garden

My mom and I made a garden today (with some crucial familial help - here's your shout out, Kyle...everyone give him a round of applause). It was a lot of work. I am so tired from the process, that I won't be able to write much longer.

We had to dig, do some more digging, and then pull up the grass in the area. This is a lot harder than it sounds. Then we had to transport the grass chunks into other parts of the yard, all the while being cognizant and protective of worm safety. There is clay in the ground here and clay sticks to everything and is very heavy. I lifted about 10 pounds with every step with all the mud/clay that accumulated on my shoes. Not to mention what got stuck to the shovel and then how difficult it made it to literally pull large chunks of grass up from the ground. My lower back is already sore, as well as my right hip from thrusting my weight onto the shovel. I'm kind of dreading how my body will feel in the morning.

But now we have a beautiful 16 foot by 4 foot (?) garden, filled with fresh peat moss and organic soil, just waiting for seeds to come and be planted in it. It was also pretty nice to be outside doing manual labor and getting dirty and working down in the soil. A nice change of pace for me. It took 3 full hand washings to get the dirt out of my fingernails.

must see TV

How good were 30 Rock and The Office yesterday?

I don't know if it's because of the long break (the adage "absence makes the heart grow fonder" is true in certain circumstances) or what, but those episodes were hilarious! The first Office episode after the strike, the dinner party episode, was one of their best, in my opinion. The first 30 Rock was funny, but didn't quite live up to my very high expectations. But last night quelled any doubts that the show is back and in prime form. It is so exciting to be able to watch television that is so smart and hilarious without lamenting the fact that it was prematurely cancelled. These shows are occurring right now, and there are more! It's like Christmas every Thursday.

Three stages of trying to make your wish come true

So excited!


Almost there...


Catching his breath. Still one candle left!

Upcoming bands on late night TV

Monday: Grizzly Bear on Conan O’Brien
Tuesday: She & Him on Conan O’Brien
Wednesday: Tokyo Police Club on Letterman, Tegan & Sara on Leno, Radiohead on Conan O’Brien, Vampire Weekend on Jimmy Kimmel

Zoo article

This article I wrote on the Omaha Zoo's conservation efforts was published in last Thursday's issue of The Reader. It was part of their "sustainability guide", to coincide with Earth Day.

I couldn't fit the first page on the scanner, so you can read the whole article online here, but I still wanted to post a visual reference. Also, I took the tiger photo and the photo on the third page of the article. Mai is pretty adorable, isn't she? And she gets around very well on three legs.

Spring

Spring is finally coming to the Midwest and it is wonderful. I can't wait for planting a garden, kite flying, picnics, basketball, skateboarding, reading outside, tennis, chalk drawings, trips to the lake (Missouri and Wisconsin), bike riding, and visits from friends who want to enjoy this beautiful weather (even if it's sunny in L.A.).

I am currently cleaning, recycling and listening to the New Pornographers (live at Washington D.C.'s 9:30 Club, All Things Considered).

This weekend was centered around family. My sisters were home from Minnesota, and yesterday was my brother's birthday, so there was a lot of family hanging out time. It was a lot of fun. We played Catchphrase, Rock Band and ate a lot (more ice cream cake leftovers to look forward to).

On Saturday I saw Kimya Dawson, who was pretty awesome. It's great when you personally respect the artists that you like and think they are really grounded, cool people with solid beliefs. It doesn't always have to be that way, but it's really cool when it works out that way.

Also last Wednesday, I saw some great bands at the Slowdown: Honeybee, Pomegranates and Capgun Coup. Honeybee sounded great. Melissa's vocals were super crisp and amazing and they played a song I haven't heard live that I really liked a lot. I liked Pomegranates too. Hadn't heard much by them, and it was poppy and good. The singer's voice is super high, and he looked a little like Ethan Embry. Awesome reviews, huh? It was my first time actually seeing Capgun Coup live. I always seemed to miss them before, and then they went on tour for awhile. They sounded good live, and they played some new, promising stuff.

Oh, and my new excitement/mini-obsession is calligraphy. I got a little intro set, and I'm loving it. Maybe I'll post a sample. I'm still developing as a calligraphist, but it's super fun.

Success!

The amendment to legalize all ages-shows in Omaha passed with a 5-2 vote! I just returned from the City Council meeting. I may provide more details later, but the proceedings were long, very hot and had all the (unintended) dry humor of a British comedy series.

Among the topics discussed (and I mean really discussed): the definition of exotic dancing in many aspects including dress or lack thereof, the use of poles and whether or not actual dancing has to be involved, karoake as an art form, the decline of rap and the use of turntables, the price of drinks, laptop rock and bad parenting/using a rock club in lieu of a babysitter because the cover might be cheaper than paying a sitter. Who knew council meetings could be so entertaining?

I had a dream

I had a dream the other night that Forest Whitaker was running for President. In the dream, he was giving a speech in what looked to be a high school auditorium (my POV in the view was only Forest on stage, so I didn't get a good view of the whole place or the audience). I seemed to be either his campaign manager or a fervent fan (I would happily be both). I think I had some clout, as I was kind of in the wings on stage, not in the audience.

Forest had a suit and glasses on, and looked very dignified. I was really nervous as this was his first public speech, and I was afraid that the American people wouldn't take him as seriously as the other candidates because he was an actor and was entering the race so late in the game. If people only knew the real Forest, I thought, he would surely become the next President and would bring great prosperity to our nation.

The main platform that Forest was running on was the preservation of animal species. He had a large quilt behind him with embroidered images of animals, and their scientific names below them. He was passionate about the conservation of animal habitats and he often pointed out the stitched embroidery behind him to illustrate his points.

And then I woke up.

Reminder

New episodes of The Office and 30 Rock on tonight. Also, Friday Night Lights Season 2 comes out on dvd April 22nd. Mark your calendars.

Save all ages shows in Omaha

Okay, so there is an important amendment that is being proposed to the Omaha City Council that will create a music venue specification under the liquor code in Omaha. If it does not pass, then venues such as Slowdown and The Waiting Room will no longer be able to hold all ages shows.

I feel very strongly about all ages shows for a number of reasons. I went to a ton of shows when I was under 21 with the intention of seeing great bands and music. I feel like my whole adolescence/life would have been very different had I not been able to go to shows, so this is a very personal matter to me. It is so important for people under 21 to have access to art, music and culture, especially those outside of the mainstream, like the great bands that Slowdown and The Waiting Room host. It will also hurt the music scene overall and probably cause show attendance to go down and may have an affect on the bands that come through town. This would be a particular blow considering the vital and alive music scene is in Omaha, and how the music and arts have had a positive effect on the community and its image nationwide. Also, the guys who run Saddle Creek and 1%/The Waiting Room have done so much for Omaha, its reputation, and the music/arts scene and this would be a direct blow to their business and the venues that they have worked so hard to create. Plus these venues are strict about checking IDs, and I think it's safe to say that underage teens are going to the Slowdown and The Waiting Room on nights they have great shows to check out the music and some of their favorite bands live, not for the alcohol.

So if you feel as I do, please, please, please sign this petition at Slowdown's website. They also provide contacts for the City Council people and the mayor. If it's a cause that you feel strongly about or want to support, I encourage you to sign even if you don't live in Omaha. Thanks!

Edit/Addition: Tim McMahan wrote a good article on this issue in The Reader that you can read here.

Feist

Feist is playing the free Memorial Park show in Omaha July 12th.

Free coffee

Starbucks is offering their new Pike Place Roast tomorrow for free for 30 minutes, starting at 9 am on the West Coast and noon on the East Coast, so I think that it would be starting at 11 am in Omaha. I'll be at work, but just wanted to let you all have a heads-up for some free coffee. They'll be offering the new blend, which may be "the best coffee that we have created, maybe, in our history" according to Chief Executive Howard Schultz, every day starting tomorrow.

Finished

I finished reading The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz today. The book was a quick and interesting read. The characters are rich and unique and it has this conversational writing style that I really got into. I would highly recommend it.

Now I'm faced with the tough choice of what to read next. Maybe I'll go back to What is the What by Dave Eggers. Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson just looks too intimidating for right now. I might have to do some free weight lifting before I start that book. Or maybe I should go to one of the classics that I have yet to read, which include To The Lighthouse, Anna Karenina, Madame Bovary, Jane Eyre, One Hundred Years of Solitude, and works by Flannery O' Connor, among many others.

lunch

Guess what I ate today? Something I have not had in probably about 15 years: Chicken McNuggets. I missed lunch because I was interviewing someone for an article I am writing and I was starving by the time I left around 4. I needed gas and food before I got back on the highway and guess what was right next to the gas station and could offer something (pseudo) edible in 5 minutes? The golden arches loomed over my head, and I knew I was going to succumb.

The current drive-through menu is so visually crowded and busy that I couldn't even find them on there right away, so I asked for the one with least amount of Chicken McNuggets. The response I got was a long pause and then a "What?" So I asked again, "Can I just have the smallest amount of Chicken McNuggets you have?" Still, confusion. How else could I communicate this? I scanned the menu again and luckily found the 6-piece option. "Can I have the 6-piece chicken McNuggets?" " You want a number 11?" was the response. "Um, no thanks, I just want the smallest one. A 6-piece." "So you want two number elevens?"

I looked around for a hidden camera crew. Nothing in sight. I scanned the menu again to see if I was missing my end of the "Who's on First" bit we had going. The number eleven meal on the menu is 10-piece chicken McNugget combo. I most definitely did not want 20 pieces of chicken McNuggets, a double order of fries and a drink. "Um, actually, I just want 6 chicken McNuggets," I stated in the clearest, evenly toned, leaning halfway out of my car window for added volume speaking voice that I could muster. "Oh, I'm sorry. Anything else?" I didn't want to complicate things.

The verdict: the sweet and sour sauce is as good as I remember it (just seeing the cover's shade of green brought back memories). I started to feel nauseous after about the third, but I ate the rest anyway. They were pretty good, quite greasy, but not noticeably gross. All in all pretty tasty despite the nausea, and I didn't actually throw them up, so I would call it a success.