sleeping on the floor in Montreal

I only wear pajamas when l travel. Sleeping the first sleep l've had since Tuesday. First nite in Montreal.so much to catch up on. New glue and old friends. The towm we are in, Verdun, looks like a smaller mash up of New Jersey and parts of L.A., minus the palm trees. But it's nite so my impression is slightly altered mixed in with the fact that l'm blogging in the dark via my phone. Ah,tecgnology. The train ride was psychedelic and the trees between the color of play dough. Sleep beckon...

11:04 PM - 0 Comments - 1 Kudos - Add Comment

Evident Chemistry

I had forgotten how much I LOVE to dance.
I'm still in pain from Monday night but I don't care - I would do it again -
even on no sleep -
we lost everyone at the after party
then we lost ourselves walking and talking

2:13 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

A Few Days Into Fall

so much can happen in a few days-
what didn't happen was my Italian homework
my head is floating
I forgot my best friend's birthday
I worked from 8:30 in the morning until 10 at night
then I walked to the Lower East Side to unwind in the night air
trying not to be gassed but I may be too late
in fact
who am I fooling
I'm fully down
the joy that I feel in my heart right now
I can't describe it
except to say that Marie was right about
the secret to the universe

12:27 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Dream

I was telling someone in my building that "I don't like those 9/11 Tribute Lights because they look like a funnel cloud during the day" and pointed to them - just behind them was a tornado, ripping through Brooklyn and coming our way! My apartment was in an industrial building. I dove to the floor & folded my hands behind my head (should have gone under a table, oh well) - it blew over then I ran downstairs to tell someone- in the stairwell I ran into a cute guy standing by a window giving me The Porkchop Look - I asked him "did you see that tornado?" and started to tell him the story but mid-sentence, he kissed the ocrner of my mouth..."my name is (? why are names like Charlie Brown's teacher speaking in dreams?)" he said, shaking my hand and smiling.I told him mind - we were suddenly hungry - going to get food making loose plans - when we hit the street it was Prince Street but a strange mash-up of Broadway (in Brooklyn) under the JMZ near Union Street and NoLita. He saw a woman he knows selling clothes & things on the sidewalk & said "hey Raffaelle" - she had black hair - I only saw the back of her head but I know she was a friend of a friend of mine. We dipped into a pub and his co-workers were there. He had previously told me in the stairwell how he had a short day and could leave by 3 - one of the girls was super trendy and told us we HAD to come to some party with them -

TBC

12:17 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

On the uptown V

my voice has been crazy raspy all day - I think it's smoke inhalation from the building behind ours that caught fire at 6:00AM yesterday. This book is thin and I can tell it's going to be a quick write. Not that I'm in a hurry.

Transfer station (pause to walk). On the G now. Freezing. glad I brought this sweater. First Sweater of The Season. I thought it would rain tonight. That's what I get for believing the Elevator Weather.

Dude giving his girl a foot massage ON THE TRAIN. Ah, New York. Wait - looking around - how did I end up in the Couples Car?! guess I missed the memo on that one (ha ha), .....Had to play some music. Sometimes just not in the mood to hear Other People Kissing, couples play-fighting OR the tacky soundsystem dance music the guy sitting across from me is BLASTING through his cellphone as if it were a boombox. just to close my eyes a minute.....

12:09 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Wednesday

new book.
new month.
old, cap-less pen. On the JMZ. On the bridge. Drying the sweat off my brow every 3 minutes. It's cool in here. That back-to-school feeling.
24 hours without a phone.

On the D now. I still have pillowmarks on my face.

12:05 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Ciao Brooklyn

Thursday August 7th - don't know what time it is because we left LATE. So late that the sun had set and I'd fallen asleep. When we were speeding up for the lift off I looked out my window and saw a sliver of a red crescent, believing it to be a sort of solar eclipse. NO - I was still half asleep - it was the light on the wing (doh!).

REWIND.
I left Manhatttan an hour later than planned. Traffic was so backed up we had to take a back road (thankfully my driver had a GPS). Somehow, I still managed to arrive early.

Now here's the real shocker - when you fly Delta - you walk right in and the automated kiosk is there. I'd checked in online but went through the motions anyway. Apparently my new Crumpler backpack (the absolute most comfortable I've ever worn, by the way) was small enough that I didn't have to check anything in. No long lines. STRAIGHT to security. Suddenly I was leaning against the wall tilted at an angle so that my belt-less shorts wouldn't sag down my backside (not a good look for ME) while fastidiously unbuckling my white patent goth boths and kindly letting people pass me "I didn't realize the line would move so fast!" - next -
remove my heavy effects pedal "please remove all electronics from your bag and into a separate bin" -

they usually pull me aside and question me about my mixer and pedals (as well as swab my equipment for drugs once they've seen the stamps in my passport) - today - NOTHING!
Which just goes to show - maybe the search really is random.
So, needless to say - I'd gone from curb to kiosk to zipping and buckling my boots back on in about :15 minutes. on an international flight during rush hour. Unheard of. Now I'm starving. Waking up from the traffic jam cat nap I stole in the car service on the way there - and realizing I've forgotten all my toiletries - never had lunch today..walking around once I've found my gate, I run into a ProActiv VENDING MACHINE?!! How futuristic. With a mini-flat screen TV playing the info-mercials. What I would have given for Walgreen's or a Duane Reade right about now.....

Anyway. It's August. I'm going to Italy. the one thing I miss though is my perfume and everything in this terminal is TOO perfumey. I found my favorite jasmine oil at a little farmacia in the middle of Barcelona. When I came home I tried to Google the brand and it seems they've gone out of business. Then in Paris I found my favorite light musk Sandalwood oil in Place de Clichy at a 99 cents store of all places. I've returned twice still and not been able to find it again. In Berkeley I used to get Ocean Oil from Annapurna on Telegraph - not sure if they still carry it - I didn't make it to the East bay during the day when I was there last Winter....

We're rehearsing in Aviano Friday night (I think). Friday night in another country. Feels liek a James Baldwin novel. Last Friday feels so long ago. Next Friday we play again. maybe it'll be a sunset in Senegallia.

Currently listening : Summerteeth By Wilco Release date: 1999-03-09

1:40 AM - 89 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Buona Domenica

My first Sunday back in Italy.
We're staying in a farmhouse (sort of ) in the countryside near Ferrara that also doubles as a rehearsal space for some local punk and ska bands.
Matteo is a genius and has set us up with accommodations so we can cook and sleep. We went to a super market last night and shopped like we were preparing for a blizzard.
Since we're in the middle of nowhere we can also rehearse as late as we like (last night went until nearly 4am).

There's a wild cat on the property - white with black spots on it's forehead that Matteo pointed out look like sunglasses. Last night I fed it bread and zucchini that we'd roasted on the grill. But not before watching it devour a gigantic preying mantis. There are insects here I've not seen since camping out in New Orleans (Baton Rouge to be exact).

Today after breakfast I hung a clothesline between two trees in the Front Yard. Now I feel at home.

back to rehearsal......

10:40 PM - 89 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

when I get back from Italy

7:55 PM - 89 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

P.S.1 Reminder / Help Honeychild Get To Italy Next Week Summer Sale!

Honeychild Summer T-Shirts (p. Vadim Shoykhet) $10




Double EP "In Like A Lion / Tuesday (My Monday) $7



Both Will Be Available At P.S.1 Merch Area, Saturday August 2nd 3PM - 9PM

P.S.1 Warm-Up Series
TEN YEAR ANNIVERSARY!
Saturday August 2nd

with
APOLLO HEIGHTS

Chuck Treece's McRad

CX KiDTRONiK on decks

DRAGONS OF ZYNTH

Hours and Directions
Opening July 5, Warm Up 2008 will be held for ten consecutive weeks, each Saturday through September 6, from 3:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center is located at 22-25 Jackson Avenue at 46th Avenue in Long Island City, Queens, across the Queensboro Bridge from midtown Manhattan. It is easily accessible by bus and subway. Traveling by subway, visitors should take either the E or V to 23 Street-Ely Avenue (note that the V does not run on weekends); the 7 to 45 Road-Courthouse Square; or the G to Court Square or 21 Street-Van Alst. Visitors may also take the Q67 bus to Jackson and 46th Avenues or the B61 to Jackson Avenue. Visitors using public transportation are advised to check the MTA Weekend Service Advisory.

Admission
On Warm Up Saturdays, from 2:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., the admission fee to P.S.1 and Warm Up is $10. Included in this price is access to all exhibitions and Warm Up. During this time, P.S.1 does not offer the $5 suggested admission or any other discounted admission rate. Advance tickets are available at all agnès b. New York locations – 13 East 16th Street, 103 Greene Street and 1063 Madison Avenue.

MoMA Members get one free entry.

Long Island City residents get one free entry with a guest.

Generous funding for Warm Up 2008 is provided by agnès b. Special thanks to Union Beer and Fiji Water for their support.

Warm Up will also be streamed live on Art Radio WPS1.org. Simply visit www.wps1.org every Saturday, July 5 through September 6, from 3:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. EST and enjoy full access to the music, along with on-the-spot artist and DJ interviews. The broadcasts will be archived on WPS1.org.

www.ps1.org
www.myspace.com/blackrockcoalition

Currently listening : Hot, Cool & Vicious By Salt 'N Pepa Release date: 1992-12-08

11:15 PM - 89 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment