Edgy Mama

She had a youngin’ at her feet and a big round belly, but that didn’t stop her from grabbing the tamborine and having a good time at the Friday night drum circle in downtown Ashvegas.

One reason I love writing about small businesses and entrepreneurs is that I have a big, wet, soft spot for underdogs of any and all varieties. I know I’m supposed to be objective, but I want these folks to make it, particularly the ones who’ve put everything on the line for a lifelong dream. I heart that kind of commitment and persistence big.

Then every once in a while, I end up talking to a small business person who is haughty and self-righteous and says not nice things about my underdog friends, and it ruins my day, so I have to go out and drink four beers instead of two. Four beers on a tummy holding just a bit of popcorn and a peppermint stick. But the beers made me happy and silly and unable to sleep. Of course, the boy woke me up three times as well, which he rarely does anymore. The last time was at 5:30 a.m., and neither of us went back to sleep.

Now I’ve got this sour beer in my tummy feeling and I’m too tired to focus, although I need to pack up the Mommy van to drive myself, the kidlings, and the Biscuit to Atlanta this afternoon. Where, luckily, I will be seeing and staying with old friends, including my best friend from high school and college and my best friend from when I lived in London, who now lives in Addis Abbaba, so when her family is anywhere within an 800-mile vicinty of mine, I try to see them.

Meanwhile E-spouse is schmoozing in Sweden. The e-mail I got from him yesterday said he was hanging out with the Queen of Jordan and she’s HOT. That’s the kind of e-mail I get while I’m feeding and driving and getting up in the middle of the night with his kids.

Have a great weekend, y’all.

Because you continue to need some edge.

I’m supposed to be writing an article for a Webkinz collector’s guide right now. Instead, I’m watching my kids beat up on each other on the neighbor’s trampoline while the puppy goes nuts because they are on the other side of the fence from him. But if I let the puppy out, he’ll race across the street, which, luckily, rarely has traffic, but which has made both my kids and pets less fearful than they should be of flat, black asphalt.

So, the Webkinz article is good money, but boring. It’s about navigating the website, so I keep having to click on the website, which is all bright and rainbowy and geared for 10-year-olds, then click back to my black and white text, and try to explain what the heck is going on in a way that both “adult” collectors and kids can understand.

All this while E-spouse wings his way to some mountain village in Sweden to meet with other climate scientists and people like Al Gore and the King of Sweden, who I wouldn’t know if I saw him. Maybe it’s because I’m o American and had ancestors who fought in the Revolutionary War, but I just don’t get the concept of royalty. It seems so 17th century. Like, do kings and queens use computers? They must, right? But it seems so mundane and unkingly to like, surf the net.

Can you tell I’m procrastinating? I had a friend refer to me recently as the Queen of digression. So maybe I’m royalty. That must be why you all keep coming back.

According to the lovely Joshilyn Jackson, Friday was “Take your Dog to Work” day. As the Bisc often sleeps at my feet as I work, or chews on my feet if he’s feeling frisky, TYDTW day didn’t seem to apply to me. I did decide, however, to take our dog out to dinner with us Friday night.

Asheville touts itself as a dog friendly town, and in my ignorance, I assumed the large outside patio at Mellow Mushroom would be particularly canine receptive. But no. No dogs are allowed, and, according to the apologetic hostess, if you tie your dog on the outside rail, on the sidewalk, next to the table where you are eating, he’s considered an “unattended animal” and both you and the restaurant will be ticketed by the big, bad police.

So we walked over to Asheville Brewing Company, who have a “we love pooches on our patio policy.” There we got fabulous za (the Sheer Delight is, well, a delight), excellent beer brewed on the premises, and our pup, who happily chewed on pizza crusts at my feet.

I remember when there was only one Mellow Mushroom–the first, in Midtown Atlanta, which was a bit of a dicey area in the late 70s and early 80s. But they had good hippie za and served pitchers of beer to underaged kids. Like me. All the servers were perpetually stoned.

The possibly apocryphal story behind the restaurant was that it was started by a couple of dropouts from nearby Georgia Tech who were soon joined by a University of Georgia dropout who came up with the now prescient “all natural” angle.

Now, the restaurant has something like 28 locations in five states. I guess it’s a grand success story. I was thrilled when it came to Ashvegas. They still have the psychedelic menus, funky decor, and happy mushroom mascot. But they’ve lost something. They’re practically mainstream now. The servers are still funky, but clean. In every way. I’m sure they card folks relentlessly. And they prohibit pups from their perky patio.

Very cool photos of fantastic creatures from the ocean’s depths here. Check out the photo gallery.
Spooky!

Osprey with fish, originally uploaded by edgygrrrl.

Here’s the osprey fluffing himself up after diving into the waves. See the fish’s tail?

Osprey eating fish 2, originally uploaded by edgygrrrl.

I saw this osprey fly out of the ocean with a good-sized fishy in his talons. Then he landed in a pine tree about 50 feet up and 75 yards away. Gotta love the zoom! Can you see the fish getting it’s head ripped off?

… in Edgy world. Well, in particular, my girl and E-spouse are all about it. Before the rest of us are even awake the girl has devoured the sports page of our local newspaper. She reports the previous night’s game results over breakfast. She knows stats, standings, and scores. She’s a little strange.

Luckily, we have a single A baseball club, known as the Asheville Tourists. The night games are typically too late for sleepy girl, but she’s made almost every home Sunday game for the past two summers. Including the one on Father’s Day, where she got to race the team’s mascot, Ted E. Tourist, around the bases after the third inning. Boy, was she pumped.

Hot young sports writer, Jason McGill, of the Asheville Citizen-Times, invited her to run and wrote about it on his bloggie, On Base with the Asheville Tourists. If you’re a Tourists fan, or just want to see more adorable photos of my girl, you must visit the site (scroll down to see her. I think it’s the third or fourth post).

Thanks Jason and Erin, hot new AC-T fotog. You made her summer!