Stacyverb

Mom & Dad's wet Atlanta weekend

My folks visited from PA last weekend, and unfortunately, the weather here was the worst we've had all spring. And of course we had tickets to some outdoor events. But we didn't let the downpour stop us!

Saturday night: Willie Nelson (a family favorite) at Chastain Park Amphitheatre. Who would've predicted we'd need coats and wool hats for an outdoor show in Atlanta in May? We really lucked out because our seats were some of the very few at Chastain that are covered. We only got wet getting to and from the car.

 

Sunday afternoon: Braves vs. Mets at Turner Field. Braves won! The weather was actually pretty nice during most of the game, but it did start raining during the later innings. Again, we just happened to have seats that were covered, so we were able to watch the game in comfort.

Slimy weather or not, a good time was had by all!

Happy Record Store Day!

For some people, Record Store Day is a chance to grab all the special releases, either to collect or to sell on eBay. For others, it's a day to re-visit youthful times spent discovering exciting musical gems.

For me, it's neither of those things. In my rural childhood, we got our records at Zayre or the BX. Shopping for music was something we did while out buying socks, or on the way back from getting groceries at the commissary. In my teen years, we lived in a suburban area where I thought I was hot shit because I had easy access to a mall. The mall contained a Musicland --just a crappy corporate chain staffed by random people who needed whatever job they could find, but I wasn't thinking about any of that at the time. I was just impressed that there was a whole store devoted to nothing but music!

I don't think I had much experience at all with independently owned record stores until I moved to Atlanta in 1994. Really, I just hadn't had been exposed to such a thing. When I moved here and suddenly had not one but two shops in my own neighborhood, it was a whole new experience for me. You could ask the clerk about something, and they would be knowledgeable. You could casually mention some song you loved 15 years ago, and they would offer to track down a copy for you.

So to me, Record Store Day isn't about the thrill of hunting for exclusives or the nostalgia of reliving days gone by. It's about celebrating the fact that I have access to such places. Supporting small businesses. Being part of a community. Running into friends, drinking a beer, enjoying a spring day, and listening to a band. Discovering new music and handing my cash to a person, instead of just clicking my mouse and making Apple richer.

(Don't get me wrong, I do download music sometimes. But not if I have other options. Downloading doesn't help my neighbors pay their bills. And there's no ceremony in it. I often remember the circumstances around buying a physical record or CD--where I was, who I was with, what the weather was like, what else I did that day. But I never have lasting memories of the experience of downloading something.)

If you're lucky enough to have access to indie music stores, please support them today and every day!

Brunch and chrome

Happy Easter to those of you celebrating it! We don't make a big deal out of it in our household, but it was a great day nonetheless.

One of our favorite comfort food spots, Our Way Cafe, hosted an Easter brunch that was totally scrumptious. They don't normally do brunch, but today's event was such a huge success, I'm hoping they'll make it a regular thing. Here we are enjoying our eggs, home fries, Pine Street Market bacon, biscuits, and gravy. Not to mention the cupcakes for dessert!

 

Meanwhile, in the parking lot, vehicles were gathering for an antique car parade. After brunch, we had a great time checking out all the cool cars.

 

Groovy grills!

 

Assorted old timey vehicles.

 

The pest control truck was made by a guy, from scratch! (You can just make a car?? Mind. Blown.) I was in love with that blue Ford on the bottom. I wanted Anthony to cause a distraction so I could steal it.

 

This cutie pie is Chumley. How he managed to restore this car with no thumbs, I have no idea, but he did a great job. Let's take a closer look at that tailfin....

 

Wow. I'm not generally a big fan of fins on cars, but these tail lights were spec.tac.ular. Then I became obsessed with taking pictures of taillights.

 

So many interesting design variations! One lady noticed me taking pictures of taillights and commented that people don't usually notice them, and that hood ornaments are the most popular subject for photos. Here I hope I've given these beautiful taillights the attention they deserve.

By far, though, the most jaw-dropping taillights had to be the ones on this (1958?) Mercury.

AMAZING.

Another angle.

 

Back view of the Mercury. I wish I'd gotten a shot of the whole car, because it was INSANE. Huge and shiny and full of all these weird, fabulous details.

So that was our Easter Sunday, non-Eastery though it was. I hope you all had a great day!

Title goes here

It's ridiculous how often I start to write a blog post, but then I can't think of a clever title, so I procrastinate writing the post. Anyway, title or not, it's time to catch you up on some things!

Last weekend was the official Grand Re-Opening party at my work. It was a great success! We had a big crowd and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

Me and my workmates, in a rare moment when we're all together at the same time. After this photo, we declared that all staff meetings from now on must include champagne.

 

We had refreshments galore.  The customers seemed to appreciate our attempts to ply them with snacks and beverages.

 

DJ Lopi (aka my hubby) provided entertainment for the evening. Please note that he--a human--is sitting on the floor to create his playlist, while shop cat/diva Bibi hogs the furniture.

Also last weekend, Anthony and I went to the preview of the Frida & Diego exhibit at the High Museum. It was a perfect day to be inside at the museum, as we narrowly missed getting drenched in a downpour.

Not shown: me, almost having to be bodily removed from the exhibit. We were in the last room when the museum staff announced that they were closing for the day and we needed to proceed to the exit. I proceeded as slowly as possible, until I was the last person in there, and Anthony had to peek back around the corner past the security guard to tell me to get a move on.

What can I say? I was caught up in the moment. Frida's art is a great inspiration to me. That should probably be a whole post in and of itself for another day.

Judging from comments and messages I've received, the burning question on everyone's mind seems to be: did I finish the Library Dress? Yes, I did, and I wore it on Anthony's birthday as planned. But (of course there's a but) I'm not totally happy with the fit, so I want to make some adjustments before the dress makes its blog debut.

Finally, thanks to all of you who have asked about my wrist. It is gradually getting better. The main problem is that, using a wheelchair, I rely on my arms so much. So I don't really have the option of giving my wrist the total rest it needs to heal. Very frustrating. In the meantime, I continue to wear my brace, and I'm not in pain, so I just keep on keeping on!

This face says it all

Greetings, people of the interwebs!  I'm back, after having to put my computer in the shop for a while.  The good news is a) it was under warrantee, so the repairs were free; and b) I got it back just in time to receive all my virtual birthday (tomorrow) wishes and to post this fantastic photo I dug up the other day.

Me and my mom on my first birthday

God, I wish I still had that hat.  I would be wearing all day tomorrow and rocking it hard.

 

I'm not sure how to read that look on my face, but I'm pretty sure it means I was overwhelmed with awesomeness!

I have stuff to show and tell you all, but I'll catch up with you on the flip side of my birthday.  Hope you're all having a great weekend!

Camp NaNoWriMo: Done!

People, I can't believe it.  I just uploaded my humble work-in-progress to Camp NaNoWriMo headquarters, and their word counting gizmo verified that I have, indeed, written 50,084 words in 29 days.  HOL.EE.CRAP.  Do you know what that makes me?

 

A winner, folks!  A novelist, the Camp web site is calling me now.  Well, I don't know about that.  What I've been writing is not a complete novel (yet), and it certainly isn't good (yet).  But I have 50,000 words that all belong to the same story, and that is HUGE for me and my fickle writing habits.

Did I believe I could do it?  Yes and no.  I believed I could write 50,000 words in a month if I really set my mind to it.  But I didn't really believe that life would let that happen.  I knew I would try as hard as I could to do my part, but deep down I figured something would interfere and keep me from reaching the goal line--I'd get sick, or my computer would accidentally delete my file, or something. But, no--I DID IT.

How did I do it?  By writing every day.  Sleeping seven hours a night instead of eight.  Exercising for 30 minutes instead of 45.  Writing while I ate lunch instead of surfing the interwebs.  Doing less reading, very little mandolin practicing, and no sewing at all.  Turning down an invitation to the movies with friends.  All those little bits of time added up, and even though I sometimes resented having to squeeze writing in where other activities would normally be, I trudged on.

And no, I don't really win anything, and no, nobody's work gets "discovered" at Camp NaNoWriMo (they don't even read it).  This challenge was never about anything like that.  It was about making myself do it.

Think you'd like to try your hand at Camp NaNoWriMo?  There's another session coming up in August.  I'm just sayin'....

Big Bang Ball at the Goat Farm

Over the weekend, my sweetie and I went to the first annual Big Bang Ball at the Goat Farm.  The beautiful warehouse ruins of this urban anomaly made the perfect setting for the event's theme, "A Modern Dustbowl Carnival." 

 

A line-up of awesome bands (like Villain Family) performed throughout the evening in this gorgeous bare bones old factory building. 

 

I can't remember the details about this "lion" act, except that I think his name was Walter.  And I know that he was crocheted!  He was pretty impressive.

 

Snake oil salesman Dr. Cornelius Fizzywater promised to cure the crowd of "all ailments, darkening moods, and bad dancing."

 

Lera Lynn and her great band rocked the house as a freight train chugged slowly past, right outside the window.  Perfect for the atmosphere.

 

The always spectacular Sadie Hawkins performed on her aerial hoop, accompanied by the music of Flight of Swallows.

 

Because this is an equal opportunity blog, here are some scantily clad men as well!  These guys are part of the Empire Wrestling league (formerly known as Platinum Championship Wrestling).

 

Headliners Blair Crimmins and the Hookers ended the festivities on a high note with their trademark New Orleans jazz stylings.  Alert readers might remember when Anthony was an extra in the band's "Old Man Cabbage" video (shot at the Goat Farm).

 

Hundreds of people dancing their butts off to hot jazz in an even hotter room until one o'clock in the morning--now that's what I call a fun summer party!

 

Okay, so I can't really pass for an old timey person, even in sepia.  Oh well.  Also, my face was totally melting off.  That amazing old bare bones factory really provides an authentic old timey summer feeling (i.e. un-airconditioned).  It was worth it, though. :)

Camp NaNoWriMo: Halfway

Hey, campers!  For those who missed it, I'm one of the insane participants in Camp NaNoWriMo, attempting to write a novel (or at least 50,000 words of one) in one month.  Let's check my progress:

Earlier today, I hit 25,000 words.  So the month is slightly more than half over (every hour counts when you're NaNoWriMo-ing) and I'm halfway to the goal--not too shabby!

A few people have asked me what my novel is about.  The short answer is: I don't know.  The long answer is: it's not really "about" anything yet.  I have characters, scenes, dialogue, exposition, etc., but I don't have what anyone would call a plot.  Carrie assures me that this is normal, and that a story can emerge from all this babbling.  I just have to keep going.

And so I continue to plug away.  If this were a real camp, I imagine this might be about the time I would start to get homesick.  Some days it's hard to keep writing.  Sometimes there are distractions, or things I would rather be doing (like sleeping instead of getting up early to work on this), or the words just aren't coming.  And even when they do come, are they any good?  We CampNaNoWriMo-ers can't be worried about that right now.  This event is an exercise in quantity, not quality.  We'll all make improvements later.  But we can't improve upon something that doesn't exist, and that's what this camp is all about--making something that didn't exist before. 

How about you?  Tell me about a time you made something out of nothing.

Camp NaNoWriMo

So, all of a sudden I'm writing a novel.  Which is really weird, because as of about 21 hours ago, writing a novel was not in my immediate plans at all.

It's all Carrie's fault.  She casually posted something about Camp NaNoWriMo (something like, "This is cool.  You should do it."), and even though she made it clear she wasn't going to participate herself, suddenly a bunch of our mutual friends and I are signed up to do it.  That Carrie--such a sorceress she is! 

Anyway.  Maybe you've heard of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), an event that takes place every November.  The idea is that you sign up, and you write 50,000 words (about 175 pages) in one month.  The site helps you keep track of your word count and cheers you on.  Last year, more than 256,000 people participated.

Camp NaNoWriMo (motto: "An Idyllic Writers Retreat, Smack-Dab In The Middle Of Your Crazy Life") is the new summer version of that.  In theory, I'll have 50,000 words of a novel finished by 11:59:59 on June 30.  Let's be clear--I expect this novel to be a big steaming pile of crap.  But the idea is to get words on paper (or screen, really), then worry about editing and all that stuff later.  Even if I don't reach the word count goal, I'm hoping I'll still be pleased with my attempt and will be able to build on it from there.  We'll see.  I honestly have no idea what will happen!  I'll keep you posted.

St. Vincent at Variety Playhouse

Last night some friends and I went to the St. Vincent show at the Variety Playhouse in Little Five Points. 

We've had these tickets since January.  It had been a long time since I'd bought tickets to an event way in advance and then waited for the night to arrive.  The anticipation of something like that adds an extra layer of excitement, I think.

St. Vincent (aka Annie Clark) is a ridiculously talented guitarist, songwriter and singer.  Her music can be plaintive and lovely, and it can be visceral and aggressive.  She's also very stylish (bonus!).

I totally stole borrowed this photo from Wikipedia.  But by coincidence, this is the outfit she was wearing at our show!  How convenient. :)

The show was really thrilling, with Annie and her band playing songs from all three of her albums.  So much energy and creativity and skill--what an awe-inspiring way to spend a late spring evening.