Scout on a Swing (Dorky Love Poem #1)

Scout on a swing, oh
That's indeed my thing, yo.

However a Scout, whenever a Scout,
Oh, cripes ... I just flail about!!!!

So, I deserve Scout's latitude?
Guardian of my solitude ...
Holder of mine "life is long"
Okay then. I can abide

What route to stride along?
My scout came about,
With more than just a sidekick's charm
And a Dr. Strangelove arm extending out (?)

Scout, she enchanted my doubt
With a prairie of puns,
Nary a judgment of room
Over my slanted vacuum
In a dream of a new dream,
Scout is me as I am navigator to thee (m) ...

(Sorry, had to write a love poem tonight ... I've been working long hours and can't wind down and Scout has been holding forth on the home front with the teens and the current-times; I haven't seen her in days - so it seems - but, oh, my unwinding from staring at a computer screen and turning music into a digital reality is quite unwinding need-inducing ... I love the Scout so much, and you do, too, and that's why I'm going to carry her over the threshold of her own home as a good man should!)

(How's that for a naked testimonial? Am I hired? I figured as much ....)

Brent & Chuck: Piles on the Move

Brent & Chuck: Piles on the Move
Posted by: wendylewis.

Piles are generally at rest. These are not only on wheels, but are being taken in opposite directions. Some law of physics may be applicable here.

Or..... it reminds me of those math word problems.... "If one man (X) is driving a pile to the west taking 17-inch strides and the other man (Y) is driving a pile to the east taking 21-inch strides but is moving at a more rapid rate, how much time will it take for them to dump their loads and return to the corner of the blue house given that X pile is larger than Y pile, that the wind is blowing easterly at 30mph and X has not had any lunch."

Here Comes the Bride?

Here Comes the Bride?
Posted by: wendylewis.

In an effort to encourage me in navigating the world of girl clothes, I was asked to try on Helen's wedding dress. I think the footwear is a subtle contradiction.

She, by the way, was stunning in the dress 37 years ago which segues nicely into wishing Helen & Gary a Happy Anniversary (May 25). They are my most current and profound inspiration on the subjects of mutual respect and abiding love. I'm taking notes.

Birthday Lessons: "How to Open Presents"

Birthday Lessons: "How to Open Presents"
Posted by: wendylewis.

Birthday Lessons: "How to Eat Cake"

Birthday Lessons: "How to Eat Cake"
Posted by: wendylewis.

The SigLewJen's Party with Mitch

The SigLewJen's Party with Mitch
Posted by: wendylewis.

We celebrated Mitch's first birthday on May 15. Nothing funnier than a kid facing his first candle and his first sugar overload. He maintained, holding court without a meltdown. Happy Birthday Mitchell!

Baby's First Crash

Baby's First Crash
Posted by: wendylewis.

Meet Mitchell.....son of Chuck & Kirsten .... little trooper. We just celebrated his first birthday a couple weekends ago. Ow. I mean, whoa, OW! First steps are hard. Remember? Hmmm.... I guess lots of steps are hard and some days it just keeps comin'. Welcome to the oft cold, cruel world, Mitch. We'll be here for you! Totally!

The Quonset Option

The Quonset Option
Posted by: wendylewis.

Well, you know, we've been a bit overwhelmed trying to pull things together for the wedding. The mower keeps breaking down, the rain never stops, the garden may never get planted, the basement is damp and piled up with tubs and boxes and music gear, two bathrooms are barely functioning, the shed needs a new door, there's no electricity in the garage.

Maybe we should just can this house & yard party idea and rent a quonset hut. This one looks pretty appealing.... what do you think?

Sugar Q's Shave and Buzzy's Revolt

Sugar Q's Shave and Buzzy's Revolt
Posted by: wendylewis.

Here's the email I got from Buzzy.....

"I am sad to report the loss of one of my furry pets...Guy's handlebar mustache. I am staging a small revolt(see pic below) but I am not sure how long I can hold out."

Let's send support to Buzzy. There's still time to get that stash back on Sugar Q's upper lip before August 13th!

Three B's : Busy, Busy, Busy

Updatey: We've been experiencing busy. B and I have both been working a lot which is awesome since August party needs are piling up with scary pricetags. Kitty starred brilliantly in Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat (as B mentioned) which spanned a two-week run. It was packed every night. Art in the community rocks! Everyone wins! Write your congress men & women and senators and tell them to keep the NEA funded. OK? Do it! It's on the chopping block as we speak.

Dad showed up Thursday last.... and Hannah on Saturday night just in time for curtain. We had an afterparty that night and much of the cast showed up. We dragged around on Sunday until the matinee show and after that attended Mitchell Sigmeth Hoffman's very first birthday. Among other things, he got a fantastically plasticky John Deere 4-wheeler. It was all he wanted to do for the rest of the day. We'll have fotos soon. Dad doesn't leave until this Thursday so I've had a lot of quality time with him but sadly, Hannah had to leave Monday at noon and I'd left for work at 7:15AM. It was a weepy moment. I missed her even before she left. I think I'll find my car wending its way to Madison in the very near future to see the girl and check out her summer sublet.

Other than all this.... life is good. I'm more in love w/ B than I was yesterday, or even an hour ago which makes me most certain that the wedding is ON.

Hot Record Producer: Corky

I took Corky to work with me today. He wasn't much help, but his company was as fine as usual ... he just floated papal-like over the console for most of the day.

Scout and Father of Scout (W. Lee Lewis)

During his visit to see his grand-daughter Kitty starring in Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat, Lee has finally taken to enjoying the soothing rhythms of Dr. Chair (it's not so chilly out tonight). He'll be napping soon, I predict!

(Notice that Lee has his Dr. Chair driving hat on ....)

(Below) I rest my case.

Best Dude and Tools of His Trade

The Dude can abide if you're in need of a tool. Just look at those tools. And what's a Splash-Tamer, anyway?

New 'Blog Viewers Check the Archives, Yo ...

Boots Aplenty

Boots Aplenty
Posted by: wendylewis.

OK. Here it is! I'm outing myself. I was both a post-Vietnam war hippie poser AND on the RJ Reynold's Dancing Boots. In order to substantiate the deeper meaning of this; back up!..... give me room. This was no pansy-booted group of girlie girls. We were dance jocks. The audition process was feverish and heavily populated, not to mention a coveted placement for a girl from any click, so being selected for the only city school dance team was hi-freakin'-brow stuff. The judging panel included, as I recall, a professorial dancer from the NC School of the Arts among other notables.

Once selected, our practices were hellish -- sweltering south'ren heat all summer long 3-4x/wk - daily, grueling after school practices during season (stretching included upright splits on the lockers using the locks as pulleys during winter) and chilly, muscle-cramping dances at the games. We were once asked to dance at the Super Bowl (because we were so damn good & fine) but the funds available, in that tobacco rich city of Winston-Salem, would not allow it...meaning most of us were not spawn of the old money. We were mostly back-woods or city scrappin' girls who knew full well how to kick. (Back me up on this, Trisha Corona sistah.) Plus... we were all well-schooled in Supremes moves.

What matters more is that this is the very scenario in which Trisha Corona (aka Byrdie) and I met and fell in love our junior year in high school. It would be twenty years from graduation day until we would joyfully reunite.

Girl.... you just better cough up your boot portrait or your "booty" is, ..... well, you know.

Blowtorch Sr.

That's my crazy Dad and his new accomplice (Best Dude, Bob "Never-Ever" Fales). My Dad has welded many things over the years: My sister's plastic baby buggy and his own hand are two items.

Nice Shot!

YOU DECIDE

Dilemma:

Kitty asserts that it would be best for us to go on our honeymoon before school starts again in September, although we believe that September may be the time to go due to lower rates of motels, etc. (we're thinking we'd like to drive to the south west). We have stated that Kitty would prefer our absence to be in August due to the nature of a "free-house" for her friends to hang-out in and go about their teenage merriment unfettered by adult supervision before they return to school in September. Kitty says rather innocently she would just like having the house to herself, stating that, "it's fun, it's like being an adult ... you make your own dinner, you clean up, you cook eggs ...."

Several solutions were voiced:
1) we cancel the wedding celebration, go to the JP, and save all the money spent on a celebration for a trip in the costly month of August (Kitty seemed to think this would suit her well)
2) We bite the bullet and go into debt for a trip in August so Kitty can party her heart out before she and all her friends have to return to school in September
3) Kitty works full-time all Summer to aquire the monetary difference between honeymooning in August compared to September, gives us the money-difference to basically rent a party-house while we're gone,
4) We go in August, but Aunt Mary comes down to stay while we're gone, or
5) we go in September, disregarding Kitty's request for Summer party-time house.

We would appreciate some advice and comments. Thank you ....

Meet Lola

Meet Lola
Posted by: wendylewis.

Ah.... girlfriend. She heard me sing Tomboy/Sallygirl ("she's king and queen and everything in between") at the first performance of Rhea Valentine at a warehouse apartment fundraiser. We've been replaying that song in each other's lives for 18 years. When we met, her Guy Henry and my Hannah were still in highchairs and Kitty would follow within the year. She had much to do with my awakening into a more resplendent consciousness. This photograph was taken the morning she left Minneapolis in the late 80's to return to her childhood town of Guerneville, tucked between the Russian River and the mighty Pacific on the northern coast of California and we have done far more than survive the distance between us. We live in each others eyes. I love you, Laura.

this just in!

this just in!
Posted by: wendylewis.

The smirking man in the back (father of groom, circa 1986?) knows he's lookin' good and bears a striking facial hair resemblance to one Sugar Q Super Dog we know who has appeared on this blog prior, who was also lookin' good. The strapping young lad up front appears to be depressed, due to a lack of facial hair production capabilities, perhaps.

Robot Series: The Man to Beat (TMTB)

With the help of My buddy Tom Cranley, Dr. Keith Bird invented a line of robots that refer to him as THE CREATOR. The line is called The Man to Beat (TMTB). This particular robot is named: TMTB-NOMATIC. The very first prototype was named TMTB:DI-VERSE. (Note: They communicate with THE CREATOR through a headset and typically wear a silver bird on top of their heads -- as seen below). Another one in the line is TMTB-RESOURCE.

Northstar Gone Lonestar (Excuse me, LONE STAR, two words)'s Pile!

He was trimming trees this past weekend and will accept any & all scrutiny/comments/abuse, so let him have it!

Still-Life w/ Love-Seat ....

How 'bout that, huh?

Just imagine Marlon Brando kickin' back on that thing with a blanket over his legs mumbling as he reads Hemmingway and you're pretty much there.

This Old Love-Seat!

Sometimes the planets just align. Today, I drove with Bob to pick up an old pick-up he bought. Sitting next to it in the back of a construction supply warehouse was this amazing chair. The owner said I could take it (against Bob's will), so here we are an hour later with a brand new electric swiveling love-seat! Great for star-gazing, watching submarine races, or enjoying a good summertime cocktail. I'm gonna clean it up, plug it in, and see if it works ... I'll report back.

I'm back. Plugged 'er in and it worked! Not only that, but an extra bonus was discovered -- it vibrates!!!! It's like Christmas around here all of the sudden. When Wendy gets home tonight, she's gonna be proud of her junk man!

prom 1988

brent & trisha prom 1988
Posted by: wendylewis.

Too bad, Sprite! We found the foto and you are outed, as is your date.

What beauty lies here. Just look! OK. Let's Trisha. Check back in the blog to the Pillsbury couple in front of a painting called "Tidal Pull" (Corky-View #3 Tidal Pull). So much happened between this foto and that painting but that is what life is about. That is what this blog is about. That is what love and history and connection is about. She and Brent have deep history. And now I get to co-opt that connection and begin (which I already have) a connection of my own with her and her amazing husband, John.

Meanwhile, in the interest of not getting over-klemped, check out Trisha's fantastic hair. It's SO 80's and in red glorious red, not to be outdone.

So, B.... tell us a story about the evening, if you can remember, and I know you can.....

(Brent speaking) Okay, I'll comment ..now that our life-photos have been consolidated (this could get scary, sweet Wendy). Prom 1988 ---- no one barfed and there was no hanky-panky among friends. Best man Bob was involved, as were Rev. Boyce and others. After the lame paddle-boat cruise near Lake City, I seem to remember an eight-foot tall bonfire near the Cannon River ignited by the power of gasoline. Good times, nonetheless. We were good for at least that, right?

prom 2005

The other part of our weekend involved the holiest of holies in the school year: PROM. (From left to right -- Wade, Kitty, Amy & Nathan.) And then, there is the Prom Sprite (far right) who is present at every prom readiness ramp up event, whether you can see him or not. If he looks confounded, he probably is. He's the one whose doubt and fear compels the young women to get the eye make-up just right, the perfumed neck extended, the purse filled with only what a girl might need on such a night, all before their consorts arrive at the door. He worries so they don't have to. He is the gentle if invisible reminder that something could go horribly wrong, which amps up the excitement of the evening. Either that, or he's just wishing for days gone by.... wondering where he put his prom photographs from 1988, hoping no one will discover them and post them on a blog.

Three B's Part 2: Bob, Brent, Blowtorch

Three B's Part 2: Bob, Brent, Blowtorch
Posted by: wendylewis.

Bob is (casually) imparting Best Man Skills to Brent in this photograph, taken this weekend. Bob has been married for a about a decade and he knows how these things work. Enough said.

The Siglewjen Home is Blessed

It's official. The right reverend (who typically does that which is right) has blessed our home (with Corky observing). It may seem goofy, but let me tell you -- it's a pretty huge honor.

Our house was "cleansed, blessed, and dedicated as a safe haven and a sanctuary for love". Perfect.

We had an excellent weekend, blessed with the fine company of the reverend. Much was talked about & laughed about in front of the fireplace. When he returns to Madison, Rev. Boyce plans to do some shopping over at Madison Church Supply (he'll no doubt be flashing his credentials for a discount).

Romeo Loses His Cool

Unable to take it anymore, Romeo lost his cool last night

Corky & Rev. B.R. Johnson in Conclave

More info to follow on this particular summit .... as you can imagine.

As a testament to his forward thinking, comforting optimism, and in response to: "You smell like last night's drink", the right reverend declared last night, "I smell like tomorrow's drink, today."