In which Jennifer gets stupid excited about a book

Hey y'all. Yes, my thigh injury has healed up quite nicely, thanks. Nothin' a little A&D couldn't fix.
So I finally, finally finished this book.

I seem to have read it so well that the cover popped right off. Or maybe that was from taking it along on so many water-related activities. (Remember when I was on the boat? I had it with me way back then) Oh yeah, how was it? My dear friend Rachel aptly described it as "medieval soap opera". It wasn't bad, but it may not have been worth spending my entire summer reading it. I do enjoy how carrying around a big book makes me look smart though. I am proud of myself for actually finishing a book since that has been a wee bit of a challenge for me lately, and by lately I mean the past few years.
AND THEN (triumphant fanfare) I found out about this:

That's right! It's a book by Colin Meloy. Illustrated by his adorable wife Carson Ellis. I know. It is technically for children ("middle-grade fantasy") and I have always expressed disdain for adult women reading books for kids (sorry Adriane) but y'all. This is Colin Meloy. I hurried down to Book People on the day it came out (yesterday) and they hadn't even put them on the shelf yet. I took it off the cart. As a bonus, I got this super cool old school "badge maker" style button for my backpack. Sweet! I haven't been this giddy about a book since The Green Mile came out in little chapbooks. Remember that? It was awesome. I still have them. In other, equally if not more exciting news, The Cutest Band in The World (otherwise known as Downtube Shifter) spent this past weekend in the studio working on a record. Woo Hoo! They were sweet enough to let me hang around and take pictures of them, which are on the flickr.

I love them so much. If you have the means, I highly recommend checking them out.

Walk till you run and don't look back

It was tax-free weekend here in rain-free TX last week so I followed the droves of Texans into Academy and got myself these here runnin' shoes. And of course by "runnin'" I mean jogging for a bit until I feel like I might die, then walking, then trying to jog a bit more. People who know me are all too familiar with my "smackdown" phases, but this one could potentially last more than the traditional two weeks. I luv these shoes. They're bouncy and obnoxious hot pink! I took them out on their first trip Tuesday and they performed like champs. I was feeling good despite my beer-laden lazy summer. It wasn't too hot since I managed to get out before the 7:30am outdoor activity curfew, a few people had their sprinklers going so I got some spritzes along the way, and I didn't feel any of my normal exercise rage thanks to my return to fall schedule and my beloved yoga. But then, (cue the ominous music) The Attack of the Thigh Chafe!!! Needless to say this threw me into a horrible negative body image vortex. Yes, yes, I know that even skinny people can chafe, and it is 500 degrees outside, and I was wearing cutoff sweatpants that bunched up (stupid! stupid!) but the fact remains: my big fat thighs were rubbing together so much that the skin rubbed off!!! Gross gross gross.

Normally this sort of vortex leads straight to Sonic for a sack of corndogs, but this time (again I credit the yoga) I walked gingerly with my legs slightly apart into Central Market for an $8 salad. Take that Universe!

So yesterday I ventured out again- this time with (looking embarrassed) diaper ointment on my affected leg, vaseline on the rest of the chafe risk area, and moisture wicking shorts. Success!! I was able to complete Week 1 (again) of the start running plan I got off the internets at the beginning of the last smackdown episode and I didn't feel like dying once.

WTF? Salad? Running? What is this, some kind of health blog now? What about teevee and food trailers?

Ok ok. Sorry. I have discovered a new-to-me tv show, meaning I think it has been off the air since 2007 or something, but it's British so I couldn't have watched it anyway. You remember my mad passion for brit-coms right? This one is fantastic, but in its usual giveth and taketh away fashion, the Netflix instant watch only has season one. (Shaking fist at Netflix, again) Or as they say, series one. Lame. I did however find a way to watch the other series in very poor video quality somewhere else on the webs. You can google it if you want since of course I don't remember what it's called.

We finally went to the third ESK trailer location last night. I had the eel buns. I just like how that sounds. They were yummy, but the Liberty location is definitely #1. SO GOOD. Go there if you can. Call me and I'll come down there and meet you.

In other entertainment news, I finally got around to watching Biutiful. It's even more depressing than it sounds and you have to read it, but I liked it. I guess reading one movie a day isn't enough because then Saturday night we got all brainiac and went to see some old French movies at the Paramount. Every now and again I can understand what they're saying without reading-thank you three years of French in high school!-but you know the idea: super pretty girls smoke a lot and talk about stuff. Men cheat on their wives. The most entertaining part of this double feature was that both movies ended with someone being shot. BANG BANG! FIN.

Tasty and gentle food

Here in the ATX there are tons and tons (and tons) of food trailers. While I've only managed to eat at a tiny fraction of them, my favorite by far are the Japanese ones. The best are the two East Side King locations, one of which I tried for the first time only yesterday! A close runner-up is Love Balls. (You may remember an adorable picture of me stuffing my face with Love Balls on the flickr.) A prominent ingredient used at these trailers is Kewpie Mayo, perhaps my newest Favorite Thing!(Don't skip clicking on that link, it's great) I can't get enough of the Japanese and their love of cuteness and wacky food.

As long as we're on the subject of cuteness and food, I'll show you these guys:

They're forever rowing on the wall of Cooper's BBQ. We've been to Cooper's before, but not this location. A review? These 'coons were the best part. Yes, I guess we've been spoiled by super super amazing BBQ lately, but still. Skip it.

This past weekend we took a mini-vacation to Junction and it was just what we needed. Despite Texas' desert conditions as of late, we were able to tube at South Llano River State Park. It was very beautiful, but I don't have any photos because I was in a tube, y'all.

After a grueling day of floating down the river, we recharged with some classic Tex-Mex at La Familia . The food is pretty good and cheap but my favorite part is this:
The owner told us that people always want to buy this painting from her but she won't sell "her man." If you happen to be driving through Junction, TX, definitely give this place a visit.

On Sunday we went to the LBJ Ranch, a very very Texan thing that for some reason we haven't done before. If you know the Starks you know that we LOVE to do nerdy activities and the LBJ ranch delivered. I didn't take many pictures, mostly because they won't let you but also because I figured they would be easy to find on the internets. I was right, there's a cute slideshow on the website. I did take a few of the trees and sky, two of my favorite things about my Texas.

Everything is bigger in Texas, except my brain

Can't believe I forgot to show you this guy:(SQUEAL) He's a tiny meerkat! If you know me at all, you know that he is perfect for me. I love him, but I haven't thought of a name for him yet. Ideas?

Speaking of cute, guess this wouldn't be modern day C&D without me blathering on about SLH. Go ahead and skip this part if you're sick of it. I don't blame you.

If you can hang, look at another cute little guy:
He's showing us the ridiculously delicious peach salsa he made. I know, northwesterners, "Peach salsa?!?" Yeah. It is sooooo good. Sweet and hot-just like my little husband.

Whoa. Ok. That was a bit much. Sorry. Let's look at the other thing I can't believe I didn't show y'all before. Maybe if I used my sitting-on-my-ass-wasting-time-on-the-computer time for blogging instead of reading OMG I wouldn't forget everything. Oh well. Check it out.

For my birthday my sister wife gave me the world's greatest invention: the towel with velcro, or as I like to call it, the towel dress. I told everyone (except blog readers that is) how fantastic it was so then my actual sister gave me another to use in case the first is in the wash. Here they are, hanging out on the bathroom door together. They are so beautiful.
In the interest of keeping my Summer of Not Giving a Shit pledge, I'll even give you a photo to laugh at. Keep in mind that everything must be bigger in Texas, so I have to comply by eating a ton of yummy food and drinking lots of beer or they'll deport me. And YES, the towel my sister gave me came with a headband. Mmmm hmmmm.
Everyone done laughing? Ok. You might notice through your tears that I'm at the pool. That's right, I swim now y'all. Like my feet not being able to touch the bottom swimming. Bizzaro world.

Birthday Round-up

Another Suicide Prevention Week has come and gone and it was, as usual, fantastic. (Here at SPWHQ we use the term "week" loosely.) I've already told you about one of the most fun things ever-the J.T. singalong. That would have been more than enough Birthday joy for most people. But, my friends and family are not "most people" so the action didn't stop there. Last weekend the Sr. Starks were in town and in addition to hot tubbing at their motel (hee hee) we did some high-brow activities like the Blanton Museum and Shakespeare at Winedale. On Sunday the Jr. Starks went on a movie date to Captain America and it wasn't too bad. (Mr. Stark loves a movie with Nazi bad guys) On Tuesday the Howell kids and I made some cupcakes and a yummy lasagna and then they gave me the gift of going to visit their aunt and grammy for five days :).

I know I go on and on about it but my sweet little husband is the greatest. He gave me a new camera! Your crippling hunger for cat pics can finally be satisfied:

Thanks for reading the crochet pattern for me, Hube! And as if the exact camera that I showed him at the store wasn't enough, s.l.h. also showed up with this, a GTL bouquet. Adorable.
Speaking of adorable (and things I go on and on about) the mind-bogglingly amazing Adriane made me this:
That's right, it's a Lee Chat MADE OF CUPCAKES! On my actual birthday (Wednesday) I was feeling wishy washy about what to do, so I didn't send out the Burnet Road Crawl alert text until at least noon but all of my friends showed up! Have I mentioned I have the most wonderful friends ever? Well I do. There are some pictures of the debauchery (there was planking and owling involved) on Adriane's camera, I think, but they have yet to surface because she is currently gracing the NW with her presence. Lucky NW!!

Thanks to Auntie and Grammy, I had yesterday morning off so we were able to something you can only do on Saturday morning: go to Snow's BBQ, supposedly "The #1 BBQ in Texas". Loyal readers (Aileene) will remember that a while back we went to Franklin BBQ, which I deemed the "best BBQ ever". How did the Snow's measure up? How does it look?
Here are the results of my non-scientific research study: "Snow's vs. Franklin"

• Snow's: you have to drive an hour and a half
• Franklin: you have to wait in line for at least an hour and a half, but it's in Austin
• Snow's: the guy with the mullet, 'stache, TX flag apron and permanent smoke smell-LOVE.
• Franklin: nerdy looking guy who started working at his parents' BBQ when he was nine-LOVE.
• Snow's: At the risk of losing my TX citizenship-I hate brisket. The brisket was delicious. I would be happy with a brisket-only plate. The ribs, my usual fave, not so great. Sausage? Sausagey.
• Franklin: At the risk of losing my TX citizenship-I hate brisket. The brisket was delicious. I would be happy with a brisket-only plate. The ribs? Delicious. The sausage? Good, but not as good as Luling City Market sausage.

Final Results:

Food winner: Franklin

Overall experience winner: Snow's, but the food is pretty damn good.

So if you're in Texas and you want some stupid good BBQ, here's what to do. Go stand in line at Franklin's on Thursday, hang out with me on Friday to give your stomach a rest, then get up on Saturday and drive to Lexington for yummy meat and a super fun after lunch activity-a real live small town cattle auction!!!! Sorry PETA types, I love love loved this. It was so cool to see an example of old-time culture (or should I say agri-culture, woka woka) still alive and well. Fortunately my sweet husband gave me a new camera so there are some pictures of our Saturday on the flickr. UNfortunately, when I got the new camera I put the old memory card in it to see if it worked and forgot to switch it out. The old memory card goes way back to the Galveston trip so it only had a tiny bit of space left. I wanted to get a movie of the auction, but it cut me off after only eight seconds. Luckily those eight seconds are pretty good.

Red Hot Summer!!

Hello from mid-July, y'all. Guess if I had one a them fancy pants phones, I wouldn't be so lazy about blogging. Yes, I do have a fancy pants computer, but the wireless do-dad is broken so I can only use it while tethered to the futon. Hmm, should get that fixed so I can blog from the fancy pants coffee shop.

Ennneeway....(yes I do watch too much Ellen)...in between bouts of profound sadness and insomnia-inducing anxiety, I've had a pretty bitchin' summer so far.

I looked through my pictures to remind myself what I've been up to since y'all took a good hard look at me in my motherfucking boat, and this is what I came up with:
Lavender Festival with the in-laws! There are more pics on the flickr. Very hot out, but super fun. Lavender is the only girly smell that doesn't give me a headache so this is a fest I really enjoy.
I went to my (unintelligible) year HIGH SCHOOL REUNION. No, I am not kidding you. Even more shocking, it was FUN. There are tons of photos of it on the facebook if you're into that sort of thing, but here is one of my favorites of the few taken with my (now broken!!!) camera. All of the girls I actually liked in school were there. I'm talking a beer for breakfast level of fun y'all. I know that my non-HS northwest peeps were sad that I didn't get a chance to hang with them and believe me, I wish I could have seen y'all, but I didn't even make it past Gig Harbor and I was only there for a couple of days. You know you can catch a plane up there in SeaTac that can take you right here to Austin, right? Just sayin'.
I got my hair cut, and I'm not grumpy about it. Amazing. Speaking of amazing, here's Adriane wrapping me up!
Still speaking of amazing, check this out: The Stuffed Burger. It's hard to see, but there's a bunch of stuff inside the meat. I will never make an unstuffed burger again.
We're in the midst of an epic drought here in TX, but we have managed to find a little water here and there. Do y'all understand how this photo illustrates what a completely different person I am now that I'm Texan? My head is in water and it is water that may contain fish, and those fish may touch me!! And yet, I appear to not be in terror. Plus I'm in swimwear. Again.

One of the places we found some water was Port Aransas. Loyal followers will know that Port A is one of the Starks' "special spots" and this trip did not disappoint.
We rode bikes! I'm pretty sure I haven't been on a bike since I was about twelve. And when I was twelve, I would have LUVED this bike. Hot pink and neon yellow? Rad. Bike riding is surprisingly relaxing. Even though it was 1000 degrees out and I was technically doing a physical activity, I felt great. Of course when we stopped at a waterin' hole, I saw myself in a mirror and I had the "Jen's been exercising" face which is a disturbing shade of purple.
There I go. Look, no training wheels! I guess you really don't forget. Unfortunately there are only a few other shots of me on the bike and a few random seagull pics from this trip because as I may have mentioned, my camera's broken for real this time. It's been acting a little wacky now and again, but had always come back before. I don't know what the life expectancy is for one of these electro-gadgets but I had it for almost six years and y'all know I am not exactly gentle with my possessions. Sad sad sad. How will I document important cat holidays? Luckily, everyone else in the world only takes pictures with their fancy pants phones so plain old cameras are not too expensive these days.

After a couple of Starks-only days in P.A. we headed over to P.O.C. (Port O'Connor, where the Howells have a lavish vacation home ;) HQ of one of the finest local newspapers of all time: Dolphin Talk, in which you can read hard-hitting editorials about the problem of "radical Chicano agendas") We had sooo much fun celebrating America's Birthday with our voluntary family. Thankfully, Adriane was there this year so my broken camera didn't stop me from getting a series of patriotic photographs.
Um, yeah, I know I got some sun. That is not the point. It's about America, y'all. Does it get more American than resting your bottle of Jack on your sunburned gut? I think not.

Speaking of Birthdays, Suicide Prevention Week officially kicks off on Wednesday, but I will be hard-pressed to top the gift already given to me by the aforementioned AMAZING ADRIANE: a trip to the Justin Timberlake Sing-Along!! It was magical. I hope you have a friend like Adriane, she's the greatest.

I reckon that brings up to near present day. Hope y'all are having your own red hot summers!

Poseidon look at me

That's right, I'm on a boat. And I'm putting a picture of myself in a bathing suit on the internets. What? I'm officially announcing that this is The Summer of Not Feeling Bad. (Hmm? It's not summer yet where you are? Well it was 103 here yesterday y'all. We're deep in it.) I am not tan or fit and I am afraid of water, but it is HOT and this is fun.(That's what I'm repeating to myself over and over in my head) This summer I am going to enjoy every anxiety-free moment I can. So far, I've done pretty well.

The boat adventure happened over Memorial Day weekend. We went camping at Bergheim (They have a super fancy website with sound!) and I discovered something shocking: I prefer more rustic camping. It was fun and all, but everyone was a bit close together for my liking. Who knew?

This past weekend, I broke the no-swimsuit rule again when we went to a really great swimming hole. No, I won't tell you where it is because we don't want it to get overrun. I also didn't pay attention when we were driving so I really can not tell you where it is.

The internets have been down for a few days here at the grove, but that's no excuse for not having posted since mid-May. Yes, I am quite lazy. I mean super busy Not Feeling Bad!!

I'll catch you up with a random bullet list:

• We went to an Express game and got a free upgrade to seats in the fancy pants part. Then the baseball announcer said our names in his silly announcer voice and they showed us on the screen! (Also of note only to E. Stine and T. Stark: we got to see Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz!)
• I went to the Renegade Craft Fair and I got the coolest thing ever. Ask me when you see me and I'll show it to you.
• I got a new record!! Love!!!
• We ate the BEST BARBEQUE on earth.

I'm sure I've forgotten something important, but this blog thing is so time consuming and I've got a swim date with Adaline. Hope all's well with all y'all :)