weapons of massdistraction

Another year. Yesterday would have been my brother’s 43rd birthday. Instead he didn’t live to see his 19th. Sunday night I saw Bill Callahan, again, at The Cedar. His music elicits an appropriately mournful response.

Five other items of note:

• I appreciate The Oatmeal’s take on Columbus Day. I hope some public school teachers end up using it in their classrooms.
• So First Avenue is buying the magnificent Turf Club and the big change over happens today. Really hoping for the best with this.
• I’ve become a morning person again, AGAINST MY WILL. Because of my son’s school’s schedule. So last Thursday night I missed my friends’ band’s release show. But The Chambermaids got a nice write up in Impose Magazine for their latest, Whatever Happened Tomorrow. And I’ve been listening to it plenty.
• I totally love this - Beach Essentials in China: Flip-Flops, a Towel and a Ski Mask
• Sunday was an impossibly gorgeous Fall Day. Completely unlike the previous Sunday. I’ve been up to my eyeballs in photo shoots and photo editing lately, but I had to take a break to get my son out of the house. We drove out to Chanhassen for The Ahhs of Autumn at the MN Landscape Arboretum. And I’m glad we did. But I still haven’t made it to their Apple House. One of these days.

I’ve been overdoing it lately and I’m feeling worn out. Last weekend I bailed on half of our plans to focus on things at home. Like resting. And finally unpacking the Halloween decorations. And making the most amazing kale-pesto roasted beet pizza. And watching Daft Punk’s animated feature length film, Interstella 5555, as a household. It was enjoyed by all. Thankfully it’s MEA break at the end of this week. Gonna have a four day weekend with a much needed getaway.

That last Wednesday’s screening of Dracula in a cemetery was rained out was a sadness. But it will be attempted again tonight and it’s looking like blue skies. Or clear skies, at any rate (it is getting darker earlier and needs to be darkish before we can watch the movie outside, of course). The weather is impossibly gorgeous. Now. Last weekend it was wild and windy and rainy and changed about every 10 minutes. Naturally I had several family photo portrait sessions booked. But we managed. There were a few lucky windows of opportunity and indoor locations to fall back on. But now that it is distractingly lovely out I have hundreds of photos to edit.

Speaking of Dracula, I had no idea NBC is launching a new series based on the Dark Prince. And starring Irish actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers (dude seriously needs to shave off his skeezy facial hair). And in it he’s employing an American accent. After viewing the trailer I was left with a whole lot of whaaaaat? But I’m sure I’ll watch it anyhow. An equally ludicrous looking Frankenstein movie is coming next year too, from the makers of Underworld. And starring actor Aaron Eckhart as the immortal undead action hero. What the hell is going on in Tinsel Town?

Five items of note:

• Our partial government shutdown is pissing me off. Our elected representatives are clearly not doing their job. And info like this doesn’t help my opinion of them. Where Poor and Uninsured Americans Live: “The 26 Republican-dominated states not participating in an expansion of Medicaid are home to a disproportionate share of the nation’s poorest uninsured residents. Eight million will be stranded without insurance.”
• This is purely ridiculous. The Snottiest, Snoggiest Jesus and Mary Chain Interview Ever, 1986 And I *still* regret giving them my money for their awful reunion show last year.
• Thankfully this is a smile-inducing thing. Watch Bill Nye dressed like a robot dancing to Daft Punk. As is this: Norwegian TV Station to Air Five Straight Hours of Competitive Knitting
• Also good, the Unseen Photo Fair: Unseen is an international photography fair focused on undiscovered photography talent and unseen work by established photographers.
• I’ve read about this group of feminist Ukrainian protestors before, called FEMEN. And yes, as a feminist I do believe there’s plenty of injustice to protest in this world. Too much, really. It’s overwhelming. But somehow I doubt storming the catwalks of Paris is going to accomplish much. Other than annoying a small group of fashion designers and fashion lovers and making a momentary blip in the media coverage. But it did lead to me reading this interesting write-up:
  

  If you really want to make a clear statement about issues in the industry, you need to pick up the tools being used against women and work with them constructively. This is precisely what Rick Owens did at his Paris fashion week show, when he decided to design for – and present his collection with – a team of athletes from across the US. Futuristic sportswear in black, white and tan did not hang off teenagers, but was worn by healthy, powerful and ethnically diverse women, working together in performance.

  You’ve got to make change from within. Far more effective and powerful that way. In that same vein, Forget the Shame, This Store Uses Body Pride to Sell Its Clothes: A U.K.-based department store forgoes the professional model types to show their clothing on everyday people. More of that, please.

That was a particularly random roundup. So I’ll add this tidbit to the mix. A friend who was adopted recently ordered a DNA “health and ancestry” test via 23andme. My Dad was adopted and I would like to know more about where we come from. Hoping I can talk him into getting tested with me.

It’s too easy to slip into EVERYTHING IS TERRIBLE mode. Always trying to find that balance between being informed (and perpetually horrified) and ducking my head in the sand. As if the “news” at large isn’t bad enough we’ve had a rough week at home, with a side of relief. The good? In July we grabbed the first available appointment with a specialist at Gillette Children’s Hospital. And after two months of waiting and hand-wringing it turns out my son’s scoliosis is minor. The lab tech who took the initial x-ray royally effed it up. They failed to ensure my son was standing straight. He has a teenage-y tendency to slouch and he had asked me to wait in the hall that day instead of joining him in the imaging room. They also failed to get a full x-ray of the spine. The partial x-ray from the neck to the waist that was sent over to the hospital baffled the spine surgeon. He ordered a new x-ray to get to the bottom of it. After examining my son he declared there is some slight sway in his spine. But nothing that should give him trouble in the long run. Particularly since he’s already had his major growth spurts and is nearly done growing. So there’s the good. The same day we received that news we found out something awful. Someone close to us has had their cancer return, and it is worse than before. And she is the mother of a young child. As a mother I can’t really wrap my head around this. And I can’t stop thinking about it. But when my brain gets stuck on the sad stuff, what do I do? I turn to the internet for distraction of course.

Five goofy distractions:

• I’ve seen some portraits in this fascinating series before but some new ones have been added. Creative Costumes of Still-Practiced Pagan Rituals of Europe
• “I’ll never forget the day I got stuck on Lisa Frank!” Lisa Frank Is Real: The reclusive artist behind the iconic brand gives a tour of her kaleidoscopic headquarters. Grade school Sharyn is totally geeking out over that vault. Also, who knew a young Mila Kunis starred in Lisa Frank commercials?
• Rarely do I like any Buzzfeed biznass, but this one. Oof. Teenage Sharyn would be really really sad to see it. “23 Pieces Of Evidence That Punk Is Dead” And another list of awful…but on the more amusing end of bad. The 25 Worst Movie Covers on Netflix
• “Want cookie! Amazing picture of underwater animal that looks like it should be in Sesame Street. The stove pipe sponge is more likely to be found in warm Carribean[sic] waters.” You’ve got to click on this.
• Best Google Street View photos - “artist Jon Rafman’s Google Street View site. He finds interesting Google Street View photos and posts them to his site, 9-Eyes (the Google cars have a 9-lensed camera on them). The photos are incredible. I don’t know how he does it.” Agreed.

Yesterday was a particularly sad one. It marked one year since the horrible workplace shooting in North Minneapolis. My friend, and former brother-in-law, was fatally shot that day. And in the year since this happened there have been many other tragic shootings around the country. And not one bit of change to this nation’s gun violence laws. It’s such a highly polarized issue no progress is being made. If it’s all or nothing for both sides of course we’re going to be stuck. Oddly enough the most realistic take I’ve read on the situation was written by Anthony Bourdain:

There are a lot of nice people in this country. A whole helluva lot of them, like it or not, own AR-15s. If we can’t have at least, a conversation with them, sit down, break bread— about where we are going and how we are going to get there, there is no hope at all.

The 24 hour news cycle sure can get me down. This morning I had to turn NPR off and switch over to music. We saw Savages Tuesday night and I’ve listened to Silence Yourself quite a bit since. As a photographer it was really hard to keep my camera in my bag but I respected the band’s request.

A NOTE FROM SAVAGES
Our goal is to discover better ways of living and experiencing music
We believe that the use of phones to film and take pictures during a gig prevents all of us from totally immersing ourselves
Let’s make this evening special
SILENCE YOUR PHONES

Thankfully most people around us respected this as well. It was like the olden days of show-going with everyone (up front at least) paying rapt attention to the performance without the distraction of glowing cameraphones being waved around. I did enjoy immersing myself in their set. So thank you Savages! This week I’ve been making more of an effort to focus on everything I’m doing, with a special emphasis on the happy-making elements. Like taking mid-day breaks for bike riding. And getting my son outside. And giving blood. And making excellent meals at home. And getting enough sleep. These aren’t new notions but every now and then I need an extra nudge in the right direction.

Five more awesome things for this Friday:

• Fun and fab! London-based photographer Todd Antony recently spent some time in Sun City, a retirement city boasting 37,000 residents situated near Phoenix, Arizona, where he came across ‘The Sun City Poms’. They were very happy to be photographed striking their best pose against the immaculate backdrop of their sunny paradise. And on the other end of the age spectrum, ‘Meet B-Girl Terra, the Flyest Six-Year-Old Dancer Around‘
• As a woman who has given birth to another human, I really like this 4th trimester photo project.
• I always smile when I see couples wearing matching outfits. Mostly at the MN State Fair, it seems. But this is taking it to a new level! I’ve worn the same outfit as my husband for 35 years ‘If we need a new outfit, we go to the fabric shop together and pick out something we both like’ Also, this line: “Donald is an artist – he designed the now iconic pink plastic flamingos you see in gardens – so has an excellent eye for colour and is comfortable wearing distinctive designs.” Wacky.
• Vertical gardens are the coolest. I love what French botanist and designer Patrick Blacn is doing and hope it catches on in other urban areas: Replanting the World’s Concrete Jungles, One Wall at a Time
• Yep, this is my dream house. “The new ranch home: It’s prefab and fab, modular and modern, eco- and kid-friendly. And this Montana update of a 1950s icon makes the most of its Big Sky views”

Tomorrow night the boyfriend, my son and I are going to try another newer pizza farm. This one is closer to home, just outside the metro area in Long Lake, MN. It’s called Two Pony Gardens and I’ve been hearing good things about it. And the weather should be perfect.