Weekend round up

I did not spend the weekend worrying about the cat. Instead, I entertained myself.

Friday, I went to see "Batman Begins." Good flick. I found it satisfying. I have to ask, what is up with Christian Bale's teeth? Something strange is going on there. He is super-cute but he's not my boyfriend because I have a hard time dating anyone whose first name is Christian. I know it's strange. Maybe it's a Jewish thing.

Saturday, I had no "big sister" duties and a trip to the (shopping) mall was contemplated but not undertaken. Instead, I went to the 12:30 matinee of "Land of the Dead" with Princess and C-money. We enjoyed the picture while we watched it but poked about a thousand holes in the plot afterwards. It was no "Dawn of the Dead," that's for sure. I do like a good zombie flick, but this one was ultimately disappointing.

Saturday night, I had plans (with myself) to go see Rachel Jacobs at the Warehouse Next Door. It turned out that the show was part of "Exotic Fever Fest." I had no idea what that meant until I got there, and even then it took me a bit to figure it out. Turns out, "Exotic Fever" is a record label and they were showcasing several of their bands. I liked three of the five acts I saw and even bought a "Hope and Anchor" cd.

Rachel plays solo and accompanies herself on acoustic guitar. Her songs are full of complicated and interesting lyrics. She almost screams and sometimes sings so fast you wonder how she does it. She's a very dynamic performer and it was fun to watch her.

Hope and Anchor is a three-person band--two women and a guy. They set up in the middle of the floor instead of the stage and each took turns playing the guitar, bass and drums (only the bass was electric). The harmonized a little, played accordion on one song, trumpet on another. It was very cool, mellow almost folksy, but with a little more edge.

The venue is an all-ages place, so I wasn't surprised that it was a young crowd. I was easily the oldest person there, with the exception of one creepy guy who might have been my age. Ugh. Because there were six bands on the bill, most of the people in the small crowd were either "band" or "friend of band." I didn't stand out because I was old but, rather, because I was a stranger. Funny.

I took note of the crowd. Baggy cargo shorts (boys), low-rise jeans (girls), high-water Dickies (girls and boys), flip-flops (girls), Vans, Converse and two pairs of cowboy boots. Tight shirts and retro themed tees. Rachel Jacobs wearing dirty house slippers, a slip-shirt and red skirt with slip supposed to be showing. Girls with flower tattoos on their shoulders. Keys attached to belt loops with those latches used for rock climbing. The bartender with the name "Cynthia" tattooed on her sternum, in script, looking like one of those gold "name" necklaces; I kept looking for the chain. Rather more boys hugging boys than when I was a teenager.

Are you wondering what I wore? Suffice it to say, I did not fit in. I wore a Johnny-collar shirt, a little low-cut; navy "velvet" jeans that are a tad short (not a problem since short seems to be in these days, but they do have a slight taper instead of being straight leg, oh well); and close-backed black clogs. The only wrong note was the purse, which is a canvas black shoulder bag, a twelve dollar H&M special with a dark red leather strap and read leather on the bottom. I have about a million bags and I think something retro would have been better--like the black suede sling bag that belonged to my mom. Next time I'll know.

Sunday, I lazed around in the morning and played softball in the afternoon. Too damn hot, really. This was the first time I'd seen "My Future Husband" (aka the Softball Guy) in over a month. There is only one problem with him: he has a girlfriend.* What was all that flirting about if he had a girlfriend? Maybe he was just being friendly. He was friendly today. I was not as friendly as I had been in the past. And we lost. Again. We've only won once and that was the only game I missed. Coincidence? I certainly hope so.

*He let me know (in the kindest possible way) a couple of weeks ago when I asked him, via email, to the baseball game.

Grateful for: fun weekends.