Tonight The Swells and Hot Club of Cowtown performed at The Dame*, which will close its doors in an hour or two (it's 1 am as I write this).
Lexington has lost something special. I'm too tired to write about it now. More photos and commentary to come.
*The Dame's MySpace page actually has more info; you can see a list of musicians who have performed there and get an idea of what a HOLE the closing of The Dame is going to leave.
During the course of the weekend's events, I had the pleasant experience of being recognized by no less than three people. They either read my blog (Hi, Ashley!) or knew me from Flickr.
I must say, that felt pretty good. I've lived here for two years now, but only recently have I begun to realize how important local connections can be. I mean, I have local friends, but I think I'm starting to build a network.
This past week has proved to me, not that I ever doubted it, that this is one cool town. Besides the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club concert last Saturday, we've been to two other concert events this week, (one at our friend Lolli's shop, Isle Of You) and we'll attend an all-day music festival tomorrow.
The week's events were part of WRFL's 20th anniversary celebration. The student-run station went on the air on March 7, 1988 (I was already DJing at my alma mater! I'm OLD!) and has run continuously since. It was the first station in Lexington to play metal, rap, and hip-hop, and it did not shun the bluegrass music, oh no. Ashley Judd had a show on WRFL, and many of the other DJs/founding members have gone on to various creative careers around the nation.
Anyway, having been a DJ at my college, I'm pretty excited by all the events in Lexington this week. I should have some photos up on Flickr soon.
*I don't think I'm a yokel. I was just trying to rhyme with LOCAL. I'm actually rather erudite cultured. You know, like yogurt, only not quite as tangy.
It has been raining for three days. The stress I have alluded to is compounded by the weather. I didn't sign up for this!
Writing it down, exploring it, will take a while, especially if I keep feeling like this. Today was one of those days where you just want to stay in bed. I didn't, but I didn't do everything I'd planned to, either.
This afternoon I said to Allan, "Let's go to Walgreen's or something and get some nice fluorescent light on our faces." We browsed the aisles, just enjoying the bright lights, when I saw some Elmer's Shimmering Shapes Glaze. I checked it out, returned it to the shelf, and walked away. Five seconds later I decided to buy the stuff. I have that ongoing scrapbook project for my kids (and I really need to start it) and this stuff will be a cool thing to use.
I felt great when we left the store. I do believe the artificial lights at Walgreen's made a difference in my attitude.
Seen on a tag at Pops Resale:
Very very old cookie jar!
$9.95
Includes crack
...but my camera held up during the UK Basketball game tonight.
Entire Flickr Photo Set here.
Edit: By the way, UK beat Santa Clara University, 74-60. I almost didn't get to take my camera into Rupp Arena with me; the security guard told me it was "borderline professional." Then she looked at my ticket and said "And you're pretty close to the floor, too."
She asked what kind of camera it was, and I told her, "It's a Nikon D50. No professional would use this," but the length of the stock lens bugged her. I showed her how far it stuck out. Finally she let me go through the turnstile.
Next time I'm going to hide the lens in my pocket and just show the camera body, dammit.
While Allan and I were out and about this afternoon, he noticed some white markings on the pavement. He commented to me that it was a solution designed to melt snow and ice without having to use the salt trucks.
"They must be expecting snow here," he said. "That explains my sinus headache." My head was aching, too. When we were home again, he checked the weather: it's going to get wicked cold tomorrow, with scattered snow showers. Allan used the words "arctic" and "lake effect snow," and that was all I needed to hear.
It's been warm and sunny for the past two days. Yesterday we did some stuff, which you can read about on Allan's blog. This afternoon we also went out, on foot this time.
First we walked down to Common Grounds and had coffee. We sat out on their back patio area and enjoyed the mild breeze. Charbucks is much closer, but we prefer the ambiance (and the coffee!) at Common Grounds. When the sun was no longer shining on my face, I suggested that we start walking back. We had plenty of time before dark, but I wanted to make a stop on the way home. And we still had to go to Kroger for some things for dinner.
Next we stopped in The Black Market (no website for this eclectic little shop). I love the different kinds of items, jewelry, and clothing here. We spotted a clock we have been wanting to get, and I found just the thing I've been looking for to hold my rings. Bonus!
Feeling good, we left The Black Market and headed for Kroger to get some cheese. We're making pizza for dinner.
The entire time we were out, I just had this grateful feeling. I'm so glad we live in a neighborhood that has access to such local treasures. I'm so glad the weather is beautiful (and as I write this, the sun is just beginning to set). But mostly, I'm grateful to be where I am today. One year ago, I was in Lexington, but it was a week-long visit. Two days later I had to go back to Small Town, France, to my life that didn't have much purpose. Once I realized that I wasn't going to find work besides going back into teaching, I mostly just stayed in my apartment all day long. I did see my kids on the weekends (29 hours straight with them; I calculated). It wasn't all that great. So here I am. I miss my kids like crazy, but I'm happy to be where I am. In a year's time, I hope my kids will live here with us.
Boy, that got all long and rambling, didn't it? All I thought I wanted to say was how much I love living here.
For my birthday about a month ago, Allan's sister JoAnn gave me a Williams-Sonoma gift card. That was pretty darn cool of her, wasn't it?
Well, this afternoon we went to the W-S store at a nearby mall, and I used my gift card on a stovetop espresso maker. I'm very excited, because I used to have one in France (actually, my ex still has it) and it made the most delicious coffee. Here's a pretty crappy photo of it:
Allan and I also got a very cool new tool for our kitchen. Here's a pretty good photo of it:
Again, I used to have a couple of Le Creuset casseroles when I lived in France (and the ex still has one of them), but they were acquired used, so they were both this bright 70s-era orange. And the handle was broken on the skillet. And the dutch oven had no lid, so...
I am really happy to have this. It makes me want to cook (in fact, we're making a vegetable curry in it right now), plus it goes really well with the mixer.
Mmmm, mmmm, finger-clickin' good.
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