Sonnet 17
MushVrooms Our rollicking, frolicsome, Pollocky dream She layers thinly, he is all Sakrete. Each bared our own spirit, like woodland Pucks, Through Weekend. And if we birthed no Magritte, Yet we shared full joys, loves and laughing yucks Under swaddling skies – for once not too humid: A mid-summer play with nonstop undressing, Wondrous meals, gardens, our Vrooman, Then, as if to grade school art class, regressing. A fungus flourishes with fertilizer And dank (and how do buried talents sprout?). Though the Muse worried we’d murderlize her, With beret, face hair and Master Mike, out came startling art. So cherish [...]
Top Tens of Seventeen
“What the hell, Odell?” (Tommye, with an update of “To wander around.”) +++ “That’s not retro. It’s what it is.” (Mick’s observation of the Café 110 décor – and winner of the Most Insightful Comment about Art and Life award.) +++ “Chicken ain’t up.” (PT’s Barbecue. In life, sometimes the second choice is the best choice. Oh those heavenly ribs.) +++ “I wish I had worn more comfortable shoes.” (Deb, year 17) +++ Wayne’s Dali-esque mustache (Deb) +++ “Nope.” Bryan, staying on message throughout (From Deb) +++ “Blub.” (Mike attempted a comical reading of the Allerton’s rose bed signage. A [...]
Some thoughts on Seventeen
Testimonial mottos “Nope.” (From Deb. Inspiration: Bryan) “We put the Weak in Weekend!” (Mike) He did it again! (Success of WwW, from Wayne) “Yesterday’s memories, tomorrow’s repressions.” (Bryan) Darkest impulses/thoughts that raced through our minds At some point, stop counting. No one says Fourth of July Parade #242. (Deb) Give everyone only black paint for the sip’n’paint. (Mike) Acoustics in the dining room, walk to the hidden garden, fell on concrete stairs at last moment ☹ but OK. (Tommye) And from our eternally upbeat Weekender Wayne, with Darkest crossed out and Lightest substituted: "Are you well? We both are?" Allerton [...]
Ballistic Mizzle
If memory serves: 6 parts lemonade 2 parts whiskey 1 part cinnamon schnapps A muddle of mint - YOS
Weekend 17: Getting artsy with it
From PT's barbecue to the wonders of Allerton, from half-naked acting to our grand mansion vrooms, it was a Weekend to remember. And thanks to our master teacher, we all came home with priceless fungal souvenirs to keep the memories always with us. To relive Weekend once more, click around for photos, Top Tens, a sonnet summation and commentary. And check out our Facebook page for more.
Let me tell y’all a story …
Once again unto the Vroom, dear friends. Some highlights: Newbies Fran and The Johnbon (half newbie, at least) seemed to like us. We felt very much the same. They're in! We were shocked/shocked to discover Weekender Tommye, aka Emily Pennyfeather, capable of murder. GoH winner MJ taught us of Grecian urns, while we came to understand so much more about each others talents. Cantaloupe sorbet. We hosted our first virtual Weekenders, Beth, Ike, Chris and Cora. (Next year, we shall drag them from California if necessary.) Lincoln rabbit eared us. (And appropriately, we learned: (1) The Republican Party of Illinois [...]
The Suck Up Sonnet
Dedicated humbly to the exalted, dazzling XVI GoH Talent Show Judges To what does your splendor match? Deb Dicke, You’re infused joy, like sparkling Bryan Schneider – The happy zing of a fresh lime rickey; The way of the martini: Fine gin (slight stir). No Dacron GoH, Fran Underdown: I style you and my two Mikottii As a Dolce & Gabbana wedding gown; Next to Shanzhai knockoffs, a true Dior tie. You gems of humanity, Bonnie, John, And precious parents, Tommye, Wayne, Electrify my life like silicon And shimmer as a rain-washed diamond vein. My love for you’s timeless as [...]
Sunday morning profundity
From our customer satisfaction survey ("We value your opinion! -- though frankly not as much as you do"): Quote whore testimonials "J'accuse WwW of being too much fun" (Deb) "I'm not doing any homework" (Bonnie. A response to being asked to fill out the survey.) "Words, words, words, etc." (John Kieken.) "It keeps going and going" (Bryan) "We thank God for John Hoffman who made this possible" (Wayne -- well what do you expect from a father?) "Will set your hair on fire" (Bonnie, submitted by Fran) "Fewer and fewer unexplained odors every year!" (YOS) Least compelling experience Hamlet: He [...]
Top Ten of 16
Top Ten entries, in no particular order. Please add, vote, scratch your head …. You don't even have to have a line to be a bad actor. (Mike, speaking of the skittish bit players.) This Indignation Meeting is hereby called to order. (We learned that when people felt irked in the 1800s, they got together and whined. We intend to revive the tradition.) The Johnbon. (Our new Weekend celebrity couple.) I feel like I’ve been put in a bowl. (Chris Hage through FaceTime. He was right. But oh what a fancy Vrooman bowl he ended up in.) It's rude to [...]
Weekend XV: Murder Most Fun
Yet again you found a way, Central Illinois, to surprise and charm us. The King paid us an audience before tossing on his robes. Next day we costumed ourselves, according to the mind of Bard of Bloomington Deb "Murder She Wrote" Dicke. We quaffed wine at an art fair, rode silly bikes, lied our way through to a new GoH winner (humility virgin Wayne), charaded like Wizards and had the best Turkish food this side of Constantinople. And for the record, Kulm Kocktail Kontest winner: Chris Hage, Dark and Stormies. All amid the splendor of a real-life, top-hat-displaying mansion with [...]