1. Sigh and moan a bit to your fantastic boyfriend.He will leave you a surprise voicemail to find later that makes you feel all loved and appreciated and mooshy and lucky.
2. Take a nap with your cat.
3. Pull yourself out of bed and watch some cute baby polar bear videos.
4. Think about getting ready to go out.Walk back and forth in front of the closet as if it’s an empty refrigerator.Do a shot of amaretto.
5. Go to a FANTASTIC new-to-you bar that is actually a saloon (!) and meet your closest friends (H, J, Z and M) and some of their quirkyfamilymembers.Listen to fun rockabilly music played by BJ Rogers Murder Inc and the hard-kickin Art Adams.Realize that all of your favorite local musicians are in the same room with you, either playing on stage or in the audience.
6. Help the bartender make shots.Teach him the three ingredients in a lemon drop.Watch him forget one.Drink it anyway.
7. Zip down the street to your homebase club; the one you can go to all dolled up or in jeans and a t-shirt; the one where you’re gonna wiggle and shake your business on the dance floor like you just don’t caa-rre.
8. See Mandy Marie and the Cool Hand Lukes play for like the 20th time because you love them so much and they rock your little girly world.Realize they’re playing some songs you’ve never heard before.Take pictures on your cell phone to send to your boyfriend.Wish he were there.
I found a very thought-provoking question on my newest favorite blog No Smoking in the Skull Cave who found it on Lazy Eye Theatre and have been mulling over an answer for a few days now. The questions are:
1. Pick a single person past or present who works in the film industry you would like to have dinner with. And tell us why you chose this person.
2. Set the table for your dinner. What would you eat? Would it be in a home or at a restaurant? And what would you wear? Feel free to elaborate on the details.
3. List five thoughtful questions you would ask this person during dinner.
4. When all is said and done, select six bloggers to pass this Meme along to.
5. Link back to Lazy Eye Theatre, so people know the mastermind behind this Meme.
Her answer, which you can read in full on her site, was Vincent Price. A compelling and intriguing choice! My answer follows:
1) I would love to have dinner with Gene Wilder. I grew up watching his movies - particularly Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles and of course Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. I feel I owe him a tithing of anything funny I've ever said in my entire life. The man is a genius of timing, subtlety and madness. He can express an entire thought with the movement of his eyes, and portray a character that both delights and frightens at the same time.
2) Our dinner setting would be a quiet French cafe (why not get a trip to Paris out of this?). We'd eat crusty bread, pungent and creamy cheeses, olives, potato-leek gratin and something with eggplant and fennel. I'd wear something comfortable, yet elegant, like a simple cotton dress with a flowered silk scarf tied around my neck.
3)Questions for Mr. Wilder: a) Describe how you feel/plan your way through a scene that takes you from whispering to insanity. b) What was your inspiration for your latest book, "My French Whore?" c) What is the best unplanned moment you've experienced in a film? d) Talk about what it was like to work with Richard Pryor. e) Would you like to go home with me? ;)
4) My selection of bloggers to "tag": a) Austin b) Hebbe c) Geoff d) BBB e) Bad Penny f) Kborage
Howdy everybody! It's your long lost pal Trishka : ) Never fear - I managed to escape that deadly volcano / Soviet invasion / giant reptilian monster that was threatening to melt / indoctrinate / eat me. It was close but I flashed a pretty smile, pointed and said "Look, there's Elvis" and slipped away into the shadows.
I've had a hell of a busy year, and we're barely a month into it! I've been at least 300 miles from home every weekend in January (but one), flinging myself far and wide across this great land of ours. But I'm getting ahead of myself...let me begin at the beginning.
January 11th thru 13th - Phoenix, AZ With t-shirts packed and dreams of 70 degree weather, I climbed aboard one of those newfangled flying machines to visit my dear friend Amber-lamb the month before her wedding. She picked me up at the airport when my flight arrived close to midnight and by the time we reached her house we'd spilled all the most secretest stuff that's happened in the year since we last saw each other. See, Amber used to live in downtown Indianapolis. Five blocks, in fact, from the apartment to which I excitedly moved in October 2006. We planned for summer walks in the park, strolls to the neighborhood bars, jaunts to the drag show up the street. And then my good friend goes and falls in love with a man from Arizona. *Two Months* after we become neighbors! Sadly I saw her move away to start her new life and though we're still supah-sistahs I miss seeing her every day at work, gossiping about all the same people and ooohing and aahhing when we have good hair days. BUT we made up for it by chattering non-stop during my visit and putting a decent dent in the southwestern wine supply ; ) We visited a botanical garden where we tried not to get stuckteded by the sharpily cacti,
then made our way to a funky little pizza place and wine bar that were established in adjoining old houses. The next day we explored some vintage and antique stores, fawning over the roadster parked outside and looking oh-so-cute in our 50's sunglasses :)
And then - GELATO! Oooohhhh, and they gave free samples of all their flavors!
I'm headed back out there the 2nd weekend in February to be a bridesmaid at her wedding, where I'm sure to cry and smooch on my wedding date shamelessly.
January 18th thru 20th - Nashville, TN This weekend was my fourth trip to Nashville (or Nashvegas, as Mandy Marie so aptly calls it) to visit Austin while he "works." Okay, actually he does work nearly the entire day, leaving me to sleep in late and sight-see around the city until afternoon when we meet up again.
This time I had but two shrines to dutifully visit: The Willie Nelson and Friends Museum and Cooter's Dukes of Hazard Museum! Conveniently these are located immediately next door to each other, just a stone's throw from Opryland. First I ventured into the Willie Nelson Museum. Yep, lots of Willie Nelson stuff, and also memoriabilia from Patsy Cline and, um, some other singers I wasn't familiar with. The more unusual items included a muppet of Willie at a poker table who appears to have a royal flush (if you know what I mean):
and this ultra-cool Dolly Parton pinball machine:
Oh, and also these in the gift shop:
Yeah, I don't know either.
Next door was the real treasure trove - Cooter's Dukes of Hazard Museum.
This tiny little shop displays a history of those Duke Boys and gosh-darn nearly every single piece of merchandise ever created. From the ultimate bedroom:
to the cars:
and of course a smokin' cardboard Daisy Duke!
I loved this place; a down-home, sweetly nostalgic tribute to the outrageous cultural phenomenon that was DoH. As you can see, I was so charmed I had to buy the shirt!
Later that night Austin and I raided Nashville for all it was worth: stomping on the bar at Coyote Ugly and wiggling to a fantastic band at Robert's Western World, then finally taking our drunkety drunk butts to a brewhouse restaurant at the end of 2nd St for delicious pizza and salad. Ahhhh...what a fantastic night!
January 25 thru 28 - Chatsworth and Atlanta, GA This was a very special trip, celebrating both my birthday *and* the one year anniversary of Austin and I first finding each other. We spent the most beautiful, long weekend in the Georgia mountains at the Overlook Inn Bed and Breakfast.
Every morning we woke to a breathtaking mountain view, delicious food and each other. Every night we fell asleep in a ginormous bed to the flickering glow of the fireplace. During the day we explored waterfalls and mountaintops, small towns and twisty rural roads. Austin softly sang Happy Birthday while holding me in his arms on Georgia's highest mountain, Brasstown Bald. What more could a girl ask for?
So now I'm back in town, at home this weekend before heading back to Phoenix for Amber's wedding, then to Orlando three weeks after that. It feels like I'm in the middle of a whirlwind sometimes, but I don't want to slow down.
Tonight as I enjoyed my dinner of wine and an ice cream drumstick, I watched a beautiful documentary about the fascinating naturalist artist, Andy Goldsworthy.To steal a phrase from Wikipedia, Goldsworthy is a "site specific artist" which in his case means that he sculpts on-site using natural materials - stone, ice, leaves, flowers, wool, etc – found at the site of his commissions...[if !supportEmptyParas]-->He typically uses no tools; only hands and teeth, or perhaps a pounding rock, to create his forms. ..[endif]-->
"I enjoy the freedom of just using my hands and "found" tools - a sharp stone, the quill of a feather, thorns. I take the opportunities each day offers: if it is snowing, I work with snow, at leaf-fall it will be with leaves; a blown-over tree becomes a source of twigs and branches. I stop at a place or pick up a material because I feel that there is something to be discovered. Here is where I can learn."..[if !supportEmptyParas]--> ..[endif]-->
The documentary opens with Goldsworthy, looking rather like a chilly Michael Palin, climbing along a rocky seashore.He describes himself as "shaking hands" with the land, as he observes the tides, the snow and icicles clinging to the ground, the jagged stones jutting at imposing angles.Over the course of a very long day he creates a sculpture using icicles gnawed into the proper shape to form a winding "S" that appears to switch back and forth through a tall, thin, triangular rock.As the sun lowers in the sky, the light glows through the finished sculpture and illuminates it like a smooth halo against the dark, craggy stone and rugged cliffs behind.
Much of the beauty of Goldsworthy's work comes from the contemplation of its creation and ultimate destruction.Unlike most artists who exhibit in museums and galleries, his sculptures are primarily created in natural environments, exposed to the elements from whence they came and to which they inevitably return.The very sunshine that created such a beautiful glow within the icicle sculpture eventually melted it away, leaving no trace of its existence.As the camera captured, the natural destruction of his pieces can be beautiful in their own right.One of his commissioned pieces was beside a whirlpool created by river meeting sea.He built a spiral dome structure of found driftwood, leaving a perfectly round hole in the center like the ceiling of the Pantheon.As the tide rose, and the swirling water reached the sculpture, the outer pieces of wood danced and separated from the rest of the form, swaying gently away from the body and into the flow of the water.Eventually, with a soft swirling motion, the entire structure separated from the shore and floated downstream spinning a slow spiral as it drifted.
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There's a powerful statement that goes beyond the visual beauty of Goldsworthy's sculpture.It's a rumination on nature, transience, cyclical rebirth, creating something and then letting go of it.He likens the disintegration of his sculptures to a gift he's presenting the earth, whether it's to the sea as the tides swallow his creation, or the wind as it is blown away.And as he gives this gift to the elements, they accept it and change it with their energy.For a moment, the invisible wind or current is made visible by the sculpture it carries away.
Now all you folks, listen up! If you haven't been to Nashville, TN then just stop what'cher doing right now and get in the car for a drive. It's real easy to get there. Just point yerself in the right direction and listen for music.
Nashville is the most magical, musical, merrymaking town I've ever been in. Three times now I've met my honey there, and three times I've been whirled up into neon-light, honky-tonk bliss.
My weekend started Friday as I drove down after work, arriving at about 9:30pm. I *love* that drive. Four-and-a-half hours of me with my favorite CDs at full blast, roaring down the highway at 90 miles an hour (ooops, I mean, fully obeying the speed limit). 'Specially south of Louisville the scenery gets so pretty. Hillsides and rocky throughpasses, fall colored treetops and blue skies. There are occasionally roadside hazards
but typically they're more scared of you than you are of them, so I just drive on by.
Austin and I spent a little while saying hello, then headed outside and behind the hotel to JD's Bullseye where we sipped some fine, cold Coronas and listened to a good band rock out some Dire Straits and Margaritaville. The bar was *packed* but we got a little booth in a back corner and snuggled up together all cute-like.
I got to sleep in the next morning while poor Austin headed out to work for a few hours. My plan was to do exactly what I would have done if I'd been at home that Saturday. Nothing :) I brought comfy pajamas, a book and hot chocolate. After Austin left I got exactly 4 pages into my book and decided to call it quits and go back to bed. Next thing I know it's 12:30! Doing a whole lot of nothing sure can make a girl tired!
Saturday night was awesome from beginning to end. First we got a taxi into town and had dinner at a wonderful Thai restaurant called Siam Cuisine. We both got the red curry, although Austin's was considerably hotter than mine, plus spring rolls and for dessert the best fried bananas we'd ever tasted!
There was the most beautiful light misty rain coming down as we stood under the restaurant awning waiting for our cab. We talked about movies and made deals, sang songs and smooched :)
Our next stop was Broadway Ave, the brightest, most lit up street in Nashville. The sweet cacophony of live music coming from the clubs up and down the street is the best sound my little ears has ever heard. For blocks and blocks, as far as the eye can see, each doorway is lit with flashing neon. Doors flung open let you sample the bands invariably playing just inside each and every one. Even on this cool, rainy night close to Christmas, the streets and clubs were packed.
We had both heard of the World Famous Tootsie's Orchid Lounge, so we headed straight there (after a trip back to the hotel to get my ID...whoops!) and found a little spot for ourselves in the upstairs hall. The band was really entertaining, doing a lot of southern rock a'la Sweet Home Alabama, and some of what have become my favorite country songs, Save a Horse Ride a Cowboy and Family Tradition. Unfortunately there was no Honky Tonk Badonkadonk, which I love! Guess I hafta go back to Coyote Ugly for that one ;)
I have to say, we were the cutest couple in the bar...don't you agree?
No, the picture's not blurry. It's shot in drunk-o-vision.
Okay, here comes my favorite part of the evening! We decided to head out for the next club which just happens to be Layla's Bluegrass, Hillbilly and Country Music Inn next door. I LOVE THIS PLACE!
We've stopped here twice, once during Sunday afternoon on my first visit and then again this weekend. Both times the random band that happened to be playing was totally f'in awesome and the crowd was just as cool as could be. It reminds me, in feeling, of my favorite bar here in Indy - Radio Radio.
As we approach the front door, we notice a group of people leaving Layla's including one very cute (and probably very chilly) girl dressed like Santa Claus. We raise our eyebrows and smile at each other, but hey it's close to Christmas...she's just in the spirit. Oh no...we walk in and it's like a North Pole Convention with about 20 Santas dancing their jingle-bells off in front of the stage! All evening as we listened, danced and drank, wave after wave of Santas would come in and take over the dance floor with their hats a-floppin and their corsets a-shinin' (oh yeah, you read that right). I danced my ass off to Chuck Berry, Beastie Boys, The Ramones and Johnny Cash. I had a very fun dance with a young fellow who rolled into the bar and from his wheelchair had me spinnin, twirlin and dancin better than I ever have before!
We stayed until the very last song, then hopped back into a cab and scurried off to the hotel. It wasn't long before we were cuddled up and falling asleep, drunkety-drunk and exhausted, happy and relaxed. Thank you, Austin, for a great weekend! Thank you, Nashville, for being our southern treehouse.
It's one-thirty am Sunday night, er, Monday morning. Just got home and to be honest, it feels a little weird. Left Wednesday afternoon for two days in Chicago for work, then flew to Orlando Friday night to see my honey and cuddle and snuggle and lovey-talk and mooshy-be for the weekend. Now I'm sitting in my underwear at home, my cat is at my feet meowling non-stop, and I know just as soon as I crawl into bed my alarm is going to go off and it'll be time to get up for work.
This was really the loveliest weekend. Dolmas, brewery tour, Fandango, sleeping, 70-degree weather, Austin. Hard to ask for much more.
In five days I'll meet him in Nashville, which is beginning to feel like our private little getaway, then the weekend after that he'll be here for the whole Christmas/New Years stretch :) :) We already have more things planned than the 11-day stretch can handle, so I guess we'll have to keep seeing each other after that too (wink). Actually, in January we're celebrating our first year of knowing each other (thank you myspace, Heather and BBB) with a special trip to the Smokeys. Ahhh, nothing else feels this good.
I almost didn't watch this clip because it's so long, but once I got started I simply couldn't avert my gaze. I'm fascinated, amused, appalled, baffled and frankly tickled.
Enjoy The Duke of Haruson demonstrating the finer usage of moustache wax:
Accidently cooking delicious food since 1995
Current mood: Stuffed
I hope everyone's had a wonderful, happy, special Thanksgiving with friends and family. As I sit here, stuffed to the gills and personally thankful that I have the next three days to be a lazy slug, I have decided to gift you all with the secret to my latest improvisational culinary masterpiece. I like to call this one, "Accidental Butternut Squash Soup."
As I'm sure you remember, some months ago I posted a Roasted Acorn Squash recipe which I wanted to duplicate for Thanksgiving today. Here, step-by-step (oooh baby, gonna get to you giiiirrrrl - that one's just for you, Heather) is my attempt, detour and final arrival at soup.
1) Completely forget that it was Acorn Squash you had made before. Buy several pounds of Butternut Squash pre-cut into peeled chunks. If you think you have time in your life to peel winter squash, think again. 2) Pre-heat the oven to 350 3) Cut the chunks into smaller chunks, about 1/2"x1/2"x1/4". Don't bother measuring. In fact, barely look while you're cutting and kinda slice your knuckle with the knife. Cuss in three languages. 4) Peel an entire head of garlic into individual cloves (trust me). 5) Toss squash and whole garlic cloves with olive oil, salt and pepper in a pan. 6) Decide at the last minute to toss some baby peeled carrots in there too. What the hell. 7) Bake. Realize that the chunks aren't browning, but are cooking to a lovely soft and mushy state. Decide that maybe you'll make soup instead. 8) Mash with a potato masher. This step isn't really necessary because you'll use a blender too, but it's a lot of fun! 9) Pour some vegetable stock in your blender. Add the cooked and mashed squash/garlic/carrot mix. 10) Puree and add stock until it's a soup-like consistency. 11) Crush some thyme into the soup. 12) Re-heat in a soup pan. Add additional seasonings to taste. 13) Surprise yourself. This turned out really freakin good!
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