This is my last post this year. Jen still has strep, which isn't fair because she just had it earlier this month. I think she must have gotten the strep with my name on it. I told her I'd take it from her if I could, but it just doesn't work that way.
The kids are their usual selves, which means that the house is trashed again and the kitchen floor is sticky. At least the new furniture is holding up okay. I'm very much enjoying sitting in comfy chairs in the living room. That's a good way to ring in the new year - sitting in a comfy chair. You know you're getting old when that sounds appealing. Actually, I'm going to be witnessing Sleepytime Gorilla Museum play in San Francisco, and then going and making noise somewhere in the time honored tradition of the OAC. Noise is good when you can control it. With these words, I leave you until next year.

cds I listened to while noticing that the light I broke a couple of nights ago has been fixed: Barbez "s/t", Agnes Buen Garnas "Draumkvedet", Nina Nastasia "Run to Ruin", Townes Van Zandt "A Gentle Evening with Townes Van Zandt", Lila Downs "Border", and Myshkin's Ruby Warblers "Rosebud Bullets"

The rain has come and (mostly) gone. While it was raining, I was at work facilitating an activity that involved rubber fish, paint, and tissue paper. The paint was smeared on the fish, and then the paper was pressed over it to create a fish print. While hordes of children were involved in doing this, I became aware that many of their parents were incapable of telling the difference between a rubber fish and a real fish. Whenever somebody asked if the fish were real, I replied that real fish would be much stinkier. Whenever a kid with long sleeves reached for the green paint, I played "Greensleeves" on my pennywhistle. Nobody got it. Maybe my rendition was too sloppy.

To bed, to bed.

cds I listened to while appreciating the glistening streets: Kristin Hersh "The Grotto", Townes Van Zandt "A Far Cry From Dead", Lila Downs "Tree of Life", Vig Mihaly "Filmzenek - Tarr Bela filmjeihez", and Sui Vesan "Sui"

The week between Christmas and New Year's Day always seems like it exists outside of time. Nothing much happens. People are on vacation, either physically or mentally, or both. We all talk about the things we would like to get done in January, but don't even entertain the thought of starting them now. We make lists perhaps, but don't actually reference them until after the start of the year. Being busy now would interrupt the death rattle of the old year. We can't have that. Let the year die with a little dignity, and hope that the replacement year will bring better things (although, I can't complain about this year - lots of good things happened).
I'm full of ideas for things I want to accomplish next year, and my procrastinating soul rejoices at the fact that I don't have to do anything until next week.

The last Sunday night/Monday morning of 2003 is cloudy and windy. Leaves skitter down streets, and occasional gusts of wind remind us to pay attention while driving, lest we get blown off course. Rain has been forecast, but is still percolating high above, with only a few drops making it to the ground. The Wall Street Journal is 38 pages, which is about the smallest it has been all year. The wind plays tricks with papers this small, sending them skyward as I throw them. One paper even broke something - a light, I think. Perhaps the customer will complain tomorrow. Perhaps not. Lights in apartment complexes often remain broken for weeks after I break them.

cds I listened to while seeing a lot of the papers I delivered Thursday night still sitting on walkways: Bohren & der Club of Gore "Black Earth", Ecke Yep "Tuva Ensemble", Vera Bila & Kale "Kale Kalore", V/A "Music From the Nonesuch Explorer Series - Africa" (Great horns! I'll have to find some...), and Lila Downs "La Sandunga"

How not to hold small snakes:

The Christmas chaos went well. The kids burrowed into the pile of presents, sending bits of wrapping paper in all directions and exclaiming with delight. Except for The Dickens, who had spent part of the night throwing up and was still feeling unwell as the day dawned. She was so tired that she laid her head down on a pile of presents and rested. Poor girl. She perked up later on though.

Most importantly, Willow and my dad finally met. Willow's stranger anxiety caused her to cry when he held her, but lately she's been crying when anybody besides Jen or myself holds her. She did smile at him from the safety of Jen's arms though.

Many presents were exchanged every which way. The litter of wrapping paper extends across several homes, and the piles of presents are everywhere. Who knows where we're going to put all of the new stuff. Maybe we can put it in the places vacated by all of the presents we gave.

I think I'll go have some of my new candy.

cds I listened to while grumbling about having to deliver papers that nobody is going to read: V/A "Amalia Rodrigues & the History of Fado", Epizod "The Bulgarian God", Paul Chain "Cosmic Wind", Eleni Karaindrou "Trojan Women", and Current Ninety Three "The Seahorse Rears to Oblivion"

Make sure that you shake the tree out really well before bringing it inside and hanging ornaments on it. You don't want this to happen.

This is to be my last entry before Christmas. This is a strange time of year. It's supposed to be a time of togetherness and reflection, but it seems mostly to be a time of consumption. The mall I pass on the way to work was absolutely packed, if the parking garages and lines of cars exiting were anything to go by. The blind rush to buy last minute, obligatory gifts for the people seems to me to be a far cry from the true meaning of the season, and I'm not a christian. (Of course, it's really a pagan holiday, but that's another story...) It's sad that every big holiday in this country has to come with a marketing strategy attached to it.

I'm not saying anything new here. Appreciate your loved ones. Let the yuletide sweep you away.

cds I listened to while throwing papers that most people won't read because they'll be at the malls all day: Lo Jo "Boheme de Cristal", Elend "Winds Devouring Men", Tellu "Suden Aika", and Silver Mountain "Breakin' Chains"

I read in the newspaper about this product called Java log (or Javalog, I forget...) which is essentially compressed coffee grounds and a couple of other ingredients. It burns cleaner than wood, and it's made out of something that people throw away every day (have you ever wondered what percentage of our landfills are coffee grounds?). The only problem is that it is something like $3.99 a log. Who the hell can afford four dollar logs? In order for a product like this to be truly effective in saving trees and reducing pollution, it has to be affordable for the masses.
Well, don't fear, Java Log may only provide heat for the elite, but researchers are even now searching for a more affordable alternative. In my opinion, it is right in front of their eyes. I can see the advertising campaign now: Tired of being left out in the cold? Think heat is only for the elite? Don't despair! Try new Old Sock Log! Made out of the compressed socks of the elite! Here at Old Sock Log headquarters, we steal from the rich to give glorious heat to the common folk. We'll all have a good laugh around the fire as the upper crust complain about their missing socks.

The Christmas counter ticks down. We cleaned and wrapped some more today. I'm glad I haven't gone to any malls. There are lines of cars waiting on the freeway off-ramps near them. I can't imagine having to wait in line to get to a mall. That's sort of like having to wait in line to get punched in the eye. It just doesn't make any sense.

cds I listened to while not waiting in line: The Gathering "Black Light District", Ilgi/Rainis "Speleju Dancoju", Klakki "Lemon River", and Pentagram "Sub-Basement"

I got the python a new water bowl as an early Christmas present, because I felt that he needed one he could actually fit in, should he feel the need to bathe. I even gave him an extra rat.

We spent the weekend preparing for the upcoming holiday in a variety of ways. Jen wrapped lots of presents. I wrapped one or two, but will wait until the last minute to do the rest because some of them haven't been bought yet. I am a firm believer in last minute panic. This is a good way to compress several months worth of labor into a single afternoon. Same amount of work, much less time spent doing it.

While delivering papers tonight, I didn't get pulled over. Instead, I listened to a security guard try to enlist me to sell legal insurance. Very dubious. It sounded like a pyramid scheme to me, but what do I know? I'm just the paperboy.

cds I listened to while trying to do my job in a timely manner: Sol Invictus "Thrones", Ilgi "Seju Veju", Keuhkot "Peruskivi Francon Betonia", Kari "Pilot >>>", and El Monte Aranos "Allied Cooking But Not As You Know It!"

It seems that the police activity I witnessed last night came about due to some sort of gun battle, which left several people wounded. I'm still wondering, considering that the crime scene was near the Evil Burger Restaurant, if it happened due to a disagreement over fast food. "Yo! Gimme dat last fry an' I won't shoot you in duh face!"
What the hell are people thinking? Don't they know that fast food is bad for you?

Tonight, evidently there were no gun battles because the cops were back doing what they do when nothing more interesting is taking place - pulling over the paper delivery people. This is the second time this week! There must be some new cops on the force. Their pink little faces just wrinkle with suspicion as I drive by, so they all come after me, pull me over, and stand around with their thumbs mining their colons as they take their sweet time realizing that I'm just doing my job. Maybe I should get an official hat or something.

Oh, and don't forget the amphibian on your list this holiday season.



Cds I listened to while trying to look as innocent as possible, but failing: Vig Mihaly "Ciganydalok", Paul Chain Experimental Information "Container 47", Nina Nastasia "The Blackened Air", Farlanders "Moments", and Kristeen Young "Meet Miss Young and Her All Boy Band"

There were fast food follies of some sort going on at the Big Evil Hamburger Place on my route tonight. The police had a large section of parking lot taped off, and everything was lit up bright as day. Maybe somebody choked to death on a hamburger. Maybe foul play was involved. On the bright side (pun probably intended) all of the police in the area were busy so I didn't have to worry about being pulled over for looking suspicious.
Above the scene, a misty half-moon ascended, seeming to trail vapor behind it.

I've been including "service request" forms in the newspapers for the last three nights. This allows customers to either rant at me for poor service or tip me for good service. I try to only give them to people who have received good service. This cuts down on the negative vibes, and gives me extra spending money for the holidays. So far I've gotten $35.

cds I listened to while inserting bits of paper inside larger bits of paper: V/A "Na Kosteti Do nebe", V/A "Music from Latvia", Noe Venable "Boots", Iva Bittova "Ne Nehledej", Volcano The Bear "Xvol", and Munadjat Yulchieva & Ensemble Shavkat Mirzaev "s/t"

It's strange what you find under the fungus.



And here's a picture of Nate (looking several years older than he actually is because I can't for the life of me draw while looking at a photograph) that I drew for him for his birthday. Happy birthday Nate!

As we wandered the river banks with our BioSITE kids today, the mid-morning quiet was interrupted by an old homeless man who shouted as he walked along the path by the river. The kids were a bit alarmed, and the more imaginative amongst them quickly decided that he had a gun.
It soon became apparent what he was up to. He was trailed by a number of expectant cats as he walked, like some sort of alternate reality pied piper. He stepped off the trail and put down some bowls of cat food. The cats squabbled as they vied for position. The man resumed his shouting, calling more felines to the feast. All along the river, cats could be seen. We noticed another cluster of cats on the other side, gathered around food that the man had put down earlier.
So, I guess the cats aren't quite feral. Hopefully the fact that they're being regularly fed means that they'll leave the wildlife alone, but knowing cats, I'm sure this won't be the case. It's just another example of how kindness to a few is in fact an unkindness to many.

Spay and neuter your pets, people.

Yesterday (or should I say yesternight?), the slow leak in one of my front tires became a fast leak, so I emptied a can of fix-a-flat into it and got back to work. The puncture must have been pretty big, because
while I worked, my spinning tire was painting the wheel well with liquid, chemical-smelling rubber, so that when I stopped to check on the tire, it was nearly flat again and smelled really nasty to boot. I put some more fix-a-flat in and found a gas station with a working air pump (harder than you'd expect). Today I bought a couple of new tires, because the old ones, in addition to being leaky, were nearly bald.
I know that somewhere, locked in a vault, there is a formula for tires that will last for the entire life of a car and beyond. I curse the whole concept of planned obsolescence.

Tonight, I got pulled over again because I look damn suspicious.

cds I listened to while sneaking around: Dead Raven Choir "Armoured Wolves", Ilgi "Kaza Kapa Debesis", Bittova & Fajt "s/t", Godspeed You! Black Emperor "Yanqui U.X.O.", and Shanghaied & Haunted "Pilgrim Beware"

I'm full of all sorts of ideas about how to change my various bad habits for the new year, most specifically my spending habits, but also lesser concerns like eating and organizing. I don't usually make resolutions at the start of the year, but it seems like a good time to do it after the excesses of the holidays. Of course, the fact that I've managed to max out one of my credit cards adds incentive to shape up. It would be nice to be out of debt some day. We can all dream.

Tomorrow is the last day of BioSITE for the year. There's supposed to be some sort of potluck. mmmm.

cds I listened to while contemplating not buying any more for awhile: Tarantula Hawk "Desert Solitaire", Antony and the Johnsons/Current 93 "Live at Saint Olave's Church", Faerd "s/t", Iva Bittova & Nederlands Blazers Ensemble "Dance of the Vampires", and Sergey Starostin's Vocal Family "Journey"

We went and got a Christmas tree on saturday, but not at one of the scenic tree farms where we usually go, because we're not sure if the van will make it. Nobody in their right minds would want to drive along a hilly freeway with very little shoulder space in a van that has proven its unreliability in such situations in the past, so we ended up at the neighborhood lot, consoling ourselves with the fact that all of their proceeds go to local charities. As we pulled into the parking place, The Dickens looked out the window and asked, "where da punkinpie?" "Punkinpie", as any good translater will tell you, means "pumpkin". The tree lot, like many similar lots, occupies the same corner of the parking lot that the pumpkin patch covered a couple of months ago. The Dickens was nonplussed at the sight of all of the trees sitting where the pumpkins ought to be.
Later, she sang Christmas songs to herself as we decorated. She had a great time until the ornaments ran out, at which point she threw a tantrum that culminated in her biting Jen. Oh, the fickleness of the two year-old.
It's nice to have the tree up. The smell of pine always reminds me of childhood, and how this month seemed to take forever. Now it flashes by so fast that our heads will still be spinning in February. It makes me wonder how fast time will go twenty or thirty years down the line.

cds I listened to while noticing more and more holiday lights, and wondering how many people will regret putting them up when they get their next electricity bill: Iva Bittova & Vladimir Vaclavek "Bile Inferno", Neko Case "Canadian Amp", Tarantula Hawk "Live at KFJC, 7/15/01", Ilgi "Saules Meita", Iva Bittova & Pavel Fajt "Svatba", and Hedningarna "1989 - 2003"

My car starts without suspense now. Of course, it wasn't the battery that was causing the trouble, because batteries are under $100, and subsection 5 of the Auto Repair Shop Rule Book states that "whatever trouble you think you have will in fact turn out to be a more expensive trouble." So now I have a new starter. At least I don't have to worry about being stuck somewhere.

I just noticed that there's an ant walking up my arm. Hold on... Okay, now it's on the floor somewhere. We need more spiders around here.

I thought up a new idea for an art project. First, you get fallen leaves and some scotch tape, and then you tape the leaves all over a car. I tried it out tonight, to see what it would look like. Since my time was limited, I couldn't cover the whole car, which is a shame. My co-worker was somewhat mystified when he walked out to his car and discovered the leaves.

cds I listened to while thinking up new kinds of art: The Angels of Light "We Were Alive!!!", M.Gira "Living '02", Jarboe "Dissected", and Dulce Pontes "O Primeiro Canto"

Slow December day.

The battery in my car is dying, so every time I turn the key in the ignition I'm on the edge of my seat with the suspense of it all. Will the car start? Will it just crank weakly and fail? Who knows? This isn't my favorite kind of suspense.

And damnit, I wish we would all get better. Last year during the holiday season there was enough sickness to last for several years worth of holidays. I can hear Jen coughing in the other room as I type this, and I don't like the fact that Willow is still all clogged up. And... more suspense - will Lexy get strep throat? Indeed, does he already have it? Urgh.

On the bright side, one of the spiders in the bathroom seems to have helped us with our ant problem, if the pile of spider poop under the web is anything to judge by. This may sound like pretty flimsy evidence. After all, the poop could be the remains of some other sort of unfortunate insect. I base my conclusions on the fact that I've never seen anything in the bathroom except ants and spiders. I don't think the spiders are eating each other, therefore they must be eating the ants. Good for them. I always thought it was really optimistic of them to make webs all over the bathroom, but this time it seems to have paid off.

cds I listened to while keeping the car running so I wouldn't have to jump start it: The Nels Cline Singers "Instrumentals", Timesbold "s/t", Steve Von Till "If I Should Fall to the Field", Devendra Banhart "Oh Me Oh My... The Way the Day Goes by the Sun is Setting Dogs are Dreaming Lovesongs of the Christmas Spirit", and M. Gira/D. Matz "What We Did"

Found it near work. Drew it at work.

I got treated to a thunderstorm tonight. I couldn't actually hear the thunder for some reason. Maybe it was too far away. Maybe my music was up too loud. Jen, at home, heard the thunder but didn't see the lightning. We're a perfect match, like two puzzle pieces.

I only had three kids in my BioSITE group today, missing the one who moved to Wisconsin and the one who hasn't turned his homework in for two weeks and was made to stay behind at school as a punishment. Our small group did more photo monitoring. We monitored pigeons, people, cats, egrets, crayfish (the photo in the last post is actually from a couple of months ago, but we took some similar ones today, which I may post at some point), squirrels, water, and plants. The kids all wanted to take pictures of the same things, so we ended up with lots of similar, haphazardly framed, blurry shots of angry crayfish and hunting egrets. I'm still figuring out how to monkey with the pictures on the computers at work, and will post things as I see fit.

Towards the end of the BioSITE day, the leaves started blowing off of the trees, and kept it up for most of the afternoon. Now, as I step out of my car in the driveway, I'm stepping into a pile of leaves. This is good. For me, there's not much that's more aesthetically pleasing than streets covered in leaves. It's even better if they're blowing around.

cds I listened to while getting rained on and not caring: Ring "Great Lonely Mood", Mediaeval Baebes "The Rose", Dorothy Carter "Lonesome Dove", Les Barker "Probably The Best Album Ever Made By Anybody In Our Street", The Mrs Ackroyd Band "Tubular Dogs", Edward Elgar "The Starlight Express suite and King Arthur Suite", and The Iditarod "The River Nektar"

I'm not sure exactly what atmospheric conditions are responsible for the illusion of a ring around the moon, but it sure looks impressive when it happens. I think a thin layer of mist is needed, and the moonlight has to hit it just right, but then again analysing things sometimes takes away their power, so I'll stop. I wonder what omens this type of event gave rise to in ancient times.

Tomorrow is BioSITE, which means not enough sleep. At least they caught the arsonists who lit the school on fire, and all of the kids are back on their own campus. Goodnight.

cds I listened to while staring at the moon: Hans Zimmer & Klaus Badelt "Invincible" soundtrack (Herzog's latest), David Maranha "Noe's Lullaby", Calla "Televise", and Empress "1996 - 1999"

We spent the weekend in various stages of illness. I got off pretty lightly with a bad cold, while Jen got nailed with a case of strep throat. We took Willow to see a doctor because she's been all stuffy and wheezy. Babies just aren't very good at clearing their throats of gunk. She was prescribed an inhaler just in case she has any difficulty breathing. We're hoping that we don't have to use it because the directions say that it has to be held in place over the nose and mouth for two minutes. I'm sure Willow would find this objectionable. While Willow was in seeing this doctor, I was outside with The Dickens, riding up and down in the elevator. The Dickens is now an expert at controlling elevators. After this, she threw a big fit in the waiting room because she didn't want to wait. She even called another small child a "bad baby". That's the foulest insult she knows, taught to her by Nate, and not limited to the young in its application.

Today I didn't get up until 2:00, and spent a good amount of time watching my new Alien DVD box set. Jen joined me. It is rare that we get to just sit on the couch and do nothing. It's a good thing that Willow doesn't let her nasty cough spoil her cheerful disposition. Otherwise we probably wouldn't have been able to get away with being couch potatoes for very long. Now if only we could get a comfortable couch. Ours has a metal bar running across it at lower back level, guaranteed to cripple even the fittest occupant.

cds I listened to while dripping at the nose: Iron & Wine "The Creek Drank the Cradle", Calexico "98-99 Road Map", Shinjuku Thief "The Witch Haven", Dar Williams "The Beauty of the Rain", and Baby Dee "Love's Small Song"

As promised, here's the armadillo. Apparently they jump straight up in the air when startled, which means that sometimes they're actually hitting the car, not the other way around. It's hard for any species, including humans, to adapt to roads. The authorities just clean the humans up more quickly. This poor armadillo was down the street from where we were staying for the whole week.



And here's the Dickens, presenting the face that she reserves for Texan relatives.

It didn't end up taking me much longer than usual to deliver two nights worth of newspapers. Maybe I should start doing this on a regular basis. Who wants to read the Wall St. Journal every day anyway?

At the museum today, just as we were talking about how none of the wall clocks are ever synchronized, the nearest clock fell off the wall, bounced off of a chair and stopped ticking. I found the battery beneath the chair and reinserted it, but the poor clock was even less synchronized than before. I wonder if we have poltergeists.

At home, we are all in various stages of sickness. There's this cough that just won't go away. Willow is goopy and snotty. Jen feels really miserable. The Dickens says her throat hurts. I think we'll lay as low as possible tomorrow.

Between the DVD box sets that Jen and my mom got me for my birthday, I have about 70 hours of viewing time awaiting me. It'll probably take me until my next birthday to watch them all. Happy. I'm also happy with the comfy new shirts that Jen's mom got me. She even threw in a chocolate euro! King sized! (probably to illustrate its new relation to the dollar).

cds I listened to that I would have listened to last night but didn't because of some sort of failure in the paper manufacturing process: Doc Wor Mirran "The Soundtrack of Death", Arkkon "Live - Torino - Italia, 27/02/02", Tara Jane O'neil "TKO", The Black Heart Procession "Amore del Tropico", Low "Canada", Mushroom's Patience "Roma, Wien", and Tarantula Hawk "s/t"

More scribbles.

Okay, the scanner seems to be working now. I poked at it a few times and it sprang back to life. Sometimes I stun even myself with my technical expertise.

Here's the picture that isn't The Dickens. Maybe this is what she'll look like in 20 or 30 years. Maybe not.

The Fates have conspired to give me the night off in honor of my birthday. I arrived at work only to learn that the printing press was experiencing "problems" and that nobody would know anything further until 1:00 am. Hearing this, and not wanting to sit around for hours, I got back in my car and drove home. This meant that Jen and I got to spend some extra time together! Yay! We occasionally talk about me getting a day job so we can share our evenings after the little ones are all in bed (not that they ever all stay asleep at the same time for very long). Tonight was sort of like a sneak preview. I like it. Later, I called my work to see if they had fixed the problem. It turns out that they had experienced some sort of power outage, and had managed to get a generator from somewhere, but there was still no E.T.A. on the papers. A subsequent call informed me that I needn't bother coming in because the papers probably wouldn't get there until 4:00 am. It's just as well. I wasn't looking forward to going back out again, even though the moon is beautiful and the night is crisp and foggy around the edges. Happy birthday to me. The only drawback to this is that I have to double deliver tomorrow night. If it were any other newspaper besides the Wall St. Journal, this wouldn't be too much of a hassle. The problem with the Journal is that each paper has an address label, which means that they have to be kept in order. Since I fold papers while I'm driving, I anticipate that I'll have an organizational nightmare on my hands tomorrow night as I juggle two days' worth of news. I must keep reminding myself that it's the challenges in life that keep us young.

Oh, here's a picture I drew while we were in Sherman. Lexy saw the picture I had drawn of Willow and insisted I draw one of him. It doesn't look like him to me, but he was satisfied with it and showed it to just about everybody. I had no illusions of being able to get Nathan or The Dickens to stand still long enough to draw them, but tried to draw The Dickens anyway (she asked me to). Of course, she only stood still for about two seconds. The rough sketch I had started looked more like an adult. I finished it today during a lull at work, and will post it once we fix the scanner (or buy a new one with our limitless funds).



cd I listened to while driving to and from work: Kemialliset Ystavat "Suurempi Pieni Palatsi"

The end of the year fast approaches. This time of year all attention becomes focused on the holidays. I got a holiday bonus from the museum today, but probably won't get one from my night job, due to the poor economy and miserable subscription numbers. I still have to do a bit of shopping, and knowing me, I'll probably still have shopping to do on the 24th. My volunteer job at Hidden Villa is over for the year, except for the potluck appreciation party coming up next week. I led my last tour of the season on the friday before we went to Texas, and caught a small Ringneck snake, who curled his tail angrily at us. It seems kind of late in the season to be catching snakes. I would think that most sensible reptiles would be laying low in wait for the warmth of spring.
Our BioSITE group visited some of our fire-displaced students in their temporary classroom at a nearby school today. We performed most of the same water tests we normally do, using water transported from the river. It's not quite the same as being there though. On the plus side, the school, which is new, is quite beautiful. It reminded me of an east coast school, with indoor corridors and interesting architecture. On of my fellow facilitators remarked that it looked like a school you would see in a movie. I hope the still-at-large arsonists leave it alone.

cds I listened to while thinking about the holidays: Doc Wor Mirran & Tesendalo "Not Recorded Remixed" and "Phire", Coil "Live Four", The Angels of Light "Everything is Good Here/Please Come Home", Doc Wor Mirran "Pseudo Me, Pseudo You", and Townes Van Zandt "Live at the Old Quarter, Houston, Texas"

I've been enjoying the rain for the last couple of days and nights. The streets are glistening, and the leaves are piling up in yellow drifts.

I have to get up early for BioSITE tomorrow. During the past week, somebody tried to burn down one of the schools where the kids we teach come from. They've been temporarily assigned to other nearby schools, and I think we're visiting one of them tomorrow. Why don't people ever burn down useless things, like Walmart stores or sports stadiums? Why pick on schools?

Oh well. Goodnight.

cds I listened to while sliding on wet leaves: Doc Wor Mirran "Elfengrund", "Momentum 1", "Jingfired", and "Landscape", Current 93 "Live at the Teatro Iberico, Lisbon, Portugal on Saturday 8 February, 2003", Howden - Wakeford "Wormwood", and Greg Weeks "Fire in the Arms of the Sun"

Escalators are fun. We didn't realize this at the time, so The Dickens broadcast her indignation for the whole airport to hear as we left the escalator behind and joined the line of people waiting at the security checkpoint. It is difficult to hold onto a flailing two year old while putting all of your personal belongings on a conveyor belt and submitting to various types of metal detector scrutiny.
Once we cleared security and found our gate, The Dickens calmed down enough to run over to the windows and watch the airplanes (or hairplanes, as she calls them). Outside, a crow watched us from its perch on top of the boarding ramp. So our journey began.

In Texas, I met so many of Jen's relatives that there wasn't much chance to get to know any of them too well. We were picked up at the airport by Jen's cousin Michelle, who can be forgiven for driving an SUV because she lives on a ranch. As we drove through Dallas, I noticed that the competition among boot stores was fierce. Somebody had opened a store called "Boot City" right next to a store named "Boot Town". We left the big city behind and ended up in a more country-ish part of the state, a town named Sherman. Our room at the ranch faced east and there were no curtains on the window. The view was beautiful. At night the horizon was lit up by a band of twinkling building lights. The mornings, which ranged from overcast and foggy to clear, were also beautiful, although on the clear days the sun slapped us awake. As we slept, we were well guarded by a pair of vegetarian dogs. The yard surrounding the house was littered with the remains of their meals - half eaten pears from the tree on the north side of the house.
The boys promptly attacked the air mattress, jumping up and down on it until it sprung a leak. It lowered them gently to the ground overnight. This was the beginning of the trail of destruction they left. Soon, a light fixture, a marble chess board, a plush ball, and a frisbee were added to the list of things that would have to be thrown out.
Most of the relatives were from Jen's dad's side of the family, and we spent most of the time at her paternal grandparent's place eating food cooked by an ever changing assortment of people. The Dickens discovered the delights of rolling pecans down the long, curved driveway. Lexy discovered the delights of chess (which eventually led to the above mentioned chess board destruction), and Nate decided that he didn't like being away from home and spent the majority of the time scowling (except at night, when it turned into whining). Willow got passed around to all of the relatives and wasn't too happy about it.
I really enjoyed getting a chance to see some of the places that Jen had spent her childhood, and meeting the people she had spent it with. This gave me a chance to put faces to a lot of the people I previously had known only through her descriptions and stories. Everybody was really nice, especially her grandparents.
We spent about a day and a half with her maternal grandmother, who has an immaculate house, so of course we spent a lot of time trying to stay one step ahead of the kids. We mostly succeeded, except for the light fixture. I took the three older ones for a walk down the hill to lake Texoma, and we explored a bit before going back. The Dickens wanted to bring back some animal poo we found on the road so she could properly flush it. How thoughtful of her.
Thanksgiving came and went, leaving us satisfyingly stuffed and surrounded by even more people than on previous days. Some other kids had finally arrived (all teenaged or nearly so), which meant that the boys and The Dickens had new people to play with. This gave us a bit of a break.
During the week, in addition to driving an SUV with either Lynard Skynard (requested by The Dickens, and spelled wrong too, I'm sure...) or country music on the stereo, we saw lots of cows, oil wells, a stop sign peppered with bullet holes, and an upside down armadillo (photo soon). How stereotypical.
All of a sudden it was time to go home. The flight back was longer, and The Dickens was mad. When she tired of kicking the seat in front of her, she crawled from one end of the plane to the other. Several times. On the plus side, while I was leaning over her holding her feet so the passenger in front of her wouldn't kill us, I looked out the window and saw the Grand Canyon bathed in the orange glow of the sinking sun. Long shadows stretched eastward.
After we landed, while we waited for the luggage to emerge, I went up and down the escalators with The Dickens, noticing that several other people were doing the similar things with their children. She had a great time, but threw just as big a fit as she had on the journey out when we had to go.
Now it's all sinking into that strange unreality of all vacations as the reality of the daily routine reemerges and takes over. That's why we take photos and write about it. I've left lots of things out, but I'm in the middle of a good book, so perhaps another time I'll write more.

The first cds I listened to after getting back: The Iditarod "The Ghost, The Elf, The Cat and the Angel", Cowboy Junkies "Black Eyed Man", Pinetop Seven "No Breath in the Bellows", Sam Shalabi "On Hashish", Jessica Radcliffe, Lisa Ekstrom, Martin Simpson "Beautiful Darkness"

We made it back from Texas with our sanity intact and we'll tell you about it later because it's really tiring travelling with four small children.



This is a drawing of Willow looking east as the sun rises. Our scanner seems to be on the fritz, so it might have scanned a little better otherwise.

I was drawing this picture at work today when a girl, perhaps aged 8 or 9, approached me and exclaimed, "wow! I wish I could draw like that!" I told her she could - all she had to do was practice. I asked her if she liked drawing. She said she did, but didn't have a lot of time. I told her that I didn't either, and that was why I was drawing at work. I told her that if she really wanted to draw, she could find the time. She replied that right after she got home from school she had to watch Pokemon, and then Yu-Gi-Oh came on, and then there were some other shows... and then it was time to do her homework, eat dinner, and go to bed.
I told her that that my secret to being able to "draw like that" was that I never watched TV. She and her brother looked at me like I was crazy.

Alas.

This may be my last post before we make our epic journey to the land of oversized hats. The last time I was there it was on the eve of the stolen election. The media were all set up with their trucks and camera crews, as if they knew what the outcome would be ahead of time. Very sickening. On the plus side, we saw some Germans and some bats. And a snake who was doing his best to find and eat them. The bats, not the Germans.

cds I listened to while feeling excited about the coming week when I get to stay home (away from home) with Jen at night instead of going to work: Howard Shore "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" soundtrack, Harv "Tost!", Cowboy Junkies "Rarities, B-Sides, and Slow, Sad Waltzes", Bukkene Bruse "The Loveliest Rose", Loretta Lynch "s/t", and Manilla Road "Mark of the Beast"

It was almost foggy tonight. I could see haloes around the streetlights, and objects in the distance were a little more indistinct than usual (they're always somewhat indistinct because I need glasses). I really love when it gets really foggy, as long as I'm not driving through the mountains at the time. Fog injects a bit of mystery into the scenery. If you combine the fog with darkness, you get twice the mystery. Now all we need is a good blackout. Blackouts are very mysterious, despite all of the finger pointing at certain politicians and corrupt power companies (ha ha, okay, I guess I should say the aesthetic effects of a blackout are mysterious - the origins are always quite humdrum).
Where was I going with this? I dunno. I think I'll end here and go read.

cds I listened to while evidently being less suspicious looking than last night: The Changelings "Astronomica", Agalloch "The Mantle", Rasputina "My Fever Broke", Vasen "Vilda Vasen", and Neurosis & Jarboe "s/t

Drawn during an afternoon in the garden, growing colder as the shadows grew longer.

I wonder how many real crimes were committed tonight while I was distracting the police force? I must have scared somebody while delivering papers to those nasty big apartments with the security gates, because as I was leaving, a cop with a flashlight flagged me down and said they had gotten a call about some "suspicious activity" inside the complex. I told him that it was probably me, but I hadn't heard anybody yell, and I hadn't broken anything (occasionally a paper will take out a light or a plant...). He let me go, and I noticed that the whole complex was surrounded by cops, one of whom followed me and pulled me over a couple of blocks away. Don't cops communicate with each other? At least she didn't detain me long once she realized that I had already been interrogated.

On the way home, I got to watch the moon rise, its crescent ends pointing upwards, making it resemble a glowing yellow bowl filled with cloud. Other than a couple of stars, it was the only natural light. I often wonder what the valley was like a couple of centuries ago. It has changed a lot just in my lifetime, with new buildings marring the skyline and new freeways, noisy rivers of cars, snaking across the landscape. It would be nice if every once in awhile we could have a night without any artificial light, but we can't, of course.

People would loot. This would probably result in the cops responding to hundreds of calls about "suspicious activity".

cds I listened to while looking highly suspicious: Misia "Ritual", Nurse With Wound "Soliloquy For Lilith" (new triple cd version. Beautiful!!), Joe Hisaishi "Princess Mononoke - symphonic suite", and Vasen "Levande Vasen"

The mercury has retreated towards the bottom of the thermometer, and the moon smiles down from a bare, black sky. My thoughts turn towards our chimney, and how much money it will cost to get a chimney sweep to clean it out so that the next time we have a fire the house won't fill up with smoke. There's nothing much better than a nice fire on a cold, winter night. I guess we'll have to make do with candles in the meantime.

Only a few more days until we go to Texas. Only a few more hours until I have to be at work again. Goodnight.

cds I listened to while turning on the heater: Stone Angel "East of the Sun", Calexico "Travelall", Mari Boine "Remixed", and Low "Anthony, Are You Around? - Paris '99"

While watching the new Central Works play, Lionheart, I was reminded again that the human race hasn't really changed much since the Crusades. Everybody is still up in arms, after all of these years, over which prophet or god or son-of-god or spirit to worship. And people still tend to be less than courteous to those who disagree with their version of the story. Old hatred runs deep, and being hatred, it doesn't need anything approaching reason or logic to perpetuate itself. War and corruption have been with us all along, dragging us down. Perhaps it's a natural check, preventing the human race from becoming more populous than it already has. In that case, we must have hit some critical point or crossed some invisible line. We have a man in the White House who, through his complete lack of understanding of anything, is grabbing progress by the neck and making it march back to where it came from. He's like the famine that strikes down animal populations when their habitats can no longer sustain their numbers.

Oops. I ranted again.

I bought the new Godzilla movie on DVD over the weekend, and the kids were pretty excited about it. The only problem is that it's subtitled (what? No bad dubbing? Come on. How can it be a Japanese giant monster movie without bad dubbing?). Too bad the kids can't read. We watched it anyway, and I ended up reading the whole movie aloud for the benefit of the kids.

Willow has cool new shoes. Little leather boots with zippers on the sides. It's strange that they even sell shoes for pre-walkers. Our reasoning was that the shoes would prevent her from pulling off her socks. Of course, soon after we put the shoes on her, they fell off and we had to pick them up and put them back on her. Soon after that, they fell off again. And so on, and so on... They look really cool though.

It's cloudy and drizzly outside. Nice.

cds I listened to while getting drizzled upon: Misia "Paixoes Diagonais", Cordelia's Dad "What It Is", Earth Trumpet "Roman", Irr.App.(Ext.) "Dust Pincher Appliances", Ellika & Solo "Tretakt Takissaba", and Garmarna "Gamen" and "Euchari"

The clouds are moving back in, and the heater is on. Another week has gone by in a blur of work and kids. We have plans to get the house clean before we go to Texas at the end of next week. Will it happen? It seems as if the dirty dishes are breeding in the darkness beneath the sink, and the laundry pile is a cornucopia. Outside, the palm trees maliciously drop bits of themselves all over the walkway, and the other trees spit leaves at the ground, where the rain finishes the job by pasting them down in sodden clumps that defy our attempts to sweep them.

At least we don't have problems like some of the inhabitants of the business complex where I pick up the papers I deliver. Hanging on the wall in the bathroom is a list of instructions for proper use of the facilities. This list includes such no-brainers as "put dirty toilet paper in the toilet, not on the floor", and "don't spit on the floor." Every time I see a list like this, I know that it has been posted because all of the items on it have been disobeyed, probably multiple times. That's ugly. It's hard to raise kids in a world where so many adults show such a lack of respect for bathrooms. I'll bet these people pee on the seat too.

I'll bet George Bush pees on the seat. And he gets away with it too, because he's the damn president. He's getting away with a lot of other things too. We must not forget this. We must not forget that every day more people are dying as a direct result of this man's decisions. He probably lines up those little green army men along the edge of the toilet seat and pees them off into the bowl, while screaming for his aides to bring him more. It's the same thing he's doing with all of the people who have the misfortune to be in Iraq. Peeing them off into the bowl. He has absolutely no respect for humanity.

Sooner or later the pipes are going to get clogged.

cds I listened to while wishing people were more respectful: Hook! "Musik bland stadsmusikanter, krigsfangar och mastertjuvar", Greg Weeks "Slightly West", Kalenda Maya "Norse Ballads", Current 93/Nurse With Wound "Music for the Horse Hospital", and Mari Boine, Inna Zhelannaya, and Sergey Starostin "Winter in Moscow"

Outside looking in.

I couldn't get onto the blogger site last night, and now I see why. They've been busy little stinging insects changing things around again. Looks better, at least from my end.

Andrey Tarkovsky, in his book, Sculpting in Time, spends a good deal of time musing on the purpose of art in society. What does it do for us? Of course, he's writing from his perspective as a director of films, which do indeed do a lot of things for us if they are indeed art. It is my contention that most movies aren't, but that's a whole other topic...
This book got me to thinking about music, and what it has done for me, so I'm going to make a list:

It inspired me to become vegetarian.

At an early age, it opened my eyes to a whole range of social problems, and in the process made me a more compassionate individual.

It got me banned from DJ-ing during lunch in high school.

It provided the common ground for some lasting friendships.

It directly inspired me to travel to France, England, and exotic locations such as New York, Chicago, and Austin, because bands I liked were playing concerts there.

It has kept me company for fifteen years now while working at night.

It has taken up a lot of time and money, but has given back something undefineable, yet greater. It has helped develop my aesthetic sense.

Through "world music", it has taught me a lot about other cultures and languages.

It helped me drive people out of the store at closing time when I worked retail.

Oops, it's time to get to work, but you get the idea.

cds I listened to that were helping me in some way: Swap "Mosquito Hunter", Mirror "Solaris", Hedningarna "Kaksi!", and Goran Bregovic "Irish Songs"

Too much free time at work?

It's hard to believe that November is almost half over. My plan to get all of the holiday shopping over with early is surely going to be foiled. I did order a couple of cd cabinets for myself online earlier, and a book that I'm going to have to decide who to give to. Chaos awaits in the wings as the holiday season slowly descends. Our plan to make gifts may not pan out either, unless we get off of our butts and do something about it.

This week, the weather is milder and the clouds have left the area for parts unknown, diminishing the aesthetic pleasure I feel while driving around at night.

cds I listened to while wishing the clouds would come back: Mari Boine "Eight Seasons", Huun-Huur-Tu "More Live", V/A "Northern Nights - Music From the Top of the World", Stoa "Zal", Mariza "Fado Em Mim", and Ulrika Boden "Valje A Vrake"

The rock-a-bye-baby method of pacifying the young works on Willow now. Previously, it was a handy tool for getting The Dickens to calm down. After a few lines of the song she knew as "awkababy", she would hang limp in my arms, with a fixed stare and a wide grin. The song helps settle Willow, and she gets this look of wonder on her face as she stares up at me.

It's good that somebody likes my singing.

Here's a list of what kinds of words have burrowed into my eyes and found a home in my brain lately:

Bela Tarr - a collection of essays about Bela Tarr's films.
Amazonia, by James Rollins. Fun brain candy.
The Futurological Congress, by Stanislaw Lem. Biting social commentary. Also quite hilarious.
The Guide to Owning Millipedes and Centipedes, by Jerry G. Walls.
Freezer Burn, by Joe R. Lansdale. About a travelling circus/freak show.
The Melancholy of Resistance, by Laszlo Krasznahorkai. Also about a travelling circus. Sort of.
Sculpting in Time, by Andrey Tarkovsky. Lots of food for thought.

cds I listened to while humming rock-a-bye-baby: Klakki "i kjol ur vatni", Purple Ivy Shadows "Field Guide", Varttina "6.12.", and Calexico "Scraping"

It's raining again, but not quite enough to keep the windshield wipers sliding smoothly over the glass. I spent the night turning them off and on, again and again.

Jen and I went to Ikea today, with Willow in tow. Willow, even though she isn't feeling well, was an attentive baby, taking in the sights as we wandered through the maze of brightly lit consumer goods. We got some of this and some of that, whittling away at our list of stuff we need for the holidays. I was going to get some new cd racks, but of the two I liked best, one was sold out and the other one wouldn't have fit in my car. I did enjoy wandering through the "as is" section, because it looked like the final resting place for stuff that had fallen off of a fast moving truck. A few things looked like they had been floor models for maybe a couple of decades. I saved my money for the swedish chocolate and coffee, even though Sweden isn't exactly known for its coffee.

On saturday, Jen's mom took The Dickens, the boys and me to see Aladdin up at Villa Montalvo. Jen stayed home with Willow who, as I mentioned above, isn't feeling well. The boys liked the play, but The Dickens liked running back and forth between her seat and the lobby, again and again. Her shoes made a clunk clunk clunk noise as she ran along the wooden-floored aisle, which I'm sure endeared her to her fellow theater goers. After awhile, tired of chasing her, I took her outside where she continued her running. At one point she looked up at me and exclaimed, "this is great!" We also inspected a house of sticks that looked like it was made by somebody who was inspired by Andy Goldsworthy. Further down the lawn, there was a structure shaped like a seashell. It had inner walls of adobe, and outer walls and ceiling of turf. The entrance was the mouth of the shell, and the interior spiraled around into a little alcove with an uneven stone bench under a grass skylight. It looked quite mysterious in the cloud-filtered sunlight.

cds I listened to while wishing it would rain just a little harder: Skyclad "Another Fine Mess", Katatonia "Tonight's Music", Ulver "Lyckantropen Themes", Apocalyptica "Cult", Sofia Joons, Emma Hardelin, Meelika Hainsou "Strand...Rand", and Hagalaz' Runedance "Frigga's Web"

When it looks like rain, don't forget to wear a hat.

The rain has arrived, unfortunately for those who have forgotten how to drive in it. I saw a multi-vehicle accident on the way to work, and I'm sure there were lots of others that I didn't see.
For my part, I breathed a little more deeply, filling my nostrils and lungs with that wild rain smell, nicely accented with the tang of wet rosemary and lavender.

I had almost forgotten that I have to get up and lead a tour at Hidden Villa tomorrow. It has the potential to be really muddy. Hopefully the kids don't wear their nice clothes. It amuses me when kids show up to the farm dressed in nice clothes. Nice clothes aren't so nice after they've been exposed to mud and cow shit.

The creek is probably flowing again.

cds I listened to while getting wet: Hank Dogs "Half Smile", Mago De Oz "La Leyenda de la Mancha", Leif Edling "The Black Heart of Candlemass - demos & outtakes '83 - '99", Bathory "Nordland I", and Tiamat "Judas Christ"

The first dream I ever remember having involved the world being on fire, and me being lost in it. If there is a hell for arsonists and people who throw lit cigarettes out of car windows, let it be a hot one.

Due to the overcast, it was warmer tonight than it has been for the last couple of nights. The air contains hints of fireplace smoke, and left-up Halloween decorations mingle with premature Christmas ones in peoples' yards. It's supposed to rain soon, and I'd like nothing better than to have a roaring fire in the fireplace, a hot cup of tea, and to be able to curl up with Jen on the couch while perhaps watching a movie or two.
While we do this, little magical folk will clean the house and mow the lawn. The kids will amuse themselves and not hit, prod, or bite each other. They will share toys and not spill anything anywhere.

Of the items mentioned above, the one about little magical folk is the most probable. Ah well, I love them all, despite the fact that they are conduits for the God of Chaos.

cds I listened to under gathering clouds: Lhasa "The Living Road", Lake of Tears "A Crimson Cosmos" and "The Neonai", Paul Chain "Park of Reason", and Cowboy Junkies "The Radio One Sessions"

Speaking of La Llorona...



Gloomy house.

I saw another one of those fancy cars today sporting a George W. Bush sticker on its bumper and a flag on its antenna. The elements had not been kind to the flag. In fact, it almost looked like somebody had snipped it neatly in half, diagonally. If Bush tried to wipe his ass with this particular flag, he'd get stuff on his fingers. He'd better stick with a flag that's been treated with proper etiquette. That's what he's all about, isn't it? - profaning and distorting things. He's already figuratively wiped his ass with the constitution. He's ultimately responsible for a lot of death overseas - and for fictitious reasons, to boot!

I'd like to send him an american flag made out of cleverly disguised stinging nettles.

I taught BioSITE tuesday. There were two new kids in my group, for a total of five. They got through the activities (making watershed maps...) without too much trouble. The Guadalupe river was turbid and trash was tangled amongst the aquatic foliage, no doubt dislodged from somewhere upstream as a result of the slight bit of rain we had earlier. It also looked like somebody had dumped some detergent somewhere. There was a line of suds floating past.
I took the kids on a "nature walk" (really a method of getting them to shut their mouths and use their ears) along the river, and at one point stopped and asked them what kind of wildlife they could expect to find along its banks.

"Squirrels?"
Yep.
"Oh look, there's a cat!"
So there is. What do you think he's looking for?
"Rats"
Probably
"Birds?"
That too.
"La Llorona?"
Probably not.

At the risk of making it less funny by explaining too much, the legend of La Llorona involves the ghost of a woman who went insane and killed her kids, doomed to wander disconsolately along the shore for ever more. Kids say the darndest things.

cds I listened to while being left alone by the law: Moonlight "Floe", Primordial "Storm Before Calm", Legend "Anthology", Tenhi "Vare", and Manilla Road "Spiral Castle"

It's only when I'm in a hurry to get home that the police follow me, making me slow down and obey the rules. I can almost read their minds (such as they are...) as they turn around to follow me - "hey, dat guy just threw sumtin outta da window! Maybe it wuz drugs or guns! I will follow him and maybe I'll get to use da lights and sirens! Oh, @#*!, it wuz just a newspaper. Now I go follow sumwun else." I probably added about five minutes to my delivery time, slowing down and coming to full stops at the stop signs. They can tell when I'm running late, I guess.

cds I listened to while being tailed by the law: Cowboy Junkies "Pale Sun Crescent Moon", Empyrium "Weiland", T.A.C. "Twilight Rituals", and Moonlight "Inermis" and "Yaishi"

Not everybody can experience the luxury of enjoying cold, rainy weather. It has only been relatively recently that anybody could enjoy it. It used to be a time of hardship. The bounty of the growing season had to be harvested and stored, and hopefully it would last the winter. Firewood had to be stacked and kept dry... People huddled around fires as everything turned to mud or froze.
Even today, there are many who are stuck out in the cold, or who lead the type of subsistence lifestyle that leaves them vulnerable to seasonal changes. Then there are those of us who know that we can go home to a warm house and a stocked refrigerator any time we want to. I will make no apologies for this, but I recognize the fact that the kind of lifestyle I lead is only a dream for a large percentage of the human race; a dream that it would be impossible for everybody to share because the earth could not sustain us all at this level. I do not take this for granted, or at least I try not to.
Once a person gets a taste of the easy life, it's too hard to imagine living without it, so instead I just enjoyed the first real rain we've had this season. The air was heavy with the smells of woodsmoke and wet asphalt. The rain was heavy at times, turning the dust on my seldom-washed car to rivulets of mud. Hopefully we'll get a decent rainy season for a change. The reservoirs need it. We'd better go get the weather stripping on the van fixed though.

cds I listened to while getting wet: Blue Murder "No One Stands Alone", Kolinda "6", Vintersorg "Visions From the Spiral Generator", and Orphaned Land "Sahara"

Yes indeed, the young ones, bellies full of candy, are sleeping. Time to go watch scary movies.

Never wander alone through mist shrouded mountains.

Our street has been partially pulverized by people who are pocketing money that could probably have been spent on something more important, but wasn't. I awoke this morning to rumbling and the beeping of trucks backing up. It was still half a block away, but I hurried through my morning routine so I could leave the driveway before being trapped by heavy machinery. I made it, but had to go around the block to escape the advancing workers. The same thing is going to happen again when the sun rises today, but it won't matter as much because I have nowhere pressing to be. I hope they pulverize quietly though.

The Dickens has invented a new dance which, for want of a better name, I'll call the Potato Chip Dance. In order to do this, you have to spot a potato chip on the floor, run over to it, jump up and down on it until it's been pulverized sort of like our street, and then get down on all fours and lick it off of the carpet. Repeat until there are no more potato chips.

We carved some pumpkins today, and we'll proudly display them outside so all of the right wing christian fundamentalist wackos can wring their sweaty hands and bemoan the fact that such a vile, satanic holiday is allowed in this country. These are the same people who refuse to believe that all of the "christian" holidays are actually pagan holidays that have been warped and squished into little christian molds. I always get a good laugh when I run across people who sincerely believe that Halloween is somehow evil. To my mind, this is sort of like believing in the tooth fairy. The only thing I wouldn't argue is that it's yet another consumer feeding frenzy, but then again so is every other damn holiday in this country.

It's still my favorite holiday. I like holidays that upset uptight people. Uptight people need to be shaken up on a constant basis. Maybe it will loosen them up.

cds I listened to while anticipating candy: Retsin "Sweet Luck of Amaryllis", Rasputina "The Lost & Found", Grace Yoon & Roman Bunka (w/Greetje Bijma, Trinovox, and Albert Kuvezin) "Earborn", Mahmoud Ahmed "Ere Mela Mela", V/A "Ethiopian Blues & Ballads", Huun-Huur-Tu "Best Live", and Waterson:Carthy "A Dark Light"

Happy Hallowe'ene'en! I like this time of year because I can draw stuff like this and have an excuse.

The wind made an appearance tonight, gathering up masses of brown leaves and whipping them across parking lots. The temperature has dropped as well. It was cold in the shade this afternoon, as I found out while I was drawing in the garden at the museum. Maybe fall has finally fallen.

I didn't get to spend much time at home today (technically yesterday, but since I'm still awake, it's today) because I had to attend a training meeting at work. None of the activities that we were being trained how to do were new to me. I really do think it's time to change my job description in some way, but am not sure how. I was looking over an application for a job with the water company, and reading the supplemental questionaire attached to it, and realizing that I don't have any of the types of experience they seem to want. It's so hard to move sideways into a different kind of job. Not that I necessarily want a different kind of job. I just want the types of jobs I like doing to pay me well enough to live on. hmmm... what to do, what to do? Of course, my tendency to be very passive about searching for jobs works against me.
I just know that on days like today I don't get to spend enough time with Jen and the kids. It seems like I'm always working, but in reality I only work about 35 hours a week. It's just in 4 hour chunks here and there, so it seems like I'm always going to work.

Yesterday, I saw a guy driving north in the southbound lanes on the expressway. Tonight, a guy in an SUV cut me off, and afterwards I just happened to turn into the same parking lot as he did. I think he thought I was going to beat him up or something, because he was quite contrite when I made eye contact with him.

Driving is just a barrel of laughs.

cds I listened to while laughing: The Bevis Frond "Triptych", Scorched Earth "Fed to Your Head", Vasen "Trio", and Bastards "Monticello"

Another slow day at work, which balances out the constant chaos of home.

The pumpkin patch has a jump house and a bunch of toy vehicles for kids to push each other around in. The Dickens hopped into what appeared to be one of those old electric cars. I flipped the switches to see if it was still electric in any way. It wasn't. I used the emergency power - I pushed it around the pumpkin patch, much to the delight of The Dickens. Jen was pushing the boys around in one of the other non-electric cars. The Dickens tired of this after awhile, and made me get in so she could push me. Imagine a two year old in a bat costume pushing a grown man around in a small plastic car. I'm surprised that she managed to push it at all.
Then she found the jump house and had a gleeful time bouncing around. Nate joined in for awhile. When it was time to go, we had to promise her a ride in one of the patch's rusty red wagons to get her to emerge from the jump house. Everything was going well until she realized that the wagon was being pulled towards the van.

If somebody could find a way to harness the power of her tantrums, the energy crisis would be solved for good.

cds I listened to while pondering renewable energy sources: Six Organs of Admittance "Dark Noontide" and "You Can Always See the Sun", Circle "Raunio", Hazy Loper "Yonder, Go!", Volcano the Bear "Volnono", and Corner Tour "The Come On Over"

Cats should run the world.

Today I journeyed to the hellish wasteland that is the outdoor shopping center to get my new car stereo installed. As I waited, I wandered through the desolation, noting that there were people around, but that the place still gave the impression of being empty of life. Maybe it had something to do with the blandness of the stores, which undoubtedly attract bland customers. Maybe we are indeed surrounded by the living dead.
Another problem I have with these shopping centers is that the architecture is so dull. Are these built by the people who failed architecture school? Maybe they're built by the same people who design our prisons and high schools.
The only real sign of life was a mom with a couple of little girls, one of them pushing a doll stroller. They were running along, following the zig zag brick pattern on the sidewalk. Maybe that's the only way to escape the living dead who stumble all about, laden with shopping bags and the weight of too many fast food lunches.

The same thing happened to Rome. Then it fell.

The first cds I listened to on my new stereo: Daemonia "Live... or Dead", Sainkho Namtchylak "Stepmother City Remixes", The Flash Girls "Play Each Morning Wild Queen", Laibach "Rekapitulacija 1980 - 84", Timesbold "Woe be Gone...", and Mahmoud Ahmed "Live in Paris"

Today was as much of a leisure day as we're likely to get. Jen and I celebrated our anniversary by going out to eat, wandering around in the posh part of town, drinking pearl milk tea, finally finishing watching Satantango, and perusing the extras on Bowling For Columbine. In short, we spent a lazy day, because we're entitled to it. We only took Willow with us because she is too young to ask for juice or scream because we don't buy her stuff in every store we visit.
It's hard to believe that we've been married for a year already, although at the same time it seems like we've always been married. Life before marriage has taken on a tinge of unreality. It's even hard to think back to the time before Willow was born. I can't remember what it was like to not share my life with a beautiful wife and four children, the smallest of whom sticks her tongue out because her teeth are coming in and bothering her. She also has a whole vocabulary of heart melting baby sounds, not to mention copious amounts of drool which makes her mouth and hands slick. She plays with toys now too. Jen said that Willow actually cried the other day because she was angry at The Dickens for swiping one of her toys. Crying can be such a versatile method of communication, and it looks like Willow is starting to diversify.

They're going to be tearing up and repaving our road this week. The notice the paving company sent out actually uses the word "pulverize". That sounds noisy. I hope they do the pulverizing in the afternoon, but I have a feeling they won't.

cds I listened to while feeling good about being married for a year: Tarentel "Fear of Bridges", Kemialliset Ystavat "Varisevien Tanssi/Silmujen Marssi" and "Kellari Juniversumi", Worms "Pelican Songs", Present "High Infidelity", and CMX "Aurinko"

Exactly a year ago, we were on our way to Sanborn Park to get married. Happy anniversary to us!

Beware of shadowy figures lurking near stairwells.

I always arrive at the weekend feeling worn out. Thursday usually seems like the low point. Friday brings a couple of hours at Hidden Villa, which, despite the fact that I have to get up too early to get there, seems to help recharge me. Today I led a group of energetic pre-schoolers around the farm. Actually they were ahead of me most of the time because they all liked running. They came from somewhere up in San Francisco, and got the sliding scale discount, which is nice. I think it's the kids from the poorer neighborhoods who benefit most from places like Hidden Villa. We all need places like this to bolster our spirits; to remind us that the world is a beautiful place.
It's quite warm out today. During the night it feels like autumn, but the days have been more like summer.

I tried to get a new cd player installed in my car today, but since it would have entailed leaving the car there well into the evening, I opted for monday. That's always the hard part - the time involved. The physical process of a credit card transaction is easy. I almost wish it wasn't. The disconnect involved is like a cushion between myself and reality. The labor involved in earning money seems so far removed from the whole credit card thing. The interest I'm being charged is just a number on a statement. Maybe I live too much in the "here and now", and should be looking down the road more often. Maybe I should sit down and figure out just how many hours of working for somebody else it takes me to buy things like cd players. Of course, it's the cd player that makes delivering papers fun.

Speaking of spending money, I got the new DVD player in the mail. It does indeed play non-American formats and regions. It seems to play just about everything. I think that's money well spent. Of course, buying things online involves even more cushioning against reality. I need to work on my willpower.

Tonight I bring snakes and bugs to Lexy's school for their Halloween party. It should be fun.

cds I listened to while feeding batteries to my discman: Blyth Power "Gladly Give to Ceaser", "The Bricklayer's Arms", and "On the Viking Station", Kroko "Furia", and Circle/Marble Sheep "Surface/Marble Zone 2 - live"

Yep, my car stereo is toast. I'll get a new one on friday, using money I don't really have.

I've been enjoying the cloud cover at night, and the leaves scudding across the asphalt. The night air has more of a bite to it now. The days continue to be depressingly warm. Have you ever noticed that weather forecasters are biased? Warm/sunny = good. Cold/cloudy/rainy = bad. ... and don't get me started on other mainstream culture/media biases. I wonder how many people would believe that up was down if they heard it from an announcer on TV? Probably more than one might think.

hmmm. I notice that the blogger page isn't displaying fully. I think I'll see if this will actually publish.

cds I listened to on my discman (what, you didn't think I'd have a backup plan?): Anja Garbarek "Smiling and Waving" (this really benefits from being heard with headphones), Ramona the Pest "Contrary Sanctuary", Plasmatics "Coup D Grace", Tanakh "Villa Claustrophobia", Ulan Bator "Vegetale", Tindersticks "Sometimes it Hurts", and Chumbawamba "Readymades"

Here's a couple of small drawings, done in the garden at work, inspired by Bela Tarr's Satantango.

It's those moments when we step away from our routines that we feel most alive.

It may have finally happened. After playing all of my cds, the cd player in my car seems to have died on me. When I was minutes from home tonight, it spit out my cd and couldn't be convinced to play any more. I'll let it rest over night and see if it feels like playing in the morning. I guess I could go get a new one, but I'll always have a special place in my heart for this one because Jen got it as a gift for me a couple of years ago. Shortly afterwards, somebody tried to steal it and failed. They managed to rip the face plate off, but must have been interrupted or just too plain stupid to figure out what to do next. I held the face plate on with tape until M. rigged up a little latch for it. Ever since that day, somewhere in the mechanism there is a loose connection that causes it to squeal intermittently. I discovered that in order to stop the squealing, I have to push on a certain spot underneath. This usually works anyway. Sometimes it turns itself off. The little readout says "goodbye". If I push on the spot underneath, it says, "hello", and turns back on.
We'll see if it works in the morning.

Oh, and I found the key to that damn apartment complex. It was behind my seat.

cds I listened to on a mortally wounded cd player: Cheer-Accident "Salad Days!!", Thymme Jones "Career Move", Noe Venable "The World is Bound by Secret Knots", COH "Love Uncut", The Potomac Accord "Silver Line on a Black Sea", and Damon & Naomi w/ Kurihara "Song to the Siren"

Sometimes gated communities don't get their newspapers. Tonight was such a night for one such community. I managed to lose the little, electronic key that opens the gate. I was overjoyed! I got done with the route fifteen minutes earlier. I did look for the key, of course. I found 35 cents, fingernail clippers, a guitar pick, and an old, non-functioning electronic key under my seat, not to mention the countless rubberbands that litter my car. Maybe it fell out on the ground somewhere. That would be nice.

cds I listened to while not trying too hard to find the key: CMX "Discopolis", Ain Soph "Oktober", Nagisa Ni Te "On the Love Beach" and "Feel", and Backworld "Seeds of Love"

Another weekend full of stuff.

Friday, M. and I went to the quiet burg of Scotts Valley to witness some Swedes, collectively called Vasen, play their instruments. They played in a community center that used to be a Lutheran church. They played viola, nyckelharpa, and guitar. The audience, most of whom seemed to be there not because they were familiar with Vasen, but because they were Swedish and were hungering for a bit of culture from the homeland. We were there because we liked the band, which placed us in the minority. Of course, by the end of the evening everybody liked the band. They were quite likeable, and even told bad jokes between songs in a deadpan Swedish sort of way. Another great thing is that, according to the little program we were handed, it's a Scandinavian tradition to give away free coffee wherever people congregate. This is good, and yet one more reason to consider moving to Scandinavia.
I overheard a guy behind me say that if Vasen weren't musicians, they'd probably be math professors because it takes some "serious brainpower" to play music like they do. The viola player seems to have a good head for obscure historical information relating to the songs (some composed centuries ago) they were playing.
Also, due to the deficiencies of my American keyboard, I have done them the insult of calling them "vase". Their name actually means something like, "essence", or "spirit", but without the proper punctuation (a little dot) over the "a", the meaning changes. Also, due to the deficiencies of my American education, I don't even know what that little dot over the "a" is called.
Another guy, who looked to be somewhere in his eighth or ninth decade, stood up after the concert and pointed out that it was the 14th anniversary of the Loma Prieta earthquake. I still remember that little event like it was yesterday. Apparently a lot of other people do too.

Oh, in case you don't know what a nyckelharpa is, here's a picture:



Sunday, Lexy had his party at the ice skating rink in Cupertino. The last time I ice skated was at that rink, when I was not much older than Lexy. I actually managed to make my way around the rink with a bit of speed (if very little grace), although I did fall on my butt a couple of times. About half of the kids attending the party also seemed to know the rudiments of ice skating. The other half clutched the walls or parent's hands. Nate, who has never before been on the ice, actually managed to do a little bit of unassisted skating. He also did plenty of assisted skating (my arms are still sore from holding him up, as I'm sure Uncle Jay's and Stacy's are as well) Willow, bundled up against the cold, watched from the sidelines. The Dickens stayed home with Granny. Two year olds and ice skating rinks don't make a good combination.

Later on, back at home, The Dickens made up a new game that involved making frog noises and peeking up over the side of the bed at Willow. This made Willow laugh so hard that she got hiccups. Ribbit! Ribbit! hahahaha*hic* Ribbit! Ribbit! hahahaha*hic* over and over and over again.

And, as if that weren't enough, one of our pets had babies! We're willing to adopt them out to good homes, so if you're reading this and you would like your very own Madagascar Hissing Cockroach, let me know. At the moment they're quite small. Indeed, I spent a lot of time locating them all and removing them from the cage they were born in - a cage that they could easily escape from, since they're about the size of small sowbugs at the moment. As adults, they will be around two inches long, and have the ability to hiss quite loudly when irritated. It'll be fun to watch the babies grow. Nate looked in at them and said, "they're cuter than Willow!" I disagreed with him, and then discovered that his criteria for cuteness is based on size. The smaller something is, the cuter it is.

cds I listened to while having no idea I'd ramble on this long: Daniel Littleton & Tara Jane O'neil "Music for a Meteor Shower", Circle "Sunrise", Fred Frith "Rivers and Tides { working with time" (soundtrack for the Andy Goldsworthy documentary of the same name - see it if you can), J.M.K.E "Gringode Kultuur", CMX "Musiikin Ystavalliset Kasvot + 5", and Sleepytime Gorilla Museum "Live"

I'm having another one of those moments where I can't think of anything to write about, but here I sit anyway. I've always been a creature of habit, at least with the little things - my keys always go into the right front pocket of my jeans, my shoes are always by the closet door when they're not on my feet, I blog when I get home from work... This veneer of order amongst the daily chaos frees up my mind to dwell on more important things, such as why opossums never look both ways before crossing the street. I still haven't come up with an answer for that one.

Oh, and I completed my nearly 22 month task of listening to all of my cds, although this doesn't count the few that people have borrowed and not returned, and that one damn cd in "special packaging" that won't open. People should know that rock salt and metal don't work well together. Have you ever seen a car owned by somebody who lives near the ocean? Usually pretty rusty. The same thing happens to metal cd packaging if you put rock salt inside. The only difference is that it rusts shut. I guess I could listen to it if I used a can opener.

cds I listened to with a sense of accomplishment: The McCarthy Sisters at Cold Cuts, Berkeley, 7/26/03, V/A "Progfest '94", Venom "The Second Coming", V/A "The Tyranny of the Beat", and V/A "SFEMF 2003 - East Meets Left"

No, I don't know where this sudden obsession with floating hats came from. The small picture is small because it just wouldn't scan properly.

I should slap myself on the hand and then bury my credit cards in the backyard for the squirrels to find. I just ordered a DVD player, even though we currently have two in the house. Why do we need a third? Neither of the ones currently in residence play foreign DVDs. The whole region code thing has been a frustration (and probably a boon to my wallet) for years now. If a movie gets released overseas, it is usually not playable in most american DVD players. It's all so companies can make more money, of course... Exclusive distribution rights, etc. An american company wouldn't be able to make any money from a DVD if everybody had already bought/rented the european version that came out six months ago. The problem is, not everything that hits the shelves in europe gets an american release. I just solved that problem. Thanks to M., who had also been struggling with these same frustrations and who also ordered a region free DVD player, for supplying the link to the site. Now we can happily watch whatever our little hearts desire. That is, if the kids are sleeping.

Happy birthday to my dad, who turned 68 yesterday.

cds I listened to while being thankful that they don't have region codes: all various artists - "MFTEQ Ghafran" (Music From the Empty Quarter magazine compilation), "Volume 4" (Peaceville compilation), "Cool Beans #13 - eviction compilation", "Awakening", and "The Wire Tapper 6" (The Wire magazine compilation)

Using the equation, W1000 = P, Here's 3000 words.

My job(s) keep me removed from what is commonly known as the "rat race", and I am thankful for this. I did, however, see two rats today, one at each of my jobs. The first rat was running up and down the stairs by the river while our BioSITE groups were nearby writing in their journals. It proved to be very distracting. I guess it couldn't have been a true rat race though, because you need at least two rats for it to qualify as a race. I also caught a crayfish while all of this was happening, and it indicated its displeasure by clamping down on my thumb with both of its pinchers. It actually broke the skin in a couple of places. Strong crayfish.
I saw the second rat while delivering papers at a trailer park. With his tail held high, he ran towards a car port.
Oh, I guess I actually saw three rats. The third one is thawing on top of the python cage. None of the reptiles will eat them frozen.

cds I listened to while not racing: V/A "Pixies Fuckin' Die! (Pixies tribute), V/A "Vile Vibes", Faun Fables at the Starry Plough, 5/8/03, and V/A "Doomsday News III"

The empty ice cream container is in the middle of the floor. Nearby is a spoon. There are splashes and smears of red everywhere. Did somebody get murdered over that last spoonful of ice cream? Did somebody eat so much ice cream that they exploded?

No. Nothing like that. This is what happens when The Dickens finds the ice cream and the ketchup. It looked like she was trying to fill the ice cream container with the contents of the ketchup bottle. That's a favorite game of hers - transferring things from one container to another.

I have to get up in few hours and fight the morning traffic so that I can arrive in time for BioSITE to commence, so I'll end here. Goodnight.

cds I listened to while wondering what ice cream would taste like with ketchup on it: The Angels of Light live in San Francisco, 4/11/03, V/A "Sound From Hands", and V/A "Taste This 5"

There are piglets at Hidden Villa again, but they're big piglets. Little piglets are more fun because they run around in circles. Big piglets are kind of lazy. Just before seeing the piglets, I was attacked by a rooster who was determined to keep me from stealing any of his harem. I borrowed a chicken anyway, despite his valiant efforts to peck a hole in my knee.
Later, Heather the cow gave me a back massage with her head. This was actually mutually beneficial, because she managed to scratch an itch at the same time. After this, I got the first graders I was leading around the farm to stick a cow pie full of bits of straw so it looked like a sloppy porcupine. It didn't take any persuasion at all. All I had to do was push one little piece of straw into a pie myself, and they were all gathered around with their own bits of straw. One of the chaperone moms hypothesized that this was because they didn't often get the opportunity to be around such an interesting array of droppings.

At home, Willow is a bit under the weather. She has a fever, but is getting better. Last night she was up a lot, crying. I hate that. Today she was back to her old, smiley self, but we took it easy anyway, lounging around the house most of the day.

Saturday, we went to the Tech museum to see the Grossology exhibit. The Dickens especially enjoyed the digestive tract slide/tunnel. The slide part represents the esophagus, which dumps little sliders out into the stomach. From there, the slider has the option of crawling through an intestinal tunnel, at the exit of which is a brown, unevenly shaped cushion which is apparently supposed to be shit. The rest of the exhibit was also a lot of fun, and more than lived up to its name. Jen and I agreed that we should go back without the kids at some time so we can spend more than two seconds in any given place. Most of our visit involved running after The Dickens, or trying to locate the boys.

The squirrels in our yard have been quite screechy for the last couple of days. Tonight at work there was a sick squirrel near the bathrooms. Why are all of the squirrels suddenly unhappy or ill? What does it mean? Maybe it's because they didn't get to vote.

cds I listened to while wondering who the squirrels would have voted for (once again, all various artists): "Magnetic Submission", "UHF/VHF", "Bored, Lonely, and a Little Pissed Off" (a KALX radio compilation of live studio performances), and "Music for the Proletariat" (Allied Recordings compilation)

I just came home, and surprised a pair of raccoons in the yard. One of them walked along the fence a ways and balanced there, staring at me, as if deciding whether or not to jump down. I could hear the other one breathing in the tree near the fence, and see its tail hanging down. After a moment or two, they both scrambled down into the neighbors' yard. I heard them again as I started typing this. They're pretty noisy.
It's nice to see wildlife, even though we city folks are usually limited to raccoons, opossums, skunks, rats, squirrels, and pigeons - maybe a few more if you take a closer look.

Speaking of wildlife, I have to get up early to lead a tour at Hidden Villa, so I'll end here.

cds I listened to while surprising the wildlife (all various artists): "This Note's For You Too!" (disc 2), "Mesomorph Enduros", "Noise and Junk Omnibus" (RRR compilation, with an apt title), and "The Holy Bible vol. 2-3" (The sequels, where Jesus becomes a ninja and fights the mafia and... okay, actually a Holy Records compilation, with nothing even remotely holy contained within)

I lost the jawbone somewhere, as well as one of my yellow pencils, but nevertheless...

The Dickens painted a lovely picture on the wall in the hall, using a double handful of diaper potatoes. She then, still holding on to her "paint" walked up to me and said, "eeeeww". I agreed with her.

Somewhere in that little anecdote there's a metaphor for what's happening to the state of California. I have this vision of a line of sheep waiting their turn to go up the ramp into the slaughterhouse, where an Austrian strongman is waiting with a bolt gun. They go willingly to their doom. The only problem is that they're taking the rest of the farmyard with them. The bolt gun wants the cows, chickens, goats, and even the farm cats, all because the sheep consented to allow the strongman to take over.

Why is it that our social structure mirrors that of herd animals? We're supposed to be a democracy, which means that it is necessary for us to think. Why do so many people just follow that one sheep or cow who bolts at the first sign of danger? Do people confuse fantasy with reality? Why else would anybody vote for an actor to be governor? Do they think he'll "terminate" the budget crisis? Will he wield a broadsword against domestic terrorists?

I'm just groping for answers.

cds I listened to while wondering what state to move to: V/A "Release Your Mind - vol.2" (Relapse compilation), V/A "Virus 100" (Dead Kennedys tribute), Faun Fables at Cafe Du Nord, 11/1/02, and V/A "This Note's For You" (Neil Young tribute) disc one

Here there be dragons.

Today I met the BioSITE kids who will be in my group for the rest of the school year. They were all frighteningly well behaved. Almost like they had been replaced by aliens or something. All of the other facilitators had similar stories to tell about their groups.
I'm sure that once these kids get used to the program, some of their rough edges will become apparent. For now though, I'll enjoy the fact that they're excited to be involved, and that they listen and make observations quite well.

As for the election... I have a slogan for the next recall. It's quite succinct. One word, actually: ArNOld.

cds I listened to while shaking my head in disgust at the decision making skills of my fellow Californians: V/A "The Absolute Supper", V/A "X" (Peaceville compilation), Faun Fables live at Tuva, Berkeley, 2/1/02, V/A "NWOBHM Metal Rarities, Vol. 1", and V/A "Beauty In Darkness"

I saw a different toad tonight, a couple of blocks away from where I keep seeing the other one. This toad was also in the road. I leaned out my window and said, "get out of the road, toad." As I drove away, I could see him hopping towards the curb.

I've also been seeing those obnoxious Arnold Schwarzengroper (oops, I mean Schwarzenegger) for governor signs hanging from freeway overpasses. These where well balanced out by a small sign, hanging from a pedestrian walkway, that claimed, "Arnold loves Hitler". I'm not sure if he loves Hitler or not, but it doesn't matter. There are enough other reasons not to vote for him.

I'm with the woman I saw standing by herself on a streetcorner, holding a "vote no on the recall" sign. What a farce. What a waste of money. It's bad enough that the republicans steal elections (hello little George) without them trying to rip the carpet out from under people in mid-term.

cds I listened to while wondering why there are so many assholes in high places (the better to shit on us, I guess...): Giorgio Gaslini "Le Cinque Giornate/La Porta Sul Buio" soundtrack, V/A "The Lamp of the Invisible Light", V/A "Im Blutfeuer", and V/A "Succour - the Terrascope Benefit Album"

I have a new Sun Spider (or Wind Scorpion, as they're sometimes called). Right now, it's running around in its cage, trying to figure out how to escape. I noticed earlier today that it is missing the tip of one of its mandibles, although this shouldn't slow it down too much, since Sun Spiders have two sets of mandibles, which function sort of like machinery in a wood processing plant, sawing things into little bits.
The only problem with these arachnids is that they don't live very long as adults. I bought it anyway, of course, because they're just so odd. I used it at the spider workshop today, and the attendees were duly impressed. Nobody got to touch it though.

On Saturday, as we drove to the museum, Nate saw a guy walking down the street sporting a long, matted beard and a head full of unkempt, tangled hair. "He looks like your brother," Nate observed as we drove past.
When we got to the museum, I discovered that the workshop that I'd thought was on Saturday was actually on Sunday, so I played with Jen and the kids instead. I especially had fun watching Willow sit in the little pre-toddler area inside the early childhood center. She just sat there and contentedly pawed the brightly colored vinyl blocks. She is really starting to explore the world around her now. I could watch her do this all day.

Last night, in what must be the most delayed case of karma ever, Lexy stumbled, half-asleep, into our room and peed in the wastebasket. I mention that karma is involved because I did the same thing to my parents' wastebasket when I was about the same age as Lexy is now. Neither of us remembered our nocturnal waste watering expeditions in the morning. At least he peed in the wastebasket. I can think of a whole bunch of places where I would like to find pee even less.

cds I listened to while hoping that nobody pees on the spot where the wastebasket used to be before I can clean it and put it back: All various artists - "On the Brink of Infinity", "Heilige Tod" (Death In June tribute), "Mykistavia Valikohtauksia - Dumbstriking Incidents" (like it says on the front, "a compilation of some of the weirder bands on the Bad Vugum label"), "A Sides" (that's circle A, as in anarchy), and "Tea At the Palaz of Hoon" (beautifully packaged double cd)