Tuesday, September 26, 2006

And Let's Not Forget Cutie McPretty.

This entry might be a little boring -- partly because I don't have any pictures or videos or mp3s to put up to accompany it, and partly because I'm just going to tell you about a boring-ass audiobook Lukas and I bought for our long car trip.

As previously hinted at, it was Assassination Vacation, by Sarah Vowell.

I'm sure the book has its share of fans, and maybe under different circumstances, I could've been one of them.

But the truth of the matter is this: when you're stuck in a car for 10 hours, you don't really want to hear an account of someone's journey to America's Greatest Assassination Monuments. Or, at least, I didn't want to.

Making it worse was the fact that Sarah Vowell narrated pretty much the whole thing. Maybe it was because of the subject matter, but I swear she sounded just like Rachel Dratch as Debbie Downer. The only fun I had was imagining a trumpet "wah-waaaah" sound after the really depressing statements.

My ears perked up during that part about the Oneida Community's weird sex cult, though.

Oh, and she referred to someone (President Garfield, I think -- but I was dozing off at this point) as Loner McBookworm.

It made me think about how I also adopted the practice of coming up with nicknames using words that describe people. I stole it from Professor Ross Geller, though, who called two of his students "Smelly Von Brownshirt" and "Sleepy Sleeperson" when he hadn't yet memorized their names.

I hear they do this on Grey's Anatomy, too.

Lukas also does this, and one day he came up with the exclamation "Yikes McsYikesersons," which makes absolutely no sense, but is too adorable not to use at every opportunity.

Tonight, the Fall Television Season officially begins for me: Gilmore Girls premieres in about three hours. It's the last season for our girls. Hopefully there's another show out there that will replace this one in my heart, but that might be asking for too much.


Sunday, September 24, 2006

Blood Ray

Friday, September 22, 2006

Assassination Vacation


So I survived my first official vacation with Lukas -- or should I say, "He survived?" -- and I've got lots to discuss.

Me and Lukas at the Hotel

First of all, we started our trip to New Orleans with a performance by Nellie McKay at the House of Blues. It actually took place in "The Parish," which is a considerably smaller venue in the same building. There were maybe 100 people there, and we were in the fourth row of folding chairs.


Nellie McKay at the House of Blues

I guess I should just list a few of the crazy things Ms. McKay said in between (and sometimes just during) her songs:

"Mel Gibson should just admit he killed Jon Benet Ramsey."

"Here's a song I did with K.D. Lang. She's sooooo bossy. But I liked it."

"I tried to serenade Anderson Cooper earlier today, but he was too busy looting the Walgreens."

"I saw Harry Connick Jr. today, and I punched him in the face."

"Get these motherfucking koala bears off this motherfucking plane!"

It was the best concert I've ever attended. After the show, I met Nellie and told her that I drove from St. Louis just to see her. Somehow we started talking about Justin Timberlake. And even though I told her I wasn't going to buy a copy of her debut CD (I explained that I already own a regular copy AND the DualDisc version), she agreed to take a picture with me.

Me and Nellie McKay

Tuesday:

I recently discovered that I enjoy White Russians. Even more recently, I've discovered that I like White Russian Slushies, which I started calling White Rushies.

In the evening, Lukas and I stood outside the House of Blues, this time hoping to score some tickets to the sold-out Sufjan Stevens show. After about an hour, we were ready to throw in the towel. Suddenly, I spotted Sufjan on the sidewalk about three feet in front of us.


Sufjan Stevens

That green blur is him, I promise. I thought he looked smaller in person, while Lukas (always the contrarian, no matter what he might tell you) thought he looked bigger. While we debated the build of indie-rock's number-one heartthrob, Sufjan and his two friends walked down the block to Starbucks. We, of course, followed.

Sufjan and  his gang

Ten minutes passed, and the group emerged. No one had coffee in their hands, now that I think about it. We waited for them to walk by us, and Lukas said, "Hey, guys."

Sufjan didn't even turn his head. I guess it was silly to think he'd give us tickets for the show.

Wednesday:

Annette's Cafe for brunch.

Annette's Cafe

Annette talked to us pretty much the whole time. She told us how much money she spent just to get the smell out of her restaurant after Katrina. She also mentioned that she used to make 200 hundred omelets a day, before the flood. Lukas and I were her only two customers. It was the most depressing breakfast ever, and that includes the bowl of Lucky Charms I was eating when my dad told me he was moving out.

Annette was quite proud of her picture with Alec Baldwin. "He love Cajun Omelet," she said. "He gets it every time he come to town. I told him last time I saw him, 'You getting fat from omelet. I use Egg Beaters from now on.' "

The Gumbo Shop used the exact same Bloody Mary mix that Lukas and I love.

Bloody MaryLukas's Reaction to the Bloody Mary

Thursday:

More pool time.


My trunksPool

Shopping on Magazine Street. I bought a t-shirt with an owl, a jacket, and some black cowboy boots.

my new outfit

It was the perfect last night of vacation: we got to the Louisiana Bistro right before it got busy. Then we arrived at the Preservation Hall when the doors opened and sat in the very front. And we made it to the gay bar right as the cute go-go boys started dancing on the bars.

I was planning on writing about the audiobook we listened to on the drive to and from New Orleans, but I don't have the energy. That's a post all in itself. Maybe tomorrow.

Friday, September 15, 2006

Vacation!


As of today, I don't have to go to work for 10 whole days. We're going to New Orleans and Florida, then we'll end our week with GroveFest and the Sufjan Stevens concert. There's also a chance I'll get to see Nellie McKay at the House of Blues, too. But that's still up in the air.

Truly blogworthy pictures will be sent to my blog from my cameraphone. For now, enjoy a picture that I took just two hours ago.

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Sunday, September 10, 2006

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Monday, September 04, 2006

Everyone knows that I'm the Mary and Kaya's the Rhoda

DSC00362

rhoda_image

Friday, September 01, 2006

Attention:

To the 9 or 10 people that have said to me, "You don't watch Project Runway?"

I now watch Project Runway.