...ok...this is an historic moment...at 20 seconds past the 3rd minute of 20hundred hours on tuesday, december 16th in the year 2003, i am making my very first wireless post...holy cow...let's take a few moments in honor of this moment, shall we?...................ok...that's good...



coming to you LIVE from the art gallery kafe at 1907 n. milwaukee in chicago, IL, i am surfing as i sip a delicious cup of organic blend here at this lovely place that kyoung & ginny, the proprieters, have done such a great job of creating an atmosphere that can be a 3rd place for folks in the neighborhood...currently, teddy is the only male (except for kyong, the owner) within a 20' radius, and he's all mine! ha ha ha! it is amazing that i can turn on my laptop, no wires going anywhere, doubleclick on explorer, and see yahoo pop up instantly, all perky and ready for me to surf...it's a wonderful world we live in...i am very close to fenegling one of my IT techie boys to get a wifi for my work laptop so that on the days i work from home, the boundaries of 'home' can stretch as far as any neighborhood tech savvy cafe...most likely the art gallery kafe cuz here it's free as long as you make a purchase...other cafes usually charge something like $3/hour...





...so it's been ages since this laptop's seen the world wide web...i've barely been using this thing...there are a million photos on it, mainly from the weeks during my dad's final illness and the weeks immediately following his death in may of 2002...seeing all those photos i took during that time was like being reunited with old friends...i don't know quite how to explain it, but the photos that i take, some of them actually find their way into my heart, and there they stay...each evokes the emotion related to the memory or the story behind the photo...and there were a lot of emotions flowing in me during that time...well, actually, i guess there's usually a lot of emotions flowing in me at any given moment...



teddy and i are here at art gallery kafe doing an experiment on third spaces...at least I'M doing an experiment on exploring possibilities for a third space...if you're worndering what a third space is, go read this article here...it's something i've been thinking about...in this day and age of fragmented relationships and isolation, i think there's a longing in a lot of folks to find a place they can go to outside their homes where they can connect to other people and to RELATE in a genuine and vulnerable way...families don't take care of each other the way they used to, and they tend to be spaced so far apart now, as opposed to the days before modern transportation when you basically stayed on the family farm or stayed in the same town and found a job you stayed with for life...



...there are about a dozen women in the cafe grouped together in two separate clusters...KNITTING...yes, i know this phenomenon has been going on for some time...my X and his best friend used to bring their knitting bags to church and fiddle with their needles and yarn during the service...this definitely got the attention of the young females in their visual vicinity...i unfortunately lack the dexterity or the patience to knit anything worth admitting ownership to...but i do find it fascinating...i can hear the conversations going on, and i am amazed that these women can talk about their relational problems, current hypochondriatic concerns, and the usual chit chat whilst their fingers perform these microscopically complex tasks (at least they seem that way to me)...oh that i should be blessed with such talent...alas, i'm just a shutterbug & blogger...those are my only talents that i'll actually claim to have...



*sigh*...i want to be in a knitting circle...ok, maybe not a KNITTING circle...but a SOMETHING circle...an ANYTHING circle...or square...or rhombus...beggars can't be choosers ya know...



anyways, everybody, run out to the art gallery kafe...mon-wed open until 9pm, thursday until 10pm, friday-sunday until 6pm...they're at 1907 n. milwaukee...i had a hummus plate w/ a huge veggie selection...FRESH TASTING VEGGIES...YUMMY! good coffee too...intelligentsia of course...

...HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY COUSIN IKE!!! way down deep in the heart of austin, tx! ike & i were born in the same year, so we're closest in age among the cousins...we're also the shutterbugs of the family...and the ones w/ independent tastes in music...actually, even though i'm 7 months older, ike was the one who first got into the music (and introduced me to it) and then to digital photography...he hasn't lived in chicago in years and years though and i only get to see him for the holidays...except this one cuz he moving into a snazzy condo...



...in other news, i've installed my wifi on my laptop & i'm hoping to try it out tonight @ the art gallery kafe, where they have free wireless internet for their customers...quite the deal, in my opinion...



been listening to--

perfumed letter--bill mallonee

the covers album--cat power

s/t--blonde redhead

s/t--all-time quarterback

oh, i totally forgot...just found this link on the ooze today...heeeheeeheee...i guess it's the christian version of the onion...here's the holy observer...

...ok...photos from week 3 of wicker park grace's advent series are right here...last one is this coming sunday...



...got home not too long ago from work...my throat definitely still hurts...oh well...not much i can do about that i suppose...



...the good news is that it seems that divine intervention will land me my most coveted sufjan stevens xmas cds! i guess emailing god (godcubed@throneroom.com) and cc:ing sufjan worked...i sent god an email requesting that he make sure sufjan read his email, specifically mine, and to give me further instructions if necessary via fortune cookie...that's how i get people at work to pay attention when i send them an important email...i send a copy to a vp of something or other, and then the person is more apt to read the darn thing...actually, sufjan wasn't dissing me...he's just been swamped, what with recording another christmas album and all...denison had told me they had recorded one last weekend, and it turns out that denny does a few songs on there too, one of which involves elvish boogying, which is quite funny because i've been convinced for quite some time that denison is an elf...at least part elf...



...oh, and the funny thing was, yesterday, teddy, dave & i went to brunch @ the riverside cafe...they have this scrumptious all-you-can-eat buffet on sunday mornings for $10.95...i'm talking french toast, huevos rancheros, biscuits, butter pancakes, blueberry pancakes, potato pancakes, scrambled eggs w/ veggies, eggs benedict, eggs-something-else, ham, half a dozen pasta salads, bruschetta, blt's, other sandwiches, all kinds of fruit, twinkies, hostess cupcakes, wafer cookies, chocolate chip cookies, and all kinds of other stuff i can't even remember...well, of all things for a breakfast/brunch buffet, they had chinese fortune cookies! ha ha ha! and my fortune said 'everything will come your way', which i took to mean of course the sufjan stevens christmas cds...and voila, i get home that afternoon and i have an email from sufjan...absolutely lovely...



been listening to--

folklore--16 horsepower

s/t--the innocence mission

slow dark train--VoL

philadelphia songs--denison witmer

daydream nation--sonic youth

give up--the postal service

spartacus--the farm

i am so exhausted...thank you everybody for caring about my mom...

i am getting sick again...sore throat...sinus problems...yuckity yuck yuck yuck...too tired to blog...so i'm just gonna cut & paste something i posted on the VoL/Bill Mallonee grouplist...for those of you unfamiliar with the music of bill mallonee & the vigilantes of love (VoL), you're missing out...anyways, the fans on that grouplist are very opinionated and love to spew their opinions about (don't get me wrong, i actually like a lot of them), and so many of them, at around this time of the year, post their top 5 or top 10 albums for the past year...so this is my post for my top 10...please excuse the formatting errors...i'm too lazy to fix 'em...oh, and the photos are just miscellaneous snapshots from me & teddy's latest outings...

begin transmission:

...i'm very indecisive about these things...i never make lists, which is why i usually come home from the grocery store with unintentional things like a tigger pez or avocado muffins...i could never do santa's job...but i'll take a stab...

not all these were released in 2003, but i'm pretty behind the times as i am skeptical of most new music... and now, in no particular order because to prioritize would simply drive me over the edge:

DISCLAIMER: SARAH-JI, THE AUTHOR OF THE FOLLOWING LIST, IS AN INDIE ROCKER ON THE CHICAGO SCENE WHO WEARS HOODIES AND JELLY BRACELETS AND COLLECTS BAND BUTTONS...IF YOU MAKE FUN OF HER, HER BOYFRIEND WILL KICK YOUR ASS, BUT SHE'LL PROBABLY LAUGH RIGHT BACK...

1. GREETINGS FROM MICHIGAN--SUFJAN STEVENS (http://www.sufjan.com) sufjan is an adopted sibling of the danielson famile because he is pretty damn useful, playing something like 20 instruments on this album alone...i know a while back we had some nuked discussion back and forth regarding worship music...this album is my vote for album most likely to get me to experience the presence of god in recent memory...or distant memory for that matter...i would include his christmas albums NOEL and HARK! on this list as well, but then
someone might accuse me of favoritism...esp. if they ever see a photo of sufjan...besides, the christmas albums are next to impossible to get except at a live show...

2. INFINITE KEYS--ESTER DRANG (http://www.esterdrang.com) they're cute...oh and they make beautiful music! i saw them open up for starflyer59, and i gotta say, you needs to see them live, these blokies from the okies are worth spending $$ on...

3. GIVE UP--THE POSTAL SERVICE...ben gibbard's voice mixed w/ one of the jen's voices (jenny lewis of rilo kiley & jen wood) makes my knees shake...gets dangerous when i'm behind the wheel...

4. NOW YOU KNOW--DOUG MARTSCH (of built to spill)...granted, BTS is one of my favorite bands...but this is doug playing the BLUES...and it's absolutely lovely in an indie rock kinda way...and he does a version of 'woke up this morning w/ my mind on jesus' that i really love but which most folks probably wouldn't like too much...

5. ONLY WITH LAUGHTER CAN YOU WIN--ROSIE THOMAS (http://www.rosiethomas.com)...i love rosie on and off the stage...her songs are so simple and yet brutally honest...unlike her good friend damien jurado who makes up a lot of the stories behind his songs (thank goodness, or he'd be a murderous adulterer), rosie's are pretty much all true...i love how simply she fingerpicks her songs and how sometimes eric has to tune her guitar...and i love how her voice lingers in your brain and haunts you for days...

6. WHERE SHALL YOU LEAD ME--DAMIEN JURADO (http://www.damienjurado.com) you could say that my current state of marshwigglish-a-la-puddleglum outlook on life began the day i found out i was older than damien jurado...nevertheless, i cannot help but love his music...and this new one is no exception...he makes me cry tears sweet enough to drink...

7. NO GOOD FOR NO ONE NOW--OWEN (MIKE KINSELLA OF CAP'N JAZZ/AMERICAN FOOTBALL/JOAN OF ARC)... the kinsella brothers are indie rock icons in the chicago hipster scene and mike has been playing solo stuff under the moniker OWEN in recent times...he plays all the instruments himself and records the stuff in his bedroom @ his mom's house...the result is very simple, beautifully melodic sometimes heartwrenching songs...

8. FOLKLORE--16 HORSEPOWER ... ok, i'm kinda slow...just started getting into this band, and like woah...it's possible if i found this album last year when it actually came out, it would've proven itself too much for me to handle, but i have a better grip on my emotional well-being now, and i can handle the thick lush darkness and just let it wash over me without damaging me...

9. SELF-TITLED--HIDARI MAE (http://www.hidarimae.com) this is my friend andy myers' band...andy plays drums for damien jurado & rosie thomas, but he fronts this band on guitar and plays other interesting instruments like the theremin...eric fisher, damien's & rosie's guitarist, plays keys on this one...when they play live, dave broecker of the prom plays bass...andy has a hauntingly beautiful voice, and for a debut, i think this album is quite lovely...

10. PERFUMED LETTER--BILL [MALLONEE (http://www.billmallonee.net)]...ah yes...do i even need to mention this one? everything i know about love and loss and life, i learned from bill mallonee...ok, not 100% accurate, but i sure have learned a lot about coping with love, loss & life from bill's songs as well as from bill the man, bill the husband, bill the father, bill the friend...that's why when i am most despondent, i can take comfort in bill's songs, new & old, knowing i'm not alone and realizing that somehow there's always a hint of hope, whether it's a really huge obvious brick-over-the-head hint or as subtle as a daydream...PERFUMED LETTER is one of my favorite albums to listen to on a cold starry night, when i'm driving down a dark road outside the city limits, as i think about the boy i love, and sometimes about the boys i thought i loved...

maybe in 2004, i'll actually buy albums the same year that they're released, but considering my backlog, i probably still won't get to them until 2005...

hugs & kisses to everyone everywhere!
sjr

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