Instant Gratification

Oooh the cobwebs were even worse this time!

Soooo I took a blog sabbatical (Blobatical?) for various reasons, but now I'm back and hopefully will write/post with some consistency for a bit. The source of my return? Well, that started with Kirk*. Kirk became involved with the Treehouse Poets Series (at the Treehouse Cafe and Bakery, thus the name) and it piqued my interest, so in December I grabbed an old poem and went.

(On a side note, on that first night I went outside to talk with some folks and smoked two Marlboro full-flavor menthol cigarettes while chatting. Yeah, I know. Don't worry, it bit me. I ended up having to go to a gas station and throw up... and it still took me another couple hours before I felt well enough to drive back to L-town. Serves me right, I guess...)


Smoking fiasco aside, I had a good time. Everyone I met was very welcoming; I heard some very talented writers speak, and several made kind comments about my poem as well. I decided I'd go back.

As the date for the next poetry night neared, I realized I was either going to need to go dig old notebooks out of storage or get poetry inspiration and write one quickly to have an offering. I remembered that at the previous get together one author read a sample of his fiction instead of poetry, and it occured to me: I have ALL kinds of samples of my writing RIGHT HERE. So I read blog entries.

A scene from the Treehouse Poets Series #4. Or, in the interest of offering quality entertainment, "Where's Waldo?" only 1. Without Waldo and 2.With me and 3. I'm not wearing the goofy hat. G'head, click the picture.

To introduce the blog and the original theme, I chose to print out and read "Answers" (which, at least, ends on something of  an "up" note) and "One of Those Nights" (which, decidedly, does not). As I finished reading and looked out at the now-somber faces in the crowd, I realized I had made some fairly gut-wrenching selections... and I was the last speaker slated. I hated the idea of the night ending on such a sorrowful note. Luckily, Travis found a couple more readers (both excellent).

The one other issue eating at me was the idea of leaving the audience with the impression that I might still be in the dark place from "One of Those Nights." I had noticed several authors reading from their phones, so called up JKH on my phone and raised my hand to read just one more selection: "Dealing with Frustration in a Therapuetically and Nutritionally Sound Manner".

And suddenly, something magical happened... they were laughing... in all the right places!

What.     a.     Rush.

It was so great, I can't even come up with an appropriately humorous and hyperbolic simile for intoxication to try and illicit the standard appropriately cheap chuckle that should go right here!

Don't get me wrong, I love writing for you people but as I've told you before, I crave your comments, your reactions to what I write. I am now in love with every single person attending the Treehouse Poets Series who offered me those exhilarating morsels of merriment...

Sigh... I believe I'll be "jonesin'" for them until next month!

As I returned to my seat to bask in the joy of the moment, the second part of my motivation for using blog entries happened: someone asked me to repeat my blog address. And someone else. And someone else... And Travis put it on the Treehouse Poets Series Facebook page. I have to write regular posts now, or let them down.

Luckily, I have lots to catch my regular readers (if they come back) up on. I started to do all the catch-ups in one post, but I might need material until the next interesting thing happens... and with all the link jumping, this post is confusing enough!

Thanks Treehouse Poets, you're helping me breathe new life into this old blog!

*Who is Kirk? Kirk is someone better explained after much more alcohol than I plan on ever consuming at one sitting again... :-P

And the Winner Is...

Dear old Uncle Fred!

It turns out the new vehicle is a boy.

As it said in Fred's entry, his name is Kermit, because, "It's not easy being green."

First prize is dinner for two at Casa del Kelly the next time Fred and his lovely bride Shawna head to Southeast Kentucky. 

Many thanks to Cassie, Wayne, Stephanie, Wendy, Terre, and Tammy for your ideas! It was a tough choice, we liked all of them!

Make My Machine's Moniker (Please?)

Woo hoo!

I replaced Daisy yesterday. (Well, technically I replaced Daisy and Kitty both.)

The new vehicle is nicer than I imagined she'd be. MUCH nicer. She's not "new" new, but new enough to me that I feel like I won the lottery. Problem is, I didn't win the lottery. I committed to a figure about 30% higher than the one I had mentally set as my top dollar...

BUT, I really couldn't help it. I think God wanted me to have her. That, or the devil stuck her in front of me for temptation and I failed miserably. Either way it's divine intervention and therefore "less" my fault if it was an unwise choice. (I told you I hate making big decisions.) It's a long story, but I ended up having to make 5 trips past a certain dealership yesterday morning instead of my usual 2 trips. And she kept jumping out at me:

"Kellllllll-eeeeeee here I am! Waiting. Just. For. YOU!"

This whole vehicle replacement thing's been a struggle  for me. I needed something used, (bring the price down); but dependable, so looking for lower miles (take the price right back up); probably a low-mpg type sedan but maybe a coupe, (bring the price down); but I hate short cars and try as I might can't even force myself to like one model over another (bring the price right back up.)

I didn't want to borrow money (which would mean the price would have to go WAY down... along with the quality of the vehicle in question), but the whole point of shopping was for "dependable." "Dependable" would also mean something that would last me a while. It just broke my heart to think, I might doom myself to several years of driving something I despised. (Which meant, bring the price, and the possibility of borrowed-money option, RIGHT BACK UP.)

So, again, I ended up purchasing something more expensive than I planned. (sigh). But I LOVE her! :)

She's a 2006 Ford Escape. XLT package. V-6. Overdrive. 18/23 mpg. Sage Green. Tilt. Cruise. Leather Seats. Six CD changer. Electric everything. Four doors, no more climbing over seats for the girls.

Isn't she beautiful?

She doesn't have a bad side.
( I would have taken a picture from the back, but she's modest.)

She doesn't have a name. P.D., B.B. and I  brainstormed for quite some time for one yesterday but didn't come up with anything we liked.

Deat and I often used alliteration with the make- or model-name, but not always.
Examples:

• Sally - Deat's Mustang "Mustang Sally"
• Rachel - my Ram 50
• Fritz - (the only boy) Deat's Chryler Sebring. Deat got the name from some comment I made about his using German stealth to get me to agree to the purchase.
• GertieMac - my GMC Sonoma. Don't look at me, Deat named her.
• Daisy - my Dodge Dakota
• Kitty - the Buick Riviera. There's the link to the post explaining her name. To save you time, she had a Supercharger, and her name came from the adrenaline rush I'd get when I'd step down on the accelerator and her motor awakened from her typical almost inaudible purr to her quietly powerful roar. (Man, I loved that!)

This is where you, dear reader, come in. PLEASE HELP!

The JKH Vehicle Naming Contest

The only rule is the same vehicle-naming rule we followed: you must give a reason for your choice, and it can't be "just because I like the name."   The alliteration trick is fine. Hopefully her specs and the examples above will help you. The girls and I will vote to pick our favorite entry, hopefully before G & V whisk them off to the beach Sunday morning. 

Please use the comments section of this post for your entry. You may enter more than once (mostly because I'm terrified that we'll have very few entries and have to name her something we don't like).

We don't know what kind of prize to offer, so we'll discuss that later. Remember, we're poor, we spent all our money yesterday.