been exploring my new town, checking out the scene, finding my way around.
i have been taking long walks with megpye and alone. i love the river valley. i love the magpies. i am really getting confused by the street names, they are mostly numbers, with streets going one way and avenues going another way. i have a hard time with numbers, they tend to get muddled in my head. it's difficult to keep track of whether i am looking for 100th avenue or 100th street. but i manage.
on one of my walks i spied something interesting looking in a pile of leaves in the gutter. i wandered over for a closer look, and realized that it was jesus. i picked him up, brushed him of and put him into my purse. i brought him home and delighted myself by getting to make "i found jesus!" jokes for the rest of the day. he now sits on the windowsill in a place of honour next to the guitar shaped cribbage board, and meg's little sisters glamour shots.
megpye and i have been playing life as nintendo. we refer to maps, look for treasures, uncover new levels, explore old levels, return to finish quests, embark on challenges and fight evil. we discuss how our days went in term of what game they most resemble and how hard the level was. we   triumphantly return home and high five "hub mall level CLEARED!!" exp up, health up. we award each other increases in stat points and megs offers me 'keys' and cheats for levels she has already cleared. some days are like zelda, where we have to go in circles many times, collect many forms and items and ask people what we need.some days are more like mario, where we climb and jump and run around and crawl through pipes and things.

for breakfast, megpye and ryskie include me in their sacred rite of rock n' roll heavy metal breakfast. we have smoothies and drink them out of giant slayer beer steins. slayer smoothies are rockin' awesome. we only have one slayer mug left, and we were going to go out and buy more, but ryskie thought he might want a different band logo.
"i'm really into lamb of god right now, i think i want lamb of god mugs." suggested ry.
"but ryskie!" megpye exclaimed, "it's SLAYER SMOOTHIE BREAKFAST! we have to get SLAYER mugs"
"lamb of god isn't as cool sounding" i said. "ry, 'lamb of god breakfast smoothie' doesn't have the same ring to it. it sounds, well, kind of gay. that's not very metal."
"yeah ry, just imagine yourself, you could tell everyone that you had a SLAYER SMOOTHIE and they'd all know you totally rock out in the AM. a lamb of god breakfast beverage sounds too faggy."
i think he'll come around soon. 

there were posters all over the neighbourhood for a halloween party at the local cybercafe. "ARE YOU A ROBOT? if not, dress up as one and come to our very special robot halloween show!"
megpye and i spent nearly 2 hours with rolls of tinfoil, trinkets from the dollar store and some cardboard and created really cheezie robot costumes. we decided that since we didn't have a lot of time, and were likely to be out-cyborg-ed by more serious types we went for maximum ridiculousness. she wore her pigtails through pie plates and i wore a strainer on my head. we got to the place, and there weren't any other robots there. the staff hadn't even dressed up as robots. we were amazed. some people had really serious costumes, the owner looked liked a Professional hot nurse, she had a full pvc outfit complete with giant pvc boots that matched and a complete accessory medical kit. there was a dominatrix little red riding hood with her beau as the wolf on a leash. then there was a bland assortment of people in their regular clothes with dumb masks, or kinda dressed up as "schoolgirls" or just whored up a little. there was one guy dressed as a madman, he was in a straight jacket. he was kinda cute, so i decided i was going to feed him shots all night, then get his pants down and tie his shoelaces together, then skip out the door before dawn giggling. alas, his friends unbuckled him before i even made it to the bar.
megs and i got so much attention from the staff. they were so pleased that we had actually come to their robot party dressed as robots. the one waitress was dressed as "japanese schoolgirl tentacle rape" it was a great outfit. a proper buttoned up uniform, with stuffed tentacles sewed under the skirt, some wrapped alluringly around her ankles, one peeking out from the collar of her blouse. there was very little skin showing, but it was a really suggestive outfit!
megpye and i easily won all the robot costume prizes. alas, i'm still occasionally experiencing technical difficulties with lappy. photos only on my facebook right now.

so far, i have seen many of the native fauna. besides magpies, i've seen raven, deer, bison, cows, llamas, horses, coyote, jackrabbits, canada geese, ducks, and a weasel. i plan on seeing elk for sure before spring. i think a prairie dog sighting will have to wait until spring.

i love hanging out with ryskie because he's such a music nerd. he has accurately assessed my musical taste and gotten me into deadboy and the elephantmen. i love it.

i begin to feel like myself again. i manicured my nails. now i look down at my hands and feel like i am seeing MY hands. i do my hair and makeup every morning and can again take pleasure in it. the fall weather here is perfect for layering on woollens over stockings and plaid and velvet over lace and cotton. the swagger is back in my steps, my clothes feel like extensions of myself and not old skins that i've shed. it's nice to be home.