Bon Iver at the Uptown with Kathleen Edwards
I love seeing bands I like perform live. Some of the best concerts are ones in which the band does something a little different than what you’ve heard before. Bon Iver played at the Uptown last night and they were surprisingly loud and flexible with their music. One of my favorite performances of the evening was an excellent Björk cover.
The opening act, Kathleen Edwards, was great too. Beautiful voice, great lyricism, and between songs, a mouth like a sailor. She came across as a very real person.
For more pictures of the concert, check out my flickr gallery: Here
Introducing My Next Tattoo
I got my first tattoo on my first wedding anniversary with Maura. I’ve been trying to decide what to do for my second the moment I walked out the door of Exile Tattoo. I’ve toyed with various ideas - cephalopods, skulls/bones, mechanical parts, etc. and couldn’t really decide on anything. I also knew I wanted to have one of the many talented artists I know create it, but everything was up in the air until the Two Headed Beast approached me about coding their website.
The Two Headed Beast is Chris and Mirna Stubbs, two very talented artists, a designer (Chris), and an illustrator (Mirna). I told them I would code their site in trade for a tattoo design. Chris had designed some tattoos for himself and I have to admit that I was a little jealous. I explained my initial to Chris and after some design and critique back and forth, this is my next tattoo:
Yesterday we met with Chet at Mercy Seat and I have a tentative date set to start inking! He seems excited to work on Chris' designs, yesterday he said “It’s not worth doing if it’s not a challenge”. It should take between six to eight hours in at least two sessions to complete.
In an email today, Chris sent me some fundraising ideas to fund our tattoos. They cracked me up and I had to add a few of my own! He’s getting one soon as well, after having designed mine, he went to work on an idea he’s been mulling around for a while for himself - Chris' Tattoo. They’re both pretty big and very detailed, they’re not going to be cheap.
His list:
- temporary lawn service: "grass for tats" (I call weed wacking)
- donate blood. it will be symbolic of the needle in the arm thing.
- 1st Fridays we claim a corner and give crash courses in web design/ photoshop on our laptops.
- shoe shine stand
- donate sperm... okay no
- a non-violent bank robbery achieved through the annoyance of begging
- counterfeit with bills that have subliminally printed the phrase "thanks for the tat honey"
- we sell advertising space on our bodies and get logos,etc tattooed in various places. Price depends on size and location...
- scooter delivery service, delivering small items, not scooters
- sell body parts, obviously not ones we’re having tattooed. Do we really need two of everything?
- sell our hair for wigs and paint brushes, it’s big money and if there’s one thing I have in abundance, it’s hair!
Spicy Coconut Shrimp Soup
Maura’s had a pretty bad cold all week, so although we had reservations for a nice Valentine’s Day dinner on Saturday night, we cancelled them and stayed in. Instead we made an incredibly tasty soup. It’s very quick and easy, but so full of flavor! A few of you asked for the recipe after I tweeted about it so here you go! By the way, this recipe is from Cooking Light Annual Recipes 2009 cookbook - everything we’ve made from these books has been super tasty and good for you too!
Spicy Coconut Shrimp Soup
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
- 1 cup sliced mushrooms
- 1/4 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
- 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon grated peeled fresh ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon red curry paste (use more if you like spicy! I used 1/2 tsp. and it still wasn't terribly spicy)
- 1 cup light coconut milk
- 1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions
- 2 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh basil
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
Preparation
- Combine first 7 ingredients in a large saucepan over medium-high heat; bring to a boil.
- Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes.
- Stir in coconut milk; cook 2 minutes or until hot.
- Add shrimp to pan; cook 3 minutes or until shrimp are done.
- Remove pan from heat; stir in onions, basil, and juice.
Blogging, Scooting, etc.
I know, I know. Yet another post about post (in)frequency. I'll make no excuses; I've neglected this blog for several months. I guess it's a combination of Twitter, free time, and Winter blahs. Strangely enough, now that I'm starting to get motivated again, I'm also about to get really busy with the web dev thing. I have two bids due by the end of the week, one site about to ramp up to the final stages, and another site coming up very soon. Not to mention updates to current sites getting our OWN site up and running. I'm excited, honored, and nervous about all of this. I still can't believe I actually get paid to do this stuff, it started out as a hobby.
In other news, I've finally joined the exciting world of scooters. I bought a 2002 Genuine Stella. Here she is:
I also bought a bright orange helmet:
I've been wanting one for a while. I don't work far from home and it seems a little wasteful to drive a car every day. Beside, it's a blast! I'm having a hard time parking it when I get to work, I just want to keep riding! The second day I had it I rode it out to my mom's in Prairie Village, down State Line. I guess I took to it like a fish IN water - I can't believe I waited this long to get one! The Stella is based on the older style of scooters, all metal - very solid with a manual transmission and a 150cc engine. She'll get up to 70mph or so.
Resolutions
It's the beginning of a new year; a chance to start fresh. All of the bad habits from last year can stay in the past. Whatever. There's actually only been one year in my entire life that I actually followed through with all of my resolutions. My friend and I set some very specific, achievable goals and held each other accountable for them. At first I wasn't even going to bother with any, I usually don't, but as I thought about what I would want to achieve this year, I managed to come up with a few that I could deal with. So here they are, in no particulat order:
- Develop a thicker skin - I resolve not to let people get to me and make my life miserable, even (especially) the stupid people.
- 100 pushups - My wife and I have tried this program a couple of times, but some thing kills our momentum and we stop. Not this time, this time I resolve to trudge through the arms feeling like jelly phase and eventually reach 100.
- Second tattoo - I already have the designs of the next two chosen, I just have to get someone to draw the third one. I resolve to finally get my second tattoo.
That's it for now. They're nothing big, but they are very specific and definitely achievable.
Money
Very cool video, featuring all sorts of faves:
Maura's New Studio
I'd like to present to you the newest addition to the Fowler/Cluthe home:
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We’ve been spending most of our free time working on Maura’s new studio and it’s all been worth it! In fact I took a week of vacation to help with the siding. We’re so excited to see it near completion. There are only a few more small details and it’ll be ready for Maura to move back in!
I've been obsessively taking pictures of the whole process. You can see them all at my Studio Renovation Gallery. Thanks to our friend Mike Mastin and his crew, Mike, Pete, Chris, Randy, and everyone else that helped. They do great work if you need anything done to your house!
This is the First Day of the Rest of Your Life
I remember going shopping for my mom for Mother's Day one day long ago - my brother and I picked out a plaque which read "This is the First Day of the Rest of Your Life!" Of course, neither of us had the slightest clue what it meant but it sure sounded significant. Over the years, that phrase has stuck in my head. It just pops up every once in a while and I think about what it means. It has always sounded kind of silly and contrite to me, but last night it popped into my head again.
Today is the first day of the rest of our lives. Today, for the first time in a very long time, I can actually say I'm proud to be an American. Today al whole lot of Americans voiced their opinion on how they think conservatives have been running the country for the last eight years. All I can remember since first caring anything about politics is a sense of cynicism and hopelessness. Today I have hope. I woke up this morning feeling like a huge weight had been lifted.
Obama will certainly have his work cut out for him, especially with that new puppy running around the White House!
