Potential Signs of the Apocalypse?

In part because of the lack of work that was accomplished, due to the hours spent cleaning last night, this morning things were a little hectic in the workplace.

This meant I spent from 8:30 until noon outside cleaning what we refer to as "The Backyard", which in reality is the alley behind the store. We keep our pallets (plastic and wooden) back there, as well as our cardboard bales, milk crates and other extraneous things t hat will not fit into our tiny stockroom until some organization has been imposed upon it. And while this doesn't sound so bad, today it was 105 degrees outside. For real.

Right after I finished, the skies opened and we had a minor deluge. The highlight of that for me was Uncle Jebb walking our customers out to their cars on by one, under a giant golf umbrella. He was soaked to the bone in a matter of minutes. That's service, people.

The Cleaning Party

We had a little party tonight after the store closed at 9 pm.

Everyone came in to clean. Yep. There were spray bottles of cleaner and bleach, new rubber matting to replace the old matting, buckets, sponges, industrial strength rubber gloves, razor blades and 50 pairs of hands.

It is absolutely amazing what 50 people can accomplish in two hours. The best part of the night, for me, was the sound of everyone working and having fun together. I now it sounds weird, but we had a great time, and we have shiny, sparkly store to show for it.

Happy Birthday

I want to take a minute here to publicly wish my one and only, BC, Happy Birthday.

You'll always be the older woman.

New Music Tuesday - Back in Time

After my long association with the magnificent, extraordinary Duffy Bishop, I thought it was about time that I pick up a Janis Joplin CD. (For those not in the know, Duffy starred as janis for over a year in a play in Seattle, and toured Japan in 1997 with Big Brother and the Holding Company.)

I chose Cheap Thrills by Big Brother and the Holding Company, because an old video of Duffy blasting the roof off of a joint singing the final notes of Ball and Chain, the microphone held down at her bosom, has got to be one of my favorite musical moments of all time. So I wanted to hear Janis give it a whirl.

Actually my favorite track on this CD turned out to be Turtle Blues, then Ball and Chain, Piece of My Heart and Sam Andrews great opener, Combination of the Two.

I am really glad I picked this up.

The Night of the Great Deluge

So there we were at work, getting the pallets off of the truck, when we were subjected to one of the hardest, loudest thunderstorms I can remember. The lightning was so close to us we could actually see where it was hitting the ground. Several of the young men were helping with the truck ( a process that takes about 40 minutes) and they quickly disrobed down to their shorts and were yelling and kicking water at each other. It was about this time that I (sensibly being the only one in a rain coat, although it served no purpose as it was soaked through as well) noticed the water on the pavement was about three inches in depth, the rain kept coming, lightning was flashing, and we were handling very large metal machines. So I called the game and got my boys inside STAT.

About 5 minutes later, that's right, the rain stopped. Go figure. But we got rewarded with fresh, hot pizzas from Pizza Hut. We deserved it.

John Lennon & My Uncle

I heard a story in NPR this morning that got me to thinking...

As a wee tot, I spent most of my time at my grandmother's house, with my aunt and uncle. I thought my uncle was the coolest thing on the planet. I idolized him and everything he did.

So when I was about 5, and he was 16, we used to sit at the dining room table with a big, orange cheap cotton bag of newly procured stamps and spend hours sorting, dividing and arranging the new acquisitions into our stamp albums. He bought me a paperback stamp album, less than a quarter of an inch thick, and he worked in this hefty three ring binder book. We would commandeer the table all night, drinking coffee (yes, I drank coffee at 5), and playing with the paraphenalia of stamp collecting: scissors, tweezers, plastic hinges, a small dish of water for said hinges, and a little world atlas to reference strange and exotic foreign countries.

Lots of great stuff can come from stamp collecting. You learn about geography, and all kinds of other interesting stuff from the colorful pictures on stamps (animals, art, politics), and you learn about visual organization as you work on a page. It teaches you patience and hand-eye coordination. And you learn to be still. Even when you are wired on caffeine.

So this NPR story was about the Smithsonian acquiring John Lennon's stamp collection.

My uncle collected stamps. So did John.
My uncle was an artist. So was John.
My uncle played guitar. So did John.

I worshipped by uncle and wanted to be just like him. Never had any feelings for Lennon.

Art Auction News

Cassius Marcellus Coolidge (1844 1934).

Who is this you ask? This is the man responsible for one of the most ubiquitous works in all of art - yes, that's right, he is the guy who did 1903's Dogs Playing Poker.

And there was a little auction of two of his Dogs Playing Poker paintings, Waterloo: Two and A Bold Bluff. The estimate for his paintings was $50 -70,000. Not bad, right?

The realized figure for the painting was $590,400.

All in, baby.

16 Hours With Kadobi

My friend Kadobi (who has not made an appearance here since October 22!) and I got to work at 3 am and made spur-of-the-moment plans to hang out together for the afternoon.

This was brought on by two outside forces - 1.) it was going to be miserable and air-conditioning sounded great and 2.) Organized Living, a ridiculously over-priced container store was finally throwing in the towel and calling it a day. They were selling off their inventory, and it seemed like a good time to invest in a CD shelving system which would finally free up my bookshelves for books. I got the last three of their double maple CD units (each holds about 660 CDs) and discovered that they wouldn't fit into my car.

The Great Kadobi has recently upgraded his ride, and said he would not only take the 3 units to my house, he would carry them in for me (and they were heavy let me tell you).

I thought this deserved a reward so I took the fine young man out for a burritos at Baja fresh followed by an ice cream treat at Friendly's, served by a very, very attractive waitress named Toni. Kadobi realized that this was the first time in about five years that he had ice cream that didn't come out of a cardboard container. Poor Kadobi.

So we were about 5 minutes late for the movie, but that was alright because although I am pro-previews I am most anti-commercials. Well, there was a line at the ticket window, and we finally got in, now about 10 minutes late and my anxiety was on the rise.

We got to the theatre, and lo and behold, they were still showing advertisement slides. When the show was going on 20 minutes late, Kadobi had had enough and went to see the management. He returned to a smattering of applause, and the show started. Ah, my hero, Kadobi. Neither of us had ever been to a movie that actually started late, and this one was about 30 minutes behind.

THEN, they had to play several minutes of ads which were completely aggravating. THEN the previews, which I was predisposed to no longer enjoy (though War of the Worlds looks darn good), and THEN Batman Begins began.

This review captures my feelings pretty well. I thought the film was great, and so did Kadobi, though we were the only ones to applaud at the credits. There was just enough action for him, and just enough plot and development to keep me entertained (not to mention awake, as we had been up since 1:30 in the morning) .

We got coffee for the road and Kadobi took me home, at almost 8 pm. Sad for him, he had to be back at work again at 3 am.

You heard it from me - he's a great date, girls.

Guitar : An American Life

I heard about this book on NPR, and went right tout to get it.

What an engrossing tale. A Fylde guitar is ruined by an airline, a wife makes a promise to replace the guitar for the grieving man's 50th birthday, and the man sets out to have a guitar custom-made. In the interim, the author, Tim Brookes, describes the history of the guitar in all of its incarnations. It is a beautiful history lesson, fascinating and then oddly tense as you wait with the author through various stages of luthery from the wizard at Running Dog Guitars until the grand day the custom concert jumbo guitar is unveiled.

Absolutely excellent. Oh, plus it has an extraordinary cover - peek under the dust jacket. When I walked into work with my new treasure, all of my co-workers were fawning over the book design, then broke out into an unending discussion of guitars...it was like heaven.

Watch What You Say...

I got to work at the leisurely hour of 7 am.

I like that shift because it has the amazing benefit of enabling me to stop at Starbuck's on the drive in, something patently impossible to do on my 3 am shifts, which is really when I need it.

Anyway, as I was going through my morning routine, putting my Craftsman leather box knife holder on my belt, finding my nametag, getting out my store keys, looking at the previous day's figures, a co-worker innocently said, "How's your day?"

To which I innocently replied, " Great, not not much can go wrong by 7 am."

Then the phone rang. Seems H__'s car had been stolen.

Too Good To Be True

Got up early and goofed around, being completely without direction or purpose. Before heading off to work, I stumbled upon this.

Just call me Gisele Verga. And, for the record, Miss Brazil becomes Joelma Fontana.

I kinda like it.

New Music Tuesday - Manhattan Transfer Live (1978)

How great is this album? (And I do use the word album because I had this on vinyl long, long ago.) This is the final Manhattan Transfer album to be reborn on CD - I never thought I would have this one!

I haven't heard this album in a long time, since I no longer have a turntable, but I knew there were several songs that were outstanding on this disc.

Well, I love this concert. Boy, they were something back in the day, the day that featured not only my boys, Wayne Johnson on guitar and Don Roberts on sax, but the days that included Laurel Masse.

I have always been a fan of Snootie Little Cutie, but had forgotten how incredibly great Janis Siegel was on In the Dark and Laurel Masse's amazing Je Voulais (Te Dire Que Je T'Attends) . The brief accapella Sunday is magnificent and the goofy stuff performed by Tim Hauser and Alan Paul as their alter egos are just silly.

Ah, when music was fun...those were the days. Go get this CD. Now.

Tremont

H__ and I decided to have a little adventure today and ventured out into the unknown areas of Cleveland. We had both heard great things about Tremont - an area filled with art galleries and great restaurants, and it seemed a fine way to spend a lazy, gorgeous afternoon.

Smarter folks than we would realize that most galleries are closed on Mondays. We happened into The Banyan Tree, which was accidentally open because the owner had a few tasks to take care of. H__ dropped some quid, so at least the shopkeep paid for the electricity today...

She suggested we try Fat Cats for lunch, and I am glad we did. It is a very cozy, colorful place with helpful, friendly staff and some really nice art work on the walls. We both had the Angus beef cheeseburger with cheddar cheese, apple cider bacon, "pomme frittes", house ketchup, and arugula greens. It was great. Now, the "pomme frittes" look mighty weird, but they are very tasty. The view of downtown from the patio is very nice, and the colorful University Townhouses off to the right of the restaurant are extremely intriguing.

After lunch we drove around the neighborhood a bit, and while it is true there is more than their fair share of churches per square block, and great looking little cafes and trendy bars, perhaps because it was a lazy Monday afternoon, there was no real activity, and the place looked a little desolate and deserted, and really didn't have a good vibe.

We agreed it really wasn't our kind of place.

And The Pile Keeps Growing...

So as Faithful Readers might recall, was going through a period where I couldn't find a book that interested me at all, and I was quite worried about not being able to come up with a Ten Best List of books for 2005.

Well, so much for that. Here is the list of books that I have recently acquired that are currently stacked on my bedside table, just pestering me to get on with them...

1. Guitar : An American Life by Tim Brookes (in progress) (great pictures of his completed guitar can be seen here.)
2. Take Big Bites: Adventures Around the World and Across the Table by Linda Ellerbee (in progress)
3. Death and the Sun : A Matador's Season in Heart of Spain by Edward Lewine
4. The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
5. Byron – Life and Legend by Fiona McCarthy
6.Granite and Rainbow: The Hidden Life of Virginia Woolf by Mitchell Leaska
7. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
8. The Stones of Summer by Dow Mossman
9. Franky Furbo by William Wharton (another recommendation from H__)

# 10

H__ could not stop raving about the book she was reading. She called me to read lines that struck her as incredibly funny, and then she said that I would really like the book because it was written the way I speak.

Well, with such a flattering recommendation, I couldn't wait to start it, and she graciously loaned me her copy. The book is The Girl's Guide To Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Bank.

I started reading the book, and found myself wondering if somehow the interior contents had been replaced, as what I was reading was not in any way what I was expecting.

I finished the book this evening, and though I did not find the book funny at all, it was a pretty good read. It was something I would have never chosen on my own, and the story lingers with you, which proves that it was a worthwhile book, but I found it to be rather sad. This review really sums up my opinion quite well.

It continues to amaze me that two people who like each other so much can have such disparate tastes in literature and music.

Go figure.

Matrimonial Madness : Opposites Do Indeed Attract

Can someone please tell me what in God's name is going on?

As if it wasn't bad enough for Tom Cruise to get engaged to Katie Holmes – odd, inappropriate and strange as that combination is – the madness has finally hit my girl, Sandra Bullock. After all of these years, strongly single and fabulous, she is selling herself down the river to Jesse James, the tattooed behemoth from Monster Garage.

Why, oh, why?

Man Walks Into A Room

I picked up this book for two reasons: some of the plot resonated with me, and I liked the cover.

Yes, I believe you CAN judge a book by its cover, and I had even started a 'zine (Judged By Its Cover) back in the day, when I reviewed books based solely on the cover art...but I digress.

Nicole Krauss (Stanford graduate) is a tremendous writer, and this small novel is a treatise on memory, solitude and intimacy and personal history. Itbegins with a Columbia University professor, found walking in the Arizona desert, with no memory of how he got there. Turns out he has a brain tumor, and its removal means that he can live, but with no memories past the age of 12 or so. He then has no idea who his wife is, and must deal with the loss of his mother, again. This memory loss makes him feel freed, rather sad. He ends up back in the desert, and crosses paths with two men who change his new life...

An interesting and compelling work, with thoughts on crafting a life, and what the past really means.

New Music Tuesday - Dreaming Wide Awake

I love this CD.

I eagerly purchased Lizz Wright's first release, Salt, and although I really wanted to like it, I just couldn't. (still don't actually)

But this CD is just beautiful - simple, elegant, quiet. Lizz's voice is intimate and lovely, the arrangements are very simple. Very mellow, good listening.

So Much For That

Always remember that it is a woman's prerogative to change her mind.

Also, remember that if a Taurus tells you that she is not interested in debating a subject, you should just concede the point, because no further discussion is going to occur.

And so, the summation of these two key points is that no one will be relocating any time soon.

A Great Night Swinging Out at The House Of Blues

Heather and I had a great night out at the "new" House of Blues.

We met at the bar for drinks, and much to my dismay, they did not have Knob Creek ! They did, however, serve Booker's. So I tried one. And, okay, so I hadn't eaten all day, but before I had finished half of it, my head was spinning and I was unable to put a sentence together. I am looking forward to trying one of these again, to see if it really does pack a punch. In any event, it was a fine, fine bourbon.

Now the atmosphere of the House of Blues restaurant is designed to encourage you to party. The walls are covered with "outsider art", some of it interesting, some of it terrible and one piece, a hand made calendar by the restrooms, is awesomely disturbing and moving. It is also one of the loudest rooms I have ever been in. So don't plan on having any meaningful conversations.

The food is excellent. I had the "fall off the bone" stewed half chicken with mushrooms and onions, white rice and buttered baby carrots. The portion was enormous, and it was cooked perfectly. For dessert we shared a monstrosity that they innocuously call a chocolate walnut brownie served with caramel sauce and vanilla bean ice cream. Exquisite.

If you are going to a performance after your meal, you get to go down a secret hallway and by-pass all of the folks waiting to get in, which is kinda cool. After we were security-wanded, and had our plastic wristbands fastened securely, we were allowed in.

The venue is a very nice size, not too big and not too small. There are no seats, so everyone stands, either on the dance floor in front of the stage, or, as we did, back by the bars. The opening act was trip-hop gal Kinnie Starr, and she came out alone, and proceeded to do a little rap thing with some pre-recorded beats. As I am predisposed to hate opening acts, I wasn't expecting much. Both Heather and I thought that it took some guts to get out there all alone and we were pretty impressed. That quickly dissipated as we realized that her first number was her masterpiece, and the "songs" became more and more unpleasant. We took this opportunity to explore the venue, and noticed some seating in the balcony. I enquired if one might sit there, and I was informed by the security guard that they were private box seats, that went for $1000. We thought maybe we would just stand for the show.

Finally, Swing Out Sister took the stage. I had never seen them (well, it is Corinne Drewery that I came to see) and was very excited. The crowd was obviously very loyal and loving, and I saw many a fan carrying around old Swing Out Sister LP's...
The show was excellent, and Corinne has a charming and warm personality, and it is very clear that she loves performing. Her voice sounds just as good in person as it does on the recordings.

The only negative thing I have to say is that she had the most unfortunate A-line dress - white, with enormous red poppies all over it. Not only was it completely not flattering (as Heather commented, "She could have the body of Madonna under there - who would know?"), after every song Corinne was pulling at the neckline and shoulders. Hmm...she also looked too much like Courtney Cox. I was hoping for the black leather Diana Rigg catsuit from the Somewhere Deep In The Night CD, so you can imagine my disappointment in the Poppy Dress.

Other than tragic couture, the show was awesome, and I highly recommend catching their show if they come to your town.

New Music Tuesday - A Little Country

Okay, I really haven't lost my mind.

The other evening my store manager put the bluegrass station on the XM radio. This song came on, and let me just tell you, if you ever want people to move quickly and get all fired up, just play this little ditty called "Douglas the Dog." What a great song. Naturally I had to go out and find the CD which was from the surprising source of The US Navy Country Current Bluegrass Quartet : Navy Blue Bluegrass.

The other CD treasure of the day is Gail Davies - The Songwriter Sessions, which arrived as a special bonus gift from my Penpal. It is a two CD set, and I have only yet gotten through one of the discs, but I have been enjoying it very much. Gail is a sadly overlooked talent, and it was very nice to revisit her on this new record.

Remembering Anne Bancroft

I was very sad to learn of the passing of the marvelous Anne Bancroft today.

Most of the tributes revolve around her performance in The Graduate, and sure it was amazing, but for me, my favorite Bancroft movies are 84 Charring Cross Road and the little-known and overlooked Garbo Talks.

Her partnership with Mel Brooks always struck me as wonderfully amusing and resulted in another of my favorite film moments - Brooks produced David Lynch's The Elephant Man, in which Bancroft plays the actress Mrs. Kendall - a tender, significant part.

Broadway dimmed its light for Ms. Bancroft. She will be very missed.

Open the Coffers

I spent the day at Crate and Barrel, assembling a shopping list for the house. I picked out two great red velvet Porter chairs and a round copper Collina cocktail table to set in front of the leaded glass windows in the living room, and a round Galerie dining room table with leather Pullman chairs. I guess the Tudor nature is just calling out for round tables...Anyway, it was a nice feeling to be taken seriously by the staff, and also nice to actually spend money on a practical investment like furniture.

After putting the items on hold until H__ could come and see them, I wandered into an art gallery because I could see several Frederick Hart sculptures from the windows. In keeping with the theme of the day, the gallery staff were really selling me on what a great investment a Hart sculpture would be for me, and I agreed. Unfortunately, the sculpture in question was ONE MILLION DOLLARS. Yeah.

When I got home, H__ called telling me that she was laying on her chaise lounge, designing the piece to be hung over the fireplace. Something fabulous with cascading gingko leaves she thinks. I can't wait to see it...

Literary and Cinematic High School Regression Day

So, I left H__'s this morning, stopping by a new and different Starbuck's for the drive home, and watched a very interesting film called, Gypsy 83.

It is the story of a young woman (Gypsy 83) and her misfit friend, Clive, who leave their small town home of Sandusky, Ohio and go to New York so that Gypsy can perform at The Night of 1,000 Stevies, as she is a Stevie Nicks impersonator. Apparently, this is a large subculture. Anyway, on their adventures, they met a washed-up lounge singer, played fiercely by Karen Black, and an escapee Amish man. I thought the film was very interesting and a great coming of age flick for a certain audience.

I then read a book I bought solely because of the blurb on the cover, which is blatantly pathetic, but there you go. It said:

If this isn't really Alice Sebold, Donna Tartt or Barbara Vine writing under a pseudonym...

And I so love Donna Tartt, that I tried it.

First of all, it has a pink cover. Second of all, it has the off-putting title of The Bitch Posse.
Thirdly, it turned out to be a pretty good book. The characters are well developed, and sadly real. And the author makes good use of the old saw about a butterfly wings changing the weather around the world. She follows the lives of three women, chronicled the lives they create after experiencing a very dramatic event. The event, the great tragedy, is withheld until the very end, wrapping up the story very neatly. Very complex characters, and it was well written.

But was it Donna Tartt? Heck, no. But I fell for it.

Yes, It Was

As we were not going to get into the house until the late afternoon, we had to find ways of amusing and distracting ourselves. This involved two trips to Starbuck's, reading the New York Times and several magazines, driving around other neighborhoods and napping.

Finally, the magic hour arrived, and we went to see the place. The landlord was standing outside with a beautiful Shetland Sheepdog (Cassie, after Mary Cassatt), and I immediately made friends with the dog. We walked Cassie for a bit, getting a verbal history of the neighbors and neighborhood, then we were given a tour of the garage and the backyard and the various flowers and herbs and whatnot. Then, finally, we were taken inside. The entryway was almost like a castle tower, stone and arches, and a freestanding curved staircase raising up two stories. It was breathtaking. Entering the living room, the first things we noticed were the beamed ceiling, the enormous leaded glass windows, and the great expanse of wall over the fireplace to the ceiling which was just begging for H__ to create some masterpiece to feature there.

We passed through the dining room, checked out the large kitchen (sadly, an electric stove) and the many closets, the two bedrooms and two baths. Then it was upstairs to the fabulous library, and the extra added treat of the finished third floor that had five big rooms. Then it was down the back stairs to the basement, which had another three rooms, including a very large laundry room, with a built-in table for folding clothes - and a laundry chute, which in my younger days I am sure I would have been tempted to use inappropriately.

Standing in the basement, we agreed that we would take it. The landlady told us that we were horrible negotiators.

So off we went to fill out the application and copy documents and write the deposit check. Now, one would think that finding a copy machine in Cleveland would not take you an hour...but somehow it did. It was during this hunt that my dear Penpal phoned to tell me good news / bad news. The good news was a terrifically successful business day she had had, and bad news was one of those things that you know deep in your heart is true at the time, even though someone is telling you that it isn't, that it is all in your mind. Then one day, they own up to it after all. So, not BAD, really, just tiresome and annoying.

Following that, copies hot off the press, we then realized that we had forgotten to eat all day (Lord knows we didn't forget to drink coffee though...) so we stopped in to Eddie Sands' Blueline Cafe for a meatloaf dinner that was less than wonderful. Then we dropped off the forms and money, and headed back to H__'s, quite exhausted.

"We Found Our New Home"

H__ and I took a little break late this afternoon and met for lattes at the new Isola Bella, a wine bar and cafe and possibly a florist, I'm not sure. It is certainly a lovely atrium setting, elegant and peaceful, and they do make the greatest lattes I have ever had. While we were waiting for the drinks to be made, H__ got a call about the house we had read about in the paper. She wrote down the address and planned on driving by on her way home.

I drove home, cashed my paycheck (I love payday) and was just getting out of the shower when H__ called with the cryptic message reproduced here in its entirety:

If the inside is anything like the outside, we have found our new home.

This, of course inspired me to drive back up to Cleveland, and H__ and I took a walk to see the place - a magnificent Tudor house with a fantastic front garden and two-story leaded glass windows in the front. We can't wait to see the inside tomorrow!

We stopped in to Captain Tony's for a pizza, and went back to H__'s, anxious to explore the house.