All you need is love.

[merimask]

OMG is my brother not fabulous??

That's no publicity photo; that is just John being John outside of the new Cirque Du Soleil show at the Mirage.  Beatles: LOVE.  He's with my cousin Alex (on the right) who was just Charlotte's age last time I saw her I think!   Holy monkey, she's 18 now & so pretty!  She & her friend went to visit John at Casa De Awesome last week & I guess they had a blast.  :-)  Our family is freaking gorgeous...I just have to put that out there.

Hilariously, he used her "baby" name  (we used to call her Aggie Rose because her sister said "Alexandra Rose" that way when they were all small) in the email when he sent this pic...and I almost expected to see little Aggie and suddenly there are these GLAMOROUS MODELS and I'm thinking "no way is that Aggie!"  Tempus fugit, man.  I am OLD.

Also, that poor girl is going to hate us all forever because we keep calling her Aggie Rose.  How's THAT for an embarrassing nickname?

To be fair, we all had embarrassing nicknames due to childhood mispronunciations or parental whims.  My Dad was notoriously creative in that department.  

My little sister Nancy was always "Nanki-poo" who was a character from Gilbert & Sullivan's musical "The Mikado".  Dad would call her Nanki Poo and then he'd belt out a song or two in a deep booming voice "....if you want to know who we aaaaaare...we are gentlemen from Japaaaan!" and nine times out of ten Nancy would cry 'cause she was just a little kid & had no idea what he was going on about.  

John had a variety of names...some of them I'm pretty sure would get me killed if I mentioned them here.  He's probably connected now.  He could do that.  His most benign name was just "John-Oh"  (another Dad-ism) and I still call him John-Oh from time to time (bet he loves that).

I was "Ann-a-ray" (and still am, dammit) 'cause some little kid who was NOT part of my family used to call me that and my Mom thought it was cute.  Ann-A-Ray = Andrea...but only if you're a three-year-old with a speech impediment.  

So there you go.  Humiliation all around.

Damn, it is humid as hell here.  I just woke up & I feel like there's a film on my face...I HATE that.  It's supposed to rain & there are Wrath Of God thunderstorms forecast from noon onward through midnight OR SO THE WEATHER CHANNEL SAYS.  I don't entirely believe them.  This has been a very weird year here.  For some reason I don't fully understand, we live in something called "the shadow of Lake Erie".  It sounds beautiful, but what it means is that every storm (or indeed raincloud) that passes over the lake gets all the energy sucked out of it...but only in a narrow strip which passes right over my house.  This means there have been huge torrential storms just North and just South of us, but our lawn is dry & crunchy.  It SUCKS 'cause you can watch it happen live on the Weather Channel doppler radar thingy...it's a lovely green and yellow blob moving towards me and then it just fizzles out over the lake.  SO frustrating.  I'm missing my summer thunderstorms!  Poop!

For fun I was up late (work avoidance) reading all my old entries from last year.  Last year we had wonderful beautiful thunderstorms, apparently.  Not so this year.  I been robbed I tells you.  Robbed!

Also I discovered that the good old LJ archives are a great tool for me to use in my business.  I was on the fence about doing a benefit event for a wildlife preserve this year (because I do NOT want to do another local event that bombs), but according to this entry, it went well.  So I guess I'll do it.  Actually, if I do it with charity in my heart...it'll be a success no matter what.  Right?  Right??

Fuck charity.  I have BILLS, my friends.  ;-)

Today is another call-back day.  I sent a bunch of info packets out over the weekend & they've probably arrived by now.  Wish me luck!

Comments

[kls-eloise.livejournal.com]

Actually, I think Aggie-Rose is endearing. I've heard MUCH worse.

I, on the other hand, am the token chubbo in my husband's family. You've seen Bob. They're ALL that thin. It's SO not fair.

By the way, please don't whine too much about the thunderstorms or they'll come find you at Pennsic and I really DON'T like them when I'm camping... We're in a similar sort of place. I really need to look at a topographical map of our part of Connecticut, because these storm lines come charging across the state and then thin out in a little channel that goes over our house. It's actually pretty good, in our case. The rest of the area gets pasted, and we get steady rain. Until I have someone in to clear the branches away from my power lines, I'm good with that.

Charity in your heart is lovely, but money in the bank pays the mortgage. ;-)

I don't WANT to spend today in a cubicle!

[merimask.livejournal.com]

Heh! Oh holy crap, I hear you about storms at Pennsic. They can get so scary. Just watch me, next time we're at my booth when the thunder rumbles. You'll see me leave my comfy aliminum-frame chair to sit on one of my boxes (I don't know why...it just feels safer to sit on a plastic box than a metal chair), and I'll start eyeing that huge steel tent pole like it might blow up at any moment. It's always right at my back too, which freaks me out.

*pounds on cubicle* Someone! Let Eloise out of the box!

[kls-eloise.livejournal.com]

At least it's a reasonably well-decorated box. That's it - I need one of your masks for my cubicle. What would go good in a cubicle...

We got your wrath-of-God storms yesterday. AND I got to crawl through them on I-84 on the way back from my doctor's appointment. The radio actually made the beeping noise and announced a tornado warning and told us to take shelter in the basement under heavy furniture. Luckily that all failed to materialize, but it was a nervous few hours down here!

[moko-moko.livejournal.com]

Charity: Good for the soul. Less good for the creditors.

Tiny children with enunciation issues always manage to screw you over for the rest of your life by coming up with the worst nicknames. But Ann-a-ray is still cute :3 My friend's little sister tagged me as La-La years ago and it's still going on

[merimask.livejournal.com]

Aww! La-la is adorable!

My favorite nickname was just plain Andy. I was Andy in college. *sigh*

[golden-meliades.livejournal.com]

My family is moderate looking. Most of my mom's side is a bit...stark, I guess, being very Welsh with very pronounced cheekbones and suchlike. They're kind of plain, actually...noses tend to be very beaky...but the ones who ARE good looking tend to be spectacular.

My dad's side is 'cute', as they are very round-faced. Round faced and SOLID, for the most part, being primarily German. I have some sort of mutation of the two sides, as does my youngest sister (she's a good-looking girl). My middle sis looks a lot like my mom's side of the family.

So all in all, a pretty ordinary looking bunch I'd say. Mostly. Sis caused a few accidents in high school and my aunt Rhonda was a bit exotic, but mostly...kind of ho-hum.

I don't have any nicknames I don't like now. I would be seriously annoyed with anyone who called me "Krissy' as I hate that name, hate it...and I'm not fond of 'Kristy' either. When I was little I didn't like Kikki (which I am still called sometimes but now find kind of cute) or Kissy (still don't like that one it's just too stupid...but I put up with it if I get it). Isn't that funny? Krissy and Kristy are both real names but I just can't stand them...if you're gonna call me by a real name it had better be my own. If it's a nick, well, it should sound like one.

Annaray is actually not bad sounding at all.

[merimask.livejournal.com]

You're so pretty. :-) I love your most recent picture, btw.

Your name is short & snappy-sounding already...you almost don't need a nickname.

[golden-meliades.livejournal.com]

Thank you :) Not being over-stocked on modesty, I will admit that I think I look quite good when I'm properly made up. :)

[kls-eloise.livejournal.com]

THANK YOU!!! One of the downsides of being a "Kristina" in the '70's was that everyone wanted to call me "Krissy." Hate it, hate it, hate it, hate it!!!!! My nephews were allowed to call me "Aunt Krissy" when they were small, because from them it was endearing. But if you're going to shorten my name, it's Kris. If you're scadian, you probably only know me as Eloise (which several children have mispronounced as "Auntie Owies." Thank God THAT hasn't stuck!)

[golden-meliades.livejournal.com]

My name is Krista...it really doesn't need shortened (only two people in the world have ever called me Kris, even). I hate "Krissy" with special passion for two reasons: 1) When I was very young my great grandmother (or great aunt?) while IN THE CAR with me and my parents, told me "I don't like the name Krista so I'm going to call you Krissy."

Instant hate.

2) A little girl in elementary school with me was named Krissy and by 8 years of age she was already acting like a whore...she only got worse with time. She was *trash*.

And I suppose I may have a third reason. Krissy from Three's Company. Susanne Somers in pigtails. Enough said. Krissy makes me think of prostitutes in blonde pigtails with frilly pink thongs. Nasty.

[indigos-angel.livejournal.com]

Yup!!! I thought those two girls were models!!! They certainly look like it!!!

What is it with 18 year olds that look like that??? *whines* I never looked like that!!! :) They look more grown-up than I do too. What is it with grown up children???

*goes to pout and then dresses up to look skinny and hot. If you're going to be skinny, make the freaking most out of it!!! :)))))

[merimask.livejournal.com]

Aren't they beautiful? And btw I made a mistake...they're actually 17! John had his hands full, keeping them safe from the wolves of Las Vegas.

[pzb.livejournal.com]

I've had my share of humiliating names throughout my life.... Bran Flakes, Bandi, Brandi Bean (that was one courtesy of my old captain...I miss her XD)

Fuck charity. I have BILLS, my friends. ;-)

LMAO. Indeed. Just this week, I got a note from a guy on devart who requested a very specific and rather risque piece (not that I'm opposed, mind you) and added a PS at the bottom of "I might be able to pay you.... I don't know."

Heh. Yeah. Right.

[merimask.livejournal.com]

Brandi Bean is awfully cute. :-)

lol..."I might be able to pay you.... I don't know."

That's rich! You should reply "I might not be able to draw this then...I'll get back to you." Freaking amateurs. *shakes head* What is wrong with some people??

OH JOHN!!!!

[(Anonymous)]

Screw the weather, screw the nicknames, lets get busy 'cause John needs a fan club!!!! Seriously, friends of Merimask, she is my "daughter" by marriage and I have met her whole family, inc. her late Dad who was just a great, fiesty, humorous guy. And the whole lot of them just ooze talent and they are all gorgeous, too. But JOHN! OMIGOD! John is 'freakin hilarious. Andrea, if you can find it, you must post John's wedding poem he recited for you and Greg at your post-wedding breakfast. So, so funny!
Also, I am glad you "took back" what you said about the T'storms. Don't tempt the powers that be! Remember when I "smart-assed" the witch across the road from me and then my washer flooded our whole t.v. room? Just don't go there! Love, Bonnie PS My nickname has always been "Boo".