Minutiae

1.Yes! The pattern to Anarchy Irony will be one of the ones featured in the upcoming Stitch-N-Bitch book to be released this Winter.

2.Summer coming to an end soon. The Paramount movies are nearly over. Got to watch most of them with my Honey and good friends. Start graphic design school in August for fun and profit.

3.Checking out Austin neighborhoods more closely and under a microscope to figure out where to live. Think 30 year. Considering homes with pools against our better judgement but it is Texas:Hot March-November. SUX unless you are swimming and can't dress as cute as those in cooler climates especially come September. Wishing for an early Fall and cold Winter.

4. Also been looking at Bengal kittens with a yearning for one.
Wanted: Male Bengal or Bengel-Mix kitten. Ideal arrival at our home would be in December.

5.Been listening to: Lowrider Legends Compilation all week,Rene Y Rene and Jonathan Richman and Elvis. Also listening to cool MP3s online of long forgotten and little known Mexican Rock-N-Roll bands. BTW:Ever hear Bill Haley sing in Spanish?

Tres cool and makes me SWOOOOOOOOOOON.

6. Wish I were in Mexico. Dreamt of this park I used to play at just down the street from my Abuelita's house. Seemed so real being there. In my dream I got there by opening the door to my closet. It led me down a street I recognized as Bienestar in Los Mochis. I took off to the park and then to Abuelita's house. Now I am craving raspadas con crema, my Abuelita's rice and fideo con queso blanco, her lime lettuce salad, agua de tamarindo y agua de jamaica. Also had me thinking of my Tio's house and how beautiful it was but when he passed away it was sold and turned into a school. It was 1920's California Spanish style with arched doorways, huge windows, tile floors and a swimming pool with tropical vegetation all around it. Very sturdy and heavy feeling house.

My World,My List or Me and Me in My World vs Me and Me in Reality

IN
1.Noir
2.78s for my Victrola
3.120 film for my Holga and Brownie
4.Finishing my 8mm blk/wht film
5.Typewriters(but not quite this pricey)BUT! Kudos for rescuing them
6.Shortwave radios circa 1940
7.Luddites(always make this list)
8.The Doors,Scott Walker,Brel,Sinatra,Sammy
9.Cool rotary phones
10.Echoplex!
11.8 Track players
12.Ilford
13.The Dick Van Dyke Show and his pants
14.The practical balance of old and new

OUT
1.Kodak for their terrible decision to pull black and white photo paper. Ilford has it though. YAY! ILFORD (back to #12 on IN)
2.Your TV by 2009 (no more analog)
3.Old stereo consoles for over $50 at "Vintage stores"
4.Vintage stores-beat them to those estate sales for real treasures that aren't broken and over priced (especially in this town)
5.Complicated, flash heavy,needlessly image ladened websites (for bands, artists and retail)
6.Planned Obsolescence

It's the place I know best in the world

Took a trip back home to Del Rio because I was homesick for the sounds and the space, the canned fig preserve my grandmother makes, the peaches from my grandfather's trees, the thick green grass in their yard and the chickens. I got to hear the sounds I don't get to hear in Austin like sheep, goats and chickens.

Everywhere I went- long stretches of land between houses and neighborhoods and even behind commercial property. At night you can see the stars and hear nothing when you are in bed. It was 103 and dry but under the shade of my grandfather's pecan trees the heat was lost in the grass and there was even a strong breeze to help. Signs for the 25 mph speed limit in some parts of town reminded why I don't like freeways. Stucco homes all over my neighborhood, huge palm trees, the old irrigation canals in front of homes, the winery, Rose Ave.

I miss the place and many don't understand why or how but it's unlike any other place and that is good (and bad) but it's the place I have known best in my life. Maybe you have to be born there, grow up there, maybe it's just nostalgia for what it was but wasn't when I was there or vision for what it could be but has never been. I haven't lived there since 1989 but it is always what I expect it to be the moment I drive in.

Not to say it hasn't changed , it has changed over the years. The mid 90's were probably the darkest times I had ever seen for the town but now things seem more at where they were when I left in 1989. This time there seems to be more of a need and drive to improve the business district and downtown. I hope it happens.
My fiancee enjoyed it and now he knows from where I speak when I say the things I say. It is a place that always fueled my creativity and I come back with tons of ideas. Will be working on these post Del Rio trip projects starting today.


PS: A place I wish would go back in time is the former Fun-A-Rama skating rink which is up for sale. Hope someone will buy it and open it again. Who knows, rollerderby even?