sweet cracker sandwich!

Happy Birthday, Barb!

2012-01-22T02:33:00.000-08:00

just this: it's nearly 3am, just into bed after a night of celebrating Barb's birthday with some of my oldest friends. we did some math early in the night and decided that we'd all known one another for more than 15 years. toasted Barb's birthday, Georgia's film success, my editing gig and a few things best left unremembered. toward the end of the night my pal e. and i waxed sentimental, pointing out that each of us was the other's first friend made in the dawning days of grad school, 1996.
some of the funniest and most creative people i know were out tonight wishing barb a happy birthday. these are the people i've been spending my holidays with for the last 8 years.
threw down quality moves to both Stevie Wonder (Superstition) and the Stone Roses (Fool's Gold). came close to requesting Ohio Players, but never did.

final note: stripper in a Homer Simpson mask. "niche market" o_0

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BARB! you're tops!

i might just get out of bed to make some toast right now.

Alma Mater, Mother Dear

2012-01-03T22:05:00.000-08:00

came across an alumni registry from my high school. this collection was from 1994.
my entry reads: Ms. Evonne: '85, Sports broadcaster/Student

fun fact: i graduated college in time for my 10 yr high school reunion

echo park & kc accidental

2011-10-29T22:17:00.000-07:00

alternate title: saturday in detail

i've been logging a lot of hours at work. long, long days and weekends spent sitting at the editing console. when a day off rolls around i do my best to do as many things that i love as possible. as this is the beginning of autumn, the quality of the sunlight and the color of the sky are particularly striking. a couple of weeks ago i had a couple days off (in a row! novel!). i was feeling particularly open-hearted and wanting to connect with anyone in the same mood. on that saturday (the one listed in the last post with the photo of the zapatista cyclist) i wrote this letter to my pal l. in kentucky.

*****
10.8.11
l,
i'm just off my bike, sitting in the breezy shade of Fix cafe. we had rain last week and he temperature dropped for a few days so the sky today is that amazing clear, vivid blue we see when there is no haze.

i'm in the midst of one of those days when i've got - not a crush, but a mad affection for the neighborhood. riding through town on a gorgeous day listening to broken social scene will do that. (BSS might cast the same enchantment over I-5 between LA & SF. they've got that knack :) ) some days i maintain a pretty solitary body language when i'm out. i just want to be in my head. but today is a day for fleeting moments on social connection with people on the street. maybe it's the weather. more likely it's the coffee.

there are murals along retaining walls along sunset blvd. btwn silver lake & echo park. today i saw a plaque under the paint that stated the wall was built by the Works Projects Admin in 1940. thoughts in response: 1. it's still standing and in great shape; 2. most of the retaining walls on that stretch of sunset were probably built by the WPA, putting people to work.; 3. why is the idea of a contemporary version of the WPA decried as socialism & folly? what perspective point do people have that they forget the intent of public education? the US post office? solid infrastructure? gah. you can tell the BSS ended. :) point being: i took a photo of the plaque. i'm far from being a architecture nerd but am a fan of good work & stuff built-to-last. do you remember the stamps in the concrete sidewalks from the neighborhood? there are a few on Rowena from 1926. men, because they were assuredly men then, poured that concrete, leveled those walks, and 85 years later they've still there. that is badass.

i attribute part of this glowy-saturday feeling to my decision to not go into work today. i may regret it by next weds. or so, but today it was the right way to go. :0 the job is going very well, as well as i could hope reall. my work has been well received across the board, which is a relief. i'm not up to the speed of the seasoned editors, so i'm putting in some long days. before i turned in the Editor's Cut for my first episode i worked 12 days. the last one ending at 5am with the director due in @ 10:30a to watch the cut. i got 2 hours of sleep & did my best to talk myself out of throwing up from the nervousness. as it turned out, the director loved the cut! he made some changes then 3 hrs later called the exec producer in to watch a couple of scenes. they elicited some big laughs from the EP and nice words of confidence voiced to the man who wanted to hire me (my mentor/editor dave) woo! and whew!

i just started getting footage for my next episode. it was in the interest of preventing those crazy hours that i considered going in today. current plan: go in early on monday. we'll see how that works out...

oh! did you know that hugh laurie recorded an album? i was surprised when i first saw it, then remembered all the singing & piano playing he did on "jeeves & wooster" and "bit of fry & laurie". turns out the songs are all new orleans blues-based songs and the album was produced by joe henry. i love joe henry. he may be my favorite song writer out there and his band is always stunning. so his working on the album gives it some cred. what i wanted to tell you pre-tangent was that hugh l. did a show at the Mint (!) last week. the crowd was 1/2 great, 1/2 chatty people but the show was great fun. hugh l. was witty & charming (natch) and getting his sea legs performing as a musician. early in the set he noticed that he'd been introducing every number by saying, "we're going to play a song..." so he worked at finding a variation. :) the highlight of the show, though, was during the encore when hugh l. introduced his guest: Tom Jones. really. at the Mint. bananas. they performed a song together from the album, the tom j. sang 2 jerry lee lewis songs w-Hugh l. on piano. riotous! by that point the chatters had stopped conversation to sing along. the closer ws "great balls of fire" of course. unreal. science fact: tom jones has pipes. boy howdy no diminished tone or verve on that dude.

i'd intended to write you a note in re: finally getting around to sending you the old letters i told you about but got off topic early on. :) are you doing much writing? do you write at home? from your posts it sounds like you go out. i can't work @ home. sooo many distractions. there was an announcement in the newsletter of skylight books that a YA author was doing a reading there and i thought of you. shapes of things to come, l!

i'm sending you more of these letters than i'd planned. each of them had something in it, maybe just one or two lines that i thought you'd find funny or interesting.

the really angst-y letters are from my jr. high days. the high school notes and letters are funnier. those jr. high days must have been the first whiff of boys, wanting autonomy, pot, etc. lots of "i didn't know you liked him" type missives. i went to an all-girl high school, so there is none of that drama in later letters. just the standard parents-don't-get-it content. :)

i'll put a note on the letter stack to give you some context.

ok. time to wrap this up. i've got to bike home (30 min maybe) and get this stuff in the mail.

i'm seeing nick lowe @ largo tonight. not a bad saturday. :)

hope you're fab!

ps. did you know that the knit nook in the highlands has shut? last time i was in town i saw that they'd called it a day.
alas.

*****
post script: that nick lowe show was fucking fantastic! thanks to flanagan for the rad poster, too!
and more context: in my continuing efforts to keep myself from out-growing my apt i have shedding stuff when i can. i'd told L. about the box of letters i've been posting about here. i sent a small pile of the old letters to her. sociological interest, don'tchewknow.
follow up: a couple weeks after the hugh laurie show, joe henry perfomed at largo. (he has a new album out and it is a stunner.) hugh l. introduced joe. cross-pollination!
HEY! joe henry is doing some shows, including 2 nights in NYC!!

while posting this:
beverage: stone pale ale drunk from a chilled mirror pond ale pint glass.
audio: mitch hedberg: "mitch, all together" until it got too distracting then i put on broken social scene "you forgot it in people" which is what i was listening to the day i wrote this letter. <3

last bit: when BSS ended, brownsville station's "smokin in the boys' room" came up on the itunes. it starts like this:

how you doin' out there?
you ever seem to have one of those days when it seems like everybody's gettin' on your case
from your teacher all the way down to your best girl friend?
well, you know i used to have them about all the time
but i found a way to get out of it.

when i was a kid i had a 45 of this song that skipped right after the line, "but i found a way to get out of it." it would play that groove over and over. i had to stand by the record player so i could tap the needle past the skip. even now when i hear this song i still hear that skip.

and this: i hung a couple of posters tonight: a my morning jacket poster from a show in salt lake city from january 2007, the other from their radio city show in june of 2008.

saturday

2011-10-10T16:39:00.001-07:00

had a terrific weekend full of biking, reading, knitting, music, food and great weather. this photo is from a mural along sunset blvd on the west end of echo park.

CAN YOU DIG IT?!

2011-09-24T23:07:00.000-07:00

alternate title: "The Orphans are a heavy outfit."

when i was in jr. high the movie "the warriors" came out on laser disc and probably played endlessly on cable tv. my brother & his wife had a laser disc player so i logged a LOT of hours watching "the warriors" and "the blues brothers."
this letter is from a girl i knew in jr high: corrine. we first connected over our shared love of cheap trick. in the two years we went to school together (1979 - 1981) she turned me onto the talking heads, the pretenders and b-52s. (that first pretenders album kicked so much ass. man.) you can tell by her choice of stationery, corinne had punk leanings at a tender age. :) i read a bunch of letters tonight from girls in knew when i was young. among the adolescent-dazed, confused, mad-crush letters this one was a bright bit of comedy.

notes for context:
- foo is my family nickname. for a while i tried to shake it. (it did not work. my family calls me foo to this day.)
-nylon shorts were VERY big in california in the summer of 1981
-i didn't want to attend the high school in my district and was campaigning with my mom to attend Lincoln High
-i was visiting my sister in Nebraska when corrine sent me this letter
-i had a boyfriend in 8th grade whose last name was Hoffman

here is her letter:
**********************

punk power!!
7/25/81

dear foo (just kidding),
Hi! How's life in Nebraska? I played Alien Invaders at Macy's. Space Invaders is way better. Well, life the slums is very boring. i got my shorts yesterday night: blue stripies, red & white 50/50's and the white nylon ones ( I found a large) I sure hope you're with your "new summer clothes," i'm not. (just kidding) Me & my mommy went to Beverly Fabrics. Guess who i saw there? No, not Sal, Michelle M!! YUKK!! It was a disgusting and riscue [?] sight. You know something? she looks like a bubba! i mean it!!!
Did you see any babes on the plane? You betta. I heard Dirty Deeds last night...done dirt cheap!!-->

RIFFS, YEAH RIGHT!!! Warriors, come out to play, Warriors, come out to play, WARRIORS COME OUT TO PLAY!! WARRIORS...
C'mon...C'mon...HAHAHAHAHAHA the baseball scene...the bathroom scene...Cyris...the baseball furies, Rogues, Riffs, the farmboys & the WARRIORS!!!!!! Why? Becuz you SSUCK!!!!
Well, any ways, guess what's happening (QUE PASA) next month? Their [sic] gonna have a Showtime Preview!! Guess what's playing?:
1. Brubaker
2. Cookie Goes To the Hospital
3. I'll Cry Tomorrow
4. No Deposit No Return
5. Laff-a-thon #3
6. Friday the 13th
7. Sensuous Nurse
8. Up the Academy
9. Running
10. Rascal Dazzle
11. The Forbidden Planet
12. Players
13. The Wacky World of Jonathan Winters #3
14. Blue Fire Lady
15. All That Jazz
16. Best of Bizarre
17. THE SHINING!
18. Mulefeathers
and that's all...
Maybe you could spend the night at my house that day and come with me to guard the next morning [she was going to be in Color Guard the next fall at Lincoln High]...that is, if you want to if not, it's cool. so tell me how Nebraska is treating you... I hope you can go to Lincoln even though your friendly friend Elizabeth is going, you just betta come to Lincoln. Have your mom call sometime in August. I'm sorry if this page is so sloppy but nobody's perfect. right? right?? Well, Guess who's on Kids Are People Too? BROOKE SHIELDS... "@%&#!!!!" Well... -->
I think that this is gonna be my sign-off page. so i will talk to you a little bit more...did you get any more clothes up in Nebraska? i got a pair on lay-a-way at the Pruneyard. They are really cute. they're gray corduroy straight let pleats. i like em!! I'm gonna buy some gray moccasins for school. i don't give a shit of what anybody thinks of them. Well, you know that really cute tube top you bought? i tried one on but it didin't look right on me. Well, i'd better be jamming now. try to get a flight home on August 9th ok? alright. well, i'd better sign off now...BYE!!

love, corrine flores

later mrs. hoffman..."baahaa"

ps. please write back!!!

pss Sorry about the sloppiness...

**********
that list of movies, etc. playing on the cable preview kills me. "sensuous nurse!" ha!
also, her last name wasn't Flores. clearly she had a thing for a guy with the last name Flores, but i can't remember who he was.

snacks of note: bottle of red wine (Rook from jill's fab wine shop on melrose...), boursin & pita chips (dinner of champions!)

Rad Thing of the Day

2011-09-02T00:39:00.000-07:00

Brian P. of Northern Flicker Films has been recording "the last film i saw" podcast for a few months now. i was hoping to write up a clever, enticing description so that you might listen to it. however, it is almost 1 am and i'm less clever than i might have been 4 hours ago.

so.

i love this podcast. Last Film I Saw Podcast

fun fact: in episode 8 you can hear me being interviewed about the last film i'd seen, and wax technical about editing Brian P's short films.

man. i am going to rewrite this tomorrow.

i was here august 10, 2011

2011-09-02T00:27:00.000-07:00

north shore river walk, pittsburgh, pa

31 years ago tomorrow

2011-09-01T23:06:00.000-07:00

four months after my last blog post the topic that compels me to post again is the content of that letter box. i spent the summer alternately working crazy hours and road tripping so i never finished clearing out that box. tonight i took another crack at it.
a few years ago i read some entries in the diary that i kept from january 1979 - march 1981. much page space was devoted to the crushes that i had and which of my friends were getting along. dull stuff. but! there are some entries that pretty entertaining.
it's a Hello Kitty diary, so all the entries begin, "dear kitty."
here is my entry from september 2, 1980

Fair!
tuesday september 2, 1980
Dear Kitty,
today ASB [Associated Student Body - i was in student gov't in 8th grade] had a meeting at school. We have a new Vice-Principal (Mr. Butler). GET THIS! He came from Markham [another Jr. High School] and Mr. Jay got transferred to Willow Glen High! [the H.S. i wanted to attend.] When BC & I found out we were trippin' way out! he knows Pat M. very well! I would guess so! (cute kitd that he is!) We (BC, Mary & Me) walked to Mary's baby sitting job then Karen drove us home.
I'm beginning to dig my stereo. Its sound is cool! Pat Benatar sounds excellent on it! (courtesy KSJO! #1!) love it, love it, love it!!
Don & Mom took me & Biz to the show and saw "Smokey & the Bandit II". It was sooo excellent! Jerry Reed saves the day! He's sooo cool!
This school year is gonna be a trip. "Sailing" just came on. I almost changed it then didn't cause it sorta keeps thoughts instead of bringing back memories. It's been 1 day since we left. Uvas [campground] now seems like a super great dream & we woke up when we drove through the gates. I thought about me & Herb smoking a "j". I wonder what {all the guys we met while camping} thought of me. I mean: ok kid, pesty twirp, ugly but nice. stupid personality. or something else like that. I wonder. Good to know? Bad to know? (Where on Earth shall we go? Is there anyone on Earth who will care? Is anybody out there?)
No, yes, maybe, I don't know. Can't tell. (what's with all the poetry? huh?!) this is too strange for me. G'nite.
Rock Rules

**************
post script
--the Don who took us to the movies was a family friend. he was from Michigan, living with us while he was getting cancer treatment at Stanford.
--My dad is a truck driver (still at age 76!) so "Smokey & the Bandit" was a big deal around our house. Also, during the 1970's my dad was a dead ringer for Jerry Reed. Really.
--from the time i was a tiny kid, every summer my family camped at a place called Uvas Meadows near Morgan Hill. my mom and i would spend weeks and weeks there. my grandparents also had a camp spot there. the month before this entry was my 13th birthday. my parents let me take 3 friends to Uvas for a week of camping and carrying on. a boy i'd met the previous summer was there with his cousins. we girls spent a lot of time walking past their camp, etc. anywhoo, for my 13 yr old self, this was a BIG week. i didn't have sex or anything, i think i just got a taste of hanging out with guys without being a silent wreck (i've read those earlier entries).

here is a bit of another entry:
Tuesday, January 13, 1981
...Uvas Meadows was sold. That means I'll never go back there for vacation again. Just to move the trailer. It has to be out by Feb. 15th. I just hit me. All my memories, 13 yrs of them, all left behind. Just gone. I don't know what to do now. (I should go to bed.)...

a bit melodramatic, but i was headed straight into surly-teen territory. *shudder*

Box Full of Letters

2011-04-27T13:13:00.000-07:00

i've had "toss out old letters and diaries" on my list of things to do for at least a year. i'm trying to keep from out-growing my apt and weeding out the letters i wrote and received in grade school is a good place to start.
i've got one box of letters labeled, "letters 1974 - 1980?" it's got valentines from my parents and graduation cards and many, many letters from junior high school. most of them are dull notes about shopping, homework, boys, feuds and late 70's AOR radio. but they are short! so, on their way out, i thought i would post a few here. they aren't letters i've written (the impetus for this blog), but have received.

here our first entry: from my friend who signs her letter by here middle name, Buu:

3/4/81

Thanks for the letter. I missed them. I can't wait til Friday. Oh yeah! Kim's coming too. It'll be neat. I don't think we'll be able to go shopping tomorrow. My mom isn't planning to go, so I don't know. Boomer's going friday, if you and Carrie want to go with her.
I've been so blah lately. Everything bothers me if I'm not busy. I've got such bad cramps I think I'm gonna die. I mean it. Man. Barfomatic! Ha! Ha! I'm just kickin' back against my bedrest. It's comfortable! Guess what's on KOME? "Back in the Saddle!" Owww! Back...back" ha! ha!
Well, gonna jam now. Write back okay? I can't write really good right now. I'm on some kind of guilt trip. Well, gonna jet now. Taking off! Bye!

**even without the date i think her use of barfomatic dates this letter but perfectly. we were in 7th grade. i know this b/c by 8th grade we didn't hang out anymore. she sealed the note with a wax impression of a peace sign :) **

ok, i just found one dated july 1978. it's from my next door neighbor, susan. we grew up together. she sent this to me while i was visiting my sister in nebraska. i can only guess i told susan about the acres of corn there. we're about 11yrs old**

Dear Evonne,
Hi corn makes me wako anyways. The game of cards sounds weird but fun. Nicole is the cutest thing you ever saw she is getting big.
4 tom cat kittens. weren't there any females in the litter?
your stationery "bits & pieces" is cute. this is Leslie's but i'm using it anyways. she left it here. jenny left today. She's been here for 2 days. that wrap you up thing is cute. I tried to help him but i couldn't. i'm eating a cheese cake dessert. it's good. i'm going to Great America tomorrow. is it fun there?
well by. love & stuff

**at a certain point she left off writing "I" and drew picutres of eyes instead. awesome!**
Leslie is her big sister. Nicole is one of my nieces, then about a year old.
for the record, i also cleared out a journal i had to keep during one of my Theater classes. good lord. i will not be posting any of my ruminations about Brecht or acting.

while posting: heard Billy Bragg: "Don't Try This at Home" and Eef Barzelay: "Bitter Honey"
now leaving b/c it's getting close to 80º in my apt.

more walking pix

2011-03-08T14:51:00.000-08:00

a couple of weeks ago a cold storm passed through los angeles county. brought a lot of rain and snow. i took this pic walking to kaldi coffee via the hyperion bridge. i'm still reveling in being able to walk distances and am gob smacked by the stunning views in the neighborhood.

new neighbors

2011-03-04T17:29:00.000-08:00

some time last year i saw a heron sitting in a eucalyptus tree at the silver lake reservoir. i stood, leaning on my bike observing it in the branches. this last weekend i was walking around the reservoir and saw this sign! i've seen a few herons that i took to be flying through the area. i had no idea they nest here!
i didn't see any herons while walking around the reservoir this day, but later as i was walking on rowena near the coffee table, one flew over headed toward the LA river.

whoop!

i'm your man

2011-01-14T16:45:00.000-08:00

last spring my friends brian and margaret produced a short film titled, "i'm your man." margaret adapted her story to screenplay and brian directed the film. i cut it. brian is in portland, i'm in los angeles, so we were working long distance. after making a pass of the film i'd send a quicktime to brian. he'd watch it then send me notes. since he wasn't in the cutting room i wanted him to see what his film looked like on the avid. i sent him this pic.
the finished short is on brian's site: northern flicker films. i've cut two shorts for brian and one music video.
fun fact: i cut this during slower times while working on a tv show. we couldn't have afforded the avid rental otherwise. ;)
last week brian launched a short film podcast: last film i saw.

his and margaret's futon is often where i camp out when i stay in portland. last May they loaned me this folding chair and a flashlight for my sasquatch campsite. that chair has cupholders: brilliant!

what i'd inteded to be a "pic du jour" is shaping up to be a love letter to my pals m & b, so i'll cut this short.

in summation: they are amazing and i'm lucky my path continues to cross theirs. usually near terrific beer. and mexican food. in portland.

assorted snaps

2011-01-12T18:47:00.000-08:00

yesterday i loaded all the pictures i've taken with my phone to my computer. while i'm putting a few together for posts about trips i've taken there are a few odds and ends.
I took the pic above while waiting at a drawbridge in south carolina. i'd just eaten at a beach front place called, poe's and was heading back into charlotte for a minor league baseball game. the camera feature in the phone was still new to me.
this is a knitting chart for the sleeve of a baby sweater. took this pic during a sunny afternoon sitting on the patio at Silver Lake Coffee. (i do log a lot hours on that patio.) i'm still knitting this sweater. just about to block all the pieces and sew them together.
this is another shot involving the baby sweater:
this one taken outside Kaldi Coffee in Atwater Village. i was just beginning to knit the right, front side of the cardigan. i'm one cappuccino down, and into an iced americano. :)
fun fact: the yarn is cascade's dolly merino purchased at Little Knittery a few doors down from Kaldi.

crutch-b-gone or: rock, sole, danger!

2011-01-05T11:08:00.000-08:00

in mid-october i broke the fifth metatarsal bone in my right foot. it's the long bone connected to the pinky toe. it wasn't horrible or too painful, but it definitely changed my day to day life in small ways. Every two weeks i've been going to the podiatrist, having x-rays taken and looking for signs of healing in them. after four weeks of this i realized just how slow this area is to heal and that i could stop bringing that right shoe with me on appointment days. After 2 1/2 months of my using crutches, yesterday my doctor told me to walk without them. (!) i'm still wearing a fashionable black surgery-shoe with velcro fasteners for another two weeks. i might be able to wear sneakers after my next check-up.
since i've been given the go-ahead to ditch the crutches i decided this is a good time to list some of the things i've missed being able to do while i had to use them.

it is in no particular order. as more things come to me i'm going to add them, but i'll add them to the top so you don't have to scroll down to the bottom to see if anything new has been added.

taking walks: haven't taken a walk since october. i've had to drive EVERYWHERE. (think the last walk was to the burger joint w-paul in nyc the day i got hurt)
using non-disposable dishes and flatware at work: i gave up using the stuff i have at work b/c i couldn't carry it all back and forth to the kitchen in the next bldg to wash it
climbing onto stools: i have 2 lightbulbs in my apt that have been out since oct. b/c i couldn't climb & balance on a stool to change them
walking and carrying a coffee cup: the day i realized a travel mug fit in the side pocket of my backpack the world opened up!
standing comfortably: i'm happy to give my left hip a break.
wearing vintage jackets & sweaters: i haven't worn any delicate stuff since i put a hole in the arm pit of a lavender cashmere sweater the first time i wore it while on crutches.
wearing shoes: been limited to wearing sneakers and one boot: my nicer shoes weren't cushy enough to bear all the crutching.
doing my laundry
putting away things that belong on shelves
taking out my garbage without an ordeal
going on coffee runs in the afternoon at work
riding my bike
sewing: i haven't been confident about pulling heavy cartons of fabric out of the closet, and couldn't stand for all the cutting and pressing
cleaning my apartment: sweet jesus i can't wait to sweep behind the red chair in the living room

today i used my over-the-shoulder laptop bag to haul my computer to work instead of loading it into my backpack. i also climbed on a stool to pull a nice sweater down off the shelf.

it's a brave new world.

last tuesday afternoon of 2010 in postcards

2010-12-28T17:38:00.000-08:00

**this one is to my pal, u. in san francisco. the CDR mentioned in this note is the podcast of Comedy Death Ray. I’m commenting on the Dec. 17 xmas episode. i've never seen "Bored To Death" but i'm a fan of its creator, Jonathan Ames, and actor Zach Galifinakas.**

Tues dec 28^th 2010 – closing in on the end of the year…

After what seemed like weeks of uninterrupted rain we’re having some bright, sunny, warm days here. Warm enough for shorts, but still I’m in pants. The weather reminds me that I haven’t worn flip-flops in 2 mos. TWO MONTHS! What kind of living is this, I ask? Thinking of popping in @ my local nail salon to just say hello. The new year provides a good excuse. :) ¶ Spent some time @ a new-ish used book store near Kaldi: found a 1^st edition of M. Chabon’s “Mysteries of Pittsburgh!” I’m not a collector, but picked it up. $15.oo cheap. I’ve read it so many times. :) ¶ Listened to the CDR xmas special. A Bob Ducca ailment caused me to laugh loudly @ SL Coffee. Good thing the patio was empty but for me. :)

**I once visited with my sister Deb while she made a meatloaf of ground turkey. At one point as I helped her by pouring dried oatmeal into the bowl as she mixed it she asked, “do you put oatmeal in your meatloaf?” Unless lentil burritos are considered “meatloaf”, I’ve never made one. That she thought I had my own “meatloaf method” killed me. this card is going to her.**

12.28.2010

So, Elvis’ cook used saltines where you use oatmeal. Maybe it’s a southern thing. :) Funny, I’ve had this postcard for years waiting for just the right recipient. When I saw it today I said, “yes!” ¶ Thank you for the merry xmas text your sent! @ 6:30 am. You are an earlier riser than the rest of us. The double whammy of broken-foot & torrential rains kept me from my xmas ritual of hiking followed by a movie. Spent the morning putting on soup in the slow-cooker. Spent the evening sitting at an outdoor café chatting w-a woman who reminded me of my pal, Vinnie, drinking cappuccinos. Today is bright & sunny – I’m soaking in sun, sipping iced coffee, writing post-cards & watching the neighborhood go by the café patio. I’m off until Jan. 3. Work is shut. Still can’t walk w-o crutches, so I’m a bit stir crazy. This sun is helping, tho. Spectacular day!

Oh! You’ve got the wrong zip code for me!

**for a couple years now i've received letters from my sister even though she's using the wrong zip-code.**

**this to my friend and college-era housemate, s. in santa rosa.

Hey! It’s the last Tuesday of the year… After the days & nights of crazy rain & cloudy days we’ve got some brilliant, sunny, warm weather. The days are still short: The sun is down by 5pm, but while it’s up, I’m gonna be sitting here. :) ¶ This is the kind of day that has a person resolve to Do Something. To Get Things Done and Be a Good Person. You see Potential. I’m fortunate that I have enough experience w-this feeling tht I’m not writing down any of the ideas for action nthat are popping into my head: the enjoyable part is just considering them all. The good stuff will surface again on a not-sun-soaked afternoon. When I am willing to act on it. :) I think the coffee has plenty to do with it. And the groovy tunes. Man, the advent of the walkman in the 80s changed my young life. And here I am w-an mp3 player & headphones in 2010. But, of course!

**this one to my pal, mel: my college-drop-out-era housemate, and old friend.**

3:15p – from a still sunny spot on the patio of Kaldi Coffee – Atwater Village.

The sun is bright & warm today, but it is still winter so it’s low in the sky. Although it’s still early in the afternoon the shadows are getting long. This time of year, at this time of day I am unsettled, trying to remember which café patio has direct sunlight the longest. [I think it’s Silver Lake Coffee – will likely head there soon] I’m looking for the highest ground on the north side of the street. :) ¶ 30 min ago I was feeling all the potential & momentum that a dry sunny day brings after rain. But then I went into the café to order a cappuccino. Had to wait for a while. Then had to put additional coins in the parking meter. By the time I sat down the spell was broken. The breeze is stirring, cool. But then! I took a sip of this coffee: brilliant! AND the song, “Lake Swimming” by Laura Veirs came up on the mp3 player. Gorgeous! ¶ I brought knitting, a novel & postcards out today. Ended up just writing postcards. Something I noticed: when I’m writing letters or p-cards, I spend time looking around @ traffic, people, birds, the sky. When I’m knitting, I’m always looking @ what I’m working on. This is a good enough reason to write at least one p-card every time I plant myself @ a café. Make the most of being in a public place. :) Think I’ll pull out a quilt top in progress from the depths of the closet tonight. Haven’t sewn in months & it’s starting to wear on me. Boxed up this proj. over a year ago. Alright then: IT’S ON! (there’s that potential I was talking about!)

**I notice that while I am writing the last card I am trying to recapture the glow I felt in the third. So much so that I dare to write down a Big Idea when I said I wouldn’t.**

transcription stuff of note:

snax: avocado, cucumber tomato sandwich. xmas cookies from u. in sf!

tunes: richard swift: the atlantic ocean; duke's birth announcement mix

cuffs

2010-12-21T12:00:00.000-08:00

saw this lying on the ground near the dumpster at my apt. bldg.
not sure if my neighbors are fugitives or fetishists.

Cheez-Its, Etc

2010-10-08T10:45:00.000-07:00

**special props to BeeKay of Fancy Italian Words for today's title**

just about two months ago i made a whirlwind trip to Chicago. left los angeles at 4:30am on saturday and was back sunday at 10pm.

i don't know that i have much time to write about that short trip, but these things happened:

--4:30 am run to Ontario airport with easily fooled quoting "30 Rock" and dishing season 1 of "Mad Man" the entire way
--right off the blue line in Humboldt Park popped into the Boiler Room for a restorative before heading to hotel s & s for some of this:
--and this:
--at 3am cabbed to chez superschein to find a bed all set up for me.
--woke at 9:30am to the sound of the toddle upstairs running wind sprints on the wood floor.
--then breakfast with allison @ over easy: my. favorite. breakfast. spot. in. chicago. *swoon*
(i agree that the humpty dumpty painting back there is creepy.)

what's really brewing under this clumsy string of pix is what the week of my birthday was like. i'm not implying besotted shenanigans, but a small thing, the arrivial of a piece of correspondence in my mailbox, that changed things. for the better. but still, felt like i'd gotten walloped with a big fish. i'm not trying to be coy by being vague, i just don't have time to get into it.

also: the rest of the week was pretty terrific.. :)

10am and things are HAPPENING!

2010-08-07T10:11:00.000-07:00

Barry and Ben, the floor installers are here and making changes in the kitchen!
the fridge and stove are in the vestibule. the old lino is coming up!
here are some articles that Ben found when he moved the fridge:

Before they leave they are also going to move my piano away from the wall so i can paint back there! i've been wanting to paint that wall, but couldn't bring myself to ask my friends to move the piano. it's a player, and just too heavy. but i will be more comfortable asking them to move it only once, back against the wall.

more to come!

the gents pulled the piano away from the wall and discovered a lost set of house keys. today is full of found stuff already.
here are some progress shots:
the piano away from the wall. i've started taping off the mouldings.

me behind the piano! haven't been back here for almost 7 years.

floor progress shot: the wood flooring laid down, awaiting the application of cement.

and now i'm running out of energy. and masking tape. as long as i get a chunk out of this task this morning i'll be confident i can get it all finished, and piano back in place by sunday afternoon. oof. now i have to move a cabinet of cds to get to part of the piano wall. need food...
DONE!
I'll take a clearer pic of the tile after i've eaten. i thought they'd be done about an hour ago, so i hadn't planned to be w/o lunch. it's lovely! they did a terrific job!
oh man...hungry...more when i come back.

taupe, smokey taupe, carriage ride, neat sail...

2010-07-21T11:29:00.000-07:00

these are all names given to shades of color of paint. matte, flat, eggshell, luxe, semi-gloss, latex...names of finishes. i am painting today! just one big wall in the living room. i might do the hall tomorrow. (i'd do more of the living room but i can't move the piano by myself)
i've decided to blog my efforts. i'll keep the text brief (so that i can get to the painting), but post some pix. first off, the foundation of all good work: breakfast!

note the Larrupin' sauce. this is a loving tribute to the Tom/Onion from Los Bagels in Arcata. *pine*
for the record: the book is PG Wodehouse's "Life With Jeeves", coffee from Stumptown roasters, Portland OR.

last night i moved the furniture and taped off the moldings. the light isn't that good at night in this room so i was wearing a head lamp while taping. there is an inverse relationship between the rad usefulness of the head lamp and its ability to make one look like a dork. NO REGRETS!

more in a few..
here we go! i started with the trim. remembered to turn off the pilot on the heater (why has that been on all summer?)
i was going to do 2 coats of trim, then do the walls, but time is of the essence so having completed the trim, i'm just going to launch into the first coat on the wall.

these pix are grey b/c we have an overcast sky today (HUZZAH!), but the color looks terrific! can't wait to get the first full coat on. and so: to it!

trim painting soundtrack: Roxy Music: "Siren" followed by Preservation Hall Jazz Band: "Preservation"
next up: Helio Sequence: "Keep Your Eyes Ahead"
now drinking: mineral water. refreshing!

i had a special request from my ms. cp for a pic of me in the headlamp. please keep in mind this is a simulated action shot, so the light in the room is quite bright. :)
COAT ONE APPLIED! behold:
this pic has a yellow cast to it. :\ and b/c all the trim is covered with masking tape, you can't see the nice contrast between the new paint and the white trim.
here is the rest of the wall, continuing to the left:

i don't want to jinx myself, but so far i haven't walked in any wet paint spills, or gotten paint on too many things that i hadn't intended to paint (my legs, for example).

i've got another 3 hours to let this dry. on my list: get in a walk and some quality iced joe. and maybe some tacos. what's not to love about tacos?

days in the neighborhood

2010-07-06T14:00:00.000-07:00

i took this pic surreptitiously from my car. it was meant to capture an actor/comedian, of whom i am a huge fan, who happened to be standing on the opposite corner. i felt like an ass taking the pic, and was kind of relieved that it turned out i was holding the phone so low that he was obscured by the car at the light. no real story here, i just thought it would be a funny pic for the page. intersection of note: Commonwealth @ Los Feliz Blvd.

in an effort to take advantage of time off this summer, i've been doing a lot of sewing and knitting. i've got a still-unfinished dress draped across my sewing machine. i have to move the pieces every time i want to use the machine. i put in some time on it last week: finally got the collar in. next up: easing and shaping the sleeve caps. not a ton of work, really, just tough to get my (summer scattered) mind around it.

last fall i bought a book called "one yard wonders." it's full of projects that require only one yard of fabric. i thought this would be helpful in my plan to use some of the yardage in my closet. many of the pieces are one yard or less, intended when purchased to be used in quilts. so far i've made 3 projects from the book. really two, but i made one twice. :)

here is what i finished this morning: a new ironing board cover:
i LOVE this fabric. i bought it at least 8 years ago while on vacation in Arcata. i bought enough of it to make a dress, but as the years passed and i filled out *cough* i lost my enthusiasm for a dress that might draw comparison to the little cows on the bottles. so, i've been toting YARDS of this for YEARS. i used a little of it when i made some potholders a few years ago.

i used the pattern to make covers for the smaller, tailoring ironing board that i have:
there is a 2nd board for pressing sleeves on the underside of this board. i've got two more small domestic projects like this that i'd like to make: a clothespin apron and a sewing machine cover. as ever, choosing the fabric is that bit that slows the whole process. i vacillate between the cute/kitschy and the pretty. eh.

last month i made a bag for my pal l.'s birthday. this was also in the one yard book. i used light cotton where they recommended a heavier cotton/canvas. i had trouble finding fabric i liked for her in the heavier weight, so in the end went for the pattern i liked best.

it wasn't a complicated pattern. the bits that took the most time were the curved seams. since i used a busy fabric, i didn't stew about whether there were folds in the curves. i had a couple of small ones. (excluding 2 full days of fabric shopping) overall it took about 3 days to make. you could cram it into two, but it would have to be pretty focused. i had a deadline, so worked at a steady clip for the first day, completing the exterior of the bag. i spread the lining and clasp construction over a couple days.
here are some construction pix:
the finished bag exterior:

the lining: the (comically small) pocket pinned in place & the top band with half of the magnetic clasp in place. [this was my first time installing a mag. clasp. it's heavy for such a light weight bag, but otherwise i dig it]

**bonus: you can see the old ironing board cover under the pieces here. it's stained from steam and batik wax: eyesore is the word that comes to mind.
here is the finished bag:
i'm going to make one for myself from some grey wool suiting. (of course i bought the suiting when fab shopping to make this bag.)

i've also been logging some long hours reading and staring off into the blowing palm trees at my favorite cafe patios round town. and knitting. so far: 3 pair of baby booties, and 10 baby clothes hangers. 'tis the season among my friends. in an effort to get some of these knit goods out the door i'm sending the booties and hangers separately.

after a light rain this morning, the sun has broken out. i am heading out for some patio/cappuccino time.

of note:
pre-post lunch: rad salad that included bleu cheese crumbles, eye of the hawk ale
music: m. ward, "post war"-->frightened rabbit, "winter of mixed drinks"
on deck: pedicure

sometimes i dream of willie mays

2010-07-02T14:44:00.000-07:00

it's been slow going, but i've revved up my post-card and letter writing mojo and am putting missives into the post again. here are two cards i posted this week.
the title of this post is from a song by the Baseball Project. it's a recollection of being a kid and making the trip to Candlestick Park to see Willie play. i've been on reminiscence overdrive for the last month and this song has been in heavy rotation in the homestead.

further postcards...

i wrote this a couple days ago to my pal, m. in s.f. The pic is of a statue behind the SF Giants' ball park. it's commemorating the SF Pacific Coast League team, the Seals. (damn, but i've got baseball on the brain lately. O! Summer!)

Weds June 30, 2010: the last day of June. Tomorrow begins the torturous countdown to the end of my vacation. alas! This afternoon finds me sitting at a neighborhood cafe, feet up, Americano at hand, writing a few cards & putting some effort in toward my summer reading.
I just had this moment: sitting in breezy shade looking @ blue blue sky, trees & power lines, the door to the cafe was propped open & I could hear Peter Frampton singing, "Show Me the Way." Took me directly to summer 1975--sitting by our backyard pool, listening to KFRC and those big, open, endless summer days. Too many chores as an adult. housekeeping. the minutae of day to day living gets in the way of those wide-open days. well. in the coming month i'm reducing that drek to its bare minimum! Deadlines be damned. oh! i am going to Outside Lands this yr. if yr not in MA that weekend think about coming out w-me! Gordo's! mmj! what could be better?

#2: written to my long ago san jo roommate, mel. some of the things i wrote to her are similar to the card #1. mel & i were roommates when we both worked at tower video. when i moved to humboldt, we corresponded for awhile. eventually we lost touch. thru the tendrils o' f/b we were recently reunited.

the day finds me sitting on a patio in a residential part of Echo Park. For some reason this summer i've been particularly reflexive-thining about summers past. I suppose it's b/c I have so many strong memories of summer from my childhood. The result is that i'm listening to a mix of songs from 1974 on my headphones and staring off into the trees & power lines. ("Rock the Boat" -> "Bennie & the Jets." heady stuff :) )I'm reading Michael Chabon's "Mysteries of Pittsburgh" for probably the 4th time. it's set during the summer. the summer after the narrator finishes college. I love this book. I know if I'd read it when i was younger i'd love it, but from a very different perspective. I'm an absolute fan girl for m. chabon.
I've been doing quite a lot of sewing & knitting: baby shoes by the gross. I've got a rad dress that's been on the back burner for months. it's a 1950's style shirt dress made in fabric decorated with red, yellow & green tractors. My no-pressure goal is to have it finished in July. I have 5 yds of Elvis fabric that i want to use to make another, but FIRST THINGS FIRST!
While i was in portland i got to see Ron & Dave (i can't remember if you knew dave...) it was terrific. Really something to be w-these guys who knew me @ 19. After so long Just one of th things that put me in that reflexive place. Whew. Since getting home its been on odd mis of pure-slack & high drama. Me, i'm more about the slack. :)
ps. attended 25th anniversary of Pee-Wee's Big Adv. last sunday. FANTASTIC fun! "Pee-Wee, listen to reason!"

can't get "South Hampton Dock" out of my head.

2010-05-16T21:01:00.000-07:00

**another day, more quality hours logged at Kaldi cafe. wrote this p-card to my pal, p. in white plains**

Sunday May...15? 16? eh. Sunday.
Walked into Kaldi coffee this afternoon and heard something familiar playing. Turned out to be a Marillion song...one of those that at one time was in heavy rotation chez moi. A couple of yrs ago I pulled a bunch of old CDs out to sell. I gave a few of them a last spin to see if I wanted to keep them. This Marillion album, "Misplaced Childhood" was one of them. As anthemic & prog-y as ever, but my heart wasn't in it. And so, to Amoeba...
This album was so a concept record that I can't remember the song title b/c they were all so obtuse. :)
Anywhoo. It kind of blew my mind to hear it out in a cafe, not in the studio apt. of a friend w-a bunch of D&D figurines. Since I'd outted myself as having a soft spot for the Prog during that R. Waters Coachella set, I knew you'd be the right ear for this story. :)

**a couple years ago p. & i spent a day @ coachella. the headliner that night was roger waters. he was playing a varied first set, then coming back and performing "Dark Side of the Moon." i had to leave early b/c i had an early work day. as r. waters took the stage, p & i had some dinner, then started across the grounds to leave. now. this is when my dormant pink floyd zeal came to the surface... we got near the stage, i recognized the song he was playing, grabbed p's arm and yelled, "it's "Fletcher Memorial Home" from "the Final Cut!" I've never heard him do this before!" at which point we stopped to listen. 20 min later, p was laying on the grass and i was still enthralled by the music.
now i wanted some coffee for the long drive home. while waiting for joe, waters & band took a break, and came back out to perform "Dark Side". at the end of "Time" i told p. we had to make a break for it or i wouldn't leave until the end of the show.

i was what you might call a serious teenager: distracted by the cold war, and the threat of a nuclear war (ahh, the 80's). the anti-war, critical of the existing powers (ronald reagan, margaret thatcher) era of pink floyd was right up my alley. it wasn't a new thing, i credit my brother with turning me onto them when i was very little. he was 13 when "Dark Side..." came out. he called me into his room, had me put on his headphones, then played "On the Run". that's the wild stereophonic piece. blew my little mind.

my parents wouldn't let me recreate the album cover of "The Wall" on my bedroom wall, so i used the back side of a 4' x 5' sheet of paneling, then hung that up. when "The Final Cut" came out, i left school early and caught bus 82 to tower records to buy it. when i heard on the radio that the band had broken up, i went into our basement found a plastic floral wreath, spray painted it black, and hung it on my locker door at school.

so, i was serious, but still a dork. and i still listened to Cheap Trick, Triumph, the Greg Kihn Band, so it wasn't all about dying in a mushroom cloud or during a nuclear winter.
(after typing this i reached over and grabbed the thesaurus on my desk. i've had this thesaurus since i was 9 yrs. old. this is a pic of one end: ha!)

i don't have any pink floyd albums on CD, and don't ever play the records. but i still have most of them. getting completely caught up in the music walking across that field at coachella, was a total surprise to me.

since roger waters started releasing solo records in the mid-80's i've been to lots of his shows. oh my, some good times, those shows. (again, ahh, the 80's ;) ) but i don't think i'll see this "wall" tour. maybe it's the cost, maybe the scale. eh.

i have a feeling side 1 of "Meddle" is getting played tonight. that run from "One of These Days" to "Seamus" is pretty fucking great.**

absolute trust keeps me moving in the Right Di-rec-tion

2010-05-15T14:51:00.001-07:00

**since getting back from my road trip i've been getting back into the postcard writing groove. i wrote this while sitting outside Kaldi coffee in Atwater Village. when i walked in to order my drink, "The Good Thing" by Talking Heads was playing. Made me smile.
below is a card i wrote to my friends stacey & harlan in texas. the picture on the p-card is of a quilt sewn by Annie Mae Young. it's from the photos of quilts from Gee's Bend.**

5.14.10 Thurs
Things Rad & Not So Rad (NSR): talked myself into riding my bike to this cafe (Rad). On the way mailed 2 bills, 4 postcards & 1 letter (Rad). All the patio umbrellas have gone missing from the cafe (NSR), but it is cool & breezy enough to sit in the direct sun (Rad!). was served a stellar cappuccino (rad). Decided to try a Japanese drink b/c it's clear & carbonated. turned out to be soda pop (NSR) alas. A Eurythmics song from 1988 or so just came up on the shufle (Rad). For a few boyfriends between 1988 - 1997 this served as my record to listen to upon breaking up. Now, I just love it. :) (neat) Im in week 3 of what I hope will turn out to be hiatus (not just unemployment) (Rad). Grant-Lee Phillips played Largo last night for the first time in many months (super rad). The old casket store/funeral service shop has moved up the street. in its place: some kind of medical marijuana UNIVERSITY. (just plain odd). for the first time since my job ended i have nowhere i have to be tonight (fucking awesome). took a week long solo road trip (rad). saw 2 minor league b-ball games (OH, SC) & 5 concerts in 5 states (rad). Brilliant way to leave my old gig behind. :)

**follow up: i sat in the sun writing p-cards and knitting long enough to get a sun burn on my shoulders. sigh. amateur hour, i tell you! also: it's official, the show i worked on last season was cancelled. so: we call it unemployment, not hiatus.**

also, after typing this it took me 15 min of jumping through log in & transfer links and pages to post it b/c blogger switched something around. i wasn't notified BEFORE i typed it. pain.in.my.ass. grr.

anything to not clean any more: postcards from march!

2010-05-11T11:04:00.000-07:00

this pic is of a plaque outside of Stage 2 on the Sunset-Gower Lot where i used to work.

since thursday i've been cleaning my apartment. i've been tearing things apart, so it's slow going. however, last night i started to see some real progress. i have a few tasks to do that will take me out of the apt, so things are on a bit of hold until tomorrow.
today i have to take my car for it's bi-annual smog check. it's 20 years old this year, but well cared for. i'm hoping for the best. a few years ago my car stereo was stolen. while the car was in my car port. sigh. two days after the stereo was stolen, the thieves broke back into the car to steal some wiring they'd missed the first time. as my car was like a convenience store for thieves, i decided not to replace the stereo. well, after driving a rental car with a working stereo for a week, i've decided that if my car passes its smog test i'm going to put in a new stereo. something not too shiny, but SOMETHING. (the stereo that was stolen was one i'd bought only 4 months previous. i'd replaced all the speakers in the car, too. so all those terrific speakers are in there laying dormant.)

right.

during my cleaning i found a xerox of some postcards that i'd meant to post here. so in the interest of clearing stuff out of the apt, i'm posting them now.

card 1: written to a friend in san francisco who i knew was in chicago for some music

Saturday 3.13.10
Today is my first day off since President's Day and it's gotten off to a weird, but ok start. weird: cell phone & smoke detector both beeped at intervals during the night and woke me. (it was due to a power outage.) But! this morning i found my MISSING SINCE NOVEMBER flip flops!? They were sitting on the shoe rack the whole time (they were hidden among the skirts of hanging dresses). And now, i am sitting outside a new (!) deli cafe on hillhurst, drinking a good coffee, enjoying a scone and reading a little John Hodgman.
I'm particularly grateful to him this morning b/c the novel i'm reading has gotten very heavy hearted and i just couldn't bear to read it this morning. so. two cups (1/2 caff) into saturday. You are, no doubt in the vicinity of the Vic as I write this. Oh! I got a reservation confirmation for PFT (Paul F. Tompkins) last night. woo! now, i just need to finish work on time that night. :)
If i go home right now I just know i'll start doing chores. Just don't know if i'm ready for that yet... Hope to see you soon!

card 2: written to my sister & brother in law who live in the bay area

3.21.10 Sunday -- 2:30pm
It's been slow going getting my sunday m.o. in action: finally sitting out on a patio w-an iced coffee drink, listening to some great music. Yesterday i took out my earphones just in time to overhear a woman say to her friends, "It's like Tyra Banks says, 'the way to tell a good model from a bad one is the amount of airbrushing they require" immediately i put my earphones back in, and remembered what compels me to wear them in the first place. :)
Just had the standard "baseball is too slow for me" conversation with the owner of this cafe: he's not a baseball fan. as we started discussing team strategy more customers came so we had to stop chatting. can't wait to point out the diff. between Ntl. & Am. Leagues to him! When i go in for another drink, i'll pick up the conversation there. :)
Hope spring finds you enjoying your home office/pool!

**ok, i sound a positive dork about baseball in this second card. spring training will do that to me. my fervor mellows out a bit by mid-may.**

Quaker Brand is the Favorite Brand of Grits of the Charleston Riverdogs

2010-04-30T06:44:00.000-07:00

**friday morning. i've definitely caught some kind of bug. sore throat, exhausted. eh. i'm still in the hotel, waiting for the food to arrive. my bags are all packed and waiting by the door, so as soon as i eat, i'll be back on the road, heading for raleigh.

here is the second half of my annotated show notes from wednesday's my morning jacket show in charleston sc. again, this is a cut and paste from the mmj forum.**

ok. in the interest of finishing what i started, but not being up until 2am, i'm going to list my set list notes as written. this might be comedy since the notes are not so clear. ;D

another great thing about seeing the show with Ruckus is that i could say to him, "there's only one bass in tom's guitar rack. you think their travelling light on this trip?" without him looking at me like i was speaking to him in a foreign language.

when the band came out carl sat at the pedal steel, so i had no idea what they were going to play. here begins the transcription...

--tonight i want to celebrate with you: IT'S ON.

--@ dawn! diff jim bit (i think this was referring to a really loud, or odd key start to the song by jim)

--gideon --diff outro. (i think this was an uptempo outro. i love when you're digging a song and it takes an unexpected turn. i was thinking "where are you going?!" it's exciting {i sound like an absolute dork, but it's been a loooong time since i've seen a show. so.})

--OTR: the sun is down now, but still dusk. tom & carl exchange a "ready?" type look. the eyes in back drop are lit red

--wonderful man!

--amazed: at end jim shoots pat w/toy gun as he falls

--touch me pt 1: enter drunken bargers

--golden: ok. side bar: overall the crowd was great. the people around me were having a great time without being creeps. but. the drunk chick contingent was strong. the "this is my song! let me tell you why while they play it!" girls were out in force.

--thank you too: jim's gretch beautiful! (i'm not a guitarist but i have a soft spot for the sound of these.) end of song patrick mimed shooting jim

--mags! mid-set mahgeetah. it's crazy to hear it coming out of such a slow groove like TYT. starts off a bit swingy. fucking brilliant.

--lay low

--low down!

--wonderful

--librarian: the girl to the left of me (non-drunken contingent) was miming some of the story of the song. kind of sweet, really. :)

--STEAM: NONE OF THIS IS PHYSICAL really beautiful. really. (this tour coincided with the end of a very demanding job. so, being outdoors, singing, hollering, dancing, being on the road, it's all part of a big joyous picture. and that is what i was thinking here.)
at the end ruckus tapped me on the shoulder and said, "best steam engine ever"

--smokin from shootin: WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! soooo good to see mmj doing this again! at the top of the song the stage was bathed in read light, by the end it was glowing white. striking!

(crazy how they ride the momentum of smokin into...)

--end of run thru: carl leap! 3 guitars up front just badass (this is just rock show fucking badassery. i just kept shaking my head at the epic-ness of what was happening up there.)

--touch me pt 2: tom uses a pick on this song. who knew?

(here they tried something new...insteading of ending cold after TM pt2, they segued into OBH. they may have done it last week: i've kept myself in strict set-list black out since the tour started. ;) )

--OBH: big fun! carl came out to the edge of the stage, playing and dancing with the crowd
--------------
ok. nothing could have prepared us for this:
--over the rainbow: the sax player in PHJB, the man whose name i don't know, but is listed on the set list as Weenie, stepped into a spot and played this solo. fucking stunning. just heart breakingly beautiful.
soooo happy this call was made. (whoever suggested this in the set-list, this was an inspired move. cheers! )

--wordless: knee slide!

(phjb comes out...)

--evil urges! (not used to hearing this in the middle of a set!)

--DANCE: OUT OF CON... (this is what i scrawled as i was leaping around, grinning at ruckus and losing my shit. WHAT A GREAT TIME!! currently i am nursing a bit of a sore throat. all evidence points to my activity during this song. ;D )

--HIGHLY: continued mayhem with the band and PHJB

--carnival time: love watching many of the guys on stage singing along to this

--move on up: curtis mayfield. curtis mayfield. curtis mayfield. huge!

the sound was terrific! even up front. the mix coming thru the audience monitors on stage was so even. often bo's music gets lost amid the guitar amps close to the stage, but not last night.
as i was leaving the show i kept singing out loud the bright horn part from move on up. ;D and i realized that i was in such a hurry to get to the show (arrived in charleston just in time for rush hour) that i didn't make note of where i parked. since this wasn't the oakland coliseum, that was not an issue {like that roger waters show in 1985...}.

there were a few cars post-show tailgating as i left. the people behind me were playing james brown. fucking a.

it's been so long since i've (we've) seen mmj perform these songs live that everyone is a surprise.
and now it is 2am. and i intend to leave here at 9. so.
thanks for tolerating, and often encouraging my profanity-laced stream o' consciousness reviews. :D

damn. what a great fucking time!

**for the record, i was up until 2am writing this. it never goes as quickly as i'd like to think.**

pop stand: blown! my snowy egret count is OFF THE CHARTS!

2010-04-29T11:32:00.000-07:00

so, after years of no summer vacation, i am on the road! this afternoon i am sitting on the 5th floor of a holiday inn in charleston, sc. i made the drive up from st. augustine, fl yesterday. i'm doing a little road tripping, seeing some my morning jacket shows and minor league baseball. i took the pic above somewhere between savannah & charleston. i thought to watch out for fire ants as i walked up to the sign, b/c last time i was in nc i got bitten by one. and there was a fire ant hill right by the sign! i avoided it/them and am feeling pretty good about that. :)

you may know i'm an armchair birder. comes from living next to the bird sanctuary in arcata. i started counting birds when in got to FL. heron: 1, snowy egrets: 2. on the drive yesterday, my egret count went off the charts. this territory is ALL marshes, creeks, swamps and rivers: water fowl turf, so i am all agog. it's a wonder i didn't drive off the road.

the bit below is what from what i posted on the mmj forum (blogs, forums. really? lord.) about the show in charleston last night. so far, it's just about the preservation hall jazz band. i've got to go outside, so more on the show later.

**pic of me before waiting for the show to start.**
just slept 10 hours, showered and have ordered up room service coffee.

got to see the show last night with ruckus and his pal, jordan! it's always great to be around people in the crowd who are there to see the show. sounds like a no-brainer, but you know, there are those who go to a concert as an event, and those that go to see the performers. i just find the peeps there to see the show make better company. :)

i left st. augustine at about 11:15. turns out the hwys between FLA and SC run through a lot of little towns, so the trip took a lot longer than i'd expected. add to that a the street i wanted to use to get from one hwy to another in one of those towns (speed limit 25mph) was shut for a bike race/street fair/butter churning. i don't know, but it made finding my way out of there challenging.

anywhoo.

i got to charleston, checked into my hotel (populated by 175 teens, a youth group or something. apparently the room next to mine was party central. oof)

the venue was lovely. who knew? i expected it to be much bigger, but it didn't seem massive. the light & sound boards were on the ground level at the end of the court.

there was not a cloud in the sky. really, just beautiful. the crowd was really slow to file in. it's such a funny thing about when an act tours with a supporting act. everyone is in the lot or lobby until just before the headliner takes the stage. i've done this, but when you're inside seeing it happen, it's just weird.

bear antics: when pooch & denise came out stan* (name changed for discretion) put them with denise stage left, pooch stage right. but before the show started, someone else came out and swaped them. what cracks me up is that there is a particular arrangement of who goes where.

Preservation Hall Jazz Band:

--jelly roll
--short dressed gal
--a bad ass song that reminds me of "sing sing sing". it's just drums and trumpet for most of the song. cannot convey the swing of this song.
--ole man mose
here, mark braud introduces the band, then brings out jim for...
--tennessee hustler (when jim came out the girl next to me said to her boyfriend, "he's cute!")
--a jimmie rodgers sounding song that may have been blue yodel...jim was yodeling, some of the phjb were singing along. wonderful!
then patrick, carl, bo and tom come out to play percussion (lots of shakers!) for...
--st. james infirmary sung by clint maedgen

i think this was the last song. my end of set notes are always spotty b/c i get in the momentum of the show. at the end of the song, clint m. sat down. there were a couple of looks exchanged among the band and they ended the set. they probably had another song or two to play, but cut it short. either b/c of the late start or b/c st. james was such a blow-out.

the crowd for the start of these PHJB sets has been SMALL. small enough that as the band takes the stage you can see them marvelling and shaking their heads at the hilarity of it all. and when they start playing some of the crowd seems not sure what is happening, but two songs in and the crowd loooooooves them. which is fantastic.

i watching them last night i kept thinking that this tour is really special. that we're getting a chance to see PHJB like this, outdoors, small crowds, swinging, swinging, swinging. fucking brilliant.

snack note: room service coffee, fruit salad
groovy tunes: wilco "theologians" on the shuffle

finished!

2010-04-18T23:11:00.000-07:00

in brief: after much languishing, i've finished the 50's dress in fish fabric! this is a pic from the inaugral wearing. taken used photobooth in my dark office, so not the most flattering.
but you can see there are pockets. (!)

the keen-eyed office supply aficionado will spot the heavy duty 3-hole punch on the table.
bonus points if you can pick out the pic of Pee-Wee Herman & Cowboy Curtis sitting on Chairey.

don't you need zoning for a day care?

2010-04-18T22:33:00.001-07:00

**this from an unfinished letter to my sister. it's on what is possibly the most adorable stationery i've ever used.
after more than 2 weeks of it sitting unfinished in my back pack, i'm putting it in the post tomorrow.**

4.2.10 Friday, 1pm

Today is a union holiday: Good Friday. I decided to spend some time @ a cafe that I usually visit on the weekend. It's in an old residential neighborhood in Echo Park. I have to drive here.
On the weekend it's pretty quiet. The patio out front has a tall bamboo hedge along the sidewalk which helps temper the bus noise & stuff. The week days, however, are proving to be a different story...something i'd not noticed before: there is a pre-school across the street. or maybe it's just day care. (some of those kids are at least 7 yrs. old.) They are all running, playing and HOLLERING. In the house next to the cafe (directly behind me) there is a small dog who has been barking for at least 20 min, and who shows no signs of stopping.
Usually in this situation I have headphones on, but i've been reading a book. (oh my god, one of the kids actually just said this, "nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah." i'm going in for a coffee refill, then coming out to put my headphones on.)
{ok, i'm back w-a fresh hot cuppa joe. and as if by miracle, the children have gone indoors! hooray! also, the little dog is quiet. perhaps the two were linked.}

There is a young guy working in the cafe, I've not seen him here before. When i went in for my 1st cup I ordered drip coffee and asked him what the difference is between the 2 they have brewed. When I chose the one he described as "lighter but stronger" he actually had a "yes!" reaction that was really funny. It felt good that the cafe guy thought i'd made the right choice. ha! i'm a dork. but he is cute.
I'm in a bit of a weird state today. I blame 3 things:
1. this is a holiday wknd but i may have to work tomorrow, but don't know yet.
2. I'm starting to get crampy
3. i'm doing a dance with fed-ex to receive a pkg. I paid for 2 day shipping, but it will be 4 days before I can get it. it's my fault: i thought the pkg was being sent via US Post, so i gave them our mail room address @ work, not the office address.
Also, my job ends in a few weeks and i haven't made an effort to find my next one. This is b/c i've got a short road trip planned at the end of April. I don't want to back to work right away.
I am really hoping that "Mercy" gets picked up for another season, or my old boss' pilot gets picked up for series. Either way I could take a couple months off knowing I have a job to come back to. Next week i'll whip up an "i'm looking for a gig" email and send it out. That will do for now. :)
(wow, the temperature has dropped about 10˚ since I got here. And the clouds are rolling in. am now lamenting my decision to wear flip-flops, not sneakers. hmmm. I'm also learning that trying to write a letter w/o wearing my headphones is difficult b/c i am easily distracted by other peoples' conversations.)
How are things in Yuba City? Are you feeling settled? I'm hoping that since you've been there for awhile drama and newness are starting to taper off. :)
i've been loosely formulating a road trip up north to see family. I don't have any dates yet, but would like to hit the Bay Area, Sacramento, Yuba City, see some baseball...Again, i'm hoping to have some time off this summer. :)
~~~~~~~~~~~~
now 4.18.10, sunday night-- i never got back to finish this letter. thought i'd send on what i'd written. 3+ pages and i feel like i was just ramping up...

**if all goes well, i will have this in the post tomorrow.
beer of note: rogue dead guy
radio: gary calamar just played "white girl" by X**

choice of self expression

2010-04-06T16:06:00.000-07:00

finished! over the summer break i'll find a frame for this. i plan to put it up in my next office.

in between working days i've been working steadily on the Endless Stripey. i am now knitting the Last Ball of Yarn on this blanket. it's been cooking since january 3, 2003. cannot wait to get it out of the "in progress" stack and onto my bed.

also: last weekend i FINISHED the 50's style shirt dress! i had to do some damage control where the front pleats and facing meet, but am happy with the result. i laundered it. it needs pressing. the ironing is the true test. once it's pressed i'll post a pic.

i could use an iced coffee. anyone?

day 14: still no sign of land

2010-02-27T19:23:00.000-08:00

for a long time, in the "what's cooking" column to the right i've had listed as "currently knitting" the Endless Stripey blanket. i started knitting this blanket the first week of january, 2003. i remember the date b/c i've got a quilt on my couch that i started at the same time, and the date is embroidered into the quilt back.

i'd been knitting for less than a year when i started this. i intended it to be a baby size blanket. bad math, and ignorance of how cotton will stretch conspired to make this much bigger. when it out grew portability it languished: for a few years i spent very few nights knitting at home. and it's tough to bring this kind of project on the road. :) the blanket is so wide that each row takes me about 20 min to knit (or one episode of 30 Rock.)

during the writers' strike i started chipping away at all the unfinished projects in my craft closet. this blanket came out of retirement. i've not finished it yet. kind of on the home stretch. i've got one ball of each color left.

currently it's about 4 x 5'. this isn't necessarily an accurate measurement b/c i "measured" it when i spread it out on the couch and laid on it.

YET ANOTHER THING I'M KNITTING

4 or 5 years ago i bought a bunch of yarn at a bag sale down in san diego. i still have most of it in the closet. (last year i sent a full bag of 12 balls of raw silk to a friend in missouri. done!) i was on the verge of sending 20 hanks of this multi-colored, bouclé/slub yarn to the goodwill when my pal (enabler) petra convinced me to use it.

i'm combining the multi yarn with some cheap but nice black mohair looking lion brand yarn i bought at jo anne's. i know, i know. it's acrylic. i'm knitting a blanket, but instead of knitting it as one piece (endless stripey method) i'm knitting this one in one foot wide strips. this way it stays portable. (i got a lot of work done on the second strip while sitting on planes a couple weeks ago.) this blanket is really pretty, but not as soft as wool. it has a great weight to it, though.
it's not photogenic, but in real life it's cute.
i've been working long days for 2 weeks straight. i'm starting to pine for some good knitting and sewing time. [as is evidenced by this post.]

i have tickets for a couple of shows coming up this week. am hopeful that work won't keep me from going. perhaps if i get more work done tonight (ie: wrap up this post) i'll have a better chance of attending those shows...mrh.

omg. wtf. bbq. -- more postcards from kentucky

2010-02-15T08:04:00.000-08:00

it's monday, presidents' day. it's snowing heavily and windy outside. i'm set to fly home this afternoon, but i'm starting to feel some doubt about whether that will actually happen. hmm.
i do have to check out of my hotel soon, so i best get this show on the road.

this first card is a pic of the then new, louisville greyhound station, circa 1970. i'm basing the date solely on the rear end of a car that looks like a '68 dodge coronet. i could be way off on this. am sending this to my pal, u. in san francisco:

2.13.10
I'm going to try to recreate something -- i hope this works out...
I just saw this drawn on the wall in the w.c. at the Heine Brothers coffee attached to Carmichael's bookstore in Louisville. Quite possibly the best graffiti i've ever seen. (is there an e in possibly?)
The 3 kids @ the next table just called their mom & begged her to come pick them up. awesome.
Hope you're having a great time up north!

*inset is my rendering of best graffiti: banner reads:
OMG. WTF. BBQ.
inspired comedy. :)*

i love a good window. one of the reasons i keep staying in my hotel so long in the morning: i just sit at the desk watching the snow over the new and very very old buildings here. reminds me a little of downtown san jose in the early 80's (but for the snow). anywhoo, all this window staring and cold weather...put me in a contemplative place.

this card i'm sending to my friends m & b in portland. b writes the blog bags of wind.

2.14.10
Winter! in Kentucky: It's Sunday afternoon. i'm sitting in my fave coffee spot in Louisville (Highland Coffee) with a great view out the window across the small parking lot to homes and falling snow. i was ready to write a letter. About snow, family, my fascination with family photos, my seeming imminent contact w-my long absent dad. My choosing to drop a lot of $ to come to KY by myself rather than visit my brother (who has had an epically shitty 8 mos.) or my mom, who is recovering from hip surgery. I wanted to tell you about the nephew I haven't seen in 16 yrs, who lives in Austin & sings in a Pantera-inspired Heavy Metal band and the photo of my dad I took when i was 10: Him standing in our backyard holding up the 20ft. C.B. antenna he was going to mount on our house, smiling big. But I don't have any paper. so, for now it's just a list. also a Gillian Welch song that reminds me of my dad has been positively haunting me. more soon.
ps. was thinking of B when i bought this card. --> natch. :)

bookstore -> book -> burrito = ode to downtown san jo

2010-01-25T23:51:00.000-08:00

when i was in high school i used to spend a lot of time in a used book store in downtown san jose: twice read books (a note by Bay Area Books). [just looking online for a picture of the store has me waxing nostalgic about all those rainy days spent at twice read. i'm going to put off the love letter to the old, rough around the edges downtown of my formative years and get on to the post i'd intended to write. but only b/c it's after midnight and i have a long work day tomorrow...]

when i was sorting through my storage closet i found a book that i'd bought at twice read at least 21 years ago. it's a gorgeous illustrated book of poems by JG Whittier printed in 1886. i'm not a dedicated reader of Whittier or poetry, but this book is beautiful.

so, it's been in my storage cabinet for at least 6 years. before i moved into this apt, i don't know where i'd kept it: likely in another box somewhere. i pulled it from the closet and brought it into the living room.

this collection of poems was first published in 1848. When the 1857 printing was published, Mr. Whittier was still alive and wrote "A Note From the Author" to be included in the book. he regretted that his poor health kept him from editing the selections.
i love this bit:

"That there are pieces in this collection which i would "willingly let die," i am free to confess. But it is now too late to disown them, and i must submit to the inevitable penalty of poetical as well as other sins. there are others, intimately connected with the author's life and times, which owe their tenacity of vitality to the circumstances under which they were written, and the events by which they were suggested.
The long poem of Mogg Megone was in a great measure composed in early life; and it is scarcely neccessary to say that its subject is not such as the writer would have chosen at any subsequent period.

J.G.W
Amesbury, 18th 3d mo., 1857"

how wonderful is it to know that rolling one's eyes at our own bad, teen-poetry is something that's gone on so long?

{these pix of the Whittier book are crappy. i took them with the laptop while sitting in bed. if i can get it together i'll replace them with more representative pix soon.}

**the pic of Twice Read was taken by Avi Morgan. i don't know Avi, but found this pic among some of his shots of downtown San Jo. i got sucked into looking at all his shots of historic san jose. lovely and evocative. i logged a lot of miles on foot and bicycle checking out all the old nooks and crannies of downtown and still have a tremendous fondness for it. since i left san jose in 1989, i have this recurring issue: every time i go home to visit, my favorite places are gone: not just shuttered, but buildings razed and replaced. during the 1990's even streets would go missing, replaced by new highways.
my mom sold the family house (a large craftsman bought by my grandparents in 1964) about 10 years ago. when i do go back to san jose the only thing that really brings me downtown is La Victoria Taqueria. the picture on this yelp page is of the original location on e. san carlos street. they've since moved to...what is the name of that square? fun fact: in this pic of La Vic, you can see a fast food joint next door. it is the same jack in the box where i worked in high school.**

again with the storage closet

2010-01-01T17:33:00.000-08:00

the above pic is a left-over VHS tape sleeve for the "reel" i submitted as part of my grad school applications back in January, 1996. the picture on the cover is a scan of a 16mm film frame (film!). it's from my first short with sound, "Étrangé." it's not as pretentious as it sounds. i am a pitiful script writer, so to fulfill the narrative assignment, i wrote the film in remedial French. turned out to be a bit of a cult fave among my film pals. did i mention it's a musical? those are my peepers behind the slate.

this installment of Storage Closet Rummaging will feature things found in the box marked: SHOW BINDERS/PAPERWORK
--instructions for "Using the TC-D5M Crystal Sync Recorder" and "Using the Mini AC Resolver"

--my diploma from Humboldt State U.

--several scripts and writing exercises from my Dramatic Analyisis class. this included an assignment to write a, "Brechtian-Based Central Reflector" scene. (there is a reason i am not a drama-nerd)

--an essay about procratinating the writing of an essay (clever!)

--a list of books carried by the HSU library (circa 1996) relating to submarine warfare in WWII

--hand written lecture notes headed, "Systems of Analyzing Illusion (re: Narrative)" that includes a depiction of the "Stayan Model" (what?) [see inset]

--a note under "Asian films": Compare: "Fistful" to "Yojimbo": Choreography in Fistful more in camera, Yojimbo w/in mise en scene. (mise en scene!)

--a photo copied poem titled, "No, Love Is Not Dead," by Robert Desnos that may be been originally written in French

--left over, unsent, handmade HSU graduation announcements. (these are really good. if i had a scanner i'd post a pic)

--2 issues of the "Polaris" newsletter. the newsletter for the world-wide WWII Sub-Vets organization. (i was researching a documentary that my pal, suzie, and i were brewing. it never came to fruition, but i still have a keen interest in, and middling knowledge of submarine warfare in WWII.)

--this photocopy of an article in a local Chinese newspaper regarding the production of "The Water Ghost" [i'm in the lower right wearing a manly shirt]

this box had about 12 binders and notebooks in it full of the detritus from college, grad school and a little beyond.
at the back of one binder (a university of san diego binder that was a hand-me-down from one of my HSU housemates [shout out, suzanne!]) had 3 xeroxed pages in the back pocket. poems and song lyrics: the aforementioned "no, love is not dead", a page of poems that may have been written by a friend, and the lyrics to "fair warning" from todd rundgren's album "initiation" (of course).

reading through the possible-friend-source poem, i have NO idea why i carried it around. here is a sample:

As I stand
on an empty bed
I wonder if you are still
torturing...
My tears consist
of blood
My blood consists
of wine
The corners of my room
have sprouted cobwebs
of despair

you get the idea.

lord. i don't remember being that maudlin. well, not after high school.

ok. the purpose of this binder clearing was to consolidate the few things i do want to keep (more on those later) into a box with the handful of video tape evidence of work. i've got my narrow selection to clear from the piano bench. along with the re-boxed xmas decorations [that havent' been used in at least 2 years, this one included] this box is going back into the storage closet.
that big (b.i.g.) plastic container full of FILM is still in there. i think that will stay there another year.

and now it is nearly 6:30. i'm looking at either thai food, vietnamese food, armenian food, or cake. all suitable.

relics of days past or, "you want my badge and gun?"

2009-12-30T13:09:00.000-08:00

yesterday i pulled some stuff out of my storage bin destined for the recycling bin. one box was full of paperwork from the thesis films i edited in college, some random shot logs from when i script supervised for friends and the wrap paperwork from the one feature i've edited, "Down & Dirty." this is not a good movie, but it was a blast to work with Fred Williamson. i've got some fucking awesome stories of working with The Hammer. the binder of negative pull and cut lists i turned over to the negative cutter (negative? film negative? boy howdy, this was only nine years ago.) included this cover letter:

July 5, 2000

[Negative Cutter]
Mr. X and Mr. Y,

A few notes regarding the lists:

I was unable to generate cut lists with accurate keys for shots that occur within dissolves. We've annotated the lists with the keys from the telecine tapes. Also, I've drawn charts that resemble marked workprints for all the dissolves.

There are many small discrepancies in the cutlists. We've marked offages of more than one frame in the margin. There are a few that are off by 5 or 6 frames.

The black space at the head of Reel 01 will be occupied by either an animation or the Po' Boy logo, or still cards. The head credits and end crawl will be done at the lab. I will get you their name and number.

The beta tapes of the reels are provided for you to make 3/4" dubs "just the way you like." There is no reel window burn on them, so you can place it on your dubs. Please return these to Golden Lion Studios (phone number here) when you've made your dubs.

You can reach me at: defunct phone number. Page me or leave a brief voice mail.

We had particular difficulty with the EDL generator on this project. Although we went through each edit to check the accuracy of the numbers, the adjustments that the cutlist generator made continue to be a mystery. I am pleased to know that your family is looking after our negative.

Thank you in advance,

[Ms. Y.],
Editor, "Down & Dirty"

that trio of actors includes: Fred Willliamson, Gary Busey and David Carridine. yep.

knit 2, purl 2, cable 2 forward...

2009-12-22T19:24:00.000-08:00

since no one in my family reads this i can safely post pix of the gloves that i knit them for xmas.
i used the cabled handwarmer pattern from julie at little knittery in los angeles. i knit a pair of these for myself a couple years ago and love them, so i wanted to share the love.

i knit 5 pairs of these: 2 for my nieces, 1 each for my brother and sister and 1 pair for my pal, eli.
here are a slew of pix: please pardon the "hand modeling" hilarity and lack of backdrop variety

fun facts: the white mug i am holding was a wrap gift i rec'd when i worked on the show, "Cane." they were gifts to the crew from jimmy smits.
the orange and yellow gloves were knit in brown sheep worsted weight yarn.

these variagated mitts were knit using Di.Vé autunno merino wool. ooooh, sooo soft and warm.
this pair was knit in cascade alpaca. again with the fantastic:
i also knit a pair in black for my brother, but forgot to take a pic before putting them in the mail.

in the midst of knitting all these gloves i lost one of my own. looks like it's time for a new pair for me. :)

continuing with the craft stuff:

i've been working on a couple 50's style shirt dresses. the first dress is in this great michael miller colorful fish fabric. (all that remains to be done on this one are putting in the button holes, buttons, and hemming. so close!) my plan for this dress pattern was to make a few of them using the MANY fabrics in my closet of which i have at least 4 yards of each... (that was a fucking awful sentence, but you get the idea.)

anywhoo. dress 1: fish fabric
dress 2: tractor fabric! i combined the tractors with some dark sage green that i bought at a yard sale some time ago. here are some "work in progress" shots of the fabric combo:
this is part of the skirt. it will be pleated at the waist. the green will end up being a 3" band around the bottom once the hem is finished.

here i've pinned the collar to the bodice. still need to baste it then attach the facing. this bit requires some concentration and focus, so the bodice has been sitting in this state for at least two weeks.
am hoping to log in some serious long days/nights sewing over the winter break. (note to self: no wine during the complex construction)

here are some pix of the fish dress. the details are really nice. i have since re-shaped the collar and it looks MUCH better. i'd pressed it too wide.

this pattern is one modified by Shaeri at Sew-LA. she usually teaches this dress as a 6 week class, but i could never commit to anything for 6 weeks in a row and i didn't need that much detailed instruction. she and i booked 3 private classes to cover fitting and pattern modification. the pleated skirt is her pattern. the way the last pleat lines up with the bottom bodice dart is a good example of her attention to detail.

ok. all this typing about sewing while i am sitting at my desk at work (when i could be heading home) is a bit thick. i'm gonna head home and do some pinning on the patchwork quilt i've got cooking. this quilt was meant to be a good "pick up for 15 min at a time while working a nutty schedule" project and it's turning out to be just the thing.

eventful: while i was typing up this entry i got a call from my pal eli, the recipient of the orange mitts. she called to tell me she loves them and has been wearing them all day! hooray!! one often wonders what becomes of the handmade items they give away. i think of all the much-love slippers, and un-worn hats my grandma crocheted for me when i was a kid.

still to come: the story of amelita! this is really good. perhaps i can cover it while OFF FOR THE HOLIDAYS!! HELL. YES.

**note: while i am typing this up the formatting looks COMPLETELY different. how is one to achieve a nice presentation when the formatting is unpredictable. how? i ask.

this piano filled with souls

2009-12-03T16:12:00.000-08:00

today i've got a brain full of things. i will just say this: when you've got people close to you spending a considerable amount of time in and around hospitals, working on a television medical drama is a loaded enterprise.

i have the itunes shuffle hooked up to the mixing board in the edit bay. wilco's "when you wake up feeling old" just played. not to put too fine a point on it, but i do love this song. a dozen warm memories flitted thru my head while it was on. the last was this: last year at jeff tweedy's letters to santa show at hotel s&s it was the song i requested. jeff told a funny anecdote about how they were mixing the album they strode to get the bird sounds in key with the song.

summerteeth was released in 1998, but it feels like it's been a part of things for much longer than that.

big love to charlie, mike and roberta!

a big day for things

2009-11-30T16:53:00.000-08:00

the thanksgiving holiday weekend meant lots of time off for me. i got in some quality slacking, sewing, knitting, socializing and napping. as i went into the long weekend i had some loose plans for tackling chores/tasks that have been nagging me: dusty window sills, over crowded storage closet, stuff to go to out-of-the-closet. i got a nice little chunk of this stuff done, but knew that the larger projects that i hadn't done while i had time, might languish until spring.

this morning, just as i was gathering my backpack and coffee mug to head out for work, i got a wild hair to address a long bothersome thing: the hamper full of pillows and blankets.
this hamper had a home in my bedroom behind a door, but i've moved some furniture around leaving the basket without a home for the last two months. it's been in the middle of the living room, crowding the route to the big red chair (drag). on the long weekend, i cleaned the living room floor, and so moved the basket to my room.

now, without going into even more dull detail, let's just say that the basket was in the middle of the floor. next to ANOTHER homeless basket of stuff. and the ironing board. three days of this was enough to compel me to act.
i went to the linen closet, pulled out a foam egg-shell pad that was meant to me used with the now-defunt air mattress, ear marked it for either a homeless person in the neighborhood or the bin, and moved the pillows and blankets into the vacant spot on the top shelf of the closet.
HOO-RAY.
the basket is stamped with a recycling stamp, so i didn't have the satisfaction of putting it in the bin this morning. i'm gonna make some strategic cuts in it tonight to flatten it, then put it in the blue bin.
this accomplished, i went out to the storage space and pulled out a big bag of binders.
i'd been keeping them, but figured if i haven't used them in 4 years, i would take them to the office where i use 2/month. i emptied the contents of two of them into the recycling bin: all the paperwork from the pilot for "the unit." one page dated 3.19.05. good-bye paperwork! (office binders in current use in bg of inset. love that colored paper tape :D )

alongside the binders i put a box of rubber stamps to be mailed to a friend, and a huge piece of tie-dyed looking polar fleece to either give to someone at work, or give to o-o-t-c. (the fleece was one of three pieces left over from making some blankets for my nieces 4 years ago. the two other pieces went to petra on saturday!)
when i took the bag of binders out of that closet i saw a huge plastic container at the back full of...my student films! holy toledo. if anyone is interested in some super-8 found footage, drop me a line. ;)

in summation: the chipping away continues!

i left for work this morning with a short list in my pocket: three things i was going to accomplish today:
1. boxes to mail
2. sweatshirt
3. radio cord & battery

i've got three bundles of stuff i've been wanting to post, but didn't have boxes, so that was on the list. as for the sweatshirt, i've been trying for years to replace this plain, grey, zip up hooded sweatshirt. i've had it for many many years. the cuffs are barely attached to the sleeves.
i don't wear it to work b/c as casual as i get, it's not really office attire. (keep in mind i wear shorts and tennis shoes to work about 65% of the time).
each time i've tried to replace it, i've been faced with fleece lining, embroidered logos, or fashion tailoring. too much stuff and too much cost.
the radio cord/battery are needed to breathe life into the 6+ years old tivoli PAL radio that i have (and love in a way that some cultures would find beautiful).

when i got to work this morning i set to task. did some online research re: replacement bits for the radio, placed a phone call. *check*

then looked at least 8 different websites searching for the Grey Hooded Sweatshirt. after much consternation, i thought about a hoodie that gets a lot of wear: my kxlu sweatshirt. made by americal apparel. a quick visit to their website and a call to confirm my findings. made a plan to stop at the los feliz a.p. to try on some hoodies.

boxes. the boxes/am. app. combo had me set my sights on a lunch time errand run back to my neighborhood. stopped for some fish tacos, zipped over to box bros, popped into mustard seed for an iced latte, and then over to a.p. to shop.

i am all aglow at adding to my wardrobe today this light grey hooded sweatshirt!
pix to come...just remembered i wanted to make some calls before 6pm. TCB!

note:
oddest itunes song shuffle pairing while writing this entry: saul williams "telegram" into decemberists "red right ankle."
suprise song: sinead o'connor: "mandinka"

setting things to rights

2009-11-18T17:26:00.000-08:00

today is a big day.

without going into too sordid detail: the banks that hold my credit cards have seen fit to raise the APRs on them with no cause other than they've "revised their business model." two cards were from the same bank. APR: 27.24%

fuckers.

so. today was the day i got to pay one off completely and take the other one down to a very small amount. when i signed my name to the checks i wanted to write something pithy like, "get bent!" in the memo line, but i resisted.

i didn't expect it, but i felt such a huge relief as i walked away from the post office. felt that i'd regained control of something that had been beyond my control for so long. (i'm not one of those people who is constantly shuffling money around or switching credit cards. i just stick with what i've got. i'm just lazy that way. or was. :) )

i've been committed to paying cash for everything. the only time i use a credit card is for travel: plane tickets, hotel reservations, car rentals. anywhoo. this felt great.

after i'd signed the checks and before the post office i walked down to peet's coffee for a cup o' the great stuff (decaf sumatra). as i walked in i saw it on the shelf: the Nissan Thermos thermal coffee mug. this is the Red Rider b.b. gun of coffee mugs. i have owned 3 in my coffee drinking career. the first for 6 years. my last was nicked from the dish drainer while i was working on "The Cleaner." (i think it was someone in the U.S. of Tara production office, but i can't prove it...) since last spring i have been using my second string travel mugs: the thermal french press (hard to drink from), the "excite" mug that was MacWorld swag in 1997 or something (coffee gets cold fast){see inset}, and the Rad Thermos (can't drink from it, just for transport).

i bought a new mug. tomorrow morning my coffee will stay hot. i will be able to sip from the cup as i drive to work.

today is a big day.

also: went to lunch with the full post-prod staff today, AND did some knitting at my desk.
AND sorted all my accumulated receipts for the year to date. trying to get a little head start on the taxes, don'tchewknow.

crafting ≠ lanyards and leaf plaques

2009-11-16T18:29:00.000-08:00

despite my crazy period of work, this has been a pretty prolific craft period. (ok, that word "craft" connotes crocheted toilet paper roll covers, découpage plaques, bedazzled sweatshirts. i'm trying to get over this) over the years i've made several pairs of the above booties for friends with babies. they are a hit b/c kids can't pull them off. they are also good gifts b/c they are about the size of kids' feet when they are 5 mos. old. good for a gift procrastinator like me. :)

i knit the above pair for my friends marsha and charlie's daughter, nora. i used two different colors of koigu. koigu is handpainted marino wool. so beautiful. the yarn came out of my koigu stash. i started another pair last night in two more colors of koigu pulled from the closet.

while taking a class at sew l.a. i spotted some terrific fabrics that inspired me to make an apron for my friend, uyen, using sew liberated's "emmeline" pattern.
(the name of this pattern had me humming jonathan richman's "emmeline" for weeks. which is a-ok.) it's reversible. the two bigger pieces of fabric were each a "side" of the apron. the floral strips hanging there were the ties.

my pics are pretty lousy b/c i took them at night using the camera on my laptop (this is comedy all its own.) also, the apron is being modeled by my less-than-shapely ironing board.
i'm hoping the recipient can hook me up with a good pic that i can post later.

here, my pal, sea, graciously agreed to model the apron so i could photograph the ties in back. she did insist on props. that whisk and spatula are working kitchen utensils. no rental props here.

of note: much of this sewing was done while listening to the new yorker's fiction podcast and an assortment of comedy records.
**please pardon the layout of this post. i didn't take the time to figure out just how to balance the lay out.**

further signs o' the times

2009-11-12T17:16:00.000-08:00

monday night as deadlines were approaching and fatigue was getting the best of me, one of our edit consoles started giving us pains. in a fit of avid crashing, rampant bin locks and frustration these are the names i assigned bins at midnight monday:

-new and different
-blow me
-you suck
-fuck you

sign o' the times

2009-11-12T12:18:00.001-08:00

**the above pic (with me having all-time bad crazy cat lady hair) isn't from my current job. this is the post production staff from the defunct show "Life." one of the best jobs i've ever had. the man standing just to my left works with me on my current job, too. He is Rad.**

the job i'm working has resulted in some crazy work hours. today is day 11 in a row. not that impressive on it's own, but monday night i was at work until 1 am, tuesday until 3am. i've eating breakfast, lunch and dinner at my desk for a week. as is the norm with picture editing rooms, my office has no windows.
it's not my intention to set myself up as a martyr, just wanting to give context for what i did yesterday...

yesterday afternoon, as the hubub was dying down a little at work, i went on a coffee run to the starbucks across the street from the lot. it was 5pm. i grabbed my ID badge, some cash, and my sunglasses. i walked out the front door and into the dusk.

i just started laughing out loud.

between my work schedule and the time change last week, i'd completely missed out on the idea that the sun sets early now.

this weird little event just underscored how happy i am to be out from under the short short schedule of this last episode.

(also: i knew what the schedule was like before i took this job, so it's not as if i feel they're taking advantage of us. and we're union, so when we have work nutty hours, we are compensated, and well fed. :) )

postcards from kentucky

2009-11-08T12:12:00.000-08:00

**halloween weekend i took a short trip to louisville kentucky for some music and socializing. and to get the hell out of my edit bay for a few hours. here are two cards that i wrote that weekend. things being what they are, both of them made the return trip to los angeles with me. the first card was sent to my pal, p. in ny. the second card sent to w. in fort wayne.**

10.31.09 Happy Halloween! This Saturday morning finds me in Louisville! flew here on a red-eye -- didn't get as much sleep as I'd hoped, but as soon as I pulled out of he car rental lot and onto the road I felt great! It rained last night. the sky is full of big dark clouds. I put the Oxford American cd that you gave me into the stereo and it was perfect. I'm in no shape for a bright, sunny morning. :)
I headed straight to a breakfast spot recommended to me. I've yet to try the food, but the coffee is good & strong! an indication that i'm in kentucky: i ordered bacon, and the people sitting on either side of me did as well. but! this place also has avocado on the menu! (review to follow!)
i heard from {X.} that change is afoot chez vous: {your roommate} moving, more school, no tv..remember, in a pinch you can watch dvds on your computer. means nothing for football, tho. :|
hope to see you soon!
ps. read Buck O'Neil's memoir. I recommend it!

(This card reminds me of your schooling your niece!)
sunday nov 1, 2009 -- concours B Midway Airport...
Further time-change comedy" got to Midway with a 40 min wait between planes went to the closest hairport food place, grabbed a (fair-but long refrigerated) turkey sandwich. Ate the sandwich quickly and sent a happy birthday text to my brother. After ahile I thought I'd been waiting a long time...maybe the flight was delayed...It is then that i realized that my watch (reading 6pm) is set to Louisville time. Here in Chicago, it is 5 pm. so my 40 min layover was an hour-forty. I used my extra 15 min to get a mocha and cookie. and now that flight is boarding. THANK YOU for a fantastic trip!!

amazing thing of the day: yo la tengo

2009-11-05T17:03:00.000-08:00

am at work cutting sound effects for a scene involving a medical emergency. doing this kind of work is both creative and tedious. there is a certain amount of veracity required (less impressionistic say, than the "scary surfing" scene i put sfx on in the cleaner last season. (someday ask me about all the rad stuff that one can use to make the ocean sound scrary and hostile.)

anywhoo, am listening to yo la tengo's latest album "popular songs." (see inset) a minute ago the song playing caught my ear. it was "more stars than there are in heaven." it was in minute six. soooo beautiful.

sometime last month i went to see yo la tengo at the avalon. i was very close to having to miss the show b/c of nutty work happenings (visual effects, don'tchewknow), but through a group effort at the office, got there having only missed about 15 min.

wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. b/c i have to get back to the aforementioned medical emergency scene, i will cut this short.

yo la tengo are the masters of the slow build. they can play a song for 10 minutes at a steady, almost imperceptible build. man, i love it.

this song, "more stars than there are in heaven" is just lovely. makes me want to watch hal hartley movies. and walk around on a windy day. and visit arcata.

after this song comes the delicate, "fireside," then the 15 minute feedback-tacular "and the glitter is gone." that will get things cooking in here. ;)

overheard...

2009-11-04T11:52:00.000-08:00

"...they have the world's largest collection of Bigfoot memorabilia."

overheard in wild eggs diner, louisville kentucky. wish i'd heard the follow up sentence.

at kaldi coffee in atwater village a couple weeks ago 3 guys sat down at a table near mine in mid-coversation about the films of Frank Stallone. among them, they could name two. two more than i could name. their conversation stemmed from one of them having seen a funny f. stallone cameo on a tv show.

what else: monday morning found the left front tire on my car was flat. my rad neighbor, eric, changed the flat for my spare (little donut tire)!
tuesday morning i came out to find the spare was flat. *blank stare*
i was headed to my mechanic to get new struts and tires. this derailed the plan a bit. ended up riding on the rim (sigh) to the service station on hyperion to fill the spare so i could just get to work.

at the end of today i will have new struts and new bitchin michelin tires on my old car. the last time i replaced the tires on my honda, i thought they'd be the last tires to be on that car. that car just keeps running, tho. I LOVE THAT CAR.

more to come on the weekend in louisville, the Tale of Amelita (this is good!), the recent craft wave items, and terrific books!

just for the record: i have been working a lot. one week my pay stub listed hours worked as 75. the following week: 70. oof.

rad thing of the day -- 1 week later

2009-09-28T17:19:00.000-07:00

this has nothing to do with June Allyson, but i just came across this pic of her. it's a terrific pic, and she was fab. so.

these days i am working at a studio lot that abuts a recording studio. i walk by there on my way to lunch or the mailbox. people are often standing outside the front door, smoking or chatting.

last week as i was walking around the corner i looked up and was face to face with eric clapton.

!

as i continued walking down the sidewalk i thought "hey. that was eric clapton. and he's recorded this song...and worked with that person...and and and."
this was just a random sighting, but since moving to los angeles, and working in t.v. i've ended up working and crossing professional paths with so many people that i never imagined i'd meet.

three of these that stand out:
--david mamet: having been a theatre/film major in college, i'd read my fair share of his plays, so working with him on the pilot for "The Unit" was a pretty rad thing.

--bruce campbell: while we never met, we worked on "Burn Notice" together. i got to cut a few scenes that he was in. also very rad.

--jim scott: jim's a record producer. he worked on wilco's "being there" and "kicking television" as well as the "7 worlds collide" record. i worked with jim while he was mixing "kicking tv". i was the assistant picture editor on a concert film that that jim was mixing. although the concert film never got released (ala) i did get a short tour of the sunset sound recording studio (think neil young and led zeppelin).

i've got another great one coming up: the director who is slated to direct my next episode of "mercy" directed the movie, "rock n roll high school!" oh, i am bringing in my dvd for an autograph, to be sure. :D

additionally rad: the editor i'm assisting these days was an editor on "The X-Files." she edited one of the all time great episodes: "Jose Chung's From Outer Space." I have brought this up in conversation no fewer than 8 times already.

i love the mail

2009-09-09T09:19:00.000-07:00

i came home last night to find some packages on my stoop. four (4!) records/cds had come in the mail!
pkg 1: wilco: the album and grizzly bear: vekatimest -- from a local radio station, thank you gifts from a recent pledge drive

pkg 2: yo la tengo: popular songs (new!) and an lp of their score to "adventureland"

i was too tuckered out from work (got home at 9:30) to give any of them a listen last night, but put them directly into my backpack for quality listening at the office today.

note: it is true that until last night i hadn't owned a copy of the latest wilco album. it came out june 30. this means that i haven't been to a record store in TWO MONTHS. what?! i work 2 blocks from amoeba in hollywood. of course, now that i have 4 new records, i don't need to go for awhile.

but still.

hmm.

out with the dross! or: chip chip chip continued...

2009-09-06T20:49:00.000-07:00

it's sunday, labor day weekend. i'm moving some stuff around in my apt to make some room for a guest i've got coming for an extended stay.

i moved my sewing desk and machine into my bedroom, and put the cool, carved wooden chair in the dining room. (i really want to be sewing right now but am using all restraint i've got to keep on task.)

i was looking to file some stuff in my (very full) filing cabinet when i took a look at all the floppy discs (!) and old check registers in there. in the last 10 minutes i have committed discs containing Avid settings dating back to 1997, old clip art, EDLs from student projects, and scripts written while an undergrad (gilroy garlic festival!) all to the electronics waste bag. fonts, title sequences, avid bins, term papers...out!

am realizing that the clip art i use for my business cards is on one of the zip discs destined for the trash. hmm. i don't have a zip reader, but i better be sure i have that art on my laptop b4 i ditch that disc.

side note: my task energies gained a little oomf when i got a call telling me that we're starting work late tomorrow.

music series while cleaning, moving stuff, etc: doves: some cities; neko case: middle cyclone; flaming lips: soft bulletin.
snacks of note: pyramid hefe, trader joe's choc covered almonds

the sad yet much loved life of a two year old's quilt

2009-08-17T14:28:00.000-07:00

**in an earlier post i described getting in touch with old friends and sending them a quilt i'd made for their son. a few weeks after i sent it, Eli sent me this letter...**

Ms. Y-von,

Mendel loves the quilt you made him so much that he likes to take it around with him sometimes. He sleeps with it every night. Mendel is also enraptured with experimentation--not in a Sonic Youth or Destroy All Monsters kind of way, but in an "I wonder would happen if..." mode. When you put those two things together, it can (and did) get a little ugly.

I'll preface today's mayhem with a little background. It's not so much that Mendel finds trouble, it's that trouble swirls around him in a cloud of giddy puckishness. For example, Mendel is a runner. When he spots an unlocked door to the outside, he turns the knob, pulls the door and he takes off. This has caused a couple of insanely worrisome freak-outs where we turn our backs for a second and Mendel has opened the front door and run off to take his act on the road. This same free-spiritedness leads him to frequently color on things, put odd objects in the refrigerator and love, love, love to play with the toilet.

We've tried to create obstacles to his mischief in the hopes of slowing him down, but alas the kid is much smarter than either of us. The front door problem is the rare problem that we seemed to have solved. To date he hasn't realized that he can pull a stool over to the front door and climb up to unlock the deadbolt we've become religious about locking. The other problems though just seem unavoidable. We try to put those things that can damage, cut, color or stain up high and out of reach, but with three older siblings, these prized objects are frequent finds. He shadows his brothers and sister like a ninja and as soon as a marker has been left out, in the blink of an eye, he's written all over himself, the floor, and the walls of at least three and a half rooms. We're attentive parents, but the kid can create a mess faster than a Chicago road crew.

Interior doors are also a lost cause. The child proofing industry has produced these well-intentioned little guards that clip over a doorknob and sit loosely around it so that unless you know to grip the metal through the holes in it, you're stuck scratching at the other side like a lonesome schnauzer. After a couple of days, Mendel figured out that the solution wasn't twisting, it was pulling them apart...and the boy won again. We also installed toilet lid locks because he has an incurable interest in the porcelain pool. Somehow, he's managed to figure those locks out as well. As a result, things tend to find their way into the toilet that shouldn't be there.

This morning I walked into the downstairs bathroom and what should I see neatly stuffed into the toilet, but his favorite quilt. Historically Mendel has only managed to throw small objects in the toilet. This time really went for the brass ring this and stuffed in the whole quilt. Perhaps he was curious about absorbency. I suppose we'll never know. What we do know is that as gross as that was, after a couple of thorough machine washings, the quilt was as good as new.

I can't promise this won't happen again. The little curly-headed demon with curiously quick mischief making skills is fickle. One minute he's lovingly carrying around his favorite quilt, lying on it, or wrapping himself in it like a burrito. The next he's flipped and is skillfully soaking up the toilet water. So in case you sensed the abuse of your lovely gift or heard its psychic, disgusted wail, I just wanted to be clear--it's not because he doesn't love it.

I hope all is well.

Eli

a weekend in postcards: August 1 - 2

2009-08-05T17:03:00.000-07:00

this past weekend i enjoyed a bounty of neighborhood activity. at one point in the afternoon i rolled out a few post cards. i've transcribed them below. there are a few repeated thoughts among them, but i've left them in here.

NUMBER 1:
*note: this first one references a particular beetle. the week before i'd seen this HUGE SHINY BEETLE flying and bumping into my window screen. this thing belonged in Egypt or Brazil. crazy. i sent my pal, suzie, a note about it. she's keen on insects and likely knows just what type of (enormous) beetle it was.
saturday Aug. 1 2009 -- Back patio @ Stories, Echo Park...

ok. crazy beetle update:
this morning i saw two of those same green beetles land in some grass, burrow and DISAPPEAR. i was standing there w/my bike, helmet on, staring at the grass at the base of this jacaranda tree. I'm sure my mouth was agape.
I bent down for a better look, pulled back the grass and saw one. very still. I didn't want to poke it lest it come flying up at me. :|
I'm beginning to think they're some kind of burrowing, years dormant bug that 's not surfaced during my 6 years (!) in that apartment. Both fascinating and unnerving. (I just noticed I have bike chain grease all over the back of my right leg. I'm not one of those cool cyclists. My helmet is goofy & I always get chain grease & tire marks on my legs.) I just came from a new-ish small record store. bought a concert ticket and a 45 rpm of a new Wilco song.
now: cappuccino & shady patio!

NUMBER 2:

*this was sent to my sister linda and brother in law jim*

my initial plan for today ended with me @ work trying to get a little ahead so i could take 2 days off at the end of next week. However. I'm sitting on this shady, breezy back patio of a book store cafe. I just drained the last bit of foam from my cappuccino and thought, "Well, that's not gonna happen." :) so, I will get back on my bike (i rode it here), ride west on Sunset Blvd, from Echo Park to Sunset Junction, where i'll stop @ another amazing coffee shop for a little while. Then, I'll head home. Do a little laundry and a lot of sewing. Bonus activity: I'll box up 4 (FOUR!!) packages to mail tomorrow. There's a shipping place in my neighborhood open Sundays. I love them. One package is a souvenir coffee mug i bought mom in NYC last january. It's been on my desk for 7 months. I've got some good sewing mojo going on. Gonna ride that wave.
also: job interview for next gig next week!

NUMBER 3:

*to my pals, trish and maudie

Saturday (!) August 1, 2009 - sippng iced american @ intelligentsia cafe - one of my favorite chicago exports :)
I just read something that brought to mind the hysterical, and frightfully accurate email re: concert attendees that Trish sent me. It's this, taken from the piece "Disco Hints: The New Etiquette," by Fran Lebowitz: "16 minute instrumentals by West-African tribal drummers are frequently the cause of undue amyl nitrate consumption and shirt removal." in this piece she laments taht while she loves dancing, she doesn't like crowds, and it is unfeasable to bring the discoteque into her home. Again, this turns my thoughts to you all. :)
I've not read Fran L. before. i found this on the "your next book" rack @ the library this afternoon. i'm really enjoying how dated the subject matter is (refs to water piks and answering services).
fun fact: i bought a wilco 45 today that is sitting here on my table b/c i couldn't leave it in my bike basket: it's parked in the sun. NO WARPING!

**wednesday follow up: i never did go into work that saturday. i did sort all my laundry. sunday i washed 10 loads of the stuff. i managed to get all four packages mailed out. this afternoon i got a message from my brother that he received his new shorts. :)

and i got the job!**

IT IS ON!

2009-07-10T15:52:00.001-07:00

the new oldsmobiles are in! even better...last night i came home to a package on my doorstep: the 2009 batch of RAMPANT BADASSERY stickers have arrived!
if you want one, just mail me a SASE. if you don't have my address, drop me a line. we'll work out the logistics.
finally, i have one to put on my car. ha!

no way to finish something

2009-07-06T16:43:00.000-07:00

for the last year and a half i've been on a slow and steady mission to clear out some of my languishing craft projects and use materials i have in my apt. this really is the m.o. i've been applying to my entire life. i'm chipping away at the list of tasks, chipping away at the piles of paper, chipping away at debt, chipping away at clutter.

it's been working well, but the urge to start new projects is strong. about a month ago i stood staring into the closet of fabric and yarn, wanting to start a new sewing project. i pulled out a plastic container filled with cut fabric and scraps left over from more than a decade of quilting projects. i started sewing together all the pre-cut squares and cutting more from the fabric scraps.

even if i pack all these bits of fabric back into that box and put it back in the closet i've done enough piecing to reduce thier number by 75%. what was once 4 pieces is now one.

this may not be any way to finish a project, but it's a great way to get something started. :)

fun facts: among the fabrics in these pix: there are pieces from a quilt i made my brother during President Clinton's impeachment trial, a quilt made for Vinnie's baby son --who is now a junior in high school, another quilt made for a friend when i was cutting Animal Planet shows.

surprising the little bits of personal history and context that bubble up with this kind of stuff.

in this pic: bowling pin & candy corn fabrics!
these pix are representational of conditions in my dining room: both desks and two chairs covered in fabric stacks and sewing equipment. if my bicycle wasn't dirty i'd likely have fabric piled on it, too.

further craft note: am also in the midst of a knitting hanger marathon. will have used 8 balls of yarn from my stash, and 10 hangers from the box in the closet when all is said and done.

HELL.
YES.

snack of note: while sewing: leinenkugel's amber ale, pita chips & hummus quartet; while typing: triple vanilla late and mango slices.

weekend, O! weekend!

2009-05-31T23:36:00.000-07:00

i've had this children's quilt on my couch for about the last 8 years. i made it when my friend eli & chava were expecting a baby. we had been friends up at humboldt, then in l.a. sometime before i finished the blanket we fell out of touch.

at this time i was trying to add pieced borders to my quilts. i'm particulary proud of the pieced stars in this one. :)
it's got a nice orange flannel back (another first for me back then).
pardon the wide, bland pic with the yard stick at the end. it was taken with my laptop for
someone interested in using it in a shoot. here is a nice detail shot:
those little shapes in the blue squares are fish. with smiles. i am very fond of this old fabric. :)

over the years i've considered giving the quilt to other friends who were having kids but never did. i like to make things with the recipients in mind, so giving it to another family just felt odd.

a couple of weeks ago, through the radness of f/b, eli and i reconnected! turns out we'd lost touch b/c he and his wife moved out of state. i'd completely forgotten. their family has since grown, and their youngest is a two yr old boy. i told them the story of the quilt and asked if i could send it to them. it's now in a box, awaiting a mailing label. this week it's off to my friends after all these years. awesome. (lord, my fatigue has depleted my vocabulary in a powerful way. sigh).

i'm happy about this for all the obvious reasons but also b/c now i have reason to make another quilt for home. woo! how cool would it be for all the blankets at my place to be handmade? one long-cooker of a project i have is to mend the afghan my grandma irene crocheted. just needs a little mending where the granny squares have been attached.

boy, this was a terrific weekend. got a few things done, did some knitting, watched "Dinner at Eight," had some unexpected social time with my neighbors, had two bagels, saw a movie, wrote a few postcards, went to the record store, and spent a good deal of time reading "wonder boys."

this evening as i rode my bike home from an afternoon at good & intelligentsia mmj's version of the velvet underground's "oh! sweet nuthin'" came up on the shuffle and just broke my heart. such a terrific song.
where effie st. crosses hyperion there is wide open view of the neighborhood. there were some low grey clouds over the hollywood sign and griffith observatory as the sun was setting. the area jacaranda trees are all in full bloom: luminous lavender everywhere! dotting the hillsides, along every street. one of those beautiful, cool evenings in the neighborhood.

(this pic came from a forum for landscape architects. i couldn't find a photo credit.)

and with that: off to bed. big week coming up: ira glass is coming to town for a this american life screening and i'm going to a new dentist. excited and a little terrified. my last dentist recommended gum grafts. this is how he became my Last Dentist. :|

further badassery...

2009-05-26T19:35:00.001-07:00

most of you have heard my tales of world-wide sticker distribution, but if you haven't, here is the nutshell version:

last summer i made some bumper stickers to pass out to fans at my morning jacket shows as souveniers of the tour. for kicks. thought it would be a hoot. the stickers were printed with "RAMPANT BADASSERY" a saying i'd used to describe mmj's live shows.

i brought them to shows in several towns (and states *cough*) and passed them out to people i met there. i posted a thread on the mmj fan forum about the stickers and offered them to anyone who sent me a SASE (c'mon Zoom fans, i know you're out there!).

i gave a stack of them to the mmj road crew. one response in particular was, "fucking awesome!" glad to see they were well received. :)
as i sent the stickers out i kept a list of all the states that they went to. in detroit i gave one to a young guy who said, "i read about these!" ha!
a lot of people sent me cool stickers in return, or pix of their towns and friends. such a fun, cool thing to experience.

as i mailed the last sticker out (to a fan in New Mexico) the totals stood thusly: stickers went to fans in 26 states, canada, australia and japan!

last week i had my first unexpected "R.A." sticker sighting:

it was at the Decemberists show in l.a. i recognized two of the techs on stage as being part of the mmj road crew last year. after the show i got the attention of one of them to say hello. when he asked how i recognized him, i told him that i went to a lot of shows, then, "i made those "rampant badassery" stickers." he pointed to his roadcase which had one on the R.A. stickers on it. then he called over to the other tech i'd recognized and shouted, "hey, eric! it's the rampant badassery girl." which got a "no way!" and some gesturing toward the sticker on his roadcase. we had a short "hey those stickers went everywhere" conversation shouted across the security people sweeping out the crowd stragglers.

awesome.

in recounting this story enough people have asked me for stickers that i'm considering making a second batch. keep your eyes peeled for MACH II.

postcard-a-go-go!

2009-05-25T23:46:00.000-07:00

since i was about 6 years old i've been a letter writer. when i was in college and couldn't afford to make long distance calls that weren't collect, i wrote even more. i bought and used a lot of stationery and postcards. when i got to grad school, not only did i not make phone calls, but my letter writing dropped off as i was busy getting up at 4am to script supervise my friends films. oof.

to get to the point: quite a few of the postcards in my apt i've been carting around for years. decades.

in the last couple weeks of april i learned that the postal rate was going up. at the time i had about thirty 27¢ postcard stamps. i determined to use as many of the 27¢ stamps (and postcards from my stash) as i could before the rate change. by the last saturday before the rate increase i'd written 27 postcards. WOO!

now, i've found i'm kind of on a roll. saturday i stopped by the post office for forty 1¢ stamps (sigh) to continue my postcard binge. i shot myself in the foot in re: depleting the decades deep stash of postcards in my apt, though, when i bought a 20 pack of postage paid Simpsons postcards at the post office. DAMN! it may have been a reaction to realizing that i'd just added 20 more postcards back into the supply that had me sit down and write another 10 cards over the last couple days.

still, i did manage to send at least three postcards i've had with me since the mid 1980's. that felt FANTASTIC! one of them was an aerial photo of the Red Lion Hotel in north san jose. i took that postcard from hotel when i was there ringing in the new year 1987 or 1988. i don't remember the year but i do remember having a terrific time and dancing with my friend walt to a band in the lounge. also managed to use a card i'd purchased at a dead show in about the same time period. it had some very grateful dead related art work on it.

all this card writing has usurped my knitting time at cafes, so i haven't been knitting at all. each postcard is its own thing, so they don't require a continuing attention and focus like a knitting project. timing is good for that kind of activity, tho.

assorted fun facts: weekend cafe total: 5, finished reading paul feig's, "kick me," began reading "wonder boys" again, came home tonight to the neighbors bbq-ing in the courtyard and was met with, "you want a piña colada?"

and now, time for bed.

people...who need people

2009-05-04T21:36:00.001-07:00

"thanks again for getting that bee out of my hair."

what i said to petra that made a guy walking past us laugh.
fun fact: spoken at the l.a. times festival of books

how hot was my apartment that weekend?

2009-05-04T21:11:00.001-07:00

the weekend of april 17 was a scorcher here in los angeles. i missed the heat, however, because i was in the state capital record shopping and sangria drinking with my old college housemates. (woo!) the weather there was perfect! and, as i was in "weekend with friends" mode, i was blissfully unaware of the heat back home.

until...

i got off the plane in burbank sunday night. at the burbank airport you deplane down an open air flight of stairs, not a jetway. i walked out of the plane, at 8pm and it was hot. still. not warm. hot.

cutting to the chase: my apt. complex was built for maximum cross breeze (many big windows), but with no insulation. my kitchen gets even hotter than the rest o' the place b/c the gas stove and water heater are in it.

i opened my cupboard to get a snack and i found that the container of mini peanut butter cups had become one mass o' melted snack food.
this isn't the first time this has happened. i have a bag of chocolate chips in the cupboard that has turned into a big block o'dark chocolate (good with peanut butter, btw).

also: them thermometer on my window fan read 98 degrees when i got home at 9:30 pm.

oof.

i am going to enjoy every light breeze and moderately warm day we have until the summer gets going.

saturday in two parts

2009-05-03T21:54:00.000-07:00

friday afternoon i made plans with sang to hike on sunday. it was a loose plan with one goal: a good, long, semi-challenging hike. having made that plan let me focus all my housekeeping chores on saturday.
i woke up early, did six (6!) loads of laundry, dishes, swiffered most of apt., took out the recycling & trash, cleaned out the fridge, washed my kitchen trashcan, cleared away a stack of mail (ads, catalogs, etc). after all this was done i walked up the street for a pedicure.
after the pedicure i went to a cafe up the street for some reading. the following is a post card i wrote while sitting there. look for the twist:

5.2.09 Saturday afternoon...
"Perhaps all short stories can be understood as ghost stories, accounts of visitations and reckonings with the traces of the past." --Michael Chabon, from "The Other James"

I've been slowly reading a collection of short stories by Hiruki Murakami. I didn't know if was his writing, the translation, or my approach to his stories, but all of them had a dreamy quality. The voice in my head as i read them is calm and steady. just a minute ago i finished reading the M. Chabon piece noted above. as i read that line i had an "oh. of course." moment. so, in the last few minutes i've been applying that sentiment to stories i've read.
[oh. my. god. there are two crazy hyper chatty children running all around this patio. around my table shouting to their parents. they never stop making sounds. i can't even maintain concentration enough to finish this p-card. just try to get a bit contempletive in any public space in los feliz these days. pfft.
ending on a good thought: i'm going for a hike tomorrow w/my pal sang. i don't know where yet. we just made the plan to do it. i always defer trail selection to him b/c he's the man in the know.
--evonne

follow up: our friend travis joined us! we hiked a trail in the santa monica mtns. that included a scramble to sandstone peak, the highest point in the santa monica mtn. range. at the peak we sat in the crazy gusts of wind, holding our hats and ate oranges from travis' backyard.
man, it was gorgeous! many wildflowers still in bloom. stunning views of the ocean to the west and the valley to the east.
in this pic of NYPD Blue's editorial dept: sang is the 4th from the left in black, travis is on the right in the blue shirt.

i'm now going to watch more jeremy brett as sherlock holmes and hit the hay.

rad thing of the day: my thermos

2009-05-01T11:05:00.000-07:00

i love this thermos.

for years i've been using a thermal coffee mug to tote my joe. i love this mug. but that mug has been sidelined as i left it at a neighbor's house weeks ago. in the interim i've been using the thermos.

when my neighbor, beige, moved to philadelpia she shed a few belongings. she gave this thermos to me.
it keeps my coffee hot for hours. this is important. it may seem to be overstating it that this thing is good at what it does, but i have several second string thermal mugs that are not effective: they drip, they don't keep stuff hot, they're awkward to use.

so.

my first ever Rad Thing of the Day post is dedicated to my thermos.
thanks, beige!

when you wake up feeling old

2009-04-19T18:25:00.000-07:00

a couple weeks ago i made a trip to chicago for a brief, but fab weekend of friends, food and wonderful music. it was time for the 5th ever jeff tweedy-letters to santa benefit at hotel s&s! i haven't had the time to try writing a post, but my friend over at easily fooled wrote up a lovely summary that includes some great pix.

personal asides: i stayed with my pal, allison in uptown. we got to visit only one time, when i arrived at 3am saturday morning. she had a bed all ready for me and a note out telling me where to find the good snacks in her kitchen. thanks again, allison!
i was able to have TWO meals at my fave breakfast spot, over easy, and squeeze in a trip to metropolis coffee.

location information: am sitting at gate A16 of Sacramento hairport waiting for a flight home. :)

screen door (non) up-date

2009-04-17T15:58:00.001-07:00

my hope of hiring my carpenter neighbor to install the door has come to naught. i think i'm gonna start asking in the construction dept. at work. this has been stupid for years now.

harumph.

in other news: just ran into my pal, yuri, down at catering. he's a background actor in a couple of scenes today. bonus!
snack of note: mango flan! turkish coffee

craft on!

2009-04-16T23:02:00.000-07:00

finished: the knit headband listed in the "now knitting" sidebar of this page.

woo!

it was an experiment, knit for my friend, jen. i would have gone for a solid color, but this cool cotton/elastic yarn came only in muted earthtones and the pink/raspberry variagated color.

i really dig it! i have enough yarn to whip one up for myself. it's been MONTHS since i've had a haircut, so i'm in the market for a headband or two.
technical bits:
the band is a strip of stockinette st with a 3 st. border on the sides. the border is made by purling on both the wrong and right side. creates kind of a horizontal rib. neat!
i just sewed the ends together in a way to make the seam flat. (i want to say i used a mattress stitch, but i think that's a sewing, not knitting term. eh. it's all mish mash of technique.)

i had been putting in some quality time on a whole cloth quilt. i'd hoped to have it done by now, but traded some sewing hours for live music in the last month. and i worked more than usual. maybe next week. ;)

ambiance: a solo jeff tweedy acoustic performance of "i'm always in love" just came on. i do love this song.
food & beer of note: al wazir, leinenkugel's amber

i've never met ruben kinkaid

2009-04-09T15:05:00.000-07:00

i'm not one to get too star struck. most of the time. but...

i just had lunch with shirley jones.
really.
she's a guest star in the current episode of the show i'm working on. she sat down with the editorial staff and chatted with us all.

as an 8 yr old i taped up clipped pix of sean cassidy on my wall. now i am now 1 degree removed from sean and david cassidy.

O! Hollywood! what a weird town you are.

also: steve landesburg (sgt dietrich from barney miller!!) is in the ep, too. he was sitting at the next table. just seeing him put his lunch tray down made me all giddy. and last week i met joe don baker! mmmmitchell!!

ps. snax of note: turkish coffee, choc chip cookie from catering.

enigmatic list baffles co-workers

2009-03-17T14:19:00.000-07:00

sold
civilians
civil war
this afternoon
flag
leaning
fail me
progress
trampoline
...
god only knows

these words are on a buckslip propped up between the monitors on my desk. it's been there for a few weeks. it must have recently caught someone's attention b/c over the span of a couple days 4 people asked me what it meant.

it's a set list from a joe henry show a few months ago. when read not as a set list, but just a list, it is pretty obtuse. :)

"been trying to title this for 10 minutes" post

2009-03-11T11:07:00.000-07:00

last year i heard that my sister suzie was collecting strips of fabric to make rugs, so i sent her several years worth of fabric strips i had. this was at the start of my house clearing movement, and i was really excited that she could use them.

last night i came home to a package on my doorstep. in it was this small rag rug crocheted by her.

when i pulled this rug from the box i had an unexpected emotional reaction. i chalk it up to these things:
-when i make a gift for someone i spend a lot of time thinking about them as i'm making it. that my sister had me in mind like made me feel loved.
-this rug is made from the fabric i sent her: i recognized every piece as being from quilts i made my brother, my friend nora, my aunt, my friend who isn't aware that i have an unfinished quilt for her in my closet...and the quilt i just finished sunday night, which i am sending to this same sister. also in there: a couple of dresses i sewed, the tail of a plaid shirt i cut off in college.
-and this: the other person to make a rag rug for me was our grandmother. when i was very little, for my dolls. i still have them. familial continuity can be a wonderful thing. :)
i love it. it's so beautiful! i put it in front of this wooden chair in my bedroom. it's where i sit to put my shoes on. but this morning i just sat in the chair in my robe, holding my coffee, with my bare feet on this soft, cushy rug.

HO-LEE TOLEDO.

2009-03-04T13:43:00.000-08:00

this site may be The Coolest thing that i've come across. ever.
spoonflower: custom printed fabric

i had to pull myself away from their website. just knowing that this service is out there is crazy exciting for all sorts of sewing shenanigans.

i may have to order a swatch or two to check out the fabric and feel of printing.

thanks to jen, for the link!

food related: coffee, orange slices

these by-gones won't go

2009-02-27T00:45:00.000-08:00

a couple weeks ago i heard nick lowe singing this line. it brought to mind all the time i spend going over memories of rotten experiences with bad boyfriends. just about everyday a memory will pop into my head and i'll have to slog my way out of it and all the crappy mess of resentment, bitterness and regret that come with it. it seems pointless to be visited by these events of 20 or 25 years ago. i'm still shocked that i was in those situations (epic, ridiculous, stupid situations). maybe that's why they still surface in my head.
these by-gones won't go.

in an effort to counter these crummy ghosts, when i am struck by a bbm (bad boyfriend memory) i counter it with a great boyfriend memory. which is wonderful.

for the record: there were only two guys. two bad boyfriends. i suppose that is not bad overall. but these dudes were ringers. jesus.
each one, however, did turn me on to something cool:
1. baseball
2. the smiths
there might be more, but i don't care to give it any more thought than that.

so long, farewell...

2009-02-22T19:28:00.000-08:00

i consider it a mission. a task.

in an effort to not outgrow my apartment, i've been working on culling stuff from my belongings. stuff i don't use.
been working on it slowly, steadily for about a year. there are a couple areas of stuff that have been difficult: 1: music, 2: clothes
i'm not a fashion plate by any means, but i tend to keep clothes for ever. last night i was wearing coveralls i've had at least 10 years. last week, a sweater i bought at a thrift store when i was in high school.

this brings me to these t-shirts. the black one is from an FM rock station i listened to when i was in jr. high and high school. the back of the shirt says, "stick it in your ear."i cut the sleeves off and the neck out. i wore it to tennis practice in high school. and probably to the mall when i wanted to look cool (because sometimes my nazareth t-shirt was in the wash.)
the mottled, beige looking shirt is a 1982 cheap trick tour shirt. my mom poured bleach on it, not knowing it was in the washing machine. that's how it got it's color (this is NOT the only article of clothing that fell to this fate: my first 501's, my favorite yellow striped shirt. at a certain point i began doing all my own laundry for this reason). cut the sleeves and neck out of this one, too. back then, everything was cut for guys and had high necks: i cut the necks out of all my t-shirts.
i got the cheap trick shirt at a concert in hayward with my friend, patty sparkman, who had never seen the band before. (science fact: this was in the non-tom-peterson/ jon-brant days {see inset}).

there is a pic of me wearing this shirt, pre-bleach, in my sophmore yr. yearbook.

so. two weeks ago i took these shirts out of the "shirts in limbo" pile with the intent of either cutting them up for dusting cloths or throwing them in the trash.

they got as far as my sewing desk, where they still sit.

by the end of tonight, they will be in the bag of former shirts now in the service of wiping the dust off surfaces in my apt.

maybe.

SCREEN DOOR MACH II

brief update: the screen is mended, paint is re-touched, and is now back leaning in the kitchen door jamb awaiting proper installation. it will happen!! tomorrow i'm calling a shop in hollywood that installs doors. if it's not prohibitively expensive, i'm gonna make an appointment and get this show on the road! WOO, DAMMIT!
{this shot was taken after the torn screen was removed and paint touch-ups were in progress}

for the record:
beer of note: deschutes brewery, mirror pond ale
snack of note: trader joe's nuts about raspberries and chocolate trail mix

tastes like grape

2009-02-19T17:46:00.000-08:00

for the record: i did it. i drank deep of the f/b kool-aid and within 3 hours found the woman who was my tennis team double partner in highschool. she also played a mean game of defender back in the day. :)

i've got to figure out how to use the f/b powers for good not evil and not let the whole thing overwhelm me. my email acct. was packed with f/b related stuff. lord.

other day 1 highlights: "becoming a fan" of curtis mayfield AND zankou (sweet, sweet zankou),
seeing pix from the babe ranch (no judging!), getting invited to prom in dubai, finally getting ahold of sea so that she could come to the andrew bird show, and discovering how to IM bp. :D

with that: work. these opening credits will not place themselves.

quote du jour

2009-02-18T11:24:00.001-08:00

"he is my inner abider made manifest."

explaining to dp why i have such affection for the security guard who uses hand traffic signals while driving a golf cart on the lot.

side note: whenever i'm on the lot with dp and tourist trams pass, people wave to him. last week one girl giggled when he waved back. we think people think he's michael chiklis. :)

if this love is wrong, i don't want to be right.

2009-02-16T11:18:00.000-08:00

**letter written while sitting in the front cafe section of "stories" bookstore in echo park." it's on some well traveled green lined paper that i carry around just in case the letter writing mood hits. also: i JUST figured out how to put links in the text. look out!**

sunday 2.15.09 5:30p
mostly cloudy sky, dusk, lighted signs getting turned on.

i am in love.

i am in love with this bookstore. last weekend i noticed it for the first time. it's on sunset blvd in echo park, near the echo. it's a bookstore and cafe. the front of the long, narrow shop is all glass. there are tables and a long bench up here. i'm sipping an americano, that, when it was hot, was quite good. :)

the shop sells new and used books! it's not a big space, so you can imagine the selection is...select. (damn, painted myself into a language corner there...) there is a small craft section with good & interesting books on sewing, knitting and needlework. including a book from "subversive cross stitch", of whom i am a fan. :) )
the cafe counter is in the back of the shop along with...a back patio.
patio.
number two on my list of wonderful cafe attributes, second only to remarkable coffee. it's too cold out this evening to sit outside which is how i came to be here. now that i know about the patio. well.

this stretch of sunset blvd is also part of my favored bike path route in the summer. used to be: bike to millie's, eat, then bike to sea level records. since sea level shut in 2007 i've ridden down here, but only to turn around when i get close to dodger stadium and head back.

consider all these attributes--independent book store, new & used books, coffee, tables that look out onto echo park foot traffic, the patio, bike route--and put them all in the space that used to be sea level records. yup. same store. well. what's not to love?

bonuses: they are playing velvet underground and have free wi-fi. so. for now, until all the screenwriters & students discover this spot, i have another cafe to add to the rotation.

before writing you i was reading (oh! i hear the coffee grinder from the back of the store!) michael chabon's book, "Maps & Legends." i've just started the first piece (it's a collection.) this line made me laugh out loud:
"An entertainer is a man in a sequined dinner jacket, singing "she's a lady" to a hall filled with women rubber-banding their underpants up onto the stage."
this in the same piece in which he mentions nabakov, nurse romance fiction, and star wars. i love his writing. (i was going to write, "i love him, too." would have added symmetry to this letter but just seems a little too familiar. :| )

additional cool things about this book store: the guy sitting at another table was just served a salami sandwich. the bread is really crunchy. sounds terrific! and: a woman just sat down at the table next to mine and struck up conversation about the m. chabon book on the table.

ahh! and randy newman is playing now! good lord. how do i keep from spending all my time here? (oh brainstorm! back patio may be ideal for a knitting group!)

alright. it may be time to head home. before coming here i was @ orchard supply. bought a sheet of screen to install in my door. Believe it! and a new broom. it's time. :)

**as i transcribe this i realized i haven't properly finished this letter. well. i packed up, headed home. i didn't get the screen installed last night. wanted to wait until daytime to do it. {black door, black screen...just easier to see in the day} i spent a considerable amount of time standing on a stool in my kitchen re-arranging the glassware that belonged to my grandmothers, and great grandmothers. this put the sangria pitcher is a more accessible spot. key for summer!
also: my hallway is FULL of containers of fabric and yarn from the closet. found just the right fabric in there. :D

it's monday morning. i've spent it sewing in my pajamas.**

why i didn't see grant-lee phillips on saturday.

2009-02-09T14:42:00.000-08:00

saturday morning i drove up to the greek theatre to buy some tix for a show. turns out the box office there is closed for the season. so. decided to use the out and about early on a saturday momentum to visit the DMV to replace my stolen (grr) car registration sticker. had to stop by the apt to look up the saturday hours. the information i found on their website stated that saturday DMV hours have been discontinued b/c of california's budget, which has yet to be set.

now. i remember that i can get this DMV service at AAA, so i head out. from the time i pulled out of my drive way, to the time i was pulling out of the AAA driveway: 45 min. done! easy!

back at the homestead i worked on a few things including the Never Ending Screen Door Project.

yes! (for those of you familiar with said screen door, it is, at present, lying on the floor of my dining room, torn screen and moldings removed, fresh coats of paint covering the scratches and dings from The Incident {sigh})

decided to walk to kaldi cafe in atwater. it's a great walk that takes me around the reservoir on rowena, over hwy 5 and the los angeles river. i really wanted to see the state of the river after two days of heavy rain.

armchair birder note: no birds on the reservoir. hmm. there was a flock of what looked like geese on the bank of the river. it was a bit far from the hyperion overpass to see.

at kaldi i had a rich americano, sat outside and read some roy blount. it was cool, but not raining and the sky was full of dramatic cloud formations. when it got too cold to stay out i got another americano and headed to the little knittery. .

i hung out there, did some knitting, chatting. when i got up to leave it was about 6:30. as i put on my sweater i looked out the window: downpour. i reflected on the decision i'd made hours before to wear a fleece jacket, instead of a rain jacket. to carry a wool bag, not a nylon backpack. to wear hiking shoes instead of my impervious muck boots. to bring my dinner-plate sized travel umbrella instead of my full sized, morton's salt girl umbrella.

when i headed home from atwater on foot, it was pouring rain. this was the heaviest rain i've ever walked in. and i lived for six years in humboldt county without a car. i've logged a lot of time walking in the rain. as i was walking over the hyperion bridge back to los feliz huddled under my umbrella, a car drove by, through the rain running down the gutter of the overpass and DRENCHED me. instantly. it felt like someone threw a bucket of water at my back. i turned to look down the road and saw the traffic light change, and watched two lanes of traffic headed my way.

it felt like someone was hurling buckets of water at my back in 2 second intervals for the next 2 minutes. a couple times, i put my umbrella down to cover my back, but it was raining so hard my head was getting soaked.

i was able to keep my head, and therefore headphones dry, so at least i could listen to music as squished home. there is never a bad time to hear ray charles.

when i got home i went straight into a hot shower. just out of the shower: lightning. decided to stay in, listen to some sarah vowell's "partly cloudy patriot" and continue on my crafting jag.

beer of note: mendocino brewery's eye of the hawk
snack of note: trader joe's mini dark choc. covered graham crackers.

i did miss grant-lee's little room show. again. dammit.

photo is of me during happier rainy times: june 2004, bonnaroo. pic taken by suzie. :)

shabby-dig-it-freddie!

2009-02-04T18:01:00.000-08:00

last night at about 11:30, i put down the endless striped blanket i was knitting and thought to go to bed. then i noticed the unfinished glass of beer: celebrator. in my top 3.
so, i picked up lynda barry's "the freddie stories" to read while i finished my beer.

i don't know if these are strips from lb's strip, "ernie pook's comeek," or only in this book. they are so beautiful and crushing. i didn't want to stop reading until i could finish with a story that had a hopeful ending. finally got to bed at 1am.

lb stands alone.

there she is.

:)

knit-tacular!

2009-02-04T14:33:00.000-08:00

since mid-december i've been on a bit of a craft tear. i'd been in a bit of a creative lull, but i got a request from roberta for a green scarf. my friend petra turned me onto some amazing yarn: rowan cocoon: merino wool and kid mohair. SOOOOFT! then, she showed me a terrific pattern: kim hargreaves' "haven."
roberta and i exchanged a flurry of texts while i was in the yarn store re: color and yarn weight. after "green," "chunky" and "city over sporty" she gave me license to knit what i wanted. now that she's received it in the mail, i'll post some pix.
this is a close up of the lace pattern.
(the fabric behind it is the back of a quilt i made)

---> in this shot you can see how long the scarf is. that is a queen size bed! for the record: i did NOT make that quilt. it's from the company store. :)

i knit this scarf in coffee houses across los feliz, silver lake, chicago, new york, and coast to coast on virgin airlines.

back to it: this scarf stoked my creative bug. since i started it, i've also been working on a beret made of pale green alpaca (oh lord, again with the softness!), some covered baby hangers for baby hoover, come close to finishing the supa-bright kids' quilt, and made this rad bag from an urban craft center pattern: i love the bee fabric. it's lined with some purple fabric from the stash in my closet. woo!
one last highlight: i've been pulling together some pix of my old quilt and knitting projects. this is a baby sweater i knit for roberta's son, beck:
that is a slice of buttered toast. r & i were housemates at humboldt. properly preparing toast was an art form in our apt. :)

this sweater is the first project i knit using the intarsia method. the pic is off-center. alas. there is a companion sweater to this: features an eggplant.
(if any of you have a pic of this one, let me know!)

also: this morning i decided what phrase will go on the bright kids' quilt.
i'd been waffling between "i will not fail you rainbow chicken" and "there will be snacks!" when i woke up this morning i was singing andrew bird's "tables and chairs." so.

as a bonus, that phrase always makes me think of my friend, natalie. :)

churro of understanding

2009-01-30T22:58:00.000-08:00

this is a pic of the "churro of understanding" quilt when it was nearly finished. you can see the unfinished binding along part of the blanket. the left side of the pic is the back of the quilt: the right side shows part of the front with the finished binding.

one more pic: this is an in progress shot of "we can swim any day in november." there were still safety pins basting the layers together in some spots, and no binding.
and with that, i'm turning on the colbert report and picking up the "endless striped blanket" i've been knitting for SIX YEARS. honestly, if i had been knitting it more often, it would have been done long ago. i'd intended it to be a baby blanket, maybe 3' x 4'. the last time i checked it was at least 4'x 5'. ha!

2009-01-29T19:57:00.000-08:00

i'm working a little later than expected tonight. nothing dramatic, but it made me think to update the desk posts...
changed the desktop images on my avid last night: on the left: allison (of SUPERSCHEIN) and brian standing in line outside the riviera in chicago last february during the wilco residency.
on the right: jeff tweedy during one of last year's letters to santa living room shows. that white square hanging from the mic stand is one of the printed pot-holders i made as a souvenier of the potluck & musical revue. :)
you can also see a "rampant badassery" sticker taped to the bottom of the left monitor. WORLD WIDE, YO!
both pics taken with my analog cam, by the way.

b/c it's a cool visual, here is a pic that is an overview of how i constructed the potholders:
from left to right:
1. gocco printed square (kind of lo-fi screen printing)
2. example of backing fabric
3. printed square, batting and backing during quilting process
4. a finished quilted square trimmed up
5. cloth strip to be used as binding
6. potholder with binding being turned to front & pinned
7. done! it's even got a loop at the corner.
the back row shows many of the different fabric combos i used. they're all pinned, waiting for the top stitching on the binding. i all i made 40 potholders in 16 different fabric combos. i took this pic standing on a chair in my sewing room.

for the potholders i used the same binding technique i use for my quilts. SEGUE! last night i made considerable progress sewing the binding on a kids' quilt that's been kicking around unfinished for about six years. i am THIS close to finishing it. last night i laid on the couch under it watching the colbert report. (if i've ever sewn or knit something for you, i have tried it on, or slept for a night or two with it on my bed. i just like to enjoy the finished project before sending it out in the world. note: i do NOT try on the baby stuff i make. nope.)

i've been laying pretty low the last few weeks: i was too sick to go out for awhile so i just got into the habit of spending evenings at home. all day yesterday i was thinking about going home to sew and check the blocking of roberta's scarf. tonight, i'm having to stay a little later at work, but i'm pining for the knitting needles. (say what you will.)
the only thing left to do on the aforementioned kids' quilt is to embroider a phrase, my signature, and the date on it. i like to use a phrase that is related to something going on when i finish the blanket. past phrases:
-"we can swim any day in november." from the postal service song, the district sleeps tonight. i finished the quilt right after thanksgiving. a thanksgiving i spent swimming in my friends' pool until 2am. brilliant. :) this was for nora.

-"this is the new year." from the death cab for cutie song, "the new year." i dated the quilt jan 6, 2006. it's not as obvious a choice as it sounds: jan 2005 started off with my sister in the hospital on life support. it was a statement of reclaiming the new year, dammit. i kept this quilt.

-"churro of understanding" is a reference to my friend moe's short film, "corndog of tolerance." i sent him a letter addressed to moe "churro of understanding" g. then i wrote a postcard to our mutal friends tiff & duane explaining the whole joke. this quilt went to tiff & duane for their son, barrett.

those might be the only ones...i used to just embroider them with the date and "Yvon."

totally unrelated, but truly cool: last weekend the western regional barista competition was held in l.a. (i was working, wtf?!). the top three spots were won by three of the guys who pull shots at intelligentsia. WOO! i am such a fan girl. i believe i blush when they slide those cappuccinos across the counter. *swoon* GO TEAM! last year's national championship was won by a barista at the los angeles branch of intelligentsia. (recently noticed that they've expanded their late hours to thursday! if i get out of here before 9:30p, think i'll head over. dude, it is 9pm now. there is no way i'm getting out of here in time. ahh, well: overtime, yo.)

further acquistions and analog pleasures

2009-01-26T09:51:00.000-08:00

last week i got some pix back from the developer. pix captured on film negative. when i told one friend i was wating to get some film developed he chuckled.
analog.
i love my little film camera. i love camera negative. maybe it's related to cutting 16mm ftg on a film bench. i love holding up the negative/print and seeing the image right there. tangible.

but.

the time has come: i'd really like to have a digital camera.
nothing too sophisticated. the last time i handled a camera with detachable lenses was 1991.
so i'm looking for recommendations. (paddysat, pneyu, preferred b, marg, mogomom, whiteplains: any tutelage you can offer in the way of megapixels, resolution and design would be appreciated.)

also: i've been sniffing around the facebook koolaid. a co-worker told me today that i could set my profile to different privacy standards. this is key. there are those spooky people who one would rather see remain in the ether. *shudder*

singing me through monday morning: neko case & the sadies. fucking a.

from the desk of ms. y.

2009-01-22T11:17:00.000-08:00

this is my desk. the padding on the wall is sound baffling. i'm not a fan of it, but it keeps the noise from the adjacent office lower.
i'll be spending a lot of time here over the next month. our schedule is ramping up to some tight delivery deadlines, so i'll be working some late nights and weekends. no complaints: the fridge here is stocked with 1/2 & 1/2.

this was the desk i used at "the cleaner." the assortment of coffee cups and cookie are a good representation. (what you can't see in the current pic is my thermal coffee mug, a coffee cup full of tangerine wedges, my thermos (now depleted of its coffee store), a cup of water, and half a banana.)

how things go...

2009-01-20T20:27:00.000-08:00

**written jan 17, saturday. sitting in a window seat at urth cafe, santa monica. for the record: cappuccino and tortilla soup. :) *

again, the fruit of making no plans is a chance encounter. this time with dear friends not seen for too long.
whenever i have these random meet ups i think about all the decisions that could have resulted in our missing one another. tonight, it was right down to turning left, not right, after crossing the street.
there they were: emil, moe, amy, kirby and baby kate!
i've had one chance meet up with moe before: outside the arclight cinema in h'wood. when i lived on the west side, we used to live in the same neighborhood. seeing each other on the street wasn't so rare, and was always a treat.
just two weeks ago i ran into my friends sue & craig at a dave rawlings machine show @ largo. for MONTHS sue has been dilligently trying to meet me for lunch or something. (i'll be seeing them next weekend when i attend their baby shower! *crazy exciting this!*)
when i have these unexpected friend sightings, i realize i am a lucky bastard. those who know me, are familiar with my reluctance to make plans. that these people who mean so much to me just happen to be on the same street, at the same show...

these chance meetings remind me of vinnie. she's my oldest friend. whenever we were within a certain range of the other we would cross paths: bumping to each other @ the tapestry & talent fair, she & loretta driving down guadalupe expwy. when i was sitting there, on the hood of my car which was stuck in the mud, her walking across my blanket at a grateful dead show in monterey (i didn't even know she listened to the dead!)...
this doesn't happen to us anymore. i live in california, she in oklahoma. but i think about her a lot. she is on my mind. i wonder if we're doing the same "running into one another thing" but long distance, in thought.

so, i'm sick.

2009-01-11T19:21:00.001-08:00

plan b.

about 2 hours before the end of my work day last friday, the cold that had been quietly threatening me all week finally came on full strength. meh.

i'd planned a weekend of crockpot cooking, dish washing, laundry doing, cleaning... what it has become: me on the couch. me in bed. i'm not bedridden, so i'm grateful for that. the last two days i've cleaned my apt in increments. tidy, go back to bed. do some dishes, lay on the couch.

today i left the apt for a few hours to attend a knitting group that is in it's fledgeling state. we meet on the patio at a tavern in the neighborhood. i kept looking longingly at the tall pints of german beer on the surrounding tables, then sipped my tea.

i had hoped to write about my various craft successes this weekend, maybe post a couple pix, but
just laying here, i've kind of run out of energy. i took a half dose of daytime cold medicine, usually enough to eliminate my symptoms but not make me stoned. today, it's not lasting an hour. makes me think this cold is a tough one.

if all goes well, i will edit this later to be worth reading. ha!

*snuffle*

creepiest sentence fragment heard before 9am today

2009-01-09T09:34:00.000-08:00

"...suprising what hidden mechanical spiders can do."

sandra tsing-loh, on this morning's installment of the loh-down on science.

*shudder*

my morning jacket @ chicago theatre, dec 28, 2008

2009-01-08T14:19:00.000-08:00

**a bit late in coming, but here is my annotated set list/review from the 12.28.08 show in chicago. this is a cut and paste of my post on another board. the smilies don't translate. if you come across a word that seems out of place, it's likely a smilie i forgot to edit.**

night two at the chicago theatre.

on the way to the show with wendy, her two nieces and allison, we listened to a few mmj songs (allison skillfully driving the ipod). we tossed out a few songs we each really wanted to hear that night. turns out we did a pretty good job at writing the set list. hot dog!

my seats were in row mm, but as it turned out, i had a terrific view! it's great to be able to see the whole stage at one time. also gave me some perspective on the lighting.
at the chicago theatre the crew included to spotlight operators who sat up in the catwalk. they concentrated on following jim and carl during the show.

due to some women in the row behind me having a friendship meltdown i ran over to hang with allison for the beginning of the show.

show!

--at dawn--this is a gorgeous way to start a show. we knew it was going to be a different set from most of the tour!
--it beats 4 u--beautiful out of the gate--stage awash in blue lights--TOM OUT!

--evil urges--at the first big drum break the tarp hanging behind the band fell to reveal the big gatefold eye-ring artwork. i missed the drop on sat night. i just looked up at one point and it was gone. (sat night allison commented that she'd visually missed half the show because she was dancing. i do it everytime. )

--i'm amazed--AHHHH!! GOLD LIGHTS! SUN! WOW!--marc's choice of lighting really struck a chord with me on this one.
--gideon--tom lays back!, jim played a new outro where it is usually carl winding down the song. melodic!!!
--wonderful man--rocking big finish

--jim greets crowd--comments on chicago being a land of opportunity...that the designers of the chicago theatre had their brains close to god. (jim commented quite a lot on the theatre interior {it is rounded, lavish and lovely}. he said that they'd been playing in a lot of modern, straight edge, black spaces.)

--golden
--i will sing you songs--!!!--ooh--this is a show stopper in the best possible way. STUNNING! it's like being in a pool, floating in space, wrapped in a heavy blanket and standing in a deep fog all at the same time. gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous!

out comes the omnichord!...
--sooner!--an uptempo version. carl's guitar on this was wonderful! picking and slide. i wrote "pat" here, but i can't remember why. jim rocks the omnichord

--thank you too--the lighting was a blue-green that gave the stage an "undersea" appearance. the side spots were purple. lovely!
--anytime-- IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SET. all bets are off at this point!

--remnants!--first time i've seen them play this one--A BEAST! STROBES! to hear i will sing you songs AND remnants in the same set list is just nuts. that these men can create such ethereal, breathtaking music and then blow the roof off the place 10 minutes later.
well, damn!
--lay low--note re: nice carl spot

--highly suspicious--BIG FUN! at the top of the song the lighting was pink and gold-ahh! as the song progressed it became a lighting free for all!

--mis-cue here as someone (patrick?) started the opening drum track for lay low here. it was quickly squashed and the band launched into...
--off the record

--i think i'm going to hell--FANTASTIC! the stage drenched in red light, carl's slide. damn, damn, damn
--smokin from shootin--the band silhouetted against a gorgeous blue back light with magenta fills. i'm a sucker for the backlighting.
--touch me pt 2--as jim and bo rode out the omnichord/good intentions outro i saw tom and carl take off their guitars, and put different ones on. i turned to the woman next to me (salacious d!) and said, "the set's not over!"

--run thru--HOLY HELL OPEN--when you start a song this huge, where do you go from here: MORE HUGE. my notes say: can't dance hard enough!

------------
--look at you--jim solo--moving!
--banter: jim again commenting on the curvy-brain architecture of the chicago theatre interior

--nashville to kentucky--nashville. to kentucky. with carl playing saxophone. SUBLIME. AHHHHH!! soo beautiful! this was the song that killed me, flat out.
--steam engine--GORGEOUS! well, a girl just doesn't stand a chance with these songs back to back.

--COBRA-- ok. if there is one thing to ground you after the emotional wrenching of nashville to kentucky --> steam engine it is some quality booty shaking, head banging to cobra! during the 2nd movement here, carl was on fire!
--wordless!!--by the time we all got to singing out it felt as though the entire show had built to this. WONDERFUL WONDERFUL WONDERFUL!! at the climax of the song jim stood at the edge of center stage with one arm extended, palm open singing.

--one big holiday!!

after the show as people filtered out, mark (i've got an evil plan, babe), who i'd met at radio city last june came over to say hello. turns out the couple next to me were posters on the mmj forum. (about 3 songs into the set she commented, "can you believe they opened with "at dawn?!" i was so excited to be next to someone like that at a show! )

--of all the shows i've seen, this may be my favorite set list. so varied. and LOADED with stunners!!

allison found us still at our seats. grinning, she said to me, "you lost your shit, didn't you?" there's something to be said for being an open book.

we found wendy and her nieces and headed over to the elephant and castle for setlist review and hotwings.

man oh man. if this band must head to new zealand and japan for the next two months, i'm glad to have been around to participate in this. as ever, thanks for a fucking fantastic night, gents!

nothing but love. and radness!

2009-01-04T23:52:00.000-08:00

this is a link to my show notes/annotated set list from my morning jacket's show at the chicago theatre, sat. dec. 27, 2008

http://forums.viachicago.org/index.php?showtopic=38248

this is the first installment in the "the club is not the real world" series of postings regarding my winter vacation. i'm easing into it. ;)

**photo credit: likethetwilight on the mmj forum**

lynda barry is soul sista #1

2009-01-04T18:32:00.000-08:00

**trying something new: with any luck you'll see the cover of lynda barry's "what it is." i can't overstate how much i love this woman's writing and drawings. in trying to come up with some words to describe her work i couldn't come up with anything that didn't sound a bit cheap.

so.

if you've not read her panels or books, but are at all inclined, i encourage you to check them out. "one hundred demons" is fantastic.

i was reading this book today when i wrote this card to my friend, m. also a fan of l.b.
**

1.5.2009
it's 1:40p sunday. am sitting at a neighborhood bakery reading Lynda Barry's "What It Is." Much of the book is collage: paintings, her writing & printed text snipped from books, letters, etc. the following are some favorite snippets (snippets!) from the book:

"little ghosts come a-knocking with hands like these"

"now perhaps you'll give up this wild idea," grumbled the old stove, "and stay where you belong."

"what happens when we keep words apart? the suspended animation of things still in pieces"

that last one is reverberating in my bean as i've been wanting to write some notes on my holiday travels, but have been putting it off. alas.

much love from sunny & clear los feliz :)

**the first two appear to be from found materials, but the last was written by l. barry.**

HAPPY NEW YEAR! a return to prolificity!

2009-01-04T17:25:00.001-08:00

i'd had the phrase "return to profligacy" in my head all day. i just looked up "profligacy" in the dictionary. a real, hard bound book. turns out i was WAY off base. the word i was looking for was "prolificity."

from webster's unabridged dictionary:

prolificity, under prolific: 4. characterized by abundant production

profligacy: 1. shameless dissoluteness, 2. reckless extravagance

whew.

**note: i'd dated this card jan 5, not 4th b/c the date on my watch isn't set correctly. especially funny when you read about my confidence about the correct date on the card. pfft.

written on a postcard featuring chicago's merchandise mart**

1.5.2009 -- A new year! how about that? 1st postcard written in the new year.
1st time date written. please note: the correct year was written without error. probably as i was conscious of the "first" quality of it.
am sitting in a sunny patch @ cafe los feliz (heart) w/a dbl decaf cappuccino & apricot cookie.
today is my first day home from a 9 day trip to chicago & new york. i never quite acclimated to the time diff, waking up at about noon everyday while there.
so today i was up @ 8:30 a. hooray!

I feel as though i might be coming down w/some end-o-long-travel cold. trying to burn it out with sun & mobility. grrr!

the end of the year is always a time to reflect on the year, take stock of things...i've been so occupied the last week+, i'm just getting down to it. Many "this time last year" sentences rolling around in my head. i'm hoping to spend considerable amount of time w/those thoughts today. tomorrow i'm back to work. such a foreign idea at this point: hallmark of a quality vacation. :)

for now: this cappuccino + this lynda barry book + this sunny spot = excellent

Happy, Happy New Year! xo-

ps. have made much progress on your scarf. knit in chicago, nyc & across the u.s. on virgin america!

**note: the scarf ref'd is something i'm knitting by request by this card recipient. :) **

fun with yo la tengo

2008-12-01T00:09:00.000-08:00

strictly poking around online trying to see if there might be one yo la tengo show i could make this winter when i found this on their website: http://www.yolatengo.com/kaplanskorner.html

it's a short titled "kaplan's korner, or how yo la tengo got their name"

what's not to love?

for the record: i will not get to see any of their winter shows. rats.

"the most incredible thing..."

2008-11-26T23:15:00.000-08:00

"i couldn't believe it. the most incredible thing in my life had just happened and i wouldn't be able to tell anyone, because how could i explain that i was deep in Queens late at night with a transsexual."

from "The Extra Man," by jonathan ames

11.26.08-post hal hartley, al wazir, eye of the hawk

2008-11-26T22:10:00.000-08:00

am feeling a drive to consolidate.

don't know if it's the movie i just watched, the dinner i ate or the prospect of having the next four days off from work: i'm motivated to shed stuff. to pull out 150 cds, 30 t-shirts, the unused cafe table wedged between the filing cabinet and the wall in my sewing room, all the bits gathering dust from lack of use in my apt, and haul them out to the goodwill, cd trade in, wherever someone might find a use for them...

i struggle against my pack-rat tendencies: i don't want to save every scrap and clipping, just the odd ticket stub or note from a friend that will rocket me back to that time and place. last week during some deep apt. cleaning i looked through a collection of bits in a box on my bookshelf. i've had this box since 1985 and filled it with things when it was still a new thing in my life. most of the time i forget it's there. every couple of years or so i open it up and there it is: some of 1987. grateful dead ticket stubs, a nyc subway token, sea shells collected on long island, cat whiskers from a tom cat who moved into my apt, stones from some gem shop in los gatos.

i don't want to go through my life dragging trunks of relics from all my years, but i do like a few small things here and there. the polaroids on my fridge, a photobutton of a grade school friend, a mug sent to me by my sister the summer of 1990 when i was desperate to know someone was in my corner-even from hundreds of miles away...

it's the nature of acquistion that one has to make space for all this stuff. i don't want to make more room. and i don't want to out grow this apt. i'm tired of having to move things to clean under them.

so.

got to thin this stuff out. i'm also reluctant to put anything in a landfill. so, if it's at all of use, i want to find a home for it.

i know how this goes: i am swept up in the excitement of a new endeavor, try to tackle it from too many angles at once, get sleepy and never quite accomplish what it is i'd set out to do. i've got four days off. step one: establish a clean slate. start with the laundry. that will have me focused on cleaning out the closets. (is it too much to want all my clothes to fit into drawers and closets and not have ever revolving piles of shirts and sweaters that i move from place to place?)

and i'm going to play the piano this weekend. all that potential music in there. and my memories of playing that piano are directly tied to family holidays. i don't remember they were thanksgiving or christmas holidays: i just remember loading rolls in the piano in the basement of my grandparents' house while my brother, sisters and cousins played pool there. oh! i am just realizing now: this piano is the biggest artifact that i am toting around. and it is so heavy i can't even move it to clean under. ha!

man, i am a sentimental bugger. blindsides me sometimes. :)

a friend of mine used the word savor in a converstion we were having. (i've been trying to figure a way to relate the context, but it just gets too weedy). the minute she said it i could tell it was the idea i'd been looking for: i've got too much dross. (now this started as a writing about objects, possessions, stuff and clutter but one may apply it liberally to broader concepts as well. ;) )

ok. when i sat down to write this i put on grant-lee phillips nineteen-eighties album. it's done and the fab mix from my pal john in central fla. has just come on. laundry sorting music if ever there was!

feeding into this: tomorrow is thanksgiving. it's been raining off and on all day. hands down my favorite time of year. and how can a girl even think of sewing when she has to move stuff off the desk to even get to the sewing machine? honestly.

for the record: mentioned at the top of the letter: movie viewed: unbelievable truth, hal hartley, dir; dinner eaten: al wazir, shwarma plate; days off: thanksgiving holiday weekend :) woo!

and this is how it starts! good night!

11.22.08, postcard & letter medley

2008-11-24T16:37:00.000-08:00

*this first bit is a postcard. i met the recipient when i was first learning to knit 7 years ago. she hosted a knitting group that i joined. this postcard is a bit weedy in the knitting content. if you're not a knitter it might just give you a little window into what i'm pondering while staring into space in the back of a cafe.*

Sat 11.22.08...9pm?
Sitting at the back counter @ Intelligentsia. Just about to dip into round 2: Americano. *heart*
It may be overstating it, but i'm feeling like a physicist who's just cracked an equation: i've been crunching numbers trying to alter a knitting pattern to make it bigger. Evidently the woman who designed this-quite lovely-beret has a noggin 6 inches smaller than mine. the math involves increasing the number o' sts to be picked up around he i-cord band (not ribbed), then calculating how many would result in the correct # o'sts after increasing, to follow the pattern repeat. i'm crediting, at least partially, the cappuccino. and the patsy cline songs on the stereo here. :)
I've been on a bit of a craft hiatus the last few months. work and concert travel have kept me busy.
However: the urban craft center is re-opening @ their new location on main st. in santa monica, so i can feel the craft wheels begin to turn in my head. hooray! writing to you has me wanting to start a knitting group...or maybe its the coffee...

**a letter written a few minutes later...**

11.22.08--saturday night, sitting at the back counter at the cafe with the best espresso in town. the best part: it's in my neighborhood.
been wanting to thanks you for the wonderful fall gift! the leaves you sent are sitting atop my piano. even if the weather here is slow to co-operate, i know what season it really is.
i've been a little low energy today. have guests in town. decided to bail on the movie we'd planned to see--ended up napping for 2 hours. perfect! am now skipping the concert i was planning to attend tonight in favor of a little cafe loitering. when the days get shorter here evening cafe sitting gets mellower. those long hot days keep all my fave places too busy to hang out for long. (the nerve. ha!)
jumping topics: this has been an odd employment year out here: the writers' strike last fall really made things very unstable. i've worked on 3 shows this year (after spending 4 mos. out of work.) am finally in a pretty stable situation. then this morning i heard news that the actors' guild is close to striking. this has been looming for months, but i've been hopeful that they would resolve the contract disputes w/o striking. there is just no goodwill from the other unions left after the writers' strike. and in this economic climate? i had some choice expletives this morning when i heard the news. i still feel that as a union member myself (4th generation) any strike should be honored b/c that is your power. but this is just too much now. i'm just happy to be working on a show that doesn't give me grief about billing for overtime that the show incurs.
ok. time to shift this again: for the record i bought this card @ an amazing coffee house in kansas city, mo. a couple summers ago. i was there for a wedding. one of my firends there found a hotel for me w/in walking distance of this cafe. turned out to be so hot & humid there, i walked once, ddrove the rest of the time i was in town. sometime i will tell you about the conversation i had w/a guy there that started with, "can i ask you a question?" a memorable day, that. :)
it's almost 10p. i'll head home & do the dishes while this espresso is still working.

ps. miss you like crazy and am itching for a road trip. good combo!

11.20.08 Analog pleasures

2008-11-21T17:21:00.000-08:00

*wrote this sitting outside a coffee bean on riverside drive in toluca take. i'd left work to send a package priority mail. am buying a concert ticket from a guy in indiana. (ahh, live music!) i am aware of the contrary nature of posting about "analog pleasures" in a blog. *

Thurs afternoon--on a break from work...post office run. :)
Waht times are thse that i find only a red pen & a sharpie in my backpack? I'm pretty good about keeping a pen handy, but i must have pulled it out & left it somewhere. alas.
Yesterday driving to work listening to Gillian Welch sing "Ruination Day" i wished i was on a road trip. i counted: it's been 8 mos. since my last driving trip: houston --> austin --> houston --> austin --> houston. ha! that's just about the usual time between trips. 8, 9 mos. (boy, this pen is a drag :| )
I have to tgo back to the office now--perhaps i'll find a better pen...
FRIDAY! 11.21: am at my desk w/headphones on listening to joe henry as the four guys behind me talk about all the cell phones on the market. i'm not technology averse but these kind of discussions make me want to put my phone in a closet and go somewhere...else.
Tomorrow is saturday. i'll get to walk to a cafe...sit in the sun and read. and knit. i've got some analog pleasures on my brain.

CRAFT UP!

2008-11-16T13:03:00.000-08:00

i've been in a sort of craft dull zone: wanting to start a new knitting or crochet project, but in need of an inspirational kick in the boo-tay.

currently am waiting for my pal petra to pick me up for the big felt club show at the shrine expo center. CRAFTACULAR!

it's not just about felt, it's all crafts. and there is food! and booze! and yarn! and fabric!

next installment is sure to be choc-full of inspired rambling! woo. i am getting giddy. or it could be that the americano is kicking in. :)

it's what the kids call a barn burner!

2008-11-07T00:37:00.000-08:00

**ok, so this isn't a letter. but i just got home from this fantastic fun night and wanted to add it to the page.**

worked a little late tonight *cough* but managed to get to the old crow medicine show only about 10 min late. they were playing two sets with no opener. i passed up the bar to get down on the floor. the place was packed and people were dancing. a lot! lots of whoops and hollers from all around. this crowd did not need any warm up time.

this band ripped it up! i danced my socks off and sang along. boy howdy.

here is the bonus bit: during the second set david rawlings came out to play with ocms. "wagon wheel" --> "tell it to me" --> "cc rider" --> two more songs i can't remember. holy cats.

then. for an encore: david, gillian welch and jakob dylan joined the band for "the weight." man alive, the whole room was singing. wonderful!

additional, side bonus: i was wearing a gillian welch tour shirt that doesn't have her name on it. it's a cool shirt, i get compliments on it, but no one has ever recognized it as a g.w. shirt. tonight 2 people at this show commented on it and one man said, "you must have been stoked tonight!"

yep!

fun facts from tonight:
--i made a friend! met another woman during the set break. we shared some hollers and high fives and looks of "hell yes!" when ocms pulled out some amazing songs.

--met a couple from tennessee who'd just moved to los angeles. they'd seen the band several times back in tn and were excited to their guys in their new town.

--the guy next to me dropped his full beer getting quite a bit of it on my arm, shirt and right shoe. i danced in a beer puddle the rest of the night. somehow, it seemed kind of fitting. :)

10.11.08--O! Fall!

2008-11-02T23:58:00.000-08:00

Saturday 6pm?

Fall is here. so many indicators, but one that seals the transition: the light. Everything is illuminated in that warm gold that makes everything seem loaded and significant. It doesn't have the glare of summer--that direct light that makes me put on my sunglasses and look away. It's the vividness that I remember from those days of hallucinogens and first love. The clear sky so blue, blown free of stuff by the first of the season's Santa Ana winds.

It all seems a bit dramatic and overly romantic, going on like this, but I offer in my defense: Joni Mitchell's "The Last Time I Saw Richard" came up on my shuffle as I was pulling into the gas station. Her album "Blue" was given as a gift to me by a boyfriend who thought I might like it. So, good instincts on his part. That song, that association, this light...well, I'm a push over for the change from summer to fall.

Another sign of the times: my thought just turned to sewing...

After nearly a month of long work hours and concert travel every weekend, I'm trying to get a handle on my domestic situation a bit. Washed about 6 weekends worth of airport parking lot silt off my car this afternoon (to note: the spot-free rinse offered at the u-wash is anything but spot-free.) Bought hand lotion and toilet paper, did 3 loads of laundry...and my eyes and brain fixated on that light the whole time.

The sun has set now, the sky's softer and I can feel that intoxication of the afternoon lifting a bit. whew.
Also-the Talking Heads "Crosseyed and Painless" from Stop Making Sense is playing. Nothing to shake off a reverie and get a body dancing like this song. :)

**been carrying this intending to send. follow up penned: 11.1.08**

another letter started and not put in the mail. :) this is the first saturday since that weekend i've been @ home and without guests. on the docket: more laundry, dishes (oof. must address these) and a trip to a fabric store downtown. *heart* already done: pedicure.

we had our first rain fo the season this morning. it only lasted about 10 min, but the clouds have stuck around, which is nice.
odd tangent: my thoughts just turned to phil collins. !? i was thinking of a 30 Rock exchange:
"you like phil collins?"
"i have two ears and a heart, don't i?"
which led me to a story my neighbor told me about doing a recording session w/phil c. he said all the engineers wanted phil to play the big drum fill from "in the air tonight" and he did! apparently, the particular sound of the drums was cutting edge stuff when that record was made, so recording people are kind of geeky about it.

ok. when the letter runs from joni mitchell to phil collins (while kate bush is singing from my earphones) it's time to wrap this thing up and head to the fabric store.

ahh saturday. soo soo good. :)

radio love

2008-11-02T23:50:00.000-08:00

so in the midst of transcribing letters here michelle shocked's song, "anchorage" just came on the radio. a song dear to my heart. don't know how to explain why with out sounding terribly drippy, so i'll skip it.

this is why this is my favorite music program on the radio. for the record: the open road: gary calamar, sunday nights on kcrw.

ok. back to it.

3.1.2008--written on a split open atm deposit envelope

2008-11-02T23:19:00.000-08:00

3.1.2008 How things work out...

I was shuffling around my apt. debating just how to spend the next couple of hours: errand to bank, cappuccino, or stay in do some sewing...I finally decided to walk to the bank, gathered a few things and headed out. on a side street with little thru traffic i was stopped by a family looking for directions to Universal Studios. They had a map. It's a tricky neighborhood to drive in for the uninitiated. I gave them directions and we parted ways. I was walking in the direction they needed to go, so once they drove around the block, etc. they passed me as i walked over HWY 5. I watched their car as they missed the u-turn they need to get onto the HWY. I could tell they saw it (brake lights, but no chance to switch lanes.) I walked slowly, watching for their car to find it's way back to the on-ramp, but never saw them go by. I tried to steer them mentally, but to no avail. i hope they found the fwy & made it to the park.

When I got to the bank i discovered that I'd left my ATM card at home. It's late on saturday, so the bank is shut. So I walked back to the cafe. The fellow working is one of my 2 fave baristas in town. After I got my cappuccino order in he told me that today is his Last Day working. His 2 week notice is ending today. I was out of town, then out of circulation, so i didn't hear about it. he made me a stellar drink. that when he asked "regular milk" he meant whole, not 2%, and that you can balance a coin on top the foam he makes, makes me so sad to see him go.

as i walked outside to hang out i lamented that i decided not to bring any postcards to write about all this stuff. I looked in my bag and found the unused deposit envelope i'd grabbed at the bank.
so.
how things go. :)

And now the sun is officially down. I can pick out some of the deep blue sky behind the cloud cover. I'm going to have another cappuccino before this fellow leaves, then walk home and have dinner with the neighbors. :) *heart*
sometimes, life is just that good.

inaugural!

2008-11-02T22:36:00.000-08:00

sunday night, post al wazir.

i don't like to spend much time on the phone. when the weather is nice, i'm never home. i can be remiss in returning email. unless there is a concert ticket involved, i'm reluctant to make plans. one thing that keeps my friends and family from thinking i've dropped off the face of the planet: i'm an avid letter writer.

i always carry a few postcards and writing paper in my backpack or stuck between the pages of whatever i'm reading. my letters tend to be a bit stream of consciousness, rambling affairs. my favorite places to write are cafes where i can sit outside.

cutting to the chase: often after i write a letter i think i'd like to share some of the bits with more than one person. so.

i'm going to transcribe some of my letters and cards here and see what comes of the whole thing.

for the record: the title "sweet cracker sandwich!" was written by darby conley, and appears in his comic strip, "get fuzzy." i had considered using as a title, "bologna sandwich on fire" which is a paraphrase of another of his lines: "setting a bologna sandwich on fire is not cooking." (damn. am now regretting not using the roz chast line, "little duck falling off a ladder." alas.)