There's a community garden near my house - I contacted them today about volunteering (they do youth programs, farmers markets, cooking classes - so much great stuff)
Tomorrow: making polaroid transfers from photos I took at a garage sale (and some of my friend's dog - who's getting pretty old) - and am treating myself to a spa trip with my friend stephmo before she leaves. I expect pampering - I'm getting a foot massage. (insert happy drooling here)
Kainui - you may just have written my favorite lake effect sentence. (though Mike may tie with his knot tying remark)
hee, hee, cabbage booger eater (yes, I'm four)
Next week I head to maine - a week of photo boot camp. I look forward to becoming a black and white shooting machine. (and will then cover my bare, naked walls with all nine zones)
After that - another alternative process class - adding toning and printing on fabrics - and trying to see if work'll pay for that as well.
But tonight - CHEESE!!!!
I'm hosting a fondue party. (insert more drooling here)
Oh - I read in the super cool home book, Pad, of a party idea.
Oratory Party - each of your guests brings one item to read (can be a recipe, a poem, a love letter, a short story, a children's book, etc.) you provide beverages (intoxicating or not) and snacks. I picture sitting on lots of pillows and having one light on the reader. If my living room held more than six people, I would so want to have this party. But what to read? I did entertain friends on Friday night with the storytelling of Princess Smartypants (a kids book my mom sent - its a feminist fairy tale with awesome illustrations).

>how is the new springsteen?

Hit and miss. Some songs are totally good and some are just filler. There was a time when the Boss would have never released an album with so-so material on it. That time has passed. Still, he's at the top of his game live. And I bet the onstage versions of some of these songs will smoke the LP versions.

>Zach, you triple-timing heartbreaking cold ruthless immoral cabbage booger eater. Upma and I have already had public arguments over laying claim to your mayonnaise white ass, and now you have to tell us you've laid low the hopes of a girl with a ridiculous name?

I swear to god, Kainui, if you talked like that in person, we would get married. Garbage mouth. And take it easy on the name judgements, Weezie. Anyway, the girl with the ridiculous name will recover. Remember, I'm the hopeless loser here.

>RE: remixing of original albums. I recently read an article about how Ozzy remixed some of his original stuff, so that he could cut out two of the band members whom he has pending lawsuites against.

This sonofabitch rerecorded the drum and bass parts on his first two albums to avoid royality back-payments to Lee Kerslake and Bob Daisley. What a piece of shit. Fucking Daisley wrote every single lyric on every Ozzy album for ten years. He played with Ozzy every time Sharon fired another in their endless line of bassists and that's how they repay the guy!

Kerslake and Daisley have never been paid at all for those two records. Bob can live without it, maybe, cause he gets songwriting and performance checks on the other albums, but Lee needs the scratch.

Plus, the new version (with parts by Mike Borden and Robert Trujillo) sounds all fucked up. The recording on the rhythm section is twenty years out of date with the guitars and vocals. And all that stuff was recorded live to begin with; they can't possibly synch it out exactly. They weren't playing to metronomes! Borden and Trujillo do an okay job with an impossible task, but really... Fuck Ozzy, fuck Sharon, fuck that shitty dog they keep kissing on the mouth. Greedy assholes.

Weather: 750 degrees in the shade.

how is the new springsteen?

New Springsteen. Midnight.

Mike-Remastering records without noting it on the sleeve was a pretty common practice in the late eighties. For example, Kiss remixed pretty much everything they had during the hair metal craze to bring in more in line with the current trend. Fortunately they fixed everything when they reissued their albums a few years ago. I have no doubt other bands have taken the same liberties with their albums.

You say the drums are louder? That's interesting. They probably dumped the reverb off of them a little, too. That may be why they sound louder.

While I'm talking music, I want to say that Friday night I saw one of the best shows of my life. Nathan (our drummer) has a side-band with some other guys called Uhwarria. They only play like one show a year, because their drummer, Brian, lives in Scotland. The show was at this tiny hole in the wall called the Onion Cellar. People were so crammed together that I was actually standing between members of the band. We had such a good time. Slave is going to put out their record.

That girl I went out with last week was there and I made an ass of myself trying to ignore her more than she was ignoring me. You girls would have been so ashamed of me. I'm such a chump.

Upma-Bricks are made of cabbage and monkey snot.

We just started out last project of the year at work. In about, two weeks I'll be unemployed again. The weight of this is slowing starting to press on me. I wish that the perfect job would fall into my lap, but I know that it won't. I'm really going to have to get out there and beat the streets.

Looks like we'll be losing two roommates from our house this fall. Evan and Dave a pretty much committed to moving to LA. The lure of Los Angeles eludes me and I'll miss those guys. If any of you are looking for a place to live in the hippest city in America let me know. If you want to move to Greensboro, let me know that too.

My dad was born in 1949. My mother was born in 1952. I was born in 1975 and Thad arrived in 1977. Dad was my age when he had me.

With any luck, we'll have a new internet connection by the end of the week. Then I can share my sunshine with you all once again.

Weather: 100+ It's gettin hot in here, so take off all your clothes.

Yeah, she's a brick - howwsssse (she's mighty, mighty, just letting it all hang)
Yeah, she's a brick - howwssee
....you know the bit...

Angie - are you going to get a 1-day or 2-day pass to the Austin City Limits concert? I'm waiting for the schedule to be posted - but I think I'll probably only go one day.
I had the best weekend - lots of hanging out with friends, swimming both days, smores eating (one girl recommended next Spring making smores with Peeps - genius).
Upma - are you wanting to buy a brick house? (oh, now that song's in my head)

How many times will I cry at work today?
My closest work friend (we started within a month of each other four years ago) - today's her last day - she's moving to Chicago. So we decorated her cube with fans blowing, and scarfs billowing and changed her desktop pattern to skyrises.
But gift to her: calling cards and stationary (not so subtle, huh).

The sky cleared up for a while and we went to the game. The Bats managed to give up 4 runs before the first out of the first inning. The game continued in that fashion until we gave up on it. Then Hawaiian and I went back to her house and I pretended to like dogs for a few minutes. Then to the Exchange to see an okay band and waste a lot of time. Doubt there will be a repeat of this night. If I die alone (likely) will you ladies announce at my funeral, loudly, one at a time, that you were my secret mistress? But, you all have to acted surprised each time someone else speaks up. I'll see if I can get some Greensboro women to do the same. I figure that would be good for a chuckle. And if there's one thing I know I want, it's a ton of people laughing over my dead body.

I was going to go to a baseball game tonight. But, its raining. Fuck that.

Two kids had to wash my car today for work. (a photo shoot on car washes as fundraisers for the Math textbook) - or I should say they washed one spot on my car for about 30 minutes.
The table is done!!
Now I want to go buy cool placemats and coasters. Or make large color copies of old postcards and then laminate them.

i haven't had much to say either.

The furniture work is almost done. Though right now I have the table (drying/waiting for its next coat of paint) blocking my door on my balcony. For the next few days, whenever I leave my apartment, I need to crawl on my belly under the table. So far, I've only hit my head once.

Does anybody know how to get your popularity rating up on Rockstargame? I can't get mine to budge. I play shows non-stop, and I'm selling big places out, but I can't get that damn popularity score to move. Mike?

One of my friends at work is doing a photo project where she chases things (animals, people) and then takes pictures of them in flight.
(if I tried this, I would be constantly tripping if I ran with a camera covering my face)
The living room project ©2002 is going well. A large pile is set aside for garage saling tomorrow. Now I'm thinking: red rug, dark wood table w/chairs and bookshelf rearrangement and finito.
I'm supposed to have some sort of skull drink tonight. I'm waiting on details.
Weezie - congrats on the raise!

Todd Oldham is designing for Target now - I had the hardest time not buying up his whole section. I'm on a redecorating, rearranging, trading spaces kick in my place. I want a grown-up dining area and am prepared to move, trash, store to get it. So last night I started with storage container shopping at Target. And I'm thinking of decoupaging a dresser; switching bookshelves around, and so on. And I can't keep away from the aquas and reds.

So is the lake effect camera making the rounds?

I am either a Swan or a Wild Cat personality.
But I may also be a Sea Lion personality.

I'm a bat or an otter.

North Carolina dwellers (current and former): I'm working on a state-specific Math book. We will have 12 - 36 features on North Carolina. I was asked for good photogenic suggestions from the state. I just went and bought a few guidebooks - but thought I'd ask you guys as well. (keep in mind that Math problems will need to be written about each of these sights - but still, do you have anything to pass on?) - thanks

I went out to dinner with some friends last night, two of whom had just been to 10 year high school reunions. We were talking about those stupid questionaires you have to fill out when RSVPing (for me, this is hypothetical cause I still have a few years to go) but anyway, we were trying to figure better questions to ask. The one someone mentioned that had me stumped, "What have you done in the last ten years that would most surprise the people you went to high school with?"
No clue - either I'm super consistent or unaware of what would surprise people.
What about you guys?

Kanui - you are the best! I got all the skirt/sewing instructions in the mail yesterday. What an inspiration. Now I just need to actually do it. But thank you - that was so nice.
Mike - it looks like Maine is on again (as of today). I'll be in Rockport 8/4-8/11. I'm staying on the workshop grounds and am in photo classes all day (and lectures at night) - but maybe we can find some time to meet up. I'll know better once I'm up there.
Angie - why did you have to go and mention king cakes in a post - now I'm all craving them :)

cooking jag yesterday: made curried pumpkin soup and saffron orzo
disappointing news today: I'm supposed to go to a photo workshop in Maine in two weeks - found out yesterday the class got cancelled, now I'm scrambling around my bosses trying to get sent to a different class there later in the summer, will they go for it? who knows.
went to advanced yoga last night - my back is not happy with me now.
weezie - I love your waiter description - can that be my new favorite lake effect paragraph (I can't limit myself to a quote)

Back in NC. Lightning fried the router in our house, so no internet at home for a while.

Upma, that dream is extremely sweet and warms my cold dead heart a little.

NYC got better. We went to Coney Island on Saturday and rode the Cyclone. That's probably the greatest rollercoaster ever, by the way. 75 years old and still the champ. Ate at a great Ethiopian place. Wonderful food, absolutely breath-taking waitresses. If I lived there I'd go every night just to moon over those women. John and Dave went to see Milemarker that night, and I would have gone, but the thought of standing on my screaming, moaning feet for five hours filled me with dread. Saw Donnie Darko instead. Good movie. Spent Sunday in Union Square and Central Park.

Al (from Milemarker)'s zine Burn Collector has a new issue out and its is great. Hunt it down.

Al isn't that hot, but Dave Laney is. Robey is too.

I don't think I'm caught up on sleep from my long travel day that started Friday at 5pm and ended Saturday at 8am. But here are the highlights from the Alaska trip:
We had an insane religious stewardess on the flight up there. Some quotes from her "I've been dating someone but he doesn't believe in God so I don't want to keep dating him, but I did give him the book of Job, and asked him to read it and give me his opinion on it" (keep in mind I have earplugs in and was sleeping) but she keeps talking to us, about movies we've seen, where we're going, selling her house, her friends "(they're not pretty), but you should see their hearts"
Met up with 20(!) of Ted's relatives (I had him draw me a family tree on the plane so I could learn names). We went to the WhaleFat follies at the Fly by Night club ( the house specialty is Spam). Also went on a few nature walks along the Seward highway. Spotted some Dall Sheep. Went up to Hatcher's Pass (so many curves - so not friendly to my stomach) - had a short lived snowball fight. Took many photos (10 rolls in all). Ate bunches of Alaskan king crab (I love anything dripped in garlic butter). Walked around town - went to the Saturday market - stocked up on Alaskan souvenirs. Took at tram at the Alyeska resort - ate soup in a bread bowl and watched hang gliders take off down the mountain. Drove down to Seward in a caravan of four cars (one RV). Went on a three-hour kayak tour of Resurrection Bay. I loved it, and I've never been kayaking before. Now I am hands-on familiar with spray skirts. We saw sea otters and sea lions in the water, bald eagles flying over head. Also went to the Sea Life center there. It's more like a research center than a Zoo. Saw tufted puffins, very cute. Ate halibut and chips for way too many meals (but in a good way). Drove back up to Talkneeta - a cute three block long town. Lots of international mountain climbers milling around. Drank Moose's Drool and Glacier Ale. Went up in a Navajo around Mt. McKinley (oh, excuse me, around Denali). Oh, my. But that was terrifying. Small, small plane. Big, big mountain. We saw climbers, saw both summits and I went all white knuckled with every bob and dip. And we were supposed to keep an eye out for a 16-man team lost in an avalanche the day before. That's real reassuring. That and we had to wear oxygen masks the whole trip. I was so glad to see ground, I just about kissed it. But I probably got my best pictures from that part of the trip. We also walked on Exit Glacier, saw Portage Glacier, drank glacier martinis from the ice we brought back. Took the Alaskan railroad from Talkeetna back to Seward (where the tour guides sang "I've been working on the Railroad" to our delight. And I've just about learned the Alaskan state song. It was also pretty cool seeing the sun for 20+ hours a day. But it's nice to be home - and enjoying my own space. And my laundry's just about done now

In NYC for the rest of the week. The night we got here there were record highs in the city. It truly felt like we had stepped off the plane onto the deepest trenches of hell. That night, in John and Jeff's apartment, rivals the night I spent on a concrete slab in Guatemala as the worst night of sleep in my life. I was lying on the floor in the dead hot air with my face to the door trying to catch the breeze of the air rushing between the door and the floor. It was miserable. I would have traded everything I had for a fan, or a bed, or a window high enough to leap out of. I managed two hours of sleep that night.

Yesterday and today have been tons better. The temperature is way down. Yesterday, we walked around for hours and hours. My feet are now cracked pink lumps. Very gross. We watch the fire work over the East River from the Brooklyn side. For all the hokey patriotism of the fourth, I really do enjoy fireworks. They're even better when your watching them in a cool place. The crowd last night was a bunch of tough Brooklynders, mixed with a lot of lesbians and punks, both of the faux-hawk and gutter varities.

It was too hot to enjoy much eating yesterday, but I did manage to find a place that has vegan cornbeef hash. Dave and I were very excited. Tonight were going out for vegan dimsum. Our newly partying buddy Dave got shitty wasted last night and has a worldclass hangover today. He might be vomiting right now, actually? Couldn't possibly have been worth it.

When we leave the library (NY Public Library---grossest public toilets on the East Coast?) we're going to wander Time Square. John wants to go the Guggenhiem cause it's cheap. The building is cool (and air conditioned), but the art there bores me. The only stuff I like is on the top few floors or loops or whatever.

Anyway... you know, peace out and everything.

I saw Mile Marker and The Break on Wednesday night. It was a good show, the first one I've been to in a while, nobody lit themselves on fire, though. It's probably for the best, the whole place would have gone up with them.

Louise, I'm sending an envoy from Buffalo to meet you. She departs for Bloomington tonight. I have given her physical descriptions that are completely outdated and would do little to compare to your actual person. She is a messenger, more beautiful than the message she carries. Her name is Temanuga Trifonova, but some people call her Nushi. It was just as difficult to tell her that your name is Kainui, but some people call you Louise. She will be searching you out at the co-op. I have a feeling if not a hope that the two of you will get along famously.

I despise summer. It's miserable outside.