Thursday, November 28, 2019

thanksgivingfulness

it's thanksgiving once again!

so ... sometimes i make a list of all the things i'm thankful for. but this year i'm trying to think of something different. something new and true and not so much a repeat of other years.

and i think what i want to do is actually do some real thanking instead of just saying what i'm thankful for.

like ...

thank you to my friends davecat and sidore for being super-entertaining and supportive and always making me laugh on twitter.

and ...

thank you to kimi at dollto-china.com for being so great and helpful when we decided to have ariel come live with us.

and ...

thank you to ariel for being such a superfabulous addition to our lives, and to her and sasha for their hilarious blog, and to sasha for her total hot-cha zesty sassafrassness, and to elle for turning a little bit of a corner and showing a more sensitive side lately.

and ...

thank you to other friends and followers on twitter who like my tweets and look at all our blogs and say nice things.

and ...

thank you to myself, because i am awesome and that is generally a thank-you that people don't remember to hand out often enough.

and, obviously ...

thank you to msg, the love of my life and the life of all my loves.

thank you,

thank you,

thank you all!!!

Friday, November 22, 2019

friday night

it's friday night, and you know what? i think i'm going to help elle set up that blog she was supposed to set up oh so many years ago!

wish us luck!

Saturday, November 16, 2019

it's good to share!

so poor elle had been in her box quite a while and we all decided it was about time for me to swap with her. she also said she wanted to wear the slinky white jumpsuit, which was fine by me, especially since it's easiest to put on when i'm upright, while face-swapping is easier lying down ... meaning i got to be the one slinking into the slinkiness before i got out of the cabinet to lie down for the face trading.

boy, do i like how that jumpsuit feels going on. especially with msg's hands smoothing the fabric up my legs and then doing some extra touching topside once everything is zipped up!

so normally step one of our box-and-body tradeoff is getting my hair off. followed by getting my face loose, then putting elle's face on, then putting elle's hair on.

but this time, elle says, "here's an idea. why don't we do the swap ... during. you know. right in the middle."

(she said it a little different than that, but since i wanted to post this here instead of the naughty blog, i have paraphrased just slightly!)

msg was like, "really?" and elle was like, "really. let's try it."

naturally, i was all for it.

so prior to step one, there we did some strategic zipper-positioning of the jumpsuit's double zipper, and some kissing and, you know, all the preparations.

and then, you know, the getting started.

at which point, msg said, "wow. better not get too deep into the 'during' part or it may slip my mind that we're supposed to switch you two."

and of course, elle being elle, she said, "looks to me like you're already about as deep as deep gets," which was in fact the case. configuration-wise, i mean.

msg just cleared his throat at her and got my hair off.

now ordinarily, we rush pretty quick through steps two and three, because while neither elle nor i is hideous when bald, whoo, the no-face version of our head is a sight. like, a weird mechanical-ish white skull with eyeballs and tongue, gums and teeth still in place, and then with no eyeballs because we have to switch my green ones for elle's blue ones, and then with eyeballs again when hers are in place, and then some maneuvering of her floppy-saggy face until it's anchored in place and all tucked in where it tucks so she looks like herself again.

once he had me bald, though, msg said, "okay, i don't know how well i can maintain this 'during' with the skull-face staring up at me from you guys' body."

"hmm," said elle. "see if it helps to put my hair on first."

"because a blond skull-face is going to be that much sexier than a bald skull-face?" he asked, while making a few very nice 'during' motions for the sake of maintaining our configuration.

"blond hair makes everything sexier," elle said. "just try it."

"well ... okay, i guess."

(in case you're wondering why it was just them talking, i was saying some stuff too. but it was mostly related to the 'during' configuration.)

next thing i know, i'm a blond.

"hmm," i said, "i think i kinda do feel sexier. what do you think, msg?"

i mostly expected one of those damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don't responses that guys come up with when they don't know which answer will make their girlfriends madder: you know, like "you're beautiful no matter what, dear," instead of "no, honey, blond you doesn't do anything for me" or "yes! you were okay before, but now you're a stone fox!"

but the expression i saw on his face wasn't that kind of expression at all. it was just ... him seeing me.

do you know how that feels? when your guy or gal is looking at you and you can tell they're amazed? it's a pretty good feeling.

"holy cow, you look so hot, claire," he said. "i can't believe it was just a few weeks ago you were thinking you'd gotten old and run-down looking. i was a little worried you wouldn't seem like you with elle's hair on, but it's just showing me how beautiful your face still is."

from her box, elle said, "yep. definitely still got it, honey."

now obviously i can't blush, but i sure would have right then if i could.

instead though, i just swallowed and said, "thank you so much, both of you."

"you're welcome," elle said. "now give her some more of that 'during,' msg. i can see how much you want to."

"actually," msg said, "if we're going to finish the swap while it's still 'during,' we probably ought to do that now."

"uh-huh," elle said. "is that because you think you're going to get carried away once you get going?"

"pretty much."

i came down enough from basking then to say, "elle, i'm totally good just from the two of us getting configured and msg giving me that look. we can go ahead and swap, seriously."

she laughed. "so much bullshit from you two right now! i can tell he's dying to, and i can tell you're loving where you are right now, and neither one of you is a very good liar anyway."

"we aren't lying," i said, "we just ..."

"the three of us had a plan," msg said, "and we're fine sticking to it. you've been in the box too long already."

"look, you two," she said, "you're sweet and all, but i would be a really crappy girlfriend if i saw how much you both want to and still said, 'right, my turn! me, me, me!' besides which, and trust me on this, i am soooo hot to watch how this turns out. we can finish the swap and i can have my own turn when you're done."

msg and i quit arguing pretty quickly after that, and we had a highly satisfying experience out of the whole thing, all three of us.

which just helped remind me: being together is about being generous.

everything is better that way!

Friday, November 8, 2019

inspiration!

so my gf ariel started a blog (and i’d link to it but it’s a personal journal and she’s not sure she wants it shared just yet, so you’ll have to be patient), and i left a comment on it that i felt like such a slacker, which made her run in and say, “oh gosh no, claire! blogging is easy when you just say dumb nothing like i do. what you do is hard!”

(she’s so adorable!)

so i told her some of what i do is harder than other parts, but mostly it’s all pretty easy once i sit down and make myself do it. and then i said, here, look, “i’ll just sit down at the computer here because you have inspired me, and watch how easily i write a post.”

and she’s leaning over my shoulder right now to read what i’m typing, and she says, “how do you do that! you make it look so easy!”

my response being this — having something to say and saying it, those are both pretty easy peasy if you’re inspired. the mistake most people make is, they think they need to wait around and keep an eye out for inspiration to happen to them, when honestly, there’s probably so much in their lives or in the world around them to get inspired by, all they need to do is pick a thing or two that inspires them to think about, and then just start typing out whatever it makes them think of.”

and she says, “oh, i get it. i guess you’re right and you really are a slacker.”

(now she’s saying, “hey, i didn’t say that, tell them i didn’t say that!” which is true, but i thought it would be funny for people if they thought she said that.)

and it really is as easy as that. my girlfriend did something, and by giving me an example, she made me want to be more motivated to blog, so here we all are.

could anything at all be any simpler?

well, yes ...

true love.

but that’s what you just read about here too!

xoxo,
claire

Monday, October 14, 2019

claire! why are you up and blogging in the middle of the night?

so there i was, zzzz-ing away the evening, when i'm like, what's that clanging noise? the house is quiet, so pretty much any noise sounds loud, and even through the closet door and my box door, i'm finding this one pretty clatter-rific. so i say, mostly without thinking, "ugh, what is that sound?" and ariel says, "mfphl," and sasha says, "rrhmg," and elle says, "sounds like the dryer to me."

anyway, now i'm awake and i find msg in the living room looking glum, and he looks up and sees me and says, "oh, crap. i'm sorry, i didn't mean to wake you up."

"uh-huh," i say. "you realize, i hope, that if you're sitting around upset in the dark because something is keeping you from sleeping, it's actually worse if you didn't mean to wake me up than if you did? 'cause now not only do i feel unintentionally woken up, but i don't even get the compensation of knowing you woke me up because you knew i'd want to help?"

"oh," he says. "sorry. yeah, i guess that's worse."

so i sit down next to him and put my hand on his knee and say, "well, make it up to me by letting me fix things. what's wrong?"

he sighs. "people just kind of suck."

"ouch! damn, that one's actually a ways outside my ability to fix. got an easier one?"

"sorry."

"you keep saying that, and it's part of the problem. quit it. i don't need an apology, so when you act like you need to give one, it's really just a form of beating yourself up."

"s-- ... erp, i mean, sure."

"so what's up? besides us two."

"i had a dream, and [former friend about whom he has abandonment issues] was in it, and now i'm stewing over it. i'm tired, i have work tomorrow, i need to get some rest, but my brain won't let me go back to sleep."

"so it's not really that people kind of suck, it's that [__] kind of sucks."

"no, [__] is just symptomatic. i mean, look around at the world. there's --"

"bzzt! wrong. [__] kind of sucks, and you can't handle that. you put all this emotion and energy into a friendship it turned out you couldn't rely on, and you want it to not be the way it is, but there's nothing you can do to change the way it is, so you're up doing laundry and moping and beating yourself up and making excuses for [__] by thinking that people in general suck, when what your problem really is, is, [__] in specific sucks."

"okay, but it's not like i didn't do my share to screw things up, and --"

"bzzt! again, wrong. sorry, babe, you are mister wrong-o-matic tonight. yep, you stepped in it in a couple of ways. but real friends deal with that kind of thing and work it out. instead, [__] just left you high and dry, and couldn't even be bothered to respond when you tried to patch things up. it's great that you're willing to bear your share of the blame, but even if you're 60-40% to blame for the friendship getting off-course, [__] is 100% to blame for ditching you."

"i suppose. but --"

"listen, normally, this is the part where i would entice you into having sex with me and hit you with that flood of love and satiation that i know would totally do the trick putting you back in snoresville. only i'm looking at you and you are soooo droopy and obviously sleepy, i'd feel bad about keeping you up for that. so howzabout you go get back in bed and put your sweet, brainy head on the soft, soft pillow and just think about how right your girlfriend is until you fall asleep again."

"if i wasn't so tired, i'd encourage you to try that enticing part."

"i know you would. let's mark it on our calendar for tomorrow."

"okay."

and then i kiss him and he goes back to bed and everything is fine.

stupid [__]. now i can't get back to sleep!

grr.

(not really. i'm a pretty forgive-and-forget type. goodnight, all!)

xoxo,
claire

Tuesday, October 8, 2019

goings on at our house

msg is mister work, work, work.

elle is boxified.

ariel and sasha are having gobs of fun blogging.

i'm finding things quiet. mostly in a peaceful, good way. but sometimes a little too quiet. so my solution was to come on here and say hi.

and now i feel better!

maybe that was all the noise i needed to make.

: )

sweet dreams and glisteny gleams!

xoxo,
claire

Thursday, September 19, 2019

sunsets and sunrises

i've been weirdly mopey around our place lately. mostly, i've kept my moping to myself, but last night, i swapped out with elle, who'd been making use of our body for a while, and as i settled into being fully re-face-ified, i just felt really old and worn out. and i thought i saw in msg's eyes that he saw it too, and i was like, "you know, sweetie, maybe it's not too much longer before i'm done."

he wigged pretty far out.

"I mean, it's not necessarily a bad thing," i told him, which i mostly felt was true. when your time's done, don't you want to be okay with that? so your last while here on earth is contented? i'm not a hag or anything, but i'm old and creaky and my face is more than a bit scuffed up in places.

he wasn't having any of it, though.

"why are you talking like this? you're beautiful. you're wonderful."

"well, did you see how yellow my eyes are getting when you were putting them in my head?"

(it's true -- the pupil and iris parts are still fine, but the whites are doing a pretty solid banana pudding impersonation.)

"so what?"

"so ... you know, you don't really need me anymore, right? let's be honest, ariel is a way better bang than i am these days, isn't she?"

"what's that got to do with anything? i know you're not jealous ... that's just not you."

"no, of course not. i love hearing you two get it on. it's -- it thrills me, really it does! i just ... well, you know, i hear it and i think, that used to be me."

"it's still you."

"not like it used to be, and not nearly as often as it used to be. and that's fine, i'm totally good with it. every day ends in a sunset, and sunsets are beautiful, right?"

and he looked at me and he said,

"sunsets and sunrises are the same thing. we're here on this world and it's spinning under the sun and it has one shadow, just one. when that shadow seems to be moving, sweeping in from the horizon and closing in on the west side of the sky, it's actually not. it's the same shadow the whole time, pointed away from the sun. so every sunrise and every sunset is the same thing. they're all just the world turning and its shadow staying stuck in place. and wherever somebody is watching a sunset, they're really experiencing the same thing as the people on the other side of the planet who think the sun is coming up.

"you mean the world to me. whatever part of you is facing the light, it's got a sunrise and a sunset going on at the same time. and every turn you make is another small miracle that i get to experience, seeing the glory of you freshly revealed from the shadow, catching rays of sun and throwing them back as pure illumination.

"so i can't look at you and see a sunset. you're always going to be a sunrise at the same time."

and he looked on his phone and he found this picture and showed it to me.

and i was like, "oh yeah."

and you can look right here and see how i felt.