several bits this morning from work:

1. health update. im anemic and have been for about 3 months at least. im about to go on a vitamin routine to help bolster up my blood over the next 3 months. the rest of my tests were clean (from the transfusion). the blood i have passed isnt consistant, so hopefully its not colitis or something higher up internally. apparantly its normal to bleed up to a year after surgery. so hopefully thats all it is.

2. richmond flooded yesterday. linda has more and better stories (since she apparantly was in the middle of it all). her story involves accidents, high water, collapsing buildings and trains. and those are just the tip of the iceberg. shes a little shaken up, but shes at home, safe with the dog. her car, on the other hand, is apparantly tipped like the titantic and has been on the news several times.

(here is a short lesson on richmond. its an old city, as far as things in this country go. built on the james river for shipping, it has spread west over the years. the east side of town is church hill, which is a very tall hill. it goes into a valley where the river is, known as the bottom. the bottom has a lot of warehouses and clubs. then it rises back up into downtown, then the fan (where vcu and apts are. also where matthew lives and i lived when i was there), then the west end (where linda lives) and then the far west end and then short pump.)

linda was stuck yesterday in the bottom when the hurricane struck. the only other thing ive gotten is an email from matthew (yes, we have kinda madeup, that story must wait) with a link to some photos. trevor also im-ed me, so im assuming he is ok. im hoping for more pictures, since im out of theloop out here. linda said water in teh bottom reached 18 feet deep. thats so incomprehensible to me.

3. this jack valenti ‘exit interview’. its crazy, the things he says. some things are propagandi (comparing dvds to kitchenware), some are lies (internet2 to market in 18 months) and then some are insane (comparing himself to jfk). way worth a read, if you want to see where the entertainment industry is trying to steer us with their products.

4. school is way too busy. and i think its about to get more insane. oi.

more later.

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trevor sent me this link with some more pics, these ‘post-storm’

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after a bit of comparasion, the pic on lindas page is identical to the second and third pics of trevors gallery. except hers is during rainfall and his is after. still, its crazy that they were taken from almost the same spot. it also reinforces that linda was stuck in the worst of it. insanity.

heres a story with pics and video from nbc12.

let’s keep the pictures coming kids…

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richmond.com has this story, which also features lindas car. (this picture is one of the ones on trevor’s site, btw.) still, its interesting to learn that much of the bottom has been condemned. also, lindas rental car is a giant, 7 person pickup truck. i cant quite picture that eiter, though hopefully she is taking tons of pictures now.

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damn what a day.

eggers is reading at book soup tonight at 8. im going; i need to be a bitch and ask him about my book submission.

tomorrow night is van morrison at the hollywood bowl, which i might try to hit after class.

thurs night is sebadoh at the troubadour, which id like to hit if i finish my thesis work by then.

sunday night is mark farina spinning, which i desperatly need to hear.

any takers on any of these things?

and i still need to see garden state and hero this week, so let me know. i always could use a date and get some of this stuff experienced.

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the big day has come. today is orientation at y a l e. yikes. it’s been great so far. im basically just walking around on cloud 9 here. i love my apartment, i love being on my own, i love the school, i love the studio space, i love my computer, i just love love love it here. i really think i can accomplish so much both personally and academically here…i just have to practice good time management.

classes start tomorrow. that is when i will go into shock-mode about the coursework. but everything sounds so fun…field trips and dinners at professor’s houses and quirky people and amazing instructors and cool classmates….and of course a lot of work. but i just think staying up to finish work late at night and endlessly thinking about design solutions will be so great for me right now. i know it wont be easy, but i think it will be very rewarding.

i wish i could relay everything that has happened today, but i need to go home to finish hanging pictures and unpacking. tonight we meet for beers at a little place close to my apartment…today we registered for classes, got initially oriented, had headshots taken for a school of art look book, got our keys, got our studio spaces, and filled out forms. im just so thrilled to be here. so, so thrilled.

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i’m exhausted with telling the flood story right now but i can provide you this:

please notice claudette, my ZX2 – the fuzzy red blob on the right under the no parking sign. the GRTC bus to the right is the one that hit us.

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i’m still in cork(whoa!). i’m finding it harder and harder to leave the place. i’ve got a few friends at this point, none of whom are irish strangely enough. i still can’t decide as to when i’ll be leaving for galway. i’ve been on several bus tours now and have seen a great deal of cork and kerry(counties), so i’m not feelin the need to stop off for a night in the smaller towns. i expect i’ll take more tours out of galway, and then head back to shannon to fly home. i only spent a day and a half in dublin, but strangely enough that was enough for me. the only thing i didn’t see that i’m wondering about is the national museum there, but that’s only to see old celtish stuff, which i got to see at trinity college anyhow(including the brian boru harp hehe).

the trad sessions have been amazing here. as the days have passed here in ireland i’ve been realizing how little ireland of today has an impact on my identity. the only massive thing that strikes home after having physically been here finally is the music. hanging out with the people and the rest, i’m getting a clearer picture of who i am. of course two years in morocco made the picture a lot clearer for me, and i wonder whether i would’ve been as honest with myself if i’d come here without having had the moroccan experience. getting to scotland and england now is a lot less important to me from a ‘who am i’ type situation. if anything, i am from richmond. and after that, augusta, in a less direct sense, which would probably bleed into a more general georgian sensibility.

last thursday i was at this one place called an spailpin fanach, and at the end of the evening the pub’s idiot savant sat down with me for a little while. we discussed michael collins, county cork, the war in iraq, and how i was a decent fellow in his opinion because i’m a rebel, aka a southerner. that was interesting, especially since i’ve seen a lot of rebel flags included in wall paintings of flags of the world; it’s seen here in the sense that i see it more often than not, and is given similar standing to the fight for independence from england. but at the same time none of that – you can ask me about it some time once i get back if you want.

so andy glynn is picking me up from the airport, unless he writes back to cancel. thanks to the fellas that have also offered assistance, and i hope to see all of you dc peoples in the night or two after my arrival.

peace

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So, if you didn’t catch the Republican National Convention tonight, here’s a little recap. And if you didn’t see it on the major networks, that’s because the only non-cable network to carry the telecast was PBS.

PBS.

Now, if memory serves, it seems like Republicans hate PBS for some reason, yet here it’s the only free network carrying it. Hmm. Ah well, I’m sure they all caught the fair and balanced coverage on FoxNews. Zeig Heil!

Anyway, the first night of the Republican National Convention went something like this: War on “Terrr,” September 11th, Terrr, Terrr, Terrr, Kerry’s a pussy, Terrr, Terrr, EvilDerrr, Terrr.

Former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani even went so far as to thank God that Dick Cheney is the vice president. He thanked GOD. Now, I know the Republicans love pimping out their faith whenever it serves their purpose, but God’s the reason that Cheney—you know, the guy that was CEO of Haliburton when that company bilked the US for millions of dollars—is the current veep? Errr…maybe Rudy should be thanking the designer of the butterfly ballot, or former Florida election board head Katherine Harris, or even the Supreme Court for being such big pussies. But don’t denigrate God with your political ambition.

This, along with Giuliani describing how long it took to watch a person jump to their death from the top of the World Trade Center, brings about the first reason not to vote Republican this November. This party thinks nothing of prostituting faith or national tragedy for political gain. They gleefully wave these banners like pious sycophants, completely without shame for doing so. I watched an interview with Bush this morning where he was asked what his presidency would have been without 9/11. With a broad smirk/smile he happily said he didn’t have the luxury of knowing that. He went on to repeat that and all the while had a smile plastered across his mug while talking about 9/11. WTF?

Who smiles while recounting what 9/11 has meant to their presidential legacy?

And if you honestly believed in Jesus, I seriously doubt you’d conjure the Father to promote your political agenda.

Tomorrow: Apparently no good Republicans give or get blowjobs. This explains a few things.

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tripp and will in a meeting for the mobile project, discussing fat people using the toilet. (im not sure why we were wasting time like this, but these are the convos i love.)

tripp: i think about this a lot. why they dont make fat people toilets. how that works for people with big asses.

will:(attempts to explain how cumbersome doing #2 would be if you were fat.)

tripp: not just that. its just all the fat hanging off the toilet.

will: its like youre giving the toilet a hug.

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The Regional Weather Service for Santa Shalom, Virginia has issued a severe weather alert. Conditions may include heavy rain, flash flooding, and even some weak tornados. The RWSSSVA presents the following guidelines to protect your family and yourself:

1. You are not a meteorologist. Do not try to gauge current conditions by looking outside. Rely on the RWSSSVA to provide accurate, however improbable, information. If you are not an RWSSSVA member, register here for only $19.99 a month.

2. To limit the effects of a power outage, act preemptively: Turn off all lights and unplug your refrigerator.

3. If supplies of drinking water run low, place several cooking pots outside to collect rainwater. Add one pint of whiskey for every quart of water.

4. If unsure about measuring pints and quarts, limit drinking to whiskey only.

5. If no whiskey is available, drive to the nearest liquor store. The RWSSSVA recommends Ol’ Codger Rye. 15-20 gallons should suffice.

6. Under no circumstances should you attempt to drive anywhere during, and up to forty-eight hours after, the rainfall.

7. If you are unsure whether the rain has stopped, tie a witch to a fence post. If she melts it is still raining and you should stay indoors.

8. Weak tornados are just as dangerous as strong tornados, if not more so, because they have to be smarter. Trust no one. A weak tornado can disguise itself as anyone.

9. Do not use electronics of any sort. In case of boredom, play an unamplified instrument quietly to yourself.

10. If you don’t play any instruments, hum loudly to everyone. The RWSSSVA recommends The Battle Hymn of the Republic, The 1812 Overture, or Superfreak in honor of the late Rick James.

End Transmission.

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