Oh, I am not quite sleeping.

I am listening to Sufjan Stevens as I type this. If you don't have the "Come On Feel the Illinoise' cd yet....GO BUY IT! It's amazing. The song called "The Predatory Wasp Of The Palisades Is Out To Get Us!" is probably my favorite track.

It's Halloween and I have no pumpkin laden, candy scarfing, costume wearing plans at all. That makes me a little sad. I hate wearing costumes but I do love handing out candy to kids. I also love that Halloween is a holiday that has no religious or patriotic themes. It makes it a bit more pure in my mind. It feels more wholesome then Christmas. Really. Halloween smells good. It smells like wet leaves, smarties breath and wood burning. Last year I handed out candy with a friend. I loved doing that. She has a great porch for that sort of activity.

Can you hear the beat of my heart?

I just love that Jens Lekman. His new release, "Oh You're So Silent Jens" is fabulous! It's basically a collection of singles, b-sides and live cuts. I listened to a lot of it in my car on the way to work from the radio station. When track #11, "I Saw Her at The Anti-War Demonstration" started I could not stop smiling. I had my windows down and the heat turned up. I love doing that kind of thing when the leaves start to turn and everyone pulls out their favorite sweatshirts and sweaters.

Ya know, Cleveland is at it's most beautiful in mid-October. This is a camera-phone shot outside of WRUW. That's the silvery, rolling, Frank Gehry designed Peter B. Lewis building on the campus of Case Western Reserve University.

A lot of people hate this building. I think it's just beautiful. The only big problem with it that I know of is that in the winter when snow and ice slide off the curvy sides, Case has to block off the sidewalk so nobody gets wonked on the head.

Stormy weather

Yesterday Kozmo and I stopped at Edgewater park. The lake was so beautiful. Crashing over the rocks. It was gray cold and windy. The gulls were "hunkered down" keeping warm in the grass and about 60 Canadian geese were bunched together trying not to blow way.

I could not resist letting my 6lb chihuahuha go running towards those crabby cold canucks. Kozmo was in heaven! He took off barking like crazy letting them know who's boss. At that moment though I started to worry that a goose was going to grab Kozmo by his collar and fly out over Lake Erie with him. It didn't happen. They all took off. They were floating in the sky at a standstill over the water with their wings fully out because it was so windy. They really stood out against the dark clouds. It looked very cool.

Kozmo and I struggled back to the car in the gusty wind and rain. As I got in the car I was laughing out loud because of how hard it was going against that cold wind. The laughter was an involuntary reaction. Kozmo just looked at me like I was crazy.

"I'm not sorry I met you"

Today is one of those cold rainy October days that make me want to sit in a coffee shop staring out the window with a vague sense of sadness. The kind of sadness that you only get when nothing is really wrong.

But alas, I am at work. I brought my little dog in with me. He seemed like he wanted to go to a coffee shop and stare out the window this morning too.


Hey, Pitchforkmedia.com has a great essay on "Indie-pop". I love the title, "Twee as Fuck". It's really good. I thought I would read it and think, "hey! What about this...and this...and them?!?" But no. It's pretty complete.

Peninsula

Cuyahoga
Originally uploaded by bitterbutter.

Monica and I went for a walk along the canal path in Peninsula on Saturday afternoon in the cold rain. We were going to take Kozmo but figured he would be happier at home.

I think he was. We only walked for about 40 minutes. It smelled wonderful.

After our walk Monica suggest we go have a hearty dinner at Marta's. We did. It was great. I love it there. I especially love the big glasses of draft Czech beer.

Friday night misspellings.

scrabble
Originally uploaded by bitterbutter.

Friday night I went to Barnes and Noble with Ann. She had a gift card that we planned to blow on over-priced frothy coffee drinks while I kicked her butt at scrabble.

Well...she kicked my butt under the hospital cafeteria-like lighting of the bookstore's Starbucks. Although as you can see in the picture... I allowed her the word "B L O G E R".

I think this is the most ironic moment I have ever had in my life.

T.J.J.I.F.

Ya know...I have the most beautiful ride home from work on my scooter. I go along Lake Erie most of the way. From the West side to the East side. As I leave work I go along a railroad track. On my way home Wednesday I saw the Barnum and Bailey circus train. I was really surprised to see it. It put me in such a good mood even though I really am not a big fan of circuses. It felt like a nostalgic moment.

That's the one thing my generation (late late-boomers, early X-ers) has had put upon them, nostalgia for things they have not experienced, times they didn't live in. I blame the Baby Boomers for this. Since they are the ones that have been in charge of media, news, etc, most of my life I have grown up hearing about the Beatles, Leave it to Beaver and the 1950s ad-nauseum. "Yeah, remember when you saw the Beatles on Sullivan?" NO! "Where were you when Kennedy was shot?" Ummmm I think I was a fetus. I just get so tired of the fetishizing of that time in our country. Sure, amazing things happened...but amazing things happen every day and if we keep looking at the old picture album we are NEVER going to get anywhere.

I think that is why radio got so bad so quick. "I just wanna hear classic rock!!! That's what real rock and roll is!" Said the boomer at the party.

These people don't realize that classic rock was new at one point and people had to take a chance and play it on the radio. If programmers in the 60s and 70s thought like radio programmers in the 80s, we would STILL be listening to nothing but Buddy Holly and Frank Sinatra. Instead we still hear too much "classic rock".

Okay...on a lighter note. My pie turned out great! That Scottish-Apple Pie I was talking about earlier. So easy, so simple.

Rocktober

So it's Tuesday. I just got back from lunch. I rode over to the the Lesbian Gay Community Service Center on my scooter sans helmet. I hate to say it...but riding the scooter without wearing a helmet is a totally different feeling. I promise not to do it again.

Anyway, the reason I went to the center was to check out their dj audio equipment. I am going to be DJing an art opening that Wild Plum, the center's arts group is sponsoring in Tremont in November. I am looking forward to it. I usually DJ at a lesbian bar whose patrons just want to hear commercial hip-hop or Melissa Etheridge. Hip-hop would be cool if it were interesting stuff. But the ladies only want to hear what they have heard on MTV and the radio over and over. Boring.

I spent this past weekend at my brother's new house in Ravenna. I painted, taped, pulled staples, moved an old fridge....all the glamorous type stuff. I still ache. Poor Mike. He aches more I am sure.

Sunday night was nice. Went out for drinks with friends at the Grovewood. Had some pumpkin beers. Laughed a lot. Rebecca and her fauxsband Miles are two of the funniest people I know. (I know I am using the word "faux" way too much) Monica let them in on my secret superpower of MAGNO-VISION!!! I can read tiny tiny type halfway across the room. I promise to use my powers for good...not evil.

Tonite I am going to attempt a Scottish Apple Pie. I got the recipe online. I hope it works.

HAPPY NCOD!

Yes. Today is National Coming Out Day. Monica and I were talking about this today and she was telling me about how when she was at Case, the LGBT group on campus would have events and a lot of the hetero "hipster kids" would participate in the hopes that others thought they were queer. They were all rich, white, straight kids and desperately wanted some sort of "edge".

Monica and I were talking about how that bothered us. Sure they are cool with the gays....they support LGBT folks having the same civil rights as they do. But still...it's annoying. We decided that we will call these kinda people FauxMos®. Like homo....but faux.

I HATE FauxMos®! They use being thought of as queer for their own personal gains...but when it comes down to the wire, they are ALLLLLLLLLLL straight! Oh sure...a few of them had a drunk same sex experience one time in college, or at camp. But who hasn't? (If you say "I haven't!!! You will. It's coming.)

A list of my most hated FauxMos® :
1. Dar Williams
2. Ani Difranco
3. Dennis Rodman
4. David Bowie
5. Madonna
6. Camryn Manheim

etc., etc., etc.

Boy...I am one bitter dyke aren't I? And one more thing while I am on my rant...why don't they make more things that are Teaberry flavored. I just LOVE that flavor!!!

My brother bought a house in Ravenna. It's huge! Lots 'o room. That's a good thing. Mom and Dad are going to be living with him. I am going to help all week with painting and cleaning.

Last weekend, the first weekend of October, Leslie, Monica and I went down to the Gourd Festival in Mt. Gilead. It's about an hour North of Columbus. This was the third time I had been to the Gourd Festival. I just love it. It's the most pure truest festival I have ever been to.
There are no rides, no big corporate sponsors. There are no sullen clove cigarette smoking goth teens hanging out by "a hit the balloon with a dart and win a Guns and Roses mirror" games.

Just pure Gourd fun, Gourd crafts, a Gourd orchestra.

Leslie bought a Santa Gourd, I bought 4 little baby unpainted dried gourds to paint and maybe turn into cheezy Christmas tree ornaments. I think Monica just bought a bucket of french fries with cheese.

Riding home from Metro Hospital the other night on my scooter. I went to visit someone who ended up not even being there.

I do love to ride through downtown Cleveland on my scooter at night. It feels like you're sneaking through the city on some sort of secret mission.