Weekend Warriors

dog + Pepto Bismol = mess


snuggle down


peeling tape


going to market


Horn of Africa + real fresh strawberry lemonade

Reelin' (from the fumes)

Painting and movies have occupied our free time as of late.

(bedroom in progress--last room!)

We're on a roll with the movies thing. We realized that we rented Freeway and Mean Streets in the same night so we established the Road/Street/Avenue/et al theme. Other themes will follow once we get tired of this one or we run out of good movies. On this one, to date:

• Freeway---Keifer Sutherland plays a pedophile/serial killer and Reese Witherspoon is a feisty teenager. It's a lot funnier than it sounds. Also scarier. I recommend this film to everyone. Bizarre and sometimes hilarious. I laughed out loud more at this than anything else I've seen lately.
• Mean Streets---Johnny better pay up. Classic. Watch it again. Now.
  
• Horatio's Drive---2 men and a pit bull (yay!) make the first cross country road trip in 1903; a Ken Burns/PBS documentary. Excellent.
• A Streetcar Named Desire---I mean, come on. It's Marlon. Brando. Forget The Island of Dr. Moureau. Forget you ever saw that. This, this, is Marlon Brando. Excellent.

Then we went into Watch This! on Burnside to see if they had a better different selection than Hollywood video (duh). We told the ritalined-out Clerk about our theme and he recommended:

• Sunset Boulevard---Watched the Making Of from special features and it helped a lot: explaining the context of the movie, why it was hated/loved, the message, etc. Very very good movie. Nominated for 11 Oscars in 1951. "All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up."
• Pickup on South Street---A great noir with a love story even. Seriously, a good one.
  
• Mulholland Drive (tonight's feature)---We've seen it, but who watches a David Lynch movie once. You have to watch it twice just to get the characters straight.

Also, in case you haven't noticed:

Happy Fall.

Saturday people (a photo essay)

Saturday market:

new coat for Lazlo $33

vegan hemp seed soap 2/$7

caramel kettlecorn $3

Library holds:

In alphabetical order: AdCult USA, Bush at War, Chicken, Colter

Antique Shopping:

I covet thee, $1500 doors

Now: Painting the bedroom

WTF

Keith here...
So this is for all of you who might need to hire someone in the future. First of all, not everyone looking for a job is incompetent. There is a reason they're looking for a job. Either they really need work or by the odd chance, they find what you do somewhat interesting and might want to learn something new. Don't assume that you are smarter than the person sitting across from you. Treat them with respect. If you have half a brain in that fetal alcohol syndrome shaped head of yours, maybe you should use it, if for nothing else than to smile. We should all take the time to try something new. Second. If you post an ad, make sure the ad contains ALL the information. If you want someone experienced in the field then say so. Don't say "experience a plus." Don't waste your time or anyone who might come in to apply. Just because someone answered your ad doesn't mean that they're sitting home eating BBQ Lay's surfing the web with their cock in their hand. Third. If someone does come in to apply for a job that you have posted, make sure that you're familiar with the ad. It really doesn't look professional when you hollar down the hall if anyone's seen the ad in question. Take a little pride in your position. I'm sure you didn't suck someones dick to make bindery manager. Fourth. If you have filled the position, remove the fucking ad. Maybe if I wasn't sitting in your office while you discuss your companies financial business over the phone in front of a stranger, I could be looking for a job that is still available. I never got a job that wasn't available and I'm sure you've never hired anyone you didn't need. Fifth. NEVER, and I mean this, NEVER assume that the person sitting across from you can't spell sarcasm. Give it a few minutes and then make that assumption. There are alot of intelligent people in the world who aren't fucking professors. There are alot of people who don't watch American Idol, WWF, Nascar or football. What you should assume initially is that this person doesn't even watch t.v. What you should assume initially is that this person has invested an incredible amount of time and money into what they thought was a worthwhile career, only to be disappointed. What you should assume is that this person actually knows how the world works, that life is hard, the world is fucked and they are willing to actually grace you shitty little company entertaining the thought of contributing something. Sixth and goal. Smile and be courteous. If you aren't, you are conveying an atmosphere of stress and confusion. Remember, nobody likes a jerkoff. Honestly. Nobody.

Well kids, that's the lesson for today. And what did we learn? Don't be a jag.
Thank you for your time and I hope to see all of you again real soon.
Until then, this is Keith.
lates

Just this side of crazy (just)

We watched a couple movies this weekend that reminded me: as much as I think I struggle sometimes to keep it together, I am not really crazy in that institutionable way (which is the only way it really counts if you're talking Crazy).

First, The Devil & Daniel Johnston. I've been a fan of Daniel Johnston since I was in high school and heard him for the first time. And I knew he had mental health issues. But this documentary we watched just blew me away. He does the whole Satan/God thing, threw his father's airplane keys out of the plane while they were flying, etc. Brilliant songwriter/incredible singer (in that off-key cracking way)/certifiable nut. Great combo if you think about it. Does being Crazy get you more play in the artist community? It doesn't seem to hurt.

Kurt Cobain wearing a shirt of Daniel's first tape

I've often wondered that, but haven't committed fully to checking it out. There's always the rent to pay. And Crazy don't pay the rent. So I save that scenario for What To Do After Keith Is Hit By A Bus And I Have to Make It In the World Alone (which, by the way, could happen).

Second: Edmond. I love me some William H. Macy. But in this one he goes a little nuts and beats up a pimp, slashes Julia Stiles, and ends up sharing a bunk with a black man in prison.

So, yeah, could we rent some movies that aren't so depressing? Repeat: I am not crazy. I am not so crazy.

In other mental health-related news: I have made progress toward getting my medical bills reduced. I told them flat out I didn't think the prices were reasonable for the (lack of) services I received. So I don't know where this will end up, but it's in the works.

And in deflecting-the-rain news: I ordered this jacket off SierraTradingPost.com today.
And I only noticed at the checkout that there was a Bible verse across the heading. Which turned me off. But I was 75% done ordering a nice Columbia coat for $70. So I went ahead. But I will remember their leanings when/if I go there again. On the other hand, they are environmentally-conscious, so, what, it's a wash? Maybe.

Reminds me of the Buy Blue directory.

Okay, from one semi-crazy (or two) to all you people out there in the Internet: goodnight.

Close call.

I almost got hawked on tonight: Keith and I were walking Lazlo down Burnside and right before I crossed the doorway of Tony's, a man stepped out and hawked a loogie on the sidewalk.
Then apologized for almost sliming me. Thanks, buddy.

Tonight at the dog park we met a woman who found my photos on Flickr and recognized Lazlo. Turns out she/her husband/her dog Caesar live on the floor below us! Crazy internets!

There`s no love like the dog love.

**Lots of links in this post.**

I think we have Dog Fever (again).

I checked out a book called The Dog Bible from the library last week and it was like finding the owner's manual to Lazlo. Wolf pack mentality is something that doesn't come naturally to humans and Keith and I have basically treated Lazlo like a fur-covered person since we got him. But dogs don't respond to the idea of democracy and they actually like to be told what to do! Amazing! So we started doing a few of the things suggested in the book and it's already making a difference in his behavior. He's probably thinking, "Way to go guys. Two years into this and you're finally getting it." We also checked out the dog whisperer website and he basically teaches the same principles: "in order to properly fulfill both our dogs and ourselves, we need to become our canine's calm, assertive pack leaders." Okay, we are totally on board. I can't believe it took us this long.

Yesterday afternoon we went to our first pit bull meet up at a state park south of here. There are about 30 members in the group, but 7 showed up. A manageable group. It was good meeting other pits and other pit owners. One lady showed up at the end and she was a breeder. So I wasn't too excited to have her in the group, but I don't have a say in that so... But she was bragging about having litters, etc. (And, yes, we bought Lazlo, so that sounds hypocritical.) And another guy with his family walked by while all of us were standing near a trail with our dogs on leash of course. He says, "I'm skittish of pit bulls." We all say, "Well, they're good dogs..." etc and he says "Except the ones that eat children." It's so frustrating to hear people say that. I can't be nice to people that make ignorant comments like that. He wasn't joking, either. He was being nasty. People who've haven't been around pit bulls (including us pre-Lazlo) get their prejudices from mainstream news that feeds on the sensationalism of pit bull attacks (which I won't get into regarding how dogs are classified, etc....). But people rarely read/hear/see the good press that pit bulls receive. Other than that, it was a great afternoon and we all said we wanted a chance for the dogs to run off-leash at our next meet up in a couple weeks.

Bubba and Sweet Pea

Buster the Monkey Dog

This morning we took Lazlo to another dog park--Gabriel Park. We've been trying out some that aren't too far from us. Driving, but still close. Lazlo played with a pit mix puppy named Malcolm and burned off a lot of energy. Then we played tug-of-war for a while. It's a good workout for me, too. Quads! Lazlo's flying squirrel sustained heavy collateral damage and had to be put down. So we got him a new frisbee-like toy that is rumored to be near-indestructible. We'll see.

playing @ Gabriel Park

Then to wrap up the weekend, this afternoon I finally made Lazlo his dog bed that I've been promising him since we found the material at The Bins.

And in non-dog news, last night the Portland State Viking football team got whupped by UM Grizzlies. !! Not that we were ever big Griz fans. But it was exciting to see them here. We saw a few people walking around PGE Park before the game (4 hours early!) and we asked them if they knew how many people from Missoula were coming over; they estimated 4,000-5,000. I don't know if that many showed up or not, but there were a lot. We walked around outside and tried to see if we could recognize anyone, but we didn't. Oh well. It was a rowdy bunch, though.