Are you feeling sad today?


I guarantee that this will help.

Update: procrastination station

I should be cutting 11 pounds of cheese into toothpick sized chunks right now. Or wrapping 2 lbs of bay scallops in bacon. But instead, I'm clickclickclicking on the internet. I need to get it in gear!
Washed most of the dishes already so my work space in clean. I also made myself an astoundingly good meal of spaghetti and meatballs (hmm, when does she decide to make spaghetti and meatballs from scratch? that would be when she is supposed to be doing something else.....) Argh. I'm so on top of my game that I have to throw obstacles in my own way so I can feel the kind of pressure necessary to get the job done. It's a sickness. I blame college.
So, what else can I natter on about instead of doing what I need to do? Hmm.
I don't think I mentioned Roxie's new hairdo, which he described as "none more black." He made several references to "goth" on Wednesday including describing himself as a California boy who hates the sun. Ha! Unfortunately I can't do a screen capture of the radio webcam, but I can assure you that Roxie looks mighty fine in the none more black. I've been feeling the lure of the none more black myself, but I don't think I can work a dye job into my day tomorrow before the show. (ha! that would be some major procrastination, but I think it would be a bad idea) I don't know what I am going to wear for the show yet--I really am running out of raw materials. I was looking forward to wearing my very witchy burgundy velvet blouse but when I took it out of the dryer a couple more seams had ripped. I realize that ripped seams are gothic but these are not ripped very romantically, so I can't do it till I repair them. I might just rock the black velvet skirt and silk tank top...we'll see. If we book any more shows I am definitely going to need to invest in some more performance wardrobe!
Band practice last night was an exercise in patience, but I think we ended up sounding really good. I think this show is going to be the best yet. Colin's set up gets more elaborate all the time, and his willingness to beat randomly on things is very inspiring. Rebby did a reconnaissance mission last night to Belvederes to check out the set up. I hope someone records/films this performance---maybe I should break out my own poor old video cam? The thing has been sitting on top of my filing cabinet for almost a year waiting to be sold.
I'm still not sure what if anything I will do for Halloween. I'm tempted to go to the party at Belvederes, and I am also tempted to just stay home. I'm not really a big Halloween party FAN, so much. Maybe a bottle of vampire and The Cabinet of Dr Caligari is all I need.
Alright, I think that might be enough procrastination. Thanks for keeping me occupied. The cheeses are calling my name!

It's astounding
Time is fleeting
Madness takes its toll.

Seriously, I don't know what is up. Maybe it's the cold, or the stress. I'm definitely ON TOP OF THINGS, but I am feeling like a wire stretched to the snapping point. All kinds of weird coping behaviours are manifesting themselves. And here I sit, observing, as if it isn't ME who is mixing up a small bowl full of shortbread dough with ABSOLUTELY NO INTENTION OF BAKING IT. Just eating it right out of the bowl. Weird, yeah?
Also, my life is being sort of taken over by Scandinavians. First, Roxie on the Rocket. Then, Dubbel Zoute licorice. (that means double salt, by the way. weird)Then, Finncrisp. Also, the Swedish military issue long underwear and wool socks my girlfriend got me last year. Everywhere I look...Scandinavians. It's not BAD, at all, it's just something I've noted in the past week.
I'm not going to try to catch up in detail, because my fingers are cold, but I'll make some notes: there was a nice LUPEC gathering on Sunday about Women Spiritualists, and Monday I went out to dinner at Piper's Pub where I had a Guinness and scotch eggs and then when my cottage pie came I had to take most of it home, and then on Tuesday I went for coffee with an old friend I haven't seen in...possibly close to a YEAR! and it was nice to catch up and talk politics and fetish porn, and there was Roxie radio this morning, and a band practice tonight. Also, I finally got the Nightmare Returns DVD (Alice Cooper show from 1986) and I fucking HATED it. I tried to watch it last night and Alice sounds bad and looks creepy(not in a good alice cooper way, either) and then there is that cartoonishly freaky Kane Roberts on guitar. I couldn't even watch it all the way through. I was going to try to do a review of it for the Alice website I visit but I fear I could think of very few nice things to say, so I probably won't. Ek. Ptuey.
I finally typed the word ROCKTOBER today. It's already the 25th and this was my first time. I am definitely slipping.

I am a huge dork.

Seriously, you would think that after two years of getting emails from my favorite rockstar and international man of mystery I would be over the puppydog fawning.
But nope. I just got a sweet reply to an email I sent to Roxie about his radio show and I have been grinning like an idiot for two hours now. I'm hopeless.
This is a picture of him hanging at a different radio station in Sweden with (I believe) Ian, the drummer from the band Europe, who is the morning DJ there. Roxie went to do an interview at the station and ended up getting to jam with Joey Tempest. How cool is that?
See kids....sometimes dreams really do come true.

Time Flies When You're Doin Thangs

I can't believe I last posted on Sunday. It's been quite a whirlwind around here the last few days!
I was technically "off" M-W, and I took full advantage of it to do loads of laundry, and make some headway into the boxes and bags of THINGS in the corner of my room. In the process, I found my Rickety Ring, which I had feared was gone forever. That was a really sweet reward for digging into the mess. I've been trying really hard to kill my packrat tendencies, but I can only do so much at a time. There is probably no reason to save phone bills from three years ago, for example. If I can clear out a couple boxes of accumulated paper that I really don't need, I will be able to finally fit all the things I really do need to save into boxes that will fit on the shelving unit in the corner. Then, I will be able to see the window in the corner. It could happen. Maybe by the time I get ready to move again.....
I did do a great job of cleaning out the accumulated stuff in the bathroom....I finally tossed all the half empty bottles of conditioner I've been saving for probably three years. Chances are pretty good that I am NEVER going to need that much conditioner, and chances are even better that I will go out and buy a new set of shampoo and conditioner again before I ever think to look at what is accumulated up there. So it's all gone. I also tossed some old makeup. That was hard, but there are some lipsticks that I am just never going to wear. No sense having them take up room in my tiny apartment. I did not toss any of my four bottles of glitter makeup though. Chances are pretty good that I will use them all eventually.
I also did a bunch of restaurant and catering related computer stuff...menu tallies, and lists of things we need for the big wedding coming up next Saturday. It's really unfortunate that this big wedding is on the 28th, because there are about 30 things going on I would love to do that night. I guess in light of that it's probably for the best that I am otherwise occupied so I don't have to choose! I am pretty bummed that the week leading up to the wedding is the gay and lesbian film festival, and the Friday night before is the Anita Fix and Bambam show at Belvederes. Crud. I'm going to do my best to see as many films as I can anyway, and we're going to have to fit in another practice some night next week too. Luckily, there isn't much I can do ahead at home for this wedding, so I really do have my evenings free. I just have to make sure I don't get too tuckered out.
So, yesterday was a magical day. It started out with having that extra day off since I am working for Jilly this weekend. This extra day just happened to correspond with Ryan Roxie's radio show live from Sweden! He does Wednesdays from 2-4 Stockholm time on The Rock Home of Stockholm. This translates into 8am for me, and it was a happy coincidence that I didn't have to go into the restaurant. I sat at my computer doing some paperwork stuff, listening to Roxie's voice, watching him on the WEBCAM, and internet chatting with fellow Roxie fans all over the world. It was so nice! He played White Zombie for me! Hee hee. I gotta figure out how I can listen in next week....I'll be bringing my laptop into the kitchen with me for sure. I'll probably have to pay for a wireless day pass since we don't have free wireless at the storm right now, but....he's worth it. Hee.
So after all the Roxie love I went into the restaurant to meet with Jilly and Leslie about catering stuff and do an inventory. Then I came home for a nap, and then I had band practice. Which was so FUCKING AWESOME I can't believe it! We have another new song that just blows my mind with it's greatness. It was one of those "creative process" things that just had all three of us bouncing off the walls at how good it came together. I really can't wait till this show....it's gonna be the best one yet, I'm sure.
Today was back to the grind, but I missed it. I didn't miss having to do a ton of dishes, but it comes with the territory these days. Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to make some banana bread, and possibly those chocolate vegan cupcakes I've been thinking about since last week. We're getting busier all the time, which is great but makes all of us have to step up our game. Next week is going to be "challenging"....wish me luck!

Weekend in the Country

Friday, Rebby and I decided to head out to Trax Farms to look at some pumpkins. It was a gorgeous chilly fall day with brilliant sunshine, perfect for driving. We started our day with a rather ill advised breakfast at Pamelas in Oakland...ill advised because it was almost noon when we got there and all the students and employees of Oakland were on their lunch breaks. We waited about 10 minutes to get a seat, about 20 minutes to get coffee and place our order, and then about 45 minutes for the food to come up. My chorizo and eggs was worth the wait though, and rebby's corned beef hash and eggs was pretty good too. We were pretending to be on vacation so it didn't matter so much that we had to wait. I felt bad for the waiter though, as he ended up comping at least three tickets while we sat there for people who had to go back to work before their food came out. I'm sure he had to pay for it.
Anyway, we got on the road and had a lovely drive out to the south south south hills. Trax Farms is about half an hour from downtown, but it feel like you are a million miles away. We went crazy in the farm market...lots of fresh produce, amish butter and eggs and cheese, apple cider cured ham, fresh baked bread, pumpkin butter....yummies. Then we strolled around outside amongst the piles of pumpkins:



They were everywhere. On the actual weekends they have all sorts of fall festival activities out there, but since it was Friday we could just peruse the pumpkins and fall foliage and collections of weird gourds. It was a great day.
On the way back, we stopped into Sassy Sensations, a little erotic boutique oddly located in a strip mall on Library Road in Castle Shannon. The woman working there was super friendly and took great pleasure in showing off her glass erotic art dildoes. They were very pretty and fancy, but in the end I got a relatively cheap purple vibrator which is decorated with rhinestones. (they're under a plastic sheath, don't worry) I also spied the most gorgeous purple suede flogger...it has a belt clip. Swoon. Maybe someday.....
When we got home we watched a little TV and made a delicious farm fresh pasta dinner....whole wheat capellini with sauteed eggplant, garlic, onions, tomatoes, red peppers and chorizo. Topped with grated ricotta salata. Man was it good! Drank the Vampire Cabernet while watching Dracula. A perfect ending to a perfect day!

Saturday we ventured out into the North Country for the Zelienople Country Fall Festival. I have made a photo safari of our day here.

Cute Little Pumpkin Heads!

Howdy pardners!
Wow, it's been a pretty exhausting couple of days! We started a new schedule in the kitchen where instead of me being an amorphous floating around person from noon-3, I am now the dishwasher in addition to floating amorphously (meaning baking and making specials for dinner) We made this change so that we could move the dishwasher to the evening slot since dinners are often busier than lunch these days, and so there will be people around to do prep whenever it's needed. I think its a good change, and I think it is going to work really well, but right now I am TIRED OUT! It is just going to take some getting used to. I generally function best when I am constantly busy---one thing I've learned over the years is that I work best under pressure. In the morning I make myself a giant list and then I just go to town crossing things off. Once we get into the rhythm I should never have to worry about any regular menu prep items during breakfast time so I can concentrate on baking and specials. That is the ideal. Tuesday I had to catch up a bunch of stuff from the weekend, plus do the dishes, plus make specials. I was WOMPED Tuesday evening! Yesterday was a little better because Leslie and I together made a super comprehensive list on Tuesday of what needed to be done, and it was all done. So yesterday morning I was able to make pumpkin cheesecake bars and the cutest little pumpkin muffins with cream cheese frosting and jack o lantern faces. I am dedicated to bringing a little Halloween love into the Quiet Storm. Today I am going to try to make some vegan chocolate cupcakes with creme de menthe frosting and little bats.
I feel like there was something else I wanted to talk about but for the life of me I can't remember it now. Maybe later.
Today is feeling like a REAL autumn day. Enjoy it with a sweater and a cup of cocoa!

Oh boy, I sure do wish that blogger was equipped with smellovision right now! My apartment is fragrant with the deliciousness of green chile stew. It makes me incredibly happy, and I'm sure it would make you happy too. If I know you, maybe I'll be able to give you some. Just ask! :)
Today has been a delicious day all around. I slept in longer than I intended (by way of either forgetting to set my alarm, or turning it off and going back to sleep and completely forgetting it...I'm not sure which) Eventually I did get out of bed, throw on some clothes, and head to the market district for fresh fruit. It was already bumpin at 8:30am! Thankfully it only took me about two minutes to get my coffee. I toured the produce gauntlet, and ended up getting fruits mostly on the red end of the spectrum. I wish that the grapes had not been at the beginning of the gauntlet---if I had gotten grapes at the end, I would have probably gotten green instead of red. But the red globes are pretty, and seedless! I almost got some weird tiny little yellow fruit that was called something melon (I don't remember, it started with a P and sounded vaguely Italian) but I passed because the kiwis were looking good and pretty cheap. I should try to figure out what that little melon's story is though....it definitely didn't look or feel like any melon I've ever seen!
After the fruit purchase I headed to the storm to deliver the fruit and make some granola. Cranberry Orange Almond for the season. It smelled so yummy baking...which was really nice, because we were dealing with an indelicate plumbing issue. The plumbing issue was solved relatively early and relatively painlessly, and breakfast was super busy! Again! Rebecca came in to bake so the place was full of some more delicious aromas. I stuck around long enough to witness the triumphant installation of the NEW CASH REGISTER RIBBON. There was much rejoicing.
When I got home I threw open all the windows(and they are still open, which is sort of disturbing....I think it ought to be chilling down by 9pm!) and got on the computer to start the daunting task of cleaning out my inbox. Sheesh. I've got a message in there from AUGUST 12th that I really want to answer, except that now everything in the message is totally invalid. I hate when I do that. I did make a dent, and then I worked on updating the slip tally sheet. While I did all this assiduous computering, I listened to my random shuffle and it did not disappoint. Lonely Planet Boy, Chris Isaak, 1985, Suede....the hits kept coming! It's nice to be reminded of stuff I never think to listen to, but love when I hear it. I also ate a fantastic egg/bacon/toast/coffee breakfast. I got a loaf of some kind of super grainy bread from the market district and it was PERFECT for the dippy eggs. Sweet.
Then, I got myself together and actually took my comforter and cover and enormous blue blanket to the laundrymat! I was able to fit all three of them into one enormous $5.00 washer, which proceeded to make all sorts of HORRIBLE sounds. No one who worked there looked twice though, so I guess that behemoth always makes those sounds. I really worried that I had busted the thing with my heavy duty linens, though! While they cooked I worked on slip tallies from the weekend....the new menu stuff is doing really well. Old favorites pierogidilla and graham street tofu and rueben are holding their own. And, the best news for me, soups and specials continue to lead the pack. The regular menu stuff is all awesome, but it's so gratifying when people enjoy the special creative stuff we do!
I got my enormous bed linens dry after half an hour, and then I folded them into their bag and carried them home on my head. It was fun. When I got home I got sucked into what is sure to be my new downfall: tribe.net I signed up back in 2003(!) courtesy of madorange, who is still my only friend. But today I went crazy and joined a ton of tribes. Hopefully after a little while I will weed through them and find the good ones, because I certainly don't have the time to hold all these online conversations! It's definitely the best way to follow what's going on in the bellydance world, and there are pretty active groups for pittsburgh restaurants and recipes and a really entertaining group called "eldergoth". I like that one a lot.
OOOH! It's "Saturday" by Ludacris. I have to admit that I often skip through the rap stuff when it comes on the random play these days, but this song is so FUN! Stickyickyicky......
Well, Sunday.....I'll do a quick recap. Brunch was off tha chain...130 people! One group of 16 followed by a group of 12! We sold out of so much stuff. It was fun though...we were stressed, sure, but Leslie and I made a good and quick team. We got a lot of prep finished before Tait came in too....but he got stuck with most of it. I went back later to see the show and ended up doing a load of dishes for him because I felt bad. I plunged the toilets a couple times, and then settled in to watch the show. The out of towners were fun...the first guy (going by the name of Bicycats) I wasn't that into...he had some sort of offensive lyrics. They were "ironic", but that doesn't always excuse it for me. The second guy, Adam Scandal, I loved. He alternated between lovely songs a la Jeff Buckley and white boy rap with a yellow sony beatbox. Named tony the sony. He was really drunk on shitty beer and just very entertaining. I bought his Cd but haven't listened to it yet.
Then came Julz A who was a white boy rapper on accordion, who played with his brother on violin. They were okay...I wasn't too sure, but then they won me over by playing "Moving Right Along" from the Muppet Movie. I danced and sang along.
Shelby Star, my old morning barista turned elementary school teacher, was amazing. I had never heard her sing before and she was just gorgeous. Then came Colin Fisher, my new morning barista. It's impossible to describe what he does...sort of primitive folk, with contemporary lyrics. Mostly manual percussion (like beating on his chest, or tapping his heels) but sometimes he plays a little guitar and sometimes he plays a little harmonium. I get to play a show with him on the 27th at Belvederes, and I am so excited! Last but not least was Leslie, who never fails to knock me out with her powerful voice and great guitar work. She did "Cripple Creek" and Colin and I sang along.
Unfortunately, no one came out for the show. I blame the football. Hopefully tonight's show gets a better attendance...I meant to go, but I didn't want to leave my chile. And plus, I'm kinda tired. I don't think I would be a very attentive audience member tonight.

well hello there!
it's an absolutely gorgeous saturday....the sun is shining brightly and there is a slight chilly breeze. My all time favorite kind of weather. I might even get out in it for a little bit, to take my comforter to the laundrymat conveniently located next to the liquor store! The one where they have a giant display of all the varieties of Vampire wine. Hoorah! Last night I had my first bottle of Merlot of the season, which was the only variety my liquor store carried last year. I can't wait to try the Pinot Noir and the Cabernet! It's less than $10 a bottle, and the Merlot at least is insanely good. I'll report back on the other varieties.
I had the merlot last night at the Quiet Storm for night two of the five day birthday blowout weekend. It was an Anita Fix and bambam, Pimps Up Hoedown, and Safety Grenade show. Lots of people came out for it even though there was lots of stuff going on, so that was super nice. Safety Grenade were AMAZING! It was my first time seeing them, and they put on a fantastic show. It's very Patti Smith Group sounding, even though Nikki Allen apparently had never heard Patti Smith before getting Tait as her guitarist. Man are they good! Look out for them!
Pimps Up Hoedown are always super entertaining, and last night was no exception. I was a little disappointed that they didn't bring the smoke machine to power up the giant purple papier mache bong that Liz made for them, but it was fun nonetheless. I didn't get to watch any of their set because I was stuck at the door, but it sounded great!
Then we were up, and despite a few flubs here and there (especially Hang on Hickey--ouch!) I think it was our best show yet. Anita was super on with the guitar and the banter, Colin made some fantastic sounds on paint cans and rusty pieces of metal and the tiny gong, and I was pounding my heart out on account of the full moon and the wine. The projections were apparently awesome too, though of course I couldn't see them. There was a good responsive crowd, and a couple people dancing and cheering right up front. It all came together like a happening, which is what I want all of our shows to be. I can't wait till next time!
Moving backwards in the chronology, yesterday in the daytime I opened up and did a lot of intense cooking so I could go home as soon as the afternoon people got there. I made a yummy batch of chicken fried tofu and some stuffing and some black eyed pea and spinach soup. I also made a ton of breakfasts, which seems to happen more and more lately. Finally, people are figuring out that breakfast at the quiet storm rocks! It's about time.
Thursday night was the dance party, and wow, what a party it was! We had a great turnout, and by 8:30 the dancefloor was packed and remained that way until 10:15, when Spat signed off. It was perfectly timed with running out of beer! All good. People loved the food, and I loved sending it out on fancy silver trays for Amy and Sarah to pass around. I more or less took over the kitchen so Jilly and Leslie could party down, and they definitely did! I had a couple of occasions to shake my rump too---including a few that Spat played just for me. (awwwwww) It was a giant QS lovefest. Earlier in the day Thursday I had a flurry of kitchen activity, getting things ready for the party. My vegan spinach dip was the best ever, I think. It disappeared almost as soon as it was put out! Woohoo.
So, Wednesday night....is a blur. I think that's the night that I got home around 3pm and was in bed before 9pm. I was totally exhausted, and I knew that I wasn't going to be getting much rest the rest of the week. Wednesday morning was the big business meeting, and although only 18 people showed up for it...they were big eaters and drinkers. They polished off most of the stuff, and what they didn't polish off the guy who organized the meeting put into a bag to take home. Whatever, he paid for it, but it seemed a little odd to me that he would take it ALL. But, that's non profit management for ya....gotta get it while you can, I guess. It all went super smoothly although I was kinda stressed about it before I got everything set. Once it was all in place I was completely confident and carefree. Ah.
So, now I'm jumping back again to this morning....I FINALLY made my apple fritters! They turned out delish. I ended up combining two recipes into one by soaking the diced apples in brown sugar and lemon juice like in the amish recipe, but using a different batter recipe that didn't involve separating eggs. I will avoid separating eggs unless I am making a freakin meringue, okay? I don't see the point. So I added cinnamon to the batter too, cuz it didn't have any, and substituted butter for oil and buttermilk for milk. So basically, I took the recipe and sliced and diced it to suit my needs. That's what being a cook is all about. They turned out so nice...really not like the ones I was remembering from apple festivals of the past (which were huge and very brown and very cinnamony) but full of appley flavor and nice and dense and crispy-chewy. Yum. There's a lot more in my fridge, too.
Some interesting changes have occurred in the saturday morning PBS lineup--first, they took out the stupid business review program and replaced it with To The Contrary, which is a news program about current events from an all women's perspective. It sometimes gets a little silly with some uber-conservative commentators saying super whack things, but in general, it's waaaay better than the dumb business review program.
Then they've changed up the cooking show lineup....I'm hoping they are going to keep rotating shows through because the only things I really liked today were Lidia and The Master Class from Johnson and Wales. That one is awesome. I am totally over Marianne Esposito (especially right after Lidia...it's just silly) and Dede Wilson and Caprial and John and the everyday food people and that chick who has the "student" come in to her kitchen so she can humiliate him (I've only seen two episodes, and the student has been male both times) all make my skin crawl to varying degrees. I miss Jacques Pepin, and Yan Can Cook, and the various ethnic programs they used to have. I guess I should write to them, huh?
The best thing though....Larry O'Donnell was on McLaughlin Group this morning. I swooned.

Yay!
The schedule for the gay and lesbian film festival arrived in my mailbox yesterday when I was on my way to play a show at the garfield artworks. (well, it obviously arrived a lot earlier, but I had no occasion to leave my house yesterday. yes.) It was a short form schedule so I had to look up the details online. As usual, the boy movies look a lot more interesting to me than the girl movies. Is there really no interesting lesbian cinema being made anymore, or is it just not trickling down to Pittsburgh? I'm curious.
Anyhow, here are my hilights:
10/20 8:30pm South Side Works---Shortbus!!!!
10/22 4:45pm Harris Theater---Meth/ Time for Compassionate Change
10/23 7pm Harris Theater---Life of Reilly
10/24 7pm Harris Theater---Cruel and Unusual
10/24 9:15pm Harris Theater---Avant Garde Introduction (curated by my pal Gordon!)
10/25 9pm Harris Theater---Whole New Thing
10/26 7pm Harris Theater---Pick Up the Mic
10/26 9:15pm Harris Theater---El Calentito
10?29 4:45pm South SIde Works---20 Centimeters

Chances are I will not get to half of them, but I am going to make every effort.
Shortbus, of course, is the highly anticipated film by John Cameron Mitchell with REAL SEX in it. Meth/Time for Compassionate Change are two films about drug use and AIDS....I am curious to see how many people show up for them. Life of Reilly is about Charles Nelson Reilly. Cruel and Unusual is about MTF transexuals in men's prisons. The Avant Garde Introduction includes Kenneth Anger!, Barbara Hammer!, Sadie Benning!, and some other folks with whom I am less familiar. No Derek...but I'm thinking if this program is successful maybe I can lobby for Derek next year. It's never too early.
Whole New Thing looks really fun, and I think my sissy may have recommended it. Pick Up The Mic is about Queer Hip Hop!, and I know my sissy recommended that. El Calentito is about an underground club in Spain in the 80s. 20 Centimeters my sissy said is better than Hedwig, so it must be good.
I didn't look too hard at what is going on the 27th and 28th (I know the Buffy singalong is in there somewhere) because I have a show and a wedding those days.
The website to do further research for yourself is www.plgfs.org. I encourage you to check it out, even if you are straight! My hugest complaint with the PLGFF is their lack of cross marketing to straight people. Hopefully some straight people will come out for Shortbus, at least!

So yeah, played a show last night. It was okay...I got a little "vibed out", I think, because no one had shown up half an hour after the show was supposed to start and Manny was getting nervous, which made me get nervous. It ended up being a good crowd, and we played alright. Mike Tamburo and his hammered dulcimer was incredible. I feel bad that I never got to see any other shows he did since he's been back in town, and now he's moving again. Hopefully he'll come back now and again.
Julie Sokolow was very popular with the crowd...she is really good at what she does, but what she does is a Cat Power-ish sort of thing that is not really my cup of tea. I think a lot of my friends would like her a lot though. She's got several more shows lined up soon around town. I didn't stay for the headliner---I was tired and had a big day ahead of me today. So I abandoned my drums to the trunk of Alan's car and walked myself home in my pirate tights and big floppy hat. I was relatively certain that no one would fuck with me because I looked outlandish, and also I was carrying drumsticks. And I was right.
This morning I got to work and made myself a giant list of everything I have to accomplish in the next two days. It really was giant, and I scratched off about half of it. I scratched off all the things I had to accomplish before 8am tomorrow morning, when I will have 23 business people in the back of the restaurant to whom I have to feed coffee and bagels and muffins. When I agreed to handle this little get together the number was 10, but people just kept adding on. It's okay...there's still enough muffins for everyone to get one. After I got the muffins done I started on a variety of cheeselogs for the dance party on Thursday night...the traditional almond cheddar blue cheese, a horseradish cheddar dill, and a swiss caraway with pecans. I am going to slice them and serve them on little crackers. There's going to be a whole lot of other fun little finger foods, as well as awesome beer from East End Brewing and a dance party, and it's ALL FREE! Hopefully everyone I know will at least stop by...it's from 7pm-10pm. Come say happy birthday to the quiet storm and dive head first into the vegan spinach dip!

Not such a surprise, really.......

You scored as Armand. Your the mysterious type only those close to you know the truth about who you really are Armand 100% Lestat 83% Marius 83% Spike 67% Dracula 67% Louis 58% Blade 58% Angel 50% Deacon Frost 50% Akasha 42% Whose your Vampire personality? (images) created with QuizFarm.com

Oh what a lovely weekend! I hope you all can say the same.
Friday was a mostly do nothing day, and then my evening work shift was sort of busy but fun. I had a groovy time and didn't lose my cool during the rushes. That's always nice.
It was kind of a bummer that NO ONE came out to see Tait and the OPD though. I certainly had a great time dancing around the kitchen and singing along as I made dips, did dishes and swept the floor, but it would have been nice if there had been an audience. Well, tommy amoeba was there, so that counts for something.
Anyway, Saturday there were shows (yeah!) and coffee, and I made cookies for breakfast. Then we got ourselves together and went to pick up Jilly for the Rib Cookoff at the Union Project. Of course, we drove there in her pimpy new Subaru Forester, so we weren't really "picking up" Jilly so much as meeting her. We headed over there in the drizzle only to find that four of the ten contestants had not shown up, and that a couple of the remaining contestants were out of ribs. Boohoo! We managed to sample all but one of the offerings and get some mac and cheese and cole slaw, but it was not totally satisfying. I felt a little bad that the weather had not cooperated with what would have definitely been a great event had everything gone smoothly. Hopefully they'll try again next year, and hopefully rebby will have enough notice to compete by then. Seriously, her ribs would have blown any of them away. I have been fantasizing lately about running away to become a gypsy of some sort anyway, and the ribfest circuit would be perfect. I could be the sides girl for rebby's rib stand, and then I could read tarot on the side. What a great life! Just think of all the washed up rock stars I would get to see!
Since we weren't happy with our rib meal, we decided to go to Buffalo Blues. Where we weren't totally happy with our meal either, but at least there was beer and the food was pretty good. The service was sucky, and just when we were getting ready to leave (thank god!) they cranked the speaker over our table so loud we actually bolted from our seats. It was the stupidest thing I had ever seen, and obviously not a mistake as it stayed that way until we were out of the door. I understand that you are a sports bar and that some of the people there were interested in whatever game you were blasting, but clearly there were other people there to eat. Idiots.
After the disappointing meal I came back home and flounced around a little, then got dressed up all gothy to go to Cirque Gothique. I waited for my date to arrive on the bench in front of the library by the Pan fountain and listened to the drummers in the pavilion across the street. It was a very nice atmosphere to get me into the mood for what was to come.
And, wow. Overall, a really really great show, although there were a few acts that didn't really do it for me, and the setting/lighting were not at all suited to what was going on. But the chance to see Tempest dance her ode to Theda Bara was amazing. The guy who did the Asian sword dancing was also kind of mindblowing, and I always love to see (and hear!) Khafif. It was a really lovely evening that I almost missed because I am so out of the loop! Thanks to Jennie to cluing me into it. I ended up buying the Gothic Bellydance DVD which I have been coveting for a long time from the guy who was dressed up like a carny. (as opposed to the guy who was actually PLAYING a carny in the show...his costume wasn't so great and neither were his parts....unfortunately.) This DVD is about equal parts stunning and cheesy beyond belief. Luckily it is easy to navigate between scenes so I never have to watch the cheesy parts again, and can instead concentrate on the ones I love. I am going to have to take notes next time so I can give hilights.
This morning rebby and I decided to drive around since it was so lovely. We went to Kazanskys for breakfast, and then headed out to find this mythic thrift store in McKeesport. On the way we drove through a lot of little towns I had never heard of. We found McKeesport but didn't find any thrift store. We did find the Original John McGinnis market on Library road....that was amazing. It's this tiny little very cramped specialty food store out in an area where....really...one would not expect a lot of interest in specialty foods. But the place was bumpin! Their Boar's Head deli counter was so gorgeous...lots of sausages I would probably never eat in a million years, but they were so nice to look at. It has a very old world feel to it, that place. I got some authentic German egg noodles and kona coffee(my new love!) and cider, and rebby got a bottle of Stonewall Kitchen Tamarind Sauce which we had on some chicken when we got home. Lordy, was that stuff good. I'll bet I could find it at the market district if I really looked. But going out to the Original McGinnis Market might be a nice thing to do on weekends.
Anyway, we kept driving, trying to figure out the way to get to the part of West Mifflin where the American Thrift is. We never did figure it out before driving in a huge circle and ending up where we started..it would have been easier if we had the atlas in the truck. But rebby lent it to Mike to plan his birthday getaway. Sigh.
The American Thrift was having a 50% off everything sale, which was nice because rebby found an amazing tux for $29.95 that the ladies ended up ringing at $21.95. So she got it for $11 and it fits to a t, except for being a little too long. It's gorgeous! Now we need a fancy dress event to go to! I got a nice red parka with flannel lining for $3.50, and a cool tuxedo jacket for $2.00. Also a pair of giant tortoise shell yellow tinted sunglasses because I couldn't find my regular ones. They are so unusual in their giantness and yellowness that they took some getting used to, but by the time we got home I was loving them. It's nice to break out of the sunglasses comfort zone once in a while.
While we ate our tamarind chicken with rice and peas, we watched Oedipus Rex by Pasolini. It's very cool. I highly recommend it. I still have to finish watching Derek's Edward the II and then I'll get Pasolini's Gospel According to St Matthew and Pink Narcissus. That ought to be a fun double bill!