Our Nick Cave Pilgrammage

Last weekend was the most wonderful roadtrip i've been on in years. Scratch that, ever.

Charles, Hillary and I had been planning to see Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds in Denver since last June, when Charles bought us tickets. Needless to say we've been getting excited ever since. We left last thursday night, directly after a huge anthropology exam I had. I said s'long to Dallas and the crazy drama it continues to bring me and through my suitcase in the back of the rent-a-car and drove away. We started off the trip by me burning a couple good mixes for the road, Charles and I catching up since I hadn't seen him in two months (missed that boy), and drove until about midnight, when we hit Wichita and stayed the night in a tiny little motel, where we horsed around for a bit.

Well, let me first state that we were trying to limit our fund on the trip and didn't eat much. We wanted to save up for gas and on things to do once we arrived in Denver. We also got pretty close on this trip, even though most nights culminated in horsing around and tackling, which I still have a huge bruise on my hip from. THANKS, Charles.

The next day, we finished our trip through Kansas and driving into Denver at around 4 PM. Kansas was pretty gorgeous on the western side, this is a shot of the stretch just outside of Hays,

And we made a stop to explore this abandoned town. It was so eerie seeing all these empty shops and roads; and sad thinking that people probably lost jobs and had to move out of the town, but it had one cool thing- an old playground next to a run-down school. We stretched outside of the car-

I got all tangled up in the swings.

We passed through fields and fields of these wind turbines. They were HUGE. I had no idea.

That night, we saw the show at Ogden theatre, which was a pretty small venue. About as big as the Grenada, for you Dallas-ites. It really couldn't have been more perfect. We met some nice people we exchanged numbers with while we were waiting in line, and when the doors opened we got some killer seats right up front. You could feel Nick Cave's breath, I swear. He played for a little over two hours with the encore, and did "Deanna", "We Call Upon the Author", "Wanted Man", and "Stagger Lee", to name a few. I wanted him to do some songs from his side project, Grinderman, but that was a different tour, apparently. Bummer.

Afterwards, we were so pumped up from the concert we ran around downtown Denver and found a cool little laundromat with Marilyn Monroe pictures all over the walls. I don't know how, but Hillary and I always find these kinds of places. We're drawn to them.

Goofin' around.

Saturday morning before we drove south, we stopped for some great pancakes and coffee at Tom's Diner on Colfax Ave- I highly recommend, if you're ever in Denver.

Also, the thrifting scene in Denver is divine. I got 3 adorable dresses, 2 purses, 2 pairs of shoes, and 3 cute little blouses all for under $25. You guys know how I get about finding a great outfit for a good price. We drove back through a really beautiful storm in the mountains as we made our way into Colorado Springs.

And there, we stopped to see Garden of the Gods park. It probably would've been better if there weren't so many screaming kids, but we got some good shots in and enjoyed the gorgeous scenery.


Here's us girls scrambling around on the terrain, as we usually do.


And Charles and I demonstrating "how high" the mountain was.

We drove through New Mexico and saw a great sunset, and made our way into Amarillo by midnight (again!), and stayed at the Big Texan, a horribly tacky themed motel famous for it's 40 oz "it's free if you eat it all" steak. Gross. The motel though, was so funny to stay in. Our room was themed the Alamo, complete with a Texan flag shower curtain and a wanted picture for Jesse James on the wall.

And, a Texas-sized swimming pool. Sheesh!

Hillary and I don't know who this guy is, but he's probably voting McCain.

After waffles, we got our stuff together and got into Dallas by late afternoon. We went to one of our favorite little dive bars, the Cavern, to meet up with Hillary's boyfriend Mike and my friend Cole, and to complete the night with drinks and some great entertainment.

Yesterday, I got out of class early to spend time with Charles before he drove back to Houston, so we went to a cool little antique mall, Lula B's. Man, I love that place.

Aren't they the cutest?

Currently listening to "More News From Nowhere" by Nick Cave & Bad Seeds

Love,
Amanda

It's time to stop denying the fact.

Goodbye summer.
Goodbye to mint lemonade and my feet on hot dashboards,
Goodbye bright green potted plants and sweet breezes,
Goodbye dripping frozen yogurt and chlorine smells,
Goodbye gurgling streams and grass tickling-

I'll think of you often.

Currently listening to: "A Summer Song" by Chad & Jeremy

People I Miss, Pt. II

This post is mostly about these two ladies, whom I miss dearly.

And they're on opposite sides of the country. How does that happen? Allison's in NYC, and Andi's in Portland. The photo above kind of mocks our geographic positions, actually. Amanda is stuck in the middle, in Texas, with her heart torn. Boohoo.

The one peeking down at the bottom is Hillary, whom will be joining our dear Andi in Portland by the end of the year. Who knows where i'm going? Chicago? Boston? Sheesh. I'm going to find out pretty soon, when I start applying for grad schools in November. But what a group we were! At least we had college to bring us together. At least I have an excuse to vacation Oregon and New York! But it does get hard when half the people on my phone list aren't in Dallas anymore. Not like I want you kids to move back- Dallas isn't the most spectacular of cities. But maybe you could come back and retrieve me?

Meanwhile, last night Mike & I saw Fishboy, Mount Eerie, and WHY? at the Grenada last night. With each band being successively more brilliant, the whole event was breathtaking. I smiled so hard when Yoni and the band came back for an encore. This is a little teaser, but you can find some other pictures on http://www.flickr.com/photos/thelittletippler/


Currently listening to: "Song of the Sad Assassin" by WHY?

It's time for bed,
Amanda

Starting it up

Classes started back again on Tuesday, and my schedule, which I thought was going to be light for fifteen hours, is a bit intense this fall. I'm taking two lovely photo courses with my favorite teacher, Charlie, who for all intents and purposes is pretty much the coolest guy you might meet.

This is Charlie DeBus, a tall, lean, graying gentleman who never takes his aviators off or a cigar out of his left hand.
I swear upon this.

Furthermore, even though this is my third year taking classes from him, i'm still amazed that this guy was good friends with Ansel Adams and Imogen Cunningham. It blows me over when he jokes around about Ansel and him lifting Polaroid prints onto hardboiled eggs over lunch, or when Imogen gave everyone marijuana plants for Christmas. I'm also taking a history of photography course that is mandatory for art-photography students, but you know, we read Sontag. It's not too bad at all, and the teacher likes me already.

Fortunately, tomorrow i'm having a photography filled evening with a good friend bringing wine, seeing a Mamet play put on by none other than the talented folks with SMU theatre, and then Saturday i'm going to a Grassfight show and then having drinks with friends. Sunday will be for massive amounts of reading, and possible party-recovery.

Currently listening to: "The Republic of Rough & Ready" by Hella

Love,
Amanda

There's a lot of unnecessary shit in this world

Things that have been trying to get me down these weeks but fail:

1. The internet- I'm tired of resorting to my computer for entertainment, but after biking for an hour and a half, and unpacking all day, it's a convenient activity. However, the experience is dulled when I pop up Myspace, or anything, to see "Fat guy breaks chair" or a Yahoo news article for "Cat learns harmonica, makes millions". Flickr is getting to be kind of annoying as well. I can’t tell you how many people who comment, “omg, this is sooooo gr8”, or “u look so rady in this one!!!!” on my photos. I don’t know if that last one is rad or ready, actually. I feel bad deleting them, and I usually don’t, but something about poor spelling really makes me wince.
   
2. Dallas heat. Sheesh. One-hundred today, not kidding.
3. Carrying my heavy vintage Schwinn up the stairs: To my new apartment. It really sucks, but I’m not about to have it stolen, sorry.

Things I’ve been thankful for:

1. That the semester doesn’t start until August 25th.
2. Jon is coming out from L.A. to see me Labor Day weekend.
3. That Vienna is coming to Dallas for all of September before she leaves for Seattle.
   
4. The great gams I’ve been getting from riding my bike, everywhere. And carrying it up the stairs.
   
5. The wicked concert lineup I have planned for these upcoming months. Check this out, seriously. 8/28, Parachutes. 9/9, i'm seeing WHY? again, & Mount Eerie. On 9/11, i'm going to Houston to see Dr. Dog. 9/13, i'm seeing Jana Hunter again, and maybe the show i'm looking forward to the most- fucking Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. My best friends Charles and Hillary are accompanying me on a road trip to Denver in September to see him perform. I still can't believe I got tickets to see the guy I had a crush on as a gawky middle schooled thing. Also, El Paso Hot Button is coming back to Dallas in October. Can we say dance party? I saw this guy live last fall at a tiny little venue and Mike and I almost lost our eardrums. The kid's a one-man-band machine.

Soon my apartment will be full of amazing faces. I cannot wait.

Currently listening to: My Bulgarian neighbor, Imann, slamming her dishes around and laughing over "Jogging Song" by Mika Miko

Love,
A Very Tired Amanda

My new apartment

I haven't been ignoring my blog, i'm just super-busy moving into my new place in Dallas, and trying to see everyone at once! Thankfully, I got to see Mike before he left for New York. We had lots of pizza and Blazing Saddles and crashed. I promise to put up a cool post with lots of pictures soon, after I get this place cleaned up. Also- i'm going to be starting an Etsy shop very, very, soon. I need to clean out my closet and stop hoarding it all before I graduate next May. As I unpacked and unpacked about 5 suitcases full of clothes, I had to stop and realize that I don't need so many articles. I'm donating most things to charity, but the nicer, vintage items i'm putting up on Etsy! I hope you'll all check it out in a week or so.

Sorting my things in a new home feels like being hooked up to a brain-sucking machine.

Currently listening to: "That Angel Was Pretty Lame" by Boduf Songs

Love,
Amanda

People I Miss

Geeez. I just got the nicest message on my myspace since my phone is broken and MIA, and it made me miss this guy, a lot:

Probably the hottest guy I know- SORRY LADIEZ

That's my bestest bestest friend, Mike. He's also a lovely bedmate. We can sit around his apartment for hours talking, eating hummus, typing up poetry on his Remington, and twiddling our toes. Other times we make a mess painting all night listening to Talking Heads records. We both do the same karate-dance to "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots", and we both write "MINE" on our to-go boxes. One time we watched a copy of Battle Royale he got from a friend back in Kansas, who failed to mention how to change the subtitles from Japanese to English. We have a good idea what's going on in the movie, but sometimes we have to ad-lib, which is funnier anyhow. Okay, i'll stop.

In the mean time, there is a strange bug , slightly bigger than a fly, that has gotten into my room and is playing the window-blind xylophone with its spastic flying, four feet from my bed. He needs to decide what he's going to do with his life soon or i'm going to whack him, in the most literal of terms. Stop running into my blinds, bugsy. The window is not open, and i'm not going to open it so more of your creepster friends can have a bug party in my room and screech all night. No.

I killed it. It was a baby roach. GROSS. I'm not a jainist, sorry.

Anyway.

Speaking of people I miss, I really miss Hillary & Andi.

With her is her boyfriend, Mike (so many Mikes), who in his spare time sings in a doowop band in Dallas.

The other is Andi, another very good friend of Hillary's, but she moved to Portland last March. She's so happy up there, but boy do I miss her. We both have the same birthday, and enjoy shots of whiskey on a loud karaoke night. It's love, really. Hillary's wild at heart, but sane enough to have hyperintelligent conversations with, something I really value lately. That, and she's a great person. She knows what she's talking about, and she sticks by it, and if you don't like it, she might punch you in the face.

Just kidding.
Well, I really don't know.

On another note- my Baggu bags came in the mail today! I couldn't be happier. They're so perfect. I'm keeping the bright yellow, bright green, and electric orange ones. I'm giving the rest away. I also went to a garage sale a couple blocks down today and found four silk pillowcases for $1.50 a piece. They'll fit the pillows on my futon/couch back in Dallas perfectly. I'm glad I found them, because that couch is pretty ugly. I got it at a yard sale, and it's this weird brown and olive green faux Aztec print. Makes me wonder how I put up with it for so long.

I also found this little guy. I dig vintage toys, and when you wind him up, he hops around.

I'm about to fall asleep on the keyboard. Man, that sounds pretty lame. What a ROUGH night i've had, blogging. I need to find a better nighttime around the house hobby, but it's either this or a glass of wine watching a Cary Grant movie.

Currently listening to: "Mysteries" by Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Temporarily Eternally Yours,
Amanda