Posted on December 2 at 6:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I'm pretty sure there have been lots of jokes about knitting at my expense, which I will now repay by making fun of your bad knitting.

It's meditative and just plain fun sometimes to make something yourself. And, yes, it can impress others. Maybe not my husband, but others. You'll be turning heels in no time....

On Weekend notes

Posted on November 11 at 3:40 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Ah, the numbers game. Perhaps you should also write a column on how you failed Logic in college. I still tell that story....

On Vending machine torment

Posted on October 7 at 7:33 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Ah, yes. Where to start....

I'm also fond of slightly more recent bad music, and the one that REALLY comes to mind is "All The Things She Said" by t.A.T.u. I mean, come on - a Russian pre-teen fake lesbian pop duo? What's not to love? And give it a listen. It's like an Ace of Base for the new millenium.

I'll also frequently delve into old bad music, as in pre-80s. I just downloaded "Brand New Key" by Melanie. Brilliance. And we should mention somewhere that being able to purchase and download single songs is a bad music lover's dream. How else would you ever agree to acquire Gordon Lightfoot's "If You Could Read My Mind"?

Throw those in with your standard bads like Britney, Gwen, REO Speedwagon and that's a mix-tape I may even take over the radio.

On Bad music I love

Posted on June 17 at 6:42 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Forget the players - go for the name. How could you not want to walk around with "RONDO" on your back?!?!?

On Choking on the foul line

Posted on June 12 at 12:56 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Man...or Astroman was too loud when I last saw them. And the opening band played a saw for over an hour. But then again, we're all getting old.

I have to admit, Operation Ivy is still what I want to blast out my windows on a good summer day. No real references to summer, but still what makes me happy. And Journey's Greatest Hits. Maybe a slightly weirder combo than Bob and Dr. Dre, but try it. You'll like it.

On Songs of summer

Posted on June 12 at 12:47 p.m. (Suggest removal)

So, ironically, the college roommate is chiming in late because, as you covered in another entry, she was exhausted from moving.

Ah, Phish. Still hate the jam bands. With the exception of Uncle John's Band by the Grateful Dead. But only the album version. No live 27 minute long versions, please.

I have lots of bands I can't listen to anymore. Most of my hardcore punk days are over, but I still have my moments. Iceburn and Neurosis? Not so much these days.

I am mightily disappointed in my lack of ability to influence some of your musical decisions. Kiss, baby. Enough said.

On Eagles, no. Prince, yes.

Posted on May 21 at 11 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Speaking of art on the cheap, I am a huge fan of crafts - not in the pipe cleaner sense, but in the realm of where-art-meets-craft. Funny you should mention cheap art as this weekend in Denver was the annual Potters for Peace pottery sale. Lots of local potters, professionals and amateurs alike, sell their pots for next to nothing alongside traditional Nicaraguan pots to raise money for clean drinking water systems in Nicaragua and to provide optters there a better living. The stuff is often interesting and wonderful, and if you're willing to buy a piece by a novice, you can often get them in the $5-$15 range. And on top of that, the second day of the sale everything is 50% off. We got 3 pots and a beatifully painted platter for $28. Check around as this is a national non-profit organization and may have similar sales in other locales.

When some friends I go with learned the sale may not be happening next year, we gave our names and numbers as folks who would rally and WORK to keep it going! Cheap pot(s) for all!

On Art on the cheap

Posted on May 6 at 6:34 p.m. (Suggest removal)

My favorite story was The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene du Bois, published 1947. I still read it every couple of years. My favorite overall children's author, however, is John Bellairs. Dark and creepy - I'm re-reading The House With a Clock In Its Walls right now.

On Controversy piques my interest

Posted on April 16 at 9:52 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Another great movie to ruin your weekend:
Dancer in the Dark

And I actually let it ruin my weekend for the SECOND TIME not so long ago. I first saw it in the theater due to my continuing Bjork obsession. Afterwards, we were supposed to go for drinks and talk about the movie. We all bailed as no one was in the mood. Then, for some reason, I found it being played as an obscure Sunday afternoon movie on some random non-cable channel a few weeks back and thought I should watch it again. Even with Tide commercials interspersed in the most awkward of moments, it was rough. It had almost the same effect as the weekend we decided to watch Taxi Driver and Apocalypse Now. Together.

As my South Dakota upbringing requires me to say in these situations: Uff-da.

On Idiots and star-crossed lovers

Posted on April 15 at 9:46 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Gogol Bordello does put on an awesome show, and DeVotchKa toured with them in their earlier days. I believe it was this connection that allowed for one of DeVotchKa's songs to be used in the preview for the movie "Everything is Illuminated" as the singer for Gogol Bordello, Eugene Hutz, starred in it (by the way, the movie is good, but the book is great). DeVotchKa also has a strong mariachi influence in their music, making them a bit more mellow than Gogol. If only I could have seen them together.

Alas, I know too much about this topis as, yes, it was my wedding where DeVotchKa created the epic move from blah wedding reception to hopping musical venue. And they don't play weddings anymore - a friend of mine tried a few years ago. I guess that's what a Grammy nomination does.

If only their cover of Siouxsie and the Banshees "The Last Beat of My Heart" had been created by the time of the wedding, it would have been total perfection.

On It came from Cropseyville