<p>Rest in peace, LTS. A sad day in the alley and for the cc community.</p>
<p>Indeed.</p>
<p>Later, when we have the strength, we shall have to throw the biggest wake ever seen in the Alley, to remember our dear dear friend.</p>
<p>Great idea, mommusic. What a sad day.</p>
<p>Lets though on our red stilettos and have a great red drink in honor of our friend, LTS.</p>
<p>It’s just such a sad day.</p>
<p>To LTS: your fighting spirit, fierce love, compassion, and integrity came pouring through every word you wrote. Lots of CC mothers and fathers are sending their love to your girl. We’ll miss you.</p>
<p>PS, LTS I’m having ginger ale for you.</p>
<p>Got the sad news today from Mootie. Raising a glass of the good stuff to our friend, LTS. I’m sure that she’s looking down on us right now saying, “Hey, you guys! Who would have known that Heaven is a seedy bar full of Naugahyde booths, a hot tub, and unisex bathrooms? Wow! I’m right at home in this dive!” Love ya, kiddo – from all of us barflies in the alley. </p>
<p>~ sluggerz</p>
<p>sending in the marmots to her darling D for comfort.</p>
<p>I’m finding that August is the month of goodbyes, and I don’t like it. Nope, not a bit!</p>
<p>First, LTS this week… </p>
<p>Then, last night, D’s bf left for his faraway college (I went up to comfort her, and found myself crying right along with her).</p>
<p>Today we said goodbye to the 2 young women’s soccer players who lived with us for the summer. One is from Brazil, the other is going home to her family in the NE, then heading to Brazil for several months. More tears…</p>
<p>Then, in 2 weeks, we do the “move D in to the dorms” routine again. Although I know it will be easier than last year (first year), I still know it’s going to be tough… </p>
<p>We have a month-long houseguest (friend of D from Germany) staying with us…That will be a goodbye at the same time/place we leave D, and even that will be hard…</p>
<p>The echoes will be deafening in my house come the first week of September. And I DONT think I’m going to like it very much…</p>
<p>btw, I think we need a new drink here in SA …name it “This Sucks”!!!</p>
<p>Sheesh, gitcher lazy bee-hinds back up to Page 1! I’m serving shrimp cocktails tonight fresh from my condo in Boulder City, Nevada. It’s Gramma Jones’ cocktail sauce recipe given to her in 1955 by the chef at the New Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas, and it’s goo–ood! </p>
<p>I’m back in the Great State of Nevada, and well…you know. It’s always so much fun when I’m here. Now, I actually look forward to the giant poster of the stripper holding an uzi when I arrive at the airport. She seems like a perfectly nice LAY-DEE. (That’s a shout-out to my man, Jerry Lewis, the king of Vegas telethons this time of year.) She’s big, she’s pink, and she’s armed.</p>
<p>Then, I fight my way past the battalion of limo drivers who won’t get the Hell out of my way, past the slot machines, and around the corner to Hell station #2, otherwise known as the line for the rental car busses…bussi? Was that an incomplete sentence? I guess, not…Anyway, after I spend 20 minutes trying to get a non-smoking, non-Hummer mobile with a NeverLost system to make up for my rapidly dropping IQ, I drive somewhere between 50 and 100 mph down the freeway to get out to my condo in BC. Along the way, I try to avoid running over various auto parts, chrome fenders, shredded tires, and other stuff lying in the road. </p>
<p>I flew in this time to attend the funeral of an old, but important relative. She was one of the two remaining cranky old matriarchs. That makes it sound like a couple of ill-tempered elderly lesbians were running the show, but that’s not right. What I meant to say is that there is only one more of that oldie generation left after this last oldie finally gave up the ghost. She was ready to go and told everybody so because she, apparently, preferred all of her deceased relatives to the ones who are still alive. </p>
<p>The funeral was very traditional and very SNL. My mom’s cousin, Bobby, and his wife are real-life versions of Marty and Bobbi Mohan-Culp, the musical directors at Alta Dena middle school. They sang, we stood up and pretended to recite some sort of bUllshi%T…We all sat down, and then, a few people told some really funny off-color stories about my great aunt when she was younger. For some reason, the pastor popped up like a jack-in-the-box from behind the alter where she was genuflecting, prostrating herself, or sitting on a milk stool, and started throwing rose petals on the casket and muttering dust-to-dust. I was still trying to figure out why the program we all got referred to a psalm on Page 881, and the bible we found in the back of the pew only went up to Page 879. So, were we sitting on the dumb**** side of the church, or what? My college education wasn’t doing me any good in this situation, and I, honest-to-God, could not figure this out.</p>
<p>My great-aunt was dead center (heh), and we couldn’t avoid seeing her. Really, I tried, but it was like the men-in-black church <em>folk</em> were forcing us up to the front. The thing is, my aunt looked pretty much the same as she did last November when I last saw her. That’s probably not a good thing. And, she was wearing white mohair gloves. We drove home trying to figure that out, as well.</p>
<p>I spent last night at my mom’s trailer, and after inhaling a carton of second-hand cigarette smoke and listening to a pack of coyotes howl all night, I’m back in my relatively safe condo. Chances are this place was built over a radon heap, but I prefer radioactivity to cigarettes these days.</p>
<p>I’m with my Nevada peeps!</p>
<p>just in the knick of time – the return of slugg – thanks. I think we all needed you to be in Nevada this week.</p>
<p>Looks like the alley is about to slide onto Page 2. Not today, my friends…not today! :)</p>
<p>Speaking of sliding, what’s the etymology of “sliders” as in “little bitty hamburgers”? All of a sudden I’m seeing that term all over the place. (You’d think maybe they’d just call ‘em “White Castles” or somethin’, eh?)</p>
<p>Ok slugg, I’ll do my part…</p>
<p>I’m in New England for vacation. After a sunny beachy day yesterday, my hostess and I walked to town for provisions to make dinner, commenting on the way how perfect, balmy and lovely the weather was. Ten minutes later we were in the kitchen cooking when the wind kicked up and we had a huge HAIL storm!</p>
<p>Weird.</p>
<p>Mootie, they’re little, they’re greasy, and they slide down your gullet. I’ll be across the street in the church kitchen heating up a platter of sliders for lunch in the alley. I double as a church lady when I’m not in here sinning. Bring the Dijon, would’jya? :p</p>
<p>SBmom, that’s so cool! She can reverse control the weather. A summer hail storm accompanied by a lovely dry martini would be quite nice. ;)</p>
<p><em>Anything</em> accompanied by a lovely dry martini is quite nice.</p>
<p>Hmm, I just noticed the announcement about no YouTubes or private blogs…I suppose I should read it. The Dove of Peace is probably a very nice dove and not one of those pushy overcontrolling doves…So, okay, I vow at this moment never ever to post another YouTube on CC. You’ll have to come to my private, very exclusive, super high class private facebook page to share funny YouTubes with other vid aficionados. 
I agree, YouTube, founded by three college grads who wanted to share videos from a dinner party, has no relevance to the Internet culture and has no place on a social networking site like CC. None at all. If anyone needs me, I’ll be hiding in the orange booth…</p>
<p>And, don’t even think about jumping ship and spending all your time on MySpace, facebook, or LinkedIn. I mean it! :p</p>
<p>I guess this means we won’t get to see the funeral video.</p>
<p>:(</p>
<p>LOL, unfortunately no. The best part was when Jonny “Sack” Sacramoni, the very large church guy, nudged my stepfather to stand up and get his keister up to the front to pay his respects. My stepdad didn’t budge, then he looked up and said in a real friendly way, “Nice church!” Um… :D</p>