I got no sleep. It was one of those insomnia nights where you look at your phone every half hour to see if it’s time to wake up yet.
Then at 5 I got the two delay phone call and text.
Then up at 7 for the day.
So I am punch drunk and whooped
Bring it on bitches……. Bring it on!

My daughter is a nerd.. But a cool nerd. In august she will go away to college to study genetics. She lives and breathes this stuff. Fascinated by inbreeders etc.. Oh the Whites of West Virginia just get her going. She is gonna get her PHD too.. Something I just don’t understand but am very happy for her..
This is the kinda thing that gets her all excited.
I just sent her this article.

http://gma.yahoo.com/fugates-kentucky-skin-bluer-lake-louise-200247843–abc-news.html

I call Maia “Kate Rambo”.. I am the Riff Randall to her Kate Rambo.
She might even like Tom Roberts.. Who is so boring his brother is an only child…
Well he is a Van Patton..
But seriously his brother Dick is the much cooler Van Patton..Really.. I love Dick…No, that sounds wrong.. Well maybe I do but NO I love Dick Van Patton.. Huge fan.
He was in the episode of Streets of San Fran.. It’s my fave of all the epis…
Dick Van Patton and some people get kidnapped by Tony Geary and Susan Dey. And then they all get attached but the kidnappers have to kill a hostage every so often or they lose the cred.. So they have to off Dick.. And it was sad and I cried.
It was a two parter and it killed me to wait till the next week.. I was just a kid and I totally got it. Was one of the best hostage situations ever.. Better than Patty Hearst..
Anyway
Have a good Thursday and don’t get kidnapped…

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0711590/

I’ll start today’s blog off with last night status on my Facecrack.
Gidget Marusak
14 hours ago
I watched Maia and her best friend tonight dig through my iTunes and help themselves to my cooler than their music. I watched Emily cry as I bought them both tix to see Goyte at the Aragon in April. Realizing i had taken Emily to see her first live band last year when we saw Foxy Shazam. This April we will see 3 live acts.(Foxy, Snow Patrol and Goyte) and maybe something over the summer and then Bam.. it’s College time. Maia will be off to Manchester And Em is off to Purdue. I started to cry when I realized how important this senior year of high school is to them having been best friends since freshman year. I’m going to miss the noise.. and I am going to miss them.. I better enjoy every minute i have with them. even if they are music thieves.(with good taste)and yes i am very blurry as I type this.

Yeah so the girls got all all excited I am taking them to see Goyte.. he is apparently really popular. So much so that his show in Chicago had to be moved to the Aragon. Now I could take or leave lives shows lately. I will of course see Foxy Shazam a million times though. It’s the live thing that bugs me.. no one has to pay the dues anymore. So I am very careful which live shows we see.
I go on reputation and youtube videos. If the stuff I see is worth it then I spend the money.
Girl singers (without fronting a band)bug the hell out of me.
But I looked on line and saw that Kimbra and she blew me away with her live radio station stuff. She is opening for Goyte.
So that is why the girls get to see them play.
When Maia was little she saw concerts all the time.. Not sure how she slept through Korn though. She met Rob Zombie.. Who she idolizes and asked if the Presidents of the united states could come over and play. She’s seen Mel Torme and The Ramones on the same bill. Not many kids have had it that cool.
She doesn’t care she saw Tiny Tim.
Bumbershoot.. 3 day music festival in Seattle.. Many a band was seen by a little kid in that town.

We had a rule.. Spice Girls were the only ones I gave into.. No Disney made bands. No girl singers unless they play an instrument and no Britney Spears please…(old school girl groups were ok as they are just fucking cool)(were talking the nineties here)
It was a REAL MUSIC ONLY HOUSE.

It was nice never having heard a Backstreet boy song…or NSYNC
And now my daughter has cool musical taste of her own and hates autotune..
So watch this girl Kimbra sing in this video.. Tell me her live voice doesn’t floor you..
This is where the exceptions to girl singers are made.

and if that doesn’t convince you.

and finally the creepy song that will make you feel dumped everytime you hear it…
I’m not convinced he will be all that hot live.. but Kimbra …wow.. anyway Wally of Goyte is really cute so that works for me…

OK I feel utterly dumped
Seriously..
The emotion in that song is soooo.. wow…
Better get some retail therapy going…

Coffee jitters and my snow is melting.. Which is worse?
Can’t the snow stay till lunch time so I can go get some pictures? Its natures coloring crayon of white.
Either way I am here in my office watching the snow turn to rain and go away.
Kinda sad and depressing.
As usual it’s Tuesday so the “Secret Weapon” is my backdrop of music for the day. Inspiring me as the muse of indoors never disappoints. Wish he could control the outdoors for me. make the snow stay till lunch.
I found out two things this morning.
1. If you ask a teenager to put toilet paper in a bathroom she will go upstairs and get one roll and bring it back.. Even if it means extracting one roll from the rest of the pack.
2. Rice milk removes wax off linoleum floors. The old school floors with inlay. Oh fun for me …

So here I sit going through my photos I took yesterday and deciding which ones to splay on you. Yesterday was a holiday from school of course.. As though I like to tell Maia.. The presidents would like you to have an education so maybe you should just go to school on study anyway on president’s day.
We were supposed to get up all early and get out but that never happens with a teenager. I was up and showered and waiting for almost two hours.
I took the kids to Mcdonalds on the way out to our adventure.. I even attempted to eat that stuff.. so I had a few fries and stared at what they call a mcchicken.. mcyucky was more like it.. But the coffee is always good.
No really, that grey chicken patty was dripping with mayo and it really grossed me out.
How do people enjoy this stuff.. Why do kids like it???????
So as we were wrapping up the teenage girl sitting behind Dyl was turning and laughing. I aked her if Dyl was poking and bugging her.. She smiled and said no he was sticking his fingers in her belt loops.. No wonder the kid had a shit eating grin on his face.. I was mortified and amused. Hard to not laugh.. At least she took it in stride. I will laugh at this for years to come I am sure.
So then we were off on our adventure.
Joe’s dad had told us of camping at a nearby lake when they were all younger. Lake Eliza. The last time they went the boys were very little and there was a hillybilly hoedown and John explained at 3 am at the local lodge.
I offered to go out and take pics.
Well we drove and we drove.
Then we drove some more. Jack was done and wanted to go home when I decided to look at my gps on my phone. We were mere blocks from the lake of my in-laws past.
Yea well glad it was the past and now the present.. Lake is overestimating. When we found it we realized it was dinky.. And filled with possible meth labs and trailers. We didn’t really want to get out. Where the lodge once stood was now a adult rehabilitation center and it was all private drive. OK so we drove on it anyway I have no boundaries.
After taking some very quick shots. Most of which Maia wouldn’t get out of the car for I was back on the road with the kids.
I did see a tree for sale.
Well at least I told them it was the tree.
They think I’m serious.
We rounded up a hill and found basically maybe a 100 plot old cemetery. We all got out and jack used Mai’s camera to take a few shots.
Then pretended he was a zombie for some pictures. It’s amazing how they can be so bored and they see dead people and come alive.
The trip back was uneventful. We stopped to take a pic of a small playhouse advertising new homes off the side of route 30 and drove by the house we wanted to buy in Valparaiso.. It’s still affixer.. Just now it’s a fixer form hell and I am so glad we didn’t buy it even if it was right in the heart of downtown.
I showed the kids the house on 2 that was perfectly too small for us but on four acres. It’s still cute but way too much on a busy road and seriously 1400 sq feet of house. But cute.
It was a long day rewarded with icecream.
I think though maybe taking all three out to take pics is not the best in my favor… but I did get some good shots.. You can be the judge.

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I quoted a song in my blog Saturday and it was in my head all day yesterday.. And it had nothing to do with my blog.

Of course this was the one of the two versions in my head.. I kinda meld this one and the Bee Gee one in my head when I sing it to myself.
But since I quoted it I should have posted this.. So last night on my facebook I posted a live Beegee one.. But it’s hard to love one over the other.
Last week I did the “love and hate” show on the “Secret Weapon” with “Boris”
There are lot of beautiful wonderful love songs out there.. But the ones that bite me on the ass are the breakup songs.
The lyrics are so much more intense on the I hate you go away songs.. Really they are.
Case in point.
The movie “Finding Sarah Marshall” how appropriate was it that Jason Segel’s character is naked when she dumps him?????. Seriously you can’t feel anymore raw than when you are naked and having your heart ripped out.
I saw a video recently of a popular song.. A really great she dumped me song.. Both with his denial and her telling him that she dumped him because he is callous and flaky.
And they are both naked.
That is the part that gets me.. they are both naked and painted over and then unpainted and just raw. And neither of them get why they see the breakup differently.
The singers are amazing and the girl called Kimbra is a successful singer in New Zealand. And not here.. Why is that?… Oh yeah we favor auto tuning..
Anyway check this out and tell me what you thing.. Do you feel dumped after you watch this? Did your heart hurt a little?

Ok will leave you on a happier note.. Pick your heart back up now…I’m not dumping you:)
I have photos for you tomorrow!
Ok Rev take it away…

First off I can be a raging spoiled brat. I am the baby of my family and although was treated like a princess I was not allowed to be a brat as a child. So when I got older I experimented with my brattiness. BUT never call me on this.. I do not take kindly to my brattiness being called upon.
I just got used to living in a world where if I wanted it I got it. I also paid for it myself.
Therefore my brattiness can never be blamed on others. I have no one to blame but myself.
I have no sense of patience.
I also pout.
But the only one to give in to me is me.

Now let’s back up here before you get confused.
I was such a sickly child I spent my grownup years never looking down roads and always taking chances. Saving money was not an option for I didn’t have anyone to leave it to. So I worked 2 jobs and had money to spend. I didn’t eat food and loved clothes.
My back east mentality also made me the best spendthrift. I found bargains everywhere.. Just walking up and down market street in SF and buying at day sales made my closet quite packed.. Not to mention 50 perfect of everything I wore was vintage goodwill.
The hardcore money was spent on music.
And RENT
Therefore sometimes having to part with stuff at stores to make the rent bills. But I never thought I’d see tomorrow and no one told me about the sorrow.
Let’s just say I had a much bigger vinyl collection at times.
Between earthquakes and rent I have a fourth of what I had.
But I never thought I’d ever see 25.. Let alone 30,40 and now 44 and three kids.
I WANT THE FUTURE!
Reverse one day at a time.
My whole childhood was one day at a time. What the hell do I do now that I survived?

Growing up on the west coast is also spoiling.
Same weather mostly all year. Family vacations, a family dog. Good looking people.
My parents weren’t from California though so I had super duper strong back east family values. Cept for the Mohawk and the shaved head, tattooing, and occasional potty mouth I was a great kid with awesome grades.
My photos were shown at the fair.. And I made showing stuff at the fair cool among my peeps. Shaved haired little punk kid showing off pics of kids with beer cans and old decrepit houses.
I guess almost dying at ten made me live life differently than other small kids. I never allowed the word NO.. I just did.. And I think they kinda liked that in me and as long as I didn’t get to jail they were ok with me being myself.
Once my dad said the bleached look was not as good as the pink haired look. All the white hair and black raccoon makeup made me look like a cadaver. So I dyed my bangs pink.
I never wanted to disappoint them. I’m sure I did but not on purpose.

Everytime I cheated death I felt I needed to add another feat to be accomplished. Cancer scares at 21 and 30 also put things into perspective.
So when I say spoiled brat I don’t mean totally materialistically.. I mean in general.
At 21 I woke up from surgery after an allergic reaction to the anesthesia early. And barfing and choking.
I bought myself a Betsey Johnson dress for living through that one.
Almost dying giving birth. Well I got a kid out of that.
Surviving a car accident in a convertible in which the back seat broke off and my back should have broken had the seatbelt not broken off. I got a new car. OK So the insurance got me a new car.. but really it was jinxed.
Subsequent surgeries always reminded me I was still alive, whether it is ice cream or a vacation I always lived it one step ahead happy to make it to the next day.
OK hand surgery at 28 did not result in two goats named Sid and Eeyore.I finally said no to a treat.. The goats well as cute as they were.. Not my thing…What do you do with goats in Seattle?
I slowed down on all this when the tumors were removed out of my stomach at thirty. The same sick I had been all my life was gone.. There was finally a reason for my being ill my whole life and now they found it and it was gone.
LIFE CHANGED.
I slowed down a bit.
I went back to work and just breathed life in for a change.. I realized I was a death cheater and here to enjoy the ride.. And I needed to be here for my small child.

But the haphazard fun me is still there.. The I WANT IT NOW Gidget.

I get a thrill out of the small fun things. I realized today I belong HERE.. The Midwest is doing wonders for me. My skin is fantastic, my hair loves me and I am truly happy most of the time. The west coast was too well west coast and I might not adjust to changes as well there.
Case in point.. My church St stan’s had polish dinner tonight.. Now although I was perfectly fine being a half English-half german muttly back home I have embraced my in-laws Polishness. I miss community. It reminds me of visiting family in jersey. People sitting around eating huge plates of fattening yummy food.. Some of them talking in polish and all them friendly. I don’t ever remember friendly like this at all in church in Seattle. And IN Fremont in California.. Never..
But then little things creep back in and I miss the west coast spoiledness of my being..
I drove to return my redbox to the Kroger as someone in the house needed limes and they carry Lacroix water.
I never ever shop Kroger as it’s too pricy for my liking.. And I didn’t even know they had a health food section. So as I wandered down the aisle with all the soaps I was fixated. I remembered a time when Tammy and I would forgoe food at the grocers to buy Kiss my face soaps so we smelled good.. Awe the smell of peaceful patchouli. Olive oil soap and natural toothpaste made with aloe vera.
So as I filled my cart with smelly goodies I probably can’t afford I reminded myself that being spoiled every once in awhile is ok.. And not only OK good for the soul and mind and body.. Especially if you smell good.

The “Secret Weapon” is on…
Special Valentine’s Day
Love and Hate show
• ‘Music That Deserves To Be Heard’.
• Tuesday, February 14
• NOW – 8pm EST
Listen on iTunes, woodyradio.com or stream it here:
http://sc7.mystreamserver.com/start/marvwood

I wrote a long and lengthy blog that I deemed to personal and decided to drop it.
I saved it for future pissing off enjoyment later.
for now though
please bear with me as I need to tighten the reigns of my life a bit.
The long blogs are draining and I need to concentrate on other things.
please subscribe so you will know when I post stuff.. it just wont be every day.
and they will be much lighter than usual.
I am in no means a blogger of Marty Wombachers stature.. I can’t keep up nor do i feel the need to right now.
I also feel as if I let too many people see too much of me.
I feel as if I violated myself.
in the words of Antoine Dodson.. hide your children!

Now you simple and sweet KISS (keep it simple stupid) way of blogging begins.
last weekend on Twirl radio the Japan Radiothon I was part of got an award for one of the best rock moments on indie radio!
It was a time when 5 stations came together and bonded over a distance that needed us.
we put beside all competitive nature and became friends in the process.

http://twirlradio.com/

you can also look in podcasts to hear twirls version of the Japan night! I was a call in guest that night.
it was near and dear to our hearts and we all are glad we made a difference.
Mike runs a great show at Twirl.. please take the time to check it out.
till the next rant!(and or rave)

While you wait for my post to go up today.. which i was working on last night but got distracted.. then again today.. distracted…
and now I am thinking about sucking marzipan off of battenburg cakes…
distraction yet again!
ok so here are a few links i want you to check out!
first off…
Marty has a new page…
www.trippingwithmarty.com
its fun and mischievous and i LIKE IT!
speaking of “i like it”.. that is the new single off of the new album by Foxy Shazam..
“Foxy Shazam
Stopping at the corner store for mints – $2.99. Buying roses for your Valentine’s day lover – $49.99. Eating a fancy dinner for two – $ 79.99. Reserving a hotel room at the fanciest hotel you can think of with a heart shaped bubble bath – $449.99. Not getting any of that stupid shit and showing your lover the VEVO world premiere of the music video for “I Like It” – priceless. There are something’s money can’t buy, for everything else there’s Foxy Shazam.”

OK so here is my take on the Superbowl.
fuck the giants..
hey for that matter fuck football.. my Futball has a soccer ball and is played by little hot ball kickers…
but the commercials are always awesome..
this one in particular was sooo hot I watched it a few times…
and we all know I love “the killing moon”..

and i know some people really hate this.. but i really loved it!
wish Richard Edson reprised his driving role though…

and sorry jetpacks are awesome Jerry….no jet pack for you!

John Stamos… ummm….oh yea….spooon.. oh suck that yogurt out his mouth i dare you.. dooooo it…

i’m hungry now. I dont even eat doritos…

I drive a ford ranger… but i will pack it with twinkies anyway..

This one really pulls at the heartstrings…
Thank you Clint.

Yesterday I wrote about music in the car.
We all sing along at times..
Life is a sing along.
Sometimes I think life is a musical.
It got me thinking.. Little car things.. When you are looking for a street do you turn down the radio so you can see the signs better?
I’m not a fan of long drives.. But I find them therapeutic. Sometimes I just need the music to flow through me when I can’t get any breathing room.. But I do have anxiety and if I gonna be late I will lose it in a car.. Feel claustrophobic ect… Traffic freaks me out.. Waiting at stop lights makes me nervous. And sometimes I am a bad driver and that makes me nervous. I try so hard to be a good driver and I miss lanes and stuff. Ok that scared you all huh?
My car is like my sanctuary.. I drive to beaches and lakes and rivers.
I take pictures.
And I find old things to admire.
I could go on longer trip yet I drink so much coffee and water I pee every hour.. That kinda sucks.
I really do need the time out though.. I really do. I feel like a bad mom for taking the breaks but honestly short of maybe a few hours a weekend I am a homebody who only leaves the house to grocery shop.
I do a lot of my writing in my head on these breaks. I get the free air time in there to not think about crap I need to get done.
But then I come home and its back to the day old day old..

I am getting a rare Sunday window to write.. As the trolls are all upstairs playing with Maia. And Joe had errands to run.
I am using the down time to write and play my words with friends’ games and plan dinner actually. I really have no idea what to cook for dinner which is very unlike me. I am absolutely craving homemade meatballs.. Rustic Italian bread and a ceaser salad though..No pasta with the meatballs though.. I have given the pasta up. Was never a fan of it anyway.
It doesn’t matter what I cook..I am not sure they (people who live in my house) appreciate my cooking. Ah the joys of being a mom.
I will use that window of no food to run to the store.. And sing loudly and dance in my car!
It’s super bowl Sunday.. So maybe not.. Still on the fence on that one.

I have friends who do not drive.. They live in big cities where driving is not necessary or needed. So here is my secret.
I didn’t get my license till I was almost 19. I did however once attempt to go get my permit at 16. Kimmy(best grade school friend) and I left in her little Honda I think to go shopping and get a permit.
Kimmy saw a guy on a motorcycle that looked just like the guy she had just been dumped by so she attempted to pass him. ON THE RIGHT.
It was a dirt gully on the right and she over corrected after sliding into it and spun the car into a 180 and then we flipped onto the side and kept going. Heil propane was across the road where she came to a stop ten feet from a propane tank. Mortified employees came running along with mortified motorcycle driver.
Now why do I say she came? I jumped out. I still to this day have no idea how I got out before we flipped but I did.. I rolled a few times but otherwise was intact and fine. I had road burns and a sprained ankle I think. And get this. MY CIGGERETTE WAS STILL LIT AND IN MY MOUTH. Very Patsy and Edina moment…
I was not in a hurry to get my license after that and was on restriction form driving with Kimmy for a month. She had hit a road barrier the week before in my mom’s Buick so I was surprised I hadn’t been placed on Kimmy restriction yet anyway.
So at almost 19 I got my license and passed my driving test with a 99.
At 23 I voluntarily gave it up when I found that having one and insurance in California was more expensive that actually paying my parking tickets. I had no car but I had insurance and no place to park a car had I bought one. And my last speeding ticket was for well a lot more than I had in my account. So I cut a deal with the judge. Give up license drop the fine.
At 28 2 years after a different car accident in which a drunk driver almost killed us in Seattle I decided I need to drive again and my anxiety with others driving was getting to everyone I was in a car with.
I passed with a hundred out of a hundred.. And my driving test dude looked like judge Ito.. Which was just awesome. And I was in a stick shift so I think I was mighty impressive.
After that it seemed like all I ever did was drive. Road trips to California.. Dance lessons, work. WOW.. I liked not driving a whole hell of a lot better.
I got to Indiana and I don’t drive enough.. I bought a beautiful white ford Flex I named Eloise and I don’t go anywhere.. That needs to be fixed.. Pronto..I informed the people that live in the house that this last year where I have a built in babysitter I will be go out once a month for ME time. They may not like it.. But I sure do.
Yesterday I drove out to Trader Joe’s.. Got some pics of a place I had been to once before out by there and then drove in nutty ass traffic in Orland Park. As much as I hated the traffic I enjoyed the me time.. No clocks, no one worrying about me, no Jack barfing in the back seat, no are we there yets no one hurrying me to shop faster.. Although I did anyway cause the place was a madhouse, etc.. And they all got something out of it.. And I got an hour plus of clear driving time there and back.
And car music.. And car dancing..
So today I bring you car music..
Enjoy…

this one i crank real loud and when i sing i tear up badly…

and this one in particular is an all time fave.. i even along to it in stores.

and i forgot to add this yesterday..it played in my car..and i was happy.. very happy.

now feel free to add your two cents!

I was 14 years old and I had detention for the umpteenth time.. I had graduated to Saturday detentions due to the severity of my crimes. This time for telling off senor fuckface off for calling us all gringos and participating in his slightly loco nervous breakdown. The man, sorry senor was a freak of nature who should not be left alone with a room of white kids.
No seriously.
Ok so the time before I told the French teacher she was hiding Hitler in her hair.. In German…
Saturday detention consisted of garbage cleanup around the school.. And it was nowhere as cool as in the breakfast club movie..
As my dad dropped me off upfront and I lollygagged my way to the back quads I watched as a new car pulled up. Some kind of super sports car. As I look back now it could have been a Fiero for all I know but hey I was 14.
As the door lifted up and the teenager driving it got out I could hear Aldo Nova “fantasy” playing. And I was completely and utterly smitten with my first real high school crush.
Greg Soucy.
Baggy red leather parachute looking pants, black chuck taylors, and a purple leopard print tight …oh sooooo tight t-shirt…
Spiked blonde haired god that he was… I had to be on his garbage picking up team.
We ended up talking about the Clash for the entire 6 hours of Saturday detention.. And it went so quick it seemed like five minutes.. Then it was over.. I went back to being a loser freshman and he went back to be the transfer hot student from Buffalo New York… and a junior with a drivers license.
I do remember crank calling him once and my sister talked to him for an hour without ever letting on who we were..
Years later he saw me waiting for a bus after graduation.. He gave me a ride..And that was it.. He told me that I was over my head in life and not being true to myself.. I think he was getting at the “Hey Girlfriend” “your boyfriend is such a douche.., oh girl you could be doing so much better”
I’m afraid I was never Greg’s type.. Though I could be wrong.. He always did like my cool clothes.
Why do I tell you all this..
Everytime I hear “Fantasy” by Aldo nova.. I think of Greg Soucy and wonder what he is up too.
And then I think to myself.. I think all my high school crushes might have had a more… umm Gidget lacking Gaydar vibe…

I was in the car today for far too long with way too much good music.. And I was alone with my thoughts.
I love singing along and dancing in my car..
I need to do this more often..
Till then picture Gidget..
Then picture Gidget totally grooving in the car…
Take a ride with me…..

this one is a real sing along.. try to not do that!

and this played as I pulled back into my town…
i was soooooo dancing in my car…