FIRST THINGS FIRST
The owners of MAIN NEWS, a general store of sorts, on the ground floor of the Arcade Building on the downtown walking mall are having a contest to rename its business. You can submit your ideas at the store. The winner will receive a $25 gift certificate. The owners, Sandy and Jim Rojo, provide one of my weekly simple pleasures, the Sunday New York Times on the Sunday of publication (if the airline doesn’t send it somewhere else or something gets mixed up in Seattle where the papers begin their flight). I like living in a place where it is hard to get the Times but I also really like being able to savor its international, national, arts, books, interesting-people obituary, and unapologetic Queer news coverage (see same-sex married couples along side the not-same-sex ones in the wedding announcement section). So now I have both Helena and the NYT and I’m a very happy person. If you have ideas for their business name drop by their store or if you don’t live here, send it to me and I’ll submit it and if you win, I’ll get five Sunday papers in your honor…or you can visit and buy cigars, they have a wonderful selection.

HOUSE ARREST
Due to Visitor Season, I have been put under house arrest. I do have/get to check in at the Jailhouse Sandwich Shop & Rodney Street Laundry on account of my parole agreement but mostly I will be writing from home for now. There are many ways to name the seasons and I’m not the first or last to do so. Here’s my latest rendition: “Visitors Season: Helena & Montana are Heaven (Summer),” “Some Curious Visitors: When Does it Get Cold There (Fall),” “Locals Only: No Way am I Coming There to Freeze my Butt Off (Winter),” and “Tentative Plans: When does It Stop Snowing (Spring).” Mom was here for 10 days in June and sister-in-law Kelly was here for a week (also called Many Adventures Season). In between I was in an amazing training for a NIA Dance Technique White-Belt Intensive (more on that in next posting). That time was a different season altogether: Marilyn Voluntarily Pushed Out of Comfort Zone Season.

SEASONS TO SORTING LAUNDRY
There are different schools of thought on when one waits to do a load of whites: wait until there are enough for a full load (people that stand out in a dark alley); don’t have enough dirty for a load, mix with very light colors; or don’t own enough to make a load, mix with light colors and perpetuate the decreasing number of white whites. I have no set thought (surprise) on this and find it situational. For example, right now I have a hodge podge of brief stories/vignettes to mention. Do I wait for enough to constitute one post or just lump them together? Turn the water on cold, you get them all…remember BRIEF vignettes, you’re not committing yourself to long entries. The long stories are long enough for a full post. Those will come later, Part II and III or maybe just Part II. I really do combine more often than separate and wait, another surprise I’m sure.

LOST & FOUND
Emma has discovered road kill (if you are squeamish of animal behavior go to next paragraph). She trotted off the other day when I wasn’t looking, not an all out run that is her signature but a slowly sniffing down the street until out of sight. She’s been hanging around off leash very consistently but I know better than to not pay more attention. I went looking and found her in the middle of a busy street on the yellow line licking the asphalt. Cars slowed down and passed on either side of the oblivious dog. Mind you this same dog is afraid of telephone cords, sudden noises, and box fans but now road kill rocks. She all out ran last night to the same spot. She never ever forgets a food source. This time Magpie feathers were involved (told you, if you’re squeamish you shouldn’t have read this, she is a dog after all). Back to the front yard lead she goes. She’s still smiling.

I found another pure, simple pleasure a few weeks ago, a brand new Papermate Pink Pearl eraser. It makes me so happy. I know how to use it. It’s effective, fresh, without dark smears. It also doesn’t rely on new Microsoft Office 2007 that came on my new work computer that I installed a few weeks ago. I used my favorite obscenities for three weeks before I got it taken off. Call me set in my ways, go ahead, I don’t care, I hated it. I’ll just erase your words.

Found Object (see picture):
a) musket ball
b) ball bearing from old wagon wheel
c) kidney stone from T-rex
d) petrified rum ball
e) other
Please submit your answers.
Kelly found it at what will be my new house. My brother Curtis and his spouse/partner/wife Kelly, presently residing in Jakarta, Indonesia, have bought a house here that I will live in. It comes with a studio in back that our mom will visit 3-4 months out of the year (Helena & MT are Heaven Season). Even though I’d never bought a house before, it was easier than the blasted Microsoft Office 2007 (I will try to let this go).

Another Found Object
One construction worker’s discarded toilet is another man’s new throne. At the Queen City Newspaper’s 5th Anniversary Party I got to talking to a man that had lived in a house bursting with parties in the Rodney Street neighborhood when he was in college. Story goes they needed a new toilet. He was down by Big Dorothy’s (a brothel that last until sometime in the 1970’s when she decided to close it –my uncle has a wild story about helping her reach this state of upward mobility by showing her that selling shots of alcohol was more profitable than her other sales, do we believe him?) and came across workers cleaning out Big D’s building. He asked if he could take the toilet and now recalls what a sight he made carrying a toilet up the hill from Last Chance Gulch to Rodney Street (it is a huffer and puffer of a hill).

The man recalled another fantastic story about his brother who also lived in the RS neighborhood. The not-fantastic part was that his brother had been in a motorcycle accident that had left him disoriented in life. One night of 30-below temperatures the brother’s 4-plex caught on fire. Unfortunately he stood out in the street and didn’t realize that all the water and such used to put out the fire had frozen around his feet and he was stuck there. Neighbors called the storyteller-brother to tell him to come get his brother.

Okay, there are enough laundry piles for you for today. To be continued…