Spa day in New Orleans

A free mudbath with good food?!



Good thing I have adorable yellow polka dot rainboots...


image from last weekends Jazz Fest

A respite

I want to be here.



so cozy and inviting. Maybe with a book and big pitcher of water. Or maybe with nothing at all.

Photo from ReNest

Not so usual

Not too much to write currently. Times are hard right now. Scott's birthday is next Tuesday, and next Saturday is the day I was supposed to be married. I am trying to wrap my head around the fact that this is actually my life. I find that I am better at choosing safety, but sometimes safety seems boring. Something to get used to, I guess. To learn and practice.

Things are quiet in my life and subdued. I am looking forward to Jazz Fest this weekend. A few days of sun and music (Stevie Wonder!) and beer and amazing food certainly can't hurt right now. oh, and dresses. Light, cotton dresses.

This post may sound hopeless, but I'm not. I know that one day this will be redeemed and soon enough the laughter will come easily. Just not today.

sucks.

My garden is growing like crazy though. That is fun to watch and be a part of. I also get to go to a Birthday Celebration for a friend tonight. Happy Birthday Charlotte!

ciao friends

Weekend round-up

This weekend was full of friends and parties and art and weirdness. I am exhausted, physically and emotionally, so forgive me if this entry is a bit spacey.

Friday my friend Jenn came to stay with me. Jenn has been in Malawi, Africa for six months as a missionary, so I was very glad to see her. So glad that I gave up my Friday night routine for her! She, Carrie and I talked and laughed and caught up until the wee hours (or midnight, which seems really late these days).

Saturday we both slept till 11! Then we got up and sat outside in my garden area and ate veggie omelets and drank too much coffee for a few hours. I caught her up on my life (when she left I had just gotten engaged, so lots has happened...), and it was a lovely morning. Around 2:30, we decided to get dressed and go to lunch. An afternoon with good food and shopping and bookstore browsing commenced. This was followed by a going away party for Brent at Cal's house. It was very nice, with different groups of people and babies and food and cigars and beer. I floated in and out of all of the groups and generally had a good time.

I am in such a weird place right now. I am simply not very comfortable in big groups. This is a big change for me, as I have always been very social and am really good in big groups. Now however, I feel out of place. I know that it is because I am changing so much and trying to fit the changes into my life, but it still sucks. I am either really quiet (which I am ok with), or I become 'life of the party' Elisa. Center of attention, joking, being silly. I DO NOT like this Elisa. One day I will be able to be that person again in public, but now it feels strange and I want to crawl under a rock. My life feels quieter, so I am more comfortable being quieter and calmer. Does that even make sense? Anyway, the party was really nice and it was good to see old friends and get to talk to Brent and wish him well.

Sunday was brunch with a family that I love. They are family to me, and I am so grateful to have them in my life. There is something beautiful about being able to go to someone's house and be 'Sisa', and eat food with them and be with them as they go about regular life. Help myself to their coffee and read stories with their kids. I love it. Later, after a lovely hour on the Starbucks patio, Jenn and I went to Magic City Art Connection. It was my first time there and I really dug it. I bought some lovely jewelry, some as gifts for others, some as gifts for me. On to church. Again, it was nice. The sermon was about Death, and I think that I have some questions for Tom, but will deal with that later...

After church I went to Surin with my friend Liz and her Community Group. Again, a big crowd. Again, hilarious Elisa was out. I had a good time,but was a bit awkward being around young married couples, as my wedding date was to be 2 weeks from Saturday. I am gearing up for a sucky start to May. Scott's birthday is the 6th, wedding date on the 10th, Honeymoon 12-20. sigh. I don't want those days to come and go. I don't want to wake up on May 10 and go canoing instead of get married. I want to have my wedding and wear my dress and dance to The Spots and become his wife and start our lives together. That is what I want.

I digress.

All in all, a nice weekend. Bittersweet. One of the best parts was realizing how much I love my apartment and what retreat from the world it is. Well, I am exhausted tonight and looking forward to resting a bit this week. Next weekend is Jazz Fest(!) and I am very much looking forward to that. I do love Festival Season!

Thanks friends, for sticking with this. Thanks for the beers and the support and for letting me be melancholy or silly or loud or insecure or honest or awkward or quiet. It is appreciated. Have a great week!

Dear God, it's me Elisa

Thank you for my ipod. It enables me to keep my job without going insane, or eavesdropping on my co-workers conversation. Instead, I listen to The Beatles, Jason Mraz, Wilco and G love (today anyway). You must have known all of the conversations about cats and reality television that would go on around me. Thank you also that a boy gave this to me and that, although it did not work out, I did not have to spend my own money on this.

Amen.

You say you got a real solution

What.on.earth.?



Haven't you heard...Larry Langford is like the King of Ninevah?!

I am all for prayer. Believe me. Recently, it has been all I can cling to. But this seems, I don't know, gross. I am trying to put my finger on why. It gives me the heeby jeebies.

Our city is going to be joke soon. A bankrupt joke.

I will probably be imprisoned for treason against the king tomorrow. That is how effed up and ridiculous it is becoming.

The girl that is me

Hello friends (and blogger stalkers!). I just returned to my cozy little abode from a concert. Who? you ask. Tristan Prettyman. I have loved her since her first album came out a couple years ago. Mellow, sweet, upbeat, summertime music. I discovered her because she did duets with guys I LOVE, G Love and Jason Mraz.
Tonight's show was at the always wonderful Workplay Theater (ok, putting links in is a huge pain in the ass...if we were writing a note to our friends, we would just mention it...in this new medium, you have to give credit and links and other time sucking things. I digress). It was a small, very intimate show and she was endearing. Her album, Madly, is doing well and she was giddy about it. Adorable, and so talented. Plus, her dress was awesome.
Opening for her was an Australian cutie called Whitley, whose name, I am sorry to say, is Lawrence (oh come on...I had to!). He is a very big 'pop star' in Australia and I thoroughly enjoyed his set. I may or may not have flirted with him at the merch table. His music was great and he told funny stories about getting drunk and singing karaoke at Starz (where he went to 'meet girls'!). Then he started playing and opened his mouth and we all shut the hell up. His voice was smoky, dirty and smooth. I went out after his set and immediately bought an album (when the alleged flirting took place). This post is so random and fragmented...and I have had nothing to drink, I promise.

The Tristan show was good, but (like most things right now) bittersweet. Scott and I danced to her and I once forced a 'movie moment' on us to one of her songs (long story that mostly involves me being a silly girl). These moments are going to keep on coming and I am going to keep on surviving them. Soon they won't happen as often and then they won't seem so terrible, and then one day they will just be fond memories of a boy I loved. Jeez, heavy posts lately, huh? Well, that is my life. If you want happy you will have to look for it elsewhere. I can give you authentic, or nothing. Joy, sadness, grief, longing, redemption. Nope, fake happiness is not on the menu...

I leave you with a video of Tristan, since I have no idea how to embed an mp3. Fred, a little assistance on this...?

this is Always Feel this Way. The song I forced a romantic moment to! Enjoy

Weekend round-up

This weekend round-up is going to be a bit redundant, as I've blogged a bit this weekend.

Friday night, I did what I do almost every Friday night. Not a thing. I came home, ate and took a little nap. Awoke and putzed around the house, showered a read until bed at midnight. This is my little routine on Fridays and I find myself looking forward to it starting every Wednesday.

Saturday I spent the day in Waverly, AL. See last post for more on this.

Sunday was a lovely, lovely day. Breakfast with a dear friend at V Richards. We normally only spend about 45min to an hour, but today it was nearly 2 hours. I sorely needed the encouragement and fellowship. Thanks Charlotte. I came home, grabbed a blanket, book and glass of water and headed outside. I laid on the ground and perused the Times Book Review. After about an hour, I realized that the backs of my knees were sorely sunburned (oops) and I headed inside...to finish my nap. It was a heavenly rest with the breeze and the smell of fresh earth and the birds chirping. Next up was a grocery store bike ride, where I was nearly run over by the many, many, many people in my neighborhood for the Earth Day free admission to the Zoo and festival at the Botanical Gardens. I had planned on strolling over to the gardens later, and promptly decided that was a terrible idea.
I have found that a great way to talk to my neighbors is to park my bike somewhere. Everyone wants to talk about it, or reminisce about the time they rode a similar one, of how badly they want to start riding again. Today it was an older gentleman who told me that he belonged to, and helped start, the Birmingham Bike Club. He described the bike he used to ride (flown in from Japan!) and the good times the club had. He fondly recalled the picture that the inagural group took and described it to me in painstaking detail. It was certainly a refreshing, surprising conversation for a balmy Sunday afternoon.
Went to church and was again delighted at how at home I feel. It is such a gift. Scott K. gave a great sermon and music was, as always, inspiring and worshipful.
Home to cook. Sat down on the kitchen floor, with NPR's The Splendid Table podcast (a Sunday night ritual) playing and cookbooks spread around me. I decided what to cook for dinner (summer squash), and blanched some green beans to make a green bean salad in the morning. I love looking through each cookbook and seeing what strikes my fancy. Today it was Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan as well as Provence: The beautiful cookbook. Both highlight the flavor of vegetables with simple preparation. Planned some meals for the week, ate the one prepared tonight and dreamed of a trip to Italy. Instead of Italy, I opted to do laundry. What an exciting life I lead! Just like those single women on Sex and the City...or the complete opposite.

Well, off to read Alton Brown's Feasting on Asphalt:The River Run (do you sense a theme in my life?!). I hope you all had a restful and enjoyable weekend. Sweet Dreams.

Cooking the heart

It is amazing how much food and cooking go along with life. What I mean is, how cooking a certain meal can make you feel great, or feel gross, or feel guilty, or whatever other feelings you feel while eating. Food invokes emotion. I can't eat a quesadilla without thinking about my Abuelita, or sausage without thinking of dad, and Rice pilaf of Mom and holiday meals. It is nearly impossible to eat a crawfish without reminiscing about childhood crawfish boils (my first memory) and beer and sun in college.
Cooking denotes care as well. Soup when you are sick, a fancy meal for a special occasion, meals for new parents...we do it out of care. To nurture and love. Taking the time to prepare a meal for someone is giving a bit of yourself.
Lately I have turned to cooking as a time to slow down and rest. It has also been a wonderful comfort to me. Last weekend after a long week, Dad met me with a cooler full of crawfish. That night I sat at my table, paper towels nearby, beer in hand, G love playing as the skies dumped rain and the alarms sounded. It felt like home. All felt ok for the moment. The smell of a roasting chicken takes the sting out the phone call from Bed Bad and Beyond inquiring about your registry, and the zillionth email from Martha Stewart Wedding (btw, if you register anywhere they sell your name, so you get every wedding related thing ever. beware). Lunch of homemade risotto makes the windowless cubicle feel a bit more homey.

Such is the case today. I had a lovely day in Waverly at the Old 280 Boogie. I sat in the sun, drank beer, listened to music, hung out with friends and bought some T-shirts. My kind of day. As I was swaying my head to the beat, I saw Scott's brother, Jake and his girlfriend (fiance?) and his cousin. I was genuinely glad to see them so we chatted a bit and hugged a bit and laughed a bit. I told them the story of dancing with Scott in the Print shop last May, and wanting him to ask me on a date so badly. It was a nice surprise.

On the way home, sunburned and exhausted, I began to sadden. Scott and I planned to go to the festival this year, and we had such a fun time last time. At some point, we talked about how that night was the one that made us both really dig each other. The people I saw today were to be my family. So I got home, showered and headed to the kitchen. Dinner was (semi) Homemade spaghetti sauce with buffalo meat. Delicious and filling and comforting. Good, fresh ingredients and a tried and true recipe. It warmed me. My sadness has softened to a dull ache. Thankfully.

I will leave you with a recipe. This has been requested since I posted about it last week. It is a meal that was redemptive for me in so many ways, so seems fitting to post tonight, when I need reminding that God doesn't leave me.

Risotto with Fried Egg
from Apples for Jam

3 tablespoons butter ( I prefer unsalted)
4 tablespoons Olive Oil
2 Shallots ( i used a 1/2 cup chopped white onion)
1 and 2/3 cup risotto rice
1/2 cup White Wine (I used White wine vinegar, and it was a bit tart, but the eggs help with that, as well as the cheese)
4 cups hot Vegetable Broth
Freshly grated nutmeg (didn't have so used Herbs deProvence)
Salt
1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Grana cheese
About 8 fresh sage leaves
4 eggs, at room temperature
Grated Parm cheese to serve
Freshly ground black pepper to serve

Heat half the butter and 2 tbs of oil in a heavy bottomed pan suitable for risotto ( I used a large saucepan). Saute the shallots over low heat until light gold and then stir in the rice with a wooden spoon. Stir for a few minutes to completely coat the rice and let it cook just a bit. Add the wine, and when it has evaporated, add all of the broth. Add a few good grinds of nutmeg and taste for salt (broth is probably seasoned enough). Simmer uncovered over high heat for about 15 minutes, or until the rice has completely absorbed much of the liquid (you will need to stand around stirring it pretty frequently). If it seems it needs a bit more liquid, add some hot water. Remove from heat and stir in remaining butter and the Parmesan cheese. Taste for salt, adjusting if necessary. Leave with the lid on so that the steam continues to cook the rice.
Heat the remaining oil in a nonstick frying pan and briefly fry the sage leaves until crisp. Remove with tongs. Gently break the eggs into the pan and sprinkle a bit of salt on the yokes (I must recommend fresh farm eggs...there is really no better tasting, smoother egg). Cook until the edges of the white are a bit golden. Cover the pan with a lid and fry until yokes are just slightly opaque on the surface but still soft on the inside (they are best when the undersides are golden and a bit crisp).
Scoop the rice onto serving plates and top each serving with an egg and couple of sage leaves, being careful not to break the yoke. Serve with a sprinking of Parmesan and a few grinds of black pepper.

I served this with a side of asparagus and a few pieces of bacon. It was wonderful. Sweet, tart, salty, creamy. The Asparagus shined and the bacon was a wonderful, sweet counter to the tart risotto. Enjoy!

Alabama the Beautiful

I don't know how much longer I will stay in Alabama. I have a year long lease, so at least another 11 months, but after that...who knows where God and my life will take me?

Because of this, I have vowed to take the next 11 months to see Alabama. Do Alabama. I am going to treat our lovely state as though I were a tourist. I don't want to leave (IF) and miss out on all of the wonderful events and places and foods and people of the place I have called home for the past 5 years.

I started today. CJ and I started out about 9am. We drove to York to see The Coleman Center for the Art, a small gallery smack in the middle of a little town (run by 2 people whose last name is Munoz!!). Alas, there was no exhibit, so we peaked into the window and explored York. Did you know that there is a Progressive Childrens College of Common Sense? According to this article, it is "which will serve as a launching pad for a preschool education program". That is one hell of a name!

Downtown York (also see the above article) is lovely, with everything from a beautiful basket weaving shop, stained glass and mosiac studio to a store called "the Watch ma call it" shop, where CJ spotted 'Nsync dolls, right next to vintage vases. We also spotted what we think is a bike shop, and a blues bar in the midst of renovation. Took some great pictures of bldgs and the train (which I considered jumping on and seeing where I end up...). all in all, a cool little place that I would never have seen but am glad that I did.

By the way, York is called "The City on the Move.".

Back in the car to drive another hour through small towns and past farms and cottages and struggling communities to Faunsdale...for a Crawfish boil! I grew up on Crawfish, and eating them is comfort food for me. We hunkered down on overturned milk crates and ate etouffe, boiled crawfish and beer. Wandered, listened to conversations as well as BAD country music (has it gotten worse lately?...it was gross). Then we did what probably looked funny to everyone there. We pulled out books, found a shady shop a bit hidden away took off our shoes (I had another fire ant incident, so was itching and stinging like crazy. sigh.) and read. We had our beer, we were reading books and we were happy. It was great. Stayed for a few hours and hopped back into the car home. We both lament the fact that they had not set up the mechanical bull yet, we had dressed accordingly!

On the way home, CJ introduced me to Northport and we stopped in the Kentuck studio and perused the wares. I am learning the the art community in Alabama is large and varied, but a small, interconnected community. Very cool. The drive home was stunning, with small farms and cows lounging all around us. The interstate was flanked on both sides by a lovely rose colored plant. I came home exhausted but happy.

First day of Year of Tourism: successful. Tomorrow: Old 280 boogie in Waverly, AL. This is year 2 for me and I LOVE this festival. Waverly is a cool town with great people and a kick ass festival. Check out Standard Deluxe print shop and eat at The Yellow Hammer. A 2 hour drive that is well worth the drive.

So here we go. I have some places in my mind (Rural Studio, Tannehill, Kentuck festival, Black Warrior River, Ava Maria Grotto, etc, etc), but I clearly do not know all the secrets that Alabama has to hold.

Are there places you want to go? Somewhere you have been or heard of? Somewhere that I simply must go? Please tell me! I will probably be chronicling my trips and experiences here. I know that I will not get to them all, but I am sure going to try.

This keeps popping to my head as I write this,
"If you can't be with the one you love, honey, love the one your with."

Help! I need somebody...

To help me build these shelves. I have a wall this is crying out for them. I will provide supplies, and BEER (or whatever else you want...within reason).



Oh won't someone please come to my rescue?

picture from Apartment Therapy.

creeps please do not apply. There are no 'special benefits' from doing this. FYI

Oh my

I just found this. A cottage. for rent. In Cali. On a Farm. with a garden.

Someone tell me that I DO NOT need to fly out there to see it. Quickly.

Dirt manicures preferred

I have been spending my lunch break reading Farmgirl Fare, a blog that chronicles a 26 year old (then married) woman's journey from urban Cali to a huge farm in Missouri. See also Writings from Woodridge Farm, the newsletters from the very beginning.

I want to follow her. My coworkers make fun of me because I want a goat and 2 chickens. Really badly. My back porch has no room for a table with all of the pots of vegetables growing. My Dad laughed when he saw the tray of seedlings growing on top of my washer (hey, it's warm there!).

As I consider the Great Wide Open and where life may take me (both physically and emotionally) in the days and years to come, I am starting to wonder if I need to go where the Buffalo Roam (or the Lemon trees grow...whatev). Can I do both...urban and country? do I want to?

I don't know where God is leading me, but it seems that it is somewhere where the air is clean and people don't scoff at bike commuting and maybe, just maybe, a chicken coop in the backyard is ok.

Weekend round-up

This weekend was relatively quiet. Nothing particulary bad ass, just my normal badassiness.
Friday-After work I did nothing. At all. I came home, started some laundry, sat on the couch...and fell asleep. I woke up at 9:30, putzed around, read a bit...and went back to sleep.
Saturday was a bit more exciting. Went to Urban Standard. I love it there, but don't go much because it is farther away than many other coffee shops and with the price of gas...you get the drift. Those of you who will in suburbia will say that it is not too far away (as it is only 10 minutes), but there are about 5 coffee shops on my way, so I prefer to stay closer to home. ANYWAY, I wrote a little bit and talked a little bit (and maybe flirted a little bit), and left. Went to my friend Natalie's to meet with her mother in law for a holistic healing diagnosis. It was so interesting and helpful. I have a package of supplements coming tomorrow. Roll your eyes if you like, but I believe wholeheartedly in holistic medicine and healing. It was also nice to see the home that Natalie and Allan have made. they are so cool.
I then raced home to get ready for a party for a 1 year olds birthday, sat on the couch...and fell asleep. I woke up 30 minutes late and sad, so I didn't go. Just wasn't in the frame of mind emotionally to be around happy, beautiful people. Maybe I should have gone, but i didn't. Sorry Treads. Then went to BAM at Brookwood to read magazines and hang out.
Sunday I woke up early and my Dad and his wife came for Brunch. I fixed a wonderful recipe from Apples for Jam. White risotto with fried eggs. Side of fresh Asparagus and thick bacon. It was delicious and the visit was nice. My Dad and I have had a tenuous relationship for some time now. However, this time things were different. He was gentler and seemed happy. Less angry and impulsive. He told me that he volunteers at his church's breadbasket (the Church thing was shocking enough!), and he and June play scrabble for fun. It seems that after 50 years he decided to grow up. Good for him. Good for me. Good for our relationship. Took another nap (I slept A LOT this weekend) and then went to church. Again.
And you know what, I wasn't angry. I wasn't scared. It felt good. The sermon was wonderful. I saw people who had hurt me and felt no anger toward them, just sadness. Not weeping sadness, but a sadness that we are all sinners stuck here for while, trying to muddle through and not damage each other too much.
Then cooked a yummy dinner, wrote a bit, paid bills (thank goodness for the IRS and my bonus) and went to bed.
Another weekend down. No trauma. A success.

Next weekend: A crawfish boil, Old 280 boogie in Waverly and the Botanical Gardens Earth Day Celebration...stay tuned

Freedom is just another word for nothin' left to lose

Here are a few things that I have noticed lately:

1. If you live alone and oversleep, no one is around to wake you up. You just keep sleeping. Then you are late for work. Again.

2. There is a lot of emphasis on the word Are in my life right now. An example:

Me: hello
them: Oh hi. How are you?
Me: I'm ok
them: Are you? That's great, that's really great. I'm praying for you every day and sacrificing things on your behalf...that is how much of a good person I am. Are you sure you're ok?
Me: Well, besides the fact that people seem to have forgotten that English is my first language, so they don't have to talk slowly...I'm ok. Thanks for asking. Oh, and stop telling me all the time that you are praying for me. It is freaking me out.


or something like that.

3. Men look at breasts first. They just do. I have accepted it. I think that if I went to another planet, and they had an arm in the middle of their head, I would look at it all the time. I think it's sort of like that.

4. The Beatles are awesome. I don't know how I went my whole life without truly grasping this.

5. Fresh food is better. Better tasting and better for you.

6. I don't like women who find their whole identity in their children. I hope that if/when I have some, that I can talk to people about other things and not parade them around as though they are a new handbag, making them do tricks and hug everyone they see. I do not need your kid to hug me. Please don't say "Give Miss Elisa a hug". Don't get me wrong, I love kids and hugging kids...but your kid hugging me is not going to make my life better. Especially when they are being forced to do it. They are not prostitutes...stop treating them as though they are. Hug Miss Elisa and get a treat...gross

7. I love my apartment. It just happened. One day I came home and realized that I really love it.

8. I have great friends. Even when I feel alone, I know that. I wish that everyone had a community that is as wonderful as mine. truly.

9. People read stupid stuff. I look at our bestsellers and am amazed at how much crap is on it. utterly useless, inane crap. The book equivalent of reality TV.

10. I will do anything to avoid working on my screenplay.

Simple as it should be

I love this face. and I miss it.

He looks so happy here. Carefree and light. The boy I fell in love with. I almost don't remember him like this, but everyday I remember it a little more.

People ask me if I have any romance in my life. I was talking to a friend about this, and she said "You do have a love interest. He happens to have died, but he is still your love interest". Yes, he is.

I was always so worried about him and his health. Any little stomachache would have me in a tailspin, worrying his cancer was back, or his immune system was still messed up. My greatest fear was his death. I would cry just thinking about it. Now is is a reality in my life, in a way that I never would have imagined. How does life stray so far from the way we picture it?

Last night I spent time with dear friends, and we started talking about how much I have changed in 2 years. I am not sure that I would recognize that self walking down the street. I think of things that I did and things that I let happen and I am stunned. At the time of intense change, I couldn't imagine things being better. Yet here I am, thankful that those things have changed. I am sure that that story would have also been beautiful, but I would never have learned the things I learned and become the person that I am today. Someone who is more sure of herself than ever. Someone who won't be put aside and told she is not good enough. Someone who doesn't straighten her hair everyday and rides a bike in a skirt. Who prefers gardens over bars and beer over martinis.

I don't know what I was trying to say in this post. I started with a picture and here we are, miles from where I thought I would be. Seems about right.

Carrie sent me this saying that she thought fit me. I love it, and want to have it letterpressed and hung in my house, over my bed. It is this:

fluctuat nec mergitur
"Tossed by the waves, she does not sink."

then she said that she wished my tossing were more like surfing! I have always wanted to surf...

In a couple of years he has built a home, sweet home

'Homeless' man kicked out of his treehouse.





He loves his home. The government is kicking him out, saying that this is a liability for the city, and that it is not a home where anyone should live.

I am not exactly sure why, but this pisses me off.

UPDATE: His neighbors bought him an RV and sold it to him for a penny! Now he is looking for a place to park it. Beautiful, huh?

I need a little place in the sun sometimes

A visual of my little garden stoop:




Come summer, I will have so many tomatoes, greens, lemons and beans that I may set up a stand on the side of the road. Or invite friends over to share in my bounty, eating tomatoes over bread, drizzled with olive oil and fresh basil. Beans steamed immediately off the vine, with a dash of fresh lemon vinaigrette and accompanied by a glass of wine and conversation. Dessert of sweet strawberries and whipped cream. A taste of heaven. A respite from the brokenness of this life.

Lovely

Weekend round-up

I missed last week, and this one is late. My apologies for all of you who wait every week with baited breath to see just how I spend the Saturdays of my life.

This weekend, I was kind of a bad-ass. I mean, in my own little way.

Friday, I tried to script. Didn't go so well, so I slept instead. Don't worry, the bad-assy-ness is coming up...

Saturday I went and scripted in the morning. I actually wrote this time. Then CJ and I went to Brookside, AL for the Brookside Greenway Festival. CJ was treated like a celebrity...which meant that I was as well. (She used to report on that small town and made them feel important and cared about, which is a beautiful gift that she has. They see her as a female Ricky Bragg around those parts!). We heard about the history and then...went on a canoe ride (see what a bad ass I am?!). We canoed the mile easily, and decided toward the end that we didn't want it to be over, so we should probably turn around and go against the stream. We also planned a canoe trip for May 10 (more on that later), and another one with one of the owners (I told you they love her) for after a big rain. A 10 mile trip. I can't wait.
Then we milled around a bit, and decided to get out of the rain and go to O'Henry's. I love this place. I didn't realize how much I love it until this weekend. It has the coolest vibe (and Fred from Lasers edge still has his own drink named after him there, which I totally dug), and is comfortable and welcoming. After some coffee, it was on to the bike shop, where I shopped and my friend flirted. I bought a rack and headlight and taillight (finally! no more prayerful rides home at night on Montevallo road). Went home, rested and showered...then went back to OHenry's for more scripting with another friend.
Sunday, I got up and had coffee and french toast. Sat on the stoop a while, then decided to go for a quick little bike ride. An hour later I returned home, dehydrated, covered in mud and exhausted, but thrilled. I had, in the span of the hour, become a biker. I biked hills, I flipped off rude drivers, I carried my bike over a stream, I dashed in and around puddles, I rode over rocks and grass. In short, I was a bad ass.
On to church, after a quick shower. yes, that's right-church. The place I had been avoiding since Scott's death (and honestly for some time before that). It was time. And you know what...it felt like coming home. The place had changed and I didn't feel totally at home, but I was loved and knew that one day it would fit better. again. It was very hopeful. Plus, I really, really missed the music. Also met with a building guy about the garden I am going to make on the rooftop patio. I am very excited and hopeful about that. Now I need to get a proposal together, some volunteers, a long term plan...yikes. Oh, and some plants. I think it is going to be a healing, life-giving thing for me.
Then I went home and went to bed. Slept like a baby.
Today I biked for my first time across a busy intersection (on 31) back to the bike shop to have my rack and water bottle put on. I am ready. You may never see me in my Mini again...

Well, off to bed. Or to script. Probably bed...

Give them a sense of pride

A story from a co-worker:

Her nephew, a short, skinny 2nd grader with glasses and a surprising amount of intellect, was busy in his bedroom with markers, poster board and sticks. His mother comes in and asks him what he is making. He carefully explains to her that he and his friend (who is very similar in stature and visual acuity) were tired of being picked on. Then he proudly held up a piece of posterboard, which read:

WE ARE THE BULLIES NOW. WE WILL PULL YOUR UNDERWEAR OVER YOUR HEAD!

They were going to picket the bully.

Could we do that with the government? What about ex-boyfriends? Corporate execs?

I'm just sayin...

I can't go back to Jersey

You know one of my favorite things about Spring? Listening to G Love with or without Special Sauce). it is so happy, so dirty (meaning: Slang rasping, reedy, rough, etc. in tone-from Yourdictionary.com).

How can anyone listen to Cold Beverages and not smile? And then go crack open a cold beer? The line "Watermelons like a drink, please fix me a cold slice"...that IS summer to me. Ever since I heard Girl at the Laundromat, I have looked at doing my laundry in a new way...

Old stuff or new, you really can't go wrong. My personal favorite albums are Oh Yeah, Philadelphonic and Lemonade. Love it. Love the down and dirty, philly blues sound of it. Love the guitar with the harp. Everything. Go check it out.

I will leave you with a video with G love and Tristan Prettyman (also a fav). Beautiful. Peanut Butta' Jelly, butta' Butta'!


AND the video for Hot Cookin'
Enjoy!



And G singing Missin' my baby...another favorite of mine. This video really captures G Love's essence (in my humble opinion)