We visited the Blue Genie Art Bazaar in Austin, hoping to find some unique gifts. This art was easy on the eyes.
Small booths showcased different artists with a wide range of talents.
Some prints revealed the artists’ love of the city.
Some things made me hungry.
Some things just plain creeped me out.
And some just hurt my eyes.
In the end, we wound up leaving empty-handed. Although the pieces were interesting, they were vastly overpriced. Perhaps they were intended for pretentious, high-income Austin hipsters who congratulate themselves on funding the hobbies of former U.T. art majors. Too harsh? So is $55 for a set of six coasters. And with so many children there, it seemed curious that many items were covered in curse words, too filthy for me to type here. One thing’s for sure: Austin is still keeping Austin weird.
I am as excited as the Saturday Night Live Target lady today! Not only did I procure another ancient history yearbook for my collection, but it cost ONE DOLLAH. Yippee!
SNL Target Lady
It was during this 1963-1964 school year that JFK was shot and killed. But honestly I don’t know if that was enough to make these Oklahoma Sooners put down their cups for one second. The fraternities and sororities sure knew how to party:
I didn’t know “raise the roof” was a popular term fifty years ago, but these fun-loving Greeks were clearly raising it.
And they partied like rock stars. Even Bo Diddley got in on the action.
But partying can get out of control. I think Roger got a little too fresh with Jeanne…
Pi Kappa Alpha partied like Royals at their Dream Girl Party. No red solo cups here.
Old or young, it didn’t matter. DEKEs liked to have a good time.
Delta Kappa Epsilon
Eileen could barely contain her excitement at the TGIF Party.
Alpha Epsilon Pi
Linda screamed when a zebra-jacketed matador sat on her lap at the Bowery Ball
These Delta Gamma gals showered Ned with Christmas cheer.
Sigma Delta Tau knew their second amendment rights.
And Zeta Tau Alpha wore their sunglasses at night. Too cool for school, you guys.
I don’t know what message this Victorian Christmas image is trying to convey, but it’s certainly not Christmas cheer. Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol refers to “the pudding singing in the copper,” so I can only assume this pudding decided to do a little choreographed number as well. It may be smiling, but the birdwoman is not. She looks downright alarmed. Fortunately, the lid serves as a protective shield. The message here: pudding is dangerous, albeit polite.
I (like most Americans) am not familiar with what a Christmas pudding actually looks or tastes like. When Americans think “pudding,” we think chocolate pudding and Bill Cosby. Pudding is not hard and aggressive; it is soft and creamy.
In my mind, the copper pot pudding resembles a yummy fried hushpuppy. Yet, I know that it most certainly is NOT a hushpuppy, because hushpuppies are “comfort food.” They do not get violent.
This holly-sprigged treat doesn’t look anything like the dessert in the birdwoman cartoon. It does, however, resemble THIS image of what appears to be a burnt meatloaf, carrying his own weapon of execution.
Charles Goodall & Son
Perhaps Brits feel the same way about Christmas pudding that Americans feel about fruitcake: unless it is drenched in brandy, why bother? The difference is, we don’t stick currency in our food.
Apparently, custom once dictated putting a coin inside the pudding, and the one who bit down on it and cracked his tooth would interpret it as a sign of good luck. The irony in this cartoon, is that the value of the pound was falling. I liken it to putting a peso in a fruitcake. You’d have to shove seven thousand inside it to make it valuable, at which point, every bite would be fraught with pesos, and everyone would need dental work. OH, I GET IT! THAT’S WHY BRITS HAVE THE REPUTATION FOR BAD TEETH. It all makes sense now. What a revelation.
Anyway,the tradition seems as foolish as slipping a wedding ring inside a cake or a glass of champagne; choking hazards are nothing to rejoice about. Unless you know the Heimlich Maneuver, I would discourage it altogether.
This is an example of irony. According to the Oxford English Dictionary “irony” is “a figure of speech in which the intended meaning is the opposite of that expressed by the words used.” Granted, the above example does not contain a figure of speech, but it contains visual irony. Out of all the spelling words, only “illiterate” was spelled correctly. And illiterate means “unable to read or write.” Get it?
Your song, “Ironic,” now notorious for not having one actual example of irony, is in itself ironic. I’m fairly certain they teach word meanings in Canada, but maybe you weren’t paying attention.
Insects in wine? Not ironic.
Posthumous pardons? Ask their families. Not ironic.
Rain on your wedding day? Not ironic. Does the humidity cause Diana Ross “Love Hangover” hair? Perhaps. But it’s still not ironic.
So why am I hassling you 18 years later? You’ve gotten enough flak, right? I don’t want to give you any more flack (that spelling actually means “publicity,” which I’m doing right now, so that’s kind of ironic, huh?) I may be tardy to the party but I finally saw this parody of your 1995 ditty.
The video is similar, yet we are spared the braying donkiness of your singing style, as well as your epileptic seizures. I hear you have that under control now.
I think it’s great that you got to have your video played back in the day on MTV before it stopped playing videos. That’s a nice thing to have notched in your lipstick case. But they also used to play ZZ Top videos. The only member of that band without a beard is Frank Beard. That’s ironic.
And get this: the Segway tycoon died riding his Segway. Ironic.
Both Charlie Chaplin and Dolly Parton entered lookalike contests for themselves and did not win. Ironic.
Barry Manilow did not write his hit song, “I Write The Songs.” Ironic.
Thanks to young Lizi the Swiveler, for nominating me for the Versatile Blogger Award!
ver·sa·tile
ˈvərsətl/
adjective, able to adapt or be adapted to many different functions or activities
As per the rules, I must nominate 15 blogs that are dripping with versatility as well. The following 15 blogs are ones which I enjoy as of late and that I’m nominating for the award (if you already have the VBA, then disregard; you don’t have to play.):
1. The World’s Top Ten by Russell, the best-looking nerd in the UK (I don’t know anyone in the UK, so I cannot argue the point.) I try to avoid serious topics most of the time because they make my head hurt, so I enjoy funny, happy, whimsical things–even if he posts a lot of cat stuff, and I loathe cats. But there is so much more than just cats, and that is versatile.
2. Pretty Little Treasures by a Belgium lady named Julie, who has lots of lovely pictures. The longer I’m on WordPress, the more I appreciate photography blogs, since one can get in and out in a matter of seconds, should one need a brief aesthetically-pleasing fix.
3. Michael’s TV Tray by (duh) Michael. His posts make me happy because I love classic pop culture, and I actually do care when a celebrity’s birthday is, as vacuous as that seems. In fact, I always wish my facebook friends happy birthday by telling them with whom they share their birthdays. Plus, Michael’s blog reminds me of a simpler time before grey hairs and nearsightedness, and I get to congratulate myself on remembering things he posts when I seem to be forgetting (rather than remembering) lately.
4.The Unorthodox Epicure by Adam. Just seeing his little gravatar face makes me feel upbeat. I feel like he’s always happy to see me, even though he has no clue who I am. Granted, he may look like Cletus T. Judd in a Toby Keith hat, but he marries confessions with recipes, and that is super versatile.
5. The Irrefutable Opinion by a woman whose name is so close to Billie Jean King that I probably just offended her by typing that. She makes me laugh and showed me what Mona Lisa would look like with bleached hair and fake Pam Anderson boobs.
6. The Fascinating Life of Eliot Benvue because it’s important to support young bloggers. And I like to hear his Scottish accent, now that he’s vlogging.
7.Florian Deutsch Fotografie by an Austrian photographer who speaks a language I can’t understand (German?), but I can still appreciate the photographs from the other side of the world.
8. I Didn’t Have My Glasses On by a grandmother who doesn’t look anything like a grandmother. I don’t have glasses but I need them, and have found that what I could read at 39, I cannot at 41. I like her blurry observations as well.
Okay, this has taken several hours to do this (partly because it’s hard to read without glasses), so I am (albeit-lamely) posted out. My apologies to the would-be other seven. I am exhausted. Small wonder Lizi the Swiveler (I want to call her Bartleby the Scrivener) can do this with youth and energy on her side.
According to the rules, I also have to post seven interesting things about myself.
1. I am a grammar Nazi.
2. I like a wedge of lime with my Coca-Cola. And I realize Coke is bad for you and filled with junk, but mercy, I love it. I love it. Freezing cold and bubbly. I want some right now.
3.I have had insomnia for 8 years and am still alive–and trust me, you can live off an hour of sleep. Over and over again. You’ll go batship crazy, but you’ll live. You’ll quit your job and lose all your benefits and income and 401K, but you’ll live–and have time to blog.
4.I can flare my nostrils.
5.I don’t really care for Mumford & Sons or anime or Enya.
6.I don’t have an iPhone or an iPad and I don’t ever want one.
7.I know way too many dead celebrity’s real names, like Nathan Birnbaum and Archibald Leach.
Whew! It’s nearly time for Jay Leno; I can’t miss that. Hey, that’s fact #8: I always watch The Tonight Show (he only has two months left, you know).
We visited the Blue Genie Art Bazaar in Austin, hoping to find some unique gifts. This art was easy on the eyes.
Small booths showcased different artists with a wide range of talents.
Some prints revealed the artists’ love of the city.
Some things made me hungry.
And some just hurt my eyes.
In the end, we wound up leaving empty-handed. Although the pieces were interesting, they were vastly overpriced. Perhaps they were intended for pretentious, high-income Austin hipsters who congratulate themselves on funding the hobbies of former U.T. art majors. Too harsh? So is $55 for a set of six coasters. And with so many children there, it seemed curious that many items were covered in curse words, too filthy for me to type here. One thing’s for sure: Austin is still keeping Austin weird.
I Don't Get It 
