ON DRINKING CHOCOLATE: Sorry for the title, I’m Act II deep in Romeo and Juliet with the freshmen. If there is a substance that is lovely enough that it needs Shakespearean language for an accurate portrayal, it is Lilly’s drinking chocolate. Lilly, known to her mother as Amanda Montague, is Tremont’s magical, candy-making forest witch. She puts lavender and violets on her dark chocolate and salt in her white chocolate. And, as you can see from this photo, was kind enough to open her doors for Jen’s bachelorette party with some amazing wine pairings. But what makes Lilly’s store and creations most transcendent, most bewitching, most sorcerous, is her drinking chocolate. Like a cup full of melted down beauty with hints of cayenne and cinnamon, it tastes like your grandmother making you a cake for your sixth birthday, like Christmas in a cabin with Hagrid, like Mexico, snow flurries, and stepping in after a rain storm to dinner cooking. It, as one of my students said today, defies words. It. is. lovely. And, practically, Shakespearean.
The only holiday record I've found so far is a compilation of organ and chime tunes. So-so.
… but I accidentally call mine a record player most of the time.
Ryan got me this stellar Technics SL B-20 for my birthday this summer, so I’ve been on a quest for good records ever since. I don’t know why people love when I turn it on at a party, or why a Friday night at home with a bottle of wine is so much more of an event when the record player is on, but it’s true. I am in LOVE with my record player. If you need your own turn table, you can check out Craigslist or maybe a second-hand shop, but one place that’s really reliable (if you don’t mind crabby service — really it’s part of the charm) is Play it Again, Sam, on Madison in Lakewood.
I’ve been scoping out record stores around town, and here are my favorites, so far:
Loop on W. 11th in Tremont is my favorite. I’m partial because I can walk there, but there’s so much more to it. Loop is decieving. It appears to be a glassy, modern coffee shop with friendly employees and a few CD’s in the back. The first few times I stepped inside, I thought it might be a good place to grade papers (I’m always looking for a new spot). It wasn’t until I walked by on a summer day and noticed the crates of records outside and stopped to talk to the owner that I learned that the ENTIRE UPSTAIRS of the shop is filled with records. They have some used material, but it’s mostly new. There are three things I love about this store: 1) They have several good turn tables upstairs, and customers can test out merchandise. 2) They sell some of their used records for $1. 3) (And this is why I like the store the most), one of the employees, obviously a musical genius of the “High Fidelity” variety, places sticky notes on interesting choices with tiny gems of information about the music in the cover. It’s like getting a mix tape with a list of why the songs were chosen. And this is why I have a crush on Loop.
Professor Loop-in!
Phonographic Arts is the dorm room of record stores. It is tiny, but its prices are perfect — I recently got a 10 percent discount and my purchase totalled 94 cents. The owner/employees will gladly throw something you’re interested in on the turn table for test drive, and you can find a crazily eclectic variety of music here. The choices are limited in quantity, but it makes for GREAT (and quick) browsing. Also, Visible Voice Books is next door, and, these days, it’s hard to find a real indie bookstore.
My other favorite, on Madison in Lakewood, is called My Mind’s Eye. This is probably the best place to go if you know what you want. It’s the only place where I can consistantly find exactly what I’m looking for (though Loop has good selection, and they’re happy to order). The other day I was on my way to Angelo’s, and I stopped by to pick up some Blind Willie Johnson to play in my multicultural lit class the next day. Of course, they had it in stock. The employees are generally really helpful, and I never walk out of there without something (ie: She & Him, Tom Petty, Monsters of Folk) in my happy, happy hands.
Check out Banyan's warm, glowy holiday window displays on Professor Avenue.
I am jazzed to visit Room Service’s new location on W. 25th Street just a few blocks from my house. If you’re looking for Cleveland-centric gifts, this is (hands down) the best place to visit in Cleveland. Many of owner and former designer Danielle DeBoe’s merch is locally made or locally themed. It’s worth visiting her store for the ambiance alone — it’s always gorgeous. The word around that campfire is that Crop is moving into Ohio City this winter, too.
![mamma%20mia[1]](http://30trees.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/mamma20mia1.jpg?w=211 "mamma%20mia[1]")
I’ll warn you by saying that this recommendation comes from a obsessive Glee! fan, but if you haven’t seen Mamma Mia at Playhouse Square, you should probably go tomorrow. At musicals, I’m usually bored by intermission, and I’ve never considered myself an ABBA fan, but this show is amazing. It’s about a daughter living in Greece with her single mother. The daughter, Sophie, is about to be married and has invited her three clueless, prospective fathers to her wedding under the guise that her mother wants to see them again. She’s hoping to find out which one is her real father. The problem? Even her mother doesn’t know.
This show is such fantastic fun. The balding guy in front of me seat-danced for the entire first act. He might have kept on going, except that he and his wife seat-snatched a few open seats in a better location, so we didn’t get to watch them. Ryan and I did the same thing about five minutes later. There is a dance sequence with about 20 guys in wet suits stomping around in flippers. There’s a wedding. The music is both beautiful and high-energy fun. And the Palace Theater is kind of badass as far as theaters go. If you miss this one, Wicked is coming up soon (it starts Nov. 18), and I’ve heard that’s pretty good too. At least the solo of “Defying Gravity” that they did on Glee! this week was.
Tonight: The Buckeye Beer Engine in Lakewood
Sunday Brunch Tip: Try Lucky’s. Do it.
If you’re looking for an amazing fall happy hour, and Melt has a 2-hour wait (and it probably does) go to Players at 14523 Madison Ave in Lakewood. Players is kind of a fancy establishment, but their happy hour is priced for the near-broke. Martinis (including the pumpkin variety with a cinnamon sugar rim) are only $5, and beer and a decent wine selection are less than that. Here are a few menu highlights:
Portobello Mushroom Pirogues — They’re only $4.50 and come with a sour cream, bacon-y topping — they’re homemade and wonderful.
The Butternut Squash pizzette ($5) is enough for 1-2 people and comes with bacon, sage, and (surprise) warm, mozzarella, and buttery pieces of squash. It’s like a Jack-o-Lantern dinner.
And, lastly, Goat Cheese Arancini a cheesy, panko-crusted ball of warmth.
If you do, by some twist of fate, get a seat at Melt, try the Turkey Bomb. It negates the need for Thanksgiving — it’s that good.
Pete gets sassy in his Notorious CLE shirt.
Fun Find: Check out Room Servicein the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood. This peculiar little closet-of-charm has all kinds of clothing and other assorted oddities (jewelry, decorations, unusual gifts) and many of them are actually made in Cleveland. The owner does this event called something like Made in the 216 where she highlights artists and designers who are working in the 216 area code. It looks like she’s doing the next one in November, so keep your eyes open. Extra Bonus: Get some Cleveland pride by wearing some CLE Clothing shirts, which you can buy at Room Service or on CLE’s Web site.My friend Pete has my favorite: a giant crown on a black shirt that says “Notorious CLE.” Cheers to people doing awesome creative work and keeping it in town!
In other fun Detroit Shoreway news, I read that they’re working on the Capitol Theatre, which is supposed to be kind of like a West-siders’ Cedar Lee — lots of indie, film-fest kind of movies. I’m not sure when it’s supposed to open, but the Web site for the project says it’s a revitalized 1920s vaudeville style building. Sounds pretty excellent.
Update: The Plain Dealer says the theater will open in the first week of October. Super rad. I love you, Cedar Lee, but I’m psyched to save some gas money.
Ryan Got Pizza: They do have food other than pizza, by the way.
Little Italy’s annual Feast of the Assumption is one of my favorites among the wide variety of cultural festivals in Cleveland, and that’s because you get a mouthful of Italian culture and a handful of Cleveland culture all in one sweet-smelling street party.
Where else can you hear authentic Italian music on the street nuanced by costumed accordion players and then continue 10 more yards to hear a DJ playing “Get Low”? Where else can you get the tiramasu so good that I call it Corbo’s crack (it’s still a little crunchily-frozen, like when you put pudding in the freezer for 10 minutes) and see a guy actually Get Low while resplendent in his Italian Flag shirt and headband?
In addition to the traditional Italian splendor like gnocchi and stuffed eggplant you can get here, you can also find yourself a funnel cake and a gyro, if you’re looking to go multicult. To be a little more specific, here are the details:It’s every year on the Feast of the Assumption in August, which is to celebrate the great Virgin Mother (undoubtedly she’d be hanging out with
Littaly: for those of you not into portmanteau-ing, that's Little + Italy!
the flag shirt guy). They shut down Mayfield Road in Cleveland Heights and hundreds of people come down to eat the food, drink the wine, and sit on the curb. Its oddities make it all the more endearing. I know people who go every day. If you didn’t hit it up this year, and you’re still in C-town next year, I highly recommend stopping by, at least for some Corbo’s.
One of the best ways to check out all the good food Cleveland has to offer is go to some of the cultural festivals. You can usually get a few drinks and find an old person to teach you
The Alleyway of Magic: Take a stroll here and you'll find wine in a plastic cup and a guy singing on a mic connected to his laptop. Reminds me of study abroad '01.
some authentic dance moves. Consider: Tremont’s Polish Festival and Greek Festival, Cleveland’s Puerto Rican Festival, and let me know if you hear about the “other” mythical Italian Festival I’ve heard about — word is they have a greased pole contest, and that is one thing I want to see.
Who, my age, doesn’t travel or hasn’t traveled? Our generation is obsessed with study abroad and the backpacking thing. I had a political science professor once who, when I told him that I was backpacking in Western Europe for the summer replied, “Why don’t you go to India. Everyone goes to Europe.” I told him I’d never been our of the country before, so I thought I’d start somewhere that was pretty basic to navigate.
I was born and raised in Cleveland, and I have, since I was little, wanted to live anywhere but Ohio. Of course, I went to college in Ohio, got a newspaper job in Ohio, went back to school to get my teaching license (guess where), and now I … (surprise). I have, like many people have, worried that I am settling here because it’s easy, which is true. It is easy to stay around your friends, your family, and cheap housing. But, I’m thinking there might be more to it than that.
In Emerson’s essay “Self Reliance” he slams traveling. He says the contented person has no need to travel. “Traveling is a fool’s paradise” and “a symptom of a deeper unsoundness affecting the whole intellectual action.” I agree with Emerson on one part of this, but not the other.
Here’s where I agree: Embrace what’s near you. I spend crap-tons of money traveling, but I rarely walk (literally) the 10 minutes to Lake Erie. If we actually LOOK, there’s quite a bit here, but it’s hard to find. This is especially true of Cleveland. There are rivers, trees, lakes, art galleries (not to mention Momocho, Melt, Lolita, and Lilly Handmade Chocolates). If you look closely, this is a pretty rad place. But it’s easy to stay inside and watch the Food Network and Discovery.
Here’s where I disagree: What’s wrong with a little “unsoundness” of soul? Emerson was a pretty serene guy, but I think that as long as we’re a little unsound, we’re always looking for something. I know I am. I think it might even be a failure to be completely content. Isn’t that what makes us find the next great thing — the uneasiness of its absense and the unending push to try to make it happen?
So, for me, 29 will be like that — I hope. A balance between reveling in my surroundings and stepping outside of them.
Yesterday, I turned 29, and this is a record of my 29th year. A palm reader recently told me I’d have some adventures, but she also said I might have an affair, so here’s hoping she’s right on the former, not on the latter.
So if you’re mathy, you might have already figured out that I’m on my 10, 593rd day. But this isn’t about the first 10, 592. It’s about numbers 10, 593 – 10, 958. Here’s hoping they’re exciting…
In Barack Obama’s book The Audacity of Hope, he talks about the divide between Republicans and Democrats that has left us thinking that we are one or the other, that there’s no middle ground. The battle is good v. evil. Perhaps this is why the climate of this presidential campaign is so harsh. I’ve noticed recently that people are so reluctant to talk about their own politics, that party division has become so harsh that it’s completely taboo to even bring up who you’re considering as a candidate because of the potential repercussions – at the least social discomfort, at the most major rifts between friends and family. It seems many people consider it as off limits as asking an acquaintance how much money they make or how big their raise was.
I think the problem that led us to this circumstance is the same problem that leads to imprudent voting and frightening zealotry. Here is what I think is a simple solution to keep in mind when you’re considering candidates: vote for who you think will do important things for this country and all of its people, not what is best for you personally. We all have religious beliefs, but they aren’t everyone’s. We all have money we work hard for, and we’d all like to keep as much of it as possible. We all want to make our lives as comfortable as possible. But if we don’t consider the rest of the country, what kind of country are we?
I admire people who have strong religious convictions, but I also admire those people who realize that not everyone must agree with their ideas, especially here in America.
I met a man recently, he told me he was Muslim, who talked about how the greatest thing someone could do was to help another person regardless of what faith they practiced. This guy, whose name means “truth,” seemed to get it; here, we don’t have to be the same. It’s kind of the point. Isn’t our country built on the idea that faith won’t influence our government’s decisions? I worry when people feel obligated to take their personal religion into account when voting. Of course you can hold your beliefs; it’s America, after all. But should we restrict our laws so that they reflect only one religion? The same is true of taxes. If we vote based on our personal gain, what happens to programs that help people who didn’t have the same fortune we did?
All I’m asking is for each person who votes to consider this: Are you voting for yourself, or the common goals of this country? If you believe in the point of this place, you know that you’ll be able to follow your religion, earn money, find success, pursue happiness, drink Starbucks, shop at or boycott Wal-Mart. I think if we choose the candidate – regardless of party – who isn’t just the best candidate for one type of person we make a responsible choice. Maybe it’ll shrink the divide a little bit, and we’ll vote for the best candidate instead of leaning left or right. I think it’s what we have to do.