Childhood Reminiscing and Current Events

In recent years, I've become hyperaware of my patterns and cycles, and going back through these old posts...damn, they're so highlighted, it's almost embarrassing. Almost.

In the past few weeks, there have been signs and synchronicities that ask the question:

 "What were you into as a child?"

And just today, listening to a podcast, they were discussing being kids and tape recording silly skits and doing kid shows or writing interview scripts and recording them with their siblings and buddies.

As I was editing a couple of videos for Pulp City Magazine, I started thinking about my first Kodak camera, and commandeering my dad's tape recorder and writing silly plays and radio shows with my brother or just recording us while we played with matchbox cars and his racetracks, or with my bestie, April, while we played with my Grandpa Dollhouse or Barbies. Some of those dumb pics I still have. I wish I still had those tapes.

As soon as my mom's church, where she worked, updated her office computer, that old DOS machine became mine and came with a dot matrix printer. It looked like this one but had yellow/gold type.

I journaled on that thing for years and printed it all out before we updated our home computer. The printer wasn't calibrated and printed over the page perforations, so I have the 100+ pages all still mostly intact. Maybe we'll go down that memory lane for like, Throwback Thursdays or something. 

It's been fun working at 903 Mills Market* and talking with the kids about how great a time it was to be alive during BetaMax vs VHS and dial-up internet and watching music flow from vinyl records, to 8-track tapes, to cassette tapes, to CDs, minidisk players, .WAV players to mp3 players (and listing all the streaming download sites), and then so many of us came back to vinyl. 

Point is, I've always been into media.

In the past 10+ years, I've come through for a lot of you, but I've also failed on some projects because I let myself get distracted by life instead of focusing on the work.

I apologize to those of you I've failed or disappointed. I apologize to me too.

I admit to the self-sabotage and have been doing the work to make changes and put an end to certain cycles and patterns, and in turn, finding a peaceful balance and a renewed sense of ambition, motivation, and inspiration.

And so now, I'm on this incredible startup team for Pulp City and we did our first food feature yesterday and it feels so good to be back in it. I went in thinking it was just going to be me & Dom with a couple of cameras, and then, all of a sudden, we had a 4 person crew with so much being covered. It was an absolute dream come true. Seeing the footage they were getting and being able to put together a really good idea about how to cut it, and how great we all worked together....  It was just really inspiring and we're so excited to show you the things we've been working on.  We're slated to launch next month for Orlando's 150th birthday!

If you're a local business owner or know someone with a local business, get in touch with us and we'll do something fun together!!!

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*I'll tell you stories and introduce you to my 903 Mills Market family very soon. They're the best.

That One Time I Was In The Jury Pool For The Zimmerman Trial Pt. 2

Here's what I wrote on days 2, 3, & 4 of my jury selection pool stint.
I also did a lot of reading.

6.13.13
Jury Pool room again. At the end of the first day, the judge & lawyers came back in and told some of us that we were excused and the rest had to come in on Thursday. I don't feel like I'll get picked for this. Everyone is excited for me and a few have mentioned getting book deals out of it. I think they're getting a little ahead of themselves. There are some folks in here from Tuesday. Guess where they're sitting? Yep, same spots. The Talkative Pair are back at it. There's a fella behind me that has a boisterous voice and another they referred to as "Chicken Man". I moved to a comfy corner but the sun is shining through the blinds and glaring my ipad. The Talkative Pair are eerily quiet this a.m. I wonder if they ran out of things to talk about. Kinda nice. Will probably change later in the day.
Probably about 100 people in here today and they took about 11 folks up 20mins ago. They were E people. Matt told me they were live streaming the jury selection. So now it makes more sense why I saw comments and juror #s mentioned in an article I read on Monday.
There's an annoying kid who talks too much cuz he thinks he's funny. I'd give him a funny ratio of 1:5. He said one thing that I laughed at for the 5 jokes me made that he laughed at. He's a 1st timer, too. A few in here. Oh! The judge, last night, said, "ORIENTATED". FL's finest. I also just heard, "I like movies. I watch them all the time." Oh, really? You don't say?

6.14.13
They dismissed us yesterday shortly after we came back from lunch. And so here I sit again on my own. Been such a weird week, but in a good way.
They wheeled some older gent (I believe he was in the E group) off on a stretcher. Paramedics had him in the refreshments room. I didn't even see when I came in. He went out red-faced and smiling so at least he's OK. They were making "way to get out of jury duty" jokes and something about blaming it on the coffee machine. The groups they just took, 2 groups of 12, were mostly women. I think one or 2 gents in each. There are about 30 folks left in here now. Most of the annoying people are gone. No Talkative Pair, no Kid Who Thinks He's Funny, no Sleeping Mouth Breathing Teen. It's very quiet in here today. The Chicken Man is here but not his radio voiced buddy. The older black gent that came in on Tuesday in a fly ass suit is looking more casual today.
The sun is shining through the window and blinds and casting a shadow that looks like a cross. I bet that's on purpose. As soon as I wrote that, a cloud made the cross shadow disappear.
And now it's back.

6.17.13

4th day in this room.

They got pretty clandestine on Friday. Taking us down long hallways and up/down elevators and dodging common areas. We went into the courtroom & they checked us out again and told us to come back on Monday. Friday was a freakin' short day. We were in and out in 2hrs. Today's been more waiting. There are about 40 people in here. One jury got picked for a different trial going on and they dismissed everyone else. I still don't think I'll get picked. Doesn't feel like it. Feels like we're the emergency backup crew in case the people they've chosen fuck it up. My handwriting is weird today. Keeps changing sizes.

More people were just dismissed.

I'm still here.

It's gotten cold in here with no bodies to radiate heat.

The deputies were just arguing about who was going to make coffee in the morning. Cute. Now they're weighing the differences between men & women.

Long day to be waiting with no sign of anything.

Got a lot of reading done.

-------------------------------------

And that was it.

The following couple of days, I was instructed to be on 'standby' and call every evening after 6pm for instructions. Those instructions excused me on the 2nd day of standby.

So, I thought I'd share my oh-so-riveting experience of how I almost got picked for a high profile local trial.

The End.

That One Time I Was In The Jury Pool For The Zimmerman Trial Pt. 1

Last night, the courthouse voice mail told me that I was excused from jury doodie.

They've selected 6 female jurors.

I kept counting out 12 and they only needed 6.

How about that?

Learned somethin' new.

Let's rewind to the day I received the summons.

The familiar red inked bifold envelope with my letter number and reporting date.

I'd joked with Matthew saying, "Ooooooo! I wonder if I'll get the Trayvon Martin case!!"

The week before my June 10th reporting date, Kayla posted an article about the trial and how there were crowds expected and a media circus, blah blah blah.

The date the jury selection started?  June 10th.

I'd called the Friday before the Monday reporting date and the message told my letter group to report on Tuesday.

So, I thought I was in the clear.

Here's what I wrote on Tuesday while I was waiting around in the assembly room:

6.11.13

George Z trial jury selection. I answered the questionnaire. Maybe included some detail they would ask about. Re: no cable news, etc. Now I'm drinking black coffee & sitting on the floor.  I find it funny that when, in a room full of random strangers, there are those people that immediately start chatting each other up.  People want to share things. With or without the internet. The quiet rumble of small talk & mumblings of details. No one has chatted me up yet. I am the quiet observer.

My juror # is I68. Before we filled out the questionnaire, George Z and the lawyers came in to check us out. One dude looked to be counting-bobbing his head down each row...silently doing the math. They said this could last anywhere from 4-6 weeks. I might also be dismissed. Kind of exciting once I got here. News trucks and a camp set up for media outside. Looks like they'll be here for 4-6 weeks, too. I bet they're hoping for a riot when the judgement comes down.  I bet my lack of news watching or cable at home makes me appealing.

One of the deputies in here just told another that she ate her avocado and was "good to go".  The Seminole County deputies are some strong and able looking women. Makes me curious to know their stories.

There's a kid - can't be a week over 18. He's sitting bent over in his chair sleeping on his knees. He's shaped like the number 4. I wonder what he thinks of this. I guess the fact that he's sleeping kinda gives that away. Now he's gone to the floor in the corner to continue his nap.

Meanwhile, I just had a cool idea for a story. A jury duty serial killer. Would make interesting commentary on how we're just numbers and quick to give up details to random strangers. Maybe. Or it's a stupid idea since it's in a courthouse. Also makes me daydream about if there are courthouse bathroom hookups. Like the airport hookup from 6ft Under.
Yes, it all really does come down to sex & violence.

The first judge that came in to qualify us was the same judge McIntosh that precided over the 1st jury duty summons I was selected for. Pretty good chances for this one but they have a big pool to choose from.
I like the bitchy people who don't wanna be here. The ones that have 4 kids 5 jobs & no spouse. The ones who don't care what any one else is going through cuz it couldn't possibly be worse than their situation. "I'm too distracted to be here..." It's not like the jury summons snuck up on you. There's a 3 or 4 week notice at least. There were a few folks that had people in the hospital and one guy that was leaving for honeymoon tomorrow. They got excused. The one lady who was "too distracted" pulled some 'tude early in her explanation. I'd keep her here just for that. Twat.

Shitty coffee tastes better black.

The sleeping kid is a mouth breather.

And a farter.

3hrs so far of just waiting. It was so exciting earlier. Some of that has died down. I wonder what the people who didn't bring a diversion & aren't talking to people are thinking about. How to get away with jury pool room murder, I bet. Or bathroom hookups. Just to sit and stare, seemingly comfortably, for hours on end. Those are the folks to worry about. What's going on in that noggin? 

I did a quick counting like the one head-bobbing lawyer dude did & estimated close to 150 people in here. We broke for lunch. They gave us an hour but I figured by the time I got out of the parking lot, found food I can eat & got back, I'd only really have a half an hour, if that. People brought in fried stuff & wings & it smells good. I ended up snagging a better parking spot & came back in. So I could sit around and wait some more. And eat my nut sack.

The vending machine was sold out of delicious Aquafina water, but gave me $2.10 after I pressed the button to return the $2 put in. Pretty good ROI on a soda machine, but I'm still thirsty.

Trayvon supporters are out front with signs & sitting in the shade. I wonder what they're thinking about today. I bet they're thirsty, too. I was going to take of picture of the folks out there but thought better of it.

GAWDAMN the skinny girl next to me is eating fried empanadas and they smell like awesome grease. I bet she'll purge afterwards. Skinny girls don't eat like that. 

I'd like to conduct a study that tracks people's seating habits. We all left the room and came back to sit in the same spots we left earlier. It's not like we have assigned seats or anything.

My feet keep falling asleep cuz of the way I'm sitting. My luck, they'll call me & I'll stand up and immediately fall down cuz my feet will be napping. Disinterested feet, much like the Sleepy Mouth Breathing Teen.

I hope something happens during this half of the day. I may have to come back tomorrow. They've been calling B#s and there have been about 5 or 6 BINGO jokes. Also of note, some of the B#s were in a different courtroom.  So that makes sense as to why we were called in today. I wonder if the people they're looking for have skipped out after lunch.
I'd also like to conduct a study on why people always look at their finger after scratching an ear itch. Pretty sure it's an involuntary movement at this point in our evolution.

Now I'm sitting here thinking about how seriously quiet it must be in the courtroom upstairs and how talkative and lighthearted it is down here in the pool room. There's occasional laughter. Probably not too much of that happening upstairs. How drastic the difference in atmosphere is depending on which room of the building you're sitting in.

I am that girl that talks to herself while playing games on her phone.

I'm not the talkative pair infront of me that have been chatting since we came in this a.m. First it was college friends, now it's gym training at LA Fitness & 5ks. Yuppie convo nightmare.

It's raining.

Oh, I forgot to mention, about 20 mins ago they dismissed the 1st round of folks. I'm still here.

I bet I'll have to come back tomorrow.

Someone just leaned against the emergency door and set the alarm off.

This concludes this afternoon's excitement.

This guy over here in the talkative pair will not shut the fuck up. He's seriously been talking nonstop for 2+hrs. To the point where he finally cracked open his lunch time water.

I'm gonna move over to the other side of the room..... oh wait.  he just got up and walked away!

His chat partner looks slightly relieved. I bet her ears are sore.

It's sorta comforting to know that the deputies they have in here are just as bored & tired of waiting as we are. The jury officer just went upstairs with all of our summons papers. Hopefully some news will follow shortly.

The later it gets, the louder everyone in here gets. Almost 8 straight hours of just sitting around waiting. What does that do to people? Makes them louder.

Christmas Favorites

I think we still have about 3ft of torn up wrapping paper in the living room.

I'd clean up, but Snoop looks so cute in it.

This is what it looks like when you see all of my Christmas presents at once:

This view was a bit distracting on Xmas Day.  Anyone else ever run into this problem?

Matthew's mom sent me the faux fur vest & the necklace.  Matt said I looked like a villain.  I thought it looked a bit Jersey and made me feel like a stuffed animal.  The petting was nice throughout the night....even if it was just me doing the petting.

Hope you turds had a very merry.

Cheers to a Happy!!

Anyone Hungry? Cask & Larder Review!

I've been hearing about all the yummy wonderfulness going on in this place from some foodie friends for quite a while now - same with Ravenous Pig.
We tried to get a res for the Pig while Matt's folks were in town over Thanksgiving.  They were full.  The restaurant, not his folks.
I thought we might get a spot at Cask.  They were full, too, but we ended up finding a spot at the oven bar and watched them make stuff while we were waiting to figure out what we were going to order.
Right away, I saw 'Holiday Cookie' on the microbrew list and had to try that.
It was lovely and gingerbreadspicy.  It also had the highest alcohol content.  Well played, me.
Everything looked amazing on the menu, but I decided on the chicken & biscuits.  Matt had the ham board which has 3 different shaved country hams.  I think his folks had the same thing and my mom had the mac & cheese.
The biscuits are....(see below)
If they had an entree that was just biscuits, Matt & I woulda been completely happy.
I took a picture of my chicken and biscuits when it arrived & immediately dropped my phone into the gravy.  For a couple days the volume button was effed up.

Since the menu was a damn fine one and my girls were getting together, I threw it out there as an option, and we went earlier this week.
I love going to places twice in one week when I hadn't been there at all previously.  Its like a Karen spamming.
This visit I had a WP Mule while Jess and I waited for a couple other lovely ladies.
I loooooove ginger drinks and this one was de-lish.
When everyone was there, Jess & Martha slurped on oysters while Sarah and I watched.
Then the waffle fries came in.  This one's a must when you go.  We damn near cleaned the plate and it was a good sized portion.
I ordered the duck since I'd been eyeballing when we were there the first time.
Jess had shrimp and grits.  Martha had the cobia.  Sarah had boudin....cuz she's a sweet sweet Louisiana girl.
Everything was holy hell good and I'd gotten maybe two bites into my duck when our server came out to tell me, "Chef thinks that duck breast is too small and has another one roasting for you.  Do you want it brought out or boxed up?"
I fainted in my head and when I came to, I chose boxed.
DUCK FOR BREAKFAST!!
That chantilly you'll see on the menu if you're following along, is like a cheesey, buttery, grits/polenta sorta thing.
We wrapped up with a cute little chocolate silk pie, apple cobbler, and a sweet treats tray.
And I had a most excellent porter to go with it.
The pie was really good (candied orange zest is my new fave), and the cookies on the sweet treats plate were freakin' delightful.  Jess rightfully hogged all the cobbler for herself. ;)
Highly recommended....I'd give it 5 out of 5 food babies.
Everything was AMAZING!


Thank you for existing, Cask & Larder.  You do excellent work.
One of these days soon, I'll make it into The Ravenous Pig since I believe we're the only Central Floridians who haven't been yet.

Now I'm Just Somebody That Used To Blog

Hey there.
Been a little while.

I've forgotten how to do this.

I have a list of things I want to write about and share with you - places we've been, restaurants we've eaten in, movies we've seen....
I'm so behind, I don't really know where to start.

So, I'll start here.
About a month or so ago, I got involved in this Americana art show at Peacock.
I made some shelves to use for display.  They were made out of cheap garden fencing.
I'd do before and after pictures here, but suddenly I have to upgrade my blogger account, so you can watch this video I made after we went to the show.  See if you can pick them out.


*change the quality setting to 720p, please and thank you.

The Neverending Birthday Week -or- Karenpalooza 2012 Part III

Saturday Day 6 - DAY OF!! - The morning greeted us with a maid cop knock, Matthew sleepily saying, "come back later" and then me freaking out that my camera bag wasn't in my room.  We went looking back at the band stage and I told Matt that I kinda remember Willie saying that he had my camera bag but I didn't trust my drunken head at that point.  We did the quick stage search (did not see the washtub bass in the bushes) and talked to the towel boy, to end up back in the room with my phone finally plugged in to recharge and a reply from Willie saying, "Yes, I still have your camera bag." with relief washing over.  This made us hungry and we headed over to the restaurant for breakfast buffet where Matthew told me to check my email on my phone.  I looked and smiled seeing the Two Door Cinema Club tickets for the Beacham Theater on June 4th.  YAY!!!
We went and wandered around the vendor room and picked up some prints by this dude, Willie gave us some badass prints from this dude and this set as a bday present that I'm effin' excited about.
This next bit, I feel the need to preface with the following:
About a month ago, I told Front Man John of The Bloody Jug Band that, with my bday coming up, Matt would probably be hitting him up for a merch/souvenir size washboard that the band sells during shows.  I'd made a little noise about how great it would be to have one on our "gallery" wall at home.
And this bit is the actual turn of events:
After running through the vendor room and pickin' up cards and prints and shakin' hands and playin' games, we went back by the Band booth to say "see ya" and Seth, John, & Stormy were there.  We chatted a minute and then John said something about my birthday and picked up the washboard he plays during shows and recent practices and took the straps & eye-hooks off and handed it to me with a "Happy Birthday" or something or other.
I say "something or other" because at some point while he was handing it to me, my brain shut down in disbelief.
I say "disbelief" because 1) that was the one he uses in shows and I knew they had a show the following night and 2) I asked for A washboard, not THE washboard.
There were 2 thimbles included even.

Completely overwhelmed and in a slight state of shock, I said my thank you's and "see ya" laters and we headed out.

Once home, Matthew said, "Close your eyes and put your hands out flat...." which was shortly followed by, "OK, open'em."  This is what I saw in my hands:

I totally know what you're saying....I was saying the same thing.
"HOLY CRAP, HOW COULD ANY ONE DAY GET ANY MORE AWESOME?!?"
I'll tell ya....
A 2.5 hour nap surely helps.
And dinner at Hawkers might've had something to do with it.
And then a trip with crazy friends to Lil 500 to ride go-karts might contribute, too.

The bumpy track was....
There was NO POSSIBLE WAY to NOT laugh or smile while driving.  The boobahs were bouncing, the track was ridiculous, everyone was doing something different and clownin'.
The fast track was....
Fast...and slippery and awesome.
Perma-grins for the night and sore faces later on from smiling/laughing so much.
We also sang "We Are Young" by Fun at the top of our lungs while we were driving.

This bit of awesome was followed by dive bar karaoke at Cheers and singin' "Man In A Box", "Road To Nowhere", "Bobby McGee", "Roadhouse Blues" and trainwreck shots with an improv LMFAO "I'm Sexy & I Know It" group dance.

Seriously, even just thinking about it now is bringing a giant effing smile to my face.

We finished off the night with sign stealing and 7/11 sammiches.

The Never-Ending Birthday Week -or- Karenpalooza 2012 Part II

Wednesday Day 3 - This was productive day.  And unintentionally so.  After rifling through the house looking for our marriage certificate in the myriad of unorganized boxes of shit, I went to the DMV to renew my driver's license.  I think that because I'd lost my license (and then found it later) and ordered a new one, it flagged me and that was why I couldn't do the renewal online.  I'd much rather have been able to keep the ID photo from 8yrs ago.
After that mess, I came home to a cable company bill that was charging us for not returning their boxes after we dumped the cable service.  So, having lunch at Willow Tree seemed appropriate since the cable company office was over that way.  Followed by the cable company drop off and another forgotten check card incident and a quick other couple of errands and then a run back home to freshen up before meeting Chrystal's birthday party people at Flats.  Then it was rehearsal night which was followed by an Oblivion stop and the night ended up in stomach cramps and uncomfortableness until 4:30a.m.  I think my body was over-awesomed.

Thursday Day 4 - Because my body was so over-awesomed, Pannacakes and I decided to take it easy with a water filled lazy day over at New Smyrna.  Lunch at Off The Hook and a beach nap in my beach tent and sunburnt tops of legs were included.  Peeing in the ocean and lots of chatting were also thrown in there.  There were 2 accidents on I-4 on the way home.  That was pretty crazy...there were shoes in the road and a flipped truck.  Got home and got cleaned up and went to our rescheduled dance class and wore my new "angry tango" shoes.  That's what Instructor Brian called them cuz they're red and black.  We killed the hustle and did some tango.  Our next lesson, Instructor Brian said, we'd be split up and doing a focus lesson.  Matt will be with Lindsay and I'll be with Brian and then we're back together towards the end of the lesson to go over what we learned apart.

Friday Day 5 - I had a date with Mom for lunch.  We met up in downtown Mt. Dora and ate at the Palm and went over to the Aveda spa for a pre-birthday massage from Mom that left me all noodley & soft-skinned.  We ran through The Drawer to visit Bootie and pick up a few treasures.  Mom ran back to Aveda for a hair appt and I ran home to pack up for Mayhem.  Willie stopped by and Matt came home and gave me some crap for not having seen my first birthday present hanging in the upstairs hall (that I promptly moved to the red dining room wall):

After some squealing and celebrating, we all loaded up and caravanned down to the Wyndham to get situated for the evening's Pool Party with The Bloody Jug Band.  The night was insane...as anticipated with fire breathing clowns, the band, mermaids in the pool, conversations with Brazilians, and Kraken releasing.
It would end with a room party that included beatboxing and a shy amateur gangsta rapper with an awesome gold grill.  His name was Tunk.

The Never-Ending Birthday Week -or- Karenpalooza 2012 Part 1

Monday Day 1 - Nice leisurely trip to the gym to burn off some of the weekend after being hungover and sleeping almost all day Sunday.  While I was there, Trainer Brian was there and we caught up on things.  He looks like a Beatle now.  Hadn't seen him in months...hair's all grown out and he's rockin' an interesting mustache configuration.  Got home and cleaned up and Willie stopped by to give me some shit about something and brought up Dave & Buster's.  So we went.  And proceeded to get a bit of lunch and a little drunk and a lot excited over some pretty silly games....  Like, video lawn darts (my shit) and a Pirates game we fuckin' pwned through all 3 acts, and a Spaceballs game that was a big ticketer that was basically just a rubber ball version of Plinko from Price Is Right (also my shit).  We had some >3,000 tickets and went crazy snatching up cheap toys & candy from the winner's shop.
The next morning I would realize that I'd left my check card at the bar.

Tuesday Day 2 - The night before there were talks of waterpark action.  Aquatica or Typhoon Lagoon?  Typhoon won out because I used to work there and hadn't been since.  13yrs?  So we stopped by Dave & Buster's to grab my check card and cruised out to Typhoon.  After a quick stop by the bar, The Crush'n'Gusher made me dirty giggle and we grabbed a dual tube to jump on the Bananas slide first.  Got a workout up those stairs and jumped in to immediately start screaming down the slippery slopes and yell "SHIT" on turns when I thought we'd flip over.  Zippy bags full of cards were lost & found more than once.  Mayday Falls flipped me backwards.  Gangplank was shorter than I remember and still pretty lame.  Keelhaul was fun and I scraped my foot on the bottom of the Creek in the same spot Pannacakes pool attacked me from the weekend.  The water seemed low.  Terry made green crazy shots. They were tasty.
When I got home, Matthew and I were supposed to dance.  After another couple of jager shots, I ended up passing out in the car on the way to dance.
Being the Awesome he is, he went in to check out the situation (explaining that I was "not feeling well") for a solo dance with Instructor Brian's instructor lady friend, Lindsay but she was busy, so he rescheduled us and had a cider at the bar we frequent next to our dance studio.

Played Hookie

Took a day off last week and went to New Smyrna Beach with Pannacakes.
First stop was to Beachside Tavern for a drink or two.
Followed by a drive down to Turtle Mound where we saw this stuff:

 There were all these little pale yellow/white butterflies everyfreakin'where.

 More of those butterflies and the moon sliver.

There's a crab in there peakin' out.  Was only able to see that little bit of him.

After we hung out there and scoped out fishing spots and tried to find the camping spots, we headed back to Chase's for lunch and rum buckets.  Their fish fingers & blackened tuna tips were killer.  The umbrella was broken so my shoulders got some color and Pannacake's back sizzled.

We left there for another quick margarita back at Beachside before calling it a day.  There was a dude playin' a guitar and some other dude with a harmonica (the guitar dude had never met before) jumped up on stage and started playing along.

The guitar kid was cute and had floppy curls and we girl giggled with Chantelle the bartender when he called her "darlin'".

After naps and showers, we ended up going back out with the menfolk and sang karaoke over at the scary Cheers until about 1a.m.  Pannacakes lost her voice & J did a lot of Beevis/Butthead dancing.  Matthew wore his kilt and sang backup for me on "Man In A Box".

Was a damn good hookie day.

Common Denominator

Stumbled upon someone the other day who shared a similar past:

Sometimes Ya Just Gotta Dance

Back in October, Matthew and I celebrated our 7 year itch.
I snatched up a groupon for Arthur Murray classes.

We finally started going when we came back from Hawaii.
The first class included simple box step (which is also the rumba.  hm, who knew!?), basic tango, hustle, swing steps, and one basic turn.
Then I bought these dancin' shoes I found on sale here.  They make me & my feet happy.

They had perfect timing and came in the day before our 2nd class, so when we got there & I put them on, one of the girls who works at the studio was all, "I love them!  Where'd you get'em?"
"....uh....online?"  It kinda threw me off that someone who does this for a living would be asking me where I got proshoes.

We got Brian to tell us his sinking boat story that I'd read here.
He made it sound like it was a sore subject but patted us on the back for reading profiles.
Then he taught us turns for the rumba & the waltz.  He's dreamy to dance with.
And apparently, I'm only to be instructed by young dudes named Brian.
Here's what Matthew looked like at the studio last week, while we were waiting for said Brian:

Matthew sweated through his white shirt.  I told him he should wear a "let's get physical" sweatband for the next class....WHICH IS TONIGHT!

I love our classes.

Suckit Saturday - Terribly Odd

This is our friend.
His website is here.

He's a damn fine fellow and is doing a show at this joint so we'll be hangin' out around Disney this weekend.
Maybe Matthew will take me to DisneyQuest.

Here's an Odd commission Matthew had done for us for my birthday a couple years ago.  Based on a photo we took in Costa Rica.

This is what I looked like when he gave it to me:

Verdict Tuesday

OH MY GAWD, CASEY ANTHONY'S NOT GUILTY!!!! CAN YOU FRIGGIN' BELIEVE IT?!?!

Yes.

Yes, I can.

I also think people are nutty for some of the crap they're posting on facebook about how there's no justice and the jurors are stupid or were on drugs and how great it is to live in a country where you can get away with murder.

All of this focused energy and attention for one little girl who had a pretty fucked up family and met an untimely death that may or may not have been an accident.

And no one will ever know what actually happened.

The jurors aren't stupid.

They made a decision.

A pretty sound one.

Have you ever been on a jury??

Have you ever decided some one's fate??

I find it amusing that people bitch and complain about getting called for jury duty (haha...doodie) & put forth effort to not get picked.....and then those folks have the balls to call the 12 random strangers that were picked for this case "stupid".

The state didn't have enough evidence to prove BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT that Caylee's death was at the hand of Casey.

They just didn't.

Your speculation and opinions aren't evidence.

Your disbelief that a 20yr old mother could go out partyin' while she knew her daughter was gone is not evidence of murder.

People do some pretty crazy things while grieving, and if you've never experienced loss like that, you don't know how you'd deal with it either, and you probably wouldn't care if how you were dealing made sense to anyone else.

Now, I'm not saying she (and/or George) didn't have anything to do with it.

I'm not saying that she was justified in retail therapy or hot body contests.

And I'm not saying she's not a crazy liar with a monkey face who needs to get her hair cut and probably should've had the balls to take the stand in her own case.....

I'm saying, I agree with the jury.

I Am A YouTube Nerd

I watch a lot of crap on youtube.

I also watch a lot of not crap on youtube.

We've all been aware of youtube and everyone's seen some retarded cat video or a baby doing something funny or a dude getting hit in the balls or a snippet of some Japanese game show.

But about 2 years ago (and I was late to the party), I stumbled across this video.

Which took me to one of this kid's videos.

Then I saw these guys doing their local commercials.

And then I found one of this fella's videos.

Then this kid popped up.

Which lead me to this girl and this girl (in a round about way).

Which took me to this guy.

And that's only a handful of my favorites.

I haven't even mentioned these guys or these folks or this guy or this guy or this girl.

And for my cousins - there's always this guy.

In a nutshell, it didn't take me long to discover a massive entertainment community all webbed together..... some really really talented people doing some really cool things with just a camera and editing software.

And right around the time I started paying attention, they were starting to make $ by doing this. By becoming youtube partners and getting paid by advertisers.

Now, a handful of these folks are making their living this way.

If you shop at Hot Topic, you're probably aware that they have a whole section dedicated to internet celebrities. Most are from youtube.

I watch more youtube than I do regular TV these days.

SO, now that I've outted myself and my love for these youtubers.....I also have to admit that I'm going to this on Saturday.

Do you see that friggin' line up!?!?

That's almost everyone I just mentioned as my favorites.

I'll be the oldest girl there wearing my wheezywaiter shirt and getting video of everything and buying more tshirts and saying hi to folks I've only watched on youtube for the past 2 or 3 yrs.

And I can't freakin' wait!!

To The St. Patrick's Day Haters

Who the feck cares??

For as long as I remember, its always been about wearing green so you don't get pinched, leprechauns & pots of gold, shamrocks, and when I got older, BEER.

I don't care where it came from or why we celebrate it or that from 1903 to 1970 all the pubs in Ireland were closed on March 17th, or that it's based on the catholics wiping out the druids (most holidays as we know them today are based on that anyway).

I really don't even care that it's a "holiday".

If we don't have off from work, it ain't a real holiday.

You know what I did last Thursday?

I probably wore something green to work and watched a dumb movie and went out to drink somewhere.

You know what I'm doing tonight?

I'm wearing green and going to see a dumb movie and going out to drink somewhere.

NOT that big o'deal.

And you can't try to call me out for hating on Columbus Day but not St. Patrick's Day.

People don't wear a color for Columbus Day. They don't have big parades or dye bodies of water that run through cities a certain color (though, if they did, it would most certainly have to be red). There's no drinking songs. There's no drinking. There's no fun.

On St. Patrick's Day, I'm not pretending I'm Irish.

I'm wearing a green shirt and going out for a few pints.

On St. Patrick's Day, I'm not dishonoring ancient religions.

I'm listening to bagpipes and continuing my recent obsession with Liam Neeson's facial profile.

So, if I ask you to go out on March 17th, I don't want to hear how it's a dumb celebration or how it's amateur night or that you don't want to because you're not Irish.

I want to hear, "FECK YES" because you want to hang out with feckin' good company and have a feckin' good time.

Just like how it should be any other day of the week......month.....year.

***********************

ps. it has taken me an extra 15-20mins to post this just because I keep staring at Liam's face up there....

Happy New Year & Crap!!

Remember back when I used to post shit here all the time?
hahaha....man.....those were the days.
good times.

Remember when my hard drive went down and I lost our Boston pictures?
Turns out they were still on the memory card so.....YAY!!
Will get them posted somewhere soon.

Remember about a month ago I said that photos of our pieces for that Superhero/Villain show would be posted here the same day as the show?
Here they are....so stop bugging me. gawh.
Mine's:
That's Harley Quinn, Catwoman, & Poison Ivy.

Matt's:
Those are Spiderman, Spider Jerusalem, Black Lantern, Green Lantern, & Cap'n America.

There was a nifty little write up in the Orlando Weekly (towards the bottom).

That was pretty cool. Tons o'fun.

Remember last week, when it was Christmas??

Here's what ours looked like:

And here's what I looked like on New Year's:

Awesome....Now that we're all caught up.
Happy 2011!!
I thought about doing one of those "Year In Review" things but that seems kinda stupid and redundant when all you need to do is go back and read everything posted this year....
duh. There's your review.

Holiday Season Movie Reviews-
Black Swan: Awesome.
Tron Legacy: Meh. Pretty to look at but yawn.
Rare Exports: Awesome.

Is This Thing On?

Holy crap - the past few weeks have friggin' flown by.

The Boston trip was a friggin' BLAST and not only have I not given you the breakdown here, but pictures haven't even been posted yet.

I promise to make it up to you.

I've been so busy getting ready for both Thanksgiving with the in-laws coming into town and this (sorry, couldn't get a bigger version of the flyer):

Our first show!!
We're part of the "AND MORE" listed on the flyer....so I guess one of my life goals is only being half fulfilled.
Someday my name will be listed.
On facebook (and in the newspaper) it says, "The Stephensons" which makes me laugh.
We're still deciding on the number of pieces we're entering but we're doing those painted skulls...all superhero/villiany style.
Matt had a head start on them since it was an idea he'd already had when we first started painting those skulls. His have been done for a while.
Mine are still in progress and need to be done by tomorrow night for hanging on Wednesday.
As soon as they're done and on the day of the show, I'll post pictures here for your viewing enjoyment.

I'm a little nervous about this since its something I've always kinda dreamed of & am worried about how my stuff will look next to so much awesomeness....
But whatever...Eff that Ess.
Who ever is reading this and is in town, YOU SHOULD COME DOWN TO TASTE IN COLLEGE PARK ON FRIDAY NIGHT & help me drink away my nerves & come see some cool shit & meet some cool people.

It'll be fun!!

Monday PostMexico Quickie

Last Thursday morning we left for a wedding being held in a town just outside of Guadalajara, Mexico. It was an amazing trip and a beautiful wedding. Pictures will be posted somewhere soon.

There are a few stories that I'll share later as well.

We got home last night at around midnight and, as you can imagine, it was incredibly difficult to climb out of bed this morning.

This week will leave us pretty whooped and we're not anticipating any rest over the weekend either.

Maybe on Sunday if we're lucky. Maybe.

Tonight, I think we're going to a late show at the Enzian to see this. Matt's been sucked into the book series and is super excited about it. You might remember, we went to see the first one a few months ago when it was playing and getting so much buzz.

Tomorrow night is the opening of The Geek Easy and they're also doing a book release party for the sequel to KickAss.

Wednesday night is Juliette Lewis downtown at BackBooth. We've missed her shows in the past for one reason or another so I'm really curious about this one since there's no mention of The Licks.

Wanna bet we've missed her crazy punk phase and are hitting her unplugged calmed down adult contemporary phase? Although, I doubt she'd be at BackBooth in that case.

I hope she kicks ass.

Thursday night is the screening party for the 48 hr Film Project that commenced over the weekend while we were in Mexico. Matthew & I will be playing the role of "photographers" for the event & snappin' photos of the folks participating & getting awards. We even get "CREW" shirts!

Friday night....WHAT? We don't have anything going on Friday? Maybe we'll get to unpack & get ready for Saturday.

Saturday is Chrystal's bridal shower followed by Pork Night at Anna's house.

We shall bring one of our 2 bottles of tequila we brought back from Mexico.

mmmmmmmmmpork.

People Are Silly

This is what it looked like for the opening of Harry Potter Wizard World....or whatever its called.
One section of the park.
5-7 hr wait times in lines.
Right, Willie??

This shit ain't goin' any where.
It'll still be around in October.
When all the kids are back in school.
And the weather's nicer.
No swampass.

This massive crowd...ALL of EVERYONE who was in Central Florida at the time....
concentrated in one place....

D.U.M.