Sunday, September 6, 2009

Running with the Wrong Crowd


There's a line a blogger crosses. From Bad Blogger to Dirty Rotten Blogger. A Bad Blogger posts sketchily, willy nilly, in fits and starts. When she returns to blogland after an extended absence, people say wry things like, "Oh my, you live and breathe." But the Bad Blogger at least has the decency to put in an appearance for solemn occasions such as blogaversaries. The Dirty Rotten Blogger does not.

I've crossed the line. Friday was my second blogaversary, not to mention my 56th birthday. And I refrained from commemorating. I morphed from oaf to scoundrel. I'm a Dirty Rotten Blogger. Maybe that's because I'm in the Terrible Twos. At least in blog years. Maybe it's because I've taken to running with the wrong crowd.

These kids are a bad influence.
Foreground: daughter Flannery.
Back row: David (Flan's boyfriend) and son Oakley.
Their deviousness is outdone
only by this one...


This one is bad to the bone.
He cooked TWO birthday feasts for me,
the first one two days before my birthday.
I came home from the gallery,
walked up the back steps to find
the bad one holding hands with Cinde, Bob, Christy,
and Russ. Their heads were bowed, their eyes were
closed, and they were chanting OOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM.
"What's going on here?" I asked in indignation.
"SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

Then there's that thug Otto...

Otto, my Stephano-Pirovano-designed
dental floss dispenser,
a gift from the dastardly Christy.
My birthday cards and letters, from various low-lifes:
My mother (who surreptitiously slipped me cash,
then brazenly sang Happy Birthday on my voice mail).
The infamous Sometimes Saintly Nick
(alias Alex the Blogging Cat).
JS (knee-deep in "discernment"--
an Episcopal euphemism for parole--she emailed me her first,
highly subversive sermon).
Paschal (who penned a wicked acrostic based on my name).
Belinda and Armand (from L.A.--lower Alabama--
can't get any lower than that).
Cinde and Bob, who harbored on their premises
Christy and Russ, accessories to the birthday perpetration.
The Out-Laws (disguised as the in-laws).
The Bad Influence Kids.
Bad-to-the-Bone.
Notice all of the cards are rallying around
the large bottle of Reposada,
a gift from Flannery and David.
(I told you they are a bad influence.)
The chocolate from Bad-to-the-Bone is hidden,
as are the various items of intimate apparel.

My birthday roses, grown by my neighbor Cynde
and arranged with greenery from her garden,
in a French tin pot, adorned with a white satin bow.
She's the scourge of the neighborhood.



Four pots of Russian sage,
foisted on me by my in-laws.
They wrote the book on Bad.
A selection of headily fragranced incense
and a heart-carved case to keep it in.
A gift from my insensitive lout of a son.
(That's the hem of my skirt in the foreground.
Not that you were asking.)
My Bradley mixed-media ceramic mask.
Gifted by, you guessed it, Bad-to-the-Bone.



My brand new great-niece Allie Rae,
whose timing could not have been worse.
She arrived home from the hospital on Friday,
my birthday,
my blogaversary,
the official opening day of Santa Fe Fiestas,
the official kick-off of Santa Fe's 400th Anniversary.
Some people are dirty and rotten from Day One.
But I adore the headgear!
VIVA LA FIESTA!
AND WELCOME ALLIE RAE!


71 comments:

Akelamalu said...

Well HAPPY BIRTHDAY and HAPPY BLOGVERSARY!

It wasn't all bad - was it? ;)

d smith kaich jones said...

Well! Happy, Happy! I just love bad girls! I bet you wore red-red lipstick all day, you naughty thing, you.

:) Debi

San said...

Akelamalu, I believe bad is the new good.

;-)

San said...

You've got that right, Debi. Red-red.

Hilary said...

What a bunch of miscreants!

Happy Birthday and Blogday.. and welcome to your newest family member.

I think you're forgiven... this time! ;)

Anonymous said...

How dare those dirty rotten scoundrels intrude and interrupt YOUR DAY OF DAYS! (tee-hee) Especially that new little one.

murat11 said...

Sista: You're doin' your 56 up mighty fine, you Dirty Rotten Bogger (you slipped further into the BOG in the second paragraph: DO NOT FIX IT.) I'll be watching closely for celebration hints, as my 56 comes on 11/6.

Bog on, girl, bog on.

San said...

Hilary, "miscreants"--why didn't I think of that word?

San said...

Dar, tell me about it. Allie Rae has some nerve.

San said...

OK, Paschal. I fixed it. I'm a Virgo. You're a Scorpio. Let the typos go on 11/6.

But I will definitely BOG ON.

Maggie May said...

Happy Birthday and Happy blogversary!
And welcome to your beautiful little great neice!
What lovely things to celebrate!
Great pictures of great presents!

San said...

Thanks, Maggie!

I had a great time documenting it all.
:-)

Mary Ellen said...

What fun! And what a lovable pack of scoundrels! Stay bad, please!

Carol said...

Happy Happy!!!

I think that you are LOVED! What a great round-up of bad influences!

Very auspicious to have Allie Rae come into the world at such a time as this.

Much love to you for your 2nd blogaversary and 56th birthday.

Lee said...

Happy Birthday & Happy Blogaversary, San! If that's a bad crowd you hang with then you just keep on hanging with 'em cause they definately know how to throw a party!

So glad you had pictures to post!

Hugs!
Lee

Elizabeth Bradley said...

Happy Birthday fellow Virgo! Bad must be the new good. ;-]

david mcmahon said...

Happy belated birthday, San.

San said...

Mary Ellen, they are a lovable pack of scoundrels. I'm blessed to be surrounded by such badness.

San said...

Allie Rae's arrival IS quite auspicious, Carol.

And thank you for the love!

San said...

Lee, you're right. They know how to get down!

Hugs back.

San said...

Elizabeth, somehow it fits that you're a Virgo. We have the bad thing down to a science.

:-D

San said...

Thanks, David.

Raven said...

Happy Belated Blogversary and Birthday. Obviously wickedness pays. There should be more like you. I'm glad you had such a grand day even if that adorable baby tried to steal your thunder.

sukipoet said...

happy birthday. hope it was reeeeeal bad. oh what a sweetkins that baby is too.

Lori Skoog said...

Happy Birthday from one Virgo to another. I guess none of your family members and friends realized it was that special day...and you didn't get any presents or a Happy Birthday chorus. So sad for someone who does live and breath (I guess that I am that bad person who said that). Bad to the Bone is some kind of guy...

Randy said...

Happy blog anniversary and a BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

San said...

Raven, wickedness does pay. Clearly, you are one with this wisdom.

San said...

Suki, the badness just continues. I must be living right. If only you were here, we could really get into some trouble.

San said...

Lori, I'm glad you recognized the horse's mouth on that one.

:-D

San said...

Thank you, Randy. Viva la fiesta to you and su casa!

myonlyphoto said...

Hey San happy birthday my dear, and congrats on making that far with your blog, happy blogversary, lol, you are something else. BTW I love your dental floss dispenser. Anna :)

Shrinky said...

Oooooooh, surrounded by such neer'do-well's, what's a poor girlie to do? As for that latest addition to the clan, - well, the hat say's it all! Poor girl doesn't stand a chance, does she?

I guess you had to play gracious and PRETEND to have a wonderful time, eh? It's tough to live such a rotten life (wink).

SandyCarlson said...

Happy Birthday! Happy Grand-niece's Birthday! Happy Family!

I love how bad you are. You're good at it. Keep it up!

jsd said...

An Irish Blessing:
May love and laughter light your days,
and warm your heart and home.
May good and faithful friends be yours, wherever you may roam.

May peace and plenty bless your world
with joy that long endures.
May all life's passing seasons
bring the best to you and yours!

Jeanne said...

hehe Well no wonder you haven't had time to blog with all those festivities. At least you gave us a picture laden post to make up for it. LOVE all the beautiful colors! Thanks so much for coming by my new digs! Bad blogger here isn't so good about commenting as much as I should but love the visuals you give.

Jeanne said...

Oh my goodness and Happy Birthday and Blogversary! {{HUGS}}

p said...

you have every right to ignore us all and celebrate birthdays and blogaveraries without ever feeling like a dirty rotten blogger. though far and few between, you always make me smile when you post something. glad you have had so much goodness going on over there san! best to you woman!!!!

Sandi McBride said...

And why not spend your Birthday with the family, bad influences that they may be (or not)...and blogaversaries come and go, but we still stomp around in here like bulls in a china shop...not remembering when we didn't know the talented San...and what a precious bundle of joy you've shared...love her hat! And congrats on the Post of the Day Nom on your Indian Market piece if David DID get the link wrong!
hugs
Sandi
oh and Happy Belated Birthday!

Daryl said...

OH MY .. a doubly dastarderly devious day ... I had no idea you were a Virgo .. Happiest of Belated but Heartfelt Wishes to a Wonderful Woman I look forward to meeting someday in the not so so distant future. Wishing you many many many more ... even more bad than this was! xo

Katiejane said...

What a FABULOUS birthday/anniversary!! Who could ask for more? To be surrounded by so much love and caring, and that adorable new arrival, is beyond any birthday wish I could send you, but Happy Birthday/Anniversary, anyway!

Andrea and Kim said...

HAPPY ALL BIRTHDAYS, SAN! It doesn't matter if it was the day you graced this earth with your presence or the day you graced the blog world with your beautiful art and delightful words, we are all so happy you are a part of our experience here and now! Thank you for being so special, so bad and for having such really inspirational people in your life!

HAPPY DAY DEAR SAN!

Blue Sky Dreaming said...

Happy Birthday and Happy Blogversary! It must be awful to be the good one surrounded by such bad bad ones! ha Great gifts!

Anonymous said...

Another example that looks can be deceivng!

Congrats!

Tammie Lee said...

Oh, it sounds as though you had a glorious and bad bad BAD celebration, bad to the bone! I feel happy for you! And you scored so many goodies. Love the flowers! How sweet to have a new little one born on your birthday!

The Moody Minstrel said...

Face it, San...your whole world is conspiring to corrupt you! ;-)

That's okay. You're forgiven! It looks like you had a very good birthday.

Now don't do it again!

San said...

Anna, I love my dental floss dispenser too. One of those gifts for the person who has everything.

San said...

Shrinky, you of course would understand the bitterness of it all.

And I agree--Allie's hat does speak volumes.

San said...

Sandy, I'm honored that you feel I'm good at the bad. You must speak from experience.

San said...

JS, that is a rich and lovely blessing. Another one for the printer. Thank you.

San said...

Jeanne, I love your new digs. And I'm glad the colors here entertained you. I find living with such makes life more interesting.

San said...

And Jeanne, thank you MUCH for the birthday/blogaversary hug. Right back atcha...

San said...

Paula, your comments always make me smile. Make that GRIN.

Happy journeying to you...

San said...

Sandi, I love the "bull in a china shop" metaphor. That is what we all do around here--it's where we'll free to stomp around without any thought of preciousness.

Thanks for letting me know about David. I'll have to get over to his place to: 1. thank him 2. scold him for the typo. Just kidding about the latter.

San said...

Daryl, yes, Ray and I share the same sign. When we do get together, if our spouses are along, just take comfort in the fact that Bennie is a Leo. And I have my moon, Venus, and Mars, and Pluto in Leo.

San said...

Kate, your wishes are very much appreciated. There can never be too many wishes!

San said...

Kim, as ever, you are making me glow. You just know how to make a person feel GOOD.

San said...

Mary Ann, of course the real gifts are the people in my life. You are one of those gifts.

San said...

The Things We Carried: yes, yet ANOTHER example.

San said...

Tammie, I wish you could have smelled those roses. Too bad there isn't a fragrance-enabling option on Blogger.

San said...

Moody, since you're a teacher, I suppose I need to take your admonition to heart. Until next year. ;0

I was surprised to get a comment from you on a weekday. Then I remembered--you must be out for the summer. Enjoy your freedom, man.

nsiyer said...

Well many many happy returns on your birthday and also for the third year blog day

Velvet Ginger said...

That waws a really really cute post!!!! Birthday it looks like had had a great time with those you love...you bad1!

~Babs said...

Oh, Virgos are notoriously rotten to the CORE!
(I know, as I live with one)
And dang, what a tease you are,,,,we wanted to see all that kick ass lingerie!
Happy Birthday and anniversary,,,here's looking at you, bad KID!

Jameil said...

happy bday, bloggerversary AND great-auntdom! wow! so much to celebrate! glad you were feeling the love all around!

lime said...

well happy belated birthday. i rather like that you gave yourself a blog for your birthdy a coupl;e years ago. i did the same thing almost 4 years ago. ;)

welcome to the dear wee one and i am glad you are surrounded by such badness, hehehe.

Kim said...

Happy happy! You do know how to celebrate. Miscreants, lol!! All celebrating leads to welcoming Little Miss Allie Rae.

Meg Wolff said...

San!
Happy Belated Birthday!! Has it been a year?????????????????????

Loved the family photos!!

xoxoxoxoxoxox

Deb said...

Celebrate each day ~ birthdays, blogversaries, family,new babies, gifts, flowers, delicious food, incredible colors...enjoy it all!

Indigo said...

Indigo Incarnates

I don't blog often enough either. Happy birthday :)

Thumbelina said...

Looks like you all had a wicked time. ;0)
Happy blogoversary and other 'versaries!

Kathy Ostman-Magnusen said...

I know this is way past, but I must tell you that I LOVE the way you shared this. Oh and I guess I was distracted too by that painting behind the roses... fantastic! Happy day to you, Kathy