Well, I’m back from Florida. I didn’t bring a camera since my little brother had one with him, but since he’s being slow to share his pictures, I’ll have to make do with what I gathered with my iPhone.

Flying over Southwest Florida is really, really pretty. The water is almost turquoise and the canals make for a very pretty landscape.

View from our room at the Hilton.

As soon as we got there, we sat by the pool for a bit, had a drink and then headed straight for the beach. That’s my mom in the pictures.

We divided our time between eating a lot of fish, playing at the beach and playing at the pool. We also went shopping and hit up the Everglades in there as well. More pictures from that later though, as I need to go get ready to act like I’m someone important and join the judges panel for Midwest Artist Search. (I still feel woefully under-qualified for such a position, but I’m having a great time with it nonetheless.)

I’ll leave you with a video of me screaming at a bunch of seagulls. Let me preface this by saying that my 14 year-old brother Joe had been purposefully antagonizing these birds by throwing a bunch of snack mix in the air and then photographing them. He would then run over to where me and my mom and sister were sitting and the gulls of course would follow, irate and demanding more food. I have been bit by many different kinds of birds and I was not anxious to add seagulls to that list. Normally, I am not scared of birds at all but this was the fourth time they had swooped down on us and I was definitely not happy with it.

Note: I’m not kidding about the screaming. Turn your speakers down if you choose to proceed.

So, I am going to Florida with my parents and two of my siblings. WITHOUT MY CHILDREN. This is crazy, I know. My mom has enlisted me to help watch my little sister while she is assisting my dad at business dinners and whatnot, but still. I am going to Florida. I am extremely excited about this. However, this also means I have got to whip my house into shape before I leave so I don’t leave my poor husband in total chaos.

My house is a disaster right now.

Anyway.

So other than cleaning like a crazy woman and working on something new and exciting I’ll share with all of you soon, I’ve been joining various elite societies.

The Letter Writers Alliance which I blogged about earlier. I am an official member, courtesy of friend and fellow letter writer Stephanie. Yes, I did laminate my membership card and yes it is in my wallet as we speak.

This is a brand new, very, very serious organization created yesterday afternoon. Of course, I dropped everything I was doing to design and print some membership cards. Because, I mean, there will always be dishes to wash but how often do you create a new and exciting association?

I’m beginning to feel like Max Fischer, what with all the clubs and leagues and associations and alliances. Ah well. One life, right?

Also, knitting.

Trying to learn to set the table nicely sometimes.

Also, practicing Lent this year, that is, fasting from meat and praying fervently. I realize a week into it, it’s not hard for me to give up meat so this was probably not a good choice but I’m praying that God will use it somehow. I wanted to do something traditional and I think I may have missed the part about how you should choose something that breaks you somehow. It’s definitely a walk in the park, spiritually speaking, compared to even a one day complete fast. I heard a sermon today where the pastor spoke this very eye-opening message: When Jesus is talking about the rich in all those crazy parables, he’s talking about us. When he’s talking about the people who are so far away from God that they are worse off than widows and lepers because they think they have it all figured out, he’s talking about us. We’re the bloated consumers who can’t see the truth. That’s us. We like to identify with the poor and the meek and all because they end up with all the good stuff, but that’s not us. My first reaction was shock. I mean, this is not what you typically hear from a conservative Christian pastor. Really? America is not perfectly awesome? Republicans can be evil and blind? Wow. Okay. I can get on board with that. Then, I realized… I’m rich. (Compared to the rest of the world, not other Americans.) I’m self-sufficient. I’m so NOT interested in being humble and broken that even when I’m supposedly fasting, I choose something that’s easy so I don’t have to let my guard down or even be inconvenienced in any way. Okay, now I’m REALLY shocked and a little bit angry. So the story continues with Jesus talking to these rich, religious, have-their-shit-together seemingly good people about how their attitudes have blinded them and they’re like me. They’re shocked and angry. So what do they do? They grab Jesus and try to THROW HIM OFF A CLIFF. Oh, WOW. Okay, now I’m really, really, REALLY shocked.

Because really, that’s what I do. Anything comes along to challenge how I want to live, I want to throw it off a cliff. I think I have a good handle on things and the truth is, I don’t. I’m just as much of a mess in need of guidance and love as anyone.

Anyway. My list of things to pray for just keeps getting longer.

Wait, maybe this is God using my half-assed Lent.

Wow.

I may have titled another entry with that lyric, but too bad, I say. I want to talk about postcards so here we go.

I love postcards. Freaking love them. I love to buy them, I love to receive them, I love to send them. The whole thing just… makes me so happy. So, lately I came across this site called Postcrossing. Basically, you make a profile and then you get to send and receive postcards to people in other countries… It’s fabulous. I love it. So far I’ve gotten two postcards and it’s been a total surprise both times… I didn’t actually think it would work, frankly, but cards from Ireland and Malaysia showed up in my box like that’s just what happens now. I love it.

Now, that’s not to say that I haven’t gotten plenty of postcards from my generous traveling friends. I have a collection that I visit often. I’ll share my favorites.

These two are from Jess when she went to Hawaii. Now, people go to Hawaii all the time and send postcards, but Jess was going there to see her husband Ryan who was on leave from being in the military in Afghanistan. This wasn’t a mere vacation, this was a break from months and months of worrying and sitting at her kitchen table crying because everything about this was just wrong, all wrong. But then there was Hawaii and I was so happy to get these postcards because it meant that my two friends were in Hawaii together after being separated by a stupid war created by people who have nothing to do with us and it meant that they were happy and things were going to be okay.

I got these two from Tristan when he went home for a time. They both came around my birthday and I was so surprised to get not one, but two postcards from his trip. I felt very spoiled, postally speaking. They’ve been up on my bulletin board forever to remind me that I am going to see these places before I die.

Speaking of places I’ll see one day… Here’s two from Italy and Ireland from Jess that both make me long to step through those doors and never, ever come home.

This one’s from Phil and it made me grin because though there’s no way he could have known that my favorite part of the Wingdings font is the little hand that points like it knows the direction everyone should be going, I do dearly love that little hand, and here was a postcard full of little hands who all know the way. Fabulous.

This one is from Alyssa, and old friend of mine who moved out East years ago. I mean, come on. What is not to love about this one?

These two are from my friend Amos whom I’ve known for over ten years now. The first one always struck me because it looks very much like my parents’ house only, you know, broken down and old. It really freaked my mom out when it came to the house back when I was still living there. The second is more recent and I love it because sharpening pencils on an old crank sharpener like that one is one of those simple, satisfying sensory experiences that we take for granted until something reminds us how much we miss those moments.

This one came from Dustin while he was out in Portland. It cracked me up – it’s totally the odd man out in my collection which makes me just love it all the more. Dustin is a fellow postcard lover – He actually went so far as to start a musical project where people send him lyrics on a postcard and he writes a song using those lyrics. You can hear Postcard Project here.

Lastly, this one is from Jason, who writes for What to Wear During an Orange Alert, a blog I love. The story is, when Venna released that first little EP we packaged in paper bags tied with string, I tucked a letter and a stamped postcard in each package, encouraging each person who listened to our album to perhaps use the postcard to let me know what they thought of it. The only person who did this was Jason, and this postcard has been on my wall ever since it arrived because it is a tangible sign that music I made connected with a real live person, and they responded. They sent me a postcard.

I may still be in my pajamas, but I have had a very, very productive day. And I’m in a stellar mood, so to celebrate I’m going to make a list of ten things that are making me happy right now.

1. Tea and letter writing at my kitchen table.

2. Missed Connections

2. Boys in Hats

3. Music my friends make. (White vinyl! Swoon!)

4. Things my brother James makes.

5. Pictures my brother Steven takes.

6. This new beer Marky discovered which has immediately become my favorite beer EVER.

7. This yellow train case I will make mine one day. Visit nine20nine’s etsy shop – she has great stuff!

8. Dreaming about having red hair like this again.

9. This perfect yellow dress from Mod Cloth.

10. The new Frightened Rabbit

So I’ve made some stuff lately.

I called this my “doomed scarf” because I knew right from the beginning that I didn’t have enough yarn to be able to finish what I started. I cast on anyway because I am in love with this yarn, being incredibly soft and the perfect shade of yellow, and when it inevitably ran out, I bound off, sewed on a strategically placed vintage button and lo and behold, I had an awesome scarflette which I wore proudly today to the library. It’s the same pattern as my orange scarf (which is showing some serious wear and tear, sadly) which can be found here.

This hat finally found its way to its new owner in Scotland so I can show it to you. I knitted it from the lovely yarn Jess brought home from Germany and finished it with a vintage rose button I’d been holding on to for a while. I love the Indian Summer hat pattern. I definitely think I’ll knit it again.

This is a pinafore I made twice – one for each of my two best friends’ baby girls. The pinafore is actually more for an 18-24 month old but here’s little D modeling her version at six months old. The pattern came from a vintage magazine Dustin gave me for my birthday – It was super simple to make. The fabric is actually left over from curtains I made, finished with vintage green polka dot bias tape, vintage buttons and some really simple embroidery. It took about an hour or so to make.

Right now I’m wrist deep in boy hats… I’m on number 14 out of 18 right not. Number 14 was supposed to have been completed in the fall but unfortunately, it was unraveled by a certain child of mine whilst still in progress so I had to start all over. Bummer. Still, I think I can crank out these four hats before the month is over and they can be worn during these last couple months of winter before some warmth starts creeping into the world again.

But I’d take a break from boy hats if I could knit this:

Love, love, love! Can’t find a pattern though and I’m too busy at the moment to try to figure one out. It’s on my list though.

So, I just submitted my offering to Project 2010, a monthly songwriting challenge headed up by my buddy Evan. Only, you know, two weeks late. Ah well. It’s done. Next month’s challenge: Write a song less than 28 seconds long. Dang, I better be able to get that one in on time… (Oh, pun.)

Anyhow, the theme for January was New Year’s and my New Year’s was pretty lame. I got a migraine and went to bed really early which was a shame but what can you do. So the lyrics actually spring from a conversation I had with band mate Dustin sometime after New Year’s where he told me he was quitting smoking this year. Now, typically, when someone tells you they are quitting doing something, you take that to mean, “I want to quit and I will try,” but really, you don’t expect them to just quit. However, when Dustin told me he was quitting, I believed him. We kept talking about something else but the more I thought about how simple that was, that he said he was going to do something and I just believed him, I realized how powerful and rare that is. To say something and have people believe it, and not because they just want to believe it, but because they trust what you say. I’m fortunate to have a few people in my life who I believe, who can be counted on to do what they say they are going to do, but this isn’t something everyone has. I know I don’t have it. I say I’m going to do things all the time and don’t do them, (or don’t do them in a timely fashion anyway… ) or I vow to install some new habit and I lack the follow-through to keep it up for more than a few days. It’s something I’m working on, but I’ve got a ways to go.

I’m enjoying this songwriting exercise. I think I need more deadlines in my life.

So this is my little song – Marky did the guitars and mandolin and I love the mandolin part he wrote. It was recorded very, very quickly and mixed even quicker. It’ll probably be re-recorded at some point and maybe become a Venna tune. We’ll see. It’ll be available for download over at the temporary Project 2010 site.

Augh! Overwhelmed! So much going on!

Anyway. Deep breath, moving on. To cope, let’s talk about something totally superficial.

You know what I love? Braids.

Having the combination of long and unruly hair, braids are my friend and ally against the forces of Annoying Hair Everywhere Syndrome. What I kind of miss lately, however, is having lighter hair so as to really show off the braids as these lovely ladies do. I keep saying I’m going to go back to my natural color, but previous attempts have failed. However, this last picture especially inspires me to stay away from the hair dye because my hair could actually look like that if I just had some patience and a wee bit of bleach. (Am I actually considering putting blond back into my hair? After more than a decade of red and black?)

Maybe it’s time. I’m feeling less severe these days, gentler and more feminine. Who knows. And if I got rid of this black, maybe a red phase is somewhere in my future again as well.

 
This pretty much describes me in my late teens/early twenties perfectly. Red hair, black shirt, obsessed with music, Chicago and writing on some part of my person with black Sharpie. I’m trying to pinpoint exactly when this was but it’s impossible to tell given that I wore the exact same thing for about five years straight. I’m on some sort of adventure in the city obviously, probably with best friend Anna. I was working full time at a grocery store, dating a painter/photographer obsessed with Jawbreaker named Tommie, wondering if I was ever going back to school and trying to figure out a way to move forward, do something.

Wait, what were we talking about again? Oh yeah… braids. I love braids.

Today was get ready for Valentine’s Day day.

We spent the morning making valentines to mail and then Alli and I and our five boys made cupcakes and decorated them… CRAZY. We take on these insanely messy projects in my tiny kitchen and in spite of the lack of space, they always do so well and have a great time. I’m really, really blessed to have a mama friend who will dive into days like this with me, armed with coffee and a willing spirit.

Valentine mail goes out on Monday, cupcakes go in our tummies tomorrow. I’d say this day was an exhausting success.

Well.

Sunday, I headed to Chicago to do the food prep for Paul’s Haiti benefit. Me and Stephanie made the first batch of dough which, when fried, was absolutely delicious. We let Twan, Nabeel and Dustin test-taste and it passed. The second dough was made with a root called malanga, which looks like something Hermione Granger might have used to make a potion, and Phil and Stephanie helped me peel, grate and generally subdue them into another mixture which was also awesome when we fried it up.

Afterward, we watched a terrible show from the late 70′s about time traveling on their newly acquired television, then headed over to Cole’s bar where we set up food only to find we were not allowed to actually cook it in the establishment.

This is where things got interesting.

There was an alley, a table, a deep fryer and an extension cord. There was Phil, me, Paul, Lauren, Kyle and an el train every twenty blessed minutes. But in the end, there was food, money raised and, oh yeah, Mike Noyce playing Bob Dylan covers?!

Actually, Paul introduced him to me as his room mate and as I looked at his face, I kept thinking I’d met this kid before, man, what kind of jerk am I that I can’t remember… and later it hit me. Oh yeah. He’s in my favorite band EVER and I’ve seen him play like eight times. It was just all so out of context, it didn’t click. But he played and man, his voice is gorgeous. And his guitar playing? Wow. I eavesdropped on his sound check before everything got kicked off and it was like someone singing in an empty church. Glorious.

I had to duck out early to get home at a decent hour (Micah had his pre-op early the next morning) so I missed Paul’s band, Ragged Claws, which was a bummer, but all in all, it was a really fun night. Also, you know your friends are real friends when they’ll stand out in a freezing alley with you under the el making food for charity.

Monday night we were honored to play with the amazing Joe Pug. Remember when I was going on and on about this song, Hymn 101? Well, he’s that guy. He released a new album which I’ve been listening to since I got the leak a couple weeks ago (got my hands on a legit copy at the show – it’s not released til February 16th) and WOW oh WOW oh WOW. So, this was a late, Monday night show. Not a lot of kids showed up. Kevin Prchal played, enchantingly as always and we played (pretty well – I felt good about it anyway) and the crowd was pretty into it, but when Joe got up there, the crowd came alive. This guy is charismatic, witty, kind-hearted and an excellent musician. If you want to see a good show, see Joe Pug. You will not be sorry. He is a wild prophet, a piece of rock and roll from the past and an all-around good guy.

He also said he liked my songwriting like four times which basically just made me fall down because it’s so fricken unbelievable.

I danced like a fool and loved every second of it. He did an encore, a new song called, “I Got Wise” which made me so happy because it means more good things are in the making.

Then it started to snow and it took us three hours to get home and poor Lauren who saved our asses offering to babysit at the last second got stuck staying here overnight because the roads were so ridiculous.

Now it is Wednesday, my chili is almost done and I have a new knitting book to peruse.

Here, listen to Joe’s EP Nation of Heat: