Originally published at kris dresen draws. Please leave any comments there.
Add to Memories — Tell a Friend — Link
 |
![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) b_zedan |
| 2008-07-04 18:08 |
| Clipping Service |
| Public |
|
Here we go— Compiled and posted via LoudTwitter
Post A Comment — Add to Memories — Tell a Friend — Link
 |
| b_zedan |
| 2008-07-04 17:42 |
| I love these tanks |
| Public |
| Black Sabbath - Heaven And Hell |
| photography |
|
Post A Comment — Add to Memories — Tell a Friend — Link
Internet, I'm far from you. There's a chance somebody here has a card that will connect me. If not, dream of me...
b
1 Comment — Post A Comment — Add to Memories — Tell a Friend — Link
 |
| cvillette |
| 2008-07-04 18:49 |
| How I spent my summer vacation, by Charles Villette, age 25 1/2 |
| Public |
 tired |
| Garbage - Metal Heart |
|
So we ate in the kitchen, with the Cowboy dashing out between thunderstorms to tend the grill. And even though I wasn't up to making chili verde yesterday, there was still chili verde, because Duke stepped in to pinch hit. And produced something delicious and spicy and indistinguishable from chili verde as I would have made it. (He confessed to using my recipe, such as it is, so that's not really surprising.)
And the Cowboy also made baked beans, and there were Dad's frijoles negros, and there were steaks and burgers and Gardenburgers and giant marinated portobello mushroom caps and chicken on the grill, and Wonder Woman brought something kind of amazing that looked like coleslaw but which she admitted was made with packaged shredded vegetables and ramen noodles and fruit and sesame seeds, and Mom brought three kinds of salad--fruit and a green salad and something with grapes and carrots that was really insanely good. And there were Wabbit's pies, of course, and Harpy brought home-made salsa (which she made herself without any help and only cut one finger) and chips.
So nobody needed me to cook, and we still ate like kings. Which was pretty nice, I guess. Even though I felt kind of like a fifth wheel. It was raining so much I didn't even get to hobble outside (maybe I should look into a walker) and criticize the Cowboy's grilling technique. I bet he squishes the burgers with a spatula.
So I wasn't needed at all, and I got to sit enthroned and be waited on.
And now I'm going to go put the leftover chicken I brought home out on the fire escape and see if the Angry Kitteh will come out of the rain, because I haven't seen her since I got back.
Sorry to turn off comments, guys, but I'm just not up to it right now. It's not about you, 'k?
Add to Memories — Tell a Friend — Link
 |
|
We spent a week in Tempe, searching for housing. My first choice didn't work out, but I found something good and signed the lease. I will have one enormous room and one medium sized room in a house. These together are a good bit larger than my studio apartment in Portland was. I also have my own bathroom and the shared kitchen and living room. This all is $550, utilities included, which is a pretty fantastic deal. I'm disappointed that I couldn't find a place with housemates I liked, but the advantage of this place is that I never have to see them if I don't want to. My personal space is HUGE. I plan to devote a chunk of it as a dedicated meditation/yoga space.
Even though I wasn't able to find housing with people I liked, I did manage to meet some pretty great people during the search. I made some good connections that will help me find community quickly. I feel I'm already further along with that than I was after many months in Portland. It's a good feeling to know that I will be able to find people there. Unfortunately, the most awesome person I met is moving away right as I'll be getting back. What I've found is that everyone I like the most sees Tempe as a temporary home, whether for school or other reasons. They don't want to stay long term. No real surprise there.
As crappy as Tempe seems to be, the rest of Arizona seems to be great. Sedona and Flagstaff were lovely, and I've heard great things about Tucson and Prescott. As we drove north, everything improved as soon as we left Phoenix. The desert was beautiful as soon as humans stopped fighting it and trying to make it temperate. We drove north to Sedona and spent a couple days camping there. For anyone (like Candy and I) who missed the memo, hiking in direct sunlight when it is over 100 degrees outside is a bad, bad idea. We were sapped of energy for the entire day, and the next as well. It was beautiful though.
From there we headed to the Grand Canyon, which is almost certainly the biggest damn hole in the ground you'll ever see. Also gorgeous, majestic, and mind boggling. We spent an evening there watching the sunset, and a morning hiking around. Most people walk on pavement to the rim, lean against the railings, and look out. I'm happy that Candy and I repeatedly chose to scramble down lower to find deserted precipices, so we could contemplate the wonder with more quiet and privacy. Highlights include singing and massage with strawberries and chocolate while looking over the canyon at sunset, and a morning spent in the shade of a Juniper whilst discussing poetry, philosophy, cosmology, neuroscience, and religion.
After the grand canyon, we drove to Las Vegas to see Cirque du Soleil's Mystere. It's quite a shock going from the grand canyon in the morning to Las Vegas in the evening. They're both enormous tourist destinations, but that's the only thing I can say they have in common. Cirque itself was great. Amazing acrobatics, and a wonderful visual spectacle. That said, I have to say that I was also a bit disappointed. I had had so many people tell me how amazing Cirque is and really build it up that by the time I finally saw them it was hard to live up to that. Also, I personally know some amazing acrobats and performers, and have trained with them as well. The cirque crew are undoubtedly more skilled and professional, but it is gradations on the same scale. It makes it seem much less unbelievable or stratospheric. I know enough to analyze what they're doing and see how the show is put together. On one hand, that makes it more amazing, because they really are great, but on the other hand it doesn't inspire wonder and awe in the same way. Also, the music was incredibly cheesetastic. Overall, I still have not found anything that moves, inspires, and impresses me in the same way as Pilobolus.
After the Cirque show, we spent the evening walking the strip. It seems that Vegas offers three things: gambling, entertainment shows (comedians, circus, cabaret, burlesque, etc.), and legal prostitution. I'm all for the shows. They're entertaining. The sex industry, I can understand the lure of, even though it is not to my taste. Gambling though? I don't get it. People pay lots of money to fly to Vegas and pay for a hotel, all for the opportunity to give their money away to greedy casino owners, in exchange for pushing a couple flashy buttons, prodding at some cards, or rolling some dice. How is giving away my money a thrill? Yes, you have a chance at winning, but everybody knows it isn't actually going to happen. That's why the casinos are still in business. That's a pretty paltry rush. What a sad existence. Hollywood would have us think that Vegas and gambling are luxurious and glamorous, the realm of well dressed high rollers with beautiful women and fast cars. And that probably is true for some. But the reality for most is far different. Vegas is entertainment for the masses. Throngs of overweight tourists from the midwest, Paris Hilton wannabes skanked out in poor attempts at fashion, women and men with skin so red, tanned, and saggy it's amazing they aren't getting chemo right now. "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas-" so this is where you can express your sublimated desires, the ones you can't admit to in polite company, where you can let yourself be the hedonistic pervert you only wish you could be in daylight. As a culture, can't we move past this bullshit? If we say it's okay to do this stuff in Vegas (and obviously we do, because we're voting with our money), it should be okay everywhere. Wanna gamble? Fine. Your choice to throw your money away. Pay for sex? Fine. If we sanction it in Nevada, it should be okay in the rest of the country too. I suppose this gets into the issue of Federalism versus States Rights, but I'm debating more from a cultural perspective than a legal perspective. I'm just saying that I hate the hypocrisy of saying one thing and doing another.
Anyway, walking the strip was an elucidating experience. I fully expected to hate it, and I was right. Like Tempe, Las Vegas is an unnatural blight on the desert landscape that would not exist without egregious resource consumption. I'm actually more okay with it here than Tempe though, because at least in Vegas it is there for millions and millions to enjoy on their vacations. If hookers ever worked the strip, walking up and down in search of patrons, it seems that they don't anymore. Instead you have guys lining the sidewalks, mostly hispanic, that repeatedly and loudly whack cards against their hands to get your attention. If you look at them or hold out your hand, you find yourself the proud owner of a stack of cards. Each card is a full color picture of a naked girl (or two)- "Daisy, $39 SPECIAL!!! To your hotel room in 20 min, guaranteed." I have a stack to give out as souvenirs, so feel from to comment if you want one. Walking the strip was surprising in that I was expecting more. More neon, more lights, more craziness. I suppose I was expecting more like Tokyo, or Times Square. Burning Man easily eclipsed this in terms of shiny and blinky, and I didn't expect that.
Speaking of which, I am really sad that I'm not going to Burning Man. I've mostly made peace with it at this point, but I'm still very disappointed. I want my fill of beautiful people and blinky lights and art and dancing and friends and craziness and adventure.
After Las Vegas we headed to the California coast, with the intention of driving up the Big Sur Coastline. Halfway up we had to turn around and backtrack due to forest fires. Sadness. We still found our way to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, however, which was fantastic. I remember this place from going when I was a little kid. Highlights included the jellyfish, petting tide pools (love the sea cucumber), petting bat sting rays (so soft!), and sea dragons. I love all the stuff that is delicate, frilly and could only exist in the water. The various sea nettle jellyfish were so gorgeous! I can't even describe the beauty of the long, flowing tentacles, waving gently. Amazing.
Today we're in Santa Cruz, visiting a friend. We'll probably tag along to a barbecue this evening. Happy Independence Day! Go ye forth and celebrate.
You may also be interested to read misshepeshu's accounts of our trip, which can be found with her Team Awesome's Farewell Tour 2008 tag.
Pics of various things to follow when I'm less lazy. Still to come: camping in the redwoods, epic hiking in the high Sierras, and yoga teacher training.
Be well, my friends.
Post A Comment — Add to Memories — Tell a Friend — Link
 Over a year later, another for the sketch table. Cause drawing pregnant Griffen was too hard to resist, given my current condition. 2 hours, pencil and watercolor
4 Comments — Post A Comment — Add to Memories — Tell a Friend — Link
 |
| 2ce |
| 2008-07-04 12:46 |
| Happy Independence Day! |
| Public |
| Margot Wagner—Open Blue Sky |
|
Noted public asshole dead at 86.
Huh! Serendipitous timing.
1 Comment — Post A Comment — Add to Memories — Tell a Friend — Link
 Milk Cameo: Techniques for producing organic materials enable the fabrication of plastics made from human or animal milk by solidifying their casein content. The `Perle de lait' range of jewellery imagines a new set of personalized post-natal objects. The breast-feeding mother sends a feeding bottle full of her milk to a laboratory where it is transformed into a gem-like substance that can be mounted on a neck-piece or any other form of jewellery.
3 Comments — Post A Comment — Add to Memories — Tell a Friend — Link
Yeah, I missed last month, but I forgot to write down what I was reading and then I'd start reading something and forget and whanot. Not this time! I have found a new best friend in GoodReads, who is now my memory depository for books. It unfortunately encourages my review brevity, but I read a metric shit-ton this month, and that's probably for the best.
So, history and children's books and a bunch of crap from Tor.com—
( Here we go. )
Post A Comment — Add to Memories — Tell a Friend — Link
 |
| kate_nepveu |
| 2008-07-04 13:45 |
| So MANY cool things! |
| Public |
|
Items are still going up for bid at ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) livelongnmarry, the fandom auction to support marriage equality in California. I've offered fiction critique from a legal perspective. In case you're not into fanfic and fanart, and are overwhelmed by the volume of offers, I have cat-vacuumed up big ol' lists of cool things (as of yesterday; there'll be more rec posts for this, I am sure):
( Autographed books, excerpts, character namings/deaths from published authors: )
( Critiques from professionals: )
( Other fiction- or creative-related services: )
( Jewelry: )
( Clothing and sewing-related crafts: )
( Miscellaenous custom handcrafts: )
( Miscellaneous items: )
( Miscellaneous services: )
Go, look, bid or offer! Open through July 14.
8 Comments — Post A Comment — Add to Memories — Tell a Friend — Link
|
|
|
|
|
dismayed
pissed off
![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/syndicated.gif){kind=small}
relaxed
PATRIOTIC
contemplative