Squeeze out a few more Yesses for April!

Well, April came and went, didn’t it? But hold tight: it’s not over yet. This weekend and next is jam-packed with true Austin action. Let’s close this month out right.

We’ve got three days left of Fusebox Festival. This free interactive festival has taken over the city and there are great events happenin’ this weekend like Bring Your Own Record Listening Party, Sewn on the Street, and a Frito Pie Tour. If you don’t feel like making an appearance, Physical Plant Theater has created a slow-motion story that happens via text message for the next six months. All you gotta do is subscribe to Computer Simulation of the Ocean. It’s pretty interesting so far!

If you’ve got some extra bucks lying around and dig eating & drinking for reasons other than just surviving, check out the Austin Food & Wine Festival. In addition to your classic food and wine tastings, there will be live music (of course), book signing, grilling demos and more! There are a couple of after-parties too, so party on, Garth.

How many festivals are we allowed to have in this city at once? Moontower Comedy & Oddity Festival is back again so we can crack up until we crack open. Grab a badge, day pass or individual tickets quick, cause the party ends Saturday!

Of course this Saturday is Eeyore’s 51st Birthday Party at Pease Park. If you’ve never been, you really owe it to yourself to immerse yourself in what little weirdness Austin has left. It’s free, it’s kid-friendly (for a bit), and it’s got a little bit of everything for everyone. Grab your hula hoop & body paint and meet me at Pease Park! Runs from 11am till it’s dark in the park.

Don’t exhaust yourself there though, because I want to see your shiny pretty faces at Cheer Up Charlie’s (remember, they are on Red River now) for Vagina’s Maga*Zine Launch Party. The action happens at 9pm with live music, lots of goodies, and of course, Vagina Zine live & in color. PS: Flip through the pages ‘til you see my poem and let me know what you think! I’ll see ya on the dance floor.

If ya dig what you read, come check me & a slew of amazing poets out at the BedPost Confessions Poetry Show! We start rockin’ the mic at 8pm on Saturday, May 3rd and if you don’t get chills, I’ll give you your money back. $10 at the Spiderhouse Ballroom!

Let’s go Say Yes!

The Weekend of Love! (and indifference.)

Disclaimer: I don't always get into the Valentine's mood, but when I do, I go all the way. I whipped up this agenda for some visiting friends and ended up getting really excited to see all the fun and interesting things going on this weekend. No matter your mood this weekend, there is something for you to do! (Plus the weather should be fabulous). 

So, Because I Love You So Much:

THE WEEKEND OF LOVE! (and indifference.)

Choose your own adventure guide:

$ - Under $10.00

$$ - Over $10.00

✰- my top picks

events listed in a timely fashion

Friday, February 14th

❤ 5pm. Free cheese plates at Drink.Well. This cozy bar is home to tasty small plates, the best homemade dressing and an amazing Bloody Mary. $ ✰

❤ 6pm. Bananarchy Valentine's Fête Costumée. Bananarchy is opening up for one night to feed us frozen raspberry truffle bananas (and vegan chocolate options). Plus they encourage dressing up! Fancy pants banana party? Yes. $ ✰

❤ 7pm. Valentine Cabaret Starring Jolie Goodnight & Her Stardust Band at Firehouse Lounge. Her entrancing voice drips of nostalgia as she sings 1940's classics in lieu of the World War II era, when swing and jazz permeated smoky cabaret rooms. Each of her songs has a story to be shared and she'll expose even more to you, as she becomes unlaced. Enjoy delicious small plates, craft cocktails and prohibition-era drinks. Apparently her voice could melt a stone heart. I’M INTRIGUED. $15. $$ ✰

❤ 7:30pm. Mortified ATX: Doomed Valentines Show at Spiderhouse. Witness adults sharing their most embarrassing childhood artifacts (journals, letters, poems, lyrics, plays, home movies, art) with others, in order to reveal stories about their lives. Hear grown men and women confront their past with tales of their first kiss, first puff, worst prom, fights with mom, life at bible camp, worst hand job, best mall job, and reasons they deserved to marry Jon Bon Jovi. $12. Bonus! Eat dinner at Love Balls. Rice balls rice balls rice balls. $$

❤ 7:30pm. In the Next Room or the Vibrator Play by Sarah Ruhl at Zach Theater. A stimulating, funny and provocative new Broadway hit set in a prim upper class Victorian home, where a gentleman doctor has invented an extraordinary and mysterious device for treating “hysteria.” His wife overhears mystifying sounds emanating in the next room and sees patients leaving in blissful health. This smart comedy ponders marriage and intimacy, and what it truly means to find connection. Tickets are $40. $$ ✰

❤ 8:00pm. LoveFest at The Institution Theater. Troupes include: Bedfellows - Take a rare peek at the secretly hilarious post coital moments as they happen between a woman and a man and a woman. Nugefield - a show that celebrates a world falling apart while two people are falling in love. And Lovecast - Improvised stories of love and song intertwined. Plus special appearances! $12/$20 for couples. $$

❤ 8pm, 9pm, 10:30pm. The New Movement Valentine’s Day Party. Free pink bubbly, improv and dating games, a lie off, and dating.com spagetti dinner date…..yeah?!. Each show is $10 or $25 for the whole night. $-$$

❤ 9:00pm. 6th Annual Anti-Valentine's Day Burlesque Show at Speakeasy. The sultry Bat City Bombshells & swanky jazz ensemble Chico Chico will tear it up! $12-$15 presale, $15-$20 at the door. $$ ✰

❤ 9:00pm. The Subterranean Series: Ain’t Love a Drag!  Experience a one-of-a-kind-interactive-never-seen-before-never-to-be-seen-again theatrical experience of fierce and flawless magnitude...almost. The drag kings and queens of the "legendary" Purple Peacock gather together for the final performance at their east side dive-bar drag home before it is turned into condos for hipsters and yuppies. An irreverent homage to Valentine's Day (not really), Ain't Love A Drag is a full-on interactive experience for anyone seeking to celebrate a Hallmark-less holiday while laughing your ass off and drinking with friends you haven't met yet. Be you a love-struck romantic goon or a hard-hearted bitter old broad, this is the place for you to celebrate the magic (bitch) of love. DRAG ATTIRE ENCOURAGED! Themed snacks and libations available for your face! Tickets are $20. $$ ✰

❤ TBA? (Probably 8-9ish). I Hate Valentine's Party at Gourdough’s Public House. Drink specials, adult piñata, Anger release board - bring your photos of your ex to throw darts at, Breakup story confessions, Anti-Valentine music & movies and donuts! $ ✰

❤ 10:30pm. FETISH: A Valentine's Affair at The Marchesa Hall & Theater. Austin's sexiest aerial acrobats perform for you on poles, lyras, chairs, silks, trapeze, and aerial chains! Solos, sexy duets and sizzling group numbers! Highly choreographed scenes of aerial passion! Tickets are $25 for standing room only. $$ ✰

❤ 11pm. Austin Roller Disco of Love. Yes, Just Yes. $15. $$ (byob, going on until 4am!)

❤  7:30pm. Valentine X: A Candlelit Night of Horror, Presented by House of Torment. What was meant to be a romantic night has now become a tale of bloodied hearts that will keep you and your date or friends clenched in fear! House of Torment presents: Valentine X, a thrilling experience premiering Valentine’s weekend. Experience the Bear Butcher who seeks out his lustful and obsessive revenge in candlelit horror. He leaves nothing but an “X” carved into his victim’s foreheads. Celebrate Valentine’s weekend in a way like no other by getting scared at House of Torment! $25. $$

Saturday, February 15th

❤ 7:30pm. In the Next Room or the Vibrator Play by Sarah Ruhl at Zach Theater. A stimulating, funny and provocative new Broadway hit set in a prim upper class Victorian home, where a gentleman doctor has invented an extraordinary and mysterious device for treating “hysteria.” His wife overhears mystifying sounds emanating in the next room and sees patients leaving in blissful health. This smart comedy ponders marriage and intimacy, and what it truly means to find connection. Tickets are $40. $$ ✰

❤ 7:30pm or 9:30pm. Mortified ATX: Doomed Valentines Show at Spiderhouse. $12. Bonus! Eat dinner at Love Balls. Rice balls rice balls rice balls. $$ ✰

❤ 8:00pm. Never Have I Ever: The Musical. Mark and Candace host a cocktail party for Mark's rambunctious liberal arts college friends to celebrate their recent engagement. Emotions run high after a long night of the drinking game confessional "Never Have I Ever" when Mark reveals details of his sexual experiences in college. $10-$12. $-$$.

❤ 8:00pm. I Love You So Much: Interweaving and Improvised Stories About Love in all its Many Forms at the Hideout Theater. $12. $$