This blog would be lost without brevity and infrequency

I've had mexican food three days in a row. I just mowed the lawn. I am enjoying Arrested Development, Season three. Also enjoying iTunes 7, though I have SO many album covers iTunes can't find. Going to see a play tomorrow and a wedding in Indianapolis on Saturday. It's starting to feel like fall.

Book notes (summer reading)

For those of you (both of you) (me?) that keep track of such things, I had indicated on this blog, via the "Biblioteque" thingy down there, that I had apparently been reading Bob Dylan's Chronicles and the LOST book Bad Twin.. ALL SUMMER. This is not the case. In fact, I am having a bit of a reading renaissance, or, more appropriately, I'm on a roll. So, I am pretty much done with the NEW books, I put down there, but I wanted to stay up to date. Kind of.

I'm currently caught in the throes of two very different reading desires. I'm looking for

1. clever, modern books speaking to my generation, that have a command of the english language and keep me interested with wordplay and metaphor as much as they do plot or character, i.e. Dave Eggers and,

2. Non-cheesy, literary and well developed Science Fiction. No Star Trek. No aliens with cat heads. This stems from two recent DVD viewing pleasures, the series Firefly and (the new) Battlestar Galactica. If you are not a sci-fi fan, you can roll your eyes if you like. But these two series place more importance on morality, politics and current events than they do special effects or bumpy-headed make-up. I am looking for the literary equivalent.

The two novels on the blog now are both examples of my trying to satisfy those literary cravings. Indecision was pretty succesful at quenching #1. I was satisfied with both Mr. Kunkel's intelligence and his hip quotient. I recommend the book, even if the ending left me scratching my head. Not because I did not understand it, but because I can't decide if I like it. The Traveler is written by John Twelve Hawks - but I surmise it is a pen name for Dan Brown. Seriously. And, big deal. What that means is a fast paced made-for-tv thriller that, while fun to read, ends up more than a little flat. I picked up to read on the plane to San Diego, and it is exactly suited for that.

Of course, these reads are in addition to various online stuff, magazines, newspapers and web design books that also fill my time.

Comments or suggestions welcome.

Back to Work

With many friends and relative being either students or teachers or both - even though I am neither - I can't help but notice that "Back to School" feeling is in the air. With no classes to partake in (at the moment), it translates as "Back to Work" for me. Though, since I never REALLY left work, then more like "Get serious with it." I happen to be wrapping up a few big projects and there's some good new ones waiting on deck. It's been exciting to muddle half-assed through the beginning of entrepreneurship, but now I am beginning to feel the need to legiticize myself more - if only in my own eyes. My office/studio got a makeover of sorts over the last week, with a new larger format printer and a new bookshelf. I am caught up on filing and invoicing. By the new year, I hope to initiate changes in this site (finally) to reflect the business as well as the personal. I want to try and keep more 9 to 5 hours as opposed to the "all hours/as needed" mentality. I think. Not sure if I can switch that one.

This sunday night even has the "school night" feel to it. Is it just me? It's a good thing.

You too can be an artist!

Attn: painters, artist, entrepreneurs, I found this interesting article while surfing yesterday.

Although I am currently pretty entrenched in graphic design, I still see myself leading a split existence as designer/painter. The blog/ebay model is an interesting one. I'm obviously looking at Jones, but there's no reason that Amy, Paco, Erin, Willo and Brendan couldn't make a chunk of change this way. Seriously - the examples of artists they give in the article are pretty mediocre. How much money could a more exciting artist make?

[pause to stroke chin diabolically]

Ladies and Gentlemen... IKEA

Yup - Cincinnati's getting one. The West Chester area, to be exact. How about that. Pretty cool. I had my doubts (I thought Columbus - who's been doing better at city revitalization, was going to get the nod) but we can look forward to affordable swedish design during the holiday season 2007. I hope it means traffic and publicity for the city, but also I hope it spreads a little hip quotient around town.

Now, I know a couple west coast peeps read this blog and IKEA might not have the same meaning there that it has for a midwest city. No negative vibes please. Let us wallow in the moment, with all the self-assembly modernist furniture with difficult to pronounce names. Woo hoo!

Smooth move

I know that catching Bushie doing silly things or uttering embarrassing remarks is pretty cliche now (probably because it is not much of a challenge), but I had to post this picture because it just makes me laugh. It's so "Will Ferrell as George Bush" but even more perfect because it's real. Whoooo-boy.

A kid and his camera

Will and Donna are currently taking a dream vacation, all the way up the entire west coast, then topping it off with an Alaskan Cruise! Will's documenting the trip with photographs, and I recommend checking them out on his travel blog.

Mash up the memories

I was somehow of sober enough mind at one point on the limo ride of Joe's bachelor party last week to remember that I needed to remember the song that was playing as we trolled the bars of San Diego: it was a mash-up of Nelly vs. Lynyrd Skynyrd. Hilarious and funky - and surprisingly dead on. "Country Grammar" has always been one of those guilty pleasure feel good songs for me, as my sister and Archie can both attest. This version makes me happy all over again.

Note: if you dig the song, this guy's other mash-ups are pretty good too. I also like the Kanye West/AC-DC combo.

Question 89A

Whenever I am on vacation, sleeping someplace foreign, I always have these crazy dreams. Last week was no exception, though I really only recall this particular one, and it keeps playing in my head. At Joe's wedding, there was a Marine named Tom, and he actually reminded me slightly of my friend Brian from Cincinnati. In the dream, Brian and Tom meet face to face at Joe's wedding, and have a stare down. One of those "hey, you're me!" moments, even though Tom is like a head taller than Brian. Anyway. They start talking, and there's a bunch of "me too!'s" and knowing head nods. Finally, Brian says to Tom "Hey man, I need a job, do you think you can get me one?" Thinking about it a second, Tom says "Yeah, dude, I can get you a job. You just need to answer a few questions." "Sure." Tom squares up, and with all seriousness, says "Okay. Question 89A: Produce eight things. Then shoot them."

All I can say is that I physically started laughing so hard that I woke myself up in the middle of the night. Besides the fact that Brian is actually frustrated with his job sometimes and Marines probably shoot things more than civilians, this dream seems to defy further explanation.

This is what blogs are for, right?

I just flew in from the west coast, and man are my arms tired.

Just returned from San Diego and my head and sleep schedule are still on the west coast. Joe and Ellen's wedding was super awesome. This weekend was the most fun, most expensive, the busiest, craziest, sleepless and inebriated vacation/wedding I have ever been on. Which is to say: it was great. It was a blast to hang out with a whole (mostly) new group of people, like going through wedding boot camp, and we all came out scarred and united (military analogy is probably not a coincidence). There was a great group of groomsmen, one kick ass Best Man Speech, lots of beautiful Jersey Girl bridesmaids, lots of dudes from the Marines, two questionable strippers, a half dozen homeless beach bums, a bride with a chipped tooth, one Arch of Swords, one terrible DJ, some Texas folks, some Ohio folks, Will, Donna, a nice mexican restaurant, Denny's (twice), a sex shop (once), the Hyatt, the Travelodge, a bachelor pad, a boat in the bay, and Miramar Marine Base. Time was divided between partying, organizing, running errands, driving back and forth and back and forth, more partying, more driving and maybe a moment or two of actually closing my eyes. All of yesterday was spent travelling and now I am slow to come alive. Joe, Ellen, you did it up right. Congrats and thanks.

Definitely also a big congratulations to Reagan and Rob, married on the same day, in Columbus. Jones - I wish I could have been there, but it was great talking to you Saturday morning.

Packing for San Diego; air guitar around the house

I got iTunes shuffling the top 25 most played songs in my library, I'm eating a sandwich, randomly tossing random stuff in one of two pieces of luggage, thinking about what I need to do between now and 4pm. That's when I head out the door to board an aeroplane in the sky, bound for San Diego and the wedding of Ellen Kent to Joe Jackson. I'm giddy w/ anticipation. I'll tell the west coast you said hello (I'd ask the same of you in return). See you next week.

A podcast about my hoodie.

As much as I love the new Mac/PC ads, and as much as I dig Justin Long, I am secure enough in my Mac-ness to think these parody ads are hysterical.

I can't run but I can walk much faster than this

Yay! One month between posts. I achieved my goal. I held out. It was hard work, but I did it.

I actually wrote a quickie post a bit ago, but the blog demons swallowed it up. THIS one is for real. Man, it's hotter than hell blazes. Humid. Saps the desire to post to blogger CLEAN out of you.

It's been a great summer so far. The Desdemona Music festival was a rousing success and I think Cincinnati drank enough to ensure they had a slight profit. Nick, I hope you can do it again next year. I'll be there. (side note: wow! I just read that alchemize has closed it's doors! damn!) I met up with my buds in the Heartless Bastards at the show and got a copy of their as-yet-released sophomore record. Good stuff, people. I also got to meet some music bloggers in person - that rare in-person feeling of community sprung from a sometimes imagined online community.

When I was on the Appalachian Trail, (and I know many of you have heard this story, but hey), I had a near-death canoeing experience and not until this summer have I totally shaken off any stigma about man-powered water travel. I've rafted, canoed and even kayaked this summer, on the Shenandoah River, the Little Miami River and Lake Hope, respectively. And I cannot wait for more.

Business is booming. Opportunities abound and I feel I am hitting my stride. I may work freelance from my home, but I have a nice little network of friends for advice support and even referrals (thanks, Jeff, Jim, Willo and Malone, you've made life easier and work more fun). I'm learning advanced CSS and a bit of advanced action script Flash (Erin - I finally feel good about the site and it is rolling, with Jeff, I think it is now manageable - I'll email you about it). I have been lucky to have some well-paying one-off projects and now I have a couple regular gigs too. I'm sleeping better and paying less late fees.

The summer's really only half over. I head to San Diego soon for Joe's wedding, which is great, but it does mean, I miss Jones' wedding and I wish I could find a way to be two places at once. I so would. That I cannot do that is the bummer of the year, hands down.

Heather, come to town and build a green home; Thann, let's do lunch, I should be in Akron soon; Mom, sorry I have not blogged; Gen I hope Colorado is wonderful; Will, welcome to the world of Mac, we've been waiting for you; Katie, your cat is doing just fine and perhaps is even sedate; Shawn, your patience is amazing, thanks for not posting mean comments in my absence and it was great to see you get a little crazy 'round the campfire.

I'm looking forward to Fogerty and Willie, bummed that I may not make Tom Waits in Akron. Also, though a few months down the road, am EXTREMELY looking forward to Tall Stacks, what with Wilco, John Hiatt, Loudon and more...

Anyway. I've missed you. Hope your summer has involved mosquitos, sunscreen, umbrella drinks, power windows, trashy novels and hot dogs on the grill. Or turkey dogs. Or Boca dogs. I do not discriminate. Drop me a line.

Hope everyone's been enjoying their summer as much as I have - and writing much MORE than I have... I've seen some great music and taken a couple great little trips - more on those later, I hope. I'm leaving in a couple hours for the third in my trilogy of camping trips in a month's time, this one to Lake Hope in the Hocking Hills, with my compatriots Will and Shawn. I'll touch base soon - I can't believe how time has flown. Slow down, summer!

The Great Outdoors

Or, at least, the pretty good outdoors.

After working during the weekends for a little while, I've been able to justify working a bit more sporadically this week. I went to a (long, 12 scoreless innings but still fun, and free) Reds game did some yard work, upgraded my phone (my first ever camera phone - yes, hello, everyone, I've finally arrived in this century) and bought a new backpack too, my real gift to myself. I have not one, not two, but three camping weekends coming up and I am stoked to be properly equipped in a comfortable pack. Packs have changed a bunch since I last bought one... nine years ago? Yikes.

First up is the rescheduled Gorge trip with Jon. Looking forward to geocaching and maybe finding Copperas Falls.

Then heading to the Shenandoahs to canoe and camp for a couple days with some people known as the Flotilla, with my college buddy Kristen. I have not been to the Shenandoahs since I hiked the AT and it will be scenic and wonderful.

Finally to Lake Hope State Park with Shawn and Will for hiking, camping and good grilling. This will be my first trip to Hocking Hills, believe it or nay. I think this will be the best of both worlds: secluded backwoods car camping? Hear that? I think that was the sound of a cold beer opening...

Concerning concert reviews

I'm not sure who said it (Elvis Costello, Frank Zappa, Laurie Anderson... depends on who you ask) but when I write a review of a show or a CD, and I realize I just can't do it justice, I'm ALWAYS reminded of one of my favorite quotes:

"Writing about music is like dancing about architecture."

Kind of sums up the "you had to be there" feeling I always get.

Let's bury ourselves and go haunt someone tonight

One of the highlights of a busy weekend was catching Band of Horses play at Alchemize. Often compared to Neil Young or My Morning Jacket, Band of Horses plays simple, memorable roots-driven rock and ballads. The debut CD "Everything All the Time" has been blaring from my speakers pretty constantly for a few weeks. Probably because it is a quick listen at 36 minutes. And I am getting ahead of myself here, but that was my only gripe about the Alchemize show: I just wish the band had more material to play. They couldn't do a live version of the gorgeous, acoustic "St. Augustine," and their encore contained a second version of "Wicked Gil," a song they'd played already in the first set. Lucky for them, the audience was loving it all and if the band had played the same song 15 times, the crowd would probably have cheered for number 16.

There was something magic about the opening song, "Monsters." Singer, guitarist - and pedal steel player - Ben Bridwell was really in the moment, and his high, bright and reverbed voice blasted from the stage, where he was sitting behind the his guitar. "Monsters," as it appears on the record, is a slow brewing medium tempo number. On stage though, it burst with intensity, feeling and sheer power. It was captivating. Overall the perfomance was loose but accomplished, humble but commanding. I lament that I never got to see Uncle Tupelo play live, but that band crossed my mind a couple times during the show. The raucous and the heavy on the same stage as wistful and beautiful, and also the specail sense that this was a band that was just getting started.

Go to Each Note Secure for a couple of pictures. Dude must have been standing right next to Katie and I.

Trail Days

Sign up for a NYTimes online membership to read this article about Trail Days, the annual hiker festival/reunion in Damascus, Virginia. The article mentions a couple of hikers I met when I was out there in 2000 - Lone Wolf and Pirate, who I guess are still going strong! (Thanks, Arch!)

Simmers and burns

Been thinking a lot lately about goals and productivity. In some ways, I've been more productive in the last few months than in a long time. In other ways, maybe not so much. I deal with the fires in front of me, but the simmers in the back, well they just simmer. Like - Hi, Erin, your web site design needs to move off simmer - I realize I was too loosey-goosey when I assigned not timetable for myself.

There's still SO much I want to learn in the way of web site design. I know enough to get me in trouble and crank out a good lucky site, but I bet there are better, more correct ways to do that. But not only am I not getting Erin's web site finished, I'm not getting my own site done. I'm also not painting. I want to write more. I was talking with Brendan about the Big Idea. I told him frankly that this last chapter in my career, the transistion to freelance, has gone so well that I just want to rest on my laurels and focus on that a bit. But all the ideas on the fringes nip at my heels... the painting, the illustration, the writing, the projects, the travelling.

My buddy Jeff, I feel, is a good guy to have around. He's ALWAYS in to the ideas on the fringe. Crazy, different, creative and lucrative. Sometimes I think he should be more measured and more thoughtful about what he gets himself into or at least sit and focus about which marvelous idea most deserves his attention.

But then, no, I feel I can learn some from him, because I am too far in the other direction. I'm getting there though.

It's starting to feel a lot like summer

Bunch o' storms, power out twice, muggy inside, sometimes muggier than outside, though I don't want to turn the air on yet. While some people were picnicing or partying yesterday, I was tying up loose ends and doing some "work" stuff. That is, in between talking on the phone long distance, IMing through blogger problems, and reading the fluff fiction companion to LOST, "Bad Twin." I'm writing this blog entry because I am killing time 'til a bit later this morning, when I'll be conoeing, possibly kayaking(!), down the lazy Little Miami. It'll be the first day this year that I'll be putting on sunscreen (it's a hot one, folks) but not the first in a little boat. May it not be the last. Jon's doin' a hell of a job organizing and trying to get cheap (free) kayaks and trying to wrangle together everyone involved.

I had a dream last night in which there were huge dragonflies on the ceiling, big as beer bottles, with a wide wingspan. I think reggae music was playing. There's more, I just don't remember.

That's all I got for the moment. Thank you Jones for the Magnolia Electric Co.