#a hard days night gets soda he thinks its funky

[broareweabouttoviberightnow]

Darry is trying to hard to convert any of the gang to Beatles fans he has a DEEPLY specific n curated list of their singles that are less 'grandma rock' n he ALWAYS manages to sneak one in when they have music just playing in the background

[abarbaricyalp]

hello!! 45. comparing hand sizes, then linking fingers together , if you like! ☺️

"I don't get it. I've seen you two pull off that move a million times. I had it in my hand and I still lost it." Joaquin looked positively distraught, even with half a pizza in front of him and a soda bigger than his head. He was looking down at his hand, where proof of his claim was apparent--a dark bruise cutting across his palm and seeping to the back of his hand and down his wrist the longer he didn't have ice on it.

"Ah, don't feel too bad," Sam laughed. "Bucky's just got freakishly long fingers and he's been playing with that thing for a century."

The pizza place was pretty empty, all things considered, and they'd piled into the booth the further from the door and the karaoke stage. It reminded Sam of the old arcade houses he used to waste summer days in as a kid. Even the soda sticky cushions were the same.

This was a great wind-down after a mission that almost couldn't have gone better. No one was actively bleeding. They hadn't had to seriously maim anyone else. And some other organization was handling clean up. No media. Minimal reports. Clean bill of health. Until they devoured this 20 inch pizza. (Bucky had his own. He was not allowed to eat 90% of everyone else's pizza anymore) With Joaquin across from him and Bucky next to him and the heater running above them, he didn't think he could get more comfortable.

"You'll get there," he added with a nod towards Joaquin. "Takes time."

"Doubt it," Bucky mumbled and earned an elbow in his ribs. "It's a complicated move," he defended.

"Not the only thing he's been playing with for-- Ow!" Joaquin jerked his leg back from beneath the table and pouted even harder. Sam hooked his foot against Bucky's again. Okay, so the night could be better if his partners could learn to like each other. "His fingers aren't even that long. I have good fingers."

Sam sighed, world weary. "We are not doing this right now. It was an great mission. We're having a good time. Let's not--"

Bucky put his elbow on the table, holding his palm out to Joaquin, fingers spread. Joaquin shifted so he could lean across the table too, holding his hand against Bucky's. Though their palms were a near match, Bucky had half a knuckle length on Joaquin by the end of their fingers.

"What the hell?" Joaquin asked. "I played piano as a kid. I have good fingers."

"Yeah, my ma had me learning from the lady who played for the Catholic church down the road too," Bucky agreed. "All 'cause I had long fingers. Not any pitch or time keeping, just the hands."

Joaquin stretched his fingers and scooted his palm up just a little bit, trying to touch the tip of Bucky's fingers without moving too much. "You've got extra bones in there," he decided. "Your funky super soldier thing made you grow extra bones."

"Yeah," Bucky agreed with a roll of his eyes. "It's been doing that since I was a kid."

"Whatever, man," Joaquin grunted. He threw himself back into the booth seat cushion and crossed his arms over his chest. "Still doesn't explain why you can do it," he added towards Sam.

"I'm Captain America," Sam said with a shrug. "It comes naturally."

Bucky nudged him with a knowing grin and Joaquin scoffed. "Bullshit. I see how much you train with that thing."

"And how much do you train with it?" Sam asked pointedly. He laughed when Joaquin's pout got even deeper. "Come on, you've gotta practice with it to be able to use it effectively. It's not just a blunt force object. It's got its own physics."

"I'm getting more fries," Joaquin decided quickly. "You're being mean."

Sam laughed at the juvenility of it all. "Oh, come on!" he objected , still grinning, when Joaquin really did get up from their booth. "Hey, bring me another Dr. Pepper, could you?"

Joaquin's ego may be bruised, but he wasn't to the point of disrespect, so he nodded and skulked away.

"You're too hard on him," Sam admonished lightly. "It was just a bad bounce."

Bucky shrugged, unrepentant. He held his hand, palm up, out to Sam. Sam nudged his shoulder against Bucky's but put his hand on Bucky's hand. Bucky used the extra length he had on Sam to push Sam's palm down where it belonged, so the balls of their hands matched up.

Sam had good fingers too. Bucky thought so. Bucky really liked his fingers actually. But of the three of them, his fingers were the shortest. Usually the cleanest too, but that was besides the point.

"You know," Sam said faux-contemplatively, looking at the spread of his fingers, capped off by Bucky's fingertips, "back in school, we used to do this to flirt with the girls. Girls love a guy with big hands."

"Well, you know what they say about a fella with long fingers," Bucky suggested.

"What's what, Barnes?"

"They wear big gloves."

Sam pitched over with a laugh. Their hands stayed balanced and even, so when he sat back up, everything was as he'd left it. He could feel the tight pull of Bucky's palm beneath his, the way he was holding his hand flat and also pressing up into Sam's touch.

"I ain't never been the one with the smaller hands, y'know."

"Is it working?" Bucky asked. "Are you wooed by how big my hands are?"

Sam felt himself flush down to his fingertips and he knew Bucky would totally feel it too. Truth be told, Sam had been into Bucky's hands since a fight in some back alley in an otherwise beautiful city in Corsica, when Bucky ripped the slide out of someone's pistol and used it to pad his punches.

Sam had gotten taken off his feet for the momentary distraction, but they'd otherwise won the fight and walked away with some intel. Bucky walked away with more, because he couldn't share, but whatever.

"They're fine," he said with a shrug.

Bucky snorted and leaned into Sam's space. He shifted his hand over and laced their fingers together instead. Sam tracked their alternating fingers, light and dark, and squeezed Bucky's hand back. "Look a lot better like this."

"Yeah," Sam agreed in a breath. "I think so too." He tilted his head enough to get a quick kiss, which Bucky copied several more times. "Greedy," he teased.

And Bucky was gearing up with some smartass answer, but Joaquin beat him to it with a groaned, "I was gone for, like, two minutes tops! They didn't even have to make new fries."

"I was checking on the length of Sam's fingers," Bucky explained with a shrug. "And I don't think finger length has anything to do with being able to catch the shield. I think you're just bad at it."

Sam rolled his eyes and leaned back into the booth as Joaquin launched into some defensive rant, which only got worse when Bucky took several fries and shoved them in his mouth all at once.

Against his thigh, though, Bucky kept rubbing his thumb over the back of Sam's hand and squeezing his fingers against Sam's too.

It was a pretty good night.

[enviromancomic]

Part 6 - Happiness is a Gift you give Yourself

Steamy windless night.  Sophia already bound with energy from the prior day’s revelations , the summertime weather  would only add to the usual dampness of her slumber and sometimes lack there of. Her ratty old Rolling Stones concert tee absorbed her profusion like Keith Richards sucking up a vodka and orange soda.  With the night sky still a solid black Sophia’s eyes flickered open. Coaxed along by her restlessness and one loud gray friend. Oh Banana Brain why must you be you? Sophia let out slowly with a sigh as was the norm for her at this hour.  The noise box replied with a glance that said, What?  You don’t get it by now?  Adjusting her damp tee and rolling over onto her stomach Sophia blurted out  a solid damn it! I went to bed so calm and self aware and yet I still sweat myself into oblivion.  One of these days I would like to take my brain right out of my effen head and just put it in a lock box for a while. Then just maybe ….maybe I will be able to sleep. The cat unimpressed with his keeper’s musings slowly walked to the hallway and went back to sleep. Still dark yet a bit closer to daybreak  there now was that faint murmur of chirping birds. Sophia lay calmly awake as she brushed her normal frustration away.  Listening to that faint murmur gradually become louder a smile came to her face.  She now realized that some things just are what they are and are easier to deal with if you just accept and roll along with them. Contemplating and absorbing that all in, she decided to take this moment that she was now in and just be in it.  She noticed the birds as she became now more aware of the different sounds and songs that were available to her. She could see out her window that the darkness was beginning to lift ever so slightly and there was a bit of orange and purple at the tip of the horizon.  A warm sultry breeze blew through the open window pushing the curtains skyward.  With the orange now more vibrant Sophia exclaimed with a soft Wow!.  You see what you want to see I guess and you take what you wanna take as well.  Had I not been awake and had I not chosen to be in this moment I would have missed all this awesomeness.  Huh?  What else am I missing?  Hmnnn...I wonder? What happens when one’s choice leads to other better unforeseen events? I could have been my normal grumpy angry self and tossed and turned to the beat of my own curdling blood, but this time I decided to be more aware and see what I could take from it and wow! Look what happened. An astonishingly pleased Sophia thought to herself. She lay there thinking and thought how nice it would be to lay there with someone special and soak all that in together.  This particular thought started to bring her back down into her usual loneliness and a grim look began to take root. Luckily for her the wind blew the curtains aside once again and the glimpse of that orangey purple pulled her right of that trap.

A well fed cat looked wantingly out of the back door as an enlightened wannabe artist prepared her morning joe. Dark bitter and with a bit of grit is how she took her coffee.  Just like my men she said with a smirk as the first drips hit the pot. The cat was uninterested in her off color humor and continued his gaze outward. Afterall he was gray, a mix of black and white so to speak. Waiting for the process to complete our girl thought about her own process and what it was that suddenly started to make her think in a different way.  She wasn’t really sure. Maybe it was the talk with her friend or maybe it was just her moving into the true desire of  moving forward for a change. 

Walking slowly towards the door, Sophia tried to curtail the rapid heartbeat that was racing within her. With each step she repeated to herself. “You got this. It’s all you” “You got this. It’s all you”. Pulling the door open the much too cold air conditioned air burst through the opening and surrounded her like a storm cloud. What the hell! It’s colder than a nun on Good Friday in here! Making her way up the creaky back steps towards the classroom she paused. She took a deep breath. She took another as she knew what she had to do.  She walked into the class and looked around as she made her way to her seat. Most of the class was already there, but her crush had yet to make himself seen. SHe sat down and glanced over at Jade who was kicked back in her chair with her black boots perched upon the desk. Sophia grinned as she got quite a kick out of her ball of fire instructor. Gathering herself Sophia got situated in her spot as she looked around the class towards the other side of the room where Carey usually took  up residence. Thinking that maybe he wouldn’t show this evening she started to think to herself that perhaps she got herself all worked up for not. No sooner did she finish her thought did he walk through the door. Her heart began to rev up once again as he sat down. Knowing what her intention was going to be for the evening our art gurl made sure she had dressed the part.  With her hair spilling across her shoulders and the top of her tight flowered blouse revealing just enough to make it interesting she had finished it off with a pair of funky intoxicating boots herself. Maybe there was a bit of copy cating with her prof going on here.  Almost simultaneously Carey and Sophia looked in each other's direction. The instance brought a confident smile to Carey’s face and a bit of Oh my God blushing to our Sophia. SHe managed to smile back and then looked away.  SHe knew that her intention had to stay on track even for the sake of just doing it. How am I going to do this? She thought to herself.  She pondered over and over in her sometimes cluttered mind. Should I just walk over and start talking?  Should I wait till break in hopes that our paths cross?  Should I ask him to borrow something?  Ughh….I am getting overwhelmed. Knock it off Sophia. She scolded herself. 

Ohhh...wait….I got it!  Haha this is good.  I could write a note and fold it up just like we did in grade school.  This is going to be fun and funny! She thought to herself.  A little bit of the old spunky Sophia seemed to be making itself apparent for a change.  Was this the beginning of what’s to come?  She giggled to herself a bit as she reached into her bag for her art pad.  Ripping a piece off she looked up at her conquest.  Sophia almost had a bit of confidence in her actions.  Where did  this come from?  She was into it and it showed.  She fired off a few lines almost instantaneously. She didn’t really even think about it. She then folded up the message in the usual square and sent it on its way.  Can you pass this over to that guy over there?  She said to her neighbor with a kind directness. The socially vacant women looked at Sophia with a bit of uncertainty.  She however passed the note along. Sophia felt her heartbeat rise as the note made its way from person to person closer and closer.  Now reaching its target the note lay in front of her crush. Carey glanced at the note and with a somewhat perplexed look he began to unfold the dossier.  Sophia watched from across the room as she ran her fingers through her hair. Feeling a bit aroused from the tension and anticipation Sophia took a deep breath to calm herself a bit.  Glancing down Carey began to read the handwritten letter of intent. A slight smile was making itself apparent on his face as he neared the end. He looked up at his interest from across the room with a bit of a sultry smile.  The man bled a coveted confidence yet never seemed cocky. Sophia smiled back. She could feel the blood filling out her body parts.  She was thoroughly excited at the prospect.  She was looking for her gift. She wanted her happiness. The sound of hard soled black boots hitting the floor was the obvious signal that class was now in. The pair looked at each other with a slight smile as Jade began the day’s lesson plan.

[newmusickarl]

Album & EP Recommendations

Small Talk by Soda Blonde

I must admit until this week, I had forgotten all about Little Green Cars. Having discovered the Irish indie rock outfit at Dot-to-Dot festival a few years back and subsequently hammering their two albums, Absolute Zero and Ephemara, they kind of just dropped off my radar. As it turns out, in the five years since that Dot-to-Dot appearance and the release of their second album, Little Green Cars had called it a day due to one of the original co-founders exiting the band. But out of the ashes of Little Green Cars arose Soda Blonde, with the four remaining members now finally releasing their debut album under this new guise – and it is fantastic.

Back repackaged and with a fresh sound, this may technically be Soda Blonde’s debut, but you can tell from the off these are no novices. Built on the experience of their previous outfit, the musicianship is exquisitely mastered and the lyrics as stirring as ever. This is a very accomplished record, with the band steadily navigating shimmering alt-pop tracks built on self-reflection, heartbreak and difficult relationships - be it with former lovers, family members or even strangers online. The band stated in a recent online listening party that the record was partly inspired by Kanye West’s 808s & Heartbreaks, and that is certainly one influence you can hear coming through.

There are really so many highlights on offer here – from Tiny Darkness opening proceedings with a catchy melody and stunning orchestration, before the neon-glow of single In The Heat of the Night arrives shortly after, followed then by the melancholic downbeat riffs of Terrible Hands. There is also the decidedly 80s flair of the brilliant title track, as well as the glorious string-tinged closer Choices. However, ultimately the track that ends up leaving the biggest impression is I Still Have Feelings for You – an ultra-raw acoustic number where frontwoman Faye O’Rourke lays bare her vulnerability, speaking out to an ex in what is a really stunning vocal performance.

All in all, this is a wonderful listen and an album I can see myself frequently returning to over the next few weeks. Little Green Cars were special, but with Soda Blonde this band are now really hitting their stride and I can’t wait to hear what they deliver next.

Seize The Power by Yonaka

Another band I discovered at Dot-to-Dot festival (where they got handed the 1am graveyard slot but still absolutely killed it!), I’ve pretty much enjoyed the entire output from Brighton-rockers Yonaka so far. With their debut album, Don’t Wait ‘Til Tomorrow, making it into my Top 20 Albums of 2019, my expectations for their second release have certainly been high – luckily with their new mixtape Seize The Power, the young band have delivered big once again.

Where their first album was ultimately a rock album with a slight pop shimmer to certain tracks, this new project feels much harder to pigeonhole. Across the album’s eight tracks, the band push their musical boundaries out even further, sonically defying genre to perfectly match up with frontwoman Theresa Jarvis’ ever-impressive vocal acrobatics. However, some things thankfully have returned from the debut such as the relentless energy, glossy production, big anthemic choruses and stadium-sized sounds they produce.

Kicking off proceedings with the big riffs of Ordinary, the incredible title track soon cuts in with Theresa Jarvis aggressively spitting her rallying mantra over an ominous and masterfully produced electronic backdrop. From there the band soon head into their most radio-friendly track to date, Raise Your Glass, with its huge chorus and noticeably more pop melody. However just when you think Yonaka might be softening, they hit back with the siren blaring riffs of Clique, with Theresa and FEVER 333’s Jason Aalon Butler yelling “Get the fuck out my face before I do something” on the track’s hook.

The mixtape is then brought to its conclusion through another collaboration, this time with singer-songwriter Barns Courtney. A stunning piano ballad with a jaw-dropping vocal performance from Theresa Jarvis, Anthem is one of the band’s best tracks to date and a perfect example of how their artistry is nicely maturing. Although this may turn out to be just a prelude to what will eventually be their second studio album, this still feels like a significant step in Yonaka’s captivating evolution.

Vince Staples by Vince Staples

Elsewhere this week, Compton rapper Vince Staples released his fourth studio album and, as the project being self-titled would suggest, this is by far Vince’s most personal release to date. However more importantly, where a lot of hip-hop artists nowadays will choose to deliver bloated, overlong and ultimately dull projects - Vince has instead given us the absolute antithesis of all that.

Just 25 minutes in length and every track under 3 minutes, no bar is wasted here – this is a concise, thrilling and intriguingly introspective listen. With Kenny Beats in the production driving seat, he helps to elevate Staples’ work further, with highlights including Law of Averages, The Shining and Sundown Town. Although it may not quite hit the dizzying heights of recent albums from Brockhampton and Tyler The Creator, this is still a great hip-hop album that’s well worth your time.

It Won’t Always Be Like This by Inhaler

And finally, all young bands have the weight of expectation on them when it comes to delivering on their debut album – that first record is always going to be a big “sink or swim” moment. However, when the father of the singer is one of the most recognisable men in music, in this case U2’s Bono, there does seem to be an added pressure.

Luckily for young Irish indie rockers Inhaler led by frontman Elijah Hewson, they take this pressure in their stride on what is a very impressive first outing. Showing plenty of potential through their energetic sound, as well as their knack for writing killer hooks and big anthemic riffs, I will not be at all surprised when these guys quickly move onto arenas in a few years time.

Tracks of the Week

Creep (Very 2021 Rmx) by Thom Yorke featuring Radiohead

On the tracks front, something I did not expect to hear this week was a new remix of Creep from none other than Thom Yorke and Radiohead themselves. Where the original is a classic guitar-driven anthem, here it is reimagined as a synth-soaked nightmare that will fill you with harrowing, existential dread. Very 2021 indeed!

Golden Arches / Ever New by One True Pairing

Tom Fleming formerly of Wild Beasts has also returned this week with two beautiful new tracks – the first, Golden Arches, a sparkling synth-soaked number with Tom powerfully singing the refrain of “Hope is all I know, you are my inspiration.” Then things are completely stripped-back to basics for a gorgeous, mostly-acoustic rework of Beverly Glenn-Copeland’s Ever New – really haunting stuff, the latter of which you can watch/listen to above.

Funny Way of Showing It by Spector

Co-written by Jack Kaye from The Magic Gang, indie legends Spector continue their build towards new album Now or Whenever with this spacey, guitar-driven new single. As always, packed with a killer hook and an instant melody that will get stuck in your head for hours.

Good Girl by CHVRCHES

The Scottish trio deliver this striking new single, which frontwoman Lauren Mayberry wrote “after listening to some friends arguing about the present-day implications of loving certain problematic male artists – I was struck by the lengths that people would go to in order to excuse their heroes and how that was so juxtaposed to my own experiences in the world.”

A glistening synth-driven pop song, contrasted with razor-sharp lyrics and a defiant message at its core – catchy, but also powerful and thought-provoking.

The Unforgiven by Vishal Dadlani, DIVINE & Shor Police featuring Metallica

I must admit I’ve been really enjoying these Metallica covers in recent weeks, with the likes of Biffy Clyro, Miley Cyrus and St. Vincent taking on the challenge so far. This week a bit leftfield as Indian singer-songwriter Vishal Dadlani teams up with rapper DIVINE and pop duo Shor Police for a fun, albeit slightly cheesy, take on the Black Album classic.

Only Love by Tycho & Benjamin Gibbard

Benjamin Gibbard returns to his Postal Service roots for this collaboration with electronic artist Tycho, for what is a dreamy, feel-good summer anthem.

Dangerous by Hard Feelings

Hot Chip’s Joe Goddard also delivers his second collaboration with Amy Douglas for their Hard Feelings project, an ultra-funky, dancefloor-ready disco tune.

The Aftergone by Holy Holy featuring CLEWS

Australian outfit Holy Holy, who are due to drop their fourth studio album next month, team up with CLEWS for another brilliant teaser that sees the band continue to expand their already adventurous sound.

I Go by Peggy Gou

And finally, the Queen of House only drops a new single once in a blue moon, but they always seem to be just what you need to hear. This one is no different, with I Go built on dreamy vocals and euphoric summery vibes.

[keywestlou]

KEY WEST'S MOST FAMOUS CRAZY

Key West is a funky town. Properly so. People who live here do so because they enjoy the atmosphere. Tourists, also.

Things get a little out of hand occasionally.

Karl Tanzer aka Count von Cosel worked at the Key West hospital. He fell in love with Elaine Hoya Mesa. The difference in their ages significant He could have been her father.

Elaine was in love with Karl as well.

On this date in 1940, Karl was arrested. Elaine had died. He was heart broken. She was buried in the cemetery. Some time later, Karl removed her body. He took Elaine’s body to his home.

Karl placed her in his bed. They slept together for several years.

Karl was arrested for keeping Elaine’s body in his home.

Because of a technicality, Karl was never convicted of any crime. He was not even tried.

Sickish! Ghoulish! Key West, however!

The Regal Cinema in the Sears Shopping Center took a bad beating in 2017 from Irma. Took forever for the repairs to be completed. Worth waiting for, however. The new Regal was extremely comfortable. Best movie seats I have ever sat in. Tons of leg room. Backwards, forward, up, down. A delight!

Coronavirus is affecting many American industries. One is the movie theater business.

Layoffs/furloughs are substantial when a major business goes down.

Regal Companies has announced it is closing all its theaters in the U.S. on thursday. Five hundred thirty six people will join the ranks of the unemployed.

The numbers keep growing.

Regal announced the closing was “temporary…..we will continue to monitor the situation closely.”

It is not the virus alone which is keeping people away. It is the nature of home entertainment. Movies by the thousands are available on TV. Many free. The ticket prices, pop corn and soda became too expensive.

Today a big one in 1927. The first talking movie ever opened. The Jazz Singer starring Al Jolson.

Silent movies were dead. Talkies the new kid on the block.

I watched Biden in an MSNBC Town Hall last night. The event outside in Miami.

Biden was outstanding. Presidential. As if he has been training for this job forever. He has. His entire life.

What was most interesting, Biden had a detailed plan worked out to solve any problems raised by the audience. Facts, not bullshit. No yelling either.

Lester Holt could have done better. He was not as bad as Chris Wallace. Not even close. However he did a few followups to  questions asked. I thought his followups stupid. Like he was trying for a “gotcha.” He asked questions about issues that were remote or non existent.

Yesterday, I thought Trump’s illness was a made up one. Today I think it was the steroids affecting his brain. Perhaps both.

Steroids are part of the coronavirus treatment procedure and can make a person off the wall for a period of time.

Trump was so afflicted when he took the ride Sunday and when he returned to the White House last night. Most of his tweets yesterday were way out.

It was reported yesterday and today that son Donald Jr. is concerned about his father’s health. He feels his father is “acting crazy.” The President’s appearance one of desperation. His sick body and mind trying to project strength.

Donald Jr. was alarmed.

He went to Ivanka and Jared. Asked for their cooperation in going to the President and telling him how bad he was doing and to back off.

Ivanka and Jared refused. They had been telling Trump “how great he was doing.”

Donald Jr. said he would not approach his father alone. He needed assistance in telling “Dad” he was acting crazy, the steroids were affecting him, etc.

When Trump arrived at the White House and after he got off the helicopter, he appeared to have difficulty breathing. Especially after he climbed the outside stairs to the Truman porch.

He stood for a good several minutes at the top of the stairs. Breathing appeared difficult. His face was pancaked under a coat of orange powder.

He saluted. I don’t know who he saluted. Great sharp salute. Lasted 23 seconds. His face never moved. Not one muscle.

Instead of immediately going to bed, he waited around. Waiting to make a video of his return. American flags flying.

Trump was jacked up by the steroids. His few words made it obvious. There was a power and excitement in whatever he said.  He could have flown to the moon without a spaceship.

Sad.

If China, Russia or Iran decided to do something terrible to the U.S., Trump cannot be trusted to handle it. I hope decisions have been made for Pence to take over temporarily in such instance.

CNN viewed Trump’s Sunday joyride and “the next to crazy Monday” as “steroid induced psychosis.”

New York City was a disaster several months ago. Cuomo worked hard at it and the numbers are way down. Although there was a slight increase this past week.

When things were bad, ICU beds reached the point of being unavailable. Regular rooms were turned into ICU rooms. Hospitals and staff were over loaded and over burdened.

As of October 1, New York City hospitals had 19 percent of regular beds empty. In addition, 25 percent of ICU beds were available.

Lets hope none are needed.

Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou tonight. Nine my time. Guaranteed to be special. Trump alone could eat up the entire half hour. www.blogtalkradio.com/key-west-lou.

Enjoy your day!

KEY WEST’S MOST FAMOUS CRAZY was originally published on Key West Lou

[letterjaey]

Day 4: Orbit

Keith hated the county fair. The music was too loud, everything was overpriced, the rides were screaming metal death traps, there was always a funky smell in the air, and there were too many people. Not to mention, the county fair was placed in the middle of a field which meant pesky little insects which meant Keith would be itchy for days from bug bites. In fact, he could already see three forming on his arm as he cursed and pulled the sleeves of his hoodie down further. So what was Keith doing at the county fair, wearing his favorite red hoodie, what he thought was a sexy black v-neck, the jeans he thought made him look irresistible, his stylish tennis shoes, shivering in the cool autumn air in front of a questionable swing ride and scowling while a child sporting cinnamon sugar all over their face spilled soda all over his shoe? “Keith!”

Keith looked up, scowl completely gone at the sight of the most attractive teen he had ever seen jogging towards him. ”Shiro,” Keith said as the said teen stopped in front of him. Keith had a date with Shiro Tadashi, the hottest person in Galaxy Garrison High School, if not the hottest person in the whole school, at the county fair today.

Ok, so it wasn’t actually a date. Keith had ran into the older teen in the hallways, answering Shiro’s question of whether there was a county fair happening this weekend to which Keith had answered yes and offered to show him around if he wanted and had been told he would like that. Keith was too overwhelmed by the fact that he was conversing with Shiro to properly analyze what had just happened, if him standing stunned in the hallway with Shiro’s contact number entered into his phone so they could work out details after the older teen waved at him and promised he’d talk to him later was any indication of his bafflement.

The guy was a legend. Galaxy Garrison High was practically a shrine to Shiro, if the number of times Shiro’s name decorated the hallways were anything to go by. He had been the top student of his year and most accomplished person in all of the school’s history. Recognized as the top athlete of the school, voted most likely to succeed in life in the school yearbook, chosen as prom prince in his junior year and prom king his senior year, president of Altaen Adventurers, a club that helped and served several communities in need and had become a small non-profit organization that prospered with Shiro’s lead, Shiro had graduated with honors as valedictorian of his class. Shiro was currently a student of Galaxy Garrison University, the top university in the state, if not the country. The only reason Keith was even honored with his presence was because Shiro was a teacher’s aid for one of his classes.

Not to mention, Shiro had a heart of gold. Shiro’s reputation in the city included stories of him being a cross walk guard as a child, staying with lost kids until their parents came, helping kittens out of trees, and walking old ladies across the street. Shiro was better than sliced bread, as Keith’s classmate, Lance, so aptly put it.

So yeah, Keith was overwhelmed. Keith had a major crush on the guy the moment he saw him and he really wanted to impress Shiro. Sue him for pretending this was a date, this was probably the only chance he would have with the older teen anyway. Keith discretely shook his foot to rid it of the earlier soda spill, hoping Shiro wouldn’t notice. ”Thanks for waiting,” said Shiro. The older teen smiled and Keith felt his heart flip. “I’m glad you’re here.” “Of course,” said Keith. Like hell he would be anywhere else when this living Adonis was here. He took a cursory glance around the county fair. “Um, do you want to walk around and see everything first?”

Shiro smiled and nodded. “Sure,” he answered. Keith smiled in reply and begin to lead the way.

This was it. Keith’s date with Shiro was officially beginning and he was not going to be a nervous wreck. He was going to play it cool and impress Shiro so hard that he’d fall in love with him, get married, own a simple house together with a tire swing in the yard, become his trophy husband, watch their five cats play on the lawn, and grow old and wrinkly together. This was not a fantasy Keith played out in his head numerous times, do not be mistaken, it was a plan. A solid, well thought out plan. Keith took a deep breath, feeling butterflies in his stomach as he walked beside Shiro, living legend and teacher’s aid of his class. He could do this. --

He couldn’t do this. “Keith, it’s all right,” Shiro said between huffs of laughter. Keith whined in what he will later protest was a dignified manner because he would not have it any other way. “It’s not all right,” cried Keith in a muffled voice. He was currently crouched down with his hands in his face, completely mortified by the events that had just transpired. So Keith was a nervous wreck. That wasn’t a big deal. After walking around the fair grounds with Shiro, which proved to be not as horrible as he thought, the older teen offered to buy food since the smells had been tantalizing. Keith wasn’t going to deny the chance to have food with Shiro and so they went to the food area and perused the options. Shiro had settled on purchasing a tray of cheese fries for the two to share and Keith had been grateful. The butterflies in his stomach had decided to turn into a churning mass of nerves by this point. Food would probably help settle Keith’s stomach, of course. Keith had also figured it would be brilliant to buy a large milkshake since he didn’t want to be rude and eat all of Shiro’s fries. Completely stuffed by fair food to feel any anxiousness, Keith suggested to Shiro that they should go on the rides after they dumped their empty condiment containers in the trash. Rides were typically romantic and Keith was going to romance the heck out of Shiro. The two had purchased tickets which Shiro insisted on paying for. That’s when Shiro saw it, the Voltron Orbiter.

The Voltron Orbiter was a typical spinning ride but with the use of the late 80s show of Voltron as its theme. The center of the machine was built to look like the villain of the show, Zarkon, with the carts on each of the arms designed to look like each of the lions that formed the hero, Voltron. It was a pretty good approximation of what was on the show, not that Keith had spent a week last month marathoning the series because Shiro had mentioned it in passing. Keith had a life.

”Oh man, Voltron! I haven’t seen that show in ages,” Shiro said, face clearly reminiscing while Keith stared on in wonderment at how such a being like him could exist. Shiro turned to face Keith, startling the boy out of his admiration, and asked, “Can we go on that one?” ”Yeah, sure,” Keith answered automatically, watching the varying colors of the ride’s lions blur together at an alarming rate. He watched as what he recognized to be one of his classmates, Hunk, puked into the nearest trashcan immediately after exiting the ride. "We can go on that one.” Keith knew going on the ride was a bad idea the moment he got in line. However, Shiro convinced him otherwise. No, the older teen didn’t say anything, it was the look on his face as he talked about watching Voltron in his younger years that had Keith staying in line instead sprinting in the other direction. Keith would bet his life that Shiro’s happy face could bring world peace if it was broadcasted around the world. Of course, Shiro picked the Black Lion once they were allowed to board the ride. It suited him. Keith had a preference for the Red Lion but he wasn’t going to complain, especially when he was comfortably pressed up against Shiro’s side in the seat and could feel how wonderfully built the teen was.

“Do you want to pilot the lion?” Shiro asked, pointing to the joystick between the two of them that was used to control the height of the lion during the ride. Keith told the older teen that he could control it, knowing himself to probably be too distracted by their proximity to navigate the lion properly. Keith vaguely recalled hearing the safety instructions to keep all hands and personal in the ride at all times as an awfully cheery man with a bright orange mustache came around to test the safety bar that came down across their laps. Keith felt the jerk of the ride as it started, thinking it wasn’t as bad as he thought as the lions began to lift in the air and begin its rotations around Zarkon. Shiro was gently guiding the Black Lion up and down through the air, laughing while Keith had a death grip on the safety bar, his stomach doing flips from hearing Shiro’s laugh or from adrenaline. It was hard to tell. That’s when the lions lurched forward and Keith realized his mistake. The ride picked up incredible speed and along with Shiro’s expert navigation of rapidly raising and dropping the Black Lion, Keith realized very soon what was going to happen. Shiro had been whooping in mirth when he looked over at Keith, realizing his companion had gone completely quiet.

Shiro asked, “Keith, are you ok?” He watched Keith in concern and Keith was once again struck by wonderment at how Shiro was created by a series of random events that allowed him to be real in this moment. This was his chance, before everything was ruined by space lions hurtling around a demented alien, Keith should confess to Shiro. Keith opened his mouth. “I shouldn’t have had that milkshake,” Keith said before his body involuntarily rid the drink from his stomach all over his crush’s lap. Which brings us to now, with Keith trying to fold in on himself and disappear into a self-made black hole while he had waited for Shiro to clean himself in the bathroom, surprised to find that the other teen hadn’t climbed out the bathroom window and escaped into the night after being barfed all over. “I should have stopped you from getting that milkshake,” Shiro said, holding a hand out to Keith. “I knew that was a bad idea but I was distracted.” The younger teen peered up at the older teen, aware that his face was the same shade as his hoodie, and took the hand. He was helped up and stood in front of Shiro but refused to look his crush in the eyes.  “I should have known better,” Keith said. “Hey,” Shiro said gently. He had moved so he was within sight of Keith and Keith couldn’t help but look back at him. Shiro’s face was open and understanding and it was hard to ignore. Well, his face was always hard to ignore. It was practically sculpted by the masters if his handsome, chiseled features were anything to go by. “It’s ok. It happens.” “Yeah, but,” Keith started. Everything was ruined. He made a fool of himself and reduced his chances of any sort of relationship with Shiro to nothing. He had wanted to make the most of this opportunity. It was so frustrating to know he had messed up, all because he couldn’t control his nerves. Keith hated the county fair. “I hate the county fair,” Keith said bitterly. Shiro chuckled. “Hey, I had a good time,” Shiro said, squeezing Keith’s hand that he was still holding. “No,” Keith said, all of his emotions and disappointments boiling over, “I actually really hate the county fair. It’s too loud, everything is overpriced, the rides look like they’re being held together by duct tape, there’s always a weird smell, and there’s too many people. And look!” Keith held his wrist out to reveal two more itchy bug bites that had recently formed. “I hate this place,” Keith said. “Oh,” Shiro answered, sounding disappointed. “I didn’t know.” Keith grimaced. This sucked. But Keith had hoped he could impress Shiro and win him over. Or at least ask for a real date. Keith scoffed at himself. As if that was going to happen.

“But I thought-” Keith said, voice sounding small to his ears, the same way he felt now, standing in front of Shiro, “You wanted to know about it. And then you said you’d like me to show you around and I thought- I don’t know, I could impress you.” Keith looked up to find Shiro staring at him intently. He felt his cheeks warm and blurted out, “I just wanted you to like me.” Because I really like you. Keith felt his whole face flush a deeper red and looked down at his shoes, noticing the soda stain from earlier had set. “Ah,” Shiro said. Keith looked back up at the odd noise and found Shiro blushing, which Keith was certain could make an angel fall from heaven- wait. Why was he blushing? “Oh my god,” Keith said, feeling the color drain from his face as he realized what happened. He just made a fool of himself in front of his crush, Shiro Tadashi. “I said that out loud. Kill me now.” Shiro laughed, which only caused Keith to become flustered. “No,” Shiro said, grabbing Keith’s other hand with his. They were standing so close now and wow Shiro smelled nice. Keith had to make an effort to stay put despite wanting to flee into the fields and never return. “I’m glad you said that.” “Um, you’re welcome?” Keith said, mentally beating himself up for his response. He was unsure of what to do. Impressing people was so hard, he had no idea why he thought he could do it tonight of all nights. Shiro was still here so though so that must count as something, Keith thought hopefully. Shiro smiled at Keith fondly which did things to Keith.

“I really like you, too,” Shiro confessed. Oh. Oh, that did things to Keith as well. “Ok,” Keith said, marveling at his crush. “That’s nice.” Shiro laughed and next thing Keith knew, he was being pulled into a warm embrace. Keith may have teared up a little, overcome by the realization that he hadn’t screwed up and  that his crush actually liked him back. This was not how he planned on getting Shiro to fall for him, but this was still perfect. “How about I win you a prize, we ride the Ferris wheel, and then I make sure you get home safely?” Shiro said, releasing Keith from his arms and moved to hold Keith’s hand instead. “I promise not to go on the Voltron Orbiter again,” Shiro added in a teasing tone. “Ok,” Keith answered. Of all the things that happened today, Keith would have never expected this outcome. Going on rides with a full stomach? Keith had lost his mind. He thought about what Shiro was like throughout the night, a perfect companion, when another thought occurred to him. Was Shiro romancing him the whole time? Had he not noticed? He paused. “Does this mean this is a date?” Shiro laughed and leaned forward to place a kiss on Keith’s forehead. Shiro whispered against his head, his breath warm against Keith’s skin, “It’s a date.” Keith didn’t hate the county fair so much after that.

[occasionalgypsies]

After going to Rockport and Port A in South Texas in Jan/Feb to try and outrun the cold (ahem, it was pretty cool and rainy most days but still, better than the weather in Dallas), our next adventure, just as Texas started to warm right up to comfy poolside temps, was to head off to Santa Fe, NM for all of April!

In a nutshell I have to say Santa Fe and all of NM really are: hauntingly beautiful with lots of light variations and distant mountain ranges in shades of blue/black; wonderfully dry so colds aren’t too cold and hots aren’t too hot; amazingly bug free allowing for open windows; quiet, even in the busiest of places because it only has maybe 2 million people IN THE ENTIRE STATE; full of some friendly people; brown (everyone seems to have signed a pact to build only earth tone adobe houses which while beautiful and well designed to blend, can be very monotonous); and loaded with Santa Fe cuisine (lots of red and hatch green chili sauces and stacked enchiladas, packing some heat).

We’ve really loved it. We have the good fortune to be house sitting through Trusted Housesitters, and have a lovely place up in the hills from Santa Fe a few miles. We hear Robert Redford lives right down the road but Stanley and I have yet to see him on our walks up his way. Here’s Stanley, our delightful little Schih Tzu for the month.

Anyway, following are a few of the highlights from our trip that to me, you shouldn’t miss.

Bar Z Winery near Palo Duro Canyon

Palo Duro Canyon

Our abode for the night in Palo Duro

Cadillac Ranch!

On our way from TX, we decided to check one item off of Jim’s bucket list, and spend the night at the bottom of Palo Duro Canyon. Did you know that it’s the second largest in the US, after the ol’ Grand? I didn’t. Don’t ask me based on what, I just read that somewhere. It was pretty amazing (upon driving past the first spot where you could kinda see it, Jim exclaimed, “Look at that, it’s almost like a…” and then he looked at the expression on my face, and stopped talking, because, ya know yes, it’s kind of like a canyon over there, like the one we put in our GPS maybe!) We spent the night in a decently comfy bed/cabin, no heat or air necessary due to it being early April in TX., and we had just a lovely time. FYI, I suggest a stop at Bar Z winery nearby, nice wines and amazing views of part of the Canyon. And you HAVE to check out Cadillac Ranch and spray paint something there. Pro tip: don’t buy any spray paint unless you are really picky, there’s plenty there for the taking.

Palo Duro Canyon

Bar Z Winery near Palo Duro Canyon

Our abode for the night in Palo Duro

Cadillac Ranch!

So after that overnight stay, we were off to Santa Fe! The scenery rather abruptly changed at one point, from flat grassland to scrubby, hilly desert. And then at one point, I realized, holy cow, I haven’t seen a person or a building or a cow or ANYTHING for a looooong time. Texans like to think we have wide open spaces but wow, even on the major highways you might see nothing here for an hour. Pretty cool, I have to say. Except don’t come here if you are addicted to your interwebs on your tele-device. Cell services is more like an occasional surprise than a reliable utility. Get used to it!

If you can, spend some time on Route 66 here. Lots of kitsch of the charming kind. We went through Tucumcari, partly because I like saying it and partly because it said it had some of the best art around. As you can see, it has some mighty fine stuff! I didn’t post the wall crawling with cockroaches because while it was cool, it really creeps me out.

OK, just kidding, here it is.

Anyhoo, we arrived, and all was beautiful if a bit chilly. The mornings were often in the 30s, but again, didn’t really feel too cold and it warmed up fast. Temps in the 60s are pretty mild here, being high altitude, sunny and low humidity. 70s feel great. 80s, you’re going to get hot and thirsty if you are out for long.

One of the first things we did was take a drive to check out the Rio Grande Gorge. It was pretty spectacular, even if the little phone box telling you not to lose hope freaked me out a bit. Smart, but still.

The scenery was awesome. Best part was we found a road that led to the bottom of the Gorge, where just a few people were hanging out fishing or relaxing. We like finding out of the way spots like that. On a warmer day, I could have hung out there all day, reading and swimming.

Rio Grande River Gorge

The crisis hotline at the gorge bridge

Jim at the bottom of the Rio Grande River Gorge, via a remote little dirt road

Another day we decided to take the high road to Taos (they actually call it that, we weren’t being especially virtuous or anything), a drive known for its beauty. There’s a faster way, but don’t do it. We also sort of accidentally took some kind of big circle around the mountaintop called the Enchanted Circle, also known for its scenery, mainly because I also wanted to see Red River where I spent some truly special time as a kid (Community House, you seem a sad shell of your former self, I hope I’m wrong, but prob you don’t have square dancing and hand jive lessons any more, sniffle) and because I wanted to drive through Angel Fire which I had never seen (we didn’t look too hard but it was just OK).

Next, we visited Bandelier National Monument, took a long hike and saw some great petroglyphs. You can also climb up ladders to see inside the old caves the Native Americans carved out of the little mini-caves in the cliff face. Saw some cool deer. Also took a drive to Jemez Springs and saw Soda Falls (below) along the way. Super cool, the river rushes through a small opening, lots of dripping mineral formations and a random hot spring on the side of the road. Also, Jemez Springs seemed fun and nicely isolated although we didn’t stop.

Bandelier Deer

Gophers on the roadside maybe?

Bandelier

Deer everywhere at Bandelier

Soda Springs

Soda Falls

Then, our friends came to visit! Super fast, we did a lot of stuff. We went to some Breaking Bad locations in Albuquerque, went to the Georgia O’Keefe museum in Santa Fe (totally worth it, and then in honor of her I took a very O’Keefe photo of the sky over the buildings outside), we experienced snow shaped like tiny little snowballs, we drove up to the Santa Fe ski area and saw snow-covered trees, we got caught in a crazy snowstorm that made us feel like we were Han Solo hyperdriving through space, and we geeked out on a roadside attraction full of those funny little plywood art thingies that you put your head in for photos. That was in the most adorable town of all around here, Madrid (pronounced like Bad-rid, accent on the first syllable). Some great restaurants, shops and live music, don’t say we didn’t tell you to stop there because we did.

Go see the Key Frances Band at the Mine Shaft Cantina in Madrid. You won’t be sorry. Especially on a beautiful day. (Ugh, didn’t write down the name of the band, sorry).

Also, if you like mysteries or funky art, go to Meow Wolf. Just go. It’s unique, although I highly recommend going when kids are in school if you don’t want to be overrun. And if you don’t want to work on solving the puzzles, you still might like it but you might not think it’s worth the $25 admission fee. We stayed 6 hours so, it was worth it to us, even if I think they need to work on shorter clues for the next rendition!

Jim through the wormhole

“They” are always watching

My fav, the 3D art (glasses required)

Lovely quote: When in doubt, just doubt your doubt.

For our final (up to now) adventure, we took the tram up to Sandia Peak, which was breathtaking. It has the longest cable span in the US (world?), so they say. If you are afraid of heights, I’d advise against it though! And last but definitely not least, we availed ourselves of the iconic spa here, 10,000 Waves. Very Japanese, very relaxing, expensive but not crazy so unless you do what we did and get the Shiatsu 80 minute massage, the head/neck massage, the foot/leg massage, the facial and a regular mini-massage. That’s a bit pricey, but it was a celebration and so, we splurged. Don’t forget to build in time for the baths, the sauna, etc. I hear you can even go to the dining room in your spa robe!

That’s it for now. I guess that’s enough. I’ll have one more post from our weekend bonanza of cramming in all the sights we’ve missed so far, plus our drive home through Roswell and Carlsbad Caverns. So long for now!

Top of Sandia Peak

One of the big towers for the Sandia Peak Tram

Ah…10,000 Waves

  So, logically, next we went to a cool place… After going to Rockport and Port A in South Texas in Jan/Feb to try and outrun the cold (ahem, it was pretty cool and rainy most days but still, better than the weather in Dallas), our next adventure, just as Texas started to warm right up to comfy poolside temps, was to head off to Santa Fe, NM for all of April!