andie in the arctic.

happy monday, everyone, and greetings from the land of my birth. i arrived in buffalo on saturday evening and it has not stopped snowing since my little plane desceneded from the clouds. not that anyone is particularly surprised. during winter, snow in buffalo is like a cherry on the top of a sundae. it'd just be weird without it. and all of you i'm sure will be pleased to know that after many weeks of gloating because of my superior desert climate, i am now shivering my ass off in the northeast. i am also grossly underprepared in terms of outerwear and footwear, but we'll get to that catastrophe in due time. my father has had to use his snowblow an excessive number of times since the beginning of the season, but despite of all his ferocious complaining, i truly believe there is some part of him that enjoys this activity.




my dad in his snowblowing glory. take that, snow!


as mentioned, i arrived here on saturday evening and began this part of my vacation by having a reunion with my dog, fuggles. i don't think i've mentioned fuggles too much during my chronicles, so allow me take a few minutes to introduce this behemoth of love, my mushy mastadon. as most of you know after readnig a certain post in october, our beloved childhood canine companion, bandit, left us in the summer of 2003. after much contemplation, and about a year and a half of allowing ourselves to grieve our bandit, we decided we were ready to adopt another furry baby into our home. so in december of 2004, my family adopted a 7 month old Chinook mix named fuggles. and no, we did not name him fuggles. we're not that mean. he came to us with the unique moniker already applied and it wasn't going anywhere. fuggles' coat is a very distinct reddish color that is very similar to a type of hops used in beer making. his original owner noticed this coincidence and bestowed the name fuggles onto him.




my fugglebear and my "brother" rob


and don't get me wrong, it's not like we just accepted the name fuggles without putting up at least a little bit of a fight. he has the face of a baby bear, so my father suggested we try to change his name to bear. and we tried! but fuggles said no. he would answer to nothing but fuggles. and hey, i don't blame him. it sets him apart from all those "buddy's" and "bandit's" and "rover's" out there. fuggles was very nervous around my father at first, because he had been badly abused by a man in his early puppyhood, but fugs and i bonded immediately. despite being a snow dog and weighing nearly one hundred pounds, fuggles truly believes he is a lap dog and wants to cuddle at every opportunity. he is a very happy, silly dog who expresses his happiness in the form of vocalizations somewhere in between a whine and bark that i call "dog singing."

as mentioned, we welcomed fuggy into our lives during my college career, so for his entire life, he has known me to be in and out of the house at various intervals. which has actually worked out rather well, because he never really shows any type of resentment or bitterness, like bandit used to display towards my brother. the andie/fuggles reunion goes something like this. fuggles will hear the car door shut outside and begin barking, as is customary with our canine friends. before i enter the house, or he can see me, i usually call out to him. and once he recognizes my voice, he starts singing, very loudly. he then lovingly attacks me when i walk through the door, which forms a gauntless of sorts, wedging me between the stairs, wall, my luggage and a very excited, giant dog who is doing everything he can to jump on me, licking me no less than 300 times before i can even take my shoes off. next, he has to get his favorite toy and show it to me. this time it was a stuffed squirrell that he has viciously ripped all the stuffing out of, but in the past it has been bones, a stuffed chicken, a ball, etc. we then spend a good amount of time cuddling.

fuggles and his "cousin", buddy

i spent a great day with my dad yesterday. my father and i have a tradition of going christmas shopping very late in the season. we've been known to venture out on the 24th to get "a few last things". the ironic part about this is that neither of us are big fans of people or crowds, so you'd think that we would avoid the store during the last week before christmas like the plague. but there we are, shoving our way through department stores and grumbling about "all these damn people." but we always have a wonderful time together. i received one of my christmas gifts early, in the form of being taken shopping for an outfit. and i have to admit, winter friends, that i did get quite a chuckle when i noticed how out of place my father seemed in a young woman's clothing store. i was very thankful i have a dad who loves me enough to endure the mindless chatter of young women, the pulsating techno music that they always seem to play in those store and the intense indecisiveness his daughter was stuck with when it came to selecting a pair of pants.

the universe  was good to me on sunday evening and i had to opportunity to see the Trans Siberian Orchestra play in downtown buffalo. My cousins had received tickets as a gift for them and their boyfriends (i feel strange calling someone a boyfriend after the age of about 25... the word boyfriend in my head conjures up an image of an angsty 17 year old boy in skinny jeans and stupid hair, trying to avoid the girls' father, while they figure out a way to sneak up to her bedroom......  )... anyway, my cousin katie's "manfriend" ( i guess that's better...?) wasn't able to go so i became her date instead. and woohoo! it was such a good time.

for those of you who are unfamiliar with the trans siberian orchestra, they provide an amazing synergy between rock and classical music. they use several extremely talented guitarists who rock super hard with a signficant string section backing them up which adds depth and complexity to the music. they also put on a hell of a show. i'm very fortunate that i am not at all prone to seizures because i have not been that overstimulated in quite some time. lasers! smoke machines! video screens! moving catwalks! fire! holy crap! so much to look at.

the trans siberian orchestra gained some mainstraim notoriety with some beautifully ass kicking renditions of christmas songs. check out their version of greensleeves, it will rock your face off. and can i just say, i find this super intense christmas music to be hilarious. the fact that these long haired rock star dudes are head banging, violently, to songs about santa gave me the giggles like nothing i had ever experienced. to see a full grown man in leather pants, on his knees, squealing out amazing guitar solos in the middle of joy to world, while fire erupted in the background is about the funniest thing ever. i expected santa claus to come running out in the middle of the stage and start ripping his suit in half with his bare hands circa 1989 hulk hogan. the only thing that could have made this christmas music more intense was if they let live polar bears loose on the audience and announced that certain sections of the stadium had raw meat under their seats. woo christmas!!!!

i haven't laughed that hard in a long time. and i'll keep stating this throughout this particular literay masterpiece, friends, that this band was musically amazing and their show was one of the most entertaining expereinces that i have attended in quite some time. but just the thought of christmas being so hardcore is priceless to me.

my cousins also decided to park several blocks away from the arena as to avoid traffic and the nonesense of paying to park. and might i just remind you, how much snow is currently in buffalo. since my relocation to the great southwest, i have found myself with belongings spread over a large part of the country. and, insert laughter here, unfortunately, most of my winter outerwear and footwear is residing on long island. so, i decided i wanted to look cute for the concert last night, donning some brand new skinny jeans and a cute grey shirt. unfortunately for andiepants, all of my boots are on long island. the only footwear that i had with me, that was able to stand up to the six inches of snow, slush and ice that we strode across... was my hiking boots. please, everyone, take just a minute to imagine me, striding across downtown buffalo with my skinny jeans tucked into super hardcore high ankled hiking boots. sigh.

to make matters worse, i also do not have a winter coat with me, so i was wearing my mothers, which did not fit and caused me to look like a rectangle. in order to make sure my ears and face did not freeze and crack in half, i donned my snow hat, which has a poof ball on the top and two hanging from each ear flap. not the most classy look, but i dig it. so, just to summarize my outfit in its entirety, we had super crazy hiking boots, with skinny tucked in, rectangle coat and poof ball hat. i looked like a street urchin. i really did. it looked like my cousins were participating in some agency goodwill fundraiser, entitled "take a homeless person to a concert." its a good thing i don't embarrass easily.

unfortunately, i awoke this morning with a bit of a cold, but such is life and i am taking this opportunity to relax on my couch, watch tv and cuddle with my dog.

oh, and p.s., i miss comments. so if the spirit moves you, say hello!

be happy and be thankful during this holiday season,
andie.