Hot. Blue sky, designer shades everywhere, lots of Park traffic, and a heavy increase in the number of frappuccinos ordered on any given afternoon... it can only mean one thing. Summer has officially come to Banker's Hill. Can I just say that I love summer? I love summer. It's the season where it's okay to spend hours lazing around outside writing or discussing Kerouac or "whatever it is us beatniks do". And summer in this city is especially great because we get to start conversations with complete (cute) strangers with "Whew! It's SMOKIN' outside!" when the temperature reaches a mere 85 degrees. Because... we live in the city that lives between 70 and 80 degrees, and anything outside that is an anomaly worth discussing. How great is that?
Restaurant rave of the month: Rancho- North Park. A great little find. I had been to the Rancho in Ocean Beach many times, but I visited this version of the joint for the first time a couple of months ago with some friends. It was love at first sit. The atmosphere is busy enough to make it okay to bring a fun (read: slightly loud) group of friends, the staff is friendly, and the food is tasty and healthy... splendid for summer. I had the black bean, veggie and papas whole wheat burrito with a side of margarita. How can anyone truly believe heaven doesn't exist?
Live show rave of the month: Lucinda Williams at Humphrey's. A couple of years ago, I visited Austin in the summertime with an old boyfriend. The relationship ended, but my love for the city, the feeling of the city, remains as palpable today as it was that August. Lucinda takes that feeling, that lazy-sexy, hot-blues-spilling-into-the-street energy, and turns it into a two hour celebration of her tough, tender take on life. And it is a celebration. Her gravelly, almost masculine drawl hides no emotion, and no emotion is off limits- from nostalgia to heady joy to confusion to brokenheartedness, Lucinda runs you through her gamut obligingly and with no eyelash batting. Her years of songwriting experience have crafted her lyrics to be both right to the point and deeply emotional. The years of life experience she has on most of today's rock tartlets (she's 50) have given her songs that worn-in-just-right feel. In short, she's a powerhouse. Highlights: "Those Three Days", "Fruits of My Labor", and the encore gospel jam "Get Right With God". AH-MAZ-ING.
Album rave of the month: Jolie Holland- Escondida. If you like Billie Holiday, Cat Power, and/or Nick Drake, you must check this chick out. Spare, Appalachian-y instrumentation with a jazzy Holiday gloss is the perfect backdrop for her lovely, very grown-up voice. Dreamy, folk-storyteller lyrics round out a charming album that's just the right weight for summer.
What's in my CD player now: Wilco- "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot", Ryan Adams- "Love is Hell", Lucinda Williams- "World Without Tears".
THE HOT LIST (according to me):
-Tivo. One of my friends recently got this installed and I have to say, it's genius. I can go over and watch hours of Aqua Teen: Hunger Force that have been dutifully recorded by this smart little machine (fortunately my friend is as tickled by the show as I am, so I'm in luck). The only problem I can see so far is a distinct dropoff in overall life productivity. But hey, there are worse things. After all, it's summer. To laze is to live!
-Freelance writing. Is there anything greater than getting to pick what you write about and then getting paid for it? Even when you don't get paid, you get a great published piece for your portfolio. I LOVE this.
-Blink 182. I bet you never thought you'd hear me say this, but I really dig their new album (okay, it's not that new...but it's new-to-you. Er, me). It's good.
-Drive-in movies. Just plain fun.
-Watermelon margaritas at Chevy's. Still fabulous.
Random Gripe: Not having a scanner. I'd love to update this page so everyone knows I have short hair and am hot now...haha...but it's tough to do without a scanner. Oh well. I suppose my long red hair will live on in perpetuity, so when I am old (and still with short striped hair and still hot) I can look back on the pictures and smile. Not that everyone who reads this page doesn't already know what I look like, since, aside from the occasional straggler, I am the only one who reads this page. Hooray! However, I do regret not capturing my pink-hair phase from earlier this year on camera. THAT one I will miss showing my grandkids.
Quote of the Month:
"Foreign coins. That's great. What a slap in the face. Maybe when you run for Partner of the Quarter you can take care of this problem."
"Yes, I'll be the candidate for change. Or at least, no foreign change."
-Nathan and Renee, discussing the pressing tip jar situation
© July 14, 2004 by me.