[thrill]ing

Tonight, "Thriller" by MJ has been on the brain, and not the whole song, but rather just the creepy monologue at the end, the beats, and the "hoo hoooos".  I love that song!  But it feels like such a Halloween song to me... not one for the middle of July.  But then again, I'd imagine that it's a bit silly for me to only think of zombies as occuring around the time of Halloween, because if they are going to ::occur::, then it would probably be year-round.  So perhaps this song is relevant to any time of year?? 

Anyways...

I think what brought it on was this picture.  I made it extra dark, and it has the whole ghostly feel to it, which could bring on the Thriller song, or that song by Stone Sour, but I went ghostly instead of whiny.  Go figure.  hah.

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It's my hubbies birthday today!  I met him for lunch and we went to La Madeleine!  Tres magnifique!  ;)  And I picked up the latest issue of Mental Floss and some mini treats from Whole Foods for his official "birthday gift", and then we headed out to dinner and Bingo with his dad and brother.  We met up with a whole bunch of people from my work at Bingo, and we all had a great time!  It was full tonight, which made it fun, and we shared a lot of laughs.  We're working our way to that whole "winning" thing, and are looking to get lucky soon.  (Insert wink here).

Bon nuit!

Oh, and here are Michael Jackson's lyrics for Thriller:
It's close to midnight and something evil's lurking in the dark
Under the moonlight, you see a sight that almost stops your heart
You try to scream but terror takes the sound before you make it
You start to freeze as horror looks you right between the eyes
You're paralyzed

'Cause this is thriller, thriller night
And no one's gonna save you from the beast about strike
You know it's thriller, thriller night
You're fighting for your life inside a killer, thriller tonight

You hear the door slam and realize there's nowhere left to run
You feel the cold hand and wonder if you'll ever see the sun
You close your eyes and hope that this is just imagination, girl!
But all the while you hear the creature creeping up behind
You're out of time

'Cause this is thriller, thriller night
There ain't no second chance against the thing with forty eyes, girl
Thriller, thriller night
You're fighting for your life inside a killer, thriller tonight

Night creatures calling, the dead start to walk in their masquerade
There's no escaping the jaws of the alien this time
(They're open wide)
This is the end of your life

They're out to get you, there's demons closing in on every side
They will possess you unless you change that number on your dial
Now is the time for you and I to cuddle close together, yeah
All through the night I'll save you from the terror on the screen
I'll make you see

That this is thriller, thriller night
'Cause I can thrill you more than any ghost would ever dare try
Thriller, thriller night
So let me hold you tight and share a
Killer, diller, chiller, thriller here tonight

'Cause this is thriller, thriller night
Girl, I can thrill you more than any ghost would ever dare try
Thriller, thriller night
So let me hold you tight and share a killer, thriller, ow!

(I'm gonna thrill ya tonight)
Darkness falls across the land
The midnight hour is close at hand
Creatures crawl in search of blood
To terrorize y'alls neighborhood
I'm gonna thrill ya tonight, ooh baby
I'm gonna thrill ya tonight, oh darlin'
Thriller night, baby, ooh!

The foulest stench is in the air
The funk of forty thousand years
And grizzly ghouls from every tomb
Are closing in to seal your doom

And though you fight to stay alive
Your body starts to shiver
For no mere mortal can resist
The evil of the thriller

Favorite Lyrics

Back in my instant messaging days, I would often use music lyrics as my away messages.  It was good because you can find a lyric to match any mood or feeling.  I feel the same way today, and although the lyrics I would use for my "away messages" would be slightly different, these few are still fun.

This one was one of my favorite things to post on Saturday mornings:
It's by Eels and it's called "Saturday Mornings"

Saturday morning
And who's gonna play with me
Six in the morning baby
I got a long long day ahead of me

And this one was fun because they sounded like real directions... only I had no idea where they began or ended.  It's "Your Name Here/ Sunrise Highway" by Straylight Run.

Go east on Sunrise Highway,
Turn left at Carman's Avenue,
Go right at the first stoplight,
And I'll be outside waiting for you

Sometimes, I would even get responses from one friend in particular about where this was or where we could meet instead.  I enjoyed the mindless banter and found comfort in the quirkiness, and my cunning cryptixes.

One of my favorites comes from the Maroon 5 song "Tangled".

You're just innocent
A helpless victim of a spider's web,
And I'm an insect
Goin after anything that I can get.
So you better turn your head and run
And don't look back...

I was once described as being cryptic.  I would definitely use random thoughts, imagery, and music to get my point across, and a lot of the times, I could be pretty vague.  It's a gift really.  :)  At any rate, this lyric is rather poignant and sharp, and I can remember the feelings I was experiencing when I would post this.  Oh man, what a place I was in!  lol.  And as I read this now, I believe I had the roles reversed.  I think at the point when I would use this, I wanted to believe that I was the spider... when I was really the helpless insect.  But then again, I was naive enough to get things mixed up.  Silly me!

Today, it would be something like "People say I'm a dreamer... but I'm not the only one." by John Lennon.  It's gone less towards the searching and waiting for others and more towards the inspiration, love, happiness (and sometimes even cryptic still), and etc... 

And last but not least (and another applicable to ::today::), yet another from Straylight Run, but like I mentioned recently, this band tends to speak to me, and this quote in particular rings true.  It's from the song: "Mistakes We Knew We Were Making".

So we bottled and shelved all our regrets,
Let them ferment and came back to our senses,
Drove back home and slept a few days,
Woke up and laughed at how stupid we used to be.

And maybe it's because I feel like I've grown up in the past years, but this music has grown and changed with me.  It goes away, and then comes back with new meanings and a new worth.  And as I reflect on these old "away messages", I can reflect on that time in my life, put all of those regrets on a shelf and move on.  And then I came back to my own senses, and can look to the future, and to the new set of songs to be sung!

And this is the little case that hold all of those songs.  My ipod home!

Existentialism on Prom Night

"Existentialism On Prom Night"

- Straylight Run

When the sun came up,
We were sleeping in,
Sunk inside our blankets,
Sprawled across the bed,
And we were dreaming,

There are moments when,
When I know it and
The world revolves around us,
And we're keeping it,
Keep it all going,
This delicate balance,
Vulnerable all knowing,

Sing like you think no one's listening,
You would kill for this,
Just a little bit,
Just a little bit,
You would, kill for this

Sing like you think no one's listening,
You would kill for this,
Just a little bit,
Just a little bit,
You would, you would...

Sing me something soft,
Sad and delicate,
Or loud and out of key,
Sing me anything,
we're glad for what we've got,
Done with what we've lost
Our whole lives laid out right in front of us,

Sing like you think no one's listening,
You would kill for this,
Just a little bit,
Just a little bit,
You would,

Sing like you think no one's listening,
You would kill for this,
Just a little bit,
Just a little bit,
You would, you would....

Sing me something soft,
Sad and delicate,
Or loud and out of key,
Sing me anything.

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I discovered this band roughly 6 years ago.

I fell in love with their music and the lyrics!

And when I rediscovered them about a year ago, I loved them even more.

Enjoy!

I told you...

... that I was growing weird cucumbers!
And today I decided that it was time to take them off the vine. 
They are definitely yellow, and when you cut it open, the flesh is off-white.  And although it does smell albeit like a cucumber, there is a hint of sour that deters anyone interested from taking a bite.  Oh well.

Yea, they are making great photo subjects though!  :)

In other plant news, everything is looking a bit defeated thanks to this brutal heat, but things seem to be surviving.  We have gotten a whole bunch of orange cherry tomatoes, and a lot of the other tomatoes are beginning to turn.  We've gotten two squash in the last week, and they are two different colors.  One is a dark, almost orange, yellow, and the other is more like the cucumbers.  lol.  We have lots of little peppers growing, and the herbs are actually doing quite well.  The chive even bloomed!  That was pretty cool.  And I tried getting a picture, but between trying to zoom in real close and the humidity, the picture didn't turn out. 

All in all, gardening is still go-ing! 
Best of luck to all of the gardeners out there!

Road Driving

The parking lot was deserted.  The only car was parked in front of the open front door.  Other than that, and the painted "open" side that lay against the curb, there were few signs of the store being open. With little reserve, and with a sense of adventure, the couple stepped towards the open door.  Right away, the must hit them.  The lights were off and the only air circulating was what was coming through the front door.  The floors creaked, the dust had settled, and the energy seemed disturbed with it's new occupants.  Glancing around, a whole miss-match of eclectic artifacts could be found.  Mostly Native American relics, the trinkets and memorabilia had lured them in like moths to a flame, but it was the sense of staleness that had made the room stand out.  The couple started, rather cautiously, to the right... passing old pots, jewelry, and other Native American handiwork.  And it was through the exploring of the goods that they both realized that ::this:: is one of the things that makes road trips so much fun!

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And it's definitely one of my favorite things to do, even if it does make the schedule a little whompy.  I am one to be distracted by the promise of souvenir gifts, Indian River fruit, and shells.  And lucky for me, Gary was willing to appease my wantings to stop... a few times.  :) 

We are officially home!  Today's drive seemed to take a whole lot longer than the drive going down, but it was still great!  We got to see some rain, some sun, and a whole lot of people traveling just like us.  And it's good to be home! 

Miami Day 4

Miami Skyline

Today, we woke up to a shining sun! It was soo nice to see it since today we went to the beach. :) We were going to head to South Beach since I love the scenery so much, but by the time we got over there and were looking for parking, it appeared that everyone else was super excited to see the sun too... because they were all there also. lol. So, we ended up driving around at least, and instead headed over to Key Biscayne towards Crandon Park and Bill Baggs State Park. The fees to get in were much less than the cost to park in SoBe, so we figured we were good. And Key Biscayne is really nice. I mentioned that I would like to stay there next time because it's such a nice area. We got to Bill Baggs, parked, and headed to the swimming area. And we swam (after applying suntan lotion - the sun was brutal after hiding for a few days)! It was so nice to be in the ocean again... I love it so much! And there weren't a lot of shells of crabs to worry about stepping on, so that was nice. Anne's Beach down at Islamorada was littered with teeny tiny shells with crabs living inside them! We would pick them up, while looking for some good ones, and you could see the little legs coming out. I (of course) then proceeded to ::eeep:: and toss them away from me. hehe. After the 2nd time, I calmed down some though. Maybe all of the people at Bill Baggs made the crabs scatter... Fine by me!

Our loot from Anne's Beach - a bevy of tiny shells.

After the beach, we took a gander down towards Coconut Grove and then shimmied back over to Kendall. We killed some time at the Barnes & Noble after trying another piece of key lime pie from the local diner, while waiting to meet up with his Aunt Bunny and Uncle Arthur for dinner. It was nice to see them again and catch up! After dinner, we hit the road. And here we are just outside of Orlando for the night. Tomorrow, we finish our trek home, and it's back to reality. :)

Palm Tree Picture with some awesome clouds!

It's interesting coming back to a place fairly regularly, and I suppose that this is really the first time I've been able to reflect on it, but every time I've gone to Miami, it's been a different experience. This time felt more "real". We did the touristy stuff, sure, but we spent a lot of time hanging out with his friends and family, and being in Kendall. It gave me more of an opportunity to see what it would be like to live here, you know? You get to see the everyday activities and people. And while it's similar to what I'm used to, it's different. I know that the first time we came to Miami, we stayed in South Beach, and explored Ocean Drive, and when we visited with his friends, I was the newbie and we were definitely ::visiting::. The second time, we came down for a wedding and it was a short trip (I think Friday to Sunday), so it was rushed. The third time we brought Laura, so we did more of the touristy things. We went to South Beach, swam, and got to explore. We spent time with his friends, but we were still visiting. And like I said, this time we still did touristy things, but I felt much more comfortable here this time. And it's felt different for some reason. It's really good! It makes me want to make Miami a more regular trip if only to see the people.. and the beach! :)

Considerations:
5-minute-Funyuns, and really loud music are critical to night driving.
Leave-in conditioner would be a good thing to have on the packing list next time.
Oh, and the camera charger...!
Along with sunscreen, use bug spray!! The insects that attacked us Saturday morning in Key Largo, left welts that still itch like crazy.
Key lime pie is definitely better in the Keys! There's no contest at all... hands down.
Oh, and we have sand everywhere. We had no where to shower after we went swimming, so with the moist towels and swim wear in the trunk, I'm at least looking forward to showering here in a few minutes to get the sand out of my hair. :)

Miami Day 3

Walls Ice Cream.  Some of the best ice cream ever in the little shop that has been there for a very long time.  It's a classic!

Dadeland Station.  Three stories of huge stores connected to six stories of parking garage via suspended walkways, and one large covered ceiling.  Crazy inventive shopping, letmetellya.

At the church for Steph and Richie's wedding.  It was beautiful!

I wanted to take this home.  hehe.  They did a nice job on the details.

Bridesmaids and Groomsmen.  I really liked the fact that every "maid" was wearing a different dress in the same color... it made a statement.

First dance.  Michael Buble's "Save the Last Dance for Me"

Nati and Bella.  Super amazing kids that I had a blast hanging out with this weekend!  They wanted to hold my hands wherever we went, and requested that I sit next to them.  They are so so cute!

Cutting of the cake. 

That's my picture tour of the day.  The past 30 or so has been much more normal and much less touristy.  We spent yesterday evening with Adam, Marlene, Nati and Bella.  We saw Gary's grandma this morning, and then we caught up with all of his old friends at the wedding.  Everyone was shocked and delighted to see us, and it was so great to see everyone!  There are some great people down here, and it is easy to see why they all feel like G's family!  The wedding was beautiful!  Best wishes to the happy couple!  And then we spent the evening with Adam's family again... they are so great, so hospitable, and the girls are so cute!  It makes us want to "get right on it" even more.  lol.  And everywhere we have eaten has been amazing!  I told Gary that I have never had anything bad to eat here, and that's no lie.  The food is so fresh, and the flavors are so defined... ah, it's great!  And now, another night is coming to an end.  It was so great to see all of our friends from down here, and it'll be hard not seeing them again for awhile, but we will definitely keep in touch!