Today is a big housekeeping post, plus bloggage. I’m hoping that tying up loose ends and answering reader requests here will inspire me to do the same in my physical space. Kate brought home the contents of her desk and locker this week, which apparently are like those little cars that the clowns pile out of. What am I bid for a pink plastic recorder, people?
Starting things off, someone — Joel Nelson, it says on the packing slip — sent me this CD, “Lazarus Beach,” by a band called Through the Sparks. I’m having a horrible senior moment, wondering if someone offered to send it and I said yeah, or if it was just unsolicited. Whatever, I appreciate it. Noodling around the band’s website, it seems they’re blurbing their blog mentions, so let me add one. Disclosure: I stole it from my husband. Ahem:
“Reminds me of Guided by Voices.”
I simply cannot top the band’s own self-description, from their website again: While there are still the noise and synth-laden marshes, horn and big-harmony choruses and crescendos loom over beds of ukulele, honky-tonk piano, funeral home organ and pedal steel. Of course, there’s still a copious amount of gleaming guitars and a few signature triplet beats.
Booyah.
A few random snapshots (click for larger):
The new behind-the-garage space, by reader request:
You can see the grass is starting to come in. Spriggy can’t wait to pee on it. No, I don’t know why that tree is already dropping yellow leaves. I suspect it has Detroit Tree Death Syndrome; you have never seen so much standing deadwood in your life as in this area. Most of it is because of the emerald ash borer, another product of globalization — it’s an Asian native. That tree is not an ash, but maybe it’s dying in sympathy.
This handsome devil was waiting on my pool chair the other day:
Yes, it’s the dawning of fish-fly season here in the Pointes. Last year I vowed to have a new video camera by June, so I could shoot my long-planned short feature: “Night of the Fish Flies.” Oh, well.
If you’re trying to reach me via cell phone lately, try an e-mail. I lost it yesterday (bad news). Now I can get an iPhone (good news). Not really — I need a $600 cell phone like I need a $100 million diamond skull — but I guess I can dream. Besides, I have faith the pink Razr will turn up somewhere. As I tell Kate, it’s not lost, you just can’t see it at the moment.
UPDATE: Found it. And Alan, I also found your GPS quick-start guide, missing for eight months, in the same place (under the driver’s seat in my car).
LA Mary wants a T-shirt with this on it, and OMG, so do I:
Mitch Harper says he has a line on custom T-shirts; maybe he can hook us up.
Because I know how bad summer Fridays in the office can be, Iron Butterfly line dancing:
I said I had bloggage, but I don’t want to break the mood of the Iron Butterfly. But if you’re in a self-punishing mood, join me and Glenn Greenwald in our mystification that a journalist with a national platform (Chris Matthews), would say something like this about a presidential candidate (Fred Thompson):
Does [Fred Thompson] have sex appeal? I’m looking at this guy and I’m trying to find out the new order of things, and what works for women and what doesn’t. Does this guy have some sort of thing going for him that I should notice? . . .
Gene, do you think there’s a sex appeal for this guy, this sort of mature, older man, you know? He looks sort of seasoned and in charge of himself. What is this appeal? Because I keep star quality. You were throwing the word out, shining star, Ana Marie, before I checked you on it. . . .
Can you smell the English leather on this guy, the Aqua Velva, the sort of mature man’s shaving cream, or whatever, you know, after he shaved? Do you smell that sort of — a little bit of cigar smoke? You know, whatever.
Yeah. You know, whatever. Have a swell weekend.
brian stouder said on June 15, 2007 at 9:30 am
If the tee shirt thing works out, I’ll order a “large” one of those fish fly shirts (a twofer – Nance’s finger, AND that handsome devil!), and we’ll skip the graceless Nancy.
I bet, given the way things go – if you ever DO move back to Columbus, the first thing that the folks who buy your current home will do is…..pave over the behind-the-garage-space (so as to be able to park their big-engined, environmentally unfirendly cigarette boat, or some such)
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LA mary said on June 15, 2007 at 10:08 am
The Glenn Greenwald article made my morning, especially the link to the photos of macho bloggers. Lileks is looking especially macho.
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alex said on June 15, 2007 at 10:54 am
My first ash borer casualty was removed this week. The idjits who charged $650 and said they’d cut it up firewood size evidently think I have a fireplace with an opening the size of a garage door. Nance, nice to see you’re doing your bed borders all curvaceous and queer-eye.
Fish flies — aren’t those the critters that form a heart shape when they hump?
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Jennifer said on June 15, 2007 at 11:25 am
What kind of tree is it? Does it need more acidity?
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nancy said on June 15, 2007 at 11:39 am
Excellent question. It’s some sort of spring-flowering nothing-much. I’d say crabapple but we don’t get fruit from it. It’s not a Bradford pear, that ubiquitous yawn of a tree. But if I had to say, I’d say crabapple.
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LA mary said on June 15, 2007 at 12:46 pm
I don’t think Thompson smells like English Leather or Acqua Velva. I think he likely smells like expensive scotch and pancake makeup. Check out his wife too.
I’m not hearing about family values so much this time around. Too many second or third wives in the mix. I’m glad to see that my mayor has decided to take the Giuliani approach to marriage. He moved back home and his soon to be ex is staying in the mayor’s residence.
And yes, I know Antonio personally. He’s my neighbor. But you all suspected that, didn’t you.
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Danny said on June 15, 2007 at 1:33 pm
Fish flies — aren’t those the critters that form a heart shape when they hump?
Nah, they form the shape of a four-leaf clover. Hence the term “gettin’ lucky.”
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alex said on June 15, 2007 at 2:44 pm
Hell, let’s dispense with the debates, the campaign fund-raising, all of it. Let’s just have the candidates whip it out and the next president will be the one whose little soldier is bigger.
I think Obama’s our man.
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nancy said on June 15, 2007 at 2:49 pm
I will not make a Hillary joke.
I will not make a Hillary joke.
I will NOT make a Hillary joke.
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Joe Kobiela said on June 15, 2007 at 2:53 pm
I will,
Based on that she wins
Joe
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brian stouder said on June 15, 2007 at 3:11 pm
Who would the femal equivalent of Chris Matthews be? Baba Wawa?
She could open The View this way –
Does [Hillary Clinton] have sex appeal? I’m looking at this woman and I’m trying to find out the new order of things, and what works for men and what doesn’t. Does this woman have some sort of thing going for her that I should notice? . . .
Rosie, do you think there’s a sex appeal for this woman, this sort of mature, older woman, you know? She looks sort of seasoned and in charge of herself. What is this appeal? Because I keep star quality. You were throwing the word out, shining star, Ana Marie, before I checked you on it. . . .
Can you smell the Chanel on this gal, the Donna Karan, the sort of mature woman’s fragrance, or whatever, you know, after she dresses in the morning? Do you smell that sort of — a little bit of Frederic Fekkai hair spray? You know, she’s a MILF, right? Whatever.
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Scout said on June 15, 2007 at 3:14 pm
Obama, huh? Are we stereotyping much? 🙂
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LA mary said on June 15, 2007 at 3:24 pm
…and then there’s Dennis Kucinich.
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alex said on June 15, 2007 at 3:48 pm
Mister Coochie Nishy.
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LA mary said on June 15, 2007 at 5:39 pm
Speaking of geriatric power smells. a quote I recalled from a couple of years ago:
Hollywood actress Julianne Moore provided a shock during an interview – when she enjoyed a same-sex kiss with Barbara Walters. Moore, who made lip contact with actress Toni Collette in her Oscar- nominated turn in acclaimed movie The Hours, chatted with Barbara Walters in the postponed post-Oscars special, which will now air in America on Tuesday. During the interview, Walters comments on Moore’s kiss with Collette, adding, “And you have said that it’s more pleasant to kiss a woman than to kiss a man.” Moore answers, “I think what I said was, Toni’s so pretty, and her skin was so soft, and she smelled so nice. And there wasn’t any issue. It felt very comfortable and non-threatening.” Walters inquires, “Am I threatening?” When Moore tells Walters she isn’t, the interviewer says, “Good, let’s try it.” “I kiss you?” asks Moore, with Walters responding, “That’s right. That’s fine.” After kissing her interrogator, Moore says, “See, isn’t that nice? How do I smell?” Walters replies, “Divine.”
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alex said on June 15, 2007 at 5:55 pm
And she didn’t bounce like a quarter off Barbara’s face job?
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LA mary said on June 15, 2007 at 6:01 pm
I didn’t see the actual kiss. Reading about it is good enough. That Babs, so coy.
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Kim said on June 15, 2007 at 10:25 pm
OK, so I read La Mary (note: I am purposely lower-casing the ‘a’ in “La”, because in my mind the woman who posts as LA Mary is “La Mary,” as in The Mary, to me. So there.) writing about that likely presidential TV candidate from her ‘hood (or nearby on a lot) smelling of pancake makeup and expensive scotch. Except I read “expensive crotch,” which kills.
And I knew Antonio V. was your neighbor — had to be. Also, I remember the Julianne Moore thing; she was so direct, so actorly (sp?) it was disarming.
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Kim said on June 15, 2007 at 11:06 pm
Forgot to say that Aqua Velva made me laugh aloud … and think of Hai Karate! (or however it’s spelled)
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joel nelson said on June 15, 2007 at 11:35 pm
Nancy, Well…a strange culture we live in where you have become in some way… all six degrees of separation. Joel Nelson here…and here is how I happened to send you a copy of the tape Lazarus Beach by my son’s band TTS. It really is a great play (I think). And I thought I would send copies to interested parties..talent agents, radio stations, etc. Emmy Lou Harris perhaps I thought since she was born in our hometown of B’ham, Al.. somehow your blog appeared when I typed in her name’s fan site. You had this friendly countenance that I identified with a friend of the family so…I figured maybe if I sent you a cd you might reply that you were indeed a EMH fan and would call me and give me her address or pass it on to her somehow. I thought if I sent these cd(s) via Barnes and Noble, a highly respected brand, that most (recipients) would give it a second look, play it, etc… especially some college radio stations might add it to some playlists…(don’t hang up! it gets better (or worse). Well, anyway, checking further to find your address I discovered you are a well respected journalist that I had read many articles on… i.e. Smart Money (my fav financial rag) Somehow recall found the article and there you were. I then went to the Gross Point(e?) address book and there you were again with/Derringer. So after all this, I decided to send it anyway. So hope you enjoy it. It is gaining a little attention. The first song on the cd is L.Roi andwas selected to be on Paste Magazine’s cd sampler. They have also got many good reviews in other music mags… Well, I guess I am just proud of it and them….back to 6 degrees… today my other son typed in Through the Sparks and somewhere in all the mix he noted your blog of today…Well, Nancy..what about that!!!! your (new) friend … Joel Nelson.
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Danny said on June 16, 2007 at 8:36 am
…and think of Hai Karate!
My life is like that. In my dreams.
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Jolene said on June 17, 2007 at 9:15 pm
Chiming in late here re Chris Matthews: Granted he is goofy in certain ways, but I do think he gets to the core of what draws people to other people, and whatever it is that people find appealing–a voice, a laugh, a look, a stance–influences voters more than you might like to think. He’s remarked more than once on Hillary’s voice and her tendency to sound like the stereotype of a nagging voice. I don’t like to hear him say it, but I have to admit that she often seems that way to me too. The debates, I think, have served her well, because she gets to show off how smart and knowledgeable she is, but doesn’t get to talk long, which means that the unfortunate aspects of her speaking style don’t appear as they do when she gives a real speech.
I think this is a real problem for women. Can anyone think of female politicians who are good at giving the kind of speeches that politicians typically give?
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Danny said on June 17, 2007 at 10:56 pm
Margarette Thatcher. She was a great leader.
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LA mary said on June 19, 2007 at 10:45 am
Jackie Goldberg, here in SoCal. She’s lefty and lesbian and all that, and gives a terrific speech. She started out in the Berkely Free Speech movement. Love or hate her politics, you can’t deny she’s a powerful speaker.
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