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Midcoast Black Book

5/17/2011

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Best Outdoor Spots To Take Your Date

May is official “Date Your Mate” month and this time of year always makes me feel so tra-la-la moony like I’ve got cartoon bluebirds and bunnies cavorting around me, so I figured, why not share a few of my favorite outdoor spots to take your date and pitch some woo.

Lake St. George

Liberty, ME

Hands down, this is one of the cleanest, most spectacular spring-fed lakes in this Midcoast region. Go and rent the paddle boats or canoes for $3.00 an hour, bring a picnic and talk about the time you laughed so hard at a Disney movie you wet your pants. Better yet, don’t.

Fort Knox

Prospect, ME

Often pigeon-holed as a place only for Halloween, this is far from scary in the pale, hazy light of May. It opens May 1 and for $3.00 a person, you can explore the vast grounds and wander in and out of the Fort’s granite-walled fortification.  This is a great spot for people with active imaginations. You’ll find yourself imagining what it's like to take part in a Civil War re-enactment or you'll be dashing off a few pirate expressions and before you know it, you’ll already have your costume planned for the Medieval Festival in September.  If your date still sticks around after this, you’ve got yourself a keeper.

Fernald’s Neck: Balance Rock

Lincolnville, ME

Any time you can get your date to walk and talk, that’s where the real magic happens, and the walking trails in pristine Fernald’s Neck Preserve are the perfect strolling spots through dense softwood forests. Watch out for the cartoon bunnies and bluebirds that will inevitably be trying to lace dandelions through your hair mid-stroll. The Yellow Trail leads to a huge boulder tipped on its axis known as Balance Rock.  Make a friendly bet who can rock climb to the top first without falling. Bring First Aid Kit.

Top of Mt. Battie

Camden Hills State Park, ME

You can be a total slug and drive your date to the top or you can work off that muffin top from all the Thursday night karaoke fests at Cuzzy’s this winter and hike together up one of the meandering trails. Either way, this is a gorgey spot to try and name all the islands you can see stretching out before you in Penobscot Bay without cheating and looking at the sign that lists them all. Few people will be around this time of year—you’ll have the tower to yourselves in which you can re-enact Romeo and Juliet or Shrek and Donkey depending on how literate you are.

Lucia Beach

Owls Head, ME

This is a lovely, often deserted beach in the spring time—a great place to bring a kite or practice your Jack Black karate moves without much of an audience. There is nothing more serene than walking and picking up shells and talking about the time you once had ringworm as a kid.  Leave the digital camera at home though. No one needs another YouTube video in which the narrator is describing exactly what the viewer is seeing. “And here we have Lucia Beach--as you can see, there are lots of rocks and lots of sandy beach.”
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Balance Rock
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White Hot Spotlight: Lacy Simons of hello hello

5/16/2011

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Lacy Simons is the new owner of hello hello, known currently to all as Rock City Books in Rockland. When it re-emerges as hello hello, it will offer used, new and bargain books, magazines, art & craft, gifts and select vintage items. For correctly identifying the photo of "Big G's" in our “How Well Do You Know Midcoast Maine?” photo contest, Lacy gets The White Hot Spotlight this month.


Q: Lacy, everyone knows you as our resident book reviewer in thescene. What are some things people don't know about you--the "known unknowns" as Donald Rumsfeld so aptly coined.

A: A few things spring to mind:

  1. I lived in a tent on Ballyhac Cove when I first moved to the Midcoast in 2003.
  2. Around the time I graduated from high school, the woman who’d been my elementary school librarian told me she’d had to institute lending limits for book borrowers because I habitually took so many books out at once.
  3. The band I’m always pretending to be in covers The Cars’ “Just What I Needed” at every show we play.
Q: You've shown us some interesting departures from the typical used bookstore these past few years (apocalyptic events, alternative music, etc)--when will Rock City Books and Coffee officially make its transformation and what's your vision for the direction of hello hello?

A: The official transition will happen in mid-May, and if all goes as planned, hello hello will operate adjacent to Rock City (which will become Rock City Café)—under the same roof but in an area all its own. This will allow for both the books and coffee synergy we’ve always loved about Rock City and a more focused, dedicated space for easier browsing and immersion in the world of hello hello.

My vision is to continue much of what’s worked well at Rock City Books—quality used books, trade credit system, community involvement, awesome shared events, a lively sense of humor—and expand the selection of unusual new books; offer broader rewards for trading in great used books; add some great magazines we’re missing out on locally; offer more art, craft and gift items; and develop a stronger web presence and functionality. It’s a lofty goal, but within a relatively small square footage I’ll be trying to emphasize quality rather than quantity and appeal to a broad variety of interests (for serious and not-so-serious readers alike!)

Q: You and Jared Paradee are also founders of kitchi-kitchy, which makes "tiny little oddities" such as shadow boxes & dioramas, typewritten poems and vintage items. Do you intend for hello hello to provide a physical space for the nontraditional artists as well?

A: Absolutely. We’ll function as a space to display and sell nontraditional forms of art & craft, including (but not at all limited to) kitchi-kitchy’s work. This will fluctuate, given our limited space, but I’m dedicated to mixing it up!

Q: Quick: what is your favorite urban dictionary word?

A: Squizzle? Is that even a word? If not, I’ll add it. Right after I figure out what it means.

For more information on hello hello’s trade credit system for used books, email Lacy at hellohellobooks@gmail.com


To see their latest writeup in The Portland Press Herald click here

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Aww Happy Birthday Lil Killer!

5/16/2011

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A Year Ago Today The Blog Started

...as a way to get back into the arts and entertainment scene of the Midcoast. The blog has led to regular contributor magazine work along with freelance opportunities with local businesses--so thanks Killer Convo for helping me get back in the swing.
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    The Killer Convo

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Chronicling the Midcoast since 1993
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