Reflections

it's weather like this that makes me want to be anywhere but this concrete jungle. the weather is beautiful, but the environment is all wrong.

if i could be anywhere right at this moment, i would be standing right here....feeling the cool breeze off the water and taking in all the beauty of mother nature.

ashley mountain @ lake o' the pines...east, texas. (photo by butterfly)

R.E.M.

it's no secret that R.E.M. is definitely one of my top favorite bands. although i have to admit that i haven't really listened to anything new from them since "monster" that was released in 1994. i wasn't all impressed with that album much. i've heard bits and pieces of all the other albums released after that, and again...wasn't too impressed. i have heard through the grapevine though that this new cd, "accelerate" is very good. i am going to have to check it out. but EVERYTHING....and i mean everything R.E.M. put out from "automatic for the people" and prior, i LOVE.

i threw in "automatic for the people" this morning on my way to work and fell in love with it all over again. for me, it's easy to do with R.E.M.

i wanted to post 2 songs today. the first i would have to say ranks up in my top 5 songs of ALL time. the second song i just adore. they both take me away to a magical place.

happy friday all ~

Hurricane Ike / 911 / "Security Check Points"

um...so i got in today infuriated at what i witnessed this morning driving out of my community. i was going to blog about it, but have not had time, and in all actuality i don't have time for this even. long story short, there were roughly 30 constable cars in a 100 ft radius doing a security check point. it literally looked like there was a mass murder that had just taken place. i was a little concerned as i pulled out onto the street, i rolled down my passenger window and inquired to one of the 8 constables that were standing in this one area if everything was ok. they all just stared at me wordless, and shoo'd me on. wtf?! then once i crossed another intersection, i saw what was going on. there were 10 tow trucks lined up from 1 tow trucking company. bastards were setting up a trap. i will write more about it later. anyway....

just a quick word about the 7th anniversary of 9/11. regardless of what any of us believe was the cause of this, it is a fact that massive amounts of people died that day. keep them in your thoughts today and maybe throw out a little prayer here or there if you go that route.

i'm actually getting a little nervous about hurricane ike. i just read this on bloomberg :

Sept. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Hurricane Ike tripled in size in the central Gulf of Mexico as it churned on a weekend collision course with the 5.6 million residents of the Houston area, where coastal communities prepared to evacuate.
The system's strongest winds extend as far as 115 miles (185 kilometers) from the eye, up from 35 miles yesterday, the Miami- based National Hurricane Center said today. Ike's wind field is now larger than that of Katrina, the storm that devastated New Orleans in 2005, said Jeff Masters, the director of meteorology at private forecaster Weather Underground Inc.
``The total amount of energy is more powerful than Katrina, so we could be seeing a storm surge that could rival Katrina,'' Masters said. The storm is so large ``the location doesn't matter much; it is going to inundate a huge part of the Texas coast.''
Galveston, parts of southern Houston and areas south of the city and near the Texas coast were under a mandatory evacuation order starting at noon today, local officials said at a press conference. The coast may see a storm surge of as much as 20 feet (6 meters). Ike is following a track similar to the 1900 Galveston hurricane that killed 8,000 people.

um....folks...this isn't good. i've been to galveston many many times in my life and when you go and see the photos and read the stories or even HEAR the stories of the 1900 hurricane, devastation takes over your entire being. granted, we are much more technologically advanced in this day and age, but we certainly still can't stand up to mother nature. i've also been hearing talk that even as far north as we are, dallas is still going to be hit hard - predicting worst storms here in 20 years...and possibly still considered a "tropical storm" by the time it reaches us. um.

depending on the outcome of this, me and several of my friends are already talking about making a slumber party out of the situation. hopefully it won't be as bad as they are predicting, but i gotta say, i'm a little worried.

keep texas in your thoughts over the weekend and send us good vibes. we're gonna need it!

(click here for full view)

I Have Butterflies :)

posted over at http://butterfly-musings.blogspot.com/. go check it out!

A Year Later

pretty cool. obama was at the top of my quiz a year ago today.

I Know It's Thursday, But....

from my fav political blog,

Wednesday Funnies - VPILF Edition

gotta love bill maher.

PALIN = failin'

ok i am going to go ahead and put a disclaimer up here now that if you don't want to hear what i have to say about the republican party (because this is about to be quite ugly), then PLEASE stop reading now. as it is my blog and i am allowed to express my own opinions.

ok...if you are still reading, don't say i didn't warn ya.

--------------------

i am literally disgusted this morning. after my soccer game, i decided that i was going to go home and try (the operative word here) to force myself to watch some of this republidump convention. and since the newly elected vp for mc-chumpalay's campaign has been selected and no one knows who the frack she is...i figured i would go ahead and try and educate myself by listening to HER speak, aside from what i've been learning via the lovely internet these past few days. yah...not impressed.

i made it through 2 hours - off and on. barely. and painfully.

first romney, then huckleberry (whom i don't mind all too much), then some ma'am-sir (yes, she looked like a man), whom i'm assuming is the mayor of hawaii because that's all she kept talking about was the population of hawaii and comparing it to the population of alaska. barf. then googliani. ugh...that guy. don't even get me started.

side note : how cute was it that palin's 17 yr old pregger daughter had her self-professed "fuckin redneck" "mr. classy" baby daddy there sitting beside her holding her hand the whole time. awwwwwwwww. (GAH!)

up until the point that palin took the stage, this convention has been a complete snoozefest.

the only thing i will give her is she did get the crowd riled up and motivated. but your enthusiasm only goes so far once you look past it and listen to what she really is saying.

what did she say? what did I, personally get out of that speech? uh....i'm at a loss. i actually had to choke her speech down, literally as i was trying to eat my dinner. mary kay said absolutely nothing about anything that MEANT anything. yes, she was personable and introduced herself in her own terms...but all she did was defend her *cough*lack of *cough* experience and tell us that her lovely 19 year old son is going to be deployed to iraq soon and she couldn't be more proud of him and how she got into this as a hockey mom (is that similar to a soccer mom?) and joined the pta. awww...how very sweet. and poked jabs at obama (which of course is fair - she was pretty tasteful for the most part in that aspect), and WAR WAR WAR - we are close to a "victory" in iraq...and said something about stirring up the whitehouse. about how a mccain/palin ticket would STIR UP THE WHITEHOUSE and how mccain's many actions would promote the change this country needs.

HUH?!?!?!

tell me, avon lady, what exactly is going to change in the whitehouse if you and mcdouchebag actually win this presidency? spell it out with me. n-o-t-h-i-n-g.

nada.

zilch.


THEN, on top of all this i heard about how "they", as is the repubs, are treating ron paul...whom is still out there fighting for this nomination (god love the guy - i really do support what he's about - and i would totally vote for him if i thought he had any sort of chance in winning this election). "they" would let paul speak ONLY if he went by THEIR restrictions. i'm sorry - isn't this a free country? i'm sorry...isn't this what all of this debating and rah -rah shit is for? to speak your mind and to say what you believe in? i'm sorry, does being a republican AUTOMATICALLY make you PRO-FUCKING-WAR? just because ron paul disagrees with this pointless war, doesn't mean he doesn't have a right to participate in his own party's convention. that is enough reason for me right there to despise what this party stands for period. as if i didn't already. ron paul needs to move away from the republicans and claim himself as an independent again. i would be ashamed to be considered a republican. truly. but good for him, as he held his own rally at a smaller stadium down the street and had already sold 10k tickets. you go, ron.

alright. i feel better now. i believe my rant is coming to a close.

we are 2 months away from the presidential election of november '08. with that said, i'm probably going to be talking a lot more about it as it is CRITICAL that we make a change in the whitehouse this time around. truly. i urge all of you out there to do your research and to please please make an educated decision. as long as it's EDUCATED, please go vote!!!!!

Introducing : Sisterhood of the Traveling Winos

logo created by josi*

2 of my bestest girlfriends in the whole world (crack monkey and josi) and i have formed an alliance for ourselves by the name of "sisterhood of the traveling winos".

we have BIG plans. of course we may be dreaming a little bigger than what's affordable, but we already have plans in the works for a few destinations.

biggest and #1 focus : italy and greece in october of 09. crack monkey's sister has lived in rome for 10 years now and is getting married next october, so we are making a trip out of this one.

there's also talk of a vacation to forks, wa - i don't even need to explain why.

there's also portland, or and san fran, ca and new orleans, la

and a mineral bath, therapeutic weekend in hot springs, ar (which is much closer to home)

i'm sure we will be creating a blog shortly with some of our adventures along with photos, so stay tuned for that.

ciao bellos and bellas!

Maybe There Is Hope!

so i was listening to NPR this morning on the way to work and heard the big news about palin's 17 year old daughter being "about" 5 months pregnant, but "plans" to marry the father. (and of course with the rumor's that sarah's 4 month old, trig, being her daughter's baby as well...whew boy)

whoa.

i don't want to say too much on the subject as i don't want to create too much hoopla on my blog, but i gotta say that even though i have been rooting for obama to win and stating that i will move out of this country if mccain wins the presidency...i honestly believed that it would be a close race, but due to so many circumstances that i could list out here by the hundreds, this hope for change wouldn't be enough and mccain would win in the end.

but NOW....

i think this might have been the biggest mistake of mccain's campaign and may actually push obama into the presidency. (we can only hope).

these right wing conservative republicans and evangelicals are NOT going to go for this.

suck it mccain. HA!

---------------------------------

copied from a thread on metafilter :

Can someone explain why this might disqualify Palin for VP? Not being snarky (nor supportive, for that matter), I'd just like to know and I can't think of a good reason.

It doesn't. Being incompetent and possibly abusing her office disqualifies her for VP. This just points out that she's a goddamn hypocrite who wants the federal government to monitor other women's vaginas but already has surrogates feeding media cycles with rhetoric that it's outrageous- outrageous- for anyone to question the morals or motives of her own family life.
If anything, it raised yet another major question about McCain's judgment. GOP reps are now saying McCain knew of this, and yet for some reason he actually thought that this might not actually be an issue.
The man is losing his mind.

posted by XQUZYPHYR at 9:55 AM on September 1

Prepping for my 3 day weekend

i'm going to try my damnedest not to take any work home this weekend. we'll see how that pans out. i'm kind of in a blah mood today for whatever reason. my body is sore as i have already played 3 soccer games this week and going for my 4th this evening. thank goodness i have a break on sunday since it's labor day weekend and we don't have a game. i need the break desperately. my body's not young anymore.

i'm tired of money woes. electric bills this summer are kicking me in the a$$ and i am broke constantly. gotta love the texas heat. it's not like i go shopping or buy anything lavishing or go out drinking. because i don't. it all goes to bills. agh! i'm just frustrated. i just got paid today and it's already all gone. sickening.

i sure hope gustav doesn't head for new orleans, although it looks like that's the path it will take. hopefully it will decrease in category by then. today is the 3rd year anniversary of hurricane katrina and the devastation it caused the city of new orleans. not to mention our crap a$$ government who completely dropped the ball on helping these people. it makes me tear up just thinking about it.

i haven't been able to see ANY of the DNC, which i am so pissed off about. i simply haven't had the time to sit down and watch any of it this week - with the ladybug starting school this week, soccer, work, taking work home....i haven't even had time to breathe. i'm hoping i can look online this weekend and watch some videos of what i've missed. i've heard it's been quite phenomenal...i didn't even get to hear obama's speech last night either, which i'm even MORE p/o'd about. agh. i really need a vacation. no money = no vacation. fantabulous.

pardon my sour mood today folks. i'm going to get back to work.

edgar winter and rick derringer are at HOB tonight...which would be a killer show of the classic rock persuasion. so, in honor of that, please enjoy this classic from the edgar winter group :

http://www.last.fm/music/Edgar+Winter/_/Free+Ride

and this from rick derringer:

soulhat

soulhat is one of my favorite local - as in austin - bands. i have been fortunate enough to see them many times live mostly 6-7 years ago, but recently got to see them again i believe close to a year ago with patrice pike (who i LOVE as well) at the granada theater. they always put on a kick-ass show. so i threw in experiment on a flat plane this morning on my way to work and rocked out the entire way.

it's hard to find much of their music out there on the web, but i found bonecrusher, which is definitely an awesome song, so wanted to share. enjoy!

Moments of Clarity and Full Body Cleanses

for those of you that are interested in what's really been going on with me on a personal level, i've posted HERE.

~ namaste ~

Marry You

Which Twilight Character Are You?

which twilight character are you like?
created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Alice Cullen You are Alice you are a vampire you have good self control you seem to understand how others feel and can see into the always changing future randomly Alice Cullen 67% Edward Cullen 57% Bella Swan 33% Jasper Cullen 24%

Pressure Drop

RIP LeRoi Moore

i walked into work this morning and saw this on msn and my heart sunk. http://music.msn.com/music/article.aspx/?news=327570&GT1=28102

what a horrible tragedy.

http://www.dmband.com/

"It's always easier to leave than be left," Matthews told the crowd, according to Ambrosia Healy, the band's publicist. "We appreciate you all being here."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uesIbOfT8hk

i can't even think of the words to say, so i will just leave with a dave song.

Play Possum?

there's only a few bugs or animals or things that really make me cringe. i try and have respect for all living things, including some of the less enchanting species that share our earth. roaches, rats and big spiders of the hairy persuasion are the main things that i try and stay away from. i know they all have their own place and significance on this earth, but that doesn't mean i have to want to hang out with them or like them really for that matter.

i've never really thought much of possums. mainly because i've only seen one up close in my life that wasn't dead (no pun intended) or running away quickly and was staring me dead in the face as soon as i opened my front door in the dead of night. talk about a little scared.

anyway...if only i had a video camera for this moment on saturday evening, when i casually open my back door with my glass of red wine to step out back for a moment and i see something dart across the top of the fence and run quickly off to my left. i realized in an instant that it was in fact a possum...although i'm sure my face was priceless. i realized i had stopped breathing for a second. i had to catch my breath as i closed the door behind me very slowly. it was then that i saw another one sitting on top of my fence. very still except that he kept turning his head to the side to glance at me. i opened the door not taking my eyes off the rat-imal and said "guys...uh...can you come here for a moment?" crack monkey joins me at the door along with the ladybug and we all stood in bewilderment for a moment staring at this thing. i'm not gonna lie...it was creepy. and even creepier that when we made noise or tried to shoo it away, it just sat there. one moment with it's back to us, the next moment, moving it's head to the side to stare at us. i didn't realize that their tails were so rat-like...which makes it even harder for me to sit here without getting the chills.

anyway....the ladybug caught it on film:




looking at these photos gives me the shivers whew.

on a happy and smiley and fuzzy note, here's mr. marshall at 3 months courtesy of the ladybug. we took him to the vet on saturday for his 2nd round of shots and the vet just about freaked. he's grown 71% in 3 weeks. he's now 22 lbs. good lord. we are gonna have a big fella on our hands.

Clocks (mariachi style)

ok...let me preface this by saying i thought for sure there was no way i was going to actually search for this and find it. me and a few girlfriends from work went to lunch at mercado juarez and i overhead this playing...i was like you can't be serious? we got a good giggle out of it...little did i know, it's really a legitimate remix. wow. i'm speechless.

update: holy crapsky! how did i not know about THIS ALBUM. i'm going out and buying it this weekend!

Gravity

i heard this song today and it took me to another place and literally made me feel like i was floating. i couldn't find this version except for here...so you will have to click to take you to the site.

sara bareilles & sonos : "gravity"

Something always brings me back to you.
It never takes too long.
No matter what I say or do
I’ll still feel you here
’til the moment I’m gone.

You hold me without touch.
You keep me without chains.
I never wanted anything so much
than to drown in your love and not feel your rain.

[CHORUS]
Set me free, leave me be.
I don’t want to fall another moment into your gravity.
Here I am and I stand so tall, just the way
I’m supposed to be.
But you’re on to me and all over me.

You loved me ’cause I’m fragile.
When I thought that I was strong.
But you touch me for a little while and all my fragile strength is gone.

[CHORUS]
Set me free, leave me be.
I don’t want to fall another moment into your gravity.
Here I am and I stand so tall, just the way
I’m supposed to be.
But you’re on to me and all over me.

I live here on my knees
as I try to make you see that you’re everything
I think I need here on
The ground.
But you’re neither friend nor foe
though I can’t seem to let you go.
The one thing that I still know is that
you’re keeping me down

Vultures

We're Gonna Rock Down To...(wait for it)

and of course we can't forget about jenny:

You're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat

guess what movie i watched last night? hehehe one of the best lines in a movie. ever.

Breathe

it's a confirmation for your imagination
this type of situation goes on and on
what to do, how to say
when every little thing seems to get in my way

well i can't breathe
and i wish that you couldn't take your eyes off me
but it's never easy as it seems, is it?
please, softly before i scream
breathe, breathe, breathe

you say you adore me
what good could you be for me
and after i'm gone, wondering where you went wrong
cause you're only taking inches when i'm giving you miles
did you figure that maybe i wasn't worth your while?

well i can't breathe
and i wish that you couldn't take your eyes off me
but it's never easy as it seems, is it?
please, softly before i scream
breathe, breathe, breathe

cause where you got me is where you want me
when you had me but you left me
and i let this go on for so long
got me where you want me
well you had me but you left me
and i let this go on for so long

and i can't breathe
and i wish that you couldn't take your eyes off me
but it's never easy as it seems, is it?
please, softly before i scream
breathe, breathe, breathe

(p.s. - i also posted a blog at http://butterfly-musings.blogspot.com/)

Groovin' Slowly

obviously i can't post any youtube videos, soooooooooo i'm not having flashback friday today...in fact...not sure when i'll be able to continue that installment. hopefully i can figure something out.

i've been listening to my john butler trio - grand national cd non-stop for the past 2 days. and LOUD at that. if you don't yet own this cd, i highly suggest you go purchase it. or download it or whatever you need to do. you won't be disappointed trust me.

i was actually surprised that when we were in the car last night driving to dinner, i had it on and LL was like 'whoa, who is this?'. i've been telling him about them (and of course if it's not blues/classic rock/funk type genre's, it's hard for him to steer away from that). when "daniella" came on, he listened and actually played it again. i was pretty excited about that.

so today i have 2 songs that i would like to share with you all as they are both stuck in my head and making me feel AWESOME today. happy friday!!!!



Beautiful woman, so sexy
Come shake that bottom over, over to me
Feel that one drop, feel that skank
Brother B playing that Hip Hop
It better than a, money in the bank
Lights are low, moon is high
I want you to know
That you're the brightest star in my sky and

I'm groovin' slowly
With my woman
Groovin' slowly
With my wo-man

DJ play that music
All night long
Play that funky kingston
You know it's our, our favourite song
Feel that back beat
Feel that groove
Got my baby on the dancefloor
She doin all her, her favourite moves

I want you to know girl
I want you to feel
I want to show you
That my love is real
I want you to see girl
You're the brightest star that shines
Even though there is no forever
I'm gonna love you 'til the end of time

'Cos I'm, I'm groovin' slowly

-------------------------------------------------------------



There are things in this life I
would rather not sacrifice.
You girl I cannot live without and
you know there's no doubt that
All I mind's losing you.

I don't mind losing sleep
Pray the lord my soul to keep
I'll get plenty of rest when I am dead
but till then won't you share my bed
cuz all I mind's losing you
All I mind's losing you

And I don't mind losing money
There's nothin this life owes me
I've been given more
than I can receive
But for you there's no receipt
So all I mind's losing you
All I mind's losing you

I don't mind growin o-old
Losing teeth and going bald
Not as handsome as I ever was
But you love me just because
All I mind's losing you
All I mind's losing you

There are things in this life I
would rather not sacrifice.
You girl I cannot live without
and you know there's no doubt that

All I mind's losing you (x3)

ACAI everything

over the last few weeks, my hotmail inbox (which i don't normally use for my primary email due to all the spam i get there) exploded with advertisements for the acai berry stuff.....claiming to be the new everything healing, superfood. is this possible? can one little berry contain all of these benefits or is this just a new fad?

as much as i believe in natural foods and natural healings.....i get very wary about things like this. unfortunately, due to my anxiety condition, i have chosen to take the common medical approach to living with my disease. therefore, this henders me from partaking in a lot of the herbal and natural routes that in my heart, i would prefer to use. as time goes on, i may decide the natural route will be better for me, but for now, i am sticking to what's worked for me for 5 years.

i am new to this acai phenomenon and i haven't really read more than a couple of articles over the past few days about it.

is anyone out there taking this? is it all a big hoax? or is there some real miracle in this stuff?