2012 Week 36: Rhymes with Tired

Posted on September 9, 2012 by Leigh

Mired.
Wired.
Tired.

Renegade Craft Fair Chicago 2012 is over. It was a very successful year. The weather during the fair was lovely. My boothmate Shawna Smith and her booth helper were lovely and we had a good time over the weekend. I saw awesome friends and met great new people, as always. I debuted LAK lacquer. Winner of the drawing for $25 worth of Rhymes with Twee goods is Eileen D. and I have contacted her via email that she has won. As for me, I am bone tired. And now….sleep!

Films watched 36th week of the year:

Tiny Furniture
Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles*
Jane Eyre (2011)

*documentary

Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles was excellent. If you like documentaries, this was a neat one addressing a very mysterious subject matter.

2012 Week 27: “in love. independence day. two clenched fists in the air, chanting “U-S-A!””

Posted on July 8, 2012 by Leigh

Jason Anderson @ Den Theatre

What a week, even with the holiday in the middle:

Super busy week at work

Saw my buddy Jason Anderson and Steven Gilpin play the Den Theatre (see above) – seeing Jason is always just what I needed

Did my first Katniss photoshoot and the postcards that resulted will be for sale in the shop as soon as they arrive – Katniss + Cupcakes = adorable

Finally ate at Bullhead Cantina – so delicious and they were playing the Superchunk channel on Pandora

Saw Black Lips at West Fest

Tilda had an appointment with a behaviorist and was issued Reconcile (doggy prozac)

On the 4th, I made up my mind that I would eat poultry once a month and I ordered southern fried chicken tacos from Bullhead on GrubHub. It came and I popped a little piece of chicken into my mouth as Z delivered an ill-timed joke. I started sobbing uncontrollably because I know that I want to go fully vegetarian, but I am battling my human cravings. The tiny bite of chicken I had was not even good to me. I ended up not eating the two chicken tacos and had Z eat them. Then we watched Vegucated. It was the best movie I’ve watched about vegetarianism/veganism. It was lighthearted, but provided lots of great information in a palatable manner. Definitely a good one to watch if you are considering going vegetarian/vegan. I know I’ll have setbacks, but I’ll get there.

I am going to Kentucky for a work trip tomorrow through Wednesday. I am thrilled to be seeing in person what my team does every day. I packed a bunch of energy bars just in case because I am really not sure if I’ll be able to find enough veggie stuff for me. Psyched for the experience though and to see a few members of my team again!

Films watched 27th week of the year:

Vegucated*
Clueless
Take Shelter
We Need to Talk About Kevin
Spork
Gone with the Wind
The End of August
Ellie’s Head

Lots of great movies this week! Saw our friend Tim’s movie The End of August at Logan Theater and ran into Veronica from Gaudi in the Lounge. Turns out her husband Paul was the star of the movie. What a small, weird, and wonderful world we live in.

2012 Week 23: “Remind me that once I was free. Once I was cool. Once I was me.”

Posted on June 11, 2012 by Leigh

The quote is from one of my favorite Radiohead songs, A Reminder. This post is a day late because I was at Radiohead yesterday. Thanks again heaps and HEAPS to Sparkletone for the face value ticket. We ended up buying another one on StubHub, so the scalpers did not entirely win. It was a good show, but I am spoiled having seen them 22 times prior. The light show was completely incredible though. The crowd definitely soured my experience. There were more people smoking weed than I have ever experienced before in my life. I’ve been to a ridiculous number of shows. Whenever I am around smoke, I start coughing up a lung. A guy completely invaded my space when he had his own. I told him so and he didn’t even look back and instead gave me a thumbs up. Yes, he heard me. I reacted by having a panic attack and almost had to leave the pit entirely. I dug my nails into my fists and powered through it. I ended up being fine, but it was really hard for the first 20 minutes. Back in the day, Radiohead fans were so respectful and really cared about one another. Sure, there would be a jerk once in awhile, but the diehard fans used to stick together and jerks like this wouldn’t have broken the lines. This sounds like I am an old lady and in a lot of ways I am, but I really miss seeing Radiohead in the old days.

Compare the –>

Setlist from yesterday [June 10th, 2012 @ First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre, Tinley Park, IL]

01 Bloom
02 There There
03 15 Step
04 Kid A
05 Staircase
06 Morning Mr Magpie
07 The Gloaming
08 Codex
09 The Amazing Sounds Of Orgy
10 Karma Police
11 Reckoner
12 Lotus Flower
13 Myxomatosis
14 Feral
15 Little By Little
16 Idioteque
â€”â€”
17 Separator
18 Full Stop (live debut)
19 Bodysnatchers
20 The One I Love/Everything In Its Right Place
â€”â€”
21 Give Up The Ghost
22 Identikit
23 Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
24 Street Spirit (Fade Out)

with the –>

Setlist from the best show of my life [August 12th, 1997 @ 9:30 Club, Washington, D.C.]

01 Fitter Happier
02 Lucky
03 Just
04 Airbag
05 Planet Telex
06 Bullet Proof.. I Wish I Was
07 Climbing Up The Walls
08 No Surprises
09 Bones
10 Electioneering
11 Fake Plastic Trees
12 Paranoid Android
13 My Iron Lung
14 Exit Music (for a film)
15 (Nice Dream)
16 The Bends
17 Talk Show Host
18 Lurgee
19 Karma Police
20 Street Spirit (fade out)
21 Motion Picture Soundtrack
22 The Tourist
23 You

I mean, those are some high standards to live up to. It was the first time they had played Motion Picture Soundtrack to an audience. There are lots of others that eclipse yesterday’s show, but that mostly has to do with enjoying shows with my crazy Radiohead #gurlee friends. Z loves Radiohead, but not the way that Brianne, Karyn, Nancy, Natalia, and I do. The way that lalalaini did.

When friends and co-workers ask me how the wedding planning is going, I should just link to this entry. I am too busy to plan right now. Last week I hosted LCB’s 30th bday ice cream social, grilled with Amanda and Derek, went to the dentist, was taken out to a 1-year at work anniversary lunch, said goodbye to our AMAZING temp at work who moved to LA, went to a friend’s whiskey and pie 30th bday party, went to Constructor Craft Fair (the curation was great, but I am still bummed I was rejected), went to Chicago’s Home of Chicken and Waffles, updated my Etsy shop, and applied for Renegade Chicago. Everyone cross your fingers that I get into RCF Chicago; one of my favorite and best shows. I especially have a soft spot for it because it was the first craft show I ever did all the way back in September 2005!

Also, mysteriously, Tilda’s ailments have disappeared and she has been a tad less nutso.

Films watched 23rd week of the year:

Dark Days*
American Pyscho
MacGruber
Ghost Rider

Believe it or not, Z rented the last two from the library. Ghost Rider was exquisitely horrible and unbelievably boring.

2012 Week 16: A bunch of birthdays and Record Store Day

Posted on April 23, 2012 by Leigh

This happened on Friday night. I was thrilled to finally have been able to celebrate Rachel S.’s birthday with her for once. This time of year there are always heaps of birthdays and for some reason I have never been able to make it to one of Rachel’s for some reason. Friday night her bday plans were ice cream at Margie’s and then dinner at Lazo’s, but Z and I had to skip dinner to make it to Amy F.’s bday drinks at Matchbox. So, my dinner was ice cream. Rachel and her friend Molly got the KING GEORGE at Margie’s Candies. Photographic evidence above that we ordered and finished the 30 scoop behemoth. Not sure how many people actually ended up digging in. My guess was 12-15, but Z guessed 20? It took 28 minutes.

Also this weekend was Record Store Day. Record Store Day has caused a lot of debate between me and my boo and my friends. Sure, I was excited that Numero Group was doing their pop-up shop right down the street from us at the Bottle, but then I read this that Patrick from Saki had posted and my opinion changed. I love the label. I love what they are doing for vinyl. My first Chicago friend, Dustin Drase, now works for Numero. I love the owners. Tom is our neighbor, which we just found out last week when we saw him walking his dog. However, I completely empathized with Patrick’s post. Money spent at the Numero pop-up was money that could not be spent in a record store on that day. I worked at an awesome record store in the early 00’s. It was called Now! Music and Fashion in Arlington, VA. It was everything a record store should be and it started off great, but when the neighborhood started turning over and people stopped buying, it went through two moves and then it died. Things are different today and Chicago is home to such amazing record stores that all seem to be doing okay. Sure, there is not a ton of overlap between fans buying at the pop-up shop and fans who will buy at actual record stores, but I know there is some. Why not do the pop-up a separate weekend in 2013? Because I had made brunch plans before my stance on the pop-up had changed, I ate at Bite with pals and, though I did venture into the pop-up shop next door, I did not buy anything. I bought a 7″ at Laurie’s Planet of Sound and a Monks cd and the Unrest mug at Saki. I also got to see a set by Bare Mutants, who I was very impressed by. Long live RECORD STORE day. Even in its’ short life, it’s become commercial with people standing in long lines only to hawk sought after stuff on eBay when they get home, but what’s wrong with having a day to celebrate the shops that mean so much to so many? Let’s leave RECORD STORE in RECORD STORE DAY.

Let’s go back to happy news that Z just relayed to me off Facebook: Our friends Annie and Jason are engaged! Also, now that it’s past midnight, it is Annie’s birthday. Happy Birthday, Annie!

Films watched 16th week of the year:

OSS 117: Lost in Rio
Alex in Wonderland
30 Minutes or Less
Fresh (2009) *
Hot Coffee*
Once More with Feeling

*documentary

Totally loved FRESH. I know, I know. How many documentaries about how much better locally-grown food is for us vs. processed crap can I watch, right? Zachary won’t even watch anymore of them with me, HOWEVER, I learn from each and every one that I watch. This time I learned about Growing Power, which I feel silly for not knowing about, being so close to Milwaukee. This documentary was not as flashy as Food, Inc. which I also loved, but it was definitely worth watching; lots of beautiful, happy animals and passionate people. I love these things.

2012 Week 9: documentaries to document

Posted on March 5, 2012 by Leigh

Tilda doesn’t like the pigs from Angry Bids either.

I didn’t want to jinx it, but as of last week I had lost 10 lbs. since starting my new year’s resolutions. This week I threw Just Dance 2 into my workout routine. I am digging it, but I can already tell after doing it 3 times that hearing the same songs over and over is going to get boring. Being a huge music nerd, it just doesn’t make sense to me that there are so few songs. Blerg.

This week ruled. I finally went to Sun Wah for the duck feast with friends. It was everything it was quacked up to be. I attended a successful surprise party for my friend Juli of Cordinated. I redeemed my expiring Groupons at Loving Hut and Lovely Bakeshop. Bummer #1: I skipped out on Don Hertzfeldt because I needed a night off. Bummer #2: Yesterday my ladytime left me feeling useless and full of unfulfilled cravings. I made today count and Z and I made a donation run to Brown Elephant, dropped off LP mailers for Permanent Records to re-use, and dropped off plastic bags for recycling at Jewel. Tonight I made chili and the mashed cauliflower below.

RECIPE: Garlicky Mashed Cauliflower

Ingredients:
1 head – cauliflower
1 TBL – butter
5 cloves – garlic
salt, to taste

Roughly chop cauliflower into pieces.
Boil for about 20 min. or until tender.
Drain in a colander.
Transfer into a bowl.
Mash with a potato masher or electric hand mixer.
Add butter and garlic.
Add salt to taste.

I modified the recipe that Juli sent me to cut some calories out (milk & cream cheese). I put a dollop of sour cream on top and it was amazing. Huzzah!

Films watched 9th week of the year:

Being Elmo*
50/50
Gogol Bordello: Non-Stop*
AI: Artificial Intelligence
Off the Menu: The Last Days of Chasens*
Nostalgia for the Light*
In the Line of Fire

It seemed like this week I could not watch enough documentaries. Luckily there is a plethora of them for my hungry eyes! Being Elmo blew everything else I watched this week away. Kevin Clash is from Dundalk, where my very awesome friend Laini was from before she passed away. He followed every one of his dreams and has ended up with one of the most recognizable voices in the world: Elmo. His family had documented his early days, so there is footage of him making some of his first puppets and bringing them to life. Really, really inspiring.

2012 Week 6: Life is dandies.

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Leigh

I made vegan rice crispy treats tonight. I used the recipe here, but I only used 3 1/2 cups of crisp rice cereal because I wanted mine extra gooey! I had bought some Dandies back at Vegan Mania in late 2011, but I hadn’t used them yet, so this was the perfect way to do so. These are definitely best when warm. Due the vegan-ness nature, they harden up pretty quickly. I am a weirdo who doesn’t eat gelatin, but does eat poultry. I miss marshmallows sometimes and Chicago Soydairy’s Dandies are absolutely spot on.

Apparently I had not been getting some important mail from the Illinois Department of Revenue forwarded to my “new” (April 2011) address and this led them to put a levy against me and they nearly garnished my wages at my day job (for $67). Just bonkers. To fight this thing, I am further organizing my craft room, especially all of my sales tax documents. One day, when it’s all done, I will post photos of the finished product. Actually, this makes me want to google and see how other crafters maintain their files. As a result of all this clean-up, I fell slightly behind on my working out. I still ate pretty healthy to balance that out. Luckily, cleaning burns calories and I’ve been doing a heck of a lot of that. Phew!

On Friday night Z and I had Eliza and Mike over and played a game that Z had gotten me for Christmas called Creatures. The game was super fun and I hope they make an expansion pack that has a hedgehog in it! All of the awesomeness that Kickstarter.com has brought into the world is astounding. Friends of my friend nickd funded their game Cards Against Humanity. This game has become a staple of nick and erin’s parties. It is a thrilling thing to see just how many sick minds are in one room, in one group of friends.

Films watched 6th week of the year:

Family Plot
Eden Lake
Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie
Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop*
One Day

*documentary

Eden Lake surpassed any expectation that I had of it. I enjoy an occasional horror film, but I wasn’t planning to watch this with Z. In the first 5 minutes, I was hooked. This put the THRILL in Thriller. Michael Fassbender and Kelly Reilly’s performances were some of the best I have ever seen. It felt so believable. It made me scour both of their IMDB profiles and I found this quote from Michael Fassbender which made me love him even more:

[on being nude in films and full frontal nudity in Shame] To be honest with you again, I think it’s the idea of male frontal nudity. It just baffles me: Women can parade around naked all the time, but the guy conveniently has his pants on. I remember my mom always complaining about that to me, saying, “This is such bullshit, it’s always the women who are naked” … so I did this one for you, Mom!

2012 Week 4: Chaos reigns my craft room!

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Leigh

This week I saw some of the best people Chicago has to offer and celebrated the births of three awesome friends. In addition, the Wii Fit told Z and I that we each have lost 5 lbs. since we started the first week in January. A grand week it was.

Rhymes with Twee - Tilda and Maude

My go-to card and gift buying place in Chicago is Paper Doll. Owner Stacy’s house pug Maude is my favorite store animal of all time. She has gone blind and is mostly deaf, but she still knows it’s me when I go in. She’s the only dog that Tilda is sometimes okay with. Tilda was kind of a jerk to Maude on this day, so this shot was the result of many treats and much coaxing. Speaking of shops I love: I am sad to say goodbye to my other go-to shop, Renegade Handmade, which is closing this week. They were the first Chicago store to stock Rhymes with Twee goods and always gave me that proverbial pat on the back when I went in. Such lovely shop ladies (and the occasional dude) that I will miss seeing so often. Now I’ll have to settle for seeing them briefly at RCFs or randomly around the ‘hood.

Since I’ve been doing well with most of my resolutions, I finally felt ready to tackle my craft room, which has remained incomplete since we moved in last April. Most of today was spent pulling it apart and moving things around, organizing papers and thinking up a game plan for completing it. Once it’s actually in order, I feel like I’ll be able to get back to a creative state.

This was a slow week for media consumption for me, but I finally finished my second book of the year, You Had Me At Woof, which LCB recommended to me and I loved. I started reading Hack and so far, so good.

Films watched 4th week of the year:

Funky Forest: The First Contact
Eames: The Architect & The Painter*
Hereafter
Norwegian Wood

*documentary

Three of these are worth watching, but Hereafter mostly felt like a waste of time. If you enjoy absurdity, then you should see Funky Forest, which I’d rank pretty high up there. I was let down a bit by Norwegian Wood. I enjoyed watching it, but it had been years since I had read the novel. Murakami is one of my all-time favorite authors, but that novel was not one of my favorites. I believe I’ll have to re-read it to see how different it was from the film. I felt it was pretty different, but my pal Kirstie said it remained true. The score was great though (cough, cough, jonnygreenwood).