A post in three parts

Erin O'Brien and associates in chilled vodka room, Restaurant Europa

1. If you live in the northeast Ohio, get your ass to Restaurant Europa and order the chilled borscht. It is rich and smooth and full up with crisp vegetables (Carrots? Radishes? Onion? Not sure. I was eating it, not inspecting it, people. So kill me already.) The soup has a slightly salty pickled flavor and is served with a side of warm and lush mashed potato. You take a spoonful of the spuds and dunk it into the chilled borscht, you put that in your mouth and the cool salty broth gives way to the warm mash. What else can I say? Oh, I know.

HELL YEAH and I love it!



2. Over the course of my 158 years on planet Earth, I have listened to this song closely at least a handful of times and have concluded that it is the perfect musical representation of heterosexual coitus. The percussion is the dude part and (obviously) Summer's vocals are the chick. I'm not sure what that says about me, but there you go.

Ciao, Donna. You were beautiful.

3. Okay, back to wranglin' these here articles. What are the chances I get out of here long enough to wiggle through the Hessler Street Fair this weekend? Dunno. Better get back at 'em.

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Hessler Street Fair 2011

Peace, love and Lou

It's hard to assign enough glee to following scenario:

I'm sauntering around the 2009 Hessler Street Fair--Cleveland's longest and most venerable celebration of patchouli-soaked tie-dye-clad peacenik hippie-ism--when I see a luscious man in a uniform.

"Lou!"

"Erin!"

Of course I immediately lunged towards him and embraced him.

Lou Pumphrey is a tireless protester of all things violent and a fierce defender of all things life. Unlike the hypocritical nincompoops who vote "pro-life" with one hand and support the death penalty with the other, Lou supports all life, in the womb, in Iraq or in the slammer.

There is no bullshit about Lou Pumphrey.

For instance, the uniform he's wearing in this picture is the same one he was issued 41 years ago by the United States Army upon his honorable discharge after a year's tour of duty in Vietnam. Now dig this: it fits him perfectly--I mean perfectly. Not one button on that jacket is the slightest bit strained.

Lou pens letters to local editors frequently and has responded to my Rainy Day Woman column more than once. He loved my corn chowder but didn't care so much for my musings on abortion. But that's okay. Lou and I can love on each other no matter how fervently we disagree.

And really, what girl doesn't love a man in a uniform?

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Since there's so much love in this post already, let me sprinkle it with a just a few more love links for good measure:

Lou's first person accounting of how an Irishman was barred from the Cleveland 2009 St. Patty Day parade.

Photos of the 2008 Hessler Street Fair.

The Funny Times, the paper where Lou works.

Doing the hustle on Hessler and podcast

The Hessler Street Fair in Cleveland is one of my favorite events. It started in the 60s as a home-grown street party. There's tons of kitsch and food and people watching and music.

Hessler is a very cool neighborhood adjacent to Case Western Reserve University that rocks my face off. One of things that make it special is that part of it contains the only remaining wood pavers in the city. Here's a glimpse of the action last weekend and if you're hungry for more, hop on over to FREEBLOG!

Oh yeah, if you missed my radio spot yesterday, get the podcast here.

That's so pants.

Backyard Hessler style.

Old brownstones and I love it.

Need tie-dye for sure.

Cucumber sandwiches and potato chips in the basket. Yum!

Take a load off okay.

Knit me a bowl too, please!