Prosaic Paradise

I’ve been through a few mix discovery exercises, and today I thought of another one for you. I was listening to the Sadies’ Anna Leigh when I realized I would enjoy a mix of ghostly songs. I’ve got Split Enz’ more obvious Ghost Girl and one of my favorite Genesis songs, Home by the Sea as well as the Decemberists’ Leslie Ann Levine, but I keep drawing a further blank on songs about ghosts.

Oh yeah… need I even mention Wildfire by Michael Martin Murphy. I also have a rarity, one of the best ghost ship songs ever, The Ghostship Morphy by Dramtreeo.

Let me know your favorites… they don’t have to mention the word ghost.

Tags: mix, Music

I have a box of candles. Some are smelly, some are not. Some are tapers, pillars, votives, etc. They’ve been collecting dust for 4 years. I promise I only lit the ones for this picture that had previously lit – there are plenty of unused. If you want them and you are local (not shippin’ 10+ lbs of candles) give me a shout and let me know when you can come by! No takers, they go to freecycle.

At least I had a helluva lot of fun getting Jack to help me with taking pictures of candles. I definitely need a remote or we’ll kill each other. (See angryface.) I could have really done myself a favor by re-reading this first…

Tags: Purge Thursday

I was reminded this morning of the first realization I had that I would never, ever be a computer programmer.* Like many folks in the U.S. at the time, I was stunned to turn on my TV one day to see a totally computer-animated guy moving around appliances in a warehouse or something.

Holy shit! I thought. Or more likely, Wow! Since I was like 10. They did that without actually drawing! and then I thought Why do they keep showing that ugly guy playing guitar? because I was ignorant. Or 10, you pick.

This would be about the time that my elite private elementary school had installed a computer lab (with wood paneling) and hired a friendly guy with huuuuge 80s glasses and a thick stache to teach us BASIC programming. I was doubly blessed, in that my parents also saved up to get us a home computer. I am pretty sure I booted up the old Atari right then and there and set about writing a program to draw some shit.

10 GR.3
20 COLOR 1
30 PLOT 0,0
40 DRAWTO 10,10

I am also confident I got about 20 lines in before I realized how much of this tedious mess you’d have to do to draw some guys moving boxes in a warehouse. It never crossed my mind to consider computer programming again. (I suppose it also never crossed my mind that they did it with some other, fancier kind of computer or programming language, but nobody ever accused me of being a curious kid.)

I try to keep in touch with the mindset of the person to whom these guys with their microwave ovens were an astonishing and revelatory work of art. It keeps the wonder in the world, you know? I probably have an unhealthy level of reverence for the developers who work on the software I write requirements for in my job as a result of this.

* I had a blister on my little finger toe.

Tags: hindsight, nostalgia

Last week’s Top Chef episode was one of the best I’ve seen. There was no histrionics, no jumping through hoops, just a good challenge about good food with what, to all appearances, was fair judging.

(I get tired of the “you can’t win” style of judging on this show: i.e. “You were too creative” vs. “You were not creative enough” as needed.)

It did bring to mind an excellent question though: What would you want as your last meal? I’ve known mine for a long time.

More spoileriffic details beyond… Continue Reading »

Tags: food, TV

Last weekend I had to recruit an ally in the purging project. See, sometimes you let your closet accumulate things you are attached to, things that you are wearing in your head, but are not wearing in reality. At these times, you need someone to remind you WHY you’re not wearing them in reality and what you should do about it – that isn’t clinging to them desperately. Periodically Telf and I have performed this task for each other over the years, so I called upon her (in exchange for sushi) once more.

The pile includes unflattering fleeces, too small dress pants, thrift store finds that were bad in the first place, t-shirts I ordered off ebay for concerts I never even attended, excess hoodies, and much, much more. To be honest after the dust settled and I saw the pile I was in shock at how much had been culled.

I could never have done that without someone sitting there encouraging ruthlessness. And truly there is little chance I will miss any of it. Previously I didn’t technically need a cross bar in the closet – the pressure of clothes would have held them up. Now I can put things in without the verb “cram”.

Tags: Purge Thursday

People. You may remember when I last went to Paganfest in 2008. And how much ass it kicked. And how much metal I have listened to since. Well, I am super excited to report that it is back. And it is NOT on Telf’s birthday (observed). If you are interested, get your ass some tickets!! I am so fucking psyched. There is a band playing called Swashbuckle. You aren’t just a little bit curious?

Not much else is new. Second lecture was as measured and slow and careful as the first. I haven’t been sleeping nearly enough. The cat is sitting behind me having some kind of ridiculously vivid dream that is making his whole body spasm and his little paws swat around. This weekend I have lots and lots of cleaning to do. My nursing school application is in for traditional. I’m in love with Noodler’s Red-Black ink and greek yogurt.

Work is kicking my ass. I am touching five projects and the context switching between them is hurting my brain.

And I think I’m going to do something really stupid and buy an HDTV.

Tags: Music, shows, stuff, work

After what seemed like a very relaxing eternity, Chem 103 got into gear this week. Finally. I would never have thought this but I am really eager to get this show back on the road. I think… I am clinging to school a little as it makes me feel more like I have purpose.

First lecture class was very slow-paced. Not sure if this will be a hallmark of the entire semester, in which case this will be a cake walk, or if we’re being lulled into a false sense of security. One thing I can tell you is that all the students were sitting in their seats on time, quiet and attentive, like they had a concept of why we all came to the classroom. How refreshing. The professor was so polite as to be almost apologetic. And has a lovely british accent which is somehow helpful to my attention span.

Since I’ve done this twice before, it’s a little weird, like I have a really bad case of amnesia. I know I learned this stuff before, but I willingly let it go, just ungrasped it. I guess science says that this stuff could still be in there somewhere. Since we haven’t got past “this is a chemical symbol” I can’t tell yet. THAT much I know.

Lab was more fun – not because we uncorked any substances but because we got to watch a safety film that was undoubtedly made in 1979. All feathered hair and high waist pants. I learned – officially in a classroom setting – to waft. Jack has been on my ass for a long time because I tend to just stick my nose in things. Rich apparently noticed this fact about Genie too, and we’ve both taken no end of crap about Private School Girls Not Knowing How To Waft. Well I have finally been trained in the official lab technique. So shut up already!

Lab got out early and I was waiting for my carpool mate… so I confess I went and stood outside the nearby nursing class for a little while and listened to the teacher talk about checking IVs and procedure and protocol for a while. Someday I’ll be listening to that officially. The students were all sitting in white coats looking a little tired. I wondered if maybe they were accelerated students. It was probably way more thrilling for me than it was for them.

Tags: class, School

If I want to write with nice pens, I am going to want to write on nice paper. My main issue was fretting that cheap paper is going to accumulate microscopic paper muck in my fountain pen nibs and clog same. To that end I decided to find paper to bring to work with me, since that is where I do most of my writing. Yes, I know, most people take the office supplies away from work. I make vast use of legal pads, so I struck out and found both Doane and Rhodia make legal pads.And voila, I review them for you!

Chad Doane gets points for giving me the best customer service right off the bat. I ordered the legal pads and got utility notebooks; when I emailed he promptly shipped me the pads at no charge and told me not to send the notebooks back. Very cool.

But do I like the paper? The answer is: Yes! For starters, I’m a graph paper nut. The combination of grid/lines is very cool. I don’t have a real practical reason for my love of graph paper, I just do, so when I say the following it’s from a point of ignorance: Why 3 blocks to a line? I think if I were designing paper I’d make it college ruled and put two blocks to a line, but whatever, there is probably a mathematical reason for the design and I’m not an actual designer. And that’s not why I got the pads in the first place.

The paper felt thin to me at first, until I realize I’ve been writing on the Rhodia pad a bit longer, and that stuff feels very thick. Once I used the Doane paper for a bit, I realized I was just having a context switch issue – the paper is a comfortable weight. The smoothness and lack of significant traction is why I’m seeking new paper, and Doane delivers. I would even say that some of the pens took to the Doane finish better – particularly the Pilot Precise V-5, which wrote on this paper like a fine instead of EF. I hate EF so… great! You can see the extent of bleedthrough here – mostly from the Lamy (M nib puts out lots of ink) and the Sharpie.

The Rhodia pad is even smoother. The paper is heavier and the finish is just… well if you’re used to writing on the Staples-brand-whatever pads your office orders, you might feel like this is coated in teflon and your nib is going to fly right off the page and lodge itself in the wall to your right. There’s less bleedthrough to the back – this may be a function of using the yellow paper – so you could definitely use the front and back of the pad easily. One disadvantage, however, is that the inks seem to dry slower on this paper, so you’re in for some smudging if you are going back up and making notes on previous writing, say, during a meeting or something.

I haven’t even mentioned feathering here because I didn’t experience any.

The real advantage of the Doane, here, is the grid, and the Almighty Dollar. I got three Doane pads for the price of ONE Rhodia pad. If you find you like Rhodia products that much, you had better be prepared to be laughed at by your friends and family for your snobby ways. If you carry a Doane pad around, prepare to be chatted up by hot nerds.

Tags: paper, Pens, Stationery

Last weekend I packed up the Nikon and headed out to Fairfax for a rock show. I skip lots of local shows and it’s really a pity, but I was determined to make it out to this one. And I was rewarded for my efforts.

The show was arranged by members of Iris Divine to drum up support for local progressive metal bands. To that end they lined up a space that could accommodate an all-ages show and recruited three other bands to round out the lineup.

I joined the fray somewhere in the middle of the Concrete Prophet‘s set. Considering their status as the opening band, I was pretty stoked to find the quality of shredding and songcraft to be very high. That’s a tough one when you’re going to see a whole mess of new bands – hearing 15 new songs doesn’t give you much time to soak them in. To give you an idea however, I had allowed for myself to pick one CD to buy, and I picked theirs. They’ll be playing the Whiskey in Annapolis in March – wanna join me?

Next up was Timelord, whose myspace page I had actually explored beforehand (I usually like to just be surprised). Their guitar player was nuts. If you like to watch/listen to fingers fly, check this band out. Their singer is in the higher-pitched intense range, if that’s a turn-off for you so be it, but it works really well with the music and the lead singer is strong and pulls it all off. I happen to like it. I wish I knew what the last song they played with the dynamics and the quiet and the loud parts was, but I was too shy to go ask them about it.

Next up was Iris Divine. This band is one of those “why aren’t these guys pulling in a thousand folks at the Ram’s Head” bands that as progressive rock fans we get to see amongst a crowd of 100 and walk right up to the bassist and put our faces a few feet away from his flailing fingers. I can only assume that we should either just gloat that our tastes are so refined, or we (the fans) are not doing a good enough job of word of mouth. Anyways, the energy in their performance was tops and I am almost always a sucker for vocal harmonies, so for most of this set I was a happy camper. There were some songs not to my taste but the musicianship was excellent. Definitely swinging towards the melodic, Iris Divine should honestly have a broad appeal that genre-worship can’t suppress.

It was interesting to me to note that there seemed to be at least ten people there with SLR cameras. I thought maybe since it was a small show, I’d be one of two or three amateurs. Nope. There was one professional for sure, and at least two other people with shoe mount flash (something I consider more professional), and then four other folks like me.

I left before the last band as I had a date with a friend and her friend. Who may have long ears. And eat brussel sprouts. (Click through the picture for more cute as your reward for letting me hype local metal bands.)

Tags: Music, shows

Oh fuck I’m running out of time. OK So I’m getting rid of a pair of chinese slippers (no support!) moccasins that got me through many a renfair (also no support, also haven’t worn in 2 years), a non-working vintage lamp I bought off ebay many moons ago (probably can be fixed if you want it) and my VHS of Peter’s Friends.

I have a lot going on right now with 4 projects I’m touching at work, school starting this week, my dad joining twitter (what next!) getting new glasses and so on. So I’m really going to have to start writing these posts in advance! This photo should cover both exhibition of new glasses and junk I’m getting rid of.

Tags: Purge Thursday