Story Slam, roses, SouthLAnd season finale
Apr. 7th, 2010 10:30 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stoney321
Well, I'm perpetually a bridesmaid, it seems. Came in second AGAIN. (I'm actually okay with that, because I get to keep competing. Once you win, you're out until the end of the year for the finals.) The waitress turned off the club owner's camera right before I performed, too, so no video. I have a great story (people kept coming up to me afterward and commiserated with me, lol) so I wrote it up under the cut for you. :)The time is my senior year of high school, 1990. I had been driving a car on loan from my father all year, and as the year wrapped up, I saved up and bought myself my first car. My sister's boyfriend at the time had an elderly aunt that wanted to get rid of her old car. She'd literally kept it parked in a garage for over 20 years and just didn't want the hassle anymore, so she sold it to me for $400 to take it off her hands.
Now, while you might think that a car for that price was a junker, but it turned out to be a 1964 Buick Special with the racing kit, racing pedal - which means it was weighted to help with some oomph - and had the racing steering wheel. It also had a cast iron 300 cubic inch V8. A V8. you know when Chewie hot wired the Falcon's hyper drive, and Han finally punched it and they all lurched in their seats as everything whoooooooshed! past them? That's how it felt when you punched it in my car.
Now, because it had been parked in a garage for 20+ years, it needed some work. The interior was mouldy and needed new carpet, and the engine was gummed up from not being regularly driven. I wanted to learn how to rebuild a car, so it was perfect. I took every single piece of engine out of that car and polished it, tweaked, tightened, replaced gaskets, gapped the spark plugs, it was awesome. At the time I worked at a auto place so all of the mechanics loved my car and in exchange for letting them drive it at lunch time, they'd show me how to fix my own clutch, replace the timing chain, etc.
I had everything tip top on it with one exception, the spindle that held the air filter was cracked and needed replacing, so I had to wait for that to come mail order. There was a cute guy that started working at my job and he wanted to come over and help me replace the spindle and ogle my car, and I hoped for some make outs after. Ha. In order to get to the air filter, you literally had to take the engine apart. The engine sat inside the huge hooptie that was my car on two steel straps that ran from one side the the other in the middle. There was a strap that bolted over the top to hold it all in. So I took off the top strap, removed the alternator, the sparks, half of the radiator, etc. just to get to the spindle. I replaced that and let him put it all back, because he was really wanting to get his hands on it.
I guess I was too busy checking out his butt, or something, because I wasn't paying attention to what he was doing in there. We hung out for the night, he left and the next morning I had to drive to Arlington. I'm on 30 [local highway] and my car is wobbling a bit. Weird. I chalk it up to the highway, because y'all remember how crappy that road used to be. I need to pass some guy in front of me, so I punch it. Normally I have the Star Wars wooshing, but not this time. The whole car starts to jump and bounce. My hood is shaking like nothing, and I honestly thought the latch that holds the hood down had broken off, and now the hood is going to fly off and decapitate me, take out everyone on the highway and oh my god, what is happening?!
I hear the most horrible metallic crunch and squeal and the whole car bounces and shakes and I look in my rear view mirror and see sparks and shit flying out behind me.
MY ENGINE. IT HAS JUST FALLEN OUT OF MY CAR. He didn't bolt it down to the bottom straps, nor did he affix the top strap, so the whole engine has wobbled itself free and fallen out of the cavern that was the front of this huge car, ripping up the oil case and everything else. I try to get off the road and see the cloverleaf exit up to Six Flags and use that to slow myself down, because the brakes sure as hell aren't working because MY ENGINE HAS JUST FALLEN OUT OF MY CAR. I pull onto the grass and roll to a stop.
The whole thing is totalled. The frame is bent out of whack, the underside is ripped up, and I sit there and cry as a tow truck pulls away my sweet Betty. My formerly pristine white Buick hooptie with baby blue interior. I have to sell it for scrap.
Never think that just because someone is a guy, they know what the hell they're doing with a car. And I only let people with certification touch my cars, now.
[For those who don't know what they look like, here's a picture. *cries*]
And for those keeping up, my buddy Steve was there and is still doing well, so that was good to see. (He did try to get into a political fight with me, however, so I didn't want to listen to his pro-Palin, Glenn Beck is awesome BS, and hung out with a few other people that night. Fine by me. *g*)
The first rose of the season bloomed yesterday and it's GORGEOUS. I put it in a few weeks ago, "Julia Child" yellow rose, and it's just bee-you-tee-full. Big pic under the cut.
GAH. All of the other roses are covered with buds, so it's going to be a great show in another week.
Who watched SouthLAnd last night!?!??! I hate that the season is over, because that was the NUMBER ONE REASON why I love that show, that ep.
OKAY. Can we talk about Chickie being a bad ass? And can we talk about how awesome it is that she's named CHICKIE? And is a frail looking blonde woman who chased down and beat up a rapist? HELL YEAH. And it didn't feel like fan service, it didn't come off as implausible, it represented that rage that so many of us women have for men that use their physicality to overpower women.
She was tousling with him on the ground, and it really felt like it could go both ways, didn't it? "I'M THE COP. I'm the cop." I cheered, I couldn't help it. Love that she got mad enough about John saying she's done as a street cop, and her admiration for Ben wanting to get this rapist because of his mother,a nd man, that just fleshes out his story of a 10 year old with his teeth knocked out because of a home invasion, huh?
OH JOHN. Using people to get what he needs, but not letting people use him.
I continue to have a crush on Regina King, because she's just a good cop. So focused on her job she forgets all sorts of things in her life, like her former partner. Lol. Last night I talked with one of my story slam buds about this show, and he caught on that she is the typical guy cop, eating donuts in her car, hyper focused on work to the detriment of a personal life, and she probably shits in her car, lol. She's that crusty old cop that's "Getting too old for this shit," as they check their side arm and rush into the fray. Well, she's not at that stage yet, but that's where she's headed. I love it. But she's still a woman with her empathy, her overwhelming concern for victims... What a rich character.
Hey, if you talk about the show in comments (and I encourage you to!) put "SPOILERS" in the subject line to help people navigate. I'm hoping that I can get more peeps to watch this show.
Hump day! The wind has died down a touch, so I'm going to plant a peony that I shouldn't have bought. I just... I WANT THEM. Regardless of me living in Texas where they don't do well. Sigh.
Oh, ETA: is anyone else having issues with this newest build of Firefox? Holy crap, it's just dragging in every way. Feh.
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Date: 2010-04-07 03:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-07 03:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-07 03:57 pm (UTC)You saved me from weeping with the beauty of that flower! Julia Child is gorgeous. What does it smell like? A friend of Julia's said it smells like butter, but the breeder thinks it smells like licorice.
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Date: 2010-04-07 04:15 pm (UTC)Isn't it stunning?! So lush and frilly. And I say it smells like a tea rose, very traditional. Maybe it's unique to mine? Huh.
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Date: 2010-04-07 03:57 pm (UTC)Are you serious? Your car was totaled? I hope you laid into that guy when you saw him next. I would've been beside myself and ready to make him intimately acquainted with the business end of a crowbar.
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Date: 2010-04-07 04:16 pm (UTC)And I hadn't found my strength yet, so I didn't lay into him as I should have. I was a stupid teenager.
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Date: 2010-04-07 05:23 pm (UTC)Perhaps the rose is called the Julia Child because it is so butter yellow and delicious, I can feel arteries practically clogging, it's just like BUTTAH! Very beautiful.
Lalalalala skipping the Southland talk until I see it, but I'm sure it was fantastic.
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Date: 2010-04-07 05:42 pm (UTC)HI! You don't know me but Stoney does!
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Date: 2010-04-08 03:00 pm (UTC)I took a look at your Southland post: YES. Is it wrong that my brain pronounces his name Cuddle-litz? *squeeze*
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Date: 2010-04-07 07:05 pm (UTC)IT WAS SO GOOD. Come back to talk about it when you're ready.
Southland squeeing - it couldn't be the finale already!
Date: 2010-04-08 03:17 pm (UTC)John: No. (shuts door in his ex's face.)
Totally stunned. ow. Damn.
I hadn't been in love with Chickie, just seeing the kind of simpering nature (that Coop picked up on and poked at with a stick)kind of got to me, which was the point, really. It's great to see her wake up and prove it to herself and everyone that she is "The Cop." That story is put together so well.
Coop, Coop, Coop.. What are we going to do with you? He's put into the wizened veteran mentor to everyone role, and he's all "Fuck you, you know how to do your damned job. Do it or go." Antagonizing Chickie and practically daring Ben to turn him in, but in a way that you can't help but love.
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Date: 2010-04-07 05:34 pm (UTC)I've been having nothing but trouble with the new Firefox. It's slow and it likes to randomly close itself.
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Date: 2010-04-07 07:06 pm (UTC)Mine isn't randomly closing, it's just freezing ALL THE TIME. And right clicking takes forever to load the options window. WTF.
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Date: 2010-04-10 12:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-07 09:01 pm (UTC)really? spoilers? LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAME (also, I got an icon and didn't name it Daddy)
Date: 2010-04-07 05:40 pm (UTC)However, John and his ENDLESS BULLSHIT makes me have to lay on the floor because I am overcome with shameful levels of greedy lust. I think the twitter thing makes it like at least doubly worse since Cudlitz is all "my airmiles!" and I'm like *falls down from domestic overwhelmation*
I was cringing all over the place this week. I also love how they once again fucked with us by pulling the carpet from under our feet since it was Chickie and not Ben who busted the rapist.
I also find it interesting that I saw some other viewer (can't remember who now) taking it for granted that it was Ben who was raped in that home invasion...um, well, ok that could have happened as this is Southland, but the set up's been there for the savior complex not so much the rape victim gets revenge complex.
Ok, I will rewatch and make my own post.
I HATE BEING SPOILED, KASSIE. And how? I would name that one BIG DADDY RAWR.
Date: 2010-04-07 07:08 pm (UTC)And lol at Cudlitz and his AA miles, hahahaha. And yeah - I love him, I love how he's not typical in any way, how he's so brusque and yet needy... AUGH.
Hmm, I think that person is wanting to woobie-fy Ben with that kind of concept for him, personally. I thought it was fairly clear what happened, in that his mother was attacked sexually and he was attacked physically for trying to help. Huh. I AM NOW OFF TO YOUR POST FOR CHEWY THOUGHTS.
Re: I HATE BEING SPOILED, KASSIE. And how? I would name that one BIG DADDY RAWR.
Date: 2010-04-08 12:14 am (UTC)MC: Watch my show, assholes.
MC: [RT's idiot fans while loading a bowl.]
MC: You better be watching my show!
MC: I got the wrong fucking order at Jack-In-The-Box, fuckers!
MC: [RT's interview about how awesome he is because he can build his own house.]
You had the wrong idea about my post, my dear (as you well know). It can be summed up: I want to fuck Michael Cudlitz, he can bring the cop uniform.
Re: I HATE BEING SPOILED, KASSIE. And how? I would name that one BIG DADDY RAWR.
Date: 2010-04-08 11:59 am (UTC)You forgot:
MC: Actors suck, they're all pussies.
MC: Except for the people on my show, they're cool.
MC: watch my show or I'll come over and personally rebuild your home with no doors.
MC: How can the drive through not have change?
MC: Yeah, my character's a gay cop, he's a bad ass first, jackass.
I NEED AN ICON.
Re: I HATE BEING SPOILED, KASSIE. And how? I would name that one BIG DADDY RAWR.
Date: 2010-04-08 03:20 pm (UTC)The word INAPPROPRIATE is not a part of my vocabulary
Date: 2010-04-08 05:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-07 06:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-07 07:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-08 12:25 am (UTC)After reading your story (jeez - you could have been killed), I realized that you are Aaron's dream woman. Would you like a second husband? True, he's very young, but he has a good sense of humor and will eat anything.
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Date: 2010-04-08 12:09 pm (UTC)yellow-eyed grass and blue-eyed grass with bearded irises and bluebonnets (my Texas yellow rose)
alyssum, tiger lily bulbs, Dutch iris bulbs, Veronica, blue-stem sedum (around my Juliet climber)
ajuga, creeping phlox, meadow sage, crocosmia (my Swmbo memorial rose)
ajuga, David Fannick phlox, creeping phlox, dianthus, rain lilies (my blush rose)
"black magic" liriope (black mondo grass) dianthus, candytuft, daylilies, gayfeather, cat mint, ajuga and creeping phox around my new Julia Child there.
Anything that is a mid-height plant is a good choice, I think. I'm a fan of the meadow sage - it's behind the Julia Child as well. Very full and bushy and hides the "legs" but is tough enough on its own to not get ripped up by thorns. Bulbs are my big passion, though, because they can just do their thing I don't have to worry about them until they're brown and on the ground.
And LOL. Tell him my engine was similar to a Testa Rossa back in the 60s. The 200 horsepower, cast iron 300 cubic inch V8. DROOL. ;) (And if he'll just take the damn garbage out without being asked and put his own dirty socks in the hamper, I'll take him.)
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Date: 2010-04-08 12:54 am (UTC)And your rose is beautiful! Don't let any cute guys touch it or it might die horribly, too! <3
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Date: 2010-04-08 12:10 pm (UTC)I LOVE YOU, TOO. Oooooh, it's getting so lovely here. It's been in the 80s and sunny! When are you coming back? We'll sip mint juleps on the veranda and fan the beads of sweat away. :D
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Date: 2010-04-08 01:21 pm (UTC)The weather here has been unseasonably warm lately. Like summer! I was out wearing shorts last weekend. On the first weekend in April! Global warming has its good points. *g*
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Date: 2010-04-08 12:33 pm (UTC)I am jealous my roses never look like that :(
OMG Southland. Chickie has grown on me this season, and I love Regina King and I think her character is really well developed. I swear this show and Fringe are my cocaine. I love strong able women.
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Date: 2010-04-08 01:00 pm (UTC)Chickie REALLY grew on me, too. Lydia is one of the best female characters (as in, so well thought out, so anti-typical TV fare, so very very real life real) on TV, imo.
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Date: 2010-04-09 09:38 am (UTC)I had a group of boys that did that for me with my first car - sadly just a crappy 121 made the same year I was. But I could change a tyre, replace the oil and the filter, I knew where the radiator cap was (true story, a friend of mine, same age, richer parents, was given a brand new bubble car when she got her license. Three months later it was a smoking wreck on the side of the road because nobody had told her that you needed to put water in it!), I could clean and replace spark plugs, I could even use a pair of pantyhose to replace the fan belt if necessary.
My uncle legendarily pulled the engine out of the D-series Citroen and pulled it apart and rebuilt it ... on the living room floor. Impressing my Mother Unit with a life-long love of cars, and my uncle with my grandmother's Air Force issue bootprints on his arse.
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Date: 2010-04-11 12:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-11 02:42 pm (UTC)