"Man," I wondered, "Why is Dallin acting like he doesn't know me?" Then suddenly SWEET JESUS TWO DALLINS:

Living in a Powder Keg and Giving Off Sparks

Popular love songs are like new age spirituality: Supremely cheesy, which makes it that much more annoying when you find out that some of them are accurate descriptions of important things. They're unlike new age spirituality in that these days I _can_ _not_ _get_ _enough_.

Let's stick with "Cash Monet Caravita"

Apparently 12 visitors to my blog were sorely disappointed. They bounced pretty quick.

Deals

Any time you want me to wait in line to buy us some food that you'll pay for, you go right ahead and ask.

That Time Of Year

I can't believe I still haven't had an excuse to talk about the flyest way of calling an election.

Fine Arts

Arts Days with Dad continued Saturday. We started at the market, where we found the best balloon artist I've ever seen. If I'd had $5, I'd have asked for a set of wings for myself.

Then back to the Art Gallery, for the Lawren Harris/Walter Phillips/Emily Carr goodness that we had saved for today. No pictures allowed, except when you're having restorative coffee to prepare for the next round of beauty:

The Dad's Visit

My Dad is in town, to attend the My-Dad-Is-In-Town Conference, obviously:

He's kind of a big deal. You can tell because all of those Dr.s are, like, Doctor-Doctors. I took him to see the AGA, which we got in to for free!

The AGA is currently hosting a series of exhibits with the following theme: "Give Phil Stendahl Syndrome." - Brian Jungen, Lawren Harris, Walter J. Phillips, Emily Carr, and some seriously magnificent carved Haida art objects, along with modern works that Robert Davidson created using what he calls the traditional grammar of Haida art. I died.

Then we went out for apple-mango-tofu, which Dad avoided bodily.

Guh, the world.

This is the line for people buying coffee. It extends past a table at which Engineers Without Borders will offer to give you free fair trade coffee. I am disheartened.

Go Go Gadget Music!

Having a place of solace or excitement along my commute can make a huge difference. Moonlit Waterloo Park is out, here, so I'm glad I have the Fine Arts Building.

Onigiri for 日本

This is the highest-energy bake sale I've ever seen. Most people don't hold the signs at all, let alone run around shouting happily while holding them over their heads. And when they find out you're their Japanese-speaking Linguistics sensei, they go APESHIT with the 礼s and gozaimasses. They'll be back Friday, if you'd like some of that.

No plan at all is not the plan

Getting across this bridge wasn't always easy. But after 7 years, 1 psychiatrist, 5 counselors, 5 types of antidepressants (from three different classes), more doctors than I can count and more destroyed relationships and wasted life than I can stand to think about, I found something that actually works. Believe me as someone who's been through it, and who knows that it's usually impossible to believe: Getting happy is possible. And being happy is worth it. I promise.

There is No-one to Dispute My Claim

The nice thing about teaching linguistics is that you get to draw examples from whatever piece of language you want.

The... On Season?

I'm too poor to ski, so michelle suggested snowshoeing. And she was right! They make everything more fun. Eating muffins:
Flying kites:Flat-out running:All on the surface of a pair of frozen lakes.

The Off Season

I wanted to take michelle to see the Icefields, but I didn't think to check to see if they were closed. They were, probably because they looked like this:

And there was no wind for kite flying, and Lac Beauvert was actually Lac Beaublanc:

But the mountains were more beautiful than usual, glowing blue through the mist:

And the wildlife still came out to see us:

Just FYI

This is what the inside of a horned melon looks like. It's good, once you don't expect it to be sweet or juicy. It's a little more.... like.... soap, I guess.

Borscht Night

michelle is over for the week! We made borscht and brie-and-pear sandwiches for a few good friends. Mary brought wine and beet-graters. Pud brought veggie stock and his Baba's borscht recipe, and took these pictures.

Science at Home

Vinegar and Baking soda is supposed by some to unclog sinks. It might have worked - it was at least as effective as an entire bottle of Drano, which is to say, not effective at all.

Attitude

I think I can do about 10 of these, but I don't know what they are.

Pizza Parties are Good Plans

That, my friends, is an apple and Maraschino Cherry Pizza.

Some Kind of Good Day

I brought Gus into the acoustic music shop to show her off to Pud and his friends, and to get advice on how to electrify her. And what should he tell me, but that Trevor Tchir was playing next door in an hour? That was delight enough for one day, and yet there was still the Philosophy La Haine party left to enjoy.

YES PLEASE

Is this the thing? For me?

Songs From The Black Hole

I think I'm addicted to this record. Sometimes I listen to it for so many consecutive hours that I get scared and decide to quit listening to music altogether. Then, after about 12 hours, I suddenly have to listen to it again and read about how it was put together and download tabs and modify whatever I can to play on my cigar-box guitar.

Some reviewers think I stopped liking anything Weezer recorded after 1996 because I stopped having new embarrassing teenaged thoughts about girls and loneliness when I turned 20. I prefer to think that the reason Pinkerton failed commercially and critically is exactly what made it so good: Few grown-up people were ready to admit that they still had embarrassing teenaged thoughts about girls or boys and loneliness, and here was Rivers Cuomo, screaming and whining about exactly what we were ashamed to admit that we felt.

Then again, maybe Pinkerton was so good because the songs managed to combine power-rock excitement with musically delicious arrangements and moving vocal explosions, and I should feel ashamed that I identify with the borderline-creepy lyrics. But whatever. At least it makes me say it out loud.

The Science to Raise Spirits

I made a mixed-tape of super-fun happy songs in January. I called it the Super Fun Happy mix, but now I know what I should have called it.

The Fractal Uglies

I'm documenting the state of my apartment. It has gone beyond the predictable empty-pizza-boxes-and-unwashed-dishes stage, and into a fresher, more bizarre stage: If you just walk through my living room, you'll come out with CD-shard glitter on your hands and twigs and bark on your socks. And the dining room table is messy at every level of magnification:

.... and I've got a house guest coming in less than a week.

JUICE BOX

I got my amp put together! After a little 1am hole-drilling, I have what feels like a thing of beauty. It's perfect. Except it doesn't, like, work. You know, yet.

No Limits

It took me upwards of 24 hours to realize that this was a joke. I badly wanted a no-limit snowman during all of that time.

Fly Gear

At first I thought I was booed of the stage for being too Will Smith at a Carlton Banks party. Then I watched the video of my performance in the dance contest. This is something that you will not do.

It works! It works!

The amp circuit works! It plays and distorts my guitar AND picks up radio signals. Prepare to have your face blazed.

The Learnèd

I tried to get a picture of Chris when he was earnestly poring over ancient documents and looking studious, but Olivia intervened.