2 posts tagged “ghita”

I realized that I started this blog so that people could know what I was up to, but I haven't really posted anything about my life.  So, here you go.

I've been rocking out to Wanda Jackson all day long, mostly Fujiyama Mama with a couple repeats of Let's Have a Party and Riot in Cell Block #9 just for variety's sake.

Well, you can talk about me, say that I'm mean,
I'll blow your head off, baby, with nitroglicerine
'cause I'm a Fujiyama Mama and I'm just about to blow my top
Fujiyama-yama, Fujiyama
And when I start erupting ain't nobody gonna make me stop
 --Wanda Jackson, Fujiyama Mama

This morning I filled out more applications and sent out more resumes--one for RV sales, which lets you know just how desperate I am.

I'm wearing denim capris and a striped green tank-top with an old-school tattoo detail near the hem.  It's a rose surrounded by two swallows, with a banner that says "Serenity."  I really like the look of traditional tattoos and think I'll maybe do something like that for my next one.

I smell very fruity, wearing Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab's "Jester."  It's huckleberry, red currant, and neroli.  I don't think it's one that I'll buy a 5ml of, but the imp is nice to have around when it's hot and I want to smell kinda sweet and refreshing.

I had a doctor's appointment (read therapy) around 11, then went through the McDonald's drive-thru for lunch.  Their Asian chicken salad is OK, but it's overpriced, and I didn't really like the chicken.  The large Diet Coke hit the spot, though.

When I got home, I did some more research on WWI for that 1930s story I'm working on.  Of course the war stuff is just background, but I'm fascinated with and horrified by life in the trenches.  I got a great book from the library called A Wild Kind of Boldness.  I love doing all this research on Chicago.  It's a city I could definitely live in, except for that whole "winter" thing.

Unexpectedly, one of my very best sources of research material has been my neighbor, Ruth (she's also part of the Sunday morning bagel group).  She grew up in Minnesota, but went to Chicago a lot to visit relatives--she even remembers going to the World's Fair of '33, which is the year my story's set.  I think she's kind of amused when I ask her to describe things like the trolly that took you up to the Avenue of Flags and what kind of hats the women were wearing.

I got a few paragraphs written, and was kind of stuck when I heard Ghita going absolutely insane at the back patio door.  I got up, thinking one of my neighbors would be there, but no--it was a tree trimmer.  I tried to get Ghita to calm down, even doing the whole "stand in front of her with your back to her" thing that Cesar Milan, the Dog Whisperer says will stop a barking dog.  Well, that usually works, but Ghita hates anyone who works in the yard and was throwing herself against the sliding glass door, trying to get out and chew on the poor tree man's ankles.

I've heard that the breeds who are the most naturally aggressive and need patient, consistent training to overcome that are Rottweilers, Pit Bulls, Presa Canarios, and Chihuahuas.  People think because they're little that they'll also be sweet.  It's not true.  If a Chihuahua were even as big as the average spaniel, they'd be on every "dangerous dog" list right along with the Rotties.  Although, the only Rottie I've ever known was the sweetest, most gentle, snuggly lap dog ever.

Ghita likes attention, she just likes it on her terms.  She'll come up to you and sniff you, and usually she'll let you pet her, but if she doesn't know you, she won't let you pick her up, and if you grab at her she'll growl and snap.  Think about it--would you run over to a strange Pit Bull and put your face in its face and try to pick it up?  No.  That would be stupid.

Anyway, Ghita was mightly affronted that the tree man dared to be in her territory without her permission, so we went for a ride.  She likes car rides a lot now that she can see what's going on in her booster/car seat.  She usually spends the first ten or fifteen minutes staring out the window, then she gets bored and curls up to nap, sometimes resting her head on the side of the car seat so she can stare at me.

We went to visit Lola over at The Uptown Pup.  She really is just as cute in real life as she is in all the pictures.  While normally Ghita hates walking on a leash, she loves to trot around Plaza Palamino, darting in and out of the misters like she can't decide if she loves them or is scared of them.

I thought about sitting out on the patio of Firecracker, since they're pet friendly, but I was still really full from the mediocre McDonald's salad.  Maybe I'll take Ghita some time later this week and just have a drink and some appetizers.  Ooooh, I could invite the girls.  We haven't had a girls' night out in a very long time, and while we're probably going out to Sabino Canyon on the 9th for the moonlight walk, we could totally have drinks first.  Although, I don't know if they allow pets in Sabino Canyon, plus I'd probably have to carry her since she can only walk about half a mile before she's exhausted.

Anyway, we got back from our car trip and the tree man was gone, so we ran around in the back for a while, then visited Ruth, who gave Ghita treats and me iced tea and grapes.  She spoils us both.  And, no, I didn't press her for more Chicago details.  I think we talked about...hmm.  I don't know what we talked about.  We just chatted, probably about how everybody in the neighborhood's doing.

I complimented her pink flamingos.  Last week, the church youth group flamingo'd Ruth's yard.  It wasn't vandalism, they were paid to do it by Ruth's daughter, Jennifer.  It's one of their fundraising activities--you can pay $20 to flamingo someone's house, or $10 for flamingo insurance so you don't get flamingo'd.  I haven't done either, but I've enjoyed everybody else waking up to a yard full of pink flamingos.

The flamingos only last a week, then they fly away.  Ruth liked them so much that she got four of her own to put into her yard permanently.  They're very cute.  You think of plastic flamingos as kind of tacky or kitschy, but they look perfect in her garden, along with her sky blue wall and pink bench and pastel rainbow umbrella and fuschia bouganvilla.  Kind of whimsical.

After we visited Ruth, we came home.  Ghita is now curled up in her dog bed and I'm writing this because I'm nothing if not amazing when I want something to distract me from writing.  I have to get back to my story, I know, but now you know what a typical day in my life is like.  Very exciting, no?

So, I'm setting up this blog for the folks back home, so they can see all the pictures I take and read about all the very, very exciting things that happen to me here in Arizona.

First of all Ghita's good.  She's going to Chihuahua playgroup once a month, which she's not quite sure about.  She runs around with all the other puppies, then catches herself having fun and scoots back over to me.

Second, the Rillito flooded last week.  It was crazy--the most water I've ever seen in Arizona at one time.

I passed the river yesterday, and it's once again dry as a bone.  The only way you can tell that there was once a torrent raging between the banks is the fact that all of the creosote and other shrubs are nearly flattened, leaning and reaching west.

And thus ends my inagural Vox post.