So this weekend a couple of my girlfriends came down from Northern Virginia and stayed with Liisa and I over the weekend. As expected we had a great time hanging out, chatting, watching disturbing movies (ZOMG! Porn Theatre and Lilies!), drinking weird drinks (ZOMG! Test Tube Babies and Abortions!), and generally making up for our otherwise not-so-great adolescence with great success. This despite my being sick the whole weekend and generally not being the best hostess! :-)

On Saturday we were joined for dinner by several of my childhood friends including Tom, Denise, Cadence, and Bryan which definitely represented a collision of two worlds. I’m happy to report that everyone seemed to have a great time and that Bryan in particular stayed late, had a few drinks with us, and generally joined in the fun. On Sunday night he stopped by to pick up something he left at the house and ended up staying again until about 1AM and a good while after I went to bed. I was thrilled. In recognition of him being cool he’s now an honorary girlfriend too. :-P I even talked him into taking a picture with me as the night wore on. I’m sure my posting it here will embarass him to no end but I figure by doing so it’ll be impossible for him to deny it ever happened later. Just kidding Byran…you rock! :-)

Wow. There’s something really heartening about this series of pictures of a wild polar bear playing with a couple of huskies.

We drove up from Norfolk to see Nellie McKay live at the Birchmere in Old Towne Alexandria. The neighborhood was a bit shady by our white-bread standards but the venue was very cool…the Birchmere has a first-come-first-served seating system which allows you to get a good seat if you’re willing to show up early enough. We did.

Besides being a small, cozy venue (300-600 seating capacity depending on the expected turnout) they also serve good food and (somewhat expensive) drinks. The home-made potato chips, in particular, seemed to have almost no excess grease at all. Not quite guilt free, but yum!

The show itself was predictably awesome…Nellie comes across as a somewhat retreating personality thrust into the limelight by the force of her convictions and formidable talent. (BTW, Tom, if you are reading this, rest assured that your jealousy was completely justified– Nellie specifically mentioned she was looking for a middle-aged bald guy with a chubby physique and sardonic wit with whom she could share her love of laughter and penchant for kung-fu movies.)

Honestly, anyone who buys her album and doesn’t bother to learn the lyrics is missing the point of her musical mission. Although admittedly adopted by the Liberal Elite, she condemns them for their failings. Having grown up poor, she seems to have little patience with those liberals who profess to understand the pain and suffering of those less fortunate by virtue of having read about poverty in a book.

Her self-effacing, down-to-earth manner seems genuine as she often trips while trying to explain the concepts behind her songs without coming across as a moralist– tough to do. Overall, it all works for her though making her all the more endearing. At one point some lady (?) in the audience screamed out “I love you Nellie!” to which she responded “Oh thank you that’s very sweet. But don’t get too close to me. It’s a little scary to hear that from a stranger.” Dead-on response in my opinion.

Notably, she was not hocking T-shirts or CDs although her opening act (The funny yet forgettable one-man Tractenburg Family Slideshow Players) was hawking all that and more. Good job Nellie…keep the faith sister! The next time you go on tour be sure to visit Hampton Roads…we’ve got a nice jazz club in Norfolk and I’ll personally make sure your show is well attended. As conservative as our area is it could use a liberal infusion!