award for Model Maleness because he has made it a point to let the child know that she can always count on him, and has backed that up in action as well as word.

But this leads me to a question that if I was smart I would save for Wonder Why Wednesday, but it seems to flow today. Why is it that people seek out people of their own choosing and often tend to be closer to them than their own families? Again, I am very lucky to have a family full of people I like to be around, but lots of people don't have that luxury, and they seek the ability to be themselves elsewhere.

I see this need to be with people who like what we like everywhere I look, this need to alleviate the lonliness of feeling like we're the only one doing X Y or Z. I truly believe this is the basis for such fervent dedication to "subcultures" (I use that term very loosely - these cultures are bigger than you think) like crafters and gamers and Ren Faire folk. It's about being sure of yourself in a situation, something we all need to be able to keep our heads up. You can't wear your bodice and singlet to Christmas with Grandma without getting an ear-full or at the very least "the look" from your mom, but you don't even have to ask if it's appropriate at the King Richards Faire Yule Ball. You know you're safe. Birds of a feather, and all that.

Does this mean there's nothing new under the sun? Probably. But is that such a bad thing? Familiarity might breed contempt in some circles, but not at a convention... There, familiarity will get you prizes, free drinks, and probably a make-out session with a the Klingon or Darth Vader of your choosing.

So yeah, go find some friends. I guarantee, whatever it is you're into, there's at least 10 other people who will accept it wholly. If you're extra-lucky, you might even find someone who *doesn't* enjoy your passions but supports them anyway... and boy am I lucky.

And the title? Well, cherry Koolaid is just better in water, that's all. Not that I've compared.

Have a wonderful weekend... you know what I'll be doing!

Family Friday: We Are So Totally Famous

But first, the news.

Nobody can pronounce our last name unless they know us. It's a fact that I've learned to accept, but it's also a nice ice-breaker sometimes when you can explain the pronunciation using alcohol and salty snacks. My mom even used that for her very own blog, BirrenPretzels.

(The resurgence of Helen Mirren as a famous individual on this side of the Atlantic has helped a little too...depending on the crowd, I can say "like Helen Mirren with a B" and it solves the issue of spelling and sounding out in one fell swoop. Thanks Helen!)

Birren is also a very uncommon name, so I can guarantee if you've ever met a Birren they're related to me somehow. An ambitious lot, a few of them have even gone on to some fame, and because it seemed like a good idea at the time, I Googled the bejesus out of our family name to see what would come up, and have provided many a link to prove that, at least on the internet, we're damn famous folk.

Oh, and if you are, in fact, a Birren, please feel free to comment with any interesting Birreny tidbits you'd like to share with the world...or rather, the 4 people who read this. Hi mom!

• My uncle, Peter, who knows so much about stars that he wrote a book about it. We even have one named for the family! Birren1, natch.
  

• Faber Birren, who figured out you shouldn't paint hospital walls red. (I'm summing up, and there are a LOT of books out there.)

• Joseph Pierre Birren, arteest. This comes up a lot in our family, lots of artist types... my mom, her dad, her brothers & sisters...plus me of course, the Original Art Hog.
  

• James Birren, founder of the The Gerontological Society of America. No shit!
  

• Nick Birren, screenwriter (I think) and stage actor.

• Jeff Birren, an attorney for the Oakland Raiders. (My cousin Genni is also in the process of becoming a sports attorney. Crazy!)

• Susan Birren, a neurobiologist in California, and Bruce Birren, a molecular biologist at MIT... hey, I *work* for microbiologists AND I have neurological issues! COINCIDENCE??

Probably. Moving on.

• This guy, who clearly loves his running shorts, and his lady friend Jenny.

• You can write your autobiography, thanks to a Birren...the same one who started the Gerontological Society!

• You can even get a vending machine from a Birren (if you live in Chicago).

• Slightly stretching, but a fort in Scotland seems to be awfully famous, although reading the descriptions in various places Google led me had me nearly convinced I had lost all grasp of the English language.

• The original Irish people! At least that's how I interpret this. Don't burst my bubble.

• In that same vein of making my name and Irish/Scot fetish work for me, there's also The Birren, a road in Ireland not far from the highest pub in Ireland. Many emails have brought me assurance that this has nothing to do with the last name, but I still want to go someday.

• And last but not least, you can get yourself buried by a Birren.
  

Well, I guess that' s enough self-gratifying for one week. Here's hoping you have a lovely weekend full of nice things to eat and pleasant people. I'll be sewing and driving hither and yon, and probably making bacon on Sunday. Yum.

Family Friday: Sisters and Brothers

Ah, Friday at last. It's been a long week, and I'm feeling very lucky to have a weekend ahead of me full of quilting (I got the new blocks that replace the ones that twat lost), giving gifts (Le Snugie and a lovely bag to Le Snugie's recipients mom), eating cake at a party and probably cooking something yummy for breakfast on Sunday.

Being that it's Friday, I'm going to attempt Family Friday and see if I can't keep it up!

I'm lucky enough to have had the best of both worlds growing up, because I got to reap the rewards of being an only child (well, the only one in my house - I have sisters from my dad's side - a story for another day) but I also got to enjoy the insanity of a multi-sibling family, since I was the second-oldest cousin of MANY MANY cousins, and my youngest uncle was only 10 years my senior and we lived in the same house as children (well, he was 16, but still).

Most of the siblings were off and gone by the time I was cognizant of their existence, but the younger ones have not only been adults in my life, but also quite a lot like siblings of my own. My two aunts have always been close with me and shared details of their lives that are more sisterly than what you might think of as aunt-ish, and even my mom is more like a sister sometimes! My two older uncles are much more like uncles, given their distance and age difference from the younger siblings, but they're still people I'm glad to know.

Most of all , the afore-mentioned youngest uncle is truly more my brother than my uncle. When we were younger he liked to give me Indian Burns and fart on my head (and would probably still do so if given half a chance), and he was soley responsible for my claustraphobia, but he also drove me around and took me to movies with swear words in them and let me hang around when his friends were there and listen to rock n' roll and he had the cutest friends (Keith - my first crush!), and if there's any more proof he's actually some kind of brother, than I don't know what it is! I missed him a lot in the last 10 years or so, he was married to an unfortunate woman who... well, long story short, he wasn't able to be around much. He has since smartly divorced her and is now married to a wonderful woman who I adore. Because, you know, it's *my* opinion that counts.

The funny thing about multiple sibling families is that there are one of *everything* in that family (unless you're the Osmonds). There's the controller, the spaz, the free spirit, the smartypants, the contrarian, the total wingnut... sometimes one or two of those at the same time... it can be alternately infuriating and hysterical but it's never dull! Not only that, most of them have produced equally interesting children, who I'm lucky enough to speak to on a regular basis.

So today I'm just thankful to have that big family, even if the nature of it has changed over the years from one big unit to several little ones, and even if I only really talk to them by email and Facebook messaging... it'll do.

I'll finish up with a photo of my lovely grandmother, because of course without her none of us would be here!

Family Friday: The Best Teenager In The World

Because I really enjoy the blogging a great deal, but can't craft enough (and suck at cooking too much) to post something I've done daily, Friday will now be Family Friday. I have a fun (and often bizarre) extended family, and an awesome bunch of adopted family-members, so I think every Friday I will report on one of their exploits, or perhaps an amusing memory or two. Call it my memoirs in training.

So! Family Friday The First.

My daughter is awesome. Her friends are also awesome. I (vainly) would like to take some credit for this, as I obviously raised her right enough to have her want to be friends with fun, interesting people, and not go chasing the plastic girls trying to be their lap dog/door mat.

Score!

This past weekend (whilst I was ailing), we had her 13th birthday party. I'd be going "wah, wah, I have a teenager, I'm old", except that she's awesome. Did I mention that?

We did lots of fun things this year. She got to go shopping for cool shirts, got to play princess on her actual birthday (a Saturday this year, how cool was that) by going out with our friend Melissa for a new dress and shoes, and she even went to a salon to get her hair and nails and makeup done. She looked so pretty! (Pictures should be forthcoming, my camera phone wouldn't take anything of quality in the low light of the restaurant we were at, but luckily my alterna-dad's girlfriend had her super-fancy camera with her.) We also surprised her with a trip to her favorite restaurant, Melting Pot. Well, it *was* anyway... 3 hours and bad services seems to have broken the spell.

She also got to have a sleepover...I would have loved to give her a proper party, but what with being broke and saving up for our trip to Chicago in March and all, it had to be a bit low-key this year. She invited 3 friends over for tacos, cupcake decorating, movies and Wii madness. They were up until 3AM, so I'd call that a success. They were also incredibly well-behaved, for which I thanked them profusely the next morning.

The best part was her new Guitar Hero game and guitar. I got it used on Craigslist, which I adore, for 30 bucks. 30 bucks!!! So I figured, yeah it's an ugly guitar, but it was essentially free, so she can decorate it or what have you. She ended up pulling out her vast hoard of stickers, and proceeded to have her and her friends cover it. She also gave them each a section on the back to sign their names and such, and each girl wrote her first & middle name along the edge. Talk about custom! (It looked like this before.)



By the way, those are footie pajamas she's wearing. I told you, she's awesome!