D.A.: The Schizophrenic Blogger

Self-deprecation is, hands down, my favorite sport. If some random person walks right up to me and calls me "schizophrenic" to my face, I'd be the first to admit that they were right about that assertion. This concept can also be applied to my schizophrenic choices in going back and forth between blog platforms. Now, today, I am switching again. I am heading back over to WordPress. All along, that was my intention. I just wanted to learn more about that platform before I went forward with using it. Therefore, from this day forward, I'll be at this location so please change your blogrolls.

http://isolationist-noise.net/noiseblog

I posted a brief message over there, but a full-length article is forthcoming.

2006 Year End Review Part 1

So, here we are in January 2007, the start of a brand spanking new year. As all three **wink wink** of you readers have noticed, my plan for December to blog every single day of the month didn't happen. I'm definitely not surprised by that. But, I chock up the lack of blogging to exhaustion. Big changes over the last couple months at work brought to the point of exhaustion. So, as a result, my blogging performance has been dismal at best.

Now, here I am in 2007 and as of yet, have not completed my 2006 review. Up to this point, I had every intention to write a complete and thorough review of last year's highlights. Well, thus far, it hasn't happened. Since we are already into the second week of 2007, I should just get it done. So, here it is, but it'll be in easier-to-eat bite size chunks. So, here's part one.

Reissues/Single Artist Collections:



Coil - Black Antlers & The Remote Viewer
The Glove - Blue Sunshine
This Heat - Out of Cold Storage
Massive Attack - Collected
The Cure - Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me
Vitalic - OK Cowboy (Collectors Edition)
Windsor for the Derby - Calm Hades Float
Broadcast - The Future Crayon
The Dead C - Vain, Erudite and Stupid
Nurse With Wound - Rock 'n Roll Station
Edward Ka-Spel - Eyes China Doll & Laugh! China Doll
Nitzer Ebb - Body of Work & Body Rework
Nurse With Wound - An Awkward Pause
Current 93 - Sleep Has His House

Various Artists/DJ Mix Compilations:



The Hacker - A.N.D. N.O.W.
Miss Kittin - A Bugged Out Mix
V/A - Not Alone (Benefit for M.S.F.; Doctors Without Borders)
V/A - It Just Is... (Jhonn Balance/Coil tribute collection)
Magda - She's A Dancing Machine
Kompakt - Total 7
Michael Mayer - Immer 2
V/A - New York Noise 3
Kompakt - Pop Ambient 2007

Top 10 Live Shows:

1. Carla Buzolich - Gallery 1812, August 4
2. Matmos - Triple Door, October 21
3. Legendary Pink Dots - Launchpad, Albuquerque, July 2; Berbati's Pan, Portland, July 10; Chop Suey, Seattle, July 11
4. Mono & Pelican - Neumos, June 3
5. A Silver Mt. Zion & Carla Buzolich - Neumos, August 18
6. Sonic Youth - Moore Theatre, June 30
7. Blixa Bargeld; Jarboe; and Sixteens - Triple Door, February 3
8. Steven Stapleton & Friends - Portland, Sabala's Mt. Tabor, June 20
9. Amber Asylum; irr.app (ext); Waldteufel; Soriah & Ear Venom - Wooden Octopus Skull Festival, September 9
10. Neurosis - El Corazon, November 25

Honorable Mention:

The Black Angels & Murder City Devils - Capitol Hill Block Party, July 29
Mastodon - Showbox, September 23
Ladytron - Neumos, April 26
Akron/Family - Neumos, December 16
Mogwai/Earth - Showbox, May 23
Stereolab & Hot Chip - Showbox, March 6
Vashti Bunyan - Bumbershoot, September 3
Harold Budd & Robin Guthrie - Egyptian Theatre, June 17
Ministry - Showbox, May 28
Goldfrapp - Showbox, May 11
Arab Strap & His Name is Alive - Neumos, March 28
Belle & Sebastian - Paramount Theatre, March 25

Current Listening - December 2006

Listen:
Altar - Sunno))) and Boris
Ys - Joanna Newsom
Varcharz - Mouse on Mars
Black Antlers reissue - Coil
Peel Sessions 1991-2004 - P.J. Harvey
Black Ships Ate The Sky - Current 93
Blue Sunshine reissue - The Glove
Meek Warrior - Akron/Family
A.N.D. N.O.W. - The Hacker
The Silver Tree - Lisa Gerrard
Vulvaland - Mouse on Mars
The Ape of Naples - Coil
Rat Tapes One - Nurse with Wound
No Hero No Fool - Subtle
The Last Resort - Trentemoller
Human Animal - Wolf Eyes
One Step More and You Die - Mono
Self-Titled - KTL (Stephen O'Malley & Peter Renberg)
The Letting Go - Bonnie 'Prince' Billy
The Future Crayon - Broadcast
Self-Titled - Scarnella
Body Rework Remixes - Nitzer Ebb
Shipwreck Radio: Final Broadcasts - Nurse With Wound
The Lepore Extrusion - Thighpaulsandra
Total 7 - Kompakt

So much for 31 Days of Writing

Well, yesterday's blog entry never happened. Now, I have one hour left today and this is all I can come up with for right now. I hope to be more inspired tomorrow and for the rest of the month. Stay tuned.

House Cleaning

Well, here I am on another Saturday night hanging out at home. I started work on some long overdue house cleaning. I started out by straightening up my cluttered bookshelf. It's been a few months since the last time I cleaned up the bookshelf. Over time, the shelves became littered with copies of old carbon credit card receipts, recently purchased yet unread books, stacks of magazines, multiple Southwest and Frontier credit card applications, and napkins collected from various trips to Starbucks, Seattle's Best, and Bauhaus Coffeeshop.

Now, I am sitting here watching Hildi from Trading Spaces go crazy (yet again) with her insanely wild designer sensibilities. Recently, Hildi thought it'd be a great idea to use sunflower seed packets as wallpaper. Needless to say, that didn't go over well at all. As a matter of fact, the couple she was working with took down when she left them to their homework. Well, tonight, her idea was to cover all four walls of a six year old boy's room with compact discs, numbering about 1800, against red paint. Hmmm....I wonder where she took her interior design classes.

Earlier this evening, while doing my laundry, I watched new episodes of Little People Big World. This is a wonderful show, documenting the daily lives of the Roloff family, living outside of Portland, Oregon. The Roloffs are just like any other family, doing what they need to do to take care of their family. The parents, Matt and Amy, are little, while only one of their four children, Zach, is little. This week's episodes have the Roloffs heading to Milwaukee for the annual Little People of America convetion. There was a touching moment during the first episode where one of Zach Roloff's friends, Little Zach, watched his father leave the family, heading out for deployment in Iraq. I honestly admit that I cried. Little People Big World is a show that I think everyone should see. It's a huge show with a lot of heart.

Being that this laptop is starting to act up, I'm finished writing for right now. But, I guarantee that I'm determined to write an entry every day in December.

The 31 Days of Blogging

Today is the start of the month of December. You know what that means? It’s Christmas time again? Yeah, it is, but that’s not what I had in mind. I was thinking more along the lines of blogging. I am determined to write something in this blog every SINGLE day during the month of December. It’s going to be a challenge since it is indeed the holiday season. But, since I am a loser and have a nearly non-existent social life, this should be a piece of cake, right? Well, we’ll have to see. So, wish me luck folks.

I am going to write every SINGLE day of the month of December. Yeah, I know I said it once already, but I said it again to make sure you’re awake out there. Even if I write only one sentence all day, there will be an entry every single day. I want to become actively involved in my blogging life again, even if I write the most boring and uncreative entries to ever exist in a single blog. I don’t care.

Fear of uninspired and uncreative writing being publicly displayed online is the number one reason why I’ve not been more active in writing. I’m always paranoid and fearful of rejection, but that’s got to change. I mean, after all, this is my blog and should be able to write whatever I want without reservation and without concern. That’s my new approach to blogging: Letting go of expectations and just write. So, there you have it.

Saturday 11.25.2006

Catchy title, huh?

Well, I wasn’t quite sure what else to call this post. My heart is back into the blogging thing, but my mind isn’t quite there yet. I survived Thanksgiving with Kent and his family (sister and brother-in-law.) I got stuffed on turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole, dinner rolls, corn, and three kinds of pie, just as any other year. But, with remnants of the flu bug I suffered through over a month ago still lingering, my appetite hasn’t quite returned completely. I’m not quite sure what the problem is, but at least, I am not over-eating. As a matter of fact, it’s been duly noted by a few people that I appear to have lost weight and my face seems thinner.

Hmmm. I’ve been wanting to lose a few pounds, actually, but getting the flu wasn’t quite the method I had in mind. Nonetheless, I enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner as I always do without the over-eating. Speaking of over-eating, three kinds of pie were served at the Lodgson household Thanksgiving eve, the usual pumpkin and apple pie, as well as peach/raspberry. Of course, I took a small sliver of all three, making for scrumptous eating.

The evening was capped with a seemingly never-ending game of 80’s Trivial Pursuit, where the two best teams each had a nemesis category that stumped them. For my team, which consisted of Kent and myself, it was the Sports and Leisure category, which we almost won, if it wasn’t for my hesitation at answering the question with “Wade Boggs.” In the end, a tie was declared, otherwise we would’ve been playing for another 3 hours or so.

After a couple more hours of television viewing (Law and Order and Drawn Together), I had enough and crawled into the uncomfortable hide-a-bed to attempt sleep. I failed miserably. We were in the foyer, next to the front door, with the outside light being on. I couldn’t figure out how to turn it off. Rats. Oh well.

We arrived back in Seattle at noon the next morning, which provided me great relief, as Kent’s cute (and sometimes bratty) niece was grating on my nerves a little too much. Despite the irritation, I managed to keep my cool, which is probably the best thing I could’ve done.

What else is new with me? Not a whole lot, other than work. Craziness has been going down at work over the last two weeks (more on that in another post.)

Current Obsession: DList

DList is a newish social network out there in Cyberspace (like we need another reason to avoid human, in-person contact.) I’d like to affectionately note that DList is “Manhunt meets MySpace.” Just like MySpace and every other online social network, you create a profile with your interests as well as noting your favorite movies, tv shows, and music. Adding your sexual interests and private photos are optional. That’s where the Manhunt comparison comes into play. Also, like MySpace, you can add HTML and change the colors on your profile so you can make it all pretty and shit. I also think it’s funny that when you create a profile, you automatically get DList creator, Daniel, as a friend (a la Tom from MySpace.) Good times.

I’d like to add that the men featured on DList are insanely hot and good-looking. So, go check it out!

Dish

Here's a photo from New Mexico trip for the hell of it. Enjoy!

What B.D.A.N. (as well as my whole life) Needs Now is an Overhaul

A couple months back, I had this seemingly brilliant idea that I'd develop two separate blogs, Bring D.A. Noise (the one you are reading right now) and Isolationist Noise, which was intended to be more sonically-focused, as in being music-oriented. However, I quickly discovered that I can't even regularly write in one blog, much less, two at the same time. I'd like to say that I was an ambitious person, but in reality, I've become lazier as I get older.

With that in mind, I decided to stick to one blog, which covers whatever the fuck I want to write about, which translates to "everything." Ultimately, I like the name Bring D.A. Noise, but would prefer to switch blogging platforms. I prefer WordPress, but need to read up on web design and other blog accessories in order to maximize my blogging capabilities. Therefore, Bring D.A. Noise is getting a makeover. This makeover is going to take time....A LOT of time, especially since I am such a novice as far as web design is concerned.

So, here's the plan. My first line of attack is to take a look back at my previous experiences in blogging (Disciplinarian Actions from Blogger & last WordPress blog, Live Journal, occasional posts on MySpace blog) and incorporate the ones I thought were okay here. After that, I intend on switching the Isolationist Noise domain name over to something else, incorporating WordPress into the equation. The next thing is to import the chosen entries from here to the new WordPress domain (to be determined.) During these aforementioned actions, I intend on researching and developing a better understanding of how everything in WordPress works. When all of this is done, I want to overhaul the design of Bring D.A. Noise to make it uniquely me (sounds totally cheesy, huh? I think so.)

These things (like everything else) take time. So, bear with me during this transitional period, as I work to make my blogging experience more enjoyable (as well as more interesting.) But, have no fear. My blogging will continue during this time, but may be scaled back a bit. (I can just hear Kern scratching his head at that comment.) Lately, I've been finding Bring D.A. Noise a little bit (okay, A LOT) drab for my taste, which may be keeping people away. I just want to make D.A. Noise more exciting, that's all.

So, enough blathering about this blog. I'd like to now briefly switch the focus to my life right now. Truthfully speaking, my mind and my gut strongly believe that my life sucks the big one. My heart feels really crummy right now. I thought that this vacation would make me feel better when I return. However, ever since I've come back from my wonderful experience in New Mexico (despite Jessica's family getting sick), I think that I feel worse. What the fuck is my problem? I have no idea. The thick haze of funkiness just seems to stay put, becoming more indestructible along the way. Is this all in my head? Is my life really sucky like almost every other body part seems to believe? Who knows?



Yesterday, I thought that I would take the No. 1 Metro Bus over to Easy Street in Queen Anne to purchase the new Peaches record, hoping that may make me feel better. Well, the opposite happened. The bus was over 10 minutes late, then, sat through three consecutive green lights on 3rd and Pike waiting for the 13 to move, even though he could have gone around the 13. So, in total, by the time I got to Queen Anne, approximately 25 minutes of my lunch had already elapsed. Fortunately, I caught a bus going back right away. Anyway, I return back to the office to insert the new disc into computer. Yes, I do believe that Impeach My Bush is the ultimate party record of the summer. Did it ultimately make me feel better? Uhhh...no, not really. Again, what the fuck is my problem? Again, I respond, who knows.


Impeach My Bush - Party Record of the Summer

What I do know is this: I'm seriously contemplating some significant changes to how I'm living my life as it exists today. At this point, I refuse to divulge any hints or disclose any ideas as to what may be in store for me right now. I'm not ready to discuss it, since these ideas are currently on the drawing board envisioned in my skull at this present time. But, when I'm ready to come out (again), you'll hear it first, right here at Bring D.A. Noise.

I'm nearly reaching the breaking point where I want to raise my hands in the air (with an imagined movie camera panning away from me and twirling around in circles) and exclaim to the clouds above "ENOUGH." Setting ridiculously melodramatic statements aside, have you ever reached a point where you can't take the drudgery of your dull and seemingly lifeless existence any more, to the point where you finally have to say enough is enough? That's me, right here, right now. In the past, I'd attempt to conjure the necessary steps to making myself feel better, but then, things don't change. Most often, I feel even worse. But, change is much needed for me right now. Also, the drive and desire to improve the situations in my life is also much needed right now.

There is no time like the present to make change happen. Like I always say, stay tuned.

**D.A.'s Note: I changed my mind. I will give one hint and one hint only with respect to change: NO, I am not going to become a born-again Christian, and NOT joining an Ex-Gay Ministry, either. So, you can wipe the sweat off your forehead now and sigh in relief. I PROMISE! That's all. Thanks for reading and drive safely.

B.D.A.N. Will Be Back Soon

Here's a quick note to the TWO readers of B.D.A.N., The Kern and Another Boy from Oz:

Dear Faithful B.D.A.N. Readers (Like the new Acronym?):

Since I returned from New Mexico, I've been completely exhausted. Not only that, but I just can't get myself back into the mode of actually working, as in, my job. That is the reason why I've been silent after my short-lived rash of prolificacy (thanks for the new word, Kern, BTW) last week. Despite this insidious crime I've committed, please find it in your hearts to forgive me. I PROMISE (scout's honor, even) that I will write again very soon, most likely this weekend.

Thank you in advance for your understanding.

With Love,
D.A.

P.S. Happy Birthday to You! Happy Birthday to You! Happy Birthday Dear Listen! Listen! Listen! Listen! Listen! Listen! Happy Birthday to You!

Make a wish and blow out the candle, you crotchety bastard, GODAMMNIT!

Travelogue: Albuquerque, NM - Days 5 & 6

**Note from D.A.: Since this blog lists entries in reverse order, I recommend that you start reading from Day 1 of my ABQ trip in order to see the logical progression of events during the trip.

For the most part, days five and six were pretty uneventful, as I spent a good chunk of them writing in this blog. I spent several, multiple-hour chunks of time at Satellite Coffee, a sister coffeeshop to Flying Star, sipping away at iced mochas and/or delicious cherry lemonades. Jessica needed to go to work to prepare for the next serious of summer camps, starting next week. Unfortunately for her, these days of peace and calm before the storm of next week's activities were less productive than she was hoping. The main reason for this is the fact that she had several meetings over these two days.

Wednesday evening consisted of Jessica driving to REI, standing in line forever, waiting for the only bike guy available to be free to help her, and then picking me up to take recycling out to the bins outside Smiths before heading home.

On Thursday night, while Randy was in Santa Fe river rafting, Jessica and I awaited the arrival of her brother, Andii, coming into town from Golden, Colorado, for their grandmother's 75th birthday party on Saturday afternoon. For dinner, we had fish and garlic fries, which were extremely heavy with garlic, being much more garlic-y than I like. After that, Jessica's parents dropped by with two HUGE storage bins of family photo albums, flagged with pictures that they'd like to scan for the DVD presentation of "This is your Life, Grandmother."

That was pretty much it for the last two evenings.

Travelogue: Albuquerque, NM - Day 2 (Part 2: LPD)

**Note from D.A.: Since this blog lists entries in reverse order, I recommend that you start reading from Day 1 of my ABQ trip in order to see the logical progression of events during the trip.

Sometime after 6:00, we arrived back at the Lobo House, as Jessica affectionately calls it, for a few minutes rest before making some dinner and preparing to go to the Legendary Pink Dots show. Once we finished with dinner and picked out our wardrobe for the show, Randy snapped some photos of us, which has been a ritual before heading out for a fun night on the town. Each time we partook in this ritual, Jessica was dating a different boyfriend, which I find interesting. Thinking about it, the first time I visited Jess in Albuquerque was the only time I actually had a boyfriend. Imagine that?!?!?!? As always, Jess and I had a lot of fun posing for the camera, in this case, the digital camera I borrowed from my roommate, Kent. Produced from this photographic session is a wonderful picture of me looking like I am stoned, unprepared for the flash that greeted my eyesight.


I'm not stoned, I SWEAR!

At long last, the night that was 15 years in the making has finally arrived. We are going to the Legendary Pink Dots show! After making a quick stop at the slowest Wells Fargo ATM I’ve ever seen, we arrived at the Launchpad, apparently the best venue to see a show in Albuquerque (or, so I’ve heard.) As you walk into the Launchpad, you are greeted by the bar, the best place to have the bar, right as you walk in the door. On your left, there are several booths to sit and chat with friends before the show. The venue is fairly narrow with exposed brick walls on each side. As you delve into the venue, you approach a stairway which leads to an upstairs sitting area with a balcony overlooking onto the stage. The layout of the Launchpad reminds me somewhat of the Fine Line Music Café in downtown Minneapolis, where I’ve seen Goldfrapp for the first time as well as Throwing Muses and American Music Club.

Going back downstairs, we pass by the merchandise table, where there was a significant chunk of LPD’s back catalogue for purchase, including both the North American (via Soleilmoon, out of Portland, OR) and German (via SPV) re-issues of their back catalogue. There was also a t-shirt, which I opted against purchasing, Edward Ka-Spel’s collection of writings and lyrics, Love and Loud Colours, and BLRR’s recently released re-issue of Eyes China Doll, the second of Edward’s China Doll series, released during the late 80’s and early 90’s. After some trepidation over the small budget I left myself with (having a small or no budget at all is the story of my life, by the way), I forked over $35 for Love and Loud Colours. I mean, after all, that was on the top of my list of LPD items to purchase. As I was hesitating, I remembered that the book included a CD single, which sealed the deal for me.

Up until we arrived at Launchpad, we had no idea if there was an opening act, or when the show was actually started. As it turned out, there wasn’t an opening act (that was a surprise), and that they were supposed to start at 9:30. Wow, a LPD show that could be done by 11:00! The forthcoming Seattle show on the 11th has 2 opening acts, which means that LPD would not start until 11:00, at least. Interesting! But, I digress.

So, we headed to the bar for a quick drink before the show. Even though I was wearing my Guinness hat, I ordered a Budweiser. Again, small budgets equal Budweiser. Jess ended up with a Guinness. I didn’t realize that she liked Guinness. Well, maybe I knew that. I kept reminding myself that I needed to have enough money left at the end of the trip for a place to crash in Portland on the 10th and an Amtrak or Greyhound ticket back to Seattle. God, budgeting money completely SUCKS ASS!

Grabbing a table underneath the balcony, we sat before the show to people-watch. Alongside those people dressed for the summer weather were also a few of the usual suspects, dressed in head-to-toe goth gear. At this point in time, the venue was not very full, but slowly people started trickling into the standing area. Jessica mentioned to me that since there isn’t a backstage area like most venues, the band would be coming from the balcony to approach the stage. Most likely, the band was hanging out in an undisclosed location behind a door on the upper level, marked “NO ENTRY.”

Sometime after 9:15 or so, we grabbed a place to stand in front of the stage, since a few people were starting to claim space. We originally picked the middle, but as usual, I found myself behind a tall guy, so I suggested that we grabbed an open space in front of stage left. We stood in front of what appeared to be Silverman’s setup, which consisted of synthesizers and effects, along with a cape draped over the front of the stand. The cape had some pink dots on it, how apropos. When we were looking at merchandise, the guy behind the table gave each of us a pink dot sticker and a button. I ended up getting a second button because I waited to get the book, and was given one again when I made my purchase.

**D.A.’s note: With regards to describing their performance, I’ve opted to discuss specifics of the Albuquerque show in a future blog entry. I’d like to discuss highlights and thoughts on the other two LPD shows I will be attending in Portland (Berbati’s Pan) and Seattle (Chop Suey) as this point. Therefore, my description here is abridged, but also contains a couple photos from the show.

The show started at approximately 9:45. The Legendary Pink Dots, consisting of Edward Ka-Spel, Silverman, Niels van Hoornblower, and Martijn de Kleer, descended the balcony stairs to take their places on the stage. Edward approached the stage wearing a black tunic over jeans, walking barefoot, as he has each time I’ve seen him in the past. Niels wore, by far, the flashiest suit and pants I’ve ever seen him in. For the next 90 or so minutes, everyone in the audience was entranced by ethereal vocals of Edward. At one point, in traditional LPD fashion, Niels walked into the audience, making everyone swoon in his path with his excellent “hoornblowing” ability. He even walked upstairs with his saxophone (with a light attached) to serenade fascinated onlookers.



Their set consisted of what I believed to be tracks from the new album, Your Children Placate You from Premature Graves, along with other tracks I’m not familiar with. The one song I did recognize was Belladonna, which started their encore. Their live performance here brought back memories of past LPD shows I’ve seen. Their music is whimsical at times, nearly apocalyptic at times (nowhere near what I felt when listening to the new Current 93 album, for example, Black Ships Ate the Sky.)




At one point, Edward bent over to sing to two gothic-looking girls, one appearing to be more normal, with a pink dot sticker on each of her breasts (how original); and the other one definitely donning the dominatrix look. Personally, I find the gothic look completely silly. But, these two wouldn’t be out of place at all in Seattle’s Vogue nightclub. My only complaint about the show was the few people that were standing behind us, chattering loudly during softer parts of the set. Stupid chattering assholes have been a real thorn in my side lately. I'm seeing more and more of it, which drives me completely insane. But, half the time, the perpetrators appear to be able to kick my ass. In the end, if I turn around to say "SHUT THE FUCK UP," I'd most likely make it worse. But, why the fuck do idiots spend their money on shows if they are just going to talk all the way through it??? That pisses me off.

After the show, the band came around to chat with the crowd. A small line formed alongside the merchandise table to greet Edward. After some coaxing, Jessica got me to get in line so Edward could autograph my book. When we got to him, Jessica did most of the talking. I’ve always been in awe of Edward, which made the moment magically. Jessica thanked Edward for coming to Albuquerque, being that she’s always missed out on seeing past shows.

We left Launchpad a short time later to find a place to get a drink, but a lot of the bars in town were actually closed, most likely because it was Sunday night. Then, we had the idea of driving over to the Pulse Nightclub, the gay nightclub in town, but that, too, was closed. Jess then suggested Albuquerque Mining Company, which she thought was gay-owned, given the giant leather daddy painted on the wall outside. We arrived there to see that AMC, too, was closed. We gave up, and headed home to retire for the evening.

Travelogue: Albuquerque, NM - Day 2 (Part 1: Shopping)

**Note from D.A.: Since this blog lists entries in reverse order, I recommend that you start reading from Day 1 of my ABQ trip in order to see the logical progression of events during the trip.

Day two of my Albuquerque trip started on a delicious note with Jessica cooking a nice late-morning breakfast with wheat pancakes, scrambled eggs, sliced strawberries and veggie sausage patties. Again, YUM! After that, the plan was for Jessica and I to do some thrift store shopping, but first, Jess needed to go to the car wash. Jess paid for a car wash, along with vacuuming and polishing. Well, later, we discovered that they failed to clean the pumper, which caused Jess some fits of annoyance and irritation lasting for the next several hours. There's nothing worse than not getting what you paid for.

What's a good way to follow up an evening of shopping? Yes, you've guessed it - another day of shopping. I mean, what else is there for a gay guy and his "not so fag-haggish" fag hag to do on a warm sunny afternoon in Albuquerque (oh, and it also being a holiday weekend)? Apparently, unlike in the mighty city of Seattle, there’s not a whole lot else to do. The agenda was to get a couple pairs of shorts for me and some inexpensive hiking boots for Jessica. So, we set off to one of Albuquerque’s finest strip malls and arrived at an Old Navy sandwiched between a discount shoe store and a Skechers superstore. Woooowee! I wasn’t so sure I could handle the multitude of choices.

So, we walked into the discount shoe store, not Famous Footwear, but a local version of it. I found a pair of black suede Converse All-Stars high-top sneakers, which I totally loved, but wasn’t sure that I could afford them. Ultimately, I made the reluctant decision not to buy them, thinking that I could always go back before the end of the trip to get them. Jessica, on the other hand, wasn’t having such luck. Her quest for women’s hiking boots was more arduous than anticipated. So, we left. Our next stop was Old Navy.

Under normal circumstances, being that I am normally surrounded by Capital Hill’s Bauhaus coffee-guzzling Hipsters from Hell (I love Bauhaus, actually), I’d be embarrassed to admit that I wear Old Navy. However, being that I don’t have Mommy’s money to spend on a regular basis, I am on a budget. So, therefore, if I want to buy my shorts at Old Navy, fuck it, I will buy my shorts there. Since Albuquerque doesn’t have ridiculously overpriced hipster clothing stores such as Zebra Club, Urban Outfitters or Ian, Old Navy is the natural alternative. Besides, for the price of a XL t-shirt only an anorexic 95 pound gay “boi” could fit in, I got TWO pairs of cargo shorts! Count em, TWO PAIRS OF SHORTS! Imagine that. To complete my newly-acquired suburban mini-wardrobe was a nice looking Madras shirt and two worn-in v-neck shirts. Jessica found a cute sleeveless crocheted blouse for $2.97, which I purchased for her. Success!

From there, we skipped Skechers and walked over to another discount shoe store so that Jessica could continue her quest for new hiking boots. Right before I arrived into town the day before, at last minute, Jessica filled in for a sick day camp instructor on an overnight trip to Los Alamos, NM, approximately three hours from Albuquerque, with a group of 2nd and 3rd graders. By the way, Jessica works as an Education Coordinator at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. There, she organizes and coordinates educational programs facilitated through the museum, including annual summer camps for children of all ages. Anyway, when they got there, while setting up their pup tents and gear, the clouds rolled in and suddenly, the frightened children were pelted with hail and soaking wet. Fortunately, Jessica had another person with her to help gather the kids together to seek shelter. Aside from that, the trip went fine, but Jessica accidentally left her soaked hiking boots at the campground where they were staying. Since getting her boots would require a six-hour roundtrip, she decided to leave them there, which spawned her shopping for a new pair. Besides, that would totally suck ass if she traveled three hours to end up not finding them. So, we arrived at this other shoe store, but no luck. Women’s hiking boots must be hard to come by in Albuquerque.

From there, we hit Starbucks for some chilled drinks. But, Jessica, being health-conscious, opted against their choices of frappucinos, so she just got a decaf coffee. She even asked the barista, who apparently was fairly new, what process they use to decaffeinate their coffee beans, to which he responded blankly. Fortunately, the woman who was making the drinks, saved the day, explaining that they used the Swiss process of decaffeinating their beans, which apparently is the better option. The other option apparcks.comently uses formaldehyde, which definitely doesn’t sound very good. YUCK! In the car ride to our next destination, Jessica explained the difference between the two processes, which inspired me to nickname her Debbie Downer, after Rachel Dratch’s character on Saturday Night Live. I’d follow it with the sound effects of the “Charlie Brown’s school teacher.” But, you can’t fault the girl for being health-conscious, but I personally prefer the “oblivious avoidance” technique for dealing with those issues. “La, la, la, la….La, la, la, la…”

After Starfucks (as I like to call it from time to time), we headed on our way to check out some thrift stores. Earlier, when we got the car washed, we passed two small thrift stores, but they were closed (assumedly because of the holiday and that they were owned by local churches.) We hoped we’d have better luck at Thrift Town, a locally-owned thrift store, like Savers or Value Village, which moved to a new location since my last visit in November 2002. Back then, I found a cute short-sleeved shirt for $3.50 or $4, which I still wear to this day, so I figured that I’d find something again. I literally only spent three to five minutes in the men’s section before I decided that there wasn’t anything I liked. I think I found one shirt, but there was a stain on it. Damn! On the other hand, Jessica found a couple sun dresses to try on and a funny looking white fuzzy vest. I told her to try it on with the white frilly Mexican sun dress that she also found just for kicks. Even though, she looked silly in this outfit, nonetheless, the look provided a perfect photo-op. The look screams “Bjork wanna-be from Albuquerque.” Do you like the rhyme? Ha ha!

**Geez, suddenly, he thinks he’s Tupac!**


Jessica raiding Bjork's closet, as
envisioned by Thrift Town in ABQ

After Jessica’s fashion show in Thrift Town’s fitting room, we ventured to Savers. Again, we didn’t have any luck. We only spent maybe fifteen minutes. Our thrift store shopping left us slightly hungry for a snack, so we decided upon Taco Bell for a quick bit to eat for a late lunch. Paying for my baja beef chalupa and steak soft taco made me realize how expensive eating fast food at Taco Bell in Capital Hill is. The difference is clearly in the sales tax. I saved at least a $1. $1.25 could get me an extra apple fritter at Bauhaus. To me, that’s a big deal. But, that’s Seattle for you. I just need to get over it.

From there, Jessica needed to drop by her grandparents house so I waited in the hot and stuffy car, thinking that she’d only be a few minutes. Well, over a half-hour later, I figured that I better go inside, otherwise, I’d pass out from heat exhaustion. Besides, we wanted to try and check out Kaufman’s, a local military and uniform gear shop, and figured it’d be closed early on Sunday. Lately, the wannabe disciplinarian in me wants some military-looking clothes for Halloween, or dress-up nights at the Eagle. As it turns out, Jessica was recounting her Los Alamos story to her grandparents, which reminds me that I failed to mention that fearless leader Jessica also has a run-in with a hungry skunk. So, we left, but discovered that Kaufman’s was actually closed Sundays in general. We were foiled again.

Then, we finalized our trip with a stop at Big 5 Sporting Goods to make one last attempt at finding hiking boots for Jessica. We arrived there, and Jessica found some boots that were okay, but ultimately decided to wait to buy them. Jessica and I think alike. We bitch and bitch and bitch in frustration when we can’t find what we’re looking for, but when we do, we think in dollars and cents and the balk at buying the thing that we were just complaining about not finding. Ha ha! But admitting that you have a problem is half the battle right there.

**End of Part One**

Travelogue: Albuquerque, NM - Day 1

Last Saturday afternoon, I left the warm sunny skies of Seattle for the (much) warmer and humid skies of Albuquerque, NM, to visit my wonderful and incredibly awesome best friend of 15 years, Jessica, for the week. After dealing with some minor irritations checking in at the Southwest Airlines ticket counter, I grabbed a quick lunch at the incredibly busy Wendy's restaurant while waiting for the rare non-stop flight I was boarding to leave.

Coming into this trip, I found myself extremely worn out from the stress of work and frustration of my social (or the lack thereof) life. As can be seen in the picture below this paragraph, you can see the exhausted, glazed-over look in my eyes (well, actually, my eyes are closed.) I've eagerly awaited this trip for the last two months, particularly when I found out that the Legendary Pink Dots announced their first-ever Albuquerque show. That made this trip even more special because after all these years, Jessica and I would finally be attending our first-ever LPD concert together (after 15 years of missed opportunities for Jessica, as I've seen them three times, and the fact that she was responsible for introducing me to LPD in the first place.)



For the most part, Southwest Flight #2576 was smooth, until we got about 150 miles from Albuquerque. That's when the turbulence hit. That last half hour of the flight proved to be excruciating for me, considering I am not quite the frequent flyer, unlike my mother (as a mistreated, disrespected Northwest flight attendant), who deals with turbulence on a regular basis. For a few fleeting minutes, I thought of possible doomsday scenarios, thinking that this might be my last flight. Those scenarios, of course, proved to be silly (obviously, otherwise I'd not be typing this as we speak LOL.) At last, I arrived at about 5:40, ABQ time.

As usual, I was enthusiastically greeted by Jessica and her boyfriend Randy. Thinking about it now, I realized that this is the shortest time apart we've had in the last ten years, being that Jessica just visited me this past October in Seattle. I've made it a point to try and see her more frequently than I have in the past. As a matter of fact, we may meet up in San Francisco in September to see Matthew Barney's Drawing Restraint exhibit at SFMoMA, as a belated 33rd birthday treat to my dear friend. Jessica always knows how to bring a smile to my face whenever I am down. She has the knack for keeping me grounded. Now, I just need to find a boyfriend to do that. Anyway, moving on...

Our first order of business when I arrived was to get groceries for the week. But, before we did that, Jessica and Randy expressed that they wanted to go to Keva Juice to get juice smoothies and then walk to McDonalds for some french fries. Hmmm....an interesting combination. At that thought, I instantly became reminded of the many times Jess and I went to the Uptown McDonalds in Uptown Minneapolis (or as our mutual friend, Audra, affectionately called McD's...Skank Nation) for McDonalds french fries and Hot Mustard McNuggets sauce. So, imagine the scenario, a vegetarian and her faggoty friend eating french fries fried in animal fat. Yummy! What memories!

From there, we went to Trader Joe's for some grocery shopping. Little did I know as we walked through the automatic doors that we would be embarking on what easily became the longest grocery shopping trip of my life. Shopping for organic foods can be so complicated and time-consuming at the same time. But, I'm doing this with Jessica, so that is what made it fun. Even though Jessica's grocery list was short, we still managed to peruse every single aisle of Trader Joe's. I repeatedly reminded myself the whole entire time that I am in Albuquerque and people are more relaxed and don't constantly operate with a stopwatch. I'm not at work so there's no need for me to be constantly rushing through my day. Albuquerque is a place to be laid back in, so I better learn to become accustomed to the relaxed approach to life.

During our extended excursion at Trader Joe's, I discovered that practically ALL of their employees were hotties. Seriously, the hotness factor of Trader Joe's employees overwhelmed me with excitement. Early on in our grocery shopping trip, I apparently became popular amngst the two young Hispanic men that stared at me hard as I walked by the checkout aisle where they stood. Relishing in the unanticipated attention, I calmly hoped that this was a sign of things to come for this trip. Anyway, back to the hotness factor, a cutie with tattooed arms walked by when we were in the frozen food aisle, enticing eager customers with free samples of their cheesecake. Stopping to where I was standing, he invited us to buy one of their cheesecakes since they were on sale.

Finally, about 90 minutes later, we arrived at the checkout aisle. Then, in what seemed like a flash, the grocery shopping trip was completed. From there, we then went to Target for a few things. My intent was to buy some new white t-shirts and some new socks. Well, I got the t-shirts (I decided on v-necks) and the socks, but also, along the way, picked up a cool Guinness baseball cap with a patch that says "Guinness Keeps Its Head," a copy of the remastered Johnny Cash Live at Folsom Prison, Gatorade, and a pack of citrusmint-flavored Orbit gum (BTW, the new Orbit gum commercial with Snopp Dogg is hilarious, but I digress...) Then, at long last, the evening of shopping was completed and we returned to Jess' house for a late dinner.



I arrived at Jess' house and was greeted by the barking of Dito, Jess' dog (a mix of Blue Heeler and Australian Cattle Dog,) whom I met for the first time. After a late dinner of vegetarian cheese pizza and salad, we settled into the living room to watch an episode of the Simpsons and then watched a rerun of Saturday Night Live. That ended my first evening in Albuquerque.

Vacation Time at Last

So, unbelievably, we are already at the mid-year point of 2006. Gosh golly, the end of June came too quickly for me. You know what this means??? Two words - NEW MEXICO. NEW MEXICO? You ask. Well, the answer is simple. I'm going on vacation. Believe it or not, I am going on vacation this Saturday when I fly the friendly skies (no, I'm not flying on Northwest Airlines...sorry Mom!) to New Mexico, Albuquerque, to be exact, to visit my dear friend Jessica.


Jessica & I in front of Gum Wall in Pike Place Market
October 2005

While I am on vacation, I PROMISE (SOLEMNLY SWEAR) that I will write while I am sweating it out like a bareback pig bottom fresh out of Basic Plumbing (seriously, though, NOT REALLY) in beautiful Albuquerque. That's a promise I am determined to keep. Again, as always, stay tuned.

Dubya as You've Never Seen Him

My friend from MySpace, Elle, sent me this photo, which cracked my shit up. I promise to write more in this damn thing soon, but in the meantime, enjoy the new side of our....**emulating the sound of vomiting**...."beloved" president!

Current List - June 16, 2006

D.A.'s Current list for June 16, 2006

Reading:

Just finished reading Floor Sample, an autobiography written by The Artist's Way creator, Julia Cameron. Floor Sample provides insight into how events in her life (mainly her bout with alcoholism, and subsequent sobriety) formulated the foundation for The Artist's Way. She was once married to world famous filmmaker, Martin Scorsese.



Next up:

A Million Little Pieces - James Frey
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Robert M. Pirsig

The DaVinci Code - Dan Brown: For the third time....maybe I will actually finish it for once.

Godless - Ann Coulter: Some time ago, The Kern asked me why I'd want to spend the money on buying the wackjob's books. My answer was that I was impatient and didn't want to be 564th in line on the reserve list at the library. But, I can't help but love her tomfoolery and her loathsome stupidity. So, I came up with the idea that I may go to a different bookstore each day and read a chapter from the book so that I don't have to spend the money. Also, I'm morbidly curious to see what kind of responses I get from people that see me read this book.

Current listening:

A Bugged Out Mix - Miss Kittin
Black Ships Ate the Sky - Current 93
The Drift - Scott Walker
The Sleeping Mustache
Rather Ripped - Sonic Youth
The Sun Awakens - Six Organs of Admittance
operettAmorale - Black Sun Productions
The Ape of Naples - Coil
The Rose Has Teeth in the Mouth of a Beast - Matmos
Alles Fallt - Das Bierbeben
The Conduit - Jarboe
Seies - Larsen
The Hacker And N.O.W. - The Hacker
Your Children Placate You In Premature Graves - Legendary Pink Dots
Salvador - Ricardo Villalobos
You Are There - Mono

WM3 Worldwide Awareness Day

In 1993, the tragic murder of 3 eight year-old boys in West Memphis, Arkansas, shocked the town and the nation. On June 3 of that year, 3 young teenagers, Jessie Misskelley, Jr., Jason Baldwin and Damien Echols, were arrested and subsequently convicted of murder. While Jessie and Jason were sentenced to life plus 40 and life without parole, respectively, Damien was sentenced to death by lethal injection.

These three young men were arrested, charged, and sentenced, even though West Memphis police, in particular, coerced Jessie into an "error-filled" confession, and they never officially found hard evidence linking the three to the crime. During the trial, Jessie, Jason, and Damien were repeatedly subjected to intense scrutiny, discriminated against, and instantly deemed guilty, based solely on the way they looked, the way they dressed, and what music they listened to. As a result, three innocent men went to prison, serving life and death sentences. Despite being in this situation, all three remain hopeful and optimistic that they will one day be free.

Their case has also been profiled in two critically-acclaimed documentaries, Paradise Lost and Paradise Lost 2, as well as documented in the book The Devil's Knot by author Mara Leavitt.




I don't know a whole lot about the specific details or the history of this case, but this website is a wealthy source of information about the case as well as providing ways for people to contribute to the Free WM3 Legal Fund. For example, Damien Echols (who's currently living in solitary confinement on Death Row) has made various attempts at appealing his death sentence as well as request for a DNA test that could (and most likely, would) exonerate him of any wrongdoing. He's obtained new counsel that has worked extremely hard to pursue any and all possible legal options so that Damien can be given a chance to clear his name. The costs for pursuing these avenues are significant, and any donation helps fight towards allowing Damien due process before the law, just like any other American human being.



Today, which has been designated WM3 Worldwide Awareness Day, marks the 13th anniversary of their arrest. Events are being held all over the country with the explicit intent to raise awareness of the cause as well as raise much needed funds to assist WM3 and their families with the legal aide that they need and fully deserve, just like you and me. In recent years, the WM3 have gained many allies, speaking out on their behalf and raising awareness, including actors Margaret Cho, Wynona Ryder, and Jack Black, as well as South Park co-creator Trey Parker, Pearl Jam vocalist Eddie Vedder, X vocalist John Doe, musician Steve Earle, Misfits vocalist Michale Graves, and members of the Supersuckers and Alkaline Trio, amongst many others.



Eddie Vedder shares songwriting credit with Damien on the track Army Reserve from Pearl Jam's new self-titled album. Also, last year, Margaret Cho was instrumental in publishing Damien's memoirs called Almost Home.



I firmly believe in my heart that every human being deserves to be treated with fairness and dignity. Persecution, subtle and overt, is a daily part of my life as an openly gay man, living in a religiously and politically divided country. Even though I've personally gone through tough times in the past, I can't even begin to fathom what life is like for Jessie, Jason, and Damien, whose adult lives have been spent unjustly imprisoned for a crime they didn't commit. The trials living my life as openly gay under the scrutiny of others pales in comparison to what these men are going through in the lives. Beyond the debate over death penalty in this country is the mere fact that these innocent men had their lives taken away from under the circumstances of their case.

Being an avid listener of Black Sabbath doesn't automatically deem a person "satanic" or "evil" or "demonic" or "murderous." Wearing all black doesn't always mean that you practice Satanism. As is typical of every act of right-wing punditry in the U.S., the innocence or guilt of certain persons (particularly with the WM3) is based solely on musical listening habits, movie viewing habits, or interest with occultism. Anyone living outside the realm of what is subjectively deemed "moral" is instantly viewed as "insert religiously bigoted statement of choice here". Meanwhile, the lives of Jessie, Damien, and Jason are in the balance, in the case of Damien, is extingusihable at the discretion of another human being, which in my heart believe is just plain wrong. Life is too precious to take for granted when you're living in this kind of hell. The whole thing just sickens me beyond belief.

My thoughts and prayers go out to Jessie Misskelley, Jr., Jason Baldwin, and Damien Echols, as well as their families, friends, and the legal counsel representing them on this slightly-cloudy afternoon here in Seattle. I'm not an overtly religious person...I prefer to use the word "spiritual," but I do believe that there is a higher being that loves these three unconditionally (unlike what the Pat Robertson's, the Bill O'Reilly's, the Fred Phelps's, and Ken Hutcherson's of the world would like to tell you.)

At the same time, I also pray for the families of the three eight-year old victims and members of the West Memphis community as well. Their losses are unfathomable, but I sincerely hope that there's room for forgiveness of these three (and also, whoever is truy responsible for the crime.) I urge everyone who firmly believes in the dignity of the human spirit to become educated on the case and to lend support to the hard-working legal representatives that working to finally free the WM3.

Blogpsot = Amazing Bible Studies

So, I came onto Bring D.A. Noise to check out my fellow Blogger Kern's page, but a weird thing happened when I clicked the link. I didn't get his blog. I got a poorly-designed wacko website, boasting Amazing Bible Studies, the mega-site for Christians. What the hell? I know that Kern is constantly writing about the American Family Association and their excessive use of scare tactics to manipulate and bully people into promoting their despicable agenda. So, instinctively, I thought that the AFA hacked his site.

Well, as it turns out, when I was adding links to other blogs, I inadvertently transposed the p and the s in blogpsot (there, I did it again - curse the demon of carpal tunnel), I mean, blogspot. That was the cause of the problem. As it turns out, I made the same error in linking to Bob Mould's blog as well and the same page came up. Ooops. But, the irony of this happening is uncanny.

So, web surfer, beware. If you mistype the word "blogspot," you might be tempted to check out some amazing bible studies. What was funny about the site was that a pop-window floated across the screen, claiming that you won a new plasma tv or something. That was funny.

New Game! Liberal Political Sudoku

I recently discovered a new political blog courtesy of Michael from the Gay Bloggers Tribe, called Irregular Times. Latching onto the insanely popular Sudoku puzzle craze that's sweeping the nation, the folks at Irregular Times sporadically post their own spin on the Sudoku puzzle, the Liberal Political Sudoku.

In this game, just as in regular Sudoku, nine letters are given with the same premise. Each letter must be present only once in each row, each column, and within each set of squares, without repeating. But, there's an added twist. There is a clue at the bottom of the puzzle with a political anecdote or riddle that can be spelled by unscrambling the nine letters you are given.

For your amusement, the most recent edition of the Liberal Political Sudoku puzzle can be found here. I've not completed this yet so I don't have the answers. That's your job. Enjoy!