Found In the Woods

Saw Belle & Sebastian last Sunday night at the 9:30 Club. The show was fantastic. This was my second time seeing them there, the first time being on the Dear Catastrophe tour. The opening band, The New Pornographers, were great too. Their energy was massive and they were incredibly tight. Their drummer was hilarious. He was twirling and tossing his drumsticks and never missed a beat while taking generous swigs from a tank of, what looked like, gin or whiskey. He even shared with the other bandmembers at different times.

B&S came on and did a wonderful show. They opened with Stars of Track and Field – a slow one and a favorite of mine. They played a handful of new stuff, most of which I don’t really care for, and a good dose of oldies, including String Bean Jean, Century of Fakers, Electronic Renaissance, I Don’t Love Anyone & The State that I am In, another favorite of mine. The banter from the band was wonderful. At one point Stuart took his shirt off and requested a small v-neck from the merchandise counter in the back. The crowd passed it forward and he put it on, even though the thing was extremely tight… his mannerisms were hilarious. They played a beatles cover “Birthday” for one of their sound engineers who’s 40th b-day it was, which was a real treat because of how simply and tight the song was performed. I imagined the beatles themselves were performing. Discourse about the Scottish vs. American social practice and limits on public discussion about sex were hilarious; using colloquialism vs. being up front and overt, basically.

All in all an enjoyable night. The crowd at these shows is typically very friendly. Take, for example, the guy behind me who blew smoke in my ear twice. When I finally turned around and gave him a nasty glare, he apologised profusely. A few moments later he tapped my shoulder and offered me a drink he’d purchased at the nearby bar. I thanked him and politely refused (I don’t take candy from strangers), but come on – you would never see that at a Rob Zombie show. Aside from the turds in the “VIP” section (artsy-fartsy morons armed with cameras, picture phones, blackberries and cliches) the crowd was respectable (quiet enough to hear a pindrop during Stuart’s piano solos in Fox in the Snow) and fun.

You can listen to the second night’s show on NPR Here.

MoCo Park Police is teh suck! I got a parking ticket back in January for parking after sunset in the Bethesda Pool overflow lot on Little Falls Pkwy. in Bethesda. The ticket was an exorbitant $50. My gut instinct was to fight the power. I mean, I’d parked there for years and never had a problem – even after dark. So I mailed in my ticket choosing for a trial. I wasn’t going to go without a fight.

Then I realized (shortly after) that not only was I going to have to take a half day of work to go to court, but I would have to spend time preparing my case (if you can call it that). All for a $50 ticket. I convinced myself that it was all about principle and the money was irrelevant. Well, after today’s court appearance, I wish I’d bit the bullet and paid the fine just to get it over with.

I was there for an hour and change before they called my case. The judge was nice and very professional throughout the day. I was terribly nervous (I think because it was my first time before a judge) and did, what I thought, was a pretty good job stating my case. The crux of my argument was:

1. 1) I was using a MoCo Parks lot.
2. 2) On the Capitol Crescent Trail website it states that the trail is owned & run by MoCo and that the trail is open to commuters after dark.
3. 3) The parking lot is listed as approved by the CCT as a parking lot for trail users.

The officer pointed out that the lot was not a “commuter” parking lot. The judge asked if the sign there states this. She said yes. Well, at this point I was screaming inside because I had planned on driving over to the lot to snap pics of the signs but just figured that I wouldn’t need them since I already had the materials I thought I’d need to make my case. Now I’m going to go over there and take pictures just on principle to see if it really does state that. In all my memory, I’ve never seen verbage on the sign that states it is not for commuter use.

Anyway, that’s most of the story. The judge found me “guilty” but was nice enough to lower the fine to $15, but tacked on the court costs of $22.50. Add the $6.50 credit card processing fee (COMPLETE BULLSHIT) and I ended up paying $44. The original ticket was only $6 more. In principle, I did what was right. In actuality I’ve learned my lesson and next time those wankers leave a ticket on my car I’m going to tear it up and… I mean, pay the fine and be on my way.

I’m not one to subscribe too often to trends – most of the time they bore me to death or are already played out. The other day I read an article in the Washington Post about the increased popularity of Moleskine (see title for prononunciation) notebooks. These little black notebooks are the neatest thing I’ve seen in ages. I had to have one. Amazon.com to the rescue, 3 days later it’s in my hands and I must say I’m most pleased.

The book has a great feel to it – the cover is strong but not too heavy. The paper is high quality and I love the way that it curls ever so slightly after being opened for a while. In the back is a small accordion folder for small papers (a surprise to me). There’s a simple ribbon bookmark, ever so handy. And, of course, there’s the elastic band to keep your book closed or the pages from fluttering around.

I dig the Moleskine. I have written in a journal/notebook off and on since college and I treasure each and every one. They are a window into my past, into a time when thought flowed much more freely and in different streams of consciousness. I hope that my thoughts, sketches and words will find a comfy home in this new book.

Update After a little bit more searching, I uncovered a veritable Moleskine city online! The fans are everywhere. There is a great Flickr pool here showing various notebooks.

So it’s been a few weeks since my last post here. I know, I know, it’s bad. I really don’t want this blog to go the way so many seem to go when they evaporate from not being used. It’s just that sometimes inspiration and material can be hard to come by or hard to formulate into something coherent. Moments come and go and don’t always stick around for me to remember. So a few updates:

• Baby #2 – Kristin is out of the horrible first trimester and into a much better place. She’s feeling so much better now, despite a nagging cold. The baby is doing very well and is starting to kick a little here and there. Kris’ belly is starting to really show. Due date is 7/10.
• Renovations – we’ve come a long way. As of today, the floor has been repaired, the tub installed, the walls replaced, the wiring done, 2 coats of paint, a new window and frame and a new door. Today the tiler is installing the new floor tiles. It’s looking great – pics are up in the Gallery too.
• Model RR – I’ve made some great progress – more pics are up in the Gallery too.

So that’s it for now. I’ve got lots going on these days, just trying to get stuff done and wrap up loose ends. I’ve been selling monster amounts of stuff on eBay lately (see link on the right side of the page) which has been a blast. I’ve also been playing lots more poker (and doing better at it). Probably the biggest bummer as of late was last weekend with the aborted Oozy Bachelor Party – our flight was cancelled and we couldn’t make it out to Mexico. It sucked. More info & pics can be found here.

We held another classic HALO2 Multiplayer game night @ SUBSYSTEMs last Friday. Was a lot of fun. I miss the good ‘ol days of HALO CE. Things seemed a lot tighter back then – fewer options and simpler game play. Pics by Sgt Fun are up in my Gallery.

I’m a long time eBay user. Since 1998, I think. I’ve got a Seller rating of 160, 100% positive feedback. I use Garage Sale on my Mac to expedite multiple listings. I love digging the junk out of the basement, snapping a pic and putting it up as an offering to the scavengers of the world. It is so pleasing; purging. I once sold two empty beat-up Transformers boxes for $40 in a matter of hours after a buyer PayPal’ed the money to me. Something for everyone.

But, it doesn’t come without cost. Sure, you’re going to sell your junk and make a little money on the side. That’s sweet. But on Saturday I suffered a nearly mind-frying experience as I tried to manage packing, payment & shipping for nearly 20 of the 40 or so auctions I’m running right now. The worst part of eBay is the shipping process. Weighing stuff takes time, as does negotiating with buyers once the auction has closed. Some folks have special requests – others are foreign and the cost of shipping can nearly quadruple the cost of the item. Thankfully, on a tip from a friend, I’ve been experimenting with flat rate shipping – so far, so good. USPS will mail you, for free, all sorts of Priority Mail supplies – and you can print labels online.

So, next time I try to list 40 items on eBay all at once remind me of the babble-inducing Monday home from work in the basement surrounded by boxes, packing materials and my laptop where I nearly lost my mind.

Some protestors today appeared in front of the Attorney General with their backs turned carrying a banner paraphrasing Benjamin Franklin. The quote is fantastic:

“Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.”

More here.

So we’ve decided to take the plunge and do our first major remodeling. Up to bat first is the upstairs bathroom which we’ve always thought was a bit small and dingy in places. Second is the kitchen. We’ll be doing a complete remodel, gutting each room down to the studs and building up from there. So far we’ve done tons of research and planning and are finally about ready to get things going on the bathroom… we just need to decide on a faucet & paint color.

One of the familes that owned our house (probably about 10 years ago) did a lot of really poor quality work, which we’ve been correcting since we moved in four years ago. For example, in the tub surround, tiles which were removed for one reason were replaced with the wrong tiles and also in the wrong pattern. They also used grey grout, where everything else is white. The doorway has been chiseled away in places to make room for the door. In the kitchen the backsplash of the counter is about an inch from the wall. The floor tiles are sliding (they’re “stick-on” vinyl squares) around. The other day while going for a fork, the face of one of our drawers just came off in my hand. Time for a redo.

This can be a tremendously stressful process, especially when you have two opinionated persons vying for small details that go into two of the busiest, most heavily used rooms in the house. One thing I’ve learned is that compromise and sacrifice are your two best friends in this process. We’ve managed to steer clear of any huge blow-ups, but the stress is still high. I was adamant that we have no over-the-range microwave. I wanted to build a cabinet. Kris quickly nipped that in the bud and I have come to love the microwave/hood combo. We’re leaning more and more toward stainless trim on everything, which is what I wanted. All in all, we’re getting a new kitchen & bathroom and it’s gonna kick ass.

EDIT: Pics are up here!

Well, here we go again! 🙂 Baby #2 at 15 wks, due 7/8/06.

I know it’s the middle of January, but for some reason today felt a little like spring. Yeah, it’s been a wee bit warmer lately but that’s not it. Sometimes I get knocked back into a place that I really, really like. I think it’s chemical. It’s sort of a state of nostalgia, but in a good way. An inspiring way.

I find myself spurred on by some distant motivation that drives me to complete projects and get ahead with life. (Last few weeks I’ve poured a new concrete step out front, troubleshooted my home network, plowed through BitTorrent downloads and got stuff together, worked on my model railroad, read my Bible, recycled, cleaned, sorted, purged, sold and spent lots of time with family) So much lately has been a fog of one thing after another blinding me from what’s important and really needs attention. I’ve realized that to get ahead in a cluttered life one has to take baby steps. Finish one thing, check it off, move on to the next without adding anymore things. It’s like getting into and out of debt.

Lately I’ve finished a few things here and there and the progress feels nice. I’m still a mad scatterbrain, finding waning focus at work and laziness in general throughout my life. But, as I said, something has appeared… a light at the end of the tunnel, maybe. Some old happiness and joy is motivating me towards a better life – towards completing things and getting on with what’s important. It makes me happier.