Black Carl and Flock of Seagulls

It was an eventful weekend here in Flagstaff.

It started out with a late show at the Green Room with Black Carl.
Why does the Green Room say the show starts at 9:00 when the set list on the stage very clearly states that the opening opening band will go on at 9:45? Why does the headliner go on at 11:45? It gets me every time.
I am so used to shows at the Orpheum that start on time and end at a decent time.
Some of us music lovers have kids yo!

Anyway Black Carl was awesome, but failed to play my favorite song, Ran. We bailed a little early and missed that last two songs, but found an awesome new food truck located in a back alley downtown that is open from 9 pm till 3am. My mind was blown with a pork quesadilla drizzled with hot BBQ sauce.

Saturday night we braved the weather and headed out to the Coconino County Fair to hear a little Flock of Seagulls. The venue sucks. I will give the Seagulls that, but the interminable sound check while the entire crowd sat around waiting was fairly unprofessional. We were all getting a little impatient. It probably wasn't the band's fault, but they could have speeded up the process.

The show itself was okay. I 'm not a huge Flock of Seagulls fan. I only know that one song. I was 8 when most of their songs were released. They rocked it as best they could for a County Fair. The vocals sounded a little off, but hey the guy is what? 55 years old. I was disappointed that he no longer has big hair. The music was good and we were genuinely entertained. They rocked it, but not as hard as Everlast did last year.

Mike Score

I think I realized that Flock of Seagulls to me is more of a cultural icon than a band. They are referenced in so many 80's movies and parodies that the band has become more than their music. They are pop culture. Now when ever I hear a reference to them I can say, Yep I've seen Flock of Seagulls.

Best Donuts in the Whole World - Blue Gate Bakery

I have been ruined. Ruined I tell you.

This place has THE BEST DONUTS in the entire world.

The Blue Gate Bakery in Shipshewana, Indiana. It is located inside the Blue Gate Restaurant and Theater in Amish Country.

OMG. I have never had a donut this good. I have tried many all over the world and they win. They win. I don't even need to look any more.
I remember the day. It was Monday August 5th, 2013 when I tasted the best donuts in the world.
We were hungry and were going to eat at the restaurant when my nose found it's way to the bakery. Ahh the bakery.
The donuts were shining like gold in the display case. There is was on the top shelf: a long john with freshly knife spread chocolate frosting and creamy white cream peeking out from inside. We ordered a full dozen donuts. Carl thought he saw a maple bar, but no, it turned out to be caramel frosting, his wildest dreams come true. We took the huge white box back to the car. I lifted my long john out of the box and nearly dropped it from the weight. It must have been a solid one pounder. I took a bite and melted into donut heaven. The frosting was so fresh. The cream was so heavy and light at the same time and the dough was solid. I didn't mean to eat the whole thing, but I did. I couldn't put it down even though my stomach was screaming, please stop, my mouth was screaming, EAT IT ALL! and then have another.
I have never had a donut this delicious. EVER. Look at all the capitals in this post. I am not joking. I am serious. If you are a donut lover and connoisseur you must make the pilgrimage to the Blue Gate Bakery and taste the heaven that is Amish donuts.
There are two kinds of donuts: french fry grease crispy donuts, also known as Asian donuts that are made in LA. The others are the lard based donuts that are made in the Middle West. Both delicious, but very different.
The Shipshewana donuts were lard based and can't be compared to the french fry grease type of donuts.
Since getting back from our trip I have not been able to eat a single donut. They all look so pale in comparison. Don't even try and get me to sample a Dunkin Donut after my donut euphoria in Indiana. I can't do it. I can't eat them. What's the point? They won't be as good. They won't satisfy the way that other donut did. I'm ruined and I love donuts.
I'm scheming and trying to figure out a way to get those donuts here to me from Indiana. Are you driving this way? Can you bring me one? Can I FedEx custom critical one? I will need this donut to survive.

That's them from the web site. I'm just going to look and drool for a while.

PMS Panic Attach

I just finished paying the price for a 2 week long vacation. During that 2 weeks I did not exercise. I did not get in my 3-4 miles a day walk and it made me miserable. It has nothing to do with my weight or the way my pants fit.
It has everything to do with the way I react to PMS. It did not go well at all last week. I was out of my mind. Things are starting to come back around to normal today, but it was evil. It was terrifying and made me question my sanity on deep levels.
Things get real sketchy when I don't exercise or stick to a regular schedule. Things were fine while we were traveling, but once home the shit started to hit the fan.
There is the usual depression associated with returning from a trip and the starting of school. But combine that with the fact that I hadn't been exercising or eating normally and the PMS last week just knocked my on my mental and physical ass.
I couldn't handle anything. I had to leave the house for the evening Thursday and take myself out of the game. That was the low point. I immediately took some Midol, peed 4 times, had a Diet Coke, and some Chipotle and my mind seemed to come back around.
It's hard to verbalize what was going through head before I left the house, but I had to leave. Luckily my children are old enough that I can leave them at home and not worry about the consequesces. I called my husband, let him know I was out and quickly made my getaway.
It's not the children. It's the pressure of all the things that needed me. Dinner, homework, laundry, parent night at school, bills, the pets. It's all so mundane, but it's all so big in my mind that I can't cope with it a second longer or I will explode.
It's scary and there doesn't seem to be a solution to all the pressure, except to just leave the situation. It feels like a cop out even now just describing it, but the feeling is very real and the need for escape is overpowering.
It's my version of a panic attack. I will die if I stay where I am. I have to leave.

I'm not sure what I'm trying to accomplish by describing my mental illness to you, but maybe some understanding as to why I try and keep things "just so". Life is scary and not just for me, but for everyone. We all have different ways of coping with the scary things and this is my way. I have to walk. I have to eat the same things. I have to have a schedule. I have to have away time.

This week will be my testimony to all things normal.
Walk 3 miles this am. check
Eat Rice Krispies daily. check
Vacuum. check

Road Trip 3013 - The After Photos

We're Back!

It was a VERY long road trip followed by an even longer back-to-school week. It was epic. We saw so many things, people, and bodies of water. I highly recommend it if you have the means. Yes it was tedious at times and we were asked way too many times "How much longer?" and "Where are we?", but it was totally worth it. Our children have seen things they have never seen before and experienced life in variety of American locales.

Chicago was immense and overwhelming for children who have only known LA, San Diego, and Vegas. It was truly metropolitan. I mistakenly called this sculpture "the blob" when it's actually known as "the bean".

We were on a tubing trip with all the peeps on my mother's side of the family and stopped here at Smith Falls in Nebraska.

This is the building, Foellinger Auditorium at the University of Illinois, where I graduated from not just high school but also college. It will always hold a special place in my heart.

Standing on the steps of the Nelson Atkins Art Museum in Kansas City. Luckily we were there the night it was open until 9:00 and there was FREE admission. One of my all time favorite art galleries.

I'll expand on some more details and tidbits as the weeks entering school calm down. I will only be working 3 days a week this year. I am job sharing so that I have more time for writing, cleaning and crunching numbers. I am so excited!

The To Do List - Do Not See it if You are Old or Religious

So if you haven't seen this trailer, watch it now.

Now if you were over 50 and on a double date with another 50 year old couple would this be your movie choice? What if you were a couple of 60 year old ladies?

Do people just not know anything about the movies they pay to see?

I went to a 1:00 showing this afternoon. I got there late right as the previews started and the theater was full of other unemployed summer people, mostly old.

When I got up to leave there were only about 10 people left in the theater. I remember seeing a few old peeps get up and walk out, but ALL of them? It was so crazy.
Did they all just randomly pick a movie from the marqee? Did they think it was starring Robert DeNiro? Did they not know it was a highschool movie? I just don't comprehend.
Right there in the trailer is lists, "Blow job, hand job, rim job." Is that not an indication of it's raunchiness?

I personally loved the movie, mostly because I too graduated in 1993 and a lot of the clothes and cultural references were right up my alley. It was funny. It starred funny people and hot guys. It was a girrly sexy movie. They don't make too many of those and I really appreciated it.

I would highly reccommend it as long as you are not over the age of 45 and not a sexually repressed religious person. You won't be able to handle it and you will be missing out.

A Nook, Gwen Stefani, and Chipotle

I sold my Nook. It was a pathetic imitation of my Kindle.

My puppy is almost a dog. Imagine a beagle, but make it shorter and longer like a wiener dog. That's Petey.

I am excited and leery about spending 2 weeks in a car with my children.

I made banana chocolate chip muffins on Sunday.

Every time I write the word 'banana' I think of Gwen Stefani.

I am supposed to start back to work next Monday the 29th, but don't have to thanks to our road trip.

I have almost made it through my summer reading pile. There are 6 books left and I have read 15 so far. The Fountainhead is really going to stall me out for a while.

I scrounged $80 yesterday selling old CD's which I will use today to fuel my wicked Chipotle craving.

My son just broke my Dyson trying clean out the infestation of Kleenex underneath his bed.

I feel the need for a couple of new kittens when we get back in August. I want two sisters and will name them Matilda and Lavender.

I think gymnastics for a 7 year old is awesome. I don't think gymnastics 3 times a week for 3 hours is awesome.

I saw 3 drowned moles on my walk Sunday morning. The big thunderstorm on Saturday night flushed them out. They were big pink and swollen with water. I had never seen anything like it.

What if I took all the big Internet hit words and put them in the title of this post? Would it get more hits?

Pink Houses and Danville Illinois

I spent a majority of my formative years (ages 10-18) in a little tiny town called Danville, Illinois. It is located in central Illinois about 5 miles from the Indiana border. It is very hard for me to summarize my feelings about his town. A lot of shit went down there, good and bad. I went to public middle school there. True I was in the small contained classes with all the gifted kids, but damn if lunch and PE weren't difficult with the masses.
I learned to drive here. I had preteen and teen crushes here. I learned how to shop at the mall here. I had paper routes here. I rode my bike around this town for hours on end. I walked to the corner store to buy Lemonheads and bags of chocolate chips to stash in my room.

But what does John Mellencamp have to do with this? When ever I hear this song, Little Pink Houses, or Small Town I think of dinky little Danville Illinois. Mellencamp is from Indiana and the songs were in pretty heavy rotation in this small town in the 80's. When I think of Danville, the images that are shown in this video play through my head. There are cornfields and highways and trains, small town people and small town houses, but ain't that America? This song makes me feel all patriotic inside and wish for my olden days of 10cent Lemonheads, fireworks at the VW, sitting on picnic tables at the Custard Cup, and putting clothes on layaway at Maurices.

I'm going to stop by in a few weeks while in town for my high school reunion. I went to the fancy high school 30 miles away, so this will be a side trip into the town of my middle school years. The local Danville high school is also having it's reunion that weekend. I hope to see a few familiar faces at the Royal Donut.

Last time I went through town a lot had changed and not necessarily for the better. Some of the kids I knew there are still in town and trying to make it work in this small town and I wish the best for them. It's a hard place to make it. Most of the businesses have moved on. I think SOLO cups and Quaker are still in town. Some of my favorite stores and restaurants were gone. Downtown, after trying to revitalize in the 80's and 90's, seemed to have succumbed to most small town's fate: empty buildings and faded signs.

No matter how faded it's glory, I will always love this town. Get ready Danville, I'm coming home.