Saying Grace

Hi, my pretties. What's shaking?

After I saw my picture on a milk carton, I figured I'd better whip something up for ya'll:

When I was a young lass, I was fortunate enough to have friends from all faiths, except Judaism. This explains my present-day fascination with Jewish people and also why I make A.J. recite the Hanukkah poem to me in the boudoir. Don't judge; Jesus doesn't like that.

But, Jewish folks aside, I grew up with (in no particular order) Hindus, Buddhists, Pentecostals, Methodists, Baptists, Catholics, devout Mormons and even one Pagan friend.

"Pshaw," you say. "Big whoop, 123V."

Kids, I grew up in small-town Ohio. Given our teensy population and the fact that it was SMALL-TOWN OHIO, I think it's pretty significant that Megan Jane and I learned to mingle with and welcome various faiths and cultures. Because—fast forward a couple of decades—some people are still trying to reconcile these cultural differences.

Now, I know as well as anyone (especially as a relapsed Catholic, plaid skirt and all) that people are not solely defined by their religion. But for this purpose, let me say that Megan Jane and I recently had a chance to catch up with our "Pagan friend," Ingrid.

Ingrid is now part of an accomplished Americana duo, Coyote Grace, along with her damn sexy life partner, Joe, and they are touring this great land in an RV named Harvey.

I hadn't seen Ingrid in nigh a decade, but all memories of her include copious amounts of dancing, singing and laughing—just an overall sense of freedom. Her mom had a beautiful cabin deep in the woods of southern Ohio, and our group of adolescent girls spent a lot of time there running around naked, eating organic vegetarian meals, building fires and kicking each other in the crotch.

I can't really explain why, except to say that our sexualities were blossoming, and it seemed like a good idea at the time.

In any case, Coyote Grace blew through town and put on an amazing show at the nation's oldest lesbian bar, Phase1. I was happy to attend the show on so very many levels.

• Ingrid and Joe make endearingly beautiful and sassy music, which I lurve.
  
• Ingrid plays an acoustic stand up bass. The wood finish is nearly the same shade as her lovely auburn hair. Joe plays a strong, soulful guitar and has a fierce beard that was admired by all.
  
• I got to hang with some of my favorite kids including A.J., A.J.'s best friend Billiam, Broke Kid, Hey Pretty, Jason, JennyJenny8675309, Lorelai and Sean P.K. at a gay seafood restaurant called the Chocolate Starfish Café. Okay, it was just the Starfish Café. Geez.
  
• At dinner beforehand, Megan Jane got a schwee bit tipsy on some vino. Megan Jane tipsy is generally comprised of:
  3 parts "Oh my God. Did she just say that?"
  2 parts dancing
  1 part Megan Jane making this face:

I lurve it. (I don't know who that guys is, but his cunnilingus tongue is weak. WEAK.)

• Speaking of, and most importantly, I also lurve lesbians in the cultural, biblical and pornographic sense.
  

Also speaking of, Ingrid is just as lovely now as she was then.

Please try to check out Coyote Grace if they're in your area, and tell 'em Megan Jane and I sent you. If you can prove that you went to their show, drop me an e-mail at 123Valerie at gmail.com, and I'll send you one of my CDs for free, which was recorded right in my very own bedroom. While wearing only my underpants.

In the Comments section, tell me about a recent concert you went to see and/or if you love lesbians, too.