spark

227/365: nephew/cousin

The beautiful new addition to our family, 12 days old.  He's perfect.

word of the day 216/365: hate

Sometimes, LOVE conquers all.  And I hope there's a whole lotta love conquering in the years between now and when my kids grow up, because I want them to be able to legally marry anybody they want to, if they want to marry at all. 

THANK YOU to sensible Judge Vaughn Walker, who dismissed complaints about the "will of the people" being overturned by responding, "fundamental rights may not be submitted to [a] vote; they depend on the outcome of no elections." AMEN.  And shame on the voters who would trample others' fundamental rights in the name of their own prejudices and squeamishness.

strangely orange

The snack stash for day one of the Roadtrip of Insanity was planned with Strangely Orange Snackfood Appreciation Day (SOSAD) in mind.  Last year I was focused simply on the color orange and on creating a front-yard picnic - which came complete with a surprise appearance from a unicyclist, which seemed appropriate.  This year I pondered what, exactly, makes an item's orange color strange.  Is it how naturally-derived the source of dye is?  The relative expectedness or unexpectedness of its color?  So much orangeness to consider.

We started out our journey with single-serve packs of Goldfish Crackers all around.  Orange, but not really strangely orange, since one does often expect cheddar to be that color, and it's not exactly fluorescent or anything.  Examination of the ingredients list reveals the source of color to be annatto, a red dye derived from tropical achiote trees.  It's the only natural dye believed to cause as many allergic reactions as artificial dyes do.  In some Central and South American countries, achiote seeds are used to make body paint.  I'd say that makes these achiote-tinted crackers interestingly orange. 
Strangeness quotient (SQ): 6.5

Our next orange snacks were consumed following an oh-so-healthy lunch at a conveniently-located Cracker Barrel in Fayetteville, NC.  I had packed treat bags of orange candies, leaving one behind for Dan with a little bow on it and taking the other 4 along in the cooler.  No, I did not give them the whole bag to eat at once.  Do you think I'm crazy? I mean, ok, we know I'm crazy, but I'm not STUPID crazy.  

What was in those bags...

Assorted orange Jelly Belly jellybeans - I love candy stores that allow you to pick your own flavors. Tangerine, orange sherbet, sour orange, plain orange, orange soda, peach, cantaloupe.  While I kindof expect a candy product to be brilliantly colored and I also expect those brilliant colors to come from super-artificial dyes, none of these colors are unexpected for their associated flavors, so on that front, orange jelly beans are not strange. BUT if you buy them from candy shop dispensers, you don't get a package with ingredient information, and scouring the internet for longer than I'd like (about 10-15 minutes) has revealed NADA about the dyes used in Jelly Belly beans.  Shame on you, JB, for the opacity of your nutrition information!  In this day and age, that is very strangely- even if predictably - orange, indeed. 
SQ: 9

Trident Tropical Twist gum has the scary-chemical ingredients list you expect from chewing gum, so we'll give it a pass for the plethora of dyes it contains, including Yellow 6 Lake, Yellow 5 Lake, Yellow 5, Red 40, Yellow 6, and Blue 1.  I'm not sure how they get all that dye into the gum, and yet a single piece still feels ridiculously tiny in my mouth.  Which is ok, because the hideously "twisted" "tropical" fruit flavor would be unbearable in a larger dose.  Gross, but not strange; this gum is disgustingly orange. 
SQ: 5

I found orange slice hard candies at the shop.  No idea what's in 'em.  They're orange.  And they look like oranges.  And they can't possibly have anything weirder in them than the gum.  Nearly boringly, if somewhat cutely and probably unnaturally, orange. 
SQ: 3

The candy shop also had bright orange chocolate clown fish, which were too fun to pass up and too gross to actually consume by people over the age of 3.   I expect that these are made of something similar to Wilton Candy Melts.  Wilton doesn't fess up to anything other than "artificial color."  Gee, you think? Artificial?  While I get that these are clown fish, I don't get why we (and by we I mean you freaky candy people) feel the need to make clown fish from chocolate.  And orange-colored chocolate? Just wrong. WRONG.  Unadvisably orange. 
SQ: 11

We next snacked at kitchy, sketchy roadside attraction South of the Border in Hamer, SC.  The overtones of racist sentiment and complete tackiness of this location merit a +1.5 adjustment to the SQ values of all foods consumed here. 

Orange slices were first up.  Yes, actual slices of an actual orange.  I know, I know, eating actual food rather than "snackfood" on SOSAD seems to violate the spirit of the day.  When the kids are older and have only themselves to blame for the sugar-and-MSG coma, they can establish their own SOSAD traditions.  Until then, we will pay at least lip service to good health.  Anyway, the only thing strange about this orange was that it was a navel orange, which always creeps me out a bit.  Other than that, it was very expectedly and naturally orange. 
SQ: 0.5 / ASQ: 2

I purchased my first-ever bottle of Vitamin Water for this trip, reasoning that it was at least a touch healthier than swilling orange soda or Tang, and I did want my kids to be hydrating on our hot road trip without also topping off their HFCS reserves.  This stuff amuses me - it's healthy because it's water! It has vitamins!  Ok, but it's sweet, and it's orange.  How healthy can it be?  Its parent company, Glaceau, claims that it's "for more responsible hydration."  Ooooookay. It apparently owes its watered-down fluorescent-orange color to carotene, which comes from carrots, right?  Sure, or microalgae in Texas.  At best, dubiously healthy and disconcertingly orange. 
SQ: 8.5 / ASQ: 10

Cheez-Its are a staple in the strangely orange canon.  It's not just that they're orange, it's the intensity of the orangeness.  This deep color is evidently intended to imply "lots and lots of cheese" in each cracker, but the ingredients list (kudos to Nabisco for making it easy to find) indicates that the true source of this hue is paprika.  So they're orange like cheese and the dye comes from a relatively natural, non-allergenic source, which is also added to chicken feed to make yolks darker. Huh. Three cheers for food science.  I think wild extrapolation to "Cheez-Its are health food!" is called for here.  Awesomely orange.  SQ: 2 / ASQ: 3.5

Easy Cheese on pretzels was a big fan favorite last year and made an encore appearance at this year's celebration.  This is another food that uses natural-ish dyes (are you as shocked as I am?), including both annatto and apocarotenal.  The food itself is pretty strange - I mean, semi-liquid cheese in a can?  Seriously? Who comes up with this stuff? Who eats this stuff? (not me, I leave it to Griff).  Kraft claims that its product will "brighten up any day," but we were unable to put this statement to the test, since the day was already disgustingly, glaringly bright and hot.  Or maybe the cheese works simply by carrying it with you.  Hmmm.  Unconcerningly orange, albeit strangely conceived.  SQ: 3 / ASQ: 4.5

I think that just about rounds it out for this year's orangefest, with Vitamin Water and orange chocolate clownfish emerging as the clear leaders in strangeness. What orangeosity will next year bring?

word of the day 165/365: curious

Happy birthday to my sweet boy! I was thrilled to give you just what you wanted.

word of the day 164/365: flotsam

Kiddo comes around the corner in the party store with these glasses on.  FAB-U-LOUS. He had already been wearing a bit of bling in the form of a pink heart-shaped faux-gem adjustable (ooh!) ring from the GayRVA party, and the frames really made the look complete.

I adore party stores.  Adore.  Uh-Door.  I walk in there and first of all, I'm all "ooh! the shopping carts are four different colors!" Ok, I actually didn't notice that until I was walking out, but I DID notice the gorgeous paper parasols, actual parasol-size, and gave serious consideration to hanging them from the studio ceiling.  But then I had to move on to Mardis Gras beads and sequined caps and tiny rubber lizards and oh so many feather boas.  Can I have a boa, please? 

Reese was in a similar bliss, floating along with me on a current of party-planning mania, bobbing along in a sea of glitter and plastic doodads. Wands with twirling LED lights.  Faux coconut cups with straws.  Tiny packages of Smarties.  And sunglasses in as many ridiculous shapes as you could ever wish to find.

I think I picked a pinata just so that I would have an excuse to fill it.  Reese picked "the one with the toilet paper hanging down".  If that isn't fabulous, I don't know what is.

word of the day 163/365: present

You know that kindof inane phrase, "your presence is your present"?  It's usually used as an awkward way of telling people, regardless of what Emily Post may have to say on the matter, that you'd rather they not bring a gift to your party.  I've probably been guilty of uttering it if not actually printing it (*gasp*, never!).  But today I actually gave that gift.  I was worn-out, broken-down, and depressive, and I just plain didn't want to go to a previously-arranged engagement, no matter how much fun it might be or how much I love the woman organizing it.  But I made myself go because it's simply no fun to set something up and have people not show. 

And while I was there, I tried not to get too hung up on how utterly ridiculous I look on skates after approximately 25 years (and I sucked then, too).  I let it be whatever it was. I left behind all my daily worries and my earlier exhaustion. I was present physically and emotionally, and also present through my lens.  It's not the kind of present you can exchange, so I hope she liked it!

cupcakes & kindness

Ok, so I lied.  I didn't update you on the shoes on Thursday.  Will you ever forgive me?  I'm not sure my readership can stand a hit. 

The reason for all the lack of time for posting yesterday, besides the whole cleaning-smashed-raspberries-off-everything bit, was that a decent-sized chunk of the day was consumed by the ultra-fabulous and super-fantastic first birthday party for GayRVA.  w00t!  And the reason I was there, besides just that its founder, Kevin Clay, throws a hell of a shindig, was that me & my girls Sarah, Sara, and Patience, were being named the first annual Out.Spoken. Richmonders of the Year, for our organization of Pennies in Protest last March.  This was an overwhelming and humbling honor, and really says something about how a spur-of-the-moment decision to do an act of kindness can have major repercussions.  As recipients of this award, we were really not representing just ourselves, but also the thousands of people in Richmond and around the country who participated in this effort.  Every person who forwarded a link, gave a dollar, told a friend, made a poster, came to a counterprotest, discussed the protests over dinner with their kids, ALL of those people made a difference, all of those people were necessary to bring our community together in supporting each other. We're still hearing from people who felt touched by what happened here, and also people who want to know how to organize a PiP effort in their own city. 

We were absolutely honored to join the celebration on Thursday, and also excited to get the chance to dress up and have a great night out!  It was a close race but Kevin was the deciding vote.  His party, after all.  

That's Kevin on the left, in a rather natty tie.  On the right is Miss Magnolia Jackson Pickett Burnside, hostess extraordinaire of Richmond Varietease, who gave us a short show (a teaser, nyuck nyuck) at the party.

I somehow missed getting a photo of Sarah, but did catch Patience and Sara before putting away my camera.  Sometimes you just need to be a part of something instead of documenting it! For more peeks at the festivities, take a gander at the party photos from Jennie Araujo and Tim Wood of Pink Photography. (And it's lovely to read that my acceptance speech was "rousing"! ♥)

There were scrumptious mini cakes with the best icing ever from Two Sweet Cupcakes, and beautiful boys in Skiviez serving them.  Yum. Additional pairs of Skiviez were tucked into swag bags that also contained gifts from Mongrel, Bygones, Secco Wine Bar, and Nicola Flora, who I suspect also made the beautiful corsages which we wore.  Many many thanks to all!

By the way, I picked the polka dots. They were absolutely adorable, so much so that I don't care that I ended up with blisters on my littlest toes. A girl's gotta have cute feet, even, sometimes, a liberal progressive feminist kind of girl.