The Kentucky Theatre

I vividly remember my first trip to the Kentucky.  I'd just moved to Lexington for college, and I excitedly planned a trip with one of my new sorority sisters for a midnight showing of Pretty in Pink.  There, beneath the giant screen and the ornate walls, Molly Ringwald's Andi seemed even sassier and more heartbreaking.  As Andi leaned in to kiss Blaine at the star-crossed prom, someone yelled "drop the purse", the iconic moment of romantic abandon that signals the film's end.  It wasn't just a sign that many of us had grown up watching too many John Hughes films; it was a community of dedicated film-lovers celebrating every cherished frame.

Over the years, the Kentucky has come to mean "community" in so many ways.  In my early twenties, I joined the fans of Kevin Smith's cult comedies for late-night screenings.  When the novelty of "Hey, you can have a beer while watching a movie!" wore off, I found myself taking in concerts -- the Kentucky has always drawn the best roots and Americana acts to be found.

These days, my trips to the Kentucky are far more likely to involve foreign or independent films.  The works that might not command a multiplex showing are always on at the Kentucky.  

This month, Lexington's storied Kentucky Theatre turns 90.  Conceived as a "palatial new photoplay house" in 1921, the Kentucky is so much more than a beautiful historic theatre.  It's a celebration of culture both high and low.  It's a tribute to Lexington's history and diversity. 

Happy 90th to the Kentucky Theatre!

What Cheerleading Camp and Sorority Rush Can Teach Kentucky Fans

I wrote this post for The Kentucky Girls blog last year, after a particularly ugly loss to Florida. It seems apropos for Wildcat football fans this season as well. Go 'Cats. -- HCW
 

We smiled, but we weren't cheering for a winning team.

If I ever have a kid, I'm going to insist that she become both a cheerleader and a sorority girl. Now, I'm fully aware that I've just articulated the most ridiculous, outdated Southern cliché that one can imagine. The thing is, I'm not claiming that my hypothetical future daughter's most important life goals should be back handsprings or paint-pen crafts.  But, I certainly believe that this tried-and-true path to Southern womanhood taught me a few important lessons.  Lessons that extended to my professional and social well-being. Lessons that, if you'll kindly indulge me a few moments' explanation,could most assuredly be passed along to the Big Blue Nation right about now.  

• Keep smiling. My tiny Eastern Kentucky high school wasn't exactly known for its football program. In fact, my sophomore year was the first winning season in the football team's history. But, no matter how mediocre our game, my job as a cheerleader was to smile. And provide encouragement. Because I loved our team.   You keep smiling.  You work out your differences in private. And you strengthen your organization without presenting outward displays of strife for the entire world.  As fans, we need to keep smiling-- we need to support the players we have and support the organization we love while acknowledging that there's plenty of room for improvement. 
• Remember that you're here because you want to be.  Whenever I got discouraged about any aspect of cheering or sorority life, my mama was always quick to remind me that I chose to be there. In fact, I was spending plenty of money for the privilege to be there.  We're Kentucky fans.  We always have been.  We're paying for the privilege of football tickets.  We'll pay for the privilege of tickets to what promises to be an incredible basketball season.  Because we want to wear Kentucky Blue.
• You don't always like everyone. Get over it. I spent four years as a part of a hundred-or-so-member sorority. I'd spent the previous decade on ten-to-fifteen member cheerleading squads. (For that matter, I've sat on more Junior League committees than I can begin to count...) There were enough in-fights, infidelities and intrigues to provide the CW with a year's worth of new material. Of course I didn't like all the girls involved. Some, I outright loathed. But I learned to keep it to myself, because the greater good of the group was more important. Maybe you don't like Joker's style of coaching.  Maybe you think that your quarterback should put in more than two or three stellar minutes of play.  While there are certainly adjustments to be made, at some point, we need to realize that this is the lineup we have for the year.

Sorority Bid Day.

• Maybe it was better in the past. That's kind of immaterial to the present. Some years, my cheer squad found ourselves undermanned and rudderless after a talented group of seniors graduated. Sometimes, my sorority suffered a lackluster rush and subsequently recruited a small pledge class. Sometimes, the football team for whom I was cheering did not replicate the storied First Winning Season that we enjoyed in 1991. These things happen. We miss Randall a whole lot right now.  Hartline -- 'stache or no-- sure does sound good.  They aren't coming back.

These lessons from the land of hairbows and ribbon belts served me well as I entered the real world.  They taught me to accept situations that I wish were otherwise.  They taught me to adjust my attitude toward crappy situations.  And, well, they're lessons that a whole lot of Wildcats fans would be well-advised to learn this year.

via AJ's Casuals.

Every early indicator tells us that this is going to be an ugly, ugly football season. We've logged two back-to-back losses that have left many of us wondering whether any of the remaining 8 games can be won. It's an exhausting, frustrating thing to be a Kentucky football fan right now-- all we can do, it seems, is count the days until Keeneland and basketball. But, the thing is, we don't stop being Kentucky fans when the team sucks. No matter how disgusting Saturday's game was, I doubt any of you burned your Wildcat gear and started making that Gator-chomp thing. (If you did, then this blog probably isn't for you...) If the next few games play out as badly as I fear (it's gonna take a lot of bourbon to get through the LSU game...), then we need to keep smiling, sorority girl-style, and maintain a little grace and decorum until the post-season.  It just seems the proper thing to do...

The Bourbon Chase

The Bourbon Chase. Source: aceweekly.com via AceWeekly on Pinterest

Here in the Bluegrass State, we do things a little differently.

We never miss an opportunity to celebrate our beautiful Commonwealth or our bourbon.  We've even found a way to combine these things with our exercise!

This morning, teams of runners convened in Clermont, Kentucky, the home of Jim Beam, to participate in the annual Bourbon Chase.  This two hundred mile relay race, comprised of twelve-member teams, will loop around the stops of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail throughout the day and night, crossing the finish line at Rupp Arena tomorrow.

Good luck to all our friends who are participating in the Bourbon Chase! The HerKentucky girls are all raising a glass (of bourbon, natch) in your honor!

The Sky Scarf - September 2012

What was it Robert Burns wrote about "the best laid schemes of mice and men...?" I think that it was something about how everything can go crazy in a short time! September was that time for me! I would suspect that, with back-to-school routines ramping up in so many families, I am not alone.

My Husband and I started the month of September in Costa Rica under beautiful, bright blue skies. Everything there, from the palm fronds to the butterflies to the fruits, was brilliantly colored. I diligently took pictures that included the sky so that I would remember the shade for The Sky Scarf.

When we returned, my situation at work got a little crazy and the first rows of my Sky Scarf never got started. 

However, I've kept notes each day on the shade of my sky. Being the super nerd that I am, I've organized them on a special Google Calendar!

I bought my yarn before our trip, and I love all the shades I found. 

Things look promising for this Sunday to be my "catch up on September's rows" day.

How are your sky scarves coming along?

Big Blue Fashion Find: Knights Apparel

When I was in school, UK football games were a "jeans and sweatshirt" affair. We dressed up for Keeneland and we looked nice for basketball, but we left the tailgate sundresses to our sisters in the SEC West. After all, they do it so well.

These days, Wildcat girls are really stepping it up. Cute blue dresses are paired with sassy cowboy boots all over Commonwealth Stadium. The Orange Lot is still a far cry from The Grove, but we're doing our conference proud.

Today, I ran across a little game day dress that gives me the best of both worlds -- a soft polo-style dress emblazoned with the UK logo. It's as comfortable as a well-loved vintage tee, but far more stylish.

The best part? It was $23. At Wal-Mart.

You heard me right. This adorable Knights Apparel game day dress. Under $25. At the Wal-Marts. I'd advise you to run out and pick one up at once.

Appalachia's Moment

A few days ago, I curled up on the front porch to read the October issue of Southern Living.

I had a Tervis Tumbler of Diet Coke in my hand and my black labs playing at my feet, a scene that was surely being recreated on porches all over the South that crisp autumn weekend. As I leafed through the recipes, renovations and travelogues that comprise every Southern mother's favorite magazine, I ran across a sentence that caught me off guard:

"Appalachia is having a moment right now."

I was taken aback. I mean, I've seen plenty of claims that Southern culture is trendy this year. Still, no matter how often I hear that hipster New York restaurants are serving up fried chicken and pork rinds or that bourbon is this year's spirit of choice, I always make a subtle distinction. Those things are part of the larger Southern culture, and it's a lot easier to imagine "city-Southern" having a broader appeal. It's a whole lot easier to talk to non-Kentuckians about Derby than about dulcimers, that's for sure. Moonshine and old-timey fiddle music and soup beans and handmade furniture -- the things celebrated in the Southern Living article? Well, those things are set aside for us mountain folk.

I was raised to revere my Appalachian heritage. It was an act of almost defiant pride to celebrate the artisans and educators and writers and dreamers and fiddlers and builders

of my extended family. Some of my earliest memories are of Appalachia Day, theAlice Lloyd College

Homecoming festival which proudly features many of those very artists. I've always been extremely proud of this rich heritage, but I guess I've always figured that it wasn't something that outsiders would find too interesting. There's always been something about the mountains that lend themselves to seclusion; feeling "set apart" seems our geographic birthright.

I guess that, much like the late, brilliant Christopher Hitchens, I've always kept two sets of books. I'm a Southern girl with my city friends and a Mountain girl with my family. It's a pretty common practice; I think a lot of us assume that nobody else is interested. Douglas Roberts, author of the Southern Living piece, put an interesting spin on it:

"Appalachia is that rare part of the United States dedicated to the study and celebration of itself. And it's easy to believe on a drive through the area that this is the true heartland -- a still-intact petri dish of the independence, ingenuity and authenticity of the American spirit."

Maybe my heritage doesn't have to be revered

quite so much. Maybe I should focus instead on enjoying it a little more. Maybe Appalachia

is

having a moment, and maybe that's a celebration of the fun aspects of our culture. You can't get any more hip or fun than the Avett Brothers, who basically play the same brand of mountain music my granddaddy did. Every Appalachian family has a big jar of moonshine hidden in the kitchen. Maybe it's time to bring it out and sip it. Maybe it's time to add soup beans to my Cajun-low country-Southern fusion kitchen repertoire; that

sorghum-and-cider recipe

sounds interesting. Hell, maybe it's even time to take back the idiom, as they say, and acknowledge that I'm a Hillbilly Girl at heart. At the very least, I'm going to enjoy Appalachia's moment. Y'all have a lot to learn from us.

A New Tradition

Fall is in the air and the holiday season is about to begin. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas. It is the season of traditions, which usually means time-honored rituals practiced for years. However, every once in a while, you attend a brand new event that feels like it's been a part of the community forever and you know instantly a new tradition has been formed.

This weekend the River Discovery Center hosted the Dragon Boat Festival and a new Paducah tradition was born. Local companies and organizations sponsored the dragon boats and then competed in a series of heats throughout the day.

Everyone was excited about the event but it didn't take two steps onto the riverfront to realize it wasn't just those directly involved in the event who came to cheer on the teams. I spoke with friend after friend who came down just to check out the races and participate in the fun.

The fun didn't start and end with the races either. Every team set up tents with decorations and mascots. Each boat also had to have a costumed drummer who then participated in a fashion show. There was food and corn hole and lots of kids throwing rocks in the river. Not to mention, money raised for a great cause and asset to our community.

And I knew immediately. A new fall tradition has been born.

~ Sarah Stewart Holland