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July 31, 2007
My Job and Joey Ramone
Sadly, my job has nothing to do with Joey Ramone; these are two different topics
My Job-- I complain about my job a lot--not here so much, but trust me, it happens. My job does suck on many levels, BUT it has its fun moments AND there are much worse jobs. Plus, it is exactly the job I said that I wanted to get when I moved back to Atlanta. Tomorrow, my division--the Division of Historic and Cultural Affairs--is going on a field trip. I'm not entirely sure where we are going, but it shouldn't totally suck; on the other hand, my co-worker Lydia is not going, so that might increase the suck factor. Which way will it go?
Joey Ramone--I just re-watched End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones. Very cool documentary. Hate'em or Love'em, but you can't deny that the Ramones have been crazy influential. Plus, Joey Ramone is totally lovable in a sad little puppy sort of way. He was so incredibly geeky and shy and then he became the lead singer for the Ramones. The movie gave new meaning to the Sleater Kinney tune “I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone.” Johnny Ramone was an ass-hole.
Posted by sara at 6:11 PM | Comments (0)
July 30, 2007
Camp Memories
As a child I spent my summers at Camp Cherokee for Girls on Lake Burton. Later I worked as a CIT and then as a counselor. Camp was a very special place and many of my happiest childhood memories involve being there. It is also where I met Susan. Enough said.
When I worked as a counselor I also became very good friends with the camp director--Debbie. We have been trying to get together and hang out, so we decided to go to the mountains and spend some time on the lake. It was awesome. It was also extremely nostalgic. We went on the camp grounds and I was completely overcome with emotion. I'm such a sap. Anyway, here are some pictures. Enjoy.
Here's the waterfront:
This is the view of the boy's camp from the dock. The houses are a very recent development—very, very sad:
This is a close up of the boy's camp and "Big Rock". Swimming to "Big Rock" was always a big deal ‘cause it was a potential chance to see boys:
The dining hall:
An important right of passage was to make the 2 mile swim to the damn. Sorry this is so blurry, but you should be able to make out my name and Susan's. Susan was a first session gal, so we didn't meet until we worked as CITs, but we swam to the damn the same year--pretty cool:
This was my home away from home when I was a counselor--Mockingbird Hill. All of the cabins were named after birds—Pileated Palace, Junco, Bobolink, Chewink, ect.:
View of the newly developed boy's camp cove:
This used to be the boy's camp waterfront:
Aunt Alma's dock--a favorite Sunday picnic spot:
Beautiful Lake Burton--one of my favorite places on earth:
This is sliding rock--a favorite camp spot. That water is really fracking cold, but we loved it anyway:
And of course, no trip to the mountains would be complete without a trip to Helen. Jam Haus--heh:
Debbie and me:
The End.
Posted by sara at 7:11 PM | Comments (4)
July 23, 2007
Spike in the ATL
Who wants to go see James Marsters, aka "Spike", play music? He will be at Center Stage Atlanta on September, 1st. I suspect it would be much like the time that swallis--now sfahey--and I went to see Dogstar (Keanu Reeve's band) at the Vortex--lots of screaming girls. It was amusing all around. I'm sure this would be as well.
Posted by sara at 8:44 PM | Comments (1)
July 22, 2007
Going back to Callie...
I had a wonderful time in Callie; although the hassle of traveling across the country almost requires a second vacation. There is much I could say, but I'm tired, so I'll share some pictures and highlights. I spent the first part of the trip hanging out with Jay:
We went thrifting, played tennis, watched sporting events and drank. Jay is going to every bar on State Street ("Jay's March to the Sea") and I was able to take part in a small portion of this epic journey (see above photo). We also saved Jay's much beloved Star Tac from being decommissioned:
Sammie and Ted came back into town by Monday, so we spent some time with them:
I had one of my favorite meals in the world--tuna sushi and a Santa Barbara Roll from Edo Masa :
I also enjoyed the beautiful views found in Santa Barbara:
Then it was off to Bass Lake to join Julie, Bob, Vinnie and Michael (plus 6 other families). Here are Vinnie and Michael:
I also met with Sarah and Jon (dissertation co-chairs) and it went really, really well. And, after many years of frustrating losses to Vicki at Scrabble--many of them last minute come from behind wins--I finally kicked her ass. Victory is finally mine.
Quotes of the trip:
“Her ass is too tight to be a graduate student.” --Jay
“They’ve prettified it for the Yuppies, but I don’t think they’re coming.” --Ted on Lowell, MA.
The End.
Posted by sara at 1:27 PM | Comments (0)
July 6, 2007
Happy Day Off
Fuck the 4th of July with all its insipid patriotism. I just had a lovely day off which included (not necessarily in order of excitement): getting some work done, decoupage, cooking, eating, drinking, playing with fire, photography with my rad new Lomo, Henry and hanging out with friends. The main source of excitement and activity was a pot-luck bar-b-que at Walker's house. Walker is the executive sous chef at Wisteria, which is a well reviewed local restaurant, so it is a bit intimidating to cook for him. My tried and true Grit Cookbook saved the day. I made the Grit's squash casserole:
Walker exclaimed, "I'd slap my momma for this squash casserole!" So I'm pretty pleased.
All the important people were there:
I do believe it was officially Henry's first party.
There were also fireworks (what would a day off be without fireworks?), including the "Golden Shower Fountain". Yes, you read that correctly:
Here is the actual "golden shower":
There was also some yummy sangria. I found out at the end of the night that there was some tequilla in there, which explained a lot:
Here's Walker with his birthday present (I made the bag):
Joe, Dixon and Susan enjoying the lovely evening:
There are more pictures, but I mainly used the above mentioned rad new Lomo and I have to pack. I'm heading back to Callie tomorrow for some much needed R&R. I'll spend a few days in SB and then it's off to Bass Lake with my cousin Julie and her family and friends. This will be my eighth year joining them on this trip. Wow. I hadn't done the math until just now. I'm a little shocked. Vinnie and Mike (Julie's children) were 10 and 8, respectively, when I first moved to California. Damn. Talk to you soon.
Posted by sara at 2:38 AM | Comments (0)
July 2, 2007
Bush is Whack
This really fucking pisses me off. On the other hand, Libby is just a patsy anyway. Is anyone going to be held accountable? See how the aforementioned hell would come in handy?
Posted by sara at 7:39 PM | Comments (1)
Henry at 3 Months
Here are some recent (this afternoon) pictures of Henry.
Asking for Aunt Sara (with a little help):
With Mama:
Just being cute:
Posted by sara at 6:43 PM | Comments (0)
July 1, 2007
Sicko
I saw Michael Moore's Sicko tonight. Wow. Powerful stuff. Documentaries like this make me wish that there is a hell, because if there is, there will be a very special place for the Bush family, Dick Cheney, "Big Pharma" executives, HMO executives and the list could go on. I have to say that this documentary also confirmed my dislike of Hillary Clinton. She is definitely not the answer. She sold out and is just a beholden to private interests as any of them (the corporate party with two heads lives on).
I really think that Michael Moore is a true American hero (although I don't always like his tactics). While I'm on the subject, I would like to add that I think that Ralph Nader is a true American hero. I just watched An Unreasonable Man and he is just so amazing. I love his idea of citizenship as a profession. What we could do if people just had a tenth of his energy and dedication. I had dinner (along with a group of 15 or so organizers) with him once. He was very quiet and subdued; however, his talk was amazing, inspiring and funny.
Posted by sara at 9:01 PM | Comments (1)
Facts the Historians Leave Out: A Youth's Confederate Primer
I'm sure that title got your attention. I'm at Inman Park in order to get some work done, but I can't help but procrastinate a bit, so I thought I'd do it in a semi-productive way. The above title is an actual book written by John S. Tilley in 1951. My friend Jay found it and gave it to me. It was likely used by the Children of the Confederacy (my Dad was a member in his youth). The book is interesting. It makes some very good points about those damn Yankees: 1) they were pretty bigoted themselves 2) the North profited from slavery immensely, including some abolitionists through the ivory trade, I might add (see Complicity: How the North Promoted, Prolonged and Profited from Slavery) 3) the Emancipation Proclamation did not abolish slavery. Now, having said that, I've never been a fan of the "well you're side was just as bad argument," it generally misses the point--slavery was evil, to say the least; however, the North's role in the slave trade is often obfuscated and this is a real problem. Especially when you consider that much of the wealth of this nation was built on the back of slaves. I believe that the South must remain the sole site of shame in order to keep the rest of the nation free of stain. People can point to the South as the place where racism happens/ed and then pat themselves on the back for not participating. This is not to deny that the South was a site of extreme racial violence, oppression and brutality. I guess simply put, I would argue that no one's hands are clean and we would do well to remember this. The yoke of slavery still affects blacks today and we need to start recognizing this.
Now, to get back to the book, despite these good points, he also writes:
“Beyond question, some masters cruelly whipped and abused their slaves. Every right-thinking Southerner is ashamed of that record.
Has it occurred to you that, even today, some husbands and fathers brutally beat their wives and children? That, however, doesn’t prove that all husbands and fathers are brutes, does it?
And, at times, unruly children have to be punished. It was so with the slaves. Most of them were childlike, good-natured, well-behaved. But not all! There were those who were treacherous and dangerous and who could be controlled only by the use of force.”
Okay, I guess I should save this for something else—sorry for the lecture. Although I must add that my inner feminist loves that he uses an analogy in which wives are compared to slaves. Wow. Back to work.
Posted by sara at 7:46 AM | Comments (0)