Tuesday, August 29, 2006

News from the front

So I got laid off last Thursday, spent all day Friday running errands, and finally started getting used to the idea of freedom on Saturday. It was nice. But then I realized I needed to finish the guesthouse, get to work on a site with Zoe, and start making some more stuff for Southwest Gardener. So much for slacking.

Then today I got a contract job working with Sam and Kieran. So thanks to Sam and Ryan for hooking me up - and now I will be busier than I ever imagined, at least for the next month or so.

Slacking will have to wait. October looks good.

Here are two ideas for the website for a company that sells healthy food and caters. Which one do you like the best?


Monday, August 28, 2006

Another first

In a year of firsts, as in first cover cd, first tour w/o the Estreet Band (in 14 years) and first taped drunken episode, Bruce posted a personal message on his website about his and Patti's marriage:

"I hesitate to use this website for anything personal believing it should remain a place where fans of my music can come free of the distractions that occasionally arise with the rest of my job.
However, due to the unfounded and ugly rumors that have appeared in the papers over the last few days, I felt they shouldn’t pass without comment. Patti and I have been together for 18 years- the best 18 years of my life. We have built a beautiful family we love and want to protect and our commitment to one another remains as strong as the day we were married."


So there ya have it. Now, can we get back to discussing REALLY important things, like Tom Cruise's baby? Thank you people.

Thursday, August 24, 2006

Infinite Jest - 10th Anniversary edition

The book for which this blog is named is already 10 years old. So in case you were ever wondering why I go on and on about it, get a special edition copy for only $13.00! Here's a press release:

"An out-of-the-box national bestseller when it was first published by Little, Brown and Company in 1996, Infinite Jest won David Foster Wallace acclaim as one of the most influential writers of his age, as well as front page rave reviews nationwide, major feature coverage, and four printings before publication. Set in an addicts' halfway house and a tennis academy, and featuring the most endearingly screwed-up family to come along in recent fiction, Infinite Jest explores essential questions about what entertainment is and why it has come to so dominate our lives; about how our desire for entertainment affects our need to connect with other people; and about what the pleasures we choose say about who we are. Equal parts philosophical quest and screwball comedy, Infinite Jest bends every rule of fiction without sacrificing for a moment its own entertainment value. It is an exuberant, uniquely American exploration of the passions that make us human—and one of those rare books that renew the idea of what a novel can do. Now available for a limited time only, this special edition is only $13.00 and will have a new introduction.
“A work of genius...grandly ambitious, wickedly comic, a wild, surprisingly readable tour de force.” —Seattle Times “Uproarious....It shows off Wallace as one of the big talents of his generation, a writer of virtuosic talents who can seemingly do anything.” —New York Times
INFINITE JEST Special Tenth Anniversary Edition David Foster Wallace ____ 0316066524 • Infinite Jest • David Foster Wallace • $13.00 tp • Available November 2006 • Back Bay Books 6 x 9.25 | 1104 pages Special Low Price! $13.00

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Almost finished...

So, the guesthouse is about a week from being finished. It's been 13 months. I had projected 3. The entire budget was demolished by the electric work alone. It's been a real learning experience. It looks great!

Here's some related/unrelated stuff I learned this week:

The Red Hot Chili Peppers are great live - thanks, T.

I am not ready to be broke all the time as a full-time artist type.

When you remodel you can become more attached to your house, even if you think you're a Buddhist.

People think of each other at the same time.

You can forgive aggregious acts if they happen to you, but not so much if they happen to those you care about, or to victims of unjust wars.

It really is only money, unless you have none.

You don't have to buy a new phone - you can just buy a new battery.

Verizon will let you get a "new" before "two" if you're a "merit" customer, whatever that is. You merit more debt? A longer contract?

I found out I have excellent credit and my first purchase idea was a big screen tv. Sigh.

Old NovaNet lessons are so much worse than anyone could have imagined.

After 7 years of Spanish in school the only thing I do fluently is eavesdrop.

One can never have too much thinset in the house.

Brand new roofs (rooves?) can leak.

August is cooler than June. Is THAT part of global warming?

Rescue Me is some damn fine tv.

Monday, August 21, 2006

Photo of the week


This one's by Florian Ptak, of Pittsfield, Mass.

Sunday, August 20, 2006

Postcard to Manhattan

I forgot how much I love this film. Our movie group watched it last night, so thanks to Claudia for picking it. Every time I see it I see more stuff.

Even though this is Woody's least favorite of his own flicks, it's my favorite of his. It's not as artsy or substantial as Stardust Memories or well, 9/10 of his films, but it is also not as dated as Annie Hall, which really screams 70s. This one is timeless, helped by the fact that they pretty much wear classic clothes and hang out in NYC establishments that are still there. The characters are based on New Yorker stereotypes, it's almost like each one is an archetype; it still rings true.

Here is some trivia about Manhattan:

Woody was the first director to insist the film be released in letterbox style only, and actually sued a Swiss tv channel that broadcast it in pan and scan.

The same cinematographer, Gordon Willis, did the Godfather trilogy.

Woody actually did date a high school student who was the inspiration for Tracy in the film.

Andrew Sarris has said it is the only truly great American movie of the 70s, but then, he didn't include Apocalypse Now in his top 10 list for that year.

Co-writer Marshall Brickman also co-wrote Sleeper.

Woody and Diane Keaton made 9 movies together.

Favorite moment:
Why is life worth living? It's a very good question. Um... Well, There are certain things I guess that make it worthwhile. uh... Like what... okay... um... For me, uh... ooh... I would say... what, Groucho Marx, to name one thing... uh... um... and Wilie Mays... and um... the 2nd movement of the Jupiter Symphony... and um... Louis Armstrong, recording of Potato Head Blues... um... Swedish movies, naturally... Sentimental Education by Flaubert... uh... Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra... um... those incredible Apples and Pears by Cezanne... uh... the crabs at Sam Wo's... uh... Tracy's face...

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

What is your world view?

You scored as Idealist.
Idealism centers around the belief that we are moving towards
something greater. An odd mix of evolutionist and spiritualist,
you see the divine within ourselves, waiting to emerge over time.
Many religious traditions express
how the divine spirit lost its identity, thus creating
our world of turmoil, but in time it will find itself
and all things will again become one.

Cultural Creative

75%

Existentialist

75%

Idealist

75%

Postmodernist

63%

Modernist

25%

Fundamentalist

25%

Materialist

19%

Romanticist

0%

What is Your World View?
created with QuizFarm.com

Monday, August 14, 2006

Photo of the week

Holocaust Memorial by Ryan Malone.

Thursday, August 10, 2006

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Tech Terms by Jamaal

Part of Jamaal's job is to write definitions for glossary items. Here's his list for my internet research lesson:

Internet-the state of being trapped in a spiderweb; "the bug was caught internet created by the dastardly spider: oh the horror!!"

ftp-f*** term of project…I want fulltime baby!!

World Wide Web-Where the annual Spider Man convention is held

Icon-Whitney, Barbra, Liza, Diana…divas!!

Hyperlink-a link that needs ADHD medicine

http—the sound one makes when they want someone to be quiet; it’s the new “shhhhh!”

Hypertext-text that needs ADHD medicine

Hyperlink-links that need ADHD medicine

Bookmarking—scribbling in textbooks; can be costly.

url—“If you are L, then does that make me M?”

Keyword—any word that begins with key; keynote, keychain, keyring, keystroke

Web page—what you see when you open a REEAAAAALLLLLY old book.

Browser—the skeevy old man at the club.

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Want to kill some time at work?

Try this trivia game. It's super addicting and has a great variety of questions.

Post your high score - mine was 1215 - I can't seem to get above it.

http://www.triviachallenge.org/

Sunday, August 06, 2006

53 Hours in Jerome

Not quite a record but getting there...

Went up to Jerome to look at a house Friday afternoon and ended up staying for a drumming session late Sunday. There's a great new coffeeshop/bookstore in town and the owner sells the only Africa and Indonesia-imported drums in the area, and has a drumming circle every Sunday afternoon. Jim Tomlinson, who up and left the snow and b.s. of Detroit last year, also sells fine European chocolates (the 70% cacao kind) and has a kick ass selection of books. Check out the Sage Post.

Saturday Greg and I had a classic Jerome evening of pasta at the whorehouse - Belgian Jenny's - and then on to the Spirit Room for Major Lingo, a band that has played in AZ for 24 years. Now, Major Lingo was playing the last time we went to the Spirit Room and seriously, it was like listening to a 70s jam band that had gotten sucked into another dimension and then mysteriously dropped back into the Spirit Room in 2006. Just meandering electronic nonsense that only Pink Floyd can get away with, and then only with substance(ial) enhancement. But this time they were great, doing some Beatles, some reggae and a long psychedelic version of the Hollies' Stop Stop Stop, you know -
Stop, stop, stop all the dancing
Give me time to breathe
Stop, stop, stop all the dancing
Or I'll have to leave

They even did Little Steven's I am A Patriot which almost made me fall out of my chair. Ok, now that I write this I realize that's pretty much all 70s-type stuff. Just not Dave Matthews warmed-over tripe.

And the crowd is always interesting at the Spirit Room - a mix of young and old, hippies, business people, bikers, artists, tourists - all not afraid to dance, even out in the street when the dance floor is packed.

So, the house. I was excited to find a house online that was 20K cheaper than any I had seen so far. It looked great and was in a great location - not too many tree-lined streets in Jerome. Reason number 1 that it was cheap - 850 sq ft, yet with 2 baths, so imagine the size of the rest of the rooms. The back yard is up some stairs and about 100 feet wide, going up the hill to the next property. Reason number 2 - possible foundation failure and structural integrity problems - meaning the house may be sliding down the hill. The windows and the doors are 'off-square' and one side of the foundation has sunk several inches since the last time it was measured. The living room slopes down a full 3 inches. Pretty scary stuff, and requiring about 80K in improvements. I just hope the young couple trying to sell can unload it on some rich LA vacationer before it ends up in Cottonwood. It will sell - it has spectacular views.

The search continues.

Here are some pics:

Greg adjusting the turning mirrors at the end of his street.
Greg at the Haunted Hamburger.
The view from Jerome to the red rocks.


Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Photo of the week

Sunflower, by Greg, who owns the Jeromeian blog.

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

What's New?

You guessed it, another list requested by Lara. Sigh. OK, here goes. (and then that's IT for the week Lara.)

1. New books purchased during massive wave of PMS on Saturday (all on sale):
Book of Illusions- Paul Auster
The Gunter Grass Reader
Snow - Orhan Pamuk
Blackbird House - Alice Hoffman
Bushworld - Maureen Dowd (or as I like to call her - Molly Dodd)
That Old Ace in the Hole - Annie Proulx
A Thread of Grace - Mary Doria Russell

2. Almost finished with new website:
Ajo Trading Co

3. I have a completely new perspective on work.

4. Learned a new, old lesson: trust your instincts.

5. Tried new gelato favor at 32nd St and Camelback - NY Cheesecake. Combined with Pokett Coffee, it's to die for.

6. Met new person - Alex, Lara's wonderful friend from gradeschool days.

7. Saw 4 new movies: A Scanner Darkly, Clerks Deux, Prairie Home Companion, and Lady in the Water.

8. Watched new show - Eureka. Pretty good.

9. New place to check out to live: Globe, Arizona

10. Tried new restaurant: Salty Senorita's. Great decor, lousy margaritas.