Superstitious Hyperrealist

Buddha Burrito

2007-03-25T10:27:00.000-04:00

A logo on the awning of a sino-burrito shop nearby:

Fire in the Bronx!

2007-03-15T18:01:00.000-04:00

Hi there

2007-03-14T10:05:00.001-04:00

How's you?

I haven't been blogging

2006-11-27T09:53:00.000-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving! More this week.

DAY 8 -- A BAG OF RICE

2006-11-15T16:55:00.000-05:00

30 Days, 30 Gods -- A study of little-known religions

DAY 8
A BAG OF RICE

I always hated Melissa. She worked in my office. She'd only been there three years - where did she get off ordering me around? I order office supplies on the first Monday of the month. She should've talked to me before then if she needed something.

But I knew how to get back at her. I learned this from my grandmother, who brought it with her when she immigrated. I'm glad my parents left me with her, she taught me so much. I got beat up once for knowing how to sew, but this time it paid off.

I stitched her name, MELISSA, in a flowing script on some cloth cut from an old t-shirt. I folded the rectangle of cloth over and began to sew it up into a pillow or bag shape. When there was only an inch left, I filled it up with rice. Uncooked rice from Kroger. I finished the stitching and closed it up.

I took the bag into work and put it in the bottom of one of her drawers first thing in the morning. Of course, she was late and a slob, so she had no idea. The next month, the first thing I did after placing the Staples order was to stroll into her cubicle while she was in the bathroom and get my rice bag back.

Now I can get her whenever she crosses me. One night I left the bag under the front tire of my car; she came in the next morning with two black eyes! I left it in the freezer for a week once, her lips were blue continuously by the end. And of course I have pins and stick her in the microwave and sometimes just throw the bag across the room.

Hey, next Monday, I think I'll order a new stapler!

The Weekend

2006-11-15T09:57:00.000-05:00

Amy came to town! We went to a film festival at SymphonySpace, the Brooklyn Museum (of art), and, on Sunday, had breakfast at Artie's on the upper west side, which is where that strawberry-and-banana-stuffed-challah-french-toast came from.

DAY 7 -- DONIAN GRAND LIBRARY AND HALL OF TRANSLATORS

2006-11-15T07:56:00.000-05:00

30 Days, 30 Gods -- A study of little-known religions

DAY 7
DONIAN GRAND LIBRARY AND HALL OF TRANSLATORS

Welcome to our library! This is our most holy place. This is where our religion develops. First, walk though the Donian Grand Library. Here you can find the previous versions of our scriptures, those that are less holy. The Library is arranged in a series of five concentric rings. First, walk through the outermost ring. Here you'll see what remains of the papyrus on which Done's ideas were first recorded. Although we have no other artifacts that we know belonged to her, we do have displays and dioramas that show what her life was like.

The next three rings of the Grand Library trace the holy progress of our religion. You can see texts and artifacts from the last two thousand years, as our language and beliefs have improved. Please see the Lingual Timeline in this pamphlet to discover if your native tongue was once the language of Done.

The fifth and final ring has an interactive, multimedia display that shows you visually how the evolving text of our scriptures have changed our beliefs. You'll see how, with every subsequent translation, Done's teachings grow closer to perfection.

The innermost structure is our Hall of Translators. When our elders have determined that a better language for Donian expression has been found, we will translate the Donian scriptures and all associated texts in this hall, working day and night. The most recent translation, last year, took about 8 months. That was the 1,843rd translation, as we grew closer to perfection by translating our beliefs from Ainu to the Sotho language

Excerpted from the Donian Library's Visitor Guide, English Version, a pamphlet available with a $4 donation at the Donian Grand Library and Hall of the Translators.

DAY 6 -- CONFIGURATION A

2006-11-13T21:49:00.000-05:00

30 Days, 30 Gods -- A study of little-known religions

DAY 6
CONFIGURATION A

There are 27 gods. One for each bed. Father reckons each god must be taller than 25 men, because their beds are further across than our whole village laying head-to-foot. Father has never seen the gods. We take good care of their giant beds. We stay in the houses the gods left for us (Father won't tell me why the houses are us-sized instead of god-sized) underneath their beds. When the sky is black we stay down there for weeks, but we haven't had to do that as much lately.

I think that when Mara and Marta have their babies, and there are 27 of us, we'll be the gods. Or the gods will come back down to us. I told Mother this and she laughed and told me the gods won't come back, they were all extinguished. I asked her what that word meant, and she said they were burned up with all the Citipeople.

DAY 5 -- THE CAMPERS

2006-11-10T16:37:00.000-05:00

30 Days, 30 Gods -- A study of little-known religions

DAY 5
THE CAMPERS

One Friday four friends from Surprise, Arizona took off for a weekend in the woods. They were all killed before Monday, right out of a horror movie. Terrorized, sodomized, dismembered. Their possessions and parts strewn over several acres.

Residents of Surprise recovered, of course. There was a problem, however. Sightings of hitch-hikers late at night. Animals found killed with tent-stakes driven through their heads. The town paper, one morning, delivered with an entire section covered in the repeated words WE'RE COMING BACK in red ink.

Townsfolk knew what to do. Offerings. Plates left out on the porch at night - baked beans, roasted potatoes, chocolate-cracker-marshmallow s'mores. The haunting stopped.

It turns out the dead are easily distracted. Pay them a little attention and they mostly leave you alone.

DAY 4 -- THE ART THIEF

2006-11-09T08:33:00.000-05:00

30 Days, 30 Gods -- A study of little-known religions

DAY 4
THE ART THIEF

When I was a kid, parents in my town cautioned us that, the Strubble would come after us if we misbehaved. The Strubble wasn't your normal under-the-bed or in-the-closet bogeyman, though. He did one thing: he stole. He stole artwork. Maybe these stories started as a way to get yellowing traced-hand-turkeys off of refrigerators, but the story spread far enough to bring life to the belief.

Most folks had fond feelings toward the Strubble. I could never understand that. I always pictured this thing, said to repose in a cave south of town, surrounded by but incapable of appreciating the creative output of our whole community. That was key to my Strubble myth - that it couldn't possibly understand what it ws that it took. But it did steal from me -- a felt banner from my confirmation, high school ceramics projects from my locked car, a dress I was stiching for my girlfriend.

I'm glad to have left the town, and won't even take so much as my camera with me when I go back to visit my parents.

DAY 3 - CHILDREN OF PARVATI

2006-11-07T22:35:00.000-05:00

30 Days, 30 Gods -- A study of little-known religions

DAY 3
CHILDREN OF PARVATI

AFter machines reached a human level of intelligence, India was the first country to grant them citizenship. Many quickly moved there. A number of them strongly identified with the Hindu god Ganesha and could even be said to venerate him. The artificial intelligences say they identify with Ganesha's self-discovery, wisdom and intelligence. "Lord Ganesha, to me, represents the ability to tell truth from illusion, and has helped to me accept my own existence as an intelligence and as a citizen of India," said currency analyst and AI Federline Indianapolis from its Mumbai home.

Perhaps a less direct explanation involves the ground-breaking work of the AI researcher Parvati Patel (frustrated in life that more people know her for a Harry Potter character than a scientist) that did so much to generate truly independent machine intelligences. To be sure, most AIs remain atheistic, but the subset of believers is an interesting and growing anthropological subject. "I think this just goes to show how powerful metaphysical ideas can be," said the Times-Post religion reporter Cait Lestro. "Even when one knows exactly who its maker is, for many that's not enough to explain all of creation."

Wait, wait, what rhymes with "ephemeral"?

2006-11-07T09:53:00.000-05:00

The New York Libertarian Party's candidate for Attorney General has his own song.

Some lyrics:

Christopher Garvey is an honest gent:
Dis-approves of the Government;
Hates the fact that we have upon our backs,
The awful burden of the income tax.

Chorus:
Go vote today, for Christopher Garvey.
Won't rest until - - New Yorkers are free.
Make our freedom more than just ephemeral.
Vote Libertarian Attorney General.

Via.

DAY 2 - NAPAURU

2006-11-06T20:41:00.000-05:00

30 Days, 30 Gods -- A study of little-known religions

DAY 2
NAPAURU

In secret, many New Englanders worship the the sailing god Napauru.

Napauru was a Carribean sailor who came to the region on a whaling boat around 1819. The ship he'd been on was hit with a string of bad events until they took him on board; their luck immediately reversed when Napauru joined the crew. The ship's captain was on his last voyage and took on Napauru as a good-luck-charm-slash-adopted-son. Napauru was introduced to New England high society and stories of his ability to swing fortune spread. In partnership with the retired captain, and later on his own, Napauru toured the region, supported by donations from patrons and the sale of small carved likenesses.

His largest shrine is in New Bedford, MA, located in a secret sub-basement of the New Bedford Whaling Museum. Suspected adherents to this religion include Herman Melville, John Singer Sargant, and Frederick Law Olmsted. Original idols, believed to have been carved by Napauru himself, are treasured family heirlooms and can sell at secret auction for tens of thousands of dollars.

Kyl and Jason

2006-11-06T13:45:00.000-05:00

Back from Seattle

2006-11-06T13:32:00.000-05:00

Traveling

2006-11-01T22:01:00.000-05:00

I'll be in Seattle for the rest of the week and weekend for a wedding! Updates may be sparse, but I'll be writing even if I'm not publishing.

DAY 1 - PINACTLE

2006-11-01T09:20:00.000-05:00

30 Days, 30 Gods -- A study of little-known religions

DAY 1
PINACTLE

Bordan islanders worship Pinactle, a god who appears in the shape of a man with the feet and bristly hair of a pig. His body is covered in tattoos describing nautical maps. He lives in a tree that moves through the ocean without an island beneath it.

Pinactle is a master navigator. Once, his enemy, Pinde, tore out his eyes and cast him from his treetop home. Pinactle, blind, built a raft from driftwood bound together with his hair, and found his way to his home with sound and scent. He silently climbed his tree and found Pinde sleeping. He killed and ate Pinde, and regained his vision by replacing his missing eyeballs with those of his enemy.

A common ritual among his worshipers is to eat a meal blindfolded, removing the blindfold only after the last course of pig eye stew.

A something, an anything for 30 days.

2006-10-31T08:37:00.000-05:00

Summer's idea. Mine starts tomorrow.

Pork fat?

2006-10-26T09:59:00.000-04:00

Necrosis

2006-10-25T08:19:00.000-04:00

...on Sabado Gigante

Your Morning Bronx

2006-10-24T09:44:00.000-04:00

The Inn of the Dead

2006-10-24T07:16:00.000-04:00

They're drinking! With muppets!

What are you reading?

2006-10-23T10:37:00.000-04:00

I'm about a third of the way through Iain M. Banks's most recent SF book, The Algebraist. The reviews for this book have been mixed, but I'm really enjoying it. It is not a Culture novel, which I think freed Banks to play with new ideas and constraints. Of course it could all go to hell before I finish it...

Also in the queue I have a collection of short stories by Cordwainer Smith, and I should probably find something that isn't science fiction at some point.

Boats, Flags, Statue

2006-10-23T09:49:00.000-04:00

Youtube answers all questions

2006-10-22T11:53:00.000-04:00

Hasta Que El Cuerpo Aguante by Mägo de Oz

Mägo de Oz

2006-10-20T08:50:00.000-04:00

Estamos locos de atar, somos trovadores que en tu ciudad
damos pinceladas de color a tu gris realidad
Somos mitad caballeros, mitad bohemios y embusteros
no somos lo que un padre quiere para su hijita bebé

New York Botanical Garden

2006-10-19T08:40:00.000-04:00

Coleus

2006-10-18T08:31:00.000-04:00

Washington

2006-10-17T09:08:00.000-04:00

via the excellent Anchorbutt

Genus Lemur

2006-10-17T07:44:00.000-04:00

At the New York Botanical Garden

2006-10-16T16:17:00.000-04:00

Duckbill Life-Styles

2006-10-16T09:22:00.000-04:00

Three-inch Alien in Chinatown

2006-10-14T09:46:00.000-04:00

Suggestion a Caption

2006-10-13T12:52:00.000-04:00

At the Bronx Botanical Garden

2006-10-13T12:07:00.000-04:00

Technically, it's the New York Botanical Garden, but here's for Bronx Pride!

Fantagraphics

2006-10-04T13:40:00.000-04:00

Last night, Anne, Summer and I went to the Fantagraphics show at the Society of Illustrators. It was a great show in a small gallery. There was a panel by Rick Altergott --Doofus-- that was great.

Andrew Gottschalk on the Brooklyn Bridge

2006-10-02T09:14:00.000-04:00

New Jersey Palisades

2006-10-02T09:06:00.000-04:00

Rent Is Too Damn High (Party)

2006-09-25T10:15:00.000-04:00

Candidate. Party.

Yankee Stadium

2006-09-20T09:49:00.000-04:00

We saw the Yankees lose to the Red Sox last Saturday afternoon.

Today's Bronx

2006-09-20T09:41:00.000-04:00

Back in the Bronx

2006-09-18T11:19:00.000-04:00

Hi all. Had a great weekend. Maybe some pictures later.

Going to Boston

2006-09-06T11:50:00.000-04:00

I'll be staying north of Boston for a week starting tomorrow; I'll be pretty busy but would happily see friends if I get the time. Get in touch!

Hirato Renkichi

2006-09-03T16:39:00.000-04:00

"Try sniffing the abominable stench behind the piles of books - how many times superior is the fresh scent of gasoline!"

Mehret

2006-09-03T13:47:00.000-04:00

Anne and I are going to a screening of Mehret this Thursday in Brooklyn.

"Love and sex are a life-and-death struggle for the black women Dr.
Mehret Mandefro treats in the South Bronx. The rate of HIV-infection
among them is rising disproportionately. To find out why, Mehret
ventures outside the hospital and into her patients' lives. Her
journey takes her even further when she decides to return to Ethiopia,
her birthplace."

THU. 9/7
MEHRET Trailer Screening / Benefit Party
Open Bar: 7:30 - 8:30
Trailer Screenings at 8:30 and 10:00
Music provided by DJ Carol C of Si*Sé; Yah-zeed & Preservation; Tensae Berhanu
Ethiopian Hors D'oeuvres courtesy of Queen of Sheba Restaurant
Raffle prizes, Gift Bags for first 100 guests
$10 advance / $15 day of show

Tickets can be bought in advance from:
http://www.spsounds.com/southpaw_calendar.html

You're welcome to join us, we've already bought tickets...

Dinner with Matt and Beth

2006-09-02T07:31:00.000-04:00

Muppets eating muppets

2006-08-31T21:08:00.000-04:00

Wow.

Summer Pierre's 30 Days

2006-08-30T10:43:00.000-04:00

My friend Summer Pierre has challenged herself to "do a something, an anything, for 30 days" - and is posting one-page autobiographical fliers to her blog. They are excellent - personal and provoking. Some highlights: Tattoo, Hate, Offices, and Velvet.

Her process.

Murse

2006-08-28T15:22:00.000-04:00

Amy picked up this bag for me in Cambodia. It has fish.

Chihuly at the New York Botanical Garden - Last Shot

2006-08-25T08:16:00.000-04:00

Clean Desk

2006-08-24T12:04:00.000-04:00

I'm not making this up. This is the product of 30 minute's labor today.

Before:

And after:

Bronx Sunrise

2006-08-24T12:01:00.000-04:00

I found this on the camera today. Anne must've snapped it before she left in the morning.

Greg MacPherson

2006-08-23T09:56:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago I discovered Greg MacPherson on the CBC Radio 3 Podcast. I was hit over the head by his song "Company Store" (On the "School of Rock" track on this podcast). Turns out he's on Propaghandi's record label. He should come to New York.

Geograflight News

2006-08-22T18:58:00.000-04:00

Another shot from the Botanical Garden.

Over the weekend in Boston I bought, for $1, a volume 10 of Geograflight News. Published on the 10th of August, it boasts "Findings you wouldn't believe", "Simply Nothing Else Like It!", and "Full of real gems."

This slim (3 pages, double sided) newsletter has the banner headline "FBI Raid Invokes Trouble". Other articles include "Global Warming: Expedient Big Balloon Ban Project Could Fly within Six Months", "Fishing Report: Squid Abundance In The Bering Sea", and "Sports Report: Tour de France Title Stripe(sic): Doping or Dehydration Corollary". It also features a crossword.

Water Lily at New York Botanical Garden

2006-08-22T08:24:00.000-04:00

Boston

2006-08-21T09:29:00.000-04:00

After Saturday's Morning Date, I met Summer and Graham at Woodlawn and we hit the road north. Graham was a fantastic alligator and Summer was the DJ. A great part about living in the Bronx is that we're already 'on the mainland' and don't have to wend through NYC to get on the road to New England.

We got to Cambridge and had a quick dinner at the Druid; my great friend Jen joined us. We picked up Amy and trucked over to the Lily Pad for the show. This isn't a show review, but it was a good time.

After the show we went, at Summer's insistence, to Christina's for ice cream. Nathan got some ketchup-infused goodness. We ran Andrew back to his place, then, finally, (here's the payoff!) we got to see Nathan and Coppelia's new place! They bought a nice big house on a quiet street in Roslindale. I'd love to be their neighbor.

The picture to the side is a stained-glass window in their house.

The whole drive up and down I was singing Oh, Susquehanna to myself, much to the annoyance, I'm sure, of my passengers. Also, I tried a Coke Blak on the drive home (after a bit of a detour because I didn't trust my alligator) which was surprisingly good.

Please do not touch the plants

2006-08-20T23:48:00.000-04:00

Chihuly at the New York Botanical Garden

2006-08-20T18:55:00.000-04:00

Anne's parents bought us a membership to the nearby New York Botanical Garden when we moved here. Yesterday we took our first trip (Morning Date!). The garden has in installation of glass sculpture by Dale Chihuly. I took some pictures.

The scale might not be evident. This sculpture is about 20 feet tall.

Today's special

2006-08-17T11:10:00.000-04:00

Cryptome's daily photos: today.

Recently I've been listening to the science fiction podcast Escape Pod, and I'm excited by their horror 'sister-cast' (best name ever) Pseudopod.

This is about the most amazingly offensive thing I've ever seen.

Tonight's Moon

2006-08-17T00:26:00.000-04:00

I control the weather!

2006-08-15T11:06:00.000-04:00

MNO snapped this shot of me over the weekend. It's raining again here today.

Last night, when the weather was better, I saw a whole mess of bands at Tompkins Square Park. Specifically: Wombat (in?) Combat, Team Spider, the Psalters, and Defiance Ohio. I really went to see the midwesterners but the other bands, especially the Psalters, were a pleastant surprise. And Wombat Combat wins the Best Name award.

Someone is making a High Fidelity musical. I loved the book and the movie and this seems horrible.

Cablevision is down. This is bad, especially since it means phone service is out. Good thing my neighbor with unsecured wifi is on Verizon!

Joe Bonomo, a k a His Holiness Krsna Balarama Swami, filed the suit against the group's treasurer, Susan Bauer, a k a Eternal Love, in Manhattan

2006-08-14T10:32:00.000-04:00

UNHOLY MESS AT HARE KRISHNA TEMPLE [via]

The forest that is my office

2006-08-11T23:45:00.000-04:00

Back to Woodlawn

2006-08-11T23:21:00.000-04:00

Frickin' Summer Pierre and I went to the Woodlawn Cemetery today. This time I saw Irving Berlin's grave (after we walked past it four times) and explored some new sections. Then I brought her home and fed her and showed her to my wife.

Totally Orange

2006-08-11T23:17:00.000-04:00

Owl

2006-08-10T21:19:00.000-04:00

EMPLOYEES MUST WASH HANDS

2006-08-10T21:10:00.000-04:00

Plot

2006-08-10T21:07:00.000-04:00

Next to Herman

2006-08-10T20:04:00.000-04:00

MNOwl

2006-08-08T23:28:00.000-04:00

Woodlawn

2006-08-08T15:44:00.000-04:00

Michael, Anne, and I went to Woodlawn cemetery over the weekend. I wore a Panama hat.

Some Flickr Graffiti

2006-08-07T11:57:00.000-04:00

Frida
Cane
Cars
Portraits
Cheep!
Skater

From the Connecticut Coast

2006-08-07T09:18:00.000-04:00

Congratulations, Kristin and Tev!

2006-08-07T09:05:00.000-04:00

Sky-rat update

2006-08-05T08:50:00.000-04:00

Anne's cousins sent us a plastic owl (score!) which is now roosting on our balcony. We've had it up for a day. Fewer pigeons yesterday than average, but need more data to be conclusive.

The Bronx

2006-07-31T10:21:00.000-04:00

Do people really, truly, call it 'Sobro'? PS: Real estate brokers aren't 'people'.

Two articles on my borough: Goths on Fordham Road and Hipsters and tragedies in Mott Haven.

Just yesterday I was watching local public access and there was a hiphop video feature the repeated newscaster sample "The Mott Haven section of the Bronx". What a great neighborhood name.

Graffiti in Cos Cob, CT

2006-07-27T10:18:00.000-04:00

Spotted this a few weeks ago but didn't get a picture until last weekend. It's decaying, but you can still see the trout.

And when I left the house

2006-07-27T10:07:00.000-04:00

I went out over lunch yesterday, and then again in the evening. Over lunch I saw many wonderous things, including:

A guy with a table on the sidewalk, between the fruit stand and the bootleg DVDs, selling health insurance. He was a barker! "Health insurance here! Get your health insurance!"

A guy with a cooler full of ice, with a large fish tail sticking out.

So then that evening, Anne and I went to the Van Cortlandt park. We hadn't been there before and just began following a trail demarked by turtle/hare signs. What a nice walk!

Daily project; Leave the house

2006-07-25T22:20:00.000-04:00

Today I went to my local branch of the New York City Public Library! Exciting. I took out The Two Towers (been re-reading that since we moved) and ... walked back.

BUT that's ok. It's the plan to leave the house Every Day. A little disruption of the comfort zone. Tomorrow: CVS for envelopes!

Secrets to a good cookout

2006-07-23T10:15:00.000-04:00

Anne and I went to see Pirates of the Carribean Sunday night. The movie was fine, but someone needs to take away Hollywood's computers for a year.

Graffiti in Carmel, Indiana

2006-07-23T09:20:00.000-04:00

In high school photography class I won a ribbon taking a picture of this grain elevator in (otherwise very suburban) Carmel, Indiana. I went by there on a walk with my mother and took a few more; it now has a bit of art on it.

Go France!

Space Invader

2006-07-23T09:08:00.000-04:00

Spotted in Broad Ripple in Indianapolis.

My Mom

2006-07-19T12:20:00.000-04:00

My mom is totally hipper than your mom.

Amber Waves of Pain

2006-07-17T23:20:00.000-04:00

Our United States Air Force is currently recruiting with photocopied fliers posted (with permission? unlikely) at an Amaco talking about their great benefits ... and mentioning their Myspace page. Freaking awsome.

I had a great dinner this evening with MNO. Dude has some much positive energy. Not in some hippy way, I mean, he's got a lot of energy and he's totally upbeat. We ate Bazbaux and drank Hennepin.

Tomorrow evening I'm having dinner with my father.

I was driving home from MNO and it was warm and I took off my shoes and socks. I've always heard it's illegal to drive barefoot -- probably because it feels so good. Only barefoot do I really understand the spring mechanism of the gas pedal. Only barefoot can I wrap my toes around the top of the accelerator. I love to drive barefoot in Indiana in the summer. Driving home this evening I had that ever-so-slightly out-of-body feeling that I always associate with visiting California -- the sun rises and sets at the wrong time and it's all flat and green and new and the people are all wearing shorts. Indiana is not California, but for a few minutes I could listen to the radio and pretend.

I wonder if the recruiter tore off any of the number slips at the bottom of the sign himself. I know if I was putting signs like that up I'd take one off to make it look, you know, popular.

Hack Bone Again

2006-07-17T11:07:00.000-04:00

Here I am in Indiana. I'll try not to bore you, but I had a great weekend: Arrived Saturday morning, went with my mother to the Indianapolis Museum of Art. The IMA is renovating and slowly opening more galleries. Since I had last been there they've opened their African gallery (with a random Polynesian annex) which I thought was great - fantastic selection of art and some examples on how it informed European impressionists. Anyway, more excitingly I suppose, there was a temporary exhibit of the neon work of Bruce Nauman. The woman who gave us tickets warned us about the "Adult Content In The Last Room" - she practically shouted it at us - and, sure enough, there was a giant neon boners conga line in the last room. Where I was standing with my mother. Aye.

Saturday night I spent some time with the always-excellent Matt Allen and his poochito Seigfreid. We had a walk and listened to a nearby wedding. It's been nice this weekend to drive around Indy alone. Familiarity after a couple months of no-fixed-location and then moving to a new city.

Sunday morning I did the God thing, made breakfast with my mother (eggs and fruit), and in the early afternoon went to see my fantastic friend Steve. Not to be mushy, but I always get so much out of seeing him. The guy is an endless fountain of creative energy. I wish I could bottle it, or, alternatively, become his patron so he can make crazy all the live-long day. For example, one of the 100 throw-off ideas he had was to take the Gospel Bill show and dub Deadwood dialog over it. I also got some Chicago Ted CDs.

Anyway, also, saw A Scanner Darkly and then had dinner with Andrew, Barb, and Matt Allen at, as always, the Broad Ripple Brew Pub.

Now, it's Monday and I'm working from my mother's house.

Travels update

2006-07-12T07:27:00.000-04:00

First, Lee and Katia are having a great time in South Africa, and documenting it in their blog. I'm jealous!

I'll be going to Indiana this weekend (arriving Saturday, returning Wednesday). I'll have to work during the weekday business hours, and have some plans to see family (the purpose of the trip), but would otherwise like to see any friends there! Get in touch.

Last night we went to Hoboken for dinner with Anne's sister and brother-in-law. We drove, and zipping down the west side highway New York didn't feel so foreign anymore.

Finally, the blogger spell checker doesn't know the word "blog". What?

Big Pleasure Point

2006-07-08T16:01:00.000-04:00

We saw this great and crazy sculpture by Nancy Rubins at Lincoln Center this morning.

Pigeon repellent

2006-07-06T09:56:00.000-04:00

Hoot!

When I was a kid in Indiana my dad raised homing pigeons. Really, this was a mostly positive experience. All the same, the first night we had them, my father told me over dinner that we'd have to go in and wipe their bottoms with toilet paper. "They're just pigeons! They don't have hands; they can't do it themselves."

So I dutifully climbed into the coop in the garage with a wad in my hand. The pigeons themselves weren't too pleased with the proposition. After a few minutes of me chasing them around the cage, my parents let me in on the joke.

OK, I'm still bitter.

So, now, I'm here in New York, with a new balcony that's covered in pigeon poop. It's gross. Soon I'm going to go out there with a rag, hot soapy water, and thick rubber gloves. But why bother if the birds are going to return and re-foul it?

So, I've heard, no worthwhile source, that an owl statue will deter these sky-rats. I'm not going to run out and buy one, but a quick search on Google Images led me to some pictures. I grabbed one, cropped it, made it black and white, and printed it up full page.

I stuck it on a piece of cardboard (plenty of that) and propped it up in the window. In the fifteen minutes since, no pigeons have landed on rail.

We'll see how long this lasts. Do pigeons see in color?

Oval Pharmacy at night

2006-07-06T09:16:00.000-04:00

Flickr Graffiti Roundup

2006-07-06T07:59:00.000-04:00

Stripes, Alarm man, Danger, Maze, Fish, Mattress, Mother's Day, Flock, Pastoral, Cone.

Unpacking

2006-07-05T13:45:00.000-04:00

We hired packers for our move, and they used a simply ridiculous amount of paper on our kitchenware. They did a good job (one casualty: a blue bowl) but what you see here is less than half of the paper. I've been dragging it down the hallway to the recycling room, from which it disappears.

Also, the Bronx smells awful when wet.

Gun Hill Road, facing east

2006-07-04T18:17:00.000-04:00

The view east on Gun Hill Road from our balcony. About midway you can see elevated subway tracks, and in the very hazy distance is Co-op City.

Tennis, anyone?

2006-07-04T18:14:00.000-04:00

The view straight down from our balcony. This is the roof of a parking garage. There used to be a tennis court here, but it now houses a giant HVAC unit.

It looks like there's also an abandoned park area here, with planters, benches, and lampposts.

The Bronx

2006-07-01T18:13:00.000-04:00

View from our new apartment.

Today in history

2006-06-28T09:09:00.000-04:00

Today is our wedding anniversary, and Anne's first day as a real-live-patient-treating doctor.

Follow the bouncing Matt

2006-06-26T10:43:00.000-04:00

As of last night we've escaped NJ and are back with the parents in Connecticut. Where it is raining.

Saturday in NYC

2006-06-26T10:34:00.000-04:00

Over the weekend we saw Lee and Katia. We met in Washington Square Park, and rain forced us under the arch. Eventually, singing, stinking hobos forced us back out, and we found a diner, where I took this picture. Lee and Katia are about to leave for a 2-year world tour.

Picnic

2006-06-22T10:58:00.000-04:00

Yesterday we went to Tibbett's Brook Park in Yonkers for a picnic with Anne's incoming cohort. The park features mini-golf! Of which we did not partake.

The Mile Square City Rooftop

2006-06-20T13:51:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned before, we're staying with the in-laws in Hoboken this week. This is the view out of the window of the room I'm working in. That's a three-story apartment building with a very strangely shaped roof. It looks like it's about to collapse, but it's all rather recent and apparently solid. It's shaped to funnel water into a drainhole behind the skylight. Very practical, but it just doesn't look like a roof "should".

Welcome to...

2006-06-19T07:14:00.000-04:00

Hoboken, New Jersey, birthplace of Baseball and Frank Sinatra (so says the sign). We're staying here for a week.