It's strange not having to go to work tonight. It just feels like the weekend. I'm sure I'll get used to it though.

I'm too tired to really enjoy the extra time tonight, but am looking forward to days to come. We have great plans to whip the house into shape and get organized around here. And while we're doing that, I'm going to be hunting for a job. I think I'll have to take the same approach to job hunting that I take when I play music or draw - don't worry about the outcome, just do it. It's so easy to get wrapped up in worry, and when that happens the endeavor suffers.

Overheard in the Early Childhood Center at the museum today, as a little boy played with the new plastic dinosaurs: "This one's killed. It goes in the killed pile."

The scorpions are rattling around in their cage, no doubt annoyed that I dragged them with me to not one, but two jobs today. I took them to science camp because they tied in with the "living fossils" theme I had planned for the day, and then on to the museum afterwards. They've been around for roughly 400 million years, which predates the dinosaurs by over 150 million years, and outlasts them by another 65 million. It's kind of comforting to share our room with such a successful lifeform. It is possible that the trick to their longevity as a species is that they haven't changed much. Of course, by that reasoning, one might infer that the human race is doomed.

Goodnight.

At exactly 1:08 am, I threw my last paper out the window and watched it bounce across a parking lot. I am no longer a paperboy.

The accompanying ritual for this event involved listening to Hellhound's "Ice Age" cd. This is because their bass player was instrumental (pun probably intended) in me becoming a paperboy in the first place. This was back in 1988, when he mentioned to me that he was quitting his Wall St. Journal route, and wondered if I'd be interested in taking over. So here I am, 16 years later, listening to him play music on my last night of work. During this time, Hellhound (who haven't existed in almost as long a time) went from being a cutting edge heavy metal band (the thrash metal genre was still in its infancy) to sounding "old school". Not that this is a bad thing, of course. Real music defies genres. Real people defy genres as well. ...and tired people ramble.

cds I listened to as I emptied my car of newspapers for the last time: Eric Mcfadden "Devil Moon", Jesse Sykes & the Sweet Hereafter "Oh, My Girl", Steve Von Till "If I Should Fall to the Field", Hellhound "Ice Age", and Tim Eriksen "Every Sound Below"

The first day of the Jurassic Giants science camp was a whirlwind of energy. The camp contains 2 girls and 11 boys, all of whom like running. One of the girls kept reminding me that I had long hair and looked like a girl. This didn't stop her from trying to braid it though. One of the boys gave me a hug when it was time to go. The wind was blowing hard enough to prevent us from doing any activities that involved paper. The boys mainly wanted to play with the big rubber dinosaurs I had placed on the table. I think I'll leave them inside tomorrow because I have a feeling they're going to end up being a distraction otherwise.

Only 1 more night of delivering papers. I'd better get some sleep now.

cds I listened to while wrapping up a 12 hour work day: Ex-Girl "Luna Rose", Circle "Guillotine", Cruachan "Pagan", Pharaoh Overlord "The Battle of the Axehammer (live)", and Stone Breath "The Silver Skein Unwound"

The paper route already seems like a memory, even though I'm still doing it. There's a distinct sense of unreality involved, as I suppose there is every time any major life change happens. Some of the carriers are busy learning routes up in San Francisco, and I'm glad I'm not one of them. I think this job has held me back in a number of ways over the years, even though the pay has been nice.

Okay, I'm going to sleep now. I work all three jobs for the next couple of days. Only two more nights of paper delivery!

cds I listened to on the first day of the last week of nocturnal employment: Current 93 "Crooked Crosses for the Nodding God", L'Orchestre Noir "11", Devendra Banhart "Rejoicing In The Hands", and Akasau "s/t"

On Saturday, our last full day in Toronto, we wandered around. We met Steve down the street at his hotel, and then set out for the Eaton Center, which is where the Church of the Holy Trinity is located (where the first Cowboy Junkies album, the aptly titled "Trinity Session" was recorded, making it a music nerd attraction that we just couldn't pass up). The church was in the courtyard of the Eaton Center, in the shadows of towering glass and chrome monoliths. It was strange to see this beautiful, rustic little building surrounded by the cold architecture of the current age. Inside it was quiet, as if the hustling shoppers and city sounds weren't permitted entry. A true sanctuary, if only from crowds and noise.
We ate breakfast across the way, and then went back to Steve's hotel to fetch the moose eating barbarian known only as Kugelberg. This accomplished, we set out again, only to be sucked into a series of record stores. I only succumbed to my addiction in the last one, where I purchased three cds, all used, and all with Canadian money which, as everybody knows, isn't worth the paper it's printed on (some German record collectors once told us that about our own currency, so I just had to turn around and do it to somebody else). Right before we visited this last record store, we went to the Bata Shoe Museum, which proved to be more interesting that it sounds. There were shoes from all eras. The ancient ones were the most interesting to me - I think because it's one of those things I don't often find myself thinking about. History books often leave out information about every-day items like shoes. The low point of the museum was the room full of the shoes of prominent people. Not interesting. ...And they only had one pair of Imelda Marcos' shoes. If they had all of them, it might have been interesting. But one pair? Not really.
As we walked around, several people (members of a fiesty octogenerian tour group, I think) commented on Willow's shoes, giving them their approval.
Then, all of a sudden, it was time to head back towards the venue for a third night of music. Near the venue, we stopped in some stores. Willow decided that she didn't want to be inside - in fact she seemed determined to walk into the street. We walked for a bit until we came upon a large circle of drummers. They weren't exactly taiko drummers - they had what appeared to be oversized marching band drums, and there was a guy conducting as well. Willow loved it. She danced and clapped, and then sat down and polished off the rest of our blueberries.
Soon we were back at the venue. Current 93's set was again markedly different from the previous nights, which is a good thing because at previous groups of concerts the set hadn't varied much from night to night. Another surprise was that Mary, who we had met last year at the Current 93 concerts in San Francisco, and then again in Portland, had driven out from Portland. Current 93 has always attracted people who will go to great lengths to see them. These concerts were no exception, and well worth the travelling.
Afterwards we hung around for a bit, talking and just generally being glad to be on vacation. Matt, Greg, and Dawn, along with Steve, went off to another concert (Green Milk from the Planet Orange), while Jen, Willow, and I went back to the hotel to get a bit of alone time.

And all of a sudden we're all back home, and as usual there are a million things that need being done. I think first on the list is sleep. Next week I only have to deliver three editions of the Wall St. Journal, and then no more. My first YSI camp starts monday as well. Not to mention that I'm working at the museum four days. I think I forgot to leave time to sleep. Blog entries may be sporadic at best next week.

cds I listened to while still being tired: Salty the Pocketknife "s/t", Mourning Cloak "In Dreams You See", Lubricated Goat "Paddock of Love", Michael Gira "I Am Singing to you From My Room", Nurse With Wound "Angry Eelectric Finger (Spitch Cock One)", and Thee Silver Mountain Reveries "Pretty Little Lightning Paw"

Where was I? Oh, yeah...

On friday we met up with the recordists, and after rides on trolleys, subways, and a ferry boat, found ourselves on an island in Lake Ontario. While waiting for the ferry, Willow partook in her latest passion: chasing pigeons. From that moment on, she pointed out every pigeon we passed. The island itself was green, with drifting clouds of fluff giving it a magical quality. Sherry entertained us with a story of the time she saw a cat covered in little drifts of the stuff - it had evidently been sitting in the same place too long. I'm not sure which type of plant it was coming from.
We wandered a bit, swung on some swings, and splashed in the water. On the way back to the ferry, the place that sold ice cream closed just before we could get to it. Those evil, evil people.

Current 93 played longer than the previous night, including more new material in the set. The pianist, Graham, who I found out was David's neighbor (which meant I'd met his kids) even played one song on the church's old pipe organ. Jen had to spend the majority of the time outside with Willow, who couldn't quietly contain her excitement about the proceedings. I felt a little guilty about this, but she turned down my offers to switch places with her. She got to sit on the lawn and drink beers with Steve, who was also lurking outside. Willow continued to attract admiring attention. On the way back to the hotel, the prostitutes who were hanging out down the street said she was a "cute baby". It just goes to show that people from all walks of life are in agreement about Willow.

More Toronto tomorrow. I now only have 4 more delivery days left. Next week will be interesting, since I start science camp as well. There is a three day overlap, which means for the first part of the week I will get very little sleep.

cds I listened to while realizing that at the end of next week I won't be a paperboy anymore: 50 Foot Wave "s/t", Simon Finn "Silent City Creep", Rasputina "Frustration Plantation", Demi Semi Quaver "???/After Cherry", Christdriver "Everything Burns", Cowboy Junkies "In the Time Before Llamas", and The Does/Breathe Stone "Sleep Deprivation Blues/Crow Omens"

It had stopped raining by the time we all rousted ourselves from our stupors, so we decided to venture out onto the streets of Toronto. Our first impression was that it was kind of dingy - all of the local architecture seemed to have sprouted during the sixties. Later we would discover that this was due to the neighborhood we were in. The city is actually an intriguing hodge-podge of the old and new, with beautiful old buildings (mostly churches) resting in the shadows of the sleek, modern glass edifices of some of the tallest buildings I've seen, and presided over by the blinking finger of the CN Tower. Down below, we cast about for a restaurant, but the only one that looked like it held promise turned out to be dingy and virtually deserted inside. We kept walking, heading towards St. George the Martyr Anglican church, where Current Ninety Three were due to perform later. We trudged down Queen Street, which seemed to be the place for aimless groups of young people to gather - with its bars and establishments such as "Condom shack" to entice people in. Finally we arrived at John st., and the church, which proved to be a nice, old brick structure complete with a lush green courtyard and ivy covered tower. A few people already milled around outside. We decided to check out the courtyard, and were quickly spotted by David, who let us in. He introduced us to (among others) Simon Finn, who was also slated to play later. These were his first gigs in roughly thirty years, and somewhere along the line he had attracted a TV documentary crew, who barged around the church with their equipment, seemingly randomly interviewing attendees for the first two nights. Willow got filmed, so will be seen on TV in Canada at some point. Maybe. She sure was excited to be there though.
As the doors opened and the hall filled, we ran into more people we knew. Some of them came from quite far away. Nigel, who drives a tube train in London, was there. Jose came from Portugal. Some guy came from Mexico, but didn't have a ticket for friday night, which meant I could sell one of the extra tickets that a friend who couldn't make it to the show had sent me. Steve wandered in and regaled us with tales of cod, the fishing and preparing of which is the only industry on the island he's been staying at up in the arctic circle. He has been making sound art using whatever is handy on the island, such as ship graveyards and whatnot. The works in progress are then broadcast over the island's one radio channel, interrupting broadcasts of bingo games and other exciting things, and no doubt really pissing off anybody attempting to play bingo. He clued us in on an interesting occupation as well - cod sniffer. The island is apparently home to a champion cod sniffer, whose job it is to smell cod and sort it according to quality. All of the best cod goes to Italy.
But I digress. The show itself was great. Simon Finn opened, and reminded me of Leonard Cohen. Jen thought he sounded a bit like Nick Drake. He played songs from his 1969 record and some new ones as well. Next up was Six Organs of Admittance, which for these shows was just Ben Chasny, who is an amazing guitar player, but appears very humble and shy on stage. He was wearing a summer science camp shirt, which is kind of funny since I'm going to be teaching summer science camp next week. He said he got it in Santa Cruz, where he currently resides, but has never taught science camp. His set was short, possibly due to his desire to see Current 93, who he had never seen before. Current 93 also did a relatively short set, which included mostly old songs, a rousing rendition of "Lucifer Over London," and David singing a couple of Simon Finn's songs while Simon played guitar. Right before the encore, Willow shouted out, "yeah! yeah! yeah!" and received applause from the audience.
Afterwards, we decided to go eat. The recordists, William and Sherry (sp?) took us to a nice chinese restaurant. The staff took a liking to Willow and gave her lots of fortune cookies and a green lollipop, which made her sticky.


to be continued...

Oh, and only five more delivery days left...

cds I listened to while delivering: Current 93 "The Courtyard/Jerusalem", Ex-Girl "Endangered Species", Orphaned Land "Mabool", Simon Finn "Pass the Distance", Finntroll "Nattfodd", and Sainkho Namtchylak "Who Stole the Sky?"

Willow slept most of the way to Newark. The plane was pretty full, and very cramped, so neither Jen nor I got any sleep. The trip from Newark to Toronto took just under an hour. Matt and Greg had beaten us there, but we had beaten Dawn, who was due to land at another terminal. We found her in due time, and soon found ourselves on a shuttle heading for the city proper. The air was sticky and rainy, with humidity levels one would expect to find in the tropics. The shuttle driver, like many professional drivers, was loudly contemptuous of the skills of his fellow drivers as we wound our way towards our destination. As we passed the massive, phallic CN Tower, he opined that the microwaves emanating from it were cooking the brains of his fellow bus drivers. The tower itself is quite impressive, even if one discounts our driver's theory. It looms over the city like a lightning rod.
The shuttle dropped us off, not at our hotel, but at one down the street (we would later find out that various friends are staying there). We grab our bags and slog through the rain. Our hotel looms ahead. It is a college dorm masquerading as a hotel during the summer months. Dawn and Greg are on the fifth floor. Matt, Jen, Willow and I are on the tenth. In our room, somebody has written the words, "hello" and "batman" on the bulletin board. College life in Toronto must be rather dull, if this is anything to go by. Underwhelmed by the graffiti, we promptly collapsed on our beds and fell asleep.

More later...

cds I listened to while suspecting that I'm still a little jetlagged: Lilium "Short Stories", Vixen "The Works", 16 Horsepower "Sackcloth 'n' Ashes", Brightblack "ala.cali.tucky", Bohren & der Club of Gore "Black Earth", Deep Turtle "John Peel Session", "Turkele!!!" and "Tutina!", and Tara Jane Oneil "Bones"

We're home again, with the trip already seeming like some sort of dream. However, the beginning and end of this particular trip weren't particularly dreamlike. The beginning involved the van breaking down on the way to the airport. It's the same old story - stalling without warning on the freeway. The only difference was that this time we hadn't been driving the hour or so that it usually takes to trigger the problem. Jen's mom and stepdad bailed us out, ensuring that we got to the airport and the van got to the repair shop. As of this writing it is still not repaired. Willow was the only one who enjoyed this part of the trip, smiling and laughing as she was buffeted by wind from the cars whipping past us on the freeway as we all piled into Jen's mom's car. We also got to watch some crumpet-head use the shoulder as a passing lane, which instilled in us an even greater desire to remove ourselves as quickly as possible.

The trip ended with Jen's suitcase deciding to stay in Houston. Maybe it liked the 90+ degree weather and the swamplike humidity. The airline is supposed to deliver it to us tomorrow, so no real harm done.

I'll write more about the fun part of the trip when I'm less tired. I've been on the go since 6:00 am (pacific time) yesterday. After deplaning and coming home to say hi to the bigger kids, I ate, got in my car, and went to work. On the way there I saw a Hummer (or SUV - kind of hard to tell) engulfed in flames by the side of the road, helping make our car problems seem a little less severe.

cds I listened to while wishing I just could have crawled into bed: Radio Tarifa "Fiebre", Six Organs of Admittance "Compathia", The Gathering "Sleepy Buildings", and Bonfire Madigan "Plays for Change"

I'm losing my paper routes at a good time. In my delivery area there are at least four new apartment complexes being built. They're all being erected on lots that once contained office buildings, long vacated by businesses that couldn't keep their heads above the floodwaters of the recession. But those jobless individuals who made up the workforces of these businesses still need places to live, so why not build a bunch of new complexes for them to live in?

Complexes that I will never have to deliver to. Ha!

Only eight more editions to deliver. I'm not delivering any more this week because we're going to Toronto to see Current Ninety Three. I've got some extra tickets for friday and saturday night, mailed here by a friend who can't make it to the show. If anybody needs one, meet us outside the venue. We're the ones with the small child, who currently has no idea that she'll be in Canada very soon.

cds I listened to while deciding that it's too hot out: V/A "Death's Last Life's Breath", Diamanda Galas "La Serpenta Canta", Jolie Holland "Catalpa", and Penelope Houston "Snapshot"

I tried to deliver someone a Skunk Paper tonight. That's when you throw a paper so that it lands directly behind a skunk. Startled skunks sometimes stink. I'm not sure if this particular skunk sprayed the paper or not. It's kind of hard to tell.

Near home, Nate got stung on the hand by a bee. He spent a good deal of the afternoon with his hand in a bowl of ice water watching a Gamera movie.

Only nine more days of nocturnal employment left. How nice.

cds I listened to while startling skunks: Paul Chain "Unreleased vol.1", Faun Fables "Family Album", Ghost "Hypnotic Underworld", Agalloch "The Grey", and Bathory "Destroyer of Worlds"

As I got into my car to leave for work this evening, I noticed something crawling on the floor of the passenger side. It was then that I realized that they hadn't shorted me a mouse at the pet store. It had somehow managed to escape from the bag, leaving the four other mice behind. I thought for a brief moment that I should reward the little rodent for it's cleverness, but then remembered the hungry King snake. This in turn reminds me of an earlier King snake incident, involving a different snake...

On Saturday, I took the boys on a hike. We took a loop trail, upon which we found a beautiful King snake - it was chocolate brown with white bands, and was only a little irritated at being caught. It broadcast this irritation by vibrating its tail, which can sound a bit like a rattlesnake if done on dry leaves. The boys both held it, and then we watched it slide over the edge of the trail and disappear beyond a fold of land. There's nothing quite like the gracefulness of a snake in its natural habitat.

A bit later, Nate spotted a chipmunk. He's proud of that. Later, when some kids hiked past us, Lexy not-so-subtly boasted about the snake we had found. I think it's safe to say that a good time was had by all.

Tonight, I saw a whole family of skunks, with the little ones all following behind their mother.

cds I listened to while having only 10 more delivery days left: Manilla Road "Spiral Castle", Cowboy Junkies "Open", Bondage Fruit III "Recit", Ex-Girl "Luna Rose", Akasau "s/t", Bathory "Hammerheart", and Current 93 "Sleep Has His House"

I'm tired. Being at Sanborn park is good for me. I love the way the forest smells. But I'm still tired. I'm teaching one day of summer camp next week because the person who is supposed to do it isn't doing it. It's called Tiny Beasts, and will be attended by tiny children. In keeping with the theme of the camp, I will get a tiny amount of sleep the night before.

11 more days.

cds I listened to while being sleepy: Cowboy Junkies "Pale Sun Crescent Moon", CMX "Rautakantele", Circle "Guillotine", Current 93 "Earth Covers Earth", and Ether "Music For Air Raids"

I've just been looking at the calendar, and my countdown isn't correct. I actually now have 12 editions of the paper to deliver. That is, unless I'm too tired the night we get back from our upcoming mini-vacation. Some of my co-workers are contemplating delivering papers up in San Francisco, since that's the only place around where you can get a Wall St. Journal route now. I'm sure their brakes and transmissions will love them for it. I passed on that particular opportunity - I'm looking forward to cleaning all of the plastic bags and rubber bands out of my car, and being home at night. That's important.

I have to get up in few hours for another orientation meeting at another park that I'm already familiar with, but what the hell - they're paying me for it. Goodnight.

cds I listened to while looking forward to next month: Devendra Banhart "Rejoicing in the Hands", V/A "Five Lullabies from the Axis of Evil", Ragnarok (UK) "Domgeorn", B.G.K. "A Dutch Feast", Pharaoh Overlord "The Battle of the Axehammer (live)", and Bathory "Twilight of the Gods" (R.I.P. Quorthon)

I went to meetings at Youth Science Institute and the museum today. The first one was an orientation, or in the case of those of us who have been there in past years, a refresher course. There was a big wasp nest hanging way up in a tree near the dam. Inside the center, a pair of tortoises looked for a way out, and a pair of chinchillas ran circles around them in their extra large chinchilla balls (you know the sort - place small animal inside hollow, brightly-colored plastic ball and watch the fun). Cool meeting. The guy who did the outside portion of it had to leave directly afterwards to go teach a group of military types how to use M-16s. I had to leave directly afterwards to go to the museum and eat pizza, followed by some work in the garden and a video about worms.

Better than both of these was the sunset I saw on the way home. Sharply delineated sun rays pierced the clouds near the horizon, and seemed to set them on fire around the edges.

I didn't get to see Jen and the kids much today. Willow has a cold. The rest of us are a bit under the weather as well. I need sleep. Only 12 more delivery days though.

cds I listened to under cover of darkness: Eric McFadden "Devil Moon", Caspar Brotzmann "Mute Massaker", Cowboy Junkies "Waltz Across America", and Swans "Children of God/World of Skin"

I went down to the police station to get fingerprinted, which is one of the requirements necessary for working at Youth Science Institute. Actually it was more like a police annex. Of course, no type of police station is complete without a loutish man in the corridor muttering the dreaded "f-word" to himself as he clutches a manilla envelope. No doubt the contents of the envelope are less than pleasing. We will never know.

Later, I took the boys to see the newest Harry Potter movie. We were entertained, although a lot of the connections between characters, so vividly spelled out via flashbacks in the book, are missing. The film looks beautiful though, since much of it was filmed in the Scottish highlands. You just can't go wrong with the Scottish highlands in the background.

13 more delivery days...

cds I listened to while feeling tired: Greg Weeks "Awake Like Sleep", Sopor Aeternus & the Ensemble of Shadows "Dead Lovers' Sarabande" and "Dead Lovers' Sarabande (Face Two)", Thee Silver Mountain Reveries "Pretty Little Lightning Paw", Stapleton & Tibet "Musical Pumpkin Cottage", Circle "Raunio", Timesbold "Woe Be Gone...", and Skepticism "The Process of Farmakon"

I went to the initial Youth Science Institute meeting on friday and indicated my willingness to work as much as possible. Hopefully I can make some extra money. An old friend of mine is also teaching there this summer, but not at the same park. It looks like I'm going to be teaching about dinosaurs for a couple of weeks in July. I'd better brush up on my dinosaur knowledge, since I've probably forgotten most of the stuff I knew as a kid (dinosaurs were one of my first loves). Of course, there have been lots of new discoveries since then as well.

It's going to be a rush getting to the museum on time after teaching camp, but once I'm home from the museum I don't have to go out again until morning. Ha!

We threw a party for The Dickens at a park today, with cake, partially melted ice cream, presents, and more presents. I don't think that she has had time to get to everything yet, but the bubble shooter and the pez were early hits. Willow was very disappointed that the huge beach ball nearby belonged to somebody else. The Dickens, after tearing open presents, ran around the park calling hapless park visitors "poopoo heads". To her credit, she was nice to some people, and even shared her bubble shooter.

I could write more, but I'm tired. I'm doing three routes all week this week as well, keeping in mind that there are only 14 more delivery days...

cds I listened to while not seeing any owls: Sally Doherty and the Sumacs "Black is the Colour", Calexico "Feast of Wire", In Gowan Ring "Hazel Steps through a Weathered Home", Trees "The Garden of Jane Delawney", Finntroll "Trollhammaren", and Sol Invictus "Sol Veritas Lux"

As I got out of my car tonight I looked up and saw a satellite silently passing by overhead. It reminded me of going camping, of lying on my back in my sleeping bag and staring at the stars.

The Dickens is now well and truly three, even if she won't admit it. The real party is on sunday, but the strawberry bread that Jen made was quite acceptable in lieu of cake. The Dickens, who I hope doesn't grow up to be a pyromaniac, obsessively blew out the candles again and again as she basked in the warm glow of "happy birthday to you..." over and over again.

Willow has a new purple ball, which she calls "bee". This, apparently, is what all balls are called.

Only fifteen more days, but they'll be busy ones.

cds I listened to while cutting a mere five minutes off of last night's delivery time: Brightblack "ala.cali.tucky", Woven Hand "s/t", Mari Boine "Eagle Brother" and "Unfolding", The Fixtures "Dangerous Music Defect", and Tim Eriksen "Every Sound Below"

It's a full moon again, with a side helping of clouds. A fine day for The Dickens to turn three. Happy birthday Sophie!

I got pulled over tonight. Maybe it will be the last time this happens before I lose this job (16 more delivery days). The cop informed me that one of my license plate bulbs was out. It seems that having only one functioning bulb is not enough. I must have two! He then blathered on about how license plates must be visible for a distance of 50 feet. I refrained from making any smartass comments about measuring tape or binoculars, so didn't get a fix-it ticket.

I've managed to cut the time it takes me to do the new route down to an hour and a half. The first night I did it on my own it took two hours. That means I'm getting twenty bucks per hour instead of fifteen. Not bad. Unless I hit a duck or something. I actually almost did hit a duck, who didn't seem at all bothered that a car missed him by mere inches. I've seen a barn owl for the past couple of nights as well. There was a rather befuddled looking baby opossum crossing the street too. I hope he made it home all right. Let's hear it for wildlife!

time for bed now

cds I listened to while swerving around ducks and ducking under owls: Nurse With Wound "Angry Eelectric Finger - Spitch Cock One", Osso Exotico "Musica #1", CMX "Discopolis", The Spectral Light & Moonshine Snakeoil Jamboree "Scarecrow Stuffing", and Shirley & Dolly Collins "Love, Death & the Lady"

We had our last BioSITE day today. I hope that the kids remember at least some of the concepts we tried to get across to them. We need more people to take care of the world, especially now since the U.S. government seems to excel at doing just the opposite.

Willow is walking more and more, and sliding down the slide virtually by herself. I still have to catch her at the bottom, but the rest is all her. I could have sworn that at the store today she pointed to something and said, "I want that." They start so young.

The Dickens is going through a phase where she insists on showing people her butt. I hope it's a short phase. She turns three in a couple of days. Maybe if we tell her that three year olds don't subscribe to this kind of behavior...

Nate accidentally whacked me with his wooden sword, creating a small gash over my left eye, along with some swelling. It's dangerous around here.

Time to sleep, with 17 more days to go.

cds I listened to while once again doing three routes: Bathory "Nordland I", and "Nordland II", Clive Palmer & Bob Devereux "Suns & Moons", Tom Waits "Blood Money" and "Alice", and Current 93 "Horsey"

We have a new mouse pad, which considerably facilitates computer usage. After noticing in their newsletter that british punk band Blyth Power was selling mouse pads, I was joking with Jen that I would just pick one up at japanese punk band (actually somewhat uncategorizable, but what the hell...) Ex-Girl's show on friday, since Ex-Girl, in addition to being strangely obsessed with frogs, have one of the most comprehensive merchandise tables I've ever seen. Little did I know that they would actually have two different styles of mouse pad, and enough other stuff that I was able to find some birthday gifts for The Dickens - a glittery little purse and a frog-shaped bottle holder. I didn't buy any of the ties or underwear. Ex-Girl themselves, who had gone through some line-up changes since the last time I saw them, definitely passed muster. There were of course frogs everywhere, and plenty of loud guitar, beautiful vocal harmonies (all three members sing, usually together) and strange lyrical tangents. Directly before them was a japanese comedian, who was brave to perform in a language he wasn't too familiar with, but quite incomprehensible.

Saturday, Jen, Willow, and I went to the Youth Science Institute's insect fair at Sanborn park. I initially hadn't realized that this was the first time Jen had been back there since we'd gotten married there in 2002. We stood in the grove where the wedding had taken place and smooched, each with one eye on Willow, who was teetering around on the deck like a drunken pirate. We also went on a short hike so Willow could get good and dirty. Before that, I helped out a bit inside the visitor's center, explaining the differences between centipedes and millipedes, and exposing a scorpion to black light so people could watch it turn green. Good fun.

18 more days of delivery.

cds I listened to while only doing two routes because I have to wake up too early to do three: Sol Invictus "King and Queen", G-anx "Flashbacks", Circle "Alotus", Kristin Hersh "Murder, Misery and then Goodnight", Salty The Pocketknife "s/t", and Buffy Sainte-Marie "Little Wheel Spin and Spin"