It is undeniably fall here in the south, where yesterday afternoon I sat outside in a cap sleeved dress, inhaling the change of the seasons and smiling at the puffs of wind we call gusts.

This morning has a distinctly different flavor, calling for a black turtleneck in lieu of a lightweight sweater and socks and Birks in lieu of flips. The fleece has made its first appearance of the season, the heater in the Jeep has been forced from its summer long slumber and I am ready for hibernation.

Mmmmmmmmmmmm. Sleepy.

To set the stage, I’ll tell you that my friend Leah used to live in Atlanta, but made an inter-company transfer a few years ago to do PR for us in New York. Since then we’ve visited each other as much as finances would afford, and she’s left the company to follow her Happy (Maigh-ism, maybe I’ll explain this tomorrow) which happens to be in a very shi-shi doggie boutique in Manhattan.

So yesterday morning…

Leah: hey are you around?
*** Auto-response sent to Leah: In meetings most of the day, if you need me - email.
Maigh: For 2 minutes, I have an interview at 10:30
Leah: ok it’s fast
Maigh: bring it
Leah: so they did a show the other night at the beacon for comedy central and triumph the comic insult dog was supposed to be performing, but a few minutes before he was scheduled to go on they couldn’t find him - the puppet!
Maigh: heh heh heh
Maigh: that’s great shit
Maigh: where did they find him? or did they?
Leah: they found him in a grocery store bag
Maigh: trying to kill himself?
Leah: so they came in to our store and got him a carrier the other day
Maigh: brilliant!

Are you getting the visual on this? Because I was hysterical.

If you haven’t seen Comic v. Star Wars Nerds, I urge you to do so now. Immediately. I’ll wait.

Random reason to love Triumph - he made a cameo with Kermit on It’s a Very Merry Muppet Christmas movie.

Happy Friday, babies!

LIGHTHOUSE POINT, Florida (AP) — An 81-year-old boater was in critical condition Thursday after a stingray flopped onto his boat and stung him, leaving a foot-long barb in his chest, authorities said. - via CNN

You have one of these, right? The neighbor who pulls out all the stops every holiday and litters their yard with a hodgepodge of seasonally inspired junk.

This is the one I drive by on the way to The Mc’s, it hurts my eyes and tempts my OCD.

Must. Clean. Must. Organize. Must. Match.

Stacey told me yesterday about this piece on bedbugs making a comeback and just the idea of it completely skived me out. I started thinking - what was that bite I had on my thigh the other day? Was it really a skeeter bite? Wait - did I squish one of those little fuggers last week the bathroom floor?

Then I read the transcript and I felt like I was just served a plate at dinner that had all the vegetables but no meat, which is probably fine since there was a lump of vomit working its way up my throat anyway.

Regardless, my mind started playing an ad-hoc moving picture, where bedbugs don thick gold ropes around their necks, are bare chested and glistening while they’re throwing their little arms up and singing “don’t call it a comeback, I’ve been here for years…”

BB replaces LL, but what does the Cool J stand for in their case? Jets? Yes. Bed bugs cool jets. Passion –> Extinguished. Bringing horror to your bed just in time for Halloween!

stolen from Seth:

‘What will your obituary say?’ at QuizGalaxy.com

The first picture was taken just after I moved to Atlanta in 1994. I was angry, lonely, fluffy and…lonely.

The second picture was taken in a photo booth in the US Embassy in London. I’d just washed my hat hair in the ladies room sink and shoved the last of my octaginal coins into a slot in the wall.

Funny that I had returned to the same hair style all those years later, but my eyes had somehow grown…was it the fear of being trapped in England forever, or the alarm at how much I’d just paid for a lack of barcode on an EU passport or the efficiency with which the government can work when not on American soil (though technically an embassy is on our soil, blah blah blah)?

The last picture was taken a few weeks ago at work. I look at it and in comparison I see a happier, more evolved and stabilized me - as though the uncertainty trapped in the other two had graciously lost its way.

Only an illusion, and one created for the US government at that.

Go figure.

P.S. I’d also like to point out that I’m wearing black in all three pictures. Some things never change…like black being perfect.

Update: Just because, here’s my Irish passport picture - dated, even. I look like a thug, and I’m not wearing black. :\