poppydawn

One of Jay's brothers regularly plays at my favorite restaurant, just a few blocks from my house. That's definitely a perk.

Yes! You would absolutely love my knitting group, and they would love you.

Those are absolutely gorgeous! I really love the loud one. I got to knit with Kate today.

Mmmmmmmmm ... Lion's Choice. Extra-rare with horseradish sauce. How can one forsake a town with such deliciousness? I live in my house, but hang out at Lion's Choice. Definitely makes sense now.

I wrote this a little over a year ago, after seeing Wilco in Pennsylvania and catching a special exhibit on The Clash at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for my birthday. It's long-winded and I don't get to the Wilco/The Clash stuff until the last half, but it encompasses Joe's impact on my life.

Thanks for everything, Joe. You were the first to truly speak to me with music, and you still do. Somewhere in my soul There's always rock and roll.

They've been doing "She's a Jar" recently; I saw it in Kansas City. I definitely would love to see "ELT" live.

Sending comforting vibes to you and your family, Edie, and peaceful ones for Pappa. I'm really sorry you're going through this.

It usually is.

Actually, Belleville's a brief 15 minute drive from downtown St. Louis. My husband makes the commute daily. I live about a mile and a half from the house where Jeff grew up, two miles from the apartment where he lived with Jay in the Uncle Tupelo days. If you go one mile west of my house, you get a pretty clear view of the St. Louis skyline. I'm closer to St. Louis in Belleville than I was when I lived in St. Louis county.

Living in a city for the first 28 years of one's life really is just "hanging out", when you think about it. Especially when your family still resides in the area. Just another brief pit stop on the road of life. Wilco's manager's also from St. Louis. He was just hanging out, too.

The keyboard player for REO Speedwagon is from Belleville, Illinois, too. REO Speedwagon never plays St. Louis, probably because the keyboardist hates us all. Oops. Wrong topic.

I have strong intentions of downing several ice-cold PBRs at my favorite dive bar (where you can get PBR or Budweiser, and that's it, and you better not want any of them on tap) while throwing money at the best jukebox in the area tomorrow night. Cheap beer + a little Doug Sahm, Mitch Ryder, Dusty Springfield, The Clash, and the MC-5, and I'll be a happy girl.

Fans all over the metro area will be much appeased by the appearance of a real-life Chicago-dwelling St. Louis metro-area native this weekend. Well, I will be, at least.

My current favorite is Blue Moon's Full Moon Winter Ale. Boulevard Unfiltered Wheat always makes me happy. Never underestimate the joys of cheap beer. Give me a Stag in the right situation, and it's perfection.

You were my first VC meeting. Tawdry, I know.

Twas me! Yeah, but that's everyone who writes for the RFT. It's one whiny-ass publication.

That was one of my favorite shows. Such a good night. There was a pack of guys in front of me at that show who couldn't have been older than 25. When the band did "California Stars", those guys were hugging and, I swear, crying. It was cute. Hilarious, but cute.

I finished "Animal Vegetable Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver last night. Tonight, I start "Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression" by Mildred Armstrong Kalish. I'm hoping the rest of the book is written more gracefully than the title.

I've got spinning friends, and Brian has expressed an interest in learning. My friend Rachel, the yarn dyer/Knitorious manager, has offered her husband's yarn-spinning instruction. Must get on that!

I've never done anything with mohair that worked. Pics? Gorgeous! I love that book, too. I've got two pairs of socks in process and I'd much rather work on them than the scarf I need to finish for my dad's Christmas.

The bots are going to make my daughter lose her mind, and they'll eat through a bunch of the half-empty balls of yarn in my stash. Yay! The intarsia was not fun. At all. But the good news is, the felted part survived the felting process! I at least got the colorwork part right! It looks decent, but I'm not 100% happy with it. The areas where I had long carries did pucker. I've got an overwhelming urge to snip the carries and tie them, but I'm afraid they'll fall apart. Not sure why. I also made a dumb felting mistake. I ran out of the main color after my first attempt. Instead of making t

What O-man said. (And Oceanman, I've been wondering - did you talk to some chick from Belleville during Andrew Bird's sound check at the KC show?) I've been to lots of Wilco shows in lots of locations. What gets me is, there's nothing like their St. Louis shows. There's an energy in the crowds here that just isn't quite there at other shows, probably because the audience is loaded with Jeff's family, local friends, and people who've been fans from the very beginning. I'd wondered if the passing of Jeff's mom might have something to do with the lack of St. Louis shows. She was always at

That's a new one for me, too. My friend OtherRobin just started knitting about a month ago, and she's already done two colorwork scarves, including a skull one for her husband. It's fabulous! I'll copy it for you, if you want it. The designer's from St. Louis and it looks like she's finally put it online! Here it is. When I bought it I figured I'd do the mountain bag for my mom and the poppies for me. I just finished the tip of the mountain and will be felting in 15 more rows. If it doesn't fall apart and it's presentable, well, I'll still need to pick your brain for the poppy bag because

I can't wait to see the finished skull hat! Your ability to do colorwork ... I'm jealous! I say that because I'm supposed to be working on that damn colorwork felted purse right now and I'm terrified I'm screwing it up again. I'll be so glad when Christmas is over and I can work on the pair of Fetching gloves for my friend, the three pairs of socks that are gathering dust, and the Fetching-inspired hat for myself. I also want to make Calorimetry. And the really pretty Veronik Avery lace cardigan I bought 24 skeins of yarn to make. I say this every year, and I'm going to say it again: no