The Cat On My Shoulder, "Extreme Makeover" Flies in from Florida, a Pirate Sails for Wilmington and a Beautiful New Star is Born in France...

Magellan keeps me on a short leash. If I look as if I'm slacking off or having too much fun, he reminds me I still have about 143 (rough, slightly over-inflated estimate) cabinets yet to cover in my Sherwin-Williams customized color. He's a tough cat task-master and, forgive me for being one of those "bragging parents" but he's growing into one of the most beautiful cats I've ever met, even if he is my "son". His markings are quite striking, as are his claws. I have the scratches to prove it! [Photo left: Susie & Magellan, 22 October 2007.]

It may be autumn here in the South but, blessedly, it still feels like summer. I'm LOVING it. The leaves are starting to change, but the warmth of the days deny that cold weather is waiting in the wings. Yes, we NEED rain and lots of it. Wilmington is dealing with a 20 plus inch deficit and they've implemented a fine for her citizens if caught engaging in such acts as washing the car, watering the lawn and filling the pool. I can't even remember the last good soaking we received. It's a pretty serious situation.

We've had no tropical weather at all this year, which usually dumps inches of rain on our shores, but the tropics haven't cooperated. One Wrightsville Beach "forecaster" I know had predicted a tropical storm of some sort at some point during the month of October, but he's reneged on his guesstimate and refuses to announce any prediction for the month of November. Actually, I had a bet with this forecaster that we wouldn't see any tropical storm formations, but I can't remember what was at stake nor, conveniently, can he. I need to start writing this stuff down.

The aquarium is coming along well. It's now got about fifteen tropical fish and two crayfish happily calling the place home. It looks beautiful and Justin and I have enjoyed the aqua-scaping! The space is much more interesting than when it was an aviary, and requires MUCH LESS WORK! [Photo right: Aquarium replaces aviary - more interesting and less work!]

I am still heavily engaged in redecorating the kitchen and I'm over halfway finished with the cabinets, but it occurred to me that there would be no getting around the fact that the living room would look nondescript next to the glow emanating from the colors freshly applied to the kitchen walls and cabinets. The real kicker being that my living room boasts a 2o foot plus vaulted ceiling. There's not that much to be painted because it contains a lot of exposed brick, but the wall area there is, screams for help in the form of yellow. What to do?

Funny you should ask. My long-suffering, good friend Billie called me Sunday Afternoon just to check on me and see how things were going. I'm sure he's already regretting his decision to call but it's too late Billie. It's just too, too late. [Photo left: Susie & Magellan, 22 October 2007.]

Billie is an accomplished man, talented, a licensed pilot and has impossibly bad timing (good for me, though). Not to mention - he's very, very tall and resourceful. He also has vacation leftover as we didn't use it all when he graciously invited Katie, Justin, Stephanie and me to join him in the Outer Banks this past May. After much lobbying and cajoling on my part, I told him we'd have a great time if he'd fly up and hang out with me as we tiled counter tops, painted living room walls and, my real ace in the hole, I mentioned that my mother was still a fabulous cook. I think that did the trick. He said I gave him something to think about.

On Monday, he sent me something to read about - his airline reservations. I love a man who just accepts his fate and falls into line. Billie did both. He will arrive 1 November and stay until the 5th. I'm already planning how much work I intend to get out of him. Sure, I'll take him to the beach, let him drive my car and we might even go fishing, but this will be a working holiday for the old guy (he turned 50 this past September, but we're not supposed to talk about it). I'm sure he can come up with a plan to reach those 20 foot walls. I know he must be sitting down there in Florida, staring out from his ocean front condo, shaking his head and muttering to himself, "How did I get talked into this?". Just luck, Billie. Pure, dumb luck. :-) [Photo above right: Justin, Stephanie and Billie this past May on the Outer Banks.]

This weekend will be a busy one. My son heads for NYC to join his Dad and Katie for a long weekend of family bonding. I'm sure the three of them will have a great time.

My NYC friend, Glen, who works at some "Random House", sent me the coolest commercial and case for visiting NYC. Click here: VISIT NYC! Yes, it made me homesick for a city I don't even belong to, but always have a fine time hanging out in...(Thanks Glen - Like I don't already want to come up???).

It will be interesting for me as well. I will finally meet, in person, my Raleigh friend - the good pirate Bobbi! I "met" her, via e-mail, when I was engaged to Captain Dork earlier this summer. We exchanged a few e-mails and, after the disengagement, we compared notes and found out he was more sick and twisted than either of us imagined (she has better stories than I do!). She was much to smart to ever date the scally wag, but she did crew for him a few times and one particular cruise had all the makings of a horror flick ("Dead Calm"). I'm sure it will be a lively, fun lunch we enjoy this weekend and I imagine we'll both have more in common than we suspect. [Photo left: Billie & Susie, May 2007, Avon, NC.]

Finally, France has a new citizen and Michel is the proud grandfather of a new baby girl. His wonderful son Charles and daughter-in-law Dorothee, became proud parents to a beautiful baby girl, now known as Pauline. Congratulations to the entire LeSeac'h Family! Michel, you beat me. I still just have "grand cats". Just think, Michel, one year ago we were bopping all over Manhattan and a year later, you're a grandpa! [Photo above right: Charles and Pauline, France.]

Speaking of "grand cats", I was dismayed to see a recent post on Katie's blog, and a very unbecoming photo of Boo Radley. Magellan laughed himself silly, but I thought it was a bit "low brow". Check it out - I left a comment, of course. Katie would expect no less.

The Life Aquatic...Colbert Announces His Long-Overdue Candidacy and Sherwin-Williams Covers My World

It's been a nice week. A calm week. A week of sending out submissions and resumes and the clarity that comes with considering options, wants, desires and fish. Yes, fish!

The aviary is no more. Fish are swimming in the space where birds formerly flew. It's a nice change, much quieter and I love being close to water, be it the ocean, a swimming pool or even an aquarium.

I'm still loving tending the "home fires" and enjoying every minute of it. With the walls finished in the lovely warm shade of "Radiance", the cabinets have now elicited my attention. I'll post some photos of them when they are finished - I have a lot of cabinets so it won't be today or tomorrow, but I'm making great progress. I'm reminded by my friends that it IS "progress, not perfection". Progress is easily attainable. Perfection is an impossibility and chasing it is an exercise in pointless futility. I know this, and still sometimes I get tripped up by the illusion of it.

Monday found me lunching with my friend Jimi. Artisan Cafe seems to be our new "hang out" and the great food and eclectic ambiance seems to fuel our creativity. Monday Night I attended a great meeting among good friends and, afterward, had a very delicious dinner with my friend David. He treated me to a fine meal at Laterna, a Mediterranean Restaurant with fantastic food. I enjoyed a beautiful salad and the spanikopita was not to be missed. Thanks, David, for the good company, interesting conversation and also for allowing me to vent just a little, and the Bruce Springsteen CD collection! I know you're working hard to convert me.

Tuesday, my son invited me to lunch. We found ourselves at Henry's (surprise!) and had a wonderful time.

After lunch, Justin and I decided to throw ourselves into setting up the aquarium, selecting plants and, finally, filling it with 55 gallons of water and hoping for the best! I hadn't used this aquarium in several years so I wasn't certain of it's sturdiness but, fortunately, as Justin and I held our collective breath when filling it the tank blessedly held water and all of that held great promise for the possibility of fish in our immediate future.

Wednesday, I met yet again with my partner-in-crime, Jimi, for another lunch but this time, we met up at "Flaming Amy's" and it was, as always, the best Mexican food in town. I had the taco platter and Jimi had, well, I'm not sure what Jimi had and I don't even think Jimi knew what he had, but he reports it was great. It was a quick lunch - he had lawyer stuff to attend to and I had to go fish for, well, fish! I came home with a few mollies and swordtails and I figured it would be a safe bet to go with cheap fish, not knowing the state of my water chemistry. As of this writing, late Thursday Afternoon, I'm happy to report we haven't lost a fish yet . These poor fish are consigned to being guinea pigs but they seem to be doing, well, swimmingly!

Earlier this afternoon, Justin, in considering matters of aquascape, went to Pets Plus and came home with a replica of a broken down ship - he christened it "The Andrea Gail", from "The Perfect Storm" and we're hoping "fish will gather again for the Andrea Gail" and remain healthy and lively. He also bought a cannon statue for the other side of the aquarium and it looks pretty cool. In addition, he added some kind of large gold fish and two crayfish.

It's actually been a lot of fun transforming an aviary into a space for an aquarium. Justin and I were musing about all of the animals that had, at one time or another, called that 55 gallon tank "home". We could readily recollect - a ball python, a pair of chinchillas, a Sulcata Tortoise, a marine tank (salt water fish - not a branch of the US Military), a pair of chameleons who's courtship culminated in the laying of eggs back in 2000 and I'm sure I'm forgetting a few creatures. We've had a wide and varied clutch of critters in our day. And now we have freshwater fish...the tradition continues.

Finally, we sat back and watched as the huge gold fish looking specimen found his way around the tank. The mollies and swordtails look very diminutive next to this new giant, but even with the addition of the cannon (A Civil War Motif?), there have been no reported skirmishes. Perhaps an atmosphere of detente has spread through the tank. Let us hope it remains this way.

In a nation that sits in rapt attention, poised on the edge of its seat and mesmerized by the latest antics of Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton and considers their rehab romps as "hard news", electing the "class clown" as "commander-in-chief" seems absurdly apropos, and why not? We allow pirates to practice law, record songs centering on nonexistent pies and self-publish books of purely made up self-righteous whimsy, sailing around the Neuse River clad in nothing more than a smug, self-serving smile, so who better to lead the lot of us into the next four years than a man who at least owns up to his own gags and admits it's all pure folly? I respect that he's honest about where he's coming from and that alone is a refreshing breath of air.

I was thrilled to learn that Stephen Colbert (The Colbert Nation), has tossed his funny hat into the crazy presidential ring. Now, this is a candidate I can whole-heartedly support. Why? Because at least he's letting the rest of us in on the gag. The other candidates pretend to be serious and honest, whereas Colbert doesn't make such a promise because he knows he can't possibly keep it - and there is a "truthiness" in that he's NOT serious and IS funny.

Running as a "favorite son" of South Carolina, on both a Republican and Democratic platform, (aren't they all?), it's nice to be "in on the joke" from the beginning whereas the other candidates don't afford us that decency. There is some kind of skewed integrity about the whole thing. I'm ashamed to say I've become so cynical about politics and candidates that I can't really see why Colbert wouldn't be at least as formidable than the line-up we currently have. We're almost guaranteed to laugh more, and that's healthy. He'd be far more entertaining and, again, at least we "know" where he's coming from.

I for darn sure would vote for Stephen Colbert over Hilary, Obama, Edwards, Fred Thompson and probably even Guiliani, because I really don't like his wife and none of those "also rans" make me laugh, smile. or believe the first word that comes out of their nonstop talking heads. No question about it - Colbert comes attached with a better team of comedic writers and the rest of them could take a few lessons, in my humble opinion. Lighten up, I say. I'd definitely attend a Colbert Rally. Not only can we laugh at Stephen Colbert, but we're afforded the opportunity to laugh with him. Maybe he's exactly what America needs.



One thing about it - voting for Stephen Colbert for president would make far more sense than being engaged to a pirate. Oh my gosh, I am becoming sensible!

"Asking Sherwin-Williams", is a Very Smart Move!

And a word about Sherwin-Williams. I LOVE that establishment. Those guys have been patient and inexhaustible stores of knowledge in my painting adventures of late. They're suggestions have been extremely creative and customized to my projects. I've never gotten that brand of attention and professional know-how at Lowe's or any other store, for that matter. These SW types know their stuff and they're not too busy to understand that while it might just be a small, typical DIY job to anyone else, it's MY kitchen and it means something to me. Rock on, SW!

When I was trying to determine which shade of yellow to ply my kitchen walls with, Chris suggested an even better tint and when I went back in for ideas about what to do with my cabinets, the professionals BEHIND the counter customized a shade to compliment my walls and floor. Thanks guys! I can't say enough positives about the College Road Sherwin-Williams and I can promise you that any paint I buy from this point forward, will be purchased from those gentlemen at that store.