Last night was superfun (one word).
LeahS and I went down town to see Lexicon. They played a really great show. And what's more, the second band, the goldenarm trio or something, was just fantastic.
Its a joy when you walk into a place not excepting much of anything and you walk out feeling pleasantly surprised, refreshed with a rejuvenated faith in music, and yes... of course also a little bit plastered.
Its also pleasant to learn that the handsome frontman(?) of said band seems interested in you. Though you, being clueless and naive and ohso poignantly engrossed in the young bar back's boyish but muscular physique, have to be informed after the fact by more perspicacious persons and can only then sigh and smile with the delight of it all.
and so it goes and goes and goes...
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8/29/00 I am a lazy lazy gal. Lets play catch up: DC was great, but sad. Great cause i got to see mary and ann and the nelson brothers. Great cause DC is great and i love my chen. Sad cause my chen is leaving. Sad cause i helped her pack up her beautio apartment which i will miss a whole whole bunch. sigh. Above is my favorite picture of mary and i from adam's wedding. Taken by becky. LeahS says is says a lot about me and mary's realtionship. I think i feel that, sort of intuitively, but i can't tell you what that means. Leah couldn't explain it either. Its just a sweet picture, i guess. I returned home to find, not surprisingly, that the school had shrunk to half its original size. There are only four guys left now. There is nothing weirder looking then a goldfish in a toilet bowl. I find it kind of surreal. Next time i'll take some pictures for you. I am so sure thats just what you want to see. I had a terrible dream last night that my iguana turned on me. It the first time i really remember feeling pain in a dream. See, in the dream his teeth were MUCH larger then in real life and all the tearing and chomping really hurt. Its funny too cause i think this is the first dream i have had about tang. I used to dream about kloe all the time, but in those dreams i would feed her flowers and she would tell me secrets. No more bad lizard dreams please! They make me feel strange and bad. Dearest josh is taking charge of the defunct serve training program. Guess who is gonna learn perl? Guess who has said that one before? If i can get through the first few lessons without any migraines or panic attacks, i am sure that i will start updating my perl page again. Here is hoping. Off to San Francisco on Friday. Its gonna be good. I cant wait to see my ladies. |
Dear daily,
Last night I bought a school of fish. I shit you not.
See, I have been on a fish kick recently. It all began with the Appetizers. I am so awfully fond of them. They are such big, handsome fellows. I have had them for two years and have hardly ever thought of getting new fish. That was until last week...
The catalyst, if you will, was Fishy. Fishy (short for Fishy Fishy Fishy Fish) is a very fine fish. A petite male betta, he is all blue and red and flashy. Fishy used to live in Amy's NY office and when she quit her job and moved to France he became mine. He is swimming about, looking exotic, in his brand new two gallon tank as I type this. Oh yes, Fishy is an office fish again. Yay Fishy!
Anyhoo, ever since Fishy came into my life I have had the irrepressible desire to have more fish. That and I keep hearing stories about Laura's awesome Oranda goldfish. She tells wonderful stories about them. She is a good goldfish momma. She has faith healed goldfish. She has gotten her goldfish to spawn. Again, I shit you not.
So now we get to it: Last night Mike and Tim take me to this great South Philly pet shop. First I picked out treats for all the Super Pets: toys for Rabbit, yummy chow for PoonTang, special vitamins for the Appetizers and Fishy. When I finally reach the aisle with all the fish tanks the spending binge was already assured. I become heart set on these $24 a pop super mutant Ryukin goldfish and I was coming SO close to forking out the money when it occurred to me that if I was gonna buy a 24 dollar fish, I damn well better know how to take care of it properly and well, I don't. <this writing is interspersed with the random searches on Ryukin care as it turns out the are pretty hardy and easy to take care of, next time...> I don't have any fancy filtered tanks and am not up for all the ph balancing so all the other cheep fish were out. No Black Mollies for me. That seemed like that.
Dejected and sad, I took one last stroll up and down the aisle. And it was then that my eye fell upon the perfect solution. Behold! A huge 50 gallon tank filled with sweet fry. The label read:
"tiny goldfish 10 for .99 absolutely no picking"
Mike only needed to roll his eyes once at my suggestion and I had made up my mind,
"I'll take 10 goldfish please".
ok. I was not allowed to pick, even though I pleaded. "Read the sign," the pet guy snarled, having said it a billion times before (but probably to no one near my age). So I closed my eyes and held my breath as he ran the net through the tank. exhale. I ended up with a delightful assortment, 10 cute little guys; white, gold, white and gold. The smallest is about 1 inch long, the largest about 2. They all made it home and into their tank. No premature deaths. And so now the school sits atop of the bookshelf next to my bed. They will swim me to sleep.
I am fairly certain that the school will thin out pretty quick. I imagine that eventually I will have just one or two that will, in standard happy goldfish style, live for a couple billion years. Lord, what if they all do? I keep asking myself if I am really up to the challenge of keeping all these fish. Cleaning a tank with two big fish is a lot easier then cleaning one with 10 tiny fish. Is the effort more then the reward? To that concern all I can say is-
Gourmet Pizza toppings.
In other news, I am off to DC this weekend to see MaryChen before she begins her new career as high class LA call girl.
bisous,
mars
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8/21/00 Adam and Kathryn's wedding was this weekend and it was charming. The service itself was a straight up Catholic affair, but was followed by and I shall quote, a "Hillbilly Hootenanny Barbecue" The bride and groom arrived in a dodge charger. There was a shooting range, a pig on a spit, country music, taxidermy, baked beans, and yellow jackets. The boys hung out on the log over the brook and later on the roof of the garage. We drank beer out of mason jars. I took lots of pictures. Here are some: 
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Last night was Charles the Magnificent's funeral. Prior to the event I had given some thought to what, if anything, I would say here. Not surprisingly, not a single word or phrase or anything applies. Foresight is only 20/20, but in my case its usually about 20/600. I should know better. I can tell you that my sister is a beautiful and courageous woman and though it scares the crap out of me, as it should you, we would all do well to follow her advice.
<excerpt from serve chat room>
15:34:17 kristina: i'm going to dibruno's house of cheese would anyone like anything?
15:34:28 mars: bring me back that cute cheese boy
15:34:31 ethan: a handful of samples! :)
15:34:41 mars: we'll take it all!
15:35:04 kristina: hmm. i'll do my best
(some time later)
16:05:15 kristina: if anyone wants any cheese...
16:05:32 ethan: what kind?
16:05:34 kristina: sorry mars, the guy was behind the counter so i couldn't get to him without making a scene
16:05:41 kristina: manchego
16:06:06 ethan: "can I get a wedge of brie, and a lock of your hair?"
16:06:56 kristina: hee. "i'd like a half a pound of parmesan and that strapping you man there, to go, please"
16:07:09 ethan: heh
16:07:17 kristina: do you take visa?
16:07:19 ethan: I wanna see him get on the scale
16:16:09 josh: "how much for a hunk of... beef"
16:16:12 mars: oh good gracious!
</excerpt from serve chat room>
Its been a nutty weekend. A lot of strange and awful stuff has happened, but it all good, I guess. Its days like this, weekends like this, that I remain steadfastly grateful for what I have, what I have not yet lost and what just might come my way.
I worked from home today. Midway through my work day, Phil finished wiring our back porch for dsl! So I moved outside and continued... um, working out side is good. Working outside is almost like not working at all. If the wire had only reached the hammock.... oh god, if only.
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8/11/00 <- My cat is sexier then your cat. |
ugh. I have nothing interesting to say.
lets see...
ok. Next week you should all go out and buy Kevin O'Donnell's Quality Six, 'Control Freak'. I have not heard it yet, but I am more then certain that you will not be disappointed. (Unless you have rotten taste in which case I can't help you and you will never enjoy these finer things). just go buy it.
hm, what else?
Um, last night while taking a leisurely bike ride, I found myself at the Pennsylvania Hospital. This is one of my favorite spots in Philly. Its such a haunted place. There are still 27 acres which is nice considering it is the middle of west philly, a hop skip and a jump from the El. The grounds are slightly over grown but somehow always rather still and quiet, save for all the crows. The whole place has always made me feel sort of serene and pensive- I used to spend chilly autumn dawns on the lawn, smoking cigarettes and drinking my coffee before work. oh and also, the fog lifts last there.
The main building, built in the mid 1800's, is massive and beautiful outside and in. There are several floors, many wings (north, south and west, I think) 20 foot high ceilings and more doors then you have ever seen in your life.
The hospital itself was a hallmark in progressive and humane care for the mentally ill. A model of perfection and its example was followed by countless state and private institutions, but lets not mince words, it was a mad house.
SO when I say that its haunted I mostly mean figuratively, based on my own romantic notions of place, but I guess I wouldn't be surprised if there was some literally meaning behind that statement as well- lots of crazies went in and did not check back out.
ah, thats all. I'll do better tomorrow.
1) my brother is supracool.
2) Mystery Science Theater 3000 lowers risk of heart attack and stroke.
3) the latin name for the American Beech tree is Fagus grandifolia
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8/7/00 Well, I didn't leave the house this weekend. not once. Note to self or to any others considering similar house-bound adventures: A little foresight goes a long way. Plan ahead. Grocery shop. Because while a steady diet of pretzel nuggets and beer may be decadently satisfying and perhaps suitable for a meal or two, it will after a few days leave one feeling dangerously weak and depressive. Its the sad sad truth. The photo above was taken by the lovely and talented Holly Johnson. From left to right: Some Guy, Jess Marcus, me, and Max Lawrence at Vox OR I am finally in a band called kill -9. Our debut, "this cd is also cursed " (working title), is due out next year. |
Such a great night last night!
Joe and I went to dinner at the astral plane. The food was good, and the Gewürztraminer was better. I love german wines. It's official. We topped the night off with a tarot reading by Gina! She gave me one fine reading. 4 real, she was right on about a lot of shit. It was almost creepy. Let me preface this by saying I am a skeptic. I really am and that's not to say that I didn't try to believe nor that I have not been given good reason to believe. In my youth I dabbled with the cards (which correctly predicted the birth of my nephew) as well as many other mundane divinatory arts: mainly ouija (with which tracy [god damn her] and I continuously communicated with a blithe spirit named May), cromniomancy (which I learned one should avoid before dates), and palm reading (still the most romantic of them all cause you get to hold hands!). I had varied success. Mostly, I remained a nonbeliever. Mostly, I came to realize that I am a horrible medium. (Eventually as a last fling with fortune, I found myself intensely interested in the high art of haruspicy, really I feel, the most effective method of arcane soothesaying, but considering the mess and the frequent complaints from neighbors, I often opted for the slightly less effective, but equally charming, cleidomancy. Sadly this too was tough; getting one's hands on virgins is such a fucking chore and after that restraining order I, defeated, gave up for good.) so yeah, I don't really buy any of it aaannnnddd well, I hold a grudge. With all that said, I still cannot account for the accuracy of certain readings. Last night was such a case. Gina is good at what she does. The only thing that seemed off the mark was all her babbling about relationships. But frankly, if there was any topic for which I would hold resistance to or disbelief for that would be it. Gina informed me that their is a gentle, intellectual man in my life that will help me make money. Seems sort of week in terms of specific prophecy, doesn't it? Though, admittedly, I wouldn't mind if she were proved right. Come on boys, fork over the dough. I mean it.
I am so goth today. I wish you could see me.
So I am getting on a plane soon (but sadly not in time to see Julian). In a few weeks I am going to San Francisco for a vacation. Yay me! I have only been to California once before. I was 8, I think, and it was the only trip my family ever took together. I remember the redwoods and the Winchester Mansion and thats about it. oh and that I had three migraines. I suspect this trip will be a lot more memorable and a lot less painful. In fact, I will bet on it.
This week couldn't be going any slower.
Oh god, my heart is aching!
My favorite boy in all the world, my beloved Julian, is in this country. He has crossed the wide churning expanse of the Atlantic, flown right over my head and has touched down in California. CALIFORNIA. Why oh why must he be so far away all of the time?!
Julian and I met over 5 years ago. At the time we had several mutual friends and I knew his face and his name, but it wasn't until I moved into my place on South Street that he and I ever spent any time together.
And it goes like this:
Julian and I hang out and talk one night.
From that point forward, everyday for close to six months he and I spend every possible moment together.
He is my light and hope and joy.
He moves to London.
I have only seen him twice since, once in London, once in New York. I am trying to console myself with the knowledge that California is not any closer then England. He is not any nearer to me then normal, but then I think the words, "Julian is in the United States" and I get all achy again.
I wanna get on a plane.