I'm back, y'all!

Back from Austin, Texas and happy to see my crazy boys. Not so happy that it's fucking HOTTER THAN HELL here, but after sweating my butt off in Austin, I'm not even going to complain. There is just no comparing DC heat to Texas heat.

The Austin RnR was totally awesome and very successful, and I got to hang out with all kinds of cool internet kids like Aaron, Shannon and her husband Ant, Siobahn and, of course, Paige. It was sweet. Everyone was so cool and nice and not all creepy, which restores my faith in this whole blogging thing, you know? I mean, I know bloggers who really are nothing like I'd imagine they'd be in person, but the folks I met this weekend were as fun and funny as I thought they'd be. Nice.

I really suck at the blow-by-blow recap of events, so let's just say that there were avocado margaritas, fish tacos (the kind made with fish, pervs!), multiple stubb's barbecue trips, a morning news show interview, it's always sunny in philadelphia (you really must watch this show), lots of beer and laughing and picture taking. I spent most of the time with Paige, and I think it's safe to say that we are totally BFF now. LYLAS! 2 good+2 be=4 gotten! Heh. But everyone was seriously awesome. Y'all are welcome to crash at my house if you're ever in DC!

Oh and "y'all" is officially my favorite word now.

another list!

• i got into crafty bastards. woohoo! i wonder why i'm not obsessing over it yet. hrm. must be because i'm...
• leaving for austin in 2 days! yeehaw! i am very excited, if you couldn't tell. it is going to be awesome. i have yet to get anything ready or think about what i'm packing, though. par for the course, people.
• we had RnR yesterday, despite the stupid rain showers, because the supernice folks at austin grill let us use their stage! yes, i am a networking genius. heh. it was fantastic. the margaritas were cold and strong, the music was great, and there was AIR CONDITIONING. sweet.
• i got to meet xiobhan and her cutie-pie boy beck at the RnR. i just love meeting people i know from online and finding out that they're not freaks. what? you know it happens!

so yeah. pretty good weekend, i'd say. i'm gonna be hella busy this week, so i probably won't be ablogging so much. later skaters!

can i get away with a list?

things and stuff:

• jack is at camp grammy's (my mom's house) for the week. since yesterday. am i totally horrible for not missing him yet?
• RnR is saturday. the weather was looking decent, but now thunderstorms appear to be rolling in. if we have to cancel AGAIN i will be PISSED. ugh.
• i have 2 dozen shirts to stitch up for that wholesale order and i have yet to start one. why oh why must i be a world-class procrastinator??
• i leave for austin to visit paige in 8 days. yeehaw! i am more excited about RnR in austin than i am about the one in my own damn yard! plus, i'm scared i won't want to come back to DC! seriously.
• i find out this week if i got into crafty bastards. hrm. i'm actually not obsessing about it, which is odd for me. i truly think if i don't get in, i will be okay with it.
• OH MY GOD, I'M BORING MYSELF TO DEATH. sorry. i just feel like i'm ignoring the three people who bother to check this if i don't post! heh.
• leslie, if you're reading this, you'll like this: i told natey we were going to see baby maddox, and he said, "see beebee maggots?" i swear. it was pretty damn funny, even after the tenth time we asked him to say it.

thanks for stopping by, folks! good night!

wow.

really, wow. that benjy ferree is supernice and incredibly talented. seriously. he is so nice that he gave me his EP last night, but i wish i had bought it, that's how much he deserves to get paid for making music. oh well, i'll make up for it when his full-length comes out. so, if you're in town august 19, you'd better get your ass to RnR to see benjy play, as well as the cute, rockin' boys in greenland and the lovely laura burhenn. it promises to be a rad show. if the music world is just (ha), this kid is definitely going places.

can i freak out now?

RnR has always been about relatively unknown indie local music 'cause, well, the big guys ( i'm looking at you, ian...) usually have conflicts and booking agents and other hurdles to jump and i'm just not about all that. one of the things i love about the DC scene is that it is small and really welcoming, and the bands that i don't personally know genuinely love it when i ask them to play. yes, even the big guys think it's cool, but it never seems to work out. i'm okay with that. anyway, it is kinda laughable to imagine some of the larger-than-life punk icons playing in my dinky backyard. that doesn't mean i won't ask, though! heh. so the bands that play RnR still have day jobs, but their love of playing music is obvious, and i'm sure they'd all quit in a second if approached by a label to make a record and tour the country. or another country. or the world! anyway, the closest i've gotten to booking a "major act" was the carlsonics, who had been signed by some label.... sorry, i don't remember which. they were a bunch of sweet kids playing raucous garage-y rock, who made a record, toured around, played SXSW, then decided to form a new band called nethers, which sounds nothing like the original band. i love their new stuff and would have them play in a heartbeat, but i fear they've gotten too busy (big) for RnR. we've been in touch, but it never seems to work out....

today i received an email from someone who has been a fantastic supporter of RnR, who also happens to be very well-connected in the DC scene, to tell me that he has found someone to fill out the august bill--someone up-and-coming and very cool and who would love to play RnR. someone who just got freakin' signed to DOMINO RECORDS, the home of arctic monkeys, franz ferdinand, stephen malkmus... the list goes on! so this incredibly talented local fellow's name is benjy ferree. remember it. check out a song here. nice, yeah? i think so, too. if you're in town, someday you'll be able to say you saw him play in a sweaty backyard for a bunch of kids! heh. i'm freaking out a little, but i do hope this works out.

now playing

franz ferdinand - what you waiting for (gwen stefani cover)

brilliant. yes, i have the gwen stefani record. shut up.

TAKE A CHANCE YOU STUPID HO! my new mantra. heh.

oh, for fuck's sake!

i am looking for a new towel bar and accessories, as we are about to start renovating our bathroom. our shitty, little, desperately-in-need-of-a-makeover bathroom, with it's hideous once-white-but-now-dingy-gray floor tile that never EVER looks clean. WOOHOO! i am quite excited. we've got a paint color and new bath and tile and such all ready to go, we just need to look at the little things like toothbrush holders and shower curtains and towels and towel bars now. these are the things i LOVE, people. little details mean a lot in my book, and seeing as how we are certain to never remodel or redecorate this bathroom again, i think it's worth it to take care in choosing all the parts.

so how many of you knew all the choices there are in the towel bar department? well, i'll tell you, it's A LOT. and, as per usual, i am attracted to the expensive ones. the ones with german names, for some odd reason, like kohler, rohl and hansgrohe. the ones that are the most spare, clean and minimally designed. THE ONES THAT COST WAY MORE THAN A FUCKING TOWEL BAR SHOULD. why is that?? seriously, am i wrong here? heh, i'm sure all the bath accessory aficionados out there would be like, " $100 for a towel bar? perfectly reasonable!" hrm. we shall see how this goes. the one thing i know is that i am a sucker for quality, and if it's not totally insane, am usually willing to pay the price for good stuff. and as *ahem* frugal as the husband may be, he usually feels the same way when it comes to purchases that can be seen as long-term investments. trust me, i'm definitely going to shop around, but i can see it now, i'm in bed bath and beyond or some other huge box store, checking out towel bars and thinking, "wow. this is one shitty, cheap looking towel bar for 30 bucks!" heh. i'll keep you posted. ooh, maybe i should post before and after pictures. that will give me something to blog about!

it's my worst nightmare come true.

yikes! so i have been negotiating with a children's boutique in michigan (i have no idea how they found me) about wholesaling some 60 bugs long sleeve tees for fall. this is my worst nightmare because i am completely inept when it comes to business dealings. seriously, i am totally naive and trusting of people and their intentions, and am probably the world's worst negotiator. i do/make things because i enjoy them. money is a nice by-product of any endeavor i take on, but i think i'm just one of those spaced out "artsy" types who has no clue how to succeed in the business world. like, if i had to do 60 bugs full-time to feed and clothe myself? holy shit, i can't even imagine! i don't want to imagine! i'd be beyond destitute. *shudder* but back to my nightmare...

i did a little research on wholesaling and the like, and i emailed the owner of the boutique a figure per piece, wholly expecting a "thanks, but no thanks" reply, but she was totally cool with it. she's picked some designs, and now i'm just waiting to find out how many and what sizes. as you can imagine, it's only taken my OCD a few minutes to kick in and repeatedly calculate the possible number of shirts multiplied by the wholesale price, as well as think about how the fuck i will pull it off if she wants a lot of them because i only have so many hours a week i get to work uninterrupted and she wants them before fall so we're talking august at the latest and what if she sees them in person and hates them and maybe i need some kind of contractual agreement before we go any further and UGH. there's more, but even i'm getting bored typing out my inner monologue. heh.

i'm excited that people like 60 bugs, and this is actually not the first wholesale inquiry i've had, just the first to (almost) come to fruition. it's just i can't ignore this stupid fear of the unknown. i have no head for business, and i have a particularly bad habit of selling myself short. it will all be fine, though, right? don't mind me, i'm just thinking out loud. SIGH.

chalkboard tee prototype

chalkboard tee prototype
Originally uploaded by workforidlehands.

i am a friggin' genius! okay. maybe i shouldn't go that far, but this is one of my favorite brilliant ideas lately. you got your little baby tee, you got your velcro "chalkboard," and you got a bunch of letters to write up anything you want! you know, some people have a problem with parents using their kids as billboards, but i am not one of them. heh. i would refrain from vulgar language, but pretty much any other word is fair game, i think.

oh, and if you have seen this idea somewhere else, i do NOT want to know. seriously!

want to read an interview i did?

sure you do! i must warn you, though, that most of my responses were written by me, so i sound somewhat articulate, but there are a few that came out of a conversation i had with the writer, and those sound like i'm a bumbling idiot. heh. thankfully, those responses are in the minority. so yeah, check it out at the DCist.

oh, and while i'm stopping by (bad blogger!) i should mention that the RnR Showcase we did the other night that is mentioned in the interview (the sweet flyer that accompanies the piece was designed by the one and only paige maguire) was a rousing success. i think i'm going to be helping them book more shows, so i'm psyched! not to blow my own horn (heh, right), but quite a few folks have told me that i should be a show promoter. sounds nice for the future, but i just can't fathom doing more than booking RnR and shows at the neighborhood bar right now. we'll see....