run

I have two days left before i leave seattle for almost six weeks. Thursday i fly into jfk airport in glorious mid-summer nyc.....should be really comfortable and exhilerating.

i will be attending my sister's wedding this weekend, complete with relatives unseen for over a decade, walking my mother down the aisle, and dining at an upscale, downtown restaurant.

i haven't had to wear "pants" or a "dress shirt" in quite a while....i think most will be surprised i still exist, since i did such a spectacular job of severing ties with any and everyone.

following this weekend of mammoth celebration, i'll be headed back to new england. four days with my mother, where we'll talk art, she'll (unsuccessfully) try to convert me to christianity, and we'll make amazing vegan food that will make me wish i could eat like i used to be able to.

then to salem, nh. roughly a day or two of practice in nh before we drive to providence to pick up the van. we'll then drive back to nh, load up and head out to indianapolis.

there, we will spend an intense week of practicing new songs so that the two new members will be all shiny and rip roaring once our tour begins at dude fest.

so, thanks to the wondrous glory that is the elliot bay used book store, i found "yes, yes, y'all - the oral history of the first ten years of hip-hop" for a whopping $7.95. if only some other desperate soul would sell back all the ego trip books, i'd be great.

seriously, it's not possible to comprehend how amazing this book is. from the candid photos to the vintage flyers dating as far back as 1975/76. reading the first hand stories of setting up battles in the park, and dealing with the gangs that ran / frequented the early clubs / shows....it's just a fascinating read.

also read last week was the newest chuck palahniuk novel, "rant".

i have a confession: i did not read diary, haunted, or stranger than fiction.

NOT because i thought i wouldn't like them....actually it was the exact opposite. I knew i'd like them.....i knew they'd be brilliant, so i just didn't bother with them, knowing full well i'd get to them someday. I probably would have done the same thing with "rant" if it wasn't, once again, for the elliot bay used books section. it caught my eye and was one of those "can't refuse" moments....i had forgotten it came out the week before and here i am already looking at a used copy....i shall take it, thank you.

it's a quick read, but it's another in chuck's long line of novels leaving you going, "are you fucking kidding me?....how do you think of this shit?"

needless to say, i'll be picking up diary, haunted, et. all very soon.....and there's news on one of his sites talking of another novel on the way called "snuff".....i have a brain boner already.

and, it looks like some of his novels may finally make it to the big screen....way to get on the ball, hollywood...good thing it took you almost a decade since "fight club" to do something....and if you weren't so scared of offending the general public, "survivor" should have already been made, but you took the safe road.

on a prticularly frustrating and/or hopeful note.....i'm not sure if "insomnialways" zine #1 will be done by dudefest.....1-may not be able to afford it until fall, & 2- i want it to not be a piece of shit....i mean, it will mostly just be stories, anti-essays, and various writings, but i want it to be somewhat good.

and, i'd like to learn to use a computer a little so that it looks alright.