WAIT! If you go to the real home page, i have this new 'ligit widgit' thing and it is showing a map of all the visitors. HELLO PEOPLE FROM DENMARK! AND ENGLAND!! WOW! it is the international house of Hall here! :)
Feeling battle weary at the end of this week. So, in times of need I turn to the all healing powers of Ska.*
Let's all turn to the Planet Smashers shall we? Their song "Pee in the Elevator" may very well have changed my life, way back when, at age 19.
But after age 19 , I forgot who the hell sang the song or the song title. For six years I would hum a few lines, do random searches on the interwebs trying to find it.
Then, I asked Rob and he knew the song and band in 2 seconds flat. Thanks Rob! Yes THAT ROB)
But alas, that song did not hold up to repeat listening.
So you get this instead.
"I like your girlfriend" by the Planet Smashers
All sorts of healing . . . .
What with the earnest lookie lou-ing at the girlies and gentle appreciation of the female form.
The post on Rob is HERE and HERE. In all honesty I should have contacted him before I wrote the post. But, better late than never.
And now, the man himself, he speaks.
ONE:When you got married, did you write your own vows?
We did not and I wish we did. We got married in a very small church in the middle of nowhere up here. Even my wife's friends, who were from that state, had trouble finding it. It was very conservative, but it was part of her family and the wedding was on the cheap and they let us do it there for next to nothing; so we were trying to cause as little waves as possible. He did a quick read thru the day before with us, but I guess we were so nervous that we didn't pay attention.
I do remember giving each other uneasy glances. The vows were very misogynistic and all about the woman being obedient to the man, not being an equal partner, which is how we viewed ourselves. In a joking way I was like "Yeah, I rule!" It just seemed worse during the actual ceremony though, other stuff that we didn't seem to catch the first time. We regret not writing our own vows. Conservative fundamental Christians have a lot in common with fundamental Islam, or any other radical fundamentalists.
Ugh. Just love everybody. Equally.
TWO:Can you give an example of something you did in your work with animals (either as a nutritionist or rehab specialist) that made an impact on an animals life?
They weren't always the best of times, but the most impact I had was when I worked at a veterinary rehab clinic/holistic vet. We were also the in-house vet clinic for a large dog hotel. We did a lot of geriatric care and care of animals with limited mobility. We were working intensively with an old Rottweiler named Zeus. His owners would drop him off for the day and he would stay on a matt covered in blankets and towels near the reception desk. He would bark and whimper as other patients came in for the day. His little tail stump would wiggle and he would lick them and the small dogs as they came near to say hello.
We had to carry him with two specially rigged slings. He was a heavy boy. Zeus was a sweet dog and I loved him, but man, was he a stubborn cuss. We swam him in the underwater treadmills three times a day, trying to get a pattern to his legs moving, get him to relearn to walk again. My back would be screaming in pain afterwards, because as the big guy at the clinic, I did most of the heavy work.
After a while, he wasn't making much forward progress and his quality of life was pretty poor. He wasn't eating much to keep his energy up. His owners were about ready to make that fateful decision. They'd been dropping him off so that he could stay at the attached dog hotel and we could get him and do work with him first thing in the morning, plus they needed a break from the home care. I went to get him one morning.
I opened the kennel door and he looked up at me. Then he proceeded to prop himself up and push up off the floor. I was in shock. He got himself up and then trotted out the door and down the hallway into a big play room area. He just did circles, showing off his energized legs. The doctor couldn't believe it either. She was the eternal optimist, but even she had decided in the last couple days that it just wasn't going to happen. Zeus had picked the prime moment to say,
"Don't give up on me yet. Watch this. FU!"
Zeus started the slow recovery climb and got better at walking every day. He was bouncing back.
Reality says that as old as he was - he still didn't have a lot of time left, but he was going to spend it fighting and enjoying some freedom and independence. That was a triumphant moment for me. Zeus showed me spirit. He confirmed that tough persistance pays off sometimes when common sense says the success point is long past.
Every day I help people get their pets on proper nutrition and it feels good. I'm not making the impact I did with Zeus, but in small ways I'm able to help a lot of animals and in the long term, improve their quality of life so they can run around for a lot longer.
THREE:How many push ups can you do?
Less than I could in the Army, beyond that, I don't want to try to find out.
FOUR:What is something you do every day that makes you smile or that you look forward to?
Spend time with my daughter and my wife. No question that's what it's all about.
FIVE:And last but not least, any comments, questions or concerns with the post written about you? Anything you would like to add?
Nothing I could add, other than like I told you before, you paint me with a rosier color than I deserve. We were both on the road to figuring ourselves out and getting to this point here.
BONUS:um, have you read anything else from la blog de senora hall?
Yes, good stuff. I like the hardware store trip, that was funny.
Rob is still an awesome guy with an awesome life. Thank you Rob, for reading my post and saying you liked it. Thank you for being so nice about all of this. And thank you for answering the five questions. :)
OK GOOD! Now you! GO! Write something very wonderful and gutsy and honest and emotional. Because this is what we do here in the bloggerhood. Tell our stories.
I wrote this post a few months ago. It was well received, people were moved.* I was moved too. Moved enough to find Rob. Turns out, it only takes 15 seconds on facebook to find anyone. I was mortified but did the right thing, I let him know about the post below.
Turns out, he is still a great guy. He enjoyed the post. Turns out, he has a great life these days. So, I sent him five questions for a chapter two of this post. You'll see them on Wednesday. Here's the orginal post to prepare.
Tori Amos used to be a big fat moon in my nighttime sky. My daytime sky too. Her songs spelled out my story for quite some time.
Her music happened to me during my year abroad. Again, it was a long, naked and punk year. Again, I was nineteen. I was so happy that year. I giggled and giggled most every day. But, it was a solo project. At least at first.
One day, I looked through the personal ads to find a friend. There was a quirky ad that read "looking for a rude girl for a rude boy with eclectic tastes". A bouncy and giggly message was left at the beep. On the other end was Rob.
hello Mr Zebra can I have your sweater cause it's cold cold cold in my heart heart heart Ratatouille Strychnine sometimes she's a friend of mine with a gigantic whirlpool that will blow your mind
Dating him was fast and fun. He introduced me to a whole new world of men. Men that played rugby and went to bars. Men that danced to ska, wore braces and drank shorties. I fell deeply in love with him. He was the first gentleman I had ever dated. He would open doors and speak softly.
His love of music was impressive. He made me mix tapes that were beyond compare. I found one the other day. He always used a black sharpie to neatly write out all the song and band names. He would even come up with clever titles for the mixes. His touch was always personal.
It felt so avant garde, dating him. So new and other worldly. I had never known anyone like him.
He was a wee bit older than me. Something like five years. I didn't realize it, but I wasn't showing him anything all that new. It was just new to me.
Let me repeat that. I was not new to him. This was a new experience, not being considered so unique, so different. It was the first time I felt normal, among my people. It was like finding a member of my tribe. Maybe I am not so different after all.
nothing gonna stop me from floating nothing gonna stop me from floating
On every date, I would bring him little gifts from the dollar section at Walgreens. Little items with symbolic meanings. One time I brought him a soap box so that he would also remember to stand on it and speak his mind. It was a blue plastic soap box, but he got the idea anyway.
When we were in bed, we would share twixes, his favorite candy bar. I would keep my tights on for him because at that time, I didn't shave my legs or under arms. Stroking my thighs with the tights was more tactically pleasing.
Look I'm standing naked before you Don't you want more than my sex I can scream as loud as your last one But I can't claim innocence
Feminist inspired hygiene issues aside, he was very charmed by me. I feel deeply in love. So much so that when we talked on the phone, i heard whispers. I want to marry this guy, they said. I told him this. He said he loved me too. He was cautious though, at least that's what I thought he meant.
I tell you that I'll always want you near You say that things change my dear
Our courtship was interrupted. Rob was in the army and went to serve in Bosnia. That soap box came in handy, it was a travel soap dish after all. We exchanged letters. He wrote about the devastation. How the area where they were stationed was the former site of the Olympics. Now it was a bunch of bombed out buildings. Him and his Sargent use to chuck oranges, breaking the windows.
He would tell me about the locals who had no idea how to make sandwiches for the "Americans". They would just throw a raw fish (complete with bones and scales) right on a bun. Tasty.
At that time, stateside, my love for Tori Amos grew unchecked. I had seen about four of her concerts at that point. I swam under her music, not coming up to breathe for another two years. I was obsessed. To this day I can here two notes from her first three albums (Silent All These Years, Under the Pink, Boys for Pele) and I can still sing any song, chapter and verse. All the lyrics here are from those albums.
All that emotional turmoil, all the things I was feeling was fodder in her songs. However, with each album, she began to lose control of the reins. Her music grew to be blathering. It became repetitive and lost it's meaning.
This was the problem with me too. I had no structure to who I was. My heart was formless and gushed without forethought. I was nowhere near a place of monogamy. Which was the one thing Rob had asked me for.
Ginger is always sincere Just not to one man
I cheated on Rob, while he was in Bosnia. I don't think I can ever forgive myself for this. He knew about it before I told him. Things were obvious at that point.
found your writing on my wall if my hearts soaking wet boy your boots can leave a mess
He broke up with me. There was nothing dramatic about it, he just turned around and walked away, not weeping. But his hurt was overwhelming. My heart felt stomped on by his big army boots. And yes, it left a very big mess. I was a very big mess.
I spent an entire year in mourning. Twelve months of feeling so sad, so hurt. It was horrible. Serves me right. I still dated other people though. LOTS of people. Too many people. They all saw the hurt. My heart was still with him.
boys on my right side boys on my left side boys in the middle and you're not here boys in their dresses and you're not here
We would talk during this time. Rob was the kind of guy who made it a point to stay in contact with people he loves. He pursued my friendship despite my efforts to shut the door completely. Being with him was painful, I still loved him so much. He was a gentleman and let me heal.
no one's picking up the phone guess it's me and this little masochist she's ready to confess all the things that i never thought that she could feel
After a while, things began to warm. I took a greyhound bus to Chicago to see him.
The inevitable backslide occurred. I remember siting across his lap. He was sitting up, facing me. We were in bed, waking up. I remember pontificating about my future. What was the next step? I could move down to Chicago and be his girlfriend. But, no. That wouldn't be right. He readily agreed.
I didn't realize it, but at the time, he never invited me to move in. He didn't call attention to this fact. He was a very kind man.
I had decided that my next step was to go to nursing school. Which I did.
I will always regret how I hurt Rob. How careless I was with his heart. I still ache when I think about it. Serves me right.
But I had to leave Tori behind. I had to eventually break up with her and her band. Too much drama from too much freedom.
I still have all of Rob's letters from his time in Bosnia though.
There is no way in hell I am going to read them. Maybe in ten years, but not now and not anytime soon.
I can thank him though, he was the first real man I dated. It was a good lesson to learn, what it is to be respected and heard. He never quite understood me though, but even I didn't understand me at that point. Never quite had a handle on me. That would be Mr. Hall's future job.
We kept in touch after I started nursing school. He did meet Mr. Hall. In fact, he took the very first picture of Mr. Hall and I. They liked each other, bantered about their respective time in the Army. Rob even stood up in our wedding. The last I had heard from him, was when I was pregnant with my daughter. I still miss him.
Take care Rob, you are an awesome guy.
hello Mr Zebra can I have your sweater cause it's cold cold cold in my heart heart heart Ratatouille Strychnine sometimes she's a friend of mine with a gigantic whirlpool that will blow your mind
Mr. Zebra is one minute and 34 seconds long.
Take a listen, you already read through the lyrics ;)
Tori Amos used to be a big fat moon in my nighttime sky. My daytime sky too. Her songs spelled out my story for quite some time.
Her music happened to me during my year abroad. Again, it was long, naked and punk year. Again, I was nineteen. I was so happy that year. I giggled and giggled most every day. But, it was a solo project. At least at first.
One day, I looked through the personal ads to find a friend. There was a quirky ad that read "looking for a rude girl for a rude boy with eclectic tastes". A bouncy and giggly message was left at the beep. On the other end was Rob.
hello Mr Zebra can I have your sweater cause it's cold cold cold in my heart heart heart Ratatouille Strychnine sometimes she's a friend of mine with a gigantic whirlpool that will blow your mind
Dating him was fast and fun. He introduced me to a whole other world of men. Men that played rugby and went to bars. Men that danced to ska, wore braces and drank shorties. I fell deeply in love with him. He was the first gentleman I had ever dated. He would open doors and speak softly.
His love of music was impressive. He made me mix tapes that were beyond compare. I found one the other day. He always used a black sharpie to neatly write out all the song and band names. He would even come up with clever titles for the mixes. His touch was always personal.
It felt so avant garde, dating him. So new and other worldly. I had never known anyone like him.
He was a wee bit older than me. Something like five years. I didn't realize it, but I wasn't showing him anything all that new. It was just new to me.
Let me repeat that. I was not new to him. This was a new experience, not being considered so unique, so different. It was the first time I felt normal, among my people. It was like finding a member of my tribe. Maybe I am not so different after all.
nothing gonna stop me from floating nothing gonna stop me from floating
On every date, I would bring him little gifts from the dollar section at Walgreens. Little items with symbolic meanings. One time I brought him a soap box so that he would also remember to stand on it and speak his mind. It was a blue plastic soap box, but he got the idea anyway.
When we were in bed, we would share twixes, his favorite candy bar. I would keep my tights on for him because at that time, I didn't shave my legs or under arms. Stroking my thighs with the tights was more tactically pleasing.
Look I'm standing naked before you Don't you want more than my sex I can scream as loud as your last one But I can't claim innocence
Feminist inspired hygiene issues aside, he was very charmed by me. I feel deeply in love. So much so that when we talked on the phone, i heard whispers. I want to marry this guy, they said. I told him this. He said he loved me too. He was cautious though, at least that's what I thought he meant.
I tell you that I'll always want you near You say that things change my dear
Our courtship was interrupted. Rob was in the army and went to serve in Bosnia. That soap box came in handy, it was a travel soap dish after all. We exchanged letters. He wrote about the devastation. How the area where they were stationed was the former site of the Olympics. Now it was a bunch of bombed out buildings. Him and his Sargent use to chuck oranges, breaking the windows.
He would tell me about the locals who had no idea how to make sandwiches for the "Americans". They would just throw a raw fish (complete with bones and scales) right on a bun. Tasty.
At that time, stateside, my love for Tori Amos grew unchecked. I had seen about four of her concerts at that point. I swam under her music, not coming up to breathe for another two years. I was obsessed. To this day I can here two notes from her first three albums (Silent All These Years, Under the Pink, Boys for Pele) and I can still sing any song, chapter and verse. All the lyrics here are from those albums.
All that emotional turmoil, all the things I was feeling was fodder in her songs. However, with each album, she began to lose control of the reins. Her music grew to be blathering. It became repetitive and lost it's meaning.
This was the problem with me too. I had no structure to who I was. My heart was formless and gushed without forethought. I was nowhere near a place of monogamy. Which was the one thing Rob had asked me for.
Ginger is always sincere Just not to one man
I cheated on Rob, while he was in Bosnia. I don't think I can ever forgive myself for this. He knew about it before I told him. Things were obvious at that point.
found your writing on my wall if my hearts soaking wet boy your boots can leave a mess
He broke up with me. There was nothing dramatic about it, he just turned around and walked away, not weeping. But his hurt was overwhelming. My heart felt stomped on by his big army boots. And yes, it left a very big mess. I was a very big mess.
I spent an entire year in mourning. Twelve months of feeling so sad, so hurt. It was horrible. Serves me right. I still dated other people though. LOTS of people. Too many people. They all saw the hurt. My heart was still with him.
boys on my right side boys on my left side boys in the middle and you're not here boys in their dresses and you're not here
We would talk during this time. Rob was the kind of guy who made it a point to stay in contact with people he loves. He pursued my friendship despite my efforts to shut the door completely. Being with him was painful, I still loved him so much. He was a gentleman and let me heal.
no one's picking up the phone guess it's me and this little masochist she's ready to confess all the things that i never thought that she could feel
After a while, things began to warm. I took a greyhound bus to Chicago to see him.
The inevitable backslide occurred. I remember siting across his lap. He was sitting up, facing me. We were in bed, waking up. I remember pontificating about my future. What was the next step? I could move down to Chicago and be his girlfriend. But, no. That wouldn't be right. He readily agreed.
I didn't realize it, but at the time, he never invited me to move in. He didn't call attention to this fact. He was a very kind man.
I had decided that my next step was to go to nursing school. Which I did.
I will always regret how I hurt Rob. How careless I was with his heart. I still ache when I think about it. Serves me right.
But I had to leave Tori behind. I had to eventually break up with her and her band. Too much drama from too much freedom.
I still have all of Rob's letters from his time in Bosnia though.
There is no way in hell I am going to read them. Maybe in ten years, but not now and not anytime soon.
I can thank him though, he was the first real man I dated. It was a good lesson to learn, what it is to be respected and heard. He never quite understood me though, but even I didn't understand me at that point. Never quite had a handle on me. That would be Mr. Hall's future job.
We kept in touch after I started nursing school. He did meet Mr. Hall. In fact, he took the very first picture of Mr. Hall and I. They liked each other, bantered about their respective time in the Army. Rob even stood up in our wedding. The last I had heard from him, was when I was pregnant with my daughter. I still miss him.
Take care Rob, you are an awesome guy.
hello Mr Zebra can I have your sweater cause it's cold cold cold in my heart heart heart Ratatouille Strychnine sometimes she's a friend of mine with a gigantic whirlpool that will blow your mind
Mr. Zebra is one minute and 34 seconds long.
Take a listen, you already read through the lyrics ;)
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