Wait a minute. Who put the keg all the way out here in the woods?

Very bitchin' show and very bitchin' venue. The show seemed really short to me and Fred Schneider seemed bored off his tits, but Kate Pierson was doing more than her part to make it fun. And Cindy Wilson seemed really...awkward. As if maybe she had a new spine or something. And Keith Strickland did his usual bad-ass bass thing.

Even if they didn't play Good Stuff (aka The Album That Never Happened) or Cosmic Thing. They did play Strobelight which is always funtimes. And even though I could live the rest of my life without every hearing Love Shack ever again, I will make an exception for live performances. Planet Claire and Rock Lobster made for a rockin' encore as well.

Bit of a phone-in, but not if Kate could help it. (Not bad for a lady who's going to be turning 60 next year!)

Had a very good time and it made me feel young that the show was over before I knew it (though it was your standard 1.5 hours) and we were definitely the youngest ones there...though we both expected it to be the high school reunion we never had. Oh well. And we were very close to the stage, always nice.

And it was also nice enough not to flood while we were there (been having floods in North Texas). And we managed to find it with almost no problem, even if our car did have to wade through the throngs of people filling the American Airlines venue next door for The Police.

Not the most titillating 300th post, but it's bedtime. So there.

Don't expect it to tango; it has a broken back.

What a very long but enjoyable weekend. Mob has all the scoop about the Texas Frightmare Weekend in Dallas, which looked cool. His post has great details; I was only there briefly when meeting up on Saturday. I did get to see Adrienne Barbeau, Tom Savini (I saw him on his good day, apparently he'd soured by the next) and Jeffrey Combs, who were the three I was keenest to lay eyes on. I mean, I know George Romero was there but hey, that's just me. Jeffrey Combs was great--the nicest, most normal looking fellow and not to mention just a little short. (For Alex and Vel, he's also in a ton of various Star Trek episodes, multiple series).



The Erasure show was amazing--we arrived (very) fashionably late at eight rather than six. Just in time to only have to tune out some of Rosie O'Donnell. Everyone was a little sad to have missed Debbie Harry until I found out the next day at work she didn't play a single goddamn Blondie song. Erasure was great and then Cyndi Lauper, well...let's just say she was looking a little...shabby. We left before she finished and beat the hell out of some traffic. And thank god for Morris dancing, I didn't have the balls to get up and do it by myself. (We were on the lawn).

And before scoping a spot on the lawn while people were getting drinks and ATM stops, D and I found ourselves at the Logo booth, with a microphoned man asking D a five-question quiz about me. (This man was also under the impression we'd met two hours before...but I was joking...not my fault he didn't notice our matching rings). And if we won we got bitchin' Logo T-shirts (which we so did).

What's her favorite TV show she watches on (lame-ass Time Warner reference)?
Who would she call long distance on (lame-ass Time Warner reference)?
What's her favorite movie?
What type of website does she frequent most on (lame-ass Time Warner reference)?
What's her favorite band?

The only one we blew was the first one. I was thinking weekly show, so I said House, M.D., but D was probably more accurate with his guess of The Colbert Report. And Drew having just left town made the next one easy, followed by Streets of Fire (which, by the panicked look in his eye, he nearly missed the boat on). The fourth was a little odd I thought, but I answered movies or politics (D chose movies) and the last was also a breeze, considering where we were (even if I don't have a "favorite band").

And the best part was they only had one size left and you know WHAT?? It was the tiny-ass size! T-shirts nearly ALWAYS come in HUGE and EXTRA-BIG-HUGE. So I was tickled as a pig in shit to get two tiny Logo shirts. I don't even think we get the Logo channel in this area, but whatever.

And then tomorrow night looks to be more rockin' 80s, as it seems The B-52s show is set to happen. I'm very curious to get a look at the new venue to hear their new songs, as they are wrapping up a new album.

D has to go into work at 3am tonight so it's time for me to make dinner. But tomorrow is not only post #300, but my birthday as well, so I'll have to make sure it's not another meme I suppose...

So you can finally read Seventeen magazine and get all the references?

Hot damn. I am tickled to shit...the divine Mob, K & Morris have gone out of their way to make sure D and I get to attend the True Colors Tour this weekend and have bought our tickets for us. This is just too damn sweet of them and completely too much.

And I'm freaking the fuck out. If it were Friday night I'd be set but it's goddamn SATURDAY night at SIX O'FUCKING CLOCK. What kind of a goddamn show starts at SIX??? I get off work at 7 on Saturdays!! So I emailed a bunch of people and pretty much offered to work an entire shift for them if they'd just pick up my last few hours. I mean sure, it's one hour off but then I have to drive to Smirnoff and driving to concerty-type things involves time. And you know it will start thirty minutes late but not only do I not want to miss a damn thing, I'm anal about being timely for these things, especially if someone else is buying me my ticket!

Surely something will work itself out...

In the meantime I will wait to get excited about



until I get those hours squared away. And I'm a bit of a shit Erasure fan lately...I haven't kept oh-so up-to-date with their latest. But I bet they still put on a kick-ass show.

And you know, looking at the line-up, it is five hours of rockin' goodness...I would just feel like a shmuck to come in two hours late as I'm not buying. I'm sure it will start late and I'd miss the dull stuff (jesus, if only Rosie O'Donnell was going to be there from 6-7 I'd miss it on purpose); but it's hosted by Margaret Cho whom I always enjoy. I'll try to have an incredibly long wee break when Rosie comes on...

Happy Birthday, Samantha. Make a wish.

Cost of nipple ring: $50

Potentially getting to see the B-52s for free because J's girlfriend dumped him when he was repulsed by her nipple ring (as she knew he would be) and now he has an extra ticket? Priceless.

(Did I mention The B-25s are actually playing ON my birthday?)

Chucky says Aunt Maggie was a bitch and got what she deserved.

It's bad enough D works late tonight and I'm feeling a little lonely, but I just walked across the living room after turning on the outside sprinkler system and D's creepy-ass Willy Wonka doll talked at me.

Out of fucking nowhere.

I didn't even know what the fuck it was at first (of course it's dead silent in the house) and that thing is creepy looking anyway.

Just saying. If I go missing or am brutally murdered in the house, the doll did it.

It's the crazy ones that have the really good pills.

So Monday was a relaxing day in which we knocked out several movies. I had Drew pick out some fluffy ones from the home collection to go in between the more serious ones...



First up was a documentary we'd had at my old theatre called Gay Sex in the 70s, which I'd been curious about. I thought Drew might be a more suitable audience rather than D, so I put it on the queue. It was decent...the only aspect new to me was the geographic breakdown of New York City's gay community in the 70s...I've been to those infamous piers--and they are just a little bit different these days! Neither Drew nor I knew about "the trucks," part of the inordinate amount of anonymous sex going on at that time. That was some scary shit.

Then we watched Kontroll, about the ticket takers on the Budapest transit system. It's fiction and I like it a lot. Drew enjoyed it but he didn't like the ending. He thought it happened too rapidly and with barely any sense of a resolution. (I've written about Kontroll previously so I won't go into it too much).

Then it was time to lighten things up so we revisited Adventures In Babysitting. Very creative for what it is, especially considering Chris Columbus helmed that one. Yikes.



Drew had suggested 20 Centimetros, about a woman saving for her operation to get rid of, well, not her Angry Inch, but rather her nine inches. Oh, and she's narcoleptic so occasionally she passes out and when she does, she has Broadway musical numbers for dreams. Cute.

D came home about this time and the BBQ continued to cook. We popped in Little Shop of Horrors and then finished off with Closer for dinnertime, the latter two everyone had seen before.

The next day was Fort Worth, and we started with the Water Gardens, which only recently re-opened in March. They'd been closed for nearly three years after four people drowned in the Active Pool. They said the Active Pool now has a railing, but we sure didn't see one. There was a gate, but it was open and you could walk right down to the center. Perhaps the pool itself is more shallow now? It just didn't seem much different, if you ask me.



Anyhoo, the gardens were nice and the place is much smaller than I recall. (Not having been since about the age of ten, this makes sense).

Lunch was at Joe T. Garcia's, which is an insanely famous TexMex place in Fort Worth. I'd heard about it but never been. Even Hillary stopped by last week as part of her campaign trail. It was decent, nothing to write home about and I was kind of appalled they take cash only. (Considering the ridiculous amount of business they do...)

Then we stopped by the Modern Museum of Art just to walk around the outside. They were changing two of the three main exhibits and the third sounded, well, like we could miss it. We kept driving and popped down to the Japanese gardens, which were wonderfully empty. I need to go more often on Tuesday afternoons...



One of the best parts of these gardens will always be feeding the giant koi. Drew got a kick out of it even if, as he put it afterwards, it was almost kind of disgusting. "Feeding frenzy," puts it mildly.



We then went down to the Fort Worth stockyards and poked around the retail area which was vaguely depressing and icky. But we also found a little snack shop and had Blue Bell Ice Cream (which you can only get here and I believe Oklahoma) and two Dublin Doctor Peppers, which are made here and use real cane sugar, tasting about a thousand times better.

About that time it was nearly 4:00, which is the second time of day they drive the cattle down the road.



It's just as exciting as it looks. They do have really impressive horns, though.

And then we finished off the day with beers at Billy Bob's. This is a huge attraction for the area--it even has a rodeo pen. Drew and I milled about looking for an electronic bull (in retrospect I'm not sure why we thought they had one) and we found ourselves in the actual rodeo area, surrounded by signs that informed us yes, you can ride a REAL GODDAMN BULL FOR $2.50. Our beers were $2.25 and obviously, we were both really out of our element, so I could be wrong, but all signs pointed to the contrary. (And it's only on Friday and Saturday nights. And no, even if they HAD had an electronic bull I wasn't going near it. I think Drew was wanting to sample some local color...)

They did have a giant fake bull, and you could take a picture on it with a friend for $8. So it doesn't seem right that you could get on a real fucking bull for so little, but I'm just reporting what I saw. We figured out that for $20 you could get hammered on seven beers and still ride a bull. Now that's a honky tonk. Oh, and the dance floor had a rhinestone-encrusted saddle hanging from the ceiling. The country mirrorball, if you will.

Only for Drew would I have gone there.

We played several games of pool and finally made it home in time for D to make us his pineapple burgers off the grill.

Very tired and very unwilling to return to work...

Oh I love you Adam, Alex, Peter, Brian, whatever your name is.

I've taken Drew to the airport, which is very sad because now I no longer have his delightful company AND it means a return to the dreadfulness of real life. Infact, I have to work tomorrow.

I need to post for Monday & Tuesday, as it involved a shitload of films and a trip to Billy Bob's in Fort Worth...the woman at the visitor's guide in Fort Worth had to explain to Drew what a 'honky tonk' was and I was pleased as shit not to have to do it myself. We went and oh boy do I need to write about it.

As we summed it up, after a few beers we were incredibly loud and non-blendy.

But before I post, I just received my birthday present from my wonderful and amazing sisters in the mail and I need to go to Calloway's right now and indulge in some post-vacation shoppppppppping! I got the nicest gift card in the mail and rather than save it, well, since Calloway's is a whopping four minutes from here, I'm going to go spend the shit out of it. Our carnivorous little Audrey has needed a new pot for ages and I'm also curious to see what's out...thank you Alexandra and Veloute!

This desk set wants to fly!

In honor of MacGuffin's postings of some of the very cool vintage/international/random posters he either owns or desires, here are some images of my recent purchases in the past year...there are a ton more I would love to own...

This one's in the living room because it makes me feel better every time I see it. Especially after work. And I have no idea what the movie's about...



Not a huge fan of Terms of Endearment, but love this poster. Pretty accurate, if you ask me. This one's in the dining room.



Huge fan of Bringing Up Baby, still need to get it framed...



And there are an insane number of exploitation flicks I'd die to own, unfortunately these tend to be fucking expensive.



And because it's different (and cute)...(And no, don't own this one, either).



I could also go for a nice Charade poster, preferably surreal/French? Ah, if only I had the wallspace and the money...

Sometimes I sing and dance around the house in my underwear. Doesn't make me Madonna. Never will.

Back from Austin! My neck is delighted to be back...that much driving never used to bother me, but ever since I drove to Vermont my neck has never really been the same on trips...would have been ok had I not driven there and back within two days. (Just a good future excuse for longer trips, if you ask me).

We got to Austin and drove off along 2222, which is incredibly hilly and gorgeous.



A very drastic change from North Texas. Hit The County Line and sat by the lake with a bucket of Negro Modelo watching an obscene number of turtles paddling around. Had a nice early BBQ dinner a little while later and went in search of the hotel.

My usual Austin spot, the Austin Motel, had already been fully booked (apparently not unusual) so I had booked the La Quinta on 11th...it's almost exactly next to the Capitol. It was a decent rate considering the location and the fact it was the weekend. However, I was extremely unimpressed with the valet-only parking, for which it is $6 daily or $12 overnight. Fuck you and your downtown location. If you're paying over a $100 for a room and it's a goddamn La Quinta? Come the fuck on. Anyhoo, paid it like a little bitch (read: silently irritated) and then we walked downtown.

We hit The Ginger Man, and yes, I believe there is one in Dallas but I had never been and each one would (presumably) have local its own local beer and microbreweries. (It's a beer place, over 250+, etc.)



Played a little pool until another couple asked to join us and there was no way my pride could take playing pool with total strangers. I suck quite enough without needing to have others watch. We relinquished the table and finished our beers outside before departing for The Alamo Drafthouse, at what was presumably my last-ever screening there.



They are shutting down the downtown location and moving it over to the old Ritz (just on 6th, so it's still going to be downtown, it just won't have that historic little place in my heart). The very last night is on my birthday, a triple feature, and they are selling the tickets in batches of three. The first batch of tickets includes a wrench, which you are to use to take your seat home with you. Nice.

The next day we walked around the government buildings (Sunday morning, deserted) and over to the UT area, had a nice leisurely lunch at the new (huge) Mangia location with stuffed pizzas and a bottle of wine. Piddled around for a bit. (I showed Drew my old video rental house, I Luv Video. That may sound weird to you, but once inside you'd understand. The staff leave comments on some of the boxes, ranging from passionate praise to openly obscene berating. Often hysterical. Plus, it's mostly organized by director, cult categories, and is brimming with obscure titles).

Also went to Spider House, which I become a little more addicted to each time. It has a giant garden with oddly mismatched iron furniture, swings and fountains, and they serve food, snackies, coffee, beer and hard liquor. (We had coffee and tea, thank you). I try not to think about how I used to live a twenty minute walk away from this place and very seldom went.



And then it was home time. Hit Addison for a good yuppie vibe, where D met up with us at the Flying Saucer. Tired and achy, headed back to Arlington for some spa time.

Today is Relaxation Day, with nothing but films, margaritas and two 3-lb pork butts slowly cooking in the oven for 7 hours. Pulled pork BBQ, roasted corn and rosemary potatoes for dinner!

In the meantime, snackies...

And...um, who's Ann Miller?

Well, Drew's first day went remarkably well. His flight came in with no problems whatsoever, the weather was gorgeous and cool and the sun even came out for a little while.

We hit the house for a little post-flight relaxation, catching up and eating lunch (I made my mother's famous mac and cheese and my ham with cream) and then drove off to Reunion Tower. The nice thing about going into downtown Dallas from where I live is that you get a great view of descending into the city, vaguely ugly thing that it is.

So refreshing: Drew said how new it all looked to him. This is someone who has seen a ton of both coasts and almost none of the Midwest. How fantastic that Dallas actually has something going for it for once!



We sat up at the Dome Lounge inside the Tower (the observation deck was closed for a wedding, what else is new) each had a chocotini as the restaurant revolved around the city (geez, some views of the city are uh, shall we say severely lacking...) The prices were surprisingly tame for where we were...although I'm not big on the revolving feeling. As slowly as we were moving, I had the feeling if I'd been even mildly off-kilter it'd make me nauseous...

This was followed up by The Pocket Sandwich Theatre and Caught In the Net, which was actually hysterical. (I mean, I thought it would be cute, but we laughed a ton). It was a play about a man with two families trying to keep them secret from each other. The set was very cool, divided into two living rooms but appeared as a whole, and both families were often on stage at the same time (with, you know, the invisible line of two separate worlds). It was very nicely pulled off, as I imagine comedy of that natural can be quite tricky. The pace and acting were superb.

Afterwards we wanted to see gay Dallas so I had called Mob & K's friend Morris. I knew he would be a fantastic Dallas advocate and terrific company. And he started by saving my cheese as I (naturally) managed to get lost driving from the Pocket to downtown. Don't ask how, but I got TOTALLY fucking lost--I couldn't even TELL you where I was. I just ended up on 30 and finally Morris called and I had to whimper where I was. He guided me back to safety, staying on the phone the whole time. It was mildly embarrassing, but as someone with no sense of direction I guess I'm used to it.

We went to JR's (where the women's toilets are just divided, no actual STALLS...not to mention the one toilet is just right next to the sink!! awkward...), then a sports bar whose name I can't recall, and by far the best of all, The Round-Up. That's exactly what you think it is. But click on the link anyway, it's too great. Gay cowboys, honey. It was exactly what Drew wanted to see; apparently they have "gay western" up in New York but it's terribly fake, complete with horrendous fake accents. (Apparently, Times Square is famous for its Naked Cowboy...though he is wearing underwear behind his guitar...) Morris even took him around for a two-step spin, which was hysterical.

We finally left, as I was getting exhausted and we're headed off to Austin today. Morris hit the head before walking us out to our car (which he was such an angel to offer), and by the time we were out the door he had a friend in tow! I was very impressed. Thank God for Morris. I don't get to see him as often as I like, since I'm anti-social and just not one for going out...but he's one of the few people whose company I genuinely enjoy. Great smart-ass.

And then we picked up a little 3am Whataburger, it was very 2000. Sorry, Mob, more of a Whataburger girl than Jack In the Box. Though naturally he'll have to be introduced to both. (His friends in NYC kept tsking him before he left, saying he'd come back twenty pounds heavier. Just doing my part!)

And now today I feel like a smoker. All that yelling in bars, smoke (though not nearly as much as one might expect), etc. My current voice is the closest I'll ever get to Scarlett Johansson...

And now we're off to Austin for a night, I'm already salivating thinking about BBQ from The County Line AND Scholz Garten...not to mention stopping in West for the kolache...the only thing I'm dreading are the two tanks of gas I know the whole trip will take. Almost cheaper to fly...

Does the little wax lion ever tell you to burn things or hurt people?

So I was wrong. That popcorn tin may be puny, but it's quite sweet and therefore, less is more. The honey popcorn is, almost sadly, nothing like the microwave honey popcorn I temporarily had in Vermont. That shit still makes me salivate and does not exist elsewhere, if it's even there anymore.

But this stuff is just like caramel popcorn, only honey flavored, as is the vanilla variety. The vanilla is weird. You're eating it and it's like eating two things that uh, just don't entirely go together. They don't quit mesh, but it's not bad. (See how easy I can be on junk food?) And the spicy TX BBQ is really quite tasty, I'm impressed. Thankfully, I have not polished it off the day prior to Drew's arrival. Good thing I didn't get it any earlier, though.

It is 5:30am in the goddamn morning. I woke up when D went off to work and strangely, am awake. This is the second time this year I've actually been eager to get up. (The first was, obviously, when I went to Japan!) Drew's flight gets in around 12:50. We're supposed to have thunderstorms today, naturally, as long as they aren't at that time, that's fine by me.

Fat little Bourdain has made an effort to keep me company, but has merely wiped out on his back next to me, all four paws in all four directions. He wears 'exhausted' well, especially for someone who does so little. Apparently he gets wiped out if we run our morning routine too early for him. (He always joins me at the bathroom sink and I have to turn one of the sinks on for him to climb into and lap up for like, five minutes, it's cute if a little odd). Every. Morning. And I think he does it to both of us.



(Mine is a little more dignified, thank you).

And you know, like most people I'm not a fan of conversations or writings that begin with, "Hey, so, I had this dream last night." But stay with me. And it was the other night. It was the first dream I ever had in which I plummeted to my death (that I recall, anyway).

I was in a convertible with Chris Thile from Nickel Creek, who was driving far too fast along narrow curvy roads atop a mountainous area. It made me nervous, but I figured he drove it every day. He drove off the road and as he tried to swing the car around, it was going too fast and just shot out into nothingness. He said, "Oh no, now it's just like that Depeche Mode song."

Like a bad jumpcut in a movie, we were then falling down trunk-first. I recall looking at him and thinking, "This is when one would normally say something like, 'It's ok, man/Hey, we'll make it/I love you, man!' but instead I shrugged at him and said something like, "Eh." I was thinking surely we'd hit tree branches to break the fall since shit like this doesn't happen to me, and I did freak out slightly as I realized I was going to DIE (the view of a vast canyon around you as you freefall is just not my cup of tea).

But we got to the bottom, not really sure how but it wasn't in a fireball of death. And on the ground was a receipt for $19.00 from James Bond, who had apparently stepped in to save the day.



Ok, I'm finished. So what the hell. What Depeche Mode song? And so Bond is charging now? (And really? $19? What happened to scoring with the leading lady? Not in my dream, I guess. Shit, he didn't even make a cameo.) Dreams like that really make me wonder what the hell I ate or drank before bedtime.

Du Jour means crash positions!

Because nothing is ever simple.

So yesterday the "check engine" light came on. *blows out brains*

Took it back to Goodyear where they apologized profusely and could find zilch wrong, reset the light and sent me on my way. I head out to Addison for its inspection and wash. I stop for coffee and then lunch and by then the light has come back on. Oh, will I ever learn.

They tell me they cannot pass it due to it registering as an actual error, being human enough to abort the test rather than rape me for the inspection fee. I call VW who says they'd have to do their own diagnostic (read: $90 to start with), before they even start to fix it. I call the nice man at the inspection place, who told me to find out what the error was and he could find me a nice cheap [shady] place to fix it. So I called him (basically it looks to be an emissions problem) and he said to call him tomorrow around 1pm. This is the closest I may ever come to a shady drug deal.

If I get this shit fixed for under $200, that man's got a six pack with his name on it.

I did ask if one might drive down to Austin with said impediment and he basically said, "Aw, fuck yeah, go for it." I think I'm polluting the shit out of the air but that it's no real [immediate] danger to me or my car. Score.

And I think I forgot to mention the popcorn joint I found. I went to pick up wine from my new little wine store I'm so in love with and a nearby store REEKED of freshly popped popcorn. Well clearly I had to go in, right? The walls were lined with tins and nothing else. And I got that feeling, you know, when you walk into a store and really wish you hadn't but you can't walk right back out again because how shitty would that look? So before I weakly tried to leave, the guy gave me a price and flavor list. That was a wise move.

I am now headed back to pick up a 3-way of "Vanilla," "Spicy Texas BBQ," (in honor of Drew's first visit to TX) and "Honey." They had spicier shit, I was tempted by "Loaded Baked Potato."

And then I've got to come home and knock out some Dr. Who. Right now D is out birthday shopping (for me) with his mother. (The mother is doing the shopping, D is more than done!) They are in Central Market right now, picking up my fat-loaded pork butt for Monday night's bbq (which has Drew salivating...he says he's more than anything looking forward to kicking back at the house with margaritas, watching movies and doing jack shit. This may be why Drew and I are such good friends). Apparently it's the first time D's mom has ever been in Central Market. I hope I've started something.

[Editor's Note: Now that I have the popcorn tin in hand...jesus. 1 gallon does not mean what I think it means. I could give birth to something bigger.]

The Shawskank Redemption

Many thanks to Jon Stewart and The Daily Show for the above line while they weren't discussing Paris Hilton.

That, and while discussing the new Olympic logo...



"I may not be a graphic designer, I may not know a lot about composition, your negative space, what have you...but I know what it looks like when a slot machine goes down on a stop sign!"

Ok, list time, freshly stolen from Julie Gong's blog.

INSTRUCTIONS: Remove the blog in the top spot from the following list and bump everyone up one place. Then add your blog to the bottom slot, like so.

1) Whiskeymarie
2) FeistyMnGirl
3) What Greg Likes
4) A Blog of a Good Time
5) Wine When Drunk From a Mug

Select five people to tag:

Triana
Mob
Veloute

(Because three is the new five).

What were you doing 10 years ago?
Being a sophomore in college...doing audio editing in class...started working at Express in November for the first time...learning that actors are the worst sorts of boyfriends ever. (But then subsequently getting hired by The Pocket Sandwich Theatre in 1998 in a revenge move. HAHA, I got paid, fuck you! *cough*...)

What were you doing 1 year ago?
Looking for houses to buy, working blissfully in the most laid-back work environment ever and not appreciating it the way I would now.

Five snacks you enjoy:
1) fried pickles (duh)
2) nearly any kind of popcorn
3) cheeeeeeeese
4) big fat soft pretzels (the ones in the mall are the worst but I eat them anyway...all thin and crisp)
5) chocolate truffles, Godiva used to be my fave but they seem to be slipping? The hell's up with that? Really crazy about the local places here in DFW and of course, Vermont.

Five songs that you know all the lyrics to:
1) Punk Rock Girl--Dead Milkmen
2) The Boxer--Simon & Garfunkel
3) The Panda Song--Liam Lynch
4) Indie Rockin'--Common Rotation
5) Spider--They Might Be Giants

Five things you would do if you were a millionaire:
1) Open my own (*cough*, our own) retro theatre showing any damn movies we wanted, nothing new. All the candy and sodas would be retro and I'd get the university students to showcase their art/photography in the lobby and run student shorts/cartoons or whathaveyou before the films.
2) Once a week when I ate out I would randomly pick a table and pay for their shit anonymously. I've always wanted to do that.
3) Have a "Friday" car and it would be my Streets of Fire car. (I can't find a picture so clearly you'll just have to watch the film).
4) Write plays and put them on at whatever venue locally and if there was a role for a male in them, he'd get killed 20 minutes in and just be a body the rest of the show. Or there'd be eight minuscule male roles and everyone would get to be on stage for 2 minutes. (Not to come across as bitter regarding roles for women in plays...)
5) Have someone make me this Halloween costume. Though I'm not saying I would buy the boobs, however much one needs them to make this outfit work. Just sayin'.



(EllenAim now in doll form! Wtf?)



Five bad habits:
1) Drinking beer too slowly, therefore getting tired and choosing to go to bed instead of waiting up for my husband.
2) Catching up on old Daily Shows/Colbert Reports instead of getting through my Netfux crap.
3) Not eating well AT ALL and not exercising
4) Not taking pictures more often
5) Throwing money away like a little bitch

Five things you like doing:
1) Reading in the yard and drinking wine
2) Getting off work early on Wednesdays and hitting $1 Margarita afternoons while thinking to myself, "I should still be at work right now."
3) Traveling
4) Finding out I have more money than I thought I did
5) Singing along very loudly in the car

Five things you would never wear again:
1) anything from my mink collection
2) rolled up denim shorts
3) cheap perfume
4) a look of contentment while at work
5) a trophy boyfriend

Five favorite toys:
(This smacks of being vaguely inappropriate but since my parents read this I'll keep it clean).
1) my spa (it counts)
2) my Atari, but it's out of order at the mo'
3) all our old Commodore 64 games. would kill to play those again.
4) my wine rack. I like to fill it up.
5) Anything with feathers I can taunt Bourdain with and make him jump five feet in the air. The flamingo pen wipes him OUT.

Lunchtime!

I had a parakeet once. I hated that thing. I was glad when it died.

We watched Frankie and Johnny last night, which I had not seen in years and D had never seen. I was really surprised he thought it merely ok. However, it turns out his big beef was it that Al Pacino's character annoyed the shit out of him. This amused me because it suddenly made me remember that when I first saw the film years and years ago I think he irritated me, too. I don't know if I'm just older now or just used to the character. But I think it's a really cute movie. Nicely realistic. I also pointed out to D that wasn't he glad I make him watch things like Frankie and Johnny rather than How to Lose a Guy In 10 Days (or what have you). There aren't too many gooey movies I really go for. (Yes, I'm sure there are enough we could sit here and mock me all day long). Ok, I like Only You. But that has Marisa Tomei and Robert Downey, Jr. and who can resist their powers?

Anyhoo. I should also mention I have the handiest husband ever. This past weekend he replaced both ballasts in the kitchen (the whole things!) AND had to repair the lawn mower AND fixed the drip in the sink. All in one day. These may have all been very simple tasks, I'll never know. I just know I would hardly venture to attempt them myself. Obviously owning a home as a single lady would be terrifying for me, which is kind of a bitch to realize.

Two or three more days of work (if someone needs me to pick up their shift then three) and then I am fucking free for seven straight days. I'll be picking up the fabulous Drew from the airport Friday afternoon. I think we'll hit El Arroyo (our new favorite Tex Mex joint we'll abuse until it cries) and possibly have an evening at the Pocket Sandwich Theatre? Sadly, it's not a popcorn-tosser this go-round, those tend to be the late summer show. But it's still tre Dallas.



I guess a nice way to see Dallas right off would be hitting Reunion Tower for a [$20] drink around evening-time. (That's the ball building in the middle there. I shot a wedding there once. Meh).

I really need to do a little research to find out the hip gay sites for DFW. Been a long, long time.



(Where the hell am I on these days?)

Tramp, the love interest, is a smarmy braggart of the most obnoxious kind, an oily jail bird out for a piece of tail or whatever he can get.

I know I said I would raise a glass of bubbly on June 5th in toast to dumb bitches getting what they deserve, but I forgot. Because hopefully I have better things on my mind. But this afternoon I was looking for an excuse to get white wine (I only have red in the house) and considering the devastating events of the day...



Here's to stupid spoiled whores going BACK to jail! I almost felt bad for her (the crying! the screaming!) until I reminded myself what a spoiled rotten human she is, and then I raised my glass and went about my business.

A little game lifted from over at Mob's blog, here's the rules:

01. Grab the nearest book
02. Open it to page 161
03. Find the fifth full sentence
04. Post the text along with these instructions

"The pursuit of 'dominance' in foreign policy led the Bush administration to ignore the United Nations, to do serious damage to our most important alliances, to violate international law, and to cultivate the hatred and contempt of many in the rest of the world."

Geez, kinda heavy. [Considering it could have been so much better...] But amen.

I'll show you the roof. It's upstairs.

Because marriage is all about trying new things (read: forcing your likes onto your partner), last night D and I traded. I made him watch:



and he made me watch:



And luckily we both enjoyed them, which is always a little surprising. He really liked Shut Up and Sing (well, really liked might be a tad strong, but he certainly appreciated it and had no idea as to the giant debacle it all was), and I thought Detroit Rock City was a lot of fun. It had a bit more physical gag type humor than is usually my speed, but it was cute enough otherwise to kind of make up for it. And we both agreed that if anyone ever wanted to bottle and sell Little Bitch Voice, Edward Furlong would be their guy.

And I also realized that part of the reason I really like Shut Up and Sing is because I covet nearly each and every one of their outfits.

We started out the day dropping Hans at the shop for his 120,000 mile check-up. How did it go?



It was the same price they said it would be and he didn't need any additional work. Aaaaaaaand they put his front bumper back on! Now don't get me wrong, he has a front bumper. But the rubber attachment that holds the passenger side in place is dodgy at best and it's a low car. So anytime I park a smidgen too close to the cement parking...thing...it will catch and pull the corner off. It drives me fucking crazy because not only can I never get it back on, neither can D. Only Cinema Mark seems to have the magic touch and now that we no longer work together, I just don't have the opportunity to whine and make him fix it as often. So I nearly teared up with joy that they popped it back on for me, elevating it once again from hooptie status.

D then took me to the library so I could pick up the books they were holding for me and then we hit a really fantastic little Mexican place very close to our house we've been meaning to try called El Arroyo. The outside really reminds me of El Sol y La Luna, my favorite Austin TexMex place. And this place, it turns out, might be even better. They have like, seven different kinds of margaritas (Arlington alcohol prices are rockin') and mouth-watering spinach con queso, which was all I ordered. And we had dessert after happy-houring it up all afternoon.



Fried cheesecake smothered in fudge and vanilla ice cream. (Called Xangos). And it was D's idea! (This is the man who mocked me for eating a fried Snickers from the Fried What? booth at Jazz Fest last year). SO GOOD. We polished it off before the waitress managed to get the check to us.

Today is a bona fide armpit outside, really thick wet air. I only got three artemisia plants in and moved the clematis to the trellis as my moonflower seeds have decided they want nothing to do with my backyard. The morning glories in the front yard, however, are acting as though I've been feeding them plant crack.

And now it may be time for leftover Chinese food and library books.

On August 29th, 1997, it's gonna feel pretty fucking real to you too.

Sometimes when I leave work I feel like I'm not supposed to be leaving and I'm mistakenly leaving an hour early or something. Our schedules just changed and especially now that I actually leave BEFORE RUSH HOUR--in mutherfuckin' Fort Worth, no less--well, I just feel all kinds of guilty.

For like, four minutes.

We started Music and Lyrics last night. Meh. Half-way through. I thought it was going to be more guilty-pleasure don't-tell-anyone-I-laughed type movie. Great opening credits, dead on. But the plot is just embarrassingly thin so far...I mean seriously, if the plot of this movie were a condom, it would totally get someone pregnant. And a bit achingly predictable. Maybe it'll pick up.

But in that vein of old music, hey! Mob has tagged me with a little meme about nostalgia for the year that I turned 18, so here's how this deal works:

1. Go to http://www.popculturemadness.com/

2. Pick the year you turned 18

3. Get yourself nostalgic over the songs of the year

4. Write something about how the song affected you

5. Pass it on to 5 more friends

1997, baby.

So at this point I was a sophomore in college. I was working 40 hour a week at my out of town retail job and doing 19 hours at university. And I have never liked popular music. I don't recognize 1/16 of the shit on this list. So let's go.

The Top 10 that year.

1. Barbie Girl - Aqua
2. ESPN Presents Jock Jams - Various Artists
3. Wannabe - Spice Girls
4. Tubthumping - Chumbawamba
5. To The Moon and Back - Savage Garden
6. You Make Me Wanna - Usher
7. I Like It Like That - Blackout All-Stars
8. Hard To Say I'm Sorry - Az Yet
9. Crash Into Me - Dave Matthews Band
10. It's Your Love - Tim McGraw & Faith Hill

If I italicized it, I heard it a lot but never by choice. There is not a damn thing on this top ten I ever listened to by choice. I goddamn hated #4 and to this day it is severely overplayed on the goddamn radio. The other crap I don't think I ever even heard.

The rest of the list?

13. How Do I Live - LeAnn Rimes
46. Men In Black - Will Smith
65. Secret Garden - Bruce Springsteen

These are all etched into my mind due to the fact they were in movies that year (ok, Jerry Maguire was Christmas 1996) and I was still working at my first shit theatre. MIB especially stands out. In that theatre, despite being a projectionist I had to clean shit up just like everyone else. I cleaned up a LOT of popcorn and spit cups to this song. I couldn't even watch the whole clip down below, too painful for me.(And #13 is actually sung by Trish(a?) Yearwood in Con Air, but it doesn't matter. It's an awful song no matter what).



27. Semi Charmed Life - Third Eye Blind

This song just REALLY reminds me of driving to the The Pocket Sandwich Theatre every day in summer for the play I was in. They played it each and every single day sometime during the hour I spent driving from Denton to Dallas. I never knew they were blipping out the drug lyric until I heard it years later in full form.

35. The Impression That I Get - Mighty Mighty Bosstones
72. Hell - Squirrel Nut Zippers

And while in that play, we used to hit The Red Jacket evey Thursday night after our show to go swing dancing! This was during that swing surge...

36. I Want You - Savage Garden
37. Song 2 - Blur
49. Your Woman - White Town
44. Building A Mystery - Sarah McLachlan

Four songs on the list I liked! Don't tease me about #36, it was catchy. Can't stand anything else they've done, don't even recognize their hit on the top ten up there. Ooh, and I really liked #49 and this video, which I even recall seeing on MTV! Yes, MTV was showing (some?) videos as late as 1997.



And the first time I heard Sarah play Building a Mystery was on David Letterman and I think I still have the tape somewhere. She'd cut off all her gorgeous hair and had the skunk stripe, not to mention she was doing the wretched dress & pant combo, a fashion I shudder at to this day.

53. You Were Meant For Me - Jewel

And yes, I was one of the billions who bought this goddamn album and one of the billions who is ashamed. I assume Who Will Save Your Soul was 1996, cause how would this shit song make it over that one? (Not that that song is anything special).

Well, that's it for me. I tag anyone brave enough to attempt it. Actually, I definitely tag Veloute because she probably had really cool music in her year. *pouts*

You've always been crazy, this is just the first chance you've had to express yourself.

Veloute tagged me. The rules of this meme are supposed to be that you list the rules, then eight facts/habits about yourself. Then, at the end, you tag eight people to do it. I don't know eight people to tag.

[Upon re-reading that, I seem to have opted for "facts" rather than "habits." Eh, whatever.]

8 Facts About Me:

1.) I really want to take voice lessons again. I took them briefly in Austin before moving to Japan. I thought my teacher was a good teacher at the time but found out later she was a bad teacher. She kept trying to make me use a higher range rather than my natural range. I thought it seemed fishy at the time...anyhoo, I would love to take voice lessons again. Singing in front of people terrifies me but that's probably because I CAN'T DO IT.

2.) One time at university I asked out my astronomy TA and he seemed really keen. We were going to see The Fifth Element. When I went to pick him up he told me his girlfriend had found out and didn't want him to go. (!!) Yes, no idea about the girlfriend, but it gets better. He said his cousin was over and if I wanted to take him instead, well, he wanted to go. I left. (Alone). And I went and watched Romy & Michele's High School Reunion all by myself and was quietly mortified all by myself.

3.) I got my last job as a projectionist because I knew how to run Century Projectors and when the general manager asked the tech director about me (as he'd met me briefly before at an event), said, "Yeah, she's cute, hire her." Glad I got that degree.

4.) I can't see one image through binoculars due to my strabismus which never really corrected itself. I have to shut one eye. Also, I have new glasses for the first time in five years. The shape of the eye piece is much thinner--before it was oval-shaped--and it's currently weirding me out.

5.) I drive a green Jetta named Hans. I bought him because I liked his purple lights inside. And his makers have a decent reputation. I don't think I'd buy VW again, though. Pricey little bastards to fix.

6.) Two years ago I had my drink spiked at a public bar after working an event for the USA Film Festival. It was the night I met Denise Crosby and that was also the last thing I really remember. I came to in front of my theater (tucked away from view, trying to get inside to retrieve my bag). I had to call my friend J to come get me; he's the same person who said to hire me because I was cute. I promptly vomited in front of him and he took me home to D (J had keys to get inside the theatre, which is why I called him, plus he lived five minutes away). Easily the worst/scariest thing to ever happen to me.

7.) I've won things off the radio three times: Sarah McLachlan tickets (had to forego due to being in a play), Harry Potter #4 pre-screening tickets, and dinner at an expensive restaurant. I won the first two while working at my retail job (different locations and years apart), the third while stuck in traffic.

8.) In fourth grade I got a 32 on a math quiz and it was the worst grade I'd ever gotten IN MY LIFE!! so I went into the girls' loo and ripped it into tiny pieces and flushed it down the toilet so my parents would never find out. (Because they would beat me? WTF?)

Ok, I tag Mob and Al. I was going to tag Julie Gong because 3 is my second-luckiest number, but then I recalled she already did almost the same damn meme. It was the French fries I recalled...

Story of my life. I always get the fuzzy end of the lollipop.

Another fairly good idea of myself and my husband, as a married couple:

First of all, we just haven't had to turn on the AC this year. It has been shockingly pleasant. (JUNE 1, I TELL YOU!! TEXAS!!) Well, this week has been far more humid and a much stronger test. But we have a bitchin' floor fan (thanks, mom and dad!) and that makes sleeptime possible.

So last night I was trying to relax and read Potter #5 and the fan was trying to lull me to sleep. My shoulder was aching, probably from the pain of going back to work after three days off. My job is not physical in the slightest; my rage was just manifesting itself in my shoulder. So my wonderful husband rubbed my shoulder for me and in a funny moment decided to write words on my back. We did an animal, a country, and then there was a long pause where we each tried to think of a good category that wouldn't be too easy.

"Diseases!" I said.

*pause*

"Uh, I was going to say 'cartoon characters,'" my husband said.

And that's us, folks.

And just to really go over the edge, my dad sent me this and I just about died laughing. Each one more spectacular than the next. Who says men's fashion is dull?