August List #15

August was all about water.

Lots of Sundays spent reading by the pool.


Amanda attempting to get Frank to swim. Sidenote: This pool made me want a pool of my very own.


A little bit of beach time.


Ensuring time spent by said water includes friends.

August List #14

How I weathered Irene:

- bought groceries
- made food for the week
- cleaned my apartment (What? I can't very well avoid it when I'm supposed to be staying home.)
- made friendship bracelets
- met friends for breakfast
- bought a DVD player and started watching True Blood
- saw Columbiana
- read (see future rant about Michael Connelly books)
- went to the gym
- dreamed bold dreams

August List #13

In honor of Alice Waters and the 40th anniversary of Chez Panisse*, alternative dining experiences I've been meaning to try:

Ted and Amy Supper Club - Somewhat intimate home-cooked meals out of an apartment with a group of strangers as your dinner guests. Reminds me of a good salon, which I've been dying to see a resurgence of.

Sometimes - Billed as an occasional alternative dining experience out of Baltimore, this is one I really want to snag an invitation for. The anticipation of waiting for an event to be announced and trying to get a reservation is the good kind of competitive. I just better not hear of any of you getting in before me (and, if you do, invite me). ;-)

Wild game dinners - Seems like every small town in Texas has one, and I've even seem a few up this way in rural VA or MD.

Patowmack Farm

*Can you believe there is someone who works there who title is Forager?! 

August List #12

This one is too easy.

Top things an earthquake in DC reveals about myself and my coworkers:

1. Coworkers are funny. "Talk about a wild ride. I was on the toilet when the quake hit."

2. Certain coworkers will be useless in a crisis situation. Real-life example: "OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! IT'S STILL SHAKING!" Panic is never helpful, people.

3. We are a dedicated bunch of SOBs. I don't think anyone who was actually in the office left early. In fact, I think many stayed late to avoid the mass of humanity who decided flight was the proper response.

4. In the event of a real apocalypse we need to flee from, events like these prove the DC area is essentially screwed. Bikes might save your life, folks. 

5. If pictures and video from the area are to be relied on, my office mates are generally smarter than the average joe. Most of us stood in doorways rather than run out into the street. This might have something to do with the fact that it's hard to go anywhere fast on the 14th floor of an office building.

6. By the way, it's pretty freaking scary to be on the top floor of a swaying building.

7. I went to twitter before I went to any of the news sites. I knew I'd get instant verification of how widespread the quake was felt. I wasn't wrong.

8. Laugh all you want, but I totally put on a hard hat.

August List #11

Pets* I might own if I weren't allergic:

French bulldog

photo by Bruno Cordioli

hedgehog

photo by moretrifl.es

baby goat

photo by Katherine


*I'd choose one. Regardless of allergies, multiple pets wouldn't be for me.

August List #10

Some of my favorite So You Think You Can Dance routines:













Okay, I have to stop. This could go on forever. Tell me. Which ones are your favorites?

August List #9

Art I'd snap up in a heartbeat from 20X200:


Breidalsvik, Iceland by Bob O'Connor


Untitled (May the bridges I burn light the way.) by Mike Monteiro


Encyclopedia 2 by Valerie Roybal


Say Goodbye by Linzie Hunter

I've a wall of typography I'm trying to build out. :-)

August List #8

photo by David Biesack

 I've been on a major lavender kick lately. Ways I've added a little lavender to my life:

Trader Joe's Lavender Body Oil - Spray and go. Perfect for the lazy girl.

Lavender brownies by the Homesick Texan - You want me to make these for you. They are fan-freaking-tastic. I even managed to make them gluten free.

The Lady Lincoln at Lincoln Restaurant - gin. prosecco. lavender. drunk.

August List #7

Photos I didn't take:

- the pink sunrise as viewed from the top deck of my apartment complex
- the gentleman waiting for the bus, seemingly homeless yet dapper
- an empty lot with nothing to show for itself except a vintage bakery sign shaped like a teepee
- fog settling between the Shenandoah mountains after an early evening rain
- all the graffiti along the red line

August List #6

photo by Richard Whitby

Outdoor blog bits I'm enjoying this week:

Declination: Brogue Wave, a.k.a. Surfing Scotland - Gritty and dirty. It's made even better by the visceral way he relays the Scottish accent.

The Epic California Rock Climbers of the Seventies on The Selvedge Yard - Proof you can be a hippy and still sport a six-pack.

The Little Fishes - An ode to the minnow on the Caught by the River blog.

The Most Stylish Environmentalists of all Time - Shared by the folks from Cold Splinters over on GQ.

Grass Doe

August List #5

3 conservatives in the news that scare the bejesus out of me:

Rick Perry - Presidential candidate? Want to meet a Texan that would be worse for the country than George W.?

Paul Ryan - He's one of the reasons I've boycotted the news for the past year. Every time he opens his mouth on budget issues and privatizing medicare and abolishing corporate income and estate taxes, I throw a flip flop at the TV. Plus, he has devil eyes. ;-)

Michele Bachmann - Watch and listen. Can we please just find a smart woman who wants to run for president? Screw party lines; just give me intelligent.

Perhaps I was inspired by all the talk of the Iowa debates. My actual list is a lot more extensive, but it's safer to stop while I'm ahead.

August List #4

Despite the everyone sitting death watch on the publishing industry, there are some mighty fine magazines out there. Some of my current must-reads include:

• The Gentlewoman - Rich format, thoughtful articles about smart women, fashion
• Matchbook - A relatively new e-pub a tad on the preppy side. Don't read it for the articles; peruse it if you feel like appeasing your consumerist side.
• Garden & Gun - 100% not what you think. I've only read the month above, but the articles had me wanting to roadtrip down south.
• Next American City - Reading this one screams dork, but I love it. I never fail to walk away with at least a few ideas after reading it.
• Preservation Magazine 
• Kinfolk - See Kinfolk.

August List #3

My summer reading list:

A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg (in progress)
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Marberry (in progress)
The Seven Daughters of Eve by Bryan Sykes (in progress)
Blood Oath (Nathaniel Cade Series #1) by Christopher Farnsworth
Deadline (Newsflesh Trilogy Series #2) by Mira Grant
Still Life with Crows (Special Agent Pendergast Series #4) by L. Child/D. Preston
Brimstone (Special Agent Pendergast Series #5) by L. Child/D. Preston
The Dance of Death (Special Agent Pendergast Series #6) by L. Child/D. Preston
The Book of the Dead (Special Agent Pendergast Series #7) by L. Child/D. Preston
The Wheel of Darkness (Special Agent Pendergast Series #8) by L. Child/D. Preston
Cemetery Dance (Special Agent Pendergast Series #9) by L. Child/D. Preston

August List #2

I'm devoting the rest of August to lists (consider yesterday #1). I find lists a little therapeutic and such an easy way to share information. List #2 are some of my favorite podcasts. These may not make your life complete, but they're bound to put a spring in your step (you know, if you have a soul).

Joy the Baker podcast (with Tracy of Shutterbean) - Believe it or not, this podcast really doesn't have much to do with baking and more to do with the utterly random. These girls are hilarious. Listen to them during your commute and turn a nightmare into a roadtrip with two people you know you want to be friends with.

How Did This Get Made - A group of comedians get together a trash crappy movies. Puts a smile on the face and saves you from convincing yourself that The Smurfs might be good.

NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour - I've mentioned this one before, but it really is a near perfect combination of high and low brow culture.

The Moth - Storytelling at its best.

Spilled Milk - Clearly I am attracted to people who don't take themselves too seriously. The folks at Spilled Milk deconstruct a seemingly random list of foods, all with an endless stream of laughter.

I've done of bit of cooking this summer (some hits, some misses). Here's a list of some things sure to become my new favorites.

• refreshing, light summer corn salad
• These black bean and sweet potato quesadillas kick much ass.
• This dip tastes so good on veggies. I don't even mind that it's vegan ;-)
• Whole Foods' Mexican Taco Stew is probably meant for winter, but it quickly my go-to. Great for dumping tons of random veggies into.
• I modified this one quite a bit, but you should be warned this chicken salad is addictive.

Got any recipes you want to share with me?

We're going on a bear hunt

Some days a friend has a marvelous idea...



...and you head off in search of adventure.



You watch the fog roll across mountain meadows...



...and set off with the hopes of getting just a little bit lost in it.



Then things went a tad awry (caught right before I got a little inappropriate with the statue).



Before we knew it, things got downright wild.

Desert life

Lake Nasworthy in 2007. Lake levels are currently said to be 0.   Photo by John Mueller

23 months water left in the city's supply.

Mesquite trees and cacti, both native to arid climates, are dying.

1.3 million gallons of water is evaporating daily.

The town is desperately considering tapping into an aquifer with higher than allowable levels of radium.

Less than 2.94 inches of rain this year. To date, driest year on record.

U.S. Rep. Charles Stenholm promised the S.W. Freese Dam (when built in 1990) and reservoir would assure us that "generations that come after us will enjoy a good drink of water ...". It is now at 24% capacity. Brilliant politicians...so glad they have all the solutions.

Hell, indeed, might be a place on earth. San Angelo is at least making a go of ensuring the climate is just right.