Two weeks from today I turn 35. As per usual, I plan to celebrate for fully half of the month. Minimum. I’d totally go to the Walker’s Rock the Garden event on the 21st, if someone had a spare ticket for me (hint hint). And I’m looking forward to another Pizza Farm adventure with friends. And there’s an excellent Patio Nights pairing that week of STNNNG with His Mischief.
But it’s not just my birthday coming up. I booked our time slot in the Star Wars exhibit the day before the little man was invited to a classmate’s birthday party at the same time. Doh! Also that afternoon? A co-worker is having a party where he will be giving guests rides in his Ural’s sidecar. Sign me up for that!
In more staying in St. Paul news, let’s talk about the co-op I’m a member of. Mississippi Market has two locations. For a while now they’ve been planning on shutting one of them down. I just found out the new plan is to move to a site - with twice as much space - in the West 7th area. That’s an easy three mile trip from my house.
Bonus: I wouldn’t mind being in Barcelona tomorrow for the Daydream Festival…featuring Low, Liars and Radiohead. Totally dreamy indeed.
Plus: The Morning News interviews Phone Sex Operators - “faceless yet intensely personal” and fascinating.
And: The sysadmin at work bought a case of Brawndo to share. I didn’t imbibe, but I might just watch Idiocracy tonight (the movie from whence the beverage came).
I’ve been coming to terms with some bad news. My bubble has been burst - yet again - about this house selling business. Last week my realtor went over his market analysis with me. I’ve been trying to absorb it but all the number crunching in the world isn’t going to help. Even in the best case scenario, my net profit would be far too little to make a move worth it. Sure, house prices are lower across the board. I’d be selling low and buying low. But it still wouldn’t work. I’d have to finance more of it than I’d anticipated. And because the child support we receive isn’t court ordered it can’t be considered income, and I’d qualify for less of a mortgage. I don’t want to move us into a crappy house in a crappy neighborhood, just for the sake of living somewhere in Minneapolis.
Been trying to look on the bright side about staying put. In the last nine years nearly all of the major issues have been addressed (read: a lot of money has been thrown at problems to make them go away). The house is spacious and gorgeous and decorated just the way I want. The neighborhood is safe and not without charm. The commute is going to suck even more for the little man, whose school is moving further south in a couple of weeks. But many Minneapolitan folks I know have been having trouble with break-ins (two of them while they were in their homes).
Another consolation prize? Punch Pizza is opening a new location on Grand Avenue, not so very far from here.
Bonus: Just ordered a copy of Stencil Nation: Graffiti, Community and Art by Russell Howze, which includes pages featuring the lovely and local Amy Rice. And speaking of books - how about Philip Pullman on Age Banding.
Plus: Radiohead’s Big Ideas (Don’t Get Any) played by old computer parts. Perhaps better than Prince covering Creep (not because of the quality of his cover, but more because of his proprietary attitude about it).
And: Like a giant ball pit, but in water - the L.A. Department of Water and Power dropped 400,000 plastic balls into the Ivanhoe Resevoir. And speaking of balls, the 30th Anniversary of “Ping-pong Diplomacy” Marked in Beijing.
Still catching my breath from the weekend. Friday night we had our usual Pizza Luce dinner before heading to see Kung Fu Panda, which was clever and cute. Saturday the boy hung out with his grandparents on their boat, so I squeezed in a showing of The Fall at the Uptown Theater, followed by dinner at a new Nepalese restaurant. Then I skedaddled to a wedding reception for my co-worker Alex and his lovely new bride Brinsley. Afterwards it was time for the Turf Club and the final installment in a series of shows celebrating Modern Radio Records 9th Anniversary. I stayed at the after-party later than intended and wound up getting to sleep around 6am Sunday. Which would’ve been all right, but the little man decided he wanted to come home early - around 8am - before I was ready to return to active parenting. Them’s the breaks.
The boy is growing like crazy. His summer clothes from last year are all skin tight and he has now bumped up to the biggest size at Gymboree. I ordered some shorts and whatnot for him, and scored this Octopus shirt - which definitely doesn’t come in my size.
Time is flying by. Father’s Day is around the corner, followed by the birthday I share with my Dad. And I remember hearing about the upcoming Star Wars exhibit ages ago, but it opens this weekend! I’m taking the little man - and my Dad - to the Science Museum this month to check it out. When I purchased our tickets online I was surprised that I had to choose what specific time we’d be entering the exhibit. I guess it’s a thing now.
Bonus: I would love to join Björk and Sigur Rós at a free outdoor concert in Reykjavik on June 28th. Sadly that’s not in the cards. But a little road trip to Chicago might just be.
Plus: Magically twisting into tentacled horrors - the pulchritudinous creations of Dan Hillier, who I’ve only just discovered (via the Fabulist and boingboing).
And: The real life Prince of Persia - David Zandi - won’t be cast in the upcoming film, despite his best efforts. It seems Orlando Bloom has been bypassed too in favor of Jake Gyllenhaal, which only makes me go buh?
Last night I talked to the guy who replaced my boiler. When he took apart the vent for the old one, the innards were completely caked with soot. Just totally blocked up. Which had caused the carbon monoxide problem. But it looked like someone had attempted to clean it out in the past…and had done a half-assed job of it. There was still a wire brush stuck inside from who knows when. When this was all dismantled it left behind a huge area of filth on the concrete floor. The fastidious little Olive is smart enough to avoid it. But Freddy? Oh no. His white fur is now a sickly gray, and he’s been leaving sooty little footprints all over the house. Gonna have to clean up the basement and then maybe give him a bath. That’ll learn him.
Looking forward to the Patio Nights kickoff tomorrow. My friend’s band The Talkers will be playing with the The Awesome Snakes. The weather is looking uncertain at best, but I have it on good authority that the bands will battle any tornadoes with RIFFS. And if it does rain maybe I’ll just bring some dry ice, to help set the scene.
Bonus: A friend - the lovely Lori - was featured in a Strib article about folks growing their own food. I haven’t got a green thumb, but I do have shares in a CSA. Our first delivery arrives June 23rd.
Plus: My vegan food porn does not go unnoticed. The Bostonist used one of my shots for their veggie pizza article. And dang, does TJ Scallywaggle’s House of Vegan Pizza ever look amazing.
And: The beautiful Robyn, on Letterman. Love the bear masks.
Work on the house continues but at a slower pace than I would like. Well, my end of it at any rate. The contractors have been top notch. The boiler was replaced yesterday and the half-dead White Spruce tree in the front yard is being removed today. Meeting with the realtor tonight. Getting an estimate on Friday for the falling down fence, and a friend is helping to replace the kitchen light fixture on Sunday. But I need to forge ahead. With the purging. And making my house ready for staging. It’s never going to look like a Pottery Barn catalog, but I’ve got to do what I can. At least I will be able to attack the little man’s room on Saturday, when he heads to grandma’s house.
But I’d also like to make time for the 2nd annual Design Fiesta at The Soap Factory. And I’ve got a friend’s birthday party to attend. And I plan to swing by a co-worker’s wedding reception. Followed by another Modern Radio 9th anniversary show. This time with Double Bird, His Mischief, Vampire Hands, Tight Phantomz and Tornavalanche.
Five (or more) good things:
Bonus: Also this weekend? The Walker’s Birthday Bash, for the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden’s 20th anniversary.
Plus: Eep! A 58 year old lady in Japan was arrested for secretly living in someone’s closet (via Neil Gaiman)
And: Amanda and I have a shared dream. Though a relaxing two week vacation is unlikely to become a reality for me any time soon, I might participate in the LibraryThing meme she mentions.
Been battling a migraine and processing some seriously depressing news - from multiple fronts - but I’m trying my damndest to keep things light and fluffy. Like unicorn tears (which is what some vegan cupcake frosting is made out of - duh).
Bonus: Shot quite a few photos over the weekend. Mojitos at work. Mirah at the Triple Rock. More Modern Radio 9th Anniversary biznass. Ghostface Cow at the Red Hot Art Festival. And Dark Dark Dark at Treehouse.
Plus: On Saturday I read David Maine’s Monster, 1959 from start to finish. I wonder if I could talk my nascent book club into reading it…
And: I missed it - again. The Witch’s Tower in Prospect Park is open once a year only, and Friday night was it. Maybe next year. If I can remember it’s the first Friday evening after Memorial Day Weekend.
Still struggling with my hard work to fun ratio. I was semi-productive over the weekend, but took time out for Cupcake Saturday, the Modern Radio 9th Anniversary Gallery Opening, to finally see Persepolis, and to host a Memorial Day BBQ. Last night I did some more post-party cleanup and then built myself another fire. Tonight I’m getting back to the gym. Tomorrow night is a potential getting-things-done night, but then there’s the weekend.
Note: I’ve been hating on Dreamhost, hard, ever since I moved the site to them. Yesterday it was down more than it was up and I wound up receiving an email apology from some dude named Ralph (Wiggum?) about “dataglobs” and their “Blingy” cluster being bad. Boo.
Bonus: Wake Up! It’s They Might Be Giants
Plus: The Sigur Ros video for Gobblidegook. Features a bunch of naked folks frolicking through the woods and on the beach.
And: Watched some new trailers yesterday. The City of Ember looks interesting. And speaking of movies, the Vali-Hi Drive In currently has a triple bill of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Iron Man and Drillbit Taylor. Tempting.
There’s something so appealing to me about the imperfect superhero (is there a term for this genre?) so I’ll admit, I’m excited about the upcoming Will Smith movie, Hancock - the superhero everybody loves to hate. And a co-worker has been reading the Noble Causes comics, the “superhero soap opera” series. Now I need those. Also just grabbed a copy of Monster, 1959 at my local library. The book is like a 50s B-movie gone bad - or good, as the case may be. Totally stoked to start reading that. But there’s much to be done before I can get to it. Starting with the Modern Radio Gallery Opening tomorrow night. I wasn’t sure if I’d have my shit together for it as I’d ordered my frames online - at the last minute - and they arrived just in the nick of time yesterday morning (artwork was hung last night). Phew. So here are the deets:
Saturday, May 24 at First Amendment Arts (1101 Stinson Ave. Entrance on Broadway side. At northeast corner of Broadway and Stinson in Northeast Minneapolis)
The Carrots (Austin, TX. Chris from Gene Defcon on bass)
Togetherness (Bro v. Wade)
Plus DJs/dance party including Bird Peterson, Mike the 2600 King and others.
Gallery and show are All Ages. Show begins 8pm. Gallery is free from 6-8pm. The posters, flyers, photos and the like will be hanging for this month.
Bonus: I was alerted to this ridiculousness before it made it to boing boing. But yeah, the Feds have nothing better to do than infiltrating vegan potlucks? Oh dip, I’m hosting one on Monday. I’m pretty sure it will be FBI-free though.
Plus: Unsettling. Photos of a wedding party before, during and after China’s recent earthquake.
And: This blanket octopus is freaky and beautiful. I could watch that clip over and over again.
Along with my crazed Spring cleaning, I’ve had a serious Spring fever infection. The antidote? Five good things to do out and about:
- Mini-golf returns to the Walker Art Center this Saturday.
- It’s been at least 25 years since I’ve been to Spring Lake Amusement Park, but I’d like to go back. Especially to see the octopus on the mini-golf course.
- Also on my list, I’m serious about finally getting to the Crystal Cave in Wisconsin this summer, and seeing the wacky carousel in Wabasha, MN at Lark Toys.
- The little man has been begging to go back to Duluth, to see our vegan pals and their pets. Hopefully we can pull that off soon.
- Last night I wasn’t gonna, but couldn’t help myself. It was Pizza Farm, Part Deux. The trek was well worth it. Hoping to hit up the Cottage View Drive-In on the way back next time.
Before I give in to more goofing off, I’ve still got some work to do. Been making steady progress. Sold another big ticket item on craigslist yesterday. And the amount of clutter in the house is slowly dwindling, but I really need to tackle the boy’s room. That ought to be a hoot.
Bonus: This bums me out so much: West Side stairs to be razed after rock-fall damage. Drove by yesterday and saw the historic staircase being dismantled. The little man asked me how we’d walk down to Harriet Island without those big green stairs. Good question. There are other routes, but none as awesome or direct. Boo to that.
Been trying to keep it all under control lately. Finally took my car in for repairs. Signed a contract to have my boiler replaced. Called a plumber about coming to check out the leaky bathtub faucet tomorrow. Made significant headway in clearing the clutter out of my house (with the help of friends, again, one of whom mowed the lawn too). Made a trip to Goodwill, ditching a carload of unwanted stuff. Continued to wrestle with the idea of a condo vs. a smaller house - this article didn’t help. Allowed myself too many distractions, in the form of the Flight of the Conchords show, an after hours gathering at work, and a sneak preview of the new Narnia movie. Forced myself to skip both Heliotrope and Art A Whirl - and a road trip to South Dakota - over the weekend. Skipping Pizza Farm tomorrow night in favor of keeping the forward momentum going. Hoping to have some sort of fun in the very near future.
