yes please

this old house

This will be the second night spent looking at this house. Tonight a realtor is coming along and I have the bubble guts! I am so nervous! We probably walked 10 laps around this place last night, peeking in windows and making plans like we already owned the place. It's a huge undertaking. A lot of work to be done here but so much potential. I love everything about the house, except the location. There's always something. But...there has to be some sort of compromise in this situation I think. If you want the old charm, you have to take it where you can get it. And at this price, it's a steal. Long ago when I decided that I wanted an older home, I guess I dreamed that I could just fix it up a little and ta-da! a new house. But the more I've looked into older homes the more I've learned just how much work would have to go into making it livable and safe. A shit ton. And this oldie is no exception. Built in 1889, there's sure to be foundation problems and who knows what else. But we are so on the fence that I think seeing inside is the only way to make up our minds for sure. For the price though, we could buy it now and still have almost the price of the house left to use towards remodel. Very very exciting and also very stressful. What if????

"If you could clear all that space in your mind, you would have a doorway and you know what the Universe would do? Rush in."

in that moment i loved you

Happy Monday for sure

Quiet

I forgot how much I used to so love this record. And this song. Lotsa memories wrapped up in those songs. I think this is my favorite from them.

my first antique!

YES!

I'd like to say that I'll have all this Dan slash Black Keys outta my system soon but don't count on it. I can't and won't ever get enough. Every second of this video is sexy uhmazing perfection. They are really so, so good.

Bonnaroo 2011 aka Dustaroo

My 4 days on the farm this year were amazing. We learned many lessons last year which made for a much nicer experience this go round. We came at a much later time, took a totally different route and pulled right in the gate. No 8 hours of waiting in line like last year. There was no line whatsoever. Although our little camper is very, very vintage haha we have setting it up down to a science. We had our entire camp set up and were enjoying in a half hour.

Didn't see much musically Thursday night. We went to Centeroo for dinner and to have a look around but turned in kind of early. I wanted to be as prepared as possible for my Friday mission, which was to get up front for Mister. I was nervous about the day though. I knew it would be a task, and a task it was.

We got to the Which stage at about 11:00 a.m. and rooted to our spot which wasn't exactly where I had intended to be. But Ray didn't come on until 6:15 p.m. so I knew there was time to move up. My plan all along was to stay put the entire day and just see whatever shows were at the Which stage. We saw Sharon Van Etten which was a very nice surprise. She was great. Bela Fleck, which I was super excited about. That was a fun show, especially all the crazy dancing that was going on. The Warren Haynes Band was good and groovy but it lasted absolutely forever. After Warrens show it cleared out for a brief second, just long enough to snag the perfect spot before people started filing in for Ray.

It's hard to imagine what a feat it is to wait out in the blazing sun in those temperatures for 7 hours. After hour 1 I had doubts that I was going to make it. But we were so prepared. So very prepared it looked like we were moving in at the Which stage. We brought a mat to sit on, our squirt fans, our neck wraps, a cooler with 8 waters, 2 apples, an umbrella (which I could not and would not ever live without at bonnaroo), our backpack with the rest of our supplies. We looked like we were going on a safari in the jungle the way were were dressed with our big hats and all our stuff hanging off our necks and off our arms. It was a struggle at times, especially from 2:00 to 4:00 when it's the hottest part of the day. I thought about bailing a time or two but talked myself out of it. And when Ray and his lovely crew walked out on stage it was so worth it.

It's pretty neat how your body works, especially under extreme conditions, which I would absolutely define Bonnaroo as. It's a complete miracle that I didn't have to pee one time on Friday, even with all the water I drank. It's like my body just knew what was happening and did what it had to do. The only thing I regret about Friday is that we didn't go back up to Centeroo after Ray. We got dinner, went back to camp to shower and recoup after a day in the sun and had every intention of going back up to see My Morning Jacket, but just couldn't make ourselves do it.

I guess I should have mentioned in the beginning about my condition. The day before Bonnaroo I had blood work done. Several things have been going on with me and I got the results of my blood test Thursday night after we'd set up our camp. I have mono again. My white blood cells are pretty low and my platelets which is the cause for the fatigue. So that definitely played a part in our staying at camp on Friday night.

Saturday we decided to hang out at camp for a while and read, as none of the shows I was really interested in started until around 3:00. I missed Old Crow Medicine Show but we did make it to Alison Krauss. She's lovely. We got a lucky spot for Mumford and Sons which were so awesome. We had planned to leave their show a little early and catch the end of Loretta Lynn but they were just too good, we couldn't leave. Even if we had wanted to leave it got so unbelievably crowded for M&S I was a little shocked.

The craziest part of the weekend happened right afterwards. M&S were over at 7:45 and The Black Keys started at 8:00 over on the What Stage. Months ago when I found out they were gonna be on the big stage I was immediately stoked. Last year, my biggest heartbreak was not getting to see them at This Tent because every living soul attending Bonnaroo was crammed in there. But along with them being on the big stage also is the fact that it's quacking huge and getting a frontish spot is practically out of the question unless you're there super early, which obviously we weren't.

It was clear that everyone had the same plan. See Mumford & Sons and then run over to the What stage for the Keys. Not good.

this is the mumford and sons crowd. we were way up front in that mess.

80,000 + people all trying to hurry to the same exact spot at the same exact time does not work. I was bummed. I knew for sure that we were not only going to miss some of the show but that we would be way in the back. It was chaos. People were pushing and yelling and everyone was packed together so tight while the dust just engulfed us. People were choking and coughing and there was a buzzed kind of energy. I thought something bad was about to happen because people were climbing trees to get over the hoard and then all of the sudden we broke through and were some of the first there. We hurried over to the left side of the stage. It seemed like everyone was sticking to the right side when you first come in. The left side had considerably more room. I could not believe how close we got. We probably could have made our way to the front front, but I learned my lesson last year at a Black Keys show how crazy it gets, so we claimed our spot center stage awesomely close. I was beside myself excited. I don't think I've ever seen so many people in my entire life.

It was one of the best shows I've ever seen in my life. By far the best show I've ever seen at Bonnaroo. Dan was definitely feelin it and he sounded amazing. So good. There was a little something special about the entire show. It was so much fun I didn't want it to ever end. And just when I thought it was over that beautiful man of mine sang I'll Be Your Man, just for me. It was blissful.

our black keys happy faces!

There was an hour and a half break until Eminem came out so we had the bright idea that one of us would stay put and the other would go get dinner. Terrible idea. I sat there by myself for probably an hour getting more panicked by the second. It was impossible to find anybody in that mess of people. But she finally saw me jumping and flailing my arms. Another lesson learned, never split up in a hundred thousand people if you ever want to find eachother again. The food wasn't even good.

So Eminem came and went in the middle of a lightning storm. Fun show and fun glow stick war! I really wanted to make it to Girl Talk at 2:30 am but I just couldn't do it. I could barely hold my eyes open. So we trudged back to camp somewhere around 1 in the morning.

Sunday was super hot. We packed everything up before heading up to Centeroo which was the best thing we could have done. That way, whenever we were ready we could just walk back to camp and get in the truck and go. We saw G Love, Amos Lee and Iron and Wine. The sound was messed up and it was too quiet. I was a little bummed about that but it was still an awesome day.

It was dirty and grimey and hot and sticky and exhausting but it was amazing.

etsy wishing

While my hair is still short enough, I want!

The Grim!!

Keyhole flats! Adorable!

work me

baby work me.. till I want no more

baby work me.. till I want no more

want you to want me baby

lord how it make me feel

wont you do me

baby i will do you too

if you do me

baby i will do you too

want you to want me baby

lord how it make me feel



Very much loving daddy today

Hemingway

I am currently sort of fascinated with Ernest Hemingway. I knew little about him before The Paris Wife, but couldn't get him out of my head afterwards. I checked out most of his work from the library the same day I finished Paris Wife and delved in. I am very confused by him, but equally as fascinated. I wrote up an essay, just to get all the facts straight in my head, and because I love to write anything and everything and have always loved to write about books or anything having to do with literature.

At first, and especially since I chose to read 'In Our Time' first, It blew my mind that he was so very famous and idolized. But the more I read, the more I began to see how remarkable his writing was, especially for the 20s. He was the first of his kind in those days and people craved his style. I have yet to finish his books, but I will. He, as a person and as a writer is what intrigues me. Even in Paris Wife, my first thoughts of him was that he was insane. And the more I've learned about his life, the more I know it for certain. The way Hadley describes him when they first met as passionate and alive, and later says those were his best years, when he was young in Paris, I do agree. The war I think was the major cause of his psychiatric problems, among other things. His upbringing, his drinking, and probably his brilliancy too. The way he saw things as 'work', such as going to the horse races and betting on them. He spent so much time there he honestly considered it a job and called it "hard work".

He was, in my opinion, terribly selfish. I think if I had to describe him in one word that would be it. But it's interesting that he truly did not believe he was or see himself in this light. Everything for Ernest was literature. He would study people and paintings and his surroundings, all for writing. He lived in his own reality and I honestly don't think he ever lived for anything other than his work.

After reading his stuff and learning about him, I think people either love Hemingway's work, or they hate it. I do not see very much room for in between. And at first, I hated it. But then I began to have a love hate relationship with it that eventually turned to love. He won me over. He has crept into my mind and took up permanent residency there. So much so that I have actually considered going back to school to study literature. I probably won't, but he does inspire me. And fascinate me. I am looking forward to reading the rest of his books and seeing more from his point of view.

daddy-o