M and G, 12/24/1992-12/24/2010 = 18 years!

December 1991, as I said yesterday, the wife and I had known each other for 3+ years. She ran the open ceramics studios at University of Illinois at Chicago, and I was an instructor there. That December we sorta started doing things together outside the studio, including, as you see above, making Christmas cookies at my place. Typical poor artist type date, hmm? I was never the caviar and sports car type date....
below is me--on the left, she had taken a shot of me in that studio and then the pic of me and my cat Sammy on the cookie day. LITTLE DID WE BOTH know that we would soon start to date and then in exactly 12 months get married. We fell hard for each other.


Me and the wife last summer. A very good photo. She is several years older than me, 50+ now, but still impossibly hawt. Somebody said last year "...your pretty blonde wife...". Kinda funny, she has never dyed her hair, and it has turned this mellow color. I have the salt and pepper thing going here, but still surprisingly for my family: NOT bald. Also, I still have the jeans in the photos here and wore them the other day. They are well loved and well patched, but I have the same body I had then. SO, in a way, we have not really changed much as we have aged. Our wedding pic: I can pretend I am JFK Jr and she is Susan Sarandon :)



AND on the wedding day in 1992. We really did not invite anybody, just a couple of sisters came along. We sorta eloped. We got married at the Drake Hotel in Chicago in an Episcopal ceremony. Father Ted here had a busy day but he was game: he did our wedding, we went down for lunch, then he had to do the usual midnight Christmas Eve stuff, etc....


Back in the early 90s, you heard James on the radio. I heard a DJ call their tune Laid the "dirty song". If you know it, you might wink at me for choosing it here...


AND day ten of the ten day thing: one confession?
I had my eyes on M fall of 1991, I wanted her bad, but I played it cool. The whole thing worked out well, didn't it?

Day One: Ten things you want to say to ten different people right now.
Day Two: Nine things about yourself.
Day Three: Eight ways to win your heart.
Day Four: Seven things that cross your mind a lot.
Day Five: Six things you wish you’d never done.
Day Six: Five people who mean a lot (in no order whatsoever)
Day Seven: Four turn offs.
Day Eight: Three turn ons.
Day Nine: Two smileys that describe your life right now.
Day Ten: One confession

Christmas eve's eve

(pottery by Gary Rith)
You know I am doing this ten day thing, right? Second to last day: 2 smiley faces that describe your life right now!
1) OK, the wife and I? Friday is our 18th anniversary. Christmas eve's eve is our anniversary eve. BUT 19 years ago, 12 months before we got married as it turns out, we were to meet and have a friendly outing at Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo. We had known each other for about 3 years by then, never dated or anything, but here we were, meeting up to join the caroling to the animals. I waited..and waited....the seals were happy, but I was getting a bit cold in the rain and cold...and then there she was. I wasn't that soaked and shivering. Not like, with sneezes and shivers. After the zoo, we went to an empty retaurant and sat by their real fireplace and warmed up. And we started dating after that day. As the wife said a minute ago "I was late because I wanted to look nice for you. I don't know why I wanted to look nice for you. We weren't dating then."
But after that? We were :) 19 years of dating! 18 years married tomorrow....

2) other smiley face, describing my life now? You should see this wicked cool skull mug experiment that just came out of the kiln. That makes me smile, gives me more to experiment with in 2011 :)



Day One: Ten things you want to say to ten different people right now.
Day Two: Nine things about yourself.
Day Three: Eight ways to win your heart.
Day Four: Seven things that cross your mind a lot.
Day Five: Six things you wish you’d never done.
Day Six: Five people who mean a lot (in no order whatsoever)
Day Seven: Four turn offs.
Day Eight: Three turn ons.
Day Nine: Two smileys that describe your life right now.
Day Ten: One confession

Georges Le Soq: probably not on Santa's GOOD LIST

As you recall last week or so, my rotton French sock monkey Georges Le Soq made his list for Santa. He is totally undeserving of anything from Santa, due to his consistently deplorable behavior all year, but he can dream can't he?
(thank you Kasey for helping Georges dream....)
Georges asked Santa for....



Georges asked for champers and a train set.....and lunch with Lou Reed.

AND you might as well dream big for Christmas, right? He asked for the Swedish bikini team too....well, good luck with all of it Georges, and if Santa gives you a lump of coal instead? Maybe next year you will mend your ways...



OK, enough of him and his evil ways, you know I am doing this ten day thing...today is 3 turn ons...oh gosh, what....?
1) when I was in my 20s? probably the sight of ANY woman wearing anything....
2) doing any thing....
3) but then there is her smile :) just that one particular smile, and have I mentioned, Christmas Eve is our 18th wedding anniversary? :)



Day One: Ten things you want to say to ten different people right now.
Day Two: Nine things about yourself.
Day Three: Eight ways to win your heart.
Day Four: Seven things that cross your mind a lot.
Day Five: Six things you wish you’d never done.
Day Six: Five people who mean a lot (in no order whatsoever)
Day Seven: Four turn offs.
Day Eight: Three turn ons.
Day Nine: Two smileys that describe your life right now.
Day Ten: One confession

putting the POTTERY back in the "pottery blog"

(pottery and sketches by Gary Rith)
You remember Baby Alex, right? My little buddy, my honorary nephew, my honorary cousin Tiffany's son? I come home from seeing him and I am like "I gotta draw babies on mugs!"* and I work on it and get one I like. Our elderly kitten Emily, of course, spends the winter sleeping on the wife's sweaters, which is SO cute, I wanted to put that onto mugs too...so I did :)
*I am thinking of doing my first EVER New Year's pottery: New Year, New Baby!




You know I am doing this ten day thing, right? Today is 4 turn offs. Gosh, isn't that like, a bachelor question? I don't know what turns me off or on...or do I?

1) let's be honest, ODORS! Cat box, fish, smelly guy sleeping on a park bench? I do not prefer to smell that.
2) pit bulls scare me to death, even if it is not their fault
3) snobbiness--we are all people with something to share, so be nice
4) turtlenecks--there is something dishonest and sneaky about them.....
bonus: I give the wife a kiss this morning and I don't know WHAT nasty lipstick or lip balm she has on, but YUCK! OK, that is like my biggest turn off: a kiss full of waxy, smelly lip stuff, ewww!

OK, my first vote for music video of the year, the Black Keys!
(my wife will be apalled at this I think......)


Day One: Ten things you want to say to ten different people right now.
Day Two: Nine things about yourself.
Day Three: Eight ways to win your heart.
Day Four: Seven things that cross your mind a lot.
Day Five: Six things you wish you’d never done.
Day Six: Five people who mean a lot (in no order whatsoever)
Day Seven: Four turn offs.
Day Eight: Three turn ons.
Day Nine: Two smileys that describe your life right now.
Day Ten: One confession.

party with Georges, Jacques, Kerry and Brett....

Kerry and Brett came over yesterday, and Jacques Le Soq was back in town visiting his rotton cousin, my well known French sock monkey, Georges Le Soq. It goes without saying that Kerry and Brett are dog people....(my pal Becky Jo in Iowa made the awesome chip and dip dishes here and Ben painted the awesome small painting to Jacques' right)
So as you know, I have this ten day thing going on, midway through now, which Kerry got me started on, complete list below.
Day 5: five people who mean a lot to me. OH GOSH.
1) the wife! Friday is our 18th wedding anniversary, BTW
2) the beagle! she is adorable even if she is not an angel
3) Buster, our 12 year old lab! The best behaved, sweetest dog ever.
4) Emily cat! Sweetest CAT ever...
5) Spike cat! Spike is a CLOWN. Spike is smart, and uses his small cat brain for fun.
6) also, in no particular order, I absolutely adore (and yourself reading this too, I adore you too!) BrettKerryChristiStev0JudyAnnaKariKyleDerekAlanBeckyJoBen
KaseyScott
FranMaureenandGeorgeLizzieJillyBeanEmilyAbigail
KateandJimTommyTerriAnnChrisLaurenTaoJulieTiffanyCheriSuzCiciMeredithJimJen
Lynda and Baby Alex but definately I do NOT like _____
Here's a tune to LOVE. Gosh, the sound here is terrific.


Day One: Ten things you want to say to ten different people right now.
Day Two: Nine things about yourself.
Day Three: Eight ways to win your heart.
Day Four: Seven things that cross your mind a lot.
Day Five: Six things you wish you’d never done.
Day Six: Five people who mean a lot (in no order whatsoever)
Day Seven: Four turn offs.
Day Eight: Three turn ons.
Day Nine: Two smileys that describe your life right now.
Day Ten: One confession.

more silliness for a Sunday....

(pottery and ornaments by Gary Rith)
Julie lives around the corner, and last week she emails at like 6 am "I need frog mugs for my brother, is there still time?" and I am like "I can make 'em and fire 'em real quick, in the baby kiln" and at the same time Tiffany is like "I need ornaments" and I am like "WILL DO, right now, then fire them in the baby kiln". Tiffany, of course, is mother of the famous baby Alex, and YOU KNOW I had to make a baby Alex Santa ornament.
Julie's story was good "my brother does NOT like cute stuff, but we have a frog bowl of yours, and he was visiting. We were using it, and he just loved it! So we thought he would like frog mugs". See that is the thing, we can convert even people who hate cute to love my work.






You know I am doing this 10 ten day thing, right? List below. Today is 6 things I wish I hadn't done.
Good lord, I canNOT think of a single thing. I must perfect. :)
(I have never impregnated anyone, failed a class, been kicked out of anything, killed or physically hurt anyone, been arrested or developed any addictions: by that very low bar, I am a success, am I not?)


Superb video here.


Day One: Ten things you want to say to ten different people right now.
Day Two: Nine things about yourself.
Day Three: Eight ways to win your heart.
Day Four: Seven things that cross your mind a lot.
Day Five: Six things you wish you’d never done.
Day Six: Five people who mean a lot (in no order whatsoever)
Day Seven: Four turn offs.
Day Eight: Three turn ons.
Day Nine: Two smileys that describe your life right now.
Day Ten: One confession.

brainless, c'est moi

(getting ready for the last walk of the day in the snow...Penny and her little jacket and...hat...)
As you know, I am doing this ten day thing, we are at day 4, which is 7 things which cross your mind a lot. The whole list is below.
This is hard, as my head is a ball of fluff, filled with little balls of pink cotton candy. But I will try...
1-remember when we were kids, we would smirk about what sentence you could get with each letter that spells ADIDAS ???? ;)
2--peanut butter...peanut butter for breakfast? and lunch????
3--why does the cat box smell so awful?
4-what would the wife like for dinnah?
5--teapots...make more teapots...
6--draw, draw more babies and doggies
7--I should have cut the grass more last summer, maybe I should have the mower tuned and sharpened....
8--time to walk the dog!

Kathee sends this link, absolutely wonderful....


Day One: Ten things you want to say to ten different people right now.
Day Two: Nine things about yourself.
Day Three: Eight ways to win your heart.
Day Four: Seven things that cross your mind a lot.
Day Five: Six things you wish you’d never done.
Day Six: Five people who mean a lot (in no order whatsoever)
Day Seven: Four turn offs.
Day Eight: Three turn ons.
Day Nine: Two smileys that describe your life right now.
Day Ten: One confession.

cutecutecute!

OK, so you know I am doing this daily thing? The whole list is at the bottom.
OH GOD, day 3, eight ways to win my heart? I am not a sentimental type...but I will try.
1) wear your cottony flannel cat PJs to bed on a cold night
2) run around with the beagle, the 2 of you are SO cute
3) call at lunchtime and tell me how you love the peanut butter sandwich and drawing I put into your lunch
4) you're a great listener, to all my baloney
5) you are also the only person allowed near me, I hate being touched, but you are my sweetie
6) curse like a sailor! make up new blasphemies and obscenities!
7) chat about books we have both read
8) stuff the cat into your bathrobe

This turns out to be a very specific list, I see :) Me and the wife have our 18th wedding anniversary next week. 18! put THAT in yer pipe and smoke it.....



Day One: Ten things you want to say to ten different people right now.
Day Two: Nine things about yourself.
Day Three: Eight ways to win your heart.
Day Four: Seven things that cross your mind a lot.
Day Five: Six things you wish you’d never done.
Day Six: Five people who mean a lot (in no order whatsoever)
Day Seven: Four turn offs.
Day Eight: Three turn ons.
Day Nine: Two smileys that describe your life right now.
Day Ten: One confession.

the wife tells me all about myself...

Like I say, I am doing this ten day thing, you can see the list all the way below.
Day 2, 9 things about me!!!! I am bored with my talking about myself--I always talk about myself. So I asked the wife to do it for me, my comments in parenthsis--(she is mighty nice, I doubt I would be that nice about myself)

the wife tells me I:
1: have curly hair (you can see that in pics, right?)
2: likes to read (that is ALL I do--and since libraries are still free, I can save my allowance for other, less savory things...)
3: is youngest child (I act like one too---perpetual baby ...)
4: hates surprises (HATEHATEHATE that is what telephones are for...it is part of my organized personality...see below---I also broke somebody's tooth once when they came up behind me and jabbed my ribs, I leaped up so quick, my head slammed their jaw, OOOPS!)
5: not above peeking at presents (ahem, see above)
6: tries to diplomatically defuse angry situations with laughter and jokes (I have gotten in trouble for this--people say I am not a serious person, but I can be serious, but why bother???)
7: determined or you could say persistant (I know how to get out of bed and get to work :)
8: DRIVEN (DITTO)
9: organized (some would say focused---and I may be organized, but I am not by nature TIDY, I can be very messy)
Bonus: naps with cat midday (that is so totally private and unfair! Sometimes I fall asleep with the dog!)

(personal bonus items: I have a large and beautifully toned purple birthmark under my hair above my ear. It matches the purple paint of our house, when you think about it. I was hit by a car while riding my bike in 8th grade. Smashed the windshield with my head. I am still VERY nervous about traffic although I love to walk and bike)

snicker snicker...a heavy metal Christmas!


Day One: Ten things you want to say to ten different people right now.
Day Two: Nine things about yourself.
Day Three: Eight ways to win your heart.
Day Four: Seven things that cross your mind a lot.
Day Five: Six things you wish you’d never done.
Day Six: Five people who mean a lot (in no order whatsoever)
Day Seven: Four turn offs.
Day Eight: Three turn ons.
Day Nine: Two smileys that describe your life right now.
Day Ten: One confession.

Baby Alex STRIKES AGAIN: the return of Little Dude....

(Alex and me)


Is this the week of the baby? My life is all quiet and routine and suddenly I am surrounded by babies? Tuesday afternoon I am at the post office with my big dog Buster and its ten degrees and very windy and snowy, and Nancy is there with wonderful Baby Z, who is just old enough to pull off her shoes and socks and throw them onto the snow. Adorable in summer, maybe not such a brilliant baby idea this month...anyway.
So like I say, Saturday I was hanging out in NY city with my pals Julie and her guy Seth, plus Julie's sister Tiffany with BABY ALEX. As I said, I first met Baby Alex when he was a BIG BELLY BUMP, a month or 2 before he emerged onto the scene, as it were....anyway, if you did not get enough of Alex before, his mom sends me 2 more pics....

In other news, my pal Kerry is doing this daily thing. I am gonna do it too. Check my answers for day one below.
Day One: Ten things you want to say to ten different people right now.
Day Two: Nine things about yourself.
Day Three: Eight ways to win your heart.
Day Four: Seven things that cross your mind a lot.
Day Five: Six things you wish you’d never done.
Day Six: Five people who mean a lot (in no order whatsoever)
Day Seven: Four turn offs.
Day Eight: Three turn ons.
Day Nine: Two smileys that describe your life right now.
Day Ten: One confession.

Ten things I wanna say to ten people right now:
1) to my rotton French sock monkey Georges Le Soq: pipe down! Your snoring in the closet is SO LOUD.
2) to Baby Alex: my MAN, keep your shoes and socks ON today
3) to my wife: I think I am gonna turn up the heat, its FREEZING
4) again to the wife: is a peanut butter sandwich for your lunch today alright? I can and do eat peanut butter every day...
5) to the president: sigh.
6) to John Boner, incoming congressional house leader: man up, dipstick, and stop with the fake tears and ARRRGGGHHHH you people piss me off so much.
7) to Ebenezer Scrooge: at least you learned something and gave up your dipstick ways
8) to Lou Reed: my sock monkey wants to have lunch with you. If he is out to lunch with you, can I join you? Will Laurie Anderson be coming along? Pretty please?
9) back to my wife: you're a sweetie pie
10) to Spike the cat: STOP IT. I can hear you down there!

Dear Santa, eez me, Georges....

My rotton French sock monkey Georges Le Soq is rattling around the house yesterday and steals my pen and starts a list before he writes to Santa. I hear him muttering to himself

"...but first, ve vill need zee champers, to set zee right tone..." and he scribbles that down and then
"...I vill need zee company to share zee champers with. Swedish Bikini Team ees perfect. I tell Santa I want Swedish Bikini Team..." but then he surprises me with
"...Lou Reed eees cool. Santa, he arrange lunch with Lou Reed and me..." and finally
"...and zee train set. I need a train set...."

NY city baby...part TWO

I went to NY city Saturday, which you can also read about in Sunday's post. The wife stayed home, but as I am out the door, she is like "let me get your picture, like the first day of school!"
I went to see my best pals Julie and Seth and their CATS of course. You would go to NY to see their cats too.
Of course, as you saw in yesterday's post, Julie's sister my other best pal Tiffany brought her little BABY ALEXANDER. You would travel hundreds of miles to see Alex :)
My great-grandmother moved to East 79th street, one block from Julie's apartment, with HER mother my great-great grandmother and her son, my grandfather and lived there for decades, and my father eventually also grew up on that street. That is a lot of decades of Rith's there, a lot of generations too.
My grandfather met my grandmother back around 1933 in the library in the cute building over my shoulder with the bright orange banner.


NY city has all the cool sights, like pigeons!

There were THOUSANDS of Santas in NY on Saturday. Alexander with Tiffany there probably thinks Santa is EVERYWHERE.
Park Ave is all lit up with Christmas trees.
I went down also to see the Hopper paintings at the Whitney Museum. STUNNING.
Me and my SIL Emily and this goofy head. Emily was my partner in crime for the day....

There is a bar on Emily's corner at 2nd Ave called Ship of Fools. We have been going there for a very long time whenever we are in NY...it is definately filled with fools....