S T A C Y V E R B

Monica visits from Raleigh

This week one of my bestest buds was in town for a work-related thingie and we got to spend some time together.  Monica and I met in college 20 (yikes) years ago and she currently lives in Raleigh, NC.  Saturday night, Monica and Christy and I gathered at my house for an evening of fun.

Monica brought a bottle of this wine, which I hadn't tried before but now definitely recommend.

Christy spent some quality time with boy foster kitten and my official party mascot from our college days, Eager Beaver.

As you can see, girl foster kitten felt very comfortable hanging out with Monica!  Good friends and a cute kitten...hmmm, what's missing from this picture?  Oh, I know...

...a second cute kitten! :)  They are such social little creatures* already, and really enjoy climbing on people.

We had a great evening playing board games, drinking wine, and ordering Chinese food.  As often happens when I'm with Monica and Christy, I laughed until I cried.  I laughed until my face hurt.  And isn't that the best sign of a good visit?  Yo, Slick...come back soon!

*FOSTER KITTEN UPDATE: One of Adverb's co-workers wants to adopt both of them together!  They should be weaned in another couple of weeks and ready to go to their permanent home.  Hurray! 

Shopping for banned books and more in Asheville

September 26-October 3 is Banned Books Week, a "national celebration of the freedom to read."  Libraries and book stores around the country are holding events this week to raise awareness of the fact that each year, individuals and groups attempt to have hundreds of books removed from schools and libraries.

According to the American Library Association, the most frequently challenged "classic" book in America is The Great Gatsby.  With this in mind, I bought a copy of it while I was in Asheville.  I've read it before, but did not own my own copy.  I got this one at Downtown Books & News, a great used book store on North Lexington.

Celebrate Banned Books Week by buying a frequently challenged book at your favorite local book store.  Share your favorite challenged books with young readers!  Check out this link for more ideas on fighting censorship in your community.

While I'm giving a shout-out to Downtown Books & News, I'd also like to mention some other businesses I recommend in downtown Asheville:

Beads and Beyond - gorgeous gemstones and lots more, in the cute little Wall Street neighborhood.

Chevron Trading Post & Bead Co. - also on N. Lexington, this bead shop had (among other things) probably the best selection of seed beads I've ever seen outside of a catalog.  They also had a comfy couch by a fireplace, great music playing, and a big, fat, friendly cat.  I did not want to leave!

Earth Guild - For the more esoteric crafts, this store on Haywood has lots of supplies that are hard to find anywhere else.  Spinning, candlemaking, basketry, rugmaking...just to name a few.  I bought some wool dye there.

Flying Frog Cafe - It's a fine dining establishment downstairs, but upstairs (where we ate) the Flying Frog Bar serves drinks and lighter meals.  It's on Battery Park Ave. and has a very eclectic menu.  The food was delicious and they made a really good mimosa (at dinner--how decadent!).

Malaprops - If you don't want to buy your books used from DB & N, buy them new at Malaprops!  A great little store on Haywood, just up the hill from Earth Guild, they also have a cafe.

Support small businesses at home and when you travel!

Weekend in Asheville & western NC

Over the weekend we headed to Asheville, North Carolina, so Adverb could attend the annual conference of the South East Chapter of the National Cartoonist Society.  This is always a fun gathering.  The Society's Asheville membership had worked hard to show us all a good time.

Friday night: Carolina barbecue and live bluegrass at The Fiddlin' Pig.  I bought a T-shirt from the Pig that says "Gettin' Piggy With It."  Ha!  I especially enjoyed the sweet potato fries.

Steve H. was dressed for the bluegrass, but maybe not excited about having his picture taken.

Saturday the cartoonists attended meetings and presentations all day.  The highlight was the guest of honor, Jack Davis, of MAD magazine fame.  Everyone reports that Jack was a very sweet gentleman.  At dinner, he petted my hair in a charming, non-creepy way.

While all these meetings were going on, I was getting some work of my own done in the hotel room, as well as swimming in the heated pool.

Who knew the cartoonists were such a multi-talented bunch?  A jam session broke out in the hotel ballroom on Saturday night.  I ended up doing a duet of "Jackson" (sadly, no footage of my performance is available) with some random guy, who I later learned was a filmmaker from Michigan working on a documentary about MAD.

After the conference ended on Sunday, Adverb and I explored the great shopping and dining opportunities in downtown Asheville.  (More blog coverage on this topic coming soon!)  

Monday, we spent the whole day driving back to Atlanta via the long, scenic way.  It was a lovely day to explore the countryside.

While on another road trip in NC several years ago, we had seen a million billboards assuring us that we were very near Harrah's Cherokee Casino, and yet we never actually saw it.  This time, we drove right up to it, completely by accident.  This cracked us up to no end, so we just had to go in and play some slot machines for a little while.  We ended up $9.00 in the hole.  Oh wait, correction, make that $8.75--on the way out, I found a quarter in the parking lot!

More lovely scenery in the Blue Ridge area of western NC.  Fall was definitely in the air.

We stopped for a late lunch at this nice spot on the Nantahala River. 

Our last visit before heading home was to the John C. Campbell Folk School.  (Long-time Stacyverb readers may remember that this is where Adverb took a class in the art of kaleidoscope-making last fall.)  We had a nice time exploring the grounds of the Folk School, including this nice fence dedicated to the different arts.  These were two of my favorite panels.

This beautiful old barn on the Folk School grounds was looking very autumnal.  Someday I hope to return to the Folk School as a student myself.

A fun, relaxing weekend in North Carolina.  Batteries recharged, and ready for fall to come to Atlanta!

San Francisco, part 6: Local color

We conclude my San Francisco travelogue with some random shots of interesting stuff that just didn't really fit in any of the other posts.

San Francisco has lots of cool murals in many of its neighborhood.  This was one of my favorites, in some alley off of Valencia.

This one is cool because it is the whole front of someone's apartment or studio.

I met Cricket the poodle while shopping at this really amazing fabric store in Berkeley.  I loved how glamorous she looked here, riding in her shopping cart, with all the shiny fabrics behind her.  Her human told me Cricket had just come from the beauty parlor.

This tableau in the parking area at the Golden Gate Bridge cracked me up.

More wacky signage, this time in Japantown.  I love the graphics on these, especially the smiling shrimp on a platter.

More of the weirdness on offer in Japantown.  This was in the window of a crazy toy store.

Hustle and bustle in Chinatown.  This was our last day in San Francisco.

We also took a walk down by the piers on our last day.  (There's Adverb, in full-on tourist mode, by the lamp post.)

Later, we caught the red-eye back to Atlanta.  This was not a relaxing vacation by any means--it was stimulating, exciting and fun.  Thanks for letting me show you the highlights!

San Francisco, part 4: The gang's all here

One of the best parts about the trip to San Francisco was getting to see so many friends we hadn't seen in a while.

 

The main reason for the trip was to attend Alex & Melissa's wedding.  It was such fun to celebrate with them and their beautiful girls.  (Hey, check out Melissa's jewelry that I made!)

 

Some of the old gang are living in San Francisco now, and a bunch of us had flown in from Atlanta, so it was great to get everybody together in one place for such a happy occasion.

 

Obligatory Electric Slide reception photo.  What a great party!  We were treated to delicious food and Alex's famous sangria.

 

Besides the wedding, we got to explore the city with old friends and do some catching up.  Ellen (formerly of Atlanta) and her husband, Doug, came down from British Columbia.

 

Luke (on the far left) took us to some of his favorite local spots, like this wonderful taqueria in the Mission.  Pancho Villa, I think it was called?

 

It was so nice just to chill with a beer (or two) and enjoy good conversation with good friends.  Some of these folks we see on a regular basis in Atlanta, but we never seem to have the chance to sit and talk for any length of time.  This trip gave us that chance, and lots of interesting stories to tell back home!

San Francisco (and beyond), part 2: Wining and dining

From Santa Rosa we headed back down the 101 and over to Sonoma, where we were meeting friends for a wine country picnic.

 

Cline Cellars was the site of our lovely afternoon.  Everyone on staff was so friendly and they clearly loved what they do.  We tasted many wines.  My favorites were the Sonoma Coast Viognier, the Cashmere red blend, and the Big Break Zinfandel (described on the tasting menu as the "Indiana Jones of Zinfandels," or something to that effect).  The overall favorite among our gang seemed to be the Cashmere.

 

Speaking of our gang, here are some of us relaxing after the delicious picnic.  Friends and family had gathered from far and wide for Alex's wedding (that's him to my right, in the shades), the real reason for the California trip.  Alex and Adverb have been friends since they met in art school waaaaay back in the day.

 

It was a very windy day, but the grounds at Cline Cellars were quite beautiful...

 

...as were the views of the neighboring winery and surrounding countryside.

 

As we made our way back toward the East Bay, the late afternoon sun gave a gorgeous golden glow to the landscape.

 

Back at the hotel, we were treated to this view of the sunset over the Bay from our window.  At this point, Adverb and I parted ways.  He went off to Alex's bachelor party (hmmm...strangely, there are no photos of that), and I met up with my friend Michele for dinner.

Michele and I went to high school together in Nebraska and have been back in regular contact in the past year or so, thanks to the wonder of Facebook.  She lives in the Bay area, so we were both really excited to be able to get together and catch up.  We ate and drank and talked and just generally had a great time*.  (Michele--I'm sad to say, this was the best photo of the bunch.  Oops.)

*Oh, and some guy may or may not have OD'ed right in front of us while his date (transexual hooker?) fled into the night from my hotel lobby.  Quite an end to a very eventful day!

San Francisco (and beyond), part 1: Schulz Museum

And...we're back.  Settle in now, dear readers, as I regale you with my travelogue.

Friday was our first full day in California.  We made a day trip north from our home base in the East Bay and headed toward Santa Rosa so Adverb could make an important pilgrimage.

 

Here we are crossing the Richmond Bridge into Marin County.  My normally land-locked self cannot resist taking pictures of water!

 

Our destination: the Charles M. Schulz Museum.  Adverb was excited to get his geek on and learn more about his cartooning idol.

 

This huge tile mural adorns the main wall as you enter the museum.  It looks cool from a distance, but it's even more impressive up close...

 

...because the whole mural is constructed from tiles depicting Peanuts comic strips.

 

Artist Yoshiteru Otani designed the mural using 3,588 ceramic tiles--about ten years worth of daily strips.  Impressive!

 

After touring the museum, we quaffed some root beers in the adjacent Warm Puppy Cafe.

Happy birthday to me!

So!  I turned 40 years old today.  It was not traumatic.  Mostly I think birthdays that end with zero are just fantastic excuses for bigger celebrations.

A while back, I told Adverb that all I wanted for my Milestone Birthday was for us to take a great trip somewhere.  So when some friends of ours who live in San Francisco announced that they were getting married on Labor Day weekend, I was like, score.  A fabulous trip, right after my birthday, to a place I've always wanted to visit?  Perfecto.

We leave in the morning.  (To any bad guys who may be reading this: there will be people staying at my house, so don't make the mistake of thinking there's no one around.)  Bags are packed.

My real present is the trip, of course, but this evening my hubby also treated me to a pre-vacation date: Julie and Julia (which we both thought was great fun) at the Movie Tavern.  We sat in the back and giggled like fools, ate pizza and drank beer, and partway into the movie, a guy quietly and magically appeared with refills.  Gotta love the Movie Tavern.

Oh, and also?

 

I wore sparkly devil horns all day.  Just because I could.  Let's hear it for celebrating every day like it's a birthday that ends in zero!

Jones Bridge Park

The other day, Adverb and I had a zillion things we should have been doing around the house, but instead we decided to run away from home and spend a beautiful late summer day at the park.  We headed out to Jones Bridge Park, part of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area.

 

On the way, we picked up some picnic food from the Publix deli.  With happy taste buds and full tummies, we took a stroll down to the water.

 

We watched ducks...

 

...and geese...

 

...and this big black dog, who was having the time of his life swimming out to fetch a tennis ball.  (Photo blurry due to dog being in action!)

 

Adverb tests the waters.  Verdict: cold!

 

Scenic pedestrian bridge.  Not the eponymous Jones Bridge, which apparently is at some other, undisclosed, location--or at least we never saw it.

 

Close-up of oddly beautiful rust on the bridge railing, because I like to take pictures of weird crap like that.

 

A lovely day--much better spent than doing whatever it was we were supposed to be doing!

A-R-T and B-B-Q

Last night Adverb and I went out for a little art gallery hopping.  First stop: Mudfire pottery gallery.  It was opening night for Mug*Shots, an exhibit of drinking vessels.

I was very attracted to these striking black and white pieces by Karen Newgard.

Skull vessels by Steven G. Cheek.

Debra Fritts made this wonderfully strange little shot glass with the tongue sticking out.  This might be the face you make after doing your shot. :)

Before we could continue, we needed sustenance.  The legendary Daddy D'z on Memorial Drive fit the bill.  This metal pig sculpture and sign adorn the roof.  The black and white portrait below the pig is of Daddy D himself.

With full tummies, we moved on to the Brotherman Comics show at the Art on 5 gallery.

Adverb's pal Dawud Anyabwile is the mastermind behind Brotherman.  This guy is amazingly talented and quite a Renaissance man.  He even composed the music that played during the evening's festivities.

There was a slide show previewing the Brotherman graphic novel, currently in production and scheduled for release in 2010.

This was one of my favorite paintings in the show.  These pieces were enlarged panels from the comic books.  Dawud has done a fantastic job of creating a whole world for his characters in the fictional setting of Big City.

He even had a large map of the Big City Massive Transit System on exhibit.  I loved this little detail on the map key, especially the note about wheelchair accessibility.  Great job!