NYC HERE I COME
Current mood: excited
Category: Life

I'm finally getting the fuck out of this place for more than a weekend. Don't get me wrong, I still plan on spending a whole month in Seattle next summer  to soak up the weather and beautiful friends I got to experience for 4 days this July, but I'm not sure much beats New York in September. I only regret that Peggy won't be there. It just doesn't seem right... and not in a selfish "I wish I could stay at her awesome apartment" sort of way. Those beautiful days are gone  -- but ALWAYS in our fond memories.


There are lots of shows to see at the Whitney, the MOMA, PS1, the Met, etc. There's the century ride. Visiting places before they're torn down.

Amazingly, getting drunk doesn't seem the focus. Holy shit, does this mean I'm growing up??? Apparently not, considering I'm drunk while I'm writing this bullshit. XXOO

Currently listening : Jukebox By Cat Power Release date: 2008-01-22

6:21 AM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

yay! yay! and more yay!
Current mood: excited
Category: Life

my sources of current joy

- Girl Scout Cookies are in. I was given an extra box of thin mints.

- Spiral Diner is open in the OC. Short bike ride away. YUM!

- Oak Cliff Pizza is serving up some tasty calzones. Even shorter bike ride.

- Barack Obama shook my hand in FW on thursday night.

- Best veggie burger ever at Fred’s in FW -- diablo portabello burger. SPICY

- Both of my parents -- who are typically R’s -- are prObama.

- I found my box of rubber steaks and turkey legs.

- Our Seattle trip is coming together nicely. Cherry trees will be blooming.

- Spring forward on the clock next sunday. Sunshine after work!

- My redbud is about to bloom.

- My compost bin is full of earthworms.

- Bike riding weather is upon us.

- A giraffe slobbered all over the inside of my car at fossil rim. Baby "mountain goats" stole my heart.

- Cabins in Hot Springs.

- NOLA in may.

- most of my books are home now.

- art supplies are out of storage jail.

- sewing machine is set up.

and best of all
MY HONEY IS HOME. I MISSED HIM SO.

9:01 PM - 4 Comments - 6 Kudos - Add Comment

my bathroom is famous.
Current mood: amused

well, not really. not yet. but it is featured heavily throughout this website.

the site is a teaser of sorts to raise funds for the production of a short film a good friend of mine has written about a guy obsessed with bathtubs. it sounds a little like a bit of a fetish film, quite honestly. bathtub porn.

not at all like bathtub crank, mind you.

click on the main page photo and you'll get an entire slideshow of bathroom money shots.
honestly, my bathtub is the star of this website. maybe of the film, too.

Feel free to chip in some cash to help this project come (cum) to fruition.

1:18 PM - 4 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

BND

Just a friendly reminder that Friday, Nov 23 is buy nothing day.

9:50 AM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

disturbing shit

I discovered a single solitary turd floating in the bowl in the center stall of the ladies bathroom at work this morning.

(how's that for a string of prepositional phrases?)

More upsetting than the turd itself, was the absence of any toilet paper floating alongside it.

I would like to think the perpetrator did in fact wipe and flush, but the turd stayed without the flusher realizing -- because she was now too concerned with washing her hands.

Sadly, this is not the first time.

I work with whoever this person is. Our floor is our floor... no other offices. Every woman is a suspect.

+++

I guess it's better than my brother's old office: somebody left a steaming pile in the middle of the hallway. That's bold.

12:07 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

drywall contractor in dallas???
Category: Goals, Plans, Hopes

I have -- on a very primitive level -- moved into my house (YAY!) but need to take care of a couple details before the full swing move in. Just 2 minor things: drywall and floors. Floors are taken care of in terms of getting them refinished, but I still have some drywall hanging, taping and bedding to do.

I have given up on trying to do this on my own. I've done part of the house myself (with the help of others), and did a decent job, but it took FOREVER and I'm ready to be finished with it. I know what took me months will take someone else mere days. All I have left is my living room and dining room!

I will readily admit that i am a picky person, and need someone who has attention to detail.
i want smooth walls, so a sloppy job cant just be covered with heavy texture. SMOOOOOTH.

I'm by no means rich, so cost is a consideration... but I'm willing to pay for quality work.

any leads? anybody?

HELP!!!!

2:08 PM - 4 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

"my brother, the 'terrorist'"
Current mood: disappointed

----------------- Bulletin Message -----------------
From: Support Daniel McGowan
Date: May 24, 2007 10:25 AM


My brother, the 'terrorist'
The government is distorting the word to get more notches in its gun.

By Caroline Paul, CAROLINE PAUL is a writer who lives in San Francisco.
May 24, 2007

MY BROTHER IS considered one of the biggest domestic terrorists in the country. You probably haven't heard of him, and I think that's odd. After all, he's dangerous. He's trying to overthrow our country. He "doesn't like our freedoms," or so President Bush has said of terrorists in general, so I suppose that applies to my brother too.

Let me tell you a little bit about him. He likes the History Channel. He's a Trekkie. He cried (in secret) at the corny 1980s movie "Turtle Diary." He's good at fixing things. And, most important, he has devoted his life to stopping animals' suffering. To this end, he has broken the law. He crept into animal laboratories to free dogs. He dismantled corrals to release wild mustangs. He impersonated a fur buyer to film the treatment of minks. He put himself between whales and whalers despite warnings that his boat would be impounded and that he would be jailed. And nearly 10 years ago, he burned down a horse slaughterhouse in Redmond, Ore. It is for this final act that the U.S. government considers him among the ranks of Osama bin Laden, Eric Rudolph and Ramzi Ahmed Yousef.

"This is a classic case of terrorism," the federal prosecutor said earnestly to the judge during a hearing last week in my brother's case.

My brother, Jonathan Paul, has pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Eugene, Ore., to burning the Cavel West Slaughterhouse. He will find out on June 5 whether the judge considers his actions deserving of the "terrorism enhancement" to his sentence sought by the government. (Nine other members of the Earth Liberation Front and the Animal Liberation Front, who pleaded guilty to different charges, are being sentenced as well. The first, sentenced Wednesday, was deemed a terrorist.) If a terrorism enhancement is imposed, my brother's recommended sentence could go from less than three years to more than 14 years.

Don't let me give you the impression that I think arson is something to be taken lightly. I do not. The irony is rich in this case: I was a San Francisco firefighter for 13 years. I was angry and dismayed that my brother chose arson as a route to stop animal suffering. But "a classic case of terrorism"?

Federal laws define terrorism as one of a laundry list of offenses committed for the purpose of coercing the government to change its policies. It is a broad definition, designed to give judges wiggle room and adopted at a time when terrorism was a new concept. Congressional hearings in 1995 and 2001 make the original intent of the laws clearer. When House members and senators described acts of terrorism, every example (Pan Am Flight 103, Oklahoma City, the first World Trade Center bombing, the Tokyo subway attack) involved the killing of, or the intent to kill, human beings.

But recently the government has moved away from the idea of terrorist-as-murderer. The case involving my brother represents the first time that terrorism enhancements have been sought when all the evidence shows that the defendants took affirmative steps to make sure no one would be endangered.

Clearly the government is trying to expand — or more accurately, dilute — the definition of a terrorist to encompass those who engage in property damage. Egregious property damage, yes, but still just property damage.

Past terrorism cases also have involved targets with government links. But the Cavel West Slaughterhouse was a private Belgian corporation; its horsemeat went to Europe and Japan. The prosecutor has argued that some of the horses were wild mustangs, sold by the federal Bureau of Land Management, and that therefore there was a clear intent to disrupt government policy.

There's a legal term for this. It's called "overreaching."

How much safer do we feel now that ELF/ALF members, who have never hurt or intended to hurt a single human being, might be confined to a maximum-security prison? Could it really be true that the most powerful country in the world feels "coerced" by a bunch of bunny huggers? Is the confident "I am the decider" leader of this nation being bullied by vegans? Or is it possible that the government just wants to crow about convicting another "terrorist" while the main one is still at large?

A lot has been written about the radicalization that led to Bin Laden's hatred of the U.S. Let me tell you a bit about the conversion of one member of the group that the FBI now considers the "No. 1 domestic terrorist threat." When my brother was 15, he shot a bird out of a tree with a .22-caliber rifle. It fell to the ground, wings spread, gasping for air. He killed it with a rock. Then he vowed he would never knowingly harm an animal again.

My brother had hunted before. (Less perhaps then Ted Nugent but more than, say, Mitt Romney.) And yet on that day, he had a revelation. He can't explain it. A religious person might say it was the tiny cruciform bird on the ground. A psychotherapist might surmise that something had been percolating for a while, only to burst to the surface. Who knows? What I do know is that since that day in 1981, my brother has been resolute in the rescue and protection of animals.

Anyone who lives in Redmond will tell you how terrible the Cavel West Slaughterhouse was. The horses screamed all day. Their blood clogged the sewage system. The stench was unbearable. The killings, by many accounts, were slow and agonizing. My brother's sentiments were far from radical, and they had nothing to do with the government. His intention was simple: save the horses.

This does not mean arson was the right thing to do. If you call my brother a lawbreaker, I won't argue. But labeling him a terrorist dilutes the meaning of terrorism. And you demean all the Americans, and all those around the world, who have died in real terrorist acts.

9:17 AM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

activists are not terrorists
Current mood: concerned
Category: concerned News and Politics

"Government Seeks "Terrorism Enhancement" for Environmental Activists"

They've been "terrorists" from day one. Since their arrest for a string of property crimes against corporations they believed were destroying the planet, a group of environmental activists from the Northwest have been relentlessly branded "eco-terrorists" and "domestic terrorists" in government press conferences, Congressional hearings and in the media. On Tuesday, though, in federal court in Eugene, Ore., the government will try to take the T-word one step further.

It's not just semantics. If the government successfully argues for "terrorism enhancement" penalties, it could add up to 20 years on the sentences, and in some cases quadruple prison time. It could place defendants in cells next to more traditional "terrorists." And it could allow harsh restrictions on contact with family and friends.

But Tuesday's court date is about more than these 10 defendants who never harmed anyone but caused about $40 million worth of property damage. And it's about more than whether the government can put a notch on its "War on Terrorism" bedpost, which hasn't seen much action lately, to justify the massive investigation and expense of "Operation Backfire."

It's about the meaning of a word that, with every mention, can hit Americans harder and deeper than perhaps any other. The word has come to symbolize planes flying into buildings, family and friends murdered, and lives that will never be the same. The "terrorism enhancement" hearing will test how much political mileage the administration can get out of that pain. Continue reading....

7:57 AM - 3 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

holy shit, this is weird

so call me an idiot of geography, but until today i never really thought about the fact that ohio and kentucky were tangential. so when my itenerary said that my hotel was in kentucky -- even though i was flying into the cincinnati airport -- i just assumed that it was the corporate address for the hotel. wrong. i was flying into kentucky, and spending the night there, as well.

anticipating a boring trip (not because of kentucky, but due to the nature of the trip: work), i brought several magazines with me... one of which is the february issue of Discover magazine that I bought weeks ago, largely due to the intriguing cover which seems impossible to find online (a frighteningly hairless, naked man with giant feet and a tight, round belly crouched in a corner).

anyway, once at my hotel I began my search for a restaurant on a sunday evening in the middle of nowhere. everywhere i called that fell under the japanese or vegetarian heading is closed by nine. blast!

so i say "fuck it, i'll check out the river city grill downstairs in the lobby of the Hebron, Kentucky Marriott".

as luck would have it, they were out of their only vegetarian entree. while waiting for my rather slow waiter to advise me of any other options the chef/cook might have available, I began to read an article about the Creation Museum.

and the second sentence reads: "Pondering from the vile comfort of the Marriott in Hebron, Kentucky, I assumed that..."

I am currently in the Marriott in Hebron, Kentucky. Drunk from dinner (probably why I'm even bothering with this boring coincidence) and procrastinating.

Even when I was sober, and I was at the time of reading said article, I found myself with my jaw on the table when I read that line. "Wait a second," I thought. Once I got over it, I read the rest of the article.

I'm upset that the crazy -- i mean creation -- museum won't be open until may, yet is minutes away from where i type. i'm dying to know how creationists are attempting to marry science with religion. I'm oddly hoping i'll have to come back to this shithole in the future for another press check, just so i can experience it for myself and witness the acceptance of other visitors to it's "undeniable truth."

after all, evolution is "just a theory."

7:50 PM - 4 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

no shit, part deux-deux
Current mood: content

more progress on the bathroom!

* * * * *

about a year ago (sad, i know), my "bathroom" looked like this:



but now, it looks like this:



and this:



and this:



and it all works.

yay is an understatement.

* * * * *

this process has taken so long that i almost stopped believing it would ever get to this point. i still have an overwhelming amount of work to do, but this milestone has renewed my inspiration and set me to daydreaming again about all of the possibilities, rather than stressing over the loads of work (not to mention money) involved in making my whims happen. (i may not be doing much for my resale value by putting a monogram in the floor, but that was never the point.) i'm excited again about working at my house, rather than feeling like i made the worst decision of my life.

I'm thankful that i have the resources to make my daydreams become reality – and i'm not referring to money here. mainly, i'm talking about my dad... and jeremy. honestly, i would have probably burned down the house for insurance money by now if my dad wasn't there every weekend offering up all of his heart and soul into making such a wonderful little nest. i could never sell it in the state it's in currently... but again, resale was never the point. this will be my HOME, not just somewhere i sleep at night.

one of the nicest compliments i have ever received was from a friend who said he had never in his life felt "at home"... not at his parents' or in any house he had ever lived. but he felt at home – comfortable and at ease – when he stayed at my house. i hope i can share that feeling again soon.

* * * * *

as a byproduct of this process, i've also come to accept that nothing will ever be perfect — particularly in an old house. as a designer, it is my job to be detail oriented and nitpicky. as the owner of a 90 year old home, i have had to let go a little bit -- and gradually. my new mantra for whenever i discover a minor flaw -- or one is pointed out to me -- is that "it adds character". and, typically, it does. hopefully, this "letting go" trend will carry over into other areas of life, as well.

* * * * *

1:01 PM - 9 Comments - 14 Kudos - Add Comment