a summer wasting

So, it's been nearly a month since I last posted, and I'm pleased to report that nothing much has changed. Summer - though it technically isn't even summer yet - is ambling by surprisingly quickly, leaving in its wake a trail of long and humid days working indoors, the gentle heat of early evenings and a pleasant sense of aimlessness in everything. There have been a few attempts at writing a new post, but nothing really seems to have worked, so I just went back to square one. There are, however, some things that have been happening lately that are worth mentioning, so here goes. In point form:

-Every summer I try - or at least, try to try - something different. This summer, I'm working on an off-the-cuff musical project with four of my friends - two of whom can actually play an instrument! We're trying to craft an original album based on the things we know best - bargain DVD bins, garden gnomes, and a minivan with a giant Chinese food restaurant ad on the side called the Bamboomobile. We recently started recording, and so far it sounds like the love child of Sgt. Pepper's and The Chronic as raised by OK Computer and Master of Puppets and nourished by the tears of a thousand Cure fans. For those interested, here's the original, all covers record from 2005 (back when Chuck Norris jokes were the exciting new thing). I'm not in it (and thus free of any blame), as I wasn't around for the one-night recording session. Anyway, I'll post tracks as the new album nears completion. Sure, we may be musically challenged, but we can't be any worse than this.

-This week's most exciting development: the strange and unexpected appearance of a blender in my kitchen. This may not seem earth-shattering development to you, dear reader, but my family has, until now, never owned a blender. Thus, before I knew it, the whole hierarchy of my kitchen has changed. Grapes, bananas, kiwis and berries are no longer, delicious and juicy sources of important nutrients, but the building blocks of a delicious breakfast smoothie. These fridge dwellers are now frothily mixed with stuff from the freezer, the cupboards and, on occasion, the liquor cabinet. My normally boring and reserved kitchen is now an anarchical mess of delicious treats. If we get a waffle iron my world might explode.

- So, who else caught the Sopranos finale the other night? It seemed to be going along, building to something cathartic and horrifying and then it just















(More updates shortly)