Posts (page 2)
Our plans to attend the hot air balloon races were washed away in a storm on Friday but luckily they had scheduled a rain date and Sunday afternoon, my mother, Jon, Luna and I were able to catch the big event. We packed a picnic lunch and drove to our old stomping grounds, our first home in Kentucky, Danville. Downtown looked as picturesque as usual but with a few extra touches, festival banners along main street and horse drawn carriages filled to the brim with families. We found a shady quiet spot under a maple tree and sat down picnic style. Unfortunately we arrived late and were only able to listen to the last 30 minutes of music, but we stayed a bit longer and unpacked our picnic, eating casually while watching a few families play on the rope swing down the hill. I was impressed because we had never taken the dog to a festival and after a couple nervous whimpers she finally made her self comfortable and sat watching each person who passed and smiled, always waiting for a pat on the head or a quick toss of the tennis ball.
It was around six o'clock and we found ourselves trudging through the airfields which were filled with all sorts of unmentionable scariness as I waded around in my flip flops through knee high grasses. Unlike the festival spot we had been at earlier, there are no trees at the airport and shade is hard to come by so we brought along an umbrella to help soften the blow to of the summer's sun. As the balloons started to fill I could see my mother's enjoyment, she had always wanted to watch the races but never was able to make it. She walked across the tarmac while peeking through the viewfinder of her camera and took over a hundred pictures of the colorful balloons as one by one they lifted off just a few hundred feet away. And while my mom did her photographic dance along the tarmac, Jon, Luna and I huddled under the umbrella and watched the balloons fade away on the horizon.
I'm always so sad to see the Great American Brass Band Festival end, but year after year I go back and say hello to the town that had once held so much meaning in my life, my first home away from home and its wonderful summer festival.
Saturday night Jon and I drove to Louisville to meet my flickr friend, Retta and her friend Shannon. Amazingly, this was only the second time I’ve met her in person, though it felt as if we were all old friends. We had dinner at Lynn’s Paradise Cafe, only the most eccentrically silly and wonderful restaurant in Louisville. A plate full of sweet potatoes fries and pecan chicken, mannequin legs dangling from the ceiling, pants made of teabags and I couldn’t be happier!
Because of my lack of ability to check show times we ended up taking a nice walk through Cherokee park to kill a half an hour. A little sweaty and stinky we ended up second in line at the show and guaranteed our spots front row as the doors opened. I was a little bummed because security wouldn’t let me bring in my camera because it couldn’t fit in my pocket. Who comes up with these silly rules anyway? I was really hoping to get some pictures and this just helped to reinforce the fact that I need to buy a point and shoot pocket camera.
The show was running late, about an hour behind schedule so we stood and chatted with our friends, which by the way are wonderful people to see a concert with! The opener, Neva Geoffrey, was great; a nice mix of Mazzy Star meets Nora Jones. Jose took the stage just shy of 10:00 and we listened intently to his amazing opening solo performance, all of us drop jawed as we held onto the stage and our front row views. His music was meant to be played live, though his stage presence was meek which gave him a real relatable sense. He played a great set list and came back in the end for a two song encore which included "cycling trivialities" one of my favorites.
As 1:00 am rolled around we stepped into the parking lot, said our goodbyes and headed safely onto the roads for our hour long drive home.
Show us your favorite font.
Submitted by [this is connie].
OMG! <heart pounding> you want me to pick one!
That cannot happen...
Show us a reason to get off the computer and go outside.
Submitted by Elisheva Chana.
A few years ago on this very day I was on a road trip with my mom, we drove through a small Kentucky town called Danville and were amazed at how it looked like a scene from a Norman Rockwell illustration. The kids playing under shade trees, families huddled on blankets enjoying a concert on the grassy lawn, puppies chasing frisbees, the smell of funnel cakes and everything was free of charge. Since moving to Kentucky, I've made a point to come back every year to that small town I fell in love with. This past year we caught a few hours of music downtown, and spent the evening laying in the bluegrass with our eyes to the sky awestruck by the hot air balloon races and the memorable sunset to follow. A year before that My Grandparents and Mother came to visit from Florida, my grandpop who passed away the following winter, drove around in his wheelchair taunting kids and their puppies and sneaking sweets when grandmom wasn't looking. I'll never forget it how happy he looked and how great it felt to share such a lovely tradition with my family.
You'll find me there this week, outside in the real world making memories at the Great American Brass Band Festival.
What are your first thoughts upon waking?
Submitted by Cher Cabula.
They are usually pretty random, this morning I thought:
"Dumb bear!" - Apparently I had been dreaming that I was driving in a convertible through a national park with a few friends when I realized that a bear had climbed into the back seat. He was after my Quiznos flatbread sammie! So I dangled the sammie in the air and thew it out of the car so he would follow.
Meanwhile, sleeping comfortably in bed, Jon wakes to a hand in his face, dangling and poking in his direction.
(Stolen from Dewitte)
The Instructions:
a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker
.
The Questions:
1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name.
When I found out about the Design Within Reach warehouse sale in northern Kentucky, my heart leapt.
This sale is for those of us who covet modern furniture, but cant afford it. Discounts reach up to 80 percent off overstock furniture and returned goods. It's first come, first serve.
The plan was to drive the hour and a half north to the warehouse and just see what they had available. Unfortunately even if we were to find a $1,950 Bantam Sofa on sale for $450 we still couldn't afford it. Not on a whim and I'd be too tempted to put it on the credit card. So after much internal debate I've decided to stay home this weekend and use the $40 we would have spent on gas to paint our blue exterior shutters a more attractive shade of cream.
I figure its a better more responsible use of my weekend than facing the temptation of beautiful clean-lined furniture.
Look at the first post you ever wrote on Vox.
What important developments or changes have occurred in your life since then?
Submitted by Alexandra.
My first post on VOX was the "show us what is in your review mirror" qotd in August of 2006.
Luna still loves to drive with her head outside of the passenger window and we still enjoy navigating the beautiful Kentucky countryside. I've moved since then but only an hour north to the big city, bought a house, changed jobs, took up a couple of new hobbies, lost 26 pounds and blogged about it all, not shabby for 2 years of VOXing :)
Things I Loathe:
- Ethics charges being filed against my favorite teacher.
- Awkward elevator conversations.
- Leaky ceiling tiles.
- People who perpetuate negative stereotypes.
Things I Love:
- Chirping cicadas in summer
- Barack Obama's democratic nomination
- Unexpected freelance work
- Design Within Reach 80% off Warehouse Sale!
- Weekly tennis matches with Jon and the hope that someday I'll win.
- Dreaming of home improvement projects.
I'm unbelievably happy with the news that Barack Obama has won the Democratic party's nomination. Not only is he the best person for the job but his win is a hard blow against racism in this country. I had little faith that he would make it this far and I've been happily proven wrong. I'm so proud to be a part of this generation and the changes we have made and will bring to the world.
In a strange twist:
I'm not quite sure what to think about this... racism being traded for sexism?
The white Christian supremacist group Ku Klux Klan Imperial Wizard exclaimed that he was "darn happy" that the "crazy ass bitch" Hillary Clinton would not be President. "The boy did it. My Klan group alone donated up to $250,000 to the Obama fund. Nationwide we're talking millions were donated for Obama. Anything was better than Hillary Clinton. Hell I would've adopted a whole African village before I voted for Hillary. This is a wonderful day, we're gonna be celebrating all damn week. A few years back we were lynching negroes. Now we're gonna have a black president. Hillary is gone, she's history, vamoose! Anyone or anything is better than Hillary Clinton - anything!!"
Placards for Barack Obama had been put up around the Klan's Headquarters and the KKK had television ad campaigns running continuously on multiple channels for the past four months to support their favorite African American candidate.
