Red Hot Summer!!

Hello from mid-July, y'all. Guess if I had one a them fancy pants phones, I wouldn't be so lazy about blogging. Yes, I do have a fancy pants computer, but the wireless do-dad is broken so I can only use it while tethered to the futon. Hmm, should get that fixed so I can blog from the fancy pants coffee shop.

Ennneeway....(yes I do watch too much Ellen)...in between bouts of profound sadness and insomnia-inducing anxiety, I've had a pretty bitchin' summer so far.

I looked through my pictures to remind myself what I've been up to since y'all took a good hard look at me in my motherfucking boat, and this is what I came up with:
Lavender Festival with the in-laws! There are more pics on the flickr. Very hot out, but super fun. Lavender is the only girly smell that doesn't give me a headache so this is a fest I really enjoy.
I went to my (unintelligible) year HIGH SCHOOL REUNION. No, I am not kidding you. Even more shocking, it was FUN. There are tons of photos of it on the facebook if you're into that sort of thing, but here is one of my favorites of the few taken with my (now broken!!!) camera. All of the girls I actually liked in school were there. I'm talking a beer for breakfast level of fun y'all. I know that my non-HS northwest peeps were sad that I didn't get a chance to hang with them and believe me, I wish I could have seen y'all, but I didn't even make it past Gig Harbor and I was only there for a couple of days. You know you can catch a plane up there in SeaTac that can take you right here to Austin, right? Just sayin'.
I got my hair cut, and I'm not grumpy about it. Amazing. Speaking of amazing, here's Adriane wrapping me up!
Still speaking of amazing, check this out: The Stuffed Burger. It's hard to see, but there's a bunch of stuff inside the meat. I will never make an unstuffed burger again.
We're in the midst of an epic drought here in TX, but we have managed to find a little water here and there. Do y'all understand how this photo illustrates what a completely different person I am now that I'm Texan? My head is in water and it is water that may contain fish, and those fish may touch me!! And yet, I appear to not be in terror. Plus I'm in swimwear. Again.

One of the places we found some water was Port Aransas. Loyal followers will know that Port A is one of the Starks' "special spots" and this trip did not disappoint.
We rode bikes! I'm pretty sure I haven't been on a bike since I was about twelve. And when I was twelve, I would have LUVED this bike. Hot pink and neon yellow? Rad. Bike riding is surprisingly relaxing. Even though it was 1000 degrees out and I was technically doing a physical activity, I felt great. Of course when we stopped at a waterin' hole, I saw myself in a mirror and I had the "Jen's been exercising" face which is a disturbing shade of purple.
There I go. Look, no training wheels! I guess you really don't forget. Unfortunately there are only a few other shots of me on the bike and a few random seagull pics from this trip because as I may have mentioned, my camera's broken for real this time. It's been acting a little wacky now and again, but had always come back before. I don't know what the life expectancy is for one of these electro-gadgets but I had it for almost six years and y'all know I am not exactly gentle with my possessions. Sad sad sad. How will I document important cat holidays? Luckily, everyone else in the world only takes pictures with their fancy pants phones so plain old cameras are not too expensive these days.

After a couple of Starks-only days in P.A. we headed over to P.O.C. (Port O'Connor, where the Howells have a lavish vacation home ;) HQ of one of the finest local newspapers of all time: Dolphin Talk, in which you can read hard-hitting editorials about the problem of "radical Chicano agendas") We had sooo much fun celebrating America's Birthday with our voluntary family. Thankfully, Adriane was there this year so my broken camera didn't stop me from getting a series of patriotic photographs.
Um, yeah, I know I got some sun. That is not the point. It's about America, y'all. Does it get more American than resting your bottle of Jack on your sunburned gut? I think not.

Speaking of Birthdays, Suicide Prevention Week officially kicks off on Wednesday, but I will be hard-pressed to top the gift already given to me by the aforementioned AMAZING ADRIANE: a trip to the Justin Timberlake Sing-Along!! It was magical. I hope you have a friend like Adriane, she's the greatest.

I reckon that brings up to near present day. Hope y'all are having your own red hot summers!