SXSW Tour: The Final Day

Yesterday was a good travel day. We got from Little Rock, AR to Roanoke, VA and we managed a couple of good stops in between. We hit the road early from Little Rock and hung on 'til Memphis before stopping for brunch. I googled "best places for brunch in Memphis" and was presented with a couple of nice lists. Both lists included The Arcade Restaurant and since it was right near Beale St., we decided to give it a shot. All I can say is yum! The best french toast I ever had and they had beignets which are nearly impossible to come by in New England. If you're ever in Memphis definitely add The Arcade to your list of restaurants to visit.

After a quick peek at Beale St., a drive by Graceland and a stop for souveniers at Zoe's request (for show and tell) we were back on the road. We pushed through to Knoxville where we stopped for dinner. I'm sure we didn't see the pretty parts of Knoxville (should there be any), but we did find a very convenient shopping and eating area where we were able to get some dinner and pick up a car charger for the iPod which was a pressing need. All-in-all Tennessee redeemed itself on this return leg. What we saw coming down did not appeal. We didn't get to Roanoke until 1AM and I am not sure how Rob managed to drive so long, but he did and I was grateful.

And now were off for our final travel day. We're getting a late start because we got in late so I am not sure if we'll make any good stops today, but we'll see

Today's plan:

SXSW Tour: Final day

Destination: home

Expected travel time: 9 hours -- not including expected traffic. Hopefully it won't be too awful coming in to the tri-state area, but I don't have high hopes.

SXSW Tour: The Return

Yesterday afternoon after a tearful good-bye, we were on the road again. Destination: Little Rock, AR. We arrived with no problems. The drive was about as straight, flat, and boring as it gets and we made good time. Luckily the scenery improves today.

Our stay in Dallas was lots of fun and lots of eating! Between Thanksgiving lunch and all the other eating we did, I think I might need to fast for a few days. My favorite meal by far was had at Mi Cocina in Dallas at Highland Park Village. It was Tex-Mex food and it was sooooo good. Other highlights included watching Zoe and Karen's daughter play together non-stop, a grown-ups night out with the kids at an amazing place called Adventure Kids Playcare which is drop-off babysitting (an amazing thing I wish we had nearby), and, of course, our first time on a real Texas ranch -- the Triple S Ranch. More on the ranch later. Right now we have to get going because we have a long day ahead.

Today's plan:

SXSW Tour: Day 7

Destination: Roanoke, VA

Expected travel time: 12 hours

Sights: Hopefully we'll have lunch in Memphis and pick up some Elvis souveniers!

Words for Wednesday on Thanksgiving Thursday

I have been busy vacationing and not blogging much so I missed "Words for Wednesday." Instead I thought I combine lyrics with a Thanksgiving tradition -- at least around where I'm from. The tradition is to play Arlo Guthrie's "Alice's Restaurant." It is an extremely long song so without further ado...

Alice's Restaurant
By Arlo Guthrie

(listen/watch here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_7C0QGkiVo)

This song is called Alice's Restaurant, and it's about Alice, and the
restaurant, but Alice's Restaurant is not the name of the restaurant,
that's just the name of the song, and that's why I called the song Alice's
Restaurant.

You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant
You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant
Walk right in it's around the back
Just a half a mile from the railroad track
You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant

Now it all started two Thanksgivings ago, was on - two years ago on
Thanksgiving, when my friend and I went up to visit Alice at the
restaurant, but Alice doesn't live in the restaurant, she lives in the
church nearby the restaurant, in the bell-tower, with her husband Ray and
Fasha the dog. And livin' in the bell tower like that, they got a lot of
room downstairs where the pews used to be in. Havin' all that room,
seein' as how they took out all the pews, they decided that they didn't
have to take out their garbage for a long time.

We got up there, we found all the garbage in there, and we decided it'd be
a friendly gesture for us to take the garbage down to the city dump. So
we took the half a ton of garbage, put it in the back of a red VW
microbus, took shovels and rakes and implements of destruction and headed
on toward the city dump.

Well we got there and there was a big sign and a chain across across the
dump saying, "Closed on Thanksgiving." And we had never heard of a dump
closed on Thanksgiving before, and with tears in our eyes we drove off
into the sunset looking for another place to put the garbage.

We didn't find one. Until we came to a side road, and off the side of the
side road there was another fifteen foot cliff and at the bottom of the
cliff there was another pile of garbage. And we decided that one big pile
is better than two little piles, and rather than bring that one up we
decided to throw our's down.

That's what we did, and drove back to the church, had a thanksgiving
dinner that couldn't be beat, went to sleep and didn't get up until the
next morning, when we got a phone call from officer Obie. He said, "Kid,
we found your name on an envelope at the bottom of a half a ton of
garbage, and just wanted to know if you had any information about it." And
I said, "Yes, sir, Officer Obie, I cannot tell a lie, I put that envelope
under that garbage."

After speaking to Obie for about fourty-five minutes on the telephone we
finally arrived at the truth of the matter and said that we had to go down
and pick up the garbage, and also had to go down and speak to him at the
police officer's station. So we got in the red VW microbus with the
shovels and rakes and implements of destruction and headed on toward the
police officer's station.

Now friends, there was only one or two things that Obie coulda done at
the police station, and the first was he could have given us a medal for
being so brave and honest on the telephone, which wasn't very likely, and
we didn't expect it, and the other thing was he could have bawled us out
and told us never to be see driving garbage around the vicinity again,
which is what we expected, but when we got to the police officer's station
there was a third possibility that we hadn't even counted upon, and we was
both immediately arrested. Handcuffed. And I said "Obie, I don't think I
can pick up the garbage with these handcuffs on." He said, "Shut up, kid.
Get in the back of the patrol car."

And that's what we did, sat in the back of the patrol car and drove to the
quote Scene of the Crime unquote. I want tell you about the town of
Stockbridge, Massachusets, where this happened here, they got three stop
signs, two police officers, and one police car, but when we got to the
Scene of the Crime there was five police officers and three police cars,
being the biggest crime of the last fifty years, and everybody wanted to
get in the newspaper story about it. And they was using up all kinds of
cop equipment that they had hanging around the police officer's station.
They was taking plaster tire tracks, foot prints, dog smelling prints, and
they took twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy photographs with circles
and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining what each
one was to be used as evidence against us. Took pictures of the approach,
the getaway, the northwest corner the southwest corner and that's not to
mention the aerial photography.

After the ordeal, we went back to the jail. Obie said he was going to put
us in the cell. Said, "Kid, I'm going to put you in the cell, I want your
wallet and your belt." And I said, "Obie, I can understand you wanting my
wallet so I don't have any money to spend in the cell, but what do you
want my belt for?" And he said, "Kid, we don't want any hangings." I
said, "Obie, did you think I was going to hang myself for littering?"
Obie said he was making sure, and friends Obie was, cause he took out the
toilet seat so I couldn't hit myself over the head and drown, and he took
out the toilet paper so I couldn't bend the bars roll out the - roll the
toilet paper out the window, slide down the roll and have an escape. Obie
was making sure, and it was about four or five hours later that Alice
(remember Alice? It's a song about Alice), Alice came by and with a few
nasty words to Obie on the side, bailed us out of jail, and we went back
to the church, had a another thanksgiving dinner that couldn't be beat,
and didn't get up until the next morning, when we all had to go to court.

We walked in, sat down, Obie came in with the twenty seven eight-by-ten
colour glossy pictures with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back
of each one, sat down. Man came in said, "All rise." We all stood up,
and Obie stood up with the twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy
pictures, and the judge walked in sat down with a seeing eye dog, and he
sat down, we sat down. Obie looked at the seeing eye dog, and then at the
twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy pictures with circles and arrows
and a paragraph on the back of each one, and looked at the seeing eye dog.
And then at twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy pictures with circles
and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one and began to cry,
'cause Obie came to the realization that it was a typical case of American
blind justice, and there wasn't nothing he could do about it, and the
judge wasn't going to look at the twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy
pictures with the circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each
one explaining what each one was to be used as evidence against us. And
we was fined $50 and had to pick up the garbage in the snow, but thats not
what I came to tell you about.

Came to talk about the draft.

They got a building down New York City, it's called Whitehall Street,
where you walk in, you get injected, inspected, detected, infected,
neglected and selected. I went down to get my physical examination one
day, and I walked in, I sat down, got good and drunk the night before, so
I looked and felt my best when I went in that morning. `Cause I wanted to
look like the all-American kid from New York City, man I wanted, I wanted
to feel like the all-, I wanted to be the all American kid from New York,
and I walked in, sat down, I was hung down, brung down, hung up, and all
kinds o' mean nasty ugly things. And I waked in and sat down and they gave
me a piece of paper, said, "Kid, see the phsychiatrist, room 604."

And I went up there, I said, "Shrink, I want to kill. I mean, I wanna, I
wanna kill. Kill. I wanna, I wanna see, I wanna see blood and gore and
guts and veins in my teeth. Eat dead burnt bodies. I mean kill, Kill,
KILL, KILL." And I started jumpin up and down yelling, "KILL, KILL," and
he started jumpin up and down with me and we was both jumping up and down
yelling, "KILL, KILL." And the sargent came over, pinned a medal on me,
sent me down the hall, said, "You're our boy."

Didn't feel too good about it.

Proceeded on down the hall gettin more injections, inspections,
detections, neglections and all kinds of stuff that they was doin' to me
at the thing there, and I was there for two hours, three hours, four
hours, I was there for a long time going through all kinds of mean nasty
ugly things and I was just having a tough time there, and they was
inspecting, injecting every single part of me, and they was leaving no
part untouched. Proceeded through, and when I finally came to the see the
last man, I walked in, walked in sat down after a whole big thing there,
and I walked up and said, "What do you want?" He said, "Kid, we only got
one question. Have you ever been arrested?"

And I proceeded to tell him the story of the Alice's Restaurant Massacre,
with full orchestration and five part harmony and stuff like that and all
the phenome... - and he stopped me right there and said, "Kid, did you ever
go to court?"

And I proceeded to tell him the story of the twenty seven eight-by-ten
colour glossy pictures with the circles and arrows and the paragraph on
the back of each one, and he stopped me right there and said, "Kid, I want
you to go and sit down on that bench that says Group W .... NOW kid!!"

And I, I walked over to the, to the bench there, and there is, Group W's
where they put you if you may not be moral enough to join the army after
committing your special crime, and there was all kinds of mean nasty ugly
looking people on the bench there. Mother rapers. Father stabbers. Father
rapers! Father rapers sitting right there on the bench next to me! And
they was mean and nasty and ugly and horrible crime-type guys sitting on the
bench next to me. And the meanest, ugliest, nastiest one, the meanest
father raper of them all, was coming over to me and he was mean 'n' ugly
'n' nasty 'n' horrible and all kind of things and he sat down next to me
and said, "Kid, whad'ya get?" I said, "I didn't get nothing, I had to pay
$50 and pick up the garbage." He said, "What were you arrested for, kid?"
And I said, "Littering." And they all moved away from me on the bench
there, and the hairy eyeball and all kinds of mean nasty things, till I
said, "And creating a nuisance." And they all came back, shook my hand,
and we had a great time on the bench, talkin about crime, mother stabbing,
father raping, all kinds of groovy things that we was talking about on the
bench. And everything was fine, we was smoking cigarettes and all kinds of
things, until the Sargeant came over, had some paper in his hand, held it
up and said.

"Kids, this-piece-of-paper's-got-47-words-37-sentences-58-words-we-wanna-
know-details-of-the-crime-time-of-the-crime-and-any-other-kind-of-thing-
you-gotta-say-pertaining-to-and-about-the-crime-I-want-to-know-arresting-
officer's-name-and-any-other-kind-of-thing-you-gotta-say", and talked for
forty-five minutes and nobody understood a word that he said, but we had
fun filling out the forms and playing with the pencils on the bench there,
and I filled out the massacre with the four part harmony, and wrote it
down there, just like it was, and everything was fine and I put down the
pencil, and I turned over the piece of paper, and there, there on the
other side, in the middle of the other side, away from everything else on
the other side, in parentheses, capital letters, quotated, read the
following words:

("KID, HAVE YOU REHABILITATED YOURSELF?")

I went over to the sargent, said, "Sargeant, you got a lot a damn gall to
ask me if I've rehabilitated myself, I mean, I mean, I mean that just, I'm
sittin' here on the bench, I mean I'm sittin here on the Group W bench
'cause you want to know if I'm moral enough join the army, burn women,
kids, houses and villages after bein' a litterbug." He looked at me and
said, "Kid, we don't like your kind, and we're gonna send you fingerprints
off to Washington."

And friends, somewhere in Washington enshrined in some little folder, is a
study in black and white of my fingerprints. And the only reason I'm
singing you this song now is cause you may know somebody in a similar
situation, or you may be in a similar situation, and if your in a
situation like that there's only one thing you can do and that's walk into
the shrink wherever you are ,just walk in say "Shrink, You can get
anything you want, at Alice's restaurant.". And walk out. You know, if
one person, just one person does it they may think he's really sick and
they won't take him. And if two people, two people do it, in harmony,
they may think they're both faggots and they won't take either of them.
And three people do it, three, can you imagine, three people walking in
singin a bar of Alice's Restaurant and walking out. They may think it's an
organization. And can you, can you imagine fifty people a day,I said
fifty people a day walking in singin a bar of Alice's Restaurant and
walking out. And friends they may thinks it's a movement.

And that's what it is , the Alice's Restaurant Anti-Massacre Movement, and
all you got to do to join is sing it the next time it come's around on the
guitar.

With feeling. So we'll wait for it to come around on the guitar, here and
sing it when it does. Here it comes.

You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant
You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant
Walk right in it's around the back
Just a half a mile from the railroad track
You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant

That was horrible. If you want to end war and stuff you got to sing loud.
I've been singing this song now for twenty five minutes. I could sing it
for another twenty five minutes. I'm not proud... or tired.

So we'll wait till it comes around again, and this time with four part
harmony and feeling.

We're just waitin' for it to come around is what we're doing.

All right now.

You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant
Excepting Alice
You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant
Walk right in it's around the back
Just a half a mile from the railroad track
You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant

Da da da da da da da dum
At Alice's Restaurant

SXSW Tour: We Made It!

Day 3 went very well. We were on schedule all day hitting the road by 8AM and keeping the stops to a minimum. The day's highlights included breakfast at the Loretta Lynn Kitchen (not sure if it is an officially sanctioned Loretta Lynn restaurant, but I've had worse), a disappointing stop at a rest stop that promised TCBY frozen yogurt, but the frozen yogurt machines turned out to be broken, and Tex-Mex food for dinner in the Texas side of Texarkana. We arrived in Dallas around 9:30PM and stayed up talking until Rob passed out from all the driving around midnight.

All-in-all it was a really good drive. I didn't have to do any of the actual driving so I found it very relaxing to just sit there and watch the world go by. As a matter of fact this is the most relaxed I've felt in quite some time. Kentucky and Tennessee were really not my cup of tea (even sweet tea) although I am sure we missed most of the good stuff. I have been to Louisville, KY before so I know not all of KY is like the Wal-Mart and Horse Cave hotel experience we had, and I've been to Nashville and Memphis, but this time we just drove on past those spots. What we did see seemed to be from an alternate universe where people do a lot of hunting and wear Clint Black t-shirts. Not at all what I'm used to, I guess, but everyone was friendly so I can't complain too much.

SXSW Tour: Days 4, 5, 6

Destinations: in and around Dallas/Ft. Worth area

Sights: to include, but not limited to the King Tut exhibit at the Dallas Museum of Art, Highland Park Village shops, Dallas Zoo, movies, and many kid-friendly restaurants.

On Thanksgiving Day we're headed out to Athens, TX for Thanksgiving at the ranch belonging to our friend's family. That will definitely be a different way to spend the day!

SXSW Tour: Where's Eeyore????

We got off to a late start yesterday and after visiting the Gettysburg Battlefield Visitor's Center and driving around the town of Gettysburg, we were even later.  But we weren't too concerned because we'd had a good night's sleep and figured we wouldn't make any other long stops and everything would be fine, right?  Wrong.  Of course wrong.  

About 7 hours of driving from Gettysburg headed to St. Louis, MO where our hotel with a view of the Gateway Arch was waiting my blood ran cold when Zoe asked, "Where's Eeyore?"  My mind instantly flashed back to earlier that morning and packing up Zoe's suitcase.  I had not put in Eeyore.  Oh. my. God.  Zoe has had Eeyore since her first Christmas.  She cannot face bedtime without him.  

"Do you remember packing Eeyore?" I asked Rob, hoping against hope.  

"No," he said looking at me and we both knew we were in trouble.

Rob pulled over at the next exit and checked the suitcases just in case.  Nope, no Eeyore.  I quickly found the receipt from the hotel and asked Rob to call them while I broke the news.  It did not go over well.  And that is an enormous understatement.  By some miracle the hotel had Eeyore and they were willing to Fed-Ex him to us in Dallas, but still that did not fully help.  What was Zoe going to do tonight??  I decided we'd have to find a Wal-Mart and get some kind of replacement.  

So, another stop top shop at Wal-Mart (not hard to find in KY), then dinner, and by the time we got back in the car the GPS said it would be 3AM before we arrived in St. Louis.  I immediately knew that was not going to happen.  So, we re-programmed the GPS to head right for Dallas, drove a couple more hours and ended up spending the night in Horse Cave, KY otherwise knows as Somewhere, KY.

Today's plan:

SXSW Tour:  Day 3

Destination:  Dallas, TX

Expected travel time:  12 hours

Sights:  Only what we can see from the car.  We just want to get there and minimize the detours.  

Will hopefully report in next from Dallas!

SXSW Tour: Gettysburg

We made pretty good time leaving the New York area yesterday afternoon only hitting real traffic on the GW Bridge. We were moving along at a very good clip until somewhere in Nowhere, PA we saw in the darkness a huge sign that said "Cabela's." Rob, who was starting to get a bit drowsy immediately perked up. "Cabela's?" he said like a kid on Christmas morning. "Should we stop?"

Rob regularly pours over the Cabela's catalog dreaming up all kinds of camping and fishing fantasies. I do not pretend to understand, but I could only imagine that going to an actual Cabela's store would be the equivalent of me going to a Kate Spade store. So, we stopped and Oh. My. God. It was so absurd that it could have been a Saturday Night Live skit. There were dead things everywhere. There were all kinds of implements for moving dead things. There were things to wear while getting things dead. It was stomach turning. I can't even dwell on it or I will ruin my breakfast. Needless to say I had quite the vegetarian dinner after we left the store. The store also happens to be enormous so it was over an hour and a half before we got out of there with the armload of things Rob could not live without. It was fun to see him shop with abandon and he did not actually buy and implements of death. Zoe was quite confused by the place. I'm not sure what she thought. I will have to remember to ask her today.

So, here's my report:

SXSW Tour: Day 2

Destination: St. Louis, MO

Expected travel time: 12 hours

Sights: Gettysburg National Military Park, Gateway Arch.

Believe it or not, this morning I went to the gym and then took Zoe swimming in the hotel pool. We are about get breakfast and hit the road again.

We've got 10 - 11 hours between sights so who knows what we'll find today. Hopefully something more like Kate Spade and less like Cabela's!

S X SW Tour

This year on our long list of things to be thankful for, we add the fact that gas prices have gone down dramatically in the last several weeks. The whole Zoe family is headed off for vacation this very afternoon and we could not be more excited about it. We are driving off into the sunset for a good old-fashioned road trip ending at our good friend's house in Dallas, TX where we will be spending several fun-filled days and nights including Turkey Day and then we will turn around and head back home.

Road trip!

S X SW Trek: Day one

Destination: Gettysburgh, PA

Expected travel time: 6 hours

Sights: Battlefield, hotel's indoor pool

I have made sure that all our the hotels (2 going, 2 returning) have pools so that Zoe can get some exercise. We will also be on the look-out for playgrounds along the way. And of course, we will try to fit in some good sights -- anybody know where we can find the largest ball of twine???

I will be doing my best to blog about the journey and include photos.

Words for Wednesday: Least Complicated

"Least Complicated" is on the Indigo Girls 1994 album "Swamp Ophelia" and I have been faithfully adding it to mixes (tape, then CD, now iPod playlists) since I first heard the song and bought the CD.

What is more true than the line "The hardest to learn was the least complicated" ? Especially in matters of love as this song pertains, but isn't it that way with everything? I can't count the moments of my life where I acted such a fool hoping for something despite the fact that the truth was plain to see and clearly that truth did not involve my hopes. Hoping that boy liked me, really liked me. Hoping that job would be offered. Hoping that just a little bit of good luck would come my way this one time, despite all signs to the contrary. Oh how those things hurt. And you would think that the hurt would help you to not make the same mistakes over and over, but in some things, you think you can make it happen this one time and "start clean slated."


Least Complicated
by The Indigo Girls

I sit two stories above the street
Its awful quiet here since love fell asleep
There's life down below me though
The kids are walking home from school

Some long ago when we were taught
That for whatever kind of puzzle you got
You just stick the right formula in
A solution for every fool

I remember the time when I came so close to you
Sent me skipping my class and running from school
And I bought you that ring cause I never was cool
What makes me think I could start clean slated
The hardest to learn was the least complicated

So I just sit up in the house and resist
And not be seen until I cease to exist
A kind of conscientious objection
A kind of dodging the draft

The boy and girl are holding hands on the street
And I don't want to but I think you just wait
Its more than just eye to eye
Learn the things I could never apply

I remember the time when I came so close with you
I let everything go it seemed the only truth
And I bought you that ring, it seemed the thing to do

What makes me think I could start clean slated
The hardest to learn was the least complicated
So what makes me think I could start clean slated
The hardest to learn was the least complicated

I'm just a mirror of a mirror myself
All the things that I do
And the next time I fall I'm gonna have to recall
Its isn't love its only something new

I sit two stories above the street
Its awful quiet here since love fell asleep
There's life down below me though
The kids are walking home from school

Im remember the time when I came so close with you
Sent me skipping my class and running from school
And I bought you that ring cause I never was cool

What makes me think I could start clean slated
The hardest to learn was the least complicated
So what makes me think I could start clean slated
The hardest to learn was the least complicated
The least complicated
The least complicated

Blogger meet-up

So, Saturday was the big blogger meet-up day and it was a great success. In attendance: Emily, Becky, Dorothy, Hobgoblin, Cam, and Charlotte. If you go to Dorothy's blog you can read a really nice summary of the day's events so I won't re-write that part.

What I really want to say is thank you to my blogging friends for sharing your thoughts, taking the time to write and write often, and creating such an interesting community that I have come to rely on every day. Some blogs I have been following for awhile and some I am a newer reader, but I really enjoy keeping up with all your posts and getting to know you through your writing. That said, it was a real treat to put actual people with the voices behind these blogs. I look forward getting to know you all better and hope that we can meet up again someday.

Special thanks go out to Emily for organizing our day. And thanks and happy 40th to Charlotte who's birthday trip made this possible. I hope all your NYC birthday wishes came true!

P.S. The books I bought for Zoe at the Strand made up for the fact that I went off for this fun day without her even though Becky and Emily are her friends too. I was forgiven and welcomed home.

The Alcholic Meme

I found this one over at Emily's bar, I mean blog.

1. What’s your favorite drink?
It often depends on the weather or the food, but Vodka Tonic with lime always works for me.

2. Do you prefer red or white wine?
In general I prefer red.

3. Do you prefer dark or pale ale?
In that case, I prefer diet coke. Beer of every variety just turns my stomach. I can't stand the smell or the taste and it doesn't agree with me at all.

4. What was the worst hangover you ever had?
It was after a night of many El Rio Grande happy hour margaritas that never progressed to actual dinner. (Those of you who have been to El Rio Grande on 38th Street know how strong those margaritas are. Those of you who haven't been, please proceed with caution if you ever find yourself at that establishment.) I didn't even get home that late, but by the time I did I knew I was in trouble. A stomach full of strawberry margarita and not much else is not good. I was sick most of the night. The next day I went to work and my boss, who knew immediately that I was hung over told me that I should have called out sick. I was embarrassed, but she was right. My head hurts just thinking about it.

5. Would you describe yourself as a mean drunk, a happy drunk, or a maudlin drunk?
Definitely a happy drunk.

6. Are you a two-fisted drinker or a light-weight?
Complete light-weight except for once in a blue moon when I can drink like a fish, barely feel it, and be completely fine the next day. Obviously, the stars have to be perfectly aligned for that to happen.

7. Do you drink while reading?
Not usually. I like to talk when I'm drinking.

8. Reading what makes you want to drink?
Raymond Carver short stories or Richard Russo novels.

9. Which favorite fictional character of yours has got to be an alcoholic?
Most of Raymond Carver's and Richard Russo's.

10. Which fictional character would you most like to bar hop with?
Delysia LaFosse from Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. I can just imagine the amazing bars she would know about, the fabulous clothes we would wear, the handsome men we would meet.

11. What’s your favorite scene from a movie involving drink?
The scene in Sideways where Paul Giamatti's character says: No, if anyone orders Merlot, I'm leaving. I am NOT drinking any fucking Merlot!

12. Watching what movie makes you want to drink?
The SpongeBob Square Pants Movie. Do I need to explain?

OK, I have to go now so I have time to stop and buy wine on my way home...

Proud to be a Connecticut Yankee

Today is the official start of same-sex marriages as a reality in Connecticut!

There's a nice article in the NY Times about it all.

“Today, Connecticut sends a message of hope and promise to lesbian and gay people throughout the country who want to be treated as equal citizens by their government,” said Ben Klein, a lawyer with Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, a Boston group that litigated the Connecticut case. “It is living proof that marriage equality is moving forward in this country.”

Interestingly on Monday night Zoe and I were in Border's and out of the blue she asked me, "Mom, can a girl marry a girl?"

I smiled to myself and said, "yes, a girl can marry a girl and boy can marry a boy." And I thought to myself -- now.

Words for Wednesday: New York State of Mind

Maybe it is because I am looking forward to my blogger meet-up day in the city on Saturday or maybe it's because I just simply love New York (insert the "I love New York" theme song here), but this song has been in my head lately. Billy Joel's own love for New York comes shining through this song through both the words and the piano.

I always get that riding in a cab up Fifth Avenue on a clear night with a view of the Empire State Building feeling when I hear it.


New York State of Mind
by Billy Joel

Some folks like to get away,
Take a holiday from the neighborhood.
Hop a flight to Miami Beach or to Hollywood.
But I'm takin' a Greyhound on the Hudson River line.
I'm in a New York state of mind.

I've seen all the movie stars in their fancy cars and their limousines.
Been high in the Rockies under the evergreens.
I know what I'm needin', and I don't wanna waste more time.
I'm in a New York state of mind.

It was so easy livin' day by day
Out of touch with the rhythm and blues
But now I need a little give and take
The New York Times, the Daily News.

It comes down to reality, and it's fine with me cause I've let it slide.
I don't care if it's Chinatown or on Riverside.
I don't have any reasons.
I left them all behind.
I'm in a New York state of mind.
Oh yeah.

It was so easy living day by day
Out of touch with the rhythm and blues
But now I need a little give and take
The New York Times, the Daily News.
Who, oh, oh whoa who.

It comes down to reality, and it's fine with me cause I've let it slide.
I don't care if it's Chinatown or on Riverside.
I don't have any reasons.
I left them all behind.
I'm in a New York state of mind.

I'm just taking a Greyhound on the Hudson River line.
Cause I'm in a, I'm in a New York state of mind

Cosmetics Counter: Eyeshadow Primer Potion

Eyeshadow Primer Potion by Urban Decay claims to do what many products have claimed before. The difference is that this stuff actually works!

Urban Decay's claim:

This miracle eyeshadow primer is unmatched by any other in the beauty industry! The genie in this bottle fulfills three wishes: eyeshadow that lasts, more vibrant and lasting color, and absolutely NO creasing.

It goes on quickly and easily although I recommend blotting it on with the wand and then smoothing it out with your finger. It dries quickly and does not affect the color of your eye shadow.

When I bought it I was highly skeptical of its ability to make my eye shadow last without creasing, but being the sucker that I am, I was grabbed by the marketing and bought it anyway. The first day I used it my expectations were low. I put my make-up on at around 7:30AM as I do most mornings and I was absolutely shocked to look in the mirror at around 5PM and see that I still had eye shadow on my eyes. No creases either. Amazing!

The arc of history

There's this one small part of President-elect Obama's speech from election night that I keep thinking about:

It's the answer that led those who've been told for so long by so many to be cynical and fearful and doubtful about what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.

I just love that so much and my naive, liberal heart really hopes it is true.

Relive the moment. Read the full speech.

Words for Wednesday: Falling Slowly

This week's song for Words for Wednesday is the Academy Award wining Falling Slowly by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova from the movie Once which I wrote about a couple of weeks ago. This song is on the CD playing in my car that I sing along with daily and has been on my favorites list since the moment I heard it in the movie.

It is ostensibly a love song, but the chorus makes me now think about Obama's victory and the change this could really mean. It has the same hopefulness -- "raise your hopeful voice" -- that I feel. Whatever you bring to it, it is just a beautiful, beautiful song.

Falling Slowly

I don't know you
But I want you
All the more for that
Words fall through me
And always fool me
And I can't react
And games that never amount
To more than they're meant
Will play themselves out

Take this sinking boat and point it home
We've still got time
Raise your hopeful voice you have a choice
You've made it now

Falling slowly, eyes that know me
And I can't go back
Moods that take me and erase me
And I'm painted black
You have suffered enough
And warred with yourself
It's time that you won

Take this sinking boat and point it home
We've still got time
Raise your hopeful voice you had a choice
You've made it now

Take this sinking boat and point it home
We've still got time
Raise your hopeful voice you had a choice
You've made it now
Falling slowly sing your melody
I'll sing along

Hear it for yourself at the movie's website. While you're at it, listen to the entire soundtrack.

I love your blog

Earlier this week I was given an award by by Becky from her sofa and my soon to be new friend in real life, Charlotte. Thanks to you both! I feel the same love for you.

And now I have to pass it on. The rules are:

1) Add the logo of the award to your blog.
2) Add a link to the person who awarded it to you (as shown above).
3) Nominate at least seven other blogs.
4) Add links to those blogs on your blog.

So the awards go to...

Heather and her D's. Love keeping up with her boys.

Sara -- one of my newest blog favorites. Love her view on life and motherhood.

Rebecca Of Books and Bicycles whose writing on books is a regular education

Emily the Telecommuter who regularly makes me laugh out loud.

Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle His blog is more than just hints for the day's puzzle (which I often rely on), but really interesting thoughts and analysis of the daily puzzle and I love it.

Traciedesigns who is a great shopper and and even better designer.

And last, but certainly not least...

Becky from her sofa. And not just because she gave me the award -- I love her and her point of view.

MaBloCoPoMo

I kind of meant to participate in NaBloPoMo, but somehow I looked up and it was already November 2. Instead I've made up my own event MaBloCoPoMo -- Marcy's (that's me) Blog Comment Posting Month.

I will do my best to comment on every one's NaBloPoMo posts as an encouragement for their efforts. I am sure their will be some terribly inane comments, but I will try to write something meaningful.

Get out and vote!

Get your own badge here. It's free. Thanks Mandie!

Looking devilish

IMG_1243, originally uploaded by Marcyjill.

Here's Zoe all dressed up for Halloween and doing her best to look evil.

Halloween was 24 hours of celebrating this year -- starting with the parade and party at school Friday afternoon and finishing up at a party at my sister-in-law's house on Saturday afternoon. Enough candy has been consumed to make all 5 dentists scream and the tatoos will hopefully be gone by Thanksgiving.

More pictures here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcyjill/sets/72157608599581590/