The Farmer Dell

I grew up in this little town (population 741) in the northwestern corner of Minnesota called Argyle. My parents owned and operated a restaurant and lounge there called the Farmer Dell. They opened it the year that I was born (1977) and sold it 21 years later.

I grew up in that restaurant, looking for fallen change on the bar floor when I went there with my dad in the morning hours. Eating maraschino cherries. Discovering the joys of Shirley Temple's and Roy Roger's. Telling my mom to bring home a bacon cheeseburger with alphabet fries when she came home. Working there as a waitress when I was a teenager. All of that.

The couple that owned it after my parents ran it for the next 14 years. Then they sold it to someone else, last year, I think, and these people spent a lot of money remodeling the place and renamed it the Harvest Bar & Grill (but I'm pretty sure everyone continued to call it the Farmer Dell, or just the "Dell" for short).

But now it's closed.

And that's kind of sad.

It was the last restaurant remaining in Argyle (the other restaurant, The Cafe, has closed as well). And it was a good restaurant. I will miss the relish trays, and garlic toast, and blue cheese dressing, and beer cheese soup, and mud pie, and deep fried shrimp, and all the rest of it.

I haven't eaten there in a long time, but I still like to know that it's there, you know?

Kind of like Argyle in general. A little town that is on its way to dying. I don't want to live there, but I still want it to exist, you know?

Friday Finds

1. This facebook post from my sister:

Dear Mrs. Obama,

My two active kids are not getting enough to fill them up during the school lunch hour, and they are famished by the end of the day thanks to your new food guidelines. Okay, 13% of children are overweight, but what about the 87% who are not? Give them the fuel they need to make it through a typical day. I think we're also forgetting that (studies show) students who are hungry have lower school performance and concentration levels because of it.

Sincerely, 

Mom of kids who are eating more junk food now than ever before because of the crap they now eat after school in order to get full!

Speaking of Michelle Obama, did you all see that she got bangs? Just look at her, always showing me up. Always.

Oh, and then there is this video to go along with what my sister was saying:



2. This article on dieting by Margaret Cho.

3. Which is a much better philosophy on dieting than Giuliana Ransic has.

4. I was looking at a list of the World's Oldest People, and I found it interesting that 60% of the World's Oldest Living People are from the United States. I mean, why is that? There are a lot of other countries (and industrialized countries) in the world. Why the U.S.?

That is all.

I Need Help.

I am kind of scared, you guys.

I just set up an Indiegogo campaign for that documentary I've been talking about, and now I'm all atwitter about it.

I guess this is kind of like a Great Perhaps kind of moment for me. I am on the threshold of actually doing something kind of big, and it's kind of a big deal, and I'm kind of nervous about it.

Ahhh!!!

I spent about 2 hours today talking to the camera, trying not to look like a moron, and I'm pretty sure that I did not succeed.

So, yeah, anyway, if you would like to donate (please do!), click this link below:

http://www.indiegogo.com/midwifedocumentary

Or click on the button on the sidebar.

Or share the link.

Or something.

(Yikes.)

The Red Hat Society

Okay, so you all remember my mom, right?

She's kind of a weird, crazy lady (see pictures below):

Anyway, she is an active member in this nationwide old lady craze called The Red Hat Society. (Click here to see their very informative and detailed website.) This group started in 1997 when a lady gave her friend a red hat for her 50th birthday and a poem with the lines,

"When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat that doesn't go and doesn't suit me."

So, basically, this is a group of old ladies going around saying, "We don't give a frick about what people think of us anymore and we're going to wear our red hats!" So, they go around wearing their red hats and purple outfits and just not caring what people think anymore.

At first, I kind of rolled my eyes at this whole concept. Especially when my mom goes around decorating her guest bedroom (which we have to stay in) with Red Hat Society theme:

But now, I've come to appreciate it, in certain respects. For, I am at a point in my life where I am saying, "I don't give a frick about what people think of me anymore."

Granted, I'm not going to go about wearing a stupid red hat or making theme rooms on the matter... but it is a nice concept, and one that we should embrace whether or not we are 50, 35, or 20.

Screw the world. Who cares what anyone else thinks? Where your red hats, ladies. Do what you want to do. Enjoy your life. Don't listen to societal norms that tell you NOT to wear red hats with purple outfits. Do what my mom does and put together weird "Alternatives to the Christmas Sweater" parties and Halloween costumes that say you're "Miss Conduct".

Or, go rollerskating with a group of friends, even if you're 35 years old. Or play laser tag. Or go snow tubing.

I tell you, this Grown Up Fun Times thing that I started is like the new, cooler version of the Red Hat Society for the next generation. (Much, much cooler.)



But it has the same message:

Have fun.
Stop Caring What People Think.
Do What You Want To Do.
Form Community.

What's not to love? So, my mom can have her Red Hats. I can have my Fun Times. And I'll try not to make fun of her too much because we are probably very much alike.

The Purpose of Art

"The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls." - Pablo Picasso

Doing New Things

You know how when you're growing up, you're always experiencing things for the first time? Like, learning how to walk, going to school for the first time, falling in love, getting your first job, getting married, having kids. All of that.

When we get older, we might fall into the habit of living our lives (basically) for our children, and sometimes we forget to do things of interest for our own selves. New things.

Like, kids are always taking some sort of a class or another (swimming lessons, choir practice, drama, soccer, piano, etc). Why don't adults do that?

When was the last time you ever took a class?

When was the last time you did something that interested you, just for the sake of doing it?

Most of us don't set out to live our lives vicariously through our children, but sometimes it happens anyway, because it is so easy to fall into.

I've been aware of these thoughts and have tried to keep on top of them over the years. I've taken classes. I've started this thing called Grown Up Fun Times to help keep me doing fun and interesting things that I may have forgotten about over the years. I've started going to a Book Club (which was a new thing for me). And learning new hobbies, like drawing Manga.

Or teaching myself how to juggle. Or doing community theater. Or learning ventriloquism (although that didn't really amount to anything other than learning how to say some stupid statement about a ghost). Or doing art shows. Or playing poker. Or any of that. My point is... do new things. Don't let yourself become bored. Or complacent. Or not fun.
That is all.

Dumb Pictures

So, when I dug up those old pictures of Vernon, I found a couple of other pictures as well.

There is this one, from my photography class. Apparently, the conversation with Vern must have gone something like this:

Allison: Take off your shirt and sit on this stairwell. Don't worry. I know what I'm doing. I'm an artist!

Vernon (rolls eyes): Whatever.

And then there's this one, of my mom, somewhere in Chicago. Again, the conversation:

Allison: Stand with your leg up against the wall, Mom. Don't worry. I know what I'm doing. I'm an artist.

I don't know what the hell I was thinking.

And then, I found our engagement pictures, taken at the JCPenney Portrait Studios (where I was working at the time). They're kind of dumb. Look at us, just standing there, looking all stupid.

Why is it that we do such dumb things in any time that isn't the present?

What Ocean Thinks of Our Family

Ocean is doing this "All About Me" project for school, and this is what she wrote about her family:

My little sister Peace, who is three, is nice and likes to play. My brother Ezra is seven. He can be nice and he likes sports. My dad is a nice person and a very good Catholic. My mom is nice and has a lot of friends.

Yep. That pretty much sums it up.


Netflix Update:
Drive - Not very good. Or, as Vern put it, "One of the worst movies I've ever seen." There was this song used in the movie that was the stupidest song I've ever heard, and it seemed so cheesey within the context of the movie. Ryan Gosling stars.
Melancholia - I don't know what to think of this movie. I don't.

Old Pictures of Vern

You know how I did that photo shoot of Vern for his birthday? And I thought I would do those more often because I want to capture what he looks like, from year to year, growing older (just like I do for my kids). I think that all of us adults should do this for each other, because won't it be fun to look back on who we were when we were 25, 35, 45 years old? (Not to mention that our kids might find it interesting as well.)

The last time I REALLY did this with Vern was 12 years ago, when we lived in Wheaton, IL, and I was studying photography at a local community college. I took a bunch of pictures of him for my classes.

Here are some of them:

This is what Vern looked like when he was 23 years old. And that is kind of nice to remember.

So, take pictures of yourselves now, grown ups, because it's going to be fun to look back on when you're 80.

Thoughts for the New Year...

Most people make these things called New Year's Resolutions at the beginning of every New Year. Well, every year I do mine on January 10, just to be different. (I'm making this up. I'm just doing this now because I never got around to doing it at the beginning of the year.)

Without further ado, here are my resolutions:

• Foster Relationships
• See More Movies in the Theater - going to movies has been something I always enjoyed, and I have gotten out of the habit of doing it since having children. The Oscar nominations came out today, and I find myself not even being that excited about them. I don't want my excitement to die, so I need to cultivate it. 
• Avoid Being Dogmatic - about nutrition plans, workout regimens, belief systems, parenting philosophies, etc. Also, avoid being dogmatic about being non-dogmatic  
• Work on My Eyebrow Plan
• Be Authentic

I also made a resolution for Vernon for the New Year: Make More Decisions. You may think that you can't make resolutions for another person. But you can (whether or not they will listen to you is another story). Vernon has always been really bad at making decisions, and he will ask me for input in making the arbitrary decisions in his life... like, what do I care whether he takes his coat off in church or not? I told Vern about my resolution for him, and how it was for me too, because it would help me let go of controlling everything. And he said, "But then you're just controlling what decisions you want me to make or not." Touche, Vernon, touche. So, I said, "Well, then let's just have you make ALL the decisions. I won't even change underwear without getting your input first."

So, we'll see how that goes. Let me know if you want me to make a resolution for you (if you know me in real life). Just write something in the comments of the facebook link or something.


Netflix Update:
No update today. We caught up on a new episode of Shark Tank. But I did want to talk a little bit more about Take This Waltz... some other things I forgot to mention were that it also stars Sarah Silverman, it has a good soundtrack, and it features this great shower prank which I went on to use on Vernon. Hilarious.

Bangs!

Okay, so I found an old picture from 2005, the last time I got bangs (and I didn't like them, almost cried, and started growing them back immediately).

Here is the picture:

But now I look at the bangs in this picture, and I kind of like them.


Netflix update:
Take This Waltz - A really good flick. Not sure how I missed knowing about it before noticing it on Netflix. It came out in 2011 and stars Michelle Williams and Seth Rogan. I like these actors, and I am usually on top of seeing any movie starring a Freaks and Geeks alum. But, anyway, this movie was amazing, and I'm still thinking about it. It is written and directed by Sarah Polley, who is a beautiful woman two years younger than me. She started out as an actress (I remember her from the movie Go) and has gone on to make some amazing films. Like this one. The visuals are amazing. The whole film is so colorful and vibrant and visually appealing. (I'm still kind of obsessing about the color scheme used in the house, and how to go about re-creating that in my life). The opening scene itself was a work of art. So, yeah, see this movie. A wonderful character study on life and marriage.

Food Challenge Results

So, Vern tried to eat the "Meat Your Maker" on Sunday:

But, he did not do it:

Netflix Update:
Young Adult - Stars Charlize Theron, written by Diablo Cody (of Juno fame), set in Minnesota. A solid independent film, but ultimately, left feeling somewhat unsatisfied. 
Jim Gaffigan: Beyond the Pale - another comedy special by Jim Gaffigan. 
Three Magic Words - A cheesey, not very well done movie, kind of like The Secret. 
Afterlife - A 60 minute look at the afterlife.

On Being Authentic

I was thinking about how I have come full circle with a lot of things in my life.

Like, with things like healthy eating. Going from being so dogmatic about it, to being more relaxed... to now being at an in between place where I can sit back and actually think about how I want it to be.

Same for with drinking.

Or spending money.

I've kind of gone through a process with all of these things, and I'm now at a point where I'm like, "Where do I want to be in regards to ________ in my life?" And I can come at it from a different, broader, more open perspective than I was before.

Take going out to eat, for instance. I want to really look at something like that and I want to determine what *I* think about it? Do I choose to go somewhere because it's what I can afford? Do I not like a restaurant because it's "too mainstream"? Am I being influenced by what my friends like and what other people think in making my decisions? Am I being influenced by my upbringing, and trying to be better than everything I deem as too small-town? Etc.

I just want to authentically determine what it is that *I* like and want out of life. It's all part of the process of self-discovery, I guess, and now that I feel that I've gone full circle through a lot of these things, I am finally able to make those discoveries.

Take that Portlandia-esque "Simpsons" episode that recently aired. Crunchiness, hipsters... everything just becomes a caricature unto itself, and it becomes laughable.

Or that picture of a hipster that I posted once, where it said: "Likes mainstream. Because hating mainstream is too mainstream."

Which got me to thinking... how much of this stuff do I gravitate to because I value it, or am I doing things just because I like to be alternative. To be different.

As I said in my blog post about those freaking owls, "Mostly, I tend to like things that are different (and unique), because I like to be different (and unique). But that seems like a rather poor reason to like (or not like) something, and, as I said before, it has become a modality unto itself."

I want to like things and want things authentically, and I think I am able to do more so now that I have come full circle. Even if those things end up being the exact same things I've liked in the beginning. That is not the point. The point is that the process was important in the reasoning behind all of it.


“Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.” - St. Catherine of Siena

Netflix and a Food Challenge

Even though Vern swore off food challenges since his last excursion, he might attempt to eat this with a buddy tomorrow:

It is called "Meat Your Maker" and it's from a restaurant called Burger Jone's.  

LEVEL ONE: A bun, grilled with cheese and bacon. It supports a 7 oz. cheeseburger, chicken fried bacon, chili cheese dog-burger, 7 oz. cheeseburger, and chicken-fried bacon. 

LEVEL TWO: Grilled cheese with bacon, a 7 oz. cheeseburger, chicken fried bacon, chili cheese dog-burger, 7 oz. cheeseburger, and chicken-fried bacon. 

LEVEL THREE: Grilled cheese with bacon, a fried egg, cooked to order, topped with onion rings and garnished – no, crowned – with Faribault Creamery cheese curds. 

Calories: Approximately 10,000.

If he tries this, it will be his fourth attempt at a food challenge. (Click here for pictures from the other ones.)

In other news, we signed up for a free month of unlimited steaming of Netflix. So, basically every night this month I'm going to be watching a movie (in order to get my money's worth).

Last night we watched The Queen of Versailles, which was a documentary I had been wanting to see for awhile because it got excellent reviews in Entertainment Weekly. It was about an uber-rich couple building the biggest house in America. But then when the economy went downhill, so did their dreams of owning this 90,000 square foot house. It was really interesting and the wife was rather likable.

The night before that we watched Jim Gaffigan's Mr. Universe comedy special. He had a really funny bit about homebirth (he's had four).

Friday Finds

Just one find for this week. This one is from the 100 Days of Rejection Therapy blog. The premise of the blog is that he is "aiming to have one rejection per day by making crazy requests. His goal is to desensitize myself from the pain of rejection and overcome my fear."

So, he'll make these requests that are so crazy they will elicit a rejection. Requests like asking to be a live model at Abercrombie and Fitch, sending something to Santa via FedEx, asking for the #1 spot in Best Buy's line on Thanksgiving, requesting a burger refill, asking to play soccer in someone else's backyard, offering to deliver a pizza at Domino's, etc.

Well, this one request that he made to Krispy Kreme had a really sweet and heartwarming result. It was during their peak hours, and he went in there and requested donuts connected and colored like the Olympic rings.

Take a look:

Car and Other Updates

We sold our car a couple days after listing it, in case anyone was wondering. Got $350 for it. I just thought I should update everyone on that.

Here are some other things I will update you on:

1) I'm still thinking about getting bangs. Why do I keep thinking about getting bangs? Will these thoughts keep bugging me until I actually go ahead and get bangs (and then possibly regret it), or will they somehow magically go away on their own? (I think I may need to get the bangs.)

Here are some reasons why I keep thinking about getting bangs:

Zooey Deschanel:

And Jenny (from Jenny & Tyler):

I just keep looking at these girls with their cute little bangs, and I just can't stop thinking, "I want bangs!"

And yes, this was me when I was 13 and had bangs, but just shut up about that. I can do my hair a lot better than that now.

2) Vern and I watched "21 Jump Street" (the movie) last night, and it was really funny. Vern was laughing really hard during a fair amount of scenes in the movie, and I said, "I haven't heard you laugh this loud in a long time." And he said, "We must not watch a lot of funny movies."

And that's true. We don't.

3) I think I'm finally at a point in my life where I feel very well balanced in having enough alone time, enough time just with Vernon, enough time with the kids (that one isn't very hard to do), and enough social time. So, kudos to me on that.

Naked Pictures

I show my kids nude pictures on the internet sometimes, because I think they're beautiful. We look at them, and talk about different body shapes, and the beauty of the pictures and stuff like that.

I was showing Vern this one site that I had shown the kids, where this Minneapolis based photographer took these beautiful nude portraits of women in their own homes. And I was showing Vern how beautiful these pictures were, and he was like, "You showed these to the kids?" And I was like, "Yeah, I show them stuff like this all the time."

("All the time" is actually an overstatement, with me just trying to be cute. I had only shown the kids one other artist before this... Spencer Tunick, who is famous for taking pictures of large groups of naked people. His stuff is really cool.)

So, I explained to Vern how I thought it was important for a kids to grow up seeing what a wide variety of normal women's bodies look like (because that seemed like a meaningful and important answer to give, when, in truth, my intention was just to show the kids something that I thought was neat). And he was like, "Okay."

More Pictures from Christmas

Here are some more pictures from Christmas at my Mom's that I haven't gotten around to posting yet.

This is my sister and my niece:

This my mom eating the remainder of the pink squirrel out of an ice cream bucket:

This is my mom and this outfit that she made and wore to her "Alternative to a Christmas Sweater Party" that she threw for some of her friends:

This is my daughter, Peace, when I put some of my mom's curlers in her hair:

This is Peace wearing my mom's "Alternative to the Christmas Sweater Party" outfit:

This is Peace and Vern swimming at the hotel (because my mom got a night at a hotel for cheap in a silent auction, and that is where my sister and her family stayed because my family always wakes her up too early when she stays at my mom's with us):

This is what Vern and I look like in our swimsuits:

These three have the longest tongues in our family (or of anybody else I know). They pose for a picture like this every once in awhile:

That's it. Happy New Year!