Some days I feel so hopeless. Like the world is, as one acquaintance put it, “an evil garbage vampire.” Other days I have a glimmer of hope. Yesterday was a good day. My good friends Adam and Carolyn, who have been together forever and ever, eloped while on vacation in Chicago! Super cool. So I quickly whipped up a photo set of goofy pics I’ve taken of them over the years.
Five more good things:
- The Sahara Forest Project is amazing. “This pilot Project could show how we can grow vegetables with less water or brackish water. I think this will not be important only to Qatar, but to the whole region and elsewhere where they have the same climate as Qatar. So, I have a lot of hope.” Just look at the photos.
- Celebrating Sally Ride - 30 years ago yesterday (June 18, 1983) she became the first American woman in space as a crew member on Space Shuttle Challenger for STS-7
- Thanks to the design of its legs, which faithfully mimic feline morphology, EPFL’s four-legged “cheetah-cub robot†shares the advantages of its biological model: it is small, light and runs very fast. In the long term, this type of machine, which is still in an experimental stage, could be used in search and rescue missions or for exploration.
- This is a good/bad thing. “What a beautiful dump! Beach that used to be trash tip is now covered in glass after spectacular transformation by waves”
- Lion and puppy caught ‘kissing’ on camera – video. The lion’s tongue is bigger than that little dog’s head!
The boyfriend and I are still dealing with our lingering colds, though we’ve let them know they are free to go at any time. Please. I’ve been coping by working from home a lot and listening to too much shoe-gaze. I’m really enjoying Mexico’s Lorelle Meets the Obsolete. It just so happens they will be playing here in a few weeks, for Bathysphere: A Psychonautical Voyage two day fest at First Avenue. Like that weekend wasn’t busy enough, with CONvergence. But we’ll manage, somehow. And before then…tonight’s the night! Trash Film Debauchery’s Theresa Kay Defends the Indefensible at the Trylon Theater. I can’t wait to see what her movie pick will be!
All this hubbub over Low’s set at Rock the Garden is unbelievable. For the non-locals, a little background. We have a public radio station called The Current that puts on a big outdoor music fest each year at The Walker Art Center, a modern art museum. Low is one of my all-time favorite bands. Large-scale outdoor music fests are among my least favorite venues. The music gets lost. Drowned out by my internal concerns about my own physical discomfort (heat, bugs, rain, mud, need to pee, etc.) or inability to get a line of sight (because I am so short), or to external irritations like the hundreds of drunk people, taller than myself, boxing me in at arm-pit level while they shout-talk over the music or WHOOOOOOO and whistle loudly. Give me a more intimate venue any day. Or even a smaller indoor fest, like the ones All Tomorrow’s Parties put on (where I did see Low, in upstate New York, playing to a completely reverent crowd of fans).
Anyhow, I didn’t attend this year’s Rock the Garden. Nor have I ever. But I have seen Low perform dozens and dozens of times over the last 17+ years. Saturday I started seeing posts pop up about their set and I was bummed I didn’t get to experience it firsthand. But my mind has been boggling over these indignant attendees (I can’t stomach reading any more of their ridiculous comments) who didn’t get what Low were doing - a drone set at a modern art museum - and felt they were somehow “owed” something more, like catchier pop songs. These confused numskulls who accuse Low of playing their set as a deliberate F U clearly are not aware of the entirety of Low’s repertoire, or that the song in question was recorded for one of their early albums, The Curtain Hits the Cast. I don’t feel the band need to explain or defend themselves. I am embarrassed by these alleged music fans who were lucky enough to experience this firsthand and a) not only not bright enough or open enough to appreciate something more “challenging” but b) who rushed to the internet to post belligerent comments about how they wanted their money back. Some went as far as to declare that this local band - who has long been a beacon to the world of Minnesotans’ ability to produce interesting art music - better not ever try to play here again. What? Pearls before swine, people.
Enough ranting. How about five good things for this Monday:
Eeep! My 40th birthday is two weeks CORRECTION one week from tomorrow. And we have so much planning to do. At least flyers have been designed for both of my birthday shows - at The Hex and The Turf Club. But I need to get them printed and distributed asap.
Maybe this bummer summer is finally starting to turn around. But it figures, just as the weather gets awesome the boyfriend and I get sick. I played the “allergies or a cold?” game for a few days but definitely landed on the latter. Last night I was coughing so hard I strained some muscles in my rib cage. And tomorrow I’ve got to photo assist at a wedding. I’m planning to load up my pockets with cough drops so I don’t hack my way through the ceremony. At least my son has a fun birthday party to attend, followed by some hangout time with his bio-dad. I feel like the poor kid has been bored all week, hanging out with me while I work from home. Thankful that summer camp starts on Monday. That will keep him happily occupied for the next six weeks.
Five random good things:
Last weekend we hit up Northern Spark, as planned, but dang. We never got out of Union Depot! We stuck it out for about five hours but I was so overstimulated and perpetually distracted by shiny objects (or running into friends) that I feel like we missed out on a lot of things. Oh well. There’s always next year. Speaking of, if you go to their web site right now you can provide feedback via a survey.
Just one more 6am wake-up call and then it is summer break! Hopefully I’ll be able to sleep in. This morning my stupid brain gave me a 4am wake-up call. In the form of a creepy nightmare. I was in our kitchen only it wasn’t our kitchen. I heard a sound and looked up…to see a tiny white mouse poking its head through a ceiling panel (which we don’t have, thankfully). But it jumped out and morphed into a GIANT DIRTY RAT WITH GLOWING RED EYES and it ran along the cupboard top before launching itself AT MY FACE and that’s when I jumped out of bed with adrenaline rushing through my veins.
Last weekend was a busy enough one, with kickboxing and hanging out and Grand Old Day good times and a BBQ. But this coming weekend? Oof. Starting early tonight with the Science Museum’s Social Science night. And the Minneapolis International Noise Conference at the Hex, if I’m up to it (doubtful). And even though it doesn’t remotely feel like June (gray, gloomy, cold) Saturday sees the return of Northern Spark! And I’m particularly excited because this time around it will all be conveniently contained in Lowertown (it would be even more convenient if the Green Line were up and running already but that’s another story). I’ve just begun planning my night, using the mobile app. But there is a lot of must-see stuff happening again. Like a house being burned down. And the Prairie Fire Lady Choir’s “Fiery Songs in the Night” and John Keston’s “Instant Cinema: Teleportation Platform X” and so much more. I predict we’ll be fairly useless Sunday, after staying up all night. But I wouldn’t miss it. My photos from 2011 and before midnight 2012 and after midnight 2012.
In other art happening news…I’m a long-time fan of Norwegian graphic novelist JASON so I was excited to read about “Psst!†With a cast of 13 dancers (including my friend Brinsley), a full-length original score, and an interactive set that brings the 2-D world of the graphic novel to 3-D life, Off-Leash Area pulls out all the creative stops to tell a universal and poignant story about love and loss. June is shaping up to be an incredibly busy month but I need to see that too. I want it all! Besides, it is my birthday month.
The kid is counting down the days til the school year ends. We’re both looking forward to the end of 6am alarms. Maybe we’re morning people, but not that early in the morning. When summer camp begins we’ll be able to sleep in until 7am and that little hour will make a big difference. Just eight school days left and one of them will be spent at ValleyFair. Hard to believe we’ve already blown through Memorial Day weekend when the weather has been this lousy. But if that means a milder summer, instead of the heatwaves of last year, I can live with it. This past Saturday we enjoyed the Walker’s new Mini Golf courses under gloomy skies. Sunday we did the same for the Saint Paul Saints game. But I bundled up in SmartWool and boots and a jacket, and took a blanket along with us. And I still froze my tits off. We coped with hot mochas and hot chocolate. Somehow we endured until the end for the bits I was most excited about - after the game - with the monster food truck rally and picnicking on the baseball field with my son, the boyfriend and our friends, followed by fireworks. Memorial Day itself was more subdued. Lounging at home. Catching the newer Miyazaki movie - Up on Poppy Hill at the Riverview Theater, and then starting ShinichirÅ Watanabe’s Kids on the Slope, also set in 1960s Japan, on a hill, with jazz music.
Now five good things, that I intended to post last week…
Have I mentioned that the Outlet Series, round 2, has been announced? I thoroughly enjoyed the first series and attended each performance. This time around I’ll have to miss a few, as it is wedding season (and I have a few to photograph and/or attend).
We’ve had some good times lately, personally and regionally. Recently the boyfriend and I celebrated his birthday out of town. With a stop in Milwaukee (for brunch with a friend), and then on to Chicago to see Boris. Wonderful times that were over too quickly. But we returned to our home state just as the marriage equality bill was being passed, and that made me so proud (of my city too). My elation is tempered by the potential for backlash. Already there has been an increase in hate crimes against LGBT people: “Equality’s Brutal Backlash: The Murder of Mark Carson and the Rise in Violence Against Gays” But there are other stories out there that give me hope.
This past weekend I returned to kickboxing, we art-a-whirled, saw the new Star Trek movie and I fully appreciated some of the boyfriend’s “life hacks” around our apartment.
Five more good things:
Now for my one big gripe. A better brighter flickr? Seems more like a half-assed redesign launched before it was ready, in order to justify the timing of the weird new pricing scheme to coincide with Yahoo’s big tumblr buy out. They must just be hoping to gain more new users from the tumblr ranks rather than to offset the cost of the buy out. The twitterverse let out a collective groan at this announcement yesterday afternoon. Sorry Ms. Mayer, this does not “make flickr awesome again.” Guess we’ll have to wait and see how this all pans out.
Here we are again. Twenty four years ago today my brother Tom lost his battle with leukemia. Recently someone made a video using an abridged version of David Foster Wallace’s memorable “This is Water” speech, which is a little odd, but watching it this morning hit me particularly hard. I can’t help but think of how much life I’ve experienced since Tom died and wonder what his life would have been like had he lived. As usual I’ve tried to honor his memory this week by doing things I know he would have enjoyed. Like Friday night, when we went to Wits. My brother would have loved Patton Oswalt (one of us) and Mystery Science Theater 3000, and he probably had a crush on Ione Skye. Who didn’t in the 80s? Saturday afternoon we swung by Free Comic Book Day at The Source and I remembered all of our trips to Shinders as kids. And Saturday night, we participated in Cinco de Mayhem at CO Exhibitions. I really should have had my Dad make a pinata along with the other local artists.
Sunday was a bit off. In the morning I woke from a bad dream collage: I lost my job. A friend was diagnosed with some awful blood disease. There was a kitchen fire. I got mugged in a parking ramp. Unsurprisingly I got out of bed feeling not at all rested. And proceeded to cook up a storm (without any accompanying fires) before heading to the May Day Parade. We mostly had a good time but the boy and I just experienced synchronized seasonal allergy explosions so we were both a bit punchy and prone to crabbiness/crappiness.
In other news, Saturday is the boyfriend’s birthday. We’re heading down to Chicago to see Boris at Lincoln Hall. Despite being a mother I was oblivious to the impending Mother’s Day when I booked this trip out of town. Without my son. Oops.
Speaking of moms and more:
It was a long hard winter. Now that things are finally warming up (I’ve worn sandals! At least twice!) it’s particularly hard to focus on staying in one place in the here and now. Mentally or physically. The other night the boyfriend and I fully booked our Canadian trip for August. I even did a happy dance. Neither of us have used airbnb before but I feel like we did our homework and made some good choices for our Toronto and Montreal stays. We’ve also got this trip to Chicago, at least one to Pizza Farm, and another to Cheyenne for a friend’s wedding. And my son has some wacky adventures roaming the countryside with his grandparents and their dogs in an RV. But we need to remember to be present in the days that we are here, in our every day lives, and try not to daydream too much about what lays ahead.
Some days I am baffled by my fellow Americans. Like in the case of the 5yo in rural Kentucky who shot and killed his little sister. Here’s How the Rifle That Just Killed a 2-Year-Old Girl Is Marketed for Kids. Disgusting. And “this was totally unexpected.” What? How? How can you give a very young child a gun, keep it LOADED in the corner of your dining room, and then be surprised by such an outcome? It boggles the mind. In other mind-boggling news, Bitch Magazine picked up this infuriating ongoing story: State Investigates Artist Venus DeMars for Not Making Enough Money Off her Art. It really sucks to think my own state may be going after Venus because she is an out trans woman. But it’s the only angle that makes sense.
It’s hard to switch gears to five good things, but I need to:
A friend gave me the heads up about this Montreal city guide. Looks right up my alley. It just dawned on me…I’ll get to stop by the Drawn and Quarterly store when I visit Montreal. SO very excited about that. And we’re going to give AirBNB a shot. We’ve already found loads of cool looking, well-reviewed lodging in Toronto and Montreal. But we’ll be going for the private apartment option rather than sharing space/staying with someone in their home. The older I get the more I appreciate my privacy. And this return to cohabitation is hard enough. When I go on vacation I need my personal space.
Suddenly summer BAM! Just like that. Last week it was snowing. The last couple of days I’ve experienced non-workout related underboob sweat, for the first time this year. We nearly hit 80 degrees. And BAM again! It’s dropping forty degrees overnight and probably snowing tomorrow. Oh hooray Minnesota. At least my illness is abating. But I’m weak. I finally returned to kickboxing on Saturday. And…barfed halfway through class. Guess I need to build back up to it.
How about five good things?
Distractions abound on the internet, as ever. Yesterday I learned Neil Degrasse Tyson had the esteemed Alan Rickman on his Star Talk show. Bookmarked that to listen to later while I got sucked into a new BBC mini-series by Jane Campion. I binged on too many episodes of Top of the Lake last night but I haven’t made it to the end yet. Biting my nails to find out how it all shakes out. But there is so much going on in real life. Paperwork to contend with for the kid’s summer camp. Music and art happenings. Hanging out with friends. A whirlwind weekend of Free Comic Book Day and the May Day Parade and related house parties, potlucks and shows. I’m happy to end my winter of hermitude.
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Today’s “five good things” will instead be a “five people I appreciate and respect” list:
After yet another Spring snowstorm on Monday / Earth Day it seems winter weather and snow are finally retreating. As is my sinus infection. I have slowly but steadily been feeling better. I may even be able to return to kickboxing this weekend. Fingers crossed.
