Good Anything Is Made Up of Familiar Things Done Right

This weekend was a delightful one indeed.  My parents came to town, around seven-ish on Friday evening, bringing with them the makings of my new favorite cocktail, Pellegrinos.  Pellegrino (the grapefruit version) is an Italian sparkling water, that you pour over an amount of vodka to your liking, and add a nice lime garnish.  It's deliciously refreshing, especially when you have it with chips and salsa.

Later on we went to the best pizza joint in town, Five Points Pizza.  As you'll see throughout this post, the Hunt family knows their food.  The next morning we all met up at my favorite coffee shop, Ugly Mugs, for a little caffeinated jump-start to the day.  Next we went to the Flea Market, the giant Fairgrounds one that Nashville is known for.  Andrew found an old record, but I had the most success of the day, in something that I was looking for, and something that was just too awesome to pass up.  Here are both.  Can you guess which is which?

I have been in the market for a coffee-table surface to use when I sit on the floor in front of the couch.  It is by far my favorite way to do any kind of work.  I was having trouble finding something that had space to put my legs under, but was also small enough to fit in our compact living room.  Then Dad came up with the idea of looking at piano benches, which is what I ended up getting!  It looks pretty used and dirty, you say?  I say that maybe it just needs a little love (in the form of some DIY magic of course).  Now, the panels were the unexpected find of the day.  We think that they were part of a triptic, with the middle one missing, because the other side definitely shows that they were part of a set.

Now I just need to figure out how (and where) to hang them.  After walking around the flea market for a few hours, we were all getting hungry, so Andrew and I took Mom and Dad to this awesome little hole-in-the-wall sandwich shop.  The kind where older gentleman come in everyday and go to their spot at the counter for their midday meal.  Except, when we got there, we realized that instead of the corner shack it used to be in, it had moved around the corner into a fancy new building and was absolutely packed with people.  A much different vibe than what it used to be, but the sandwiches were still top-notch.  After a late afternoon break time, we met up for Mexican food at a place called Rose Pepper.  Mmmm Mexican is always good, and so are margaritas!  Afterwards, Dad and Andrew went to his house to play music with some of the locals, while Mom and I went to go see The Monuments Men, which was wonderfully done.  Don't worry, it's getting the Erica Hunt Movie Review Blog Post treatment, so stay tuned.  Mom and Dad left early the next morning, and it was back to our regular lives.  Except now, I have Internet in my apartment, which enables me to write posts on my own couch, as I'm doing right now.  Ahhhh, it truly is the little things.

(photos by g.hunt, and e.hunt)

Time Puts Things In Their Place

My roommate and I have finally rejoined modern society.  That's right, after ten and a half months, we are out of the dark ages.  Internet (and tv!), welcome to our home.  These were our exact reactions.

(photo by l.walton)

They Found Their Way By the Song of the Birds

I just placed orders for a couple different styles of tank dresses, in a muted forrest green, and a sandy-colored tan for my map dress venture.  Just one of each for right now to test the fit and see if they're worth buying in bulk.  I think I'll try Hogwarts on the tan one, with the actual castle itself, the surrounding grounds, and then going up to Diagon Alley perhaps.  The green will probably be another rendition of Middle Earth from Lord of the Rings.  There was a black version of the green one; if it fits well, I'll get that one as well for the Star Wars universe, or some kind of constellation map.

(photos collected from randwulf, attractionsmagazine, and destinationhollywood)

Let's Lay in the Sun and Count Every Beautiful Thing We See

I did a little sight-seeing today in my fair town of Nashville.  It's still a bit too chilly for my liking, but there was a good amount of optimistic sunniness.  The location is a park-like area next to the stadium across the river from downtown 1st Street.  Nashville's got a great skyline, and what's cool about it is it's so different from every angle.  I mean, The Batman Building is always visible, and stands out amongst the others, but if you just sit there and look, there's a nice array of interesting buildings, with different sizes, shapes, and styles.

(photos by e.hunt)

There are Two Kinds of Spurs, My Friend: Those That Come in by the Door, and Those That Come in by the Window

As everyone knows, yesterday was Valentine's Day, and since I didn't have a Valentine to do Valentine's Day things with, I made myself a vodka tonic and watched a classic romantic film, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.  Now, I was trying to be funny there, since there's only one male-female interaction in the whole movie, and it's Angel Eyes beating a woman for information.  He's The Bad, obviously.  Clint Eastwood, in the prime of his man-with-no-name days, plays Blondie, the Good, who knows the most valuable name in the world.  Eli Wallach is the greedy, scheming Ugly, Tuco, and he is just a delight.  The three are racing to find a fortune buried in a graveyard, while getting caught up in Civil War plights, revenge attempts, and gunfights.  It has possibly the greatest shootout ever filmed:  the ten minutes of close-ups of Blondie in that iconic poncho, Angel Eyes' disfigured finger, and Tuco's shifty eyes raise the tension to an anxiety-inducing level.  Who lives, who dies?  Who gets the gold?  Watch it and find out.  Also, make sure you watch the opening credits; the use of textures, colors, and classic "old west" typography, is wonderfully done.

(photos collected from googleimages)

Just Busy Being

An update in classic coolness from the always intriguing blog, Awesome People Hanging Out Together.  The older black and whites are my favorites.

First off is Count Basie and Frank Sinatra being musical together in 1965.

Paul Newman serenading Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington in Paris, 1960.

Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford acting casual. 

Here's Fred Astaire being Fred Astaire, with Bing Crosby giving him some tips.

And here we have Edith Piaf and Django Reinhardt doing a little palm reading in Paris in the 1940s.  Look at that great neckscarf he's wearing!

(photos collected from awesomepeoplehangingouttogether)

What There Was On the Other Side of Things

I needed a break in the Lord of the Rings reading train, and normally I wouldn't allow switching books while right in the middle of one, but I just couldn't get through book number three.  So, the other night I started reading One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.  I read it in high school for an out-of-class book report assignment, meaning that I didn't have to analyze it to death and ruin the book forevermore (i.e. Lord of the Flies, Heart of Darkness, Wuthering Heights, etc.).  I read it on my own terms, at my own speed, wrote the paper on a topic of my choosing, and that was it.  There was only one book in my entire reading-for-class career that I actually enjoyed: Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison.  It's a strange read, and very different from every other classic in the high school canon, which is probably why I liked it.  Anyway, back to One Hundred Years.  I'm only thirty pages in and have already found several great lines and passages, like this one:  "The whole structure seemed to occupy its own space, one of solitude and oblivion, protected from the vices of time and the habits of the birds."

(photo by e.hunt)

Never Tell Me the Odds

Andrew and I watched Star Wars Episode I the other night, continuing our complete Star Wars saga viewing.  Watching it made me miss the latter (but made earlier) three, and all of it's developed scenes and cultures.  Episode I has some cool things going on in it, but it just doesn't compare.  Take a look at some of this incredible concept art by Ralph Mcquarrie.  George Lucas commissioned him to illustrate several scenes from the script, in turn designing several of the characters and the overall graphic theme of the film.  The finished pieces helped convince 20th Century Fox to get on board.  I mean, who wouldn't want to make a movie of these images?

(photos collected from googleimages)

The Only Time Being Cold is OK

Here are four questions to ask (and answers) in order to sound like an expert at an Olympic Figure Skating Watching Party.  Or more likely, when you're discussing it with coworkers the next day - but wouldn't it be delightful if figure skating watching parties were a thing?

1.  "Do you know why Figure Skating is called Figure Skating?"  Figure Skating has evolved greatly from the sport it started off as.  In fact, it is called figure skating because that's what it used to be: the ultimate goal was to create perfect shapes, evident in the marks the blades left on the ice, called compulsory figures.

2.  "Did you know that the quadruple jump is considered the most difficult move?"  You may remember Evgeni Plushenko from the last Winter Olympics in Vancouver from his very loud opinions that he should have won gold over Evan Lysacek because he landed a quad jump.  He forgot one very important thing though: skating is not just about the individual skills, it's about the entire performance that the skills make up.  Though Lysacek didn't include the extremely difficult quad jump in his program, he did out-perform Plushenko in other technical skills and gracefulness.  In skating, everything counts.

3.  "Can you guess which costumes are designed by Vera Wang?"  The famed wedding dress designer was a figure skater back in the day, and therefor understands skating costume design on a deep level.  The aerodynamics, fit, material, and movability are all very key design elements for the intensity and cold environment of the sport.  Who better to design a costume than someone who understands these fine details?

4.  "Do you know what Olympic commentator Scott Hamilton's signature move was?"  Now a staple at Olympic competitions, commentator Scott Hamilton had a very successful skating career in the early eighties, including his signature backflip in almost every competitive program.  He did this only to please fans though, as backflips receive no acknowledgment in the judging system.

(photos collected from googleimages)

Ragtime Cowboy

Had a blast at the Johnny Appleseed EP Release party last night.  It was at this little bar in The Five Points called The 5 Spot.  Every Tuesday they have this thing called Two Dollar Tuesday with a host of bands for entertainment and a selection of $2 beers.  Last night, Andrew's band, Johnny Appleseed, was headlining.  The beer was flowing, the people were happy, and the band sounded awesome.

Head over to http://johnnyappleseedtheband.com/  to hear a bit of their great country sound.

(photos by e.hunt, and collected from johnnyappleseedtheband)

XOXO, Gossip Girl

So, I am going to reveal a little fact about myself that I'm a bit embarrassed about.  Kindof like how I've always been a little nervous about sharing my deep nerd love for Lord of the Rings.  This, however, is the exact opposite of that.  I am a closet Gossip Girl fan.  Remember that show?  I watched it from the beginning; one, because I was curious, two, because the fashion was (and still is) awe-inspiring, and three, because all of the gorgeous, money-d, and scandalous teenagers, that were supposed to be the same age as I was, were the exact opposite of me and my life.  It was a fun escape from my somewhat boring high school career.  I should note, that even though I was a big fan, it wasn't because I wanted to have to deal with the crazy things they dealt with on the show.  I didn't wish my life was like that.  I just liked watching it, as a guilty pleasure.  Now, the show did go downhill around season four, which is when I stopped watching.  They had run out of, and used up all the interesting storylines.
Anyway, back to the now.  I signed up for a 30-day free trial of Amazon Prime before the holidays for gifts and such.  It was nice, and I could definitely see the benefits if you were an avid Amazoner, but once the holidays were over, and before the trial ended, I got a little Amazon crazy and ended up ordering Season One of Gossip Girl.  It was fun watching it again, and this time, I could relate more, having expanded my own fashion knowledge and experimentation, and being involved in a scandal or two in college.  It's also funnier than I remember: with all the one-liners and epic comebacks flying around, it's one laugh after another.  And even though it's been about seven years since it aired, the clothing and the way it is used and put together is still groundbreaking.

(photos collected from pinterest)

To the Sea

In the midst of winter, I found within me an invincible summer.  A kind of summer that makes that initial walk outside the door, where the cold almost knocks you over, and makes you hurt all the way to your bones, a bit more bearable.  The kind that encloses you in an extra layer of warm happiness against even the chilliest of days.  The kind of summer that you hope and long for all year.

(photos collected from nanosfolder, flickr, pinterest, and feedly)