In this image from a Department of Transportation traffic camera, a driver who apparently abandoned their vehicle walks down State Route 520 Thursday morning.
What you don’t see here is that a few minutes after this picture was taken cars started to turn around and drive the wrong way down the Shoulder ( behind this pedestrian ) so that they could get off of the freeway.
fyi
you can click the pictures to get to the orginal news stories.
And if you think that here in Snohomish County we just build snowmen or ride sleds down one of our many hills or drive to the Malls and spend all day there eating Salted Pretzels and drinking Coffee with fancy French and Italian names because school was cancelled and we couldn’t get to work so we stayed home
HA HA ON YOU!
We do stuff like this:::
Snow Dare: Jayden trying to sit in the snow filled chair as long as he can.
Now for the best part of Snow Days
The Comics!
Stay Warm Everybody and if you ARE warm remember- to much Sun is bad for your skin.
Will Anita Marie Get Her Fiji Mermaid THIS Year?:::
Today
On Day Five
Anita Marie Concludes That:
Diamonds maybe a Girl’s Best Friend
But a Fiji Mermaid will never fall off the back of your toilet
and into the toilet bowl and end up costing you hundres of dollars in Plumbers fees.
It snowed today here in Snohomish County
which was pretty wonderful.
My husband picked me up from work, which was even better because I didn’t have to take the bus home- and instead of enjoying the snowfall from the freeway on a bus which was sure to smell like Lattes and wet wool I got to enjoy it from my own kitchen which smelled like Quiche and warmed up eggnog with PLENTY of nutmeg.
It also meant that we watched some TV earlier in the day then unusual and I’m not sure if it’s always like this but there were lots and lots of commercials and wouldn’t you know it- they were all about buying really expensive presents…get this
FOR THE WOMEN IN YOUR LIFE.
And all of the gifts were jewelry related.
Hurray!
That Fiji Mermaid is as good as mine.
First up this guy is waving a diamond ring under his girlfriend’s sleeping nose.
It’ wasn’t a diamond chip on a delicate silver band in the shape of a heart or something- oh no, this thing was big. I’ll bet the band was platinum too.
He waited for me to continue- you know after 20 years together he knew there was more.
” Aren’t you glad that I’m not asking for one of those? WOW look at the size of that thing- and what are they sleeping on? Is that a futon? I’ll bet she makes him sleep on the side that slopes down more- you know on the drafty side of the room.”
He took the remote and turned the channel and …
some guy bought a diamond bracelet for his deaf girlfriend and when he signed the line that was designed to bring a tear to the eye I said:
” He’s bought her a diamond bracelet and he’s only just learned to sign ” Merry Christmas? ” How long have those two been together? A week? What a sap. But when you think about it, if a man has been with a woman for say twenty years or something like that don’t you think she would deserve maybe two bracelets? Perhaps even earrings and a necklace to match?”
” I suppose. “
“So, like, you’d get me jewelry is I asked for it?”
Actually, after spending the last week asking for Pickled Punks and Fiji Mermaidsthe look on my husband’s face was saying- no I take that back,
It was crying out:
” God I wish you would.”
“Good thing I’m not shallow, right? “
He agreed.
My husband was also watching me the same way my dogs watch me when I come up to them with their Flea Drops hidden behind my back.
” Yeah. I’m into the Spirit of the season- you know doing heart felt things for other people and all. Like bringing a little joy into their life and recognizing their uniqueness”
By the time I was done pointing out that it was okay to get strange presents for strange people there was another commercial on and in this one an entire family was presenting a Mom with a necklace set with the birthstones of her children.
She was crying.
Her kids were crying.
My husband was almost crying.
” Boy. I mean thats’ exactly what I’d want- my kids hanging from around my neck- what an efficient way to do it- this way they could do it all at once and from a distance. Now that gift took some thought. Don’t you think?”
My husband turned the TV off and now I’m writing and I think he’s talking to my sister.
That’s it guys.
She’s out there waiting for you to bring her home.
Will Anita Marie Get Her Fiji Mermaid THIS Year?:::
Photo: It’s A Cryptid World
Today
On Day Three
Readers Want To Know
Is that your Christmas Present
or
Did Something Die
Under Your House Again?
I enjoy Politics.
I enjoy being part of the process and I really enjoy the psychology of it all- I mean- after I’ve been to meetings or talked to Politicians or Politicos I can sit down and knock out three solid horror stories one after the other.
Most of the times on those twisted ones I get comments like-
” What kind of mind can make you feel sorry for twisted demonic creatures who ride the bus home from work and spray paint death threats on walls? Yours I guess “
-yeah well-
the sad thing is there is no real cross over room for my writing and for my activism, so while I’m doing one I’m not involved with the other.
So the Anita Marie that wonders and then writes about what a cannibal is thinking while making pies out of her victims or what happens when a perfect marriage is ruined when a vampire wife turns human and has to leave her undead husband behind is not the same Anita Marie who understands why and must deal with the Political Machine and why it does what it does to friend and foe alike.
It’s not all grim un-fun work though.
I’m not going to downplay it- sometimes celebrities show up at events and that is very very cool.
One year I saw Richard Dreyfuss at the DNC is Boston and he gave this great speech at a breakfast meeting for the delegates. Michael Moore was seated as a Delegate at the same convention and I actually watched Wolf Blitzer interview Everclear’s Art Alexakis.
That aside though there aren’t many things that feed my creative spirit to be found in the political world.
And then today I found this picture
and this thread:
We’re huge fans of the new Doctor Who. David Tennant is not a bad looking fellow.
I mean, can think of one person who visits here that will probably take that thread and …well…she won’t be happy…but I am because I had no idea anyone involved with Politics cares about David Tennant, having totally pointless fun or wondering about something other then Stupid Sarah Palin and that dork Governor in Illinois.
Now.
I’m off to collect some info about how to make my own Fiji Mermaid.
I figure once those body parts start showing up AT MY MOM’S HOUSE ( like I’d let UPS leave stuff like that on my front door step where anybody could walk off with it ) my family will be all over this Fiji Mermaid thing.
Besides- how could you not have fun looking for a Fiji Mermaid?
Exactly.
And fun is just what the Doctor ordered.
a.m.
Now For Your Holiday Enjoyment
Christmas On Mars.
Really.
Will Anita Marie Get Her Fiji Mermaid THIS Year?:::
Today
On Day Two
Readers Want To Know
Why the Hell Does This Woman want a Monkey/ Fish For Christmas?
original Fiji Mermaid & P.T. Barnum
Last year my nephew, who was dieing went into the hospital sometime around Thanksgiving. A few weeks later he went into a hospice and before his birthday in July he died.
I think it was just before Christmas when we went to see him in the hospital.
He was blind by then, he could still talk a little and he was very aware of everything going on around him, so my sister-the famous Esther- and my adorable baby brother who nick named me Cheetoh- our spouses and parents and kids all crowded into Andy’s bedroom and did what we always do when we get together.
We laughed and told stories …
and then it started to snow.
I was reading Andy stories from my blogs and for awhile everyone left the room but they hung around the door and I think that if there was any one reason for me to have been a writer – it was for that moment.
Because my nephew was proud of me.
I told him about writers and artists I’ve met on line- he knew you- my friends there at The Soul Food Cafe- Heather and Lori, Cle, and Jane, Gail and Jill. I told him about Sylvia and Vi and Lois and Winnie.. I told him about Max and Kitty and how they wrote screenplays- he was a movie fanatic you know.
I told him about the funny things that people write and how serious they are about their work and how one day the story I’m writing about a Werewolf who wants to be a Magician will be a book one day.
And when I was done he said, ” Oh Wow.”
Those were the last words he ever spoke to me.
I remember it was snowing.
So, at this time of the year when things are so hard for everyone-when most of what I feel tonight is grief because it is snowing and it is cold
you may be wondering: why do I write about my quest my very own
Fiji Mermaid?
Because Andy would have got one for me- that’s why.
He’d think that something like a Fiji Mermaid would be the perfect thing for me to find under my tree on Christmas morning.
In fact, I’m sure he still does.
So because he can’t get me that ultimate gift.
I WILL find her for the both of us.
You just wait and see.
a.m.
December 2008
::: this music clip is here because Andy loved the California Raisins when he was a little boy- and we used to call each other ” Cab ” because of the opening lines in this video-we used to run them together for fun- plus we loved the song- so enjoy::::
I’m not a hard person to shop for at Christmas- I don’t care about stuff, I just like opening the packages and being surprised.
Which means that I’m really hard to shop for because people think that I won’t say what I want…and when I do give it up and say what I want those same people think I’m kidding so these are the things that I have asked for and have never, ever received and probably never will.
Knives.
I wanted a set of those fancy knives that all good Cooks have in their kitchens.
I’m actually a great cook and I’d have to be because I use one knife and it’s never been sharpened. So really I can work miracles in the kitchen.
In case you’re curious
I will probably never get a set of knives from anyone I know because I write about people getting their heads chopped off… A LOT…oh and I was a Mortician.
And I have a temper.
Next:
I have asked and asked and ASKED again for a
Fiji Mermaid.
Yes I AM serious.
I think they’re cool.
And after 35+ years of asking I haven’t seen a Monkey /Fish toy, model, picture or keychain under my Christmas tree.
I suppose I will never get a Fiji Mermaid because- geeze I don’t know, I guess it’s because when I’ve been asked, ” Are you serious? ” I just roll my eyes around and walk off.
Something with Two Heads.
Actually what I wanted was a Pickled Punk.
I wanted something in a jar that I could name Bixy or Lil’ Chunkles and all I know is that after years of begging I have an empty shelf in my room with no Jar…oh wait I do have one full of fake eyes that float in water but that doesn’t count because I bought it for myself.
I can’t explain the Pickled Punk no show under the tree situation. I guess there’s no way anybody in my family is going to go to a store and asked for something dead in a jar to give to someone at Christmas…even if that someone is me.
Well.
I can’t fault my nearest and dearest for not twisting Santa’s otherwise open and giving hand to give me the present of my dreams-
Why…you may be asking yourself … would Anita Marie’s brother give her something like
that?
Well….
When I was about 6 and my brother Doug was 5 years old Chiquita Banana had an ad campaign going on and from what I can remember this woman with a basket on her head used to sing about Chiquita Bananas
“I’m Chiquita banana and I’ve come to say –
Bananas have to ripen in a certain way-
When they are fleck’d with brown and have a golden hue –
Doug loved bananas, he loved that stupid song and he loved to tease me because he could.
So on the day that he discovered Chiquita Anita rhymed and he could sing about his favorite fruit and torture me all in one wonderful stroke he sang that song non-stop.
He sang it on the way to school, he sang it in the bathroom he called me up when I was playing at my friend’s houses and sang it over the phone.
You’d think that he would get bored with the Chiquita Anita thing. And he did. Good thing he discovered Cheetos.
It started off as Anita La Cheeto and then I became Cheeto La Frito.
I never lived it down and on the day they bury me he’s going to magic marker Cheeto La Frito on my headstone.
But over the years I’ve grown and matured ( unlike some OTHER people in our family ) and I’ve learned to deal with my little brother’s stupid sense of humor.
When we were younger every once and awhile I’d deal with it by going into combat mode and I’d spread the stories like the one about how my brother’s girlfriend was such a mean vindictive brat that her pet turtle ran away from home and how my brother went out in the middle of the night to look for it and stepped on it by accident.
Me and Doug are both older and wiser now ( well, that’s HALF true ), Cheeto La Frito is patient, and thoughtful and Cheeto La Frito has learned that male pattern baldness runs in our family.
I am so ready for this Little Brother
Everyone knows Cheeto La Frito shows no Mercy- and if they didn’t before…
Irregular Bones 