The Gibsons

It all started a few weeks ago when our neighbors rang the doorbell early in the morning. We never talk to our neighbors. I didn’t even recognize two of them (four total came to the door). They wanted to let us know that they had seen a bunch of very small kittens playing in the yard with their mother, and then they disappeared beneath our porch. Lo and behold, the cats had dug further into holes that chipmunks had mischievously dug over the winter. A litter of kittens, all living under our porch!

Now, I do not like cats. I am highly allergic to cats. I do not like animals living in my porch. I needed them to leave. The easiest solution was to round up the kittens and put up signs saying “FREE KITTENS.” Unfortunately, our method to try to catch the kittens did not work.

So we started calling around to the shelters. NO ONE will take kittens, especially not feral kittens. The mom is for sure feral. She hunts chipmunks and has babies under people’s porches. There’s still hope for the kittens though. We finally got in touch with a woman from No Nonsense Neutering in Allentown, PA who provided us with a trap to catch the mama cat. If we could at least spay the mom, then at least there won’t be more kittens being born around the town.

Last night we set up the trap and within 10 minutes, a neighbor was ringing our doorbell (a different one this time!) to let us know that there was an animal in the trap. We checked to see if it was a possum, but no! It was a cat! A CAT! It was small so I thought it was still one of the kittens. We called NNN and took the kitty in this morning.

Turns out it’s the Mama Cat! We got her spayed for $35 and she is recovering in our garage right now. Tomorrow afternoon we release her back into the community, but at least she can’t get knocked up again. The hope is that we can catch the rest of the kittens, fix them, and send them to loving homes. Or shelters. Or whatever. Away from our porch.

And thus (hopefully) ends the great cat crisis of 2010.

Stealing Denise’s old column of “People You Share the Internet With,” I have conducted an interview with my oldest, bestest friend, Joey Johnson. I am going to introduce you to him. It is timely because Gibby & I are going to Dallas in less than 2 weeks and we will be seeing Joey! I haven’t seen him for 11 years! ELEVEN. That’s screwed up.

So here’s the story. Once upon a time, in 7th grade, I lived in Texas. I had my group of friends and we had a boy group of friends (purely platonic) and Joey was in that boy group of friends. (So was Steven, fyi.) In 7th grade, AOL had just become popular so IMing was the new awesome thing to do, and when I moved away in 8th grade I continued IMing Joey. First it was under the guise of annoying him, but then it was because I genuinely enjoyed talking to him.

(Joey in 7th grade)

Over the years our friendship has waxed and waned, we’ve talked every day or we haven’t talked for a year, we’ve loved each other or hated each other. Much as I guess one would expect from a 14 year friendship. No matter how long we go between talking, Joey is the one person I know I can always, always count on. (BESIDES MY HUSBAND.) He’s always looked out for my best interests and he’s just an all-around stellar guy.

(Joey in 10th grade)

When we go to Dallas, one of the things we’re going to be doing is attending one of Joey’s band’s shows. You see, Joey has played drums for like, forever. He is now in a band called Orange Peel Sunshine, and they are good. I’m not lying. I usually try to get out of listening to my friends’ bands’ music because most of the time it sucks and I don’t want to have to pretend I love it. But I really do love OPS! I am excited to see them play live. If you are interested, you can download their most recent album on iTunes and Amazon.

Joey at 26 with his awesome girlfriend! (Stolen from his Facebook)

So I have taken it upon myself to interview him. Please enjoy.

1) What do you currently do for a living, and does it differ from what you’d like to be doing?
Handyman by day, drummer by night.  YES, would like to eliminate the Handyman part.

Generally I just liked all aspects of music but I found I had a natural ability behind the kit so I just ran with that and honed it in over the years.

honesty, morality, respect, honor, LOVE.

Hopefully touring somewhere and married.

Chris Adler, drummer from Lamb Of God, he as an all around great approach to life,the music business, and is a superb drummer that constantly pushes the envelope of what people are doing in the music world.  Any self made millionaire with no college degree.  Dave Grohl,  because of everything he has endured and shared with us over the years in his music.  Steve Jobs, for obvious reasons.

6) Why are you still friends with a crazy person like Lauren?
Ha!  Lauren has been an amazing friend to me over the years, whether here or not, through tons of ups, downs, and even after not talking for years on end, our friendship has endured and I am thankful for this.  Plus not many woman have as good of taste in music as she does, friend worthy in my book.

*The End*

So the epilogue to this little story will occur in August after we get to see him! And I have no doubt that no matter what happens in the future, Joey will always be there.

We saw Inception tonight. I knew the basic gist of it and I knew it was supposed to be good since everyone in the world has told me that in the past few days, but the real selling points for me were a) Director and b) Cast. There are a few moviemakers/actors in the world who I truly feel can Do No Wrong. Most people make shitty choices and end up making me disappointed. A former “Do No Wrong” actor would be the beauteous Christian Bale who disappointed me by being in Terminator 4. Why, Christian, WHY? Otherwise, his IMDB list is powered by some of my favorite movies. He’s a fantastic actor. Terminator 4? Really? And there’s a fifth one he’s in talks for!? Noooo.

So who remains on my list?

1. Christopher Nolan
2. Joseph Gordon-Levitt
3. Paul Rudd
4. Joss Whedon

Alright let’s start with Mr. Nolan. Let’s look at his short IMDB list: Memento, Insomnia, Batman x3, The Prestige, Inception! I own four of those. I love all of them. Well, Insomnia was good but I never had any desire to watch it again.  But all the others!? Oh my. He’s a great director who screws with my mind and I love every minute of it.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt first captured my heart in 4th grade when I saw Angels In the Outfield. It was part of a double-feature at the air force base theater with the Lion King. I remember it vividly. And from there, how many things has he been in that I adored? Well, pretty much everything. Especially recently. I was not a fan of 3rd Rock from the Sun, but that’s because I detest John Lithgow. But 10 Things I Hate About You, Mysterious Skin, Brick, The Lookout, Stop-Loss, (500) Days of Summer, and Inception? Hell. Yes. He was even wonderful in his single episode of That 70’s Show. Love him.

Oh, Paul Rudd. Can you believe he’s 40? How is that even possible? I first loved him in Clueless, which I think is where everyone fell in love with him. He was great in Romeo & Juliet and 40 Year Old Virgin and I Love You, Man, and Role Models – really anything. And Mike on Friends! Oh the love I have.

Finally, we have the brilliant Joss Whedon. Joss Whedon is the writer and director of some of the best TV shows I’ve ever seen. Buffy, Angel, Firefly, and Dollhouse, as well as the upcoming Avengers movies and the internet sensation “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog.” And he writes comic books graphic novels. So far he has never once failed me. Never.

Christian Bale can redeem himself if he picks some good new stuff, besides just the Batman movies. He’s got to earn back some street-cred. Other people who are close to earning their way back include Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Johansson, Guillermo del Toro, and Kate Winslet.

What about you? Who is on your list of trusty, reliable actors and directors?

This weekend I went to Vicky’s son’s birthday party at Dutch Springs. I wanted to go there for MY birthday but Gibby no one else wanted to so I just stuck it out and waited for Zayne’s. It was a lot of fun! Vicky rented a tent and we had a barbecue with lots of food and I failed and forgot to bring the plates. I’m terrible We had fun playing on the giant inflatable thingies except you have to have upper body strength to pull yourself up the taller ones, and I apparently lack that because I couldn’t get up on anything other than the slide. A bunch of little kids were like, “Hold on lady! We’ll get you up there!” and pushed me up. It was pathetic. I should probably work out.

So in the area of watching TV: we’re into the last season of Angel now, and (spoiler) Spike is back, thank god. I love Spike more than anything in the whole Buffy Universe. Imagine my surprise when, in a break between episodes, I log on and discover that New England Comic-Con has booked six (6) people from Buffy/Angel to appear, including Spike. Him, Cordelia, Xander, Tara, Harmony, and a chick whose name I cannot freaking remember. I immediately purchased our tickets. Hell yes, we’re going to Boston in October. I’ve wanted to go to a Comic-Con for awhile and I remember seeing it happening while I was living in Boston, but I’ve never been to one so big. I’m so very excited.

See, it seems that while Gibby hates talking about traveling, if I just go ahead and make the plans without him, he then gets excited to go. I guess the planning is what he hates. So I should probably start secretly planning our trip to Disneyworld soon Hah!

As my friend Steve so aptly put it, “Happy “Excessive amounts of Beer, Meat, and Explosives” Day!“

Accurate for the most part. We had a good time. Nancy came down, and my whole family and their dogs came down, and we entertained and they all slept over. This is the first time we have hosted our families for a holiday. It is a Big Event. I was nervous and over-prepared with WAY too much food. Better too much than not enough though, right? We had a fun time just hanging out and sitting in the backyard. It was extremely hot though so we ended up sitting inside.

OH! My mom brought me some birthday presents. I got a new awesome beater-blade for my Kitchenaid mixer, The Book of Awesome, and The Perfect Scoop. And a grown-up shirt that I love. Thank you, parents!

My dad and brother went to buy fireworks and, since they are from out of state, they were allowed to go into the Hardcore Section where Pennsylvania residents are not allowed to go. They bought tons of bottle rockets and mortars and exciting things. It was great. We set up in the front yard and shot them off as it was getting dark, all nervous that we were going to get in trouble. But then everyone else in the neighborhood came out and set some off from their driveways, too! There were fireworks going off in every direction! It was insanity! It was also very awesome. Definitely more exciting than sparklers and whistlers.

After fireworks and banana pudding, we were going to do the firepit and make s’mores but it was just so hot and I’d gotten bitten by a bug so my finger had swelled up and we were all buzzed from sugar already so we stayed in and watched Star Wars and then played some Rock Band. Exciting times.

Our families left this morning and we were exhausted. Two weekends in a row of entertaining people! This is very difficult for socially inept people. We spent most of today playing video games, catching up on True Blood (we now are officially caught up!) and watching Wolverine. We are nerds. But I am happy that it was a success!

In other big news: we’ve booked a trip to Texas to visit my grandparents, aunt, uncle, and cousin! And my best friend Joey! I am beyond thrilled. I haven’t been back to Texas since I was 15, and Gibby has never been deeper south than Florida. It will be great! We will only be there a few days but I am already super-enthused. One month from tomorrow!

Some of you know how Gibby and I got together. I will make it brief for those who don’t. We met in high school, never talked after that, and reconnected at his best friend’s funeral. I was engaged at the time – not to him. I felt something special with him so when I went home that night (to Boston), I found his screen name and IMed him and we talked every day for months until I broke off my engagement and made the decision to be with him. Best decision I ever made.

But what created that immediate bond? Anne Rice. What, you say? Why are you such losers? How did that happen? How it happened was that this was his away message on IM that night:

“Evil is a point of view. We are immortal. And what we have before us are the rich feasts that conscience cannot appreciate and mortal men cannot know without regret. God kills, and so shall we; indiscriminately He takes the richest and the poorest, and so shall we; for no creatures under God are as we are, none so like Him as ourselves, dark angels not confined to the limits of hell but wandering His earth and all its kingdoms.”

I, in turn, recognized this because I enjoy Interview with the Vampire. So I messaged him that I loved that book, and voila! Rapport was built. And love began.

He has always been fascinated by vampire stories. I love them too, though I wouldn’t say I am obsessed. The dark, sexy, mysterious nature of vampire stories is interesting to me and keeps me enthralled and engaged in ways other books do not. And with the current upswing of vampire lore in today’s culture, we’re kind of going overboard.

We’re involved in so many different vampire series right now that it’s getting confusing to keep track of the differences within each world. In Twilight, the vampires are damn pussies that glitter in the sun and don’t eat people (did enjoy Eclipse, but only because we’re starting to feel that they aren’t Vampires, per se). True Blood is ultra-violent and ultra-graphic and beautiful all at the same time. Gibby has finished that book series, I’m on Book 5, and we just started season 3 of the TV show. He’s on book 10 of the Anita Blake series by Laurell K. Hamilton, though I have not started that one yet. He’s also finished with the Vampire Academy series and the Mortal Instrument series (he reads these FAST!). We love the Vampire Diaries TV show where vampires can go out in the sun with their magic rings, and I am about to start the books for those. Liked the movie I Am Legend but didn’t even realize it was about vampires because they’re so primal and non-human in that story (I bought the book because I’d like to see how it portrays them). And, of course, we loved Buffy and are now almost done with season 4 of Angel – where vampires turn into non-sexy mongoloids when they are preparing to feed.

My love for these stories is rooted in my love of science fiction and fantasy. I love everything in this genre – just look at my love for Harry Potter!  We just happen to be taking advantage of the outpouring of vampire literature and reading and watching the things that most intrigue us.

I have a potty mouth. A bad one. I grew up in the Air Force. Can you imagine the words I was exposed to in Officer’s Clubs and squadrons? Lots. Unless I am around my parents, relatives, or at work (and even sometimes then), I’m probably swearing in every other sentence. Words are words. Right?

Wrong. While I’ll say fuck and shit and whatever else, those are relatively harmless words. I refuse to say derogatory racial, homophobic, xenophobic, or in any other way hurtful words. Fag is one of my big ones. I get so upset when people say it. I don’t speak up about hateful language as much as I should, and I even let “gay” slide around all the time, but when people say “Fag” I get very upset. Even if the person utilizing it is a gay man or woman. It’s unacceptable. I respect freedom of speech, but it makes me uncomfortable. When we were at the Pride Oscar Party in March, someone sitting next to us kept calling himself a fag. He was clearly uncomfortable with having recently come out and was talking about how he is hiding it from the military, but he kept saying things that were so full of self-loathing and internalized hate.

I’m the same way with the word nigger. I can barely bring myself to type it. I think it’s a hideous word and I can’t stand when anyone uses it. It’s such a word full of history and oppression and hate.

Last night at the movies, one of our acquaintances kept talking through the movie, using the word fag to describe pretty much every guy in Eclipse. It was upsetting to both Gibby and me.

This is not to say I am perfect. I think that our culture has internalized these words so deeply that even the most PC person can break. I know that when I get extremely angry, I call things “fucking retarded.” Why? I work with children with mental and developmental disabilities. I work with the disabled. I don’t use that word for anything and ask others not to use it around me unless it is, in fact, stating someone is mentally retarded. But sometimes it just comes out of me.

I’m not saying that you’re a terrible person if you say these things. Some of my best friends drop the n-word as much as I drop the f-word. But I feel like if we’re going to try to even out the playing field and create a place of acceptance and love, using words that are, by history, harmful and painful is not heading in the right direction.

Alright! Weekend recap.

Friday I took a half-day and came home to visit with Steve, Jer, and Viv. They visited last year, as you may recall. So this is twice. And Viv’s coming from Canada. None of the rest of you have any excuses! We hung out and went to Bethlehem Brew Works and then came home and played RockBand. Gibby & I bought RockBand ahead of time because we thought it would be fun. Oh boy. It was fun.

Saturday we hung out, played a lot of RockBand, went to Sonic for lunch. I went to get my car inspected and FAILED! It’s 3 years old! Why did it fail? My tires were about to bust. So I had to buy new ones. An expense I was not prepared for. Oh well. Sigh. Now my car is legal to drive again so it’s OK.

Saturday night, Vicky came over and we all played RockBand and engaged in debauchery and created a ruckus. It was SO fun! It will never happen again.

Sunday we woke up (late) and went bowling in Jersey.

Then we went to Phantom Fireworks (one of my 101 goals!) and – WHAT?!

Denied! Well, Gibby and I were at least. Everyone else was welcome! Let me get this straight: we’re IN Pennsylvania, but Pennsylvania residents can’t buy the hardcore fireworks. You have to be from out of state to even go IN. But then you aren’t allowed to transport them out, especially not through Jersey. WHICH PHANTOM FIREWORKS BORDERS. Oh, PA. You never fail to be ridiculous.

We watched a lot of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia as well. I love that show.

This morning I woke up and I was 26. Gibby gave me a certificate for a hot air balloon ride. No joke. It’s freaking awesome. I thought he was getting me an iPad (turns out he just bought a lot of Apple stuff this month…) so I was shocked (in a good way). I’m SO excited. I have to call to schedule it. I also got Gangs of New York on bluray from my brother, along with the book it was based on. And of course the thong that sings “happy birthday” from my mother in law.

AND THEN I got a package from Erica (in Ohio) who sent me a box of her boyfriend’s famous donuts. OH MY GOD.

Back to the daily grind tomorrow. Four day work-week this week AND next week! That softens the blow.

Things that went wrong today:

• The sleeper sofa we bought for the basement – and had custom upholstered – wouldn’t fit through the basement door. At all. So we had to return it.
• I stepped in gum in my new flipflops and it got ALL OVER and wouldn’t come off.
• It was 100 degrees outside.
• I backed out of the garage and slammed my sideview mirror against the side, cracking it.
• Vicky’s car got broken into while we were at a session! We had to call the police.

Things that were OK today:

• On disc 2 of the second season of True Blood
• We took an off-the-clock break in the middle of the day to go to Barnes & Noble and read and drink coffee (Vicky) and chocolate milk (me).
• The other sleeper sofa we got delivered, for Gibby’s office, is great.
• No crisis calls from clients! Knock on wood.
• Bought Rock Band so we can do karaoke at home. And play drums. But I just want the karaoke part.
• Edit to add: We also finally bought HBO. This decision was teetering because of wanting to see True Blood, but was decided once we saw the trailer for Game of Thrones (out in 2011) based on our favoritest ever book series.