So, (e:fellyconnelly) and I went to see Melissa Ferrick and Ani DiFranco last night at what was formerly known as "The Church" but has be renamed "BabeVille". Very cute. The church us on W Tupper and Delaware and is actually two seperate buildings that are smushed together on the outside. The concert was in the sanctuary part of the church which was completely redone inside, new paint on all the walls and ceiling and all the pews ripped out to form a giant open space in front of the stage, along with the balcony which still retains the original historic pews (where we old folks sat for the show). Yesterdays concert along with one on Tuesday night represented the grand opening of The Church's new state of the art sound system and performance venue. Aparently they are working on a little bar/lounge in the basement for smaller performances and there is also a modern art gallery in there somewhere too.

Anyway, the show was fabulous. I must admit, I really like Melissa Ferrick, but when you are able to compare the two so directly it is obvious who has been around awhile. Ferrick generally stood in the same spot on stage and while the crowd certainly loved her, she was nothing compared to Ani. Ani came onstage and the whole crowd erupted to the point where it was almost painful because of the noise level. And when she started playing, dancing around stage, doing the oh so typical Ani leg lifts in sync with her guitar strums along with great chemistry with her band, which consisted of a stand up bass player, a drummer and a "vibraphonist" who added a unique sound to the whole thing, well she rocked.

The music was a delightful mix of old and new, along with some of her poetry/spoken word mixed in. It was enough so I was never bored waiting for her to play a song I knew. I also was happy that she so outspokenly talked about motherhood, love, growing up, and sang new songs about her daughter. It is this kind of things that remind us all that she is human.

Anyways...I had a fabulous time and when she sang the song with the words "I built my own empire out of car tire and chicken wire" it became very apparent that she indeed has.

So yesterday our friends girlfriend took us to the sculpture fields or something like that out past spring...field? view? i dunno. anyways, it was super cool and I really wish I had know where we were going so I could have brough my camera. But I guess it was kinda nice to be without it...I guess.

Anyways, we started walking and this chick leads us up up up this trail and we stop at some arbitrary point and she's like, uh, let's turn around. And so we did. Overall it ws very fun and I would much like to go back and am glad that I know where it is now.

But the point is...that after we returned I started noticing that my legs hurt, and were almost to the point of shaking whenever I stood up. Of course I knew it was a result of our upward climb, but I was surprised that my body couldn't handle that type of excercise.

Before I had a car I often walked to work which was about a 15 minute walk. Later after getting the car I stopped this and noticed a slight decline in my ability to walk without getting cramps or what have you, but I was still on my feeet 8 hours a day and was often doing heavy lifting such as crates with 4 galls of milk in them. But now, I don't walk because obviously, the campus is not within walking distance and I admit to being inclined to laziness.

So now, a day after, my legs still hurt. I was hoping it would go away with a good nights sleep, but I was sorely mistaken. Now I am thinking, damn girl, you aren't getting any younger, what are you going to do about this pathetic inability to move your body? I guess this is something I need to work on.

Also, seperately, I would like to say that I enjoyed our time spent with Jim and James at Colter Bay, although it was way more crowded than the first time we went there, so we hid in the back part. However, I will admit that my jaw and cheeks hurt because I had been laughing so much. This is not a bad thing.

I am currently reading an article that is comparing racial purity and anti-miscegenation in the US and Nazi Germany. Fascinating. So, Did you know....

"In 1954, the Supreme Court for the first time held one component of the US apartheid sysetem, segregated education, unconstitutional. It did not hold antimiscegenation laws unconstitutional until 1967, over ten years later. At the time of its ruling, sexteen states still prohibited interracial marriage."

From
Racial Purity Laws in the United States and Nazi Germany: The Targeting Process
by Judy Scales-Trent
found in Human Right Quarterly


ahhhh. 40 years ago. Thats IT!!! I dunno, it grosses me out.
I will hold myself back from writing about how "race" is a social and political construct of those in power to define the "other" for their own gain.

Oh yes, and one more fun little tid bit.

Did you know that at one point in Nazi Germany they believed that children who born of "mixed race" were STERILE??? Ya know, kinda like how when a horse and a donkey produce a mule? Yeah, like that.

I have to drive to campus today because my Prof forgot to bring the syllabus to class on Tuesday and didn't send it to us until last night and told us not to buy the books until she told us to, which she never did, but the readings for next class are from the books sooooo, needless to say, I'm annoyed.

Tomorrow we have a friend coming to visit and she is brining along her current girlfriend who is also staying with us. Apparently the new girlfriend is from Buffalo and is going to show us "where to go". If she takes us to Roxy's, I might laugh a little. Perhaps there is some secret lesbian bar we don't know about it, but I doubt it. Either way, we are going out on Saturday night.

Yesterday was particularly hot, as others have mentioned, and I had to get in my car and drive to campus to get books, much to my dismay. While chuggin along the highway I noticed that were there is often a message reading 90 W Expect Delays, there was a new message. It read: High Ozone Today, Try the Metro! On my way back on the opposite side another sign read: High Ozone Today, Combine Trips!

So my first question is, what is the idea behind this? To stay inside to avoid the toxic fumes, or to lessen our output of waste because it will only add to the nastiness of the situation. And why is this only a priority when we are having High Ozone days? Shouldn't this always be something to consider?

I myself am a country girl and have never lived in a city, so this was indeed my first experience of a high ozone day. I looked it up and found that it results from excessive heat hanging around in our breathing air, which causes the high ozone and is associated with urban areas, supposing the concrete holds the heat in. Fascinating. I am sure it is more complex than that, but I got the idea.




The house is clean and ready for company. Our first real guests since we have completely finished our aesthetic transformation of this apartment. I am actually excited to show it off. I also get the pleasure of sitting in a nice clean apt. all day with noone here to eff up my lovely cleaning job. This always brings me great satisfaction.