Preliminary report

Went to the Madison Ribberfest this weekend. Great time. Best band was Elvin Bishop. Very hot most of the time. Sat in what shade we could get. Next year, taking a beach umbrella. Ate a ton of free barbecue, both Friday night at the Backyard BBQ Blast and Saturday around noon for the professional cookers. Drank a gallon of Coronas.

Here's a look at some of the tents of the participants in the professional BBQ contest.

Here's a picture of The Travelin' Mojos, a local band who was very good.

These ladies had on these great t-shirts prior to the judging.


The fest on Friday.


Elvin Bishop wanders into the audience RIGHT NEXT TO ME.



Almost blinded him with the flash on this one.


Some of the cookers of the people vying for qualifying for the Kansas City National BBQ Cook-off.








The balloon glow Friday night on the south bank of the Ohio River.

Candied bacon.




Charlie Musselwhite doing Blues from Brazil.

updates

The good thing about the next few weeks is I only have to work two out of five of them at actual work. The bad thing is it seems like a strenuous schedule. I Will Survive (as sung by Cake, not by Gloria Gaynor).

* To Madison for the Ribberfest
* My birthday (the 21st)
* My mom's birthday weekend
* To L.A. Monday til Thursday
* Labor Day weekend with Joe Bonamassa in St. Mary's 9/1 and party chez moi 9/3
* WEEK OFF
* the Swamp
* Subdudes at the Ark
* To New York Sunday to Friday 9/16-21
* Fred Eaglesmith at the Ark 9/23
* Put in Bay 9/29
* Harvest Party 10/6
* New Orleans Oct 13-15 (maybe)

Last weekend, I went to see Rod's Collision at Nate and Wally's. I need a t-shirt that says Remember: Whiskey Leads to Dancing. That back outside bar of theirs is slick. I tried to get a cheeseburger at the Grill before I went but I apparently showed up during the "makin' the bacon" interlude and no cheeseburger was to be had. Fortunately, the Voodoo Barbecue was open and I got a chicken burrito which I ate in Nate and Wally's as I had already had several beers on Annie's porch. Then came the whiskey and dancing. No photographic evidence. Of dirty dancing with Jason Peslikis, for example.

Saturday, I was on the radio from 12:15 to 4 and then I had to recuperate. Watched The Commitments, a pretty good movie. Sunday, I mowed and weeded.

SOLD MY CAR! At last, the blue Civic is gone, and while I did not make out like a bandit, I sold it for a tidy sum more than I owed on it. Some guy looked at it first who chided me about the corrosion on the aluminum wheels, as if I had driven through acid baths, and because I had not hosed down the engine! Kee-rist. But does not offer any hold money or other promise. So the eventual buyer comes Friday night and writes me a check on the spot. And then the first guy has the nerve to call me and leave a message that starts "I don't think you treated my daughter fair" at which point I hit the delete button on my phone. He could have said "fairly."

Also reading Chuck Palahniuk's Stranger Than Fiction, which is. Chuck has a new book out in May so I just ordered it on half.com. Also read Mark Haddon's A Spot of Bother, which was as great as was his first book, "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time."

crazy

Saturday morning, Miss Jenks and I got in the new car and drove to Maryville, Tennessee, to see Will Kimbrough and Todd Snider. It was a 7-hour drive and worth every minute. Unfortunately, I left my spare camera batteries at home so I have a couple of pictures of Will that I will post soon. But no video as I had hoped. I'm sure some will show up on Youtube pretty soon.

Will did Act Like Nothing's Wrong and Piece of Work and A New Song and many others, then Todd came out and they played for another hour and a half with Ted Cooper on bass and rocked the crowd of about 300 at Smoky Mtn. Harley Davidson in The Shed. We were drinking Tecate in a can with limes.

Todd did a new song, America's Favorite Pastime, about some MLB pitcher pitching a game on acid. He told a story about being on the high school football team in Beaverton, OR, and how some magic mushrooms turned him to the other side.

We got in the car at 8 a.m. after eating at the Corner Grill and drove to Lake City, TN, where we ate at La Fiesta (smoking or non-smoking?) and had a frosty Negra Modelo, some killer guac and excellent salsa on some burritos and enchiladas that all the had the same red sauce, but were tasty. On the way back we had breakfast Sunday morning at Cottage Restaurant, also in Lake City. And lunch at Tipp o' the Town in Tipp City. Not into the chain restaurants.

We tried to find Disney, TN, which was on Jenks's Wal-Mart road atlas but the locals where we stopped for gas said Disney might be a road, but it wasn't a town and when I told them we wanted to have our pictures taken in front of the city sign, you could tell they thought I was out of my mind. And from up NORTH. These 5 or 6 people were all in the gas station, where I bought gas, and most of them looked pointedly at the floor when the reason for this visit was presented.

The scenery was beautiful. Smoky Mtns. at 8 a.m. With actual smokiness.

Last Wednesday, we went to see Sonny Landreth at The Ark. He was pretty good but we have seen this show before.

Remember, Rod's Collision is at Nate and Wally's Friday night.

We got some big rain today. Now, it's time to mow for the first time in 2 months.

rigorous party schedule

Friday, Amy and Connie and I barged in on Fred and Sherry about 10 p.m. They were good with it. Saturday, made deviled eggs like it seems I do every Saturday, radio show, went to the Kling Riboff where I drank several beers and some Scotch and ate ribs and a ton of other stuff including desserts then went to Tunafest and partied on down with the Welders playing until I walked home with Sherry about 1:30 a.m. Connie Ziss introduced me to some people who wanted to know who Daddy's Girl was and the woman told me the man had to stop everything on Saturday at 2 to listen to my radio show. Plus Sam told me he loved my show.

The next day, Tunafest continued with the Elderly Bros. in the afternoon. Also watched Pulp Fiction off and on. What a great movie.

I had entertained briefly the idea of going to New Orleans the weekend of Aug. 11-12 but decided I would wait and go in October. I have some blog posts from last October that attest to the cold weather here then. Plus we're going to Madison the next weekend and then it's
* My mom's birthday weekend
* Labor Day weekend
* the Swamp
* To New York
* a weekend home
* Put in Bay
* the Harvest Party
* then New Orleans

My mom and sister have somehow purchased a mobile home together and are moving in there Thursday. Good luck to them.

Tomorrow night, Annie and I going to see Sonny Landreth at the Ark. Thursday will call for massive watering as the temps are in the low 90s for several days. There were maybe 3 days of rain last week.

where does the time go?

Look, it's almost two weeks since my last post.

Last weekend, we went to see the Twistin' Tarantulas at DeSimone's. Amy drove. Kudos on that. They rocked out and we must try to get them for the Swamp. Saturday, I did a radio show and we went to Kim and Jim's and partied on down, even after the bats came out. Sunday, I drank beer too early and then went to Jenks's for Crab legs and other items and then Monday, I was tuckered out. I watched Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House.

Tuesday, I had to go to the Mud Hens game with people from work which was a fine time but I am still not recovered from the weekend. And it's Thursday. And then there's my contention that the last week of July and the first week of August every year I get this funkiness/allergy thing that makes me .... something. Sluggish, contentious, restless.

I applied for a job in Broomfield, Colorado, doing a community website for a company called Gaiam. You can see that's in in beta which means it's not ready for full exposure and I love that part of web stuff, building from the ground up. Plus it pays $100,000 to $120,000. That's in my price range. Think good thoughts.

This weekend, there's the Kling riboff and the Welders at TunaFest, both on Saturday. It will take an extreme act of will to attend both. Amy will be out of town for this.

racing through summer

Last Thursday, we saw Bob Dylan at the Toledo Zoo. It was great. Lou Ann Barton and Jimmie Vaughan were just going through the motions, I thought. Dylan did some old favorites, like Like a Rolling Stone and Lay Lady Lay with new tempos. The band was tight. Took a couple of blurry pictures with my cell phone, which I will not post. Too blurry.

Wednesday was GNO where we swapped stuff and I brought home a straw hat and bottle of Murphy's oil soap and a Cleopatra necklace.

Friday, I was a good girl until about 10 p.m. when I went over to Annie's and drank beer and played the guitar and sang.

Saturday, Amy and I went to the car show downtown and ate at Call of the Canyon. Bought an Italian hand-painted pitcher at the trunk show where Mrs. Barker tried to sell me Mr. Wonderful, a doll that when you squeezed his hand, he said things like "Going shopping by yourself? Why don't you let me come and carry your bags?" and "Heavens, no those pants don't make you look fat." Then I did a radio show and then made some pasta with asparagus and onion and Portabellas and good cheese and cream and wine sauce. Losing some weight.

Sunday, I cleared out the rest of the back "garden" to be ready to plant something if we ever get any rain.

Jim and Kim's pond party this Saturday. Hope you can make it. Listening to Chet Atkins and Doc Watson's "Reflections." Got a couple of movies from the library, which I will watch one of now.

hot and sweaty

And not in a good way. Generally, the one room AC does a good job in my little house but right now I'm roasting, or poaching, or something because I decided to clean the floor and woodwork in my bedroom, the last remaining room to get hardwood care. Which you would know if you have been hanging on every blog entry. I put up new miniblinds which of course, one of them the bracket is one-zillionth of an inch too close to the other one so I have to take it down and make new screw holes but they are up and the curtains are washed. Now, if that bitch cat breaks off slats on the new miniblinds, the Humane Society will have a new guest.

I was going to put a burger on the grill but damn, it's hot so I'm having the three-beer dinner.

Last night, when I came home to water, I was accosted by the old lady next door who has a stuffed bear screwed securely to a plastic stand that has a Fourth of July outfit on. The bear, not the stand. Little red white and blue jacket, hat and bowtie. Plus she has a whole bag of other holiday outfits for it and she has chosen the Easter apron and head bow for me to affix. Apparently, the velcro fastenings are beyond her skills. I point out it's an Easter outfit but she doesn't care. I asked her how long the bear had been sporting the Independence Day ensemble and she says, "Since you have lived here". That's been 8 years. THEN she brings out twin baby dolls about 8 inches high, wearing little camisoles and diapers and has me check them out because they are anatomically correct. She has them sitting in a little white rocker in her house, she tells me. And today, when the dog warden came around checking for dogs without licenses, Mrs. CL retrieves a couple of stuffed pups and says these are all the pets she has. Ha Ha. I bet the warden found that to be scintillating.

My daughter called tonight, bemoaning all the vacation time she has to take before the end of '07. She's going to New Orleans with her gentleman friend, as she refers to him, in September, where his parents live. Plus she tells me Tom has decided long-distance love ain't gettin' it with Hidy and he has a 33-year-old scientist girlfriend now.

Now if I can just collect some treasures to take to GNO on Wednesday, I'll have put in a full week.

No wonder my house is such a mess

Thursday night, Amy and I had a little pre-birthday beveraging. Friday we took off for the big adventure around noon. Got to Schedel Gardens in Elmore where it was beautiful and hot. But not near as hot as it got Saturday and today. So in no particular order, here are the pictures. Some big damn lilies. (Remember, you can click on the pictures to see a larger version.)



The wimmen on a bench.

There was a wedding while we were there. At the altar.

The bride gliding into the wedding area.



Manny Enriquez's Bailadores Flamencos. Unfinished.

Note frog on lily pad.









After the gardens, we went to Genoa and had a beer and went to Packer Creek Pottery and then drove up to Point Place and had dinner at Webber's out on the patio and went to a biker bar in East Toledo to hear Tina Lee and Random Blues and then went back to Amy's and continued drinking until after midnight. The next day, I had a radio show and then we went to Lyle and Judy's pond party. Here are some revelers.






Here's a little video of Joe singing Blue Bayou.











So today, I went to Kay's pool because it was about 95 degrees. She has lovely plantings around because apparently they have got some rain in Toledo. Unlike here.

WEirD WorK WEEk

Everybody is in hold mode, like they have Wednesday off so they can't really get into work and then when they come back, they work 2 days and it's a weekend. So it's like the whole week is a weekend.

Yesterday, I accomplished some stuff and did not other stuff. But man that refrigerator looks like a new one. I threw away 4 Meijer bags of detritus. Now there's room for beer in TWO places. Which was my goal. It's good to have goals.

Last night, Amy served up casing dogs and mac salad and we had corn on the cob and pea salad and chocolate Klondike bars for dessert. While drinking wine outdoors in the sunshine. It's what summer's all about.

Now I've decided to take the week between Labor Day and the Swamp off. I'll need the break between summer parties and September, which is non-stop fun and activity.

It looks like Jimmy Davis plays at the Historic Broadway Tavern most Saturday nights. Maybe he'll be there the weekend of Ribberfest.

Now I fear the Kling Riboff is the same night as the Big Fat Momma's Booty Band is at the Toledo Ribfest, the one run by Citifest. Conflicts.

Listening to The Iguanas' "Plastic Silver Nine-Volt Heart."

it's like voodoo

I get all stressed out about my mom and my crazy sister and my stomach feels crappy. Like not hungry but still full. And my shoulders are tight. I called again today and my mom said things were up in the air, like Karen might rent a furnished one-bedroom on her own with some check she claims is coming from California. Like they forgot to forward her mail from her PO box. Then the check will be lost. Hum de dum. Heard this before.

On a much lighter note, we went to see Lyle Lovett and kd lang at Hill Auditorium Thursday. kd has a fabulous voice and Lyle's band is indeed Large. At one point there was Lyle, a drummer, a conga guy, a guy at a grand piano, a pedal steel player, a fiddler, a mandolin player, a guitarist, a cellos player, Francine Reed and three guy backup singers, one of which was Sweet Pea Atkinson who sang with the Boneshakers. It was a great show. We ate at Conor O'Neill's before.

Last night, I volunteered at rally by the river. Question Mark and the Mysterians played and they were great and then Ian McLagan and the Bump Band played and they sucked. But it was a lovely night to be outside and I was home in bed by 11.

Today, I washed the floor in the living room. Last weekend, I did the green room. Just a few more square feet and those floors will look like buttah.

I should probably recognize this turn of events with Karen as a sign to get out now. How far away is far enough, I asked my boss. He said, "Mexico."

not really my problem

OMG I called my mom this morning who had left a message last night when I was outside and I talked to her and she said was I coming down Sunday to help pack up the storage closet because they're moving Monday and then she says Karen needs a bed, did I have one, which I do have a twin in the basement but how would I get that down there? and then Karen has the nerve to get on the phone and say how when they do the credit check for the apartment, since she doesn't have a job yet, she wondered if they could call ME and I told her absolutely not, I'm not being any part of any financial deal for her because I am still annoyed how I gave her all that money to move to California for 4 months and she blew that, so she screams JUST FORGET IT THEN, WE DON'T NEED SHIT FROM YOU and hung up.

one week later

I have not talked to my mom since that phone call when she said she was moving in with my sister. Let sleeping dogs lie, I say.

Went to the Crosby Garden gala, bought a lovely necklace and bracelet. And some earmuffs. Went to Surly Bob's wedding party at Otsego Park Saturday. The Welders were chastised to play softly because of all the babies and children there. Mowed, did two radio shows, watered, had some burgers and potato salad with some wimmen. Bought some used CD's at Finders: reggae, Austin Lounge Lizards, Dr. John, Jimmy Vaughan, some blues compilation.

Amy's birthday is July 6 and we're going to Schedel Arboretum and then to the Jolly Roger in Port Clinton for perch. I'm working the Fourth to take that Friday off.

Didn't go see Jimmy Thackery at Mickey Finn's. Probably not going to see Jimmy Burns at Hines Farm this weekend.

Going to see kd lang and Lyle Lovett Thursday in Ann Arbor. Looking forward to a weekend without many commitments.

more signs of the apocalypse

Tonight I called my mom and lo and behold my sister is getting back to Ohio on Saturday and then she and my mom are moving into some apartment THIS MONDAY in Delaware. So good luck to them. I hope this works out for them. My mom swears she will not pay more than she's paying now ($224 a month, no utilities) and she'll have Karen's 3 cats to hang around with and you know how THEY SAY it's so good for old people to have pets.

SO ANYWAY, it's just the beginning of what I see as a giant CLUSTER FUNK where I will have to pay some money. Sometime. I did tell my mom that I would move her furniture. OMG why do these people do this to me? I'm such a nice girl.

OMFG

So I go to Delaware today, where BTW they have taken down the Marching To Victory Vacation Bible School sign so I didn't get a good picture. And my mom says my sister has called last night to say she's getting evicted from where she lives on Tuesday. Next Tuesday. The woman has been out there in CA all of 4 months and she can't pay the rent. So my mom says that maybe Karen will move back to Ohio and LIVE IN APARTMENT WITH MY MOM. And we discuss the financial arrangements of this, which I point out are VERY BAD.

Mind you, this woman has gone to California with a dog and 3 cats, saying she has a job LA TEE DA and now, four months later, she has thrown in the towel.

BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE. Just 15 minutes ago Karen calls me TO APOLOGIZE for everything she's put me through (like about $3,000 not counting the $12,000 car I am paying off). And then she meanders on about not being able to FIND HER CENTER and that since Daddy died (in 1985), the family has just fallen apart and what do you have if you don't have family and that she guesses she will be living in her car for a while and that she LOVES ME because I'm her BIG SISTER (she said that part twice) and you know, you can call me a bitch, but I told her that your center is where you are and that for all you thinking someplace geographic is where you should be, THAT'S NOT HOW IT WORKS. I did not offer financial assistance or any clue as to what she should do now.

PLUS she tells me that my mom doesn't want to move to BG but she feels bad about me coming down there every Sunday and plus she has no one around for emergencies. So instead of packing anything up today and loading prior to the planned-for June 30 move, I left her with a bunch of boxes that she may or may not be using to move in with my sister, assuming she can find enough money to drive across the USA with her menagerie in the vehicle I own.

BUT YOU KNOW, I am still the happiest girl in the world, thanks to all of you are reading this. Party on.

The usual too much of everything

So the latest is I'm moving my mom up here June 30. Got a moving company scheduled. The worst case scenario is that she can't get into the apartment up here right away and she has to stay here for a while with her belongings in storage. Really, how could this be any worse than March.

So here's what's coming up:

June

16-17 Jazz fest (not going)

22 Crosby gala

23 Bob and dottie's wedding reception

28 Kd and lyle at Michigan Theater, Ann Arbor

30 move mom/full moon

July

4 not off

6 off

7 lyle and judy pond party

12 dylan at the zoo

21 kim and jim pond party

28 tunafest

August

4 Yo Mama's Big Fat Booty

Band at the RibFest

17-18 Ribberfest in Madison, IN

September

Five weekends: labor day (Joe Bonnamassa in St. Mary's), swamp, NYC, home, PIB

Going to New York again for the big ABC meetings so I'll go on Saturday to hang with the child

Put in Bay party that last weekend and then

it's

Harvest Party, Halloween, the HOLIDAYS OMG

It's pretty much all I can do is laundry and dishes and food procurement. Because there is just continual hanging out with one friend or another. Not that I'm complaining.

Listening to Todd Snider "Viva Satellite" which Jenks bought off half.com because it's hard to get and it's the last Todd CD we didn't have.

We tried to buy a wedding present for Bob and Dottie at kohls.com but it wouldn't deliver on time so tomorrow night I will stop in there and see if they have the Jack LaLanne Power Juicer, which is what we planned to get them.

June, OMG

Today I went to see my mom. Who has agreed to move up here, so I've been researching places she can be like Abundant Living in Perrysburg or Cedar Park here in BG. Today, we went to the Waldo cemetery where my mom's parents and her sister and her brother are buried. We put flowers on all those grave. I put this Stella d'Ora lily on my aunt's grave. Ada Ruth. Her sisters were named Marjorie Jean, Blanche Geraldine and Arlene Mae. The boys were William and Donald.



Listening to Raul Malo "I Love You for Sentimental Reasons." Drinking white wine and Perrier.

As I drive home every week from my mom's, the other drivers are hideous. Why does some guy think, because HE'S going 67, that he just HAS to pass that semi going 65? Can he not see that I am already in the passing lane going 78????? Plus that part of 75 from Findlay to BG is like the racetrack from Hell. I have to get off at Cygnet and onto 25. Stubbs will recall that I was on the phone with him during that section a few weeks ago and was privy to my bellowing "Get out of my WAYYYYYYYYYYYYY."

Today as I was leaving, Mrs. CL next door came out and I told her I was going to take my mom to some cemetery in Waldo to put flowers on various graves. She told me again about her trip to BG's Oak Grove on Memorial Day where her parents and her husband are buried. Then she says, "You know, we were only married for 10 or 11 years." I must have looked puzzled because she went on to say her first husband was an *ass* . She whispered *ass*. And that the second guy had adopted her daughter as his own. Then she started to segue into a familiar story about some inheritance from the *bitch* wife of her first husband.

Rain Rain Rain! Yay, I thought it never would. But this evening, it's been a deluge here in BG. Between Clay and Curtice Sts.

I've revised my retirement plan. I'll write a blockbuster novel in a few years! Gee, it seems so simple.

Memorial Day

So Doug had this slamming chair, that lounged back in a perfect position and had this excellent tray for, uh, stuff.

Here's Phil making an entrance with a fully folded out chair.


Hi, Chip!

The girls. What DO they talk about?


Donna's butt, which she claimed she had been working off. Looks like that's true.


No pictures please!!!!!!!


A coleus planter.

The lovely Christine. For some reason, I felt obligated to capture the entire Parsons clan.


And, of course, the chow. Meat, Amy's potatoes.


Connie's ensalada caprese, as Gus called and Annette said she thought he was mixing two foreign languages, as he was. So continental, that Gus. Martha's cucumbers, Deb Helmboldt's cole slaw, Chip's beans and rice.


The requested beans, and all those chips. TWO potato salads.


Here's what a plateful looked like.


Cards were played.


Donna thought it would be HIlarious if people all brought beans so here's hers.