No Cell Phone Service

A while ago I heard Rich Juzwiak of the pop culture blog fourfour being interviewed on This American Life about contemporary horror films.  The dude watches a ton of movies and always has a strong opinion about everything-just like a New Yorker.  He did a youtube mash-up of all cellular misworkings from 66 horror films. 
And yeah, it's a total cliche but geez, most of those movies could have been filmed in northern New Mexico because there's so many no-service zones in this area. 

We Made It To Taos!!!

We finally made it to Taos!  I have lots of pictures and what-not to put up soon.  Conner and I are just checking our email real quick but I plan on camping out at this cool coffee shop called Wired? and throwing it all online.

Canned Ham Trailers

Denny and the boys restored the 1957 Corvette canned ham trailer for us to use as storage and sleep space.  They even painted it to match the car...haha, classic car guys and Style.  I love it!

The inside is still in need of some help so I've been doing some research on canned ham trailer interior decoration for inspiration.  These are my favorites so far.

The Cowboy Hilton.  This place is so cute.  Denny and Melody Finn fixed it all up and decorated it in fully cowboy attire.

Retro Restoration

Environmental Graffiti

 

Feline Diabetes

Imperchorstra On Etsy!

Oh my goodness!  I've finally got our Imperchorstra Etsy store up and running.  Geez Louise.  It took all day long: photo taking, photo editing, account fees, etc, etc.  Phew, but it's done and Conner's wooden necklaces are ready for public consumption!  We'll have more stuff up soon-ish (I'm working on some sunglasses...) but for now, here it is.  Please do pass it along!

Farting Around

I got to fart around on the internet yesterday, hence why there's so many popular culture posts lately. I hadn't left the house in 3 days since my own car died from a busted timing belt and I was going a little stir-crazy. I've decided to leave the timing belt be for a while till we get back since it'll be around $400 for the belt kit, $100 for a new clutch, and a lot of general maintenance...might as well put it off till later I say.

I was talking to my friend Christina Shaffell (who designed our awesome website!) the other day, a lady who's also feeling stuck in a small town, albeit in California and not Colorado. She said that she farts around on the internet for inspiration for her next project; she looks at her stuck-period a gestation period from which she can reap the benefits in the months to come. I thought 'check, that sounds like a good idea.' She also said she daydreams about her future apartment and how she will decorate it. Both those things help her sanity. I said 'check, check to that as well.'

Prince Poppycock

“A Louis XIV confection or occasional Nancy Sinatra-esque chanteur/chanteuse in gold glitter boots with world-class vocal talent. No lip-syncing for Mr. Quale, who is a true artist and transforms himself Klaus Nomi style once he graces the stage. Nina Hagen would be proud, as would Diamanda Galas.” – Roy Rogers Oldenkamp for WeHoNews.com

"Part randy dandy, part rock star, part drunken courtesan, Poppycock instantly owns the audience with but a glance and a wiggle of bedazzled pantaloons, and that’s just the beginning. His operatic prowess, glamourous costumes and ostentatious prose leave not a heart unstirred."
~Zoetica Webb via Coilhouse
Poppycock official website 

The Freelancer's Fashion Blog

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I love fashion.  If I kept all the girlie magazines I've bought over the years I'm sure it would fill up half of a good-sized bookshelf.  However, I didn't keep them but I still look to many different sources for inspiration.
Now that we've got this bad-ass retro road rig (photos of car and trailer coming soon), I feel it's necessary to dress accordingly.  Thankfully there's The Freelancer's Fashion Blog by a lady based out of Finland with the best vintage style.
Check her out...

Nick Cave's Sound Suit

Nick Cave--no, not that Nick Cave of the Bad Seeds fame. The other one--a performance artist and dancers based out of Chicago has created the Sound Suit.  Made out of found objects, these full body suits are made to move in.  And it makes sense as Cave trained with one of the most bad-ass dance troupes around, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.
You tube has some good suits in motion.

 Sources Artistic Things & Coilhouse

How To Make Sun Tea

Melody Finn and Jenny Gummersall showed me the beauty of Sun Tea as southern Colorado inches up to 100 degrees during the day.  It's strange that when we got here at the beginning of May, I was wearing every single warm piece of clothing I brought and I was still freezing.  Now I drink a ton of ginger ale and sun tea.

"In theory, sun tea is supposed to be better than tea made using boiled water because the sun slowly, and gently infuses the water with all the goodness of the herbs instead of the bitter oils that are brought out with rapid brewing."

1. Fill up a glass milk jug (1/2 gallon) with distilled water
2. Throw in 8 tea bags (my favorite is Cinnamon Apple Spice that's sweet enough you don't have to throw in any additional sweeteners)
3. Leave out in full sun for 3-5 hours
4. Drink it up, it's delicious

Quote and photo via You Grow Girl

Wake Surfing On Navajo Lake

In the last week we’ve had more time to experience the finer things in Arboles life instead of just busting ass on Breathless—like boating.  Quick history lesson about the Navajo Lake:

For years four small towns—Tiffany, Allison, Rosa, and Arboles—lay in the basin of the Pine River Valley.  Then the government decided to damn up the pre-existing lake and flood the valley to store more water for irrigation purposes..  All of the little towns had to relocate to the bluffs above the lake and archaeologists went to work to excavate all the old Indian ruins and grave sites.  So now the lake is over 38 miles long and all the little towns are in new locations.

We went out on Andy and Lauren’s boat to try our hand at wake surfing.  It’s kind of like wakeboarding, in that you get up out of the water the same way, but then when you are up on the board you surf the wake close to the boat.  It’s tricky enough so that when you finally get it you feel like a bit of a bad-ass, but easy enough that you can get it in a day.  We spent all day out on that boat listening to the only two cds that would work in the stereo—Willie Nelson and Macy Grey.  And of course, a couple days later I’m still totally sore.

Yesterday I stole away to have a girl’s boating trip with Laura Walton and her niece while the boys went to do some recording with their old band 6 Cents.  They should have some audio soon and I’ll post it up.  On the boat Laura, Keely, and I did some tubing and some fishing.  I learned that as an adult it’s best not to sit butt down in the tube like a little kid.  While they’re slinging you all around the water and your butt is just stuck right down there, it’s the most thorough non-professional enema ever.  Word to the wise: lay on top of the tube, stomach down.  Haha, cleansing aside, it was a blast!  Especially when it was topped off with dinner and steamy stories from Laura’s party days…being an extra in a film with Poison’s Brett Michaels and Wayne Newton and getting rescued from Brett’s advances by cheeseburgers in Wayne’s trailer…

Map via Rizuto's  
Photo via American Southwest

Durango Herald News, Arboles musicians, Texas writer hit the road for documentary

Durango Herald News, Arboles musicians, Texas writer hit the road for documentary

We made the Durango paper! Thanks Bryant Liggett, you rock.

Classic Car Aficionados

I love how into style classic car guys are.  In fact, I think that’s the main focus of their hobby.  Because otherwise, if they were simply into mechanics or driving then they would just worry about if the car worked.  Right?  Or am I mistaken and all car guys are into style?

We were going to slightly renovate Conner’s small storage trailer into something that he and I could both store the music equipment and sleep in.  Dan was to sleep in the back of Ms. Mahoney.  However, after I came back from my sister’s graduation I found that no, that was no longer the plan.  That one had been traded up for an option with better style.  So now Pappa Denny Finn is working on restoring an old 1958 teardrop camper trailer.  He made a drawing of the finished product-note that the trailer color scheme matches that of the car.

And yeah, damn, that’s going to be some good style driving down the road.  Now we just gotta start a rockabilly band!

Primo Brothers

"Brothers Tiago and Gabriel Primo set up their quarters on the side of a building, in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro.
The two artists spend up to 14 hours a day literally hanging around their outdoor home. They have a hammock, a love chair, some drawers with an old gramophone, all screwed tightly into the wall and they get to them using wall-climbing equipment.
The Primo brothers say the hardest part is listening to drunks who relate their life stories during the night, when their trying to sleep and the rain.
So if you happen to pass by Gonçalves Ledo street, in Rio de Janeiro, by August 22, don’t be surprised to see two men living on the side of a building."
~by Spooky via Oddity Central

List of People to Harass

I’ve been moaning to my mom about wanting a career and health insurance for the past couple years, so when I told her about this road trip, supportive as she is, she was skeptical about me “putting everything on hold for a year.” To my mom I want to say this…Momma, woman, I’ve become super responsible and it’s only been two months! Just think of all the job skills I’m going to have in a year!...It’s important to be enthusiastic with my parents because for some reason, enthusiasm denotes seriousness and believability.

With any small enterprise, wearing of different hats is the key to success. I’m the writer of the group but I’ve also become the road manager, the booking agent, and the general PR girl. For goodness sake I’ve now got an impromptu spreadsheet entitled People To Harass with columns for Name, Info, and When I’ve Contacted Them so as to be persistent but not a pain in the ass. And it seems like it takes at least three times before anyone responds.

For example: We’re heading to Taos on Monday to study Native American music. I confess that I’m a little weary about going because I keep hearing that specific pueblo is really difficult for outsiders to gain access and trust. The one man everyone keeps telling us to study with, because of his more modern Native American musical style, is Robert Mirabal; a general awesome guy who’s won 12 Grammys and has acted in a film about Georgia O’Keefe. This has been my route to get in touch with him: contacting the owner of Sun House Records (Tony Issacs), then the head of KDRU radio (Bryant Liggett), then the radio DJ at KDNK (Luke Nestor), then Robert’s manager, who then gave me his sister’s phone number. Not sure why I have his sister’s number, but I’m on my second attempt to get a hold of her, so only one more to go. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

For the boys: Dan’s the drummer, chef, and videographer while Conner is the bassist, mechanic, and jewelry maker. Many hats, many hats…
Photo via Uni of Colorado

Thoughts On Eat, Pray, Love

I frankly can’t stand Elizabeth Gilbert’s writing.  She kowtows around religion a ton in her books like a proper politically correct New Yorker, but the thing is that she’s very religious and it comes up a lot in her writings and well, I just wish she’d stop stuttering around God and Jesus and straight up come out with it.  Venting aside, and in spite of myself, I’ve read both her books; Eat, Pray, Love and Committed. 

She does her research and there are always at least a couple ideas I seem to quote from each book.  I fear my favorite is from Eat, Pray, Love.  While studying Italian cooking in Rome and an Italian man tells her that every city has a special word, like a zeitgeist keyword, and every individual has their own personal word.  If those two words don’t mesh in some way then the individual will never truly feel at home.  In the book her word is PURITY (or something along those lines) and Rome’s word is SEX.  Because they are two such opposed ideas, she will probably never feel truly comfortable in Rome.

I latched on to this because if I didn’t feel comfortable in a place then I would always think it was my failing for not finding some aspect of the town to like, or that I hadn’t given myself enough time to settle in.  This idea freed me to understand that you know what, sometimes it’s just not my place.  Austin, North Carolina, Paris, Germany—these are my kinds of places.  London, Greece, southern Colorado—these are not so much my speed.  I will always be able to appreciate these places for what they are but I’ve come to discover that I’m a big fan of bustling, quaint, and orderly kinds of places.  Try as I might to change that, I’ll always desire cute orderly bustle.

Which is not to say that I haven’t grown to adore the people of Arboles, because I have.  Cookouts, internet access, boating, borrowing movies--it’s been wonderful to get to know all of you.  And geez louise, we really couldn’t be doing this project in such style without your help and support in getting Breathless all ready for the open road.  So thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for being so wonderful.

I suppose I’m still young enough to feel like I’m missing out on something if there’s not a ton of activity around, so for now I’ll be a city girl.  However, at the recommendation of Bryan and Laura we watched Cars last night.  Through the story of a young hot-shot race car finding love and a home in a small town…well, let’s just say that through the magical life lessons taught in Disney films I’m down for the quiet life with my garden, a pot-belly, chickens, and Conner in the shop working on restoring yet another vintage car.
Photo: Trevi Fountain in Rome via Washington Uni

4th of July in Arboles

I've been hearing about the Arboles 4th of July parade ever since we got here in May.  The sign heading in to the event read Arboles Arade.  I figured that because the parade was so small they shortened the word to reflect the size...haha, I jest.  The 7 car parade had to go around the block twice to make it worth while; the first time they threw out handfuls of candy to the people dotting the route.  I picked up a DumDum sucker and stuck in my hair like a flower to eat later but I never did get around to it, so it stayed up there all 4th of July.  The full Arade.

The second time around both the parade and the crowd whipped out their SuperSoaker 2000's and had a big old water fight.  Everyone was drenched by the end.

Sandra and Jesse Horton, Bryce Finn

As we were walking down from the parade to the cookout I overheard this little boy say, "Jesus, grant me poise..."  It was too freaking adorable that I had to take a photo. 

This is where the cookout area was, right by the library.  Just look at that little library!  I was told that it's just one room full of cheesy romance novels that's rarely ever open, so don't bother.  Haha...

Colorado Traffic Jams

I've been hearing about "Colorado Traffic Jams" ever since I got to Arboles but I've never been stuck in one. Tyller Gummersall took some photos for me the other day while he was inching through it.

Apparently during the spring it's not uncommon to be driving down the highway and run into a bunch of sheep or cows getting herded down the road.  The farmers have to move them to a new pasture so they can continue grazing every season and walking them down the highway is the fastest way to get it done.  I've heard that the cows are actually easier to move through--driving slowly so that they have time to get a clue and get out of the way--because you can see the cows from window level.  The sheep are slightly more difficult because they're so small that you can't see them over the hood of your car, and they bounce around a lot, especially the young ones, so it's hard to know if they're in the way and in danger of getting squished by your wheels.  I've seen the aftermath of it all--droppings smeared along the road--but never been stuck in the middle of it although it sounds adorable!

Imperchorstra has a YouTube channel!

We finally got a YouTube channel!  I'm still figuring out all the video editing software but this was my first attempt...Kat and I being goofy while sanding the 54.  It was the only way to hang out to our sanity...beer and ridiculousness.

A. Beadles Gallery and Lobster Fest

Conner and I went up to Carbondale this past weekend with the Gummersalls to play at the A. Beadles Gallery during Lobster Fest.  The lobster looked amazing but unfortunately it was $35 a plate and we simply couldn't swing it.  So we drank wine and played with Tyller and fiddler, Ally Marzulla.  Everyone at the gallery were amazing (Ashley, Allison, and John) and thank you so much for letting us stay at your home.  Oh man, it's wonderful to be able to step out of the house and walk across the street to the best pizza and be right in the middle of downtown.  Carbondale, CO is super cute.  I love quaint little towns.

Factory in...Smithfield?  From the car window.

Conner, Tyller, Ally Marzulla

Luke Nester of KDNK Solar Radio.  I loved his hair "necklace"

Jenny and Greg Gummersall

We went up to Aspen for dinner one night since it's only 20 minutes away.  Aspen is known as the "money town" in Colorado and you get it right away as you drive into town because you pass right by the airport which is only used by private jets.  Somebody associated with the Washington Redskins was in town that weekend, as evidenced by the big-ass jet with the Redskins logo printed on the tail.  Aside from the Prada, Chanel, and Louis Vuitton stores in between the cute ice cream shops, Aspen looks just like any other cute Colorado mountain town.  Oh, and aside from the ridiculous man who owns one of the many art galleries.  I had to leave although I did really want to check out the Swarovski crystal encrusted art guitars by Dallas artist, Amanda Dunbar.

Road Trip Itinerary

Now that the car is done, we've started to focus on planning out this road trip so that we can be sure to hit all the best festivals, road side attractions, and see old friends that have scattered around the US. If anyone has any awesome suggestions of ice cream shops, amusement parks, national parks--basically anything amazing--then let us know!


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