| Crystal Waters video |
[May. 5th, 2008|07:17 am] |
NSFW
Poll #1182807
Open to: All, results viewable to: AllIs this video: |
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[May. 4th, 2008|11:26 am] |
1. Daniel Johnston, "Do Unto Others"
How many rocks would I stack
on my brother's chest? A rock
for his beauty, a rock for his trust,
and two for lips redder
than a boy's should be.
Granite for his love
of birds; a chunk of quartz
shot through with pink.
For singing on car trips,
hiding in the dryer, and flouncing
down Oak Street in my mother's dress:
limestone, shale, sandstone, flint,
limestone, shale, sandstone, flint.
2. One of the trees in my front yard:
3. A friend told me a story about his experience on jury duty the last couple of weeks. He was part of a jury serving for a murder trial, one of those stupid things that's hard to believe: one eighteen year old shot another one, because the victim looked at his girlfriend. That's it. Anyway, the shooter managed to keep it quiet for years by threatening the witnesses to the act, but someone finally came forward.
My friend reported that after two weeks, deliberations went fairly quickly: it was a pretty clear case of murder, and a guilty verdict was easy to reach. The foreperson was a rock star-ish guy in his early thirties, and he was so shaken by the gravity of signing the verdict - shaken by the finality of sealing this guy's future with one signature - that he puked in the jury room, in front of the other jurors.
4. A chandelier by Dante Marioni, a Seattle glass artist:
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| At Safeway A Dozen Is..... |
[Apr. 28th, 2008|03:38 am] |
I peeled up the handwritten "now 12" sign and it said "14" underneath. |
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[Apr. 25th, 2008|04:25 pm] |
What a perfect day today is. Sunny, cool, mildly breezy. A perfect day to stroll around the neighborhood, listening to wind chimes and dogs barking at mail carriers.
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| Tonight |
[Mar. 11th, 2008|07:46 pm] |
Yoga was nice. It seemed gentle and both relaxed and awakened me, which is a nice combination.
Afterwards, dinner with Jenn at Siwalaya on SE Stark. It was terrible - I was assaulted by terrible service, awful food, obnoxious/loud Asian music, and a bill that was at least twice as high as it should have been. DO NOT GO THERE. Do not let me accidentally drag you there if I have amnesia. |
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[Mar. 2nd, 2008|10:35 am] |
93
There are more countries on this planet than I thought. I could've named probably thirty or forty more before starting to fizzle out, but I ran out of time. |
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[Feb. 22nd, 2008|01:58 pm] |
With great ceremony, I remove the dust cover from the old Remington 22. The machine gives me a nasty look. We haven't seen each other for a long time. The machine is sulking. I had it in pawn for a while. To cheer it up (there's nothing worse than working on a depressed typewriter), I give it a good cleaning. I oil it with petroleum jelly. The Remington shines like a wild rosebush in the rain.... Slowly, daylight enters the room. I flip open the Remington's top and replace the ribbon. The cursor moves smooth as silk. I slip a white sheet of paper in the roller, move my chair in front of the machine, settle in with a bottle of cheap wine at my feet and, once the ritual is over, I put my chin on my palm, dreaming as we all do of being Ernest Hemingway.
Three hours later, the page as white as ever, I decide to clean house (sweeping, cleaning, the dishes) as proof that genius can express itself in a variety of ways. Waves of heat flood in through the window. I pile the books in a corner under the table and stow the typewriter under the bed...
I pick up bottles from under the table, the bed, and the couch. I go down to Pelatt's and get ten cents each from the guy behind the counter... The air is quivering with hear. Strike a match and all of Montreal will go up. I walk slowly. Just ahead of me, a girl comes out of Hachette with Miller under her arm and almost nothing on her back. My temperature shoots up to 120... The slighest spark and I'll blaze like a slum on a Rio hillside. I warned myself to be careful. Every summer I go crazy like this, and a girl eating ice cream is always to blame. Miz Bookstore's flavor is raspberry. In the final analysis, what's a girl with ice cream except someone who is hungry or thirsty? But in the summertime it's more than that. Just as I was about to all in love with Miz bookstore, I see another girl gliding down the street on her radiant bicycle, whistling. I stop breathing. She brakes and stops at the corner. Red light: her left foot on the pavement, her back bent gracefully, the nape of her neck exposed. Girls like to keep their hair short in the summer. Her body like a bent bow. Green light: she shoves off with her right foot on the pedal. Her body like an arrow that flies. Last image: her back a pure line, the graceful movement of her hips, her slender, adolescent thighs. The emotion: the pain of losing someone forever whom you've loved totally, if only for twelve and three-tenths seconds.
--from "How to make love to a Negro," Dany Laferriere |
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| WNYC: New Sounds radio program |
[Feb. 21st, 2008|10:03 am] |
http://www.wnyc.org/shows/newsounds/
New Sounds provides a place for your left and right brain to unwind at the end of day. Host John Schaefer combs recent recordings for one of the most educational and enchanting hours on radio. For 20 years, he's been finding the melody in the rainforest and the rhythm in an orchestra of tin cans.
Schaefer is the DJ I wish I could be. New Sounds is the program I wish that Hopscotch Radio could be.
Past shows are archived here:
http://www.wnyc.org/shows/newsounds/episodes/2008/02
I've listened to the 2/13 show several times this week, New Music for Solo Piano. The first twenty minutes of this show are amazing. A piece from Hans Otte's Book of Sounds (Das Buch der Klänge), and two beautiful and moving songs from Seth Kaufman. |
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[Feb. 19th, 2008|09:46 am] |
Another sign that i'm getting older (as if my graying chin-hairs weren't enough) - I was listening to Carly Simon recently, and thinking that You Belong To Me deserves a great cover version - someone who could really capture the fury of this song, and not just the self-mocking insecurity that CS digs into. I thought, well, maybe someone like Erykah Badu, with her range and passion, could do a number on this song - not that she would be drawn to such a blatantly 'pop' pop song, mind you.
So who comes out with a cover of it at the end of 2007? The baby boomer version of Erykah Badu, the divine Chaka Khan. But not just Chaka Khan - she recorded it as a duet with with the wax dummy of 'blue-eyed soul,' Michael McDonald (whose voice hasn't changed in thirty years, while presumably the rest of him rots away). And I didn't even mind. Sigh. |
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[Feb. 17th, 2008|09:14 pm] |
One reason I'm glad that I'm vegetarian:
Company Orders Largest Recall of Ground Beef
A California meat company on Sunday issued the largest beef recall in history, 143 million pounds, some of which was used in school lunch programs, Department of Agriculture officials announced.
The recall by the Westland/Hallmark Meat Company, based in Chino, Calif., comes after a widening animal-abuse scandal that started after the Humane Society of the United States distributed an undercover video on Jan. 30 that showed workers kicking sick cows and using forklifts and electric shocks to force them to walk.
Here's another reason:
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| breezy update. |
[Feb. 11th, 2008|10:33 pm] |
Ever wonder what Sesame Street's The Count does when he's alone?
Watch this to find out:
*ambiguously* safe for work. proceed at your own risk, I guess.
In other news, I'm doing well. I like my job, my roommates, and my cat. My room is on its way to being clean. I convinced a neighbor to begin digging up the blackberries that are invading my yard, which, I guess, will suffice as a valentine for me this year. My plucky optimism that someone, somewhere will surprise me with the news that they're my secret Valentine is running low this year, but that's alright.
Also, I read two wonderful books lately:
Janet Malcolm, who writes convincingly about other people as a way to describe her own story (she was famously sued for libel; after a ten-year court battle, the man suing her won the case, but was awarded absolutely nothing in damages). In Two Lives, she writes about Gertrude, Alice, Judaism, and the Nazis, and presents a vivid picture of both women. If you like Joan Didion but wish she had more sharper teeth, then Janet Malcolm is the journalist for you.
Call Me By Your Name is the book that I would recommend to, well, anyone. Andre Aciman's novel describes a 17 year old Italian boy's love affair with an American man who comes to stay with his family, and the deeply felt prose moved me to tears over and over. I haven't read such a lovely story in awhile, and I feel sure that it will resonate through me for some time to come (Lance, you in particular need to read it) (but I think everyone ought to check it out).
Also - amber and Drew helped me set up #rathole on efnet - it's the hot new place for rats! See you there!
Anyone want to go see Lars and the Real Girl wit' me tomorrow (Laurelhurst, sevenish)? |
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[Nov. 4th, 2007|03:03 am] |
| [ | music |
| | madonna, "physical attraction" | ] |
Each human life possesses certain sensitivities, dove-pecked injuries, that are never noticed by the casual observer, like invisible cracks in amber.
Words uttered unthinkingly, absentminded glances, careless gestures on the part of our fellow humans, somehow manage to avoid the wise or cynical man, bouncing off his outer wrappings, whereas they seem to follow in the tracks of other people, seeking them out from afar, like cats do certain women. You may be in the company of a certain lady, promenading or sitting in a garden, or even abord a ship, in a reverie -- not a cat in sight within miles -- yet after awhile you suddenly notice a feline lying at your lady's feet, grooming itself. Where this cat came from, you'll never know. Yet there it is, having sensed the presence of that certain woman who will appreciate it.
It's the same way with words and other phenomena in life.
--from Sunflower, by Gyula Krúdy, translated by John Bákti.
Thrill the World was *awesome*. Everyone brought great energy (and those of you who know blackspyder will unnerstand when I say I'm relieved he didn't show) - there were heaps of dancers -- we were the eighth largest Thriller dance worldwide! -- and everyone seemed to have a great time. We also raised over six hundred bucks for SMYRC, local queer youth group. Yah! Something I didn't tell anyone - I found out two days before the dance that there was a shorter, three-minute dance that we could've opted to use instead of the five point five minute one we used. Oh well. Everyone did a great job, so whatevs. My TTW pixx are at http://www.flickr.com/photos/91383426@N00/sets/72157602901744185/
Afterwards, several days in Seattle. First, an evening with Webster and W's friend - a reading at Elliott Bay Book Company on "Jews of Color", then Joanna Newsom w. the Seattle Symphony at Benaroya Hall, where Mel helped us find good seats, which we traded for ridiculous second-row seats. Then three days of quiet and peace in Northgate, wandering around the neighborhood while listening to the Chromatics on ipod. A rest was truly in order. Lots of sleeping, good books, and Indian food. Hurray!
Then back to Portland, where just staying organized is an everlasting challenge. Piles of books, papers, chores, ideas pressing against me, and so little time to go around... What's your secret to staying organized?
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| Thrill the World! October 27th 2007 at Holocene |
[Aug. 28th, 2007|06:30 am] |
"Thrill The World is a worldwide attempt to break the Guinness World Record (GWR) for the Largest Simultaneous Dance with Michael Jackson's “Thriller.” Thousands of people in cities around the world will learn the “Thriller” dance and perform it at the exact same time on October 27/ 28, 2007. If you’ve ever seen the music video and thought, “I wish I could do that!” – this year, you will." - from www.thrilltheworld.com
So. ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) djturtle18 and I have agreed to organize the Portland outpost of this year's Thrill the World! We have a venue; we're going to turn it into a charity event, with donations to benefit gblt teens; and we're putting together a team of volunteers and "team leaders" (folks who can learn the dance ahead of time and teach it to participants on the actual day).
I'm excited! I'm nervous, too. This is a heckuva production to throw together, with a whole slew of regulations (to make it a Guiness event, etc) and complications. We're gonna pull it off, though. It's gonna be great.
If you're local and interested in participating in the event - or helping ahead of time! - let me know. If you're thinking, hmmm... neat idea... head over to www.thrilltheworld.com and find out if your city already has an event.
Check out the dance here, last year's inaugural Thrill the World here, and our myspace page.
(Thanks to qweerdo for alerting me to Thrill the World.) |
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| My desk |
[Aug. 8th, 2007|11:07 pm] |
As suggested by megatronbomb, I decided to share photos of my desk. On the "extended desk" shelving closest to me when I took this photo, there's: a bag of spelt pretzels; a giant plastic bowl filled the remainder of a too-expensive vegetarian dish I got today at Thai Noon that, unexpectedly, had shrimps in it; speakers (hidden) connected to my laptop; my day planner (Quo Vadis); my journal; a notebook for the play I'm (half-assedly) writing; a couple of folders of info related to a dance project I'm helping put together; and my contacts, seldom-worn, in a case.
Zooming in, we swing right past my laptop, which was playing Alamo Race Track at the time, and we're at the Dell Dinosaur that lumbers on, nearing its second decade of life. To the monitor's right, unseen, is the hard-drive, topped with its speakers as well as some CDs that skmo gave me, and a postcard she sent me that says "Le Merde" on it.
To the left of the monitor, there's a Pema Chodron book; my Spanish lessons workbooks; several copies of the latest issue of the Bear Deluxe (want one? let me know and I'll send it to you!); a list of the known Dablings; a collection of Portuguese colonial stamps from the 60s that I bought at a garage sale; a red stainless steel water botle with an orange sticker on it that says, uh, "hedda"; a CD of Gidon Kremer's version of Piazzolla's Maria de Buenos Aires; and a starry box/lamp-stand that contains various forgotten items.
Above my desk, there are two pieces of art, a "memory box/landscape" and a clock whose numbers are drifting around its face in a dream-hallucination.
Below my desk, in various piles and configurations, are a stack of old day-planners and journals; blank paper; various german/english and spanish/english dictionaries; a Hebrew alphabet stamping set that I've never found a use for; some Passover Haggadot; a large stack of library books and movies; and a pile of magazines, which I stopped reading three months ago and am now wondering if I'll ever be able to catch up (New Yorker, Tikkun, In These Times, NYRB, etc..).
On the floor around my desk are two broken ipods (I dropped one of them yesterday at Sheridan's, killing it), a box of coins, and a pin that says "Stop staring at my boobs." |
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| ouch. |
[Jul. 7th, 2007|04:06 pm] |
Yesterday on the way to work, I stopped to pick some lavender (we use it at the restaurant to make lavender lemonade, our summer specialty). While I was ripping some lavender off the bush, a bee snuck out of the bush and stung the palm of my hand.
Afterward, with swollen palm and the intense pain that followed, I still had to ride my bike to work. Mostly one-handed. |
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| News and notes. |
[Jun. 19th, 2007|04:53 pm] |
I'm thinking of quitting the bakery and just working at the restaurant for a month or so, so that I can have some free time to think and play. It sounds very attractive to me.
I had a dream last night that megatronbomb and I traveled in a van with some other people to visit a new development being built around a (dream)lake somewhere in Portland, even though I've never met him. There was something creepy and mysterious about the buildings going up, which was the reason we were heading over there, but I woke up and didn't get to find out what the mystery was all about.
I had a meal in a Howard Johnson's diner in Florida when I was ten or eleven, and I can remember *exactly* how it smelled and tasted.
My cellphone turns itself back on every time immediately I turn it off. AT&T is supposed to send me a new phone. I almost lost it when the service rep on the phone asked me, "Is it on or off right now?"
Almost forty dollars in charges for text messages last month. It turns out they're not free!
I'm reading collections of Cynthia Ozick's essays. As smart and cantankerous as she can be in these, I enjoy them much less than so much of her fiction, which is... well, sexy in an especially Jewish/cerebral kind of way. |
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[Jun. 8th, 2007|12:45 pm] |
Yesterday, I wasn't hungry all day. I ate a little bit here and there, but even when I was home and thinking that I would have a big dinner to 'make up' for how little I'd eaten during the day, I was only hungry enough to eat a small bowl of soup. Unusual for me. When I was going to bed, I figured I'd probably wake up in the middle of the night, finally hungry.
Instead, I dreamed that a guy I know was teaching a class on how to eat things one normally wouldn't eat. There were only ten spots in the class, and I got into it at the last minute, while several people I know were bummed that they didn't get into the class. In the first class, under instructions from the teacher and encouragement from one of the other students, I ate the broken shards of three ceramic coffee mugs, and a plate of scrap metal pieces.
This morning, I am still not hungry. |
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| Seattle. |
[Apr. 14th, 2007|11:44 am] |
I had such a lovely time in Seattle, and there are so many people to thank!
Of course, Mr Montego is at the top of the list. His generosity of spirit continues to amaze me.
wanderingcherie - you are gorgeous! I love you! I think you actually talked me into traveling to Utah. Unbelievable. Scott-du-jour and Jimmy, thank you for a fabulous day/conversation/company.
azalea581, thanks to you and Moose, you have the sexxiest voice I've ever heard, and Moose has the hottest antlers. I know this, because I have a bag full of them. Also, where is Paul's lj? sporkgirl, I'll see you tomorrow so I will get to thank you then.
You were about three times as adorable as I imagined, indiefunk.
And Jason, you were about twenty times as adorable. :)
Also, there were a bunch of random strangers and friends-of-friends who were kind and friendly. Thanks to Seattle for generating and hosting such people.
Also, kitty seems to be all better now. Here's a picture of him where you can see his belly, which has shed all its fur and is now growing new hairs...
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| today |
[Apr. 2nd, 2007|11:01 pm] |
Saturday, my cat Fancy came home drenched in motor oil... I guess he'd leapt into a pan of it somewhere in the neighborhood. My roommate and I spent Saturday night and Sunday morning scrubbing and bathing the poor thing, until he got fed up and ran away. He came home today, seemingly okay and happy to be home but he will not let me pick him up, or do anything resembling it. I imagine he'll forgive me, with time. He's the cutest, though, and I'm glad he's home.
Tonight, I was at a restaurant and this four year old boy who was playing with chopsticks (another kid-in-a-restaurant story, I know) (actually, the same restaurant as last time) said to his mom, "I don't have a boyfriend, momma... You should get me a boyfriend." His mom said something in response that I couldn't hear, and he replied, "But you're supposed to have a boyfriend *and* a girlfriend."
Happy Passover to all! |
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