hezcatt

I'm going to flog you until time and space have no meaning!

Monday, January 29, 2007

What a shithead I am! What a Fucking Adolescent!

Everyday I have been typing up a page or two from my Metal Diairies and every day I am laughing hysterically at my 14 year old self and am, also, incredibly humbled.

It seems I haven't much changed in 20+ years. Some of the things I am noticing is that my writing style is somewhat similar, I am still invisible to men, I still have unrequited crushes, I still don't want to dress like a girl, I (am sometimes) still sexually aggressive towards men, I still have a negative reel in my head (though, now, I can sometimes block it out) and I still suffer from mild depression.

I am happy to report that, at 14, I was a funny, smart girl -- I would think only a smart one would recognize the silliness of what she was doing/saying/acting and exclaim, "What a fucking adolescent!" I (enviously) wrote every day in my journal...even if it was to some rockstar, I was doing stream of consciousness before I knew what it was, I had diverse musical tastes, AND I knowingly listened to The Smiths.

Daily I am being reminded of what life was at 14 and how my dreams haven't changed much. Though I have not yet reached some of them, I know they are still possible.

Metalocalypse
I haven't talked about this yet, but please, get thee to The Cartoon Network and tune into Metalocalypse. Words cannot describe the brilliance of this show. I accidentally ran across a marathon on New Years Eve and was immediately hooked. Check out the wiki info.

The O.S.K. Report
When I decided to take in a stray cat, it never occurred to me that he might not want to be taken in. Since O.S.K. had his trip to the vet it's been slow going. He much prefers to be outside and after a few weeks was able to spend 2-4 hours in the house when I get home from work. He is still attention starved and cannot get enough loving. The good news is he is not drooling as much anymore (eew). I have been trying to get him to come in at night because it just breaks my heart when I wake up and I go to my deck to feed him and he is sleeping under my grill in the cold. Saturday night was a breakthrough when I got home late from being out and after I got into bed I heard him scratching at the door. I opened the door and he zipped right in! That was a first. Usually I am coaxing him in with treats or picking him up. He spent the whole night on my bed. He cannot get close enough and if that means laying in my face or on it than so be it.

Thursday, January 25, 2007

New Blog Alert

Growing Up Metal: The Metal Diaries

Did you ever wonder what a teenage girl who is obssessed with music, being a rockstar and in love with musicians thinks about? Here you will read Heather Clarke's (almost) daily journal entries to her massive metal crush: Steve Clark, the guitarist from Def Leppard.

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Giant trucks crushing things sometimes rule


Monster Jam Wooo!
Originally uploaded by hezcatt.
On Saturday Ian, Andy and I met at O'Briens for beer and potato skins before we headed over to ATT Park for Monster Jam 2007. We had some pretty excellent seats among the families and father/son duos.

For me, it was really an amazing experience. I had never been to a Monster Truck event. I had heard of Grave Digger, tho I don't know how or where. The energy in the arena was amazing. Literally, making you stand up out of your seat when the possibility of a truck rolling as it climbed over spray painted, beater cars seemed imminent. At one point, Bawitdaba from Kid Rock blasted on the speakers. I was so excited that I screamed the opening line of that song to Andy, "MY NAME IS KIIIIIIIIIIID ROOOOOOCK!!!" with my fist in the air. I believe it was lost on Andy since he was a designer jean wearing guy. I doubt that Kid Rock is in his CD collection. Well, it's probably not in any of yours either. I represent, yo!

We definitely got our MoJam on.

The Arena


The Arena
Originally uploaded by hezcatt.
This is what the set up looked like.

Andy ready to Jam


Andy ready to Jam
Originally uploaded by hezcatt.
The monster trucks are all lined up behind Andy ready to jam.

The Line Up


The Line Up
Originally uploaded by hezcatt.
Here is a close up.

MoJam wooo!


MoJam wooo!
Originally uploaded by hezcatt.
We're all very excited for the show to start.

Grave Digger jumps some cars


Grave Digger jumps some cars
Originally uploaded by hezcatt.
Grave Digger in Action

The Patriot Crushes!


The Patriot Crushes!
Originally uploaded by hezcatt.
The Patriot in action.

Losing his shit


Losing his shit
Originally uploaded by hezcatt.
Ian loses his shit while we wait for the driver of The Patriot, the winner of the evening...based on some point system that I couldn't figure out.

Locking it down


Locking it down
Originally uploaded by hezcatt.
Andy and Ian "locking it down" before some giant Samoans almost kicked our asses.

Hate Waiting in Line? Use the Express Bathroom.

I don't really get this idea...

All pics here

Saturday, January 13, 2007

Hez on Bart


Hez on Bart
Originally uploaded by hezcatt.
As part of our new years resolution Holly and I are expanding our "going out" options to Oakland. Last night I took Bart to the East Bay and Holly and I went to Cato's for burgers and beer.

Black Moon Ritual


IMG_1932
Originally uploaded by hezcatt.
On Thursday Holly and I made a rare weekday appearance at Annie's Social Club to see my friend Darryl's new band, Absinthe Boy. Black Moon Ritual was one of the openers.

Chuck Worthy


Chuck Worthy
Originally uploaded by hezcatt.
The guitarts from BMR playing super fast!

Absinthe Boy


Absinthe Boy
Originally uploaded by hezcatt.
This is my friend Darryl's band. They rocked!

Darryl


Darryl
Originally uploaded by hezcatt.
..and this is Darryl. Hi rockstar!

Hiding his face


Hiding his face
Originally uploaded by hezcatt.
Because Osk is a stray cat (his name stands for Other Stray Kitty) I had to entertain him this morning with Fancy Feast to keep him around until vet time. I loaded him into a cardboard cat carrier and on our drive over to the Oakland SPCA, he totally spazzed and busted out of the box by ripping through one of the breathing holes! And, this was on the Bay Bridge. I was trying to juggle driving and Osk. It was scary and nerve wracking. I decided to let him out and take my chances. Turned out, all he wanted to do was sit in my lap and be comforted. He spent most of the ride with his head in my arm.

Car ride


Car ride
Originally uploaded by hezcatt.
This was his alternate position.

Sweet Boy


Sweet Boy
Originally uploaded by hezcatt.
Hi handsome. We were a little early to our appointment so we chilled in the car and listend to Band of Horses. He seemed to like them. When St. Germain came in he started yowling. It was a Band of Horses trip.

Scaredy Cat


Scaredy Cat
Originally uploaded by hezcatt.
I'm sure it was a scary ride, he looks a little dissheveled.

Cozy in the car


Cozy in the car
Originally uploaded by hezcatt.
So comfy that he doesn't want to leave.

At the vet


At the vet
Originally uploaded by hezcatt.
Osk is nervous while he waits for the vet to come in. As you can see his left eye is weird. He has glaucoma. Not life threatening, and hopefully not expensive to treat. Best case scenario, he gets drops to treat it. Worst case scenario, his eye needs to be removed.

Hiding from the Doctor


Hiding from the Doctor
Originally uploaded by hezcatt.

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Bootsie, Hez, Mom


Bootsie, Hez, Mom
Originally uploaded by hezcatt.
This is my Aunt Bootsie (yes that is her name), me and my mom at my mom's house on Christmas Day. On Christmas Eve we went to Bootsie's house where we had ham and Christmas Pizza for dinner. It is Western NY, after all.

Granpda Bill and Hez


Granpda Bill and Hez
Originally uploaded by hezcatt.
This is me and my Grandpa Bill. He's my mom's dad.

Cutting holes


Cutting holes
Originally uploaded by hezcatt.
The last few years I've assigned myself the role of Christmas Dinner Chef. This year I made prime rib, my first. Here I am cutting in holes.

Garlic


Garlic
Originally uploaded by hezcatt.
Then I filled the holes with garlic cloves for flavor.

Prime Rib


Prime Rib
Originally uploaded by hezcatt.
This is what they looked like when done. I made two, one for medium and one for rare. The celery and onions on the one in the back reminds me it's the rare roast. I also served, yorkshire pudding, mashed potatoes, gravy and brussel sprouts with bacon and pecans.

Lemon Roll


Lemon Roll
Originally uploaded by hezcatt.
My mom made a lemon roll cake for dessert because we both hate jelly.

Bar


Bar
Originally uploaded by hezcatt.
This is our little makeshift bar.

Joe


Joe
Originally uploaded by hezcatt.
This is Joe, my Aunt Bootsie's husband. Here he is cutting limes for the Christmas Cosmos.

Bulleye's


Bulleye's
Originally uploaded by hezcatt.
These are what may be known as bullseye's buckeye's or peanut butter balls. My grandma on my dad's side made these every year for me because I LOVE peanut butter and chocolate things. You combine peanut butter, confectioners suger and (I think) butter. You roll them into balls and then dip them in melted chocolate chips. I eat tons of these every Christmas. When this container was done, suddenly another one appeared in the fridge. Curse my mom!

Mexican Wedding Cakes


Mexican Wedding Cakes
Originally uploaded by hezcatt.
My mom also makes the most fabulous mexican wedding cakes. You literally cannot stop eating these things. In fact, I polished off most of this tin. At this point in the photos, my uncle Kurt (not pictured) asked me why I was taking photos of food. Because...that's what I do.

Dad with skates


Dad with skates
Originally uploaded by hezcatt.
Some of you may remember my super awesome picture of me in junior high in my sneaker skates. Well, here they are real time (24 years later). My dad had me go through some old boxes when I was at his house and we dug them out. I made him hold them up for a photo for you all. He's kind of like, why?

Laura and Hez


Laura and Hez
Originally uploaded by hezcatt.
I spent New Years Eve in Scituate, MA with my friend Laura. We had a quiet night out of dinner at the fabulous Riva restaurant in downtown Scituate. Then we came home and tried to stay awake for the ball drop. At the time I didn't really appreciate another year passing. In hindsight I was lucky to witness it with Laura. She's a good friend.

Riva


IMG_1894
Originally uploaded by hezcatt.
Here we are at dinner. Those are pumpkin ravioli's on our plate.

Frosty SF


Frosty SF
Originally uploaded by hezcatt.
You may remeber how effin' cold it was the week before the holiday. This is my car at 6:30am on one of those mornings. In my 3.5 years here, I have not encountered frost. I stood there like an ass, and like I had never seen frost, for a minute while I figured out what to scrape it off with. I grabbed my squeegee from the back and was able to fashion it into a whack-tard (my new word) scraper.