Category: Life

I finally have the energy to sit in front of a computer and type. Since Tuesday I’ve been down for the count with cold/flu/whatever. Wednesday was Mucus Day. Thursday was fever from hell. Today was sleeping and eating again. My house is a mess. I went to work Tuesday but left after lunch, and haven’t been out of the house since. I also haven’t shaved. I was really looking forward to putting up a massive Austin New Year’s Eve blog/plog entry, but I just haven’t had the energy. Maybe tomorrow.

I went to Harrison for dinner and gift exchange on Friday because the siblings’ in-laws have dibs on their children for Christmas gatherings. I got mostly kitchenware because that’s what I didn’t feel like buying myself. I have officially entered the adult world wherein there is nothing I want for Christmas that I can’t get myself. So now I ask for things I don’t want to pay for, i.e. utility items. This would not have been so bad if my grandmother hadn’t been making jokes that I was having a bridal shower. And of course my insufferable niece asks me again when I’m going to get married. We really need to do something about her; she’s becoming a Mean Girl. I blame Bratz.

I used the weekend mainly to catch up with friends and family. Elizabeth was in from California, Lance and Kevin from Missouri, plus locals Robin and Josh (sorry about the brevity of the visit, guys – I was going to call again Sunday but I went back to LR because I forgot Zoe’s meds) and I talked to Nica and Becky for a bit via phone. That’s about it really. Sunday night was spent at Heather’s watching the first season of Gilmore Girls, drinking wine, and munching on cheese and venison sausage.

Monday I spent my gift cards. I got Robert Altman’s Short Cuts on DVD and picked up the actual CD of Death Cab’s Transatlanticism, plus some Snow Patrol. I caught up with Tara, in from Austin, and she gave me bourbon chocolates and a wide assortment of other sugary things. Kathy came over and we watched It’s a Wonderful Life, which, GASP, she had never seen. Neither has Tara, it turns out. How could you people have missed it?

New plog consists primarily of last Saturday’s Ho-Hum show and Sunday at Sufficient Grounds. Also, Black Santa and the Egg Nog from Lassis Inn, and the wild dumpster cats of Benton (relatives of Matt’s cat, Puma).

Saturday I had an amazing experience, but I’m waiting to get CIA clearance before I tell you about it.

I took Zoe for a walk tonight, and Stinkfoot met us in the backyard and followed along the entire time. He always lagged several feet behind us, moving in uncertain spurts, but he stayed in the game despite the darkness and the occasional car. I can’t say I’ve ever taken a walk with a cat. I remember when he was afraid to go out the door.

Cats. They grow up so fast.

I strangely don’t feel rested after four days off. I drove to Harrison Thursday morning, Zoe in tow, and since my family wasn’t gathering until Friday (the siblings’ in-laws have dibs on Thanksgiving) we went to the park to play frisbee and meet up with Becky. The winds increased so we had to go somewhere else. Where does one go in Harrison, Arkansas, on Thanksgiving Day? Wal-Mart of course. We ate lunch at McDonald’s and piddled around in the toy department. The weather improved so we went over to my old elementary school’s playground, and then to Maplewood cemetary (why? well, why not?) before adjourning to our respective family dinners.

Friday I goofed off at the local music stores, and had lunch with the family. I left for Little Rock not long after, as I wanted to get back in time for the big Localist Launch Party. Localist is now officially an online operation in its entirety. The first issue features my review of the new Lyrics Born CD. The next issue will feature my Boondogs piece and another review, or so I’m told.

Saturday I drove to Stuttgart to play their enormous annual Wings Over the Prairie Duck Gumbo Cook-Off. It may well have been the largest audience I’ve played for; the place was packed and there was a vaguely frat-party/Madis Gras vibe to the proceedings. We played from 1PM to 5PM and it wore me out. Superflux has no other gigs on the calendar right now, so let me know if anybody needs a cover band for an office party.

And of course there are pictures of everything at the plog. This marks the first plog I’ve set up at home, using the GIMP on my VAIO laptop. I’m still getting used to the GIMP; I need to redo several pictures because I saved them at too low a resolution. But I’m tired now.

I’m home from my trip to Memphis and I’m in a peculiar mood, brought on by a combination of factors but mainly initiated by an extended stay at the Civil Rights Museum, housed at the Lorraine Motel where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was killed. That experience is something of an onslaught; it’s still a lot to process. I still feel disconnected to that era and from the hardships it brought to those who lived through it. It feels completely foreign to me, even though I’ve lived my entire life in the South. I only catch impressions of what it left behind, pieces of some larger puzzle.

I can’t help but feel that Memphis as a whole has been something of a sad, cursed place since Dr. King died. We went to the Stax Museum of American Soul Music yesterday, and on the introductory video a couple of people interviewed said something similar – that the Stax record label itself is considered to have been a casualty of King’s death; as though it died a few years later of a broken heart. Add to that the fact that I previously knew the city to be a place of terrible musical tragedy – the town where a singular genius like Shawn Lane died too young and remains in a pauper’s grave, and where my friend Ross Rice struggled for so long against an industry that openly disdains talent and creativity.

Seeing the combined struggles of so many, I can’t help but reflect on the fact that in my life I’ve never truly known suffering. I have led an exceedingly charmed life with so many fantastic friends and relatives. I’ve certainly had my fair share of heartache (a constant companion these days), but it is miniscule when compared to the hardships others have had to endure.

As Thanksgiving approaches, I have a renewed sense of gratitude toward the universe for making my life so easy and pleasurable. I’ve had it as good as anyone has a right to expect. I’m also thankful for the vast cache of $1 vinyl at Shangri-La from which I purchased a significant lode. I’m listening to Keith Jarrett right now and am again dazzled by the various manifestations of beauty in this world.

Here are the pictures from last weekend’s Dallas excursion. Next weekend I’m going to Memphis. This is more recreational traveling than I’ve done in a long while, mainly because Superflux has been on a break for most of November. Rehearsals begin soon for our gig at the Duck Gumbo[1] in Stuttgart on the 26th. After that, the Christmas party season begins, meaning free weekends will be unlikely.

Good week for live music at Juanita’s; Ian Moore was in town on Monday and tonight The Samples are playing. It’s nice to be busy watching live music and not performing or rehearsing it for once.

1.) By all means, click the link and admire the hastily gathered promotional photography session for this gig. I forgot to wear a cool shirt. In fact, I was at the office when Steve called and said, “are you on your way?” What can I say? We were on a deadline.

Finally I have some pictures up from Trey’s wedding a week ago. The delay was caused by the migration to the new laptop, where I still don’t have a copy of Photoshop installed. Anybody have an old copy they can send me?

I also took several pictures during last weekend’s trip to Dallas, but I’ll put those up later so that I don’t have one massive page full of pictures. Famine or feast with pictures from me, it seems. Heather, Allison, and I flew to Dallas to hang out with the other Allison and her husband Rodney, as well as Odie and Torrey (although we missed our chance to see Torrey due to scheduling conflicts). Mostly we shopped and ate ourselves silly. The obligatory visit to Half Price Books was done, as well as the Virgin Megastore in Grapevine where I bought way too much stuff (a De La Soul live CD, Nellie McKay special edition, Fiona Apple special edition, the new Lemon Jelly, a DJ Shadow single, and a documentary on the Moog synthesizer). I’m tired.

Oh Wikipedia. You are such a lovely thing to behold. You bring me traffic and I adore you but sometimes I am crushed under your massive girth. Indeed, yesterday’s featured Dogpatch article was too much to bear for our tiny adorable little server. We exceeded our bandwidth and were shut down for the latter part of yesterday and early today. I had The Man increase our bandwidth to 600 Megs (up from 300), so hopefully that will prevent this sort of thing from happening again any time soon. Ah the vagaries of Internet traffic.