News and Updates

It's been an exiting weekend for us here at Out Went the Light. You realize, of course, that by "us" I mean me, my laptop, and a pile of laundry. First of all, the K and his band, The Happy Enchiladas had their public debut last night at Anthony's Pizza in Scottdale. For locals, have you ever been to Anthony's Pizza? It's just past Your DeKalb Farmer's Market on the right. For New Jersians, this was the first time since I left the Garden State that I thought, "Is this place a legit business?" I'm sure it's totally fine and they make all their money on First Communion parties, but let's just say for a restaurant and bar built on a former lumber yard, they seemed to have particularly large freezer.

The Enchiladas opened for another band that was playing for free and essentially everyone there was a friend or family member of members of one of the two bands. There was this one guy, who I like to call Dale Jr. (for reasons that should become obvious when you look at the picture below), who didn't seem to be friends with anyone but the sound guy, who's name was Mike, appropriately.

The whole band was very relaxed and seemed to be having a good time. They played great and it was fun to listen to them. The main act was a three-piece group and I realized that I'm officially too old to see live music with a drum kit. I was wishing for some earplugs. Here's a picture of the Enchiladas performing. Apologizes to Jill who said she hated the picture and to Sara who looks like she's getting impaled by the mike:

Happy Enciladas: (L to R) the K, Sara, Jill, and David

In other news, I have an update on jean washing. I mentioned Anderson Cooper's shower jean washing technique to our babysitter and she said that this is a real thing! So, I Googled and came up with an article in the Wall Street Journal, no less, in which a Levis executive says he washes his jeans every six months and when he does wash them, he immerses them in a bathtub of water. So, it's not exactly the way Andy described, but the infrequent washing is endorsed and not washing in a washing machine. I couldn't find any support for washing the pants while wearing them. I'm not surprised because there is nothing worse than trying to take off wet jeans. Except for maybe that hilarious scene from "Friends" when Ross gets hot in the leather pants and calls Joey for advice. Don't pretend that you don't know what I'm talking about. Why are people are embarrassed to admit that they like "Friends" and Coldplay? I'm going on record as saying that there are some very funny episodes of Friends and Coldplay has some catchy songs.

Finally, some big personal news...I'm supposed to be published tomorrow in USA Today! Yes, it's true! I'm super excited that hotel guests across the country will sip their Royal Cup Coffee and skim my little piece on the crazy holiday catalogues I've received. I say "supposed to be" because I'm convinced that something will go awry and I'll get bumped or they'll realize I'm just humming the words and faking it and that I'm not a real writer. They'll come to my house with laptops a-blazing, shouting, "the jig is up! We know the last thing you published was in your high school literary magazine!" So, should the publication come to pass, I will link to it in tomorrow's post. Hope you all had a great weekend!

Just in Case You Missed It

I'm sure that there were some important world events going on this week. Egypt? Secretary of State nominations? Unemployment rates? I don't know the details on any of these newsworthy topics because the closest I got to reading about the Secretary of State situation was this picture making the rounds on the internets:

About this picture and Secretary Clinton, Christina said:

She's such a force in a room. She's got that star charisma and everything about her. I couldn't take my eyes off her either, so it was mutual...Is that bad? I don't know. Maybe I shouldn't say that! I'm so inappropriate."

Things like this make me believe that the Mayans are right and the world is coming to an end on December 21st. In a struggle to think of something nice to say about this picture, all I can come up with is that Hillary's necklace is pretty and Christina's makeup is fairly tasteful. Otherwise, it's just a big yuck on all levels. 

When I do go on the New York Times website, I go straight to the movie and book reviews. By the way, here's the NYT list of the 10 Best Books of 2012. I have read exactly zero because I only read the reviews, not the actual books. I have to be very strategic with my reading because when I read I ignore my children, husband, housework, and phone calls. I don't think anyone saw me for a couple of days when I was reading "Gone Girl." Such a good book and I hear that Reese Witherspoon is producing the movie. (Spoiler alert!) After seeing Reese (like I know her) play crazy in "Election," I can totally see her as Amy, can't y'all?

Through a link that someone posted on Facebook, I found my second favorite "news" story of the week. It was the exciting unicorn lair story out of North Korea. Seems that the North Korean government issued a press release that some archeologist discovered a "unicorn lair" (which was labeled as such on a boulder) in Pyongyang.

That is one weird-looking winged unicorn. It looks like it was molded out of already-been-chewed Double Bubble and glitter. Sorry, back to North Korea. The country's propaganda machine floats out these fantastic stories all the time to try to bolster the country's image and give the North Korean people more confidence in the government. Yes, nothing shouts governmental stability like unicorn stories. In the past, it has been reported that former leader Kim Jong Il shot a 38 under-par on an 18-hole golf course (which is 25 shots better than the best game in history).  Next thing you know they'll claim that he invented the Arnold Palmer.  Legends surrounding Kim Jong Il's birth include that he was born under a double rainbow and that when he was born the seasons instantly changed from winter to spring.

Basically, the North Korean new agency would have us believe that North Korea is Narnia.

My favorite quasi-news story of the week was in US Weekly (love me some trash magazines) and it was about Anderson Cooper. Because the story has nothing to do with anyone "flaunting" her "bikini body" or "showing off" her "body after baby" or the latest celebrity baby to make its appearance, the story has long since passed into the archives. You can link to it here. All you really need to know is the headline which is, "Anderson Cooper wears the Same Jeans Every Day Washes Them Four Times a Year." Well, maybe you need to know more than that because this tidbit seems to have come up in a conversation between Andy and Stacy London of "What Not to Wear." My take is that he is totally messing with her because of this exchange, described in US:

The "What Not to Wear" co-host argued that "six months is probably a little long" between washes, but to maintain the integrity of your denim, you should wash it in cold water - no soap - and air dry it." Cooper admitted he's washed his jeans "maybe twice in six months." 

"The times I've done it, I've worn them and walked into my shower with them and put some soap on them and then air dried them," he continued. "Isn't that how you are supposed to do it?" When London advised him not to use soap, Cooper seemed confused. "That's not really washing them off, so why even bother."

Do you get the impression that these are a couple of people not on the same page? She's trying to dispense actual advice about caring for your clothes and he's just being contrary to make the point that discussing how to wash jeans is silly and frivolous. I mean, the man's mom is Gloria Vanderbilt. You have to assume he knows how to take care of a pair of jeans.

Hey, look at the rainbow of colors that Glorias come in! Anderson Cooper, born under a rainbow-colored array of his mother's jeans. The North Koreans better get on this story fast before someone thinks that Andy's the rightful leader of North Korea. Happy weekend!