end o the tour

tonight was the final show of the sentimental favorites winter tour 2005. it was held at the fox point library in providence. mostly, there were little kids there. they went wild for us. so much so that they crawled right up to where we were playing and asked questions during songs and banged on my guitar and took joes brushes from him. it was pandemonium. one girl wanted us to play beatles songs, later, when asked what beatles songs she knew, she confessed she knew none. there were cookies, but they went fast. one of the slightly older kids came up and rapped while joe played drums. we hope to play there again someday. meanwhile, there are plenty of cds and a few t shirts left, anyone who wants some, just let me know. we are huge rock stars and we enjoy ourselves.

Culinary warm fuzzies

Yummmm... Yesterday J cooked a turkey (thanks, Cath'!), stuffed with homemade stuffing, I did a mix of mashed potato/yams, had canned cranberry sauce, and J did some bok choi in a chili sauce. Yummm!!! :) A great meal that filled the house with good smells, filled my belly, left me warm, and a great evening high point, sitting at a well fed table with the one you love... (Sorry, got sappy there)

Other food-related adventures from the weekend -
Found Zapp's Cajun Crawtators in the deli at Pittsford Wegmans! Tasty chips!
Pom Wonderful Pomegranate juice - a bit pricey, but tasty and good for you...
...Even bumped (literally had to squeeze by) local celeb Danny Wegman - all decked out in a white alligator jacket!

Started Drop City by T.C. Boyle for book club - enjoying it.

anti-prom

last night was the second show of the sentimental favorites winter tour, and the kick off show for the fox point leg of the tour. we played in the basement lounge/ kitchen of a dorm at brown university. it was their prom night but this show was at an anti-prom party. it was a small room. we set up against the middle of the longer wall (opposite the door) and faced a half circle of couches. behind us was a makeshift ping pong table hosting a game of beer pong. im not exactly sure what all beer pong entails, but something about if you get a ping pong ball in someones beer cup, they have to drink it. it was really noisy and we had no p.a. joe (our drummer) couldnt hear us much at all so he mostly just practiced some beats while we sang songs. it was really funny, a few times i stopped singing because i was laughing. i thought it was great. there were maybe two or three kids really into the show. im sure anyone else knew we were there.
tomorrow (march 21) is fox point show #2 at 200 transit st. potluck at 7, bands at 8. dont miss it.

Little colored lines....

I spent about 8 hours today with my nose almost against the computer, schooching points on multiple curves up a hair, down a notch - trying to match the numbers. Once I got pretty darn close, I felt like I had constructed a mosaic of the Sistine Chapel.
The brick wall didn't lead anywhere horrible - we've since moved on to more work and more work and more work. Still, there's that feeling of accomplishment, though.

Book #7 - The Prospect Before Her by Olwen Hufton. A rather hefty tome detailing just about every aspect of the lives of women throughout Western Europe from 1500-1800. Despite it's length (which was a bit frustrating when I'm trying to get to 50 books this year), it was fascinating and not a boring read at all. It can be so easy to only look at a slice of this and form theories from there. Hufton goes miles beyond that with her examination from every angle - Protestant/Catholic, City/Rural, by region, by income, by occupation.... She takes all of this and conveys a ton of info, while still finding the space and presence of mind to tell the stories of these women. If you're intrigued about how women's lives evolved and some of the great characters that arose during this period, I would recommend. Just know it will take a while to finish - maybe bite it off in manageable chunks....

J bought two "Shakespeare in a Box" sets today. Gives you the basic necessities to act out the plays yourself. We've already thought of some friends who might enjoy - seems like fun!

WHAM!

I feel like I've hit a brick wall. Except I don't have brick-burn on my cheeks. I've been driving at full speed the last week and 1/2 - more than full speed - to get an assignment done and now, while the analysis might be sound (still some question there), the data might not be.
Thud.

I want to go crawl into bed and stay there a month or so.

A flash, a blur... a brush... and home

The trip to NYC was fun, good to get away from the office, neat places, good food, etc. - but WAY too fast. Because of flight delays, I went straight to the conference (think I saw Craig T Nelson smoking a big stogie) - and got there just as it started. Dinner right after the conference until 10, then to the hotel and 1 drink and then it's 12:30 and I have to get up before 5 for my flight.

A few NYC notes: The NY Yacht Club is an amazing room - if you ever have a chance, go. The Bryant Park Grill has excellent dessert - and a neat view - somehow the trees make the encroaching skyscrapers more distant, less imposing. The Marriott Marquis has awesomely soft beds AND pillows (the pillow thing makes them trump the Sheraton in New Orleans) - too bad I didn't really get to sleep.

I enjoy NYC, though I could never sustain the pace for long -or deal without a drive among the cows and whatnot (a country bumpkin at heart, ya'know). Still, it's always a fascinating place with so many potential stories....

Book #6 - The Marriage of Sticks by Jonathan Carroll. This was great. A fast and light read (in that it was always something to look forward to picking up again - no need to force myself here). It's of a class that I think of as books with good points - they aren't moralistic or preachy but have a good message that blends with, contributes to, and drives a good story - The Family Tree by Sheri S Tepper is another example. In this book, Carroll gives a great perspective and at least I really didn't expect it, so I think the point hit home even more. And I love the reference to Neverwhere, even though just a tiny thing!

One last note, saw "In Good Company" Saturday. Good movie - good performances. Nothing major to comment on, just good. (^shrug^)

tour

the sentimental favorites winter tour has begun. we just got back to providence from baltiomrewhere last night we wowed the crowed at the charm city art space. it was the first show with our drummer joey beats and it went fantasticly well. we had enough dough from the show to drive a ways and then stay at a hotel and then drive the rest of the way and stop in new brunswick to get the highly recamended fat sandwich. the fat sandwich is a regular sub like sandwich with french fries and mozzerella sticks shoved in. the pain i am feeling hours later doesnt make it not worth it. our tour continues this saturday to be with a show in a kitchen somewhere on the brown university campus.

soooooooo sleepy

I feel like I've been running at full speed for days. This latest trip was great but a total energy drain and to come back to a solid day of meetings plus a mass of work - I feel like a videotape that has been so long on FFWD and Play that it's going to rip off the reel - does anyone remember videotapes? going home for a much needed nap.

fruit

tonight i took two apples and a pear and cut them into tiny pieces and then mixed in a bunch of raisins. it was delicious. i also tonight saw "a very long engagement" which was good. i applied for that toy vault job but they haven't called. now im tired and not looking forward to parking cars in the morning.

Bits and Pieces

Been extremely, with no time to write, so here are a few things to catch up, while I have a moment....

1) We're back online at home! I'll post a house pic soon as proof, but J HAS resolved our phone jack issue and I feel more whole now that I know I can get online here again...

2) Travelling to NYC tomorrow for a conference. Not a lot of time to hang out, but there is a stray chance I may get to have coffee with my friend who is back from SE Asia -that'd be super cool. If not, I'll take a moment to shop a bit...
For the trip, I'm taking The Marriage of Sticks by Jonathan Carroll and Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. We'll see how far I get....

3) We actually watched a whole movie Saturday! - The Big Lebowski. Very fun, loved the counterpoint of the dialogue. I did go in thinking that Donny would die at any moment, because of the Sentimental Favorites song - though maybe Jesus would kill him over a lost game or something. That didn't change my enjoyment of the movie, though.

4)We've finally discussed The Lovely Bones at bookclub. Everyone found it hard to deal with, especially those of us closer to our fathers or our pets. All in all, I liked it though. I think the message of being able to come to terms with your grief, in your own way is important and was well told. We need to deal with it in the way that we each best can, but not let it consume us, because then an even greater tragedy has occurred. Next up for bookclub - Drop City by T.C. Boyle

5) Saw a great follow-up article about the evidence that the hobbit people I mentionned here are actually a new member of the human family, but I haven't had a chance to read it yet because of general chaos in my day. Will bring it up again, most likely.

That's it for now. Could use a vacation like Sonny's, though I do know that drawing is a lot of work. Could use time not in the office, I guess is the thing. Guess I need to plan something.

weak end

so my vacation is really over now, tomorrow morning i will get up at 6:30 and go park cars. i parked cars tonight for a little while but i was by myself and could draw a little. tomorrow will be cold, like the rest of the week. yesterday i worked in the tiny booth at the train station from 9 to 3, then had band practice. then geoff griffin and i ate at the cuban revolution and saw the jacket at the mall, his wife and daughter are out of town. then i did my laundry until 11 and came home and went to bed. today i drew most of the day and went into work early to shave in the bathroom there, the mirror here isnt so good. got out early did some emailing and drawing and jim frain convinced me to go apply at the toy vault tomorrow after work. which i will do. drew a little more and now i am making oatmeal to eat before bed.

chicken

slept in again. but till 9. drew till 2. (ate oatmeanl in there somewhere). went to the gym and wimped out on the last half mile. went to work and proably made up that half mile. then came home, ate chicken and corn and now bed.

yesterday

i didnt do much of anything. i slept in, went to the gym, took a nap, went to work, had dinner and went to bed. the end.

today

on the last day of my 3 days off i finished drawing curly. went to the gym. went to the toy vault (where i may apply to work) got a swedish chef exclusive figure. then came home and watched both death wish and hard times while finishing a wire piece for jon sacks. then watched the daily show and went to go to the sea plane diner with will schaff but it was closed so we went to the olneyville new york systems and i pgged out big time. oh yeah, and somewhere in all that i cleaned the turtle tank.

In the people's own tongue...

I love language - love to explore how it has evolved (and, contrary to the strict grammarians of the world, language evolves and grammar changes based on that), how different cultures and individuals use language to express themselves, etc.

Now, this project lets me listen to the evolution of British accents. After a few seconds, I soon realized I'll have to pursue this when I have more time - you need multiple listens to understand what's being said - but I'm sure it'll be highly interesting!

fell asleep

i fell asleep last night not only before writing an entry but also before watching aqua teen hunger force. im sad by that. but oh well, it is day three of my vacation (and the last full day off) and today, come hell or high water i will finish curly. his shoulder is done, maybe a little over done but that will be resolved like the rest of him. oh yeah, yesterday. yesterday i got up, ate oatmeal and went bowling (finally). bowled ok, best game was a 170. then cashed a paycheck and went to see the print show at gallery agniel. sara (agniel) asked if i wanted to be in a show with a bird theme in april. the best print in the show up now is by neil burke. then i went to the post office and the gym and then home to draw until 6:30, picked up geoff griffin and went to band practice, dropped geoff off after and went to nadavs house for show. then came home read a little and ate spaghetti o's. sometime soon after i fell asleep.