february 21, 2009 502pm

yay for mary finally opening her macbook! woot woot!

last night, as i was walking home from downtown, a bird somehow managed to skillfully poop on my pant leg. while i was walking? i mean, really? how lucky could a gal be? i had stopped in amy's ice cream to check out the flavors. as i was talking to the guy working, i happened to look down and notice the awesome display of post bird food.

i made some vegan mac n' cheeze wednesday (recipe courtesy of krys kagan). with some edamame salad from veganomicon. trevor came over to partake in the vegan mac. he is lactose intolerant, so i thought he would appreciate it and be a good test subject. i had never tried the recipe, but it was a winner, yay! that is good since starting ash wednesday, i will be sans cheese for 40 days and 40 nights.

i passed two people talking on their phones while running the other day. i cannot imagine what the conversation would entail. 'hey, what is up? what am i doing? oh you know, just RUNNING.' whywhywhy? maybe i am just being an elitist in feeling that running is alone time. meditation, unless you have a running buddy. even then, i did not talk to my running buddy too terribly much. well, unless it was one of those 3 hours runs. i should stop judging. i am feeling very judgmental today.

drew's friend ross came in town friday from san francisco. he is here for a long weekend. friday night we ate at hut's hamburgers (btw, they have a great veggie burger) and then walked across the street to opal divine's to see trevor's trio. my health has been slowly going downhill this week. all the smoke on the opal's upstairs patio there nearly killed me, so i darted out early.

february 18, 2009 1135am

I highly recommend taking your tabc (texas alcohol and beverage certification) certification while drinking. It makes the videos all the more ridiculous. And makes the 3+ hours go by a bit quicker.

I saw a father videotaping his son casting a fishing line as I ran the trail on monday. Maybe it was his first time to do so? The kid was hesitating, so I almost missed him cast his hook into a duck. at least they got it on tape?

valentine’s came and went and only one person asked me what ‘my boyfriend and I did for valentine’s day.’ It was actually one of the best thus far. bloody mary with drew and trevor at rio rita’s. we tried to go to tiny bar, but they were closed. If you are going to put on your sign that you have the best bloody marys in town, then you should at least be open for brunch hours on a saturday, right? I mean, COME ON?!?! Then we met up with the annie street crew for lunch at curra’s. yummm migas. after lunch, lindsey took us to check out a spot that could possibly be a future secret show location. we then went back to annie street to watch some great youtube clips of dancing kim, the 1980’s popular dance instructor (kinda?). It was getting to be about that time for work, so I had to part ways to the cactus. I did get a valentine’s gift, however. It was a chocolate+almonds bar from trey. I am not a huge chocolate fan, but there is something about chocolate covered nuts.

february 13, 2009 626pm

i went to see andrew bird at the paramount theatre last night with the annie street crew. i really cannot describe the concert in words so that you would know the awesomeness of it all. it was just him with a violin and guitar. he did a bunch of crazy complicated loops, somehow stayed in time and sang like a songbird. my jaw was dropped for most of the show. then it was off to katz's piece of shit deli where i paid $7.50 for a grilled cheese sandwich that might as well been made at the waffle house. wait no, the waffle house would have made a better grilled cheese, because they do not suck ass. it might as well been made by a small child using his toy kitchen in a 6th street alleyway. (check out the last picture with dan in it. i love catching genuine smiles. he has a good one too.)

today in class, a man dressed as a big black gorilla came in and scared the shit out of our class at 10am. he was delivering some sort of valentine's day singing gift for my prof (the one that i love) from her boyfriend, but he ended up sneaking in and making us all crap our pants. danielle (my prof, yeah we are on a first name basis...) ended up crying out of fright. it was right in the middle of a discussion about people who traffic child sex slaves. and if they deserve the death penalty.

february 11, 2009 525pm

wow, it really has been two weeks since i have been able to update this thing? in my defense, my laptop finally bit the dust about a week ago, so that is an excuse for one of those weeks. i will be entering the world of mac tomorrow. also, matthew tucker was in and out of town before his little euro trip. and the other was, well, one of my dearest friends, dan edwards, just left the country for an undetermined amount of time. so, the past two weeks have been full of more beer than i really should have drank with not enough food to match. and many 2-3am nights. plus school. and running. and work. and my kittens. this morning was the first morning in a few weeks that i have felt rested upon waking.

i am proud to say that i was really and truly able to be the friend that i needed to be to dan these last few weeks. it took a great deal of time and will power though. i had been preparing for feb 09, 2009 since the day after obama was elected (that is when dan told me of his booked flight back and we begrudgingly decided to end it.) i feel like this weight has been lifted, the weight not being dan edwards, but the anticipation of how it would all go down. dan dropped by monday morning, just before him and the 'rents drove to houston to catch their flight back to the motherland. and it was simply 'goodbye for now'. he is not dead, just really far away. but we can all still be his friend, much like we are friends with other people around the world. the internet is a great thing you know? i look at it as a to-be-continued. not as a to-be-continued for our intimate relationship, but friendship. when dan left my place monday and i walked to school, i felt refreshed and at peace with it all. it was definitely one of the biggest struggles i have had in my life. i have never had to say goodbye to someone i love in that fashion.

so, now it is photo time. when i uploaded my photos from the past weeks, i had over 200. so i had to narrow them down quite a bit. you have no idea how long it takes me to do that. and it is all being done in the windowless school computer lab. joy. that is how much i love you guys.

scott tucker's wedding in san antonio:

before driving me back to austin, matthew and i went to this vegetarian eatery in san antonio called green. the first photo is of popcorn tofu and the second is my chicken fried wheat meat with kale and broccoli salad. such goodness. and the third, some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies i baked.

dan's last days (these are just my favorites, belive it or not, there are more on the facebook)

january 27, 2009 1056am

have you ever had a day where nothing feels right? it is real hard for me to explain, but i just felt out of place in my own skin yesterday. nothing i put on my body felt right. nothing i put in my body felt right (except that double bloody mary and those 2 beers after work at creekside). trying to get dressed was a nightmare. i would put something on, look in the mirror, burst into tears and immediately take it off. it was weird.

dan leaves in less than 2 weeks. that sentence makes my stomach turn.

so, i am sure most of your have seen the snuggie commercial, you know, that blanket with sleeves... aka a bath robe turned backwards. well, this was the el arroyo sign from yesterday, so good:

i had a kitchen nightmare on wednesday. i was making a pizza using my cast iron skillet (recipe from veg times) and i burnt the whole bottom of the pizza. what a blow to my ego. i have not really messed up cooking in quite a while. to be fair though, i think it was veg times' fault. THEY recommended cooking the pizza at 475 degrees F and THEY recommended i put the skillet on the FLOOR of the oven. the skillet conducts heat VERY well. dan was over and drew was on his way. i was definitely blushing due to embarrassment. dan was sweet about it though, and i made him some peanut butter toast with honey instead. so yeah, half of dinner was a failure. but the other half, the important part... dessert, was great! also a recipe from veg times, chocolate peanut butter bars. yummm.

yesterday i used my penis cake pan for the first time in years. i know what you are thinking 'what kind of girl has a penis cake pan?!?' well, you see, i have been to many a bachelorette party in my 5 years in austin, so, i was the designated cake maker. my friend trey expressed a desire to make our friend nancy a penis cake for her party saturday night. so, that was my saturday afternoon, baking a penis cake (which came out great, btw) with trey.

i neglected to mention that my dear friend drew pressman had his first birthday in texas a week or so back. he moved from california back in june and has since become an important part of my hangout life. on saturday, we did dinner at the texas chili parlour, then drank all night at the hole in the wall. sunday was of course, chicken shit bingo at ginny's.

january 22, 2009 713am

there is something about running before the sun comes up that sets my heart at ease. it is so peaceful out on the trail at that time. i might have passed about 3 people, most vocalizing a quick 'mornin' as we passed in the dark, unable to see the other's face. though i went to bed at a bit after 1am in low spirits, waking up 4 hours later was definitely worth it.

this is quite possibly the cutest and saddest craig's list item ever.

i walked out to my bike friday night and found this little one in my basket. it was kinda cute. i will keep him in there till some asshole steals it from me, like my bike light. fuckers.

i went running on the trail today (sunday) at about 1pm... mistake. there were so many people. i even had to stop running at one point because there was no getting around this massive group of walkers taking up the trail. and then, i finally had the opportunity to get tangled in a dog leash of someone walking the other way and not paying attention. sheesh!

i made drew a birthday dinner this past wednesday night. dan edwards also came over to eat. i made vegan lasagna from veganomicon and guinness cupcakes with espresso cream icing. the cupcakes were not vegan, but the lasagna tasted far from vegan. it was so good. i made a cashew ricotta, roasted garlic marinara, and a pine nut cream sauce for the top. yumm. i sent the boys home with some, but i froze several portions for myself. these are some leftovers i will never get tired of eating. i gave drew a dradle that i purchased at the holocaust museum in DC (he is jewish so it makes sense) for his birthday. i was using google to making sure i was spelling it right when i came across these interesting definitions for dradle according to the urban dictionary. a jewish girl with no legs? really?

here are a few other things i have made over the past few weeks. eating is still not really my favorite thing to do, so i made a big pot of frijoles borrachos (drunken beans) so i would have at least one healthy thing around to eat. i put 2 serranos along with jalapeno in with the beans. they came out real spicy and real good. i also made a yummie roasted stuffed acorn squash with dried cranberries at the cafe the other day. so good.

january 15, 2009 939am

for money purposes, i am leaving my job at food for fitness cafe and going back part time at the blood center. i am a bit sad because i love it there. cooking all day is great. but, it just is not supporting my rock n' roll life style. i had lunch with my manager at the cafe yesterday. i am not really sure what the point of the lunch was. maybe just to take me to lunch? i mean, i am pretty entertaining and all. she brought up the whole 'dan' situation. she asked how i have been doing and whatnot. then she told me that everyone at castlehill has been pretty worried about me, wondering if i was ok. which is half nice to know that people were concerned and half embarrassing. but i suppose i was a bit of a mess. and i tend to wear my heart on my sleeve, which i should remedy. and every time i walk through the gym people keep commenting my recent weight loss, which i think is up to 8 pounds now. i do not think i am going to start being really ok about it all till after feb 9th though. that is when dan edwards goes back to england. not that i am looking forward to him leaving, but getting on with it is much easier when there is not a constant visual reminder of something of great importance lost.

i have discovered another artist that i am in love with, similar to the love i feel towards gillian welch. her name is alexa woodward. she currently lives in new york. she played the secret show that was broken up by the cops last week. we all had a pot luck party for her tuesday night at annie street. it was lovely. we made a camp fire in the back yard and sat around singing. and then when the annoying neighbors called the cops, we moved inside and made a fake campfire in the middle of the living room using candles. it was beautiful. at one point there were two cellos, two upright base, two banjo, mandolin, and rhodes. i was sitting there, looking around at these friends of mine with this little smile on my face. i realized just how lucky i am to have such wonderful talented friends in my life. i have nothing in particular to bring to the table in relationships, thus i am amazed that i have ended in this great group of people.

january 11, 2009 1033pm

i would like to share with you a little guilty pleasure of mine. every once in a while i will be in the process of flipping though the various channels on my television and i will come across something so intriguing that i have to give it a 5-10 minute pause to watch. what could this program be? seniorcise. yes, that is right. an elderly woman has a program all to herself devoted entirely to getting old people to move a bit while they watch television. yes, it always brings a smile to my face. i would only hope to be that upbeat and conscious when i become aged.

despite getting home a bit past 4am, i somehow dragged myself out of bed at 10am this morning to attend hippie gospel church at maria's taco xpress. mcmercy plays at about 1030am. i have been before, but today, a good friend to us, dw, was sitting in on washboard, and then promptly leaving to start a new life in houston. so, i wanted to be there. he is a mighty fine musician, and will be missed.

for the second time in my life, i attended chicken shit bingo at ginny's little longhorn today. it is a sunday event that starts at 4pm. they provide chili or hotdogs or some other gross meaty shit, but the chicken shit bingo is the main event. oh, and the awesome musical talent as well. what happens is, you buy a number on the bingo board for $2, all the money goes into the pot, and if the chicken shits on your number, you get to keep the dollars. hehe. i suppose this may seem cruel to animal lovers, but the chicken is cared for by this sweet old woman. i am sure she would kick your ass if you tried to poke or harm the chicken.

january 08, 2009 1141pm

first of all, yay florida!

second, i felt that my friend drew put the happenings of last night in words better than i can. and i am also real lazy like that.

'The Secret Show

In Austin, there is a collective group of people that put together the most unique thing I have ever been a part of. It's called the Secret Show. They have been in all kinds of crazy places, including in the municipal park, an aquaduct, an abandoned building covered in graffiti, an island in a lake and a variety of other locations. They have done 16 of them. My band played at 15, which was moved from the secret location into a living room, because of bad weather.

Last night's show was in the sewer. It was the second time there was a show down there. We met up at the Dog & Duck Pub downtown around 8, had a beer and were led to an open manhole in groups of about 7. I was in the first group. We stood in the shadows of this building. As soon as the coast was clear, one at a time, I walked over to an open manhole and jumped in. The "ceiling" was super low. I crouched and walked about 100 yards up a disgusting storm drain with a small stream at my feet. The tunnel was candle lit and looked like something out of a medieval dungeon. After about 100 yards, the tunnel opened up to a larger, arch-shaped section. It was about 7 feet tall in the center. A few different tubes dumped into it at this point. There was about 3 inches of water in the center, streaming down the long corridor, into the darkness. There was a "stage" setup on one side of the stream. It was sectioned off with a dozen or so glass Jesus candles. Alexa Woodward was the first musician slated to play. She was sitting with her banjo behind the candles with a mandolin player and a percussionist, waiting for the people to come in and get settled. After about 40 minutes, the Secret Show in the sewer had grown to about 120 people. They were lined up along the walls on both sides of the water stream up and down the tunnel. The manholes were replaced and the band was about to start. We were in the fucking sewer of downtown Austin.

Before the band could strike a chord, a light much brighter then anyone in the tunnel shined up from the opening. Bummer. A voice yelled "Y'all better get up and come this way. You have to get out the sewer." As two cops walked up to the Secret Show, they calmly told everyone to climb out of the manhole and to be careful. One said "This is very creative. But it has to stop." So, one by one, we slowly made our way to the manhole and climbed out. It took about 25 minutes to get out. Since I was one of the last in, I was one of the last out. As we were standing in line, with the cops behind us, Alexa and the percussionist started singing a song a cappella. Their voices blended together like two flutes in harmony, singing in harmony. Everyone in the tunnel was silent, including the cops. The sound reverberated up and down the tunnel, chilling my bones. The cops had to have loved it as much as I did. It was amazing.

One by one, we climbed out of the tunnel. We were greeted by about 6 other cops who were collecting our IDs. We were being detained, briefly. They were really reasonable and pleasant. We were cracking jokes. They were cracking jokes. They were impressed with our creativity and bold actions. Who would have expected to go into a manhole to bust some kids only to find a candle lit stage surrounded by eager music lovers? Who would have expected to escort 120 trespassers out of a tunnel to the sound of two beautiful voices singing a song in harmony?

After about 20 minutes of being detained on the corner of 15th st and Nueces, the cops returned our IDs, told us that the sewer is a very dangerous place with many potential hazards and to never go into them again. Slightly discouraged, the crowd returned to the Dog & Duck Pub to discuss and execute Plan B. The show moved to a hippy house called the Space Cave.

I listened to Nick Walker at the Space Cave. He was great. Then I listened to Alexa Woodward. She blew me away. The third band was the Lonesome Cowboys. I'm sure they were amazing, but it was after midnight and I was tired. With work in the morning, I took off.

Words can't really describe the thrill one feels when jumping into a manhole at night in the middle of a major metropolitan area. The rush only gets better when you walk through candle lit tunnels and congregate around a spectacular acoustic band. I have never done anything like that in my life.'

january 06, 2009 518pm

i neglected to mention my new year's eve happenings. after pre gaming at my house a bit with matt, i took the bus to ted and emma's place for a bit of partying. we all ended up forming a marching band and made our way around the neighborhood, ending up at a house called the 'spacecave' where several bands were playing. i really did not want to end up there, but it turned out to be fun, mostly because i was super drunk, managed to meet up with drew, and danced around a great deal. drew says that i was howling at the moon at one point. i would not put that past myself. the house had a few teepees in the backyard and a big bonfire a blazing. and just like last new years, there was no new year kiss for this gal. after midnight, the band picked up and went around the neighborhood, crashing a party. next thing i know, i am dancing on some stranger's back yard deck in a big circle. we went back to the 'spacecave' and had a big dance party in the middle of the street, harassing cars as they passed (friendly harassment, of course). i am surprised that i managed to hang on to my camera. drew definitely rescued it a few times from my forgetful grip.

this is the only photo i had on my camera yesterday. i had to be creative to get this photo, since i was alone. i tend to not like photos that random people take for me. kari had to go do some school stuff, so i was left to walk around for a bit. this statue is quite possibly the most lovable one i have seen. it was just cute. like andre the giant's character in the princess bride cute.

and, here is the photo i took for xmas 2008 of my little ones and me. it was a struggle, but i managed to get us all in there looking presentable.

january 04, 2009 1007pm

i opened my suitcase friday night (the one that i had to pay and ADDITIONAL $15 to check on the plane) to gather my toiletries when i noticed that the baggy that contained my contact solution and toothbrush was missing. and, of course, there was a little paper telling me that some prick decided to search my bag, uprooting the perfectness of my packing. well, that fucker also neglected to return my toothbrush. thanks airport security.

we went out to monticello saturday, located in charlottesville, virginia. it was 125 miles south of herndon, va (where my sister lives). i am not sure if i have mentioned this, but I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THOMAS JEFFERSON. (and ben franklin). so, this was a top priority of this dc trip. it was interesting to learn that jefferson's wife, martha, actually oversaw the home beer brewing of the house. maybe i should do the same, and i will find my modern day jefferson. :-) or just get wasted at home more?

we then went to this moroccan restaurant called casablanca. i drank half a bottle of red moroccan wine and watched some belly dancers shake it. and humiliate people by making them come up and dance. glad it was not me, or i would have had to show them a thing or two... about sucking.

i am very excited about the upcoming feb and march shows at the cactus. GUY CLARK is totally playing 2 nights (feb 26 and 27) IN THE CACTUS (not the ballroom) but the quaint cactus that only hold 153 people. so good. the only thing better would be a gillian welch show in the cactus.

january 02, 2009 749am

it feels really nice to archive november and december of 2008. those months were way too emo for my taste. i bet some emo band could use that material and write their whole first album, with a few b sides.

i am off to washington dc for about 6 days. 5 if i can manage to change my flight in order to attend the underground secret show. we shall see. until then, here is a photo of me tending bar, just in case you start to miss my fuzzy image. (photo courtesy of kevin johnson) xo