visual excitement

google image search = "fist pump"

rocking tots

recent conversation between me, lande (6.5 year old girl) and ryal (3.5 year old boy):

me: is dan zanes your favorite rockstar?

lande: dan zanes is my favorite - or hannah montana - no dan zanes is my favorite THEN hannah montana THEN hilary duff

me: who's your favorite ryal?

ryal: daddy

***

me: are you gonna be an accountant like your dad when you grow up?

lande: no a rockstar

me: what instrument are you gonna play?

lande: the microphone

road warrior

he took the train
he caught his flight
he hailed a cab
he rode his bike
he walked a mile
a million times
with hope
out there
his love
he'd find

with shoes wore down
he heard it all
the tragic spring
the comic fall
the coldest days
he hummed the song
my love
is right
here all
along

tumor or not tumor?

the vet called with holden & nacho's blood tests & they're both "pretty much perfect" which is great but she's recommending surgery to take off holden's tumors.

she stuck a needle in them to test while we were at the office and said she's 99% positive they're benign.

the tumors have been there for about 4 years now, starting with one - the biggest golf ball looking one - now there are 4, all on holden's ribcage (cheetah chest) and don't get in his way.



they'd have to put him under for the surgery

he's 9 1/2 years old, which is like in his late 60's people years

it would cost $500-600, which really means $750

i don't want these to get to be the size of grapefruit & put stress on his other organs

if i wait much longer he'll be too old for surgery

but they're not cancerous and he's in great health and that's a lot of fucking money

anybody with tips, experience, advice, pointers, a rusty razor, let me know




holden votes "no"

it's snowing!

40 AM

40 am, originally uploaded by skippy haha.

drove back and forth to chapel hill yesterday thrifting along the way. it was great to get back to tar heel country after 5 years. got a tuna sandwich at foster's and it was just as good as i remember. here's a driving & clicking photo from around 730 am coming down off the mountain.

scattering tea leaves

i almost feel like someone died. i got this email last night:

"After ten great years on the road as a touring musician, I have come to the realization that this life is not for me. As a result, I have decided to leave Tea Leaf Green to pursue some of my life's other passions. I wish my brothers in the band only the best. Their future is surely bright. Most of all, I am so grateful to my family, friends, and fans. You've always encouraged my free spirit; thanks for your continued support.

Ben C.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In any band, there exists a dynamic between the collective's goals and those of the individual members. At times, aspirations that were once aligned, diverge. This is one of those times. We support Ben's decision without reservation and wish him only the best. We know he put his heart and soul into thinking this through, just like he did with Tea Leaf Green these past ten years; we admire Ben for staying true to himself.

As one chapter ends, so another begins. In this moment of transition, we've reached out to our good friend, Reed Mathis, who enthusiastically accepted the torch. Please join us in Santa Cruz as we welcome Reed to the band. Let's get this show on the road!

Tea Leaf Green"




he went by many names - milky chambers, the weed, franz hanzerbeak, & more - he was hard to photograph because he moved too constantly, always grooving head bobbing chicken walking plucking his bass hard and when they passed the mic to him he rapped heady funky goodness and the dancefloor was instantly transformed from manic schwirly chaos to a community getting down to ben c. all together now.

and today he's off to pursue other passions and i wish him extremely well but my heart aches with i feel like we let him down, i as a fan let him down, he wasn't happy enough playing for us to keep doing it. i shouldve gone to more shows, shouldve burned cd's for more people, all that stuff a band as talented as tea leaf green deserves but i also feel like could be they're tilting in a different direction from the planet of green love into the rock n roll band and they're playing 100+ shows a year back and forth and back and forth across the US and canada & a lot of those shows are short festival sets and opening for other bands, and hardly ever do they pass the mic to ben c. in a show like that. life on the road for these people is never easy i imagine. i'll always have a biscuit from NYE '05 to remember him by, and the memories, good god the memories, and the live music archive.

can't wait to see the new tea leaf green, hope they come this way soon.

it's a husky world

the la times says disney is fixing the ride "it's a small world" so the boats stop getting stuck in a couple places. they're making the water deeper and the boats more buoyant. when boats stick on the ride now, a disney worker goes back there and asks somebody to get out of the boat & gives them a food ticket for their trouble.

here is a shirt they could give out instead

in related news, a dunkin donuts just opened nearby, with plans for more to spread into the area soon.

happy birthday brother

peanut butter time 3, originally uploaded by skippy haha.

little brother henry turns 2 today! he's a good boy.

wild weekend bits

i met a friend of a friend who rode his bike here to asheville from nashville tennessee last week by himself in 4 days with all his stuff in saddlebags, i think 380some miles.

i went to see porter batiste & stoltz at the garage at biltmore and was impressed with everything, the music, the place, the reconstructed vintage clothes store attached to it, all cool



wheels chipotle got a tarheel tattoo - tar tattooed onto his heel


he said it didn't hurt at all and we agreed that it's magical


i went to see dan zanes rock out this afternoon with some '21st century all ages folk music'


and lande lost a tooth at the orange peel!

vortex

point of the twist

vet checkup today

time for holden & nacho's yearly doctor's visit. rabies shots for everyone! aspirating holden's tumors! should be a blast.