Hi friends. The world is bad and getting worse, but at least we have each other!
Garden wrap-up
So the tomatoes and green beans really didn’t do anything this year; I think the trees have finally grown tall enough to shade them for too much of the day. I will probably try that plot for greens next year. I found a raised garden bed frame in an alley with a “free” sign on it, so I plan to put that in our backyard and try the tomatoes there next year.
The photo above is the herb garden in the part of the yard that Rickert tore up. It did quite well this year, with basil, a few kinds of hot peppers, parsley, lavender that came back from the dead, rosemary, oregano, thyme, and marigolds and a geranium in the center.
Shanon has been wanting to plant more bulbs for a few years and we finally remembered to do it at the right time this year. We put in tulips and narcissus and (a shitload of) crocus in the sunny front, and some hyacinths on a shady corner. I hope they come up in the spring as planned.
Listening
I went with my friend Fishburn to two concerts this summer. The first was Jeff Rosenstock at the Black Sheep here in Colorado Springs. I can’t find video, but this from Portland gets the vibe.
It was an enormously fun show. Jeff has a great stage presence, and opening act Chris Farren made a new fan out of me, too. We stood on the edge of a well-behaved pit, occasionally shoving people back in.
Last week we went to see Thou at What’s Left Records, also here in the Springs, right across the street from The Black Sheep. Here’s video from the actual show.
Thou is a really well-known, well-regarded black metal / doom metal band. So they sounded awesome, but it’s not the kind of show where you walk out singing the songs. I don’t listen to a lot of metal in my daily life, but I love to go to shows. Seems like a good thing to do here at the end of the world, go stand with a bunch of people and get pummeled by loud music while a guy screams. I do actually listen somewhat frequently to Thou’s collaboration with Emma Ruth Rundle, May Our Chambers Be Full, because ERR’s vocals make the songs more melodic and memorable to me, with Thou’s singer’s vocals more of a counterpoint.
Reading
I feel like I haven’t been reading all that much lately. One of Thou’s t-shirt designs features a photo of Sophie Scholl, the young German anti-Nazi activist from the White Rose group, who was guillotined by the Nazis in 1943. That reminded me that I had a copy of The White Rose: Munich 1942-43 by Sophie’s sister Inge Scholl that I’d picked up at the thrift store, so I’m reading that.
It took me forever to read Mark Z. Danielewski’s House of Leaves. If you aren’t familiar with it, the book is known for its unusual typography and design. Like the typography, the story is multi-layered, with a horror story wrapped inside another horror story. It’s not a difficult read exactly, but it helps to read in at least chapter-long chunks and not little snippets. It’s pretentious in the way that I enjoy.
Watching
Instead of reading I have been watching more movies, specifically films from the 1930s. I forget what put me onto Design For Living, but I’m glad I found it. Might be one of my all time favorites now.
Since then, I have watched Trouble in Paradise, Grand Hotel, Ninotchka (Garbo laughs!), and Dracula, with Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, The Wizard of Oz, and It Happened One Night still in the queue.If you are interested you can see what I’m watching on Letterboxd.
Photography
I have been shooting / developing /scanning a few rolls on my Holga toy camera to submit for the Holga Week 2024 celebration/contest. I’ll post here once those are submitted.
I got a new iPhone and have been taking a lot of pictures with it lately.
Not coincidentally I have slowed down a bit on the film photography, though I will still finish the year with more than 30 rolls shot, developed and scanned. More on my plans for next year when I do my birthday post in a few weeks.
Also by my birthday I’d planned to have a zine printed with my photos of the demolition of the Martin Drake Power Plant. Not sure if I will make that deadline or not (looking at the calendar I’m pretty sure I won’t…) but I’m determined to make it happen so I can get on to the next photo zine.
Family stuff
We’re all good. Shanon had shingles but is on the mend. My chair kinda collapsed on the deck when I was on the phone with mom and dad which led to them hearing a confusing and very worrying series of cries and crashes as I fell over backwards off the deck (just a foot off the ground) and hit my head on a rock. I’m fine, phone is fine, mom’s heart rate is recovering.
Luke is in London this week with his friend Han, and from the texts and photos it seems like they are having a great time seeing the sights, eating good food, and all that. Very happy for them and more than a little jealous.
Nick spent the weekend with his biology class at this cool remote campus on Lake Michigan in northern Wisconsin. We are looking forward to hearing how that all went.
My love to all of you. Drop me a line and let me know how you are doing.
On your recommendation here, I'm giving a Thou a try. Maybe not the right thing for a late Friday afternoon but what the hell. Did you ever read Martin Buber's fanboi paean to this band, "I and Thou"? ;-)
Filled with lots of interesting news. Great pictures, too.