30 december 2000
1:55 a.m. - Well, I've returned from my trip home to visit with family. It was a good time all around. Plenty of tex-mex and socialization with friends. Back to work? Not until I head out and get myself some new hanks of yarn (in case we're stuck inside a couple of days from the predicted snow). While home in Texas, I sent out a bid on Ebay to see what I could find. I ended up winning a beautiful sewing machine --I was thinking about buying one anyhoo. I don't sew like a professional, but have been known to put together a thing or to. It's a 1951 machine. The Centennial edition. It comes with a wooden carrying/storage case. I'm going to finally put up some curtains in my new place.
Muslim rebels in Indonesia are up to it again. The Weather Channel is predicting around 12 inches. Do I believe it? hmmm. yep. I'm going out to Super Kmart to pick up some basic colors for a new scarf. I haven't been going to bed until 3 or 4 during this vacation. Reading and working on fun projects. It has been a great vacation and I'm rather loathe to return to the workplace.
18 december 2000
3:05 pm. - Jen Wood : Listening to a 23 year old tap into a bit of love described is keeping me alive this sunny Monday. Let's Fight is most notable. We had rain all the whole weekend. tons of it--with lightening and rumbling thunder and sheets that moved in under the door dampening the kitchen tile. Tree Records has quite a few notable artists and so far, I've been delighted with what I'm hearing. Wish that I could have seen K in New London.14 december 2000
3:45 p.m. - Tracy Bonham's latest is rocking my world! Can I still fall in love with an album? Is it perfection? It has been such a damn long time. It's called Down Here. Maybe it's just the violin playing..
You can't Always Not Get What You Don't Want
"Little man big heart said
to big man little heart
'I got what I want
I got what I want
I got what I need'
But you can't always not get what you don't want
Flaunt what you got and what you got flaunt
Speak double doom as much as you want but you can't always not get what
you don't
But you might get what you need
Street smart big mind said to little learned book brain
'I got what I want I got what I want I got what I need'
But you can't always not get what don't want
Flaunt what you got and what you got flaunt
Speak double doom as much as you want
but you can't always not get what you don't
But you might get what you need."
and now for something perceived as being completely different, ladies and gentlemen: the same
11 december 2000
9:13 a.m. - I had all but stopped reading, but a friend of mine tipped me towards a local book club and I've started back. Currently - Plainsong. Gotta catch up on all the nominations and such. We had our first snow here over the weekend. About an inch, but I still plowed the driveway. It melts and turns to ice so fast. I think that I finally pleased my picky neighbors with that gesture.
So. today's the day for the Final? hearing. I look forward to this being over. I don't want a desperate president and I don't want an ignorant one, but it's time to plan for 2004 and try, try again.
"The sanctimony and distortions of fact in Gore's Nov. 27 address to the nation were so flagrant that they seriously undercut any claim he might make to the next presidential nomination in 2004. On the other hand, the embarrassing, monthlong spectacle of George W. Bush dodging public view and choking on the simplest English sentences exposes yet again the astonishingly poor judgment of the Republican Party establishment that settled on him as the anointed nominee in the first place." [Camille Paglia's latest in Salon.com].
7 december 2000
4:32 p.m. - Almost the end?
2:53 p.m. - went out and finished off a bottle of wine with a colleague from work yesterday. what was a 'holiday' party included a Christmas tree and Santa again. Happy Ha.
5 december 2000
9:44 a.m. - decided to go on a trip next fall. I've finally saved up enough vacation days to balance the lack of short term disability care with the maximum my employing institution allows. Europe again, I presume. November? That I haven't decided.
7:30 a.m. - still the same ole news this a.m. Started knitting a scarf while I watch the tube. Justice of my own kind for a sloppy life staring at talking heads. or am I just so much of the north that I have to always be productive?
1 december 2000
17 november 2000
3:47 p.m. TiVo is at it again. This time the contest is for a 30 hour recorder. I am very pleased with my current 14-hour recorder that I won with the previous contest. I entered again.
12:05 p.m. - about the Bellow bio.
11:30 a.m. - Today is for reason.
What happened to you living in England--what exactly did you see?
I saw how much more in tune I am with a forceful society like our own, fueled by immigration, where the ambition is naked and the animus is undisguised and the energy is relentless and expended openly, without embarrassment or apology. I'm speaking of intellectual and literary intensity no less than the intensity behind all the American trash, the intensity that's generated by the American historical drama of movement and massive displacement, of class overspreading class, region overtaking region, minority encroaching on minority, and the media cannibalizing the works. Try to imagine England inviting, on the scale that the U.S. does, the cultural and political clash. --Philip Roth, 1988 [From Edge City, by Joel Garreau, p. 209]
15 november 2000
1:11 p.m. - "Smelling salts for all Democrats please." - Dan Rather
11:24 a.m. - Forget about CNN,MSNBC,FOX,ABC,CSPAN. Make your daily read this: The Onion
10:32 a.m. - I really have no opinion about what's going on. I do, but am hesitant to say what it is. I, in fact, have revealed myself too many times. About half of my friends are not talking to me any more. It's the end and I know it. But I'm content to be blithe about the whole thing. I'm alive and well and I'm going to win the lottery tonight and so I don't need to care anymore. I'll just buy an island somewhere and fight off pirates.
13 october 2000
11:32 a.m. - Who is Sharon and what does he think?12 october 2000
10:30 p.m. - one attempt to explain what's going on: a letter to Albright from Ariel Sharon.26 september 2000
10:06 a.m. - an attempt to explain what's going on with Dubya by C. Hitchens. [The Nation]25 september 2000
08:59 p.m. - I won a TiVo today. I took a clue from Jason and wrote a little diddy. It's difficult to know whether it is a good sales scam (it is) and/or if it's so good, you can't help yourself and you just sign up for a lifetime of commercialism (or is that materialism?) ...the real problem here is that I have a tendency to submit info to any and all sites for marketing games and free stuff. I'm pretty doomed, but I have a computer, car stuff, t-shirts, one pair of shoes, facial creams, toothpaste that'll make my teeth glow in the dark, and plenty of free women's stuff. Not bad in the give and take of personal information.23 september 2000
11:06 p.m. - got myself moved and half the way settled. and it's been busy as heck as well. all is well spent save the current day. I spent several hours nervously pacing (which turned into cleaning) 'cause all of my teams lost today. every one of them. my friend made us a damn good pizza which beats any here in New Haven. Can't believe that you can't get a decent crust in this town. havn't a clue either why they're so proud of what isn't even cooked. The New Haven pie is soggy, but there's at least one place I frequent: Modern Apizza! I prefer Chicago style anyhoo.11 august 2000
01:06 p.m. - trusting each other in New Haven, CT:I walked up from the downtown mall to the Subway to grab a sandwich and after waiting in line to pick it up, I sat down at a table there by a window to eat...and a lady walks up to me and hands me a wad of cash and says, 'read my money.' I look at her a little shocked and don't touch the money because I don't have a clue what's up. She is very old and I noticed that she had difficulty seeing, so I asked her to put the money down on the table and we'd count it together. I counted out loud where we both could hear and I divided it into stacks of 10s and 20s and 50s. she ended up with 450 dollars and a huge smile on her face. I told her that that was a lot of money and that she should guard it carefully and to that she said, 'That is no money at all. It has to last me all month.' I said, 'well, you should still be careful with who you ask to count it for you.' And she chuckled and said, 'you can't trust nobody: black, white, blue, or purple. I just can't see and wanted to make sure that they cashed my check right. I knew that you were good when you sat down here.' Then she pulled out about three lottery tickets (the scratch off type), asked me to do them for her, too, and so we did them together. She ended winning about 15 dollars after spending 5. I told her that it was her lucky day all around.
27 juli 2000 23 juli 2000 01:58 p.m. - It is wonderfully cool here still. The
family back in Dallas is suffering with the triple digits. My friend P,
who is in Knoxville, TN as the moment, is suffering even more.
20 juli 2000 11:53 p.m. - Brando
terrorizes film set! 19 juli 2000 09:54 a.m. - Hi, Geegaw. Mailer
is indeed harmless. He's a skinny ass teddy. He's not evil. He's a chump
who writes about wanking. He wants a legacy of celebrity and he got it.
My eye for the obvious sends me astray. I want a good story. Not drivel.
So I turn to my books to try to figure out why I ever even bothered with
Harlot's Ghost the other day. Luckily, I work in a library with a fascinating
collection. At home right now I have a 1784 Swift tome and yesterday's
news.
09:40 a.m. - and I must thank Tom for the new digs! Thank you, thank
you, thank you! (and Jen, of course)
09:31 a.m. - I had been looking for a new apartment. Found one, but
just to double check my luck, I still search ever so often for what's
out there. Took the opportunity to check out
mamma.com to see how the engine runs. did a search for 'new haven'
and ' apartment' and retrieved the following in the first 10 hits:
17 juli 2000
12:41 p.m. - When I read, I like to get mine. I
like to know a story, a good story, is around the next page. I never
developed a tolerance for the Old
Goats and probably never will be able to understand why critical
people find them any good. They're literal wankers. All of them. I really
do hate bad writers. I loathe bad writers who the in-kind return praise
and adulation for lipid saturated vomit. Why why why do they still bother?
It's as if we, the readers, are in awe of someone having landed an egg
of success 30-40 years ago and we keep thinking that if not this book,
then the next one around the corner will live up to the past dalliance
with literary success. At least Margaret Mitchell was smart enough to
know that one book tapped her reserves and there would be none to be
had after that... It is good to know that Mailer is now pushing 80.
I won't have to worry for much longer that he's trying again and trees
are dying for naught.
15 juli 2000 14 juli 2000 13 juli 2000
12:08 a.m. - An article that gave me back my life. From the Village Voice no less. I know that I like both worlds men and women and women and men. Been picky and not so picky depending on when and where and what I was facing at the time. Enjoyed most of my experiences, but lately I've been realizing that I've been reminiscing too much and forgetting how to live. My best friend is opening up doors and I'm learning to relate to that, too. What's friendship all about anyways? I love him to death sometimes.
06:16 p.m. Harry Gold, the Novel.
12 juli 2000
10:35 p.m. - Wilco is cycling through the deck. I guess that Winona is still a fan. American History X's Tony Kaye got me thinking...when Marlon Brando takes you under his wing, is life that much better for you? Hype? Mean gets the scoop from two years back...
10:06 p.m. - Oh! I needed Cat Power tonight. After watching Girl Interrupted, which was permissible now that my brother is out of ICU, I flipped the boobtube off and listened to the ladies sing me to sleep. Can't sleep, but the mind drifted. I'm half the way through Operation Wandering Soul and am mezzed. I want to jump into a string of neologistic banter and try to sleep. [review of The Covers Record].
11 juli 2000
10:51 p.m. - Reading tons lately. And trying to figure out if I'm going to take a trip this year. Australia? So much is going on and I don't think that it would be prudent. Just spent a quick weekend trip visiting my brother in the hospital. Poor guy. He'll be out soon. Just had a little break with reality. I miss him so much.
Interesting letters in Salon regarding Home Schooling in response to an article by Helen Cordes, 'Sour Grapes, Anyone?'. But I like this one by Denis Johnson better: 'School is Out: Why I Teach My Kids at Home'.
some titles that I picked up from Half Price Books in Dallas:
Fiskadoro, Denis Johnson
The Stars at Noon, Denis Johnson
Resuscitation of a Hanged Man, Denis Johnson
The Atlas, William T. Vollmann [interview] and from [alt.culture]
Operation Wandering Soul, Richard Powers
09:58 p.m. - return from ALA. Chicago is my kind of town. To and from the airport at 1.50. The best damn Hostel in the U.S., well, almost! Friendly folks. Taste of Chicago. Things that I learned while in Chi-town:
the Chicago Public Library has crappy public computers running Netscape 3
the McCormick Center needs subway access - but they're free, of course
the Magnificent Mile ain't so magnificent when under construction
the Navy Pier is embarrassingly schmarmy
05 juli 2000
01:21 a.m. - "[Cuba] In August, as well as being temporarily detained, opposition activist Ramón Humberto Colás Castillo, was evicted from his home in Las Tunas province, along with his wife, Berta Mexidor Vázquez, and their two children. Ramón Colás and Berta Mexidor, who were both founders of the first independent library in Cuba, had lived in their home for 13 years before being told they were illegal occupants. Other independent librarians were also subjected to threats, short-term detentions and the confiscation of their books. Restrictions on movement Some people had restrictions imposed on their movement by the authorities." From Amnesty International's Annual Report 2000. For more information on the state of librarianship in Cuba, please look for information about the Friends of Cuban Libraries.04 juli 2000
11:21 p.m. - Sometimes HBO is well worth it. Sometimes not. Real Sex last night was just about right and tonight's Dreamlife of Angels made me swoon in a good story. Isa, Isa, Isa (Mademoiselle Bouchez). You are perfect!03 juli 2000
02:04 a.m. - VM, you are beautiful! Instead of settling down in lovely pseudo-urban (-urbane?) New Haven, may I be blessed with a tiny valley home there. or New Hampshire. Less in the way of property taxes, but perhaps what I need is some social peace and Vermont's working pretty hard on that. The BBQ was peaceful and interesting. Jessamyn has a good posse of friends around her. I left my cooler of beer (we left unopened so I didn't think about it). Perhaps soon I'll be back to claim it.
30 juni 2000
1:20 a.m. - Juliana rocked! What a joy to be in Northampton again... and I gave away my extra ticket (thanks Jessamyn) - but I have no idea if that strange guy person picked it up as I am not anal enough to check after the concert...picked up a lovely farmgirl with a pig T for Beautiful Creatures. I'm still up - not just because of the drive back to New Haven, but because I keep thinking my pal will get off the freaking line - or email me back to let me know that he fell asleep at the computer and how sorry he is/was that he didn't reach me...after all I've done for him listening to the freaking NBA draft complaints and how Chicago is just a lost cause. sigh. come on already, dude!
29 juni 2000
07:04 p.m. - gotta run north! I'm late! and it's raining! and I didn't pick out the CDs that I wanted to hear and I'm going to be stuck with the freaking Magnetic Fields and have to skip like every three in a row to get to the fun songs.27 juni 2000
11:20 p.m. - tomorrow is work. Thursday is Juliana Hatfield in Northampton and Sunday is the work softball game and possibly a trip up to Vermont for BBQ? hmmm. sounds like a perfect end of the month...if only it were a long weekend.
11:12 p.m - I read two short books on my trip: Joe Gould's Secret and Jesus' Son (now a film...but I read it based on the recommendation of my friend).
There were many moments in the Vine like that one--where you might think today was yesterdaym, and yesterday was tomorrow, and so on. Because we all believed we were tragic, and we drank. We had that helpless, destined feeling. We would die with handcuffs on. We would be put a stop to, and it wouldn't be our fault. So we imagined. And yet we were always being found innocent for ridiculous reasons. [from Out on Bail, Jesus' Son, by Denis Johnson.]
multitasking & 'brary
graffiti
harrumph
geegaw
bombpaper
texting
abada
kottke
pillow-book
llamarama
