Thursday, December 30, 2004

It is dark and windy outside, with rain occasionally making itself heard over the Tarantula Hawk cd I'm listening to.

The old year is not long for this world, but like all years it will live on in our imperfect memories. I'll remember this year as a difficult one, but it may also prove to be a year where the seeds of future prosperity first took root. It's too early to tell. We started the year off with Willow being diagnosed with anemia. She had a feeding tube in her nose for her first birthday. That was hard, but she got better and is now a laughing, happy almost-two-year-old. Losing the paper route was a mixed blessing. It was a struggle for several months, one that we're still not completely recovered from. It was during this time that we realized that the clawed fingers of debt really do have a firm hold on us. Unlike this nation we reside in, we plan to do something about this.
I left behind not only the paper route, which I had for sixteen years, but also my job at the museum, which I had for six and a half years. I still have two jobs, but they're two different jobs than the ones I started the year with. Both of the new ones are more interesting than the two I left behind, and one of them is a something that I would consider a "career" job - or at least a good stepping stone towards a career. For now I'm content with what I'm doing. We still don't have health coverage though. That gives us something to work on over the course of the new year.
We're also both on an organizing kick. I've been going through drawers and shelves in an attempt to neaten things up and make it less of a struggle to find things. I've found all sorts of things that I'd quite forgotten about. My favorite so far are these little stickers that can be affixed to the bottom of a drinking glass so that when the drinker looks down into it the words "you have just been poisoned" are visible. I'm also finding all sorts of anti bush/anti war material from the reign of Bush the first. It's a shame that after all this time it's still relevant.
At any rate, our lives will go much more smoothly if we get rid of lots of crap. Clutter really sneaks up on a person, squatting on shelves and lurking under beds. Tripping us in darkened hallways.

I just bought the extended version of Return of the King. We're still waiting for the boys to go to sleep so we can watch it.

I paid cash too. No more credit cards for us.

Monday, December 27, 2004

Christmas went well. I won't bore you with too much detail. Gifts were exchanged. Good food was eaten. Nobody got sick or injured. Large groups of people converged on each other. Our house has mostly recovered from the chaos, but boy is there a lot of stuff to recycle and throw out now.

It's raining outside, with more on the way. The streets are slick. That makes me think of all the poor people in Asia who just got hammered by tsunamis spawned by a 9.0 earthquake. 22,500 dead at last count. We should all be thankful for each day we spend on this Earth. There's no telling when it will end.

Here at home we've just started the last week of the year, a week during which very little seems to happen. It has always been a time to step away from the routine and reflect. It's a time to take a deep breath before plunging into the new year.

Don't forget to occasionally come up for air.

I spent a few hours at the museum today, doing the last bit of paid work for the year. Now that I'm an ex-employee, as I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm getting paid a lot more for my services. It's rewarding in and of itself of course. The kids just love getting up close to the reptiles and arachnids. I even saw a couple of co-workers from my newest job there.
The only down side to the afternoon was when the python bit me. He's getting less predictable these days. Since I was in front of an audience when it happened, I turned the whole experience into a demonstration of how snakes constrict their prey, using my hand and arm as a stand-in for the python's accustomed meal.

This is the first year that I've had any substantial time off around the holidays since I started working. I kind of like it.

Thursday, December 23, 2004

Today was my last day as an employee at the museum. I took all of the snakes with me to tie in with a "things that wriggle" themed event for a group of girl scouts (although there was a boy with them, so maybe I'm mistaken about the whole girl scout thing...) who have been doing different themed activities all week. They started out in the garden looking for worms and ended their day with the snakes. Cute kids. One kid even knew about Mangrove Snakes, which are a personal favorite (for their beauty, not their dispositions).

I'll miss my coworkers and the relaxed work atmosphere. I'll miss all of the regular visitors. Some great things happened while I was employed there. It's also a shame that I won't be there when the new early childhood exhibit space opens. On the other hand, I won't miss the pay, which was quite poor.

Onward.

Of course, I'll be back there the Monday after Christmas, but not as an employee. Now when I take reptiles and other critters to the museum, I do it as a contractor. That means I get paid a lot more. I like that.

Willow has been pretty thrilled about the reptiles lately too. When I brought the snakes home she followed me around saying, "snake! snake!".

Okay, The Dickens is in here shouting at me now. "I wanna eat the pamaytos that my mommy got at the store!" Time to go. The kids have been staying up way too late lately.

Wednesday, December 22, 2004

It was unexpectedly windy today, no doubt because I swept the garden patio at work this morning. The wind spent several hours eliminating all traces of my labors, kicking up leaves in a series of dust devils and spitting all manner of debris onto the pavement.
It was all right by me actually. I like windy days.
At one point, a visitor came out and attempted to light up a cigarette. I informed him that this wasn't allowed. He groused and grumbled, but complied. As he left, I could hear him muttering, "damn environmentalists!"
I almost laughed out loud. I contemplated toying with him a bit, but decided it wasn't worth it. It sure was tempting though. Tomorrow is my last day on the job, so I could argue with impunity if I wanted to. There's just something about people who mutter half-understood slogans under their breaths that amuses me to no end. An environmentalist is, after all, a person takes action to prevent our environment from being compromised. In this case, I guess, an environmentalist is somebody who prevents children from being exposed to second hand smoke from the cigarettes of people who can't master their addictions long enough to enjoy time at a children's museum with their families without sneaking out to the garden to light up.

I guess I should go easy on the guy. A lot of people are visiting from out of town for the holidays. He's probably from a red state.

Tuesday, December 21, 2004

I worked at the museum today and it was actually pretty busy. This must mean that some people have finished their Christmas shopping. The line of cars approaching the off ramp leading to the nearest mall was still there though. It's kind of sickening really, this strange herd mentality, this lemming-like rush to consume. Sure, the purchases are gifts, but something is missing... And yes, we've purchased gifts for people this season too, but mostly for the kids, and definitely not at the mall. Malls are sort of like baited leg-hold traps to snare the working class so that their wallets can be safely removed. I could get into a rant about the true meaning of Christmas here, but I'm not a christian, so I won't. Oh wait, I forgot, in this country all of the holidays have the same meaning - $$$$$$$.

I think the pagan observation of the solstice is much more important and meaningful, much more connected to natural cycles. Happy Solstice!

It wasn't too happy a Solstice for Willow, who fell off a chair while attempting to clamber onto the table. She's okay now, but Jen was worried enough to call me at work after it happened. She fell hard enough to bloody the inside of her lip pretty severely, so I came home early so Jen could take her to urgent care to get it looked at. Fortunately, she checked out okay. Her lip is still puffy and red though.

I tattled to the landlord about the tree trimmers today too. That felt good.

Monday, December 20, 2004

Trees were purchased and erected. Our decorations have already suffered the indignity of being pulled off the tree and thrown to the floor by Willow. She's really excited about this big, green plaything with all of the small, removable parts. We're going to have our hands fuller than usual this week trying to fend her off.

This morning, the tree trimmers showed up and began chainsawing things. The dead trees in our front yard and outside our bedroom window were taken out. This probably means that the poor mushrooms that were feeding off of them will die.
Not content with this, the trimmers invaded our backyard and started lopping off everything in reach, including some branches big enough to shake the house when they hit the roof. Our hummingbird feeder and our outdoor fireplace proved to be less sturdy than the roof. The guy in charge promised to replace them after I yelled at him. I'll bet it won't be that easy though. No replacements have shown up yet.




Willow in Treeland.

Saturday, December 18, 2004

I survived my week as a janitor, but don't think I'd like to repeat the experience. I did get a little break on Thursday due to one of the other instructors being sick. I took her field class hiking for the day instead of cleaning toilets. Much more fun.
Over all though, it's pretty depressing to be a janitor. I don't think I could do it for much longer than a week. Imagine getting up in the morning and knowing that your day will be filled with dirty toilets and nasty trash cans full of all sorts of stinky things.
It's also interesting to note that many students, even after a week of instruction on global responsibility and conservation, including such concepts as reusing and recycling, still throw their damn plastic water bottles in the garbage instead of the recycling bin. I must have pulled thirty recyclable containers out of the trash on Friday.

Today I worked at the museum and did a science birthday party for which I got tipped ten bucks and some really good Indian food. Every little bit counts.

We got more free furniture today as well, thanks to K. Our garage is full to bursting with old stuff now (like it wasn't before...) and we're still in the process of getting all of the new stuff arranged and sorted out. Jen is busily working away at various knitting projects. The kids are busily working away at preventing her from getting them done.

The whole week is supposed to be sunny, which is a shame. A cold, windy holiday season would be fun.

Wednesday, December 15, 2004

I'm in the middle of a week working as a substitute janitor while the real janitor is living it up down in Mexico somewhere. It's a sort of humbling experience because it's one of those jobs that most people look down on. Of course, things would fall apart pretty quickly without the janitor. I have a big, jangly ring of keys that allows me access to everything, including all of the toilet paper and paper towel dispensers, the pool, and the soda machines. I now know where all of the supplies are kept. I get to enjoy the school when all of the kids are out on the trails. Much more quiet, except for the singing of the Pacific Tree Frogs who live in the hedge.
I spend most of my work day cleaning the dining hall and the bathrooms. The dining hall needs to be swept and mopped after every meal, but that's not too big a deal. The bathrooms, especially in the morning, are pretty trashed. Apparently there's some confusion among the students about where to put used toilet paper. It's also very apparent that boys don't often wash their hands after using the facilities. I have to replace the paper towels in the girls bathroom about twice as often, if not more so.

I appreciate our janitor even more now that I've walked around in his shoes for a few days. Especially after cleaning the bathrooms. Apparently once somebody even pooped in the sink. I'm glad that hasn't happened this week. I'm also glad that nobody has puked. I'm even more glad that this isn't my usual job. That would be pretty depressing. Not a whole lot of mental stimulation involved here. Just lots of cleaning, the majority of which necessitates the donning of disposable gloves.

Today, while mopping the dining hall and talking to one of this week's classroom teachers, I discovered that the teacher I had in fourth grade is her father's cousin. He must be ancient by now. I remember that he had a grey crewcut and read us The Hobbit. Not much else though.

That's it for now. Much to do, as always.

Two more days of this and then I'm done. Next week I'll be working at the museum for a few days, and then quitting that as well.

Tuesday, December 14, 2004

More notes from a trip north:

12/12 10:12 am, Portland airport

Finally, some down time, but only because the flight that I got up so early this morning to catch was cancelled due to some sort of mechanical problem. Oh well, it's better than having a problem manifest itself in mid-flight.
Besides this, everything went pretty well this weekend, at least on our end. There was a little bit of difficulty in gathering up people at train stations in Seattle on Friday. Sound manipulator Colin Potter arrived by train at about the same time his daughter was supposed to show up, but one of the train station addresses given was in fact a pier. This caused some confusion, but was resolved after some transatlantic phone calls. Later, at Electric Heavyland, where he was also supposed to perform, he didn't have time for a proper soundcheck, but his set, mainly utilizing a laptop and effects, sounded great to everybody anyway. People were still filtering in as he finished due to the fact that even though Seattle residents are very used to rain, many of them have no idea how to drive in it. For example, Brad from Flesh Eating Ants records arrived four hours later than he planned because the bus he had taken down from Vancouver got into an accident.
By the time we started, the store was pretty packed and all the windows were steamed up. things went pretty well, with the expected minor glitches that we probably noticed more than the audience did. We met some cool people and got a lot of compliments before heading out to eat at Elysium Brewery, which featured a range of comforting vegetarian food and bottomless glasses of brewed-on-site ginger beer.
Then we went back to William and Leslie's and stayed up too late making lots of little Nurse With Wound buttons to bring down to Portland. The next morning we headed over to Anomalous Eric's for a home cooked breakfast spread of tofu vegetables, tempeh, and toast. Afterwards, we crammed into Eric's and William's vehicles, gathered our stuff and headed south for Portland.
As we left, the sun was shining for the first time during our stay.
In Portland, there was a bit of tension due to the fact that Steve's flight was due to touch down about an hour or so before the event at the Doug Fir Lounge. One missed connection or delayed flight (such as I am experiencing right now) would mean he wouldn't arrive on time. Since he was the main attraction, his absence would cause trouble. In addition to this, the art for Sunday's (today's) art show was still in transit somewhere between Ireland and Portland.
Chris and Heather from Beta Lactam Ring, despite the stress level, were great hosts. We gathered for a little while at their house, had coffee and bagels, and then headed over to the Doug Fir Lounge - a newish venue that has the appearance of a rather posh yet rustic restaurant and bar complete with interior decor that outdoes the wood-paneled look by using whole logs instead. Log paneled, I guess. More than one person compared it to something one might see on Twin Peaks. Nicely lit too, with a good sized stage and attendant sound man. Oh, and a grubby little "dressing room" with nachos, fresh fruit, water, and beer.
As we set up our equipment, the sound guy commented that it looked like we were having a garage sale. Fair enough, I guess. Instruments included things like a mini-vac (which we forgot to use), rulers, pepper grinders, and other odds and ends.
We got everything ready, hung around for a bit and socialized, nervously rechecked things (with one moment of panic - later resolved - when a backing cd refused to work).
Chris drove off to pick up Steve at the airport and arrived back with him while we were eating in the upstairs restaurant. Steve had basically come straight from a vacation in the Canary Islands, with very little sleep in between, but was ready for the evening anyway.
The place was really crowded at this point and we started seeing familiar faces from past shows. People had come from various far flung places - Dallas, Minnesota, London, Japan, and probably others I'm forgetting or never knew about. Lots of people came from Seattle and Eugene. And Moe! came up from San Francisco. Way to go Moe!
Colin played first - a completely different set from the previous night. He utilized a lot of Nurse With Wound sound sources, manipulated via laptop, mixing board, and some theremin-like device. Very nice, despite the loquacious hipsters and barflies in the audience.
Our set went well too, with a few minor feedback problems (William later said that they didn't detract from the show, which is good). The people near the stage looked attentive, but there was a lot of bar noise filtering through. We ignored it.
At the end of the set, we got Steve and Colin onstage for a virtually unrecognizable version of Nurse With Wound's Coloorta Moon - Steve on slide whistle and Colin on Dr. Suess drum. This was the segue leading into Steve's DJ set, which succeeded very well in holding the audience's attention for the next hour or so. There were even a bunch of people dancing.




Afterwards, lots of people claimed to enjoy the proceedings. We wandered around and talked for a good while before finally being driven out by the thumping dance party that took over the lounge into the wee hours. We got back to Chris and Heather's place well after midnight and stayed up talking until 3 am or so - At least that's when G and I went to bed. A few of the others stayed up even later. I would have too, but I thought I had a 9:45 am flight to catch.
So here I sit, writing this all down while waiting for my 1:15 pm flight.




Later, in the air, more photos were taken...







Jen and all of the kids met me at the airport. Slightly before this, The Dickens had managed to slide down a slide and splash down into a puddle of some other kid's puke. Home sweet home.
They were glad to see me. I was glad to see them. This is the longest I've ever been away from Willow.

Tomorrow: my week as a janitor.

Monday, December 13, 2004

Some notes from a trip north:

12/9/04

We're sitting inside a stationary train in Klamath Falls, OR, awaiting our appointed time of departure from the station. Breakfast this morning consisted of leathery scrambled eggs, potatos, a croissant, orange juice (bottomless), and coffee (also bottomless). I'm still thankful that I didn't order grits like M and G did - they resembled (the grits, that is) congealed cream of wheat, which G maintained tasted like rubber.
Breakfast was on the train, of course, because the journey started last night, with the train arriving an hour late to the station in San Jose where M and I and a number of other hapless travelers waited. When the Amtrak Coast Starlight finally showed up, we found seats upstairs and headed north. G joined M and I in Berkeley, but unfortunately left the train door open long enough for some deranged folk singer to get in. Thankfully, once inside the train she refrained from singing, opting instead to steal G's seat while he stood talking to us.
Again the train continued northwards. We all tried to sleep, except for the folk singer, who compulsively walked back and forth between cars for several hours.
The cough I had at the beginning of the week is mostly gone, but has been replaced by a snot faucet of such proportions that I have already used up a whole packet of tissues. Despite this, I did get some sleep, waking up every so often to peer into the darkness and rearrange my arms and legs. Trains, if this one is indeed typical, allow much more leg room than planes, which is nice because I've never been able to sleep while flying due to inadequate space and the fact that some flight attendant always manages to whack me in the elbow or foot with the service cart.
Morning found us towards the top of CA. The ground was blanketed in white and the trees marched greyly southward. Mt. Shasta loomed on the right for a time, striped with snow and snuffed with morning mist. The cold barrenness of our surroundings was and is a beauty to behold. It makes me wonder what it would be like to live way out here amongst these leaning shacks and slushy farmyards.
Hell, we even saw some Llamas.




10:21 am

We were delayed for around an hour in Klamath Falls due to bureaucratic miscommunication (track report sent to the wrong place... or was it wrong track report sent to right place... or was somebody just inspecting belly button lint instead of the tracks...?) and inclement weather. We have since passed Upper Klamath Lake, where I saw a Bald Eagle perched in a tree (first time I've seen one in the wild), and are currently squeaking and clacking our way through silent, snow covered evergreen forest. The sky is close and uniformly grey.
We've just stopped for some reason. Hmm... G and M appear to be sleeping.




5:50 pm

In Portland it's drizzling and dark. Many miles still to go. G and I had a spirited discussion with a fellow passenger in the dining car about revolution and what idiots Bush and his cronies are. Whether or not they're idiotic enough to be the catalyst for a revolt was the point of debate. I maintained that people are too comfortable in this country and have too much to lose (in most cases, anyway). Our fellow traveller wasn't so sure.
I've finished one book, The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman by Louis De Berneires (hilarious and tragic at the same time), read another, I Wake from a Dream of a Drowned Star City by S.P. Somtow (Oedipal!) cover to cover, and started a third - The Human Chord by Algernon Blackwood (musical!).
I've also spent a lot of time watching the scenery whip past. The Cascade Range, all mist wreathed and snow clad, was beautiful despite occasional evidence of logging activity.
We're hoping the train gets going soon. M and G are both reading. I think I'll follow suit.

12/10 11:30 am

We're staying at the house of William and Leslie, owners of The Electric Heavyland record store and of the Enterruption record label. William picked us up in the rain last night and we took most of our musical stuff over to Electric Heavyland where we're scheduled to play at 6 pm today. They've both proven to be excellent hosts and have the good taste to share their home with a couple of cats, one named after a cool japanese punk band.
Really nice store too. I wish I had more money.

Continued later...

Tuesday, December 07, 2004

We've done our last rehearsal before heading off to the Pacific Northwest for a couple of shows. It apparently takes 23 hours to get to Seattle by train. Once there, we're playing at a record store called Electric Heavyland. Then we're popping down to Portland to play the Beta Lactam Ring Records event at the Douglas Fir Lounge. That's the plan anyway. Afterwards, I'm taking a quick plane flight back home so I can fulfill my lifelong ambition to be a janitor for a week.

Last night the wind howled and spat bits of tree and shrub all over our yard. It spat bigger bits of tree into the neighbors' yard. I drove G. back up to Berkeley in the rain and wind, stopping by to drop off stuff and pick up a paycheck on the way. In Berkeley, we discovered that the new issue of the UK music magazine, The Wire, has our pictures in it. This is because it has an article on irr.app.(ext.), which we knew about in advance. It's always cool to see yourself in a magazine though. I think the last time that happened to me was close to twenty years ago in Maximum RocknRoll - as an audience member.

In addition to this, I sold a bunch of cds and for the first time refrained from taking the profit in trade.

We're slowly but surely figuring out our finances for the holiday season. I managed to pay some bills today, which made me feel a bit better. Jen bought some stuff online for the kids, which will make them happy later this month. Still lots of stress though. It makes me wistful for those childhood Decembers when the blissful anticipation of loot eclipsed all else. Oh to be young and greedy again. With that in mind, we'll make sure the young ones have a good holiday season so that when they grow up they in turn can be wistful.

Sunday, December 05, 2004

I now have tickets for the upcoming trip to the northwest. We've rehearsed some more for the shows. I got my driver's licence renewed. I did another reptile/bug party. The art exhibit at 21 Grand opened. I'm a year older... The list goes on.

The woman who helped my renew my licence talked in a whispery squeak, making it very hard to understand her. She was also the most observant DMV employee and was the only one to notice when people taking written driving tests were talking on their cell phones. She had to gesture to other nearby employees to go out and bust them. It was kind of fun to watch, actually. If you're caught talking on the phone while taking a test you have to start the test over again. People sputtered in disbelief when confronted with this fact. One woman loudly compared the DMV to nazi Germany - all because she wasn't allowed to cheat on her test. People are funny.

The reception for the art show went pretty well. People were complimentary and there was pizza.


Thursday, December 02, 2004

The kids this week continue to be a pleasure to teach due to their pre-existing knowledge. Because of this we can get more in depth with the subject matter. They also held up really well on the long hike today, which ended up being the longest hike (in terms of miles) that I've ever taken a group on. Finally, a Thursday during which nothing out of the ordinary happened.

One of the other groups found a pot pipe along the creek though. None of the kids recognized it for what it was. There is hope for the youth of today after all.

At home, we're all coping with colds, lack of sleep, and/or general stress over the fact that we don't have enough money. I get paid once a month, so by the time each check comes its already spent. This pay schedule wouldn't be a problem if we had had any money saved to begin with, but we've been struggling for months now, trying to catch up. Maybe next year we'll manage.

As I mentioned earlier, I'm part of an art show that opens on friday at 21 Grand in Oakland. It's entitled A Breach in the Ghostly Skin and also features artwork by M., G. and another guy who I just met on Monday. It was all set up by G's girlfriend D., and will feature a dance performance by her and music by the wonderful Blackbird Stitches. The reception is at 8:00 or 8:30 or some such time.

Saturday Jen goes to the craft fair and both M. and I have birthdays. Sunday I take reptiles to another birthday and get paid for it. Next week G., M. and I go to Seattle and Portland to do a couple of shows. This is all pretty stressful too. It should be fun once all of the details (rehearsals, tickets, etc.) get ironed out.

Life is busy and frantic but full of excitement.