With No Alarms And No Surprises

It's hard for me to blog when I'm not feeling particularly interesting. Most days when I'm home go by in a hazy blur of ITL. See, those Jersey Shore kids have gym-tan-laundry and I have internet-tv-laundry. Not quite as exciting, I admit, but I'm definitely not getting punched in the face as much so there's that.

I've had a real love/hate relationship with Kentucky ever since I moved here in 2004. Things I love: all this green, my neighborhood, the fact that two of my closest friends here are cool republicans (shocking, right?), and a life that is simple. Things I don't love: how insular it is, being judged for living in Oldham County, being judged based on what high school I went to (one you've never heard of, I'm sure), and a life that is simple. See, at the heart of it I don't think I'm cut out for a life this easy. It sounded great when I moved here and I was tour managing bands. How wonderful to come home after a long grueling tour to a place where I could just veg out and do nothing. But now I'm basically a housewife languishing at the East End Target with the rest of the other housewives, and while I used to pray I would never have the sort of weary desperate look on my face that I see so many of them wearing, now I'm pretty sure I do.

So I'm planning my exit strategy. I'm not sure if 2012 will be the year I take flight or the year the world ends. Maybe it will be both. In that case, I'll have a front row ticket, I'm sure, ensconced once again in my beloved Los Angeles. A place that when all is said and done is home for me.

I'm not knocking Kentucky - and there's a chance I won't be going anywhere if we can't save enough moolah. Kentucky is a lovely place... I'm just not sure we were meant to be. And it's not a conundrum that can be solved by going to a different Target.

Well, that was a bummer! Here's something to rectify this post:

Well, That Happened

I'll be back soon with a full journo of my Los Angeles experience but in the meantime, this sort of sums things up.

So many things happened... in such a short time.

California Dreamin'

Apologies, per usual, for the absence but I've been harnessing my blogging power for my upcoming trip to Los Angeles. Yes, I'm doing a cliché Sex and the City-esque girls holiday for my 40th birthday. I can't wait to drink Cosmos and talk about why men can't commit... or something. Except I don't drink... and I'm married. Still, it's possible there's good times ahead.

So, wish me luck in the wilds of LA and there will be reports of the goings on in Beverly Hills very soon. And by goings on I mean cupcakes.

In the meantime I leave you with this...


A pig in galoshes.

And this... Tom's Formspring which is just... the best reading ever. Ask him something. Seriously. That tears for fears answer is NIGHTMARES!

Oh the Irony - Gay Marriage Mark Twain Edition

I spend a lot of time being a California snob in regards to America's heartland and, I admit it, Kentucky.

However, that all stops today!

Same sex couples in Iowa will be allowed to marry from April 24 as the state Supreme Court unanimously decided to legalize gay marriage today. Yes, it's true, gay couples in Iowa can get married, but they can't in California... thus the irony.

In other great news, Senate Bill 68 died in the 2009 Kentucky legislative session without a single vote on the floor. Though I suspect this may be due more to the fact that the bill included hetero unmarried couples that want to foster/adopt children, I'm still going to say, "HUZZAH!"

Just this week I emailed a friend about how I skip Iowa when Monchhichi's on tour, and I tweeted about a mom bringing her four year old kid to see The Watchmen and, you know, welcome back to Kentucky when really... okay, so I may not be going to Iowa anytime soon, I know that there are idiots everywhere (not just here), and I'm probably often one of them.

Earlier today a woman called Terri commented on my blog so I clicked through to one of hers, Barefoot and Progressive, which features this Mark Twain quote: "I want to be in Kentucky when the end of the world comes, because it's always 20 years behind." Now generally I say ten, but it got me thinking...

Thinking about what a self-centered nitwit I am, actually. Since I moved here I've felt like Kentucky needs to change, and I've often lamented the lack of diversity. However, it's up to me to change, isn't it? I moved here, I've met awesome people, I'm the jerkface for thinking Kentucky should be anything other than what it is.

So, I'm going to live here in our SB 68-less world and be glad of it. The traffic in LA sucks now, anyway.

I'm Annoyed So I'll Spread the Joy

Of course I'm also spreading the terror...

The people at this hotel have found my last nerve and now they're grating away like it's cheese on an order of nachos supreme.

Obvs I am beyond tired.

Osteria Mozza here we come!! Catatonic Park and Jet Lagged Blankenship, table for two, please!

So Very Full, So Very Tired

I know I said I would be back with awesome cool pics and stuff, but I had a run ragged day sprinting around LA in the rain. Did get a chance to go to one of my favorite places in the world, though, so that was nice.

In the meantime, here's a pic of Tom hanging out with what appears to be a mouse playing a horn (does anyone know what this is?) that Jim sent me today.

I hope the boyos are traveling safely and all. I almost feel jet lagged for them.

Apologies for the tiny excitement, but the sleep gets in the way.

(photo by Jim James)

ps. Rustic Canyon in Santa Monica was purty good, purty good. Today's eats also included Martha's in Hermosa Beach, Little Doms in Los Feliz and Lamill Coffee in Silverlake (whose desserts are done by the pastry chef from Providence in Hollywood). I GET AROUND, PEOPLE!! I also weigh about 500 lbs at this point. No cupcakes, though.

pps. It's technically Tom's birthday so Happy Birthday, dude.