Fourth of July

We started early with a pre-fourth of July dinner at Repast. We’d been there once before and really enjoyed it, so the choice was easy.

Chilled summer corn soup, ginger shrimp summer rolls and fried oysters for me. A foie gras appetizer special and grilled hanger steak for Tracy. Martinis and Wine. We are off to a really great start.

In the morning, we get up early to drive to Serenbe. They (the community) are having a Fourth of July parade and have invited us to participate. Actually, Tracy helped build the frame for a float, so, they have cordially invited both of us to been in the parade.

We arrive about 9:20. The float is GREAT. The body of the float has a lot of pink and red tissue paper, green tissue paper around the edges, black paper sprinkled in for seeds. It’s a perfect slice of Watermelon.

The girls have tiaras and pink sashes that proclaim “Watermelon Queen” and the guys have large red, white and blue hats and t-shirts that say “I’m with the Queen” on the front and “Watermelon Parade Brigade” on the back. Festive beads and dum-dum lollipops are the throws. Fun.

It turns out to be the only float in the parade but there are small children in various types of motorized vehicles, a couple of horses and many residents dressed in red, white and blue. Quite a production for a relatively new community. It will only get bigger and better in the years to come.

Home by Noon. Ribs on the grill. Nap until 3. Ribs, corn and potato salad at 5pm.

Our neighbors, Julie, Mark and Madighan came over for a late evening dessert of stawberries and shortcake. We hung a huge 15 foot by 25 foot flag from the trees in the yard. A few cocktails on the porch and we are ready to see fireworks.

Living in a small community like East Point, we have only to walk about 3 blocks and see a really awesome fireworks display.

It’s been a nice day.

Mark Mothersbaugh

The other night, Stacey and I went to the Rabbit Hole Gallery to see a Mark Mothersbaugh show. If you don't know, Mothersbaugh is a founding member of Devo, the 80s eletronic band with a great sense of humor. The show was named Beautiful Mutents. Mothersbaugh has recently been writing music for Tim Burton movies and the television show Rug Rats. He has probably been doing lots of work I don't even know about. For the last ten years, he has also produced prints of images made with a technic he has developed. He uses antique photos and a computer to create some very hauntingly beautiful works of art. Most pieces are portraits of one or more people. He stretches out or shrinks up the original image to make a face look slightly wider or more narrow. This gives the subject a freakish look. A tight tiny, face may appear to have pinched eyes or a fellow in a suit, wearing a hat is streched out enough to add a third leg. Hence "Beautiful Mutants".

The pieces looked very antique. The edge of some prints was faded and the frames were carved from dark wood. Old style gold print identified and dated some of the pieces. The names of a few of the pieces are "Baby Hoodie-Hoo, Portage County Trailer Park", "Halfway Sammy", "Two Suitors for Honeysuckle". The pieces ranged in price from $300 to $800.

Stacey and I purchased one named "Fairy Queen, Lisboa". It was one of the larger ones. The lady in it reminded us of an antique Mardi Gras Queen holding her hands in the air. And with our connections to Mobile Mardi Gras, we couldn't resist.

It was a really good show, I am glad we heard about it. We did not go with the intention of buying a piece but liked them so much we must have one.

Mothersbaugh was not there but the soundtrack was a special recording he had made for the art show. It was heavy organ music, quite fitting for the art.

Ingenuity Cleveland is hosting the next Mothersbaugh showing.

new welcome / about us

So, So Southern isn’t about the South so much as it’s about two people from the South and their day to day journey thru life. Stacey and Tracy have been on this journey for the last 25 years. It has been a journey of learning, about people and places and the things special about each. So here you will read about some of the places we have been, some of the folks we have met and some of the things we have done. Sometimes it will be about life close to home, here in Atlanta, Georgia. Sometimes we hope to take you somewhere far away. We always hope to share something interesting and maybe give you a tip on something you need to try for yourself.
Sometimes we might just tell you how our day went and what we had for dinner that night.
Whatever, we hope you enjoy.