an unpriced praying mantis

this week was one of those weeks that read like a john irving book. the journey went through twenty-one years in seven days.

it started with mary j. blige's new song just fine from a dear friend (i almost typed 'dear old chap', although she is dear, she is anything but old and nothing chapped.) and ended, yes really, just fine. i worked and when i wasn't working, i was purging.

the first of the week found me going through twenty-one years of tax returns, bank statements and workpaystubs. it was trippy. i had all of my workstubs from my youngbride first workdays at the esprit store at la cienega and santa monica boulevard until now. memories were stapled together with each little section of my life. i remember when janet jackson was groovin' to a song and asked me to find out who it was. (it turned out to be mannheim steamroller.) this was the janet who still looked like michael when he still looked like michael (*sigh*)...and i was the girl back then.

through papermemories and stuff literally stuffed in a garage & home that has changed, i traveled through the week and found myself having yet another final garage sale to pay for yet another half of a sofa ensemble to hold my children's bodies while we chill, game, laugh and talk. (the above little creature is quite fortunate that i didn't put a pricetag on her.) the only thing that cuts garagesale dirt is an ice cold beer. still. see, some things don't change. can i get an amen?

somehow, i squeezed in a movie this week. broken english hit me exactly right. i kept forgetting that parker was acting. (oh, and yes, i cried a few times. oh, and yes yes, i have put dibs on this melvil poupaud.)

it is hard to believe that the last final garage sale was exactly seven months ago. the changes packed into those days of a little more than two hundred could really boggle the mind, but i almost made my goal and my garage is clean... like, you-could-lick-the-floor-and-park-your-car-in-it clean. so there you go.

at the end of the day, my neighbors came over to peruse the goods. i have to back up and say that my neighbors are brilliantly brilliant. they are so funny (ha-ha funny) and could smart me under the table, but when you are around them, you forget how smart they are, since they are so cool. she invited me to go to the final event of the macarthur fellows genius thingie. okay, so i was scared at the mention of genius, but v & i still went. oh em gee, it turned out to be the insanely wonderful the mexorcist 2: the america's most wanted inner demon perfomance art, uh, performance with guillermo gomez-pena and luis alfaro. it opened with pinata protest (think: sid vicious with an accordion) and ended with a reception at museo alameda (san antonio's newest museum). okay, so it was an amazing night. the perfect nightcap to a journey of a week.