Juliana's car was broken into right in front of our house. The thief stole her radio and left behind a Soy Jerky wrapper.

Found A Job

I'm working in the Financial Aid Office of the California Institute of Integral Studies. It offers majors in programs such as Women's Spirituality, Consciousness and Transformation and Drama Therapy. When I told my father about it, I could actually hear the sound of him shuddering over the phone.

Monsoon Flower

... the "sticky" feeling on your finger is the clutch of hundreds of tiny harpoons, each on the end of its own little thread...
- Richard Dawkins' "The Ancestor's Tale"

Arrow

Is his name because he's long and pointy.

His cry is piercing - yet pleasant.

He dives right into the heart of everything.

Sometimes it seems like he's trying to crawl up my nose.

Unemployed Reading

I've been reading "The Discovery and Conquest of Mexico" by Bernal Diaz, ca. 1557 since I have a little time on my hands while I'm looking for a job. I would call it easily as enlightening and far more entertaining than Thucydides (though that could be a translation issue).

The first thing that you notice about our house is the light. Or, that is to say, if you came to visit it might not be the first thing you'd notice, you might think oh this is Johny's new house, or you'd pet the dog, but if you were thinking about buying a house as of course we were when we saw it for the first time, the first thing you'd notice is the light. I'm not sure if it's the time of year or the location in the East Bay or the house itself, but the first time I saw it I thought oh yes when people talk about some place having great light this must be what they mean, it's really very distinctive and pretty. We have a skylight that you open with a special pole, and I really like opening the skylight with the pole, except we've been leaving it open because it's been warm here, otherwise I'd be opening it and closing it and opening and closing it all the time. But warm isn't hot; it was 106 in Woodland last weekend, but only 82 here. It's foggy in the morning some days and then a bit warm in the afternoon, not too hot to walk the dog but hot enough that he's sort of tired and panting by the end. I guess me too. Then cool in the evening. Our house isn't very big, at least not for a house. We have a living room a dining room a kitchen a bedroom a bathroom and then another room, but it's still smaller than our other house, and we have things like the Farfisa and Juliana's enlarger that we don't know what to do with, which is not including the pink piano that we really don't know what to do with and is still in the other house, which we haven't sold yet.

In the old house the cats lived upstairs, and Mingus came down when he felt like it, Cosmo when Norman was outside and Tim entered a sort of Norma Desmond period when she never came out except for meals. This house has been divided into a cat half and a dog half. The southern half, with the living room, dining room and kitchen is Norm's and the cats have the northern half with the bedroom, bathroom and the other room. Tim seems to have overcome her agoraphobia or concern for paparazzi or whatever it was has actually been out enjoying the sunlight, whereas Mingus, who is not afraid of Norman and prefers to take his meals in the kitchen has been spending long periods of time under the covers in bed.

One of the rooms, the living room, was already green, and Juliana has painted the bedroom and bathroom each a different green, and the dining room she wants to paint one of the same greens, I forget which one. I'm not very good with color names, and Juliana always gets mad when I try to identify colors because I don't say them right, but the bedroom, even though it's just one paint color, it's called Goat's Beard on the paint can, is different colors in the room. It's that famous light. In the corner that's not so well-lit, it's sort of olive, almost like the cover of the Brothers Twain album, but the back wall with sun on it is much yellower, maybe like a goat's real beard. Anyway I'm not very good with describing colors, but the house is mostly different shades of green and white, except the back room where we stashed all our stuff which is the blue of a malted milk bird's egg and the kitchen which is all white. The kitchen, like I suppose the house as a whole, is beautiful but small. It seems more like a kitchen you would want to hang out in than cook in except that I do want to cook in it. It has a lovely old-fashioned gas stove with a warmer and everything, but there's no counter space and little storage space. I had to give away my stacking bamboo steamers since there was no place to put them, but I never used them anyway.

The train runs, oh I'm terrible with distances, but maybe a quarter of a mile or maybe it's more, half a mile from our house, and I suppose it's the sort of thing you might find annoying, but I don't at all, I find it sweet and sort of romantic. Juliana says it always makes her think of the Sleep Train commercial. I don't know if they show that outside of California. Your ticket to a good night's sleep. There's also a very nice little church right on the corner, Saint Ambrose, so we can hear the church bells which I always like. They chime on Sunday and then at other times I can't quite figure out, noon probably and evening. Saint Ambrose himself apparently wasn't really my kind of guy, being as he was a staunch opponent of Jews and fornication. At least that's one Saint Ambrose; I'm sure there are a few of them and maybe the church is named for a different one than the chaste anti-Semite. I have the Butler's that Stephen gave me unpacked and shall have to research.

We have a fenced-in yard so that we can leave Norman out during the day, and it's really a wonderful yard. Everyone in Berkeley has gardens more than yards. You walk down the street and everyone has rose bushes and lavender and flowers I don't know the names of, but not so much the well-tended lawn, which suits me fine since (sorry Firestone) a well-tended lawn has always seemed uncomfortably bourgeois to me but a garden, a garden is really fine. I don't know very much about flower gardening, I know a little about vegetable gardening but hardly anything about flower gardening, but we have this sweet garden both inside and outside the fence, which I'm hoping to keep healthy. I talked to the people who lived here before us, they obviously cared a lot about the garden, and they said, oh, you just need to water and weed, and then the four or so rose plants do require special care, you should spray the leaves with soapy water if they've been eaten by bugs and with water mixed with baking soda if they've been attacked by mildew. Our roses, few as they are, seem to have been attacked by both, so I suppose I shall have to mix water with both soap and baking soda.

There's not really room for a vegetable garden, which I'd prefer, but on the other hand there is fresh produce for sale all around. There are three farmer's markets in Berkeley every week, and two in Oakland and probably some in El Cerrito and Albany and Richmond too, and a really beautiful greengrocers about a ten minute walk from here, and the Berkeley Bowl which everyone tells me is the place to go and Andronico's, which is an upscale chain like Dean & Delucca's. I can't remember if my fascination with fresh vegetables started before I moved to California where they're everywhere or of it coincided with my vegetarianism, but I think the former. Maybe not but I think so. I think I liked buying vegetables at the Halle de Rives, I just like it more now. I'm like some people are with garage sales, if I see a produce stand I want to pull over. I'm glad there are so many fresh vegetables for sale in Berkeley.

Jim and I

Exploding Plastic Inevitable

Sunday morning. Went to an exhibition at the Kunsthaus in Zurich. There was a small film/music room (3 walls) in the exhibition of original film and music from the Dom of Andy and the Velvets. It had the same disturbing and exciting effect as hearing Venus in Furs the first time. I think the creator's name is Bernard Nahmann or something like that.

My new hometown

Come November, I'll get to vote on whether Bush and Cheney should be impeached. Berkeley's fun!

Read here.

Back to Mono

The College magazine reports that Spector Hall has been completed, and was named for Warren's father, Phillip. That means St. John's now has a Phil Spector Hall. Dig it! To know, know, know him is to love, love, love him.

Harriet the Tortoise, the oldest animal known in captivity passed away over the weekend. She was 175 years old, and had once belonged to Charles Darwin. This weekend we also lost Aaron Spelling.

Magnetic Fields song used in a a Cesar dog food commercial

1315 A Cornell Ave.

We closed on a place in Berkeley. We'll be moving in mid-July.

Tomorrow's Graduation Day. After that, it's Doctor Sorem.

Even we get mail

The following was sent to Tracy and me:

Gentlemen,
I am writing to you to see whether or not you are interested in reuniting your old college band for Homecoming weekend in Annapolis. Rachel O'Keefe told me about your band and it would be awesome to bring you together to play at your 25th reunion. The dates for Homecoming weekend are September 29-October 1. I don't have email addresses for Jim Preston or Peter Gilbert and I doubt the address I have for James Brunner will work so if you're in touch with these guys, let me know.
Sincerely,
Jo Ann
Jo Ann Mattson Director of Alumni Relations
St John's College


I'm guessing Peter might not be so interested in going to Homecoming, and it's a bit far for Jim. Still, it's always nice to be asked.

22 Year Itch

I finally had the chance to talk to Thurston Moore, something I’ve wanted to do ever since I found out he lives in Northampton. I’ve had a longstanding grudge against Sonic Youth because they left during our set when we opened for them in Geneva. But I do like their music, and see them when they play locally, which they are good enough to do fairly often. Friday, Thurston played a solo gig at a local gallery, then a noise duo with a guy who calls himself Gown. So I went up to him and said "You know we met over 20 years ago." He said he recognized me. I thought that was strange - but maybe he says that to everyone he doesn’t know. We chatted about Northampton, then I brought up the Geneva concert again, and could see the lights go on in his head. He realized this had actually happened, but didn't quite remember it. Since I couldn’t really needle him about something he didn’t remember, I told him I'm available if he needs a drummer for these local gigs. And next time I see him I’ll get him for pretending to recognize me. In another 22 years.

I had thought that Footlight Parade was the greatest musical ever made until I saw Gold Diggers of 1933 on Saturday. Now I just don't know.

Raw power is a guaranteed O.D. Raw power is laughing at you and me. It's laughing, baby.

Jimmy Boy

I recorded some songs with the Mad Maggies this weekend. Even in the age of Pro Tools, some 23 years after "Believe you Me", there's still a lot that can be covered with a cymbal crash.