It's 4am and the devil is bartending...

Goodbye Joe...
I was incredibly shocked and saddened to hear that my friend Joe Christ had passed away last Sunday evening. Apparently he had a heart attack and died in his sleep. He had just turned 52. Joe was one of the most unique and entertaining people I have ever met. He was filled with humor and boundless energy and always had the BEST stories! I think he was probably best known for his shock films, which always had people running for the door about 5 minutes into whatever movie he was showing. It always amused me to see what part of his movies made the most people get up and leave! Joe was a one-of-a-kind guy, and it breaks my heart to know that we'll never get to see him again or hear another one of his bad jokes or great stories. The world will certainly be a much more boring place without him!

Current Mood: sad
Current Music: Joe Christ - Essential Christ

Tiffany's/UP/food/birds
Tiffany's/UP/food/birds

Current mood: hopeful

Beau gave me a heart-shaped Tiffany's key & chain for my birthday, but they had to order it. When we went to pick it up at their Phipp's Plaza store we both felt a little out of place. I was afraid they were going to ask for a bank statement before they even let us come in! But it wasn't like that at all. Everybody there was incredibly friendly and helpful. And I LOVE my new key pendant! It reminds me both of Beau (the key to my heart!) and of the key to my Mom & Dad's porch. And just having that little blue Tiffany's bag in my hand made me feel like a princess. Silly, I know!
The same day we went to see the movie UP. It was a beautiful movie, a very moving story and mostly funny. But I cried during a good 3/4 of the movie because it deals with the elderly and with death. I think it just reminded me too much of my Mom & Dad and of losing them. But it was really a gorgeous film. The talking dogs were my favorite part, and I think they deserve their own movie!
We've discovered 2 great new restaurants recently. The most impressive of the two was RA, a new sushi restaurant that just opened downtown on Peachtree and 11th. It's dark, has really cool Art Deco/Asian decor (some of the coolest bathroom sinks I've ever seen!) and a hip, friendly, beautiful staff. Beau and I had 3 mango martinis (OH GOD YUM!), a cream cheese & pineapple wonton appetizer, their Viva Las Vegas sushi and a main course of grilled salmon...all for under $40! We can't wait to go back! We also recently tried McCray's Tavern on Historic Lawrenceville Square. It was a warm, beautiful night and we were in the mood to dine outside, so we thought we'd try their rooftop patio. Their Ruby Red martinis were to die for and the food was pretty good too. Best of all they serve food every night till midnight and drinks till 2am. They menu is vast too, so there's something for everybody.
Beau and I had a pretty amazing experience yesterday - we got to help 4 baby birds find the sky! Some house sparrows made a nest inside the eaves of our screened porch, and when it was time for the babies to leave the nest they ended up inside the porch! Beau got three of them out with the help on the fish net. I helped with the last one who was stubborn and wouldn't cooperate. It was so incredible to see baby birds fly for the first time! How often in a lifetime does one get that gift?

Current Mood: hopeful
Current Music: Second Chance - Shinedown

Birthday Party/Arc Angels
My birthday party last Saturday was an absolute blast! I really appreciate all the wonderful, fun people who were nice enough to show up. I love my friends! I had a Hello Kitty birthday cake! And I got lots of cool presents: wine, a very gothic candle holder,pretty necklaces, a portrait of Beau and me, chocolate, hair flowers, a Movie Stop gift card, and good-smelling stuff from Bath & Bodyworks. I hope everybody enjoyed the party as much as Beau and I did.
Last night Beau and I went with Barbra and Richard to Little 5 Points. First for dinner and drinks at The Vortex (yum!), then to the Variety Playhouse to see the Arc Angels play. Charlie Sexton & Doyle Bramhall both still looked great and sounded amazing. I really enjoyed the show. Later we all had coffee and dessert at R.Thomas. What a great night!

Birthday/Batman underpants!
I had a really nice birthday. Beau took me shopping, then to dinner at Papadeaux. I love everything about that restaurant! The food was great, the coffee is strong, the waiter was a character, and the building itself looks like it was plucked straight out of New Orleans. And it's always a great place to people-watch. We also were treated to free dessert (Praline cheesecake - YUM!), not because it was my birthday (we didn't tell them) , but because one of the managers recognized me from B&N and said I'd helped her with books before. Had a nice, long conversation with her about books, which is always a treat. Later we went to see Terminator: Salvation. I enjoyed it because it was just what I expected it to be - a flashy action flick with a lot of explosions and chase scenes. It was fun! On the downside, the acting wasn't that great and some of the dialogue was so cheezy that it was painful. But the chase scenes and special effects made up for the lack of a good script. In my opinion anyway!
I spent a good chunk of today arguing with the folks at Eyedeology about my glasses, which are giving me headaches, both literally and figuratively. I keep telling them the prescription is wrong. I've even gotten a second optometrist to confirm this! They keep telling me the lenses are right (according to their exam) & that I just need to "get used to them". Nope. They're going to get the glasses right, or refund my $$$, dammit! The only good thing about having to drive downtown - yet again - was getting to have dinner at Atkin's Park. And people-watching of course! My favorite person of the day was a rollerblader on Peachtree who looked like Jesus, and was wearing a neon green sundress! I love Atlanta!
Went shopping at Target tonight. Had to buy Beau a pair of Batman underpants. They are the coolest men's undies ever! They also had Superman, and other assorted superheros. They remind me of Underoos, but for grown-ups!

Current Music: "Grapevine Fires" - Death Cab For Cutie

New glasses/Boot fetish
After 7 years I finally decided that it was time for me to get a new pair of glasses. I wanted something hip, different and retro-looking. After shopping online and at 8 different eyewear stores I finally found what I was looking for - cat's eye frames with a modern twist. The style is called Scarlet and they're by LaFont Eyewear. I ordered them from the exceptionally wonderful people at Eyedeology, and had a great experience. Love the new glasses!

Saturday night Beau and I went to The Jungle for the Military Boot Fetish party. Had a great time, saw a lot of old friends. Had even more fun at the after-party later. Met a lot of nice, interesting new people. We didn't get home till 7am. Haven't done that in quite awhile.

I am really enjoying this rainy, stormy weather! It's nice and cool and is making everything grow like mad. I wish it would stay this way all Summer long!

Watched a few movies lately. Saw Star Trek at the theatre, and was absolutely blown away! What an excellent movie! Brilliant cast too. Can't wait for the next one! Rented The Wrestler, which was really good, moving and sad. But at the same time I just didn't get what all the fuss over that movie was about. It was good, but I didn't think it was great. We also rented Let The Right One In, which definitely didn't live up to all the hype surrounding it. The pacing was insanely slow, the story was unique but disjointed, and it just wasn't scary. Gross and creepy, yes, but not scary at all.

Current Mood: relaxed
Current Music: Tv On The Radio

Catching up!
Wow, I can't believe I've gone a whole month without blogging. To catch up....
Beau and I spent Easter weekend with my Uncles in AL. They both are doing pretty good. My Uncle Red is doing amazingly well despite having terminal cancer. He's an inspiration!
We've been planting tons of stuff in the yard. Beau planted tomatoes, which we'll enjoy if the squirrels don't eat them first! We also planted half a dozen different rose bushes, a gardenia bush, a red bud tree, a saucer magnolia tree, and several others that I either can't remember the name of or can't spell!
Went to the GA Renaissance Festival the last Sunday in April. It was fun, but awfully HOT! Ran into a couple of friends: Rayne, who was selling corsets and Bob, who was being a pirate. We were surprised that we didn't see more people we knew. Where was everybody?
Had to go see X-Men: Wolverine at the midnight movies the night it opened! I liked it, but didn't love it. Still, the origins story was interesting. And I did love Gambit. I really hope his character shows up in other X-Men movies.
I love that Hollywood is courting every comic book writer out there at the moment. There's a lot of great material there that goes largely ignored by the general public. I'm excited that 3 of my favorite comics are being developed- 100 Bullets as a Showtime series, Fables as a tv series, and Sam Mendes is directing the Preacher movie (Finally!!!). I've also seen a few stills from the Jonah Hex movie, which looks amazing. Now if somebody would just do a Sandman and/or Death movie, I'd be a happy girl!
Oh, and Beau and I happened upon the scene of a murder awhile back. A young mother was shot to death in the Snellville Target parking lot, in broad daylight, with her toddler in the back seat of her car! At first the cops thought a man had killed her, but after viewing the security camera footage, they think the shooter might actually be a woman in disguise! Bizarre, huh? It was really strange to see so much police activity in Snellville. This is usually a quiet place. That was only the second murder here in 6 years!

Current Music: Southern Gothic Revival

Illness
I had food poisoning for an entire week, last week, courtesy of Wilke's Meat Market. I was so violently ill the first night I was sick that I fainted. That's when Beau decided it was time to take me to the emergency room. When we got there, my blood pressure was just 60/40, which the nurse told me was one of the reasons I probably passed out. I was also dehydrated. The nice people at the ER gave me meds to make me stop throwing up and lots of IV fluids and sent me home...where I stayed for almost a week. Not fun.

Beau and I had been planning to spend Easter weekend at Frolicon, but our plans have since changed. My Uncle Red's cancer has spread into his bones and he's still refusing any treatments. So we are going to spend the time that I have off in AL, visiting my Uncle Red & Uncle Cotton. I think I need to spend all the time that I can with both of them. I'm having a really hard time dealing with Uncle Red's illness, but Beau has been a huge help. I don't know what I'd do without him.

Current Mood: sad
Current Music: Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit

Where did March go?
Beau and I went to a club for the first time in months, about a week ago. Went to what used to be the Chamber for Jsin's Geisha party. Got to hang out with some friends, had a few drinks and saw a lot of beautiful costumes. Much fun. Hopefully it won't be several months before we manage to get out again!
Last night we had dinner with my old friend Barbra, her husband Richard and baby Rich. The food was great and I had a blast just catching up with a good friend that I never should have fallen out of touch with in the first place! We're already planning another get-together sometime soon.
Beau surprised me last week with a new tattoo on his chest: 2 swallows, a rose and my name! He took the design from the necklace he gave me for Valentine's Day and just added my name to the design. What a sweetie! That's the most romantic thing anybody has ever done for me! Our friend Eric, in Gainesville, did a really awesome job on the tattoo. I think Beau is already wanting him to do more work for him.
We were sad to see one of our favorite tv shows, Battlestar Galactica, end recently. And even more sad that the ending was preechy and unsatisfying. We both feel that the writers could have done better for such an amazing show. Anybody else feel that way too?

Current Music: Ryan Adams

Sick of being sick!!!
The Thursday before Valentine's Day I had a sore throat. That developed into what I thought was a cold, which kept getting worse and worse. Not wanting to go to the doctor for yet another round of antibiotics I thought I'd try to treat myself with home remedies like juice, vitamins, humidifiers, etc. Bad move since I eventually lost my voice and got a lot worse. I finally gave up and went to the doctor. By that time I had Bronchitis, Laryngitis, and another upper respiratory infection. Lovely. I've missed a week of work, I can't talk, and I've barely been out of the house since Valentine's Day! And I'm going to have to miss the Club Fetish reunion that I have REALLY been looking forward to! Beau has been really great though - getting me meds, cooking dinner and generally just taking good care of me. I don't know what I would do without my sweetie!
Watched a couple of movies: "The Visitor", about a guy who finds two illegals squatting in his NYC apartment. Good movie, but depressing. And "Before The Devil Knows You're Dead", about 2 brothers (Phillip Seymour Hoffman & Ethan Hawke) who decide to rob a jewelery store, and the chaos and destruction that follows. It's more about family than the robbery. Also a good movie, but incredibly depressing.
The only bright spot in my life lately has been reconnecting with my old friend, Barbra. We have a lot of catching up to do!

Current Music: Idlewild ST

Valentine's Day
Beau and I had a nice, quiet Valentine's Day. He gave me a gorgeous tattoo inspired necklace that features 2 swallows and a rose with the word LOVE underneath the rose. He also gave me a red rose bush for the back yard. I gave him a pair of stripey pants that he'd been wanting. Had dinner at our favorite Thai restaurant, then went to see "Coraline" in 3D, which was a pretty good movie. I loved the jumping Circus mice!
Later we watched the dvd "The Signal", a horror movie that was filmed in Atlanta. The concept was good, and the first 1/3 of the movie was really intense. But the movie was divided into 3 different parts with a different writer/director for each part, and the other 2 writer/directors let the movie just languish and die. Too bad the first writer/director didn't handle the WHOLE movie. It might have actually been an impressive feature.

Current Mood: loved
Current Music: Josh Ritter

The last month...
Wow. I can't believe how slack I've been in updating my blog. It's partly because I spend every free moment with my beloved. Since he doesn't have a job, we end up having a LOT of free time together. The other reason is that I've been going to Alabama a lot to check on my Uncle Red. He's been in the hospital recovering from heart issues, and he just got a pacemaker a few days ago. That solved his heart-related issues and he's doing a lot better. But he's also been diagnosed with cancer and he's refusing to take treatment for it. He's been through cancer treatment a couple of times before and swears that the chemo is worse than the cancer. He refuses to go through that again. I respect his decision, but it really tears me up. He and my Uncle Cotton have always been like 2nd and 3rd Dads to me. They lived a few blocks from us when I was growing up and were at our house pretty much every day. Had meals with us and celebrated every holiday with us. My Mom used to joke that when she married my Dad, she got a 3-for-1 deal. They've been there for me when my Mom & Dad were ill and when they passed away. I've always been able to count on my Uncles. Now I feel so helpless when faced with my Uncle Red's illness. I wish I could do more.

Current Mood: crushed
Current Music: David Gray

Porch
Beau and I got to relax on our new porch for the first time yesterday. He's decorated it with artifacts from my Mom & Dad's house- old Coke bottles, Mason jars, perfume bottles, a miniture bust of "Bear" Bryant, a flue cover and 3 of Mom & Dad's rocking chairs. It was almost like being "home" again. Thanks to the mild weather we were able to sit out there for quite awhile, drinking coffee and watching the birds and squirrels. The dogs seem to enjoy it just as much as we do, which is great since we mostly built it for their benefit!
We drove downtown tonight in the pouring rain just to have dinner at R.Thomas. Even at midnight on a stormy Tuesday, they were still busy. One of the things I love about R's (besides the amazing food!) is that there's always an interesting crowd there. Tonight we shared the restaurant with Cirque du Soliel performers. Not in costume, of course, but interesting still.
God, how I love this weather! It was 70 degrees when I left work tonight. And the clouds and lightning looked like something straight out of a disaster film. Beats the cold, grey winter that we were having!

Current Mood: loved
Current Music: Twilight Soundtrack

New Year's Eve/Doubt
Beau and I started the New Year off at Victoria and Derrick's party, which was a lot of fun. I had no idea that you could shoot fireworks from a shot gun. That was interesting. The rest of the evening was filled with good drinks, good food, and fun conversations. Not a bad way to bid 2008 goodbye.
A few days ago we saw another good movie - Doubt. It's about a charismatic priest who is accused of inappropriate behavior involving a young boy. It's an intense, twisty tale that's superbly acted. Absolutely worth a watch.
Now I'm off to watch Doctor Horrible's Sing Along Blog and eat Thai food with Beau. Hope everybody had a great New Year's Eve and that everybody will have a healthy, happy, prosperous 2009!!!

Current Mood: hopeful
Current Music: "Right Here, Right Now" - Jesus Jones

Christmas/Cadillac Records
I've survived another Christmas. The best part of it was spending time with my family. Went to a get-together on the 20th at my cousin Jennifer's. Had lots of great food and had a nice visit with the cousins and Uncles. We drew names this year. Beau got a huge bird feeder from my cousin Jody, which he loved. We both did. We've already hung it outside the new back porch. I got a gorgeous set of wine glasses from my cousin Dean. Then Beau and I spent Christmas eve in AL, with my Uncles Red & Cotton. Christmas eve dinner was catfish, hushpuppies, coleslaw and french fries at Merle's Diner. You don't get much more Southern than that! Drove around looking at Christmas lights and saw one of the most amazing displays ever. We have no idea HOW they did this, but they had a projection of some kind in a window that played a very realistic video of Santa putting toys under the family tree. Then he'd walk over to the window and wave. It looked amazingly real! We spent Christmas Day at my Aunt LaRue's with a house full of cousins and the Uncles. This is the branch of family that loves to drink. We walked in the door at 1pm and by 1:20 my cousin's girlfriend had a drink in my hand. Lovely way to spend Christmas day! Beau and I both had a nice time. They love my husband.
Stuff I got for Christmas: A jumper from Lip Service, an antique door knocker, the Tropic Thunder dvd, movie passes, cookies, chocolate and money. We also got lots of very cool Christmas cards and some pictures. I LOVE getting cards!
Recently saw one of the best movies that I've seen all year - Cadillac Records. It stars Adrian Brody, Jeffrey Wright and Beyonce and is the story of Chess Records. The acting was amazing, the story engrossing, and the music legendary. Even Beyonce, who I've never been a fan of, was really impressive as Etta James, completely disappearing inside the role. Absolutely worth a watch, even if you're not a fan of classic blues or R&B.

Current Mood: cheerful
Current Music: "At Last" - Etta James

Vampires, Egypt, etc.
Last Tuesday Beau and I went to see "Twilight". It was sweet and cute and it had Vampires in it. Not bad overall, but I just don't get all the intense hype surrounding the movie or the books. They aren't groundbreaking. They're not exceptionally great. There are dozens of vampire books out there that are much better than "Twilight" and better movies. But if this is what it takes to get people interested in vampires again - thus forcing Hollywood to make more vampire movies - I'm all for it!
Beau and I also went to see the King Tut exhibit at the Civic Center last week. It was amazing and awe-inspiring. Oddly enough Beau and I were both more fascinated by the mundane objects, like an eyeliner container, a box that once held cosmetics, a giant toilet seat and King Tut's bed, than we were by the shiny, gold jewelery and masks. It was all quite incredible. We were disappointed that the one thing they DIDN'T have was King Tut's elaborate canopic coffin that they prominently feature in all the ads and on all the signs advertizing the event!!! It was still worth the trip though.
I rented the sci-fi classic "A Boy And His Dog" a few nights ago because Beau had never seen it. He said it was one of the most bizarre movies he'd ever seen. It stars a very young Don Johnson, is set in a future post-apocalyptic wasteland, and features a manipulative talking dog named "Blood". If you've never had the pleasure, please check it out.
I've been fighting a lovely holiday case of bronchitis for the last week or more. As if dealing with the insanity of X-mas wasn't enough, I have to cough and wheeze through it too. yay.

Current Mood: cranky
Current Music: MGMT

It's damn cold.
Beau and I had a really nice Thanksgiving. Spent it in Newnan with my various Uncles, Aunts and cousins. One of my favorite cousins, Dale, brought 20 bottles of wine to family dinner and was quite determined that we were going to go through all of them. We didn't quite make it, but we certainly tried. Later we drove around looking at Christmas lights, which was a lot more fun than it probably should have been.
Went to see "Role Models" a few nights ago. It was our default movie since "Twilight" wasn't playing at the theatre that we had free passes to, and it was the latest movie playing. Luckily it turned out to be one of the funniest movies we've seen all year! "Role Models" is the movie Kevin Smith should have made. It had tons of laugh-out-loud humor, it had a nice buddy storyline that didn't veer into sappiness, and it had loads of geek culture. We both loved it!
Had dinner with Teraya & Miryene at Pappadeux tonight for Miryene's birthday. After dinner we went to their house & watched the goofiest Vampire movie ever made. Had a really great night with them!
I am so amazingly sick of this cold weather. It was 26 degrees when we got home tonight! Brrrrrr!

Current Music: Peter Gabriel - SO

Ouch!
This has been quite a week. On Wednesday I had some of the most painful oral surgery I've ever endured in my whole life. My dentist drilled 2cm into my jaw with a laser drill to implant a steel post for a cap. By the time he was finished the left side of my face was swelled like a basketball. His reaction to that was "Wow. We've never seen that happen before". Not terribly comforting. But they gave me antibiotics and pain meds and sent me on my way. I'm finally somewhat back to normal now, but my jaw still hurts. I'm starting to feel like teeth are overrated.
Then on Thursday Beau was officially laid off from his job. He'd been working 1-2 days a week for nearly 2 months, so I guess he's better off getting laid off and collecting unemployment than he was working so little. He loved his job and his boss, so we're hoping the economy turns around, his boss doesn't go bankrupt and Beau can go back to work for him eventually. I guess we'll see.... In the meantime I love having him at home. He's cooking dinner for us almost every night, doing yardwork and fixing everything in the house that needs fixing. It's really nice!
On the upside, we now have beautiful Brazilian Cherry hardwood floors in our living room and hallways! It was something we'd planned and paid for before Beau got laid off. The floors are dark and gorgeous and my allergies are already much better. The carpet was ugly and needed replacing anyway.

Current Mood: drained
Current Music: Kings Of Leon

New President = Hope
Beau and I stayed up all night just so we would be at the polls when they opened. When we got there at 6am, we were in line behind about 25-30 people. By the time the polls opened at 7am, the line had grown to roughly 100+. It was a beautiful thing to see, and makes me hope that people will remain this involved and attentive to what their government is up to.
Watched the election coverage tonight and learned (from BBC America, ironically) that Americans had made history by electing our first African American president today! It was so wonderful to finally feel a sense of hope and joy when thinking about where this country might be headed now. And John McCain actually gave a wonderful, inspiring concession speech that gave me some hope for a united America. It's time that we became the great nation that we keep telling people we are.

Current Music: Prince - Purple Rain ST

Halloween Horror Nights 2008
Beau and I survived another trip to Orlando and Halloween Horror Nights! We're both exhausted but it was a great trip. We even got to see a few friends while we were there - Robert and Melanie, who hung out with us at Halloween Horror Nights, and Cyndi, a friend of ours who works at Universal.
HHN just gets better and more scary every year! They had 6 1/2 Scare Zones this year (areas that you have to walk through to get from one place to the next): Streets Of Blood (Victorian undertakers, Jack-The-Ripper types, bloody victims, a girl in a glass casket covered in live rats, etc), American Gothic (American ghost stories, legends & serial killers), Path Of The Wicked (a very twisted Wizard of Oz), Asylum In Wonderland (a twisted Acid-tripy Alice In Wonderland), The Skoolhouse (kids in creepy Victorian Halloween costumes, a demented Schoolmaster & trees hung with Jack-o-lanterns), and Fractured Tales (very sick, twisted versions of Fairy Tales). The 1/2 Scare zone was a group of zombies in prison uniforms that were watched over by a warden that would lead them in dance moves and drills, then loose them on the crowd. It was both funny and scary. They had 8 haunted houses this year: Creatures (scary rednecks and creatures straight from the pages of comic books), Interstellar Terror (space zombies), Body Collectors (incredibly creepy undertakers, serial killers, a victim having her spine torn out, etc. One of my faves!), Doomsday (post-apocalyptic plague, based on the movie), Scary Tales (really messed-up versions of fairy tales - Cinderella gets her legs hacked off, Alice eats the rabbit, etc), The Hallow (cretures that reminded me of Pan's Labyrinth), Reflections of Fear (scenes based on people's worst fears), and my favorite- Dead Exposure (zombies and very disorienting flashing lights).
We were surprised at how few alternative people we saw there, except for Sunday when FL residents could get in for 1/2 price. Halloween Horror Nights is a paradise for anybody who loves horror, Halloween and all things dark. It's very adult oriented - they sell alcohol and some of the costumes are really sexy. It's a welcome change from the million other events that try to appeal to families. We are definitely planning to go again next year!

Current Mood: giddy
Current Music: Murder By Death - Red Of Tooth And Claw

Owl necklace
My friend Paige made the coolest necklace for me! It's a silver owl on an antique looking silver chain, with jet beads. It's unique and absolutely gorgeous! She has a website where she sells her gorgeous designs - http://www.undeaddesigns.com. Go have a look at her stuff!!!

Current Music: Stella Star

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