we have a borrower cat this week

our borrower cat is named lucy. lucy in actuality belongs to my roomate's friend mariaelena but she is staying with us for the week because mariaelena's apartment complex doesn't allow pets. they never allow pets but this is the only week they ever check so lucy gets to travel abroad to visit with us. lucy is a fat cat. in mariaelena's email she called lucy 'my gordita.' owing to this i often think of her somewhat absurdly in my head as lucy the gordita. lucy is the queen of our tiny apartment. she is declawed and very tame and quite sweet. her belly is white and the rest of her is grey. she likes to have her tummy rubbed and purrs loudly. sometimes she puts her mouth very gently on your hand when you pet her. she doesn't really play because i think she is really old.

tonight when i came home from school i rubbed her belly in the hall awhile. she 'hung out' while i checked my email. there was lots of purring. then i went to the bathroom and she went back out into the hall. while brushing my teeth i heard a strange noise so i peeked into the hallway to see what it was. lucy was sitting by herself crunching on some cat kibbles. all i could see was her fat backside and chubby haunches in the orange streetlight pouring through the front window. it made me really really sad because i wanted her to come hang out with me some more and we could both enjoy it. instead she sat there fat and alone eating food by herself in the middle of the night by moonlight. is it because she wasn't comfortable with me? why didn't she want to continue to hang out with me? is it because i shouldn't have shunned petting her in order to attend to my own business? will i ever find a living being that i can sync needs with? what is my own business? why can't cats-wanting-to-be-petted and people-wanting-to-pet-cats ever find each other on the same point in the space-time continuum?

singin' in the rain

i just thought of this invention, and i can't believe it doesn't yet exist!!! why hasn't anyone created umbrellas that have solar panels on them? in many places around the world, people use umbrellas as a portable shade. take japan, for instance. wouldn't it be COOL to shade yourself and at the same time, charge your phone or ipod? solar power is cheap and clean, and the technology to convert it is getting smaller and smaller. seems like the right time to grab the sun energy and make it useful and portable for our daily lives!

oh, i got it!

here is how we solve all the problems!

1. require every child that is able to bike to school. this will go a long way towards combatting childhood obesity. it will also make motorists more aware of and proactive of bicycle safety. i mean, you wouldn't want to cut it too close if you were passing a bunch of munchkins who were bicycling to school, would you? this mandate, the every-child-bikes-to-school-act, will of course effect some changes in the real estate world.

2. real estate prices, specifically residential prices, for properties nearest to schools are going to increase. this is because children who have to bike farther to school will infer that their parents do not love them as much as the parents of more centrally-located children. this is okay and good. a little competition for the same properties will create a district where everybody wants to be, similar to the traditional "market" of traditional downtowns.

3. prior to this point, local planning departments need to wield the power of zoning. this power is oft abused nowadays to create places that are shitty. but, in this specific instance, the power of zoning can be used for good and not for evil! in areas around schools, overlay zones for denser development will need to be created. these overlay zones will require housing that is reserved for families of all income levels, and it will carry a requirement for public parks and street-level retail. this will ensure that the development focus around schools will be directed in a manner that is healthful to the communities.

4. more progressive communities will, i'm sure, want to implement the incredible ideas of henry george, whose 'single tax' on land allows communities to claim the monetary gains of socially-accrued real estate values. economic rent should, of course, be shared by society; and these new school-driven districts are a great chance to start implementing this idea.

i think that covers the problems inherent in sprawl, childhood obesity, improper motorist treatment of bicyclists, AND real estate inequality.

reviews for wxdu-- 2009 asobi seksu, clem snide, and m. ward

a s o b i s e k s u | h u s h | polyvinyl, 2009

Pronounced (ah-so-bee sek-su).

Asobi Seksu is comprised of Yuki Chikudate and James Hanna, who met while studying at the Manhattan School of Music. This album follows up the band's EP Citrus (2006). You can read on the CD case about their hardships and challenges since then that have delayed production of this 2009 release.

Their sound has cooled off a little; this album channels a sweet, blissed-out dream pop, and lacks the more intense shoegazing of their previous albums. The songs on 'Hush' are melodically refined with guitar lines that stand apart from the fuzzy background, tight drums underneath and ethereal female vocals swishing around the stratosphere. New for this album is a detailed approach to instrumentation. Listen for the more distinct keyboards, bells, and even organ. The beats are formed by a sweet dreamy regularity similar to the rhythm of icing a cake and the hazy shimmer of tinsel.

If you like the crescendi of sweet and fuzzy, be sure to catch Asobi Seksu at Local 506 on March 26,2009 as they head north after SXSW.

Best: 5, 1 ,11
Indecent: none that i could discern
**Note that there is some dead air around 2:30 on Track 12.

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c l e m s n i d e | h u n g r y b i r d | 429 records, 2009

Clem Snide emerged in the 1990s to pioneer exactly what the name suggests: artsy country coupled with sneering spoken lyrics. This subgenre of indie music has now become a standard offering, and Clem Snide is still slipping bittersweet metaphors atop guitars that twang more often than not.

The words are my favorite element of earlier Clem Snide work. Ironic, cutting non-sequiturs slowly strung together to make long-running metaphorical lines; all delivered in a restrained and vulnerable voice. This is still present, but becoming more orchestrated, more elaborate, less bare. The music follows suit; building on the sweet and melancholy with a greater sense of sophistication and a fuller sound. Bolstered by more guitars, unexpected distortion, piano even doubling of the vocals (!). You may enjoy the horns and kazoo on Track 3. You may not enjoy the cheesy piano and drum kit combination akin to light rock radio on Track 2.

Literary Fun Facts: Track 5 features spoken-word composition and performance by Franz Wright, awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 2004.
"Clem Snide" was the name of a character in several William S. Burroughs novels.

Best: 1, 6 (excellent rock-out starting around 1:30), 9
Indecent: 0

You can catch Clem Snide at Local 506 on March 12, 2009.

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m. w a r d | h o l d t i m e | merge, 2009

M. Ward's voice is heavenly and his guitar is impeccable. This new release, Hold Time, finds him collaborating with some unusual and welcome guest stars: Lucinda Williams on Track 10 (the sad Oh Lonesome Me), Jason Lytle of Grandaddy, as well as She & Him co-collaborator, Zooey Deschanel.

Ward's flair for the vintage and taste for unexpectedly appropriate orchestration have crafted an album that is a comforting as it is moving. His voice is smoky, far away, whisper-close and incredibly sexy. His guitar lines borrow rhythm from classic vintage strummers. The lyrics deal with old-timey subject matter (think early Americana) but somehow convince you of its relevancy to the current American milieu. He borrows classic folk elements and metaphors-- the call and response on Track 2 for example-- and tinkers with the production until the resulting sound is warm and introspective. Overall excellent.

Best: 4, 5, 10, 11
Indecent: n/a

Open Letter to Stafford County School Board

Stafford County Public Schools
Members of the Stafford County School Board and Superintendent
Dear David Sawyer Ed.D.,

My name is Caroline Emerson and I graduated from the Commonwealth Governor’s School (and Brooke Point High School) in 2002. After CGS, I graduated with honors from the University of Virginia’s School of Architecture in 2006. I can not state to you in words the value of my Commonwealth Governor’s School education. Because I was a member of the first class to graduate after all four years at CGS, I think that my observations are important. CGS then was not the formidable institution that it is now, and there were serious problems with the technology, the curriculum, and the transportation coordination. Despite these setbacks, the time I spent at CGS was a completely unique leaning opportunity. I know this because while at UVa, I compared high school experiences with a variety of friends, several of whom attended Governors’ Schools in Virginia and other states. Other programs provide in-depth educational opportunities, but none provided the developing opportunity of being part of a regional community of learners. While at UVa, my friends were the smartest and brightest students in my classes, many of whom attended the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Fairfax. It is my connections with UVa and intelligent people that have allowed me to thrive in a difficult economy. It was my CGS experience that allowed me to matriculate into the University of Virginia, and helped me to be successful there.

In addition to CGS, I invested myself heavily in extracurricular activities at Brooke Point. I lettered in Marching Band and Winter Track. I played soccer three years and performed a starring role in the school play, “Royal Gambit” my senior year. I was elected President of the French Club, and Vice-President of the National Honor Society. I routinely tutored children at Stafford Middle and Elementary Schools. I worked weekends in Fredericksburg at a frame shop, and during my senior year, Summit Presbyterian Church employed me as their interim pianist. I regularly played the piano at my own church, Regester Chapel United Methodist Church, and lead the youth group. During my high school career, I was awarded a countless number of awards for scholarship, integrity, academics, athletics, honor, ethics, outstanding contributions, dedication, etc. I would never have achieved so much without CGS to encourage me and push me along. The friends I made at CGS helped me to challenge myself, and the dedication of my teachers set a daily example of what one can achieve through hard work.

At Brooke Point, I was treated as an outcast. In a memorable example, a fellow runner on the winter track team wrote an accusative and downright false editorial in the Brooke Point newspaper. A member of my 4x4 relay team, she insisted that CGS students were not really Brooke Point students and should not be treated as such. Her jealous jabs over GPA totals and her failure to get facts about time investments were difficult to handle for my fellow students and myself. She represented the voice of the student body, a group that misunderstood and was unwilling to accept the opportunities inherent in a CGS education. It is my hope that now, seven years later, students and their parents, and most of all the School Board, would be able to have a broader understanding of the depth and value of the Commonwealth Governor’s School and Stafford County’s participation therein.

You were not involved with the Stafford County School Board in 1998-2002, my tenure at CGS, and therefore you are not apprised of the challenges we faced as a fledgling community of learners. Please believe me when I tell you that those years at CGS were more academically rigorous than any of my four years at the University of Virginia (which was rated the number two public university in America, 2009 US N&WR.) Why do you think we so assiduously weathered the challenges of the early CGS years? Mr. Sawyer, I did it because I wanted to help Stafford County grow into a more sophisticated learning environment for my younger brother and sister. And now my siblings; set to graduate CGS in 2009 and 2011; are enjoying the benefits of our hard work, an established, grounded intellectual community. I am so pleased and proud of my siblings and the education they are able to get from Stafford County Public Schools.

When I read your letter of February 9, 2009, I was shocked for many reasons. First, you underestimate the importance of CGS; I can only hope that my letter and other letters from my classmates will help you to understand our CGS experience. Second, I was upset at your vague strategies for budget solutions. As an architect, Mr. Sawyer, I am fully aware of the challenges of scope and budget, but I also realize how important it is to understand the overall design before endeavoring to reach a budget consensus via saving dollars. Your letter did not put forth a satisfactory explanation of the details of your specific plan. You have upset countless number of current and former Governor’s School students, and you provide no decisive plan of action for how you will alter Stafford’s financial participation in the Governor’s School without sacrificing the students. This is quite dismaying, and you owe an explanation to the students and families of the greater Stafford region. Your words undercut the value of education of high school students not just in Stafford County, but on a regional level. This is disappointing to those of us who worked so hard, and want to see Stafford County continue to be a place of higher academic potential.

Sincerely,
Caroline C. Emerson
caroline.emerson@gmail.com

creating colloquial expressionisms

i just wanted to point out that the nation's paper of record has a blog dedicated to exposing their own grammatical insurrections. as a linguaphile of sorts, i find this a neverending meta-amusement. i often tend to think back over my own words --spoken, written, or typed-- musing over the alternate meanings that could be deduced or which word trends are getting stale. voila! in this week's nyt-grammar-blog post, the "cliché watch", phillip corbett draws attention to phrases that have been recently overused in the times.

what shakes out? most notably are clichés that seek out a friendlier face to our current financial predicament. seeking to communicate the economy as a game-- fishing, gambling:
-the colloquial expression “on the hook,” comparing sordid economic futures to being as stuck as a worm used for fishing
-blackjack terminology. in one stretch of business coverage last month, the phrase “double down” was used three times in four days

i think this is a little bit frightening. why are is this huge crisis being façaded as a light-hearted game? and whose game is it? i don't think we readers are being taken in, necessarily; i'm not insinuating that the media is PULLING THE WOOL OVER THE IDEAS OF JOE AMERICAN. but it does seem vexing that the metaphors are all so casual, that the only way to handle a crisis of this magnitude is with non-ironic entertainment comparisons.

durham, partyham

attractive local designers flywheel are throwing the cutest party with free pbrs on thursday night!

O B A M A 

ON THE DOUBLE

truly demonstrable of their goodheartedness is that they've posted their gorgeously created wallpaper so you don't have to pull posters off streetlights in order to snag one.

never-ending financial story NEFS

kiplinger (finally! someone!) has decent advice to normal people about what they can do in the current meltdown. i'm not a big stock-owner myself... my 401k is unfortunately invested in far muckier mire. however, i do think this is the first evidence i've seen of someone trying to appeal to common sense and rationality in financial matters-- something that has been sore lacking of late.

lolbailoutz

those cats are way cuter than those cats.

via boing boing and ape lad.

how i spent my summer vacation

researching my city:

boarding the water taxi

skimming the waves of new york harbor

hanging around p.s. 1

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site: pedestrian pier at 70th+hudson river

lonely gantry

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study model

final model

death // life

a common approach to sociological history is to presuppose that one is a future archaeologist, discovering remnants of one's own civilization. what will they make of our laptop computers? what will they make of our plastic? how will we communicate with this future version of us?

i have always thought that this "thought technique" is helpful only in a very schematic sense; sort of the same way i regard adam smith's "the rational actor". i think a healthy dose of skepticism is required to separate the important layers where the presupposition is applicable from the rest of the situation, where it is not. it is important to analyze the breakdown of the schematic-- why it works schematically but not in real life.

for example, i think it is useful to consider "future archaeologists" when thinking about sustainable living habits and planetary stewardship: large picture, long range, effects within a small range of variability. i do not support this standpoint when it backs theories of human cultural events or sociological change. this is unacceptable precisely because the historical organization of humanity has been a consistently tangentially changing treatment of itself. change is the very basis for our culture and the change can not be predicted in terms of past trends. and this analogy is particularly vexing because our civilization is unlikely to be so completely eradicated as to produce future archaeologists that fail to recognize a single shard of today's humanity.

so, all that aside for a moment. what if humans found a way to dependably capture immortality? i'm mostly interested in our treatment of the past and how we've projected it onto the future... namely, we respect our ancestry and predecessors because they are dead and we will also soon be dead. it is that cyclic aspect of death and life that keeps humanity invested in the past. speaking about death as an essential element of humanity, helene cixous says the hopelessness of grief and the destitution of death are the most urgent reason for not renouncing our human heritage. "our lost pains are our ultimate goods, our silence renders a sound beyond the ear."

if humans were immortal would we forget our connection to humanity's past? and if that were the case, a "future archaeologist" could very well come across the remnants of our civilization with consternation. it is more likely that our civilization will re-transform itself so completely as to fail to recognize our own motherland. that's the scary part about the impending post-modern global apocalypse that we're so obsessed with talking about lately... not that we'll be wiped out completely so much as that we will change so cataclysmically that our own past will be incomprehensible.

visiting the pacific northwest

and despite expected weather blahs, it's quite nice. heading out to the SIFF tomorrow which looks sort of promising.

BUT! this is the thing of note... SPANK ROCK IS FEATURED IN A SALAD DRESSING COMMERCIAL!!!! FOR WISHBONE BRAND SALAD DRESSING'S NEW HEALTHY LINE THAT IS "PACKED WITH DELICIOUS CHUNKS OF VEGETABLES..."

i'll dispense with the caps. you can check it here! i almost never watch tv and i choked on my beverage when this commercial came on. after all, spank rock is so DELICIOUSLY filthy-mouthed. i like them because they have a song-- /coke & wet bitch guns nigga holla/ <-- and that line is pretty much the extent of the lyrics. it's pretty genius with some kickin beats and not at all mentally coordinated with salad-dressing-buying-habits.

new product

finally, the contact solution you've been waiting for! cleans, sterilizes and rinses your contact lenses with the added bonus of beta carotene!

for too long, the only natural way to improve your eyesight was to "eat more carrots"... tired of carrot crunching? want better eyesight? try our new contact solution plus beta carotene! cleanses as well as the expensive brands, but adds a little bonus: better vision!

in a new non-staining formula!

just in time for passover...

translation of a text i received at approximately 1:30 am last night.

notes to self

reverend billy looks totally awesome. the church of stop shopping is going on my list of ecclesiastical-yet-secular sunday morning entertainments. right after the church of craft.

happy birthday, mr jefferson!

sounds like an onion headline, but it's not!

woman arrested for dancing at the jefferson memorial

passport breaches

it shouldn't be news to you anymore that the three candidates in the '08 presidential election have had their passport files illegally accessed. however, i think that it is worth discussing the media-ted response to the event itself. this msnbc article, like so many other poorly-orchestrated communications, works so hard for little return. the actual information is that the files of all three candidates were looked at by state department employees. this is illegal, as anyone's private information belongs only to its individual owner. the information that is communicated in this article is 7% the aforementioned fact. the other, oh 90% or so, is attempting to get your hackles up-- your favorite candidate was violated! s/he could be compromised by this setback! or, what if those state department buffoons are illegally accessing my information RIGHT NOW?

relax, jimbo. this is an absurdity. the files were breached, it happened. there should be no "fallout", no emotional media response other than to note that this is illegal, and we shouldn't stand for illegal actions within the administrations of our federal government. that's it-- that's all there is to say. the candidates themselves seemed appropriately offended that perhaps their personal data had been compromised (that is to say, viewed by someone else.) i might be upset if someone pulled my records unnecessarily to examine them for (personal?) gain.

it just seems silly to promulgate conspiracy theories based on this. obama visited a muslim country? ok, good! he should go see how the rest of the world operates before he endeavors to become our leader to parlay with that world. mccain went overseas? okay, wasn't he in a war? it's also plain to me (especially in light of the recent spitzer catastrophe), that public figures are PUBLIC FIGURES. yes, they should expect a decent amount of privacy, the same guaranteed to any other american. however, it doesn't seem unreasonable that the voting public, the selfsame public they endeavor to represent, should have the access to knowledge about the candidates. i don't need to know the minutia of my candidate's life choices, but i do think that as a public figure, one would expect to reveal more details of one's life for public scrutiny. it's part of the gauntlet of representation that accompanies public office.

the spitzer ordeal was especially painful to me because it seems that we live in an increasingly transparent world, where hiding information requires a considerable amount of skill and discipline. i would hope that my elected representatives would spend their time engaging in activities promote the public good, and not re-structuring their finances to hide illegal activities. obviously, spitzer is an extreme case. but i feel like it defines something more concrete that we should insist on in our elected officials. glastnost! perestroika! yes yes, we neeeeeeeeeeeeeed to know what they're doing! yes, i'm not trying to fool anyone: i'm going to judge them, and their ability to fulfill their duty. it is that level of responsibility that we should demand from our public servants, and we should be holding them to that level of intense scrutiny. i believe that is something that comes with public office, and if you shy away from the critical public eye (assuming there is one...) well, perhaps you don't deserve the position.

"Maybe," thought Francie, "she doesn't love me as much as she loves Neeley. But she needs me more than she needs him and I guess being needed is almost as good as being loved. Maybe better."
-betty smith's fabulous a tree grows in brooklyn


lots of posts to come about thermodynamics, nola, jose gonzalez live, some stuff on other music.... and pi day! just no time for typing, sadly.

i'm thinking of a dream i had

last night, it went like this:

i was home at my parents place for awhile during what felt like winter break, but there was no discernible christmas goings-on. i decided that the downtime was good for getting in some physical fitness, so i went to the track at my high school to run a little. in my dream, the track was different than it normally is; it was inside and worked its way around the gym. there was a concert going on in the gym during my jog, amy winehouse was singing her heart out. as i was on the outside, i could hear it and hear the commentary, which was less like sports-commentary and more like talking-heads-narrating-a-parade.

after my jog, i went home. i told my mom about amy winehouse's concert which i saw for FREE. since my mom's out of the loop on pop culture sometimes, i filled her in on amy winehouse's "soul chantuese of the century" status. my mom didn't bat an eye, and said, "that's nice, honey... you know amy's staying with us, right?" i'd been getting something out of the fridge while talking to my mom, and there sitting at the dining room table was a mute amy winehouse. she had really red pouty lips. i'm a little flabbergasted, and my mom explains that she really loves amy's music, and amy needed a place to stay during her 7-night tour of the high school gym. so she's staying with us. and it's a little upsetting because everyone in the family has a cold right now, so they can't properly enjoy the time with amy.

my mom reached into the fridge for what first appeared as cold medecine she was going to dole out to my illin' family members. but then i saw it was coke! she was fixin' to freebase a little coke to make ease the flu! i protested, again flabbergasted, and she countered with, "oh honey, it's just fine for colds. everyone will feel better in a jif!" and then she served coke to amy winehouse.

the end!

conjur woman @ la mama etc

CONJUR WOMAN: folk opera.

when i first heard the title, i wondered how "folk" and "opera" could cooperate. i'll spare you webster's thoughts on those words, but it to me, folkish elements are earthy, emotional, rootsy, commutual, raw. and the operatic is educated, particular, effortful, high-minded, pretentious. do not be confused as to the auspices of conjur woman; it only uses "opera" as a formal structure, a thematic medley of songs. conjur woman is all folk.

it's also a one-woman show that runs about fifty minutes. and it's constant singing, which is a testament to the amazing power of the voice of the conjur woman, obie-winner sheila dabney. one woman, three musicians, and a bare stage composed entirely of wooden planks. these planks served a dual purpose. on one hand, they illustrate the folk show's bare bones, populace-of-scarcity style; and on the other, they underscore one of the play's major thematic elements: the verticality, the axiality, and the naturality of trees.

in the songs of the conjur woman, trees illustrate love and escape, the comforts of passion and the anxiety-stricken way out. in an especially evocative set of cadences, she uses her magic rituals to transform her lover into a tree so he'll be safe from the villanous grasp of white slave-traders. yes. this emotional event, its rising action and aftermath, are conveyed in a 50-minute set of songs. and the communication isn't easily done, the entire production seemed challenged to maintain the ritualistic emotions over the time period.

i think the opening scene was the strongest, the most arresting. the conjur woman limps on the stage with the aid of bluesy guitar chords. her body pains her and her memories pain her, and when she opens her mouth to sing, you feel her pain. her opening lament is a thing of great beauty. i could feel my heart in my throat as she sang about what she had lost. this begs the question (that we should all consider during the month of february,) what color could tears be other than black?

Photographer: Brian Hilg
courtesy David Gibbs/DARR Publicity.

the rhythmic guitar and her rich, earthy voice illustrated the anguish and the simplicity and the animalistic qualities of the tale before it even began. unfortunately, the opening song was so compelling and so well orchestrated that the rest of the play couldn't quite maintain the same level of emotional communication.

my companion and i discussed afterwards our own guilt at failing to pay attention during the middle of the show. it was obviously intended to be emotional and absorbing, except that it didn't have an overall narrative shape that was designed to hold one's attention for fifty minutes. i realized, though, that this is okay. while not paying exact attention to every utterance from the conjur woman, my thoughts drifted towards magic and sexuality and rhythm and religion. and this is the nature of folk. we love it because it brings out unusual, yet natural things in our own selves.

the tale sung by the conjur woman isn't the six o'clock news: it is a Tale. both and operatic and consummate, this play is about Folk and Telling. it is her journey in emotional communication, and if we are caught up in the eddies of our own emotions, then our journeys have been enriched and counterpointed by hers.