MILK

Hope everyone has safely arisen out of their Thanksgiving coma. I don't know about you, but it's a Sunday afternoon on this holiday weekend, and I feel like I am just now rejoining civilian life.

Anyway, I know I am posting this a little early, but then again this is probably a flick for which you'll want to reserve early tickets anyway. I am so excited about "Milk!"



My friend Jeff got to see an early screening in L.A. a couple of days ago, and said it was fantastic. Its release couldn't be more timely. (And speaking of the release, there is already controversy surrounding it not surprisingly. The CEO of Cinemark, one of the theatres where "Milk" is playing, apparently donated $10 grand to the "Yes on 8" campaign. UM. Which begs the question: boycott Cinemark, or encourage everyone you can to see "Milk" however they can? Even if it means going to a Cinemark? Especially if they don't live in Austin and don't have access to supercool Alamo Drafthouses?)

Sorry, tangent. Anyway. I used to live right outside of San Francisco, and seeing shots of it make me a little nostalgic. If Austin, Texas didn't exist, and I had a million dollars, I would drop everything and move to SF in a heartbeat.

But back to "Milk" - how about that Josh Brolin these days? Hustlin' fool. He plays Dan White here, alongside Sean Penn, James Franco, and Emile Hirsch. You can catch it starting this Friday at Alamo Drafthouse Downtown. I think I'm going to go Saturday!

NATURE! Part 2 + Richard Gear + What are you thankful for?

Wow, that's a lot of ground to cover.

Let's go to camping:



Don't you love that dog's face??

So my friends and I went camping last weekend, and I SURVIVED! Nay, enjoyed myself!! We went to Colorado Springs, about two hours outside of ATX. Those are pictures of them above, but I saved the best one for last:

This is Tiger, a pug who belongs to my friends Beaux and Dana. I don't think I've ever loved a dog more.

I carry things in my tail!

Ever since I was a little kid, I've always had an irrational fear of dogs. I know it's ridiculous, and I also know that most want nothing more than to express their love by licking you to death. Their noses remind me of wolves, or something. Isn't that silly?

Anyway, this is why Tiger is the perfect dog for someone like me. He has a smashed-in face - no signs of wolf there - and a curly little tail. He's part pig!

Tiger also makes this hilarious crying noise whenever Dana walks away. (I say "hilarious," but what I really mean is HILARIOUS. It doesn't even sound a dog whimper; more the sound Marge Simpson makes when she's annoyed with Homer). Needless to say, Tiger was the absolute highlight of my camping experience, and Dana and Beaux should both be very concerned that I'm going to sneak into their house one of these days and make off with their dog.

LAST NIGHT, I ran into Richard Gear at Black & Tan:

This must be the uniform I wear when taking pictures with DJ's.

Anyway, if you haven't read Tiffany Diane's awesome feature post on Austin is Burning about Richard Gear, I urge you to! It gives a great overview of RG's contribution to Austin's dance/electronic music scene, which is growing stronger every day I feel. Remember when the strip of 7th st. just west of 35 was virtually empty of cool hangout spots? Now, it's dance party central: Black & Tan, Beauty Bar, Creekside. We're so lucky.

LASTLY. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving! This is probably my favorite holiday, yes even above Christmas. So friends, I'd love to know: What are you thankful for?

I know, it's cheesy, but family will ask tomorrow and blog commenting is a relatively low-pressure place to practice. I'll start:

1. R. The absolute love of my life. Did y'all know I once peed on myself in front of R., and he still proposed to me? I'll have to tell that story sometime.

2. My family. My parents are two of my best buddies, and due to a unique blend of alcoholism and charisma, I have the most entertaining extended family one could ever ask for. Case in point: Last year, my aunt broke in to R and I's house over Christmas, while we were gone, and redecorated our Christmas tree. With her own ornaments. That is another good story.

3. BARACK OBAMA.

4. Freaking awesome friends. You know who you are.

5. My IUD. I'm sorry, I know that's crass, but really. I am.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

NATURE! Part 1

Guys, I am CAMPING right now!

Well, technically, R. is loading up the car. Our contributions are telling.

His:



Mine:


I am also bringing a camera, so you can all see how hilarious this is when we come back. I am a "city individual" you might say, so I am expecting.....eh. I do not know what.

BYE!

Are you going to Fabrication 6?

OK. So a few years ago, there was this petite, brunette girl who used to frequent Quacks, and I used to check her out shamelessly. She donned the wackiest, most wonderful outfits. If memory serves, one of them included tinsel - as in, the stuff you put on your Christmas tree - and I used to stare at her and try to mentally memorize what she was wearing. (God, I do a lot of stalking at Quacks.)

Anyway, I'm pretty sure she is "Elfgirl," one half of the super cool duo behind Team Fabrication. And this Saturday, they are putting on a fashion show at Mohawk, which will also be a concert and dance party! Check it, y'all: 'Til We're Blue or Destroy, whom my friend Kullen used to play with (are you still playing with them, Kullen?), The Laughing, Staying Gold DJ's, and more.

But! The most exciting thing going on is an Awards Show for Austin's Most Fashionable 2008. To vote, just copy/paste and send yours into teamfab@gmail.com.

Here's who I want to win!!!

Austin's Most Fashionable 2008

BAND
Hollywood Gossip

My favorite Rare story partner, wedding photographer, and buddy Cory Ryan is the bassist in this band. Look how cute they are! Fashionable and coordinating.

Other nominees:
The Laughing
Electric Touch
Mothfight
Octopus Project

FEMALE
Hope Perkins

I shot a Rare story with Hope Perkins once, which started out at Hole in the Wall. She was a vision in high-waisted denim, and as soon as I saw her, I immediately lusted for a pair. I've always meant to get up the nerve to ask her where she got them....so, if she wins this award, maybe I will!

Other nominees:
Yvonne (Octopus Project)

Gail Chovan
Audrie San Miguel
Jess Rice

PHOTOGRAPHER
Cory Ryan

I'm a little bit biased, obviously, but - are you LOOKING at this picture. I don't even know how you capture a hula hoop in mid-air on film like that. Wha? What th-huh? Cory, how did you do that!

Other nominees:
Courtney Chavanelle

Alison Narro
Michael Thad Carter
Chad Wadsworth

VENUE
Beauty Bar **This category is HARD. If I were being honest, I'd probably go with The Peacock...but my heart says Beauty Bar. There, people (mostly) dress to the nines and shake it. Is extra credit.

Other nominees:
The Mohawk
Club Deville
The Peacock
The Blanton

BOUTIQUE
Feathers**Boots, jewelry, a nutty '20s-themed costume I fashioned for myself once - Feathers has never let me down. I think it's funny that 3 of the most fashionable boutiques - Feathers, Prototype, and Parts and Labor - are within walking distance of each other! Quite a flashy little block there, South Congress.

Other nominees:
Prototype
Luxe
Bows + Arrows
Parts and Labor

DESIGNER
Team Fabrication

This is one of Elfgirl's designs, and seeing as how I used to stalk her based on her outfits...she gets my vote.

Other nominees:

Amet & Sasha
Identity Crisis
Julia Plume
Loves, Mariessa

PUBLICATION
Rare

DUH, you guys! Just kidding - all choices here are very fashionable in their own way. But I'm consistently drawn to Rare's slightly scrapbooky feel, and the fact that the people featured inside present a nice balance of models/couture and real people/DIY looks. Here's one of my favorite covers:

Other nominees:

Tribeza
Misprint
Austin Chronicle
Austin Monthly

MALE
Sean O'Neil **My editor at The Onion. Sexy as all get-out.

Other nominees:

Erick Sanger
Bryan Keplesky
Evan Voyles
Neil Diaz


ACCESSORIES
Jennifer Perkins **Those Perkins girls are so damn talented. Jennifer is everywhere! She is the mistress behind Naughty Secretary Club, and was also one of the first gals to legitimize colored plastic in the accessory world. I heart very much.

Other nominees:
Amy Barber
Chia Guillory
Amber 10/SIX (No Link)
Jen Martinnen (No Link)

EVENT
Fabrication**Sure! Why not.

Other nominees:
Stitch
Tribeza Fashion Show
Treasure City Fashion Show
Maker Faire

STYLIST/SALON
Buffy @ Vain**Yes!!!!! The woman I trust to take me from blonde to brunette back to blonde to RED. Where to next, Buffy? Pink? Green? I'd follow Buffy into any unchartered hair color territory. And not only do her color creations always look amazing, she's fun to talk to while you're sitting there letting your head cook.

Other nominees:
Naomi Vigil @ Shag
Chenoh Yepa @ Pink
Deklynd Channing
Birds Barbershop

BLOG
Austin Style Watch**Rachel Youens was one of the first local bloggers I started reading. I still rely on her coverage, and she was also one of the first to spearhead the "street fashion" blog trend. Hats off, Austin Style Watch.

Other nominees:
Naughty Secretary Club
Fitting Out (No Link)
The Austinist
Austin Tidbits

AUSTIN BLOGGERS LIST!!!

OMG I am finally doing it!! Austin bloggers, y'all!

So I was incredibly thrilled that so many people responded back to the Austin bloggers post that we did, sheesh, almost 3 weeks ago. Did you know that there are nearly 50 of us out there in ATX, blogging away?!

I discovered some of the coolest stuff after visiting your pages, from a flying vagina taco fish (wow!), to a love letter to yogurt, to a write-in "advice show" by a Texan and a British gal (Snarky Girls - one of my favorite new discoveries! That unfortunately just ended!! Maybe we can all bring it back.) Anyway.....without further ado, I bring you:

austin bloggers!

(these are just people who responded to the original post!! if you'd like to throw your own in the mix, leave a comment!)

1. Jess said...

hi tolly :)
thanks for calling in today!
jess

EDITOR'S NOTE: Jess's blog of AMAZING photography:

jesswilliamson.com

2. Jana said...

I'm an Austin blogger! I'm a musician and most of my posting revolves around gigs and road adventures as a merch girl. :)

janapochop.com

3. Ana said...

I blog at AustinSoundcheck.com

Everything Austin-music related, from local bands to roadshows to the latest City Council developments related to music. I cover it all.

-Ana

4. Breyonce said...

I don't do much blogging about Austin, but I do live here. But you already knew that.
www.onelegatatime.wordpress.com

And I didn't see you at Beauty Bar! For shame!

5. Chris Trew said...

I read you blog. I do comedy in town and my website/blog is about all of that.
www.christrew.com
www.mywienertouchestheceiling.com

6. James said...

I'm an Austin blogger/writer as well. I blog at Coyote Mercury. I write about whatever comes to mind... books, birds, dogs, Austin, whatever.

7. RayRay said...

I'm an austin blogger/music writer. We cover all the musical haps in Austin and general news as well. We also have comics!

www.austintownhall.com

8. Chas said...

I'm at http://translucence.org

9. M1EK said...

I blog at M1EK's Bake-Sale of Bile. Mostly local transportation and other politics.

10. Laura said...

www.DiningInAustinBlog.com

Mariah and Laura blog about life and food in Austin, Texas.

11. Pylorns said...

I've been blogging since 1999, and in Austin since nov. of 2000 with wetwired http://www.wetwired.org. We were actually interviewed a couple months ago by UT newspaper - we put the interview (phone based) as a podcast - I want to say episode 12. It gave us a good opportunity to describe what wetwired blogging was about.

12. Annie in Austin said...

Hello Austin Girl - I'm one of the Austin Garden Bloggers - our group has more than 25 members.

In addition to gardening I write about Austin events like Maker Faire and have a few of the songs I've written on YouTube.

Annie at the Transplantable Rose

13. katalinaTX said...

My Blog is Called: "I Like You Because U R a Little Bit Crazy Like Me" the URL is http://katalinatx.blogspot.com

It's a semi private blog, for obvious reasons like potential employment, privacy, safety, etc. But if you send me an email at kfwarnerlaw@gmail.com I would be happy to add you and anyone else who is interested to the list

14. Aaron said...

Well, first of all, if you blog in or about Austin and aren't posting it to www.austinbloggers.org metablog you certainly should. :-) Second of all I have a very boring and semi-stagnant tech blog not always about Austin at blog.sektormedia.org and I also post semi-regularly at austinist.com

15. Jenn Deering Davis said...

I blog in two places:
http://appozitegeist.appozite.com - a blog about style, shopping and social software -
and http://deeringdavis.com - my thoughts on technology as a doctoral student in organizational communication at UT Austin

16. Bob said...

Hey there. I am from Round Rock (close enough, I hope!) and my URL is http://www.cccombobreaker.com. I maintain a WordPress blog about technology, humor, creative writing, and video games. Lots of fun stuff :)

17.Matt said...

Photo blogging from around Austin and any other places I'm fortunate enough to get out to.

Matthewhooks.com

18. Lani Anglin-Rosales said...

This could be embarrassing or it could be a point of bragging rights, I don't know, but here are all the blogs I have full or partial ownership of:

(1) AgentGenius.com is based in Austin (run from our home office) which is a national real estate magazine (opinion and news).

(2) RERevealed.com is my personal insight on all things Austin *and* real estate.

(3) GoSinglePointe.com is our corporate site exclusively covering Austin real estate.

(4) Snarky Girls is my personal pet project, my girlfriend in London and I have a video blog where we answer viewers' questions.

Wow. That's a lot of blogging- at least I'm using my English degree! I can't wait to see the roundup!!! :)

19. Jeff said...

I have two blogs that desperately need updating.

Jeffore.com - I moved to Austin a year and a half ago from the east coast. This blog is mainly to update family and friends back home about what's going on.

Public Ridicule - This is a vanity project of sorts that lets me spew venom at various absurdities

20. Angie said...

I starting checking out your blog from that HEB post that I loved (Kristan commented). We have a shared blog at http://jbu.phuzzymath.net/
about the most random things. Seriously. Is it all right if I'm the only one in Austin?

21. Stevious said...

I live in Austin and have a blog at http://blog.stevious.com sometimes about Austin, sometimes not...

22. Sheena said...

I"m an Austin Blogger, too! I blog about random life stuff and also x-post goodreads book reviews.

http://the-weeb.livejournal.com/

23. Robbie C said...

I'm Robbie and I blog at Urbangrounds.com, which has been rated as Austin's most prominent and influential conservative political blog (yes, there are conservative political blogs in Austin).

24. AC said...

I blog at austincontrarian.com, mostly about Austin land use and urban development.

25. Heather said...

I blog mostly about my garden, going green & supporting local business:

http://www.punkgardener.com (WINNER: Best blog name award!)

26. Lyssa said...

Hey Tolly! I'm one of those who knows you read, so I was lazy about posting ... for shame! Love your blog too :-) thisislifeinaustin.com

27. James said...

They Tolly! We are just putting our name in the hat. We know you read and you know we read yours too!

www.eastaustinte.com

28. Tiffany Diane said...

OKAY --
1. Austinisburning.com is me,

2. blogging about music, nightlife, art, fashion, etc. Whatever catches my fancy. But mostly about events going on in Austin worthy of note.
and sometimes things that only I find amusing.
-TD

29. Zelda said...

Wow! I love seeing all these Austin bloggers reply! This is great for finding new sites :)

I have a personal blog where I write about whatever crosses my mind that day :)

zeldaray.blogspot.com

30. Snowed In said...

I blog at snowedin2006.blogspot.com.

The blog started as basically a blog about nothing (hence the almost total lack of thought put into the URL) but has become mostly about local/national politics, with occasional forays into criticizing other local institutions (such as, most recently, both KXAN and Time Warner).

31. pylorns said...

here's another local Austin blog not updated too often though - Jenn's Wanderlust

32. Charlie M. said...

I publish a blog about Austin Parks and the work that we do with volunteers at the Austin Parks Foundation - its at: http://austinparks.wordpress.com

-- Charlie McCabe

33. sissel said...

Hey lady - i almost forgot, our friend angela blogs about austin at www.trashcanage.blogspot.comOctober 28, 2008 3:11 PM

34. Gretchen said...

I blog sporadically at http://texaspurl.blogspot.com/

I'm trying to be better about it, though. I blog about my kids, cooking and knitting. I know how nerdy that sounds.

35. Elle Kay wrote...

okay, creepy small world.

I was going to post to let you know I am a semi-Austin blogger (just moved back to Houston, but lord knows I'm back and forth every weekend)

ANYhow, I went to UT with Tiffanie Lanmon! We were freshman figgies together. Too, too weird considering I pretty much randomly found you on BlogCatalog...

love your blog! makes me "home"sick a little. keep writing :)

(EDITOR'S NOTE: That is wild, Elle Kay!! And awesome!!!)

Elle's blog, everyone: http://thenewmckechnie.blogspot.com/

36. Chris said...

I have a blog about apartments in town. Not real fun, although I am trying to spice it up with celebrity apartments and funny tales from apartment staff.

Thanks for pulling together the list.

http://everythingaustinapartments.blogspot.com/

37. QueenB said...

My blog is pretty much about my life experiences, life in general, sex, what not, stupid shit, sex, funny shit, etc. I tend to rant and rave a lot, all the while keeping a sense of humor. Hope you stop by sometime.

QueenB
austinchismosa.com

38. Jen Hamilton said...

I blog at thejenhamiltonblog.wordpress.com. I'm a freelance writer, yoga teacher training student and I love me some eats. So, it's about writing, food and yummies. Come visit me!

Jen

39. The Garden Posse said...

gardenposse.blogspot.com

Collaborative blog by Austin's most fun guerrilla gardening group, chronicling all our gardens, plans, and other adventures.

I also blog at crapinabucket.blogspot.com, which is about nothing in particular.

-Lindsay

40. crystal said...

Just started blogging...
www.ssasychic.com
a fashion and beauty blog
Hope it's not too late!! :)
Thanks!

41. Amelia said...

I blog in two places:
doublespeak.livejournal.com
catalogues my fashion line, Doublespeak, home to hand embroidered vintage slips and tidy cloths
and
26andvegan.blogspot.com
depicts communal vegan meals I make at my vegetarian co-op, House of Commons

42. paintanywhere said...

Sorry, just saw this post. Am I too late?

I'm an artist that has left the studio. I paint people from life. Most of the time, my subjects do not know that they are being painted.

Title of my blog:
I Stare At People

~ Thanks, Lavanna Martin

43. Anonymous said...

Is this already over. I have been blogging in Austin since 2005. I mostly blog about the Austin real estate market and other random tidbits.

http://www.escapesomewhere.com/austinblog/

44. Mason Arnold said...

austinorganic.blogspot.com - Mason Arnold, founder of Greenling Organic Delivery blogs about running a business with more than the bottom line in mind and keeps you up to date on Organic and Local food news.

45. Cottage gal said...

I've got my blog representing the peeps up north in Georgetown! :-)

hybridcarsandcottages.blogspot.com

46. frances said...

blogging around austin just for fun :)

lesmerles.blogspot.com

47. Adam said...

South Austin here

I write for Off The Record Austin..

www.off-the-record-austin.blogspot.com

a little about Austin, a little about Music, a little about life, but a lot of fun

48. Crystal said...

Wow, I had no idea there were this many Austin bloggers! Mine's at http://www.poco-cocoa.com