Obsessing over E!'s Obsession with Kim Kardashian's ASSets

While I haven't been writing on my own blog, I have been writing for another!

Check out my article on FlowTV.org, the online journal I volunteer for. Leave comments and tell me what you think!

"One good thing about music, when it hits...

...you feel no pain". Sure, this Bob Marley quote is probably one of the most over-used sentences listed on people's "Favorite Quotes" section on their Facebook profiles. Nonetheless, I'm feeling a bit awestruck by the ability for some songs to completely change your mood. That said, this just makes me smile:



You can catch more candid performances by a range of other musicians and groups at LaBlogotheque. Late Friday night/ Saturday morning after returning from my evening excursion, I easily spent a good two hours or so watching videos on their site. Oh, alcohol-inspired, musical moments by myself in the wee hours of the night -- a common occurrence in my life. And I love it.

Hi to the Hiatus

Must start writing more...why I haven't been? I really do not have any good excuse. Plus, nothing particularly interesting has happened to me in the past few weeks. Well, perhaps I am lying --I have traveled from Indianapolis to NYC to Chicago to Austin to Dallas to Austin in the month of July. And don't get me wrong -- adventures were had in all places and, thus, contributing to my hiatus. But I don't have a single good explanation as to why I have not been posting since I have been back in Austin (almost two weeks now). Oh, well! Life when it seemingly isn't busy is busy. Now, with all that said, I don't have any major media/ life. shennanigan commentary to attach to this posting (I just woke up -- brain is not functioning in witty mode, yet). However, what I will attach is proof of my travels. Just a few photos from my cross-country excursions:






Just a small taste of my NYC and the Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago experiences. Indeed, fun was had and money was spent! Back to "work". C'est tout pour maintenant!

Whew!

Crisis averted...Macbook up and running. Yes, this is a bit late of an update and, yes, a lot of stuff has been going on in my whirlwind of a life, but I thought since I made such a fuss in my last posting I should address the status of the comp. But this is assuming anyone really cares, which I am sure isn't necessarily the case. Nonetheless, blogging is quite narcissistic and, therefore, I am giving any of my blog readers the benefit of the doubt ;)

Now that the update is covered let's get to the crux of this posting: I was raised in where Forbes.com is currently claiming to be the number one place to raise a family. Check out the article -- I ain't lyin'. Corn-fed and well-bred! That's what goes down in the Hamilton County! And lucky for me I grew up in the county seat aka Noblesville, IN, where our high school mascot is a Miller... yes, a glorified farmer. I am a bit curious as to how one can measure this finding over an extended period of time. Sure, I see the value in gauging a city's (or in this case county's) worthy-hood of being a place to raise kids by looking at crime stats, air pollution, cost of living, and the local school systems. But you must also look at the underlying characteristics of such places these levels of criteria give you. I mean -- you can live in BFE, middle-of-freakin' nowhere with no one to potentially rob you, where housing is inexpensive (because no one wants to live there), and where the air is clean because there isn't a single person for miles around. Granted this isn't exactly what Hamilton County is like, you have to take into consideration the aspects of the world and living you don't get or have access to when you live in Noblesville, IN, Suburbia Kansas, or any of the other places on the Forbes list. And I'm not only talking about the convenience of urban amenities. I'm talking mainly about the diversity of opinions, lifestyles, racial and ethnic demographics, political stances, etc. -- the list could go on. Growing up with surroundings that can challenge you to think out of your comfortable, suburban bubble, I think will keep you more open-minded in the end. Obviously, the aim of this Forbes list isn't to tell prospective or current parents where to raise their children to be challengers of the status quo...unless you are a fluke and one of the Haddad kids...

Macbook down! Mackbook down!

This past Friday I had an accident with my Macbook...*sigh*. I have not cried yet, but I'm just waiting for the call from Apple saying "...you need to give us all your NYC spending money...have fun eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and window shopping while your hair makes you look like a small, furry animal died on top of your head because you can't afford to by more hair product...". Then, I will cry and tell them to piss off, because I have a nice head of hair! Keep your fingers crossed that the Apple peeps will work their geek magic and cast a spell on my computer curing it from all hard drive malfunctions...

One thing that has cheered me up is my pops buying the sweetest DVD box set evaaaaaaaa! Jim Henson's Fantasy Film Collection featuring Labyrinth, Mirrormask, and The Dark Crystal is mine! I'm not much a sulker, but now if I find myself slipping into a depressing I-have-no-Macbook mode I can just watch Jen's adventures trying to take down the Skeksis empire or, better yet, see David Bowie "dance magic dance". OMG...my first crush was on David Bowie as the Goblin King. Knowing me know now, is it really surprising that as a 5-year old I was attracted to a man with wild, long hair, lots of make-up, and a tight pair of spandex pants paired with a sweet and sexy blouse? I was so jealous of Jennifer Connelly. That bitch had it all --sexual tension with the Goblin King and stuffed animals that came to life. That is all I ever wanted as a kindergartner.

You know you are jealous that I'll be falling asleep to this tonight:

Out-of-Commission Dancing Queen

I don't usually wear heels, but both Friday and Saturday night this past weekend I strapped them SOBs on and danced my little booty off...and holy crap am I regretting thinking this was a good idea. As a result of this brilliant idea of mine to go out of my element ands squeeze my fat, wide feet into a pair of ho-gear heels, I have made two new friends! I am displeased to introduce:

Augustus



and Gloop




Yes, I named the two blisters on my pinky toes after the chubby, German kid from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (only one of my favorite Roald Dahl novels!). On top of just enjoying the name Augustus Gloop and my attempts at impersonating his accent with a mouth full of chocolate, I feel his gluttony and size perfectly personify my fragmented, chubby toes. And, yes, I posted pictures of my blistered toes on my blog. I think this coincides with my mantra of owning your ridiculousness.

Anyway, the bottom line is my feet + heels = pain. This is a fact I have known for quite sometime. But because of the special events I had going on this weekend including my birthday party and a fancy, family wedding I felt inclined to go against my better judgment...and now I'm paying for it. Back to the flip flops!

Karaoke, Baked Goods, and Thunderstorms

...in the words of Rufus Wainwright, "these are just a couple of my cravings". Baked goods cravings? Undeniable. Karaoke cravings? Inevitable (especially for me)! But thunderstorm cravings? Perhaps, this is questionable. Nonetheless, these three things have consumed much of my summer life to date.

Let's start with karaoke. I've done karaoke three times since I turned in my papers, and I have come to one major conclusion...karaoke is always better when done with a medium to small- sized group. This way you get to sing more. And anyone who has experienced the vocal stylings of Candice Haddad would agree that this is a good thing... not really. I actually am not that good, but honestly this is why smaller groups are better. Someone in your group always has to go, and if you go with nice people who also suck they don't care that you keep getting up there ruining anything from The Pixies to Queen to Whitney Houston. Don't get me completely wrong, I have experienced the large group dynamics of some karaoke bars to be a lot of fun. But I will say that the experience I had at Metro (a gay bar in Indy) a couple years ago kinda turned me off. The evening involved some pitchers of beer, a guy talking about his physic powers, and me waiting till the end of the night (thus, intaking much of that beer...eh) to sing "Bitch" by Meredith Brooks. Let's just say the only people clapping at the end were the two people I went with and me, but only bc I was still "keeping the beat" and didn't realize "Bitch" had ended. Oh, boy! Did it end. We left soon after I got off the stage...

Enough about my traumatic karaoke past, let's move on to baked goods -- specifically CUPCAKES! I have made three batches of cupcakes in the past month or so. And here they are:


Coconut Lime Cupcakes!


Vanilla Cupcakes with Blackberry and Raspberry toppings


Pineapple Right-Side Up Cupcakes

(Yes, each batch had a mini photo shoot. It's summer vaca! What else do you think I'm doing?)

Thanks to Caitlin, I was inspired to buy this vegan cupcake recipe book she flashed in front of my face over a month ago. A couple weeks later I bought it. And as I am sure you can tell, they have indeed taken over my world. The authors note that one of the reasons you should bake these vegan cupcakes is because they are blogworthy-- particularly more blogworthy than ranting about your love life. And I couldn't agree more! As you can see, I have not made any of the chocolate ones yet... who wants cupcakes?!?!

The last thing I want to mention about my summer life thus far is... you've guessed it! Thunderstorms! This shit has been crazy up here in Indiana, and I'm saying this even after the ridiculous hail storms that have been going on in Austin. Many parts of Indiana have experienced a ton of flooding. One of my most favorite places, Bloomington, was hit with major flooding:



And this is one of my favorite corners in Bloomington...the intersection of Kirkwood and Dunn! So crazy!

Another crazy picture I have is of the orange sky that appeared in the middle of one of the first storms that occurred a day or two after I came into town. Grover, the pug, was hesitant to go out...



I freaking love this stuff. It sucks when devastating things happen to communities, but monsoon rain, orange skies, crazy winds, and freakish lightening are so mesmerizing! It used to scare me shitless when I was young. If I had a quarter for every time my family mentions my Weather Channel addiction in elementary school, I wouldn't have any student loans to pay off (ha! right...). Seriously though, I want to be a tornado chaser when I grow up...