oh. hi.

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

Did I mention that we were busy? I hope so. I hope the complete and utter lack of posting also showed that.

Let’s recap:

*On December 31st, 2010 we moved into a new rental house with a one year lease.
*In mid-April 2011, the owners of the house [heretoforthwith knows as Dickheads] (who had put it up for rent after
it wouldn’t sell when the husband’s job had him transfer out of state TWICE) called our agent to tell her that,
“Hey. The job is moving me back to [local city] and we want our house back.” Period. End of story. So begins
rental hell. With that came several months of neighbours-who-were-previously-sweet-and-super-friendly-and-who
we-later-found-out-were-friends-with-Dickheads [now to be known as Fatties or Assholes Next Door] constantly
calling and complaining about noise from guitars and band practice (they had been totally fine with it for four
months!), sometimes IN TEARS, and traffic from Ben’s students and grass being unmowed (for more than five days,
if it wasn’t mowed, they called our agent complaining about snakes–in a goddamned subdivision!!!). It was awful.
Truly truly horrendously awful. Our sweet sweet agent, who technically worked for The Dickheads, was constantly
apologizing for their retched behavior. Keep in mind, this awfulness lasted NON-FUCKING-STOP from mid-April thru
mid-September. (Including a story from September about me walking out of the shower to find The Dickheads
circling the house with open blinds.)
*On May 7th, 2011, our ten-year anniversary, we got married. It was a semi-elopement that we didn’t tell anyone
about (grandparents got 10 days notice to attend) and was more stress/work than anticipated. Because our
anniversary fell on a Saturday, that meant the courthouse was closed; which meant we had to hire someone; which
meant more money; which also meant we had to have a location in which we could be married; which meant more
money; we wanted to write out our own ceremony; which meant a fuckload of time and even more money…you see
where this is going? All along with the news that The Dickheads wanted to push us out. But you know, it was still
a whole hell of a lot of fun. Plus we had a badass four-day honeymoon of fun.

Sister made the most lovely star garland in our favourite colours for our location.

*Mid-May 2011–Very-Early-August 2011: When we got back from the honeymoon we started looking for houses to
buy…well, first we started talking about buying a house A LOT more seriously than we had planned on doing
(original buy date would be sometime in 2012) and then we started looking to buy. And we looked and looked and
looked and looked and said no to a shitload on the internet and viewed a few houses before rejecting them and our
sweet agent (that same dear hippie lady who kept apologizing for The Dickheads continuing harassment) was about to
give up on us when she e-mailed me one morning with a link to a newly-listed house and the subject line, “LOOK!
LOOK! LOOK!” and inside all it said was, “This one came up in my search this morning and it seems perfect for
you!!!” and it was ADORABLE! And looked so good!! And so very Us. We made an appointment for two days later to
view it and when we pulled up, Dear Agent walked out of the house and told us in no uncertain terms that if we
didn’t buy this house, she will fire us as her clients. Of course we loved it and of course we put in an offer and
of course we ended up buying it. And of course we are absolutely completely and totally head-over-heels-in-love
with our house. OUR HOUSE. It’s beautiful.

Hastily taken photo of front door seconds before we moved in.

I plan on writing a huge post about buying/moving with pictures of the house…but please, be patient for I will
scream if pushed to do too much too fast. My poor Rock Star nearly had a meltdown at the signing of the contract
for the bid for the house. Near. Catastrophic. Meltdown. My wonderful man does not accept change easily. But he
did. And we did. And at the first of August so we began the house-buying process. (Details to come, I hope.)

*Within days of putting in a bid, having the bid countered, signing the contract, having an official house
inspection, etc. etc. etc. we went on our already-planned 10-day vacation to see wonderful people we knew in
Virginia and to tour D.C. (I’d been twice, but my museum-loving Rock Star had never visited). After the incredible
stress of the first part of August, seeing my sister, my lovely and amazing friend, and Ben’s very best friend was
just what we needed to calm the ever-living-fuck down. We first saw Sister and her fabulous dog, Lizzy, then we
stopped at the ever-wonderful Erin’s house, then we trucked up to see Josh in DC. It was fantastic seeing my
sister as it always is when she lives too far away from me; and spending time with Erin is about as happy and
peaceful as any time I’ve ever spent. Josh was an amazing sport about letting us crash at his place and showed us
some wonderful sites (sights?) in the downtown area. With him as our guide we had some of the most amazing food we
had ever eaten. I’m so glad we know wonderful people who enjoy food and history as much as we do. We really do
have fantastic friends.

Happy Lizzy looking for a bellyrub

Me standing inside an Alexander Calder sculpture at the National Gallery of Art's Sculpture Garden

Comet Ping Pong's The Smokey & The Yaley--HOLY SHIT! You have to try this pizza!! It's too good to be true!!

Ben in awe of ancient mummy in Smithsonian Museum of Natural History

Josh and Ben about to enjoy the hell out of their Dogfish Sampler of various beers

*We came back mid-August (nearly bypassing my birthday entirely [cue: guilt and extreme sadface] and began to
finalize the closing and go through the entirely stressful closing process as well as the extremely stressful
packing-cleaning-moving-cleaning-unpacking process and let me tell you, we have a lot of shit. No. Really. I don’t
think anyone understands just how much shit two childless twenty-somethings can acquire when they live in a house
together for several years. It’s way too much. It’s embarrassing. But on September 17th, 2011 we moved in to what
(if we so choose) could be the last house in which we ever live. [cue: angelic voices singing heavenly tune]

*Since then we have cleaned, unpacked, painted, rearranged, cleaned, unpacked, painted, painted painted,
rearranged, unpacked, cleaned, painted, rearranged, painted, painted, unpacked, painted, tiled, painted,
rearranged and back to tiling and painting some more. That’s house stuff. And [re: hopefully/skeptically] soon I
plan on posting more detail on house stuff if only for my own records.

*October 22nd was the Homecoming Day for my five-year college reunion. Not only did the beautiful Erin come to town
to visit, but I got to catch up with some of my favourite old art alums (how fuckin’ snooty does that sound?!?)
and that was a metric ton of fun–plus we came home with a beautiful piece of art by the always wonderful Robin
Grace Venable who provided the alumni exhibit this year.

*BUT Halloween is our favourite holiday and last year we were in the process of looking for a new place and had
previously thought we would be moving in October and didn’t decorate at all and just threw a meager little
Halloween party. This year we knew we’d be only five weeks in our new house, but we couldn’t forgo the annual
Petler Inn Halloween Bash, so we invited costumed close friends to our transitioning house for an awful good time.
And the week prior, we participated in something we had always dreamed of doing…sort of: It has been a life goal
of mine (and now the Rock Star’s too) to die some gruesome grisly death in a B-horror zombie movie. Our super
talented friend, Ben (affectionately called Other Ben), participated in a local grindhouse-style horror trailer
contest to go along with a local Horror Fest our town throws each year, and we got to be the zombies!! We had way
too much fun making it, and even though Other Ben’s didn’t win on account of it being “too pretty” and “not
grindhouse enough” (although we counter that the genre he drew, “Knoxploitation” is AWFUL) it was still one of the
best ones entered and we LOVED it.

As for our costumes this year, we went all out for the zombies for the movie and were so focused on cleaning
up/painting/tiling the house before the party, that we didn’t even start to think of anything until seven-ish
hours before the party was supposed to start (with us having to work in between that time-frame). Ben went as
Rorschach from The Watchmen graphic novel and I went as a clean basket of laundry–I was particularly proud of the
crumpled dollar bill and wad of thread I hot-glued to my tshirt along with socks and a sock on my headband. Not
too shabby for last minute; my costume problem also had to account for being able to literally throw it on when I
got home from work in less time than it takes to pee (also accounts for the utter lack of makeup as I drove home
like a maniac and ran upstairs to don Halloween garb). Even though it was small and not-that decorated, it was
still an super fun time with awesome people. And we’ve already started planning out next year and the full on
epicness that will occur.

in zombie garb for pseudo-movie

That damn basket bruised my thighs, I was so sore the next day.

Funnily enough, to answer nerd questions everywhere, he wasn't wearing anything underneath that coat.

And with that, I have skimmed my life forward to present day. There is so much left out and so much more to add. And [WITH GREAT HOPE] I will get back into my regular blogging schedule; which is to say, two or three times a month.

cheers!
-K

Read Full Post »

A Delightful All Hallows Eve to You!!!

We’ve been unbelievably busy on the house/moving/etc. and my only goal for tomorrow is posting a new blog. Promise.

As it is, I hope everyone’s been enjoying our favourite holiday:

-K

Read Full Post »

When the world is chaotic, write lists!!

We’re in the process of buying a house. Cue major freak out: “HolyShit!HolyShit!HolyShit!!!”
We also took a lovely 10-day vacation to see some wonderful people and our nation’s capitol city.
I turned 27 years old.
Ben’s band (and other musical ventures) is/are picking up rather quickly.

We’ve been just a bit busy.

And if my German Mama taught me anything, it’s that lists can always be made.

So, a’la the delightful Sizzle, here is a list of 27 things I would like accomplished during my 27th year:

1. Buy a house and have the option of never moving my sweet ass again.
2. Reconnect with my old art alums at my five-year college reunion.
3. Chill the fuck out and create at least one day a month with the obligation of doing absolutely nothing that is required.
4. Keep up with the ‘beguilements‘ section, as well as the whole blog much better.
5. Get back into the habit of regularly walking ole Chubbers.
6. Visit a new place.
7. Keep up with my snail mail correspondence much much better.
8. Get another tattoo.
9. At the very least begin (but with high aspirations of completing) the album I bought for our 11ish year history two years ago that still has plastic around it.
10. Mail out proper “change of address” cards before middle of November.
11. Make all the holiday gifts before the 20th of December.
12. Work a bit more on that tshirt quilt i’ve been collecting for five years.
14. FINALLY have a properly designated art room!!!
15. Start excessive saving to buy a new-to-me vehicle for whenever the old Jeep finally kicks it.
16. Buy a new mattress/bed.
17. Create a tiny edible garden (and since I really hate gardening, I’ll be happy if I can simply maintain an herb garden).
18. Finish transferring our shitty recipe book to the new recipe book.
19.Throw super fun we-never-had-a-reception-slash-house-warming party on our eleventy-first anniversary.
20. Make homemade hummus.
21. Take a class.
22. Bake bread
23. Make cheesy-as-hell holiday cards with The Rock Star.
24. Find our perfect kitchen table.
25. Visit at least two non-local museums.
26. Start that Etsy store we’ve been discussing for several years.
27. Build my very own darkroom!!!
One to grow on: cross off at least half of these listed items!!

Wish me luck!!
-K

Read Full Post »

hey, ya’ll–remember me?

Hi.

Yeah, sorry I’ve not really been present at all. I’ve been super-duper busy. Fighting with my landlords (they want their house back WAY before our lease is due); sooner-than-expected talks of buying a house with each other, with our real estate agent; going on a quick vacation to Tybee Island/Savannah, GA that wasn’t really a vacation…

it was a honeymoon.

Because we got married. (eep!)

But we like to keep things complicated, so of course it was a secret marriage.

And I learned some things:

1. It’s reallyreallyreallyREALLY hard for me to keep my own secrets as I typically do not have any secrets and I’m used to just walking around and gabbing to anyone who is in range about what’s going through my head.

2. I do NOT handle stress well. Back in high-school/college era, I was a stress-managing machine–a good German through and through, I could itemize, list, and conquer with the very best of them. I have since turned to a life of mostly leisure and am now quite unaccustomed to a stressful way of living. This means that I turn into a little ball of bitchiness. It’s not fun. And it’s real fucking ugly.

3. I have no idea how women (or men) who plan full weddings do it. NO FUCKING CLUE. We had us plus nine people and a minister at a park on a Saturday morning and guys, it was just too much for me to handle. We didn’t even have invitations–just stopped by to visit grandparents and parents and let them know about it. Seriously, it was ridiculous.

4. Honeymoons are awesome. I mean, for real. In all our years, we’d never taken a vacation that was just the two of us. We’d always go along with our families or we’d plan trips with our friends, never had we traveled long-distance over several days just the two of us. And it rocked! We did nothing but sit on a beach and stare at the ocean for three days (fourth day we walked around Savannah), stuff our bellies with the most amazing seafood we could find, and have lots and lots of sex (sorry, mom). It was a blast.

So, hopefully, I’ll get back into regular blogging that I’m sure will be all about how awful it is trying to find a house. We’ll see.

I’ll leave you with our wedding announcement we posted after we got back. Made pretty much entirely by the lovely Rock Star:

-K

Read Full Post »

under pressure

I have been ultra stressed the past couple of weeks, and have avoided the blog as I have no desire to spew all that negativity all over this place. So, in lieu of several lengthy tense paragraphs, how about a list of all the things I’m super happy about right now?

* We are still absolutely and totally in love with our new house. We didn’t buy it, but man, we may. It’s sososo much bigger than our old place, and new and clean and has a nice flow and we each have our own rooms and it’s just fantastic. Plus Attila loves the new place too, he runs up and down the long hall every day.

*There is hope of spring coming. Right now it may be only 38 degrees, but there have been several days in the past few week where I have oh-so-happily worn my flip-flops. It may not be as good as summer, but at least it’s hopeful. ***[editor's note: I wrote this before work yesterday, and today there is snow {FUCKING SNOW} outside my window]***

*Still loving my job. Love love love. So glad I only work less than half of the time I worked as a clerk in The Shittiest Record Store Ever and make more than three times as much. And I work alongside friends. It’s just awesome.

*Jess is still around. Which I know she’s not happy about; she’d much rather be using her recently-acquired graduate degree than just sitting around and applying to librarian jobs in the apartment at the back of our parent’s yard, but still, I’m so ultra happy that my sister is nearby. And that we have a really close relationship; I feel bad for people who aren’t close to their siblings; it’s really very nice. (Also, how’s THAT for a run-on sentence?!?)

*We’ve already planned out two exciting trips for ourselves this year; one is more of a weekend vacation to one of our favourite cities, but the other is epically exciting for us.

*I’m FINALLY going to be getting my own computer. FINALLY. I’ve not owned a computer of my own since my laptop I was given ten years ago (and it was used when I got it & started falling apart after three or four years). I have since refused to settle for something less than Apple (the expense of which will explain the absence of my own computer).

*We also going to be buying at least one new couch this month. Hopefully the store we found it in will still be carrying it as well as having a sale near this end of the month.

*Ben is handling all my ultra-stress-induced snappiness very well; even being quite sweet and helpful about other things.

*We are breaking our No-Valentine’s rule (not terribly sentimental or romantic people are we; we truly cannot stand V-Day) by going out to our favourite Indian restaurant this year with a group of mostly-single friends (b/c we don’t want to be around sappy couples) to what sounds like an AMAZING fancy buffet.

*I am ever so glad that I am not a passive person; this trait has gotten me into A LOT of trouble in the past, and it makes some things more difficult, but I would much rather be like me than like some other people I know/read/see/hear about who are constantly trying to figure out how to tell anyone anything. (This was inspired by today’s Blogshare, where there seemed to be an abnormal amount of people posting about being passive.)

*And a happy little song with which we can end this happy post:

-K

Read Full Post »

“Winter is nature’s way of saying, ‘Up yours.’”

*the above quotation is from Robert Byrne*

Oh, we’ve had all sorts of Winterish adventures here; many more than any in Ye Ole Petler Inn would like to see. And we’re a bit worried about all this awful weather as we’re going to be moving in nine days (!!!ANDNOTAFUCKINGTHINGISPACKED!!!); Christmas is in three days; and the winter solstice was last night (although I missed the eclipse as it was way too cloudy above our house). Also, I would like to put on record that we live in East Tennessee. And although my “No-Good-Very-Bad Weather” may not be a flurry to those in northern states, but let me tell you: We are not used to true winters. At the very idea of snow, we panic. We’re not used to it. We’re not prepared for it. It’s not good at all.

Winterness Adventure #1:

On my way to work last Sunday afternoon (the live show runs from 6pm-midnight EST), I received a call from my boss/friend, Brandon, to check on the progress in my commute. Here is the conversation (also, it should be noted that I P-A-N-I-C at the idea of inclement weather and having to drive in it; during snow/ice possibilities, I become almost unbearable):

him: So, how’re you doing?
me: Fine. …why?
him: You driving okay? –You’re still coming?
me: What? I’m [halfway there]. It’s totally clear, not a cloud in the sky…. …why?
him: ……oh. ….no reason.
me: …WHAT?!?!?
him: Ummm….it’s snowing here…
me: Snowing?!? Is it bad?! HOW BAD?!?
him: Oh! Not bad! Not bad at all! In fact, the sun’s coming up!!
me: Bullshit. HOW BAD?!?! Did you call me to freak me out? Should I be worried? What does it look like?!?!
him: …it’s all sunshine. It’s great up here.
***[to note: the studio where I work is at the base of some pretty famous mountains, at a much higher elevation than my home]***
me: ………
him: ….it’s all white.
me: WHAT?!?!?! ALL WHITE?!?! ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?! IT’S SNOWING?!?!?! HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN SNOWING?!?!?
him: Only about an hour…maybe less.
me: AND IT’S ALL WHITE?!?!?!?!?!
him: Yeah, and it’s sticking. I’m watching cars almost hit each other trying to get out of the parking lot. It’s pretty bad. Be very careful.
me: ….shit. shitSHITshitSHITshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitSHITSHITSHITSHITSHITshitshitshitSHIT!!!!
him: You’re almost here. You’ll be okay. Just drive slow and be very careful.
me: …
him: See you soon!

Needless to say, I did make it to work; I did panic for the rest of my commute even more the few times I felt my tires slide on the snow/ice; and I continued to panic for the duration of our six-hour show. However I must note, panic makes that long six-hour shift go by oh-so-very-quickly. I hardly noticed the time passing because I was much too busy FREAKING THE FUCK OUT. And it was bad. I kept asking the support staff to the hosts what the weather is looking like outside. CONSTANT VIGILANCE! Little good it could do me. I was stuck in the show for the duration. And when it was all over, we locked up the studio and went outside.
And the world was white. Oh-so-very-white. Virginal. Except what I was thinking wasn’t virginal at all. It was more along the lines of OH-HOLY-SHIT-WHAT-ARE-WE-GOING-TO-DO?!?!-WHAT-AM-I-SUPPOSED-TO-DO?!?-HOW-AM-I-GOING-TO-GET-HOME?!?!-I-REFUSE-TO-BE-FUCKING-STUCK-HERE-IN-THIS-NON-HOME-PLACE-WITH-THESE-GOD-AWFUL-PEOPLE-AND-THEN-WHAT-ARE-WE-SUPPOSED-TO-DO-IF-WE’RE-SNOWED-IN?!?-I-CAN’T-STAY-HERE-WITH-THEM-THERE-IS-NO-WAY-IN-HELL-I-CAN-DRIVE-DOWN-THAT-FUCKING-MOUNTAIN-TO-GET-TO-MY-HOME-HOLY-SHIT!-HOLY-SHIT!-HOLY-SHIT!-WE’RE-SO-FUCKED!-WHAT-AM-I-SUPPOSED-TO-DO?!?-FUCK!-FUCK!-FUCK!-FUCK!-FUCK!!!
There was a back-up plan. Our miserly supervisor had even called in to tell us that he would pay for a hotel room for the crew; but we didn’t really want to do that. Luckily, the other camera-operator working that night also lived in the same town as myself and Brandon. And the three of us decided it would be best to stay together in The Other Guy’s new(ish) four-wheel-drive vehicle, rather than in our separate cars (Brandon’s being a sedanish type car, and myself owning a 16-year-old jeep cherokee). And The Other Guy drove us back home. It was extremely slow going; and we slid several times; and the roads were totally whited out; and the snow was coming down in an awful way (that would have been very lovely had we been safely in our respective homes); and even the interstate was in an awful white-out-ish condition that was made scarier by the insistence of the tractor-trailer drivers to continue their work; but slowly and if not surely, than certainly with great trepidation, we made it back home. Or, rather, The Other Guy drove Brandon and I to my house as there was no fucking way on this Earth that any kind of vehicle would be making it up the giant steep hill where Brandon lives, and The Other Guy made it back to his apartment. Brandon slept here that night, and we poured the wine and watched a holiday comedy classic, and collapsed into bed (or in Brandon’s case, collapsed into an air mattress). And the next day, although the snow continued to fall and stay all over the fucking place, it kept off the roads and we were able to pick up our cars courtesy of my beloved, Ben.

Winterness Adventure #2:

The following Wednesday, I was making my way to work (on totally clear roads) when I decided to check up on my parent’s progress to Boston where they were working on moving Sister’s belongings into a storage facility and bring her and her enchanting dog home for the holidays. And my dear sweet old Papa dropped this bomb on me, “You ready for the ice storm?”

…WHAT?!?!

Like all good upper-middle-aged men, my father obsessively watches the weather. The Weather Channel is always the first channel he finds when with an unfamiliar television, he leaves it running on his TV at home, he even has an app for it on his droid.
Apparently, East TN, which has rarely seen the likes of any sort of ice storm [at least in my lifetime], was expecting to be sheeted in ice starting around 7pm till around sunrise–with the worst bits freezing around midnight.

Great. Just fucking great.

That Wednesday show? It runs from 5pm–midnight. Oh-ho! How wonderful!!
I spent the duration of that seven hour show chanting quietly to any force of nature or god who could possible hear me, “NoIce.NoIce.NoIce.NoIce.NoIce.NoIce.NoIce.NoIce.NoIce.NoIce.NoIce.NoIce.NoIce.NoIce.”

It didn’t work.

When we left the studio and walked outside, the entire parking lot was one super thick sheet of ice. Boss-man Brandon, Other-Regular-Camera-Guy Roger, and myself turned on our respective old vehicles, and skated around the parking lot and out onto the roads to test the conditions for the next 15 minutes.
I am, of course, panicking. I have to get home. I can’t be trapped up here. I have a ton of shit to do. Christmas shopping to finish, and packing to pretend to start, and gifts to finish making, and a house to clean, and TOMORROW IS MY OTHER DAY OFF AND I CAN’T BE STUCK UP HERE.
But Brandon offered to drive me home, and I figured if his dinky little car could make it the near 25 miles back to our house, than most certainly I would be able to do so in my Jeep. And Roger lived just as far away in the opposite more rural direction, and so we parted ways, wishing each other luck and safety. And Brandon gets a five minute head start just in case something really awful is ahead, he can call and tell me about it first.
And I call Ben and tell him to keep up a constant stream of conversation to keep me from losing my absolute head whilst I drive home. And of course, he doesn’t understand because at our house, there is no ice. Just a whole lot of slushiness. But not a single slippery patch. But he does it anyway. And what normally is an easy 30 minute commute, turned into a 90 minute unnerving drive home.
And just as I get to my home; my sweet old house; my warm safe immovable house; Brandon calls.

And he’s stuck. He slid down a large hill and his car is now stuck in a frozen parking lot and can we come and get him?
And dear sweet Ben, offers to let me come inside and he will take his car out to get Brandon. But I am the only one of the three of us with four-wheel drive, and I’ve already been driving for 90 minutes, so what’s another 15?
And so Ben walks out to my car at the end of our street, nearly falling on his ass in the process (Ice? What ice?) and ends up skating to me. And so we head off to get Brandon, and as we’re nearing him, I realize that from his location, hills either up or down, are our only option of getting home. So we call Brandon and tell him we’re going to turn around and wait for him to walk to us; and apparently he can already see the Jeep making it’s precarious way to him.
And I turn the car onto a small side-street. And we start sliding. And the car is moving laterally. And I look at Ben and yell, “WHAT DO I DO?!? WHAT DO I DO?!? WHAT DO I DO?!?” And he’s saying, “…I’ve never moved sideways in a car before…I don’t know…” All observant and not-very-present-in-this-god-awful-uncontrollable-moment. So I steer the sliding car into a large yard (or very small field, whichever you may prefer) and then sit there.
What the fuck.
I was home.
I MADE IT HOME!!!
And fucking Brandon needed rescuing. Damn it all to hell and back.
So we climb out of the car, and nearly fall down because the entire world is now iced over. What looks like snow? Ice. What looks like clean road? Ice. What looks like a slushly sidewalk? ALL FUCKING ICE. And I start berating myself in my head for not listening to that little voice that wanted to ask Ben to bring me my winter boots before he skated to the Jeep, because we were in a car and he would only make fun of me for panicking. And we make our way back to the road where Brandon has made it and is gleefully watching us. And the three of us make it ever so slowly back to the house, learning the very best way to walk through ALL THE ICE EVERYWHERE is to step in the long grassy bits right beside the road: the ice is only on the top layer and body weight crushes it down and it gives all of our poorly clad feet purchase. Of course, there were some scary bits, crossing the road was extremely treacherous, as was crossing the sidewalk and going up the few steps there too. But eventually we made it back. And had nice big drinks for everyone; and watched another holiday movie classic; and blew up the air mattress for the second time in three days; and fell oh-so-very-exhausted into bed.
And the next morning we woke up and there was still ice. Although from the time I woke up at 10am, till the time the boys got up 90 minutes later, cars were able to drive on the roads again, and the ice was turning into slush slowly as the temperature rose.
And eventually we bundled up and headed out to collect the cars.

Ben, Brandon, and myself (with Attila and spazzy Ollie) setting out on the quest for cars.

Even though there was still ice all over the sidewalks, and parts of some yards, the roads were clear and we set out. Oh, and we also had my mom’s super spazzy dog that needed walking (to rid him of his Crazy energy) and Attila too.

Ice still present but slowly melting away.

First we came up on my poor Jeep.

Still icy jeep

And although it was still coated in ice, it would not be a lot of trouble to get it home.

Not too bad, easily able to get out (with crazy Ollie)

So we left the semi-frozen Jeep and kept walking towards Brandon’s car. The hilly parking lot where he left his car was now occupied by three other vehicles, one of whom had been stopped by a telephone pole, and the lot was still very icy. But it seemed as if it was thawing out a bit. All the same, Ben, the dogs, and myself decided to stay safely on the flat sidewalk whilst Brandon went down to check out his car situation alone.

A small graphic strip of Brandon's car, and please excuse the poor quality as I was forced to use the digital zoom on our point-and-shoot camera.

Brandon’s car had slid to a stop so very close to my parent’s currently abandoned house and we decided the best idea was to break in and see what we could forage up as a small smackeral of something delicious.

A hearty snack of carrots, pretzel rods, peanut butter, ritz crackers with a delicious cheesy spread, and M&Ms.

After food the roads were deemed easy enough to travel, and we made a shopping list up so Ben and I could make German chicken noodle soup (I don’t know exactly how it’s different from other chicken noodle soups [perhaps more potatoes?], all I know is Mama got the recipe from Oma, who uses the same recipe her Mama made in Berlin before the war–it’s the only kind of chicken noodle soup I know.) And Brandon needed to buy any type of food for his bachelor lifestyle (he got hot pockets, milk, and cereal–good grief!!).
So we left the dogs and walked back to Brandon’s car, and slid slowly out of the parking lot and then safely back up the road and to the closest grocery. And Brandon very kindly took us (and the pups) back to our house while he went back up the doubly steep hill to his apartment.

No shopping was done. No gifts were made. Nothing truly productive was accomplished. But it was fun, and retrospectively makes for a good story.
And here’s hoping that the old adage, “Winter bites with its teeth, or lashes with its tail.” Is a true one for us this season.

-K

Read Full Post »

O Tannenbaum

Ben's skull sculpture is used every season to house our favourite holiday treat.

The holidays are most definitely here. And we’ve officially bought our first tree together. Due to my awful allergies, we can’t have a real one (although I’ve bought a huge real wreath for our front door so Ben can get that sweet pine smell he loves so much).
We’ve had a Christmas tree before, but it was a hand-me-down from Oma when we first moved into this house over three years ago.

Goodbye to our first tree together

From the right, in silver says, “from Oma 2007;” next in Oma’s handwriting in red, “6FT Give Away Tree Good;” and then lastly the note I taped on as we dropped in off at AO (Appalachian Outreach), “In good condition; all parts/pieces/instructions are included. An old but loved tree. Happy Holidays.” We dropped off the tree on our way to some stores and by the time we passed by it again, someone had already taken it. I hope it’s found a good home.

Although, if we’re going to be honest about the situation, it should be told that we pulled out Oma’s old tree; set it up and complained a lot about how scrawny and old it was; started putting lights on; argued about putting the lights on the tree in a way to best hide all those cords [impossible in such an old, sparse tree]; and finally deciding to just go and buy a pre-lit tree so we will never have to argue about lights again. Sometimes money can buy happiness.

We bought our new tree (“Boston Pine”) and brought it home and set it up. And let me tell you-although folding down and spreading the branches is a bit tedious, it is LOADS better than individual branches plus lights. LOADS, I tell you.

Ahh, the peace of a pre-lit tree.

Also, one of our favourite mentions in the holiday season is the papasan chair must be moved out of the corner to make way for the tree. This chair is mainly used by Attila for daytime napping. And he is NEVER happy when his chair must be moved to make way for the tree; really, he gets visibly upset.

Papasan sitting near hallway, whilst we set up the tree. A possessive dog desperately hanging on to his favourite nap site.

So we decorated the tree as best we could; it’s half a foot bigger than the last tree and definitely much fuller, so our ornaments are a bit more spread out than normal. We’ve bought a tacky ornament every season we’ve been together and sometime in the next week we’ll go out and buy our ninth ornament. Nine. As Oma says, “Gut Lord.”

Silly Rock Star with our fancy new tree.

And it looks good, I’m really liking our new tree quite a bit. Even Attila begrudgingly approves, once he found out we were going to try and figure out a way to make room for his beloved papasan this year.

On his cushion under the tree--just not the same as his chair.

I hope you’ve got some lovely holiday decorations that bring a smile to your face.
-K

Read Full Post »

I have an awesome new job.

Yes. Yes I do. My mother and father used to give Ben and I such shit about how eventually we were going to have to finally “grow up and join the rest of the adult world.” You see, we are night people (Ben more than me even). We aren’t conventional people. Ben is a musician who has started painting guitars on the side. And I am an artist who is so very sick and tired of working in retail to pay the bills. My parent’s kept trying to convince us that our late-nights and casual attire were going to have to become a thing of the past. HA!! I say. We have become some of the lucky ones. Ben teaches guitar and I have recently been hired as a camera-woman for a local vendor show. We each “work” only about 20ish hours each week (actually if you include his swirling time, Ben works about 30ish probably). And they’re both late shift jobs. Ben in the afternoon/evening and me during the evening/night. Our days are totally free. We’ve become that couple you see walking around on a Tuesday afternoon and you (or at least I would) wonder how their bills get paid.
I love it. It’s so wonderful. And it’s just further proof that if you stick to your goals, you don’t have to wind up some grumpy old man who hates the job he’s had for the past 30 years.

We beat the system!! Cheers!!

-K

Read Full Post »

Where we’ve been: A summer recap in images.

Although technically we’re not done with summer yet and we’ve still got some major events coming up in the next two weeks (a birthday party; a bachelor party; a wedding), I just cannot handle how absent I’ve been from my blog. So, to recap in a few images, this has been our summer. (I should also note that Ben’s swirling venture has picked up considerably, and a good portion of this summer as been spent with guitars as a whole and in pieces laying about/dangling down our entire house–fortunately we’ve moved all his music-ish/guitarish things into his new blog and I won’t have to reiterate it here.) We’ve been:

:painting lots of furniture…

now it's black and in the music room/library

:doing a lot of organizing, clearing out, cleaning up…

what you're missing are the five other stacks around/behind the coffee table

:dog-sitting…

If you can get Ollie to sit still, he still looks a bit crazy...

:having Ben’s birthday parties…

well into the night for us

Boston Cream Pie cupcakes over homemade vanilla ice cream

:taking walks at the lake…

and don't forget the Sonic slushies!!!

:going camping with my family…

Those are two outdoorsy kids if I ever saw some!

We make the best camping food ever! EVER!!!

...to be fair, I'm pretty sure princess here was chewing on a stick

Ollie gets all kinds of filthy when he camps

My research-loving, librarian-in-training sister figured out that this is actually an elm sawfly or Cimbex americanadoes. There's a link to it in the comments section. (Thanks, Jess!)

:taking baths…

cleanliness is very important here

:going to the beach with my family (including Sister! YAY!!!)…

PALE PEOPLE!! PALE PEOPLE!!! (it's much better in a doomish sort of voice)

basically this is all I did for seven days; it was blissful

perfection

–and whilst we were at the beach, my poor berated mother forced everyone into a black and white portrait session; and while I think the best family image is only adequate, I really love the more individual shots:

My parents may be the cutest couple I've ever met--they're celebrating their 30th anniversary in September this year.

To my mother's constant chagrin, we cannot help being goofy.

caught in a moment of sweetness

My sister, the most adorable woman on the earth.

The motivation behind the entire photoshoot. Please note the underlying sense of aching hunger within each person.

It’s been a great summer and it’s not quite over yet!
-K

Read Full Post »

Beguilements #4

New Jack City: Severely classic early ’90s movie of gang-owned, crack-dealing drug lords in late ’80s New York City. Great movie! Super fantastic, and now I’m dying to watch what promises to be some really incredible interviews with the main characters over a decade after the movie originally filmed. Also, Ice-T’s and Chris Rock’s first movie–who knew? And they’ve both got pretty significant parts.

Shrek Forever After: I love the Shrek movies. And Ben and I have seen every single one of them in theaters. However much I enjoyed this one (WAAAY better than the third one, mind you), it was tempered by the fact that it wasn’t as funny as I expected it to be. But it was well done and I did enjoy it. And since they’re now finished with the series, I can start looking for the box set. Which just sets my geeky little heart all aflutter.

Fast Food Nation: Sweet baby-jesus on a cracker. This book should be required reading in every high school. EVERYONE should read this book. It’s astounding the information that is contained. Once finished I informed Ben that as soon as we become double-income again, we are no longer eating food of unknown origins. It’s not just about fast food–it’s about how the fast food industry changed how Americans butcher/process ALL their food; and it’s not anti-meat, it’s pro-healthy food. It’s really quite amazing. READ. THIS. BOOK. You will be so amazed. (There is a movie and I will add it to our queue soon to compare)

DayBreakers: Surprisingly awesome. Some of the CGI looked pretty cheap, but the other special effects looked Bad-Ass. Adequate gore without going over the top. Interesting concept/storyline: Vampires have outnumbered humans and now their natural food supply is running low and they’ve not found a proper synthetic substitute yet. Still doesn’t push Let The Right One In, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, or Interview With a Vampire out of their Top Three Best Vampire Films Ever list, but it may be in my top five.

True Romance: Tarantino’s first movie (written but not directed) is still one of my all time favourite movies–full of bad assery and true love and gangsters and a wonderfully diverse cast (check out way early unknown Brad Pitt as a major stoner and Gary Oldman playing a pimp/drug dealer). Love. Love. Love.

Mother: Korean suspense film; a bit dark and not nearly as awesome as I hoped it might be–but still, very good (although Ben would like to add, he didn’t really care for it). I’m afraid I’ll give too much away if I expound on this one.

Cop Land: Really amazing and super well-acted cop drama that somehow flew right under the box office radar. How did everyone miss this? It’s fantastic. And watching Stallone play a wimp is pretty cool. His performance alone would make this a great movie.

Ave. Q: I’ve wanted to see this play since I was living in Manhattan in 2003. When I found out the Broadway tour was passing through Knoxville I HAD TO be there. And it was wonderful and perfect and hilarious and fun. It’s Sesame Street for adults and it’s AWESOME.

Bringing Out the Dead: A very strange Scorsese picture from the late ’90s. Almost like watching a bunch of tv episodes in quick succession. Extremely dark and visually fascinating look at the third shift EMTs of New York City. And who knew Nicolas Cage could act?

Men In Tights: I love this movie SO MUCH. I’ve got the entire thing memorized. No kidding. It’s pretty amazing. I’m a die-hard Mel Brooks fan and anytime it’s been a bit stressful this is one of the go-to classics.

Prince of Thieves: Watching Men In Tights got me in the mood for this one…of course. And it’s a pretty brutal little flick with the realism and the blood and the dirt and whatnot. Great movie though (despite only two actors actually being English–and hey, didn’t the “story” of Robin Hood originate in France? anybody? Bueller? Bueller?)

Toy Story 3: GO. WATCH. THIS. NOW. I mean, I am a lover of cartoons in general. And I have a soft spot for the Toy Story characters. But neither of those factor in to how amazingly funny and touching and visually astounding this movie is. A total five-star worthy movie. I’d even see it a second time. Hell, even the animated short at the beginning is totally worth the price of admission.

Batman: One of my favourite movies ever. If ever I can’t decide what to put on as background (usually during band practice); this movie is my number-one go-to. LOVE.

The Killing Joke: One of the very first Batman comics I ever read. The artwork is what I usually expect from my graphic novels. When Joker and Batman are drawn any differently, it will always take me a few panels to adjust. Fun fact: This particular [re: wonderful] novel served as the inspiration for Nolan-Goyer-Kane Joker in The Dark Knight.

Maria Full of Grace: When a Columbian teenager realizes she is in need of a better paying job, she becomes a drug mule. This 2004 movie is seriously heavy. And extremely good. Catalina Sandino Moreno does an excellent job playing the anxious María. Quite wonderful.

Double Exposure: short albeit very interesting article on June Newton (a.k.a. Alice Springs), wife of deceased Helmut Newton and an artist in her own right.

Independence Day: A yearly tradition at the Petler Inn, and this year we watched the director’s cut–which is nowhere NEAR as good as the theatrical release. (Not to say that this movie is a cinematic masterpiece, but it is a fun flick.) The explosions and fiery scenes were A LOT longer, and there was this sick child side-story that ended up getting dropped and still didn’t make any sense. Silly. Happy Birthday America! and We love you, Will Smith!! (Oh, and according to IMDB, the people in charge are working on a second AND third Independence Day movie–stupidity is everywhere.)

Blast from the Past: This charming late ’90s flick came out at just the right time with the perfect cast. An adorable romantic comedy that has provided so many familiar quotes.

Read Full Post »