Last Tuesday I stepped out of the river rapids of my crazy busy life and into a magical stream of time out of time. I am, of course, referring to the bliss that is a PIZZA FARM adventure. My first for 2011. A few of our friends had never been, including Jon, who also took some photos. The mildly-crummy-but-mostly-ok weather kept it from being very busy (there was just a five-minute wait for our three pizzas) and I was able to catch up with the owners a bit.
Since then I’ve alternated between high stress and ecstatic states. Heliotrope is my happy place and this year’s three day festival was no different, except for a venue change. Thankfully I was able to stay put for most of it while my son was engaged in exciting activities of his own elsewhere. I plan to go into Heliotrope more in depth, on my photo blog, soon.
And yesterday it was suddenly summer with highs in the high 80s and thick sticky humidity. But we greatly enjoyed our day off. We had a lovely time doing some backyard relaxing with friends. My son spent hours in a hammock, bellowing at other guests to refill his lemonade or bring him additional tofu dogs. Rude! And his demands were met with success (that wouldn’t fly at home). This day of leisure was a marked change of pace from last year’s Memorial Day, when we raced around town to cram in multiple holiday gatherings. I think I prefer it slow movement style.
Five good things (some of which I’ve been meaning to post for weeks):
- I adore the work of artist Alan Brown/Medusawolf. Go check his stuff out and buy something!
- I need to show my Dad this funny short film: United Monster Talent Agency.
- Broken Crow “Over/Under” - a time lapse video with music by Marijuana Death Squads.
- Beautiful Deep Sea Octopus Ballet.
- Seems like it will be another weekend of TOO MUCH ALL AT ONCE but I do plan to devote a good portion of it to this: “Northern Spark is a new MN Festival modeled on a nuit blanche or “white night†festival—a dusk to dawn participatory art event along the Mississippi and surrounding areas. It will take place the evening of June 4 (sunset 8:55 pm) till the morning of June 5, 2011 (sunrise 5:28 am).”
In news of the not-sogreat no one has really been looking at my house, even though the price has dropped below $100k. And I still have to keep it extra tidy a) because I prefer it that way and b) just in case a showing happens to get scheduled. But I’m not holding my breath. And good luck to me on the tidiness front now that our dryer has died. It spins and spins but the heating element has gone kaput so our clothes never get dry. I’ve MacGyvered a temporary clothesline situation in my room but that’s probably not what prospective buyers want to see. Or what I want to see. Oh the indignities of daily life.
Speaking of…first, Creepy Life-Like Baby Masks Create Alarming Adult Babies and then WTF Japan: Eagle Dance. Watch it. Be mesmerized. Caution: underpants.
The smallness and incestuousness of this town can lead to many awkward situations and strained friendships. But I try to blow it all off and have myself a good time anyhow. And I’ve been succeeding! So much so that I haven’t had much spare time. Instead I have:
We wound up missing out on Art A Whirl this year, partially because of the weather (rain + outdoor events make me go meh) but also as I was shooting a wedding on Saturday, and we had a friend and his kids over on Friday. This coming weekend is supposed to be gorgeous but I’ll spend much of it indoors, at The Loring Theater, for Heliotrope Eight. It’s one of the highlights of every year, awkward social interactions be damned.
Speaking of awkward…my poor kid. He had made a HUGE breakthrough and had come to enjoy reading over the last couple of months. But his teacher threw a wrench in the works. She’s been trying to switch things up. Having him choose a book he wants to read, alternated with an offering of three books she’s chosen. Some have kept his interest but this last batch? None were up his alley. He has struggled over the last week to get through the latest. And no wonder. It was a Judy Blume book. Her books would make anyone squirm. But maybe not so much as the puberty/sex ed talk I’ve signed him up for at school. Now that’s going to be one fun day.
The next several weekends will be incredibly busy. But busy is good. Busy can help keep me from stewing in my own juices. Soon we head downtown St. Paul for stops at MPR and the Science Museum. And possibly the fairly recently opened Black Sheep Pizza.
Five things I’ve been meaning to post about:
- The first Twin Cities Really Really Free Market of the season is at Powderhorn Park is tomorrow (and every 2nd Sunday of the month through October)
- Last night we stopped by a preview party/birthday party at the about-to-open Republic, in Seven Corners. I expect that will be one happening place this summer.
- This is genius. Low covering Toto, for The Onion’s AV Club.
- A mini-documentary on Minneapolis stencil-art duo Broken Crow’s recent trip to Mexico City, where they did a mural at the Antique Toy Museum Mexico.
- If I hadn’t already had plans Thursday night I would have attended the 100 Cities One Night for Autism screening of Wretches & Jabberers. I hope lots of other people participated. I still intend to see the movie, when it opens to wider release. “In Wretches & Jabberers, two men with autism embark on a global quest to change attitudes about disability and intelligence. Determined to put a new face on autism, Tracy Thresher, 42, and Larry Bissonnette, 52, travel to Sri Lanka, Japan and Finland. At each stop, they dissect public attitudes about autism and issue a hopeful challenge to reconsider competency and the future.”
At the end of the month I get to see professor and fellow squid-lover PZ Myers giving a “Bright Ideas” talk at MPR Headquarters. Maybe I can get him to sign my squid tattoo…
Been keeping busy, trying to back burner the pity party. The gloomy weather isn’t helping but interesting times are. Last night a friend and I headed down to The Fitzgerald Theater, to see Sarah Vowell. She’s promoting her latest book, Unfamiliar Fishes, about the collision of cultures when missionaries and whalers descended upon Hawaii at the same time. She is a remarkable and writer and woman. I enjoyed listening to her talk - not just because of her unique voice - but because her background, motivations and compulsions are fascinating. I know the American History classes I slept through in high school would have done a lot more to capture my attention had she been at the helm. Thankfully my son is already interested in dead presidents. We’re going to “Discover the Real George Washington” with a friend next week. But maybe I can maintain his interest in history by helping him discover the real stories behind many key players.
So what do Bill Callahan, Neil Gaiman and Thor’s Chris Hemsworth have in common? Well, I wouldn’t kick any of them out of bed. But they also feature prominently in our Five Good Things for This Friday the 13th:
Tonight I’m dragging the kid is to a new bar/restaurant’s preview party. Tomorrow we’re getting a tour of the MPR studios and may also hit up the Science Museum’s “Make Day” - sponsored by Ax Man Surplus - before I go kid-free for 24 hours. The lad has a sleepover which will allow me some much needed grown up time. As usual I will attempt to cram too much into this small window. An R-rated movie perhaps? A friend’s birthday gathering. A yard sale/show. Eating at one of the many restaurants my picky kid doesn’t care for. Catching shows at The Turf and/or The Hex. And maybe more. Who knows.
Oh yeah, somebody should BUY MY HOUSE. It’s been on the market long enough that I’ve already dropped the price. It’s cheap and cheerful! It should be yours, and not mine!
My brother Tom died 22 years ago today. I was already bummed out enough without the weight of this anniversary knocking me on my ass. It was a tough weekend, in a lot of ways. My phone couldn’t send or receive text messages but I didn’t know it was due to technical difficulties until yesterday. I just figured I was being ignored by everyone, which only added fuel to the pity party fire. Especially since my still very recent ex-boyfriend’s birthday was on Saturday. A lot of our mutual friends celebrated with him from dawn til dusk while I had to sit it out, even though a big part of me wanted to be there, having fun right along with them. I did have some friends over for a fire Friday night. The burning of things is cathartic. Especially when ten foot flames are involved.
Today’s five things appropriately span the good, the bad and the ugly.
How about more good things? My son introduced me to the weirdness of Baman & Piderman, accompanied me to Free Comic Book Day festivities, a showing of Thor, an art opening, and hanging out fun times at my friends’ place Saturday night. Sunday the kid didn’t think to do anything for me for mother’s day, naturally, but I did allow myself lay around in pajamas all day. Then headed to my Dad’s house in the ‘burbs for the usual family weirdness and good food.
Today I am back among my people. Yesterday I was off-site all day at a training workshop. It was valuable information and was delivered well via the trainer and training materials, but the other attendees were a reminder…of what it’s like for many IT professionals out there in very corporate environments, where relationships can be more adversarial than collaborative. And it made me appreciate the magic of Clockwork EVEN MORE. We just have the special sauce.
Five good things for this Friday:
Enough with the sitting for today. Time to take a walk…on Clockwork’s treadmill desk. And later, another walk in the great outdoors. Looks like the best weather of the weekend is happening right now. It might rain on our parade (for Cinco de Mayo, tomorrow) but at least we can seek shelter inside The Source or Big Brain for Free Comic Book Day.
I may not know where we will live, or when, but I have taken up permanent residency somewhere between a rock and a hard place. I’m not a fan of uncertainty. I’m growing weary of inhabiting these gray areas for prolonged periods and am increasingly frustrated by being stuck in the in-between. I’m still being hassled by my bank. I’m trying to get over this break up (even though I knew better). And the latest disappointment? There are some BEAUTIFUL artist loft developments out there that would be absolutely perfect for my son and I, and the rents are in the right range, but they are all part of the Section 42 tax program. Turns out my income is just slightly too high to qualify. But my earnings are too damned low for similar non Section 42 housing - that’s all above and beyond our price range. And I shouldn’t be looking at listings now anyhow, being as I have no idea when we will actually be moving. We could be running in place for another six months or a year or more if we end up going the foreclosure route.
How about five good things instead?
- I will always have my escapism. Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life looks amazing. The Walker’s screening is sold out so I’ll likely be waiting a spell. But I did catch a showing of the haunting Hanna, proof that action movies don’t have to be mindless. Somehow, during my recent bout with the flu, I was sucked into the silliness of Numb3rs, a show about an FBI agent who uses his math whiz brother to solve crimes. I’m well into season four now (not-so-secret-shame).
- Monday night I briefly popped into the Aster Cafe for “Frocktails”- the Summer of Dresses 2011 kick off party. The Strib is running a piece about it tomorrow. Naturally a few of my photos from the night are on flickr.
- An interesting looking experiment…”In the Woods” with Will Oldham, Rufus Wainwright, Questlove, Terrence Howard, Famke Janssen, Yoko Ono and some others working on an interactive, film puzzle
- A favorite local band, Bruteheart, has a new one coming out and a record release show to mark the event.
- For some reason Retribution Gospel Choir is playing a free show next Tuesday, at the Fine Line. Not my favorite venue but definitely a favorite band.
This weekend promises to be a little busier than last, thankfully. I need proper distractions to keep my mind off my troubles. So I’m having a few friends over Friday night for some drinking and the burning of things. Saturday is the big Cinco de Mayo parade in our neighborhood, as well as Free Comic Book Day everywhere. The latter is like a treasured holiday to the kid and I. He enjoys seeing the adults dressed up in costume at The Source and I get a kick out of seeing him get such a kick out of it.
There will be no weddings in my future, royal or otherwise. Not that I expected there to be. I’ve never had the paint-by-numbers approach to relationships. I haven’t experienced (or engineered) the standard progression of fall-in-love/get-married/buy-house/produce-offspring. Nor will that ever be a part of my space-time continuum. And that is ok. But I am most decidedly single. Again. This must be my natural state and I should probably stop trying to resist it. There are enough BIG LIFE ISSUES on my shoulders right now anyhow, without trying to manage interpersonal interactions with another human. But I can’t deny it is still sad-making. Get hopes up / have hopes dashed.
How about five good things for this fine Friday?
The kid and I are suburb-bound soon to blast our cares away with laser tag, bowling, skeeball and good company. There is much more going on this weekend. St. Paul Art Crawl, Craftstravaganza, Heart of the Beast’s May Day Parade. But I will be requiring a certain amount of solitude and instead plan to spend some quality time with a page-turner or two.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Mock Spring must be in the air because things are happening, despite the freezing rain. Yesterday morning the housing inspector gave me his sign-off (there are no longer any “H for Hazardous” items in my house) and this afternoon the house has its first scheduled showing. Eep! We’re hiding out at Cake Eater Bakery while that’s happening, and going swimming on the way home. Well, the kid will be swimming. I still feel lousy and am going to sit it out with a book.
Five interesting non-property related items of note:
In recent weeks I have managed to get away from some of the big life stress for a bit. For a long weekend, in California, and in shorter bursts locally. To see Low at First Avenue. And then, just days later, I was back there for the most amazing show with The Budos Band and Charles Bradley. At both I focused on the performances instead of shooting the shows. It was kind of a pleasant change, enjoying the experience rather than documenting it. I don’t know if there are any other shows in my foreseeable future unfortunately. But the little man and I do have some catching up to do with an old friend, and his kids. And some Childish movies to catch before the end of the Minneapolis-St Paul International Film Fest. Which we may as well do while the weather is still cold and crappy.
It’s one of those days. I’ve been sick for days with some sort of flu bullshit. And sad. And I’m having my chain yanked. Most egregiously by my bank (the one that owns my mortgage and where I also do my personal banking). But even way down in this lowdown funk there’s some progress to be claimed. As of today my property has an MLS number and is for sale, for real. Which got me a little teary-eyed. But it really is for the best, in the long run. Though there’s no telling how long this might take. I’ve heard such varied tales from other people who have been through the short sale process. And when there is an end in sight? Then I’ll have to find some magical rental that is equally friendly to cats, and to a kid with autism who hasn’t yet learned to vary his volume control.
Hoping the heavy lifting is done for a while. I’ve kicked this house’s ass (and it kicked back) but for the next few months it should just be a matter of keeping the place tidy and hightailing it out of here while prospective buyers check it out. Thankfully the weather is getting better and there are a number of spots we can walk or drive to while we wait it out. And hopefully some fun can be had while I’m holding my breath.
