rustypants speaks

i was 13 years old. 1982. jr. high.

the song came on the radio and i froze.

the smooth beat started. the whispered plea, the wailing voice.

nevermind that the subject matter is first and foremost on the minds of jr. high boys everywhere.

the music stays smooth and cool through the entire song, but the intensity of marvin gaye’s singing, the urgency of his needs grows as the song goes on.

holy cow, the man had pipes.

my first 7″ 45 single? sexual healing.

i remember walking up to globe records and tapes at western hills plaza and searching through the singles on the shelf. finding my prize, i bought it and zipped back.

when i got it home, i played it. and played it. and played it. it was my first serious exposure to gaye’s music and it was one i never forgot.

it still has a mesmerizing effect on me. i’ve listened to it four times as i’ve written this and had to force myself not to play it a fifth time. truly addictive.

and no one else can quite set the tone like he does.

the dog. what can i say? he’s fickle and funny, and sometimes a pain in the ass. he loves his toys, and recently has not been quite as destructive with them.

this sheep is one example of that. he now has 3 stuffed toys that he has not destroyed and sometimes carries around with him.

on this night a week or so ago, he brought his stuffed sheep up on the bed, stole my pillow, and promptly fell asleep.

how do you move an 85lb black lab off your pillow? gingerly.

and for the record, he does not sleep on the bed with us. he’s a dog. he sleeps on the floor at night. but as long as we’re not asleep in the bed, he’s welcome to it.

silly old dog.

we likey play with camera.

me wifey has bluey eyes

she coming after me

that explainey – full moony!

a couple weeks ago we were out on the beach early one sunday morning. it was warm and the water was nice. we had the dog with us and were walking up and down the gulf when we happened upon a section of beach with a LOT of shells in the water.

as we walked around, lise got into the water just a bit and was finding a lot of the same old stuff.

and then she yelled. LOUD.

she had found a Tortuga’s Banded Tulip, intact, and a little over 3″ long. an amazing find!

this is one of those “holy grail” shells for us. we’ve seen very small ones, and have been teased with hundreds of “pieces” of this shell. it’s very thin and delicate, so when they do actually make it to the shore, they’re typically beaten and crunched against the sand and other shells by waves, broken into pieces.

needless to say, this was a very neat find!