Wednesday, December 8, 2010
I remember the day Reagan got shot. I was seven years old and unfazed by this assassination attempt. Mostly I was annoyed that I couldn’t watch cartoons after school that day because the news media had taken over every channel. But just a few months before that? I know I was heartbroken and sobbing after hearing that John Lennon had been murdered. Some of my earliest music memories involve listening to my mom’s Beatles on vinyl and my dad’s reel-to-reel recordings while dancing and twirling around the living room with my brother.
Fast forward thirty years to the day. In Minnesota Curtiss A has become our Beatles ambassador. Tonight he will be back at First Avenue for his 31st Annual John Lennon Tribute and Minnesota Beatle Project Volume 2 CD Release Party. Back in October I had the opportunity to capture Curtiss A, taking some photos for these projects. A few shots wound up in the City Pages (though oddly processed) with this interview: Curtiss A prepares for his 31st annual John Lennon tribute show and more were used in this interactive widget:
Explore the Dreamscape of Curtiss A.
We sent Curtiss A. into the studio with a hypnotist. The result was 12 dreamy, sweet, and terrifying versions of the Beatles’, “Good Night”
Some more of the original photos can be seen here.
Living in a big city with a small town feel has its perks, as well as its drawbacks. Saturday night we opted to dine out. I left the restaurant choice to my son. He chose Evergreen. I agreed, only because it was on the same street as our eventual destination. But the thing that’s hard about Evergreen? Without fail I run into one of my exes there. Not the worst thing in the world, certainly. But it can make for a moderately awkward meal with a side helping of mixed emotions. Naturally this was the case Saturday night, with my ex-husband and his friends (many of whom had been friends of mine) sitting on one side of us while on the other? An awkward first date. The couple had clearly met online and the man’s only conversational gambits involved sports. I doubt there will be a second date. But I could be wrong. It seems I often am when it comes to relationships. And now I’m paying the price with the most recent ex. We had spent much of this year sort of knitting together our lives and our circles of friends, like you do. Some overlap of mutual friends already existed but it became tighter. Hopefully the uncomfortable phase will end soon and we can return to more cordial relations. But we aren’t quite there yet. These things take time.
How about five better things?
- Saturday night we joined friends in the studio for a bit, during their Voytek recording party.
- Not sure that this will *actually* happen, but it’s a very cool idea - “The Minnesota Film and TV Board has an intriguing idea to keep the St. Paul Ford plant rolling: convert it into a film-production facility.”
- I’ve been enjoying the new-ish blog of Christine Castro Hughes (formerly of maganda.org)
- A ramen noodle recipe, making the noodles from scratch. I’d give that a go.
- I may go see the Marwencol documentary tomorrow:
“Like all accomplished war photographers, Mark Hogancamp puts himself at risk. He shoots fugitive moments of violence, anguish, and bravery. But Hogancamp’s work differs from others’ in one key respect: The combat zones he enters don’t entirely exist in the real world. It’s the battlefield of his emotions that he’s trying to capture on film.”
How’d we get smack dab in the middle of the holidays already? The boy is all Santa this and Santa that (unsurprisingly children with autism spectrum disorder tend to cling to that belief longer than neurotypical children - so shhhhhhh). He is especially fixated on the making of holiday cookies for Santa which I’ll be eating late on Christmas Eve, I guess. Last year I tried my hand at making Christmas cookies but it was a little bit of a hassle. My co-op comes to the rescue! I love them and they’re loving me back with this handy holiday cookie recipe.
Everyone loves holiday cookies, though few people have the time to make several varieties. 3 Days to the rescue! Here is a master dough recipe that you can easily vary to produce cookies with three distinctive flavors and appearances. These are delicate, crunchy cookies made with the season’s nuts, and each of them will win you raves.
Maybe that will be an activity for this coming weekend, when the kiddo’s awesome aunt comes to visit. There are some good times coming up and for that I am thankful. Full speed ahead!
Snowed in tonight when I’d expected to be seeing TV Ghost at the Turf Club. Instead I’m home, drinking the last of the beer the now ex-boyfriend left in my fridge, and listening to Low’s “A Lifetime of Temporary Relief” - likely not the best choices, all things considered. Friday night pity party! How about Friday’s five good things instead?
This last tidbit - not such a good thing so much as an utterly ridiculous one. Really people? Wow. ‘Toy robot detours traffic near Coors Field‘ - the bomb squad eventually blew up the little duder, because it had been ever so suspiciously cemented it to a post. Probably just someone’s idea of street art, to make passers-by smile. And the authorities had to go and get NOOCLEAR on its little ass. What a woeful waste of resources.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
I haven’t mentioned WikiLeaks here before, but let me say I’ve been following them with great interest for quite a while. Here’s a fantastic TED Talk/interview with founder Julian Assange.
The controversial website WikiLeaks collects and posts highly classified documents and video. Founder Julian Assange, who’s reportedly being sought for questioning by US authorities, talks to TED’s Chris Anderson about how the site operates, what it has accomplished — and what drives him. The interview includes graphic footage of a recent US airstrike in Baghdad.
So now efforts are being made to close the box after Pandora got out. And charges of sexual assault are being made (fabricated? suspiciously timed?) against Assange. Sounds like a conspiracy to shutdown the biggest, baddest whistleblower around. Run, Julian, run!
Today’s five better things:
- Recently someone posted a comment to a flickr photo of mine, of an ET figurine. The comment was about the NASA press release. Looks like the cat’s out of the bag about NASA finding new life forms. Sadly these overhyped “astrobiology discovery” may not be all that after all.
- Scrabble is my all-time favorite game. I’m not sure how I feel about this enhancement (but the videos are awfully compelling):
Mattel has launched Scrabble Délire in France, an enhanced version of the word game with new rules allowing for delirium. The game allows for writing words backwards, using proper names and writing a word anywhere in the grid. The new game is being promoted with a short film, “Scrabble Délireâ€, in which an empty apartment block becomes the source of much entertainment for a gathering crowd below. A brass band, a man in gold lycra, gorilla, pink princesses, Gulliver, a dragon, a clown, policemen, and Solo.
- The Yoshitomo Nara retrospective “Nobody’s Fool” is currently on display at New York City’s Asia Society. I would love to see it! If you’re in NYC during its run, go there. Do it for me.
- I wasn’t able to make it to the Superchunk show last night but my friend Adam did, and got some nice shots of them, as well as Times New Viking.
- This morning at Clockwork I was able to fondle a co-worker’s new Amazon Kindle. Ultra lightweight! And I bore witness to the consumption of The Black Blood of the Earth. One co-worker claimed his teeth were buzzing. Ahh, yes, the practical application of the coffee sciences. For good or evil? I’ll skip it. It’d probably give me a heart attack.
I’d nearly forgotten about this event tonight but I do plan to attend this month’s edition of the Girls In Tech gathering. Conveniently being held at my workplace! It seems especially appropriate now, as my role is transitioning from a general Jill of All Trades/Support Specialist into a Jr. Systems Administrator position. Which makes me geekily giddy. I’ve got the bash cookbook on my desk right now, the Think Unix book is on its way and I’ve just bookmarked The Linux System Administrator’s Guide.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Today I want to focus on things that are awesome. Like Quick Gun Murugun, the Bollywood movie about a Vegetarian South Indian Cowboy who protects women and cows. Watch the trailer here. And the fact that I’ve booked several more holiday portrait shoots for the coming weeks.
How about five more good things?
I had also wanted to point out the sheer amazingness of Deconstructing “Gimme Shelter”. Alas, the videos for the isolated tracks of the Rolling Stones in the studio have already been pulled. But this is the internet. They’ll be back.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
I’ll allow myself just a teensy bit of wallowing. I may read Super Sad True Love Story soon and watch one of my sappy go-to movies like Happy Accidents. But the pity party won’t last. In an effort to purge this from my system I put out a call to twitter this morning…asking for break-up song suggestions. Received interesting responses. I’ve peppered the list with some of my own.
After a day of listening to such break-up songs I’d considered seeing Budrus (an Israeli/Palestinian/American documentary about non-violent demonstrations protesting the building of the Israeli West Bank barrier inside of the village). But that seemed a bit too much. I needed lighter fare. And convinced a couple of friends to join me at The Riverview Theater for Easy A instead. This was just the thing. Afterward I retrieved my son from the ex and we got to chatting about how tomorrow is December. And that got me thinking about how New Year’s Eve isn’t far off. And how every New Year’s Eve has been horribly depressing for one reason or another and ends up with me ringing in the new year sad and alone after my son goes to bed. So I’m opting to be more proactive. Things will change this go around. Instead the boy and I will get a deal on a hotel room somewhere, in a hotel with both a pool and a hot tub, where we will order room service and watch cartoons on cable. It will be the best New Year’s Eve ever! Don’t know why I hadn’t thought of it sooner.
Monday, November 29, 2010
It was the first day back to regular routine after the long weekend, and after the non-routine break-up. I think I managed reasonably well.
Monday’s minor failures:
- Been sad and distracted so I realized too late that a friend is in town with his band tonight. Failure to line up a sitter means missing the show, and him.
- Greased up my hands with lotion and then attempted to turn a doorknob. Was temporarily trapped.
- Pulled on a hoodie, panicked for a moment while I wondered why it felt five sizes too small, and realized it was my son’s. From two years ago.
- Nearly skipped dinner in favor of a pie shake. With brandy in it.
- Was momentarily tempted to get in touch with the ex. Too soon. That way madness lies (let me shun that).
Monday’s minor successes:
- Learned about the Lemmy (of Motorhead) movie.
- Worked out for a half hour instead of having beer. And got my son to exercise as well, without complaint. I had “perfect rhythm” according to the Wii Fit’s cardio aerobics and the kiddo made it to the end of the obstacle course, again and again and again.
- Thought one of my Groupons had expired but found out it’s good until February. Sweet. Also? Didn’t succumb to any Cyber Monday specials. Actually didn’t spend a cent today, on anything. Go, me.
- Downloaded a Christmas mix from the lovely lads of Voytek, and it contains a Hives/Cyndi Lauper Xmas song!
- Made a gorgeous looking and tasty lunch, inspired, in part, by this Heavy Table post.
So I’ll continue taking it one day at a time. And if the days are anything like today I think I’ll be a-ok.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Some days it doesn’t pay to get out of bed. But there are no viable alternatives. Unpleasantness needs to be faced head on or it will fester. So now I’ve got another failed relationship attempt to add to the heap. It’s never easy when things fall apart but this time? It feels particularly hard, because there was so much potential. I’d never been with someone I’d had SO much in common with. So many mutual interests. Mutual friends. And, most importantly, such great mutual affection. But also so many miscommunications and awful amounts of fighting. Way way too much. That burned away any good will we’d felt and now all that common ground is lost.
There are no sides in this situation. No bad guys. No wrongdoing. Just a lot of hurt feelings and frustration. But I will keep calm and carry on. Because I’ve got to.
Five good things:
- My son. Amazing as ever. And overjoyed when I let him pick out our Giftmas Tree today.
- The reason we were at a tree farm to begin with - some very lovely people hired me to take holiday portraits of their families in that idyllic spot. And the weather cooperated with us quite nicely.
- Never expected to see Takashi Murakami’s work in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
- Just when I need his comforting, comedic presence most I discover that Steve Coogan’s Saxondale is now available via Netflix Instant (and I’ve only just gotten hooked on Californication, the same way).
- Another new episode of The Walking Dead airs tonight.
Keeping calm and carrying on may seem to involve too much escapism, but that’s how I do things. My next kid-free evening I plan to see Easy A at a second run theater and hit up a happy hour. The week ahead will also find me recording backup vocals for my friends’ band and working on some art projects. It won’t necessarily be easy to keep my chin up but I can do this thing.
Monday, November 22, 2010
As previously mentioned…some of my newly formed bad habits, plus a prolonged and annoying illness (which I am thankfully over), had been catching up with me. For over a week I have been eating less and/or smarter, passing up on the donuts at work, exercising daily for 30+ minutes, not drinking alcohol on weeknights, and going to bed earlier. I’m feeling pretty good but it’s BORING. I’ll just have to re-train myself…and be sure to exert plenty of self control over the coming weeks of holiday excess. If only we had something like San Francisco’s “House of Air” indoor trampoline park, to make the exercising part of the equation more fun. Because enjoyment is a HUGE part of it. I listened to NPR’s Science Friday as they discussed the new Xbox Kinect and their research into the emotional content of movement. Now if we could only get our hands on the Kinect. They seem to be sold out everywhere.
Then again, does any of it really make a difference? I find research like this to be more than a little dispiriting:
Recently, researchers in Finland made the discovery that some people’s bodies do not respond as expected to weight training, others don’t respond to endurance exercise and, in some lamentable cases, some don’t respond to either. In other words, there are those who just do not become fitter or stronger, no matter what exercise they undertake.
Five good and/or interesting things:
There have been too many Debbie Downer moments recently. And maybe that’s exacerbated by the lack of sunlight in our lives. Days get shorter, mopeyness increases. Relationships suffer. But I’m determined to swim upstream against it. We do have much to look forward to. Going to see Grinderman tomorrow night. And Nick Cave has announced that he will be putting out a new album, with the Bad Seeds, sometime in 2011. Also next year? Robyn - who I just missed at the Fine Line - will be coming back to town. This time in First Avenue’s main room. A much better venue for her majesty. And in the nearer future? I’m lining up some holiday photo sessions for families. Lastly, and most immediately, I am about to watch episode three of The Walking Dead. Sometimes it’s the little things, like good music and zombie apocalypse fiction, that keep me from diving into the deep end.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Last Friday we came home to some lovely mail from a friend. But also to a grisly, mangled mouse in the living room. It was troubling, to say the least. We hadn’t seen a mouse in the house in an age. I’ve had to clean up such corpses in the past but I’ve tried to shield my son from them. Sadly he was the first to see it on Friday and has brought up the matter several times since. I’d thought he was getting over this latest circle of life/faces of death experience so what should happen? Yesterday we got home to hear a strange chittering sound coming from upstairs. And walked in on a Mexican standoff in the bathroom, between a living mouse and our wild-eyed cat.
Enough of that. How about five good things?
Tonight’s installment of Third Thursdays at the MIA includes a fashion show, featuring work by local designers, inspired by the museum’s collections. While I wouldn’t mind seeing that I’m more interested in the Embarrassment of Riches: Picturing Global Wealth exhibit. We’ll see if I make it at all though. The guys have been a little under the weather. Hopefully they will be fully recovered by next week. We’ve been invited to five different Thanksgiving gatherings! I’m usually just a guest and not a host for this holiday. Hoping to swing by (but not necessarily eat at) at least three of these events. Only time will tell what my success rate will be.
