When I Grow Up I Wanna be Stacy (or Lafayette)

I am here today, readers fair, to implore those of you in the Austin area to consider coming out to Martial Way Academy next week THIS WEEK NOV 16-20TH for FREE CLASSES! and to help us meet some special goals as we drift ever-closer to that magical time of year (before the time of year where you cry over your credit card bills and wonder why you bought so many presents for your undeserving relatives and boring co-workers).

I will be there, hopefully four times- a lofty goal considering my insane schedule- to participate in the Kick-a-Thon and to donate some money for a student who came down with Guillian-Barre' syndrome a few weeks ago and nearly died from it. Take it from me, this lady is AWESOME and I wanna be like her when I grow up- she does push-ups on her knuckles and I'm still doing the girly kind on my knees (damn my trick ankle. . .yes I'm seventy-five). It's also a great example of what a fantastic little family I'm so glad to have become a part of at Martial Way- how many other places do you think would help raise money for a student's medical bills? It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy and less cynical.

There's also a sweet Thanksgiving Special going with a few slots left, if you decide you like your free class and would like to sign up for a two-month commitment. I did a similar program over the summer and got hooked. I've even gone so far as to purchase my very own Thai kickboxing pads that live in the back of Lafayette* and confuse many passengers.

Moral of the Blog-Post Story: Think kind thoughts and come out to Martial Way if you're so inclined, if just to burn off some calories before eating an entire pie on Thanksgiving.

ALSO-ALSO: You can SPONSOR ME in the Kick-a-Thon for something like a nickel a kick. We're aiming for a thousand a class! I'll post my results here.

ETA: Wednesday class 750 kicks. Not too bad!
Thursday class 1064 kicks- putting the week's total at 1814

-AC2

*Lafayette is the name of my Ford Edge; he was thusly named for the party in his cupholders (or the ambient lighting feature in the interior; this does not mean I condone drinking and driving). I felt Lafayette the character from True Blood and the Charlene Harris Southern Vampire series would approve.

Check him out. He approves.

Bonus AC2 Entry: I wish I had a croissant to go with that hat

In semi-related Longhorn Football news, I stopped by DSW today ostensibly to shop for a replacement pair of black pumps (mine are all kinds of dead- woe) but found something much more beauteous instead: that there burnt orange knit beret. If only it were actually cold here in Texas for the majority of football season; I'd have reason to drop twenty on it. (I would do it anyway, if it came with a case of chocolate croissants or something. Take note, manufacturers.)

As it is, we are only just starting to experience highs not in the triple-digits (bless you rain!) here in Mighty Texas and I pretty much consider this a thoughtful birthday gift from the universe. Well, that and the person with the fetching accent (British) who has a cubicle near mine at the office so I get to listen to them talk. . .okay that sounds creepy when I put it that way. Ahem.

It's truly amazing how maladroit (WORD OF THE DAY!) I can be considering I'm getting my MA in Interpersonal Communication, huh? That would also be the reason I don't date, you guys. OH HAI I'M AWKWARD. (Sadly this is the moment when most of my ex-boyfriends would chime in with "It's a good thing you're pretty". Gee guys, I wonder why we broke up.) I mean, I have an OKC profile and all. . .but let's just not go there, shall we? Now I'm just embarrassing myself.

Ahem.

I do plan to do my best to join AC1 in tailgate fun this Saturday, however I will not be able to make it out until later in the afternoon* as I have my UT Sailing Alumni Regatta on Saturday morning! I will now address several of your questions:

1) yes, UT has a sailing team and it has been around since the '60s
2) yes I sailed on it in college (and refused to ever learn how to skipper)
3) yes I do have a tendency to choose violent, expensive hobbies (ironic considering how accident-prone I am)
4)no our calendar is no longer for sale- sorry

Here is a picture of me with a boat that I actually sailed in, to make you feel better:

This was at Women's Sailing Nationals, circa 2007. The lovely lady with me was my skipper, the lovely Miss KJ. She is also my second wife, but that is something of a long story involving hand-holding, a tiara, my 21st birthday and a drunk, overly-excited man hanging out the window of his truck.

Anyway, the Alumni Regatta is more. . .festive, shall we say, than the other regattas hosted by the team wherein they actually compete in their region to be able to compete at the national level. Hands down the very best thing I did in college and I am glad I snuggled it and loved it as much as I could because damn do I miss it now! Although hitting things is coming in a nice second as a beloved, violent and expensive hobby.

PS: OPEN HOUSE WITH MARTIAL WAY THIS WEEK! Only three days left, but I will be there! Okay I won't be there Saturday because I'll be sailing, but. . .you know. Go and try out any class you may fancy, except the fanciful really hard advanced ones. We wouldn't want you to die.

Alright kids, it's off to bed for this intrepid young. . .uh. . .cat lady? Sure. Intrepid young Cat Lady. Going to try to conquer all again tomorrow, because today I just took a nap instead.

-AC2

*So you might be thinking, "Hey, that game doesn't start until like 7pm, right?" and yes you would be right- and also clearly know nothing about how incredibly hardcore some of these tailgating folk are; some groups send out hungover and wayward freshman as early as sunrise to pitch tents and set up general merriment areas for the tailgating that often commences before noon. Alumni invest in $200,000 RVs with Longhorn decorating schemes so they can drink beer in comfort near the stadium, all day long.

It is an experience, people. If you ever get invited, your ass should say YES.

Giant floating heads and canned champagne

Greetings, dear readers! This is Aquatic Cousin 2 speaking, live from Kickbutt Coffee.

[If you like the dress, I borrowed it from Aquatic Cousin 1 and no I am not wearing it anymore, but I did love it so much I bought it and you can too. Let's all be twins! I'm sure it works that way. ]

As a graduate student who works two jobs out of her house (internet permitting HEY THERE AT&T), I- Aquatic Cousin 2- have a pretty strange and continually morphing schedule (though unfortunately it never morphs into anything fun like a Power Ranger; having Zordon as a conversation piece in my apartment would spice up ALL my dinner parties). At the moment Wednesdays are my nights off from fieldwork and often Aquatic Cousin 1 and I involve ourselves in some type of mischief.

Yesterday, for example, I received a text message that said only "BEDAZZLE!!!" and knew immediately that I must journey to the Barbie Dream House* and enter into bedazzling activities with Aquatic Cousin 1; champagne and tacky glue being the moral adhesive of our universe.

Observe the plight of our project thus far:
This was Aquatic Cousin 1's idea after seeing a photo of the Disco!Deer and wondering what she might do in order to improve upon the plain plywood appearance of her cabinets. More updates and details on this project as it progresses, mark my words.

After spending a little over four hours tirelessly adhering acrylic jewels to the back of the cabinet from the vantage of the granite counter top (and praying to Lord Old Gregg we wouldn't go crashing through the floor into the downstairs apartment) with the aid of champagne, we decided that dinner and a bit of a night out on the town were in order.

Austin is of course famous for its many varied and delicious Tex-Mex joints and Guero's Taco Bar was the decided upon destination for the evening's taco and margarita beverage needs; Aquatic Cousin 1 is your definitive source for all things at the bar and could tell you which version we were enjoying last night. I am here to talk shrimp tacos and my neverending fear and loathing of hookah which we enjoy patronizing Red Fez downtown for (more on that in a moment, dear readers).

Margaritas on the rocks for the Aquatic Cousins

Normalcy is not something we lay claim to, or ever have.

After dinner we talked about checking out a friend's show at Antone's, but ultimately found ourselves enjoy beverages and mango-flavored hookah at Red Fez. I personally did only partake in the water beverage selection and cowered in fear of the terrifying hookah, as I have recently started kickboxing classes at the Martial Way Academy and now have to rise at a respectable hour to get some busted up sexy knuckles to show for my efforts of holding up pads for large sweaty men.

THE HOOKAH IS ATTACKING DOWNTOWN TOKYO! RUN FOR YOUR LIIIIVES!!!

We were both only children, dear readers, and have developed interesting imaginations and ideas of entertainment as a result of this. At any rate if you find yourself in Austin and need yourself a good Tokyo-attacking hookah, Red Fez is your place. They usually have some sweet tunes and are one of the only places in town you will find Sophia Coppola's canned champagne- it comes with a straw, even. How could you possibly beat that? Sophies, we call them. I highly encourage you order one or order a case and send them to us, we will post pictures of us drinking them and maybe even wearing bikinis if you send several cases.

I would love to keep on, my darlings, but a week's backlog of fieldnotes** awaits me. Take care and in the meantime we appreciate all questions/comments/concerns/pledges to send seven cases of Sophies in the comments.

-Aquatic Cousin 2

*Barbie Dream House or BDH= the residence of Aquatic Cousin 1; it is fabulosity itself.
**fieldnotes are part of my fieldwork, for my thesis, which is ethnographic in nature and if you don't know what that means, ask me or use Google for its intended purposes, Internet.