No. Really. I’m adding this YouTube video as reseach for my job. It’s to help a client.

Doubters.

Well, 7 days after I put my boy on a plane, I finally got a call from Kyle this morning. At least he claimed to be Kyle. I still have my doubts.

::ring ring::

me: “hello?”

guy on phone: “hello?”

me: “hello?”

guy on phone: “hello?”

Repeat this exchange at least 3 more times.

me – exasperated: “Who is this?!”

guy on phone: “Kyle! Your son!”

me: “…”

Yeah, I asked him for proof. I should have asked him if he had made any wishes on a Zoltar machine while in Venice.

………

*

miles and miles and miles of art…

or at least a couple 6×6 inch tiles!

I’ve broken out the Mod Podge, stamps, and tissue paper and have been creating. It feels good to get out from behind the camera for awhile and make something with my hands.   ”I cooking.”

I went to the grocery store Tuesday morning and stopped by the pharmacy to pick up a prescription for myself and one for Chris. After finishing up with a customer, the pharmacist smiles at me and walks over to the A-B drawer and says “Just one today Dawn?”

damn

Where am I known by name? the camera store? local coffee shop? no. The pharmacy. Well, that just kinda sucks. There was a time when I paid the “regular” price for beers at Paycheck’s. And my “pharmacist” was an old black man named Woody. aah youth…

But I got to relive a little bit of that youth that very same day when I went downtown Tuesday night. I went to a club. I saw a band. I saw X at Harlows! and they were fanfuckintastic! Suddenly all was right with my world again. And as soon as my ears stop ringing and my hip heals, I’ll think about doing it again!

Video taken with my cellphone. Sweet. Too bad it doesn’t pick up that thumpin’ bass!

I think I just broke my toe!

Which makes perfect since as I’m trying to pack for Santa Cruz. And I think we have more than enough evidence to prove that ”life” doesn’t want me to go to Santa Cruz.

I’m not going to say anything more for fear of jinxing myself further…

Hey, right before I innocently went into the laundry room (of course it is a laundry related accident!), I stumbled upon (HA!) this bouncing blast from the past -  

Enjoy your weekend!

I miss all the fun. /frown

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vq6b9bMBXpg]

This is the awesome! Thanks Andrea.

Wow, we were barely unpacked from our last trip to Santa Cruz (hey remember Christmas? yeah that was only like 2 weeks ago!) and we turned around and went back last weekend (check it – the grandparents still have their tree up!). Seemed rather sudden, but the waves were pumpin’ dude. So, we threw our bags in the van, and 3 hours later were back at the beach. It appears that our travel plans will now be based on the swells. Bitchin.

And you know what else is bitchin’? My in-laws. In fact I’m upgrading them. They are henceforth to be referred to as the uber-in-laws. Cause my in-laws are better than your in-laws and that’s all there is to it. There is no need to go into any long drawn out list of how and why they are better, no need to mention mercury glass, or Sigg bottles piled on top of all the love, all I need to tell you is that they read this blog. And they saw my last post and they were ready for me when I came back.

While the boys were surfing, Bob and Paula took Erin and I to the Forest of Nisene Marks State Park so that I could get my big tree fix! That’s right, there is a redwood forest right down the road – 6.25 miles from the comfy bed I sleep in! I knew there were redwoods nearby, but this was right there in Aptos. Behind Fleur, and that little shop were I spend too much money on fancy barrettes for Erin’s hair. Happiness was so close all this time!! So we strolled thought the trees for an hour and all was right with the world! I’m now thinking we’re gonna have to put bike racks on the van.

And the next morning, sans fils, Chris and I went back downtown and stumbled upon a street fair. Oh the joy. I picked up a couple books. Snapped some pictures. And then found the treasure of the day. An Argus 75 Twin Lens Reflex camera. Hot damn! I can’t wait to try this baby out. Just looking though the ground glass viewfinder makes me happy. Chris said I actually “squealed” when the guy said it was ten bucks. I can believe that.

So yesterday I dropped off the first roll of film from the Supersampler* to be developed! Then I stopped by the camera shop to get a quick lesson in working the new Argus and picked up some more film.

Ya know, I’m gonna have a heck of a time convincing Chris I need to upgrade my digital camera body sometime in the future if I keep buying cheap film cameras.

I can stop any time I want to.

* for the record – that camera was a Christmas present. Oh! and the Holga was a gift/payment for design work done. So technically, the Argus is the first film camera I have purchased. So there.

** because I have far too much time on my hands, I found California Uber Alles on YouTube. Damn, that’s some funny shit.

Because code isn’t geeky enough, how about some particle physics?

Today was the first test of the new Large Hadron Collider (LHC) built by CERN. I haven’t been paying much attention to it because my brain has been focused elsewhere (Cough laissez-faire). But I have been hearing about this video from different sources for days now. It is a rap about the LHC and the comments are all positive and stating that the science really holds up. So this morning I finally watched it, and it is just a good as everyone says. Well, not the actually rapping and dancing (HA!) but the science – this is the kind of stuff I love. In fact, I can see myself spending a bit of time surfing around CERN’s website this morning. Chris is now feverishly praying that I abandon my PolySci kick and start reading about quantum physics again. Never did I spit venom whilst reading science books. Well, there was that one time with Stephen Hawking…

Large Hadron Rap
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j50ZssEojtM]

I just found out that Coleman Barks is coming to Grass Valley next month. I am so there!

If you are unfamiliar, Coleman Barks is a poet and renowned translator of the ecstatic poems of Sufi mystic Jelaluddin Rumi. I saw him with Robert Bly in Ojai years ago and it was an unforgettable evening. Attending one of Barks’ performances is the only way to truly experience Rumi’s poetry. Prior to that evening, I had read some Rumi and it honestly didn’t do that much for me. Hearing Barks recite the poems to music was a whole ‘nother world. It was absolutely amazing.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF4_KZfIfVI]

And if you’ve got an extra 81 minutes lying around, I found this webcast from the Library of Congress that you could watch. But, if you do have that much spare time, I recommend that you do something productive with it – like come to my house and fold some laundry! Slacker.

The tight pants, falsetto, and floating heads – what more could you ask for from an earworm?!

This gosh-blasted song has been stuck in my head for days now. And no amount of Joy Division or lullabies have been able to temper my tapping toes. I defy you to get to sleep when this song is playing in your head.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IcT-6J8QFs]

And where should we direct our righteous blame for this unbearable condition? At my niece Tonya Bean. She posted this video on Facebook (I’ll save that subject for another time) and I, trying to not be such an old fuddy-duddy and completely clueless to what kids are listening to these days, clicked play.

So, after you’ve listened to the song – and you should listen to it. It’s not bad per se; just stuck in heavy rotation- we’ll form a caravan, drive out to Michigan and beat Tonya about the head and shoulders with her disco ball.