FROHE NEUJAHR!

Here's to you- hope your next year is the best it can be. Lay off the resolutions- you have the rest of the year to get your shit straight.

Most excellent photo by Kimberly, art direction by Mr Greasy.

The Omnivore's Delimma?

Alright humans, friends, companeros, bloggers, readers, and blurkers! Have a happy and safe few days and know that in Kimberly's world, cannibalism is all the rage.

Snap Guide for General Maintenance (or For The Sake of Normalizing Relations lll)

I'm not going to (or coming to depending where you're reading from) Frostburg for the holiday. Kim is already there and during her train ride along the Potomac she texted me to let me know that a woman sitting near her was reading The Maintenance Man, a novel by Michael Baisden. Never heard of him Churls? Well here's an enticing description from Am*zon:

The Maintenance Man is an intriguing novel about love, betrayal, and of course, sex. Michael paints a dark picture of his main character, Malcolm, who is a high-priced gigolo struggling with his morality. He is conflicted with his promiscuous lifestyle and his desire to pursue his dream as a pianist. While on an appointment with one of his wealthy clients, he meets a beautiful and gifted dancer named Antoinette, Toni for short. She recognizes his incredible talent and encourages him to go after his dream. But Toni is unaware of Malcolm's unsavory occupation. And trying to keep it undercover only adds to the drama.

Anyway, I know that I'm going to miss everyone in Frostburg but alas, not coming up feels like the right thing to do. I'm hoping to visit sometime in February when work slows down a bit and I'm not so preoccupied with the state of the dumpster. There's a batch of people I haven't seen or spent any really good time with for a few years (Allison, Rob and Kimmie, Max, Katharine, Grace, Leon...) and I may look into arranging a dinner. For the time being I was looking over a bunch of snaps procured during my most recent visit. Here are a few (realize that Frostburg is snowy now, not bright and sunny like it was in October) from that time for me as a remedy for not being there.

Looking at these pictures of Frostburg alleys and the hallway off of Mechanic Street, makes me think of when I returned to Frostbug after having spent a year travelling, living in my car with Annabelle, and in general not being in places as confined as this. When I arrived back in Frostburg after a year and an 18 hour speed-fueled drive from Manhattan, Kansas I turned right onto Water Street (I took Rt. 40 back as much as possible) and was shocked by how narrow the streets of Frostburg were. Turning onto Water Street was liking driving through a canyon compared to the 120' wide streets of where I had been living.

A Reason to Not Blog

The Booty Don't Stop

The Perks of Waste Management

Being a maintenance man/ facilities manager/ janitor has its benefits. One being that I have received this holiday card. Priceless and apropos... I actually spend quite a lot of time in our dumpster rearranging all of the stuff that we throw away- I try to get the most efficient use out of the space and I often joke with my work-study slave Geoff that when I write my memoir about the years of being a facilities manager it will be titled My Life in a Dumpster. I usually say this as I bounce up and down on some trash that landed in the wrong place when we threw it in.

(You're Standing on My) Majuscle

Brad has a new issue of Majuscle (#9) on view at bradwalker.org it is snippets of conversations that he had during his trip to Montreal a couple months ago. It worth the clicks-- worth the read. I really like issue #8.

Holiday Plans Have Been Mapped Out

Poor Allegany County! I trimmed most of you off in my quick map. Westernport, forgive me! Pinto I'm sorry, Cresaptown- geeeez, Rawlings! Where would I be without Rawlings?

Here- here is another picture of you as the heart of Maryland:

VIDEO KILLED THE ART STAR

For the Sake of Normalizing Relations ll

I've been once again fixating on how little I've been writing here and wondering what it is that I'm thinking about and doing that I'm not sharing. Well, I'm not sure I can write 200 words in less than 3 hours these days, but I can show you what I've been doing for the past couple of weeks in only 58 seconds (plus buffering time).

This is a mazurka written by Wim Claeys, a handsome Belgian who plays both the diatonic button accordion and the bagpipes. Claeys also appears to be a major player in the Boombal movement (?) over there.

I could play this tune all day long.