Memory Pebble

Not Going to Iceland

2011-10-10T14:24:00.001-04:00

Not Going to Iceland, a photo by baseballpajamas on Flickr.

Doce is staying home.

Prep Day for Iceland

2011-10-10T13:41:00.001-04:00

Leaving tomorrow!

The State of things

2011-10-02T23:19:00.001-04:00

At a New Yorker event, Lorrie Moore tries to explain, off the cuff, why "reading is vital." A video gets posted to Youtube. And fuckheads respond. should I be surprised? No. Should I avoid anything in this universe labelled "Comments"? Yes. Still.

    Someone get this woman a ballcap STAT!
    --Horathgar42

    i disagree. i read a plethoric amount of a wide variety of information for free on the internet...current events, things i'm interested in, articles and essays on a range of topics...and then i can not only loan that information out to one person at a time, like a book, but with my entire social network. print media is becoming obsolete, and i have no qualms about it.
    --ladicius

    Why read a book? Because she is a writer. Herp Derp.
    --Saktoth

    she is totally right reading is vital. i almost wanted my kids to grow up illiterate but now i changed my mind thanks to her. math sucks. also she is a bit ugly. just saying. reading is good. bad books suck why read, i understand. i don't know. how is this intellectually stimulating?? what?
    --666ymodelworship666

    For sm1 who's trying to promote reading, she sure isn't engaging.
    Speed up woman!
    --VivekRajcoomar

    Im sorry, but somebody who previously doesn't like to read is supposed to after watching this boring monotone woman talk about how awesome it is? I think Lorrie Moore gives people more of a reason not to, and I personally think reading is great but it certainly hasn't helped this woman become a vibrant literary role model...
    --kevigard

    math is more important than reading!!!
    --FOBmzunguREPTILICUS

    As if an author is NOT going to promote the reading of books.
    --Andybaby

    There is a great deal of difference between an eager man who wants to read a book and a tired man who wants a book to read.
    --JinxOz 2

    @JinxOz
    thats brilliant
    --dudesonman4200

    @dudesonman4200 :)!
    --JinxOz

    That's the most painful headache I've ever seen.
    --isocrate27

    The 12 people who disliked this video can't read
    --TheTruth006 3

    Lorrie Moore is probably the most effective argument AGAINST reading I've ever seen...
    --tabber87

    Books are great and will always be of importance in society. But to disregard the other forms of media is shortsighted.
   --DollfieFace

    @DollfieFace, very true that all forms of media are valuable but merely being capable of "consuming" multiple forms of media isn't enough, individuals should be versed in the art and the mechanics of "producing" various forms of media, reading without the ability to write is impotent, being taught while not being able to teach another is impotent, etc... Just as the proliferation/mainstreaming of porn has simply led to an increase in solitary masturbation, mere access to books...
    --jtatsiue

    @DollfieFace... won't spark innovation, progress, etc... unless it inspires new authors, new ideas and solutions to problems, print is dead otherwise.
    --jtatsiue

    shes a stage noob learn to dig the pain of the cooking of ur retinas by asshole light techs
    --koouumar

capotes, 'other voices, other rooms,' .........thats why reading is vital!
    --nothinbutgreenlights

    what?? i think she was stoned out of her mind
    --diablossmirk 2

    Someone should tell her that she doesn't have to salute the whole time; just when the officer walks into the room.
    --imager777 44

    @imager777 It looks like she's talking to somebody in the audience. She's probably just trying to keep the stage light out of her eyes.
    --rocketdogmedia

    @imager777 she's not saluting..she's covering a zit!
--mytv80

    @imager777 She doesn't mean to. Some ass hole put glue on her forehead.
    --Martyj2009

    @imager777 ...hehe
    --FOBmzunguREPTILICUS

    replace books with podcasts or video lecture.
    how do podcasts not meet her criteria but have the additional feature of high information bandwidth and zero intonation loss.
    texts place is in the comments section.
    --vincenmt

    @vincenmt reading a book requires a focus and spurs imagination in a complex way that vegetating on audio or video lack, that's part of the "intimacy" she was talking about. i understand that most people have a problem with the effort it takes to read a good sized book, but the payoff is worth it.
    --desirefirst 11

    @desirefirst
    Well said.
    --ArtLoversStudio18

    @desirefirst I advise picking up the Culture series, if the individual is mature enough to handle the content; I think the smallest book in the series is eight hundred pages.
    Then there's the Legend of Drizzt the complete collection, by R.A. Salvatore; that entire collection is golden. Book one looks to be around 1600 pages.
    Just a quick glance at some of the books I have. Can you imagine how much you'd miss, if such literature were on video format? It'd be like watching Lord of the Rings. ^_^
    --GodofCider

A Ten Years' September Rambling Aside

2011-09-08T17:48:00.000-04:00

It's a chill day in Vermont after a week of tropical storms, wash-outs, rain fronts and blah. Have the hummingbirds gone, or are they just laying low?

We're coming up on the tenth anniversary of "9/11," and this week has been full of hubbub about that day in 2001.

I care little for the "where I was then" stories, or even the "what has happened to us since" stories. I know where I was; I can re-feel the tilting of the world when the second plane hit the towers. And no one needs to be reminded of the mess that has been made of the aftermath.

But today I listened to a 9/11/2001 audio assemblage courtesy of the New York Times--radio dispatches from air traffic control, the military, etc., recorded as the events unfolded--and I found it chilling.When she saw the the audio link, Lauren announced, "I don't want to listen to any radio recordings."

I get what she is saying. But I think I am looking for something I'm not getting elsewhere. I don't want the commentary, parsing, and wistful nostalgia. I want actual reportage. Or not even reportage. I just want to understand--or really just experience--the unfolding of events, the artifacts of that day. I want the radio chatter, always a half a step behind, or the intimate cell phone dialogs laid out on a timeline. Even, yes, the images of the jumpers.

I half-remember them from live TV that day, the jumpers and fallers. They haunt me, maybe, more than anything else from that day. I'm not the only one, of course. But from time to time I've even searched the web for images of their falling, never finding significant results. It's as if those images have been blocked somehow, unsearchable--out of consideration for the families or for the nation as a whole.

There is this one, now easily found, of the one so-called Falling Man. But the images I see in my mind are blurrier than this, almost incidental--ghostly monochromatic figures, suspended high in the air where people shouldn't be. These blurry pictures could just be my imagination, or a false memory. But for me, to see them would represent something concrete and necessary, something that cannot be provided by thoughtful commentary or ground-zero waterfalls. Maybe the events of 2001 can only be analyzed and rediscovered, not really understood. It's in the memory-images, and a few of the photographs. And in the mumbled words of Mohammed Atta saying "We have some planes," or the flat affect of all the flight controllers and other workers trying to understand the scope of the problem (and in the brief moments when you can tell they do).

Maybe we as a country still don't understand the scope of the problem--or, really, what the true problem ever was, or is.

One Year Ago Today...

2011-08-22T21:15:00.003-04:00

...over on Facebook I posted these words from the road to Syracuse:

"Driving back to Syracuse to hopefully be with my Dad for some moments before his moments run out. And listening to the "Words" episode of Radiolab. Acquisition of language, words as brickwork for abstract thought. This also makes me think of my Mom, her memory going, the symbology of words starting to leave her, and what it means to be human, and alive, and connected to the named things of this world. Phewf."

Five days later, my Father died while I slept on the floor next to his bed.

A “Writer’s” Dialog

2011-06-30T08:25:00.000-04:00

Call:

I had a day today o f near complete freedom--son at "LEGO Camp" all day, daughter at a friend's house all day, no job-related work to do--and of course much of the day was given over to a growing feeling of paralysis. Oh, I mowed some of the lawn, I bought chicken feed. But there is so much else I could have done with that luxurious time. The writing, the accordion (the picking up the cleaning the calling of gutter contractors). And this evening as I listen to D. Shields on some podcast or other I think back to grad school and the increasing distaste for the contrivances of fiction, and of course a fair amount of what he says resonates (though his assumption that art should reflect the current condition is itself kinda quaint, if you ask me). And I think: maybe what he advocates could be the un-paralysis-ing agent that I need. But I fear there is so much more to it for me than the chucking of contrivances. I want to be liberated, but not merely from the bonds of 18th-century fictional structures, but from whatever it is that keeps me from playing the accordion as much as picking up a pen. I'm nearly 50; this is such a tired old tale. (it's the condescending editorial voice that gets the last word).

Response:

...who or what will do the liberating, I wonder? You sound like me. Waiting for something to come along and blow everything apart. I am not coming to terms well with my passivity, my true and daily desire for a miracle.
I can't remember the name of that type of depression in which one cannot fully engage in the ordinary; there is the perpetual need to hold back. Anyway.
Me. But we were talking about you.
The way you talk to yourself by writing to other people is...very good. Write one of these ruminative mini essays each day for one year. Your photo of the day? Ach. But there's your book.

Call Again:

Good idea, the daily talk with self/other. I don't think I'm waiting (anymore) to be liberated deux ex machina style. But I spend most of my time avoiding the sense that I am in bonds at all--by working, mowing, Facebooking, parenting. When confronted with "free time" and I remember that I wanted to spend some of the summer writing and playing the accordion, then I start getting that bound-up feeling and I start thinking there must be a way out of this, of liberation, but it's a mechanism I can't seem to unlock, except by avoiding it altogether. I guess that's not unlocking. But I--at least sometimes--try to engage it, to understand or even just plow through it. I mean, I certainly have my passivities, but as far as I can tell there is no real difference between internal and external liberation in this instance. I grapple with it, when I can, but ultimately I grapple in pain and self-recrimination.

My Night at the Grammys, 2011

2011-02-19T10:06:00.003-05:00

My night at the Grammys started a few hours before the broadcast, when I saw a picture posted on Twitter by John Linnell and John Flansburgh of the band They Might be Giants. They were there early, apparently because they were up for for a children’s music Grammy (they lost to Pete Seeger), and the picture showed them in a bland, conference center mileu. I have friends on Facebook who like They Might be Giants, so I shared it there, with the words, “The Two Johns, Behind the Scenes at the Grammys.” No big deal.

· In Seattle, my friend La Sander said: “Rob, will you please get me the Avett Brothers autographs?”

· I said: Linnell is looki”ng old.” (that's him on the left)

· Then I said, “La Sander, Avett Brothers I can do. Other requests I can fill on a case by case basis.”

At this point I started to shift gears a little without really realizing it, and though I was still on Facebook, I would be switching back to the relative anonymity of Twitter very soon. Keep in mind that this started at about 5PM. I made dinner for the family, did the dishes, got the kids ready for bed, all the usual parental stuff while this was going on. This reads like a constant stream of comments, but they were intermittent, and spread over 6 hours. It’s also worth noting that when I started the Grammy broadcast wasn’t on TV yet, so I could pretty much make up whatever I liked, and it took place in a fake-context of pre-broadcast Grammys. The hard thing was, once some people started to believe I was really there, I felt obligated not to burst any bubbles. So I had to stick things out for most of the broadcast (which I haven’t watched in years) and find some excuse to “leave the theater” early. I didn’t get out of there until 11pm. But I guess I still beat most of the traffic.

· On FB I said, “I will not go near Dylan. He's wearing the eyeliner again. And he tore into the girl from craft services about something I didn't understand. Flansburgh snickered. But Zimmerman scares me.”

· Several minutes later I said, “(Spoiler) TMBG lost to some octogenarian named Seeger. Flans drinking heavily. Linnell doing that thing where he seethes quietly and stares up through his hair with loathing at every passersby. Even Dylan shied away.”

· And then, “Contractually obligated to tweet the rest of the evening. If you need autographs, dm (“direct-message”) me there @baseballpajamas. It's not going well.”

(Here’s where I switched to Twitter)

	Flans drunk. Linnell doing that thing where he seethes quietly and stares up through his hair with loathing at every passersby
	I want to go back in to the Grammys. But The Johns are bereft. What do I do? They invited me, but this is a once in a lifetime thing.
	Mulling my options while eating a canape.
	Ugh, there's John Mayer with that actress. I can't stand that guy. I'm going back in just to avoid him.
	Can't find my seat. WTF.
	Oh fuck, Mick Fleetwood is sitting right in front of me now. I won't be able to see a thing. And he is so...unctuous.
	Mick Fleetwood Sighting (RT @baseballpajamas: Oh fuck, Mick Fleetwood is sitting right in front of me now. I won't be able to see.)	@Nickslive (FLEETWOOD MAC NEWS)
	Oh wait, I can just move over. Maybe Flans will be too drunk to make it back.
	To: @Nickslive: .He is very tall, met him once at a Stevie Nicks & Sheryl Crow Concert! To: @baseballpajamas>Have Fun!	@desertnative (cecile ruiz)
	Warmup act playing "Pinafore Days" (Stackridge!) but I can't hear it because Mick Fleetwood is chewing out his mum on the phone.
	What ?! Who is the warm up act ? This is amazing news ! Difficult to believe . ( I manage Stackridge, by the way !)	@LummyDays (Michael Tobin)
	His head is massive, I should point out. And he is completely lacking in class--shirt ruffles or no.
	Anyone know if @aimeemann is coming? I've been carrying around this book of hers forever. I don't actually care who John Galt is.
	Shit. I think I left a chicken in the oven. @JamesUrbaniak can you go over and check? I think the house is open.
	Is it the way I'm dressed? The ushers are giving me the eye. I gotta get a drink. Funny if I ran into Usher just now, huh?
	Something's wrong with my twitter application; Ron Weasley can't be trending, right? Or did he cut an record?
	From Echovalleyfarm to me (on Facebook, where I have fessed up to what I’m doing), “You’re a nutbar.”	@Echovalleyfarm (Shawnee)
	Much better. Scotch neat and a nutbar from craft services. Now where the hell are The Johns? They better not have ditched.
	Jeez. Haven't heard from Urbaniak. I hope that chicken is not in the oven. I just can't remember. I should stop the valerian.
	To @desertnative: anything you want me to ask Mick? (assuming a quiet moment when I can get up my nerve)
	yes! If he's ever gonna play @TheShow at Agua Caliente Casino his Roumors Island Band! Soooo , loved that band!
	excited , hahaha! Like I'm gonna talk to him! Been a fan since the 70's! Your so Lucky!
	ok , that was probably a bit much , hahaha! Just tell him sending some Native Love from Palm Springs!? Valentine!
	To @LummyDays: indeed, difficult to believe.
	to @LummyDays: it was Mick Fleetwood who said it was a Stackridge cover; I'm not actually sure. He seems a little tipsy.
	I am stunned ( but flattered ) that Mick Fleetwood would recognise a Stackridge song. Are you actually at The Grammys ?
	Shit, the broadcast is starting. I found Flansburgh, but he's bailing after I don't know how many Moscow Mules. I'm going back in.
	Cripes. Both Johns still here. I've been in the wrong seats this whole time. Got to make my way over to them.
	Pidgeon in here.
	To @desertnative: (quickly) sorry, had to move seats. :-(
	awe! Bummer! Oh , well...yeaaaaah! Your at The Grammys behind Mick Fleetwood! Take a pic!
	I have to say I don't like this kid (about Justin Bieber)
	To @Nickslive and @baseballpajamas: well ya can take pics of his hair mate LoL sitting in the lap of luxery waiting to (cont) http://tl.gd/8qe73i	@jackdigiacomo (Jack giacomo)
	Linnell has that smile of his that says he is not amused, and these lights are giving me a headache.
	Flans is not impressed. What the hell is that bloke saying?
	Maybe it's because Flansburgh crashed and burned early, but the Grammys is not actually that fun in person.
	Gaga swear. Gaga swear.
	Avetts tearing it up. (to be honest, I typed this during Mumford & Sons—oops)
	Flansburgh seems to be sobering up, thanks to the Avett Brothers.
	I told you Bob was wearing the eyeliner.
	Isn't playing the Grammys kind of like working on Maggies Farm?
	cynic.
	I mean, almost by definition?
	You know it's only dinner time here, right? Man. I need to hit craft services again. Hold on. Linnells coming so he can make a call
	I saw Michael, so he can give "Atlas Shrugged" back to Aimee. He rolled his eyes, but he loves her.
	I won't be carrying that book on Maggies Farm no more. Oh wait, there's Fleetwood. Hold on.
	Guys, I gotta tell you, Linnell is about done. I'm going to go get Flansburgh.
	Lost Fleetwood in crowd near the loo. Strange night. Really, too much valerian?
	(while Kris Kristofferson was on stage) I peed next to Kristofferson once, no lie. He is not a tall man.
	Flans wants to listen to Barbra (Streisand). Then we're going to get out of here.
	Oh christ, Linnell left his accordion with one of these coat check things. Why does he do this?
	Oh man, just met Leon Redbone in the the bathroom queue. I thought it was Rick Rubin! But Flans clued me in with a charades thing.
	Gotta get back to the hotel to watch this thing on TV! Thanks, for the invite, Johns!
	you are going to Awesome Hell for this. Kudos to you.	@briandart (brian dart)

In the End

2010-09-04T08:27:00.001-04:00

In the end, this is the eulogy I came up with for my father. The writing was not an easy task. And I am terrified of speaking in front of groups larger than, say, my three most trusted friends. But somehow—once the writing was done--I was able to deliver this thing with relative ease.

(Thanks for coming etc)

Knowing what to say on an occasion like this has been almost impossible for me. My thoughts have been swirling for weeks. I think fathers and sons have a hard time understanding each other to begin with, and I’ll probably spend the rest of my life mulling over my relationship with Dad. He probably did the same with his dad, a stern-looking man who died when my father was 27. I can’t possibly sum up my father, but I can say a few things about the man I knew. And if none of it makes sense, you can tune out and meditate on the Matt Ryan you knew.

Like most people, my father embodied several contradictions. He was a man of logic, a slide-rule-using engineer who could build a car-top boat rack out of an old pair of skis or test an outboard boat engine in a garbage can full of water. But he could also quote poetry from memory, loved music, and knew Latin, German, and French. He could sometimes be a little awkward, but he wasn’t shy, and he loved to be the center of attention. And I could be wrong, but I think he was unsure about the existence of God, and yet he went to church every week, sang hymns around the house, and studied theology.

He was a serious man who took delight in bad puns and goofy jokes, and loved to sit at a formal dinner table with a spoon hanging from the end of his nose.

Around the house he sang hymns, classical melodies, novelty songs and commercial jingles with equal passion. I can still hear him singing a version of “Chattanooga Choo Choo” that featured backward lyrics. It was called “Ooch ooch agoonatach,” like one of those native phrases that can mean both hello and goodbye. “Ooch ooch agoonatach!”

Dad’s was a life of inquiry, of trying to figure things out—and he instilled in my siblings and me this tendency to wonder why, or wonder how. Why do chickens come home to roost? What is the purpose of tears? My wife Lauren teases me about this sometimes, gently. She calls us The I Wonder Family.

But really, one could do worse than to spend your life wondering. My father spent his life this way. I guess that’s why he was one of those dads who had a lot of the answers. But it’s the wondering itself that enriches a life, not the possession of answers. Dad taught us to fill our lives with music, to laugh at the absurd, and to wonder at things.

We loved Dad, and he was happy and proud to be loved. But in some ways it made him uncomfortable to hear about it. A visit to see me and my family in Vermont was invariably too short, and invariably ended with my father saying, with a big smile, “Well, we better leave before we outstay our welcome.” The truth is, Dad never outstayed his welcome. He always left too soon. Even after 86 years, he left too soon. Good bye, Dad. Hold onto our love. We meant it. Ooch ooch agoonatach.

Cage of Sadness

2010-08-27T23:46:00.001-04:00

Norah: “ When I get older and know chemistry, I’m going to make a cure for lung cancer.”

Fergus: “And the best part is, that will take you years. And by then they’ll have invented time travel.”

Norah: “And I can go back in time and—“

Fergus: “—You can say, ‘Granddad, drink this, it will make you feel better!’”

(As reported by Lauren)

Matthew George Ryan, February 4, 1924 – August 27, 2010

2010-08-27T05:45:00.001-04:00

(Isabel and Matt)

…When they come out, she is facing him,
walking backwards in front of him
and holding his hands, pulling him,
when he stops, reminding him to step
when he forgets and starts to pitch forward.
She is leading her old father into the future
as far as they can go, and she is walking
him back into her childhood, where she stood
in bare feet on the toes of his shoes
and they foxtrotted on this same rug.
I watch them closely; she could be teaching him
the last steps that one day she may teach me.
At this moment, he glints and shines,
as if it will be only a small dislocation
for him to pass from this paradise into the next.

-Excerpted from “Parkinson’s Disease,” by Galway Kinnell (b. 1927)

Down to the Essentials

2010-08-25T09:12:00.001-04:00

As I helped my nephew care for my dying father this morning—sponge bath, change of shirt, that sort of thing—it struck me that my father has begun to look like a study by Da Vinci or Durer. Here are the half-skeletal legs of a dying man, the loose flesh over his skull, the nose, ears, and even eyebrows showing decades of—of what? Of wear? Of gravity? My father, naked on a rented hospital bed—startling, a little scary, but beautiful, like an old, old master sketch in charcoal or conte crayon, monochromatic, basic, and illustrating something essential.

Brief Notation From the World of Chicken Farmers

2010-07-27T08:33:00.001-04:00

Sometimes I just love the emails that come across the Vermont bird farmer list. To whit:

Just a reminder since it is that time of year:
Sick of hand plucking?
Hesitant to raise meat birds because of all the work and time? Hate pinfeathers?
Make your life easier using our:
Featherman Chicken Plucker
for Rent
$50/day plus refundable deposit
Plucks 4-5 chickens at a time amazingly clean in 20 seconds!
We also use it for turkeys-one at a time!
Featherman Scalder $50/day
Four stainless steal Restraining Cones also on a stand available no charge.
Chester, Vermont
Call or email early to schedule

How Mysterious

2010-07-12T05:40:00.001-04:00

How Mysterious
Originally uploaded by baseballpajamas

Clutter Survey, Summer 2010

2010-07-09T10:10:00.003-04:00

"Out of clutter find simplicity; From discord find harmony; In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity."

-Albert Einstein

The Vast Heart of Steve Perry ('s Keyboard Player)

2010-07-07T11:02:00.004-04:00

Okay, so it took like 10 minutes for this video to load with my backwoods internet connection, but this song feels just right for a hot and humid day in New England. Give it a try.

Clem Snide's frontman, Eef Barzelay (one of the great names in show business) covers a Journey song--with ukelele, voice, and whistling:

Clem Snide covers Journey

Sorry if you end up with a Budweiser craving after viewing.

Parade Sysyphus

2010-07-06T20:45:00.001-04:00

Parade Sysyphus
Originally uploaded by baseballpajamas

Part of the school float in the July 3rd Montpelier parade: a 10-foot rocking chair. Four of us pushed it for the mile+ of the parade route, kids on board, sudden spins (1x 2x 3x) to please the crowds.

Boy on a Walk

2010-06-29T19:13:00.000-04:00

It's always a good idea to put your Periodic Table T-Shirt on when you walk to Sibley Farm.

Partly I took this because I like the mostly-white heifer in the background--very pretty girl.

She's a white girl.

But I'm living with a white girl.

(that's a punk rock allusion, people)

Rainier: Two Years Ago Today

2010-06-26T10:35:00.004-04:00

Two years ago I reached the top of Mt. Rainier with Bob Kackman and John Dunn. It was effing amazing.

The Girl Reads The Lightning Thief

2010-06-25T22:31:00.002-04:00

The Girl Reads The Lightning Thief
Originally uploaded by baseballpajamas

Up too late.

Morning at the Montpelier Pool

2010-06-25T10:37:00.003-04:00

Waiting for lessons to start.

Dad, Dad...

2010-06-23T19:56:00.001-04:00

This is a little late for Father's Day, but today finds me thinking a lot about by Dad. A Ben Gibbard cover of Pedro the Lion fell into my lap, though, and fits the bill.

Ben Gibbard covers Pedro the Lion's Big Trucks from BlearyEyedBrooklyn.com on Vimeo.

Go Team CCCP

2010-06-16T09:09:00.001-04:00

Go Team CCCP
Originally uploaded by baseballpajamas

How Did You Celebrate

2010-06-14T21:52:00.001-04:00

How Did You Celebrate
Originally uploaded by baseballpajamas

...your last day of first grade? Norah celebrated hers at a pub
learning to play pool with some friends and one of her teachers.

The River Rock Campout 2010

2010-06-12T18:48:00.007-04:00

Another lovely year-end camp-out with the big messy family that is River Rock School has left me suffering from a mild case of Failure To Thrive but a deep appreciation for communal care, deep-into-the-night songs around a campfire, capture-the-flag and, well, the delight of being coaxed out of bed to join a circle of fire watchers, and then riding the night out--bourbon, folk songs, Persian poetry and all--until the banter fades, the sky brightens, and some of us find ourselves a little ragged around the edges.

It was a grand time. If only we could coax Bob, Michele, Zoe and Henry to come to one of these things....

Hmmm...Some Kind of Handle

2010-06-09T17:43:00.001-04:00

Hmmm...Some Kind of Handle
Originally uploaded by baseballpajamas

-Rob (mobile)

"Eric's Written a Sketch"

2010-05-28T14:21:00.004-04:00

Actually, not Eric: Rob.

It's a little set-piece of in-jokes I made today for Jimbo.

Jim, are you out there? This is for you.

Pecking Order Problem

2010-05-23T18:32:00.002-04:00

Do not place your bets, please, because if you do this video might become illegal.

This is what we get for adopting a new hen into the flock (the charming Silver Laced Wyandotte we've named "Orchid"). Yet another reason that these roosters need to go.

My Favorite Bad Movie of the Last Six Months

2010-05-22T20:49:00.004-04:00

When I first saw "Hoodwinked" (and I've seen it twice now; I'm not ashamed), it was one of those desperate hotel-rentals-for-the-kids.

If you saw the first twenty minutes you would be right to feel incredibly dubious of the whole endeavor. B-grade computer animation! Fairy tale theme! Patrick Warburton! David Ogden Stiers! Andy Dick!

It's got it all.

But it grows on you, and honestly, it's also pretty fun, with some funny banter and silly characters. I dare you to rent it. I think it's well worth the three bucks (or 75 cents apiece for a family of 4).

Probably only Svenja Will Appreciate This. Maybe.

2010-05-19T14:42:00.006-04:00

Yes, it involves twitter. I'm sheepish, okay?

The link he provided pointed here:

Pork loin over wilted spinach with cherry compote

2010-05-18T19:10:00.001-04:00

Pork loin over wilted spinach with cherry compote
Originally uploaded by baseballpajamas

Dang.

Too Late For the Ford Administration

2010-05-15T11:24:00.002-04:00

I wish I'd come across this song for The Ford Administration mix ("Impeach the President," by The Honey Drippers) (not the Robert Plant band, the 60's / 70's soul band)

1. Impeach The President
Artist: The Honey Drippers

Released: 1973

Source: http://best.complex.com/lists/Kon-Amir-Present-The-50-Greatest-Samples-In-Hip-Hop-History/impeach-the-president

It's Narcissism Friday!

2010-05-14T14:06:00.010-04:00

(Actually, it's Eyeglasses-Quest Friday)

Morning Moose

2010-05-12T10:15:00.004-04:00

Coming home from dropping the kids at school this morning I happened upon this moose at one of the ponds around the corner from the house.

I would have gotten better pictures but an oversized woman in a hot pink tank top got out of her shabby SUV and walked right up to the water's edge, taking pictures or video with her cell phone all the way. The moose got spooked and took off for the other side of the pond.

He kept his distance after that. Jerk lady.

I Think He Likes the Stage

2010-05-09T21:53:00.003-04:00

(The lad as Mr. Darling in "Peter Pan")
(NOT, as some might think, "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf")

"Peter Pan"

2010-05-09T09:07:00.002-04:00

The kids' school put on a rousing version of "Peter Pan" this weekend (to packed houses), featuring Fergus as Mr. Darling (video to be posted--somewhere--soon) and Norah as Nibs. They both had multiple roles. And here's Fergus as one of Captain Hook's scurvy pirates:

Mr. Darling Sleeps

2010-05-07T23:03:00.001-04:00

Mr. Darling Sleeps
Originally uploaded by baseballpajamas

-Rob (mobile)

Urbaniak is In

2010-04-28T23:58:00.000-04:00

Time to assemble this thing.

Vermont Spring

2010-04-28T22:13:00.003-04:00

Peaks of the Groton range this evening, after a late snowstorm. Temperatures up into the seventies in a couple of days, they say. Picture taken from the road in front of our house.

What do You Walk With?

2010-04-23T16:33:00.002-04:00

What do You Walk With?
Originally uploaded by baseballpajamas

She walks with a leaf and a rock, like some kind of pagan. He walks with a pen and a sheaf of papers.

By the way, you can't really tell in the picture but the field behind them is an amazing, vibrant green--especially compared to everything else around here, which still has one foot in late winter.

The kid can draw

2010-04-20T20:16:00.002-04:00

The kid can draw
Originally uploaded by baseballpajamas

Drawings by Fergus, aged 10 (apparently based on illustrations in a "how to draw" book--but still). Matilda, here, is giving a truly withering look.

Return of the Hermit Thrush

2010-04-19T22:21:00.004-04:00

I'm no birder, but I was happy when I got home this evening to hear a couple hermit thrushes warbling in the woods. Sure, it's just another Sign of Spring, but it has a melodic and slightly spooky call that I love (it's much more haunting in real life than in the sound clip below). Oh, and it's the state bird of Vermont.

Recorded by David L. Ross, William W. H. Gunn

Macaulay Library

ShoeGlut

2010-04-17T12:46:00.001-04:00

ShoeGlut
Originally uploaded by baseballpajamas

It's a hard time of year in Vermont, in terms of footwear. It was 80
degrees around Easter, but the last couple of days we've had rain
during the daytime and woken to snow on the ground in the mornings.

This complicates Spring Cleaning.

Right now, our little entryway/den is cluttered with 26 pairs of
shoes. For 4 people. The picture shows Lauren's 10 pairs. Even I have
5 pairs scattered around the room. But what can I cull? The sneakers?
The sandals? The snow and mud boots? It's a dilemma. But in our
clutterworld, something has to give.

I Have a Sudden Desire to Buy a (Stained) Trailer Home

2010-04-17T10:37:00.004-04:00

About this commercial Errol Morris says, "The best commercial ever made (I should be so lucky as to achieve this level of excellence.)"

Vermont Cliche

2010-04-16T09:48:00.001-04:00

Vermont Cliche
Originally uploaded by baseballpajamas

This Kind of Thing Can Lead to Colbert

2010-04-15T13:43:00.002-04:00

(David here was my thesis advisor in grad school)

The First Entries Have Arrived

2010-04-09T18:39:00.004-04:00

Some of you know what I mean.
Represented so far: Vermont, New Mexico and Northern California.

I'm trying to decide if the Mellotron merits bonus points or penalties.

Maine/2002. California/2010.

2010-04-07T21:47:00.008-04:00

(so much in between)

Thirty Years Ago Today in Someone Else's Life

2010-04-05T21:21:00.002-04:00

Appropriated with admiration from the late Jamie Livingston's Polaroid of the Day project.

First Novacaine!

2010-04-05T20:48:00.001-04:00

First Novacaine!
Originally uploaded by baseballpajamas

She's only seven! (Truth is, she kind of has the Jack Nicholson approach to dental care--she loved this, her first filling).

Actually, it sort of sounds like it was a false alarm: not necessarily a real cavity. But drilling did in fact happen.

Waiting For The Bus

2010-04-05T18:26:00.001-04:00

Waiting For The Bus
Originally uploaded by baseballpajamas

Just This

2010-04-01T21:44:00.002-04:00

Okay, look, I really miss my sister Wendy. Tomorrow would have been her 57th birthday.

Signs of Spring

2010-04-01T08:28:00.000-04:00

First Robin heard chirping this morning in East Montpelier.

Chapter One, In Which I Carry a Bear

2010-03-28T10:07:00.002-04:00

My life as a John Irving novel. Main Street, Montpelier.

Best Electric Bike Ever

2010-03-26T21:25:00.002-04:00

Okay, so Dan PN's neighbor electified his bike for him. Is this a sweet bike or what? Rust pretty much everywhere, girl's bike, banana seat, monkey bars, single gear with a coaster brake. Still peddle-able (in fact, Dan described this as more of an "electric assist" bike than an electric bike). Electricity provided by 12 volt automobile battery under the seat. Power comes from a converted Peugeot (auto) starter motor, with drive transferred to the rear wheel via an old skateboard wheel (friction drive). The best part (which you can't see) is how you engage the electric motor: you squeeze a wooden clothes pin that is attached to the handlebars. Brilliant.

Chaos

2010-03-24T14:24:00.001-04:00

Chaos
Originally uploaded by baseballpajamas

-Rob (mobile)

Waiting for 4-D Clutch Powers

2010-03-22T19:37:00.001-04:00

Waiting for 4-D Clutch Powers
Originally uploaded by baseballpajamas

Bionicle Ride at Legoland

2010-03-22T18:26:00.001-04:00

Bionicle Ride at Legoland
Originally uploaded by baseballpajamas

-Rob (mobile)

Just Like Home

2010-03-22T18:05:00.001-04:00

Just Like Home
Originally uploaded by baseballpajamas

Lego Land

2010-03-22T16:04:00.001-04:00

Lego Land
Originally uploaded by baseballpajamas

-Fergus says "title this one 'Drunken Man'."

Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay

2010-03-20T22:07:00.001-04:00

Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay
Originally uploaded by baseballpajamas

Sunset time

Rooftop Livin'

2010-03-20T18:10:00.001-04:00

Rooftop Livin'
Originally uploaded by baseballpajamas

-Rob (mobile)

FQR and the Pacific

2010-03-20T16:44:00.001-04:00

FQR and the Pacific
Originally uploaded by baseballpajamas

Getting ready to play chicken with the incoming waves.

Found a beach

2010-03-19T14:28:00.001-04:00

Found a beach
Originally uploaded by baseballpajamas

-Rob (mobile)

Long beach morning

2010-03-19T13:44:00.001-04:00

Long beach morning
Originally uploaded by baseballpajamas

-Rob (mobile)

Big Cat Two

2010-03-18T13:25:00.003-04:00

Big Cat Two
Originally uploaded by baseballpajamas

-Rob (mobile)

Big Cat

2010-03-18T13:25:00.001-04:00

Big Cat
Originally uploaded by baseballpajamas

-Rob (mobile)

photo.jpg

2010-03-18T13:23:00.001-04:00

photo.jpg
Originally uploaded by baseballpajamas

-Rob (mobile)

Avia Hotel in the LBC

2010-03-17T23:48:00.001-04:00

Avia Hotel in the LBC
Originally uploaded by baseballpajamas

After a long travel day.

O'Hare

2010-03-17T09:31:00.001-04:00

O'Hare
Originally uploaded by baseballpajamas

-Rob (mobile)

It's a Matter of Degree

2010-03-15T22:16:00.001-04:00

Bear For Auction

2010-03-13T12:06:00.003-05:00

This is supposed to be a bear in "Foraging Pose". Somehow this wasn't how I thought bears forage.

Anyway, you can bid on this bear at auction, March 27th in Montpelier at 1:30pm at the Unitarian Church.

It's the ideal gift for someone who lacks a bear.

Eh, The Mess

2010-03-12T10:22:00.001-05:00

Eh, The Mess
Originally uploaded by baseballpajamas

It's overwhelming.

Blessing for a Dead Ladybug

2010-03-06T13:48:00.002-05:00

My 6-year-old daughter (who is a cat as well as a human) discovered a dead ladybug in the house the other day and said this impromptu blessing:

"By the great Cat Lord may you be blessed in the underworld. Our great Lord Hades will bless you as his very companion. And you will be so ever-on blessed, until your soul floats up into the sky to join the other souls. Amen."

Wikipedia Picture of the Day

2010-03-01T08:07:00.003-05:00

Enjoy your day.

Pants

2010-02-26T17:07:00.004-05:00

Just because.

These pants were in a parking lot in Montpelier Vermont at the time.

Then the Shoveling

2010-02-24T21:37:00.001-05:00

The path to the back door.

Because the dog has to get out somehow.

And Still it Snows

2010-02-24T16:06:00.002-05:00

And Still it Snows
Originally uploaded by baseballpajamas

...and snows.

Strangely the temperature has been a consistent 31.5 degrees all day.

It just occurred to me: maybe the thermometer sensor is buried in the snow? That would explain it.

Finally it Snows

2010-02-23T22:17:00.001-05:00

Finally it Snows
Originally uploaded by baseballpajamas

Tuesday evening, Montpelier.

After a movie at the Savoy (9 people in attendance) and dinner at the bar at the Black Door.

"Crazy Heart" was the movie. Lauren had a burger and I had shepherd's pie.

On the way home I had to get pushed up our hill by a couple of strangers.

For the Olympics: The Best Curling Song I Know

2010-02-19T22:09:00.002-05:00

Okay, it's the only curling song I know.

Withnail: The Anti Olympics

2010-02-17T19:59:00.004-05:00

None of this would wash with Jeff Wode.

(I'm in a "Withnail and I" sort of mood)

Egads. Have you not seen Withnail? You must.

No Coke--Pepsi.

2010-02-17T09:19:00.007-05:00

(Fergus at Camp TaKumTa)

Pepsi wants to give money to the best summer camp for kids with cancer ever, Vermont's Camp TaKumTa.

But only if you vote enough times. Luckily, Pepsi lets you vote up to ten times per day.

So go there. Vote. Ten Times a Day.

Voting closes at the end of February. Thank you.

Grande Rue

2010-02-09T12:52:00.010-05:00

I've heard intelligent people say they would not be helping the people of Haiti because there are people close to home who need our help. That's true, but the New York Times online has offered a compelling argument that we're talking about two completely different scales of need: a panoramic montage of images representing a quarter-mile stretch of road in downtown Port au Prince. Imagine this in your home town.

I scan these images and, again, things start blending together between the real and speculative. What is this blur or overlap or frisson I am feeling between now-times and end-times? Is it the insidious nature of Margaret Atwood's book, or the insidious nature of the times we are living in?

"There was a lot of trash cluttering the streets--burnt things, broken things. Not only cars and trucks. Glass--a lot of that. Shackie said we had to be careful which buildings we went into: they'd been right near one when it collapsed. We should stay away from the tall ones because the fires could have eaten away at them, and if the glass windows fell on you, goodbye head. It would be safer in a forest than in a city now. Which was the reverse of what people used to think.

"It was the small normal things that bothered me the most. Somebody's old diary, with the words melting off the pages. The hats. The shoes--they were worse than the hats, and it was worse if there were two shoes the same. The kids' toys. The strollers minus the babies.

"The whole place was like a doll's house that had been turned upside down and stepped on. Out of one shop there was a trail of bright T-shirts, like huge cloth footprints, going all along the sidewalk. Someone must have smashed in throuugh the window and robbed the place, though why did they think a bundle of T-shirts was going to do them any good? There was a furniture store spewing chair arms and legs and leather cushions onto the sidewalk, and an eyeglasses place with high-fashion frames, gold and silver--nobody had bothered to take those. A pharmacy--they'd trashed it completely, looking for party drugs...."

--Margaret Atwood, The Year of the Flood

My 2nd Quiche

2010-02-06T19:20:00.003-05:00

My 2nd Quiche
Originally uploaded by baseballpajamas

...was not as good as I had hoped; certainly not as good as the first one, a couple weeks ago.

Ah well.

Maple sausage, cheddar, and spinach.

Sick Girl Noontime Crash

2010-02-06T12:18:00.001-05:00

Sick Girl Noontime Crash
Originally uploaded by baseballpajamas

-Rob (mobile)

Lux Interior, Rest in Peace

2010-02-01T12:43:00.011-05:00

The copyright image above is borrowed with the good graces of photographer Mike Leach, who retains all the rights he want to retain and who has a fabulous collection of rock show awesomeness covering the last 30 years at: http://www.bestrockphotos.com/

Go there. Spend money. Put some rock history on your wall.

This week I learned from the novelist Colson Whitehead (who should probably be working on his next novel instead of confirming such things) that Lux Interior died last year.

Lux Interior, of course, was the frontman for the crazed psychobilly band The Cramps.

I saw them in 1984 at a little low-ceilinged place in Seattle called The Golden Crown (actual shot from that show appropriated above). Influential proto-grungers U-Men opened. Man, it was one of my most memorable shows.

At the time, Seattle was a post-Here-Come-the-Brides backwater; nothing like the self-satisfied metropolis it became in the late 90's. I was just out of college, and naive as hell. This show blew me away. I stood on a chair at the back of the room as Poison Ivy did her slinky ice queen thing and Lux Interior howled and perspired and crowd surfed and (literally) kicked a fan off the stage. I don't think I had ever seen someone stage dive before, and certainly I'd never seen crowd surfing. I remember standing on that chair, ceiling within reach, while the audience passed Lux toward the back of the room, surfing on their outstretched hands, looking (I thought) at me with a menacing look on his face. Like, This is life or death here, asshole. But I've never had such a wide grin on my face. It was glorious.

See also "Lux Interior's Astral Ascension" in the LA Weekly. The guy was something else.

Things Keep Blending Together

2010-01-31T11:43:00.003-05:00

It's a sign of my aging brain, perhaps, or maybe of something in the world at large. But things keep blending together.

Several months ago a Mary Gaitskill novel merged with a memoir by A.M. Holmes as I read them both, becoming some kind of hybrid in my mind.

Now I am reading Margaret Atwood's dystopian novel "The Year of the Flood," which describes a fragmentary, broken civilization of the near future.

Today I read Edwidge Danticat in the New Yorker, talking about her family in Haiti, and I can't separate the two worlds. They are too similar. It's a little unnerving.

An excerpt:

Everyone sounded eerily calm on the phone. No one was screaming. No one was crying. No one said “Why me?” or “We’re cursed.” Even as the aftershocks kept coming, they’d say, “The ground is shaking again,” as though this had become a normal occurrence. They inquired about family members outside Haiti: an elderly relative, a baby, my one-year-old daughter.
I cried and apologized. “I’m sorry I can’t be with you,” I said. “If not for the baby—”
My nearly six-foot-tall twenty-two-year-old cousin—the beauty queen we nicknamed Naomi Campbell—who says that she is hungry and has been sleeping in bushes with dead bodies nearby, stops me.
“Don’t cry,” she says. “That’s life.”
“No, it’s not life,” I say. “Or it should not be.”
“It is,” she insists. “That’s what it is. And life, like death, lasts only yon ti moman.” Only a little while.

Kochalka Artifact

2010-01-30T15:11:00.004-05:00

I found this on the floor today; an artifact from the day a couple years ago when James Kochalka visited Fergus' "Comics Club" at the library in Montpelier. It must have fallen out of our copy of "Pinky and Stinky" (a story of two space-traveling pigs). If I post this online do I have to pay him royalties?

Homage to 69 Love Songs

2010-01-30T09:06:00.004-05:00

"The connection between the signifier and the signified is arbitrary."
-Ferdinand de Saussure

There was a time in the mid-90's when I could at least feebly banter about the significance of Ferdinand de Saussure to literary theory and modern thought. But I have long since dropped out of grad school, and if I dare say, Ferdinand de Saussure signifies something quite different to me these days.

In late 1999, back when my wife was pregnant with our first kid, I bought "69 Love Songs" by Magnetic Fields.

I listened to it a lot.

We lived in Seattle. The WTO riots spread to our neighborhood. Our baby was born. We moved to Vermont. And now that baby has turned ten.

Amazing.

In the last decade, no record has been on my turntable more often than "69 Love Songs." I return to it again and again. So cheers to Magnetic Fields, and cheers to evil genius Stephin Merritt, seen here in clay trying to kill de Saussure as Holland Dozier Holland look on (claymation apparently by Mr. Merritt himself):

Do You Belong Anywhere?

2010-01-29T11:13:00.005-05:00

Bob Murray's Dog House parking lot, Seattle, January 14, 1994

"What does it mean to belong? If your town is changing beyond all recognition, and the things that you used--not only as a sort of physical landscape but as a moral landscape--are disappearing, are crumbling, are being passed-by by the new people who have come to the town, then what does it mean to belong? Do you belong there anymore? Do you belong somewhere else? Or do you belong anywhere? Do you belong in the past? What's in the future for you?"

--Billy Bragg, discussing England's white middle class and the upcoming theater performance "Pressure Drop".

More than anything this excerpt makes me think of Seattle in the late 1990's. Where do I belong? Not there; not anymore.

The Boy Turns Ten

2010-01-23T18:03:00.003-05:00

The Boy Turns Ten:

Winter in VT

2010-01-23T00:58:00.001-05:00

Winter in VT
Originally uploaded by baseballpajamas

-Rob (mobile)

Birthday Cake With Math (Fergus Turns 10)

2010-01-22T15:17:00.001-05:00

Birthday Cake With Math (Fergus Turns 10)
Originally uploaded by baseballpajamas

-Rob (mobile)

Best Obituary Ever?

2010-01-22T11:03:00.000-05:00

From "The World," a weekly newspaper published in Barre, Vermont.

The Boy Turns Ten

2010-01-22T08:06:00.001-05:00

The Boy Turns Ten
Originally uploaded by baseballpajamas

...breakfast before school at Coffee Corner.

Turning Ten Tomorrow!

2010-01-21T23:09:00.001-05:00

Turning Ten Tomorrow!
Originally uploaded by baseballpajamas

-Rob (mobile)

Prom Date?

2010-01-20T22:38:00.001-05:00

Nostalgia
Originally uploaded by baseballpajamas

Maybe; I don't remember that far back.

Circa....1980?

January Morning

2010-01-18T15:02:00.000-05:00

Today is tomorrow!! HELP

2010-01-14T22:10:00.006-05:00

I woke this morning and found myself beginning to "follow" a Twitter feed that was mentioned yesterday by, of all people, the actor who plays "Dwight" on the US version of "The Office." What follows is an excerpt from this feed, "re-wound" to the turn of the New Year and moving forward. As a blog post, this is a long one. But I find the immediacy of this collection of dispatches to be…what is the word?

Well, it forms a kind of narrative that, despite its chaotic mixture of reportage and answering-of-questions-from-offstage, I find compelling. The writer is a man named Richard Morse, a musician who moved to Haiti in the mid-eighties (he has a Wikipedia entry) who now performs in a Haitian band called RAM. He also operates the Hotel Oloffson, in Port au Prince (PAP) which was apparently the inspiration for the fictional Hotel Trianon in Graham Greene's 1966 novel "The Comedians." We start this drama with a little publicity, a little mild social outrage, and a little joie de vivre. Then it becomes like something out of Max Beckmann. For those of you so inclined, Richard Morse can be found on Twitter as @RAMHaiti.

Note that all timestamps that appear in hours ("22 hours ago", etc) reflect the time and date I saved these entries (the morning of Thursday January 14th) so it says that entry was posted 22 hours ago then it was posted Wednesday morning.

New Years Eve (THURSDAY) with RAM at the Hotel Oloffson; January 1, 2010 (HAITIAN INDEPENDENCE DAY) w/RAM GONAIVES; FREE CONCERT 8:29 AM Dec 29th, 2009 from web
Happy New Year Everybody!!! Chillin with RAM @ the O....19 Years Old 12:32 AM Jan 1st from web
it's 5:20am...do you know where u are??? 5:20 AM Jan 3rd from web
ANTI-HAITIAN CULTURE: Disney's Princess and the Frog portrays Haitian roots as evil.. How do you fight DISNEY??... Where do you start?? 10:41 AM Jan 3rd from web
Got the winter blues?..learn Haitian dance (folklore) at the Oloffson Hotel tonight, Wednesday, with the RAM RHYTHM SECTION..6:30 pm..sharp 8:49 AM Jan 6th from web
It's not early unless it's dark outside and it's not late unless it's light!!@winnielours 7:41 AM Jan 10th from web
THE LAST RAM REHEARSAL BEFORE GOING TO THE STUDIO...FIRST SUNDAY AFTER LES ROIS..IT'S OFFICIAL...IT BEGINS TODAY..LE CARNAVAL 2010 10:39 AM Jan 10th from web
sometimes I wonder if there's anyone out there that wants to come to the video shoot.... the secret video shoot at the unspecified location 11:42 AM Jan 12th from web
THE BUS leaves Saturday morning to unspecified location, comes back Sunday; filming takes place Sat & Sunday@fredodupoux 1:34 PM Jan 12th from web
were ok at the oloffson..internet is on !! no phones ! hope all are okay..alot of big building in PAP are down ! 6:23 PM Jan 12th from web
there is a tsunami alert ! everyone stay safe !! fires seem to also be burning in downtown PAP 6:25 PM Jan 12th from web
Just about all the lights are out in Port au Prince.. people still screaming but the noise is dying as darkness sets. 6:33 PM Jan 12th from web
lot's of rumors about which buildings were toppled..The Castel Haiti behind the Oloffson is a pile of rubble..it was 8 stories high 6:34 PM Jan 12th from web
Our guests are sitting out in the driveway.. no serious damage here at the Oloffson but many large buildings nearby have collapsed 6:36 PM Jan 12th from web
people are praying in groups..others are looking for relatives..no phone service..no electricity 6:37 PM Jan 12th from web
I'm told that parts of the Palace have collapsed..the UNIBANK here on Rue Capois has collapsed 6:38 PM Jan 12th from web
people are bringing people by on stretchers 6:39 PM Jan 12th from web
they say it was a magnitude 7.0 earthquake..there are tsunami warnings here and in the Caribbean 6:40 PM Jan 12th from web
two helicopters have flown over head an hour ago but nothing since then 6:41 PM Jan 12th from web
Port au Prince is dark except for a few fires 6:41 PM Jan 12th from web
A huge hospital that was being built across from the Oloffson has collapsed 6:42 PM Jan 12th from web
we're ok..a little freaked out but ok..every one is hanging out outside on the driveway @mannysister 7:27 PM Jan 12th from web
Phones are starting to work..got a call from some one who's house fell in, child is hurt but ok. . 7:30 PM Jan 12th from web
people are needing medical supplies..food, housing; I don't know water situation; 7:37 PM Jan 12th from web
another aftershock..people are screaming and freaking out down towards the stadium..much singing and praying in large numbers 7:45 PM Jan 12th from web
there are still aftershocks... 8:00 PM Jan 12th from web
people in large numbers are singing prayers downtown 8:31 PM Jan 12th from web
another aftershock!!! 8:33 PM Jan 12th from web
another aftershock..a little longer..much screaming downtown..this is going to be a long night 8:37 PM Jan 12th from web
I'm writing from the Hotel Oloffson in Port au Prince Haiti@JaimeSerra 8:38 PM Jan 12th from web
It's 8:44PM and we're still getting aftershocks!!I can hear people gathered in the distance singing prayers 8:45 PM Jan 12th from web
Daniel Morel, professional photographer says he cannot believe what he saw today. His old house near Grand Rue looks like it was bombed 8:47 PM Jan 12th from web
Family and I seem to be ok but we're very concerned..Prayers in distance are getting louder and more emotional 8:52 PM Jan 12th from web in to DashingDivaDomo
My mom just showed up at the Oloffson..sigh of relief!! 8:58 PM Jan 12th from web
Hotel Christopher and Montana are flattened from an eye witness 9:06 PM Jan 12th from web
singing and prayers are becoming more invigorated 9:08 PM Jan 12th from web
the singing and praying is getting more intense..you have to believe!! From what I'm hearing, this is worse than anyone is imagining 9:18 PM Jan 12th from web
If the Montana Hotel and the Hotel Christopher are gone, I don't know where UN leadership is 9:19 PM Jan 12th from web
Too much..have to take a break 9:47 PM Jan 12th from web
just saw a picture of the palace..it is destroyed 10:03 PM Jan 12th from web
when my batteries die I will no longer be able to communicate..it's going to be a long night..our prayers go out to everyone 10:12 PM Jan 12th from web
heard rumor about hospital collapsing but don't know @ayitihs 10:14 PM Jan 12th from web
we're back on line..went to St Gerard Church..people are trapped in the school..others are dead in the rubble about 23 hours ago from web
there is no police presence..there is no UN presence in the Carrefour Feuilles area..people are trying to take care of themselves about 23 hours ago from web
rows of buildings have collapsed..there is no sign of official help anywhere in this area about 23 hours ago from web
People are calm, trying to help each other...others are visiting people to see if they are ok...some are digging bodies out of buildings about 23 hours ago from web
Everyone slept outside last night..people are afraid of remaining inside buildings..as i walked the streets i see bodies about 23 hours ago from web
I saw a couple of helicopters twice today but there is no sign that the international presence is helping the population about 23 hours ago from web
http://twitpic.com/xxtrc - Everyone ok at the Hotel Oloffson. Jan. 13 2010 about 22 hours ago from TwitPic
http://twitpic.com/xxu18 - Castel Haiti is down..was 8 stories high about 22 hours ago from TwitPic
People are buried in the St Gerard School by St Gerard Church..we heard voices in the rubble.I saw bodies..no official vehicles in area about 22 hours ago from web
too many private homes of the poor are destroyed..no way of counting them all..people are sitting in the streets trying to take it all in about 22 hours ago from web
all my guests slept in the driveway last night..people came up from the streets thinking they were bodies.. neighbors helping neighbors about 22 hours ago from web
there are going to be shortages of food, water, medical supplies.. partially buried bodies will create health issues soon about 22 hours ago from web
12:55PM, 13 Jan 2010..I am hearing the siren of an ambulance for the first time as I right this note.. about 22 hours ago from web
we still feel occasional tremors here but they're not that strong..no electricity..no logistical support to speak of.. about 22 hours ago from web
I see bodies in the street..I see bodies buried in rubble..there are going to be food, medical supply and water issues.. decomposing bodies about 22 hours ago from web
When the earthquake first hit I felt like I was trying to surf for the first time..it didn't want to stop.. about 22 hours ago from web
I'm beginning to hear helicopters more often now.. I predict massive emmigration.. no homes, no jobs,no medical treatment.disaster about 22 hours ago from web
If your home is destroyed and your workplace is destroyed and your neighborhood is destroyed..then what? about 21 hours ago from web
what are the poor supposed to do..no homes, no jobs,no savings..no medical attention.bodies half buried nearby about 21 hours ago from web
I don't think that RAM will be performing this Thursday..but bless you for asking.. about 21 hours ago from web
It will be dark again soon..we haven't advanced much in the last day..there goes another helicopter..three journalists just checked in about 21 hours ago from web
my internet got real slow..I'm going to turn it off for a few minutes about 20 hours ago from web
another tremor...7:22PM..the praying has begun..outdoors..loud and energetic.Beni Swa Leternel!!!.So many churches have been destroyed about 18 hours ago from web
I heard some roosters and some birds in the trees this afternoon..first time since yesterday..Journalists r checking into the hotel about 18 hours ago from web
singing..praying..clapping hands..the sun is setting..another night of darkness..death is all around.everyone has seen death..destruction about 18 hours ago from web
My time is off..it was 17:22 not 7:22..I suspect we'll sleep outside again..everyone ran outside with that last tremor @PhillipM about 18 hours ago from web
I work with the band RAM and at the Hotel Oloffson..I don't know if Im a local..I've been here since 1985..I guess I'm local @alguve about 18 hours ago from web
People that came in from the airport are saying that there are bodies strewn about on the streets. I don't know what to make of that about 17 hours ago from web
the collapsed houses and buildings are 2 much to take in at once.hearing singing and praying in the background. darkness is setting in about 17 hours ago from web
I suspect most people are going to be sleeping outside tonight.there is a fear of buildings throughout the area.as darkness settles in about 17 hours ago from web
phones aren't working.all i can say is keep trying.sometimes you get lucky @kidranger about 17 hours ago from web
It's begining to rain about 17 hours ago from web
I just got a reservation cancellation for the hotel.... about 17 hours ago from web
The rain has stopped..that was quick about 17 hours ago from web
Bodies are being put by the side of the Canape Vert road so friends and relatives can come pick them up about 17 hours ago from web
If people lose their homes and they lose their work places and there is no way to feed themselves, then whats next?? about 17 hours ago from web
people have remained very calm and helpful..once more,as the sun sets, the singing begins,the night brings uncertainty about 17 hours ago from web
The St Gerard Church has a school behind it that collapsed.I heard someone speaking from the rubble, feet were trapped he couldn't get out about 17 hours ago from web
I couldn't get into the space to get him out.i saw,police,told them,they weren't concerned.I've tweeted about it.I'mreaching out about 17 hours ago from web
I saw no priests at the St Gerard Church,a few people out front,some nuns,I saw lifeless legs in the rubble about 17 hours ago from web
The praying and singing is getting louder..more and more people are gathering..so much suffering..so much destruction about 17 hours ago from web
I wonder if some other part of town is getting logistical support..Is this a Green zone/Red zone issue??? about 17 hours ago from web
A priest came to see me..I asked him why so many churches collapsed..he left without an answer..God works in mysterious ways about 17 hours ago from web
I haven't seen all my band mates yet.I haven't seen all my employees yet.someone came by asking for one of my receptionists.not a good sign about 17 hours ago from web
I hear help is coming....tomorrow about 16 hours ago from web
I guess there's no way to anticipate an earthquake though I remember recently hearing about another one farther up the coast about 16 hours ago from web
a lot of collapsed houses in this area but don't get your hopes down..lots of victims but lots of survivors @TiTetChaje about 16 hours ago from web
we seem to be surviving..candles and a few batteries..once our pipes get fixed we'll turn on the water @manno76 about 16 hours ago from web
I'm guessing no dance classes tonight.I forgot it was wednesday @bhatiap about 16 hours ago from web
There is no electricity at the Oloffson Hotel..there are 6 journalists crowded around this desk writing and filing @bapartofmylife about 16 hours ago from web
the group praying has quieted down is this part of town..but the suffering continues about 16 hours ago from web
Time magazine is printing out of date photos and trying to pass them off for today about 15 hours ago from web
Time magazine is mis-crediting photos about 15 hours ago from web
tremor!!! about 15 hours ago from web
hundreds of people have gathered in Place Jeremie to spend the night..SLEEPING INDOORS IS NOT THE TREND!! about 15 hours ago from web
The praying and singing has quieted down..people are outdoors waiting patiently for....whatevers next about 15 hours ago from web
NBC No interviews Twitter only @NBCKatie about 15 hours ago from web
Night has fallen..the night seems to take so long..I guess those that are buried alive in the rubble are feeling it the worst..Prayers.. about 14 hours ago from web
I saw a collapsed building today..it may have been 8 or 9 stories.it looked like 8 or 9 pieces of bread one on top of the other..survivors? about 14 hours ago from web
I've only heard one or two shots all day..I'm inside right now..i'll listen @CrazyColin1 about 14 hours ago from web
I haven't heard any numbers, but then again I'm not sure there's a census here @rodrigo_david13 about 14 hours ago from web
I charge guests for the rooms but we sleep outside on the driveway!! about 14 hours ago from web
I'm trying to find a positive point of view and all i can come up with is: a lot of people didn't die. about 13 hours ago from web
Port au Prince is quiet tonight. I've never heard such a big city so quiet..I assume everybody is sleeping outside somewhere.. about 13 hours ago from web
If you just came in from NY or Canada, you might think it's warm here but 4 us it's the dead of winter.Prayers 4 those alive in the rubble about 13 hours ago from web
we're coping okay..been through a lot here during the last twenty or so years.most of my guests r used to "events" @MsTLForte about 13 hours ago from web
I hear NO GUNFIRE in Port au Prince. The singing is starting up again @jrbz88 about 13 hours ago from web
Caitlinisalive http://twitpic.com/y0824 - @RAMhaiti - this is a picture of the destroyed Hotel Montana about 12 hours ago from TwitPic ed by RAMhaiti and 34 others
capitano1989@RAMhaiti I'm sorry to inform you but acording to colombian media the Montana Hotel has collapsed and around 200 people are burried under it about 12 hours ago from web ed by RAMhaiti and 22 others
I look at the sky,see the stars, and it's as if nothing was wrong. the singing, the praying and the siren bring me back to reality..Haiti about 12 hours ago from web
I don't like the way CNN is spinning this thing.What shooting? Not in Port au Prince..Not this side of town.maybe looking for ratings about 12 hours ago from web
we slept out under the stars tonight..PortauPrince was very quiet.the suffering isn't loud.no shooting.at some point people will need help about 6 hours ago from web
The last time my guests all slept together was when the Haitian army was shooting journalists after the election massacre of Nov. 1987 about 6 hours ago from web
People are starting to wake up.I hear individual voices in the distance,some are moans,some are wails,some is just communication..a cock about 6 hours ago from web
Twitter is a new haiku way of covering events: no food.no help equals trouble.People are going to need help soon;today is tomorrow!! HELP!! about 5 hours ago from web
We need help with the rubble,help with medical supplies,help with food,water,the singing and praying has begun.God help us all about 5 hours ago from web
5:49AM the singing and praying has begun.we won't begin to understand all that is going on around us for some time to come about 5 hours ago from web
It was a quiet night.in and out of sleep.I heard a man on a microphone but don't remember what he he said.international journalists arriving about 5 hours ago from web
the hospital across the street is putting bodies out on the street.decomposition.we need portable morgues.generators.food.help.evacuation about 5 hours ago from web
No homes,no jobs.death.no where to turn.people caught in the rubble.my sleep was peaceful.now I'm awake.reality sets in.sun is about 2 rise about 5 hours ago from web
People have been good,helpful,calm..at some point, hunger,thirst,despair will set in.Portable morgues are needed..medical supplies about 5 hours ago from web
the devastation is so widespread that the folks(UN/POLICE) who should be helping, are probably taking care of their own issues. about 5 hours ago from web
with everything closed.money.food,drinks,supplies.rotting bodies,frustration,impatience,despair will all become a problem about 5 hours ago from web
Elfiem@RAMhaiti Very glad all ok at the Oloffson...do Twitterers know it was the inspiration for Hotel Trianon in Graham Greene's 'The Comedians'? about 4 hours ago from web in to RAMhaiti ed by RAMhaiti and 1 other
The streets are now Haiti's living room and bedroom @isabelahorta about 4 hours ago from web
A journalist came over from the DR in the middle of the night. they opened the gate for him w/o checking passport or papers @alicesmeets about 4 hours ago from web
It seems that wooden structures faired better than concrete structures about 4 hours ago from web
I haven't seen anyone from the UN since before the quake, I believe the building w/Brazillian embassy collapsed, unconfirmed @isabelahorta about 4 hours ago from web
tremor!! about 4 hours ago from web
There were a lot of "water rising" rumors last night. I think it came from the previous day's Tsunami warning about 2 hours ago from web
I hear planes;supplies are supposed to start coming in tday;I hope the intrnational presence will help with people buried in rubble &med sup about 2 hours ago from web
Portable morgues;medical supplies;generators;food, to name a few of the necessities about 2 hours ago from web
If people lose their homes and their jobs will they start to emigrate?? about 2 hours ago from web

Fuckhead Quote of the Week

2010-01-13T18:05:00.001-05:00

"Something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it. They were under the heel of the French. You know, Napoleon III, or whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, we will serve you if you'll get us free from the French. True story. And so, the devil said, okay it's a deal....ever since, they have been cursed by one thing after the other."

-Pat Robertson, on "The 700 Club"

It's True, I Like My Chickens

2010-01-13T12:19:00.001-05:00

A couple of hens (the yellow one is called "Lemon Cake"). Five eggs today so far.