Can't Remember Diddly! » I wright gud

Inspired by a conversation I had with a girlfriend

Dory — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 23:51:40 +0000

…and she may not even remember the conversation.

that’s okay i thought

© Dory for Can't Remember Diddly!, 2012. All rights reserved. This post cannot be republished without express written permission. • Permalink • One atta-girl • Join my blog network on Facebook and Rate my blog while you're at it. This means YOU, bub.

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OH. EM. GEEEEEEEE.

Dory — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 13:00:33 +0000

(There’s some vaguely not safe for work pictures and video if your boss is a total douche-canoe. If your boss is pretty cool, actually, you’re going to need to call him/her in to show them the knitted naughties.)

Well, hi there! *said in Ellen Degeneres’s voice as Dory*

Are you new here? FABULOUS. GET TO KNOW ME.

About five weeks ago, I had an idea. A wonderful idea. A wonderful, terrible, phenomenally hawsum idea. But at first I couldn’t figure out how to make it happen. I emailed a few of my favorite bloggers who knit. I struck out. I emailed a few IRL friends who knit. I struck out.

THEN. I got a wonderful idea. A wonderful, terrible, PHENOMENALLY HAWSUM idea. You know who could find someone to help me? My favorite bloggers who I have read since 2007. She’s probably your favorite blogger, too. And if she’s not, she SHOULD be. True story.

——

From: dory -at- cantrememberdiddly -dot- com

Subject: Something NOT having to do with knitted reproductive systems (I’m totally lying.)

Date: February 23, 2011 10:27:06 AM CST

To: jenny -at- if you want her email you need to do the legwork because I did dammit dot com

Dear Jenny,
I sent you a message on Facebook, but maybe it got lost in the shuffle. Or, my subject field, which was,”Crafting realistic genitalia for fun and profit (Seriously.)” alerted Facebook censors, which begs the question, Have they MET you?!?! :D I’ll choose a different subject for the email and maybe it won’t hit your spam filter.

ANYWAY.

Hi, I’m Dory, and I’ve been reading your blog for about three years. Coincidentally, I have stains on my hard wood floors from spitting various liquids due to sudden uncontrollable laughter while reading your blog, but, that is neither here nor there. Which makes me wonder where it is REALLY, because if it’s neither here nor there, where else could it be, I mean, besides up Al Gore’s left nostril, which is totally possible for anyone who invented the internet. Anyway.First of all, I have to tell you that you are totally my hero, actually, heroine, which is not at all the same as heroin, except now that I consider it more carefully, yes, yes you are totally my heroin. My heroine AND my heroin. I shall refrain from breaking into “You are the Wind Beneath My Wings” now, which is good because 1- you couldn’t hear me anyway and 2- I am Deaf so it would be a new and improved version of horrifying.

I have a special request. I have looked all over the internet for it, and not only did I not find even close to what I was looking for, I am now psychologically scarred for life and have wonderfully terrifying new issues to take to my therapist.

I wanted to run something by you to see if you would maybe be willing to help me. I would run it by my readers, but I have, like, 3, and they all said they can’t fulfill my request. THANKS A LOT, 3 READERS.

Ok, before I tell you what I’m looking for, you have to know that I’m a Passion Parties consultant but not one of those total crazy stalker, over persistent, 5 voicemail leaving, kind of consultants. More like the 2 facebook page having, good sale giving, sex education imparting, kind. I got into this because the job market, oddly enough, doesn’t have a whole lot of room for a Deaf whacknut. Screw you, job market, if you haven’t figured out that Deaf whacknuts would make you infinitely more interesting. Kind of like when you get drunk at a party to be more funny, except totally not like that.

Ok, here’s the deal.

I did a party Friday night, and I was trying to show the girls how one of the c-ring toys work. I was having a hard time explaining that you could put the vibrating bullet on the clitoris or down on the perineum. I thought, I wish I had a fake vagina and penis that wasn’t creepy or skeevy so I could just go “this goes here and that goes there and viola!” Then I thought, what about knitted or crocheted ones? Then they’re actually kind of cute and funny not porny and skeevy! I went on etsy but couldn’t find what I wanted. I asked a few different knitters I know, but they said that sort of project was beyond their capabilities. I even asked Schmutzie because of that cat with the butthole and the Louella the Crack Whore she knitted. She said it sounded like a really fun project but she didn’t think she had the technical know-how to do it. But I love her even though she couldn’t give me a knitted vagina and penis combo, and if that’s not love, I don’t know what is.

The penis would be really easy I bet but the vagina would be kinda tricky. I think I would want to have it, like, picture a doll that got the top cut off right below the belly button (or right above and give her a cute naval ring) and then at the top of the legs so you just have the important part of the torso and pelvis. Kind of like if you took a chain saw to a mannequin except less weird. I would want it to have a tube going in for the vagina so I could insert the knitted penis. I would want it to have lips and a clitoris, maybe even one that peeked out of a small hood like a real clitoris. I would want the skin tone for both to be neutral, not white or black, maybe a hispanic skin tone. I would like the penis to be uncircumcised, and be kinda realistic with a head with a frenulum and a scrotum and about 5″ to 6″ long and an average girth so it doesn’t intimidate any of the men at the couples parties. I would like both to have dark pubic hair but not any longer than 1/2″ to 3/4″. I would like it to be the small, tight kind of knitting so the stuffing doesn’t show through at all. Maybe that tight kind of knitting is actually crocheting, I’m not sure. Hey, remember that one episode of friends when Chandler walks in and sees Rachel’s boobies through the holes in the afghan? See also: I may watch too many Friends reruns.

So I thought maybe, perhaps, possibly, you would be willing to reach out to your readers (cheese and rice, you add 35 to 40 EVERY DAY to your FB!) and see if any of them have the talent to make this sort of thing. Maybe even make it a contest or something. I’m just getting started in this so I don’t have a lot of cash and we’re about 27 seconds away from foreclosure (which is GREAT for depression by the way) but I think I would be able to offer $100 in free Passion Parties product for the finished vagina and penis. If you think it would take more, I could do $100 in product immediately and $100 more product in one month. I’m sure people wouldn’t want to do the whole project just for the chance to win, so I’m not sure how they would throw their hat in the ring, maybe submit pictures of their knitting/crocheting past projects to show their talent? plus a goofy essay “Why I Can Totally Knit/Crochet a Stellar Vagina & Penis”? I’m not sure, but I have a hunch your readers would LOVE to see the entries. Then you could choose the winner and I could give you the prize to give to your readers, I could even give it to you beforehand to show you I won’t flake out on you.

Take a look at my “Info” on my facebook profile and that should hopefully prove to you that I’m not a total douche-canoe. I have links to my blog (which I’ve mentioned you to my three readers a few different times) and my Passion Parties online catalog and my Passion Parties Facebook Pages which come in Mild & Wild just like hot wings. Except less messy and you don’t have to tip me. Unless you want to. Because we’re out of toilet paper and Tom doesn’t get paid until next week. So I’ll probably “borrow” some from the gas station restroom.

Thank you, Jenny, for listening to my verbal diarrhea and please know that if you say no you’re not interested I will totally understand and there will be no hard feelings. You have total immunity from getting unsubscribed in my Google Reader for life or longer.

Love,

Dory

——

And promptly forgot about it and moved onto other more important things, like tax refunds and finishing Lost.

But Jenny didn’t. Jenny emailed me back and told me clearly I was insane but in a good way (she TOTALLY gets me) and that she would see what she could do.

I would have been happy with that. Because, DOOD. JENNY. EMAILED. ME.

But then Jenny wrote about it in her SexIs column.

And there were comments. MANY comments. Many FUNNY comments. Many Funny HELPFUL comments.

Because Jenny and Her People rock out loud like that.

Then Jenny emailed me and said, hey, there’s this chick that wants to take on this challenge. Email her.

I was put here on this earth to do Jenny’s bidding, so who am I to disobey?

So that’s how I met Louise.

I love Louise.

Louise and I emailed back and forth a little and much, MUCH faster than I thought would happen, Louise sent me PICTURES. Pictures of PROGRESS.

I am not a crier. I got a little emotional when I saw these pictures, I can’t lie to you; I got a little misty-eyed.

Because I was so. Damn. Happy.

That hasn’t happened in a while, and it weirded me out a little at first. But then I just went with it. My heart grew TWO sizes that day.

It is absolutely amazing. I don’t mean amazing like the amazing connection the psycho bitch feels for The Bachelor. As she sobs her mascara off and ugly cries and screams and burns down the mansion.

I mean the amazing that makes me feel like good things can happen to ME.

The blogosphere is astounding and amazing and wonderful, and I am humbled by what we will do for one of our own.

Like use the power of Our People to help a little blogger. Or use the power of our talent to help someone we’ve met online for four minutes.

It’s an absolutely beautiful thing. And I’ll never forget it. Pinky swear.

So here’s what you need to know!

Here’s my shop’s Facebook Pages, Mild and Wild. “Like” one or both. I offer access to secret specials and sales there, as well as articles, tips and techniques to enhance your romantic relationships. Here’s my shop. Go there. Click Shop Online and have some fun. I’m only $23 in sales away from hitting a milestone, which would be $1500 in sales for March, and only $523 away from $2000 which would mean I would bonus for the first time and get $100 bonus. Just sayin’.

Here’s Louise’s shop’s Facebook Page. Check it out. “Like it”. Offer her a challenge. Tell her you want something weird knitted. Buy something. It will make you more interesting and better liked. I mean, look at me! Now I can be the sex toy lady with the Knitted Naughties! I feel more popular already!

And of course, here’s Jenny. Here’s the link that probably landed you here.

I love you, Jenny! In a totally non-practicing-lesbian-lover-but-questioning kind of way.

I love you, Louise! In a totally non-practicing-lesbian-lover-but-questioning-and-considering-a-threesome kind of way.

I sincerely hope that Jenny and Louise and I get to meet and hug and clink drinks together someday.

I told Louise that Jenny and I would be hiding in the Ladies Room and she would need to be on board with this, but I’m pretty sure it’s still under consideration.

But most of all, I love you, Mah Peepull. I rillyrilly do. Especially you and you who have been with me since 2007.

Because even when I’m a complete guanomaniac, you love me. Even when I go weeks at a time without inspiration to write, you keep me in your reader and encourage me when I do put something up.

*big wet sloppy kisses all around and jumping up and down hugs too*

OH. Almost forgot to tell you.

Pending a clean background check, TOM HAS A BIG BOY JOB. That pays him what him and his master’s degree and his $80k in student loans are worth. If anything bad comes up on the background check, Tom’s just going to say he was drunk. Folks will excuse you from all manner of transgressions with a well played, “But you see, I was drunk.”

My party last Friday was $837. My best party EVER. DAMN.

I’m still in shock. After all the SHIT that we’ve endured, and cried over, and prayed through, FINALLY, good stuff is happening.

Thank you, God. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU. God, you are SO good.

Dory

P.S. Sorry if you got Google juice on you with all those links up there. But those ladies deserve it. Every single bit. You should try it. It’s linky love. It’s fun. It’s good karma. And you need to be hosed down when it’s over. You know you did something hawsum when you need to be hosed down after you do it.

P.P.S. Ok, honestly, I’m not sorry. And you should be blessed by that Google juice that got splashed on you. It feels like holy water and tastes like Lucky Charms and goes down like KoolAid.

P.P.P.S. Mmmmmmmmmmm, Lucky Charms.

P.P.P.P.S. I’m magically delicious.

P.P.P.P.P.S. And so is Embrace, the edible lube. The vanilla tastes like, (guess what?) Lucky Charms. Now, THAT shit is magical. It’s in my shop online under “Lubricants.”

P.P.P.P.P.P.S. YOU. ARE. WELCOME.

P.P.P.P.P.P.P.S. In honor of Jenny, I’m offering a sale good thru 11:59pm Sunday night. If a sale on sex toys doesn’t say love, then I don’t know what does. Anyway. 1 person can take 25% off their order, code WOOHOO25. 1 person, 20%, WOOHOO20. 1 person, 15%, WOOHOO15. Got to www.designyourpassion.com click through to my website and click on Shop Online. Try the first one, and if it doesn’t work, try the next, etc. Have fun!

The picture:

The video:

Now they need names!

© Dory for Can't Remember Diddly!, 2011. All rights reserved. This post cannot be republished without express written permission. • Permalink • 9 atta-girls • Join my blog network on Facebook and Rate my blog while you're at it. This means YOU, bub.

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I am the Author; I am Words’ Bitch

Dory — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 14:30:52 +0000

I am the author.

I am words’ bitch.

I might huff and puff and show them brawny bravado, but they remain aloof and unmoved.

I may stroke and pet them and softly croon into their kernings, but they turn a deaf ear like an obstinate lover in a bitter quarrel.

I might suffer under the delusion that I can throw my lasso around them and force them towards one way or the other, even down into the gritty dirt, but I may as well be tossing a spider that’s trailing a single strand of web shiny and barely visible among the dust mites in a ray of sunshine.

I may rage at them, my temper rising and falling with the guttural strain of my voice, but they stare back at me defiantly, unimpressed by my powerless fists-flailing in the air.

I might line up the plans for my stories in single file, but I am at words’ mercy; they alone decide whether they will flow like water over a fall or stand stubborn in a stagnant pool of stink.

I may set aside hours for them to line themselves up on my page, but they will come when they’re damned good and ready, blind to the hands sweeping the clock.

I might deftly plan my strategy to force their march across the lined paper, yelling them into order like a drill sergeant, but they huddle and snicker at the way my spit reflects in the sunshine as my ineffectual wails echo across the unexcited atmosphere.

I may preen and posture, pretending they’re not there, but they sneer at my pretentiousness, fully realizing I am merely putting on airs and graces, effectual as a cat raising its hackles at its reflection in the water.

I might calmly bid them about, subtly calling them into order, but if I am lucky and the stars align and the moon shines down at a precise angle, they may eventually arrange themselves into an aesthetically pleasing array of lovely lines across the field, like a month old crop of fresh vegetation covered by a light fog glowing under shy dawn sunshine.

I am words’ bitch.

I am the author.

© Dory for Can't Remember Diddly!, 2010. All rights reserved. This post cannot be republished without express written permission. • Permalink • 6 atta-girls • Join my blog network on Facebook and Rate my blog while you're at it. This means YOU, bub.

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The One my IRL friends totally won’t get. If you know the term “blogosphere” then join me, won’t you?

Dory — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 14:26:05 +0000

Are you disenchanted with the idea of the blogging community? No? Only me? Okfine. Then I’ll just write this to myself.

Disclaimer: This post has been brought to you by several weeks of sleep deprivation, clinical depression, and probably what is (if I’m being honest with myself) a little bit of sour grapes. I feel all dark and twisty; all ridiculously emo like someone half my age. All the angst plus fine lines and stretch marks! SCORE!

I’m taking a risk; this post could create some backlash against me. The blogosphere doesn’t take kindly to back talk against it. I hope it’s taken in the spirit it’s intended, which is not one of hostility but rather a yearning for discussion.

I’ve never been one who wants to stir up a shitstorm or create drama; that’s not the intention of this post. I’ve never been a boat rocker. I’ve never even had a troll. If I’ve ever been meant to have a troll jump out from under the bridge, this is the post that’ll do it. I don’t take critism well. I tend to find the nearest corner into which I can curl up into the fetal position and rock while sucking my thumb. I’m preparing myself to either get flamed or get ignored. I’m not sure which I fear worse– Dory, you’re kidding me, right?! You expected MORE you moron?! Do you live IRL or blog-world?! (A little of both actually) or ominous silence.

So what is my intention? Well, these words have been percolating for quite a while. I’ve NOT said this for months and I’m hoping that by doing so I may break some writer’s block. I’m also hoping that I’m going to discover that it’s not just me. Hopefully, I’m not alone. And maybe by thinking out loud here (which I do quite often) I can discover a solution to my discontent.

Here goes nothing. *jumps from the plane and pulls the rope*

My number one objective for blogging has always been this: a desire for connection. For finding people I get, and that get me. For stumbling across a kindred spirit.

My second objective for blogging has been this: to affect people with my writing. Whether I make you laugh or cry or think or snort with derision is not important; just as long as I affect you, I feel my mission has been accomplished.

I’ve been blogging since 2003. At first, it was just to friends and family on LiveJournal, but then I became aware of the blogosphere in 2007 and set up camp on Blogger. I loved the idea of connecting with other writers online and the whole concept of “blogging community.” I met a few really super cool people (I’m looking at YOU, Country Girl, City Girl, MelodyAnn, Abby, and Fabs) that really connected with and for that I am truly thankful.

Back then when I was all starry eyed with the blogosphere, I was completely enamored of the idea of the blogging community; the comments, the give and take, the camaraderie of this shared insanity that is blogging.

I mean, let’s face it; it takes a blogger to get a blogger. None of my IRL friends have any inclination to blog. I’ve never even met a blogger face to face.

And unlike In Real Life, my Deafness was not a factor whatsoever. (I’ll try to be concise on this idea, but I smell a whole ‘nother post coming from this one point.) You don’t have to have hearing to participate fully in the blogging community. I felt this was an area of my life where I could be on level ground with everyone else, instead of missing a great deal of what was going on around me. Plus, I was looking forward to the opportunity of meeting lots of other D/HoH bloggers; ideally, late deafened ones that share my experience. We aren’t equal participants in the hearing world, but oftentimes we’re not completely accepted by deaf world either. We’re a weird lot. We probably don’t have a deaf ‘accent’ because we were deafened post-lingually; our hearing aids are next to invisible; we’re less likely to demand our right for an interpreter and instead make do with residual hearing and speechreading; we offer no clue to you that we need acceptance and accommodation to be on equal ground with you. We experience the “real” world very differently and it can be quite isolating.

I saw the community that was going on around me, and I wanted to become a part of it. I started out with about 40 blogs that I felt I could really connect with the author, and set up my reader. I taught myself; RSS, Subscribe, Feedburner, search engine, keywords, memes, all of these were all completely unknown concepts to me in May 2007. But I researched and studied and learned stuff and set up my own little online living room in Blogger. Then I set about reading and commenting my little heart out all over the place. I wasn’t sure how to comment at first, but quickly came up with the strategy of picturing this author sitting across the table from me, sharing a coffee or a beer, and thinking, what would I actually say to this person. I really invested myself.

I knew it would take time to become accepted. But after a few months went by, I found the return on my investment unsatisfactory. I had erroneously hypothosized that if I invested in them, they would invest in me. But I wasn’t getting the connection, the interaction, I thought I would get. Surely, I thought, I am worth at least getting to know. I don’t think I’m coming on too strong and setting off people’s stalkeradar. Why aren’t people responding to me? I asked myself. What’s wrong with me?

Okfine, I thought, I need to show them I’m serious. I’m in this 110%. In August 2008, I put on my big-girl-blogger panties and bought my domain and hosting. I spent hours days setting up on WordPress, learning about widgets and CSS and fussing with the design. I saw my blog, and it was good. And I thought, now, now they will see I’m in it for the long haul. I got right back to reading and putting my heart and soul into the comments I left in my wake. I really put myself out there in my posts, offered myself up at my most vulnerable.

Now it’s February 2010 (can you believe it?!) and here I am, still dissatisfied with the blogging experience I’ve had. Years later.

I’m tired. I’m tired of taking five hours to craft one post and getting no comments on it. I’m tired of reading about the blogger meetups and the resulting lovefests and feeling left out. I’m tired of checking my stats and being disappointed that I haven’t broke 50 subscribers yet. I’m tired of reading about the awards and the different strategies for garnering votes, both the ones who take the high road and the ones who choose the low. I’m tired of reading about 100s, even 1000s of bloggers flocking to one blogger’s plight. Sour grapes? Probably. I’ll own that. But I wasn’t asking for donations or votes or 1000 subscribers or a trip to Disney. I was only asking for some connection; ok, I’ll admit it– I was asking to feel the looove. But all these years later, all I feel is that I’m pressing my nose up against the window, on the outside looking in.

I don’t think I’m deluding myself. I know that I’ll never receive an email from Dooce. I’ll never go stay a weekend at the Lodge with Ree. I know that an A-Lister will never actually strike up a friendship with me or find me interesting enough to talk to seriously.

But what about all those bloggers (probably 100s now that I’ve been at this a few years) that have maybe 50, 100, at most under 1000 readers, that I’ve laid myself vulnerable by sharing with them my personal experiences in their comment section? Some I sent encouraging emails with an “I’ve been there and I’m on the other side and you’ll get there too” or an “I’m really impressed with your writing, keep up the good work” or an “Your photos are striking and you have a great eye for composition.” And gotten nothing, zero, zilch in return. Not even, “Thanks for the encouragement” or “Your words came at just the right time.” I’ve even offered framed 5x7s in their choice of images for virtual housewarmings that they’ve thanked me for, but never actually collected on. Can you see my frustration in the fact that my photography sucks so effing much that I CAN’T EVEN GIVE IT AWAY?! That my words mean so little that they don’t even warrant a response?!

Something’s got to give.

I can’t any more.

Maybe I’ve had the wrong objectives all along. Maybe connection and affecting people was just too much to hope for. I’m just thisclose to unsubscribing everyone in my reader and closing comments on all my posts just so I can avoid the disappointment. Maybe even prove to myself that I can just write for the sheer joy of writing.

But in my heart, I crave that connection that the blogging community seemingly offers but that remains so elusive to me.

I’m tired of my blogging experiences being a trigger of so many depressive episodes.

I’m tired of feeling like the kid in Sp Ed who is trying to be friends with the captain of the varsity cheerleaders.

I’m tired of feeling so alone in the blogosphere. I get enough of that In Real Life.

Am I the only one?

© Dory for Can't Remember Diddly!, 2010. All rights reserved. This post cannot be republished without express written permission. • Permalink • 18 atta-girls • Join my blog network on Facebook and Rate my blog while you're at it. This means YOU, bub.

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I can’t unsee whut I saw’d

Dory — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 09:20:35 +0000

I ran out of gas AGAIN.

I was cruising down Mt. Vernon Rd., the thoughts in my rather unique brain ricocheting like raquet balls

Ilikemynewearringsfromfarmersmarket – THWAK – Ibetkidsdidn’tdochoreswhileIwasgone – POW – don’tforgettogetmilk – POP – needtonapbefore3rdshifttonight – THWOK – imisstom – SMACK – whysomehydrantsredsomegreen – CRACK – wonderwhatseesterisdoingtoday -

when my car started sputtering and jerking.

nonononononononoohcrapohcrapohnoohcrapnononononononooooooooo

The fuel warning light doesn’t work + I’m Dory = I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve ran out of gas in this damn car.

I coasted onto a side street and rolled to a stop. I opened my trunk to get out the gas can I put there the last time I ran out of gas. But, of course, it wasn’t there.

I started walking.

Oh, but it gets better and better, because the gas station didn’t have a loaner gas can. I sighed deeply and started walking towards home to get the gas can to get the gas to get the car going again. On the way, I texted Tom with the full intention that he would commiserate with me, or more likely, mock me. But, instead, he pulled up and rescued me, my knight in shining tan LHS.

As we talked, it came up that he was worried that he wouldn’t have time to get the Mission Pastor-Barb-clean (you know Gramma-clean? Yeah, well, Gramma’s got nothin‘ on Pastor Barb) before she got there at 5:30pm. I said as soon as I got gas, I’d come in and help. So I rescued him right back.

The Mission got clean. We lived happily ever after. Well, happily couple hours later. Because this is real life, and Tom had to decide what to make for dinner, and I realized that I only had a few hours to nap to make it through my 12am-8am shift. But, okfine, whatev.

I told you that story to tell you this one.

I was on my way to get gas today.

I was thinking, ok, refill the gas can, fill the tank, go to Mission, clean stuff, nap, etc., when I spotted a fuzzball no bigger than a softball in the middle turning lane of this five lane road. I slowed up, and squinted as I got closer. It was a small, scared kitten, just laying in the middle of the road like he would lay on a windowsill, perhaps with a broken leg or worse. He was a common hazel-and-black short-haired ball of askeered.

The world went into slow motion plus extreme close-up, and as I went by, I saw him turn his head and mouth a tiny, afraid MEW.

I almost pulled into the turning lane, but traffic was really busy and it would have been borderline dangerous to stomp the brakes and veer over. I thought, ok, so I’ll fill up the can and the tank and then on the way back I’ll stop and see if I can help him.

It was only a couple blocks away, so it wouldn’t take long. I pulled in, refilled the gas can, filled the gas tank, and pulled back out into traffic. You know what was next on my To Do list. That’s right– Rescue Askeered Furball.

But I’m Dory.

And, OOOoooOOOooo, something shiny!

And, I completely forgot that item, JUST THAT QUICKLY, and went to the next one. Go To Mission and Rescue Tom Right Back.

CleanCleanClean, DriveHome, SkipDinner, and NappyNap.

I was just dozing off and something stirred inside me, it felt like deja vu or when the name of that actor is right on the tip of your brain.

Then a flashback of Askeered Furball MEWing punched me in the brain.

Oh, God, I forgot. Oh, hell, it’s too late.

And that should be the end of that, right? Right?

Except I couldn’t stop thinking about him. The same flashback played overandoverandover. I’d send my thoughts one way, and then they’d circle back to a silent MEW.

I woke up a few hours later after a fitful and unsatisfying nap, melancholy and out of sorts.

He’s haunting me. HAUNTING ME, mah peepull.

So, in the same way that misery loves company and someone with an earworm will pass it on, I decided to write about it and hand it on over to you.

But that story, by itself? At least, a little waste of time. At most, a notch below interesting. As I was driving to work, I mulled it over in my brain, swirling it around like a wine taster evaluating a merlot. Do I like this? What’s in here? How will it finish? Will it leave an aftertaste behind? Isn’t that other guy who’s wine-tasting supposed to be my designated driver? How much does a cab run these days?

Then, the Askeered Furball punched me one more time, right to the heart. A little ninja kitteh karate-chop direct to the sternum.

How many times have I come across someone wounded, hurting, alone, scared? And I want to slow down and help, but the world is rushing around me, and I’m like a fish trying to struggle upstream. So I say to myself, I’ll just come back. Really soon. And I’ll help. I’ll Rescue and Comfort and Save the Day.

But I’m Dory.

And, OOOoooOOOooo, something shiny!

And, I forget and move on to the next item.

I don’t MEAN TO.

But I do.

“But Dory,” you ask… “Dory, when you say ‘But I do’ …do you mean ‘But I do forget and move on’ or ‘But I do MEAN TO?’”

Which is a really big question when you’re alone at four o’clock in the morning.

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Epiphany

Dory — Tue, 12 May 2009 16:33:08 +0000

Deep into the night, after the boys have gone to bed (well, to their rooms anyway), after the computers have been shut down, after the doors have been locked, after the quiet reading in bed next to each other has concluded, after the glasses and hearing aids are off, after the lights are out, after the pillowtalk has subsided, comes my favorite part of the night.

There’s a number for how many times I’ve done this over our fifteen-ish years, but I couldn’t possibly guess what it would be.

I put my head on his chest, close my eyes, and listen for his heartbeat.

Only this time… it isn’t there.

I feel his chest rising and falling in a comfortably familiar rhythm, and his pulse beating against my cheek. I inhale deeply and pause my breathing a moment as if that would help, and focus all my concentration on hearing that thub-dub thub-dub thub-dub thub-dub that brings me calm in a way nothing else can.

It doesn’t happen.

I can’t hear it.

But I can feel it.

I can feel his chest rise and fall, his skin pulsing against mine.

But I can’t hear it.

And before I even have time to fully process this unwelcome milestone, then another realization hits.

Someday soon, my best friend will say to me, “I love you.”

I will see his lips moving in the familiar pattern. I will see his love for me, and our past and future, shining in his eyes.

But I won’t hear his voice carrying the most important words he’s ever said to me.

It won’t happen.

I won’t hear it.

But I will feel it.

I will feel his arms around me, his deep sigh of content as we embrace.

I won’t hear it.

But I will feel it.

© Dory for Can't Remember Diddly!, 2009. All rights reserved. This post cannot be republished without express written permission. • Permalink • 10 atta-girls • Join my blog network on Facebook and Rate my blog while you're at it. This means YOU, bub.

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The One Where She Narrowly Avoided a Punch in the Throat a Little Bit

Dory — Fri, 08 May 2009 17:35:40 +0000

So, My Writing Mojo has been MIA for a couple months now. I came just short of putting out an APB when she flounced in unceremoniously this morning, dropped her bag on the floor, flopped on the couch with her feet up on one arm, and turned on the TV.

After I picked my jaw up off the floor, I said the only thing I could think of. “Where the hell have you been, young lady?! I’ve been worried sick! You could have been dead in a ditch somewhere! What, they don’t have phones where you were?!” I spun my mental Rolodex and searched my memory for other similar admonishments my own mother had used on me. “You are SO grounded, missy!”

She smiled smugly in a way that made me want to punch her in the throat a little bit. “Yeahyeah, suresure. Whatever.”

“No, there’s NO whatever. You just disappeared without a trace and not so much as a warning shot for a couple damn months. AND you missed our bloggy birfday yesterday! I demand an explanation! Hell, our readers reader deserves an explanation! They’ve been putting up with only Wordless Wednesday and Tell Me Thursday posts, which are all well and good, but all alone they spell LAME, sister!” I fumed.

She didn’t bother glancing away from The View. “I wouldn’t figure you’re in any position to be demanding anything.” she huffed. “Do you have any Cheetos?”

“No, I don’t have any– Dammit– if I get you some Cheetos, will you fill me in?” I pointed and shot red laser beams out my eyeballs at her.

She gave me her best color-me-unimpressed expression and said, “Throw in a Mountain Dew and a pack of smokes, and you got a deal.” She directed her attention back to Whoopi and Elizabeth who were currently in a heated debate about saving beavers in the rainforests.

I threw my hands up in the air. “Oh, for the… I’ll be right back, you extortionist.” I was secretly pretty proud of her chutzpah; she had something I needed, and she didn’t let that go without making use of it.

As I drove down to the convenience store, my mind whirled. Where had she been? What had she been doing? Images of dirty carnivals and cold Taco Bell and jails danced in my head.

I came back in the house and tossed her first, the Cheetos and second, the smokes. She caught one with her left and one with her right, barely glancing my way.

“Well?!”

“Oh, unclench. Where’s my pop?”

“In the freezer. Spill it, sister.”

“Let’s go smoke.”

Twist my arm. I turned on my heel and walked out of the room.

On the way out to the deck, I snatched her pop out of the fridge and grabbed myself a Bud Light. At that point, I was so flustered, it was not a want; it was a need. I paused, thought better of it, and exchanged the Mountain Dew for another beer. Perhaps it would grease the wheels a little. We settled into lawn chairs, not looking at each other, but rather across the backyard and into the timber beyond. I handed her the beer and got a slightly surprised look in return. The expression left as fast as it came, and she directed her gaze back out into nowhere as she packed her smokes on her thigh before she opened them. I cracked my can open and took that best, first pull. She made the sign for “lighter” without looking at me and I lit her up. She took a long, hungry drag and picked at her fingernails.

I said, “I really could’ve used you all those hours I was on third shift instead of sitting there with my thumb up the internet.”

Almost apologetically she said, “Yeah, I figured. I felt kind of bad about that.”

I used one of my therapist’s favorite techniques and remained silent, not breaking the silence for her. Suck it, chivalry.

She risked a glance my way. “Yeah, January was great. We got a lot done, didn’t we?”

I didn’t answer, just took another pull on my beer and studiously avoided looking at her.

“February was bad. Teh Crazie scared me,” she remarked quietly, looking down at nothing.

I nodded slowly. “Me, too. I suppose I probably didn’t handle it as well as I thought I did. But I thought we had it under some semblance of control.”

“Well, then we were pondering The Girlbeater and I got really spooked.”

“That’s understandable,” I allowed. “But we have some important work to do. It won’t be easy.”

“I guess I knew that deep down. I suppose it’s what made me realize I needed to come back home.” She looked at me timidly, needing a pardon.

“Well, I’m glad you did. I kind of missed you, you crazy bitch,” I chuckled a little.

“Yeahyeah, suresure,” she shot me a mischievous grin.

“Are you ready to get back to it?” I wondered.

“Yeah, I suppose. I’ve got some great stories for you.”

“I bet! Gimme a taste, girl!” I sat back in the chair and put my feet up on the little end table between us, immensely glad to see her and thankful she found her way home.

“You asked for it!” She put her feet up on the other corner of the end table and held out her beer can. I gave it a clunk with mine, and extended my closed hand to invite a fist bump. She smirked and bumped. “So, there I was, in a dirty bus station in Utah, a used spark plug in one hand, a Red Bull in the other, and a drunk slumped onto my shoulder and mumbling about being on a porn set with Martha Stewart, some midget clowns and a Zamboni…” she began.

I settled in with the first of many, many beers and cigarettes, and some really fantastic stories. A couple hours in, some Chinese delivery was added to the equation.

It’s so good to have her back.

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K-I-S-S-I-N-G

Dory — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 05:41:50 +0000

Rocky got his first kiss yesterday.

He met this little cutie-patootie redhead at his after-school Asperger’s program. He really liked her, but she was “going with” another boy. He was really upset about it (“This is just GREAT; I’m NEVER gonna have a girlfriend!”) but we talked him down from the ledge. Well, The Little Red-headed Girl changed her mind. She likes Rocky now, and he likes her still. It makes sense. They’re both ADHD and AS, so they get each other.

She came over Saturday for a few hours, and then he went over to her house yesterday for a few hours. Her mom brought him back and said, “Ok, I tried not to make a big deal out of this. I ran into the gas station and when I came back out, I saw them smoochin’ in the back seat.”

I was all, awwwwwww, I have to tell his Aunt T (whose response was? “Where’s The Fries?!?! Noooooo!!!”) and we talked a little and they went home. No biggie, right?

Right?

Well, I don’t know. There’s something about this whole thing that’s really weighing heavy on my heart. HunkyDory has had numerous s-e-x talks with Rocky; no problem, if you’re old enough to ask the question, you’re old enough for the answer. We’ve passed our save-it-for-your-wife onto him but also given him a very thorough sex education, so I think we’ve got all our bases covered.

But. There is always a but, and sometimes a butt.

I’m having kind of a hard time with this. As both boys have gotten older and older, I’ve celebrated each milestone as a little more freedom for all of us. Potty-training… chucking those damn car seats… getting their own breakfast… finally being able to go out for a few hours and not have to figure a babysitter into the evening’s budget… all good for them, great for me. The neatest thing is watch these guys go from babies to toddlers into “real people” with their own distinct personalities. This was the first milestone that I’ve hit and thought, ok, whoa… I didn’t see that one coming. Now I’m unsettled and a little scared. This is where the rubber meets the road. I have to step back and hope that he makes his choices according to the way we’ve brought him up.

Maybe I’m having such a hard time because I’m struggling to find a way celebrate this milestone. It’s the first one that I’m not really a part of. My baby boy isn’t one anymore, and I have no way to relate to my man-child’s newfound *gulp* sexuality. Tom will still have some sort of “in” because I’m sure that Rocky will still come to him with big questions. But the fact remains, my confidence in my own role in this new area is sorely shaken. Will he come to me for input? I can just imagine him… “Ewwwwww, MoooOOOooommmmmm!” and I’m guessing that’s a big fat NO.

Tonight, he came over and asked if he could sit with me while we watched 24. I was like, “Um, ok, why?” and he said, “Because I love my mommy” with this really cheesy grin.

I smiled and stretched my arms, and he snuggled with me, his face turned toward Jack Bauer saving the day.

I don’t think he caught me with my stingy eyeballs. If he did, he pretended he didn’t.

God bless the little smoochin’ boogerhead.

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I wish I had a nickel for every time I heard or read the word HOPE today.

Dory — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 04:42:15 +0000

As I was sitting on the couch snuggled up with Hunky watching the inauguration, I felt it… A glimmer of hope. I felt hope that I could start to believe my government would do the right thing for its citizens. It seemed inconceivable that in one day’s time, my perception could change so dramatically.

But the inaugural activities aren’t the point of this post. As I watched the news coverage of this historic event that will stand in history, the date flashed across the screen. January 20th. Then it hit me. I will always remember January 20th, 2009 as a day of hope. But to me, this was the second January 20th that was filled with a feeling of hope.

January 20, 1993…

A little back-story… after I came home from the Army in November 1992, there wasn’t enough room in my Mom’s house for me, and my Dad had packed up and moved to Cedar Rapids, Iowa. So I moved in with The Girl Beater and his family.

I started the day as normal. TGB was getting ready for work, and I was getting him some breakfast. He sat down at the table and started shoveling. In between bites, he said, “What are you going to do today?”

“Look for a better job,” I replied.

He nodded. “Good. You should stop by the Court House and see about getting a marriage license.”

My heart stopped a moment, and I managed to croak, “Why?”

“Well, we should just do it.”

Before I left for Boot Camp at Ft. McClellan, AL, we had discussed that maybe we’d get married in between Boot Camp and my AIT (Advanced Individual Training). What we didn’t see coming is the Army discovering my hearing loss and sending me home one week before Boot Camp graduation, and the marriage discussion had not even come back up in conversation again in the two months since I had returned.

“We should just DO IT?!” I parroted back, my voice squeaky. This wasn’t exactly the proposal of my dreams.

He stopped eating and looked up at me. “Yeah, sure. If it doesn’t work, we can just get a divorce.”

My heart literally stopped a moment and I struggled to take my next breath.

I didn’t have to worry about formulating a reply, because he wasn’t looking for one. As usual, he made a statement, and I was to submit.

“I’ll see you after work. Make me something good for dinner.”

He left his dishes on the table for me to take care of and hurried out the door.

I turned my head and watched him out the window as he got into his Monte Carlo and sped off.

I turned my head back and looked down at the old, dark beat-up table. I breathed in, I breathed out. I felt like my life was a movie, and someone had hit the pause button.

I heard his statement inside my head again, echo-y and drawn out, like a 45 record playing at 33 speed. “Yeah, sure. If it doesn’t work, we can just get a divorce.”

What was he thinking?! I couldn’t enter a marriage with that frame of mind! Most of our four and a half year relationship, I had spent grieving for my parent’s divorce. When we met, he was one stable element in my world shaken by the earthquake that was the disillusionment of a marriage. I had told him time and time again, that I would never get divorced; that when I got married, I was determined that it would be forever.

Again, I heard his statement inside my head. “Yeah, sure. If it doesn’t work, we can just get a divorce.”

In that moment, I felt my whole life shift.

On one side of the moment, I was with him. On the other side of the moment, I left him. One side; I feared him and the shackles he held me enslaved with. Other side; the chains disintegrated with a small POOF into harmless powder.

I realized I was going to have to move quickly. I had a lot to do to get out, and I couldn’t risk his father discovering me packing. He’d call TGB for sure.

I wouldn’t be able to stay where he could find me; I didn’t trust either of us. I didn’t trust him to let me go without manipulative speech to wear me down, or physical pain when that didn’t work. I didn’t trust myself to stand up to his physical presence and promises of change that had never been honored in the past.

As quietly and as quickly as I could, I threw everything I owned into black garbage bags. Every time I opened and shut a drawer, it sounded to me like it was amplified through a megaphone, and I nervously listened for the TV volume to go down which would be my warning that his father knew something was up and would think nothing of knocking down the locked bedroom door.

As softly as I could, I opened the rarely used side door, and the old metal creaked a little. I held my stance and my breath simultaneously, and listened.

Nothing.

I put the first bag out, and repeated that shaky maneuver a few more times for the rest of my belongings.

My heart was banging in my chest; I was shaking furiously.

I went out to the kitchen, held my voice as steady as I possibly could, and called, “Hey, Dad; I’m going to the store for a pop. Want anything?” All the while, praying fervently that he wouldn’t detect a tremor in my voice or God forbid, tell me he was going along.

“No. When will you be back?” I heard his meaning hang in the air. Damn, I had 30 minutes, tops, before he’d call TGB and rat me out.

“I’ll go straight there and straight back. I’m not stopping anywhere else or seeing anyone else.”

The next few moments felt like an eternity. Finally; “Alright,” he conceded.

I tried not to rush too fast as I left the house. I knew if I was nonchalant enough, and pulled it off right, that it may buy me an extra 15-30 minutes before my absence was reported.

The snow squeaked under my feet and it hurt to breathe, it was so cold; especially since these were frightened, jaggedy breaths. I got in my car and tried to steady my shaking hand as I attempted to meet ignition with key. She started right up. I put her in gear and made sure not to drive too fast out of the driveway. I placed as calm a look on my face as I could muster; I knew it would be observed as I passed the living room window.

I rounded the corner and passed out of sight of the house. Ok, what’s next, I thought as priorities bounced around in my brain like a dozen racquet balls. There was so much to think about, and the clock was ticking. I had nothing except my wallet and the clothes I was wearing. Who can I get to pick up my stuff, I need gas, where will I go, ohmygod where will I sleep tonight, was Dad suspicious, what the hell am I doing… if he catches me… Gas. To get anywhere I need gas. Shit. I had just gotten paid, but as usual, TGB had taken my signed check and put it in his account but had not yet dispensed my “allowance”. Because I was so stupid with money, you see.

Once one decision was made, the others fell into restless but somewhat orderly place, like busy kindergardeners in a single-file, indian-style line.

I drove into town like I had the hounds of hell on my tail. I turned into the driveway of the car dealership where a month before my father had worked, before his entire life changed. I stepped softly into the office and the secretary, Vicki, looked up and smiled at me brightly. “Well, hi there! What a nice surprise!” Her expression changed as the look on my face registered with her.

“I have to leave him. I don’t know where to go. He can’t know where I am, at least for a while. He’ll hurt me. I can’t go to my Mom’s because her house is full, and Dad’s moved, and I’m pretty sure he knows where the domestic violence shelter is.”

“Well, you call your Dad, and we’ll figure it out,” she said as she gave me a reassuring hug. “It’s going to be ok now,” she added.

I dialed my Dad’s new number and hurriedly brought him up to speed. He said, of course, that the safest plan would be for me to drive to Iowa and then decide the next step once I arrived. “One step at a time,” he said. “Ok, put Vicki back on for just a minute, and then as quickly as you can, safely, I want you to go straight to the gas station and then get on the interstate, ok?”

“Ok, Daddy.” I paused. In a very small voice, I said, “I’m scared.”

His voice took the tone he used to calm me down after I had woken up from a bad dream. “It’s going to be ok now. You just get here.”

“Ok, Daddy. I love you.”

“I love you, too; put Vicki on, ok?”

I handed the phone to Vicki, and less than five minutes later, I had $50 for gas and lunch, and directions written out to get me to my Dad’s. A quick hug from Vicki, and I was out the door.

I got in my car and looked at the clock. Forty-five minutes had passed already. I started shaking again. I was in the danger zone. I decided that I would go straight to the interstate and go as far as I could and then get gas.

As I went through town, I looked left and right at my surroundings. All the familiar old buildings that made up my town. The Hallmark store, where I had gotten keepsake ornaments. JcPenney, where I had gotten my graduation dress. The silk-screen place where I got band t-shirts, my letter jacket, and senior t-shirts. The jewelry store where I had gotten my class ring. The pharmacy where I had worked for a couple years. It felt surreal. But I knew that that moment, right then, would be a defining moment of my life.

I reached the interstate and got on I-69 South. I put the cruise on 70, and for the first time since I had sat at the breakfast table, I took a long, deep breath in. And exhaled. Now I had time to think.

I had done it. I was fairly confident that Dad hadn’t called TGB yet. He would, soon. But by the time he called him, and he left work, and started looking for me, I’d be gone. The only people on earth that knew where I was, was my father and Vicki. And they weren’t sayin’ nothin’.

Then I felt it.

Hope.

Hope that he would no longer hurt me; physically, sexually, verbally, or emotionally.

Hope that I could learn to live without him.

Hope that he had not “institutionalized” me, and that I’d be able to live my own life without someone telling me what I could wear and where I could go and who I could see and what I could buy andwhenandhowandwhy.

For the first time in almost five years, hope washed down over me like a hard spring rain, and it was unbelievably overwhelming. The tires hummed on the road and the hope-rain cleansed my soul. And as the mile markers flew by, I sobbed.

The world around me was different. It was like, for five years someone had been slowly turning down the saturation dial of my life; and in three seconds, cranked it all the way up past normal. It was… staggering. Everything around me and inside me was bigger, deeper, heavier, just more. The snow was whiter. The sky was bluer. My tears were wetter.

A semi-truck passed me; slowly, but he passed me. As he drove ahead, through my tears, I saw on the back side of his trailer cab, CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA. He was going where I was going! Up to that point, I thought of the town as kind of a Never Never Land. But this CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA did exist, and I would follow him there.

I cried for miles and miles. Emotions that I thought were dead inside of me surfaced, and it was like I had been underwater for too long and had just broken through to the air and I gasped and gulped, drawing it deep within my core. Those emotions were so overpoweringly real, they actually, physically hurt inside my chest, and all I could do was sob and feel.

Righteous indignation.

Relief.

Happiness.

But most of all… hope.

Hope.

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Smoke and asses and mirrors; that’s what little bloggers are made of.

Dory — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:30:43 +0000

Mah balance. I haz lossed it.

I blame NahNoMoFoMe.

It is just so hard to write every single day. I worry that I’m going to lull you into a state of unconsciousness. I worry that I’m going to lull MYSELF into a state of unconsciousness. And the more inept I feel, the less I want to write.

Between writing posts, reading blogs, commenting, fussing with my blog design, and twittering, I’m spending way too much time in front of the computer. I haven’t cheated and backdated any posts. But is it worth my brain disintegrating in a fiery hell of SUCK?

My Google Reader is so voracious, I can barely keep up with it. I haven’t cheated and ‘Marked as Read’ a single post without a least giving it a good skim, and at most reading then clicking over to comment. But is it really worth it reading until my eyeballs fall out and roll around on the floor picking up dust bunnies and/or my family has put my face on the back of milk cartons?

I’ve worked on my blog design for at least a few hours this month. At first I was just kind of sprucing up the place. Well, then it did actually crash once, and I never did figure out why. I had to deactivate every plugin and reactivate a few at a time, and then rebuild everything including the Tabbed Widgets as I lost all my text widgets in the crash. I like it better now than before the crash, but was it worth 47 days of my eyes being stabbed by those little drink swords crossed by code?

My house projectile vomited all over itself. Some of the laundry came up the stairs and tapped me on the shoulder and politely inquired as to when it might expect for an estimated time of washing. Coincidentally, Hunky walked up to me and announced that if a load wasn’t done tonight, he was going commando tomorrow. (Hint: He’s not currently enlisted in any of the Armed Services.) Then I opened the fridge, and either the boys have been doing more fancy science experiments than I ever conducted, or I believe it’s time to throw out some leftovers. My kitchen floor is so filthy, I can’t come up with hyperbole outrageous enough to do it justice. I’ve been slacking around here and it’s really not fair to Hunky.

I haven’t been giving my job hunt the priority it deserves. I’ve been applying for jobs, but not near enough. I’ve been temping, but it’s never a full week, and never more than I would get for an unemployment check. So by the time they take my earned wages off of my unemployment check, I’m making the exact same amount as I would have sitting my ass at home on the couch watching movies and collecting full unemployment. But my unemployment benefits are about to run out, and at this point, I have to start applying for shit I really don’t want to do to pay the bills.

I haven’t completed a single book in the month of November, and that is SO not like me. That’s like Martha saying, “I haven’t carved a single gourd into lovely… ” Turkey booties? I don’t know, honestly; I don’t watch her show.

I have at least three picture collage frames that I’ve bought but I haven’t ordered the prints to go in them. I rilly, rilly want to finish cleaning my basement so I can set up a place down there to have all my craft crap in one place, and a small rec area with TV, DVD, VCR, and PS2. I want to go out into the neighborhood and take more pictures. I want to kick Manual Mode’s superior, snarky, smarmy ass. I want to set up an Etsy shop for my photography. I haven’t done any sewing (unless you count me sewing that patch onto Kizzle’s hockey jersey) and I miss it. I want to cut out more squares for the boys’ t-shirt quilts, because they’ve actually been asking for them. Every time they outgrow a t-shirt they’re particularly fond of, they ask, “But I’ll see it again in my t-shirt quilt, right?” Well, yes, but at this rate, it may be your high school graduation gift, if we’re lucky, son.

I just want a magic pill that gives me an extra 12 hours in a day.

I saw a commercial for something like that, where this chick was just, like, on her hands and knees scrubbing her kitchen floor, obsessively lining up the throw rug fringe, and cleaning the bathroom tile with a toothbrush… What was the name of that stuff?

I wish I could remember…

Oh, yeah!

METH.

So, yes, I know they already make them and they’re called Methamphetamines, but I’ll pass, thanks.

No, just a little pill that will grant me a spare half day, with no nasty side effects such as my teeth falling out of my head, over-obsession almost to the point of insanity, [;/'''reeeeeeeee Emma just walked across my keyboard and she wanted to share that] insomnia on steroids+HGH and vitamin supplements; oh, and an addiction more powerful than heroin. OOOooo, can you make them with no side effects and make ‘em taste like Mike & Ike’s? That’d be groovy, dude.

I just need to make the scale swing the other way. I need to spend less time in front of the Mac, and more time investing in my family. I want to complete the NahNoMoFoMe thing, then take a couple steps back and reassess to admit I’m not make sure I’m spending my time as wisely as I can. I know I can do better than I’ve been doing.

But we have a more dire issue presently.

Mah funneh. I haz brokeded it.

I’ve been looking over the last few months and for the most part, I’ve felt disappointed with the quality of the word dance I’ve pushed out onto my little stage here. I’ve wondered and pondered and obsessed and worried that I’d lost it. My voice.

I almost allowed myself to forget why I’m doing this.

I was reading writers way out of my league and starting to think that as good as they are, made me worse.

I was frustrated with throwing myself into trying to find my connections with the blogoshere and starting to think that as popular as they are, made me less lovable.

I was watching my feedcount a little too closely, and trying to figure what I might have written that would explain a drop from 25 to 9 in one day, and was starting to think that as fickle as they are, made me less interesting.

I was reading pro blogger tips and was starting to think that as successful as they are, made me more of a failure.

I caught myself starting to whine, “Why don’t I have H8Rs and Trolls and obnoxious Anonymousi spitting their venom all over my comments?”

Then I pulled my head out of my ass.

This is MY casa.

I reminded myself that the writer I needed to be comparing myself to, and constantly challenging, was myself. I need to push my own limits, and refine my own voice. I haven’t lost my voice; I’ve just suffered a little laryngitis.

I’ve got to write for first of all, myself; to dare myself to push my talent harder and longer and stronger. (That made me feel a little bit dirty just then, how about you?)

And second of all, all of you, my Innernetz Budz; to make you laugh a little bigger, forcefully spew a little more raspberry mocha cappuccino in your keyboard, think a little longer, feel a little more connected, and care a little more.

And if the big girl (and boy) bloggers never notice me, that’s got to be ok.

As small a world as it is, Dooce will never be my non-practicing lesbian lovah complete with matching decoder rings. Someone told me she was just a mythical hobbit, and I know she’s not, but she might as well be Angelina Jolie for all it will change my life. Ree will never invite me out to her ranch to work cattle with MM and the punks and give me one-on-one photography lessons.

I will try to write as strikingly as Black Hockey Jesus and as unabashedly as Avitable and as bitingly witty as The Bloggess; but if I never do, that’s got to be ok.

And damn the page views and subscriber count. I’m thankful for how much I’ve honed my writing talent to this point, and will continue to spin the mental Thesaurus and dig a little deeper. I’m grateful for each and every comment you guys grace me with, and will continue to enjoy connecting with you.

I hope I’m not blowing smoke up my own ass.

I hope you all notice the difference.

But if you don’t, as long as I’m doing my best, that’s got to be ok.

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