WAKE UP!!

Nothing like a shrieking fire alarm at 6 in the morning to get you going! I'll go back to sleep later... or not, I have plenty to do today.

My e-mail is still fucked. I want to respond to some Wiscon stuff that's going around the e-mail list, but I can't. Grrr... I might just post to wiscon and ask someone to copy it over to the e-mail list or something.


It's Fremont Fair and Art Car weekend, and I just want to punch someone! There is a person who organizes things, and she sends out a dozen e-mails a day, cluttered with extraneous information. I don't get them, but Luke does. She posted that they might need help setting up some tents and things this evening for the Art Car booth. Luke e-mailed the person in charge of that directly, saying we live a block away and would be glad to help. He wrote back to Luke that he was fine, and had help lined up, don't worry about it. So this morning, there's a desperate plea from the main organizer to the Art Car e-mail list- "OMG Luke and Julie BAILED out on helping! We still need people to set up tents!" GAAAA!!!!! I just want to smack this woman!

And she barely remembers my name, calling me Jane nearly every time I see her... really gets my goat...

Super-Duper Long And Satisfying Day...

When we last left our heroine, she was VERY cranky, having been flung out of bed at 6am due to an unbelievably strident fire alarm. She was still without outgoing e-mail, and she and her husband both, were pissed at the e-mail antics of a certain Art Car organizer.


But the day improved greatly from there. I stayed awake after Luke left for work. I made one more call each to TDS and Comcast, and the e-mail problem was finally diagnosed. One simple tweak on Comcast's part, and I was good to go. I went to the store and got a prescription for Luke, and a few staple items that we might need for the weekend. Once they close the streets for the parade and the rest of the festival, we are basically trapped here. (But in a good way..)
I was home from the store by 11:30. This is pretty remarkable for someone who usually gets up at the crack of noon. I spent the afternoon doing laundry, dishes, and taking out all the trash and recycling (three separate trips to three different places in the building.) I vacuumed, removing a lot of my long shed hairs from the rug. (I know- ew!) I cleaned the bathroom, as we are having shower guests tomorrow. And I only played SOME Peggle in between!
By now Luke is home, and I get a call from hank saying that Art Widner has arrived from California, and is at his place a block away. So I meet them downstairs, and Art comes up and chills with Luke and I for a while. We then set off for the Art Car kick-off party in Georgetown, to a place I've never ever ventured near, and had to lead Art to, since he was following in his own car. The directions kind of sucked, there were a few wrong turns and harrowing moments, but we made it!
The party was held in an indescribably cool arty/industrial space with antique jukeboxes, motorcycles and grocery store riding toys. One was an airplane ride that yelled "you're on fire!" in spanish. Good food. Good conversations with lara7, her boyfriend Paul, and many others. Great cars! Fabulous dogs!
Then it appeared that a band was coming in and setting up. The girl looked familiar, just like the singer for Lushy, the band who opened for Los Straitjackets when we saw them 2 1/2 years ago. We liked them quite a bit, but they didn't have any CD's for sale at the time. We asked the host who the band was, and sure enough- it was Lushy! We decided we'd be sticking around a while. Art had already taken off by this point, he said he could find his way back north to where he was staying.
We settle into a butter-soft leather couch, and wait for the band to start. We talk to Don, the person we had supposedly left in the lurch earlier, by not helping set up tents. He didn't even know there was a problem. He had help, was not mad. The woman who I wanted to strangle earlier acted like nothing ever happened.
Lushy starts playing and once again, we like what we hear. At most there are 10 people in the room, a warm brick space with excellent sound. It's like our own private concert. At 11, they take a break, I ask if they have any CD's with them I could buy. The singer gives me a holiday CD they put out last year, didn't ask for money. I thank her, and we head home.

What an interesting day... Tomorrow should be a long and interesting day as well...