Thursday, July 28, 2005

why I love Sarah Vowell

Let me count the reasons:





  1. She recently wrote a book chronicling her trips to various sites around the country that had to do with presidential murders and titled it Assassination Vacation.

  2. She talks so much like a 12-year-old girl that she was cast to do the voice for one (Violet) in The Incredibles.

  3. Writing in an op-ed in The New York Times earlier this week, she referred to herself as "a namby-pamby liberal writing for the most uppity newspaper in the world."

Thursday, July 21, 2005

couch surfing

I've not been a very productive member of society lately. Instead I've been chilling at my parents' house on Peaks Island, Maine, riding my handcycle, and volunteering a bit at STRIVE's BookWorks program. (Our eBay auctions are now online through a great website called MissionFish. You can view and bid on our currently listed books here.)

More recently, I've been on the road a bit. Las Saturday I went to my old friend Erik Messerschmidt's wedding in Connecticut. I got to see some friends I hadn't seen since middle school, and the ceremony was neat; it was performed by a friend of Erik and Melanie's. Rather than sitting down, the guests were standing around drinking cocktails during the ceremony. It was basically just a big party... I approved.

After that, I drove out to Quaker Lake, in north-central Pennsylvania, where Tracy's family has a summer place. We played a lot of Boggle, ate ridiculously well, and went swimming several times a day. It was rough.

Now I'm in Arlington, Va., at my friend Will's place. He's at work, so I think I'll head out to a library or a café and do some work on my translation. If I haven't told you about it yet, I'm translating a book by the Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez, and I will be posting my translation in installments right here beginning very soon... keep checking that link.

Currently loving: Swearing by Geoffrey Hughes (thanks, Bonnie) and The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem (thanks, Finn).

Tuesday, July 05, 2005

flaming lips weirdness

You know the White Stripes song "Seven Nation Army"? Well try singing along with it, substituting these lyrics:

I'm going to Florida
I'm gonna bowl me a perfect game
I'm going to Florida
I'm gonna cut off both my legs

And if Sidney Poitier is a blind man
And he made love to Chairman Mao
Then the world would be a whole lot of nothing
But an abortion when there ain't no child

I'm going to Florida
I'm gonna hold back the hands of time
I'm going to Florida
Where the lobbyists can change their minds

And if Colin Powell is a scarecrow
And John Ashcroft is a steely tin man
Then the Rumsfeld Donald can't go on lying
Cause Harry Potter's telling George who to slam, who to slam


(lyrics thanks to Emerald Wizard Radio)

Beyond the vague Bush-y references, I'm not sure what the hell this is supposed to mean. But then again, it's a Flaming Lips cover, so what else would you expect? You can find this version, which the Lips call "Seven Nation Army (Harry Potter and George W. Bush Severed Head Mix)," on the Flaming Lips' LateNightTales mix CD.

While we're on the topic of "Seven Nation Army" covers, how about this one? (link requires iTunes)

Friday, July 01, 2005

Mt. Hood photos

I just posted some on Flickr; click here to view them.