Weekend

Enjoyed the weekend.

friday night was first friday, it was my first first friday also, and lee and rusty and claire had exhibits opening. the plan was to dress up meet up at lee and rusty's gallery (@ cumberland and gay), do the "ooh, awesome!" thing then grab food @ 7 @ the bistro and make our way down to w summit hill for claire's stuff and then hit sassy ann's for a little cutthroat action.

so i dressed up, green low cut sweater hoodie, brown tank, short denim skirt, and brown boots. i had just had my hair done, and i even put on makeup. i felt so much like an undergrad getting ready for a night out. my normal "lets go out" clothes consist of a pair of ripped jeans and a tank top. ah well. it wont kill me to get dressed up now and again.

but the others were running a little behind. lee and rusty weren't even there when we had to leave for our dinner reservations.  so we ate, shared a bottle of wine, and went back.  at lee and rusty's there was a water cooler full of wine. a WINE COOLER if you will. so much wining was had, and there were multiple people who i hadn't seen in a while so there was a bunch of catching up going on there when it was like OK! MUST GO FIND CLAIRE!

morgan was driving (thankfully) so he toted my and shannonette's arse up to w summit hill in which progress i call claire up twice, the first time thinking i had a bad connection. the second time realizing it was just REALLY LOUD where she was. she was at the crown and goose, apparently her thing was over for the night (BOO!) I felt like such a pathetic friend missing her thing, especially since when i showed up at the crown and goose to talk for a few moments i was obviously feeling the wine.

when i first got to the c&g i saw nate and adam, so i talked to them for a bit. morgan and shannonette joined me in there, so they both said hi. it was morgan's first meeting of this cookeville group, but shannonette had met them previously. i guess bringing morgan may have been somewhat transparent (bringing the current boy when meeting up w the ex-boy's bro) but at the same time i wanted to find claire.

finally found her! after running into one of our prof's, that is. i was so intent on finding claire, though, that i just gave him a half wave while trying to figure out what she was saying. i'm doing great with my personal interactions. found claire, talked for a while, left, ran back by nate and adam, and asked about a wedding this coming weekend.  then asked about the ex's plans for this coming weekend (which is also brewers jam, and yes, is where i met him last year, and i hoped wouldn't be a big deal, but with some of the emails that he had been sending me and the fact that he kept checking my blog and myspace somewhat consistently until about 2 weeks ago, i'm honestly a bit worried about what might happen if we both meet face to face utterly beer-plastered) i find that not only does he not have plans to attend brewers jam, he also does have plans for something else. so no worries there.  i just don't want drama. i'm tired of stupid boys.

any way, after that, off to sassy ann's, where i change into my jeans and chacos. it was easy as i was already wearing a skirt. yay me.

cutthroat was cutthroat. yay. i was beat, though, i had been on the move since 7AM. had done the oil change thing, the hair cut/color thing, and then the social thing, so we cut out at about 1AM.  and went home. and passed out.

zonk.

good times.

the following day the morning was spent reading, and taking a shower, and getting things together, as that afternoon there was another dnd game (yay?). i think i'm enjoying it. I'm just trying to decide if i really like spending 5 hours i could devote to school stuff with this limited tangable reward system.  after the game we hit the mall and i had to physically restrain morgan from purchasing for me an item from williams sonoma. i know, what was i thinking. dinner was lovely mashed taters and tomatos with mozzerella with olive oil and balsamic viniger. because that was what i wanted. and the trend seems to be with him that i get what i want. i can't abuse this, but with wierd food cravings while cramping, it's totally legit.

sunday was good brunch at sunspot, grocery shopping, and more reading (read that as "napping), and monday was monday.

tonight i have options. morgan might still be in town, or he might not. if he isn't i may go watch the debate with jim (where? does he have a tv?) and play www.palinbingo.com with the prez candidates. or a may go see dennis at his open mike at the pres pub. or i may stay in and read this book about fair trade coffee if i don't get it done by then.

blargh.

proudness

so i did it. finally. i made my very own myspace picture. i don't like pix of me, so i go ahead and rip off other sites. my latest picture stated that my marxist feminist dialectic would bring all the boys to my yard. the newest newest one is to the left. thank online translators for the translation. hopefully i have it right!

maybe not all, but i do have one at the moment. i don't know if it was the MFD that did it or simply the fact that i could actually speak intelligently after multiple beers on random uber-esoteric,paradigmatic-shifting, rhetoric challenging, possibly-important topics.

woot.

i also, this afternoon erased all email correspondance with people i don't like. err.... a person i no longer like. i didn't realize quite what had piled up, but when i saw something with his name on it, i dug a bit and realized "damn, don't need this mucking up the inbozzle". Hitting the "trash" choice surely isn't as cathartic as burning things, but who needs catarsis when you've moved on.

and no, me stating that i've moved on is not denial that i haven't.

speaking of moving on, back to the MFD/Beer incident... YAY!

that's all. if you haven't met him, you obviously haven't seen me in the last 2 weeks, as we seem to do many things together. i'm home alone now for the first time in a while. i should be doing laundry....

hit the disc exchange today. picked up tickets for brewers jam. not missing it for anything. there's a crew of boucoup zwanzig joining me: eric, morgan, shannon, shannon, kimberly, heather, paula, jim, and more. yay.

also grabbed a PJ Harvey CD. i blame my DE dude for hooking me on her last last summer. damn him and his lucious prematurely entirely gray hair coupled with being a band teacher and a husband and father (i think he said he had kids) with awesome tastes in knowing what i want.... in music. DAMN HIM!

ask me about my recipe for curry. and remember that the farmers market has awesome summer squash this week. it goes well with curry.

and to the Ktowners who read this excuse for a blog... i'll be at GreekFest sometime after 3. I have some brownies that need my attention until then.

update on my side

It's been good. I like being an adult, to a point.

D's plane got in just fine at 2PM on Thurs, I got him at the airport (found him before he saw me) and we headed home, did the food thing, and started to chill.  A calls and says "L (her sis) and I are going to the farm NOW" so D and I jump in the car and go meet them there. It's only when we're finished the 1/2 hour trip do I realize that I totally forgot to call Mr. J, who I had mentioned this potential trip to the previous day.  We get there, swim, dive, kayak, tree-yak (no, not really) I see my first persimmon, we ponder as to the identity of some other tree, and have some general fun.  D and I then head home after poking in to see Dancer, A's horse, and chill/catch up.  At somepoint in there, I noticed that Nece's eyes were too goopy/squinty for my comfort so I called the vet and made an appointment for 930AM on Fri.

Friday I go to the vet.  The cat has Chlamydia... again.  So we're on a round of eye drops. yay.  Then I go to work, Dave comes with me to look around.  I finish up what I need to do for our people on Tuesday, and we head out, run some errands, and head back to my place.  We hang out for a little bit, I get a few things going for the Pirate/Zombie dinner party on Sat, and I do some reading for class (yaaay... blah).

I am now becoming fully indoctrinated in economical/ecological social stances.  The current book is continually repeating "capitalism is bad because it can only happen if you don't restrict growth" "unrestricted growth is ecologically unsound." yes, I get it. let's get deeper. MORE RHETORIC! I want to be more Pretentious.  MORE EXAMPLES! I want to see how *I* can utilize these paradigms in my own stuff.  Shift it, shift it good.  The class should be good, alot of structuralism/marxism.... plenty of my buddy foucault too.

So I drag D to the brewery, where he gets to have some of the world's best stout. Mr. J joins us and we have a fun, somewhat nerdy conversation. D is a chemist, J is all about alternitive/bio fuels, and lets just say that my field requires me to understand way too much schtuff. Woohoo!  Then, we wander over to the Pub for some beer and CUTTHROAT SHAMROCK!

We hang there for a bit before others who we know join.  So there's Mssr. E (from past adventures), his new roommate Mssr. D, my girl H, her boy G, my D from NY, and Mr. J (alphabet stew!).  At which point Ben from the band sits down at our table and joins in our conversation.  That was most awesome.  I think it was even better because D came all the way from NY to see them (in a ways), and Mr. J has only seen them once before, and I told him that the show at the Grotto was nothing like what most shows are.  So we're all talking, I noticed that Mr. J got numbers from Ben, I'm assuming for his Gf as she's also a band person (haven't heard them play yet, they come in town some point in October).  Twas most nifty.

The opener band rocked.  I was very very please.  And the CtSr show was amAZing!  One girl at the show pulled me aside and asked if I was the one "doing the research on that hammer" as she recognized me from my newspaper article.  I affirmed that "ahem, yes, that is me".  I was surprised she recognized me as in that photo I hadn't brushed my hair, was hiking backwoods / off trail for a while to get to the site, and was wearing a bulky wool sweater and Carhartt's.  But whatever.  No-name-boy (or "many-name-boy") also recognized me before I recognized him.  He ran off soon, though, on what H reported as a red Harley.  He said he was going to come up and hang out, but I think that I was familiarly slipping between 3 dudes (Mssr E, D from NY, and Mr. J) and that our previous interactions over almost the whole last 10 months has consisted of bar-room conversation over mediocre beer with thinly veiled flirtations, it wasn't the most welcoming environment. Shrug. It was an ego-boost.

Cutthroat ended only after many beers were accidentally and purposely released into the atmosphere, and I decided that with the beer and the hour D needed to have his first southern experiance of Krystals. So with Mr. J in the cramped back seat of my car and DfromNY in the cramped-pulled-forward passenger seat we went and initiated D on the finer points of ittybittyburgers.

Then, everyone safely at home, I had a reprise from the St.Pat2007 CtSrShow. I looked at my feet and they were DISGUSTING. So while I didn't have the energy for a shower, I stood in my tub and washed my feet. yuck.

Next day, feeling slightly not up for it, I started working on the dinner party.
It went marvelous. The Curried Goat was not too spicy, the hot sauces were flavorful, the riceandbeans in coconutmilk were divine. The spiked fruit salad was overly intoxicating (yay) and yeah. Success. We all chatted and played apples to apples, the cats weren't overpowering (allergies in some people) and it wasn't just D and i in costume. It ended a little earlier than some parties, but that was all good, as I was exhausted. R stayed a little later (I think I bugged him or something to do so, I don't know) and I ended up starting to fall asleep in my camp chair while he and D were talking about something.... important? I don't know.

Sunday, clean up was a bitch, and know i should be reading, but D is napping and we have a Boomsday party in a bit and I'm bored. My cats are also sleeping. They look dead.

Best to all!

Weekend party

So, this weekend I attended a smashing gathering of people. The plan had been for it to be much larger, but the core group who attended were most awesome. It was me, Miss S, A, Mr. J and Ms. J (Mr. J's long time friend who drove up from Atlanta).

S and i got there later than we had hoped, but were still the first people there. We scoped out the property, a horse farm, and found the bathrooms, the kitchens, the bbq area, and the lake. That lake was MAAAHVELOUS! It had canoes and kayaks and paddleboats and a dock and another dock and turtles and bugs and fish and...

Soon after A showed up, gave us a slightly more organized roam around, and we set up our tents (we were staying the night). While that was going on, J and J showed up ... with ribs. Sweet! So we were a ribbed, brated, beered, vegetabled crazyness of food, but that's for later. We all got the tents up, said "hi" to the others in the facility, piled up firewood, distributed beer stratigically to different locations and then donned our bathing suits and headed to the water.

After some swimming and diving (I'm so pleased with my new-found ability to flip on dives, i'm such a dork) we grabbed boats (S and i in a canoe, A in her own, and originally mr. J in a paddleboat, but when Ms. J joined they also shared a canoe)a couple of beers each, and played pirates. We stole/drank beer. S and I were UNSTOPABLE. At one point, we gave Mr. J a beer to appease him, then the next time we passed we took that one *and* the one he was drinking. We were up one side of the lake, down the other, and around all the islands. S and I found a case of fireworks on a far dock and told the others that it was beer (too far to see what it was at that point), but "we didn't have enough cup holders for it" when they were distracted, we worked on drinking our booty. The Pretty Pretty Princesses rocked, although there was some B-movie survival throwback moments when A stood up and was paddling, looking all Amazonian and the time that we all started drumming our paddles against the boat in rhythm and then went faster and faster until we yelled and attacked.

The funny thing about boats is because you're consistently off balance you don't realize the effects of alcohol ... until you get up. I could NOT pull the canoe up, it was killing me, and by that time some of A's friends, including K and her puppy, and also N and C (who have appeared a few times in the blog) were able to witness it. The solution: go swimming.

So after more swimming, playing with dogs, and such, we decided to go get the grill going. I had brought 1.5 bags of charcoal and a massive container of lighter fluid. As the grill was MASSIVE we decided to use the whole thing. Enormous fire, lots of meat (and grilled cheese), we had ribs. Then, down to the bonfire. By this point it was back down to the core so we sat and talked and chatted and chilled and set off fire works.

Eventually calming down and going to sleep, the next day was beautiful! I woke up with the sunrise. surprise, huh? So I laid watching the sky change colors to a most beautiful blue, at which point I was hungry. So I got up, grabbed some hotdogs for the dog, and radishes and cheese for myself, checked the time on my phone (about 9), and took out the canoe. I was able to paddle quietly, watching the turtles flop into the water, noticing all these crazy nymph carapaces, and cruising along with the ducks. Beauty beauty beauty.

I noticed some others up, so we fixed up breakfast and revived the fire, I'm rather proud of my ability to do that also. It had been a while since I had, and I wasn't sure if I would be able to.

Noshing on foods, packing up tents, and all that followed. Then we went back into the water. This time a grabbed a Kayak. That thing FLEW! We would have been even MORE UNBEATABLE had we utilized that vehicle. ah well.

Eventually, we did have to leave. Ah well. It was great!

The morning on the lake

A rundown

It's been a busy while. I'm posting a blog that i wrote in my word processor a while ago, so if you scroll down, you'll see it dated to its creation. I have quite a few fronts to report on, though, so feel free to read on.

Cats

Boy

School

Friends

Thanksgiving

Cats -
Orion and Neci are both getting along very well. They are still vessels of boundless kittanic energy, so they keep me going and on the ball. Orion loves spicy tomato sauces as well as beans and pasta. She doesn't like, however, any meat that I cook. She just got her rabies shot, so my little bitty itty kitten has two big shiny radies tags. The blingbling of the feline world? The vet is actually surprised at how small Orion is, so we're waiting as long as possible to spay her. Probibly some point in January. As she's an inside cat, if we don't get her before she gets fertile, it'll be a bit annoying on our part, but it won't hurt her. I would rather she be large enough that she goes through her surgery safely.

Neci was spayed before I was even allowed to take her home. Granted she was with a recue group, so not actually belonging to anyone, I'm sure that the sentaments if she didn't pull through ok would be different. Neci likes to drink water... out of my glass. It doesn't matter how much is in her water bowl and whether it was just washed or not. She goes for my water glass. I wouldn't mind so much if she was also not so facinated witht he bathroom. She likes to walk the rim of my tub whether or not i'm in it. She also likes to watch the toilet, and once surprised a male in the bathroom by popping up between his legs and watching the happenings.

They have also learned that if my phone alarm goes off, I don't wake up right away. That gives them time to knock it off the table and under the bed, where I won't hear it go off again. This means that I'll stay in bed, where they are also snuggled under the covers (except for the one to knock the phone off, who i saw go right back under the covers when I did wake up once)sucking off my body heat. Neci alone, however, has learned that if she doesn't want music, she just needs to jump on my clock radio. In fact, I'm totally messing with her by playing music from my computer. She came over and started walking on the clock radio, knowing that if she does it enough, she'll turn it off.

School

I hate school. I want to be done. And the catch 22 is that it won't be done until i put in sufficient effort. I want real life again. I don't mind school, but I would love to do the part time thing. Not to put the cart before the horse or jinx me in any sort, the park will be opening my old position back up. If I get it, then I can totally and entirely do my real life job, which frustrated me to no end, but at the same time fulfilled me. I just hope that everyone will be able to put up with the exhaustion and intensity that this job gave me. I do so hope that it all works out. Losing that job, even though it was from funding problems, was a huge ego drain, and I feel so incomplete without it.

Yes, I'm one of those people who define themselves by their job. If I didn't want a job so intent and crazed, would I be killing myself at school for it? All you old schoolers know that the one thing I prided myself on was what I got paid for.

Boy

Wow - well, he's definitly proven interesting and good. Those two adjectives are horribly insufficient, but they'll provide a base. Well, he did halloween with me and with some of my friends. We started at Sr. Taco. While there, we invited his brother, his brother's wife, and another friend of theirs. So there were many people enjoying themselves. After Halloween dinner, we had planned on going out, but for some reason, perhaps because it was Wednesday, we ended up going to my place to drink vodka and play with kittens. The weekend after halloween was SEAC, and well, after past experiances with official stuff and bringing a sigoth, I was a little hesitant, but he wanted to come to the friday night dance. I figured that I had built up just enough of a reputation for myself between my past job and my time put into the department that I could introduce an "outsider" to the conference. Besides, it was local so everyone from Ktown brought their spouse(-to-be). Plus, it was not the first time for my circle to meet him. We had had a pot luck a few weeks earlier, and everyone had only positive things to say about him.

So we go to the dance and have a good time. One of my friends is in the middle of an intoxicated conversation with a rather renowned SE Archie, and as we were driving her home, we had to stay with her. He insisted that the conversation continue at the hotel bar when the dance venue kicked us out (midnight).

The following evening is the department party. I was definatly wanting to bring him to this as it's very informal anyways so it's a good venue to debut new members of the anthropology auxilary. We all dressed up, picked up two other friends along the way, and had a blast that evening. He even met and sweet talked the prof who had been giving me relationship advice before. The interesting thing is that, if I haven't mentioned it before, this guy went to highschool with two of my best friends (one in the department), and he graduated with my girlfriend's sister. At this party, we found that half of the significant others in the department (ok, a bit of an overexaggeration) went to highschool with them. This is a little podunk town abotu 1.5 hours from knoxville. Apparently they train them to put up with UT Anthopologists.

Friends

I love my friends, I really do. I do with all my heart, and I would and do do most anything for them, if I can. They've been having it rough, both the ones down here and apparently a few of the old schoolers. Guys, you'll all get it done. Remember what I always said in college: enough hard work will get you your way.

Thanksgiving.

I'm hosting Thanksgiving! So come here! I'm doing an Orphan Thanksgiving for anyone who doesn't have the time to head home. As far as I know, I'm doing meat, stuffing,sweet taters,a vegetable dish, and probibly I'll make an apple cobbler just because. I currently have 4 definate guests, and two who will be showing up later (one being the boy who had originally planned on being here the whole time, but was slammed with a family obligation just this week, so I'll deal.) I do hope that it goes well. I think we'll be so totally fooded out, that we'll be sooooo happy.


See - I update - occasionally

Brewers jam and boys

Him: "I feel bad, talking to you and keeping you away from your work."
Me:"You know, having someone where I can look forward to talking to them is actually quite motivating, I feel like I need to get something done because there's something definate to look forward to."... especially since he can not only keep up but also contribute to my conversations.

This is a paraphrase of a conversation this past evening between me and a gent I've been spending an inordinate amount of time with both in person and on the phone. Label it whatever you want, but I like him and he's cool.

I'm rather excited, as I was getting to the point where I felt I should start recording my social meetings with the opposite sex and publish them in a book. One with all the proper disclaimers that "they really aren't real people, if it seems so, it's all coincidental."

I met him at Brewer's Jam. There's a long story of many levels, as my stories get at times, but the "short" version is as follows:

My friend had relationship problems starting on Monday. Really REALLY bad problems, so we decided to go out Friday Night. She gets nice and trashed on PBR while we see Cutthroat Shamrock and Zombie Bazooka Patrol. While there, we see someone who is mutual friends with her and someone who used to be in the department. We start hanging with their group a bit and find out that those that don't need to work are going to brewer's jam. yay!

So we go to Brewer's Jam and see those guys. Don't really hang out with them as we have our own group from the department there: S who studies holes in kid's heads, C the 1st year PhD, friend with problems and her mother, Mssr. E (from past adventures) and see a few others from the department also. We're all having fun and Mssr. E and I are plesently having random conversations and "cheer"ing sessions with anyone who happens to walk by. My favorite move is to say to some dude passing by "OH MY GOD! YOU MADE IT!!! THAT'S SOOOO AWESOME, MAN!!" and try to get them in a conversation till they realize that they really don't know me (many actually asked if they knew me) and that I'm just crazy/drunk.

Well, in line this dude is wearing a Tshirt saying something like "Mustache Warrior" or "Mustache Fighting Leaugue" or something related to mustaches and violence. So, like one would do, I say to him "does this mean that you battle mustaches, or that you fight while wearing a mustache." He brings up some arcane celebration known as Mustache May. A friend and I start psuedoquoting from the Camelot song about May "Well, May is lusty, gusty, and busty. Mustache though, it is not!"

The gent starts hanging out with us. Not uncommon, actually, so I'm just taking it in stride. Always good to meet more interesting people, correct? He and I start talking, and in retrospect, he really doesn't talk to many others in the group, mostly just me. But I probibly didn't notice it because the conversation was not forced. It was a pleasent conversation of brewers jam drunk observations, pleasentries about types of beer, random puns, and other such things that are natural in a conversation mit ze Gexx.

After a bit he admits he needs to find the loo, as one would need to at a beer fest. So he asks for my number so he can find us later. We swap numbers. Why not? My drinkaged mind is not phased by such. If anything, I'll end up putting him in my "do not pick up" phone catagory (specifically for bad/not thinking/"it was a good idea at the time" decision phone number swaps so I don't accidentally pick up when someone attempts to arrange a booty call). It's all good. I have planned all my escape routes.

Well, he calls back a bit later to find us. Not right away, but after he hung out with *his* friends for a bit. That's good, methinks, as it means he's not creepily obsessed like some odd birds I've dealt with (I told you this earlier, I should right a book about all that crap and those crazy dudes). But we do end up meeting again toward the end. When he goes to leave the jam itself, he asks if I would be interested in meeting up later (after we've had a chance to sober up some), and I figure why not and tell him to call me.

He then surprises me (those who hate adorableness scroll down. I mean you, Betel!! No, not really.) by asking if I would allow him to kiss me on the cheek before he heads out. I'm so flabbergasted (consider my mental state at the time) and so cynical from past dude-speriances (book! book!) and think that it's so sweet and at the least it'll make a good blog story that I agree. And he does. Awwww!

And it has made a good story - but the whole story isn't done yet.

So beer is running low and Brewer's Jam is wrapping up. My peeps are coagulating and heading out. My girl with problems and her mom go together, and the rest apparently left for pizza. I was invited, and they all thought that I had been invited, but no one actually completed the inviting circle by telling me what was going on. They left thinking someone else told me and that I was with one of the other groups. No worries, but suddenly they weren't their. Apparently my missing wasn't noticed until the couple/three cars (driven by the sobers) got to the pizza place. By that point, it was too late. I see the dudes from the evening before, and they're like "where's your crew?" I respond that my posse has abandonded me, but that I'll just hang at my office till I can drive home. They then invite me to go with them to get pizza (not where the others were, though).

So we go to get pizza, walking through parts of downtown that are perfectly fine to walkthough as a group during the day. We get the pizza and eat it, and I figure we'll head back soon, no worries, right? Well, they start to drink again. I ask what their plan is. Come to find out they're friends with one of the waitresses, and that she'll drive them back to their car when she gets out of work - at 1AM. Gah! It's 9 right now and I'm ready to pass out (tired, not drunk. i spent the whole day outside!!). I scramble through my phone looking for someone who could be sober and was not out of town. 67 people in my phone, and who do I decide is the best idea? The gent from earlier.

I know many of you will say that I took a bad risk. But getting a taxi would have been too visible, and I didn't want to walk back alone. I like to say I'm a decent judge of character and don't often trust people. And I haven't been too wrong in the past. 99% of people I've trusted have atleast been a decent human being with no intent of violence toward me (ax murdering, shooting, etc). Pricks are still decent human beings, in my book, because the important part of their moral compass is still intact. Besides, might as well find out sooner rather than later, right?

I text him "Wouldn't mind seeing you again, but I'm stuck in Old City, and my car is on campus." I get a message back saying "I'll be there in 15 minutes." After about 15 minutes, he texts saying he's outside, so I pay my part hastily and run off, thanking the dudes for allowing me to accompany them and sharing their pizza (it was damned good pizza). I bound out and almost knock right into the gent, and he drives me back to my car, like any decent human being would do.

I realize that I just totally used someone's feelings of good will toward me, and I feel horrendously guilty. Especially since he seemed really really cool while we talked on the ride to my car, so I suggest we get a drink together. We do, and I find out that we're rather compatable, and we've been meeting up and talking on the phone rather much ever since (yay).

So yeah, that's one of my latest stories. He'll get a name... eventually. You know it takes a while for that to happen. But I think he'll be showing up quite a bit.

i'm back from the dead!

It's starting to get chilly here. Which is good. I filled up my gas tank and exclaimed "wow - finally it's feeling like fall".

So - excitement - this weekend is brewers jam. Six hours of beer drinking awesomeness with bands and all that stuff. I'm going to park by my office so I can hang out there if I get to the point of not being able to drive.

I've been doing some pleasure reading, which is bad. i should instead be working on my many many other projects. But some days and nights I really really really don't want to do anything intellegent.


Janet Evonavich - this author has done a whole slew of light chick books. The main character in most of them, Stephanie Plum, is a bond agent with plenty of her own foiables. With her pluck and the help of her boyfriend, a homocide cop, and her lust-buddy, a professional bounty hunter, she manages to bring in the bad guys. Sounds sorta cliche, but there's enough twists and jokes that it's an easy fun read.
Preferred refreashement: Laird's Apple Brandy over ice or extra strong Mojitos (I grow my own mint). Peanut Butter Chocolate Ice Cream

Song of Solomon - Awesome book that I picked up because I wanted to read something "controversial" for banned books week. I love her way of description, tossing out details that over the course of the story are not only important but create a seamless narrative and description.
The main plot is of a Macon "Milkman" Dead, the son of a well done landlord and the grandson of a well respected doctor growing up in the middle of the century in Michagan. The story follows his negotiation of his race (african-american / black) and class (upper middle) not in the general world, but in his community and his family. Once he thinks he realizes where he stands and how to improve the public's view of him (become financially independant) he, no kidding, goes on a multi-state huntfor a stow of gold his father mentioned in stories. In the search, he meets individuals who were but characters in his father's stories of childhood, causeing him to search deeper for where "his people" come from.
Preferred refreshment: hot tea and chocolate chip cookies, South Paw Light

Hocus Pocus - Kurt Vonnegut
I've always loved Vonnegut, I'm sorry. This book, published in 1990 tells the story of an ex-professor ex-soldier who loves older women, fought in Vietnam, taught at a college for disabled individuals, and is currently being held for trial for his involvement in a deadly prison break. Vonnegut writes with such wonderful detached sections that, after devoting some time, make sense. Running jokes, themes, symbolism: this book is an english teacher's paradise. And his character (telling the story) doesn't swear as his grandmother told him "profanity and obscenity entitle people who don't want unpleasant information to close their ears and eyes to you." One key theme in this book is how the character can't stand his service in Vietnam, not because of the any inhumanity, horrible sites, or anti-war stance. Instead, it is brought by the futility of the war and the public's anger of the government leading the country into such (in the end) meaningless conflict to general animosity toward the return of the soldiers. The main character is consistently jealous of World War II veterans because of the respect the country's populous gave to them. This theme is one that the many yellow ribbon on our vehicles is aimed at preventing. Some call it "patriotism light" but instead, it's supporting the safety and return of the troops and not the continual conflicts that the ruling class tends to get its lower classes into.
Preferred refreshment: Cabernet Savagnon or Pearl Pomegranate Vodka. Mochi


Class struggle! Class struggle! I just eat it up!!! Yum yum!!!

Report from the field 2

I'm typing this in the front lobby at the Crowne Plaza in Center City Philadelphia. After spending another week in the backcountry dealing with bears and generators and stinky boys (not to be sexist, but those six dudes were RANCID on some days), my coworker and I are living the high life. Valet parking, luggage delivery - all that fancy stuff. Today, we plan to visit INDE (Independence National Historic Site) and the King Tut exhibit at the Franklin. We'll take the decidedly tourist transit system, it's only $4 for the day and runs a fixed route around all the tourist stuff, so we can get from one place to the next without much difficulty. Then we get to hunker down and do the professional stuff for this conference.

After this weekend, I head back to visit the parents because its my little brother's graduation this weekend.

I hope to get some pictures from this trip too.

Check out the other two posts below this one.

Work and Play

Also called:

• Academics
• and Search: (Alcohol OR Sugar) AND Music Result: FUN

I'm just getting so burned out on this school thing. But my book chapter is in. WOOHOO!

"I" turned in 75 pages to my prof. I'm saying "I" because I actually compiled 75 pages for the chapter I'm leading on, but contributed to a total of 4 chapters. See, this is how we're doing it:
There are four of us Historic Arch's in the department. We each have our complimentary facets of archaeology that we're most interested in: Domestic, Military, Industrial, and Bioarch/Mortuary. There are also 4 distinct time periods that we need to deal with: Proto-His and EuroSettlement, Early Statehood and Antebellum, Civil War, and Reconstruction. As most site reports deal with the function of the site (dom, mil, ind, biomort), it's much much easier to write a paper on a site type rather than a time period, or else everyone will use the same 80% of the reports and miss major chronological connectors and themes. So instead, we each wrote a section on our theme (mine being indutrial, natch). We got them out to each other by Thursday noon. Then Thursday afternoon we were supposed to copy/paste the relevent sections into chronological chapters. We had divided responsibility for these chrono-chaps as one to each of us. This way, we each get a SELF et al citation. Yay! plus, we are also recognized as the et al in three other chapters.

So - I get a good amount prepared for each of the chronochaps, and I get sections for my stuff, and put it together. We were all thinking we'd get 45-50 pages, right? I got 75. The whole reason: a heck of a lot of archeology was done on Antebellum sites. I keep getting criticized for the size of my chapter's draft. but, think about it. In the Proto/Settlement time: there were few people around to make sites. In the Civil War: we have 5 years worth of sites. In the Reconstruction/Victorian time: things are not as old and still standing so they don't get dug or they're not as old and people don't care so they don't get dug. The Antebellum however: HUGE population explosion, major building episodes, major buildings, plantations and increased social stratification (ie: slaves), and stuff is "old enough." Therefore, LOTS of archaeology is done in this time period.

So - it was handed in at 15.30 on Thursday. Marvelous! Why? Because I could work on my Paleo paper!

HAHAHAHAHAHA! Of course not, don't be stupid! Thursday night was the free George Thorogood concert! So - as i am quite a fan of classic rock (and free concerts and plenty of beer), I load up A and E (my apparent constant partners of crime) into my car and we head off. Well, think of the demographics of a GT concert held during a local bike week. Dirty, old, leather clad gents and their ladies drinking cheap beer (how someone would drink a 3$PBR when Newcastle and RedStripe are only 4$ is beyond me, but mebbe it's an image thing)pervaded the atmosphere. No worries. Well, before GT got on, we hung out in the PrezPub for a bit. Two beers down and a stage hand, approx 50yo and tiny as all comes up to me

Stagehand: You know, you're awfully cute?
Me: You know, that's quite a coincidence. You know why? Because every morning I wake up, look in the mirror, and say "God DAMN! Why do I have to be so damn cute?"
Stagehand: So - You like George Thorogood and the Delaware Destroyers. You know - Bad to the Bone?
Me: Oh please, he has hell of a lot better songs than that overplayed trite. Plus, is he going to destroy anything while he's here That would be cool.
Stagehand: Well, he destroyed Delaware.
Me: Dude, seriously. Delaware is like, Delaware. You can destroy Delaware, swing down to Rhode Island, have a long lunch, swing by the store for some milk on the way home, and still be able to mow your lawn before the kids get home from school. Is he going to destroy anything while he's here? If he's not, I don't want to talk to you.

We get back to the crowd and in front of the stage as GT is about to get on. Sidetracked, A and I separate from E in order to talk to a few other classmates. No worries, we'll find each other eventually. Besides, E was probably going to the front to take pictures (his shtick)and A and I just wanted to have fun. Well, the classmates left for more beer. A and I made our way into the crowd. We were 10m from the stage (maybe) and in the direct center. Well, the concert rocked. It was loud, it was roudy, and he was a legend. Now, as a legend, he was on his downhill slope, and he did employ some cheesy lights, but - whatev - it was GEORGE FUCKIN' THOROGOOD! And I was tempted to order the one bourbon, one scotch, and one beer. But - I had to drive.

So - concert's over - we regroup back at the PrezPub. One more beer because E ordered Newcastle and they gave him a draught. He prefers bottle. So - leftover beer is still beer, and Newcastle is nice. We're hunched against the bar, I'm sorta standing, but leaned over the bar and we're mostly huddled, talking about our problems with the opposite sex. I straighten up and get hit by a DOM (dirty old man) on with the cheesy "you're cute" thing again. I blow him off, hunker over again, we laugh. I stand up again, a new DOM shows up "You're cute" blow off hunker down. Repeat ad nauseum. I start to think about this statistically. Are we weighted because of the proliferance of DOM skewing our normal curve? Or am I suddenly this darned swan? I think it's the former, no matter how I would like to believe the latter.

But, my "favorite" was with this 500 lb 50 yo with sweat pouring down his stringy long hair:

Dude: Hey - I think I know you.
Me: Probibly not, man.
Dude: No - I know your grandmother. It's Bettie Page.
Me: Dude - seriously. While that's one of the better lines I've heard all night, you still need some practice on the delivery. Go - elsewhere.

Soon after, we left. Walking home, we saw some other classmates as they yelled from their car "WOOHOO LOOK AT DEM ARCHAEOWHORES!" Now *that* was hilarious.

Saturday (today), A and I decided to celebrate Earthday KnoxVegas style: with a free all day music festival within walking distance of our office! We slathered on our SPF 50 sunscreen and headed over there at about 4PM. We had us some funnel cakes and snowcones. Yay! Sugar! A left at about 5.30 but I stayed for about another hour. After all, Dishwater Blonde ( www.myspace.com/dishwaterblonde ), one of the local bands I really really like, was playing. Thankfully, there were really no DOM there (at least of the GT calibre), so The GT experience was not continued.

And to all who know my music preferences: Yes, I realize Wolfmother is playing tonight (right now actually) at the Bijou, but I am too poor for $35 tickets. Especially since I spent the same amount to see the King Tut exhibit when I go to Phili. No worries. I'll just see them in a few years when they play the Sundown circuit.

Well, it's 10PM on a Saturday, and I'm blogging. I think it's time to pack up and find some dinner.

I don't think I'll be doing much with music during the rest of the week. I really need to work on this Paleo paper.

Music again! and one (two) other distraction(s)

So - this has been a good week. On Easter I decided to take a day to myself and devoured two books. A very surreal combination, but yaay for Jane Eyre and Neuromancer. Somber British romance followed by a cyber punk dystopia of the most lurid. (interesting, cyber is not recognized by firefox as a word - irony of ironies)

Bottom line: I would recommend either to anyone.

Now I'm working on work - of course. Well, not *now.* Consider it a Newton-esque law of mass applied to time. But last night was again a break from the grind. I joined Mssr. E (a friend of Mdme. A, who appeared in an earlier post) to see a mutually enjoyable band. Cutthroat Shamrocks (of my St. Patrick's day adventure) played at the Corner Lounge last night. The CL is approximately 1K square feet of coolness, with a bar (of course) along the side, miniscule one stall bathrooms which may or may not flush, and a barely elevated stage at the front. Posters and Tshirts of all the awesome musicmakers who graced their venue crowd the walls, ceilings, and hang from the rafters. NewKnoBrewCo on draught and $1.50 PBRs add to the shabby/chic whatever-ness of the joint. It is - a joint.

We got there, had a few beers before the band got on stage, and when the band started I noticed that it wasn't Cutthroat Shamrock. Instead, it was a group in corpse paint doing a boyband routine. Intrigued, I made my way to the front while E took pictures (that's his shtick). The gentlemen on stage composed Zombie Bazooka Patrol and regaled us with such songs as "worms in my head" and "undead brotherhood." I won't stick them in a genre, but shall instead continue with my evening.

After they played, Cutthroat got on stage. And the setlist was fricken HUGE! probably three feet long. The ZBP-ers washed off their face and hung out in the intimate rowdy crowd of the front. I ended up hanging with them a bit, talked to the bass player some, and even shared the last of my cigs with them. I love when bands are accessible. Everyone was so awesome and energetic. Being up front and on the more sober end of the spectrum, I inadvertently kept an eye on some of the sound equipment and saved a speaker (amp?) from toppling off of the milk crates that elevated them.

They played till 2 AM, at which point E and I talked with the bass player a bit more, and E showed me that he snagged the set list - FOR ME! He also, coincidently, had him a Sharpie. So I played the ironic fan-girl and snagged the signatures of the band members on the set list. I do plan to scan it eventually, but that'll be a bit later. No worries. I also purchased a "Limited Edition EP" of Zombie Bazooka Patrol (self burned and numbered) to add to my growing CD collection. I do believe that I shall listen to it on the way home.

After the excitement of the venue, we went home. Mmmmm - the sleep after adrenaline pumping. The day of work afterwards. Back to paper writing.

intermission for lack of sense: St. Patrick's Day

Revelations on waking up at 10.30 AM on the Day after St. Patrick's Day

1- Ow

2- Good think that I ate at 4AM, it's too cold to get out of bed.

3- My pillow smells of cigarettes. Hey - I bet I smell of cigarettes!

4- My feet hurt. Actually, the gashes on the top of my feet hurt.

5- I haven't been to a concert with that much energy since I saw They Might Be Giants.

6- Sheena may be a punk rocker, but Gexx is no mosh-pitter.


Yeah, I actually thought those, even number 6, even though it wouldn't have qualified as a mosh pit. So therefor, if I can't handle a St. Pat's rowdy crowd, I prbibly shouldn't get myself over my head (lit and fig). The funny thing, I was the mature, responsible designated driver. And I did it, I only had two beers: one at 9.30PM and one at 10 PM because St. Patricks day requires Black'n'Tans and I wanted a short buzz at the beginning. We didn't leave until 2.30 AM, because the band played until 2.15. Then we had to regroup. Of course we were hungry, so off to the illustrious Waffle House where we sat, drank tons of water, and started to feel human again. After dropping people off I made my way back home, rinsed off my feet, and dropped into bed.

So - what was this show that literally kicked my arse? It was St. Patrick's Day at the Preservation Pub with Cutthroat Shamrock.

I have seen Cutthroat Shamrock a few times before. They used to play in G-burg quite often. I remember meeting one of the band members at the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games in 2005, and if they played there then I saw them. There were so many bands, though, that I couldn't keep track of who I saw other than Claan an Drumma (now called Albennach). Also, they played at the 2006 Brewers Jam in K-ville, and althought the band's energy was high the only individuals dancing were a handfull of converse-clad highschoolers doing the Ska/Punkrock-Kick. Then, I saw them opening for Enter the Haggis. I went to see Cutthroat more than Haggis, but as they opened, they didn't get much playing time. At that show, there were so few people and only 4 of us danced. Dancing was somewhay awkward at that moment because the band's energy just calls for a crowd's dynamic.

So - last night. Well, because the previous crowds had seemed so low energy, I wore some going out clothes: going out jeans, going out green shirt, and going out sequined ballet flats. The venue is a long narrow room with sepia toned, blown up portraits of individuals and their quotes on drinking. I stood in the front, literally against the 3 foot tall stage, with a group of friends. Since it was the Preservation Pub and because it was a Saturday St. Patrick's day, there was a huge crowd. But we wanted to be in the front, so we made it.

The band started, and after a few songs, all of the incidental jostling transformed into contrived jostling. After a few more songs the created, contained bumping and jumping of Mob suddenly took off and WHAM! And because it was Mob, we joined. I was wolloped a few times, and I was knocked to the floor a few others. Everyone was quick to help people up, though. So that was nice - less worry of general bodily trampling. Instead, my feet in my little pretty shoes were smashed and covered with a sticky film of dirt mixed with the spilled beer. Ah well, the adreniline was running so high among us that I really didn't care.

A statement of one of my companions could not have been more true: "I think I have more beer spilled onto me than I could ever afford."

We, our portion of Mob, emerged soaked with sweat and beer. No bloodshed, thankfully. The evening was absolutely awesome! I'm so glad to see that the band actually does have a physical following and not just a MySpace posse. Next time I see them, I will wear my kick-arse shoes.

I really should do some work now, though.

Edit a video from the evening has been posted on youtube: