a ribbon and a marshmallow

2010-11-30T17:00:00.003-05:00

hello out there. we haven't written in our blog for quite a while... as some sort of recap, here are some places we've been: the farm sanctuary in watkins glen, ny; provincetown and beyond on cape cod, ma, including hikes in hatches harbor; tregellys fiber farm (pictured) in heath, ma; fenway park in boston, ma; wells national estuarine reserve in wells, me; knightville dam somewhere in ma; deer isle and acadia, me; many other places i'm probably forgetting; and we've lived, worked & played here in northampton, ma and beyond.

haystack

2009-10-14T10:12:00.003-04:00

in early october, lauren and i went to the haystack mountain school of crafts in deer isle, maine, for a massart alumni retreat. we have a really great time, and i've posted some pictures on our flickr.

greens greens greens

2009-06-01T22:10:00.004-04:00

tonight was our first visit to the food bank farm for the season, where we have a share... greens galore!!!! it was fun... friends in the barn... picking herbs... watching the new chickens getting into trouble.

on the menu tonight... smashed potatoes with turnip, radish, and dandelion greens... inspired by sir Mark Bittman's recipe for ligurian something or other.

salad with oregano thyme dressing, and tofurkey sausage. of course paired with a lovely PBR and the Big Lebowski. Oh the joys of spring!

tower hill

2009-03-14T20:38:00.002-04:00

lauren and i recently spent a beautiful afternoon at tower hill in boylston, ma. here's just one picture of many we took with our phones.

bird

2009-01-16T09:39:00.003-05:00

it has to be the coldest day of the winter so far, and yet outside i hear what sounds like a spring bird. the bird is singing one note, five times, over and over again, separated by a few seconds. it switches to four times, then to six times, and always back to five.

as i've written this, the bird has stopped singing near my window. i like to imagine that he's flown off to another icy tree to make that same call to another circle of his voice's range. what's he saying? should i be listening?

a friday in new york

2009-01-11T09:59:00.009-05:00

on friday, i woke up early so i could leave my friend bill's apartment in harlem with him, to have a full day of new york exploration. i stayed up a little too late looking for cheap vegan restaurants on the internet and watching a very special episode of the fresh prince. (carlton has a gun, will gets him to part with gun, there are tears, etc.) (a note here, bill and his girlfriend becky are incredibly gracious hosts and were so nice to let me stay with them for 2 nights.)

i had about an hour to kill after getting off the B train at the natural history museum stop, so i hunkered down in a chain bagel shop called lenny's, with an everything bagel with tofu cream cheese (very pleasantly surprised there --- no green tabasco like at the green bean in northampton, however) and a small, surprisingly good coffee.

the entry fee for the natural history museum is a suggested donation of $15, so i took full advantage of the suggested aspect and paid $1. the highlight of the museum was definitely the small case of items from the people of the amazon rainforest. they knew their environment so intimately, and respected everything in it so deeply, that they flourished, growing their own food, paying respect to the animals they killed by using their bones, feathers, teeth, fur, etc to make various items and clothing. additionally, i really enjoyed a video about the evolutionary timeline. here's a me and a dinosaur (crappy cell phone pic):

after the natural history museum, i headed to a restaurant called curly's vegetarian lunch, on 14th st betw 1st and 2nd aves, i believe. their entirely vegetarian menu (where anything could be made vegan) had all kinds of things on it (in retrospect i wish i had ordered the chicken parmesan), but i ordered a burger and fries and a chocolate milkshake, all of which were great.

after that, i went to the museum of modern art (thanks dave g.). i've been somewhat recently, so i was really glad to find that there was a lot on display that i had never seen. i encountered a few artists whose names i wrote down, and was interested to find my tastes changing even more. one interesting installation they had on display was a video that covered all 3 walls of that huge space on the 2nd floor. the artist (whose name i have written down elsewhere) encouraged people to take their shoes off and sit/lay on a circular white rug (and the couches within) and "make new friends." here's a lousy phone-camera pic:

i mostly subsisted on bagels the rest of the time i was in new york, except for vegan sweet and sour seitan from tao palace in brooklyn (highly recommended!), which i ordered saturday night:

there are more things to say about this weekend in new york... feeling like it taught me a few things, about how really for the first time i can say 100% that i don't want to live here (though i do enjoy visiting), and other things, but i'll end here. i missed home quite a bit in that big strange city, and missed lauren deeply, and am so glad to be returning home to her in an hour or so. thanks for reading. to end, here's a little video from the union square subway station... waiting for the L train to brooklyn....

my cousin jeremy getting a haircut in myanmar

2008-11-25T14:31:00.000-05:00

saturn return

2008-11-18T10:02:00.003-05:00

have you heard of this? the saturn return? it's apparently "a regular astronomical occurrence ... which occurs in a person's life at approximately 27–30 years of age ... [it's] symbolically/astrologically associated with time, challenge, fear, doubt, confusion, difficulty, seriousness, heaviness, unwanted burdens and hard lessons, among other more positive things such as structure, significance, accomplishment, reflection, power, prestige, maturity, responsibility and order ... the 30th birthday is such a major rite of passage and is considered by many astrologers to mark the 'true beginning' of adulthood, self-evaluation, independence, responsibility, ambition, and full maturation."

right??

depressing haiku

2008-10-24T17:57:00.000-04:00

a piece of popcorn

lies flat on the persian rug

an immense sorrow

a look around

2008-10-21T14:25:00.001-04:00

i'm in a room. the heat is on. the window is open. i hear rain. it's october and there's talk of snow and i'm not so opposed. i can see both orange and green leaves, at the tops of trees. the orange ones look fluorescent. on my desk, i see that my caffeine source has been depleted. there's a cello in the background. the internet is ablaze with words... my friends and family are revealing their innermost. last night i said to lauren, "i feel like the world is showing me a whole lot of things i don't want for my life right now." mostly don't's. not many do's. but it's encouraging. i wonder if maybe something i really do want is on the horizon. or at the bottom of some well i have to climb down. as i wrote that, i thought, "it sounds fun to climb down a well right now." i imagine that at the bottom of the well there is a short, cool tunnel, water dripping intermittently. at the end of the tunnel, a room with a fireplace, two plush, gilded red chairs, an unrealistic painting of a cow on the mantle. the wallpaper is gold. there is a giant window that looks out onto an orchard on which the sun is setting, slowly enough that i can open the window and some of the air is warm. i walk over to one of the chairs. lauren is there. she has been there, reading, for a long time. a cello is still in the background, just much further away. the notes are getting longer, broader. in the corner of the room, a refridgerator. an old white one. opening it, there is something i'll eat and something i'll drink. this is beginning to sound like a choose your own adventure book. i choose to eat the bowl of ice cream. turns out i decided incorrectly and i go spiraling into the air, legs and arms flailing, and i grab the chandelier but its arm snaps, and so i fly back to the small tunnel, shoved through, all knees and legs against wet gray stone, and back up the well, where i am tossed further, further, the sound of the cello getting closer, closer, until i'm back in the chair, my caffeine source depleted, the orange leaves glowing like the fireplace way, way below.

my ice cream had a face

2008-09-17T08:02:00.000-04:00

purpose

2008-09-10T09:16:00.000-04:00

this summer while on the cape i thought seriously about getting a tattoo on my forearm of just the word "purpose." yesterday, i saw this:

"the highest purpose is to have no purpose at all. this puts one in accord with nature, in her manner of operation." - john cage

i think that's actually much closer to how i feel on the matter.

as i write this, lauren is in maine at haystack, and i miss her. i've been home alone the last few nights (working a pretty crappy job during the day; i can stomach it though, unlike this place, which i ran screaming out of... sort of), just listening to the red sox games, taking short walks, watching video podcasts of this guy....

random drawing on grocery list

2008-08-17T21:06:00.001-04:00

the cape

2008-07-10T18:29:00.006-04:00

...here i am sitting alone at home on this lovely and event filled summer evening... feeling sorry for myself - hopped up on probiotics and penicillin.

I feel too weird to do anything productive, like make dinner or save my tomatoes from the septoria leaf spot they seem determined to die from . So I decided to read my own blog for a change. I'm sort of a post and forget kinda girl. While that has some advantages - I realize that I often write about something coming up, something I'm excited or terrified about, but never post a follow up. Maybe it makes me seem mysterious, or lazy, or hints that something awful and never never to be repeated again occurred... but mostly i think it makes for some annoying blogging.

well here's at least one follow up.

the cape. it was beautiful. dennis and i spent a lot of time on our never ending quest for the perfect secluded beach. we took some incredible hikes through the dunes, salt marshes, causeways, and paths of the national seashore. we spent hours alone on the beach with only seals for company. i love the rhythm of hiking, lying in the sun, swimming, lying in the sun, eating, swimming, looking at the sand, lying in the sun, swimming, hiking.

we'd return to our tent each evening salty, sandy and tired.... some nights it would be a wonderful vegan dinner made on the camp stove and sleep ... others it would be drinks and heading into town for what dennis called my "dance trance". techno + lauren+ a room full of shirtless gay men = fun. we met some remarkable people, travelers, artists, gallery owners, immigrant workers... saw some really funny stuff (especially in the old graveyard on the edge of town)...and generally had an amazing time.

2008-07-08T18:55:00.000-04:00

vessel

5"x 3 3/4"
mixed media on paper

2008-06-28T10:16:00.000-04:00

indecisive

4 1/2 x 6 1/4 "
watercolor collage

i'm off to the cape...provincetown, the national seashore, the secret beach with the parking lot that will put your car underwater if you park at high tide....

i'm looking forward to laying in the sun and swimming....and plan to do some little drawings while i'm there...we'll see what happens.

painting naturally happens in my life when i need it to. if i try to force it i just end up with exercises on paper...and i will brazenly and unapologetically say that at times it takes a backseat to being outside, working hard for good, and drinking. (just kidding )

sometimes i hole up and just paint for weeks on end... painting is always there...but this project is becoming more about discovering my natural process and pushing myself to be productive within it than conforming to a set schedule. i'm all about seting impossible goals for oneself though. interesting things happen when you try to meet them.

<3

2008-06-23T00:08:00.000-04:00

the wheel

9 1/2 " x 7 1/2 "
mixed media on paper

2008-06-19T09:48:00.000-04:00

sex sex sex

8 1/4" x 10 1/2"
collage

dayquil vs. ginger brandy

2008-06-18T22:22:00.003-04:00

in a fierce competition between allen's ginger brandy and one small nyquil geltab, two chemicals fight for control of my body chemistry on the night of a cold or allergies or a horrid combination of the two. in this corner, a fine sweet brandy, mixed with ginger ale and ice in a glass, capable of destroying a man's focus as he tries to fuss around on the computer. in this corner, a small orange pill, its brethren known for their sleep-inducing properties, aiming to give the taker a high that, when combined with ginger brandy, makes the taker feel like the fuckin george jetson of orchard street in northampton... definitely in outer space....

for now, i'm just going to watch streaming episodes of the office... which is strange perhaps, considering this week i quite my horrible temp job....

2008-06-17T08:25:00.000-04:00

disaster

9 1/2" x 7 1/2 "

mixed media on paper

june 13th

2008-06-13T00:20:00.000-04:00

stone
5"x 3 3/4"
mixed media on paper

June 11th

2008-06-12T16:06:00.003-04:00

(the upper image is a newer version of the same piece)

It has passed midnight,
I no longer wait for you,
Pining for sorrow.

Oh, dear, i overslept,
Wanting to see you in the dream.

(from Shui Shui, a linked verse by an anonymous court
lady and Yoshimine-no-Munesada, Japan, 816-890)

5"x 3 3/4"mixed media on paper

i like the idea and feeling behind this little painting....but i think it needs to be reworked. something about the green is not quite right. i decided to post it anyhow, because if i am going to share a apainting or drawing a day many of them will not be resolved. it will be a good exercise in humility, and might shed some light on my process.

<3

stabbed!

2008-06-10T00:10:00.001-04:00

on saturday night i was closing a window and was stabbed. by the window!!! a piece of wood -- basically a massive badass splinter -- went in one side of my pinky and out the other. observe.

unfortunately you can't see it coming out the other side in this picture.

2008-06-09T22:55:00.002-04:00

June 9th

phone bird
9 1/2 " x 7 1/2 "
mixed media on paper

i should change the name of this project to " a painting a day - unless i'm doing something else."

anyhow i'm back from the wilderness... somewhat reluctantly. it was an inspiring, challenging, changing experience. i had planned to do some drawings while i was away... but i got caught up doing silly little things like hiking up 4000 ft mountains, finding water, hoisting bear bags up into trees and such...

it really does take a sedentary agricultural society to create art....which do i prefer? a bit of a toss up honestly.

i'll write more about it soon.

white mountains

2008-06-03T09:58:00.000-04:00

You'll notice that I've been remiss in posting new images for the past day or so. I just wanted to let you know that I have been completely absorbed with a training I'm going in tomorrow. It's with Y.O.P (youth opportunities program) through the Appalachian Mountain Club. I'll be spending 5 days backpacking in the white mountains.... I love playing in the wilderness...but 5 days with only what i can carry on my back, with a group of total strangers is a bit daunting prospect...

Im actually looking forward to it quite a bit. The hiking is going to be a challenge...and i'm certain to get a lot out of it on many levels. I'll also be certified to lead the kind of trips that I have been participating in with work. But all of the pre trip preparations haven't left any time for painting.

so....if i don't perish of exposure or get eaten by a starving youth worker you can expect some updates next week.

2008-05-30T22:53:00.000-04:00

untitled

mixed media and collage on paper

my 30, 2008

2008-05-29T22:13:00.001-04:00

lips like a blurred dawn (the last time i will miss you)
9 1/2"x 7 1/2"
mixed media on paper

may 29, 2008

(when i am sad i revert to this flesh toned-super white pallate....i often feel like painting over every mark i make with white.... to erase, quiet, disappear everything into nothing. that's why i so love cy twombly....he knows how to keep everything secret...but still break your heart...i once had a professor tell me he hated the white i painted over everything... i agree it's a technical short cut...and aesthetically lazy....but its a defense mechanism i can't quite give up...and am not sure that i should. )

may 28th

2008-05-28T21:17:00.000-04:00

cross
9 1/2" x 7 1/2 "
mixed media on paper

...this is a small painting that i reworked (finished) yesterday. i've had it hanging around for a long long time but never really cared for it. i like it better now. its hard for me to tell when
things are finished. sometimes it just takes me walking away...coming back a few hours later and adding a splotch. sometimes they lurk around for months....

i'm always wary of over working things...which i usually do. but i prefer complex, deep surfaces...and if that comes at the risk of painting something to death...oh well.

may 27 painting

2008-05-27T21:06:00.000-04:00

situations get fucked up (you broke your own heart)

mixed media on paper

painting project

2008-05-27T20:23:00.000-04:00

in an effort to be more prolific, i'm going to try to post a painting or drawing a day for the next few months. you can see them here or on my facebook.

send me an angry email if i don't keep up. here are a few recent(ish) paintings to give you an idea of what to expect.

<3 lauren

swinging fan installation at the MoMA

2008-05-20T10:25:00.000-04:00

home from europe

2008-04-06T09:02:00.000-04:00

i'm home! last night lauren picked me up at the airport at about 11:20 pm, after i had flown from heathrow to washington dc and then up to bradley. what a long day... it was so great to see lauren and our cats and our home, where lauren had made a vegan anti pasto for me which we shared while we drank huge glasses of ginger ale (which comes really small in england) and just stared at each other, happy to be together after nearly 3 weeks. now it's sunday morning and i'm awake and happy to just be puttering around doing whatever comes our way. it's great to be home.

food in europe

2008-03-25T17:17:00.011-04:00

so as some people may be aware, i'm currently on tour in europe. i'm writing from a hotel in the small old city of deventer, netherlands. as a vegan, finding decent food has been a challenge on this tour, so i thought i'd list out what i've managed to scrounge.

paris, france: the day we arrived, i went to a restaurant called le grenier de notre-dame, where i spent a bunch of my newly-attained euros on a baked dish that contained white beans, tofu, tempeh, zucchini, and something else i forget, all in a tomato-ish sauce. that, and a really good ginger ale. (speaking of which: there is no ginger ale in the netherlands. apparently, there is a family near oss where we played that goes to the united states and brings a bunch back for their friends, one of whom we met.) anyway, later in paris, i had a falafel wrap and a coca cola light (diet coke -- apparently not called that in europe at all). the next morning, i wandered around a little outdoor market and bought a baguette, and later a container of trail mix that i still haven't finished.

oss, netherlands: the record label over here (rounder europe) did a fine job telling all the venues that i'm a vegan. (i've heard various pronunciations, by the way, and have also been called a "veganist." i like that. makes me sound radical.) in oss, i had a small, strange vegetable stew-ish-thing, and some interesting fried potatoes.

amsterdam, nl: i spent my dinner buy-out from the venue at wagamama, a chain restaurant situated perfectly for tourists. i had some kind of noodle soup with tofu (too little tofu) and some gyoza. the next morning i went to a bagel place (weird right?) and had a bagel with hummus; i also grabbed a hummus wrap for later. just before leaving, i went to a store called marqt, which was a natural foods store (i guess)... imagine a small whole foods decorated like a hair salon -- stark, white, chrome, etc -- and got bread and peanut butter (counting on that for tomorrow).

rotterdam, nl: the venue provided dinner for us, and thanks to rounder, there was a vegan option. it tasted so home-made -- i stuffed myself. salad, bread, rice, and a tofu/mushroom thing (it was dark red and chunky) that was great. red wine on the table. sweet. the next morning i had some fruit and pb&j at the continental breakfast. everyone else was eating cold cuts (common at breakfast here; mostly ham), and an easter bread with marzipan in the middle. grody.

horst, nl: jan and henny will probably never read this blog, but to them: thank you. this couple created an amazing acoustic venue and bar in a building they also live in, where everything was clean and tidy and well-decorated and just perfect. henny made ratatouille, white rice, pumpkin soup (from pumpkins she grew herself) with potato, onion, garlic, and amazingly, soy milk! again, i stuffed myself silly. great belgian beer to wash it down. (they had chicken on a stick too. twice i've seen this same chicken on a stick. poor chickens. they don't want to be on sticks!) the next morning it was more pb&j at a continental breakfast. one funny note, here in the netherlands, peanut butter is called "pindakaas", which translated means "peanut cheese." weird.

westwoud, nl: similar to the night before but not as good, the couple who owned the place made us dinner. i had a pile of potatoes, carrots, and something white. and a small salad. the next morning (that was this morning), i once again had pb&j. this time though, i tried the weird dutch thing of putting chocolate sprinkles on my pb. odd. also, the couple who owned the bed and breakfast we stayed in (who also did my laundry! score!!) had been told about my veganism, and put out a little dish of (mealy) tomato slices for me. very sweet. i ate a few on a roll with salt and (white) pepper. no sprinkles.

deventer, nl -- where i sit right now: today i really wanted some good food -- i'm feeling very homesick and would've loved a massive bowl of spaghetti. but i can't read anything here (england in 2.5 days!), so i found a place that our contact here recommended where they have "bio" (in dutch, means basically natural/organic) food. a little whole foods essentially. i looked around and then asked some dutch hippies (hooray!) where i could go to eat. they showed me a place on my map and i went but i still can't read anything, the people weren't really english speakers, and it seemed about to close (this little town closes at like 6 pm, except the massive new entertainment complex which was very odd -- movie theater, bowling alley, bar, massive electronics store, clothing store, gym)..... anyway, i got some french fries somewhere, which tasted like this: "mix potatoes and cinnamon in a bowl. coat them in cap'n crunch cereal and fry them. serve them in a paper cone. if you like heart disease, put mayonaisse on top." yeah. so anyway, i went back to the bio store. "natuurwinkel"-- makes for a good american joke i said only to myself -- "hey, that's natuurwinkel! that's my winkle!!" anyway, i looked around for something i could make, drooling at the pasta and sauce. i don't have a microwave or fridge here in the hotel, so here's what i got -- weird: pre-made falafel balls that are probably supposed to be cooked. hummus. crackers. and most importantly, some cheap red wine to wash down the probably gross taste, i imagined. it's actually fine. that'll be lunch tomorrow after guess what for breakfast? pb&j!

tonight though, feeling lonely and bored, i met up with kris whom i'm touring with and the 4-5 dutch musicians she's jamming with these 2 days, and the promoter took us out for thai food. after some discussion and questions, i ordered a yellow curry with tofu. pretty good. boring white wine. now i'm back here in the hotel gulping down bronwater, which sounds gross but it's just the brand name. red is fizzy, blue is normal.

so tomorrow night i might get fed, who knows. not counting on it. but onward and upward i suppose. a couple more days in holland and then (this may seem impossible to believe but) at least in the UK i might have better options. wish me luck.

home from the west coast

2008-03-14T14:05:00.000-04:00

this past monday night, lauren picked me up at the airport (along with brian akey). it was so wonderful to see her face as i neared the gate. i was home after playing shows on the west coast for 10 days. we've had a really nice week... eating well, going to the hot tubs, and now in a few hours it's the weekend and we have no plans at all. it's great to be home. the west coast was good overall... high points and low points like anything... the best parts were hanging out with my cousin and his wife (jeremy and bridget) in portland, playing in some of the cool venues, and finding some great vegan food (jeremy, not a vegan, and i both had "chicken fried steak" at a place called vita cafe in portland). i also had some good fake hot dogs and some good mexican food (though surprisingly, it wasn't shockingly better than out here). anyway, i'm home, it's the weekend, and i'm sitting on the couch, happy.

breaking news

2008-02-25T20:14:00.000-05:00

finally! ghost likes something other than cat food... cereal! we had breakfast for dinner tonight, and ghost attacked the crunchy dry cereal while ming sa looked on. later, we learned that ming likes fake bacon. things are going to get complicated when we ask you to cat-sit!

breaking news

2008-01-29T10:06:00.000-05:00

ming sa like spanish rice.

tarot card

2008-01-22T23:46:00.000-05:00

who knows what fortune will be yours when you draw... the sleeve of cups!!!

2008-01-16T15:58:00.000-05:00

breaking news

2008-01-02T12:23:00.000-05:00

ming sa likes french fries.

stella...a beauty

2007-12-08T22:51:00.000-05:00

Last week my grandmother, Stella Rupar Piotrowski, died. She suffered from heart disease and alzheimer's. I miss her...

We were asked by the funeral director if we wanted to say something in her memory. Something in me rose...and wanted to speak out...but I declined. I probably wouldn't be writing now if my father, who eulogized her, hadn't left something...no EVERYTHING... out.

He spoke eloquently and concisely... In short he shared that his mother was a simple woman. Content with the lot that was left to her, a loving mother and competent homemaker. Happy in her small world. In his short speech I think he used the word simple seventeen times. This is what I take issue with.

Stella was anything but simple. In her youth she was a striking beauty... with arched eyebrows and blood red lips. In her hometown of Bridgeport Connecticut she drew the attention of movie star in the making Robert Mitchum, and was taken to her senior prom by the infamous Bob Crane. She would go into New York City with her girlfriends on weekends...and finally met her husband to be, a dashing WWII paratrooper, on the ferry to Coney Island.

After their courtship life certainly may have closed in on her...she married and moved to his home town of Chicopee Massachusetts....but even from that time I have snapshots of her posed pin-up style in a bikini ...looking fiercely into the camera. She must have been loved passionately.

I never knew her as a mother...but as a grandmother her personality erupted through the constrained role she was asked to play. My father, and her husband, barked orders at her. She quickly and neatly complied ...but not without curses muttered under her breath that made my young eyes widen....

She was whip smart....loved modern design....(the only member of my family that seemed to understand intuitively my abstract paintings....) She was an accomplished gardener and cook...working with what was seasonal and local. She gathered wild mushrooms, grew her own fruit and vegetables...and told the most fascinating, hair-raising tales of growing up on a depression era farm. She had a strange gothic devotion to the Polish Catholic Church, and was the owner of mysterious jars filled with preserves, ancient buttons, and her children's lost teeth. She also kept a bottomless jewelry box that I spent hours looking through.

By modern standards she would be a Barbara Stanwyk look-alike, D.I.Y. , slow food queen...and if anyone dared to called her simple she would probably have kicked their ass.

ghost sponge

2007-11-18T23:05:00.000-05:00

friday morning

2007-11-09T11:09:00.000-05:00

i can't think of anything good to say right now. all i know is that when i wake up in the morning now, it feels like christmas... the heat is on, the world feels a little festive, i put on a hoodie when i wake up and feed the cats (we miss our miss this morning)... even this morning, putting fake butter on a bagel, i felt the holidays. and that's a positive thing, for me. i love the holidays. sure they're stressful but give me the long thanksgiving weekend over sitting here attempting to stay warm and awake in a large, stale white room any day. last night we saw some christmas items for sale and i felt a little like i should close my eyes... is it too early? maybe a little. i just don't want to get tired of it. one full month of intoxicating christmas bliss is good enough for me. needless to say, i'm exciting for the first day i put on my christmas with conniff cd. oh man.

so there's what i have to say on a morning when i don't really have anything to say.

burrito baby!!!

2007-11-06T20:46:00.000-05:00

halloween 2007

2007-11-06T17:32:00.000-05:00

lauren and dennis, halloween 2007. check out our flickr.

temping

2007-11-05T23:52:00.000-05:00

computer

2007-11-05T22:30:00.000-05:00

winterizing

2007-10-23T15:47:00.000-04:00

last night lauren and i brought in all the plants who need to live in our plant room (a.k.a. the back closet room off the bedroom) and in our bedroom in order the survive the colder nights. this also involved taking the air conditioner out of the window and installing some plant-load-bearing (i just wanted to write "plant load" -- sounds funny) hooks over the windows. my morning routine now includes turning on a fixture that holds 3 blue plant-friendly light bulbs. the kitties aren't allowed to chew on many of the plants, which they aren't happy about. they'll get over it. despite my best efforts, they've learned miss kitty's trick of being fed immediately when i wake up.

it's almost halloween... on oct 28, it'll be 7 years since lauren and i met. lauren has been working diligently on her 80's costume. should be great. (mine will hopefully just come together last minute. that tends to be how it works with me.)

weekend

2007-10-01T09:54:00.000-04:00

lauren and i had a nice weekend capped off by a perfect night last night: after spending some time with her family and their dogs (see our flickr and lilly's for past pics of fey and cita), we used a gift certificate we had and went to east heaven hot tubs. we were outside in the cool early autumn air, and yet in the hot, hot water. despite the half hour gift certificate, they (once again) let us stay in there for even longer; eventually we chose to get out, and later realized we had been in there for over an hour. back home, feeling nicely boiled, we watched some interesting and somehow relaxing video podcasts of simply ming.

peace

2007-09-27T21:18:00.000-04:00

there's a phrase i like from the bible, a book i used to take more seriously: "the peace that passes all understanding." that's not exactly what it says (as i saw just now at this website), but i like it more. and i like taking it from christianity, taking the "savior" out of it. as a former christian, a guy trying to figure out how to think about his own spirituality without the context of a larger religion, i really respond to the "passes all understanding" part. it's the same feeling i get watching documentaries about the creation of the eart and of life that i like so much; it passes understanding. i love that. i ask that which i don't understand for peace that i cannot describe as i ask for it, that i cannot locate the source of. peace from somewhere i can't possibly fathom... and like the great infinity of the universe, that i never want to understand.

from the inside, out

2007-09-21T09:39:00.000-04:00

so lauren and i started a flickr page, and i really like it, if only because it lets me look at the people (lauren, our cats) and places (home) from elsewhere, especially when i'm depressed or freaking out. see it's been a strange few days in my head. i think though, after kind of an unintentional mental release last night, and after hearing an inspiring story on npr this morning, i think i've got some peace in there, and can look outside of myself a bit more. maybe the dream i had last night helped: it was about a house exploding with massive amounts of dynamite from the basement outward. i ran far enough into the woods to safely watch it explode.

backpack

2007-09-18T09:21:00.000-04:00

the post below about miss kitty is a tough one to follow, especially with something as random and probably mundane as this, but i wanted to write a quick post about how much i love my backpack. i had a dream two nights ago that i was without it (while a family member was telling me to be more of a man). ever since, i've been thinking about what it means to me; the dream, the backpack, keeping all my important stuff close to me when i'm away from home. headphones, various small books (that is, my calendar book, a little notebook, my checkbook), ipod, etc. here's a picture of my backpack waiting for the bus.

miss kitty

2007-09-13T11:14:00.000-04:00

it feels so cold and dry to write anything about this on a blog, on a computer, on the vast unfeeling internet, but i thought i'd write briefly that our dear Miss Kitty died last week. we will love her and miss her forever. we feel like her spirit is with us, but it's still hard.

move-in day

2007-08-31T13:09:00.000-04:00

it's move-in day for first-year students at hampshire college, where i write this from. the parking lots are packed with out-of-state plates and empty cardboard boxes fill the small recycling shack. ten years ago, i moved into college. i wrote about this below, too. but move-in day... that first day, my mother and older sister moved me into gorman hall at umass. my roommate came in with little but a budweiser duffle bag and an eastern mass accent. later, we became buddies; mostly after he moved into his frat house. the last night of that semester, both of us moving on from that room and dorm, we packed up, drank a million cokes from the soda machine and watched jurassic park on tv. the next semester, i moved into orchard hill, and soon got pneumonia, probably from my dirty roommate who was very sick but never went to the doctor. i was sick for 2.5 weeks, missed what would have been my first gig with my new friend steve kellogg, and upon returning to umass, drank lots of gatorade and could only stomach the salad bar for months. i lost weight. people were friendly in my new spot, but as with the rest of college, i never quite managed to have a group of good friends; some great individuals here and there, though, thankfully. for the next 2 years and 1 semester, my move-ins were to wheeler, a dorm that seemed like a good middle-ground, and was closer to the center of campus than orchard hill. jim was my actor/write roommate for a year, then jared was my engineer roommate for a year, down in B13, the basement room by the laundry. i had lots of laughs with both and enjoyed that large, cool room a lot. then in sept 2000, it was up to the third floor, to my single, for the semester that really changed my life in so many ways. i was just back from a summer in washington dc. i would soon meet lauren. i would become fast friends with max, then dave. we filled our credit cards with expensive scotch and all came out of that semester (or thereabouts) with our life partners. after that, the final college move-in was to 14 orchard st., on a wintry day in december 2000.

this past week, lauren and i have been cleaning out a lot of old, unwanted things, and carefully, neatly packing away our old, wanted things. it's not a move-in. and i'm so glad. life is wonderful where we are. we'll move out eventually, when we buy a house i assume, and then there will another move-in, this one less awkward than those of my college years, which i remember with little fondness, with 10 years of space today, walking from my car into the present day.

2007-08-22T12:43:00.000-04:00

i walked out to the chair again today, this time without headphones and for a little less time. the small orchard was gray and quiet and as if a storm was coming.... it was unlike yesterday, but was still pleasant, and i noticed the scrawnier apples and thought, 'unless you go to an orchard, you never really see anything but shiny, round apples.' (i typically don't like it when people say 'you' like that. whoops.) in the chair i heard something moving behind me and turning around noticed that it was a bird. on the way back to my office, i passed the empty (not for long) dorms, and realized that it was 10 years ago this week that i started college at umass. i wonder what i was doing 10 years ago this week. packing, i guess. feeling weird, i'm sure. it was the last summer (i would later find out) that i would spend in the house i grew up in. it was my summer of long hair (well, more like big, wide hair). in the end, i really don't feel nostalgic for that time. there were things about college that i loved: creative writing class, walking around campus at night, the way christmas felt.... but i love Now so much more. i love lauren, my home, my cats, other people's dogs, my family & friends, the music i make, the music i have yet to make, christmas, our beautiful seasons in the valley, and sitting in that chair to escape the fluorescent light above my head as i write this....

2007-08-20T13:06:00.000-04:00

in the past, i've written here about my walks to the large tree in the middle of a dense field, or to a chair in the woods, both at hampshire college, while on my lunch break there. well, after a while i stopped going on these walks, then i left hampshire, and now i'm back, and today went for my first lunchtime walk. today it was to the chair in the woods. there's a small, peaceful orchard with chairs and benches and a gravel path between where i work and the chairs under tall trees. at first i was concerned that the little clearing had been filled in somehow, but soon saw the entrance. men were mowing the massive lawn with massive machines. but in the woods, there were chairs semi-circled around what was a campfire... so i moved one, the furthest one from civilization, to face the tall, tall trees. i sat in the large, faded-green adirondack chair and looked up, put on headphones, looked up, listened, looked up.... nothing really appealed to me on my ipod other than a few instrumental tracks that i hadn't heard before, which paled in comparison to the woodpecker and the solid chair, and the walk back, where i felt strange among the giant machines, like i was invisible in an otherwise dangerous orchard in a foreign land, walking in a new shirt in thick grass, writing a few things down.....

2007-07-05T21:41:00.000-04:00

on june 12, 2007, we welcomed into our lives two brothers: ghost & ming sa, the partially siamese cats who have joined our family. today, i took them to the vet for their very first visit, for some uncomfortable but necessary treatment. lauren has been slowly introducing them to miss kitty, who is not sure what she thinks. anyway, welcome home boys; we love you! more pictures coming soon.

2007-06-29T19:53:00.000-04:00

vacation..... lauren and i are in cape neddick, maine for a week, (then a week at home), then off to provincetown, mass, camping for a week.... descriptions and photos if we get around to it.... right now, we're just relaxing on a beautiful, cool evening.... lauren is gardening (her way with plants... it's so natural and sweet to watch), and i'm about to rinse off after taking the dogs for a swim and tennis ball session at the beach ("doggie swim time," in my family's dialect). happy summer.

2007-04-27T13:14:00.000-04:00

it's my last day in this cubicle. 2 years and 8 months in the same office chair for 7 hours a day. more lately as i've been making up time i took off. but this is it. onward, upward, openward, peaceward, forward.

2007-04-26T07:49:00.001-04:00

the singing bowls of tibet

last night i had a dream that, in addition to the five bowls i knew i had, i had a sixth singing bowl.

2007-04-17T11:33:00.000-04:00

i'm extremely bored. i just made this drawing in windows' little paint program.

2007-04-17T10:42:00.000-04:00

hello, world. we're coming back to this blog a bit. as you can see we've given it a slight makeover, just a simpler design.... things are good in our life.... spring will come soon.... today i feel like drawing funny things, not working or fussing or doing whatever i do to make the day pass... 8 more mornings that i have to be in this cubicle and then freedom....

2007-01-02T15:10:00.000-05:00

happy new year! lauren and i have had a wonderful holiday season. we celebrated the new year with a weekend in maine where we took a night walk on the snowy beach and found sand dollars in the bright winter sun and made food and watched movies and slept well in a large white bed.

today i experienced something rather odd. i knew i would much rather have stayed home. sitting in my car, about to pull out of an amherst parking lot, a middle-aged woman came up to my car and opened the driver-side door. i looked up and cheerfully said "Hi!"; she was shocked and embarrassed and mumbled something about it not being her car and ran off. very weird. anyway, i'm looking forward to going home and maybe cashing in some gift certificates tonight and this week, maybe to the hot tubs and maybe india house. then this weekend hopefully a hike and dave's 40th birthday party. 2007 is looking up.

halloween 2006

2006-11-02T14:02:00.001-05:00

halloween 2006: lauren and dennis as bedouin and cowboy.

on this night, the six-year anniversary of lauren and i meeting at a halloween party, we got all dressed up and then with brian and marisa (50's nerds) went to the basement to see school for the dead. boy that sounds kinda creepy!

2006-10-27T14:47:00.000-04:00

yet another long time has gone by since we've posted but here we are. it's almost halloween. today or tomorrow, six years ago, lauren and i met, at a halloween party. she was a geisha, i was a devil. who knew? this year we'll be a bedouin and a cowboy. (a natural pairing.) anyway, we had a beautiful summer of swimming and kayaking and started our autumn with a hike along the north quabbin where the old stone wall continues into the water at the place we named "deer beach," where huge pieces of driftwood, whole trunks of trees it seemed, were scattered along the beach like octopi preserved in gray oak. it's fall now and the leaves are fluorescent and the windshield is frosted in the morning. we'll carve pumpkins and go downtown with friends, we'll come back to our cozy home and enjoy this transitory season and the warm smell of the heat turned on in the morning.

there's a picture of us in these outfits on our flickr page.

2006-07-19T16:24:00.000-04:00

hi. it's been a long time since either of us have written on here. but i'm sitting at work with 8 minutes to go, thinking of home, thinking of our sunny porch. it's summer now. we've been hunting for beautiful places to swim. on saturday we splashed into a cold, cold river in shelburne falls and crawled along underwater rocks. i am a teva man now. lauren is so beautiful in the water. i have 4 minutes left to pretend to work. that's why i'm transporting myself to the rivers of western massachusetts and the spoon bender's junk shop and the frostie. happy summer. i'm happy.

battle gear

2006-02-16T15:38:00.000-05:00

protected only by kitchenwear, fashion and bravery, we were off to search for thieves lurking at a friend's house.

2005-10-22T13:19:00.001-04:00

CHANGE OF VENUE!! CHANGE OF VENUE!! CHANGE OF VENUE!!

our party is now at 34 orchard street, apt. 1, northampton, mass.

from the center of northampton, take route 9 (main street) east (toward the bridge). turn left onto orchard street just after the cemetery. please park on the street.

2005-08-25T14:27:00.000-04:00

various thoughts i've had over the course of this day at work: ... hey, there's me 20 years from now laying on that bench; good, i look happy ... why are those rotten bananas lined up so neatly on the table? i think i'll put one in the toaster oven ... holy crap i've been here one year as of this week ... i sort of want more candy but i think i'll wait and have whiskey at 4:45 ... said to one of the fellows in HNATIW, whom i just met, "let's do a show together" ... maybe some coffee will help my allergies ... maybe more coffee will make 2:31 pm turn into 4:30 pm faster ... i hate the internet but maybe it will make me some cash ... crap, i got pen on my shirt ... i hate ballpoint pens ... why does no one email me, boo hoo ... wrote, paraphrased, "no, dimitry, you cannot buy my domain name for $100" .......

2005-08-10T23:59:00.000-04:00

what do these things have in common?

a knitted hat that looks like bacon and eggs...

the end of Mr Hollands Opus...

two turtles whose legs have been eaten by raccoons, but continue to live...

silver versace jeans...

a sandwich of chicken, eggs, white bread, velveeta, and onions...

a boyscout skit...

and buying a car.

they are all things that I found when googling "the most horrible thing".

ive had a hard day.

2005-07-24T23:11:00.000-04:00

today was a lovely day...walking around outside of the paragon building in easthampton...noticing windows and other sorts of accidentally perfect compositions...a few days ago the reflections through my kitchen window were also beautiful.

2005-07-13T16:24:00.000-04:00

today i quickly ate my garlicky lunch, strapped on my headphones and split. my walking to the tree mix started off well (i had forgotten not only the first song but most subsequent ones, which was pleasant) and i went the long way, through the basketball courts. i nearly stole a tennis ball. i passed some other walkers and didn't look them in the eyes. the woods were a little greener and i skipped around the mix which i usually try not to do. i got through the greenness to the browner section of the woods where there's a fallen tree whose roots look like a bear every time. and there were people camping. it might have been self esteem camp. so i got to the edge of the woods and felt a rain drop and so i left and went up some stairs to a strange wooden platform where i listened to a song that talked about flowers in bermuda and looked at the weeds growing around me and felt a little more calm.

2005-06-23T14:05:00.000-04:00

today i walked to the tree for about the seventh time, on this the third day of summer, on the day after the moon was the largest it will be for something like eighteen years. i followed the little path i recently noticed that enters the woods before the tennis courts, and it got me to the fields faster and avoided some pavement-walking. along that path through some medium-density green woods, there were the remains of an old strange blue car and some kind of a large barrel laying on its side with some pillows in it and part of the side cut out to face the sky. i got to the tree and someone had fixed the swing, although it was very high off the ground so i just leaned on it and looked around for the hawk, though i could have jumped up, but decided not to. the hawk didn't show up. maybe it's because i gave him too much thought the other day, thought maybe he was my grandfather looking down at me to let me know that i'm cared for, and so today he decided to stay in a tree. i was an hour late, after all. walking back to the woods i tried to follow the very thin lines of ground between weeds (which seem to have grown in very tight lines), so that i didn't have to step on more weeds than absolutely necessary. some people hate weeds and develop chemical products in green plastic spray bottles to kill them and then they rip the dandelions out of their yards and pour toxic fluids into the ground so that they are the king of the neighborhood. i understand the interest in caring for the piece of land that you supposedly own (none of us can own the earth), but i think caring for it means letting it grow as it wants to, and seeing those knee-high weeds i walked gingerly through today as millions of beautiful green lives. after all, they really save my life every day, those millions of plants in those vast fields and woods.

2005-06-20T13:15:00.000-04:00

i've been taking walks on my lunch break. there's a path behind the basketball courts here that kindly puts the whole campus out of view within seconds. once inside these low, green woods, there's a pair of flip flops leaning against a tree and a small stream with a board across it. then another stream with a log, and then it's up a hill. soon there are tall skinny pine trees and the floor is covered in orange needles. inevitably whatever song is on my walkman at this point starts to kick in a little more and i feel like i'm so far from work that work leaves my mind and it is all me and the soft floor and look there's a lean-to or maybe it's just a downed tree. then, the woods break open into a huge field, let's say the size of a football field or two, and you cross the border into the tallest weedy beautiful grass and the bluest sky, today, and soon another border, a border of that grass that leads into different grass, and the walkman song is really cranking now and there are dragonflies checking me out, and there's the tree, which once i've arrived is like a house, is like a fort, is like a village all in itself. the swing on it is broken so i didn't swing today but looked up into it, looked up to see if the hawk that was circling nearby had any family in there. not wanting to scare her/him any longer and needing to get back, sort of, i headed back, a little slower away from the tree and into the woods and across the basketball court (i hated playing basketball as a kid, i was so terrible) and down the street which is still sort of woodsy and back toward my office building, first trying the door to another office building that has a soda machine, because it's hot out and water is wonderful but to survive at a gray desk for 3 hours after visiting this beautiful, secluded place, i'm going to need a little pep.

ben stein

2005-06-12T19:54:00.000-04:00

the other night i hassled ben stein. i had a few drinks and was in my friend's van and when he pointed out that the actor was in 7-11, i threw open the door and ran up to ben stein in front of the cold drink refridgerators and said something like "hey ben, it think you're funny, what are you doing in northampton?" i received a very stony response regarding his speaking at a local private school. he asked me if i was a student. "well i used to be, at umass, now i just live here, well take care!" and off i ran. later a friend's apartment i screamed and screamed in mock excitement about my run-in with the conservative b-list television/film personality. if i had been more sober i probably would have tried to say something clever. oh well.

2005-05-27T20:53:00.001-04:00

so we finally nailed down a title for dennis' new album, and i just finished the cover art. check it out!

2005-05-25T10:35:00.000-04:00

this from an ad for a seminar called the exceptional assistant, that I hope to not be asked to go to: "project an assertive, confident image that commands respect and admiration! relieve your boss of routine responsibility!" yikes.

2005-05-06T16:21:00.000-04:00

i've had it. this is the beginning of my research and my serious move toward becoming a vegan. everything i learn, however small, about how the milk and eggs that i haven't given up yet are produced, about how the animals are treated... it's sickening. and to learn this morning from lauren that right down the road at cook farm in hadley, there are veal calves in small boxes, their growth horrifyingly stunted... it's disgusting. i admit that this is not a terribly informed-sounding, factual post, but i had to write. i feel it today. i just ate some ice cream, and for the first time i felt similarly to how i'd feel if i ever ate animal flesh again. gross.

2005-04-25T15:20:00.000-04:00

last night we rented the movie la cienaga. i wish i could find some photos online, but i guess you'll have to rent it to just see how lazy and humid it felt, how drunk and desolate. i liked it a lot. the other movie we rented is azumi which was just my selection in the absence of house of flying daggerswhich i can't wait to see. instead, tonight i'm picking up my cellist friend at his house and we're going to do some recording. which will be nice. still i'll be looking forward to coming home to lauren and the open windows.

2005-04-04T00:06:00.000-04:00

(in this post, lauren and i linked to images we made of would look like if we were on south park, from this funny little website that doesn't exist anymore.)

2005-04-01T19:29:00.001-05:00

my sweater loves you....

this is a jpg. i made of my favorite sweater. i haven't worn it in a while. it reminds me of sitting on the floor of the baystate, feeling too hot in scratchy polyester, listening to adam greenberg sing in his particular evil choirboy way.

2005-03-26T13:29:00.001-05:00

this week i've been knitting up some monsters and little rabbits. i started with a pattern for a childs ball that i found online and just sort of made up the rest.it's actually quite a feat considering that when i began i had pretty much forgotten how to knit. i still don't understand decreasing or how the hell to use the circular knitting needles i have, but they seemed to come out alright!

2005-03-26T09:50:00.000-05:00

LAZY EYE ON NORTHAMPTON

For all of you who turned up your noses and raised a caffinated eyebrow when Dunkin' Donuts started to sell espresso and cappuccino... well the haute cuisine of Northampton has taken another nose dive into the flourscent-lit, drive-thru realm of commercialism.

It seems the Pride station on King Street is now hosting wine tastings. The most recent was held on Friday evening... and although I did not attend, I will be sure to check it out the next time I stop in for a copy of Maxim and some beef jerky.

2005-03-10T14:49:00.000-05:00

...i think i like this.

*

2005-01-21T17:28:00.000-05:00

dennis...

i have an idea....lets symbolically kill a few people, hold elaborate funerals...and get on with our lives.

2004-12-18T01:26:00.001-05:00

the cilantro is in the chipmunk...

the buttons are on the tree....

jesus is hanging with the rooster ...

it's christmas at our house.

2004-11-01T15:22:00.000-05:00

on saturday, i asked lauren to marry me, and she said yes! more about the day soon. we're engaged and so very happy!

2004-09-22T11:28:00.000-04:00

it is the first day of autumn today! it's a happy thing, as i love the autumn, but a sad thing since it means that summer is technically over. we had a lovely summer; lots of swimming in puffer's pond and going to tom's farm stand in hatfield. last night we took a beautiful walk through some fields where shrubs and various identifiable and unidentifiable plants grew. for some reason i'm so drawn to flat land. maybe it's just different from what i've seen my whole life, little-traveled as i am. that will change. maybe in the coming seasons, even. i hope so. happy autumn!

2004-08-20T17:16:00.000-04:00

2004-08-20T16:49:00.000-04:00

mid-august and life is lovely and a little warm and i managed to get my first real sorta benefited job and i sometimes feel like some people in the world think i don't know anything about anything and that i'm just a kid who owes them money or something, but august is too lovely and water is too cool and beers and corn and homemade milkshakes are too good to worry about everyone else's negativity. lauren and i are doing well, thank you.

2004-07-29T14:47:00.000-04:00

greetings from unemployment. but moreso, more importantly and sunnily and cozily, greetings from summer, where lauren and i have been swimming (i'm slowly learning), and there is soft serve in front of locally tall mountains and i can tell the sprinkles apart: that's the kind at the hatfield place, that's the kind at the frosty. we've been standing up with ladders reaching way above us and brushing the kitty and petting the kitty and knocking the windows out of the porch to make room for so many beautiful flowers, the little white kind, others, and herbs. it rains here and there but the sun in the parking lot reminded me of a wedding past this morning, a romantic time months ago, remembered in this romantic summer.

2004-06-28T08:29:00.000-04:00

the easthampton fireworks were summery and beautiful this weekend.

2004-06-10T10:13:00.000-04:00

lauren and i really love the summer. i used to like the cooler weather more but right now, sitting in my air-conditioned, dry, caffeine-soaked office, thinking about camping and farm stands and windows open, and how cool and airy the bed and bedroom felt this morning despite the warm dampness hanging outside the window, well, i just get all sunny and beachy-feeling inside.

new subject: my older sister and my mom are going to see a medium today. whomever that famous guy is who's on tv. i'm not much of a skeptic about anything, well maybe that's not true, i guess i'm a skeptic at times but it's nothing i could lay out for you in a chart right now; anyway, who knows what they'll find, whom they'll talk to. i think they're hoping for my recently passed grandparents. (me, i'm happy to just think of gram and gramps when i smell a baseball glove or see one of those little peanut butter cookies with the hershey kisses in the middle.) anyway, last night lauren said to them, "who knows; maybe you'll find out that you have some creepy ghost following you around, like a pirate or something," to which my 13-yr-old sister said "cool" since she likes johnny depp and he is a pirate, at least in the movies.

i just got a picture in my mind of captain hook, all lanky and big-chinned, sitting on a case of bullets on the deck of a ship, purple coat dangling, hook hanging down, chin resting on his one real hand, leaning over the side of the boat, looking at his reflection in the sea, and thinking of all the 13-yr-olds and casting directors out there, and where he went wrong, and sighing a piratey sigh. "yarr..."

2004-05-21T10:08:00.000-04:00

so many of our friends are getting married and having babies, it's beautiful. we went to the most lovely wedding the other day; we found out that we both like butter (via buttercups) and that we both like that song by stevie wonder that goes "i believe when i fall in love with you it'll be forever...."

update: our kitty is safe and sound and we feel so fond of her.

our tag sale this weekend has already been fun, peeking through stuff and pricing it very low. (i think $100 is reasonable for my old greasy shoelaces, don't you?)

update: the strange gardening ronald mcdonald wall-hanging cloth-lady across the street is still blowing in the wind. just like the answer, my friend.

2004-05-14T17:07:00.000-04:00

late last night miss kitty ran away. she came home of her own accord.

dennis and i did however have a surreal time tramping through peoples backyards -glass of wine in one hand, flashlight in the other.... i felt obliged to keep calling ki-TEN, lest anyone think that the woman peering under their shrubbery was a robber.
a weird robber that only wants the forgotten odds and ends under the bushes...

2004-04-27T10:22:00.000-04:00

upon further investigation, it appears that the ultra-bizarre baby-carrying stump-armed mcdonald-esque cloth-hanging is none other than a garden angel of some kind, if that's a real thing. she has wings (which we thought were arms), arms (which we thought had something to do with her deformed child within, torso-side), and is carrying a bird feeder and something else (a rake or something, i forget).

still, this is all very mysterious to me.

2004-04-26T17:05:00.000-04:00

dennis did not mention that the cloth woman is also hung facing the wall...and seems not to have arms but some mishapen pink lumps....perhaps just the possibility of arms. is that enough?
she is so creepy. the frightful combination of our nations most loved hamburger clown and a child struck in the womb with contamination from depleted uranium.

i have spent far to much time peering out between the snowflakes and frowning.
maybe you have seen me. i hope i was wearing pants.

i also appologize if i did anything untoward in my drunken mania on sat.
some people can hold their alcohol. i can not. however on occasion i can drink like a frat boy on spring break.

2004-04-26T09:20:00.000-04:00

across the street from our front door, someone has hung a very strange and disturbing life-sized cloth lady, from the neck down (that's all we can see anyway), which resembles ronald mcdonald more than perhaps its intended spring gardner. (at least that's the best guess i can make so far.)

2004-04-06T13:14:00.000-04:00

this morning when dennis made his first attempt at waking me (it usually takes at least three) i said something along the lines of , " yay! its carvey time! i'll use the big spoon."

maybe i was dreaming about halloween...and pumpkins...or saturday night live...except i don't especially like saturday night live and have no idea what i would do to dana carvey with a big spoon.

2004-03-31T11:40:00.000-05:00

my stomach feels all twirly.

a death defying drive on the mass pike will do that.
driving when you can not see due to torrential rain and the tidal wave type phenomenon that occurs behind big trucks comes highly reccomended if you are feeling out of touch with your own mortality.

2004-03-24T09:21:00.000-05:00

you can color and play games on the sagwa website! click here: ----> [[-]]