A classic picture from our bachelor/ette party in August of '02. Those shirts were perfect!! A great night that included bowling, Nick emptying the Crane Game at the bowling alley and general drunkenness.
Well, I'm in the home stretch for the pumpkin season...just one more day of tours and that's it. One of my co-workers said that she cries on the last day of school tours. She asked if I cried and I was like, uh, no. If a kid kicked me in the shin and told me my mom was fat I might, but other than that, no.
Last night was the last moonlight maze walk at the farm. Brenda and Henry were nice enough to come work it with me. It was fairly uneventful (not TOO much drunkenness, just a smidge). Stacey and I bought finger puppets for everyone and we all had a nice night. Dad has this catapult, well he has two, but this one is HUGE, like as tall as a 2 story house, and he shot a giant pumpkin 505 ft last night. Apparently he started jumping up and down like a little boy, he was so excited. Then he got drunk. Like drunk drunk. More than I have ever seen him before. But he was happy, so it was a good night.
So, it is time to start listing on Ebay again, after being on hiatus the better part of the month. I am excited, but my room upstairs holds a lot of work for me; hopefully I won't be overwhelmed. It's much better than having nothing to sell at all!!

Happy Birthday Josh and funny website

OK, so I'm a jerk...I obviously do not know Josh's B-day since I thought it was the 23rd and it's actually today. So to make up for it, here is one of your favorite pictures of all time, Josh. Bear wanted to send you a birthday hi-five anyway.
I also wanted to include this website where I read the funniest "article" the other day. I dont know how to post links here so you'll have to copy and paste into your browser. It's a laugh riot...

http://www.thephatphree.com/features.asp?StoryID=239&SectionID=11&LayoutType=1

"And I think it's wrong to judge every picture if a cheap camera makes a mistake..." -Rated X

What a weekend and for the love of all that is good will it stop raining already??

This picture is from our first 4th of July party at our house, which was back in '02. I posted it just for Josh since he is nice enough to come visit my blog now and then. Oh yea, Happy Birthday Josh! I know I missed it, but I didn't (completely) forget!
Saturday night was the first Moonlight Maze walk of the season. I like to work "security" in the maze. It basically means that I stand in one spot in the maze, yell at people that run (you know I enjoy that too much) and well, drink. Brenda and Henry worked security in the maze with me. Unfortunately, Mike was working, but came later. So the three of us found a spot way out in the maze and just started drinking and talking. We just told stories and laughed. But when it got to the point where Henry and I were trying to put Brenda up in a cheerleader's mount, IN THE MAZE, we realized we were drunk. At some point I was laughing so hard that I literally fell backwards...luckily the corn broke my fall. Stacey called and we met her up in the barn as it started raining (more on the rain later). We sat and started BSing with her, dad, Mike (he showed up somewhere in here) and some co-workers from the farm. A co-worker asks "Erin, would you like a Kahlua and Cream?" Uh, duh I want a Kahlua and Cream. Tip #1: Drunk girls will always want a Kahlua and Cream when asked. ALWAYS. So, she took me over to the fridge and made me one. I let Henry try it, so it was gone pretty quickly. So I made another. Tip #2: Don't show a drunk girl where your Kahlua is stashed, or she will drink it like it is her own. The second one was gone even quicker. The third, well, I'm pretty sure I spilled that one all over a table and then sucked it off the table. Then we decide to go to this haunted barn down the street with everyone from the farm that worked that night and Mike. I punched a few fake, stuffed people in the barn and then some real people (not too hard, I promise) and got yelled at. Then Henry, Brenda, Mike and I went to Mom's to visit with Stacey and Atticus. Henry puked a lot and Mike got to hold Atticus for the first time (yea!!). I woke up Sunday morning with a severe headache, but remembering everything, I think. One more maze night to go this season, but God willing I won't drink.
So, like I said, it started raining Saturday night and has been raining on and off ever since (Mike said it even snowed briefly in Munger). The rain is extremely local; only Bay City over to Munger and about as far south as Reese. And it's cold...highs in the upper 40s. I do school tours at my dad's farm and they are outside for the most part. The best I'm in all day is an unheated goat barn. Between the weather, A.D.D kids and severely annoying parents of the aforementioned A.D.D. kids, its been a crappy week so far. They say the weather is supposed to be the same tomorrow, so that blows a big one.
I also wanted to mention that The White Stripes were on the Charlie Rose show last week (God bless you, TiVo!) and it was a great interview. There was no audience, no commercials and no other guests. It lasted a half hour or more. Jack dodged the marriage question several times and we found out Meg doesn't get up til 4 in the afternoon. It really was interesting though... PBS will probably run it again, but if you know me, you can come over and watch it since we saved it.
"Thank you...hipsters, record collectors, people who have more than one White Stripes record, people who jumped up and down, people who stood still, your mothers, your fathers, God and Satan, thank you all..." -Jack White 12/6/01

Too funny...

I wasn't even going to post today, but I came across this picture and obviously this one needs to be shared. It is from Brenda's graduation in 2002. We were just hanging out in front of the school (which is what you DO after graduation in Reese) and I snapped this picture of Mike making a face. When we looked at it later, we saw Mr. Ellison (dunno his first name) in the pic as well. Between the look on Mike's face and a Hell's Angel wannabe being framed perfectly, it's priceless! I laugh EVERY time I see it. Sooo funny.
Anyway, yesterday Mike burned the Saturday Detroit Stripes show for me (keep an eye on your mailbox, Josh). Listening to it today was like reliving the show again! The recording really captured the energy of the show. "Cold, Cold Night" was exceptionally performed that night; probably the best ever. And yes, it is possible to know that.
I also want to get down in writing that my dad has returned to his old self and is so fun to be around again. Maybe because he got rid of his dog (get ready, Brenda...); who cares, I can call him a friend again!
Well, I better go check on my "dinner". I'm trying to make squash, but it is NOT turning out.
P.S. Got my best ever score in Minesweeper today...154 seconds on the expert level. Boo-yah!

Family (immediate and otherwise)

I think I will always try to start an entry with a really random, queer picture for two reasons. 1)So this Blog is not so boring to look at, and 2) it will provide a starting point for me to write something...sometimes it's so hard to get motivated. Anyway, I found this picture on the computer...it's really strange, but I can't pinpoint why. It's from Christmas of...2001?? Yea, that's right. I guess it was just a really weird time for our family. I have been through a lot with my sisters in the last 5 years. I think we needed to go through some shit to become the people we are right now...and that's a good thing. I loved seeing them grow up and become adults. Stacey's already married with a baby and will be moving away so soon. That will be sad, but she needs to live her life. I'll still have Brenny here...but who knows where she'll be in 5 years. I love them dearly, but they already know that.
The past few days have been pretty bland. Just working at the farm. Yesterday the Sweeneys had a baby shower for Atticus and Elijah, my new (adopted) cousin. Elijah is a scary baby...he is strong, has a big baby afro and looks angry all the time. Anyway, it's really amazing how, as you grow up, you start to see people in a new light. And you have to wonder if they were always this way, or your judgement was clouded because you were a kid. I have this aunt, who shall remain nameless, who seems downright mean lately. Say you got a bad haircut. First, she would laugh, like really sarcastically and second she would say "Geez, I can't believe you paid for that, it's terrible!" (Thanks Brenda for that comparison). I really don't know if she was always on a high horse, or if she just saddled up. Whatever...it's just amazing the different perspectives you gain as you grow and change.
In conclusion I will very randomly say that I am so happy that people are starting to post over on the best cd of the week blog. So fun to hear others opinions and share thoughts about music.
"I've been here for 30 years and 3 days and it's time to move on..."
-Jack White 10-2-05

Enough about the White Stripes! Here is Atticus!!! Also, my day today...

This here is my nephew Atticus. He was born on September17th to my sister Stacey and brother-in-law A.J. He is a great little baby that barely makes a peep. Atticus has blue eyes and reddish hair. He also has got a bump on his head, so uncle Mike fondly calls him "dent head". I try to visit Stacey and Atticus when I can. We all miss A.J., as he is in Rhode Island right now at Naval Justice School.
Today I went with Stacey, Atticus and my mom to town. It was his first shopping trip and he seemed pretty pissed off the whole time. But I got a new purse and Orange Chicken from Panda Express, so at least I was happy. This part of the day made up for the crappy part where some naughty naughty children came to the farm for a tour and didn't listen to a word I said. Tomorrow some more kids will come to the farm, hopefully they are more anxious to learn than the kids today.
Also, today my dad told me that he is going to be getting rid of his dog, Hailey. She is only 4 years old, but is already starting to "nip" at the small children that come and visit the farm. That and she is a handfull; i.e. needy, high maintenance, has seperation anxiety, etc., etc. Basically he is "breaking up" with her. Dad laughed when I said that, but agreed that is what he is doing. But he doesn't want to give her away to just anyone and asked me to think if there is anyone I know in a position to take her...haven't thought of anyone yet. Wish I could take her, but she can't be left alone for extended periods of time. Bear is here alone most all day; Hailey couldn't handle it. So if anyone out there is in the market for a sweet chocolate lab in need of love and a home, let me know.

OK...Here's the inchophone

I just wanted to post a picture of this little doodad and tell a little bit about it.
The inchophone is a small record player that runs only on batteries. It plays 3 inch records. For a brief period of time, you could get one of these record players along with 6 White Stripes singles (plus one bonus record) at their concerts. They sold out rather quickly (there were only 400 of these "packages" available), but I was lucky enough to get one. The special thing about this package was the "bonus record", titled "Top Special"; it is a new track available ONLY on the 3" vinyl. It's the only way to hear it since it isn't a single or anything. Everything shown in the picture cost me $130, which may seem like a lot, but considering the cost of pressing such a small number of tiny records and importing the record players from Japan, it's not really that bad. Besides, they are going for over $1,000 on Ebay right now, so it really was a deal. Call me crazy, but that isn't enough for me to consider selling it. Just having it all and being able to listen to "Top Special" whenever I please is worth a million bucks.
One cool thing that Mike found was every one of these records has a small number etched in the center between the end of the grooves and the label. Jack has this thing with the number 3; here are the numbers on all the records:
Top Special: 1
Blue Orchid: 999
Seven Nation Army: 33
Hardest Button to Button: 333
Dead Leaves: 9
Fell in Love with a Girl: 3
Hotel Yorba: 27
Pretty cool. Good eye, Mike!!

White Stripes: Sunday October 2

Setlist:
Dead Leaves
Blue Orchid
Hotel Yorba
Denial Twist
Apple Blossom
Rat/Passive/Rat/Harrigan
Fell in Love with a Girl (fast then slow)
Ball and a Biscuit (partial)
Doorbell
As Ugly As I Seem
Death Letter/Grinnin' in Your Face/Deather Letter
Do
Screwdriver (partial)
Black Jack Davey
?unknown song?
Walking with a Ghost
Hardest Button to Button
Ball and a Biscuit
Seven Nation Army
--Encore Break--
I Just Don't Know What to do with Myself
Little Ghost
Red Rain
You've Got Her in Your Pocket
When I Hear My Name
Astro
The Nurse
Boll Weevil

Again spent all day with Mike in Sandusky trying to get this bean field done so he can go. Things went quite smoothly, so he went! We picked Brenda up and then Henry and got to the Masonic before the Stripes went on, but not early enough to get a poster!!! I later found out that only a total of 192 posters were made for the whole weekend!! We went and sat down (fourth row towards center right) and the lights went down, but instead of Jack and Meg coming out, we got introduced to a band called the Muldoons; two kids (literally!) on guitar and their dad (Brian Muldoon of a few Detroit bands and good friend of Jacks) on drums. They were rock/punk and too cute for words...the songs were originals and catchy! Jack and Meg came out a little while after they were done; he in a black cowboy cowboy shirt and pants...she was in black and white?? I can't remember!! The set was pretty good..."normal" but then there were a few suprise treats for us that came for the 3rd show. The BEST live version of "Death Letter" that I have Ever seen/heard; plus he sang "Grinnin' in your Face" in the middle!! Got to hear Black Jack Davey; made Mike VERY happy. An unknown song (cover?, new? who knows) and "Walking with a Ghost", which is a cover from a band called Teagan and Sara...very rockin'. Would have been a number one smash in about 1987. I love it!!! After the break they sang "Little Ghost" just staring at each other and could't keep from laughing at each other by the end of it. He sang an extra line about "blue moon kentucky", which made Meg laugh even harder. It's so fun to watch them interact with each other; they definitely have mutual respect and love for each other. We got "Boll Weevil" at the end. Another good show...
So when they walked off, I told Mike we had to go get the record player (the inchophone should have its own post)! So we ran to the merch booth and I got to the front of the line and there were no more inchophones out on display or piled anywhere like they had been before!! I was so bummed. I didn't see anything else I wanted, so I asked if there were more inchophones and the girl was like, "actually, I think there is one more". Sure enough, she went to some far corner and there was one. And it was MINE!! It came with 6 records for $100 and the "Top Special" record (available ONLY on 3" record) was seperate for $30. I knew that the band had made this for the fans in a ridiculously limited number (400!!) and it ain't cheap to get custom 3" records pressed in such a tiny number. The cost didn't really phase me. I was just excited that I was lucky enough (on many levels) to get one.

White Stripes: Saturday October 1

Setlist:
Let's Shake Hands
Blue Orchid
Party of Special Things to Do
Dead Leaves
Passive Manipulation
Cannon/I Think I Smell a Rat (partial)
Ball and a Biscuit
St. James Infirmary Blues
Little Bird
I Want to be the Boy...
?Robert Johnson cover?
Doorbell
Wasting my Time
Jolene
Cold, Cold Night
Same Boy You've Always Known
Girl, You Have No Faith in Medicine
Cannon/Passive/Cannon/Rat
Hardest Button to Button
--Encore Break--
When I Hear My Name/Red Rain
Lafayette Blues
Union Forever
The Nurse
Seven Nation Army
I Think We are Going to be Friends
Forever for Her is Over for Me
Instinct Blues
I Just Don't Know What to do w/ Myself
Hotel Yorba
Boll Weevil

I spent the better part of the day in Sandusky with Mike trying to help him harvest beans so he could go to this show...the combine was broken down all day. We could have gotten more done picking the beans by hand and throwing them in the truck. At about 2 he said I'd better call and tell Brenda she was going. So I left Mike there and took off for home, got ready, picked Brenda up, drove to Detroit, picked Josh and Sara up and drove to the Masonic. The closer we got to Detroit, the more my gut said this show was going to be off the charts. I wanted to get there early to 1: try and get a poster and 2: see Brendan Benson play since I have heard so much about him. Posters were gone before BB even came on! He was really great though (Rooney meets Ben Kweller, I think anyway) and I am looking forward to hearing the Recaunters. We all had a drink and Brenda and I were blathering excitedly about who knows what when the lights went out and "Who's a Big Baby" began playing over the loudspeakers. The place went BERZERKER! Then Jack and Meg walk out in these Revolutionary War (?maybe) hats...jack was wearing the whole outfit. It was so out of hand. Jack hit his face right on a mic headbanging with in the first 10 minutes...it seemed to daze him a bit. He then asked the crowd how they were feeling and I think everyone there screamed at the top of their lungs...and said "me too". At some point towards the beginning of the show, Jack was having troubles with his Airline and handed it to one of his "roadies" saying, "there's something very wrong with this guitar, Harold." So funny. During "Cold Cold Night", Jack went and played the bass drum at Meg's kit...I don't think he's ever done that before. They played "Same Boy..." and I was happy because that is my favorite song of theirs ever. They kept teasing with "Rat" all night, but never played it and it made Josh upset cause thats his favorite song of theirs. I went crazy when they played "Lafayette Blues" after the encore break; such a great early song that they rarely play. I was quite pleasantly suprised by "Union Forever" with the extra lyric. During "The Nurse" Jack twirled his marimba mallets and the crowd roared, so then he did it more to make everyone scream! "Forever for Her" was really cool because EVERYONE sang along to it...urging "her" to get on the fucking plane already and to "get out of town and forever be free!" Again, a big sing along on "I Just Don't Know...". "Hotel Yorba" and "Boll Weevil" were amazing and brought the house down. Then, after a bow, they danced away, then Jack picked Meg up and walked offstage with her. Excellent show!!! Even though we had "crappy" seats, we had a great view and so much fun.

This night I had the cash for the inchophone, but decided against it. When I got home, Mike asked if I got my record player and when I said no, he was suprised.

White Stripes: Friday September 30

Setlist:
Dead Leaves
Black Math
Passive Manipulation
Blue Orchid
Dead Leaves (piano)
Hotel Yorba
I Think I Smell A Rat
Instinct Blues
Doorbell
Cannon
When I Hear My Name
Death Letter
One More Cup of Coffee
Astro
Jack the Ripper
The Nurse
Cannon
The Big Three Killed My Baby (slow on piano)
Cold, Cold Night
Ball and a Biscuit
--Encore Break--
I'm Lonely, But I Ain't That Lonely Yet
As Ugly As I Seem
Hardest Button to Button
Fell in Love with a Girl (fast then slow)
I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself
Little Ghost
Red Rain
Apple Blossom
Let's Shake Hands
Seven Nation Army
Boll Weevil

I was very excited for this show because it was my first time to be so close at a Stripes show (10th row center). This was the extra show that was added and it wasn't sold out. Weird crowd...kinda quiet almost. Jack wore an all black Mariachi suit and Meg was wearing a white top and red pants. After the first few songs, Jack asked Meg where they were and she mouthed "home" back to him (she doesn't ever talk out loud at shows; to the crowd anyway)...she's so adorable! At the beginning of "Death Letter" he walked past his mic and sang something...I could hear that he was singing, but not what it was...it was like he was in a trance. When Meg sang "Cold Cold Night", they stood back to back...I hope someone got a pic of that because it was a priceless moment. Jack kept talking about how he had breakfast with Kwame (mayor of Detroit) and later revealed that he likes his eggs over medium, just in case we ever have him over for breakfast. There was a lot of guitar string breaking, tuning problems and communication problems (when Jack went and told Meg "Doorbell" would be what they played next, she mouthed "what?" back to him, but he had already headed over to the piano. Then when he counted in and she didn't start, he looked back at her and was like "Doorbell" and she still didn't understand. He then started making strange arm and hand (doorbell pushing??) gestures and I guess she finally got it. Funny for us, maybe not for them). Meg sat on the stage Indian style and played the bongos for the first two songs after the encore...she barely took her eyes off Jack once as he sang. I was suprised to hear "Fell in Love with a Girl"...the slow version was cool...Jack kept grabbing Megs cymbal after she hit it during this part. I was SOOO glad they played "Let's Shake Hands"...it's so catchy and fun to listen and sing to. The best part was when they played "Seven Nation Army"...instead of saying "I'm going to Witchita...", he said, "I'm going to Saginaw...". I think Mike and I were the only ones excited about that, but it was a highlight for me. I was assuming we weren't going to get "Boll Weevil" because the crowd seemed so quiet, but they played it and I was happy. Then they took their bow and said "See you tomorrow!!!" And they did! I loved this show because they seemed very relaxed, happy to be home, and were chatty with the crowd.
Mike and I went to the merch booth to see what we could see. I really wanted a poster, but they were sold out. We were then looking at the tiny record player that plays 3" records (called an inchophone). It was $100 bucks that I didn't have on me, so we just went to visit Josh and then home.

My Life Right Now (AKA Intro)

This blog will just be about my life and the random things I do and enjoy. Which lately revolve around children's school tours at the farm, thrift stores/estate sales, spending time with people I enjoy and listening to a lot of White Stripes music (mostly live shows). Actually my first three "real" posts are going to be about the three WS shows I saw in Detroit this past weekend. I want to get as much down as I can, before it all fades away.
I'm so glad that I finally started one of these things!