Weekend Rustle

What is that sound? That rustling sound? Here in the icy north, there are no leaves on the trees, no school papers due, and it is not trash collection day. But there is a sound heard, from sea to shining sea, o'er purple mountains majesty and upon the fruited plain. It is the rustle of millions of bags of chips being pulled from supermarket shelves, newspaper pages fanning as readers turn eagerly to the sports section, and money changing hands as tickets scalp for 40 times their face value and millions of dollars are wagered on one team or the other. It is Super Bowl weekend and the sound of it drowns out all others. The moans of the recently unemployed, the cries of the suddenly homeless and even the cheers of a nations newfound hope are all drown out by the rustling sound of a plastic bag full of beer & salsa. There will be no weddings, there will be no concerts, there will be no dinner parties and bless you if your birthday falls on February 1st because you'll just have to wait until next year. Hope it wasn't a big one. And it's not only onsite in Tampa Bay. The excitement exceeds our borders into places like Ouagadougou where fans yell "Touchydown!" in TV bars of tiny tropical hotels. So don't fight it. Just clear your schedule and bring some chips...

Stati

I just made that word up. I don't like how statuses sounds. Too many sususesuses. Look at this guy...

Someone pointed out to me my facebook stati are very random. I went back and read them all. They made me laugh. I will remember them.... now.

R. Travis...

...- tada!
...:: un día.
...RxHS CG = good times gone (for now).
...been wishin' & hopin' & thinkin' & prayin'...
...: Panteleimon.
...is back in the blue.
...is probably too warm.
...is not your mama [apparently].
...is amazed at how close Jackson & Howell are.
...is house.
...says a word is also a picture of a word.
...says that according to my mother, some sort of phantom stole into the room where I lay in my cradle and struck me on the head with a silver hammer.
...is moon jellies & burning honey.
...has insects & insomniacs outside.
...waxed before he waned [again]; damnit!
...is getting sinisterer & sinisterer.
...eats oatmeal.
...is :) cause Emma is :) cause Sean is :).
...says be kind, rewind.
...has recently been working on a yoga technique that when perfected will allow him to blow in his own ear.
...likes plants that live on pavement, blessed brambles.
...is m-ba mkay pai daw btio phw.
...says look to the left- is that enough?
...asks which you prefer: reverse discourse or diverse recourse?
...is so embarassed for Daniel Riley!
...is at an actual 'busy'.
...is interiors.
...had his muffins stolen.
...knows the difference between a tepee & a toupée.
...drank a cobra.
...is wearing his mothers coat.
...doesn't wanna end up a bat on a sticky wicket but no sense moping about the flat.
...misses his ginger.
...had toad in the hoop.
...is chloroformed.
...is uncle.
...in the land of the lost.
...is 8.
...is packing & waited.
...is dawn kim add kitty fin.
...is oh me oh my.
...says happy birthday Mom.
...did nothing.
...flew to Miami to change a flat tire.
...barely cracked the list.
...is on Christmas.
...is a dirty whirlwind.
...is snowed in... finally.
...is taking bribes.
...has the road.
...tubed.
...is frosted window panes.
...wishing you & yours.
...is shoveling snow in a t-shirt & shorts.
...is taking reservations.
...gots chips, gots dip, gots taquitos.
...may have drank his hat.
...has all day. We all have all day.
...fireworked.
...for once, will not mind the warmth.
...is with gays.
...is ready for the cold again.
...is dropping rain like puss.
...wants 4 walls & adobe slats for my girl.
...says "put the kettle on baby, I'm coming home!".
...is taking one more night for Christmas.
...is blood-throat cotton-tooth.
...just bought dog food from a cake-faced Yoko Ono.
...is snowsick.
...is sweating & in awe.
...likes Amish toys.
...is in the off-season.
...is gonna make it out of the driveway today
...is in 1°.
...is off to Alabama mama trauma, then Obama comma drama.
...is flying back, undecided & illprepared.
...is paraded.
...left without saying goodbye. Buhbye!
...bailed on history.
...has Antony & he has never been more appropriate.
...is having pancakes for the 5th day in a row.
...is being still.
...is cue-are-ess-tee-you-vee.
...is all the while.
...is pursuing a nautically themed death.
...is keeping hands off the apparatus.
...all of a sudden felt my body moving the sound.
...is celebrating martyrdom.
...is black like that.
...does ninja moves and spy things.
...had a joint-reverse déjà vu?

Latest On Cats

My mother has asked to be updated on all the cats and kittens on the blog. So here is the latest...

They're huge.

















You'll notice there's no shots of Yayoi. She has recently joined a voodoo cult that carries the belief that were she to have her photo taken, her soul would be stripped from her body. Oh Yayoi, what will you think of next.

Consider yourself updated.

Mixtape> 1.16 thru 1.28

Only By Repetition, Furthered Thru Familiarity

1. Here We Go Magic - Fangela
2. Antony & The Johnsons - Aeon
3. Ray LaMontagne - I Still Care For You
4. Apollo Sunshine - Breeze
5. Beyoncé - Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)
6. The Brighton Port Authority - Toe Jam
7. Dan Auerbach - Whispered Words
8. M. Ward - Epistemology
9. Asobi Seksu - Sunshower
10. Handsome Furs - Nyet Spasiba
11. The Bird And The Bee - My Love
12. Department Of Eagles - Teenagers
13. Gregor Samsa - Ain Leuh
14. Jay-Z - My President Is Black
15. Frances - Locket
16. Alela Diane - Tatted Lace
17. The Middle East - Fools Gold
18. Skeletons - The THINGS
19. The Lymbyc System - Lotan Baba
20. Fol Chen - The Idiot
21. Dungen - Det Tar Tid
22. Bruce Peninsula - Steamroller
23. Loney, Dear - Harsh Words
24. Here We Go Magic - Tunnelvision
25. Seagull - Baby
26. The Phantom Band - Island
27. Stellastarr* - In The Walls
28. British Sea Power - Remember Me
29. Digable Planets - Rebirth Of Slick
30. Neutral Milk Hotel - King Of Carrot Flowers, Part 1
31. Beirut - My Night With The Prostitute From Marseille
32. Charles Spearin - Vanessa
    

Celebrating Martyrdom

We finally both had a day off. We decided to go out for lunch and a movie. Laura said it was an early Valentines, since I will be in Miami for the 14th [loveless bastards]. But we have never been much for celebrating Valentines anyhow. We've tried but it has always turned against us in some way. Lunch & a movie is the best we can do, so an early Valentines it was.



If there was ever a restaurant, an eating establishment in the annals of history that exemplified the spirit and personified the emotion behind Saint Valentines Day, it would be Chilis. So that's where we went. That and Laura had a gift card from a holiday work party. She ordered the wings & a chambord margarita. I had a glass of water & the tilapia. We shared an order of southwest eggrolls and chocolate chip paradise pie. It was a delicious & satisfying meal, mainly because it was 2:30 in the afternoon and the first thing we had eaten all day. Most normal people had already eaten by then, TWICE!







Then we sauntered off to the little theater downtown to possibly catch a double feature of Milk & Slumdog Millionaire, but after the emotionally draining story of Harvey Milk we didn't have it in us to stay for another.



Plus the movie screen looked evil, like he may try to eat us.



We thought briefly about heading down to Main Street for a lap around the shoppes but it was nightfall and the temperature had dropped and was still. We headed home for some nice warm American Idol and some toasty The Office.

Cat Dancers For Chayce

Frequent Viewing

Maybe it's the cold, but all we wanna do lately is sit on the couch and watch movies. We haven't really done that in a long time tho. In the past few days we've seen Charlie Wilson's War, Enduring Love, Pineapple Express, A Clockwork Orange, Young At Heart, Napoleon Dynamite, Frost/Nixon (bootleg), Dumb & Dumber, and a good bit of Planet Earth which is on 24-7.



We haven't been to the theater in a long time either but that will all be remedied tomorrow. The little downtown theater/coffeeshop in Stroudsburg is playing all the hits. The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button, Slumdog Millionaire, The Reader & Milk. We may see two, with a little coffee break in between. Who knows? In the order I wanna see them....

GEs(i)taPo

Another weekend with Sitao. They're easy cuz they're local. Kinda. About 2 hours south, but it's a nice drive, and no airports or layovers or anti-semites or tiny bags of peanuts. I actually wouldn't mind the peanuts.



Sitao is a fun group. Each member is a girl. Each girl is a little off. Each one fits together like a big wack puzzle. So it works. This weekend we were treated to a rather intense game of freeze tag, an imaginary snowball fight, and more of the general loopiness that comes along with locking people inside a small gym all weekend. We got a lot done and they seem to be on the right track. We'll see what April has to say about that tho.

Here's an attempt at a partial staff photo failed.


Leah, Craig, Mike & myself

Stayed at Brian's house this time around, a nice old farmhouse with an old potato chip factory in the backyard that he's converted into a museum of crapola.



Very cool house but if you can imagine a "busy" single packrat living in a large house with way too many rooms then you can maybe come close beginning to imagine what we have here. He's admittedly "into a lot of different things" but Brian, buddy, let's get someone over there maybe to give it a ladies touch. But I'm not sure anyone can make sense of classic cartoon cells, flower wallpaper, clown statues, Mennonite artwork, superfluous electronics, toilet rugs as cushions, expensive antiques sitting on plastic picnic tables in the dining room, Nazi paraphernalia, wait scratch that last one.... But for crying out loud he's got a room he calls "the Polar Bear Room" and yet another one containing only a dusty bowflex, a old family rocking chair and a giant stuffed gorilla holding a heart.



At least it's good to know there's someone else who still has their Christmas tree up.




Let's not forget about the enormous cat named Taupe because, well I guess he's Taupe.



I guess I'm going back next week but I'm bringing some heavy duty garbage bags and we're doing something about that stairwell.

BONUS!!

Arby's has southwest eggrolls now and they're quite delicious. It was a nice little surprise that rejuvenated me for the ride home last night. Yay chili lime ranch!

Creative Censorship

The best use of nudity since... well I dunno... ever?



I caught an arrow, and eyeball, a clock, a smiley face & what looked like, to me, the maiden voyage of the Niña the Pinta & the Santa Maria, but the best has to be the middle finger pong. Classic.

An Experiment On A Bird In An Air Pump

by Joseph Wright of Derby, 1768

I want this on a canvas over my fireplace.
Maybe just framed.
It speaks to me.
Seriously.
Write it down.
My birthday is in 3 months.

Lego My Album

First it was ricebowls, now it's Legos! Another one of my most favoritest things in life, and some genius has turned them into classic album covers. There's a whole flicker page dedicated to this stuff. Genius remakes like Houses of the Holy, the Velvet Underground's Andy Warhol album (where'd they find that Lego banana?) & and an artistic rendition of Radiohead's latest, In Rainbows.

Here's some of my favorites:

3 Feet High & Rising...



Trugoy & Plug One Legofied!! They didn't quite get the fades.



Strokes debut...



...makes Legos sexy!!



The classic grunge...



...too simply stupid to not be funny. Notice the inflation?



A few Beatles covers to round out the collections...



Classic



They kinda cheated on this one drawing the background, but I'll give it to them



And my favorite! Look at George (bottom right)

Where are my Legos? I'm gonna get to work on some Wilderness covers...

Dear Snow, Don't Go!

It was frigin 44° today! Too soon for all the cold to go away. What is that all about? We've been adjusting quite well to the freezing temperatures, the feet of snow, the ice rink driveway, and now it's all gonna go away. When does that groundhog thing happen? I could use a few more snowstorms. We haven't even built a proper snowman yet. And we just got the heavy blankets out of the trunk. I like sleeping undercover and not sweating. Let's hope this is just a hot patch and next week will bring heavy snow and temperatures in the negative. Am I the only one who feel this way?

Hot or cold, we got an early morning and we're both off. Laura works all weekend and I'm heading back down to Lancaster to teach Sitao. That's Shit In The Air Often. Clever, eh? Just an adorable little outfit right outta Amishville trying to make their mark on the world of pageantry. I've only been once before, couple weeks back, but we all got along so swimmingly that they invited me back for, well, whenever I wanna go. So, the wife has a busy schedule working all weekend, I may as well jaunt on down. I should call Brian and let him know my plan. I wonder if they expect me right now. Brian is charge down there. This is Brian. Yes. He is a queer super hero.

So that's where I'll be all weekend. Don't worry about me. They got a Waffle House down there.

Craving Consistency

Everyday, around 11am, a herd of deer settle just outside our backdoor at the edge of the woods. They seem to have the routine down and every time I think "Nah, they won't be there today", there they lie, some more alert than others, but all in rest mode. So what I'm wondering is how is it that deer can be on a more consistent schedule than I am. The last few months not only have I never have the same schedule day to day or week to week, but usually don't even know what each day will consist of until maybe the evening before. And (oddly) thankfully that is all about to change. I am about to settle into my own little cozy regular schedule for the next few weeks and I'm actually kind of excited about it. No more waking up and wondering where I'll have to go or who I'll have to call. It's actually been a a bit of an annoyance. So anyhow, here's to craving consistency, the hobgoblin of little minds, something I never thought I'd yearn for, but will welcome the pleasant change, at least for a few weeks til things inevitably resume their haphazardness. Then again...

My Girls: Official

Ahh, good morning with this.


This isn't too far off from seeing them live.

Can you tell I like this song?

Alabama, Mama Trauma, Obama Drama, Llama

A strange weekend indeed.



Alabama to visit, consult, complete. That went well. Caught up with Whitney & Becky and their new baby adventures...



and managed to teach more to a group of kids than I've ever taught before. Kudos to them and their ability to survive it.





I even got to sleep in a nursery. That's a first.



Then an early flight and managed to make both standbys to get into Philly nice & early, only to be spooked by Corey Beck on my plane and be the very last person [on Earth maybe] to receive my luggage. Quick weekend that can't really be qualified as a camp, but was nice to see some gone-but-not-forgottens.

Our mock-up:








Hi Jade!!




Carla (in the background) has the ability to sense photo opportunities.


It's lonely in the parade front.


What this? This here is a bin of weiners.

Oh and the llamas...