Louisville Library Technology Boot Camp

Yes, I know I'm a teacher and that means I stand in front of a group of people four times a day every workday and speak. I don't think twice about it. Ever. Not even on the first day of school. But that doesn't mean that I don't share most people's greatest fear: speaking in public.

But tomorrow, I will be speaking in public at the Main Branch of the Louisville Public Library. The LFPL is launching their Technology Boot Camp with an event featuring local bloggers, and I am honored to be included in that group.

From their press release:

Technology Boot Camp is a free, self-guided program delivered online. Participants access the Technology Boot Camp website from a computer with Internet connection at home, work, or any Library location. Each week the program website will feature a different topic: blogging, cloud computing, social media, photo sharing, and more. Easy-to-understand explanations build knowledge and fun hands-on exercises apply new skills. A series of classes at library branches will offer extra support, if needed.

The speakers tomorrow include:

10:30 - 10:45 a.m.                 Ashlee Clark11 - 11:15 a.m.                      Linda Park11:15 - 11:30 a.m.                 Melissa Chipman11:30 - 11:45 a.m.                 Mike Slaton11:45 - 12 p.m.                      Deborah Boyer

So if you know someone who needs a little technology TLC (I'm imagining that YOU don't, seeing that you're reading this blog) send them our way!

Louisville Public Media Fund Drive: Join Us!

It's that time again, Louisvillagers.

Louisville Public Media is gearing up for their fund drive in a couple of weeks. During the past few fund drives, online personalities have repeatedly said, "Give what you can. Give what Louisville Public Media is worth to you."  Last fund drive, I realized I really can't afford to give what WFPL and WFPK are worth to me. They are the only radio stations I listen to. WFPL is the source of  all my non-online news (and the source of much of my online news as well through their blog).  I live in a very NPR world. I probably should pledge 10 times what I actually do in order to really "pay back" what WFPL and WFPK give to my life.

But I can't.

So last fund drive, I volunteered. Gave a little human capital to the pledge drive.  And it was a ton of fun.  And it would have been more fun if I'd been with friends.

So this fund drive I'm putting a little group of Readers of Loueyville together to volunteer to answer phones at the fund drive.  I've committed to bringing a group of folks on October 17 from 6pm-9pm.  If you're interested in joining us, please drop me an email at Lou (at) Loueyville.com.

If you're reading this blog, you probably listen to one of our public radio stations. So I hope you consider giving back.  If you can't join us, volunteer to answer phones on your own.  Email: kwilkinson@louisvillepublicmedia.org for details.  You can also pledge in advance and be eligible for a drawing for a 13" MacBook Air. Just click the link or call 502-814-6565.

Louisville International Film Festival this weekend

This past week, I was lucky enough to be able to sponsor not one but two ticket giveaways to events here in Louisville. And I was so happy that both winners-- congrats Paula and Ruth!-- were tickled pink to have won. Ruth won a four-pack of tickets to Max and Ruby Live! at the Palace Theatre, and Paula won two weekend passes to the Louisville International Film Festival.

For the Louisville International Film Fest (#LIFF) contest, I asked readers to tweet about the movies that they're most worried the current generation might never see. Check out the blog post for all of the entries.  Lots of great films there. I still stand by my assertion that Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure belongs in the canon. But who can argue with entries like Blade Runner, Spinal Tap, and Rain Man??-- two of those three are in my top ten films of all time... I'll leave you to speculate on which ones.

The Louisville International Film Festival kicks off this week.  According to their press release:


The 
third
 annual 
Louisville 
International 
Film
 Festival 
(LIFF)
 will 
be
 held 
October
 5
– 9 
throughout

downtown 
Louisville. 
Films 
will
 be 
screened 
at 
four
 locations,
 including 
the 
Galt 
House
 and 
Louisville

Slugger
 Museum.
 
The 
Louisville 
International
 Film 
Festival 
is 
committed 
to 
screening 
artistic 
films 
not

usually
 presented
 through
 commercial 
venues,
 giving
 independent 
filmmakers 
a 
place
 to
 showcase 
their

work. 
This
 year, 
107 
films 
have
 been
 chosen 
for
 screening.


The keynote event features one of my heroes, Lily Tomlin:


An 
Evening
 of 
Classic
 Lily 
Tomlin” 
will 
be 
held 
at 
7:30
p.m., 
October
 5,
 at 
the 
Brown
 Theatre .
Her 
90‐minute
 show takes 
the 
audience
 on 
a 
“wise 
and
 howlingly
 funny” 
trip 
with 
more 
than

a 
dozen 
of
 her 
timeless 
characters
–
 from
 Ernestine 
to 
Edith 
Ann. 


Other highlights of the event include a showing of Hollywood & Wine starring Chris Kattan, Horatio Sanz, and Leslie Easterbrook-- all of whom will be in attendance-- on Friday at 8pm.  And a presentation by voice-over actor Bob Bergen, who will discuss the ins and outs of the profession on Saturday at 10am.

The LIFF website is fantastic and will provide you with all the information you need. I have a busy work weekend ahead of me, but I will definitely carve out some time to attend the festival.  Hope you can too!

House Concert: Dayna Kurtz & Danny Flanigan

This weekend, Tara Anderson (sometimes local NPR host, freelance writer, and local Moth producer) and Alex Wright (doctor and singer/songwriter) will be hosting NYC singer/songwriter Dayna Kurtz for a second house concert.

Roommate and I were lucky enough to catch the Anderson-Wright's first house concert for Dayna, and it was a fantastic night. Great food, great conversations, fabulous music.  This time around, they're adding Danny Flanigan to the mix.  And if we're lucky, maybe Tara and Alex will join one or both of them.

The concert is at 7pm on Saturday, October 1 in Norton Commons.  It's $15 a person (cocktails and munchies included), with all proceeds going to the artists.  I think the cap is at 40 people, and the concert was more than half full last time I heard.  How often do you get to hear a nationally-touring NYC artist in someone's living room?

Hope to see you there!

IdeaFestival 2011: It's a Wrap

It may very well take me a week to finish my recap of this year's IdeaFestival. I told myself I'd just write a couple of words about each presenter, but a half hour into the post, I've only touched on two.

So in the meantime, I'll leave you with this, my highlight of the weekend. The folks at the Louisville Convention and Visitors Bureau hosted a dinner at the Brown Hotel's English Grille Chef's Table for out-of-town media. Five courses prepared by Chef Laurent Geroli, bourbon, wine, great conversation. Picture includes: Michelle Jones of Consuming Louisville, Baratunde Thurston of The Onion et al, Max Linsky of Longform.org, Ellen McGirt of Fast Company Magazine, Chef Laurent, CC Chapman, author & entrepreneur.

The evening ended with me leading the group mentioned above (minus Michelle) down to the Seelbach Hotel (where we passed DJ Pauly D on the way in). There, they generously treated me to Pappy Van Winkle 23 while we poked around the Rathskeller.

Thank you so much to the LVCB and Chef Laurent for being such great ambassadors for the city. (And thanks too for the personalized "Official Bourbon Taster" chef's jacket!) I spent a lot of time with out-of-towners this weekend, and to a person they absolutely LOVED Louisville. Good job, city!

PS. I had no idea that the Chef's Table existed, but it does! And you can have dinner there too. Check out the link above for the English Grille. Chef Laurent is a charming host.

Ticket Giveaway! Max & Ruby Live!

So, bad news for Spongebob Squarepants lovers, huh? Turns out that exposure to fast-paced, flashy cartoons makes little dudes' short attention span even shorter. But what's interesting about the study is that one of the other test groups had kiddos watching a slower-paced, calmer show from PBS, and those kids did okay on their memory tests.

Max & Ruby is one of those slow, calm cartoons for kids. And guess what, Louisville? The widdle bunnies are coming to town.  Max & Ruby: Bunny Party is a stage show for children.  Here's the story, according to the press release:


It's a surprise party for someone special, and bunny siblings Max and Ruby have a-million-and-one things to do before the big event. Join in the fun as they embark on a musical bus ride to East Bunnyhop General Store, where they deliberate on what to buy for the Super Duper Special Birthday Guest. Max & Ruby never quite want the same thing and their plans always collide – with hilarious results!

The show is on October 9 at 1p & 4p at the Louisville Palace Theatre.  Tickets are $19-$28.50 at www.livenation.com

But, dear readers with wee ones, I could hook you up with four tickets to the 4pm show!  All you have to do is tell me in the comments what your favorite cartoon was as a kid. I'll pick a winner at random on October 1.

My favorite? I'm sure I could come up with a better answer if I thought about it longer, but I really, really dug Muppet Babies.

Best Week Ever

I'm not counting on the fact that my "mean reds" have been banished. But tonight I'm a little giddy; this is "happy" like I haven't felt happy in a while.  And it's all due to the fact that I have embarked on a week-long journey that has the potential to be the Best Week Ever.

It all started with the final Waterfront Wednesday of the season, tonight.  They Might Be Giants put on a joyful, silly show that I'd been looking forward to since their performance was announced in late spring.  I've loved TMBG since I was in high school.  The band opened with "Birdhouse in Your Soul," a song that I quoted on my high school yearbook page (my school was so tiny that each of the 36 seniors got their own full page in the yearbook).  I met up with a bunch of friends; I danced and sang along.  And what a fraking beautiful night, Louisville.  After four days of nearly unrelenting gloom, we had clear skies and sundress weather for Waterfront Wednesday.

If you missed Waterfront Wednesday, you still have time to hop on my "best week ever" ride.  Here's how:

I took two days off from my Meatspace Workplace to attend IdeaFestival.  And the best news is, my workplace considered the request "professional development" so I am not burning personal days. IdeaFestival is in full swing and there's still two and a half days of the event.  As I have always said, IdeaFestival may very well be the most wonderful time of the year here in Louisville.  Read my love letter to IF circa 2009 here.  I have been granted a media pass to the festival, so expect a bunch of blog posts and a flurry of tweets from me about IF over the next couple of days.  But don't just stay tuned to the blog-- GO! experience IdeaFestival for yourself.  Individual tickets are available for each of the events; some events are free. Check out the website for the schedule and for ticketing.

Thursday night, after all the great sessions at IdeaFestival, is one of my favorite IF events: the Taste of Innovation.  Michelle at Consuming Louisville has a great post about this year's event.  It's $30, but I have been to three Tastes of Innovation, and I swear it is worth every penny.  This year it is being held at Millionaire's Row at Churchill Downs-- how lovely is that?  And my date for the event is none other than Ms. Michelle from Consuming Louisville.  As I said: Best Week Ever.

Friday is another full day of IdeaFestival sessions.  Then Friday night I get to go to dinner with some of the festival presenters and national media thanks to the Louisville Convention and Vistors' Bureau.

Saturday-- again, IdeaFestival stuff-- concludes with the NULU Festival, the IF "after party." Yes, I love the Jug Band Jubilee, but NULU Festival ranks high on my list of favorite annual festivals.  Check out this blog post from the year that a nigh-monsoon squashed the end of the festival.  The headliner for this event is a band that might be my favorite local band: The Pass.  Check out the NULU Fest website for more details.  The event is from 2pm til 11pm.  Unless a monsoon occurs.

Sunday I rest.  Because that's what you're supposed to do. IdeaFestival is over.

Monday I am back to work, and normal life resumes.  But Monday night, the Kentucky Authors' Forum is producing an event at the Kentucky Center where Rosanne Cash will be interviewed by Nick Spitzer. I will be tweeting/blogging about the event, thanks to the delightful folks at the Forum.  Tickets are $20 or $100 for a VIP dinner.  I couldn't be more excited about this event.  Cash is not only an amazing singer-songwriter, she's a transcendently beautiful thinker.  If you're on Twitter and not following @rosannecash, you're missing out.

Tuesday: Again work.  But Tuesday night the Moth comes to Louisville.  Another fantastic night in Louisville.  The Moth Radio Hour has long been one of my favorite NPR programs.  And this particular iteration is being produced by one of my favorite people in the world.  Tickets are $8 in advance.  Visit the Headliners website for more details.

This week might be the Best. Week. Ever.  Maybe it will chase the mean reds away?

Love This City: Me & the Mean Reds

Confession: I have been in unholy funk lately.


Back when I was in high school, my favorite movie was Breakfast at Tiffany's. I was a really different person back then (weren't we all?). I bought the VHS tape and nearly wore it out.  But in my twenties, I just stopped watching. It lost its glow. I no longer believed that being charmingly dysfunctional was attractive and my ticket to the tunnel of love. I'd lived in New York City and visited Tiffany's, and it had not soothed my soul. In fact, Tiffany's bummed me out-- looking at $250 keychains while working three jobs to make the rent just made me resentful.  And let's face it, it's hard to get past Mickey Rooney's portrayal of Mr. Yunioshi, right?


But when I get in these funks, I think of Holly Golightly (gosh, was there ever a character name as delightful as "Holly Golightly"?). 


I don't have the blues; I have the "mean reds."


Holly Golightly: You know those days when you get the mean reds?
Paul Varjak: The mean reds. You mean like the blues?
Holly Golightly: No. The blues are because you're getting fat, and maybe it's been raining too long. You're just sad, that's all. The mean reds are horrible. Suddenly you're afraid, and you don't know what you're afraid of. Do you ever get that feeling?

Yeah, Holly. Yeah I do. 


But let me tell you something, Louisville, the one unflinchingly good thing in my life is you. You're full of interesting and exciting things to do, and you're full of people who are kind and thoughtful and lovely to be around. 


I mean, it's hard to articulate exactly why I've been in a funk. (Which is why Holly's definition of the "mean reds" really speaks to me.) Seriously, just look at how I spent my weekend:


On Friday night, Roommate and I took in Actors Theatre's production of DRACULA. I went last year, but this was Roommate's first time. It's not entirely my cup of tea, to be honest, but both of us came away wondering the same thing: why in the world do locals pay exorbitant prices for cheesy haunted houses as a build-up to Halloween, when they can go see DRACULA at Actors? I'll be honest; I'm basing my knowledge of haunted houses on the few I saw in my youth. But I remember them being pricey, cheesy, and quick. DRACULA is scary, superbly produced, and a couple of hours long. 


On Saturday, we went to the Jug Band Jubilee, which is quickly becoming my favorite annual festival. It was a gorgeous night to be on the waterfront, and I bumped into some of my best friends in the city. After the event ended, a bunch of us went over to the (I'm still calling it "new") BBC on Main Street. I am a sucker for iceberg wedge salads, and the BBC has the best one in the city-- and it's only $5.99. It has both bleu cheese and ranch dressing, and the bacon crumbles are generously portioned and really tasty (this from a woman who is totally over the whole bacon fad). THEN (yes, it was an Energizer Bunny night), a couple of us went to one of my favorite bars downtown-- Al J's in the Galt House (is that Paula Abdul on their website?). I love looking out over the river at night. And I both love and feel bad for the fish in their fishtank bar.  The drinks at Al J's are well-made and among the most reasonable I've had in a hotel bar-- around $7.50 for a Manhattan.  


And Sunday, I got to interview the subject of my upcoming article for the October issue of The Louisville Paper-- Mike Brooks. Mike's one of the co-founders of the much-lauded new theater company in town, Theatre [502]. And he's intense and smart and funny and amazingly contemplative (you'll just have to wait for my article to hear more). But this guy is, like, the opposite of the "mean reds;" this guy is the opposite of "afraid for no reason." Seriously-- and pardon my crassness here-- but you have to have huge effing balls to start a new theatre company in this economy. And he and his friends just got it done. Inspiring.


So many good things. And so many more coming up. In fact, the next few days are shaping up to be utterly brilliant. More to come on that soon.


I still have the mean reds. But they'll pass. They always do. And no matter how funked out I get, Louisville, I'm never so funked out that I forget how much I love you.

Louisville Film Fest Giveaway! Party on, Dudes!

I'm super excited to announce that thanks to the fine folks at the Louisville Film Festival, I have two passes to the October event to give away to my faithful readers and Twitter followers.

Here's how to win:

Hop on the Tweetybox and tweet me AND @LouFilmFest the name of a film that was integral to your youth that you're worried the youth of 2011 will not be exposed to.

I'll choose a winner at random on September 28. Only one entry per Tweety person.

As a high school teacher, I know that kids these days are still watching the good ol' John Hughes staples. And no self-respecting parent is letting their children hit puberty without sitting them down and making them watch the Star Wars trilogy (the good one).

But I do worry that Keanu Reeves' entire oeuvre has made parents forget just how terrific he was back in 1989.

So my answer would read: @loueyville, I worry that kids these days aren't getting enough Bill And Ted's Excellent Adventures. @LouFilmFest

Because my students think I've lost it when I pronounce the philosopher's name "So-Crates."

Update: So far we've had nominations of:

• @loueyville, I worry that kids are missing "Meatballs." Shouldn't they learn early that "it just doesn't matter!" if they win? @LouFilmFest -- from @eekshecried
• @loueyville I worry that kids won't know about Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Such a flawless expression of the simple joys of youth @LouFilmFest-- from @lesil
• @loueyville, I worry that kids these days aren't getting enough of "the sound of music." @LouFilmFest-- from @freeyourheart
• @loueyville @LouFilmFest The movie from my youth that I think todays youth will not be exposed to is "This Is Spinal Tap"-- from kycubsfan
• Today's youth need to know about Rain Man (R). @LouFilmFest @Loueyville j.mp/lfilm11-- from @zepfanman
• @loueyville @LouFilmFest No laughing: I'm afraid today's youth won't be properly exposed to Star Wars. The new stuff just isn't the same. :/ -- from @erin_mcmahon
• @loueyville I wonder if anyone under 40 has or will ever see "Out of Africa." Not funny, but neither is life sometimes. :) @LouFilmFest from @MsPaulaBurba
• @loueyville I worry that kids are missing "Major Payne". Tough love, is the best love. No tears, no excuses. @LouFilmFest from @KdeLost
• I'm worried kids today won't know what a Truffle Shuffle is or where "Hey you guyyyyyys" is from #Goonies @loueyville @LouFilmFest from @EvanWinkle
• @loueyville , I worry that kids won't see Blade Runner. So many great things about that movie. @LouFilmFest

Rosanne Cash: Kentucky Author Forum

The only time I've seen Rosanne Cash live was in the mid-90's in NYC at the Bitter End or the Bottom Line (I can never get those two straight). She was playing in support of her album 10 Song Demo, but all I really knew about her was that she was Johnny Cash's daughter and that was good enough for me.

I must have been feeling flush at the time. After all, I was working three jobs just to make rent and ramen noodles at my East Village apartment. There was never extra money for things like concerts at clubs, unless my friends were in the band and my name was on the list.  And as I was living with a musician (sometimes two or three depending on who needed a place to crash), that wasn't all that unusual.

But I was definitely not on the list for Rosanne Cash, and I'm relatively sure I'd never heard her music before that night.  But it was love at first listen.

And from that night for the next couple of years-- a move to Tampa, then a move to Baton Rouge, then a move to New Orleans-- 10 Song Demo was on regular rotation in my cd player. Some song or another from the album made it on every mix tape/mix cd I made for every boy or man I dated. I vaguely remember wallowing over a broken heart listening to "Price of Temptation" on repeat and singing my heart out through sobs.

I can still sing the entire album by heart.

Flash forward a decade and a half. Now @RosanneCash is probably my favorite celebrity I'm following on Twitter.  From her mock feud with @SusanOrlean about who exactly is Mrs. Colin Firth to her Hurricane Irene tweets from "Zone B" in Manhattan, I've fallen even more in love with her. She's smart, funny, and responsive to her fans.

I enter into evidence her tweet from ten minutes ago:

rosannecash Flipping channels: Miss Universe 2011, Tea Party debate, Hoarders. I'm confused. Which ones are the potential world leaders? 9/12/11 9:42 PM

And now she's coming to the Kentucky Author Forum at the Kentucky Center in two weeks in support of her memoir, Composed (which I tried to pick up at Carmichael's this weekend, but it was nowhere to be found).

The last Kentucky Author Forum featured Billy Collins interviewed by Garrison Keillor, and it was utterly delightful.  As I mentioned in that blog post, both Collins and Keillor are polarizing figures, but I adore both of them.  This time, the interviewer is Nick Spitzer, host of American Routes, one of my favorite NPR music programs.  

I'm not on the list again for this Rosanne Cash show.  And instead of working three jobs, I work one and some odd jobs to make mortgage and a more well-balanced meal plan.  But that one job yields only a teacher's salary, so $20 is still a bit steep for an hour-long visit with Ms. Cash.  ($100 gets you a VIP experience including dinner with Cash and Spitzer.)

But I will be there.

On a side note, last night Roommate and I saw Le Petomane's 5 THINGS, finally.  I can't recommend it highly enough.  I desperately wanted the show to be good after spending a couple of hours with the actor-writers for my preview for The Louisville Paper; I liked all three of them so much, it would have been awful if the show had been just so-so.  Trust me, it is not.  It is, as I'd hoped, brilliant.  And you'll be so sorry if you miss it.  There are four more shows-- Sep 14-17.  Go go go.

The relavent tangent is this: 5 THINGS is a play that is a play on the whole "desert island discs" concept.  If I were stranded on a desert island and could only have five albums to keep me company, 10 Song Demo, would be one of them. Even though, as the characters in 5 THINGS realize eventually, all of the songs are already with me... in here. *taps her noggin*

The Paper: Le Petomane article

Just an update to today's post:

The whole article about Le Petomane's "5 Things" is up now at The Paper's website.  Enjoy.

Always Comedy: Le Petomane's Season Opens.

A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to sit in on a rehearsal for Le Petomane Theatre Ensemble's original comedy 5 THINGS. If you've picked up the September issue of The Paper, you'll see the article that came out of that afternoon. Unfortunately, that article isn't online yet and 5 THINGS opens today at the Bard's Town Theater. So, I asked the lovely The Paper folks if I could reprint an excerpt here. This is the short version... the version in The Paper is twice as long...


5 Things is being put together with butcher paper and duct tape on a peeling plaster wall. There will be a script, eventually. There’s always a script, eventually. But right now it’s just Sharpie on butcher paper.


Abigail Maupin, co-founder and Artistic Co-Director of Le Petomane Theatre Ensemble says the process is a bit like “magnetic poetry,” and it’s an apt analogy. The storyboard, if you can call it that, is taped over and rearranged a half dozen times in the two hours I spend in Le Petomane’s rehearsal space.

Before they start rehearsal for the three-member show, Abigail Maupin, Greg Maupin, and Kyle Ware give me a rundown on the plot. 5 Things is about three retail workers-- one each from a bookstore, a record store, and a video store-- who’ve been marooned on an island. As you might guess from the title, it’s a riff on the “Desert Island Discs” party game. Each character has been allowed to bring “5 things” to the island. Over the course of the play, they explain and justify their choices. But how did they get there? Is it a voluntary marooning (after all, “5 things” implies some planning)? Greg smiles and says, “You’re asking all the right questions.” And then he doesn’t answer them.


Rehearsal isn't rehearsal so much as a brainstorming session. All three members have already explained the ensemble's "group think" or "hive mind," and now here it is at work. Sentences are rarely completed (at least by the person who started the sentence). The actors often seem to be speaking in code.

Two hours of focused artistic imagination. Almost no side trips or digressions-- how often does that happen when you put three smart people in a room and light a fire under their creative process? At the end of the rehearsal, when they say that they hope I’ll come see the play, I respond: “Are you kidding me? Of course, I’m going. I’m dying to know what this play is really about!”

Abigail and Greg Maupin founded Le Petomane in 2004. “I think I was there for Le Petomane's first show in Louisville, back when the ensemble numbered two: Greg and Abigail themselves,” says David J. Loehr, artist-in-residence at the Riverrun Theatre in Madison, IN and purveyor of the website 2AMtheatre.com. “That show began with nearly 20 minutes of near silence, except for the audience's laughter.”

Le Petomane has since grown to six members, and productions feature varying combinations of performers. In the course of a Le Petomane season, cast members change, venues change, styles change. There’s one thing that doesn’t change. “Always comedy,” says Abigail.

“As the ensemble has grown, it's been exciting to watch them develop their aesthetic,” says Loehr. “It's more than just ‘new wave dell'arte,’ whether it's an original, experimental ‘tango noir’ like Ban: An Appeal or a wildly inventive adaptation of Midsummer Night's Dream for a cast of six, multiplied by the clever use of masks. They maintain a balance, designing shows for modern sensibilities with classical underpinnings.”

Loehr adds, “They also played ukuleles before ukuleles were cool again.”

The only instrument better-suited to a desert island than a ukulele is, of course, a lobster claw harmonica (“I got it in Maine!” says Greg, as though that explains... anything). Based on only two hours spent watching Le Petomane’s creative process, I cannot confirm that either will make it into the final product. But based on only two hours, I’m reasonably certain that the final product will be some strange kind of genius.




5 Things is the first show in Le Petomane’s 2011-2012 four-show season and will be the first show they’ve launched at the Bard’s Town Theater. Performances are September 7-12 and 14-17 at 7:30pm. Tickets are on a pay-as-you-can sliding scale, $8-$20. For tickets, visit: thebardstown.com or call 502-749-5275. For more information on Le Petomane Theatre Ensemble and their upcoming season, visit their website at lepetomane.org

Red State: One Showing on 9/25

It's rare that I ever post about anything I wouldn't be caught dead at. But I'm always happy when Louisville lands a limited-release film, no matter what it is.

Arty Louisvillagers complain about the fact that many indy films pass us by.  And soon, Dreamland Film Center may answer those Louisvillagers' prayers. But I lived in New Orleans for eight-plus years; and it's a considerably bigger and superficially more arty city, with almost the exact same draw for indy movies.  One quasi art house cinema-- Canal Place-- in the Quarter, which is currently showing Planet of the Apes, The Help, The Debt, Sarah's Key, and Midnight in Paris. Sound familiar? Yep, that's pretty much what's playing at Baxter now.

I'm not saying that there isn't cause for complaint and room for improvement. But a lot of the smaller indy films do make their way to Louisville. Remember Roommate's comical dust-up with Magnolia Films? Another Earth-- still playing at Baxter, go go go-- and The Big Uneasy?

Oh hey, what was the point of this post?  Right-- limited release movie that I want to promote but would never see...

September 25th at Baxter Ave Theater, Red State, Kevin Smith's controversial political horror (those two words go together now better than ever) movie will be screened, followed by Q&A simulcast via satellite and Twitter.  I am not a fan of horror movies, nor am I a fan of Kevin Smith.  But there you go.

Dreamland Film Center: A USEFUL LIFE

Looks like Dreamland Film Center, the uber-indy new micro theater, is moving beyond "soft opening" events pretty soon.  They announced their first multi-run film today on Facebook; it's an Uruguayan film called A USEFUL LIFE, and it's part of their Global Lens Series.

According to the Facebook page:

Global Lens returns with Uruguay's A Useful Life, a modest pocket-vest valentine of a film, dedicated to cinephiles everywhere, about the joys and limits of being in love with movies. Jorge Jellinek stars as the manager of an arthouse cinema in Montevideo who is forced to confront the "real" world when his theater goes out of business.

Showings will be at 7p & 9p on September 8-10.  It's $3 if you're a Louisville Film Society member and $7 if you're not.  The Louisville Film Society lists several upcoming events for Dreamland.

I have high hopes for the Dreamland Film Center.  This 75-seat venue could be exactly what Louisville film aficionados have been hoping for.

The Word 'Jubilee' Makes Everything Happier

Last year I made a fairly public promise to attend the National Jug Band Jubilee, and I did follow through on that promise. And honestly, I had an unreasonably fantastic time.  As soon as I saw the fliers for this year's Jubilee, I did a little happy dance of anticipation.

The 2011 Jubilee is Saturday September 17 and features 9 national jug bands from noon til 11p at the Brown-Foreman Amphitheater.  Admission is free, and this year's festival is going to be recorded for a future Kentucky Homefront radio show on WFPK.

One of the things I loved most about the Jubilee is that it attracted a pretty diverse group of (given, mostly white) people. There were people for whom jug band music is part of their heritage. There were a ton of Bardstown Road hipsters on their Vespas. The similarities in dress, however, made a casual game of "Facial Hair: Ironic or Authentic?" preeeetty darned difficult.

Jug band music is billed as "America's Happiest Music."  And if you've ever been to the Jubilee, you'll understand why. There's dancing and storytelling and crafts and good comfort food and beer.  People bring their whole families-- multiple generations. And y'all know how I feel about music outside, especially on the water?  Heaven.  Here's hoping the weather shapes up before then.

Launch Party for September The Paper

The September issue of the new Louisville indy paper, The Paper, comes out tomorrow, and the folks behind this 'good news' publication are having a launch party at Please and Thank You on Market St. during Friday's Trolley Hop.  Swing by and pick up a copy and visit with folks from The Paper and their contributors.

It's been a long time since I wrote something for print, but this issue of The Paper features my article about Le Petomane Theatre Ensemble and their upcoming production of 5 THINGS.  I haven't seen the final version, but I'm looking forward to it!

I'll post more about 5 THINGS later this week, but mark you calendars: the production starts September 7 at the Bard's Town Theatre.  I haven't been this excited about a theater production in a while.

Happy not-29th Birthday to Me! Waterfront Wednesday Edition

When I was a kid, I never understood why one of my young uncles gave Mama a "Happy 29th Birthday!" card for several years running. I knew she wasn't twenty-nine-- she's born in a nice round year, it's easy to do the math, so I knew he knew she wasn't twenty-nine. So, what was so damn funny about that card??

Then one evening at Nerd Camp this summer, I was sitting on the patio of our hotel in Virginia City, NV having a couple of beers with the Nerds.  I began a sentence with "when I was in my early thirties..." and by the time I'd finished the sentence, I realized no one was paying attention. When I asked what was up, one of the Nerds said, "Your early thirties? You're how old?" A guessing game ensued, and the three Nerds, one in her 50's and the other two in their mid-20's, said they'd previously assumed I was in my late twenties. Twenty-eight, to be exact.

Now granted, this was after a couple of beers, but I'd been with these folks a week, and apparently I'd been passing as a late-twentysomething.

And yeah, that felt a little... great. They're crazy, of course. I may not necessarily look quite as old as I actually am, but there's no way you'd mistake me for a twentysomething.  But yeah, it felt a little great. And it made me remember Ma's birthday cards.

Thirty was a dirty word. Twenty-nine, however... well, that was still "young."

Today (August 31) is my birthday. I'm not turning 29. And honestly, I wouldn't go back to my twenties if you paid me (well, maybe if you paid me A LOT) (or maybe if you gave me a total do-over). I'm pretty okay with being thirty-mumblemumble.

I'm even more okay with starting my new year off right with Waterfront Wednesday.  It was very nice of the WFPK folks to plan August's Waterfront Wednesday on my birthday, knowing that it's my favorite day of every summer month.  I'm not familiar with this month's artists: Sarah Jaffe, Ha Ha Tonka, and Katie Herzig... but you know me, give me live music outside and I am happy.

Don't forget that WW is still on the Big Four Lawn-- when will we be moving back to the waterfront outside of Slugger Field?? I miss the old location!  If you're there, look for me.  I'm always in the back, close to the walkway.

Happy Waterfront Wednesday to you! And happy not-29th birthday to me!

(And a happy not-29th birthday to my late father. It's always lovely to remember that at the very least, I started my life as someone's really fantastic birthday present.)

A Hurricane Story by Jennifer Shaw

On today, the 6th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, I bring you a story that's all about hope and beauty.

Back when I lived in NOLA, I saw Jen & Cesar fairly regularly.  They are dear friends of one of my dear friends, and I was often invited to group gatherings. Cesar is from Rhode Island and is of Portuguese descent (as am I on my dad's side), so we had a bit of the "we're not from around here" bond.  (In New Orleans, like in Louisville, when people ask you where you went to school, they mean high school.  Most introductions start with that question or a question about what neighborhood you're from.)

Jennifer, an amazing photographer, was 9 months pregnant when the evacuation orders for Katrina came in. She and Cesar evacuated to a strange motel in a strange town, and in the middle of the night, as Katrina roared toward New Orleans, her water broke. Baby Claudio was born far from New Orleans just as Katrina came ashore.

A few years ago, Jennifer created a photo narrative of her family's evacuation story.  I saw a very early version of it and choked back tears as I read. Now it's available for purchase.  Today the book was featured on NPR's website.

Reviews:

"Like a mournful fairytale, Jennifer Shaw’s beautifully staged tableaux are alternately sweet and menacing, filled with emotion but never spilling over into sentimentality. The poetic marriage of words and photos makes Hurricane Story a children’s book for grown-ups.” —Josh Neufeld, creator of A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge

"Even if you think you've seen it all where Katrina's concerned, trust me, you're going to love Shaw's marvelous memoir."—The Times-Picayune

"This is the kind of book that reminds you that books can be beautiful objects." —The Los Angeles Times

"Hurricane Story is a tabletop, toy box Odyssey. With simple objects, trenchant statements, and exquisite camera vision, Shaw relates an epic tale of displacement, creation and discovery." — George Slade, curator, Photographic Resource Center, Boston

"An engaging variation on a near mythic theme."—Gambit Weekly

You can also see the photographs and text here at Jen's website.  It's a beautiful, honest story.  I hope you take a few minutes to read it.

Happy 6th birthday, Claudio!

An Open Letter to Baby D's Bagel Deli

Dear Baby D's Bagel Deli:

You should have seen the "happy dance" I did when I walked by your storefront just around the corner from Wick's on Highland.  A bagel place, a few blocks from my house? I'm overjoyed. I can't wait til your soft opening on September 8.

I've been longing for a NYC quality bagel for... sigh... years.  Let's face it, most of the bagels in Louisville are sad, dense little hockey pucks (oddly enough, that's one of Roommate's nicknames for me, "Dense Little Hockey Puck."  I kid. I kid.).  I've yet to find a place that has a bagel with cream cheese that really gets it right-- either the bagel is okay (never great) and the cream cheese is a disaster, or vice versa.

And I love that your signage says: "Breakfast, Lunch, Late Night." (You do know that on Bardstown "late night" means 2am minmum 4-5am ideally, right?)   A bagel with cream cheese is one of the great "after a few drinks" meals.  Using Kentucky Proud ingredients? Homemade soups? Heine Bros coffee?  Bagel sandwiches?  Everything about this sounds fabulous.

I hate to be bossy, but it is almost my birthday, so my bossypants have been pressed and are waiting on the hanger, ready to be worn.  But I am a bit opinionated about bagels, so I thought I would put in some requests now, while you're still setting up.

Please feature veggie, garlic and herb, and lox cream cheese spreads. And please don't put onions in the lox spread-- that's gross.  And please make sure your veggie cream cheese actually tastes like something more than cream cheese with chunks. I know a lot of people like the sweet cream cheese spreads, like strawberry walnut ugh and blueberry pecan bleh, but don't skimp on the savory options, please.

If you're making your own soups, please try to make a broccoli cheddar soup that rocks. It's one of my favorites-- Oh! And a tortilla soup too!!-- , and I can't find a good version  of either of those of here in Louisville.  In case you were wondering, based on my non-scientific survey of soups, the best soups in Louisville are:  #1 Cream of Mushroom at Joe Davola's, #2 Tomato Dill at The Cafe, and #3 Lobster Bisque at The Bodega. If you haven't tried all of those, you should. And then strive to makes soups as good as those.

I lived in NYC for 5 years, and for one of those years, five days a week, I had the same workday lunch.  Five days a week, I had Muenster cheese, cucumbers, sprouts, and lettuce on a sesame bagel with a bit of mayo.  I still daydream about this bagel sandwich.  I would love you forever if you could recreate this dream sandwich for me.  Heck, it's so good, you should put it on your menu and call it The Loueyville.  I promise I won't ask for royalties.

Good luck in your endeavor.  I hope you find huge success in my neighborhood.  I have high hopes for you. Can't wait to stop by some Saturday afternoon.

xo
Lou

Irene and Katrina and Ike

It's 3am, and I'm still awake.  Normally that means I've been having a great night out on the town, but I haven't been out socializing.

I had a lovely night.  We had dinner at Papalino's, then cupcakes at Jamie's 14k Cupcakes on Baxter.  Then Roommate and I went down to Waterfront Park and watched the post-Bats game fireworks (so much fun... and free!).  Came home and watched the brand-new Doctor Who and then watched a couple of episodes of Dexter on a Netflix DVD.

A great night by all measures.

But it's 3am, and I'm glued to Irene coverage on the interwebs.  All hail modern technology, I can watch the NBC news feed from Connecticut and see what Mama Lou would be seeing.

Six years ago, almost to the hour, Mayor Ray Nagin of New Orleans held a press conference and said that if people didn't evacuate New Orleans, they should be prepared to suffer and maybe even die.  It was an unprecedented expression of hyperbole, but it was enough to get us to leave.

Six years ago minus 24 hrs, Roommate and I were just arriving in Panama City Beach, FL after dodging tornadoes and road closures for hours.  The usual 5-6 hr drive from NOLA had taken us 13 hours.

Tonight, six years ago, minus 24hrs, I stayed up all night and watched on TV as Katrina rolled into my city and prepared to drown it.

Tonight... last I heard, at least, Mama Lou is asleep.  But still I am sitting vigil.

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know that I survived Katrina superficially unscathed.  But when Ike hit Louisville, the winds toppled a 40' tree onto my house, and I lived in a hotel for 8+ months while it was being rebuilt.

Irony? And probably why this hurricane has me so stressed out.

NTDWL: Irene

Last year, on the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, I decided to re-blog some posts from Displaced, the blog I began in September 2005.  But two posts in, I just couldn't do it anymore. Plowing through those 85 posts from September 2005-September 2007 just hurt too much.  I still haven't been able to make it through all of them without quitting.

And even though I have "come out" as a blogger, I don't feel comfortable linking to that blog-- it's very raw, and I share a lot of personal stuff and identify a lot of people by name.  Maybe one day, I will clean it up... make it appropriate to share and then share it with my Loueyville readers. Actually, I'd like to do that.

As the sixth anniversary of Katrina approaches, so does Hurricane Irene.  Today I bristled when I saw Irene jokes on Twitter.  I know I am tenderhearted when it comes to hurricanes, but there's just nothing to laugh about with this storm.  Or any serious hurricane.  I hope I am wrong; I hope I am Chicken Little and everyone laughs at me after the fact for being so concerned.  But I am concerned, and my heart goes out to all who are in Irene's path.

Right now that includes my entire family.

Beckett X 2

My undergraduate degree program didn't allow you to concentrate on any particular facet of your major.  I mean, you could, but those concentrations wouldn't end up on any official documentation.  So I graduated with a vanilla English major, but my coursework was almost entirely in two concentrations: Creative Writing and Modern Irish Literature.

I remember reading WAITING FOR GODOT in high school and having no flipping idea what was going on.  My sophomore year in college, I took an entire class on Beckett and fell in love.

So I'm psyched that Savage Rose Theatre is putting up a production of two of Beckett's short plays: KRAPP'S LAST TAPE and HAPPY DAYS starting August 25 (here is the calendar, warning: it's a PDF).  I'm especially excited to see that one of my favorite local directors is directing my favorite of the two.  Alex Volz, who's directed some wonderful things for Walden Theatre, is directing KRAPP'S.

I don't believe I have seen any of Savage Rose's productions; I may have to rectify that by going to see this production.  It's at Walden's Nancy Niles Sexton stage.  Check out their website for more details.

Monday Night Randomness: Summer is over, long live Summer

First real work day at the Meatspace Workplace.  It's a bit like childbirth, methinks.  While we're on vacation, we're programmed to forget how much effort and energy real work takes.  But then we adjust.  At least, I usually adjust.

Lots of good stuff going on in Louisville these days.

Of course, there's the fair.  I've yet to make it this year, but I'm sure I'll squeeze it in. While I'm not a big fan of fair food, which seems to be the main reason many of you go, I just like the whole "fair culture."  The booths, the livestock, the this year's clever take on "I'm With Stupid" t-shirts.  Didn't see much on the music line-up that spoke to me this year.

But that's okay because there are two shows this week I plan on attending.  Alex Wright is playing at Zazoo's on Thursday around 6pm.  This promises to be a special show; not only is it his 10th year wedding anniversary, but it sounds like his lovely wife has been coerced to sing a little too.  And on Friday, Awesome Louisvillager, Brigid Kaelin is playing her farewell (for now) show at the Monkey Wrench starting at 630p.  While we will sorely miss her, Edinburgh, Scotland is in for a treat for the next 15 months.  Read more about the show at Consuming Louisville.

And next week is Waterfront Wednesday.  And my birthday.

As the nights get cooler, Bats season is wrapping up.  My friends at Actors Theater tell me that this Friday, Dracula will be throwing out the first pitch. If you're not headed to Ms. Kaelin's show, I hope you get to see that!

Speaking of Actors, as Roommate said recently, it's very kind of Actors to start their season just as the Bats season wraps up.  SENSE & SENSIBILITY starts Tuesday, August 30.  I'll be sure to let you know what I think of the production after I see it on September 1.

So even though it's back to work for me, my social dance-card is still pretty full.  Clinging to the last few bits of summertime here.

Hope you are too.

(Have you seen Another Earth yet?  No?  Go, and then thank me.)

Another Earth: Opens in Louisville Tomorrow

A couple of months ago, thanks to the Louisville Flyover Film Festival, I was lucky to get a very early viewing of the best film I've seen all year.  Maybe one of the best films I've seen in a couple of years.

Another Earth stars Loueyvillager (and yes, Lou's celebrity-crush) William Mapother and the astonishingly inspiring Brit Marling, who also co-wrote the film.

I haven't been able to stop talking about this film since June. And tomorrow, the film opens at Baxter Avenue Theater, with Mapother participating in a Q&A after the 7:40pm shows on Friday and Saturday.

If you haven't seen Another Earth, go.  Read my response to my June viewing here.  If anything, my feelings about the film grew bigger and more complex and more adoring in the months following my viewing.

While Mapother was fantastic, Marling was a revelation.  And so help me, if the Oscars folks don't nominate her for best actress, it will verify that this shizz is rigged.

(Note: I guess I don't really believe that the "shizz" is rigged.)

Go see the film.  Go when Mapother is there and get your Q's A'ed.  Give him a big hug from me.

Seriously.  Another Earth IS the best film of the year (and you know I've seen a lot of films this year).

Ten-Tucky Festival at Bard's Town

One of the many pieces of writing I may have lost forever when my laptop had a "kernel panic" and had to have the hard-drive wiped was a 10-minute play I'd been working on for a year.  It was Mary Roach's Packing for Mars meets HBO's In Treatment, and I was pretty psyched about it except that I couldn't figure out how one would do the whole zero-gravity thing on stage without it looking like a bad production of Peter Pan.

That's just to say that I love 10-minute plays.  I think plays that short really showcase the writers in a way that full plays can't.

The Bard's Town Theater is putting on The Ten-Tucky Plays next weekend and through the end of the month.  Eight plays from eight Kentucky playwrights directed by eight Kentucky directors.  The plays include:

Show dates (all at 7:30 PM): Aug 17, 18. 19, 20, 21, 24, 25, 26, 27.

Plays include:

"Neighborly Do’s and Don’ts"
Written by Brian Walker
Directed by Brian Walker
Featuring Becky LeCron, Tad Chitwood

"The Intruder"
Written by Tom Kerrigan
Directed by Tom Kerrigan
Featuring Andrew Epstein, Brian Kennedy, Kimby Peterson

"The Internet President"
Written by Patrick Wensink
Directed by Jake Beamer
Featuring Ryan Watson, Kimby Peterson, John Tranchitella, Becky LeCron, Tad Chitwood, Brian Kennedy.

"Disappearances, or the Groom’s Shoes"
Written by Nadeem Zaman
Directed by Sara Renauer
Featuring Amy Steiger, Jake Beamer, Blair Boyd, Tad Timberlake

"Wedding for Godot"
Written by Andrew Epstein
Directed by Joey Arena
Featuring Andrew Epstein, Michael Roberts, Craig Nolan Highley, Jennifer Levine, John Tranchitella, Narina Kasabova

"Over"
Written by Alex Lee Morse
Directed by Nadeem Zaman
Featuring Ryan Watson, Megan Brown

"Encounter at the Ink Spot"
Written by Nancy Gall-Clayton
Directed by Amy Steiger
Featuring Jennifer Levine, Nadeem Zaman

"Love Religiously"
Written by Doug Schutte
Directed by Scot Atkinson
Featuring Doug Schutte, Megan Brown, Tad Timberlake, Jesus


That last one, including Jesus, seems like a must-see. Check out the website for more details.  

Kentucky Wonderful: Will Russell's Amazing Dream

Man, I hate it when I'm late to the "great stuff is happening" train.  I especially hate it when that great stuff is something so totally up my alley that it's like it was dreamed up just for me.  Seriously.

Stuff like: Kentucky Wonders, the Cave City attraction in "scheming phase" helmed by Why Louisville's (and Lebowski Fest's) Will Russell.

I just spent some time browsing around the website.  My response?  Murmured expressions of amazement. A few little yips of glee.  And a general, "You've got to be kidding me. This place is like my spiritual home."

In brief (there's already been a great lengthy article in the LEO about it), Kentucky Wonders will be a road-side attraction of the old school Rock City/Weeki Wachee ilk.  According to the website it will feature:

- Kentucky Rushmore - A large structure featuring effigies of Kentucky icons looming over I-65 which will be the premiere attraction of Kentucky Wonders.
- Kentucky Wonders Amphitheater - An outdoor amphitheater for hosting festivals, live music, movie parties, plays, puppet shows and the like.
- Kentucky Dream Factory - An artist residency program studio and living space where artists will create installations on site in the tradition of roadside attractions and ultimately fill the land with a sea of amusements.
- Kentucky Haunted Museum of Oddities - Interactive dioramas created by artists themed around local legends such as Hillbilly Sasquatch, Kentucky Giant, Pope Lick Goat Monster and the like.
- Kentucky Wonders Campsite - An area for camping and recreation.
- WHY Kentucky - A gift shop with souvenirs designed by artists around the theme of Kentucky, Cave City and roadside attractions. 

Roadside attractions, and "oddities" in general (and that Discovery Channel show? how much do I love that?!), are a particular passion of mine. I collect snow globes for gosh's sakes. I interviewed Fairdale Bigfoot.  My college essay-- the one that got me into an Ivy League School-- was about how much I loved a book called, I think, "The Encyclopedia of Kitsch." I have a bust of Elvis and a two-foot plastic penguin in my living room (his name is Buckley). 

I want in, Will Russell. I just wish Cave City weren't so far away.

A Prairie Home Companion this Weekend

I've already posted a blog about how very much I love Garrison Keillor, so I will spare you the fan-girl rhetoric now.  For a while I was a true groupie: traveled twice to St. Paul to see A Prairie Home Companion live, read all his books, yadda yadda.  Our shared love of PHC was one of the things that Roommate and I bonded about when we first met.

This weekend the summer tour of PHC hits Louisville.  Sunday at the Kentucky Center.  This won't be a PHC that will end up on the radio; it's just their summer touring event.

Keillor has said that he will be retiring within the next two years, so this may be the very last time the show hits Louisville.  I haven't bought my tickets yet, and they're super-pricey, but as a fan-girl I would be wicked sad if I let this show pass me by if he's calling it quits soon.

Keillor says he won't retire til he finds a replacement, and my wee noggin has been churning out possibilities ever since this announcement.  My vote is for Peter Sagal of "Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me."  I love that man perhaps even more than I love Keillor.  What a way to breathe fresh, modern air into Prairie Home.  Just a thought...

There are still tickets available, and I'm sure to be grabbing one soon.  You can buy them here.

Rumor Report: Big Blue Country

Because I'm not from here, I've never had a big ol' dog in the UofL/UK sports rivalry race.  I will say that I was a UofL men's basketball and Rick Pitino fan before I even moved here (and was a big Pitino fan until that happened).  And since I moved here, I've become an even bigger fan of the women's basketball team too.

And, I have to admit, I've still not forgiven UK for firing Tubby.  I love Tubby.  Who doesn't love Tubby?

So yes, I root for U of L. But it ain't in my blood.

But I did think that in a city semi-divided that Big Blue Country, the UK-themed sports bar on Baxter, was taking a huge risk by allying itself with a team that many in town see as "the enemy."

And the few times I've been there, it's been packed for the duration of whatever UK game was on television, but then emptied out as soon as the game was over.  It's a nice set-up they have there: big tvs, cheapish beer, decent food.  But I get the sense that they could be doing better.

My minions tell me that Big Blue Country is considering a name-change.  One that will soften their profile as a UK bar and make it more of a general sports bar.  I'm all for it.  We are super-light on sports bars in the Highlands.  It's such a damned shame that when I want to watch sports, I still default to Buffalo Wild Wings.  I don't like to spend my money at chains if I don't have to.

Wishing Big Blue Country luck and hoping the rumors are true.

Wednesday Morning Randomness: Bats, Beer, Music, etc.

I have had such a wonderful summer. I'm so sorry to have it wind down. Mama needs to win the lottery or sell her novel for a bazillion dollars. I'm damned good at the "lady of leisure" thing. Anytime I see someone Tweet or Facebook about "being bored" I want to shout: BORED? Bored? In a world with the internet and ten zillion tv stations and movie theaters and this great city we live in, and let's not forget BOOKS! Books! I don't think I've been bored since the mid-90's. And until I am too old to move or grow blind (it could happen-- my eyesight has gotten worse just about every year since age three), I don't ever anticipate being bored again.  Modernity rocks.

But, despite the fact that I had a marvelous time at Nerd Camp, I am so super happy to be home. And I'm trying to cram in as much "summer fun" into the next week as possible.  Despite the fact that I don't always see all of my friends on a monthly basis, being away from them for a month was kinda hard. And Twitter, of course, makes it possible to see all of the fun they were having without me.  Even though I expressly told them not to have any fun without me.  Damned friends.

Anyway, I have lots of catching up to do, so here's a randomness post for you.  Sorry for some of the "old news" in here. It's all new to me!

• Finally, the old Potstickers location across from Papalino's is getting a new tenant.  It's going to be a cupcake bakery.  Wish I liked sweets, but good on you, cupcakers. You know what I do like? Red velvet cake. If they have a red velvet cupcake, I'm all over that.
  
• The Holy Grale is now open 7 days a week. That instantly improves my quality of life.
  
• As does the re-opening of the Barret Bar under new management.  Roommate and I went there a couple of times before I left for Nerd Camp. The food is great-- worlds better than the old "frozen chicken patty" days.  Roommate had a bbq slider that was delish. Beers are a bit pricey, but pool is still cheap.  And they still have that lovely patio.
  
• Speaking of Holy Grale, I went there yesterday for their first Monday opening ever with the lovely and talented Erin Keane and her lovely and talented mister.  Ms. Erin, one of our city's finest writers, is now writing for Salon.com (among other places). Her article on Roseanne Barr's potential White House bid not only got at Twitter mention from Roseanne herself, but is probably my favorite article she's ever written.
  
• And speaking of my awesome friends (now I feel like I'm name-dropping), I went to Clifton's Pizza tonight to see the always fantastic Alex Wright play with Danny Flannigan, who is also wonderful.  When I found myself singing along to some of Alex's tunes, I realized that I have officially become a "groupie." He said it was okay if I declared myself the president of his fan club, so there you have it.  Alex's CD comes out soon, and he's playing next Thursday with Dewey Kincaid at Zazzo's.  Also, I'm told his CD cover was designed by the marvelous John Wurth who also designed my little acorn logo.
  
• In case you missed it via Twitter, while I was in Connecticut visiting Mama Lou, I hijacked her car for the evening and drove an hour to see our Louisville Bats play the Pawtucket Red Sox, by myself.  It was a gorgeous, glorious evening and a stellar game of baseball that turned into an ugly, ugly, uglyuglyugly loss for our Bats.  Here's the thing, I am clearly one of the Bats' biggest fans, so why is it that every request I've made to them to cover them for this blog has been totally ignored?  Even the person who tweets for the Bats ignores me.  Last year I even asked to interview the person who maintains the field at Slugger Field, and they ignored my request.  It's starting to sting a little, I'll be honest.
  
• And yeah, I know people get all kinds of snarky about people and businesses asking that you vote for them in the LEO Readers' Poll.  I get it.  But I'm going to ask anyway.  I know I'm not the "best blog" in Louisville.  Hands down that honor belongs to Consuming Louisville.  But some day, I would like to be a runner-up.  So, yes, I'm asking for you to vote for me.  Michelle will be fine. ;)
  
• Finally, one thing I've missed this summer is the James Stewart Marathon at the Palace Theater.  This weekend is my favorite Jimmy Stewart movie, "Rear Window."  I used to be a huge Audrey Hepburn fan-- still am, really-- but that was back when I was thin as a rail and totally fey and aspired to be just like her.  Nowadays when I think of classic beauty, I think of Grace Kelley.  Just so ineffably perfect.  

That's the randomness for today.  So happy to be home!  Louisville, I've missed you something awful.

In Which I "Come Out"...

Hello. My name is Melissa. And I'm a blogger.

Hi, Melissa!

I've been writing Loueyville anonymously for more than four years and more than 550 posts. I chose to write as "Lou" because I'm a teacher, and it was really important to me to keep my "lives" separate. I was always afraid that I might say something that I wouldn't want my students, their parents, or my bosses to see. But, frankly, in those four-plus years, I don't think I've published one truly scandalous post. Which is kind of a bummer, if you ask me.

But as I continue to make new friends via this blog and via Twitter, it's become increasingly difficult to separate my online life from my offline life.  Heck, I'm betting half of you reading this post already knew my real name. But most importantly: gosh darn it, I'm pretty proud of this blog; 550+ posts is nothing to sniff at. I work really hard (at times) on many of my posts, and I've never made a pretty penny from Loueyville. It's pure, unadulterated passion. And that's something I should be proud of. So I might as well commit my name to it, right? (Can you tell I'm still a little apprehensive about this?)

And God willing and the creek don't rise, I'll soon be writing an article for The Paper, the new Louisville indy, and I'd like to, you know, sign my name to that too.

It just makes sense for me now.  I won't be broadcasting my identity on a regular basis.  And I'm not about to post my blog to my school's website or anything.  I'd rather keep my blog on the DL for the most part.  But, well, this is what it it is...

So, hi Louisvillagers! I'm Melissa Chipman.  But I'll always be Lou, too. This is my blog.  Nice to meet you!