White Rabbits

If you get the chance, you MUST see this band in concert. So AWESOME. See for yourself!



I just got home from the concert, and I'm still smiling.

Just Booked a Flight to Hilton Head

I love summer!

My First Race

I've been running for my exercise for the past couple years, and I've always thought it would be fun to run in a race. Well, today, I popped my 5K cherry. I'd expressed my nervousness about running in races to a co-worker who suggested today's race: a 5K fun run as part of Pride Weekend. Donations from my registration fee go to an organization called District 202 that sponsors LBGT youth. They host events like a gay-friendly prom for high schoolers, which sounds fun, and I want to go.

When I woke up early this morning, it was raining. By the 9 AM race start time, the humidity was thick. I knew the race would be a struggle considering I was drenched in sweat and dehydrated after the first half mile. Nevertheless, Adam and Justin ran with and pushed me the whole way and helped me to keep pace. The friendly gays cheered me on too! I finished 31:18... not bad. I'll take it. I'd have liked to clock in under half an hour, but I *won* because I crossed the finish line without stopping to walk at any point. I also *won* because I totally earned the breakfast burrito I scarfed down an hour later.

Before:




After:

Anticipation

As I mentioned in the post below, I checked out one of Garrison Keillor's novels from the library yesterday. Famous for being a Minnesotan and inventing the fictitious Lake Woebegone in prose and on his radio show, A Prairie Home Companion, Garrison Keillor's book does not disappoint. On every page, I have a "yes!" moment as he describes some aspect of Minnesota life that is so spot on. He names places that I have now been to and I now have a firsthand understanding of the rift between Minneapolis and St. Paul. (For the record for all you East Coasters, St. Paul is the neighborhood of Minneapolis that happens to contain the state capitol.)

And the Minnesota attitude. The cold is good for you!

Here is a paragraph about the State Fair. It is the most highly anticipated event of the year, and best as I can tell you fall into one of two camps. LOVE it or HATE it. I'm totally expecting to love it. Here, in Garrison's words:

On the last Saturday in August we put on our shorts and Gopher t-shirts and went to the Minnesota State Fair for the ritual trek through the Swine, Cattle, Horse and Sheep Barns, the Chicken Pavilion, to the Tilt-a-Whirl, Big Jiggle, the Giant Slide, the John Deere exhibit, blue-ribbon preserves and cakes in the Home Activities Building, the fine art show, and we bought four corn dogs with mustard and a bag of miniature doughnuts, which we ate on the double Ferris wheel, and then went home, satisfied, foot-sore, smelling of grease.

-Garrison Keillor, Love Me

I have no desire for summer to pass by quickly. In fact, I mourn at every sunset. Every day of summer is one day closer to winter. But, at the end, I have the State Fair to look forward to... and then there's football.

I officially live in Minnesota

Here's why: I got my library card. And I borrowed a Garrison Keillor novel. Doesn't get much more Minnesota than that.

Happy Father's Day

Love you, Dad!

We Rocked the Garden

Yesterday we went to the Current & the Walker Art Center's music festival, Rock the Garden. For me, it was a seasonal milestone. We first purchased our tickets back in April where June 20 just held the promise of summer. And sure enough, yesterday was a beautiful sunny day, and we all sat on blankets in our tank tops and shorts and sweat through our clothes. Cold beer and a slight breeze, our only refreshment. It was magnificent. The music was good too.

The Decemberists were the headliners, and they played their new album straight through. It's a narrative about star-crossed lovers and killing children. The band wore costumes. No idea? They performed during beer 4, and I was in my happy place. (Incidentally, I am not happy about having drank 4 beers this morning...)

Here are some pictures.

The thermostat in my apartment says it's 84 degrees...

Just saying. When, in January, I never believed summer was possible again, I also never imagined my apartment would become a sauna. Despite my frizzy hair and the fact I haven't stopped sweating since stepping out of a cold shower, I am not complaining. (If I tell myself this enough, is it true?) NO, I am not complaining. I am documenting this so I can read it NEXT January.

The Trouble with Dressing for Minnesota Summers

Now don't get me wrong: I'm not really complaining. But it is so freaking over-air-conditioned everywhere I go! I'm overjoyed for the heat and yet still must dress for winter. Harrumph!

Enjoy the heat! Embrace the heat! Don't get A/C, but, yes, do buy a fan. Otherwise, you will wake up in a pool of your own sweat every morning when the sun rises at 6. As you may have guessed, I have learned this the sticky way.

How does one dress for a Minnesota summer? In addition to the constantly fluctuating temperatures, there's also the blessing/curse of Minnesota being a teensy bit behind in fashion. (Someone I work with had never heard of H&M!) You know, even as I'm writing this, "behind" is not the best way to describe people's attitudes about clothes. Maybe ambivalence is more true to the point?

I'll admit that I am not the queen of fashion, but I did pick up a bit of materialism during my time at GW. And being image and label-conscious. I'm glad I can begin ignoring these things again, which leads me to the whole point of this post. (If I ever said I enjoyed brevity, I was lying.)
I imagine these shoes are so comfortable for the summer. Half sneaker... half sandal! But I cannot- will not- let myself buy them. I am not a mom and I have 8 more years til I turn 30. Damnit why can't I fully morph into a Minnesotan? Then I would SO have bought them already.

P.S. In my Zappo's hunt, I found Ugg boots on sale. Might as well snap those up-- I'll need them by September!

Adam Has a Rival Blog

It's really no competition. You either like sarcasm (me) or potty humor (Adam). Enjoy!


http://poemsfromthethrone.blogspot.com

VICTORY

Penguins win the Stanley Cup! A great year for Pittsburgh-- it seems only fitting that the Pirates will go on to win the World Series. Ha. Ha. Ha.

Adam and I were in Pittsburgh last weekend celebrating his brother Daniel's graduation from high school. Adam's parents generously flew us in rather last minute, but we had our plans long before we had dreams of Pittsburgh competing in the Stanley Cup. So we were in Pittsburgh for Game 5, and we were so pumped to experience the city buzzing with Stanley Cup pride. Too bad Fleury had his worst game ever that night and squashed our dreams of dancing in the streets. (Incidentally, we went to a new South Side hotspot, Hofbrauhaus, an imitation German beer garden, where we instead danced on the tables.)

Anyway, so we were in Pittsburgh last weekend for Daniel's graduation party. His ceremony is actually this weekend and, at the time, I joked that I was glad we got to go to the best part of the festivities. Not anymore! I so badly wanted to have been in Pittsburgh last night when I watched this video.

LET'S GO PENS! Now, so excited for football season!

Adam, why did you ever leave?

From Yahoo's Best Places to Live 2009. Link to article.

Upper St. Clair, Pennsylvania

For a quiet residential option, consider Upper St. Clair, Pa. This quaint town of fewer than 20,000 residents is located in the hilly woodlands outside Pittsburgh, where the Whiskey Rebellion of the late 1700s was centered. The median home price of this family-oriented community was $240,000 in 2008. And its school system is superb: Ninety-eight percent of its high school graduates go on to college, and the Upper St. Clair school district currently boasts 10 federal government blue-ribbon "Excellence in Education" awards.

After the spring thaw, residents head outside to enjoy the region's abundant greenery. "Pennsylvania is a fairly robust and rich place in terms of resources, if you just look a little bit," says Ed Di Gangi, the president of the Upper St. Clair Fly Fishing Club. In addition to fishing, popular outdoor activities include hiking, cycling, golf, and bocce. And with Pittsburgh about 10 miles away, residents of this small town are never too far removed from big-city comforts. "From here to a Pirates [baseball] game or here to a Penguins [hockey] game, it's 30 minutes or less," Di Gangi says.

Bathing Suit Fun!

When asked if we wanted to go to the lake two weeks ago, my first thought was Yes! My second thought was, Shoot! All my bathing suits are in Atlanta!

What to do in a last-minute bathing suit pinch? Well, you could let your boyfriend who works at Target volunteer to buy you one. For a girl, this is crazy for several reasons: 1. bathing suits are hard to fit just right (you don't want too much/little coverage). 2. what does a boy know about buying a bikini? 3. WHAT DOES A BOY KNOW ABOUT BUYING A BIKINI?

Here's what Adam chose for me> I'll leave it to you to decide if he really deep down hates me or if he has interesting taste and style. Either way, I've already worn it.


Note: that is NOT me in the picture.






Note 2: The top reverses to cheetah print.

Caroline, or Change

Last Wednesday, I went to see The Guthrie's production of Tony Kushner's Caroline, or Change. I'd heard/read nothing but good things. The Guthrie is even receiving national attention for the Kushner revival. Anyway, it was more or less described to me as a must-see. So, I naturally decided I must see it. We went for day-of rush tickets, which is an amazing deal. Especially for a sparsely attended weeknight performance where good seats are still available.

I enjoy the theater, and I am still proud of my handful of GW Hatchet play reviews. Sadly, I don't always make more of an effort to go, and this time I'm sure glad I did. Here's my mini-review.

The play was overhyped. Let me underhype it a bit so that if you live in Minneapolis and decide to see the show, you will not have impossible-to-live-up-to expectations like I did.

Now that I've gotten that out of the way... the play is a musical. All the singers had exceptionally strong voices, and I thoroughly enjoyed the music. The setting is Louisiana, 1963, and the play focuses on the tension between a young white Jewish boy and his black maid. Hailing from Atlanta, I was especially intrigued by the social commentary pitting the blacks and the Jews at odds in the south.

Notably, Caroline, the black maid, was magnificent as a determined, rigid, dignified black woman. Her moment of catharsis (this is not a spoiler, merely Tragedy in Drama 101) marks the first time I've ever cried at the theater. Also, the Jewish stepmother was brilliant as a sympathetic woman who cannot, try as she might, get her stepson--or his father to love her.

I highly recommend the show with the caution that it is long (at nearly 3 hours) and the children's performances are wooden yet still likable.

For those reading from afar, enjoy this clip from the intro.

To tweet or not to tweet?

I'll admit it. On my blog of all places. I'm scared of Twitter. I feel like my parents' generation who was scared of Facebook three years ago: I don't understand it. I don't know how it works. But I think I'd be good at Twitter. I'll have a thought and think it's funny. I could share it with others, and others might think it's funny. Others might think I'm funny. Is it possible Twitter is already passé and I am too late?