wildebeest

Two Birds, Two Birds, Two Birds in One

/ Tracy Abell / 18 Comments

            

This morning Zippy dropped Wildebeest and Zebu at the bus station
where they got on a bus headed to Albuquerque.
They will be with Zippy’s sister for the weekend.

Which means….
I get to write and write and write.

So, in honor of my BIRD BRAIN focus,
here is a blurry pic of two birds huddled together on a branch in Kiowa.
I felt their watchful gaze as I took wildflower photos with my macro-lens,
and turned to see them in the tree.

The photo quality is poor but I still think they’re darned cute.
Whatever they are.

Happy writing day to everyone!
            

Headed South

/ Tracy Abell / 12 Comments

            

Tomorrow (Friday morning) we’re headed to Westcliffe to spend time with family.
We’ll be at 9000 feet elevation
so sunburns will be more likely,
as will being out of breath.

It’s always a challenge to run there.
Listen carefully and you might hear hear me panting.
This year Zebu and Wildebeest plan to run, too,
so if the wheezing is extra loud, know I had company.

I’m taking BIRD BRAIN with me because today some extra special friends
gave me a much-needed boost of confidence.  Thank you, all.

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend.
               

Friday Five: The Parent Edition

/ Tracy Abell / 12 Comments

           

1)  Sometimes you just want to pack a bag and run away
2)  but since that’s generally frowned upon, you hunker down
3)  and hope for a shift in attitude and behavior.
4)  The wait feels like forever, but that shift always comes,
5)  and when it does, the sun shines and the birds sing.


                                                                                                          © 2010 Tracy Abell

Wishing everyone a weekend filled with blue skies, calm waters, and an overall mellow vibe.
                      

My Bold Men

/ Tracy Abell / 6 Comments

           

As I type this,
Zippy, Wildebeest, and Zebu
are running the Bolder Boulder 10k.

They should be heading into their third mile right now.
The third mile’s the hardest on this course.
Uphill and lots of turns.

Go, men, go!
Lean into the hill and lift those knees!
You’re doing great!
        

Friday Five: The Wildebeest Edition

/ Tracy Abell / 6 Comments

            

       
Wildebeest didn’t have school yesterday so we spent time together.

1)  I drove him to Boulder so he could run two miles on a treadmill to get a qualifying time
for the BolderBoulder on Memorial Day.

2)  While in Boulder, we took our recyclables to the recycling center
where Wildebeest impressed me with his knowledge of paper board vs cardboard.

3)  As we drove back on Highway 93 (which is a beautiful drive along the foothills), we watched
a courageous (foolhardy?) bird repeatedly harass a much larger hawk.

4)  We talked about many things, including the fact that because a person’s sexuality encompasses
much more than a sex life, it’s reasonable to discuss Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan’s sexuality.

5)  Last, we went to the DMV so Wildebeest could get his learner’s permit, and watched as a woman
backed a long, white pickup truck into a sign post right before a crying teen girl ran over and got in
the passenger’s seat (after flunking her own driving test?)

The time was filled with lots of driving and waiting, plus a scraped knuckle at the recycling center,
but it was still a very nice afternoon.

Wishing everyone scintillating conversations and teen bonding experiences this weekend!
                

Friday Five: The Take It From Me Edition

/ Tracy Abell / 12 Comments

            

1)  While it’s good to have teen sons responsible for the weekly cleaning of their bathroom,

2)  it’s probably best to now and again check on the actual "cleanliness" of said room

3)  because those little microorganisms can gain an astoundingly tenacious foothold on all surfaces

4) and you will need a strong stomach plus a haz-mat suit to battle them

5)  but as long as you have Jimi Hendrix on the boombox, you will PREVAIL.

Wishing everyone a happy weekend (and depending on your mental state, you may or may not want to check the kids’ bathroom).
              

Spring Break!

/ Tracy Abell / 17 Comments

          

This morning I took Wildebeest and Zebu to the airport
and left them at the curb.
They wanted to navigate DIA on their own as they head
to Florida to visit their grandma (my mother) for spring break.

They should be landing in another twenty minutes or so.

When this photo was taken in southern Colorado on spring break in 2000,
I don’t think I could even imagine the day when they’d travel alone.

They will definitely experience higher temps in Florida than we had in 2000,
and I’m almost positive Wildebeest will be in a better frame of mind.
                            

Basketball Jones

/ Tracy Abell / 14 Comments

          

Zebu had a game last night,
the first in the end-of-season tournament.

I did not go.
I am so glad I did not go.

Zebu’s team won but the opposing team and opposing team’s "grown-ups"
apparently behaved atrociously.

Blatant fouls.
Poor sportsmanship.
Shouts and jeers.
Taunting.
Pounding hands and stomping feet during free throws.
Overall ass-hattery.

As Zebu, Wildebeest, and Zippy described the game,
I kept saying, "No way.  They did not do that."
Especially in regards to the parents’ behavior.

I’m not sure why I’m sharing these details.
Maybe I’m hoping one of you has a magic remedy for dealing with this stuff
since Zebu plans to play basketball in high school,
and I’ll undoubtedly be faced with more of the same.

Have you encountered this during your kids’ sporting events?
If so, how do you cope?
            

Friday Five: Notebook Love

/ Tracy Abell / 23 Comments

       

1)  I love spiral-bound notebooks.

2)  I love this notebook I’m using for revisions,
a notebook formerly used by Wildebeest:

3)  I love that I can keep my pen and pencil handy
for immediate use:

4)  I love that I have pages and pages in which to jot any old thought that pops into my
head and that I can rewrite sentences and figure out characterization issues and vomit
out any angst and uncertainty here, and generally just have lots of room to move:

5)  But maybe most of all, I love that the back cover has a drawing by Wildebeest:

              

Touched by his noodly appendage

/ Tracy Abell / 11 Comments

             

I take a certain amount of glee
in answering questions about
why the back of my car
is adorned with this:


The Flying Spaghetti Monster

Especially when the person asking
was raised to doubt evolution
and, instead, touts creationism.

I tell the truth, though,
since I am a proud Pastafarian.

And you know what? 
Wildebeest’s friend handled my explanation just fine.         

               

One inch

/ Tracy Abell / 12 Comments

Apparently Zebu and Wildebeest’s limit
for filth is one inch.

As in that’s how deep the dust was in their rooms
before they cleaned today.

And it seems that’s about as disgusting as they want to go.

Is it totally pathetic I’m celebrating the fact
my teen-aged sons have a Filth Limit?

Zombie Crawl

/ Tracy Abell / 32 Comments

        

Last night was the Zombie Crawl along the 16th Street Mall in Denver.
Wildebeest has a love/hate thing for zombies.

When I read about this event, I was positive he’d want to go
and I was excited spectators were invited to wear duct-tape Xs on their
chests to signal a willingness to be attacked.

I thought Wildebeest would want an X so he could practice skills learned
from The Zombie Survival Guide.

But when I told him, his response was more along the lines of
"Are you out of your freakin’ mind?!"

The teen knew better than his mom, that’s for sure.

BucketHead zombie didn’t scare me but was convincing in a droll kind of way.

This group was very convincing with its stiff gait and vacant eyes.

These two showed us a sheep’s head.  No biggie.  As long as I didn’t look too closely.

This bride was with a zombie groom and no-nonsense in her pursuit of brains.

Here’s a mob preying on an Xed victim who screamed and screamed.
Truly scary.  My heart raced every time they converged on another victim.

Wildebeest watching from a safe distance.

Wildebeest’s favorite action shot: spewing blood.  (Note: all photos by Wildebeest)

Wildebeest and I considered this year a recon mission, and have decided
we’d like to participate next year.

We want a group, though.

The people in groups seemed to stay in character better than the singles
and couples who sometimes strolled along in their bloody and torn clothing
as if they were out on lunch hour.

I have a whole year to work on my walk.
             

Advertisement

/ Tracy Abell / 23 Comments

 

FREE TO A GOOD HOME:
One male Wildebeest.

 , you’ll take him, right?
You’ve already got so many what difference would one more make?
Laura?  Laura? 

Anyone?
               
            

Wildebeest and Winnie

/ Tracy Abell / 8 Comments

       

Wildebeest is out on the couch right now.
Sewing a patch on his favorite jeans.
Focusing on tiny stitches.

And singing.
Winnie the Pooh.

Well, a combination of these words, anyway, with an emphasis on willy and silly:

Winnie-the-Pooh,
Winnie-the-Pooh,
Tubby little cubby all stuffed with fluff.
He’s Winnie-the-Pooh.
Winnie-the-Pooh.
Willy, nilly, silly, old bear

             

Friday Five: Satisfaction Edition

/ Tracy Abell / 4 Comments

     

1)  My new whiteboard is working out very well, despite the injury it sustained on the way home from the store.
For those interested, here are great directions for making and installing a whiteboard.

2)  With the help of the aforementioned whiteboard, I’m figuring out all sorts of stuff about my YA project
and am preparing to dive into the second draft.  And it doesn’t feel as if this dive will be a belly flop, either.

3)  My garden is lush and jungle-like because of all the rain.

4)  Zebu and Wildebeest have transitioned nicely into summer vacation and, dare I say it?, are getting along.

5)  Today is Zippy’s last day of cardio rehab following the stents he received, and I’m so impressed by his hard work
and dedication to good health. 

             
Wishing all of you a most satisfactory weekend!

      

Passable Solution

/ Tracy Abell / 7 Comments

Yesterday Wildebeest spent the afternoon in my brother’s high school math classroom.
My brother teaches at a last chance kind of school for troubled kids making a final effort to graduate.
It’s a pretty tough crowd.
Not all that motivated.

On the way home, Wildebeest explained how kids used to ask my brother for a bathroom pass.
They’d take the pass and walk out of the school.
For the rest of the day.
Never to return.

According to Wildebeest, my brother still gives out a bathroom pass.
Except now it’s one of these:

A full-size acoustic guitar case.
Covered with math stickers.

Wildebeest said plenty of kids used the pass yesterday.
And every one of them returned to class.

(And yes, I’ll find a way to use this in a story.)

           

Wildebeest in Search of Cinderella

/ Tracy Abell / 8 Comments

This morning I put Wildebeest’s lunch in his backpack.
And laughed.

Since May ’08, one of these: COMBINATION LOCK

has been locked onto the top loop of one of these: BACKPACK

On the last day of school Wildebeest
took the lock off his gym locker and locked it
onto his pack for safekeeping.
And promptly forgot the combination.

So this morning when I laughed about it
he told me it’s “like the shoe thing and seeing who fits.”
Whoever can figure out the combination,
regardless of sex,
will be who Wildebeest marries.

Kids keep attempting
combination after combination
in hopes of freeing the Wildebeest.

It makes me smile thinking of so many friends
working to give him a happily-ever-after.  

    Wildebeest’s Hair – Part Deux

    / Tracy Abell / 21 Comments

    A while back I wrote about Wildebeest’s quest for dread locks.
    He hit a, shall we say, snag along the way.
    The dreads were put on hold.

    This past Friday Wildebeest’s friends were here.
    While skating on the patio, Wildebeest caught sight of his shaggy reflection in the window
    and decided he wanted to see his neck again. (His words.)
    He ran upstairs and informed Zebu, D, and J he wanted to cut his hair.

    Mania ensued.

                    

    The whole process lasted about twelve minutes since Wildebeest had to leave for an
    appointment.  D and J did a pretty good job under those conditions but there was definitely
    room for improvement.  The next morning, with D’s guidance, I tided up Wildebeest’s hair
    as best I could.  Later, he took this self-portrait.

    This morning I asked if he still liked his hair.
    Wildebeest said, “My long hair looked nice when it was combed out and smooth.
    But now it’s nice all the time.”

    He’s happy.
    I’m happy.

    Stuart Smalley and Me

    / Tracy Abell / 25 Comments

    Of his own initiative, Wildebeest spent part of his spring break with my mother in Florida.
    They both had a great time.
    When she called yesterday to say he was on the plane, she brought tears to my eyes
    with all the wonderful things she had to say about him.

    I was so proud of him.

    Thirty minutes after getting home, Wildebeest got angry about something
    and proceeded to lash out at his favorite target: me.
    Without directly addressing my writing, he said just enough to get me doubting myself.

    I started thinking I was delusional about having an actual writing career in which money is
    part of the equation.
    All those good feelings about Wildebeest disappeared.
    All my confidence in myself was gone.

    So who did I turn to?
    This guy.
    Stuart Smalley.

    If you’re not familiar with this book, I can’t recommend it enough. 
    This is my dog-eared copy of Stuart’s (aka Al Franken) daily affirmations.

    Stuart is a member of various twelve-step programs (OA, DA, Al-Anon, etc) but
    despite his best efforts sometimes goes into Shame Spirals. 
    Stuart’s shame spirals usually result in him taking to bed with a case of Hydrox or
    several boxes of Animal Crackers (the OA component at work.)

    Stuart makes me laugh (every single time I read his affirmations), but he also
    hits on some truths.
    Last night this one resonated with me:

    December 12
    TODAY I AM A TOTALLY COMPETENT PERSON!
    I feel strangely confident.  Or strangely competent.  Or just strange!  Anyway, I’m taping today, and I feel good about it.  But not cocky or grandiose.  Steve calls it "delusions of adequacy."  That’s a joke.  It’s just that it feels like everything that’s ever happened to me has brought me to this moment.  And I guess that’s something to remember.  Which is that we can actually learn and benefit from all this bizarre stuff that happens to us.  I am who I am, I don’t want to trade places with anybody, and my experience has made me stronger.  I am in recovery, hear me roar!

    Do yourself a favor and get a copy of this book.

                  

    Lights! Camera! Action!

    / Tracy Abell / 10 Comments

    Wildebeest and friends are helping D make an extra-credit video for Spanish class.
    D came out from behind the camera to wield the bat.
    Wildebeest bared his belly
    and K donned a multi-color wig.
    A few minutes later Wildebeest ran into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of ketchup.

    I get the feeling viewers are going to wish there were subtitles.