I didn’t really intend to

I didn’t really intend to take this long of a break from the blog, but I was sort of bowled over by the holidays and general laziness. J and I spent a fabulous Christmas in Denver, basking in unseasonably warm weather and incredible food. Some old friends of mine are in a couple of bands, Bop Skizzum and the Flobots, and they put on an incredible show right after the holidays. Both bands, a funk band and hip hop band respectively, blew my mind by rocking completely out. I have a very clear memory of going to one of the first Bop Skizzum show (when they were the Funktion), which was held in the food court of a local mall. The big song was one called, “Nookie Train, “ which was, as you might guess, about riding the “nookie train.” This was emphasized with train whistle noises, and in spite of everything, wasn’t half bad. A bunch of us came for support and danced our hearts out in the middle of the afternoon outside Orange Julius, with old people glaring at us and little kids toddling up curiously. The Flobots have existed for a long time with different members coming and leaving, with my friend Jamie as the front man. They made tapes and cds and had friends do the artwork and we all carried them around in our cars for years. What they’re doing now though—complex and clever raps with live music and back up singers—completely knocks me flat. I’m sort of left speechless by it all, so overwhelmed am I by their pure talent.

Willow opened the show with a performance piece she’s perfecting, based on a jittery girl who has delusions about belonging to Toastmasters. She really was nervous, which probably ended up working in her favor given she was trying to project nervousness. It was a lot of fun.

The rest of the trip was taken up with checking in with favorite stores and getting meals from my favorite restaurants. Compared with other years, it was a pretty relaxing trip, with group excursions happening as much by chance as by planning. One afternoon, six of us ended wandering around a TJMaxx. We’d originally gone in to check out some shoes that were on sale cheap, but ended up completely enthralled by the ridiculousness of the store. From wooded egg wreaths, to soiled Coach wallets marked down to $100, to bodiless monkey clown ornaments, the store was really something to behold. The packageing for this stadium seat warmer stopped us dead in our tracks:

Let’s get a closer look at the advertised product, which appears to warm your ass by lighting it on fire. It’s so warm you can wear a tank top and shorts while you’re on fire! But your poor friend will have to huddle miserably in the cold next to you..

My Denver friends always put on a raucous New Years Eve party, so they were all upset when they found out we’d be leaving before the festivities. They all wanted to know what the big party was out east that we were hurrying back for and I was embarrassed to admit that, uh, we have no activities. Per say. Or at all really. So far, we’re getting drunk at Krista’s apartment with Tom and watching fireworks, which actually doesn’t sound half bad.

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