How cool are these?
Lately I have been fascinated by the work of artist Richard Wilkinson. And not just because he makes “Star Wars Bugs”.
He does. Really he does.
Take a look at these classic Hollywood monsters rethought as insects.
I used to day-dream about my wedding.
You know, back when I had girlfriends that I could imagine myself marrying. (Not so much consummating the union, but certainly verifying it in front of family and friends.)
My dream wedding was a big 80’s style shin-dig; 8-10 groomsmen and myself garbed in the finest tuxedos that Gengis had to rent that week and my future wife wrapped in a parade float of a Disney princess gown with shoulder poofs like Joan Collins would wear. There would be a 4 tiered punch fountain, a six course sit-down dinner with calligraphed place cards, and display tables overflowing with all the monogrammed sterling we’d been gifted.
But that vision came to a crashing halt when I came to certain terms with myself.
I think y’all know what I mean,
The best I could hope for was some kind of “civil union”.
Didn’t matter anyway, what followed was a string of losers; users and addicts, and guys that really just weren’t that into me and I settled on the fact that I’d better learn to change my own adult diapers because I was probably going to be flying solo.
Until Jamie.
Our first date was nice, comfortable even. (I had Kylie call me an hour into it just incase I needed an “out”. Which I didn’t). On our second date, sitting on Jamie’s futon, both of us singing “Good Morning” with Gene, and Donald, and Debbie …… I just knew;
This was the guy.
It’s the best twelve years of my life later – and he’s still the guy.
He better be. That’s a quarter of my life I’ve spent with him. (Although, I did get rid of that futon as fast as I could)
We moved in together 9 years ago. And even though we’re partners, best friends, and our lives are completely intertwined at this point, we each had a running joke that,
”I don’t see no ring on this finger.”
But that changed 2 years ago. While standing in Battery Park, looking out at the Statue of Liberty, Jamie produced a small turquoise box and officially asked me to spend the rest of my life with him.
Of course I would.
I never thought that I wouldn’t.
And we were finally able to, legally. On June 26, 2015 the United States Supreme Court recognized that we was the same as every other American. That whomever we choose to love was ok.
We considered just going to Dallas City Hall, or having a simple ring exchange at a boutique hotel. I even toyed with the idea of springing an elopement on him while we were in Key West last year. Why not just work a wedding into an existing vacation? – A half hour diversion from eating conch fritters and lying on the beach.
We didn’t think anyone would want to attend anyway.
But they did.
So last weekend, we loaded a party bus with family and close friends, and dragged them about an hour and a half north of Las Vegas into the Valley of Fire for a small ceremony.
We were married exactly 12 years to the day of our first date.
There were no decorations. No groomsmen. No punch bowls. No stuffiness.
And it was just perfect.
Now, we are more than partners, we’re officially husbands,
And it’s Jamie who is legally bound to decide if I stay on life support. (The correct answer is, “no”) But more importantly, he is first in line to inherit all my crap; thousands of glass Christmas ornaments, 15 pair of velvet slippers – 3 sizes to big for him, every Martha Stewart Living Magazine ever printed, and about 300 mint-condition, carded Star Wars action figures.
Yupp, all his.
Pretty sure this means he is also legally bound to change my adult diapers to,
Lucky, lucky, luck luck.
I’m so looking forward to our continuing adventures together ….. officially as husbands.
#LoveWins
Jamie and I don’t have any kids.
And we won’t. (At least, not without the help of modern science or divine intervention)
Our dog is the closest we’re going to get.
If you’re a true Cavender Diary reader, you’ll remember when we adopted our Harley Davidson – back when Jamie did all the writing on this blog. Loosing her in October was the hardest thing we’ve gone through together…..
But it’s been a few months, and we’re ready to move forward.
A few weeks ago, Jamie reached out to a couple Doberman rescue groups to see if there was possibly a good fit for us. After a written exam, several phone interviews, and a home visit, Lone Star Doberman Rescue matched us with a 14 month-old boy in Argyle, TX. named “Styrke” – Norwegian for “Iron”.
Look at those big floppy ears and that pink tongue.
How could we resist?
So, once again, we took a 45 minute trip just to meet a dog……and proceeded to bring that dog back home with us.
He was waiting for us at the end of the driveway, I think he knew.
Our second rescue, our second Doberman rescue together. My third Doberman. I had one just before Jamie and I moved in together. Faust. Stomach cancer took him just before we bought this house. I have a severe attachment to Dobermans. (Like Hunter S. Thompson, and the Dark Knight, and David Berkowitz. HHHmmm. Not exactly the company I ever expected to be included with…. but here we are.) It breaks my heart that these smart, amazing dogs could ever be unwanted.
Styrke had quite a journey before making his way to us. Five months ago, he was found at a common dog dumping ground in Houston. He was malnourished, heartworm infested, and so riddled with mange that the animal shelter wasn’t even sure what breed he was.
Lone Star Doberman intervened; paying for his recovery and placing him with a foster care-giver in Houston. She named him Styrke, because iron is strong – like he needed to be. But about a month in, his foster moved to Hawaii and Styrke was transported to Kim in Argyle. She crate-trained him and taught him some commands to be prepared for the next step in his life.
His life with us.
We weren’t too keen on the name Styrke. No one even knows how to pronounce it. A new life deserves a new name. So Jamie bought him a new dog-tag, engraved with “Logan” – our favorite X-Man. (Who happens to be even stronger than steel.)
Logan’s a pretty chill little guy, but still a puppy;
He growls at the “Huuuump Day!” camel in the Geico commercial.
He scratches his ear untill he farts.
He doesn’t know the words “Outside” or “Daddy”, but he sure knows the word “Treat”. And where they’re kept.
He isn’t quite sure what to make of the vacuum cleaner yet; fun new game or arch nemesis?
Today, he pooped tinsel.
It’s been a week now, and a pretty easy adjustment for all three of us. We think he’s a perfect fit.
I’ve heard it said that people who have dogs live longer,
I’m not sure about that,
But I know for a fact that people who have dogs live better.
Welcome to the rest of your life Logan…
MERRY CHRISTMAS to all,
and to all a good night.
I’m not sure where my obsessive collecting habits span from.
I’ve never been satisfied with just a few of anything. If I collect something…hold on to your butts, because I am going for the gold. Why stop at ten or twelve, when I can have several dozen? As a child, I couldn’t have just the main characters in action figure form, I wanted every single one…. plus extras for “back-ups”.
Tin globes, large letter postcards, Polish glass ornaments, western belt buckles, conversational ties, Zuni fetish…..the list goes on and on.
A few short years ago, about the same time I joined the Golden Glow of Christmas Past, I was introduced to these little gems,
Milk glass figural bulbs.
I was immediately smitten and because they are priced pretty inexpensively, (I can usually buy a lot of 5 to 10 for about $20), it really didn’t take long to amass about a hundred.
I can’t believe that I’d never even heard of them before.
In case you hadn’t either, here’s a quick history lesson;
At the turn of the last century glass figural bulbs were first produced in Germany, Austria and Hungary by many of the same artisans that made glass Christmas ornaments, often from the same molds. They were beautifully mouth-blown and hand painted. But the heat of the electric bulb gave these decorations a short life span, and the painted details flaked off pretty quickly.
When World War I interrupted imports from Europe, it was the Japanese that stepped in to meet the demand for figural lights, this time using milk-glass.
Milk glass is thicker and more heat-resistant. Plus, it’s already white. Which meant that decorating them was faster. Like their European counterparts, they were also hand-painted, although slightly cruder and usually by children. A lower price kept Japanese figural lights very popular with American buyers for several decades. Until sadly, tastes shifted and plastic and aluminum decorations dominated the market.
Thought I’d share a few from my collection;
There are Santas….so many Santas. I’ve shifted my focus to more of the unusual designs.
Like snowmen,
and houses with snow-covered roofs,
and bells,
Fruits and vegetables were popular. I don’t see many corn cobs though.
As were flowers, like these budding roses.
Animals were designed in all sorts of whimsical designs. Here are dogs, cats, teddy bears and an elephant.
This big ol’ lion in a vest was one of my first finds.
Religious themes still prevailed in the middle of the last century during Christmas time.
Themed sets of lights were pretty popular too; Disney, the Sunday funnies, and nursery rhymes were sold in sets of eight characters. I’m pretty close to finding complete sets of all of these familiar faces. (In fact, Jiminy Cricket arrived just after I took these pictures)
I can never have enough Humpty Dumptys.
Or cupie dolls
or clowns.
I haven’t seen them yet, but I’m hoping there are seven more band members to go along with this drummer.
Do they still light? You may ask.
I’ve noticed that about a quarter of them still do.
I think this is because C-6 bulbs require all the bulbs to be working for the entire strand to light. Once one bulb went out, the strand was either tossed, stored in the attic or the bulbs hung with hooks like ornaments.
Because most of them only fit C-6 light sockets, something that hasn’t been made in over 50 years, you can actually test them with a 9-volt battery. Like so…
So what do I do with all these beauties?
Glad you asked.
There are a few bowls-full scattered around the house.
And I added a small feather tree with several of my favorites wired to the branches.
I think they look amazing on that white tree. It really showcases the still vibrant colors.
Next year I planing on adding strings of them to the vintage themed tree.
So watch out,
At the rate that these things multiply.
Lord only knows how many I’ll have by then.
