For the last 3 years for Lent, I’ve given up alcohol. A, ahem, sobering experience, that I’ve actually begun to look forward to, seeing as how much of a change of pace it usually is for my normal life. This year however, due to my extensive travel schedule, I was totally unaware that it was Ash Wednesday, i wanna say i was in KL? Not even sure.

So being the natural guilty Catholic that I am, pretty much assumed my lack of abstenance this year was causing some extreme stomach pains I was having on Good Friday last week. (Ok, i really didn’t make that correlation, but it did cross my mind.)

Michelle came over to bring me some meds, and after that still didn’t subside the pain, Mom & Dad swooped in for DevCon 2: the minor emergency clinic. They pretty much had to drag me there, as I was paranoid that I’d get there, they’d tell me it was gas, and send me embarrassingly on my way. Well, thank God for the ‘rents, because it wasn’t gas, or food poisoning, or Catholic guilt.

Yepper, it was my appendix. That little evolutionary organ that serves us no purpose at all, but to randomly become inflamed and infected. Awesome.

So after a cat scan and confirmation of the diagnosis from the Doc, I was put on an ambulance and admitted into St. Luke’s. It’s pretty much a blur after that. Surgery was first thing in the morning. Mom and dad had gone home to get some sleep, and thankfully Matthew came to stay with me during the night, because when the dr. arrived in the morning, they sent me straight to surgery.

The next 2 days were a fuzzy blend of friends, flowers, story time, banana pudding, jello, and pain meds.

As I was preparing for release on Sunday, we received some more bad news. My Aunt Theresa, my dad’s sister, and my Godmother, passed away Easter morning. She joins my aunt Beverly and my Paw Paw (both who also passed away on Easter) who are all resting peacefully now. thanks for all your thoughts and prayers. The funeral will be later this week. For those of you who didn’t know my Aunt Theresa, her husband was Henry Fry, creator of Fry Surf Boards. They lived in Costa Rica for 5 years where he had a shaping shop. He was somewhat of a star in the surfing world. And she was her happiest there in Costa Rica.

It’s been a rough few days, and all of your love and thoughts have definitely helped me through it.

Big thanks to Mom & Dad for always being there when I need them. To Michelle for continuing to be my partner in crime thoughout this; to Matt for covering the night shift and reading to me, even when I’m not supposed to be laughing; to Lindsay, Misty, Taneka, Shekara, Kasey, Jaime, Stefanie, my sister and Matt and the boys, for the visits, flowers, pudding, magazines, and DVDs! We needed a small truck to unload everything.

And thanks to all the twitterati for all your thoughts and prayers. At one point Matt exclaimed, “your replies cover all of page 2!” (I think he was jealous—but it made me feel great )

I truly am blessed to have a most excellent support system in my life, and I can’t tell you another time that has been more evident than these last few days.

New hair, originally uploaded by CosmoPoliTician.

so i’m addicted. Ever since i cut all my hair off last November, I’ve been going shorter and shorter, and darker and darker.

need a new ‘do? go see Greg at Azur Salon on Shepherd (www.azursalon.com)

Tell him i sent ya!

Dr.SketchyMarch 004, originally uploaded by whitejackrabbit.

photo: CosmoPolitician

Another great Dr. Sketchy event yesterday, what a turn out! No doubt thanks in part to the Chronicle’s coverage in last Sunday’s paper.

If you missed the event yesterday, you can catch some of the Sketchy action over at our HoustonSketchy Flickr Group
Be sure to check the site for upcoming dates and to sign up for the Sketchy Newsletter.

photo: groovehouse

About Dr. Sketchy
Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School is everything you wish all of your old boring art classes could have been. That is, chilled out afternoons full of beautiful people, killer beats, booze and ridiculous contests / draw-offs. Dr. Sketchy’s is what happens when Cabaret meets art school. When saucy models meet costume-themed boozefests. When artsy kids meet hip hop sketch clubs.

Houston Sketchy brings our steamy slice of the world a slew of stunning strumpettes to pose for and astound the masses - as well as pass out cool prizes and make fun of people. All that is expected of you is to sketch as you have never sketched before. And maybe have a couple of drinks, too.

Join us next time!

Michelle (DrMiggy) and I have just returned from Austin for a quick trip for the WashingtonVC Rock Band Party put on by the lovely Rana Sobhany, a 24-hour tour of some of my favorite places and peeps in tha ATX. Just what the doctor ordered.

Here are some pics courtesy of the most rocking Gwen Bell and Michael Cummings.

More pics here, here, and here.

Was so great to hang with peeps like Gwen and Andrew Hyde who i never get to see. Hmmm, trip to Boulder soon? Um, yes please.

we had a blasty. fo sho. @twiches was in tha house.

I totally rode a camel today.

It was pretty dark, so the pics and video didn’t come out that well. But, dude, I totally rode a camel.

After taking us to ride camels today, our Saudi agent, and excellent volunteer tour guide, Mohammed, took us to his favorite hooka restaurant.

I had never toked the Hooka before, so Bryan and Mohammed were fine making fun of teaching me. Hey, it’s not as easy as it looks.

Ok, so my Bahrain mission to find the King of Pop has proven fruitless. However, I did find a hilarious You Tube video of a Filipino prison choreographing Thriller.

Today one of our Saudi agents for the show took us to the Bahrain Fort. The site is believed to have been constructed around 2800 BC, and is subsequently overlaid by various fortified settlements. The last was built during the 16th century to defend recent acquisition of Portugal. The Bahrain Fort is also known as the Portuguese Fort, due to this reason.

Tomorrow: camel rides!

Some pics and video of the Fort: (sorry in advance for the wonky camera work on the video.)

Who’s been by my side this last month of traveling? None other than my trusty iPod. iPhone actually. Thanks to my dad, who I’m pretty sure just bought me one so I could teach him how to use his. Not that that matters.

I decided today, while fuming about the KLM debacle, that I needed a revised playlist. So I made it a mission, during the 5 hours from Asmterdam to Bahrain, to go through my entire iPod and pick out the songs that had to do remotely with traveling, or my feelings during my travels. And here ya go. (Disclaimer: travel songs are mostly sad, but I’m not. the sleep stuff is true though. )

These are just from the songs on my iPod. Please don’t comment that I left off Steve Miller’s Jet Airliner.

1. The Beatles - Wait
“It’s been a long time, and now I’m coming back home, i’ve been away now, oh how, i’ve been alone.”

2. Snow Patrol w/ Martha Wainwright - Set the fire to the Third Bar
“I’m miles from where you are / i lay down on the cold ground / I pray that something picks me up / and sets me down in your warm arms.”

3. Okkervil River - Black Sheep boy
“Here i am back home again / I am here rest. All they ask is where i’ve been, knowing I’ve been West.”

4. Ben Folds - Golden Slumber
“Once there was a way to get back homeward, Once there was a way to get back home, sleep pretty darling, do not cry, and I will sing a lullaby.”

5. Ben Lee - Begin
“It’s ok for you to care, cuz i can feel you in the air. While you wonder how’s the gonna end, i only want it to begin.”

6. Benjamin Gibbard - You remind me of home
” you remind me of home / a broken bed with dirty sheets that creaks when i am shifting in my sleep.”

7. Billy Bragg & Wilco - Airline to Heaven
“you wanna ride this train, have your ticket in your hand, before it is to late. you can get a way to heaven, on this aeroplane. take this airline plane, it will take you home again.”

8. Black Keys - Aeroplane Blues
“i’m on an airplane, close to sea, going nowhere, i wanna be, distant lands, don’t know who I am, eyes are heavy, mind is shook, can’t feel, drugs I took, distant lands.”

9. BRMC - Berlin
pretty much just the title. and because they rock. hard.

10. Bob Schneider - Tokyo (i pretty much hummed this the whole way to and from Tokyo)
“tokyo’s not far enough, from where and when i wanna be, today.”

11. Brazilian Girls - Tourist Trap
“lining up at the pool, peeing into the ocean, peeling off, losing at the casino, drinking wine and tequila, throwing up TOURIST TRRRAAAAP!” this song makes me laugh every time i hear it.

12. Cat Stevens - The Wind
“i listen to the wind, to the wind of my soul, where i’ll end up, really God only knows.”

13. Centro-Matic - Huge in Every City
“you say you’re huge in every city, but not this one today.”

14. Chris Cornell - Wave Goodbye (yes, im the one person who bought his solo CD)
“when you miss somebody, you tell yourself a hundred thousand times, that nobody lasts forever, so you give in one more try to wave goodbye. wave goodbye.”

15. Counting Crows - Raining in Baltimore
“i need a phone call, i need a raincoat, i need a big love, i need a phone call.”

16. Gomez - See The World
“See the world, Find an old fashioned girl, And when all’s been said and done, It’s the things that are given, not won, Are the things that you want.“

17. I Am Kloot - No Direction Home
” Crawl upon the earth, scour the universe you know, Set my compass north, circumscribe the earth and go - no direction home”

18. James Taylor - My Traveling Star (thanks for the CD, momma!)
“Nevermind the wind, nevermind the rain, nevermind the road leading home again”

19. Joseph Arthur - Black Lexus
“You don’t know where you’re going, Almost anytime, Things lost just lighten up your load.”

20. Kings of Leon - Rememo (borrowed this one from MCA)
“On a plane, on a plane, off to see the city girls again, only bring them what i carry on, so you know i won’t be long”

21. M.IA. - Bucky Done Gun
“London, Quiet down I need to make a sound, New York, Quiet down I need to make a sound, Kingston, Quiet down I need to make a sound, Brazil, Quiet down I need to make sound.”

22. Morrissey - Hairdresser on Fire (the last time i was in london, i walked around Sloan Square just so I could listen to this song.)
“Here is london, giddy of london, Is it home of the free, Or what?”‘

23. My Morning Jacket - Bermuda Highway (fave MMJ song)
” sometimes I walk around town looking at faces
wonderin why their bodies go to silly places.
Walkin past the carpet mills looking in and takin stills,
your ass it draws me in like a Bermuda highway.
Don’t carve me out, don’t let your silly dreams, flal in between the crack of the bed and the wall.”

24. The Perishers - trouble sleeping
duh

25. Peter Sarstedt 0 Where do you goto my lovely
the ultimate paris song. best lyrics ever:
“When you go on your summer vacation
You go to Juan-les-Pines
With your carefully designed topless swimsuit
You get an even suntan, on your back…. and on your legs”

26. Ray Lamontagne - Three More Days
“3 more days, girl, you know i will be coming home to you darling, i no it’s wrong to be so far from home, i know it’s wrong to leave you so alone.”

27. Whisketown/Ryan Adams - 16 days
“got 16 days, one for every time i’ve gone away”

28. Ryan Adams - Nightbirds
i usually just use this melody to fall asleep

29. Snow Patrol - It’s beginning to get to me
” I tried to tell you before I left
But I was screaming under my breath
You are the only thing that makes sense
Just ignore all this present tense“

30. Son Volt - Highways and Cirgarettes
“can’t escape the smell cigarettes, still living out these american midnight blues.”

31. Son Volt - Windfall
“ Catching an all-night station somewhere in Louisiana
It sounds like 1963, but for now it sounds like heaven”

32. Tori Amos - Hotel (you didn’t think Tori wasn’t going to make an appearance, did ya?)
“met him in a hotel, met him in a hotel”

33. Tori Amos - Black Dove (January)
“but i have to get to TEXAS, yeah i have to get to TEXAS, and i’ll give away my blue, blue dress.”

34. U2 - Trying to throw your arms around the world.
yeah, i am.

35. Wilco - Dash 7
“Dash 7 in the air,
Dropped to the sun alone,
Jets hum
I wish that I was still there,
Props not a jet, alone,
Where the sun doesn’t come down
Because I’ve found the way those engines sound,
Will make it kiss the ground,
When you touch down”

36. Wilco - Do You Miss Me?
“I’ve been sleepin’ alone, out on my own
I’m sure it seems like I’m takin’ my time to get back to you
You been doin’ your part, working real hard
I’m not lying, sure it seems like I’m trying to get back at you
Do you miss me too?
Baby say I’ll miss you, just say you’ll miss me to.”

37. Zookeeper - Trumpets
“the jungle is filled with my friends
we sleep when and where we can
and i don’t know the last weekend
we saw”

So, things have been pretty smooth traveling wise during this 3 week stint. Of course, aside from the 8 hour hellish delay at IAH, oh, and that little issue of my house almost imploding on itself the first week I was away. But besides those incidents, I’ve had a pretty drama-less travel experience. Silly me to think it would last.

I’ll make this short: #1 because I’m exhausted, and #2 the more I tell about it the more it makes me want to strangle 3 airport workers. (Is that gonna be pick up on some terrorist spider?) Kidding, kidding.

I check in to Schipol airport for my Bahrain flight, print out boarding pass. Easy enough. I’m getting good at this stuff. Go to counter to drop bag. Bag(s). With an “s”. I’m traveling for 2 weeks straight. An “s” at the end of “bag” would be expected. Si? Eh, not so much, says KLM. I’m allowed 20 kilos (about 40 lbs). That said, I’m a pretty light packer. Not one of those gals whose shoe to day ratio is 3 to 1. I’m practical. I have one medium sized bag for 2 weeks, plus a carry on. However, since I’m attending tradeshows, I have an extra bag with tradeshow stuff. Two bags. One person. About 40 kilos. 20 more than KLM allows. So, what’s a girl to do? I ask.

KLM baggage drop girl (<—official title): “Well, you can throw out 20 kilos.”

me (kinda laughing): “You want me to THROW AWAY 20 kilos of my stuff.”

KLMBDG: “Well, yes ma’am, unless you want to pay extra to send this bag through.”

me (not laughing anymore): “How much?”

KLMBDG: “It’s a lot.” <—-her ACTUAL answer.

me (growing impatient): “How much?”

KLMBDG: “A lot.” <—-still, her actual response.

me: blank stare

her: “400 Euro”

me: still blank stare. then a maniacal laugh. (thinking she doesn’t know what’s about to happen.)

me: “Well, YOU tell ME. If this was you, what would YOU do?”

Voices raise. I am pissed. Supervisor comes. I have no choice but to pay the nearly $600 dollars (go on, read that one again). Ok course i can’t do that from that window. It’s a differnt window, at the other end of the airport. AWESOME! Get to THAT window, my credit card don’t work. AWESOME! End up paying $600 of my own money. AWESOME. Rush to gate. Oh, what? No gate G34? After rushing to the end of the airport?! Oh, that’s my seat number?! I’m at gate A3? At the OTHER end of the airport? AWEEEEESOME!

Fun times, fun times.

Ok, I realize the next few paragraphs have nothing to do with anything above, or with each other for that matter. Cut me some slack. It’s a brain dump.

Could It Be?

No joke, standing at the gate in Amsterdam, ready to board for Bahrain. Overhead on airport loud speaker: “Will passenger Lil’ (im taking liberities with the spelling) Jon departing Amsterdam for flight 455 to Houston please report to the gate. You are holding up the plane and you bags will be pulled.” Could it be the Krunk Juice King? Would it be a stretch to believe he was in Amsterdam “Uhhnnn. What?!” Get low.

More reasons to hate KLM

This is a small thing, but when you’ve been ticked off all morning at traveling, those small things are the ones that getcha. Know how when you’re watching the inflight entertainment and the captain or flight attendant comes on the speaker to make an announcement? Well normally, the movie stops, and resumes when the announcement is over, right? Fair enough. Well, not so much at KLM Airlines. Not only does the movie NOT stop, the sound goes off, the FF and Rewind controls don’t work, so you are a watching a movie, not sound, while the announcement is repeats in 7 languages. So silly me, as soon as they finish, and it comes back on, I hit rewind. What happens? They come back on to repeat the announcement in Dutch. So i’m stuck watching the part i just watched without sound, now, at twice speed backwards. Awesome. I gave up and watched 30 Rock. And glad i did, because I was reminded by Mr. Tracy Jordon, to Kenneth the page, to “live every week….like it’s Shark Week!” Ah, what great advice.

What chew lookin’ at Willis?
Apparently, it’s perfectly normal to STARE at someone for over 30 seconds in foreign airports. WTF? If you think my new coat that I just bought in Amsterdam is hella cute, just SAY something. Don’t stare at me like I am an Alien. YES! A real life American. Go ahead, touch me. That will be 400 Euros.

Let’s look at the bright side: I REALLY like the way the girl in Perth waxed my eyebrows, and the cab driver in Bahrain was playing Timbaland when I got in. Score.

(p.s. Jenny, if you are reading this, I could have really used a Bloggess photoshopped KLM Sucks pic)

So while I’ve been traveling, I’ve had a few different friends graciously house sitting for me. This week it’s my dear friend Maggie, who knows how much the bathroom incident freaked me out, so she delivered the following status update to me today.