uplift

This past weekend was unexpectedly interesting, fun, and uplifting.

For those of you who aren't in the know, the Arkansas legislature, arguably the worst the state has known, has a Republican majority.  They are unstoppable!  At an alarming rate, they are passing nasty bills that are vetoed by our governor and then overridden with ease. These unconstitutional bills (that I've mentioned here) will probably take generations to undo.  It will also be costly.  (So much for less government spending and a less intrusive government, eh?)  These bills are truly fucked up (anti-woman, racist) and they actually affect me, my husband, my gals, their blokes, their children, you, and everyone else we know.

As far as the defunding of Planned Parenthood goes, the ARLEG is overreaching.  They are all up in my personal business as I use PP for my annual exams.  I'm so not down with it.  See, I am fully capable of making medical decisions on my own, with my doctor.  That's it.  The end.  
 

On Saturday, ATM, KMHD, Brittany, and our mum went down to the state capitol to join in on what I call a protest on the Arkansas Legislator's gross assault on Lady Jams.  It definitely lifted my spirits to be amongst like-minded people because things have been dark lately.

We were prepared for lousy weather:

I love my mum and sister:

I am a big sister:

My family:

Photo by Brittany

Photo by Brittany

Later that evening, I went to a really boss house show where my pal Bonnie Montgomery (& Nathan) was playing.  Bonnie has got to be my favorite local act at the moment:

Quite pleased with my new camera:

s e a c h a n g e ?

ILLINOISE

Again!  We went to Chicago again!  We brought Brittany with us this time.  In times past,  I would've said differently, but despite the miserable c-c-c-cold, I wanted to live there this go around.  It's my town!

Stretchin' legs, havin' a smoke, havin' a beer at the half-way point, Mount Vernon, IL:

Pro tip: you can't go wrong with an electric kettle, an immersion blender, beer, sparkling water, snacks, snacks, snacks, and your own bath towel.  It's like my own personal rider:

Leaving leaving:

Photo by Brittany

Sitting in Chicago traffic:

When we got to our hotel in Chicago, we crashed hard, despite our wanting to get out + explore.  Disco nap.  We had a big evening planned anyhow.  Supper @ Club Lago,  Django Django @ the Metro, maybe hanging out/dancing @ Smart Bar.

My favorite restaurant in Chicagoland:

My one sweets exception, dressed up for St. Paddy's Day:

SOLD OUT

So, the Djangos have gone pro!  They are some business cats!  They've reworked all of their songs and have tiiightened up. Some songs have new extended bits and some have a bangin' house groove laid as a foundation, which is just splendid.  Too, they've got terrific light play and visuals projected onto some blinds.  Lookit:

Great show.  I'm so glad we went to see them again:

I managed to chat it up with Dave Django a couple of times.  Really nice (and patient) fella; I wish we could've hung out more; how rad an eve it would've been to hang out with my favorite band in one of my favorite American cities!  I was able to convince him to come downstairs to Smart Bar for a drink, but perhaps he was looking for a more chill scene.  Also, there's a good chance that I'm a spastic.  A polite one, tho.  Maybe next time?  ATM + I did manage to get some dancing in, which is always fun.  Then we did the long, cold ride/walk home.

I thought I'd break in my new insta camera at this Django show.  I employed the ol' "take a bunch of photos and hopes it'd yield one really good pic" method.  They're pretty much all of Jim Django, which is not a bad thing, but I have a dozen of the same pic. Ah, well.

Outside Metro/Smart Bar:

Photo by ATM

The empty streets of late night Chinatown:

The next morning, Britt and I got up just to eat (and procure some medicine for ATM who was feeling a bit run-down due to allergies) and then we all went back to zzz.  Our proximity to Chinatown made food choices pretty easy.

Szechuan style sauteed eggplant is. the. jam:

I got a whole Peking duck to go:

We eventually got out that afternoon.  Our stop -- Red Line Cermak-Chinatown:

ATM went to Dusty Groove records while Britt and I wandered around Wicker Park to look for some film for her Polaroid and get some coffee.  So, St. Patrick's Day is a really big deal in Chicago.  Everyone was 'getting ready', it warn't no regular Saturday night.  You could feel the ruckus coming on.  Very serious stuff.

Because he was still feeling a bit off, ATM + I scrapped the idea of going to The Bedford and neo that evening.  Instead we got pork belly tacos from Big Star (Wait, maybe this is my favorite restaurant in all of Chicagoland) and watching the Blackhawks game in our hotel room instead.  Something about watching Blackhawks play whilst in Chicago!

Britt and I eventually wandered down to the hotel bar to let ATM rest and to celebrate the inevitable Blackhawks win before she set out to meet a chum in Wrigleyville:

Somehow, SOMEHOW I was able to wake up early the next morning without wishing I was dead.  Since ATM + Britt were deep in slumber, I thought I'd do them a favor and get out of the room for awhile.  I figured it'd be a good time to cut my teeth on learning to drive in Chicago, too.  I drove over to La Colombe, my favorite coffee shop, to really get my day going.  

It warn't long before we started the 10 hour drive home.

We did stop by Boomland in Missouri on the way home to stock up on fireworks:

Ugh, I already miss Chicago.  

nices wölkchen

This song is gorgeous.

DJ Koze's 'Amygdala', which comes out on 3/25, will be my spring soundtrack.

春

Spring is here!  We've got our first camping trip booked.  Things are good.

And...they're off!

Weekend before last, Blair, Ike + I went down to Hot Springs for a day at the races.  It was so good to be outside for hours like that.  I got to meet Blair's sweet parents and I won 'big' on a race (almost $17 on a $2 wager), so, you know, real big day.

I've got a pretty good wagering method which usually allows me to come out on top or at least break even, including drinks + food paid for.  It involves going to the carousel to peep the ponies to see which ones seem the craziest/most anxious.  Poopers are good, too.  From there, I make my bet,  and then I go outside to watch, whoop + holler.  The track was so jam-packed though that I didn't really have a chance of doing it 'my way', so I opted for good ol' Plan B, which is to pick horses by name.  I wish I could wager which horse would be dead last because I'm quite good at that.

I picked #2 because I love Chic and Nile Rodgers.  Last place, natch.

Here's my winning longshot:

And...they're off!

After the track, we went to Fat Jacks for po-boys + oysters on the half shell.  This restaurant is quite good, glad to have another option whilst in Hot Springs.

Blair, Ike:

Here's Ike eating a loser sandwich:

The next day was SVNDAY OF SOLITVDE.  After I went out and bought a new camera for our trip to Chicago + some groceries, I spent the entire day alone.  Watched loads of hockey, listened to music, and some other general fucking around.  I require a lot of alone time, so this isn't anything unusual, really.

Pretty song:

That's so last weekend.

This past Friday,  I -- with the help of my gals -- managed to successfully throw ATM a surprise birthday cocktail + dinner.  I was certain that he was on to me the entire time, but he had no idea!  We started at KMHD's place for drinks + homemade Guinness cupcakes and then a sum of us went to Star of India for supper.  I gifted him a bottle of Lagavulin 16 year and new joysticks + paddles for his Atari 2600, which is essentially a gift for me as well.

Matt's a leap year bb, so we celebrated his birthday, too:

On Saturday-Sunday, Alannah stayed with ATM + I.  Stella did not end up accompanying her, so instead of going to Oaklawn as planned, we opted to laze around and eat really good food.  On Saturday evening, we made your standard liberal elite supper: homemade fettuccine pasta with fresh pesto + tomato, arugula salad with fennel, green apple + shallot vinaigrette, and freshly baked roasted garlic bread with olive oil + balsamic vinegar.  If that makes you crazy, then this will make you cringe: we totally read Japanese poetry and some Walt Whitman to each other.  Yeah, boooyeeeeeee!

I was beyond stuffed damn near the entire time, so as a result we moved at a real casual pace.

In other exciting news, I'm vouching for this amazing powdered peanut butter product:

Brittany hipped me to a smoothie recipe that's made up of a banana, 1/2 T of unsweetened cocoa, 2 T of powdered peanut butter, maybe a half cup of almond milk, and a few cubes of ice, blended.  It's so tasty and has been helping me through this dessert-less hell I'm in.  With the exception of a celebratory birthday cupcake and a celebratory Alannah's visiting ice cream, I've been off the sweets.  I still have sugar in my diet, but no desserts.  It's difficult, but I feel better for it, so much that I may go longer than the set 40 days and I may try to cut out other things like fruit juices + the occasional soda pop. 

ATM + I engage in cat torture on a daily basis:

6 seconds:

I watch way too much hockey:

YASS

Nile Rodgers positively addressed me on twitter just now.  A direct message, no less.  Sure, it's only a smiley face emoticon, but I'LL TAKE IT.  

adventure time!

Last weekend was fun in that I got to do something I've wanted to do for ages.  On Saturday,  Blair, Matt, ATM & I drove a couple of hours over to Murfreesboro, Arkansas to try our luck at Crater of Diamonds State Park.  I was SO excited about this adventure that I went ahead & purchased some boots that I've had my eye on for some time.

It was a mild & sunny day, perfect for soaking up vitamin D.  The park is not really much to look at:

So, here's the deal: you can walk about to see if you can spot a diamond on the surface or you can put some of that good earth in a bucket and sift it through water in a trough.  What you should have left in your sieve, if done properly, is gravel.  You sort through that gravel for diamonds and other goodies like amethyst & quartz crystal, and pretty rocks.

ATM:

We'd gone right after a heavy rain.  Apparently, dirt does not stick to diamonds and the rain puts them to surface, so I tried looking for diamonds just laying about.  No luck.

Here's Matt, doing all the hard, dirty work.  Blair & I supervised and talked to this real nice fella named John from Minnesota.  He came all the way down to Arkansas to find his gal a diamond, which is really sweet of him, if you're into that sort of thing.

Blair + ATM going through the gravel:

Boot rinse area:

So, even though we didn't find anything, I bagged some of the gravel (you can take up to a 5 gallon bucket home to sort through at your leisure) to use for my succulent plants back home.  Before I threw them in the pots, I decided to go ahead and go through it:

I can't be sure that I found a diamond, but I found something.  It is so sparkly + shiny, especially when compared to a bit of crystal:

I'm pretty happy about this find, even if it turns out to be nothing.  Might even be a piece of glass!  I suppose if I ever return to the park, I can have someone there identify it for me.  Unless one of y'all know.

I've never been to Murfreesboro, but I'd like to go back to try to dig for gems once more (it takes a good hour to sort out exactly what you're doing and what you're looking for, but I can get right to it next time) and check out the thrift stores of that small town.  I have a feeling that there may be some big scores there.

We rounded out the afternoon by getting supper at Rattler's Den.  We totally picked that restaurant because of it's name & because we'd heard about their chicken fried steak.  It was shockingly good.  Here is my brown & white dinner, in all it's splendor: