Lulu & Durango Back In As The WWWeb Turns???

You are looking at the entry page of the first website I was ever involved with. "As the WWWeb Turns..."

I thought it was "Lulu & Durango in As the WWWeb Turns" but I obviously am remembering wrong. I also didn't remember it saying "a soap opera@friendship.com."

But, this took place over 14 years ago, in 1995, so I guess it is understandable my memory is a bit tainted.

"As the WWWeb Turns..." was picked as a Cool Site of the Day. Back when being Cool Site of the Day was a really cool thing to be.

Lulu's husband at the time, let's call him Geff, well, unbeknownst to me, he took email exchanges between myself and Lulu and turned them into a website. He added a lot of links and photos, which he often gruesomely altered. Giving me an over-sized forehead, for instance.

I believe there were only 4 editions of As the WWWeb Turns. I spewed out a lot of email. Lulu had trouble keeping up. And Geff seemed to be lollygagging regarding updating this phenomenal website. At the time I did not realize Geff was making the webpages the old-fashioned way, via editing it all in HTML with no web editor. Geff is a really bright guy with an extremely good eye for detail, hence the ability to create a webpage by typing in HTML code.

One day I got a call telling me to come down to Gig Harbor, where Geff and Lulu lived at the time. I did as told. When Geff got home I was shown a graphic and some primitive HTML for a website Geff had made for me called "Dialing Doctor Durango." Basically Geff was wisely putting the website making ball in my court.

I knew there was no way my disorderly mind was going to master HTML. I quickly found a web editor called Hot Dog that made making a webpage somewhat easy. Within a month I'd uploaded Dialing Doctor Durango to a server in Seattle called Wolfenet.

Dialing Doctor Durango started off with me answering faked questions. Then it got picked as Funky Site of the Day. Not quite a Cool Site of the Day level of coolness, but it caused me a lot of incoming email questions.

After about a year I'd grown tired of Doctor Durango due to way too many people asking way too many serious questions because they thought I was a real doctor.

I changed the website to "The Durango Files" and made Dialing Doctor Durango a part of the new website and made it obvious I was not a real doctor.

The Durango Files survived the first year, or so, of Texas and then I let it go, got a new domain, durangotexas.com and soon forgot about my doctor years.

Til today when I got an email from Lulu. My one longtime reader may remember the trauma I went through in August of 2008, up in Tacoma, when Lulu turned on me, for no reason apparent to me. It took me months to get over it. Eventually I did and the incident faded in to memory. Today's email from Lulu directed me to her blog. I'd not read Lulu's blog for awhile. I did not get what I was supposed to see, at first. I read down through a long questionaire thing, in which one of the questions had Lulu saying she missed someone. Was this what I was supposed to see, I wondered?

And then I saw the next post. It was all about As the WWWeb Turns. Lulu suggested that since we no longer speak, maybe we could do email and revive the long dead online soap opera. Now, to discerning eyes, if one were to have been reading both our blogs over the past year or so, there has been somewhat of a revival of an online soap opera, though far more complex and convoluted than As the WWWeb Turns ever was.

I've no idea what Lulu has in mind. I rarely do.

Stayed tuned, I've no idea where this show is going....

It's Dreary in Tacoma. And Raining.

The rain has been constant today here in Tacoma. Last night and this morning lightning was striking. It's like spring in Texas without the tornado drama.

So, this morning, due to the rain, Lulu's first husband could not ride his Huge Harley to REI to do whatever it is he does there. This left Lulu without a car.

So, I drove to the Lulu House, ostensibly to take photos of some of her apparently fabulous jewelry stuff and to go to WOW'S for lunch with Frank and Virginia, them being the well-known, constantly sparring partners, who live their own little Univision Telenovela.

But, eventually I was to learn the real reason Lulu lured me to her lair was so that I could drive her to Safeway. There was no WOW'S.

Before Safeway happened I learned, inadvertently, that Lulu was about to slur me on her blog in a most horrendously malicious way by describing me as a 4 year old with attention deficit disorder in dire need of Ritalin and with a mad compulsion to talk to strangers. And that I have no sense about how to operate a successful market stall because I engage the people in conversation, thus wasting time from the all-important transactions.

Well. I'll just say this about that. I lost track of the number of times Lulu wandered from her booth on Sunday, taking with her the stash of change-making cash. The worst incident came a bit after noon when I had 4 women wanting to buy bracelets, necklaces and magnets from me. All with $20 bills. And me with no change.

I didn't know what to do. It was embarrassing. And then Lulu sashayed up ( I wanted to say waddled up, but that somehow seemed mean ) and as she sashayed she was stuffing her face with Kettle Korn from a Giant Bag. I could not get her to focus on the problem at hand. Or her hand out of the Kettle Korn.

One of the customers walked off in frustration. After about a half hour of this madness I was finally able to make change for the first lady, who then walked off, obviously, and quite righteously, seriously offput. The 3rd and 4th long-waiting customers seemed to find it all amusing. As did Lulu as she just stood there stuffing popcorn into her pie hole.

As for the issue of me engaging the people in conversation. Well, from that we learned where many of them were from. We learned Lulu should make more skeleton stuff. We learned some of them read our blogs and I got invited by an Austin artist to an event in Dallas.

There was one slight problem caused by me talking to one person in one minor incident when a lady was overcome with joy about seeing JP Patches and would not shut up about it. All I did was ask her what the deal was with the big fake red noses so many people had. On and on she went, quite animated. I eventually escaped by saying I was off to take photos of the new JP Patches statue. I thought the lady left when I did, but Lulu claimed she came back and Lulu had to shoo her away. I don't believe Lulu's account.

So, back to the real reason I was lured to Lulu's today. The Safeway trip. I've wondered how Lulu goes from having a few hundred dollars by the end of Sunday and then no money by the end of the next day. Well, the grocery shopping at Safeway was instructive. One chicken at $1.99 a pound for over 10 bucks. One box of 12 chocolate chip cookies, $5.89. 4 donuts, $3.26. 2 magazines at about 6 bucks each. 1 package of bacon for $5.99, with a buy one get one free deal of equal or lesser size. But Lulu got only one, not understanding that she'd be paying $5.99 for that one package. I did not get too pointed about this mistake because I think Lulu could maybe not eat so much bacon. I'm forgetting some of the stuff. Oh, one Starbucks Grande Vanilla Bean Frappacino, with whipped cream. Those cost about $4. And was sickeningly sweet. Particularly with donuts and chocolate chip cookies.

The total for 2 puny bags, filled mostly with junk food, was about 50 bucks. Or 50 magnets in Lulu Currency. All in all, the Safeway excursion was a real eye opener. I now know how Lulu can end up broke so quickly. And, also why she's not quite the dainty little thing she used to be in her younger years. Donuts, bacon, cookies and Starbucks do not a dainty girl make.

I'm outta here in less than 48 hours, not that I'm counting. I will continue to engage strangers if I feel like it. And I'll never do one of those Lulu's Shows again without a pocket full of dollar bills. And a mute button. For Lulu. I won't even talk about the bad Lulu behavior that occurred in front of about a dozen customers when my ex-fiance' called. Let's just say it was very embarrassing. And loud. Like a 4 year old having a tantrum....

Lulu & Durango Cold & Wet in Lacey

I am getting behind in venting about the various things I'm being subjected to up here in the frigid Arctic zone of the Pacific Northwest.

I had agreed to go to Lacey with Lulu this morning. This was yet one more 6am departure. I've relied on the sun waking me up via the skylight directly above the 2 foot wide army cot I try to sleep on.

But, unbeknownst to me the sun was blocked by thick clouds this morning, thus ruining my alarm clock. I checked the time at 20 til 6 and realized I had a problem. Had to make coffee, drink it, make breakfast, eat it, take a shower and be ready to go in 2o minutes. I tried to call Lulu to stall her. No answer.

At 5 minutes til 6am Lulu calls me to tell me she is outside, ready for me to drive. I told her I needed 5 minutes. I rushed and made it out the door by 6.

It was raining. If the rain continued, in Lacey, we were gonna bail. But, by the time we reached Lacey the dripping stopped and we saw blue sky to the west.

We set up the tent and unpacked. All was well. This was at the Lacey Saturday Market, which occurs once a month. It was a nice location, but a small crowd, likely due to the bad weather.

We had wind gust woes. And then about 1 or so it began to rain. Hard. And then Lulu's first husband showed up on his Harley. I thought if only my sister and her crew would show up maybe I would have an escape. Right about then they showed up.

I escaped, leaving Lulu to fend for herself. I'd done enough. No more could be expected of me.

I was then drug into Olympia to an eating place where I had a Mud Bay Cookie. It was good. Then we went to the World's Largest Bead Store, Shipwreck Beads. This was no Texas Brag. It really is the World's Largest. After what seemed a day, we finally left the beads.

On the way back here, calling my Mom and Dad was discussed. It was suggested if I called they would not answer. So, I called. They did not answer. Then Kristin called and my Mom instantly answered. My feelings should have been hurt, but I'm used to this type treatment.

As we neared Tacoma I was told that my sister and Kristin were having a large group of lovely ladies over for dinner. All with varying degrees of lovlieness. I'm assigned the duty of being the token male.

It's just all too much.

Oh, Good Lord, just as I get relaxed into doing this Blogging thing, I am now being asked to go get a propane tank filled. Or something like that. So, thus ends this Blogging. With me in search of gas.

August 7 in Seattle

I had me a day. Short version. Seattle has drastically changed since I left 9 years ago. For the better? Or worse? I'll wait on that. Til I see the video I took today.

In the meantime, suffice to say, I walked miles today. I was all over downtown Seattle.

I was in Seattle, at Pioneer Square's Occidental Park for Art in the Park. Art in the Park turned out to be the best of this type thing I've been to.

And once more Lulu and I got recognized for our blogs. Apparently we are developing a fan base of rabid loyal readers. Well, Lulu is. I'm just every once in awhile her guest blogger.

That's Art in the Park in the photo, with the Smith Tower hovering above it.

I'm too tired to type more right now. That and my memory will be better by morning. I hope.

Mom & Dad Left Tacoma For Phoenix

We loaded up my Mom and Dad's van with enough raspberry jam to supply the greater Phoenix Metropolitan area, among other things, and said goodbye to them about 8pm.

It was a bittersweet departure. It'd been 2.5 years since I'd seen them. And that time it was for less than 3 hours. This time was longer than 3 hours. More like 2 weeks.

I get the idea they were disappointed I didn't spend more time with them. But then again I spent more time with them in the past 2 weeks than the past 10 years combined. I should have gone to yesterday's 57th Anniversary lunch at Dukes in West Seattle.

But, that was yesterday. Today is today. This afternoon a fresh parental unit arrives, this time solo, mother of Kristin.

The roof is being torn off this house this morning. So, the poodles are going nuts. I let them out in the backyard. I'd not seen them be so funny. Max was jumping up and down like a crazy dog, like he thought he might be able to jump onto the roof and chase off all those guys making so much noise. I had to pick up Max to get him back in the house. Well-mannered Blue followed.

I sit here awaiting the arrival of Lulu. We are going to Pioneer Square, to Occidental Park, for Art in the Park. I only learned this morning that this lasts until 10pm. That's past my bedtime.

It should be an interesting day. Or not.

P.S. I forgot to mention, my little sister took pics of me and Mom and Dad and the poodles this morning before they departed. I didn't have access to that one. But I like the photo above from Saturday, with my Mom and Dad and Spencer Jack and his mommy, Jenny, all laughing.

Miles Upon Miles in the Lulu Volvo

I had me a day with Lulu today.

Lulu needed some bracelet forms. She thought she'd get them in Bremerton. That's about a 45 mile drive from Tacoma.

But then she looked on the jewelry supplier's website and saw they'd moved to Fremont in Seattle. Or so she thought. And that they were open on Sunday. Meaning, if Lulu had known she could have gotten what she needed when we were in Fremont on Sunday. It's about 40 miles from Lulu's in Tacoma to where we needed to be in Seattle.

So Lulu came by to get me, I got behind the wheel and we drove to Seattle. That was fun. We found the supply place easily. But we were to quickly learn that the supply place in Bremerton was still open. And the bracelet forms were there. A call was made to Bremerton to make sure they had forms in stock. They did.

So, we headed back to Tacoma and on to Bremerton. But first we had to get gas. I continued my newfound Klutz Tendency when I somehow broke off the cover to Lulu's gas cap. And then when I opened her back door out rolled, yet again, some piece of glassware, shattering it to pieces.

The drive to Bremerton went quickly. We had some confusions concerning which bridge had our location on its other side. But Lulu found it fairly easily. The transaction took awhile due to tax I.D. #s and other boring stuff.

Lulu is now in a bracelet making frenzy in order to make a lot for the Art in the Park event in Seattle's Pioneer Square's Occidental Park on Thursday. I get to drive myself to Olympia tomorrow and find something called Shipwreck Beads to get something that I can't remember right now. I probably should write it down before I go there.

Fremont Sunday Market In Seattle

On Sunday I got up at 3 am to get picked up by Lulu at 6 am to be in Seattle in the Fremont District at 7 am to be at the Fremont Sunday Market which opened at 10 am.

It was a long day. But a lot of fun. Due to letting it be known that I would be there Lulu and I had a few visitors drop in. Some I'd not seen in years.

Fremont used to be a town, then it became a district of Seattle. Then it seceded from the Union and declared itself the Independent Republic of Fremont. When the Soviet Union went bye-bye, Fremont bought some Lenin statues and some old missiles.

In other words Fremont is pretty much ground zero for the lively Seattle counter-culture. There are a lot of galleries and restaurants and shops in Fremont.

A canal runs through Fremont connecting Lake Union with Puget Sound, taking boats through the Ballard Locks in order to get them through the varying water elevations. Fort Worth may one day have a lake, but unlike natural Lake Union, if their Trinity River Vision ever becomes clear and they dam up a perfectly fine river to create a little lake and some canals. Fort Worth will need no locks for its canals.

In Fremont, a bridge crosses the canal that has to open up to permit big boats to pass. This created a huge traffic jam as we were leaving the Sunday Market yesterday.

I'd not had Rainier Cherries in a long time. Bought some yesterday. They were better than I remembered.

Fremont has this really cool, large, environmentally friendly, organic oriented grocery store that has apartments built above, parking garage below, with elevators taking the apartment dwellers down to the grocery store. I got really good pizza, some natural coke made with cane sugar and an almond stuffed croissant at this store. It has a very big outdoor eating zone. I was impressed. Only thing close to this, in my zone of Texas, is Central Market. I think the Fremont grocery was called PCC. I may be wrong.

Lulu was in fine form yesterday. She's like the Queen of the Market. I may do Fremont again next Sunday. Maybe. You'll see a lot of Lulu in the video below....

Siblings & Lulu

My dear ol' friend Lulu, the Dumpster Diva of Tacoma, has no siblings. But, Lulu is not your stereotypical only child, in that she does not, always, insist on being the center of attention. And Lulu does not make a big deal over her birthday, which has been the case with every other only child I've known. And Lulu plays very well with others.

Lulu doesn't understand the concept of having siblings. None of her aunts or uncles reproduced, so Lulu has no cousins either. Sometimes I get the idea that Lulu is a bit jealous that I've got a brother and 3 sisters. Well, not so much over the brother. He was a classmate of Lulu's. Other times Lulu thinks she's blessed not to have brothers or sisters.

That's my baby sister, Michele, in the photo, standing in front of a strange looking blonde haired lady holding a pair of salmon. I took this photo, but I don't remember where it was taken.

The last time I was in Tacoma, Lulu came over for dinner at Michele's. I did the cooking. Lulu brought blackberry pie. Lulu was amused to watch my little sister, the lawyer, out argue me over some little point about something.

If I remember correctly I'd been told not to mention a certain subject (an insect invasion).

But, I'd been asked a question in which that insect invasion seemed to be able to be mentioned without somehow violating the prohibition I was under. But, apparently my thinking was flawed, which my little sister pointed out with some legalese.

I think my defense had been something along the lines of it was she who introduced a subject, about which I could not talk, unless I mentioned the insect invasion. Yeah, that's it. Michele brought up me talking at length to a stranger who knocked on her door to whom I ended up mentioning the insect invasion. He'd known the previous owners, so I asked if he knew if they had insect invasions.

Anyway, I've not seen my little sister in over 2 years. I've not seen any of my relatives, actually, in over 2 years. I suspect I will be seeing several of them in 3 weeks or so.

Leavenworth and Lulu

Yesterday I mentioned Lulu and her aversion to the Washington tourist town of Leavenworth.

I got an email from one of my 2 readers asking what this Leavenworth place was that I liked and Lulu didn't.

Well. Leavenworth is a town on the east side of the Cascade Mountains in Washington state. It's located in the Wenatchee River valley at the east end of Steven's Pass, that being one of the mountain passes one drives to get over the Cascade Mountains.

Steven's Pass is very scenic. It's my favorite of the 3 main mountain passes in Washington. Mainly because Leavenworth is at one end of it.

Way back in 1962 Leavenworth had fallen on hard times. City leaders knew something had to be done or they'd end up a ghost town. So, Project LIFE (Leavenworth Improvement For Everyone) was started. It was decided to transform Leavenworth into a Disneyesque Bavarian Village.

Project LIFE succeeded far beyond anyone's expectations. Leavenworth is now busy year round, with many festivals, including the largest Oktoberfest outside of the original in Munich. I've been to the Leavenworth Oktoberfest. It is a spectacle.

The A & E Network named Leavenworth the Ultimate USA Holiday Town.

Now, a few weeks ago, Lulu was doing her Fremont Street Market and a couple from Dallas showed up at her booth. Lulu and the couple chatted and at some point the Dallas couple asked what else they should see when they were in Washington. They mentioned to Lulu that they'd heard Leavenworth was fun. Lulu told them Leavenworth was silly and not to bother, to go to see the Pacific or ride a ferry instead.

Now, when I heard that she'd told the Dallas couple this I was appalled. I mean, they are from Dallas. No matter how strong a telescope they might have they can not see a mountain from Dallas. Texas has saltwater and ferries. But there is nothing in Texas like the Cascade Mountains, Steven's Pass or Leavenworth.

Leavenworth has fun shops, restaurants, brew pubs, bakeries and even a Bavarian style Starbucks. That's what the photo is at the top, the Leavenworth Starbucks. That's Wanda and Wally having expensive coffee. We went to Leavenworth when I visited a few years back. Prior to the coffee we'd been to a real good outdoor hamburger grilling place.

Click here to see a multi-day fast forward look at Leavenworth's main street.

Go here for a look at Leavenworth and the Cascade Loop.

Go here for other pics I took of Leavenworth with Wanda and Wally.

Go here for the Leavenworth Chamber of Commerce website for good photos and video. And where to eat and sleep info.

Go here for the Leavenworth Oktoberfest website.

Go here for the City of Leavenworth website.

Lulu & the Golden Corral

My dear ol' friend, Lulu, up in Tacoma, has always had impeccably refined tastes when it comes to most things, especially food. She has the snout of a truffle sniffing pig when it comes to finding a random good place to eat when in some random town on a road trip.

Lulu is not snooty or pretentious when it comes to food stuff. It just has to be good. Over the years Lulu has become somewhat of a buffet aficionado. I've lost count of the number of buffets we've done in Vegas over the years. Usually 2 a day during a Vegas stay.

On our first group visit to Vegas, Lulu's first husband, Pulitzer winning photographer, Geff, dubbed us Buffet Sluts after one particularly spectacular stuffing at the original Luxor buffet, during which one member of our party had so overstuffed himself that he began to sweat profusely. That buffet has since gone to the basement in both meanings of that word. Soon after Geff labeled us Buffet Sluts he started one of his many Cool Site of the Day websites. It was about mountain bikiing. He called it Mudsluts. This has since become the term Pacific Northwest mountain bikers are known by.

This past weekend Lulu was in Spokane for something called The Farm Chick Antique Show. Lulu is a well-known Pacific Northwest antique artsy person. So, the Farm Chicks invited her to their show. You can see Lulu at the Farm Chicks Show by going to her blog.

Lulu blogged from the Farm Chick Show. In her first blog from the show she said something that shocked me, shocked me, I tell you, totally shocked me. When I read it I feared Lulu had had some sort of breakdown.

On the first night of the show, Lulu went out for dinner at a buffet. The Golden Corral. A franchise operation that is all over the country. I've been to the Golden Corral a few times. I don't care for it.

But, Lulu has declared the Golden Corral in Spokane to be the best buffet she has ever been to. In her blog she said it was last meal on earth worthy. When I talked to Lulu on the phone she waxed poetic about the Golden Corral's banana pudding with vanilla cookies. That overly sweet dessert is a staple here in the South. I'd not had it prior to my exile here.

Lulu told me she'd make the 500 mile roundtrip to Spokane just to eat again at the Golden Corral. She threatened to take me there when I'm up north this summer. I'd only agree to that if Lulu agreed to go to Leavenworth. Lulu has some very disturbing ideas about Leavenworth. Leavenworth is one of Washington's top tourist attractions. But its charms, for reasons unfathomable to me, are lost on Lulu. I've always liked Leavenworth.

Distorted thinking regarding Leavenworth, and now this Golden Corral thing. I am in fear of what else I'm going to be shocked by, via Lulu, when next I see her.

Bubbly Lulu's Bubble Bracelets

One of my very best non-Texas friends used to be Lulu.

I may have mentioned Lulu before. Lulu's Headquarters is up in Tacoma.

I'll be seeing Lulu in a couple months when I arrive to perform an important duty. And see my mom and dad whom I've not seen in over 2 years.

Lulu is well known in the Northwest as an Arts and Craftster and as a Flea Market Diva.

Lulu is currently getting ready for a big show, something called the Farm Chicks, in Spokane.

Lulu has a new hit item made with these things she calls Bubble Charms. Most of Lulu's stuff I don't quite get. But I think these Bubble things look cool.

Lulu keeps getting hit with fresh orders for Bubble Necklaces and Bubble Bracelets. A couple days ago she was moaning about a new huge order from a gallery in Seattle.

UPDATE: After my disastrous visit to Tacoma in July and August I had no choice but to terminate my business and personal relationship with Lulu. I wish her well in the rest of her life. But it will be without me in it.

The Academy Awards, Car Wrecks & Iraq

Well, Little Miss Lulu called early this morning. Just as I predicted yesterday she did not watch the Academy Awards except for seeing a bit of it on a TV in a bar in Tacoma called Tempest that caters to mostly a female clientele that Lulu and her husband frequent. I've been to this place once with Lulu and some of her friends. I'd never seen a restroom with so many photos of Marilyn Monroe.

So, last night I made a bowl of popcorn and tried to watch the Oscar show. I don't care for Jon Stewart so that was strike one right there. That show has just become tedious to me. And almost as bizarre as the Super Bowl in how such a fuss is made as if it is something significant if someone wins or doesn't win. It all seems so pompous. I used to like watching it when I lived on the west coast because it came on at 5:30 and was done by 9 or so. And since it is a live broadcast odd things used to happen. Like streaking. But it's been sterile for years now.

The show used to seem sort of like living history. There'd be all these Stars who were Big Stars, but one by one they've mostly died off leaving only a few remaining. And they are old. I think Paul Newman is in his 80s now. I don't know if Elizabeth Taylor still walks. I don't know if Debbie Reynolds can stay out of her wine long enough to attend a long, nighttime event.

Yesterday afternoon I went over to see the Puerto Rican Illegal Alien I've mentioned before. She'd had a stressful week and had left me a couple voice mails. So by mid-afternoon she was self-medicating a bit and somehow spilled a huge glass of spiked water and ice on me. Part of this week's drama was her 15 year old nephew in El Paso had stolen his mother's brand new car and took it for a 2 block joyride when he had a wreck and totaled the car. The kid was not hurt.

The father of the kid is the brother of the Puerto Rican, he is stationed in Iraq. The kid claimed he took the car because he misses his dad so much. I don't quite see the connection. The dad had already been injured once in Iraq, was sent to Germany to recover. That's where the family was stationed. Then the army decided to move them back to the U.S., to El Paso. And then Bush's surge happened and despite being told he would not be sent back to Iraq he got shipped back last August.

My friend up in OK who is moving back to WA who set her property on fire last week also has a kid in Iraq. He is only 25, married, with 3 kids. He was shipped to Iraq with the 3rd kid on the way and has been back for two weeks to see the kid after it arrived. I forget how it was that he ended up in Iraq, it was like he was supposed to be in some officer's training deal, and then he got told it'd look good if he did a tour of active duty during a war and that it'd only be 6 months. But somehow that turned into 15 months. How can they/we send a kid with 3 kids to a war that should never have happened?

Bush should do a tour in Iraq or Afghaniststan when his current job ends. It'd be good for the boy. No one should ever get to send anyone to war who has not been in a war. Or in the military for that matter. Bush's military experience apparently consists of having watched Patton and The Longest day a number of times.

And the Oscar Goes to Lulu

Long ago I used to enjoy watching the Academy Awards Show. I can't remember the last time I made it through the whole thing. Certainly not since I've been in Texas because it starts at 7:30 here and runs til almost midnight, well past my bedtime.

I think the last movie I've been to that may have won an Academy Award was Gladiator, I think that is what it was called. Russell Crowe fought Romans. I saw it in the restored Cinerama in Seattle. Paul Allen had a fondness for a landmark Seattle theater and so he bought it and restored it to its former retro glory. I remember the theater more than I remember the movie.

Lulu, you remember Lulu, I'm sure, all you who religiously read every word of my blog, well Lulu went to the grand re-opening of the Cinerama. Her first husband was there doing photographer duty. Lulu found herself talking to a disheveled looking guy. The guy introduced himself, but Lulu had no clue who Paul Allen was. She was just along for the ride. And the free food. So, Lulu goes over to tell her husband that that guy she'd been talking to had invited them to another party, after this one is done, at that EMP thing by the Space Needle. It was then that her husband, let's call him Geff, told Lulu that she'd been talking to Paul Allen. Yes, I know that, Lulu replied, to which Geff informed Lulu that Paul Allen is the Microsoft billionaire who bought the Cinerama and built the EMP (Experience Music Project). Apparently Paul Allen was quite charmed by Lulu's cluelessness and gave her a private tour of the EMP.

As you can see, Lulu is not the most culturally aware person on the planet. Which means, quite obviously, that she will not be watching the Academy Awards tonight. Lulu has a history of encounters with well-known people who she knows nothing about. She had a store in Tacoma called Frona & Zigz. It was a cool store with cool stuff in a cool part of town. A band called U2 was in town to play at the Tacoma Dome. Members of the band somehow found Lulu's store. One of the members of the band bought a vintage bicycle. When the band members left the store one of Lulu's customers came up to her and said something like "I can't believe you were talking to Bono all that time and weren't acting excited." "Bono?" Lulu asked. "Yes, the lead singer for U2". "U2? What's U2?" I do not know if all these years later Lulu has yet bothered to learn what U2 is or who Bono is.

Lulu's Tone

No, this is not about how well-toned Lulu is. I was going to complain about my latest Wal-Mart nightmare, but Lulu trumps Wal-Mart. But, to dwell on Wal-Mart for a second, I don't know why I keep going back. I guess it is convenient when I don't have an incident. Wal-Mart's up in Washington aren't as nightmarish as the Texas ones, maybe because up there they are unionized with the workers paid way more and thus more skilled people are willing to don the blue vests.

Anyway, did I mention I've known Lulu since we were little kids? So, we've known each other a long long time. Lulu has aged more gracefully than I and has developed much more highly evolved social skills than I have managed to develop. Lulu is the epitome of grace and good manners. Lulu collects people. Some are quite interesting. In the past couple years she added this guy named Dick Balch to her collection. Yes, you in the northwest, that Dick Balch, the sledgehammer car smashing infamous car dealer Dick Balch. I had a memorable dinner at an Indian restaurant in Tacoma with Dick Balch. He did not disappoint. Waiter's were harassed, the manager was harassed, big tips were spread around, much hilarity ensued. After that fun, tasty, filling dinner Lulu made us go to Frisco Freeze for a hot fudge sundae. Frisco Freeze is a Tacoma icon. When a politician from Tacoma, Booth Gardner, became governor, he'd send people to get him a Frisco Freeze burger when the craving for grease got too strong.

I keep digressing from Lulu's tone. So, years ago Lulu and I did what is now widely considered by the cognoscenti to be the world's first blog, that being "As The WWWeb Turns with Lulu and Durango". It basically was Lulu and I bickering at each other via email, with photos illustrating what was being bickered about. The bickering got out of control and soon that blog died. The memory has somewhat faded but I think Lulu had tone issues even way back then, all those years ago.

Despite Lulu's serious issues regarding my tone the two of us have managed to travel well together over the years as evidenced by these photos. The one at the top with Lulu showing off her leg is at Crater Lake in Oregon. The photo where Lulu is guzzling Coors beer is at Lake Tahoe. The last photo is Lulu standing next to me at Boot Hill in Virginia City.

Today Lulu's tone issues popped up again. I don't quite know what she's talking about but apparently there is a certain tone I use when I write something about her. Perhaps there is some distortion on my part that I'm not totally aware of. Or maybe I don't quite mention all the facts. I don't know. But it's totally given me a real bad case of writer's block. I'm now overwhelmed with concerns about my tone. I'll probably get over it. But right now this tone concern is even affecting me when I talk on the phone, like today my mom called me and I couldn't stop worrying that my tone might be bad. Just a sec I'll snap a pic of myself so you can see how disgruntled I'm looking over this tonal failure of mine. And then I'm going to bed and hope a good night's rest restores my tone.

Lulu's Blog

I may have mentioned Lulu previously. She lives up in Tacoma with her first husband. He leaves her almost daily to go toil on REI's website. This leaves Lulu free to fill her days with an interesting variety of activites. Some of which are very productive. Others not so.

Like when Lulu decided she'd embark on a new career as a professional slot machine player. Unlike Texas there are casinos all over Washington, big tempting Nevada type casinos.

Lulu's gambling addiction did not last too long. It sort of morphed into a food addiction when she learned that if she bought $200 worth of gaming cards she got a free food voucher, good in the buffet or any of the casino's restaurants.

The casino food addiction did not last too long. As far as I know currently Lulu is free of any untoward type addictions.

Except for haunting garage sales and thrift stores looking for treasures she can turn into art to sell at the many shows and exhibits she attends.

One of Lulu's inspirations, a foo-foo artist of some fame in foo-foo art circles, decided to move to Texas. From Washington! I tried to warn that these people that they might want to re-think this. What sort of fool would make such a move? But they are here now in the Lone Star state and apparently loving it. This weekend they are out at Canton's First Mondays. This is their second First Monday's, their first was the First Mondays before Christmas. Apparently that went well.

Anyway, back to Lulu, you always have to return to Lulu. She was an only child and you know how they are. Attention sponges. So, Lulu is now blogging. Years ago we sort of blogged together in the world's first blog-like thing, "As the WWWeb Turns with Lulu & Durango". This time we are blogging more separately than before. All spelled out in the settlement.

If past history is any indicator, and usually it is, Lulu's blogging will be sporadic. And it could be interesting. Lord knows she is. Interesting I mean. And sporadic.

Lulu's blog can be found right here. Or on my list of Durango's links on the right.